A perfectly good weekend, ripe with the potential for Frisbee on a muddy quad went completely wasted. It was almost as if Naruto had gone to bed early Friday evening and didn’t wake up until late Sunday afternoon. Well, okay, that wasn’t entirely accurate. But, like a cat, he had slept a good portion of each day. When he wasn’t brooding over his own stupidity, he was watching muted episodes of CSI and Law & Order reruns, nearly drooling into his bowl of marshmallow-less (Kiba had eaten them all) Lucky Charms he held near his face since the milk kept dribbling out of his mouth and down onto his red and black graphic t-shirt.

Moping for him had become a bit of a pastime in the last several days. In a hazy way, he had sort of been trying to wrap his head around what he thought he’d been trying to do to his teacher. But for the most part, musings about whatever it was he’d been attempting to do went ignored as denial was a glorious bedfellow. Rather, he was more in tune with the simple fact he’d pissed his teacher off. Someone he admired. But not only did he have that shit to deal with, one of his most important friends still was refusing to speak to him.

Lazily, Naruto munched on his soggy grain pieces, a couple of them falling out the open corner of his mouth and plopping back into the milk. In a way, Sakura’s behavior sort of annoyed the hell out of him, and Naruto was having a bit of a hard time separating the anger he directed at himself for pissing her off in the first place and Sakura for turning her back on him over one silly argument. An argument in which he didn’t even think he’d been in the wrong. Or had he? He stared sullenly at the investigators on the TV. Now that he mentioned it though, it’s not like he could very well even remember why they’d fought in the first place. But that’s what women were like. So much as look at them funny, and they burst into tears. It’s not anything Naruto had ever understood, but after so many years, he’d thought he’d developed some kind of estrogen-detecting Spidey sense that should’ve warned him when he was approaching danger. He must’ve really been out of it.

However, merely thinking about whether he was sorry or not probably wasn’t going to score him any empathy points with Sakura. If he wanted her to speak to him again, he’d have to go along with the idea that everything was his fault and that he owed her an apology. That was just the definitive process when it came to fighting with women. Kind of like when a herd of gazelles in Africa tries to cross some river during migration (to go wherever gazelles go) and the group just knows a few of them are going to get picked off by hungry crocodiles.

With a groan, Naruto got off his butt and dumped his chipped white cereal bowl into the grimy sink. As much as he wanted to make it across that river, he knew in order to get Sakura to forgive him, he was going to have to sacrifice a limb or two.

------------

Later that night, in his jacket and a royal blue hooded-sweatshirt, Naruto leisurely walked the handful of blocks from his apartment to Sakura’s rented house on the East side of campus. She lived with Ino and Hinata, but Ino was spending a lot of time at Shikamaru’s, and Hinata was always busy with volunteer work and all her school organizations: MSA, DSA, STRIPES. Pretty much any group refusing to spell out their name and opting, instead, for an acronym. But at least he’d remembered his gloves this time. It was cold, and his breath came out in misty puffs of air. He pushed open the gate of their miniature white-picket fence. It was the second week of March, and blades of green were trying their best to push their way through the hard ground despite the on and off again frost Columbia had been experiencing.

Naruto started to stomp on the doormat, clearing his shoes of some snow he’d picked up along the sidewalks. He happened to glance down and smiled. He remembered buying that mat for them at the beginning of the year. When they’d first moved in together. It read: Fo’ Shizzle, Welcome to Our Hizzle. Ino had tried to burn it one time, but Sakura had thrown a fit about it since it was a gift, even if she also hated it. The memory of her fighting her best friend in order to keep the mat he’d bought as a gag gift made him feel even more guilty. Naruto opened the screen door so that he could knock. He waited a while and nothing happened. Normally, he would’ve walked right in, but he didn’t think Sakura would appreciate that. After another minute, he shut the door and rang the doorbell, hitting it another two times for good measure.

Finally, the door swung open, and Naruto offered a sheepish smile as Sakura stared at him through the screen. She apparently hadn’t been expecting him, and he wasn‘t quite sure if she looked happy about the unexpected visit or not.

“Hey,” he said, hands buried in his coat pockets as he looked her directly in the eye.

Sakura stared at him undecidedly for a few seconds and stepped more into the doorway. She crossed her arms over her chest. She was already in her pajamas: a little coral top, open in the middle of the neckline and lined with three white buttons. Her cotton pajama pants were striped in the same color, along with some blues and whites. In the background, he could hear faint music coming from a bedroom.

“Hey,” she said softly, the corner of her mouth quivering. She shifted her weight to her other leg and stood up more stiffly.

“Um, can I come in?” Naruto asked, still smiling.

Sakura lowered her arms to her sides. “Okay,” she agreed hesitantly.

Naruto opened the screen door, and they simply looked at one another. That was all it took to realize how much he’d missed speaking to her, even if it’d only been a week. He took a step forward before she could back out of the doorway and drew her into a hug. She let out a tiny gasp at first, but then her slim arms went around him to return the embrace. She smelled fresh and clean, her hair was even a bit damp. It smelled of lilacs. His nose was near her ear as he spoke.

“I missed you,” he said, and with that, he felt Sakura hug him even tighter.

--------------

He was lying on her unmade twin-size bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was at her desk, writing a paper for a philosophy class he’d already forgotten the name of. Sakura had said she was almost finished with it, maybe another twenty minutes. Naruto said he had no problem with waiting and promised to help edit it once she finished. Music played. Sakura had pretty good taste. Not just for a girl, but they actually shared a lot of the same favorite bands. Granted, occasionally she listened to chick music he could barely tolerate, but for the most part, he could always count on her if he needed to discuss music.

At the moment though, he was being subjected to Paramore’s Misery Business. No wait, strike that, now it was Flogging Molly’s Float.

“You suck. I love this song,” Naruto murmured as he listened intently, humming along.

“I know,” Sakura replied easily without looking at him, her fingers furiously typing away on the keyboard.

She had her hair pulled back in the most endearing attempt at a ponytail. He wanted to laugh every time he looked at it. Her hair was short (apparently she’d gotten it cut since he’d seen her last?), so it must’ve been difficult to tie up properly. A lot of pieces had fallen out, framing her pretty face. She was wearing her glasses. Sakura shifted and brought her legs up onto the chair, hugging them with one arm to her chest as she stopped to re-read what she’d just typed. Once in a while, he could hear her voice as she read certain parts aloud.

It wasn’t more than twenty minutes later that Naruto had his eyes shut, simply dozing as he listened to Pinback’s, How We Breathe. The house was remarkably quiet other than the music and faint tapping of the keyboard. He hadn’t yet had a chance to ask what Ino and Hinata were up to. He felt the mattress start to dip, and he lazily cracked his lids apart. Sakura was sitting on one of the corners at the foot, watching him. She combed her fingers through her hair, pushing the bangs falling out of her ponytail behind her ear.

“So,” she commented.

Naruto raised himself to his elbows. “I’m sorry.”

Sakura gave a small smile. “I don’t even remember what I was mad about to be honest.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes. “Gee, that’s a relief,” he said sarcastically. “Considering you went a week without talking to me.”

She shrugged. “You were being an asshole.”

Naruto relaxed a little, letting his shoulders slouch. “Yeah. I was just… pissed.”

Sakura shook her head and clasped her hands together in her lap. “No, it was my fault. I was kinda jealous.”

Naruto frowned. He didn’t really want to get into how pointless it was to be jealous, and then he recalled what had happened last Thursday in Sasuke’s apartment.

“I mean…” Sakura continued. She looked nervously to the side. Naruto glanced down at her fingers as they kept fidgeting about on her lap. “I thought about it a lot. About why I was really mad or jealous or whatever…”

“Hm?” Naruto moved to sit, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He nudged her knee with his socked foot.

