ONE: A Shallow Liking.

Hi all, it's me, again. I think I've got this fanfic figured out so I know which way the story will turn. This is SasuHina, and I'm not sure if Naruto will end up with anyone. He'll be in this story alot though, and there'll come a time when he gets close to a certain someone, and its just close friendship and not yaoi- unless you want to interpret it that way.. It'll turn right, later on. The Sakura here will be shallow and rather disagreeable (I've never found much use for her character). Sasuke is supposed to have that bad-boy thing going for him, but I won't make him swear. (I don't use that language, myself) Just keep in mind that he is the bad-boy type. The first few chapters will lead in a SasuSaku area but it'll change. Trust me. I'm the one writing this.

And I don't own Naruto, but I own this storyline!

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_____Sasuke's POV_____

I came into my bedroom with a sigh. It was so hot outside. By the way if you wanted to know who I was, I'm Sasuke Uchiha, 16 years old. 'Sup.

My stupid sweaty shirt was sticking to me like gladwrap, and I pulled it off as fast as I could. I threw it on the bed and turned, finding a blonde haired loser looking at me.

"Sasuke!."

"You again." I sneered, and walked over to my wardrobe to pull out a clean shirt.

"That's not how you greet your best friend!" Naruto pouted, glancing at my chest. His eyes narrowed.

"What." I threw the sweaty shirt at him, which he dodged.

"Teme!! Your pecs are bigger than mine already???" Naruto pulled off his own shirt to compare.

I looked at his, satisfied that mine were broader and firmer. It's not hard to see which one of us is ALWAYS gonna get the girl. I started to smile, but then I turned it into a scowl.

"You moron, it's just a TINY bit bigger." More like heaven and earth, I thought. I mean, if I said what I'd been thinking then he'd definitely start training until he broke something. That was how it'd almost always been between us - hardcore rivalry was a big ingredient on our friendship.

"Hmmm..." Naruto looked at his own pecs again, turning away.

I shook my head and found a shirt to wear. I had just pulled it halfway over my head when I heard Naruto's voice again.

"Whoa!! Pink Hair Alert!!"

Hm? Pink hair? A flash of a hot chick with great curves came into my head.

I pulled the shirt on quickly and went to where Naruto was. He was looking out of my window, grinning. I followed his gaze and saw her.

Sakura.

Yes, I admit that I had ignored girls for years- but now that we were grown up I just realised how HOT Sakura was. Man, was she annoying when we were young but now- check out that beautiful body! Her curves were all in the right places, and she was the hottest chick in school, and I was the hottest guy, so its like we were made for each other---

"Man! I can TOTALLY see her curves through her clothing... That is one FINE piece of flesh! What is she, a D-Cup?" Naruto grinned, interrupting my thought process.

I scowled, not looking at him. Jerk. She's mine. Mine. Mine....

Before I could realise it I had blurted out ,"Dobe, you said you were over her." in that tone which was oozing with pure jealousy. Not that I had meant for it to come out that way.

"Teme! I forgot she was ALREADY CLAIMED." said Naruto, meaningfully.

The way he stretched the last two words caught my attention. My eyes darted to his face. Naruto, all this time, had been watching me with the hugest grin that could fit on his face. The whiskers on his cheeks were making those horrible arches that always happened when he smiled like that, and his blue eyes had that mirth in them which made me want to hit him. The stupid guy was messing with me!

I rolled my eyes.

"Just die already." I shoved his shoulder. His face now lost the expression of merriment and had adopted a serious look.

"I wish you'd ask her out already. I heard she likes you anyway, so there's no need for hesitation. But then you ARE The Sasuke, known to have hoards of girls worship you and turn you into some cult. You'd better get with Sakura , cos it was.... kinda..... hard to give her up..." Naruto now trailed off, his tanned hands fidgeting nervously. A short moment of silence ensued.

Despite the fact that I was a jerk most of the time, I suddenly felt a pang of guilt hit me like a wrecking ball. That's right. I sighed. I knew Naruto had been crushing on Sakura badly since dinosaurs started roaming the planet. Time and time again, Sakura didn't pay attention to him and only cared about me. It was about the time when I found her attractive and we were both giving each other flirty looks that Naruto had somehow figured it out. He gave her up, saying that she would've never wanted him anyway. This is Naruto I'm talking about, who never gave up on anything. ANYTHING. And I knew that he had done that for me.

I feel like a tool, dammit.

Naruto was still fidgeting his hands, then he snapped out of it as quickly as he had come into the topic.

"...And I think my ramen's done!" Naruto ran off flailing, like he did everyday to his beloved steaming noodles.

I watched him excitedly sniff at the ramen that was sitting on the table. He looked completely happy now, and I couldn't tell if he was faking it or not.

Still, if I am going to be with Sakura, I might as well do it quickly so that he wouldn't be left with lingering affections for her.

