Sasuke groaned as sunlight streamed in through his window, casting golden light over his closed eyes. Rolling over, he slowly opened his eyes and glared at the clock.

'6:00am, why can I never sleep longer?' Sasuke wondered as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. He stretched his long arms over his head, a satisfying pop coming from his shoulders. A yawn escaped him, causing his eyes to water. As he sat in his bed, contemplating laying back down or getting up, he heard faint voices. One, he recognized right away as his roommate Shikamaru, while the other was new.

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Sasuke stood up, allowing his comforter to fall slightly onto the floor. Grabbing a pair of sweatpants off his nightstand, the black-haired boy pulled them up over his boxers and headed for his door. The closer he got, the more he tried to place the second voice. He opened the door and wandered into the dining room, peering out of the sliding glass door and seeing his roommate and the blonde he had met yesterday; Naruto. The two were sitting on the small porch right outside the slider, small trails of smoke drifting up from both young men.

A frown crossed Sasuke's face, watching Naruto bring a cigarette to his lips and take a long drag, possibly longer than Shikamaru usually did. The blonde held his breath briefly before blowing the contents of his lungs out into the air, smiling and listening to Shikamaru talk to him.

Sasuke walked to the door, nonchalantly sliding it open and being met with two pairs of eyes.

"Morning, Sasuke." Shikamaru greeted, earning nothing but a look.

"Good morning! I'm sorry if we woke you!" Naruto spoke next, Sasuke almost wincing at the volume of the boy's voice. The raven did not reply to the greetings, leaning against the door frame.

"Smoking is terrible for you." He said bluntly, always one to speak his mind clearly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, staring at his roommate as he took a deep breath filled with tobacco and blew the smoke out his nose. Naruto's face hardened at the comment, turning away to not face his new neighbor.

"I know," the blonde answered, staring at the cigarette in his hand. They were quiet for a long time before Shikamaru spoke again.

"I was telling Naruto that we were going into the city today and that he could come too." Shikamaru said calmly, looking at his new friend. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"That's fine. Sakura is coming with us." He replied, earning a loud sigh from the pony-tailed man.

"Ugh, what a drag. Women," he grumbled. Shikamaru and Naruto simultaneously took in a deep breath of their cigarettes, letting the smoke out one after another.

"Would you mind if I invited someone? There's someone I've been sorta talking to." Naruto asked, a shy smile on his face. Sasuke studied the boy's expression, noticing how his eyes softened just slightly and how his cheeks relaxed into a soft smile.

"Whatever you want, man." Shikamaru answered, truly being the one with the least cares. The blonde stood up suddenly, almost panicked, as the expression on his face changed.

"What time is it?" he asked, urgency in his voice. Sasuke turned and peered over at the clock in his kitchen.

"6:30, why?" Sasuke replied. Naruto cursed softly under his breath, not thinking before putting his cigarette out quickly against his palm.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Shikamaru nearly shouted, swatting the no longer useable cigarette away from Naruto's hand.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll meet you guys before we leave, I have to go take care of something." He spoke quickly, waving to his neighbors before running off back toward his house. Sasuke and Shikamaru looked at each other, genuinely not sure what had just happened.

"He's crazy." Sasuke stated, staring after the blonde as he quickly entered his house and shut the door.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The clock read 11:00am, and Sakura had just arrived at Sasuke's house. She was chatting with Neji on the couch, them both being in similar professional fields. Sasuke listened idly as he watched out the window, waiting for the blonde next door to appear. As if on cue, said boy walked out from his front door, followed by another man. The man following him was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, making the intense paleness of his skin prominent. They spoke to one another as they headed to the house next door.

Sasuke found his eyes locked on the hyperactive boy that had moved in the other day. He looked mildly uncomfortable, wearing a black tank-top underneath an orange and black jacket, and dark jeans.

'It's like 78 degrees out, and he's wearing a jacket?" Sasuke wondered, walking over to open the slider and allow the newcomers in.