“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but after talking to Ino about it… I guess, it wasn’t just that I was jealous about Sasuke paying you more attention…”

Okay, now Naruto was starting to get nervous. He drew his legs in to sit cross-legged and rested his elbows on his knees.

“This is totally going to sound weird,” she said, biting at her lip anxiously. “But… I don’t know. You and I are best friends, right?”

Naruto nodded immediately. “Of course.” There was no question about that.

“So in a way… I kind of don’t like… sharing you?”

Naruto cocked his head to the side and let out a small laugh of surprise. “What?” he asked in amazement, a big smile starting to spread across his face.

“Ugh,” she groaned and looked away out of embarrassment. “I knew you’d take it the wrong way.”

Naruto crawled over to her. “Sakura Haruno, are you confessing your love to me?” He teased affectionately, poking her in the shoulder.

Sakura swatted his hand away. “No, you insensitive pig!” She removed her glasses and rubbed at the bridge of her nose before putting them back on. “What I’m saying is that… you know, we’re all graduating and going our different ways, and I guess it’s starting to get to me, and then when you were paying so much attention to Sasuke… and, and…” She paused and glanced to her other side, studying the four drawers of her white-washed antique dresser. Naruto observed her intently, fighting the urge to envelop her into a hug and smother her to death for being so… goddam… awesome.

He failed.

Failed miserably.

Naruto grabbed Sakura around the shoulders and collapsed with her down on the bed, hugging her close as she squealed. He held his hand to the back of her head and pressed her face to his chest. She pounded on him with her fists, trying to get him to let go. She kept yelling his name, but he was too busy laughing at her. Sakura started giggling, and Naruto finally allowed her to move around. She gave him one last punch in the chest before sliding up the bed until they were lying across from each other, heads resting on the pillows.

“Why do you think we never dated?” Naruto abruptly asked.

Sakura studied him thoughtfully. She pushed back his bangs and looked into his eyes, shrugging. “I guess I always thought it would ruin things, didn’t you?”

Naruto tilted his head in thought, and Sakura’s hand slid away from his face to rest between them on the mattress. It kept moving back and forth over the lavender sheet as if she were petting it.

“Kind of, yeah,” he answered. “We’ll stay in touch after graduation though. I promise.”

She nodded. “Do you know what your plans are?”

“I have some idea,” Naruto said. “I sort of applied to a couple schools with late deadlines.”

“Oh really?” Sakura’s eyes brightened considerably. “Where? Here? Is it too late to get into the grad program here? Have you talked to Sasuke about it? Maybe he can help get you in, or you could talk to Kakashi.”

Naruto chuckled delightedly. “You’re being adorable.” She blushed, and Naruto tenderly brushed his hand down her arm and then covered Sakura’s hand with his own, squeezing. “Sasuke and I… aren’t exactly speaking, so I haven’t had a chance to ask him.”

“Why?” Sakura tried to move her hand away, but Naruto held on, suddenly looking very pained. “Did you say something stupid to him again?”

“You could say that,” he muttered, glancing away. Sakura managed to wiggle her hand out of his grasp and slapped him in the forehead with the heel of her palm.

“Idiot,” she admonished, frowning reproachfully.

“Ow!” Naruto’s nose scrunched up as he rubbed the spot where he’d been hit.

“Whatever you did or said, you better apologize to him.”

Naruto gave her a sullen and guilty look.

“Naruto…” Sakura said his name with concern, eyebrows drawing together. “What did you do?”

Smiling sadly, Naruto shook his head. He poked at the spot on her brow, right where it wrinkled. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix it.”

She gave him a dubious look. “Will you?”

Losing his grin, Naruto shrugged. “I’ll give it a try.”

“Good boy,” she pet him on the head like a dog, and almost instantly, he remembered Sasuke saying something similar on Thursday. He sighed deeply and rubbed at his temple.

“Friends?” he asked, hopeful.

“Of course,” she replied, smiling brightly. “Now go edit my Kant essay.”

Naruto groaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillow, which smelled of her shampoo. Sakura rubbed his back comfortingly and leaned in to whisper near his ear, “Think of it as penance for being a jerk to your best friend.”

Right.

Like he could argue with that logic.

-------------

The short trek from the Arts & Science building to Middlebush on Tuesday was bordering on painful, making him feel like Sean Penn at the end of Dead Man Walking. Though embarrassed as hell, Naruto couldn’t simply not show up. Okay, so his hands were shaking inside his coat pockets, but that was because the temperature had dropped to the mid-40s! Alright, fuck that, he was nervous. He even wondered if Sasuke could kick him out of the class for sexual harassment. Or what was the possibility of Sasuke pulling him aside and talking to him about it? Could Sasuke even have him suspended? Now that he thought about it, maybe what he’d attempted was bordering on assault. Hell, he hadn’t been that nervous yesterday when he’d spent most of Monday night with Sakura, writing his work-shop story due next week.

Even though his mind was racing with about a million different scenarios of what could happen--none of them ending happily--his feet kept right on walking. Through the heavy doors, up the first flight of stairs and then the next, until he arrived on the third floor. At least he was early enough that he wouldn’t draw much attention to himself. He went in through the first door leading to the classroom, and the instant he was in the doorway, his eyes locked on Sasuke, who was already sitting behind his desk. Briefly, Sasuke looked up from some papers and met Naruto’s gaze. Naruto’s heart stopped completely. It was totally that deer in headlights moment. Sasuke looked away first, and Naruto somehow found the ability to walk make his way to his own desk and sit down. A minute or two later, Sakura came in with Ino, and they both sat to his left. They were busy chatting about an indie movie they wanted to see this weekend at the Ragtag.

Naruto slumped into his chair, slowly removing his jacket to hang it on the back. He dumped his backpack at his feet.

“Hey? You feel okay?”

Naruto looked up to find Sakura’s face not very far from his.

“You look a little pale,” she observed and felt his forehead. “You don’t have a fever.”

He chuckled and grabbed for the hand that had touched him, holding it long enough Sakura’s eyebrow drew upward in question. Ino was spying on them over Sakura’s shoulder.

“Oh my God!” Ino gasped. “You’re not proposing are you!? That’s sick!”

Naruto and Sakura both glared at her. “Shut up, Ino,” Sakura said, but Naruto released her hand and rolled his eyes.

At around the same time, Kiba skidded into the class. He had enough time to wave and climb his way past the other desks to sit across from them. Sai sat in the adjacent desk to him.

The class settled down once Sasuke got up from behind his desk. Naruto wanted to keep his gaze lowered, but it felt weird, so he politely kept his eyes on Sasuke as he started to talk about today’s reading of Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited." Normally, his teacher would often sweep around the circle of desks as he lectured and asked questions, but for the most part he appeared to have drawn a line down the center of the room, preferring to stay on the side Naruto was not on.

Actually, it was pretty funny.

If Naruto disregarded the huge ball of disappointment and hurt lodged in his stomach like bad Mexican.

Yeah, it was definitely hilarious that for the next hour and fifteen minutes, Sasuke blatantly ignored him as if he didn’t even exist.

Of all the ways he thought Sasuke might handle the situation, he hadn’t even considered this one. And it sucked.

--------------

On Thursday they’d done a workshop and it seemed his teacher asked every single person their opinion except him. Naruto didn’t feel like the timing was right yet, and it’s not like he had any particular plan on how to fix it. He thought Sasuke might give a little, even acknowledge him at some point. The odd thing was that Sasuke had even started calling on Sai more frequently, asking his opinion like he used to do of Naruto.

