Something was making the most annoying noise in Naruto's room…it was obnoxiously loud, and repetitive and-oooOOOH SHIT THAT'S MY ALARM!

Naruto fell out of bed, hitting the floor hard, and swearing.

"Again Naruto?" Came a yell from downstairs.

"I'M FINE!" He yelled, hearing a muffled 'Yeah but is the furniture.' Struggling out of the duvet, which had wrapped itself around him in his descent, he fought his way to the chest of drawers. Opening it, he was for a moment confused. All his school uniform was gone. "HEY, OLD HAG, WHERE'S MY UNIFORM?" He screamed out of his door.

"I'M NOT AN OLD HAG!"

"OKAY, YOUNG HAG?"

"JUST FOR THAT I'M NOT TELLING YOU!"

Naruto swore, and went to the airing cupboard. Nope, no uniform in here, he thought, now grumpy. He heard the front door go, and yelled "NOT IT, UNLESS YOU WANT GUESTS TO BE GREETED IN UNDERWEAR?" Tsunade, from downstairs, yelled curses up the stairs, and he heard the front door open, and Kiba's voice drifting up the stairs. "DOG BOY!" Naruto yelled, grinning, and running down the stairs, grabbing Kiba in a violent hug, and hanging off him, Akamaru wagging his tail in greeting.

"Oh wow, how honoured I am to be greeted by you in your undies." Kiba smirked, ruffling Naruto's hair.

"Tsunade hid my uniform!" Naruto pouted, and Kiba began to snigger. "What? It's not funny!" Naruto grumbled indignantly, releasing his friend. "Akamaru, they're all so mean." He said, bending down, and rubbing the dog's ears.

"You…" Kiba snorted into his hand, "You do know that we got rid of your uniform three weeks ago? You burnt it ceremoniously…" Naruto stared at him blankly, wondering why in hell he would do that. Then it dawned on him.

"OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO UNIVERSITY!" He screamed, beaming at Kiba, and jumping up to hug him again.

"Is that the thanks I get for looking after you for all these years?" Tsunade said, sniffing in mock sadness. "You won't be wanting your going away breakfast then?"

"Oh my god, you cooked?" Naruto said, open mouthed.

"You really must not want it." She said, icily, "Fine, fine, I'm sure I can manage to eat it all myself…" Naruto leapt after her crying out in regret, only to stop in the doorway to the kitchen. The spread on the table looked amazing, there was maple syrup, strawberries, cream, sugar, lemon juice, bacon, pancakes, peppers, cream cheese, and a pot of steaming tea.

"Oh my god…" Naruto was about to tease her some more by asking who had made all of this, but decided not to, just in case she really did carry out her threat.

"No nudity at the breakfast table." She said, tossing him a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Quickly he pulled them on, and the three of them sat down to eat. It tasted just as amazing as it looked, Tsunade didn't cook often, but when she did it was always glorious. He got to his sixth pancake, and began to feel stuffed.

"It's so good…but I'm so full…" He moaned, and Kiba grinned, tossing Akamaru some bacon.

"Tell you what." Tsunade grinned. "If you promise to visit once a month, I'll make you food every time."

"It's not like I'm going far away." He replied, weighing up whether to eat a seventh. "I'm only going to be like…half an hour away."

"Yeah Aunty, we'll be back all the time. Especially when Naruto realises he's forgotten something. Which I'm betting will be every few days." Akamaru pawed at his leg, and he dropped a second bit of bacon for him. Tsunade wasn't actually Kiba's Aunt, it was just an affectionate term, because Naruto, when he wasn't calling her old hag, also called her that. She was his godmother, but acted like an aunt, from being caring to utterly irresponsible. Half the time Naruto was making sure she didn't do something stupid, like try and drink a fever away, or wash reds with whites. But generally she was the best caregiver Naruto could have asked for.

Naruto finished off his seventh, then leant back, feeling overloaded to the brim.

"Your food is so tastyyyyyy…" He complained, wishing he had a real second stomach, not just the imaginary one he had as a kid.

"Right, come on, you need to get ready and pack." Tsunade said, getting up and clearing the table.

"He hasn't packed yet?" Kiba said in exasperation as he also stood.

"…should he have?" Tsunade said, looking confused, and Kiba sighed in despair.

"Come on." He said, heaving Naruto up.

"But…pancakes…" Naruto whined.

