Chapter One
Naru forked out another bite of mu shu pork from the little white carton
and leaned forward, his trademark grin completely absent. "So, would you pretend
to be my boyfriend?"
Sasuke Uchiha stared at his old friend for what felt like forever, completely
taken aback.
"Come on, Sasuke. Sakura's driving me crazy. She shows up everywhere I
go! It's like she's stalking me. And you're not dating anybody right now or
anything. You've got to help me out here!" Naru grinned, using that wheedling
tone Sasuke had always hated. His unusual eyes, one blue, one red, begged
Sasuke to agree. "What could go wrong?"
What couldn't go wrong? Sasuke's mind boggled trying to catalog all the
potential problems that could come up. No matter how annoying this Michelle
was, there was no way he could play along. Of all the bad ideas Naru had ever
had—and there.d been a lot of them over the years—this was by far the worst.
"No."
Naru's puppy-dog-eyed look infuriated him even more.
"No way."
When Naru still didn't appear to be getting the message, Sasuke threw up
his hands in frustration. "No, no, a thousand times no! This is the stupidest idea
you've ever had, and that's saying something. Even you have to admit this is
idiotic."
Naru actually looked a bit insulted. "It's not idiotic. You'd see if you'd give
me the chance to explain."
Unable to watch him one second more, Sasuke turned his back. A chaotic
mixture of hurt, anger, confusion, and too many other feelings to identify
narrowed into one focus: escape. "I thought you were my friend, Naru. I'm out of
here." Grabbing his jacket, Sasuke fled his friend's apartment.
Though he could hear Naru calling after him, he strode down the hallway.
Not wanting to wait for the elevator, he took the stairs. After a couple of flights,
his emotions cooled a bit and he slowed down. Unfortunately, he also had plenty
of time to think. Of course, his thoughts immediately focused on the bizarre and
ridiculous favor his supposed friend had just asked of him.
Pretending to be dating to get rid of a ditzy but persistent would-be
girlfriend was weird, even for Naru. He frowned, thinking hard. Why would
Naru ask him to do something like that? Was he trying to mock him somehow?
At the very least, his supposed friend wanted to use him, which had taken him
completely off guard. He'd always thought Naru was the one person he could
count on never to use him for anything. While other people had attempted to
make friends with him because of his family money, or his father's political clout as
a US Senator, Naru's own family money had kept them on equal terms.
Their nearly fifteen-year friendship had begun when they'd both attended
the same private school in seventh grade. Because of their last names, Uchiha and
Uzumaki, they'd ended up in the same homeroom class. Naru had sat next to
him, and asked his name. When he answered, Naru laughed and said they had to
be friends since he was boring and he was active. Together,
Naru explained, they'd almost be like one normal person. That was the kind of
crazy thing Naru thought made sense. Though Sasuke had never stopped
thinking Naru was crazy most of the time, they had remained good friends
throughout high school and college. Despite the many scrapes Naru got them
both in, he was always there for Sasuke when it counted.
He'd come out to his friends and family four years ago, and of all his friends,
Naru had taken the news the best. Other friends had seemed nervous around him
for a while, or even stopped talking to him, but Naru had only said, "Whatever,"
and acted like nothing had changed.
What would Naru have to gain by pretending to be gay? Rather than
pretending to date his straight friend, Sasuke should be spending his time looking
for someone to actually go out with. Besides, what if Naru's family found out?
When Naru came clean about the lie, everyone would be angry. And who could
blame them? Had he even thought about his idea at all before he'd suggested it?
Sasuke's mind still whirled as he reached the parking garage. The ringing of
his cell phone momentarily distracted him, but he ignored it. The only people who
would be calling him right now would be his parents or Naru, and he didn't feel
like talking to anyone. Unlocking his dark blue BMW, he opened the door and
tossed the phone into the passenger seat. When the phone bounced off and fell to
the floor instead, he growled in irritation.
Sasuke ignored the little chirp telling him the caller had left a voice mail and
drove out of the parking garage toward his place. The idea of spending the rest of
the evening at home with his thoughts didn't appeal, but neither did going
anywhere else. He suddenly felt tired.
As he pulled into a parking spot near his condo a few minutes later, he
wondered if he should have stayed and listened to Naru's explanation. Could he
have overreacted? His own sensitivity about his sexuality, and his single state,
might have made him angrier than he ought to be. Maybe his friend would have
apologized and let the subject drop, and there wouldn't be this potentially
friendship-ending issue standing between them. The idea of losing Naru.s
friendship after all these years hurt.
By the time he reached his place and went inside, however, he felt convinced
he'd done the right thing. Naru had been talking him into stupid things for years.
Sasuke refused to let him do it this time.
This time, Naru would have to solve his problem on his own.