Although why their teacher even wanted to bother listening to that guy, Naruto would never know, and when they were talking about other students’ stories, Sai would do nothing but insult them. He’d never offer any constructive advice, never said anything positive whatsoever. How the hell was that any help to anyone trying to write? It’s not like Sai was perfect. It annoyed the crap out of Naruto for some reason. There was nothing good about discouraging other people from writing. It took a shitload of guts to write at all, and then to share it with people. Why would anyone ever belittle someone for doing that much?

Maybe Naruto was just annoyed. He was already irritated with his own situation, so Sai merely aggravated it, and then there was the fact that Sasuke didn’t seem to see it the way Naruto did. Even if Sasuke was pissed at Naruto still, or embarrassed, or annoyed, why would he take it out on the entire class by starting to acknowledge that snot-nosed bastard who thought he was so much better than everyone…

Then the weekend passed, and it was Tuesday again. The class was just the same. They were doing their readings and Sasuke must have asked Sai what he thought two or three different times. Even Sakura, Ino, and Kiba were beginning to notice.

“Wow, you really pissed him off, didn’t you?” Kiba had asked, Ino and Sakura agreeing, although Sakura had the decency to look concerned. The other two just thought it was funny that Naruto had, in Sasuke’s eyes, fallen off some pedestal.

“So how does it feel to be on the same level as us?” Ino interrogated him smugly.

Naruto brushed them off. Even Sakura. He was way too caught up in the center of it. He’d love to punch Sai in the face or stand up to him, but he had his teacher to consider. How was he supposed to gain back Sasuke’s respect or apologize when his teacher didn’t even want to be in the same room as him? He thought he should try being patient, and an opportunity would present itself. Naruto couldn’t let it all end like this. Not when he’d been working his ass off on his story due this coming Thursday. Not when he’d learned so much from Sasuke just by being in his class and being exposed to his writing.

This was ridiculous. Sasuke always went on about him being so much more accomplished and apparently more mature because he had a couple degrees already, but there was nothing mature about the way that bastard was acting.

And like hell he’d let some jackass like Sai be the one Sasuke thought had potential.

------------

Thursday came again, and Naruto was busy dragging out his multiple copies of his story that would then be discussed the following week. Unfortunately, so was Sai, but Naruto did his best to ignore him and simply pass out his large stack of stapled stories with as little incident as possible. The class was relatively chatty today. Sasuke hadn’t arrived yet, and it was a particularly warm and sunny day. Simply one of those days where a restless vibe was destined to be infectious. No one wanted to be inside. Naruto returned to his seat. Or well, he was sitting on top of his desk, laughing and smiling at something petty Ino and Sakura were discussing. Kiba came up behind him and ruffled his hair, and, by way of greeting, Naruto lightly punched him in the shoulder.

“Frisbee on the quad after class?” Kiba asked, and Naruto smiled winningly at the idea.

“Of course,” he said, as if there weren’t any question about it. “Maybe the girls want to join?” He glanced at the two women. Ino shrugged at him and frowned, apparently needing more convincing.

“Sure,” Sakura said. “Or we should just go to a park or something?”

“Hell no,” Kiba disagreed and leaned against the desk Naruto was sitting on, turning his hands inward so that his fingertips were touching. He kept bending his arms at the elbows. He almost looked like he was dry-humping the desk. “I’d like to play somewhere where I’m not gonna be steppin’ in dog shit everywhere I walk.”

“He’s got a point,” Naruto said with a tiny scrunch of the nose.

“Whatever. You guys are ridiculous,” Sakura scoffed disapprovingly while surveying her fingers, picking at the hot pink nail polish she wore. Naruto tried to bat her hand away so she’d quit; since she was always complaining about how she wished she wouldn’t. Rather than thank him for attempting to wean her of her bad habits, she glared at him. He scooted further to the opposite side of the desk so as not to get hit by the laser beams about ready to shoot from her eyes. Knowing Sakura, they‘d be set on kill rather than stun. “I doubt anyone’s even been out walking their dogs anyway.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Kiba grumbled and shared a meaningful look with Naruto. He nodded and gave a lazy grin as he rubbed the back of his head, incidentally making it stick out everywhere until Sakura had to lean over and put it back into place with a scowl.

That would be about the time their M.I.A. teacher decided to make his fashionably late entrance. Okay, so really, according to the clock on the wall, he was five minutes late, but Naruto was still irritable about being ignored. Sasuke didn’t apologize or explain his tardiness. He simply sat down at his desk in a huff and declared they’d be work-shopping the first story of the day starting now, adding without having to say it aloud, “So shut the hell up.”

Sakura and Naruto shared a look since they were sitting next to each other. It was fairly obvious Sasuke was in a bad mood, plus even in his relative immaculateness he somehow came off as a bit disheveled. The previous jovial atmosphere had suddenly dissolved and now the classroom held a certain tension. It was oddly and uncomfortably quiet. Naruto glanced across to the other side of the room at Kiba who pulled a face that made him snort. He happened to glance at the person to Kiba’s right: Sai. Their gazes met for what couldn’t have been more than a half a second. Naruto looked away, but it had lasted long enough to give him the creeps. The guy didn’t smile, didn’t laugh. The only time he talked was to say something nasty about someone’s writing or an author he didn’t like. Jackass. People like that rubbed Naruto the wrong way.

The sound of a chair scraping across the floor had everyone turning their head toward Sasuke. He was tapping a pen with a red top against a large spiral notebook on his desk, practically glaring at the lot of them as if they’d forced him to be there today. Naruto found sick pleasure in his teacher’s foul mood and smirked with an odd sense of vindication.

“So, what did we think of this then?” Sasuke asked with barely an inflection, pen still rapping agitatedly. He sounded bored.

On that rather encouraging note, the workshop began as everyone stared awkwardly around the room, waiting for someone else to be the first to raise their hand and speak their peace.

Aah, what the hell.

Without hesitation, Naruto raised his hand. He’d been lying low for a week, but he’d be more than happy to disrupt the current air of uneasiness in the room by graciously volunteering. His bright, inquisitive eyes met Sasuke’s in that instant, but his teacher’s expression remained perfectly blank. It seemed, at least to Naruto, that the delay in response from Sasuke was significant. Then again, maybe he’d been the only one to notice. His teacher eventually gave him a nod to go ahead without bothering to verbally address him.

What a child. Maybe Sasuke wasn’t that perfect after all?

Naruto shrugged the slight off quickly, though. He wore a small smirk as he turned his back to Sasuke in order to address his classmates, jumping right into his interpretation of the girl’s story and offering a constructive critique.

-----------

Some forty minutes later, everyone that was willing to had talked. The story wasn’t bad at all. In fact, Naruto had rather liked it, and the attractive, auburn-haired Junior who had written it was a pretty sweet girl. The only thing that had surprised him was Sai’s comment about it. It seemed more like a backhanded compliment than any kind of constructive advice, and apparently Sasuke was in too much of a mood to step in. Actually, Naruto had no freaking clue what was going on inside his teacher’s head today.

“And now we have Mr. Inuzuka’s story,” Sasuke said, penetrating Naruto’s train of thoughts with his lets-get-down-to-business voice. He first looked to his teacher and then over to a grinning Kiba. Naruto winked at him, and his friend flicked him off with a toothy grin while leaning back in his chair.

“Well, I thought it was funny,” Ino started the conversation, “Although, some of the dialogue was pretty crude.” She pulled a face. “I mean, why do men insist on writing about bowel movements in detail?”

Naruto snickered, and Sakura elbowed him in the side. “Oh c’mon Ino. It’s just a part of life and just ’cause it’s not pretty doesn’t mean it can’t be written about,” he remarked, and she shrugged at him.

“It’s still gross.”

