A/N: This day happened in southern California on February 3, 2009.

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not Mine

Steps

Uchiha Sasuke was quiet.

He never raised his hand or spoke in class unless spoken to.

He was smart. That is... when he wanted to be.

Grades didn't matter that much.

To him, school was overrated.

I'm tired.

I forgot my coffee.

This class is boring.

Sasuke's thoughts clouded his brain as he attempted to listen to the daily lecture.

I don't even have friends next to me.

Naruto isn't in any of my classes this year... or last year for that matter.

How annoying.

Sasuke's eyes began to droop, but a horrible sound that resembled a gigantic angry robot caused him to wake up and raise from his seat.

The period was over, that was just the 'bell'.

Onyx eyes stared at the ground watching their own feet take one step after the other.

The same thing every day. The same routine. Same situations. Same stupid crap. Every step is a step closer to the same step tomorrow.

Familiar voices stopped his mental rant.

He looked up to see Naruto and Sora walking side by side around twenty feet ahead of him.

They were conversing happily about an unknown subject.

Sora and Naruto had been friends since they were young. Sasuke had only known Naruto for two years now. He felt himself get jealous when they would speak of childhood memories. He wished he had

lifelong friends too, then again, he didn't because if he did then his heart would not be as strong as it is now. He had experience with pain. That made him strong. He still had to wonder what it would be like, however.

You know so much more about him Sora. How do you understand him so well?

Sasuke was not angry at or envious of Sora; he just wanted to know how to be a better friend. Naruto was so easy to befriend and so easily satisfied, it was hard to know what really made him happy.

~*~

Naruto walked out of the bathroom for the fourth time that day.

Damn water goes straight through me

He bent over to pick up his ridiculously heavy backpack and when he rose he met a pretty face with a

tired expression. Naruto smiled.

"Hey Sasuke!" Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed at Naruto's loud voice.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing... uh.. I'll see you at lunch." Sasuke ran his hand through Naruto's hair before leaving to his next period. Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke's excessively passive behavior.

Nothing, huh. He always says that. Rrr. He doesn't ever tell me stuff. I guess it would be a little weird to talk about problems in front of the bathroom though.

Hey there's Sora.

Within seconds Naruto forgot about that instance and was fully enthralled with talking to Sora about

last night's Office episode.

~*~

Sasuke massaged his temples while staring at his Honers Trigonometry Calculus homework. It wasn't that hard, he was just having trouble concentrating. It was always hard to concentrate during fourth period, the period right before lunch.

I must be thinking too much.

He was lost in his thoughts again for what seemed the millionth time that day.

Why the hell is Naruto so happy all the time? It's unnatural. Normal people feel angsty every once in a while, right? Then again... what's normal? Too.... many.... questions....

"Hey, Sasuke-Sempai." The voice was recognized as his friend Jenny, a Junior at his school.

"Are you feeling as overwhelmed as I am today?" Sasuke nodded his head as he looked over at his friend. Yeah, she was his friend. He wasn't horribly close to her, they just talked in their math class because it was always better to have a friend in a tough class. Sasuke thought of her as pretty cool compared to the usual girls that would 'follow' him. She wasn't like that. She was just a down-to-earth person.

"Did you drink coffee this morning?" She questioned, already knowing the answer.

"I forgot. I made it and everything and I forgot." She giggled at his depression from just skipping a cup of coffee. He blushed ever so slightly.

"Sasuke, you need to drink your drugs. They're good for you." She was attempting to sound like a parent telling her child what to do.

"Heh, I know." A smile appeared on his face for the first time.

"So, anyway, what did you get for number six?"

"Oh, that ones actually easy, they just worded it funny."

~*~

Sasuke went through lunch without talking much, just listening to his friends conversations. Today was mostly about crazy stunts that they had pulled in this past. For instance, Sora breaking a trampoline by only jumping on it, or Naruto jumping off a boat when he was four. Gaara didn't really do crazy stuff like that. There would be no risk for obvious reasons and he just wasn't that crazy of a person like Sora and Naruto.