"I'll pack you some." Tsunade sighed, and Naruto reluctantly got up, and went upstairs with Kiba. Akamaru stayed in the kitchen, looking hopefully at Tsunade, tail wagging hesitantly.

"…oh fine." She said, opening a cupboard and getting out some marrow biscuits she kept hidden, and the tail began to thump enthusiastically.

Upstairs Kiba was helping Naruto shove everything he would need into suitcases and rucksacks.

"What do I even need? I mean obviously clothes, but what else?" Naruto said, shoving some shirts into a bag.

"Well, you'll need your laptop, pans and stuff, your course books…"

"Yeah I know that, but…what else? Tsunade gave me a bag of kitchen stuff, I have my course books…" He pointed at a worn canvas bag. "And my laptop is in my rucksack. But I feel like I'm missing some crucial things."

"Well…You'll need some books to read, your art stuff, pillows, duvets, bathroom stu-"

"Wait wait wait." Naruto interrupted. "I'm going to need to write all this down…"

They battled through his stuff slowly, eventually cutting it down to just the important things, though Kiba had to argue him into cutting down his manga collection to bring, and finally they had one rucksack, two suitcases, a canvas bag, and a duvet and pillow bag.

"I seriously don't think all this is going to fit in your room." Kiba said, uncertainly.

"It'll be fine." Naruto grinned. They loaded up the car with Tsunade, then Kiba said goodbye, and agreed to meet up when he got to the campus later. The journey was pleasant, the scenery flashing by, and Naruto kept talking to Tsunade about his course, he was going to be doing psychology. He had studied it during sixth from, but this was going to be much more exciting.

"And then in final year, we run our own experiment!" He said, grinning broadly.

"Steady there kid, first you've got to get through the first two years." Despite her critical tone, she was smiling. It was going to be sad Naruto not being around all the time. There was the upside that now she could have full run of the house all the time. It really would be quiet though, she'd just have to throw plenty of parties. Some part of her however, was quietly worried. She remembered the warning, perhaps that time was drawing near…was Naruto really ready? She had always shielded him from clairvoyants and the like. Well, she couldn't protect him forever. She just had to put her faith in him. Whatever would come would come. And it wasn't like he was stupid. He'd ride the storm. Or so she hoped.

Tsunade was distracted from her thoughts by a shout from Naruto as they drove onto the University grounds.

"THERE! OVER THERE! THAT'S ME AND KIBA'S STUDENT ACCOMMODATION!" Naruto and Kiba had requested to be in the same flat together, they'd picked one that was near the edge of campus so that they were equally close to the uni buildings and the town. It also helped that it was in a more reasonable price range than some of the others. Tsunade pulled up outside it, and Naruto jumped out the car and ran up to the building.

"Hi there!" Said a friendly girl in one of the university's T-shirts, holding a clipboard.. She had four spiky buns on her head, and a bright smile.

"Hi! I'm Naruto! Uzumaki!"

"Uzumaki…Uzumaki….gotcha!" She grinned at him. "You're one of mine! We're in flat twenty five of Bronte House! Let me show you in! Oh, do you need a hand with your bags?"

"Nah, it's cool!" Naruto said, going to pick up one of the suitcases and the rucksack as Tsunade followed with the other bags. "Oh, this is Aunty Tsunade!"

"Hi there! Please, let me take something?"

"No worries kid." Tsunade said, hoisting the bags onto her shoulders and lifting the suitcase as if it weighed nothing. "I got this."

"Oookay…" The girl turned and led them through the building and up four flights of stairs. "I'm Temari by the way, I'm the student rep for flats 21 to 25!"

"Awesome!" Naruto beamed at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Sorry there are so many stairs, we do have a lift, but it's currently out of order."

"No worries." Naruto said. "By the way, has a guy called Kiba arrived yet?"

"Hm? Um, Kiba...Kiba…"

"Kiba? Inuzuka? He has a dog."

"Ah, the one with the dog. I'll never work out how he bribed the accommodation rep of Bronte into letting him have a dog…"

"He has a way with words…" Tsunade said, mentally adding 'and bribery'.

"Well, here's your flat." Temari flicked through her clipboard. "Doesn't look like dog-boy is here yet." Naruto stifled a snort-giggle as he noticed Kiba's common nickname being tagged again. "There are 6 rooms, A to F, and only two other people have moved in. Sasuke and Sakura. Flat's B and D, you're flat E so you'll be opposite Sasuke and next to Sakura. Kiba is the other side of you in flat F."