One of the more “out there” kids raised his hand, going on for about ten minutes as he tried to compare the story to stuff Hunter S. Thompson might have written, but somewhere around five minutes into his monologue, Naruto had zoned out and started staring out the window. His fingertips lazily tapped against the desk, watching a couple of sparrows chasing each other mid-flight.

A few more people commented, saying some positive things and then focusing in on some parts of the plot that were apparently confusing to them. For Naruto, it was a bit weird to critique his friends too much, so he decided to wait for a lull in commenting to offer his own advice.

“I don’t think it’s any good at all.”

Naruto’s gaze snapped, shifting immediately from the window to the one who’d commented, knowing instantly who it had been.

Sai was looking directly at him, and Naruto blinked, wondering if he’d misheard what had been said so bluntly, and in a very, nearly cruel tone. Naruto glanced around, studying the expressions of everyone else. Had he just missed something here? Maybe slipped into a daydream? Sakura caught his eye and shared a look that only confirmed to him Sai had really just gone there.

No one else was saying anything though.

“Um… pardon?” Naruto asked on Kiba’s behalf. Usually the person being workshopped just had to sit there and take it, leaving whatever comments they might have for the end. A couple people in the room seemed to shift awkwardly.

Sai frowned at him. “I believe I said I didn’t think Kiba’s story was good.”

Naruto had to take in a deep breath as he leaned over his desk. “Do you have a particular reason for thinking that?” he asked through gritted teeth, but was trying to maintain some semblance of calm.

“I have several,” Sai returned easily.

Naruto stared at him for a long while, taking in that blank expression and stiff body posture. “Are you going to elaborate at all? Because the last time I checked these workshops were about offering constructive criticism, not just saying whether a story sucks or not.”

“So you agree it sucks then,” Sai asked, a small smirk registering on his face. He brushed black pieces of fringe to the side and settled his right arm on top of the desk.

Naruto continued to glare, ignoring the way the entire class was watching them. “I never said that at all. Like hell I’d say anything like that.”

Sai snorted derisively. “Why? Because he’s your friend? I noticed you hadn’t said anything of what you thought yet. At least I was being honest.”

“And your opinion should mean what to us?” Naruto was on his way to seeing red. The rest of the class was switching glances between the two. Everyone appeared rather uncomfortable, Sakura and Kiba especially.

“Naruto, it’s not that big of a deal,” Kiba interrupted in an attempt to be diplomatic.

“It is a big deal, Kiba,” Naruto snapped in return, his eyes trained on Sai’s smirk. He’d about had it with Sai getting away with all this arrogant bullshit. People like Sai ruined the experience for everyone, always trying to make it seem like the quality of writing could be defined by some formula only a select few like Sai were privy to.

“If someone can’t write, then why give them delusions of grandeur?” Sai asked. “Would you lead Kiba to believe he can write and then try to pursue a career out of it simply because you were too much of a pansy to be truthful?”

Naruto laughed darkly, his tongue sliding along his teeth. Sai crossed his arms over his chest, not looking at all like he was going to be shutting his mouth any time soon. In the back of Naruto’s mind, he was oddly curious as to why their teacher hadn’t said anything, but he at the moment he was more concerned about not breaking eye contact with Sai.

“While I’m not gonna lower myself to your level and respond to your petty name-calling.” Naruto stopped and coughed ominously. “But I’m pretty sure only an arrogant, egotistical asshole passes judgment on writing without offering any kind of constructive advice on how the writer can improve. I’m fairly sure the last time I checked the syllabus that that was the point of this class?”

“Then my advice is for him to quit writing,” Sai replied blandly.

Naruto’s mouth dropped open. Several other people murmured amongst each other, and Sakura had let out a quiet gasp beside him. For the first time, Naruto’s eyes shifted to Sasuke, wondering when the hell the bastard was going to speak up and back him. Sasuke’s gaze was somewhere to the right of the classroom and out the windows.

“Naruto,” his teacher said without looking at him, but the fact Sasuke had addressed him at all caused Naruto to stiffen in his seat. “In your objective opinion, is this story… good?”

Naruto blinked at him in clear disbelief. What a fucking loaded question! Whether he thought a story was good or not had very little to do with anything, especially a workshop. Workshops were all about improving.

“Are you kidding me?” Naruto asked incredulously.

Sasuke finally met his gaze without wavering. Naruto gave Kiba a brief, hesitant glance.

“It’s really okay, Naruto,” he said softly, but there was something so dejected in Kiba’s look as he frowned that Naruto felt a bubbling cauldron of rage about to spew out. How fucking dare Sai and Sasuke gang up on a friend like that!

“It’s not okay!” Naruto spat, slamming a fist down on the desk, hard enough to startle Sakura. “In what way is it okay at all? If someone tries their hardest, what the hell is the point of making fun of them for it!?”

Sai snorted loudly again, and Naruto had to restrain himself from flying over the desk and tackling him.

“That’s so naïve,” Sai commented disdainfully. “If you want to be a real writer, trying your best isn’t going to get you published.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes. “Who gives a shit about being published!?” he yelled. “Don’t trash someone who puts their heart into what they’re doing! I’d rather read Kiba’s supposed ‘crap-fic’ than an acclaimed story written by a snobby, conceited bastard who thinks he’s better than everyone!”

In a flash, Naruto was on his feet, his chair and the metal legs grating loudly across the floor. He leaned over the desk menacingly, fingers curled so that his nails were trying to dig their way into the laminate surface. Calmly, Sai returned the stare, and that obnoxious, know-it-all, patronizing look made Naruto itch to punch it right off his classmate’s face. Sakura was yanking at his sweatshirt, trying to get him to sit down in his seat, but Naruto ignored her.

“You’re not even talking about only Kiba now, are you? Why are you defending people you don’t even know?” Sai inquired quietly as one of his fine, dark eyebrows lifted in a moment of authentic curiosity. Then his expression altered completely into a patronizing sneer. “What are you, Naruto? Some kind of romantic?” He practically spat the last word as if encouraging people to express themselves should be a crime punishable by death.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Naruto hissed in a threatening voice. He shook Sakura’s nagging hand off. “You think you can go around and tell people they’re not good enough because that’s what you think? Like your opinion is the ultimate one? Like the amount of effort someone puts into something they love is completely worthless if it doesn’t meet your tastes or standards?” Naruto leaned forward further, nostrils flaring as his heart pounded inside his chest out of pure frustration. “People like you make me sick!”

“Naruto,” Sasuke barked from the front of the room, standing up from behind his desk.

Pfft. So now his teacher finally seemed ready to act with some authority? Didn’t he know just sitting there and not telling Sai to shut up meant people would start to think Sai’s outlook on writing wasn’t entirely wrong? Wasn’t entirely lacking in any human decency whatsoever? What the hell kind of jackass… what the hell kind of self-important, miserable…

Naruto glared at his teacher in silent accusation. Sasuke was frowning, the tips of his fingers pressed to the edge of the desk.

“I’m disappointed in you,” he said as calmly and discretely as he could manage. His teacher didn’t flinch at his words. “I know you don’t agree with what he said, and the fact that you let him go on for that long…” Naruto shook his head in disappointment and glanced at Sai again. He grunted, exhaling a short breath of irritation out his nose, “What a fucking joke.”

“Naruto,” Sakura whispered a harsh warning. “It’s not worth it,” she spoke softly, reaching to tug on the folded cuff of his sleeve. “It’s time to go anyway, okay?”

He looked up at the clock, and noticed class was at an end. The silence in the room was broken by a cacophony of jumbled noises as students got up from their chairs and grabbed their things. It was like they couldn’t get out of their fast enough! No one said a word as they departed, but occasionally they darted glances at Naruto, Sai, and their teacher.

