Just a little short story for you all to enjoy. It didn't take me long. I thought it was sweet. I didn't even have an Idea I just wanted to do something about homophobia and how it effects them.


Footsteps echoed through the slim hallway. The brightly lit area was cramped with busy bodies rushing out of class. Teenagers of all shapes and sizes stormed the school, all intent on finding one thing; their friends. Amongst the crowd emerged a boy, shorter than most surrounding him. His blond hair – soft and fluffy – bounced as he walked, a bright smile plastered upon his supple lips…but it was clearly fake. Yet the boy – whose name was Naruto – seemed to give off an aura of happiness and he really did stand out from the other youngsters. Many of whom sent the outstanding teenager harsh glares and disgusted scowls.

Perhaps it was the glistening hair – which feathered around his head roughly – or maybe the startling cerulean eyes – shimmering with love – that he possessed; it could even have been the mortifying neon- orange track suit he wore that attracted attention to him. But it wasn't. No, what gave the glorious orange ball of sunshine such wicked, ugly, spiteful looks was a small piece of information concerning, not only the blond himself, but also a certain mysterious – yet extremely popular and well known – boy. He was the same age as Naruto; sixteen. The two had been friends for most of their lives. Naruto could still recall the first day he had met the dark child…

A small boy of six years ran through the large metal gate as crystal tears gathered at the corners of his black obsidian eyes; threatening to creep over and run down his pale cheeks, like the black haired boy – known as Sasuke – was running down the cobbled path leading away from his home. The building behind him could not be called a house…more accurately a mansion; it was enormous and well-kept. Two storeys high and each patch of land that was visible in the light – it was late evening in autumn – was bathed in a luscious rich atmosphere. Still the boy ran…through the large town…past all the houses, the streets, he continued to sprint. Until finally, the young boy's legs could carry him no more.

Sasuke collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud. His tiny six-year-old body shook from the exertion of running such a distance. The child had sworn he would never return home again. His older brother always picked on him, though this time the boy had teased Sasuke once too many times and the younger son had ran away from home.

Looking up into the pitch black night sky – mirroring the colour of his own eyes – decorated with sparkling stars, Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. As he did this he felt the warm liquid that had resided around his dark orbs flow freely over his soft baby cheeks.

He had managed to run all the way to the outer edge of his hometown - right beside a large, dark wood. Most children his age would have been afraid, but not Sasuke. He had never been like the other kids; he was always quiet and alone…only speaking to his fellow pre-schoolers when he wanted something from them or if they were irritating him. For a child of his age it was not natural to have no friends, to study instead of play, to be mature beyond his years. But Sasuke didn't care what people thought of him – apart from his family, who he desperately wanted the attention off – as long as he was happy.

The black haired boy had a strange feeling that someone was watching him; at that thought, even such a stoic child would get slightly unnerved. And sure enough, as his obsidian eyes had cracked open they had met with large pools of deep blue. Had Sasuke been anyone other than himself, he might have let out a scream or shouted at the other kid, but since he was not he simply pushed the boy out of his personal space before closing his eyes again and ignoring the other child's presence. He heard the other boy grumble something under his breath but did not care to ask what it was. However a moment later the happy voice - obviously belonging to the kid across from him – became louder and forced Sasuke to snap open his eyes again.

"What's wrong?" The blond questioned innocently, a curious expression on his round face

.

"Leave me alone!" He had snapped back angrily before turning around and forcing the blond to stare at his back. The child, though slightly taken aback for a moment, seemed generally unfazed and simply navigated round to face Sasuke; a sparkling smile on his small delicate mouth.

"But you're crying," the blue eyed child tried to pry information from the black haired boy yet again.

"Am not!" Sasuke shouted in reply – utterly ashamed that the stranger had seen him in such a weakened state.

"Are too! I can see the tears on your face." The blond retaliated and set a pout onto his face for extra effect. It seemed to work and as Sasuke sat there on the dirt, staring into those deep blue eyes, he felt something he had never felt with any other child; a connection.

"My…my big brother was being so mean again. He always picks on me and makes me sad and angry. It isn't fair." Sasuke said smoothly…inwardly questioning his reasons for confiding in another child – who looked the same age as he was.

"I won't go home again. Ever! You can't make me!" He screamed the last line before more droplets trickled down his porcelain face. He closed his eyes – embarrassed – and soon felt warm arms embracing his fragile form. This whole situation was completely new to Sasuke; his whole life he had never been comforted in such a way…his family had always been strict and would not tolerate weakness; crying was a weakness. So upset emotions of any sort were mostly hidden inside. Being hugged as he trembled and cried into that boy's chest was something completely different to him, but it was nice. It felt nice to feel cared for, even if he knew. Logically, that someone he had just met could not possibly care about him.