"I am NEVER going to remember all that." Naruto said, overwhelmed.

"You're flat E. Kiba's in F. That's all you need to know." She smiled, unlocking the door, and passing him a set of two keys with a blue disc attached to it with '25E' written on it. "Don't lose this. The big flat key is for the door to your flat, and the small one is for your room. The disk swipes over the reader at the main door for when the accommodation locks up for the night. Welcome to Brighthelm University." She pointed back down the corridor. "I'm in flat 20. I'll be around all day, but if you need anything, knock on my door, or slip a note under it. Oh, I almost forgot. Here's your welcome pack!" She delved into a bag on her side, and pulled out a booklet and flat folder with the Uni logo stamped on it. "I'll let you get settled. I'll be popping in around five O'clock to see how you're all settling in. Enjoy your first day!" She grinned, and trotted back down the stairs. Naruto and Tsunade shuffled into the flat. There was a short hallway with three doors on either side leading to their own rooms, and ahead was a large open living space with a TV, some sofa's and chairs, a kitchenette and a dining table.

"Faanceeyyy!" Naruto sang, before opening his room door, and dumping his stuff on the floor. It was a nice bright room, a bed on one side, a desk and cupboard on the other, a window at the end, and a small bathroom by the door. "Very fancy!"

Tsunade also put down the luggage, and let out a whistle.

"It's pretty nice, I have to admit. How much are we paying for this place again?" She asked, and Naruto poked her in the side. "I know I know, it was in the reasonable range. I'm still impressed." They began unpacking Naruto's belongings, filling up the shelves and drawers in the desk, and hanging up his clothes. Naruto quickly set up his laptop, connecting to the internet through what he thought was a method that was much more complicated than it needed to be.

"Right kid." Tsunade said, ruffling his hair. "I need to go, here are leftovers from breakfast, and some boxes of food. I don't expect you to manage all your meals for the next week, you're going to be far too enthusiastic about everything else, so here are seven meals, make sure you eat at least one a day, unless you manage to cook properly like some sort of sensible human being." She handed him a bag with the food in it. "Also I have this for you. I know I'm not that far away, but knowing you, you'll forget who I am by next Tuesday." She pulled out a small book, and Naruto opened it at the first page. It was a photo album with some pictures from home, and some quotes he recognised as things Tsunade would say to him, like 'if there's not enough gin to make it better, then it's not worth it.' Naruto felt suddenly emotional, and stood up, wrapping Tsunade in a tight hug. "Careful pet," She said, hugging him back, "or I might think you like me."

"You're the one who made me a memory book." Came Naruto's muffled response.

"Come on kid, it's going to be fun."

"Yeah." Naruto looked up at her, and she poked him in the nose.

"Got your nose."

Naruto was about to respond when there was a loud bark from outside.

"AKAMARU!" Naruto yelled, and flung his door open, the dog bounding in and knocking him over.

"Naruto!" Kiba grinned. "Long time no see!" They both laughed, and Tsunade gathered up her things.

"See you round kid." She climbed over the dog and boy, and waved goodbye, leaving the flat.

"She's rubbish with goodbyes isn't she." Said Kiba, and Naruto nodded, not mentioning his tearful response. "Have you met any of the other flat members yet?"

"Not yet." Naruto replied as Akamaru trotted out the room and began sniffing around the kitchen.

"Kiba, come and sort your room out." Came Kiba's mother's voice.

"Coming!" He called, and headed into his room. Naruto was just about to follow when he heard "OHMYGOSHYOU'RESOCUTE!" from behind him. He turned to see a girl with medium length pink hair crouching down beside Akamaru, stroking his head, and scratching behind his ears.

"He's called Akamaru." Naruto said, wandering over to her.

"He's lovely! How old is he?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Did you get him when you were young then? Or is he a rescue?"

"Oh! No!" Naruto said, awkwardly, "He's not mine, he's my best friend's, Kiba's." The girl smiled at him, and he felt all warm and fluffy inside. She seemed great, and Akamaru liked her, which was a good sign.

"I always wanted a dog. I was told that there would be a dog in this flat, it's so cool! And you're just the most handsome dog aren't you." She said to Akamaru, fluffing up his ears as he made happy grizzle noises.