Naruto shot Sai a final glare while Sakura gathered up his things for him, and, slowly, Kiba made his way over to them. He grabbed Naruto by the arm and twisted him, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

“Thanks man. You didn’t have to go that far, but, uh… Don’t worry about him. The guy’s a dick and totally not worth getting yourself in deeper shit with Sasuke.” He removed his arm and began hastily shoving Naruto toward the door. Sakura and Ino were close behind. Naruto thought if he looked over at Sasuke one more time, he’d end up punching him. That’s how pissed he was at the moment. He couldn’t believe how utterly disappointed he was in his teacher.

“Why do you always have to cause a scene? Ugh,” Ino griped, but her voice was gentle and, therefore, the reprimand not entirely convincing.

“Sorry,” Naruto mumbled as they trudged down the stairs. He rammed right into some Indian kid’s shoulder on accident without stopping to apologize.

“Oh well,” Sakura sighed in resignation once they were outside. “I’m glad someone finally stood up to Sai. It really takes the fun out of class when all he ever does is call people’s writing crap.”

“I know, right?” Ino declared, brushing her thick, platinum hair over her shoulders. “What a prick! I mean, can you believe Sasuke let him go on like that?”

“It is strange,” Sakura agreed dourly.

Kiba laughed appreciatively. “Wow, you guys fuckin’ rock.” He shoved into Naruto and grinned a shit-eating grin. “I can’t believe you went that far for me. Even talking like that to Sasuke when you admire him so much.”

Naruto let out a grunt. “Well maybe I don’t know Sasuke as well as I thought.”

Sakura shrugged. “He seemed like he was having a bad day to begin with. Don’t you think?” She appeared to be addressing Naruto as if he would somehow mysteriously know the reason for their teacher’s moodiness.

“That’s no excuse,” Naruto replied coldly, shoving a hand into his jean pocket. Because, in fact, it really was not, and he could not hide the gross disillusionment he felt at having someone he had admired so much act like a total, fucking tool. What kind of teacher did that?

“Guess he was blinded by Sasuke’s talent,” Kiba offered in an annoyingly suggestive tone of voice. It made Ino burst into a couple shrill cackles of laughter that only ticked Naruto off more. Needing space, he started to walk ahead of them, his mood incredibly soured.

“I’m gonna head home,” he told them.

“Aw, don’t be like that!” Kiba called after him, but Naruto flipped him off over his shoulder. “Boo!”

“Call me later, Naruto!” Sakura yelled, waving an arm frantically.

Naruto shifted the strap of his pack to his other shoulder and gave her a backward wave, jogging across the street even though he didn’t have the crossing signal. There was no way he could hang out with his friends when he was this pissed. He’d only end up taking it out on them. But fucking hell. At least there was no excuse necessary for Sai. Sai was an asshole. But Sasuke? Had Naruto really been that blinded by Sasuke’s accomplishments and talent?

He was such a fucking idiot! Naruto felt so stupid. He’d only seen Sasuke how he wanted to and not how he really was. Great. Good to find this out now… like before he tried anything stupid! Naruto shook his head, grumbling the rest of the walk back to his apartment, where once he was inside, he sat down on his couch and rested his head in his hands.

“Bastard,” he muttered while rubbing at his eyes, running two fingers over his right eyebrow.

-------------

Not that he had slept particularly well to begin with, but Naruto was up early at 9 o’clock. He was far too irritable to have any breakfast, but vaguely he noted that if he really felt up to walking to his car he could make it in time to McDonald’s before they started putting out the lunch menu.

There was a strange ache inside his chest, bordering on betrayal. It was a funny thing though because if he thought harder about it, it all had less to do with his anger at Sai, and more to do with the fact he was beginning to wonder if he… maybe… was too naïve? It didn’t feel like it, and defending what he thought was right didn’t feel like a waste of breath. In fact, it kinda pissed him off that more people didn’t stand up and say the same thing.

But, what also bothered him, quite a bit, really, was… Sasuke’s reaction to it all. Like he didn’t care. After reading Sasuke’s writings and after talking with him on the phone and then at his apartment, it didn’t fit with his teacher’s character at all. Naruto was usually pretty good at reading people, but was there the possibility he’d gotten his teacher all wrong?

With heavy steps, Naruto dragged himself to the shower, got dressed and glanced at the clock, knowing he might need to walk around campus for a while before Sasuke would be at his desk for Friday’s office hours. Then he’d be able to get all this stuff he’d been holding back off his chest.

-------------

It wasn’t as sunny as the previous day. The air held a bit of chill in the mid-morning. Naruto had already strolled around the quad a couple times, walked to Memorial Union, then over to the bookstore in Brady Commons, where staring at all the graduation merchandise made him feel a bit depressed. A clock hung on one of the columns near the T-shirts, and it looked as though he still had another fifteen minutes. He exited out the North entrance and was hit with the cold wind once more. People were starting to trickle out of the GCB and A&S, en route to their next classes. Luckily, Naruto didn’t have class for another couple hours yet since he wasn’t one for scheduling anything in the morning.

Tate Hall was inevitably empty. There weren’t many classrooms inside the small building. He could only remember having had one his freshman year: a film class. Unhurriedly, he took the stairs to the ground floor, eyes casually perusing the corkboards pinned with multiple, colorful announcements about scholarships and a visiting poetess he’d never heard of. The door to where Sasuke’s cubicle could be found was closed. Naruto peered in through the glass, wondering for a moment if he’d gotten the time wrong since no one looked to be inside. He went in, ultimately deciding he was still just a tad early.

Gradually, he made his way to the back of the room, every once in a while stopping near a desk to look at the pictures taped to the metal cabinets above the desks. Lots of pictures of family and friends. When he reached Sasuke’s area, there was a briefcase sitting next to the chair, and the monitor was black, but the computer was on, humming gently. Not finding any harm in it, Naruto sat down in the chair and rested his arm on the desk, accidentally bumping the mouse. The screen crackled to life, static jumping off the monitor as it shifted into focus. It opened to a word document.

Naruto only gave it a cursory glance at first, not thinking much of it until suddenly he realized it looked to be a part of a story.

“Oh,” Naruto murmured, automatically scooting the chair forward and scanning the sentences in curiosity. It took a bit for him to put it all together, even as he read the prose. The style and voice was so familiar, so similar to… Sasuke’s writing. Naruto’s hand trembled as he grabbed the mouse and scrolled down, only able to scan the words initially before scrolled up and re-started near the middle:

I walked to the church, my head full of thoughts. He amazed me sometimes. I felt I was in constant conflict about my feelings.

“Darling, hurry up.”

I nodded at my mother. Other people met me as I penetrated the hall, some waved. Others looked irritated, and so I kept my head down. I saw people mourning and preparing the funeral. I saw people busy with white dresses and white veils for the great service tomorrow. After a while the mass dissolved. And we remained a few, sitting there, listening. The sunlight flashed on the window-glass and reached me like an arrow shot from the bow. It distracted me. It filled me with a strange joy, which I thought had no proper place here. The air smelled different; I looked at my fingers as an odd tingling sensation ran through them. He was in my head, he was all over the place. So I stood up and left, aware of the looks but not caring. My footsteps echoed all around me.

Briefly, Naruto paused in his reading, envy rising up inside him along with his excitement that Sasuke was working on something new, and it was right here on the computer, in its rawest form. And even so, it was still fucking spectacular. He continued, eyes glued to the screen as his gaze shifted back and forth.

I was torturing myself, what was I thinking? I almost ran between the red trees, expecting to see him any moment now. The soft breeze wouldn’t calm my spirits down; I was burning. And when I found him, he was lying on his side under a tree, his body almost hidden in the thick grass.

I approached him softly and kneeled beside him, my hand touching his arm.

“I was dreaming this,” he said, his eyes closed.

