Blue eyes, lighter than my dark blue ones glanced at mine. His blond hair contrasted the dark colour of my own. We were perfect opposites, as far as I could tell, but there was no mistake, I was definitely attracted to Uzumaki Naruto. My silent fascination with they boy started on the first day of school. Naruto was loud and boisterous and to be frank, annoying. Because of that, the guy had loads of friends quite opposite of me. Unfortunately, my cool and aloof demeanor attracted the attention of needless girls who annoy me more than him with their stupid coos and stuff like that. I doesn't help that I was a looker at the young age of 7.

Naruto was the only one who really try to communicate with me, much to my annoyance of his persistent whining. At least he didn't try to suck it up with me. He even offered me the ramen his grandfather would bring to him everyday at lunch. As far as I know, he never shared the savoury noodles with anyone...ever? Not even Chouji, unless he'd swap lunches with the only other over-food lover in the class. The only time he wasn't loud was during his parents death anniversary. That was the only time he'd be moody and sleep in class, wiping away the tears that would fall every once in a while.

Everyone would try to cheer him up, but it was this time where he'd be untouchable.

When we were 10, his grandfather called me and asked if he'd been to my place. Well, he assumed that because we were close in a way that we had countless sleepovers, since he insist on it. Well, it was hard to say no to those bright blue eyes of his, especially when he pleads during the weeks leading to his parents death. It was starting to get dark and a storm was blowing in when I finally found him crying under the hollow log at the playground. We ended up staying there for a good portion of the night, a typhoon was wreaking havoc outside and he wouldn't let go of me. All I could do as a 10 year old kid was just hug him and wipe his snot on my tee.

Both of us ended up with fevers the next day because eventually, we ran back in the rain, clinging to each other.

When we were 13, I had to leave Konoha because my grandparents died and they had asked in their will that my uncle Obito to take care of me. Uncle Obito, or known by his pen name of Tobi when he'd writing angry, hard-boiled stories about strong female leads, lives in Sabaku, which like a baseball pitcher throw away from Konoha. I disliked it, even more so did Naruto when I told him about it. He asked if i could just come and live with his grandfather and him. I course I said no, not because I disliked him ( I'm fascinated remember) but because it would cause him and good old Hiruzen-ossan trouble. Besides, no way was I going to stay in the same house with a boy I liked.

There was too many possibilities, especially to the young, teenage mind of mine.

On my last day at Konoha, we stayed on the roof until the sun started to set. It was nearing autumn, so it wasn't too hot nor too cold to do that. Melancholic, the scene was as we reminisced about the adventures and mis-adventures we had along the years being friends. For once in my life, I actually felt sad. Uneasy. Why did we have to part? Why couldn't this have been someone else? Why me? The bell chimed 6, it was time for me to go. I remembered how slowly we walked back, stopping at every little thing, trying to delay the inevitable. We reached my house...former, actually. We exchanged a goodbye, trying to hide the tears threatening to fall. Naruto called my name as I reached the door.

I turned. He kissed me and left his tears sliding down my face. That night was the first time I cried in years.

I'm not exactly the kind of person who likes to dwell in the past, but that really left a scar in me. I finally realised that I was all alone, all along. I never felt it before because of the annoying way Naruto would pop out of everywhere and greet me. "Now he's no longer by my side" echoed in my head on that long train ride to Sabaku. " I miss him" was the only other thought. Sabaku village is a small place that's main profit would be from the paddy fields around it. There were only a handful of kids, each of them friends since birth. They were quite different than I expected, they had a sense of privacy. Much different than the kids in the city town I lived in.

Uncle Obito said he picked it because it was calm. After nearly 4 years of staying in it, I got used to, rather bored of the tranquility. There's nothing much to do here, other than go to school and help Uncle Obito with the field work when he's not writing. Well, at least all the heavy lifting of farm work toned my body. Then again, you could say that there was nothing there to look at...but the sky. Calming and endless, just like Naruto's eyes. I had a dream about him, we were 13 again. The same scene again, my last day at Konoha. For some reason, I couldn't go back to sleep after waking up It's 2 in the morning and I'm wide awake. Better than sitting around and doing nothing, I decided to go out for a run. The cool air washes over my clothed chest and brushed the side bangs off my face.

I liked running at this time, when it's all quiet and you feel like...there's nothing there to worry about.

Making a right turn, I nearly crashed into Gaara. He's this quiet kid, even by Sabaku standards. The son of the principal of our high school. Maroon coloured hair, olive green eyes. Everything about the kid was gloomy and lonely. He tattooed the kanji of 'love' on his forehead when we were 15, for some reason. But he was a nice guy to talk to, a really good listener. Maybe that's why he's so lonely. People tell him all of their problems but he has no one to tell his to. " Sorry, I didn't see you" he said, sitting on the rail nearby

"What are you doing out so late? It's nearly 3"

" My siblings are having a party and it's too noisy there" he said simply, leaning back and looking at me " What are you doing out?"

" A run? I couldn't sleep...want me to stay with you?"

"If it doesn't trouble you"

I couldn't help but notice the little bruised he's got on his arm, stark against pale skin, like someone gripped him too hard. There was talk among the teachers on how hard the principal was on his youngest, who looked so much like his wife. Of course, as his friend I tried to cheer him up a little, I felt obliged. I'm weak for people who are too kind to deserve the things they receive We talked about what we wanted to do when we got old enough to leave.