"Careful, he'll become big headed with all those compliments." Kiba said from behind Naruto, carrying a box of kitchen equipment.

"You must be Kiba." The girl said, standing up. "I'm Sakura."
"I'm Naruto." The blonde smiled, feeling embarrassed, it felt like being at school again, introducing yourself to the class at the beginning of term. Though it was more relaxed than that.

"Have you met room B yet?" She asked, quietly.

"No?" Naruto said, confused at her tone.

"It's some guy called Sasuke, he was already here when I arrived, but I still haven't seen him…" She looked at the door to room B suspiciously, and Naruto shrugged.

"We'll see him when the flat rep comes over."

"That's true. Well, I'm going to make some tea. Would you like some?"

"Sure!" Kiba said, going to his cupboard and beginning to fill it.

"I…I'm a bit of a tea snob…" Naruto admitted.

"I have Earl Grey?" Sakura said, smiling.

"Perfect!" Naruto grinned, then remembered the food in his bedroom. "CRAP!" he cried, and ran back to get them, shoving them in the fridge.

"I…really hope that's not crap…" Came a voice from their front door. They turned to see a girl with a long blonde ponytail dragging a small suitcase in, followed by a middle aged woman.

"Oh Ino, this place is lovely!"

"Hi!" Sakura said, trotting up to her, "I'm Sakura! Which room are you in?"

"Room C. I still haven't had an answer…" She glanced suspiciously at Naruto.

"What? OH! NO! No it's food! The best food in the world! Tsunade ma-" Naruto was interrupted by Kiba.

"Oh god no you got him talking about Tsunade's cooking, run, run run run!" And he pushed Sakura into Ino, who looked at the pink haired girl, and raised an eyebrow. Sakura blushed, and jumped back, stammering apologies.

"Why don't you help me with my room?" Ino suggested.

"I'd love to!" Sakura beamed, and so Ino thanked her mum, and said goodbye, as both of the girls went into room C.

"Ah young love…" Kiba smiled, swinging an arm over Naruto's shoulders.

"What?" Naruto said, looking at him, puzzled.

"…stay oblivious forever Naruto, please? It's adorable."

Just as Naruto was about to retort, the door to room B opened, the door opposite Naruto's, the door to the so far reclusive 'Sasuke'. A dark haired boy stepped out, sent an icy glare at Naruto and Kiba, and went to the fridge.

"Um…hi! I'm Naruto." His greeting was ignored. "Um, you're Sasuke right?" The raven blanked them, took out a bottle of aloe juice, and shut the fridge, walking back to his room. "Oh, you like that stuff, I keep meaning to-" The door to room B slammed shut. "…try it. Or, you know, you could treat us like unsightly furniture."

"Oh Naruto…it's just in your fur-nature."

"Get out."

"Hey, it wasn't a bed pun…"

"Now." Naruto jabbed Kiba in the stomach, and he laughed. They both went to Kiba's room, and helped his parents unpack his stuff. Soon the room looked more like Kiba lived there. A dog bed in the corner, dog toys by the bed, pictures of Kiba and his friends and a tonne of him and Naruto plastering the walls.

"I didn't bring any photo's…" Naruto said, sadly.

"Dude, you live half an hour away, we can go get some this weekend. Or if you're super lazy, we can print some out on my printer." He grinned and sang "I have photo paper!" Naruto grinned, ordering the books on Kiba's shelf.

"Almost perfect." He said, admiring the room.

"What's missing?" Kiba's mum asked.

"Dog hair. Covering everything." Naruto replied, and Kiba's parents laughed. But Kiba groaned and smacked his forehead.

"Brushes. I forgot Akamaru's brush."

"That old one was pretty worn anyway." His dad said, gathering up their things. "You might as well go into town tomorrow and pick a new one up."

Kiba's family bid him goodbye, and the pair went into Naruto's room and set to work. Where Kiba had photo's, Naruto had drawings. There were a lot of Akamaru and other dogs he knew, some of his friends, some of anime characters.

"Dude, I forgot about this!" Kiba said, pulling out a canvas painting of himself, Naruto and Akamaru from about four years ago. "This was the first time you worked in oil paint wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Naruto smiled bashfully, it was one of his favourite pieces. The chins were a slightly odd shape, and Kiba's left eye didn't quite match his right, whilst Akamaru's nose was too big. But despite all that, the picture worked. It caught Akamaru's joy and excitement, Kiba's mischievous nature, and Naruto's bliss at being with them both. He treasured it.