I smiled. He was expecting me.

“I know,” I said.

His arms moved around me and he pulled me closer. Intensity crackled between us. I felt his body against mine and it drove me insane –

“Funny, I didn’t think this school’s standards were so low they’d let anyone teach here.”

Heart racing, Naruto jumped in his seat, knocking the mouse off the desk. It hit the floor and bounced twice. Hastily, he got to his feet, turned around and glared at the intruder.

“What are you doing here?” he asked frigidly, trying to cover up his embarrassment at having been caught snooping and probably doing a shit job of it.

Sai regarded him composedly for a moment, idly glancing behind at the screen. He pushed Naruto to the side and started reading.

“Hey, don’t read that,” Naruto told him.

Sai snorted, his arm brushing against Naruto’s as he leaned over the keyboard, completely disregarding him. Shortly after, Sai straightened up and looked Naruto in the eye.

“I can’t believe they think a guy who writes like that is good enough to teach a class on writing. Maybe this school’s standards are that low after all.”

Naruto blinked at him. “Wh-what?”

Sai shrugged placidly. “There’s nothing special about his writing.”

Naruto stepped back, putting more room between them since there hadn’t been much to begin with. “What the hell are you talking about? Sasuke’s a great writer!”

Astutely, Sai studied his face. “Why are you defending him? He didn’t defend you yesterday.”

Naruto’s eyes widened, taken aback by the question. His gaze shifted nervously to the window, watching a group of three girls as they sat down together on one of the wooden benches.

“So what,” Naruto replied softly. “That has nothing to do with the quality of his writing.”

“Oh?” Sai asked with feigned interest. “So long as the writing isn’t complete shit, you’re willing to say whether it’s good or not?” He smirked.

Naruto glared at him furiously. “What you did yesterday was bullshit, and you know it, you bastard.”

“Why do you say that?” Sai asked, tilting his head. He looked genuinely confused.

“Um, because what you said wasn’t helpful in the slightest to Kiba?”

“It’ll be helpful if it means he never writes again,” Sai replied, sticking a hand inside his jean pocket.

Naruto bit down on his bottom lip before running his tongue over it, inhaling sharply. “You really don’t get it, do you?” He asked in a raised voice, arms at his side as his hands repeatedly clenched and unclenched into shaking fists.

Sai shrugged. “It’s not like I said you suck as much as Kiba does. Besides me, you’re the only other one with at least some talent in that class.”

“What?!” Naruto balked, confused by the backhanded compliment.

Again, Sai shrugged and glanced indifferently out the window. “Although maybe if we had a better teacher, there might be some kind of point to the class other than reading recycled garbage written by brainless idiots with the imaginations of hamsters.”

Naruto squinted at him in blatant confusion. Hamsters? Really?

“Fuck off,” he grumbled as placed a hand at the back of the chair, needing to grab onto something before he did anything stupid. “I don’t even wanna hear your voice anymore. Just stay the hell away from me.”

“I have as much right to be here as you do,” Sai said, flashing Naruto an oddly creepy smile that looked entirely fake.

“If you don’t even like Sasuke or the way he writes, why the hell are you coming to his office hours?” Naruto asked, wondering why he was defending Sasuke when he was supposed to be pissed off at him.

Sai tugged at his left ear distractedly. “That’s easy. I need him for recommendation purposes even if his advice is substandard. I pretend I’m interested and let him spout off since he thinks he knows what he’s talking about.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“Well. Obviously he’s not as great as you thought he was if he’s turned his focus from you on to me. If I’m such a dick like you say, then why did he agree with me?”

Naruto couldn’t argue with that though he wanted to. “I’m sure he had his reasons,” he mumbled.

Sai’s laughter was dry. “You’re so naïve, Naruto. Look at what’s on that screen. Do you really think that’s good? Just because he’s some faggot author doesn’t mean everything needs to be all flowery and sensitive. It makes me sick.”

Without thinking, Naruto grabbed Sai by the front of his sweater and shoved him up against the wall, snarling, “Shut. The fuck. Up. I will bash your face in if you say another word.”

Something like fear flashed in Sai’s eyes though he quickly regained himself and smirked, “What are you? His pet?”

“Shut up, Sai,” Naruto warned again. “You don’t know a goddam thing. About me, Sasuke, Kiba or anyone. You think you’re so fucking great, but if you don’t know shit about people, you know nothing about writing.” He sneered, bringing his face close enough to Sai’s to see the specks of green around the center of his pupils. Sai opened his mouth to speak, but his gaze rose above Naruto’s shoulder.

“What the hell is going on?”

At that voice, Naruto turned slowly, grip on Sai’s sweater loosening. He released him, but roughly, and it was enough force to shove Sai against the wall again.

“Mr. Uzumaki?”

Back to last names again.

Naruto studied the dull gray carpet, unwilling to meet his teacher’s gaze. Sai had pulled away from the wall, smoothing out his ruffled clothing. He stepped aside Naruto and gave him a knowing look before leaving without another word. Suspiciously, Naruto watched his back, waiting until Sai was out the door before finally looking at his teacher. Sasuke looked furious, cheeks slightly red in his anger. He crossed his arms over his long-sleeve shirt and narrowed his eyes.

“Explain,” he barked, and Naruto flinched at his cold tone.

“It was nothing,” Naruto lied, averting his eyes.

“You’re lying. Why are you lying?”

“Like you care,” Naruto said under his breath, and Sasuke snagged him by the front of his open jacket. Naruto stumbled forward, eyes and mouth open in surprise. Their eyes met, and then Naruto tried to wrench himself free of Sasuke’s grip. “Let me go!”

Sasuke let him go but gave Naruto a shove backward first. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me?” he repeated angrily. “What the fuck is wrong with you!? Why the hell didn’t you put Sai in his place yesterday? How could you let him talk to Kiba like that? Do you really believe all that bullshit?” Naruto’s voice grew louder with each question until he was shouting.

Sasuke stared at him like he was an alien and turned around.

“Come with me,” he ordered, and started to walk toward the front of the room.

Naruto stood, and then he began to follow without really meaning to. Out the door and down the hallway to the small office he’d been taken to before. Once inside the room, Sasuke yanked Naruto forward and slammed the door shut behind them.

“Sit down,” Sasuke commanded.

“No.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “Sit down now or I will have you expelled for assaulting another student.”

“What? You can’t--”

“Sit down!” Sasuke snapped. Naruto scowled, hesitating, and then realizing Sasuke was serious, he sat down in the chair while his teacher remained standing. “Now tell me. What the hell was all that about?”

Naruto snorted in bitter amusement. “Oh, so now you want to talk to me?”

“Only if you can start acting your age.”

“My age?” Naruto repeated, chuckling darkly. “I’m your age, you asshole. Maybe you need to start acting your age instead of like some bitter old man.”

“Bitter?” Sasuke smirked, and it made him look cruel. “How ironic. You seem to be the one who’s bitter.”

Shocked, Naruto sucked in a sharp breath. “You asshole.” He got ready to stand again.

Sasuke pointed a finger at him. “Keep your ass in that chair until we’re done talking.”

Mumbling, Naruto slouched into the chair. “Whatever. There’s nothing to talk about.”

Sasuke sat heavily into the leather seat. Agitatedly, he tapped his fingers on top of the desk, gaze directed at the second shelf on the wall to his left. Naruto’s eyes shifted all over the room, until finally his gaze stopped at Sasuke’s fingers and then redirected itself to his teacher’s scowling face.

“What am I supposed to do with you?” Sasuke asked frankly. He took his glasses off and rubbed them against the side of his jeans before putting them back on.

Naruto shrugged, trying to act aloof. “You’re the genius. You figure it out.”

