Summary: All they knew was that something had changed, but nobody wanted to question him. There were only a few people that had even remotely noticed anything, but none of them seemed to want to really get involved. Until Sasuke decided to put an end to Naruto's odd behavior once and for all.

Warning: Self-harm. Possible light SasuNaru in future. Likely slight ooc. (Been a while since I've messed with the Naruto fandom, so I don't have a good memory of the Naruto characters' personalities.) Yeah, I know this first chapter is short, but it's all I could write at the moment.

I don't own Naruto.

All they knew was that something had changed, but nobody wanted to question him.

Several people had noticed the bandages beneath his sleeves as well as how he began to flinch and jump instinctively if somebody got to close to him, but dismissed it as training accidents simply because he said they were.

People had noticed that he hadn't been eating as much lately, even though he said he had already eaten.

They also noticed that his smile didn't seem to meet his eyes.

The few who had noticed didn't press him to answer because they felt he, of all people, would be fine as he always was.

But, of course, that was flat out self-deception. The truth was they didn't want to get too involved with something they felt wasn't their business.

So they waited, hoping he would be fine after having a little time to think. However, things only got worse.

If not for a mission, he would separate himself from others for long periods of time and had become extremely reclusive, it seemed.

He began to turn down any offers to go out for ramen, and every once in a while, somebody would notice a look of irritability in his eyes.

There were only a few people that had even remotely noticed anything, but none of them seemed to want to really get involved.

Until Sasuke decided to put an end to Naruto's odd behavior once and for all.

He felt an unknown irritation rising within him, over time. And seeing his smile, obviously fake as hell, just pissed him off. Though he too had been in a bad mood as well lately, so it was to be expected.

"Naruto." Sasuke called his partner's name, mostly ignoring Sakura's complaints about Kakashi's lateness.

"What do you want, teme?" Naruto asked.

"What's up with you? You've been tenser than ever lately." Sasuke wanted an explanation. This caught Sakura's attention.

"Hah, any sane person would be tense if they had to look at your grouchy face every day." Naruto smirked, obviously trying to hide something.

Sasuke suddenly grabbed Naruto by his collar, glaring at him. "Don't mess with me, dobe. I'm not stupid enough to fall for your games. What are you hiding from us?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything. And even if I was, it's none of your business, bastard."

"It's my business if it affects the team, dumbass." Sasuke growled. Naruto couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Oh, suddenly you see us as a 'team'? Last I checked, you liked doing everything by yourself! So why are we suddenly a 'team' now, huh?!" he retorted, clinching his fists.

"Don't you dare dodge my question."

"Then don't dodge mine!"

"Cut it out, both of you!" Sakura suddenly shouted, her voice silencing both of them. Naruto and Sasuke couldn't help but feel surprised that she'd even partially directed a scolding at Sasuke. "Look, I don't know what's going on with either of you lately, but antagonizing each other isn't going to accomplish anything! Can't you see that you're just making things worse?! I just want to go back to the way things were before... Can't we do that...?"

At hearing that, neither Naruto nor Sasuke could bring themselves to say anything.

If only it was that simple, she sighed.

- End of Chapter -

A/N: Please review?

I'll try to update more when I can, but I tend to be on a very tight schedule.