Kiba pulled out the CD player, and they set up some music, Kiba getting distracted and air-drumming as Naruto stuffed his clothes into random drawers.

"This is why." Kiba said, as if understanding something.

"This is why what?"

"Why you can literally never find the clothes you're looking for. You're so chaotic."

"Hey now," Naruto said, defensively, "I can always find socks!"

"Matching?"

"…shut up…"

The two of them finished, going out into the main room. It was already three, and they hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"We could eat more pancakes…" Naruto said, considering the options, "They won't be good tomorrow."

"You don't have to justify it to me." Kiba said, as they went to the fridge. There was a thud at the door, and stammered apologies. They both peered into the hallway, and saw the door open, and Temari helping a small girl with dark black hair and almost grey eyes into the room, bags tumbling into the hall. There was a sort of entourage with her, a tall man with long dark hair, a very pretty woman, again with long dark hair, a child who again matched the black sleek hair, and behind them was a boy around their age. The group all matched each other in looks, and all had strange eyes. Kiba made a non-committal noise as he looked at them, but Naruto abandoned his food, and went to go and help.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl gasped, and the boy behind her stared judgmentally at the hallway.

"Come on sis, just pick them up." Said the younger girl, and Temari stood there awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I can help." Naruto said, picking up several bags.

"Hinata, remember your manners." Said the one Naruto presumed was her father.

"Oh, yes, sorry, um, thank you." Hinata said quietly, blushing at Naruto.

"No worries." Naruto grinned.

"Well…here's your welcome pack." Temari said smiling uncertainly, "I'm just down in room 20, but I'll be by the entrance all day. I'll be popping around at about five." She quickly escaped the penetrating stares of the family, who followed Hinata and Naruto into room A. Naruto put down the bags and left, saying "it's fine, really!" to all the 'thank you's and 'sorry for the trouble's from her family. When he came out, the older boy and Kiba seemed to be having a staring match.

"Um…can we…help you?" Naruto interrupted.

"This guy just threatened me." Kiba spat.

"I threatened your mutt." The older boy replied.

"That's threatening me, bastard."

"I'm just saying, if your mutt lays a claw on Hinata, I will make your lives misery."

"Well then we're all good. Akamaru would never even nibble someone." Naruto said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"I'm going to be checking up on my cousin. If you cause her any trouble…" The boy turned on his heel, and left.

"Some nerve…" Kiba grumbled. "Food! We were going to have pancakes!"

Naruto and Kiba returned to the kitchen and began heating up the pancakes. The smell brought Ino and Sakura out of room C and Naruto served them pancakes with their choice of toppings. Soon Hinata's family left, and she awkwardly entered the kitchen, loitering by the doorway.

"Hey, want some pancakes?" Naruto asked, spotting her.

"Um…I don't want to be any bother…or-"

"Pancakes are for everyone!" Naruto said, dishing her up some as she smiled and joined them. The group began laughing at Kiba's terrible puns, and fussing Akamaru, who got significantly more scraps than he was use to.

"Does he do any tricks?" Ino asked as they were clearing up their mess, and Naruto laughed.

"Does he…of course! Watch watch watch!" Kiba said, pulling out his phone, and putting some music on before going into the centre of the room, and standing to attention. "Akamaru? Come. Routine time." Akamaru dashed over to his side, and sat down, his eyes on Kiba's, and they began to do tricks where Kiba would go down on one knee and Akamaru would jump over him, or run between his legs in a figure of eight, or Kiba would spin around and the dog would follow him, Kiba motioning and Akamaru jumping up to put his paws on his masters shoulders as they pretended to dance, ending with Kiba pointing his finger at Akamaru and saying "bang!" so that the dog rolled over dramatically. The group clapped enthusiastically as Kiba stroked Akamaru, rubbing his back, and pulling out a hide chew from his pocket so that the dog could sit down and happily worry at his treat.

"You have no idea how long he's been perfecting that." Naruto laughed as the girls gushed praise.

"I would love to be able to do that…" Sakura said wistfully.

"I could teach you sometime!" Kiba grinned.