Silence. A very heavy, tense silence that prickled along Naruto’s skin. He could feel the goosebumps on his arms. They were almost painful. He felt so angry it was like something was about ready to jump out from inside. Except his anger was directed in so many different directions, he didn’t even know where to begin. The tapping of fingers on the desk halted for 3, 4, 5 seconds and then began again.

“What is it you want?” Sasuke asked, and Naruto looked him directly in the eyes.

“I don’t want anything,” Naruto replied obstinately. “What do you want?”

Sasuke studied him in earnest. The lines around his teacher’s mouth seemed more profound than usual, and deep down somewhere, Naruto felt a glimmer of guilt for causing Sasuke so much trouble. It made him feel like a spoiled brat, throwing a tantrum because he hadn’t gotten what he wanted. Even if he really didn’t even know what he wanted. He just knew he wasn’t getting it.

“I don’t like to play games,” Sasuke said.

“Really?” Naruto flashed an empty grin. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure you went out of your way to ignore me for a week! Real mature. And now I should be taking advice from you on how to act,” he used his hands to make the quote marks, “my age?”

Sasuke reclined into the chair and scowled. He folded his arms over his chest. “You don’t leave me much of a choice here.”

“What choice?” Naruto shot back, moving forward in his chair so that his palms were flat on the desk. “You let some asshole talk that way in your class, and you don’t feel the slightest bit of shame for it?”

Sasuke stared at him strangely, his brow furrowing deeply. “Is that what you’re mad about?”

“Of course it is!” Naruto slammed his fist down, shaking a nearby container of pencils and a framed photo.

Sasuke appeared to calm somewhat, and the change in demeanor made Naruto suspicious. He eyed his teacher warily.

“Why do you think he’s wrong?” Sasuke asked quietly and sincerely. He was looking at his fingers and then abruptly shifted his dark eyes to Naruto’s face, searching.

Naruto’s expression became one of confusion. “Do you think he’s right?”

“Please.” Sasuke rubbed at his temple. “Don’t avoid the question. Just answer it.”

Naruto shrugged. “Honestly? Because it makes no sense. I don’t give a crap how good he thinks he is--”

“You know he’s been published, correct?” Sasuke suddenly asked.

Naruto frowned. “Well, no… But still--”

“But still what, Naruto?” Sasuke asked him tiredly.

For the first time in his self-righteous tirade, Naruto kept silent for a moment, studying his teacher’s face. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a little disheveled, even as Sasuke ran a hand through his long bangs to comb them out. He’d completely forgotten how his teacher’s behavior yesterday seemed uncharacteristic.

“Why were you in a bad mood yesterday?” Naruto asked, pressing the tips of his index and middle finger to his lips.

Sasuke stared at him for a long while. He shook his head. “Continue on with what you were saying about Sai.”

Naruto scowled and squinted at his teacher distrustfully. He folded his arms across his chest and looked to his left, at a tall metal bookshelf where a lot of the books weren’t upright, instead, they were slumped over to the side, leaning against one another for support.

“Uh…,” he spoke quietly, a sense of calm coming over him. Maybe because Sasuke seemed so… stressed? “I guess I take writing kinda personally, y’know? I write what I feel. I write because I wanna share those feelings and connect with people who have similar feelings?” He looked across the desk and smiled softly at Sasuke. “And to hear someone like Sai spout off like that, acting like somehow his abilities are Divine or whatever, it’s stupid. I don’t see the point in writing at all if you only live to make other people feel like shit. What is good anyway?”

Sasuke slowly smirked. “It’s all subjective. What’s considered good to one person might not meet the standards of the next person. It varies in interest, in taste.”

“Then maybe I think good writing is done by a good author.”

Sasuke shifted in the chair and placed an elbow on the edge of the desk. “What makes a good author?”

“I used to think you were,” Naruto grumbled.

The comment didn’t faze Sasuke. “But you don’t think that anymore?”

“I don’t know,” Naruto conceded and rubbed the back of his head, then tugged at the blond hairs tickling the nape of his neck. “I guess I thought you were something that you’re not. I’m not sure.”

“You said you liked my writing before, but now that you think I’m not a ‘good’ person, that my writing… lacks substance?”

“Yeah, I guess. It’s something like that,” Naruto replied and rubbed at his chest, looking pained. “But… I just don’t think you’re a bad person, Sasuke. Even after yesterday. Am I wrong?”

Sasuke sighed deeply. “You are naïve, you do realize this?”

Naruto nodded, answering somewhat dejectedly, “I know.”

“But that’s part of what makes your writing charming for lack of better words. Your enthusiasm, your idealistic tendencies, your vulnerability. This is what makes an impact on your readers. Writers like Sai may become popular. They may get published. There’s no point in comparing yourself to him. I shouldn’t have to tell you these things as it’s common sense…” Sasuke paused and removed his glasses, placing them on the desk. “You can’t fight every injustice in the world no matter how badly you want to.”

“Are you calling me a martyr?” Naruto asked blithely, chuckling for the first time at the idea.

Sasuke smiled, but it was a sad smile. “Being a martyr is nothing to boast about. It’ll be a lonely road ahead of you if that’s the route you take.”

“Do you know this from personal experience?” Naruto asked curiously, avoiding the bitter, vindictive way with which he could have asked.

“I know enough,” Sasuke answered him.

“Don’t you ever want to open up to anyone?” Naruto bit the side of his lip and let his eyes wander across Sasuke’s face, studying the morose expression he found there.

“I do. I open up the same way you do.”

“Through your writing.” Naruto nodded. They looked at each other for a while in silent understanding. “Sometimes I don’t…”

Sasuke tilted his head to the side. “Don’t what?”

“I don’t want you to feel alone though. Like ever… I just don’t.”

“Is this another one of your crusades?” Sasuke asked, and the one-sided grin kept Naruto from taking offense.

“Maybe so…”

“Why would you go so far for me, Naruto?” Sasuke asked and leaned both elbows on the desk, bringing the chair in closer.

Naruto thought about it a few seconds. “Because I hate you? I don’t know. Because I admire you? Because I want to fight against things that people say can’t be fought against? Because I want to believe you’re good when sometimes you act like an asshole.”

Sasuke laughed sorrowfully. “You’re only setting yourself up for disappointment. You think too much of me.”

“I don’t.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “You know very little about me.”

“I know enough,” Naruto murmured, returning his teacher’s earlier words. “I could know more if you’d let me.”

“More?” Sasuke repeated. “What more do you need to know?”

“Whatever you’ll let me. What’s so wrong with that? I admire you. I respect your work, and I know you’re a good person even if you don’t show it. Why can’t I support you like that?” Naruto besieged, eyes shifting imploringly, desperate for his teacher to understand.

“No.”

Fed up, Naruto stood. “What do you mean ‘no’? If this is about how at your apartment I tried to--”

“It’s not about that,” Sasuke interrupted, rubbing at his forehead again. He picked his glasses up off he desk and slid them on. The overhead light flashed in his lenses.

“It’s not?” Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Then what is it about?”

“I don’t know what that was about. Why you tried to do what you did, but I’d rather pretend like it never happened.”

“So it has been bothering you! Was that really the reason you ignored me for so long?” He placed his hands on the desk and leaned over, staring down into Sasuke’s face.

His teacher said nothing.

Naruto sighed and turned around, facing the door. “Out of all the ways I thought you’d handle it, you know, I never thought you would do that. I felt like such shit after I did that. I don’t even know why I did it in the first place other than…” he paused, realizing this was the first time he’d really thought about why he’d done what he’d done. He turned back and looked to his teacher pleadingly. “I’m… drawn to you, I guess. It’s embarrassing as hell to admit, but I--”

“Naruto,” Sasuke said in something not quite a warning tone but close. “This is getting into dangerous territory. If we’ve settled the matter of Sai, then there’s nothing further to discuss.”