"Hi everyone, this is Sai." Naruto spoke, much more calmly than he had earlier in the morning. The other boy, Sai, smiled kindly.

"Nice to meet you all." Sai said, looking at each person. Sakura stood up form the couch, a smile on her face, her red and white dress flowed around her thighs gently as she walked over to the new boys.

"I'm Sakura, Sasuke's girlfriend." She introduced herself.

"I'm Naruto, I just moved in next door." The blonde responded evenly, earning a shared look of confusion from both Sasuke and Shikamaru.

All of the boys exchanged greeting briefly before Shikamaru stood from the couch and announced it was time to go. Sasuke wrapped his arm lightly around Sakura's waist, holding her in a loving way as they walked out the door. He minutely noticed Sai taking Naruto's hand, lacing their fingers together and earning a blush from the blonde.

They all headed out the front door, deciding to walk to the city that was located only about 10 minutes away on foot. Neji and Sakura continued their conversation, chatting about the differences in their medical practices. Sakura was in school to become a nurse, while Neji was practicing acupuncture and physical therapy. Sasuke listened to them for a minute before tuning in to Naruto and Sai's conversation.

"You should remove your jacket, you look ridiculous." Sai was saying, without much emotion in his voice.

"Hey, that's mean! I like my jacket." Naruto countered, a pout evident in his voice. Sasuke looked over his shoulder, watching Sai scowl slightly and again almost demand that Naruto remove the piece of clothing.

"I don't have anywhere to put it," Naruto defended, taking his hand away from Sai's briefly. The pale boy frowned and grabbed the blonde's hand back, earning a cringe of pain. Naruto yanked his hand away, inspecting the circular burn on the heel of his palm.

"You're an idiot." Sai spat, taking Naruto's hand once again and insisting on holding it tightly. Mild pain was in Naruto's eyes, but when he noticed Sasuke watching them he smiled.

"So, what exactly are we doing today?" he asked, Sasuke staring in slight concern.

"Just hangin' in the city. There're shops and restaurants. It's nice," Shikamaru replied, his arms folded behind his head to support it like a pillow as they walked. Sasuke watched Naruto for a minute longer, feeling Sai's gaze boring into his back. The raven watched as Naruto continued a conversation with Shikamaru and Sai, feeling a bit of anger rise in him as the rude comments from Sai kept coming into the conversation.

As they reached the city limit, Sasuke heard Sai tell Naruto to remove his jacket again, this time earning a loud sigh from the blonde.

"I'm not comfortable taking it off, you know that." Naruto said quietly, as if trying to not allow everyone else to hear him. Sasuke did not turn around this time, but instead heard the rustling of clothes and an incredibly unhappy groan. When he did turn, he saw that Naruto's jacket was now in Sai's hands, leaving the blonde's arms exposed because of his tank top. Sasuke stopped walking, and in turn Sakura stopped because of the way he was holding her. Neji and Shikamaru noticed and turned as well, eyes landing on Naruto.

His face was clearly upset, blue eyes dull and cast down as he crossed his arms over his broad chest, in an attempt to hide them. His arms were massive; muscular and toned, tan as well. When he crossed them, his biceps bulged and his shoulders tensed, making everyone realize just how big he really was. They all continued to stare though, not exactly at the size of the 22-year old. His arms were covered in scars, some appearing to be varying sizes of cuts while others seemed to be burns of varying sizes.

"Naruto, what-?" Sakura started to talk but was immediately interrupted by said blonde.

"I uh, sorry, I have to go home. I'll see you guys later," he blurted out, before abruptly turning around and running. Sasuke's eyes followed him, a frown on his face as it seemed like he was running literally for his life. Sai simply smiled at them, shrugging. Releasing Sakura's waist, Sasuke snatched Naruto's jacket from the pale boy's hands, his eyes filling with anger.

"You should leave." He spat, before turning back to his friends and leading them away. Shikamaru and Neji watched Naruto for a minute longer before glaring at Sai and following their friend. Sai stood there, no longer smiling, but appearing irritated. He turned and began walking back toward where they had all come from.