"That would be awesome!" she grinned. They all sat down in the living area, relaxing as they waited for five o'clock to arrive. Temari ended up being ten minutes late, and just as Ino was considering going to find her there was a knock at their door. Sakura jumped up to go and answer it, but froze as they all saw door B open and Sasuke come out, glancing coldly at the others, before opening the door.

"Hi gang!" Temari said cheerfully, and Sasuke followed her into the main room. "I thought I'd run through some rules first." They all pulled out their welcome packs, and went through the building rules, ordinary things like no smoking indoors, no pets, with them being the exception, no deep fryers, no letting someone else live in their building, ordinary things. Soon she was telling them about fresher's week, there would be several events during the week, a market on Monday, selling everything from clothes to food, and posters for their rooms. There was stand up comedy, songs, and other performances at the union building on Tuesday, fresher's fair on Wednesday, where all the societies would have stalls to talk about their activities and would have sign up sheets, nothing on Thursday, a chance to relax and go to town, a treasure hunt on Friday, and free entry to clubs and cinema's in town on Saturday, though Temari emphasised that this did not include food and drinks. Their welcome packs had an account for them on the Uni servers for them to look up their lectures and seminars, which would start the following Monday. "So don't get too wasted on Sunday, or you'll both be in misery at your morning introduction lecture, and probably miss important things." The group agreed, everyone enthusiastic about the activities apart from Sasuke, who seemed indifferent. "Alright. Now I've got some bonding activities to play with you, don't worry, nothing too embarrassing. First, I want you to go around and tell us a bit about yourself. I'll start, so, for example, I'm Temari, I'm your house rep, I'm in third year, and in my first year I got stranded on the Chemistry building's roof." The group laughed, and she grinned, "But I'm not telling you why just yet. Right, you next Ino."

"Well, as you know, I'm Ino, I'm bi, I'm studying fine art, and…oh, and I once broke a guys nose because he punched my friend." Kiba looked shocked, but Naruto snorted into his hands.

"Um…I'm Sakura, I am going to be studying English lit, and when I was eight I had an argument with my mum and ran off, they looked for me for hours and almost called the police until my dad found me in the cupboard under the stairs…" Ino smirked, and the others all grinned at her. "Oh, and I'm bi as well." She blushed, avoiding looking at Ino.

"Okay, I'm Kiba, I'm going to be doing animal behaviour studies alongside a veterinary degree. I managed to bribe the housemaster to let me keep Akamaru in here by giving him one of the priceless, historical, and very old, bottles of wine my parents have collected. With their permission. They may like wine, but they like dogs more. We have six dogs at home, including Akamaru that's seven." Hinata had her mouth open, but Naruto just cackled.

"Okay okay," Naruto said, "I'm Naruto, I'm doing psychology, and these lines on my cheeks? I've had them since I was a little kid, dunno why." Sasuke suddenly looked at him, and narrowed his eyes. "I like to draw a lot, mostly animals. I really like drawing animals. And I grew up with Kiba." He grinned at Kiba, who grinned back, though for a second Naruto thought he saw him glaring at Sasuke.

"Um…I'm Hinata…I'm going to be studying chemistry, I'm…quite good at martial arts…and um…my cousin goes here and is a second year."

"Oh?" Temari said, raising an eyebrow. "Is he doing chemistry too?" Hinata nodded. "What's his name? I might be mentoring him this year!"

"Neji…"

"Hmmm…Hyuuga?" again Hinata nodded, "I'm not tutoring him, but I know who he is. Cool! The labs here are awesome. But watch out for Orochimaru, that goes for you guys too Naruto, Kiba, he's a lab technician for the sciences, and there have been a few…incidents. Just…don't end up alone with him, 'kay?" They all nodded, and she turned to Sasuke, who was still staring at Naruto.

"I'm Sasuke. I'll be studying Psychology as well. My family has a history of seers, and is interested in spirits." He stared at Naruto, as if expecting something, and Naruto looked around at the others, none of whom seemed to know what Sasuke was expecting, though Kiba had a dark expression. The raven sighed. "Oh, and I'm gay." Sakura looked despondent, almost disappointed, but otherwise everyone just smiled.