Naruto paused. “So that’s it then, huh?”

“That’s it.”

“Like hell it is,” Naruto shouted, moving closer.

“Keep your voice down, idiot. We’re not the only ones in this building,” Sasuke chided him, his eyes alert and honed in on Naruto as if afraid he was going to start breaking things soon.

“I do not buy for a second that all your bullshit has to do with the fact that you’re my teacher and I’m your student. I mean the semester is more than half way over for fuck’s sake.”

“Half way over doesn’t make it over, and no matter what you say, there’s no reason for me to return your feelings,” Sasuke replied icily, mouth becoming a rigid line.

“My feelings?” Naruto repeated indignantly. “I’m not even talking about my feelings!”

Sasuke sighed in irritation. “Then what are you talking about.”

“I don’t know!” Naruto said and threw his hands up in the air, angry. “I don’t fucking know. I don’t wanna think that the only reason I tried to kiss you was because I knew you were gay--”

Naruto stopped talking. Shit. He looked at Sasuke, horrified, and found no reaction until his teacher slowly closed his eyes.

“Listen, Sasuke. That’s not why I--”

Sasuke stood up from the chair. Naruto watched with a tiny level of trepidation as his teacher rounded the desk and approached him.

“You hypocrite,” Sasuke snarled. “All that self-righteous, moralistic bullshit. How long have you known? Always? Are you even gay, Naruto?”

Naruto started to back up, and Sasuke followed him. He didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone look that furious before, and seeing his teacher that way was incredibly frightening to behold. But in all situations where he felt cornered, Naruto became stubborn. “What does it matter if I am or not? If I like you because of who you are, who gives a shit whether I’m straight or gay.”

Sasuke’s expression became even more dark and terrifying. “You should get the hell out of my sight before I really lose my cool.”

Naruto’s eyes widened as he was finally backed up against the door. Sasuke was close. Closer than that night when they were both on the couch. Sasuke braced an arm against the door, essentially trapping Naruto between his body and the only exit out of the room in case things should turn violent.

“You think things are all black and white don’t you?” Sasuke leaned in further, sneering. “That everything is good or bad without any shades of gray? That you can do what you want because you feel like it without respecting anyone else’s boundaries? If it doesn’t agree with your moral, idealistic code, it’s incorrect? What do you know, Naruto. What the fuck do you know about life that you can make those judgments, huh? Tell me.”

Naruto felt himself trembling, but for several different reasons. He tried to keep calm, tried to keep everything he was feeling from showing on his face. He felt like such a dick… Like he had that night, and here he was doing it all over again. Taking advantage of the one person he claimed to care about and respect.

“Sasuke, I--”

He didn’t even know what he would’ve said had he been able to finish his sentence, but the next thing he knew, the office door opened with a rough push, and he tumbled forward. His arm reached out, grabbing the first thing it could, which happened to be Sasuke’s shirt. Both of them went down together, Sasuke hitting the floor hard and then Naruto’s weight crashing on top of him. Naruto’s head felt like it knocked against Sasuke’s chin. Their limbs were tangled up and Sasuke’d barely missed hitting his head against the chair. Naruto was too dazed to even attempt to get up, but as soon as he could open his eyes and registered what’d happened, his gaze flitted nervously over Sasuke.

“You okay?” he asked on reflex, searching his teacher for any obvious injuries. He leaned up on his elbows and rubbed his thumb across Sasuke’s temple, trying to make sure there was no blood.

Sasuke groggily blinked up at him.

“Well what have we here? Fraternizing with the student body?”

Naruto tensed on top of Sasuke and swung his head around. “You!”

“Naruto,” Kakashi greeted, his eyes twinkling as his profile was outlined by the thready light in the hallway. “Good to see you again. I’m sorry. Am I interrupting anything?”

Sasuke sighed and rested his head down on the floor again, rubbing at it. Panicked, Naruto glanced back and forth between the two.

“I-It’s not what you think!” Naruto cried frantically and pushed off of his teacher.

Sasuke pulled himself up to sit. “What are you doing here?” he asked in a raspy voice.

“This is my office isn’t it?” Kakashi answered cheerily. “Exactly what were you trying to get away with? Now really, Sasuke. I’m disappointed in you. I may have to write you up.”

Naruto was definitely on his feet at that. “Oh, no, no,” he said, his eyes wild as he pleaded with Kakashi. “It’s all my fault. I was being an asshole and yelling at him, and then he got pissed and was about to kill me, so I--”

“Really now?” Kakashi tilted his head and rubbed his chin. He glanced at Sasuke, who was just now getting to his feet. “What an interesting kink.”

Naruto growled. “Goddammit!”

“Alright, well, uh, Sasuke, you and I can have a talk later,” Kakashi said, and before Naruto could say any more, the door slammed shut again, and he was left alone with his teacher. Was it just him or had an immense draft just been unleashed into the tiny office? Naruto could hear every heavy thump of his heart. His body shook. His elbow ached from where he’d slammed it against the floor. “Shit, shit, shit…” He kept repeating it like a mantra. He slowly turned around and found Sasuke staring at him with little expression.

“I am so sorry, Sasuke, please. I didn’t want to get you in trouble,” he rambled, bringing both hands to his head as he pulled at his hair. “Shit, shit, shit,” he repeated again. “Fucking shit! What if I get you in trouble? What if you get fired because of me?” He looked to Sasuke distraughtly, unable to keep from panicking. “I don’t even know what I’ll do if I get you in trouble. Or fired. Shit, Sasuke. Say something!”

“Mr. Uzumaki…” Sasuke said, his eyebrow raised. He looked concerned, but Naruto wasn’t in the right state of mind to notice.

“Fuck. If you get fired because of me? What if that messes up your career and you can’t write anymore? I feel like such shit. I’ll just tell them I started it? I swear. I’ll tell them I assaulted you or something, and I’ll get expelled, but there won’t be an issue. I won’t let them fire you.”

“Naruto.”

But Naruto was already busy pacing back and forth. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What did I do? Shit, God. You’re right. I’m such a selfish idiot. I’m gonna kill myself if you’re never able to write again because of me--”

“Naruto!” Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s arm, and Naruto’s first reaction was to shake it off, but his teacher held onto him tightly. Eventually, Sasuke was able to get Naruto to look at him. Naruto’s eyes were wild and afraid, his hands trembling. His teacher’s hand gripped his wrist, squeezing in a reassuring manner.

“I’m so sorry…” Naruto whimpered and lowered his head. A cool hand pressed against his warm cheek, and as Naruto began to look up, his mouth was met by his teacher’s. Warm and soft as they kissed. Naruto unsure, arms limply at his sides when Sasuke let his wrist go to run a hand through his student’s hair. Then the hand fell to the back of Naruto’s neck, and his teacher pulled him closer.

When they parted, Naruto tried to follow his teacher’s mouth. He licked his lips, and as he opened his eyes, his vision blurry, Sasuke had a stricken expression on his face. Naruto’s face must have held a similar look of surprise. As Sasuke pushed him away, Naruto’s hand fell from his teacher’s waist.

The last thing Naruto saw of Sasuke was his back as his teacher opened the office door and shut it with a resounding slam that echoed down the hallway.

Left alone, Naruto could only stare vacantly at the empty desk, bringing his fingers to his lips, surprised at how he wished… it would’ve gone on longer.

TBC

A/N: I'd really like to thank Nao for agreeing to a favor I asked of her. When I wanted to incorporate some of this Sasuke's writing into the story, I thought of Nao, and she was nice enough to oblige me. I really loved what she wrote for him, too, and now, my friend, a piece of you is forever trapped inside one of my stories. Love you.