____ Hours later._____

We were feeling hungry. That is, Naruto and me. So we went down to the kitchen to find some food to scarf down. If you're wondering why the hell Naruto is rummaging through my fridge right now like he owns the place, that's because he lives here too. Naruto moved in to my room, taking the upper bunk bed, because it's closer for him to go to school from my crib.

My dad came into the kitchen with his newspaper. He looked at Naruto disapprovingly, who had a chicken wing in his mouth.

"You're STILL hanging out with that guy?" he said rudely, and walked out again into the living room. Talk about manners.

As soon as he was out of the room Naruto hissed at me. "Does he ALWAYS have to treat me like that??"

I shrugged.

This time, my Mum came in, holding an unopened letter in her hand.

Naruto greeted her happily, since she was always nice to him.

"Oh hi, Mrs Uchiha."

"Dear, you can call me "Kate, " She said with a dreamy look. Naruto opened his mouth and was (probably) going to say to me, "What's with that?," but before anything happened Pops came in again. I figured he'd been listening in on us or something for such fast action.

"KATE?!?!" he roared, "- Did you forget your Japanese roots woman!? Kate!! HAH! ," he openly scoffed, leaning on the counter. When it was clear his remark wasn't being appreciated he walked out again.

Mum rolled her eyes. I smirked.

"What's that." I nodded in the direction of the letter in her hand.

She flipped the envelope over, and looked at it.

"It's from an old friend of mine. I wonder why she wrote me a letter, we haven't contacted each other in years." Mum frowned, also walking out the room.

"Well." Naruto turned back to the fridge, still raiding. He pulled out a carton of almost finished milk, and drunk it.

I squinted at the use-by date. "Dobe, that's 4 days overdue."

"I can handle it." Naruto shrugged.

___Not long after, bedtime_____

I could hear Naruto groaning from above my head in the upper bunk.

"Told you so." It was good that he didn't see my face right then, because I think I was using my smuggest smirk at the moment.

He turned over on his bed, growling.

"Teme, shut up."

______Normal POV_______

Naruto's stomach stopped aching , much to his relief. He could tell that Sasuke was fast asleep in the bunk below from the way he was breathing.

Naruto stared at the ceiling, looking at those glow-in-the-dark stars he had stuck there without Sasuke knowing, from a while back.

Suddenly, he heard an angry hiss. Naruto pulled the pillow over his head. He knew what was coming, although he hadn't heard it in ages.

"Naruto... you thought that I'd gone huh?" the darkly vehement voice echoed in Naruto's head. The blonde boy scrunched his hands next to his temples. This wasn't normal! Normal people didn't hear voices in their heads like this!

"What is it..." Naruto's voice came out low, and was the only sound in the room. He paused, and then continued, "...Kyuubi."

The Voice in his head started to laugh.

"I see you haven't forgotten me. I'll make it short. I need blood, boy."

Naruto's cerulean eyes widened, and if you looked closely enough you could see streaks of red darting in the blue.

"Shut up, I don't want to talk to you." He strained the words through gritted teeth.

The Voice didn't pay any attention to him, but it had gone sickeningly velvet in it's tone.

"Sasuke... if he wasn't around, Sakura would be yours...."

Naruto held his breath. "I'm not listening to you."

"Kill him."

"NO! GO AWAY!" Naruto's voice was loud now, but miraculously, Sasuke didn't wake up.

Naruto now shook underneath his sheets.

"Just leave me alone." his voice was hoarse.

The Voice sighed. "I'll go now, but you can't run Naruto. As long as you live I'll be with you..." the voice now faded away, and Naruto's head was throbbing. The throbbing always meant that the Voice had left him. Naruto peered over the edge of the bunk to look at Sasuke, who was sleeping serenely, his face being ivory smooth in the gleam of a sliver of moonlight. Sasuke hardly ever looked innocent when he was awake, but now he looked like he was. Naruto gulped. He never told Sasuke of the Voice, after all these years.

"...I'll never kill him." Naruto stuck out his chin determinedly as he said it under his breath. A moment later, fatigue swept over him and he closed his eyes to sleep.

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A/N : Okay, it wasn't necessary to introduce Sasuke's parents like that. But I just had that image of Sasuke's 'father' in my head which I found so funny so I had to put it in. He reminds me of the dad from Clueless, you know when Cher comes downstairs in that dress and he's like "It looks like underwear." HAHAH. Blunt fathers are funny. Oh what was it... my friend's friend got a birthday present from her dad, and it was "Bruce Bigalow: Male Gigalo" DVD. She's like "DAD!!!" And he responds matter-of-factly, "It was on sale." HAHAHA Oh dear, *wipes tear* Well, Naruto's got Kyuubi in him! Will he be able to fight against the voice in his head? I'll bring in Hinata soon.

Anyways, I hope you liked that installment. Please R & R! No flames! And if there's a funny father moment you'd like to share please do!!

Until next chapter,

Lafs.