"Okay guys," she said, smiling, "I have to go to the other rooms, but I have a project for you. In here," she pulled out a small pouch, "I have a bunch of topics. It is up to you guys, as a group, to research and make a display on the topic. However you want. It can be a performance, a poster, a powerpoint, you name it. On Sunday we'll have the union building, so just get it finished by Saturday. If you're going to need anything special, like a computer and projector for a powerpoint, let us know by Friday. We'll try to make sure everyone's needs are met, but we do have limited equipment. So the sooner you let us know, the more likely you are to get one. But no getting stuff just because you think you might need it." She pulled out a laminated piece of card, and smirked. "You guys are lucky, you'll have an advantage with dog-boy here on your team." She turned it round, and they saw the word 'canines' written on it, Kiba cheered and punched the air, Sakura squealed happily as the rest smiled, apart from Sasuke, who Naruto was beginning to think never smiled, or showed any sort of happy emotion. "Right guys, I'm off, but you guys can make a start, or watch something or whatever. Deadline's Saturday. Have fun!" With that she left, and Kiba immediately began to spout random facts about dogs, Sakura contributing, the other two girls agreeing with most of what was said, though they had to calm Sakura and Kiba down when they realised they could do a dog dance. Just as Naruto was offering to draw something Sasuke spoke.

"I think we should do something about foxes." The air suddenly went cold between Sasuke and Kiba, who slowly stood up, glaring at him. "What? It's a valid topic?"

"Do you have some sort of issue?" Kiba said, and Naruto looked confused. He'd seen Kiba get defensive before, usually around seers, or clairvoyants, or anyone with any connection to the occult. Sasuke stood up, glaring back.

"No, do you?"

"Why are you suggesting foxes? It's almost like you have some sort of ulterior motive, randomly suggesting something like that." Kiba spat.

"It's almost like foxes are canines." He hissed back.

"That's not why you're suggesting it though, IS IT." Kiba said, raising his voice.

"If you'll remember, my family are SEERS. My mother SAW a fox, now unless you're saying something else, maybe, just maybe, we're meant to use foxes in our presentation." Sasuke was glaring so hard at Kiba that Naruto thought they might actually fight if he didn't step in.

"Guys, we can use foxes. They don't have to be the focus, but we can use them. It's cool. They are canines. But let's just…not let them dominate?" He tried to make peace between the two of them.

"Fine." Kiba said, still glaring, but sitting down, Sasuke following suit. The tone in the room had become less enjoyable, so Naruto decided to make things better.

"Guys, let's not work on the project tonight, lets watch a movie. I can make popcorn?" The girls agreed quickly, and Kiba reluctantly agreed as well. Sasuke nodded, suddenly more interested in staying in the room than he had been before. As they made snacks, Sakura suggested that they all go to the market together tomorrow. She was quite a good cook, and would love to make meals with them all. The room agreed that it would be nice to have some meals as a group, even Sasuke seemed to warm to the idea, saying he could make some nice curries. They all ended up watching a kids movie, laughing as they realised how many hidden adult jokes there were, and the girls getting teary despite protesting that they weren't attached to the characters. They ended up watching terrible late night TV, and soon it was late, and they were all tired. Saying goodnight, Hinata and Ino went to bed first, Sakura chatted for a bit, then headed to bed, and eventually Naruto felt his eyes trying to close.

"Right, I'm going to sleep. Night guys. He fussed Akamaru one more time, then went to his bedroom. He shut his door, and heard movement, it sounded like Sasuke and Kiba were going to their rooms too, though he heard muttering from outside. He pressed his ear to his door and heard Kiba's voice saying "…and I won't let you mess with him." Confused, he heard Sasuke respond, "I don't intend to-" There was a pause, and Naruto could almost hear him making quotation marks with his fingers. "-'mess' with him, I can't help what my family is. If you're an overprotective mother dog, don't blame me. If something's going on, I'm not going to be able to help being involved. It's in my fucking blood." Naruto frowned. "Fine" came Kiba's whispers again. "But if you…forget it. Just don't be so selfish that you end up hurting someone." Naruto heard footsteps, and then two doors shut. He went over to his window, and sat on the end of his bed, staring out at the sky. Kiba always acted protective of him around occult stuff. Tsunade was the same. He'd asked her once when she was drunk, but even then she'd given some silly excuse, "clairvoyants just make me twitchy" or something. Lying down on his back he closed his eyes. If it weren't for how cold he was, Sasuke would be hot. Naruto cringed at his unintentional pun, and kicked off his clothes, and crawling under the duvet. Tomorrow's problems were for tomorrow Naruto.