Now it was almost the end of the day and Sasuke was trying to listen to the video that they were watching in Economics class.

Sasuke watched the clock intently.

2:42... Three minutes.

For some reason his lack of caffeine effected him most at the end of the day. His eyes felt heavy and hot. He wanted desperately to keep them closed every time he blinked, but he didn't want to fall asleep in class more.

Finally that same wretched school bell rang as if and angry old man was saying 'GYIT THE HEKK OFFA MAH LAWN YOU STYOOPED KIDS!'

Sasuke immediately put his headphones on and went to sit outside his classroom to wait for his friends.

Usually, on Tuesdays (and the rest of the week), he, Naruto, Gaara and Sora would all go to Sora's house to hang out. His dad and step mom had a pretty nice house and lots of... fun things... there.

Just then Kiba walked up with the intent to annoy. And of course he stood on the tips of Sasuke's shoes.

Sasuke stared and Kiba's feet for a couple of seconds before pushing upward causing Kiba to stumble backward.

"Jerk!!" Kiba nearly yelled in a jocular fashion.

Sasuke just looked at him, smirk plastered on his face. Kiba laughed and then quickly put his backpack down and went to find Shino.

After a few minutes of sitting alone, Sasuke stood up and was about to pick up his bag when he noticed

Naruto had gotten to it first.

"I can carry my own bag..." Sasuke looked at sounded annoyed.

"Psh, I know that." Naruto said happily. He didn't try to give Sasuke his bag back.

"Hmph." Sasuke didn't really mind letting Naruto carry his bag, as a matter of fact, he kind of liked it, but at the same time he wanted to prove to Naruto that he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

~*~

At Sora's house, Sasuke found himself dosing off on a couch while Naruto and Gaara were talking too intelligently about a video game. Sora was in the kitchen doing some chores. Sasuke was eventually lulled to sleep by the mixture of voices coming from the kitchen, and the couch next to him. When he woke it was quiet except for the sound of speech coming from one of Sora's sister's bedrooms.

He looked at the time.

3:50. Gaara probably already left. Where did Naruto and Sora go?

Sasuke went into the bathroom to fix his hair. It always got extremely messy after he slept for some reason. Afterward he began heading up stairs.

Every step I take.... always the same.... why is the same things over and over. Why does it get harder if it's all the same? Everything has gotten harder since I've gotten older. School is harder, family problems are worse, people are farther away, college needs to be payed for. I wish I was oblivious to everything. Like when I was young.. My life is going downhill and it might crash soon.

I want to just stop time. Stop ….. living...

Sasuke reached the top of the stairs feeling upset and he wanted to go home. He walked into Sora's room and saw no one, but he decided that if Naruto wanted to see him, he would find him.

Sasuke was about to walk forward, but didn't. His thoughts were encasing him. Preventing him from action. He didn't want to move from where he was. Suddenly Sasuke felt the urge to just burst into tears, but that would make him weak. He couldn't do that. A battle went on inside of his mind for a few minutes over the subject. Finally a compromise was reached. A hardly noticeable tear found its way down pale soft skin, but it was immediately wiped away. Sasuke turned to go away from where he was, he didn't know exactly where, but he just wanted to go. His momentum was stopped.

Strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him close.

"I knew something was wrong." Naruto spoke quietly, his words were soft.

Sasuke didn't speak. He was feeling content where he was. He made his own arms reach up to return the hug.

This is where I want to be. Here in your arms. This is where time stops. This is where I don't have to worry. This makes me happy.

Naruto didn't ask Sasuke anything. He didn't need to.

He'll talk when he wants to.

"You'll be okay."

"I know."

He smiled.

The only way someone takes the same steps is if they are following that pattern. My steps won't follow that pattern any longer.