Naruto sat across from me; playing with his food as usual. This time his victim was his green beans and noodles. Sakura had made them, but her new noodle device went wrong and half of the noodles were bendy by the end of it all. So to salvage the taste, she slathered cheese on it: gross, thick-pasted cheese.

"Stop playing, dobe," I muttered around a mouthful of noodles. At the time, Sakura always came over to watch us and made meals; but she had a medical class and that's how everything happened with the noodles. She rushed and ended with silly things to try to put together. How graceless.

"Shut up," he said defiantly, tearing the peas out and collecting them upon his plate. He picked up another piece and chomped down on it. He shuddered.

"You know," I said matter-of-factly, "if you eat them all together, it tastes better."

"How so?'

"The way you do it, it's like slow torture." He stared down at his plate in contemplation. I went back to unsuspectingly chocking on my noodles and staring out the window in boredom. I looked back to see the little idiot fork a mouthful inside his mouth at once. Baka.

"Gross," he said. I rolled my eyes at the blonde.

"They aren't that bad," I responded. Compared to the noodles, they were just a small slice of heaven on this plate. Other than the wonderful shrimp. That was a definite weak-point for me: Sakura's amazing stir-fry shrimp. I was saving them for last to cover everything else up.

"Ugh, I can't eat anymore," he muttered. He transferred to the couch and grabbed a remote, but not for the television. I cocked my head to the side in fascination, until I realized it was for a stupid remote control car.

"You are so ignorant sometimes, you know that?" I growled. He now was side-view from me, I staring at his profile.

"New nar no nignorant nana blah." He said childishly, turning on the remote. There wasn't enough room to play with it, so he just went back and forth, forcing the wheels to squelch nosily on the carpet.

"Ugh! How the hell did I get stuck with you?"

"Shit happens." He responded with a shrug. "I don't want to be here either."

"Then why are you?" I growled. "Go defenestrate yourself."

"Why would I," he said with a slyly, "when we're having so much fun?" he laughed then, his azure eyes rolling back and his warm cheeks flushing light pink. "Dumb-ass."

I stared at him irritably, grasping my fork. "Gods I hate you."

"Really, now." He said sarcastically. "As if."

"What do you mean, dobe?" I spat through my teeth. His stupidity was getting to the best of me, and he knew it. Stay in control; you're better than this to retaliate… one, two, three… He looked at me in speculation, with a glint of amusement.

"I know you dream about me."

I stopped shaking. All the tension in my grip vanished, my arm going limp. I felt the raging heat vanish from within me, leaving me cold, except for my face. Blood pulsed to my cheeks, burning my skin. I swiftly looked away before my composure was forsaken. Too late.

"I heard you a few nights ago, teme. You were… whimpering? About something… but then…" he fell silent, stopping his pestering car. "You said my name. A few times, actually. Like, 'Naruto please…'" He shifted on the couch, probably looking at me now.

"What was it about, Sasuke?" I felt his intensified stare upon my skin, making my face burn brighter.

I remained silent. I didn't know myself, so what could I say?

"Sasuke."

I pressed my lips together, shut my eyes, and collected myself. One, two, three, four, five, six…

"Teme Sasuke. Open your eyes." Peeking through black lashes, I dared a glance, and regretted it. Cerulean ovals gleamed with speculation, not even five inches from my face.

The sudden disclosure demoralized me, I pushing away from him. The chair I sat in toppled over banging my head against the floor. The room spun… my hearing was hollow… the light was too intense…

An eruption of laughter streamed from Naruto as he sat upon the tabletop. His face glowed with his being, filled with radiant splendor and demeanor. He was an act of innocence in that one moment, corrupted by a conniving weasel the next.

"I made that whole story up!" he chocked, tears streaming down his tanned cheeks. "You should've seen the look on your face!"

My embarrassment was sparked and fueled my upsurge of resentment toward his "joke". It pissed me off; to the point I couldn't hear or see anything anymore. I picked myself up, trying to salvage what little dignity I had left, but tripped on the jutting leg of the chair. Naruto howled with laughter, almost falling off the table. I turned toward him, my eyes like daggers.

"Naruto." I snarled through clenched teeth. My hostility grew, out of proportion, until I couldn't take it. I turned toward the balcony, striding toward an exit. "How could you…?" I whispered.

I slammed the glass door shut and jumped on the roof in one swift movement. I stood there, shaking with humiliation and anger and rage and… rejection? The tendrils slowed as I let that sink in. I was… rejected? I raised my hand to my face to be surprised by a glistening droplet.

"You bastard." I muttered. A ninja cannot cry. Never. It's against the code to show attachment to those who can be lost, and he knew that. But that feeling…

"Must be raining." I whispered. "I should probably go back inside…"

So he sealed his lips, closed his eyes and counted. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…

Nine, ten.

"Ready or not, here I come."