The two boys sat together for a while longer under the moonlight and engulfed in the shadows of the forest trees for some time until the darker child calmed down. He pulled away to look at the blond boy, to find said boy smiling at him so happily that Sasuke felt the sides of his own lips twitch upwards.

"Let's be friends! I'm Naruto. What's your name?"

"Eh, I'm Sasuke."

"If you're not ever going home then come with me!" Naruto had exclaimed as he grabbed Sasuke's hand and pulled him away into the village. The two figures looking like ying and yang as the lightness and darkness of them was showered with artificial brightness from streetlamps above. The blond had been an orphan since he was a baby and he had been left in the care of an adoptive parent; Iruka. The house had not been far away from where the boys had met. After arriving at the house, Naruto had introduced him to Sasuke. The older man had been polite and kind to Sasuke, though what surprised the black haired boy most had been that he was treated like a child, a normal little boy. Something that he rarely experienced at school and never at home. The size of their house, however, was slightly startling – for someone with a home like Sasuke's.

The boys had gone to bed quickly, staying awake longer than they should have in order to talk (while Iruka had phoned Sasuke's parent's to let them know their son was safe). Naruto had never been a popular person and he had often watched Sasuke in the playground as the other children tried desperately to get the dark boy to be friends with them. Of course, Sasuke had never noticed the blond boy before. It made Naruto angry to see someone push people away when the blue eyed child craved popularity so badly. He couldn't understand it. That night, they spoke for hours in Naruto's small room; it had been the first night of many to come.

From that day forward both boy's had grown to be best friends and were inseparable. Through the years they had grown older and their bond had grown stronger.

Yes…that night was as fresh in his memory as it had been all those years ago. He sighed to himself; everything was so simple when they were young, there was nobody judging people, nobody knew what was wrong and what was right. Putting his thoughts aside, Naruto hastened his steps as he approached the small group ahead of him; his friends. It was only a few minutes before their next class started; the last class of the day.

"Naruto! Took your time, mate!" His boisterous friend shouted to him as the blond slowed to a step in front of the two people. His name was Kiba and he was Naruto's best friend – second to Sasuke only - since entering high school.

"Yeh, well the corridors were extra crowded today." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as the girl turned her attention to him also.

"Oooh! Why isn't Sasuke here today?" The female – Sakura Haruno - asked as she pushed a few pink bangs out of her face.

"He had a meeting with the principle so he's meeting me after class to walk me home." Naruto replied with a sincere smile before the bell rang signalling their class to begin. Naruto entered the classroom with his two friends; the three took their seats at the back of the class and spoke quietly as everyone else shuffled in. The blond thanked god – even though he was in no way religious – that it was his last class and he would soon be home. Soon he would get to see Sasuke and everything would be grand again. Sasuke always had a way of making his problems and doubts disappear.

"Alright class, settle down." Mr Hatake spoke strictly from the front of the class; he enjoyed acting strict and orderly but he was a kind and gentile man underneath the teacher act.

"Today we will be studying the formation and passing of new laws. When a new law is being suggested there are a number of stages that need to be taken in order…"

Naruto leaned forward in his chair comfortably as the sound of his teachers voice began to lesson. He was thinking about Sasuke more and more these days…it was getting a little unhealthy, but the blond didn't mind. Not at all. He did mind however, when he felt something hit his head softly as he leaned it on the desk. Bringing his shaggy blond head up again, a crumpled piece of paper lay next to him. He glared at it fiercely; a note.

The note that, once opened, would make him feel smaller than an ant, would make him want to throw up and cry, would make him pray that Sasuke could come to rescue him at that same time as he wished he'd never met the boy. Wished never to have met the one who truly made him happy and gave him the feeling of being loved, appreciated and wanted.

So Naruto raised a tanned hand and placed it over the note before curling his nimble fingers and flicking it off the desk. He noticed that his friends had also seen the piece of trash, Sakura's gaze was fixed on him and her eyes shone with…pity? Naruto hated that emotion so he quickly turned his head towards Kiba. The boy looked so angry he could kill with his scowl. He had his pencil gripped so hard within his fist that it cracked as he stared heatedly at the discarded crumpled paper lying unmoving on the floor. Naruto turned his face back towards his table where his arms lay…

Was he really so disgraceful?

Was he really so disgusting?

Naruto thought back to how this scenario had come to be. How Naruto and Sasuke had come to be looked down upon like they were. How they had gone so wrong.