He said he wanted to sing and study to be a proper artist. I said I just wanted to get out of her and asked him to sing a song he wrote. He said that he hasn't actually started writing, but he lied one song above the rest. Electric Blue, by the Cranberries. Gaara covered it perfectly, even without an instrument, hitting each of the notes that Dolores O'Riordan could sing, possessing the same haunting quality she had. I'm impressed, the kid can sing, even if the song was mostly " Oooh, Aaah"..and stuff like that... I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS IT, period. He blushed and asked how was it.. I said that I'd be one of those groupies who'd forever follow the band.

I walked him home to his...'finally-dying-down-party' house. His two elder siblings were still going hard, neck against neck in Dance Dance Revolution. The Principal must be loaded, because they had the arcade machine version of it installed in their living room. I saw Gaara facepalm and shake his head a little while I was basking in the awesomeness of Temari and Kankuro, hitting perfect combos. Seriously, one does not just play Dance Dance Revolution. Like a boss.

Uncle Obito's eating breakfast as the clock chimed 6. He nods, asking " And where has my little nephew came back from this early in the morning? Some dame's bed?"

" Ew. No, I was haing out with Gaara after my twilight run. Seriously Uncle Obito, all the girls hear are pretty decent folk and for good measure, I already have someone in mind? Well, if that's all, I'm going back to sleep"

" It's that blond boy from your old town, isn't it?" he asked, sharp as a tack. Well, what do you expect from a writer?

" None of your business, dear uncle. None"

" You know, you'd have a lot more fun if you weren't always this grim" he shouted from the stairs

" I KNOW" I shouted back, ready to drop inot my bed and sleep for the rest of my life. I didn't shower, so what? I'll keep away the pervs who prey on sleeping teenagers. As usual, I only sleep for 3 hours before my body forces me to wake up again and help Uncle Obito with the farm work ...who am I kidding? I'm actually so used to doing these things that it feels weird not to. It's a lazy weekend and I'm doing anything but lazing around. Uncle Obito and me always go out to sell the produce we've got at the weekly night market. Well, it's only 5 but you know, it takes a while to set up the stall. And we don't always sell stuff, mostly we barter it with whoever who comes.

So yeah, money isn't really needed here. I guess it's one of the cooler things about this town.

" Here you go!" Uncle Obito slammed a few...pieces of money...playfully. " Enjoy yourself and don't come back too late, okay?"

I recovered from having hard cash pushed onto my chest and went on my way. There wasn't exactly much to see, it was just your average night market here. I brought some hot takoyaki and went wandering, just around the place. Gaara waved at me from a distance and I waved back. His two elder siblings flanked him left and right, they were enjoying family time. I wondered to the edge of the market, the part near the forest. Fireflies were playing around in the hollow, a nice sight to see.

" Sasuke?"

I spun around, nearly dropping the last of my warm takoyaki. Bright blue eyes, as blue as the afternoon sky, stared at me in the darkness. Blond hair, arranged in messy spikes and a smile greeted me. I couldn't help but gape and ask " Naruto?" in a voice that wasn't my own. He nodded, we both ran at each other and proceeded to squash the breath out of the other, kept on whispering the other's name. If I was in a normal state, and he wasn't my best friend, I'd chide myself for acting like a chick. The circumstances are different now, that he's here, in my life after nearly 4 lonely years. He was a little shorter that me, just a few inches. He was also now a lot more skinnier too.

As we were busy fussing with each other, his stomach growled. We giggled like we were children again, falling on our asses because we couldn't stop laughing. " How are you?" I asked, letting him finish the rest of my takoyaki, buying another delicious serving for him. He ate with gusto, he always does.

" I'm fine. I'm still Konoha's favourite, no doubt. Sakura and the girls still miss you deeply " I groaned at this. When can they get over that... obsession?! " Neji's still sulking because the only other genius moved and left him to be a smart ass alone, Raku-san still gives me free ramen-" I listened to him talk about our old town, 4 years of missing history told in a flash. " What about you?" he finally asked. I told him about life here, while I noticed how he'd limp and flinch as we came down the stairs

" What happened to you? Did someone beat you up?"

He looked alarmed and quickly denied it. I let it slide because I learnt that strong and fun people could actually be the most fragile of us all. Naruto was one of these people. I asked if he came with his grandfather and he said " Nah, gramps is getting too old to move around a lot. Besides, getting here too a 4 hour train ride" I knew something was us. He probably was shy and didn't want everyone to hear his problems. That's fine, I'd like to keep my secrets hidden from people too. Uncle Obito welcomed him and fed the boy with healthy vegetables fresh from our farm, ranch...whatever. He looked quite happy to find another kid to spoil.

Naruto took quite a while to finish his bath, I got worried.

Knocking on the door, there was no answer so I opened the door. He was actually sleeping in the ofuru, can you believe that? He must have been pretty tuckered out to actually fall asleep in the ofuru. Yes, I am not going to let him live this I came closer to wake him up, I saw the wide expense of bruises on his body. They were splattered around his chest, his shoulders, down his upper arm. I couldn't help but compare him to Gaara, who was facing pseudo-abuse from his dad. Naruto's in the same shit, isn't he? I wanted to wake him up, make him tell me what happened, but he was so...peaceful when sleeping like that. I didn't want to disturb him.

I made it a little shorter than the original script that I wrote and showed to Usagi-chan ( AKA taerissa) because I was getting lazy to type it. Milky96 can do that to you XDD Gods, thank you so much for introducing me to the site ! And the spelling errors for the TigerXBunny one...weren't they mostly American-Britsh spelling errors? FF is in American English. Or maybe I could just be numbskull who can't spell properly XDD

So, how'd it go for you? Please comment~ ( this goes for everyone, not only my dear fudanshi friend)