Happy

(A/N:I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!)

It was always this way. Naruto sat on the little wooden swing outside the academy, a solemn expression plastered on his face. Instead of his usual bright orange jump suit, he settled for a black hoody, with the red swirl on the back, and his favorite pair of slightly baggy blue jeans with a couple of chains on the pocket and a studded, loose belt. His shoes were black and white high-tops that covered his ankles and were tied loosely. He was hunched over, staring at one his shoes and leaning forward against his propped up knee. A sharpie in his right, hand he drew small doodles on the white parts of the shoe, his bright blue eyes saddened and focused. A few kunai in one pocket jabbed at his leg, but he ignored it.

Hood up, Naruto sat quietly under the shade of the tree. His black painted nails made his small hands look almost dainty. Naruto pushed himself back and forth with the foot that was on the ground, listening to the soft sound of the grass under his foot, an awkward creaking sound of the rope cutting into the tree limb. He heaved a sigh and he looked at the sky through the green leaves, the sun shining through to make bright patches on his tan skin. Naruto had been in a depressed mood lately, and that deeply worried all others around him. Sakura even offered to take him for ramen, and he had refused.

Kakashi tried to make Tsunade see if he was sick or need psychological help. She, of course, refused. The only one Naruto had been interested in for so long, had been the raven haired teen that always seemed to hate, and push him away. People who seemed to take the time to watch, saw the blond happily talk to the raven, and then upon the boy pushing him away either with a stare or a rude comment, would watch the ball of sun fade and wither like a flower in winter. But what amazed them the most was how Naruto wouldn't explode in his face, turning the walk into a fun argument the crowd would watch with amusement. He wouldn't even storm away. Instead he'd walk quietly beside him, or pretend the comment didn't faze him, when really even one small on hurt, the raven knew it did.

Birds sang in the background and the academy bell rang. Naruto put his shoe down and stood up, straightening himself as he did. Sasuke had been taking extra classes with Kakashi-sensei on Sundays to help him better the sharing an in the privacy of the academy training gym. Sasuke came walking out in a black shirt with stripped black and white long sleeves that covered his hands to his knuckles, and a pair slightly tight black pants with a black and white belt that was even in his belt loops. A pair of black and white air walks kicked up dirt as other after school children only a couple years younger than Sasuke and Naruto came spilling out, chattering happily in their cliques. A few of the girls looked like they wanted to talk to Sasuke, but they were too afraid to go to him.

Sasuke stopped by the tree, and stared at Naruto who only returned the gaze. Then, as if he saw nothing of intrest, began to walk on. Naruto took this as a 'follow me' look and tagged along like a lost puppy. 10 minutes of silence passed and Sasuke got annoyed with the unusual silence he was receiving from the blond lately. "Can I help you good sir?" he asked sarcastically, hoping to break the mopey mood the blond was in. "No one can help me." the blond said, grinning a little. "The doctors deem me insane." He took a large cherry flavored tootsie pop from his pocket and unwrapped it, sticking the paper in his pocket and thrusting it into his mouth. "What's the matter with you lately, Dobe? You've been acting strange."

"Heh, it's not like the great Uchiha to care about dead-lasts like me."

Sasuke got annoyed at Naruto's new emotional wall, keeping him from reading his thoughts.

"Damn Naruto, what crawled up your butt today?"

"The cousin to what ever crawled up yours and died."

Sasuke's eye twitched. The crowd stopped, expecting a fight. They were in the middle of the road now, and all was calm. Sasuke smirked. Naruto had gotten good at comebacks when before all he could was say 'whatever' or 'shut up'. "Ya know Naruto, not a lot of people like that new outlook of yours." Naruto turned around and looked the raven dead in the face. "Come off it Sasuke, when has anyone ever really cared? I mean REALLY cared? I don't care anymore. What others think, I never really did in the first place but I'm even MORE numb about it."

"That's not true, Naruto. What about Sakura?"

Naruto scoffed. "Oh yeah, like breaking every bone in my face or punching me clear across a field is so caring." he said sarcastically. He took the sucker from his mouth and pointed it at Sasuke. "You don't know what it feels like. I mean seriously. Your parents may have been killed by your own brother, but everyone in the village treats you like a fucking God, and you never acknowledged it. Everything was given to you. But me, I never knew my parents, I don't even know who raised me. Then I get the harsh treatments of the villagers and even people whom I considered friends. Every thing I did was looked at like 'oh okay. Next'. But YOU, you could pick your damn nose and everyone would think it was amazing. Face it. You don't know how I feel and sometimes I just want to be left alone in the shadows, but no one seems to want to let me do that." Naruto's eyes looked on the verge of tears, but at the same time there was pride at finally being able to say what he had wanted to for so long. Sasuke's smirk turned to a frown and he walked toward Naruto. Sasuke raised his hand and Naruto flinched, getting ready to be hit. He squeezed his eyes shut, and hid behind his raised up shoulders. But the hit didn't come. The sting didn't come, the slap, the fall to the ground. Nothing happened, then Naruto felt a cool hand trace along the whisker marks on his cheeks. He opened one blue eye, and saw the raven's pale face. It wasn't angry, but more sympathetic. "Naruto.." he said under his breath, but loud enough for the blond to hear. Naruto's cheeks went slightly red at the lack of Sasuke's ridiculing pet name. Sasuke got closer to his face. He tried to pull away, but Sasuke's arm slinked behind him and around his waist. "Naruto.." he said again, a little louder. The crowd was watching intently now.

"when I say 'not a lot of people like that new outlook of yours' I was talking about me. I don't like it. I like when the people I care about are happy." It took a moment for Naruto's brain to register what was going on, and before the hamster wheel in his mind could get cranking, Sasuke lightly closed the gap between them. Naruto went limp and Sasuke shifted his weight so that he was holding him. A million butterflies swarmed in Naruto's stomach as the kiss was broken.

"I think.." he started, "I think I can be a little happier from now on.." and then he once again closed the gap, only smiling this time.