Naruto stumbled as he continued down the road. Sasuke was not far behind, in fact he was walking easier than his friend. The two had been to a large party and both boys had – illegally since underage; fourteen – consumed more than enough alcohol for one night. Naruto was singing at the top of his lungs as Sasuke desperately tried to drown out the hideous sound; but to no avail. The two wobbled along the road to Naruto's house. The small building had no first floor; it was a bungalow, but had a few steps situated in front of the entrance. Sasuke – being the wonderful and considerate friend that he was – took it upon himself to climb the steps before Naruto and unlock the front door. Iruka had left the house for the night in case the blond decided to take a friend or two back home with him.

As Sasuke heard the click of the door being unlocked he pushed open the door and was about to enter the property when he felt something came into contact – rather roughly – with his back. Through his hazy, alcohol induced logic; the dark haired teenager realized that the extra weight must have been Naruto. In a rush to help his friend, Sasuke had quickly turned around to find Naruto falling into him.

Both boys landed in a messy tangle of limbs on the floor. Sasuke was under Naruto, who was straddling him with his legs resting on either side of his hips. Their chests were pushed together completely and their arms had been spread around them. What made Sasuke's heart stop and race at the same time, however, was not the way their bodies were pressed to tightly together that they nearly moulded into one or that they were on the floor. No, what made Sasuke's heart jump straight out of his chest was what had happened to another part of their anatomy…their lips were also pressed tightly together. Though this wasn't an extreme problem, it had been accidental after all, so it could have meant nothing at all. Only; it hadn't meant nothing; as Sasuke noticed the moment Naruto scrambled off him, muttering apologies that Sasuke couldn't hear right away – his brain was still working too slowly – but Sasuke knew that the kiss had to mean something because… Sasuke had liked it.

And that had been wrong, completely and unconditionally wrong. But the dark teenager couldn't deny that he had enjoyed feeling the blond's lips locked with his own, even if only for the briefest of moments. And that had been bad…very bad.

Sasuke hadn't known how to deal with such a predicament, because he had never found himself attracted to somebody sexually before. It confused him and he had struggled with his emotions for some time after that before coming to a decision, though it wasn't one that he particularly liked.

Meanwhile, Naruto hadn't been much better off; he too was experiencing a similar problem. The blond had always been a fairly straight forward guy and a shift in feelings such as this had thrown him off balance. So when he had started thinking about his friend romantically, it had been a problem. After taking some time to think about things more clearly though, he had come to a conclusion; he loved his best friend. This he had always known…that he was attracted to the boy was another matter but still equally true. It had been extremely shocking because not only was he in love with Sasuke but he had only ever found girls attractive before. He had been confused…very confused.

It hadn't been until a full month later that one of the boys had opened their mouths though… Naruto had been at Sasuke's for the afternoon, eating pancakes and discussing an up-coming party when Sasuke had realized that his blue eyed friend wasn't acting himself. The normally sparkling cerulean eyes shone with worry, Sasuke had noticed this first as he scanned the orange clad teenager beside him; they were lying side by side on his bed. He had asked what was wrong, not quite expecting the answer he had received of course.

"I'm in love with somebody." The blond had said – completely oblivious to the look of hurt that had flickered over his best friends face.

"Why don't you tell her?" The raven had forced the words out of his mouth. But when he had only gotten silence as a reply he had to meet the blond's pleading eyes…they were glistening in the light; this time due to the pools of liquid gathered within them. Faced with an upset friend and secret love, Sasuke could do nothing except ask the one question he didn't want to ask.

"Who?"

And Naruto had told him.

"…You."

The bell rang – signalling the end of class and knocking Naruto out of his daydreaming – and all the students burst out of the doors, ignoring Mr Hatake's last words about homework.

Footsteps echoed through the slim hallway. The brightly lit area was cramped with busy bodies rushing home. Naruto was one of them. He made his way out of the building and practically jumped down the front steps. Running towards a certain wall where a certain dark figure stood – waiting patiently with a smirk on his face – and Naruto couldn't not prevent the grin that spread across his face as he leapt into the arms of the other boy. Pulling back slightly so that deep cerulean blue could meet obsidian black and both boys forgot everything – all the nasty comments, the snickers, the glares, the hurtful notes, words like 'fag' and 'dirty' far from their minds - as they leaned their faces together at last.

Nothing could break what they had,

Nothing could tear their bond apart,

Because love is stronger than hate,

And the love they shared was like no other,

Naruto and Sasuke would never fall apart,

So long as they had one another.


Thankies! Hope you all enjoyed it! I liked writing it...it was just a little bit on the side from Realization tehe. Xx..xX