A/N: Sorry it took me like… *counts on fingers* two weeks to get around to updating this. I had to do my culminating tasks and exams for school and the stress from it all was giving me really bad writer's block. Buuuut I'm back now and pretty much have all the free time in the world to update since I'm on summer break.

I don't usually write intense content, but stuff gets a bit emotional in this chapter when more about Sasuke's at-home life is revealed. Things also get more scientific as well – that part was fun to write.

Leave a comment to tell me what you think.

Previously:

I felt a little bit hesitant about eating it. I like my food plain and I don't normally add salt to anything; however, this single bowl encased more salt in it than I've probably consumed all week. To be fairly honest, I have a slight irrational fear that it would shock my body to have this much sodium enter my system like that all of a sudden. Also, as much as I hate to say it, I was questioning the sanitation of the thing as well. A product sold for that cheap can't possible have all that many production regulations and even the health safety of Naruto's apartment was a bit questionable. The hot water would likely help eliminate any bacteria though, I guess…

Naruto spontaneously began laughing, "Oh my God, Sasuke. You're acting like you've never had ramen before."

...

"Well actually..." i started. I really haven't, but I'm not sure if i should tell a ramen addict like himself that. Just as i was about to decide not to tell him, he interrupted my thoughts.

"No way," he breathed, a bewildered look in his eyes. Uh oh, I don't like that look at all.

Before I knew it, he had jumped out of his chair and was standing in front of me. Just what the heck is this ramen-possessed dork planning on doing this time?

Chapter 3: Ramen Obsessed

Naruto leaned forwards until he was just inches away from my face, his blue eye bore into my brown ones inquisitively. He looked like he wanted to say something but he remained silent. I wish he'd just say something already. I'm not the kind of person who gets nervous easily, but he was starting to set me a bit on edge. If there's one thing – just one – that makes me uncomfortable, it's physical contact. I blame my family for that one. It's a well-known fact that it's a bit too intimate for business associates to partake in physical contact beyond shaking hands – another thing my parents brought home with them when raising me. God knows how many times I've attempted t get over my issues with physical contact, but I just can't seem to override what's been ingrained into me since I was young. It just always feels wrong, and it makes my skin crawl with the need to make it stop, as if my life depended on it.

Naruto startled me out of my thoughts when he grabbed both of my shoulders.

Nope, I'm out of here. This guy would make a pretty decent friend, but this is a line I'm not willing to cross.

"Ever heard of personal space?" I questioned, jaw clenched.

"You've really never had ramen before!?" He exclaimed, ignoring my question. Not wanting to respond, I narrowed my eyes, daring him to do something about it, but the effect was lost on him as he continued filling the silence animatedly.

"You're really something else you know. Like a completely different species. I've never met anyone who hasn't had ramen before. I practically live off the stuff. But despite having eaten the stuff for years, my love for it hasn't dimmed yet. If that's not true love then I don't know what is," he joked. Or at least, I hope he was joking.

"What have you even been eating all these years, man?"

"The hearts of small children." Naruto's eyes widened at this and I couldn't help but smirk in amusement. I could have some fun with this.

"Sometimes I even treat myself to the kidneys of the people I don't like," I continued. "But I don't kill my victims; I only take one of their kidneys. Sometimes I even take their appendix. I'm really doing them a favour with that one though. It's a useless organ in this era and a quarter of the residents in the United States alone end up having to undergo surgery to have their appendix removed each year anyway." I stopped talking when I looked over at Naruto and noticed that he was gapping at me from where he stood, and seemed to cease breathing.

"Naruto," I said, waving my hand in front of his face.

He double-blinked and then let out a breath he probably didn't even realize he was holding.

"Ye-Yeah? I mean, yes?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. I can't believe he was taking me seriously on this. This guy may be an okay partner for our project, but he's still a halfwit. A really, really gullible one.

"What do you think I've been eating? I eat food. Preferably tomatoes and stir-fry with some nice vintage red wine," I said exasperated.

I give up with the jokes. I know that some people find me intimidating and serious, but come on. Realistically, a diet consisting of human hearts, kidneys and whatever else wouldn't even be sustainable or a significant source of nutrition – especially with all the processed and genetically modified crap people eat these days. It would hardly be any better than consuming ramen everyday. Plus, I'd probably contract some uncanny disease from all the contact I'd have with human blood. Somehow, I doubt telling any of this to Naruto would improve the situation though.

"What?" Naruto inquired, finally snapping out of his stupor.

"I was joking," I replied tiredly.

"Oh?" He asked, looking to me for confirmation. I just raised an eyebrow in response. "Oh," he concluded.

"Yeah, oh," I echoed. What even is this situation? It's so awkward now. I guess it's time to take my leave. I've had enough social interaction for one day anyway – probably enough to last me all week, to be frank.

"Well this was great and all," I said, getting out my chair and slipping past Naruto. "I think it's time for me head out. If you have any questions about the project, you have my number, so feel free to—"

"Wait!" Naruto interrupted as I was reaching for my jacket haphazardly strewn across the back of the chesterfield. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing, mister. You can't escape it that easily!"

"I'm sorry, what?" What the heck is he talking about. It this some kind of a weird joke, because it seems even worse than the one I just made.

"You didn't even touch the dinner I made you." He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He came over and pushed me back towards the table, leading me back to my seat. I guess it was kind of insulting that I didn't touch the food he made me, even if it was just instant ramen. I wasn't even thinking about that. This guy really makes me lose my head with all his incessant nonsense sometimes, it must be contagious or something, I mused. I was never like this before I met him, especially not with the manner-obsessed parents I have.

"Do you want something to drink?" He asked, walking all of four steps to the kitchen. I could've grabbed myself a drink, it's not little it'd be much of a challenge to find things in this petit apartment, but if he insists on playing host then I guess I can entertain his little game.

"I don't suppose you have any wine?" He turned around and gave me a look that was a cross between disbelief and irritation. I guess you could call it a 'what-the-fuck look.'

"We're underage you man-child, so no, I don't have any old grape juice. I thought people like you were supposed to play by the rules."

"I'm not some goody-two shoes, I'm just better at discretely breaking the rules than you are, loser," I replied. That's too bad. I actually do like wine. It what's my parents always drank during business dinners and thus what they always drank at home. I guess at some point that habit also rubbed off on me, though I have no idea when.

"If you can call rolling you eyes at the teacher breaking the rules, then sure." I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at that one, but Naruto caught it anyways and gave me a knowing smirk.

"What do you have then?" I questioned, changing the subject.

"Water," came his reply.

"What? Then why'd you even bother asking what I wanted?"

"I don't have guests over very often," He shrugged. "I thought I'd indulge myself. You're supposed to ask these things when you have people over right?"

"Yes, but you're supposed to actually have something to offer first," I mentally facepalmed.

"Alright, so water it is," He grinned, as he started rummaging through the cupboards. "What an easy request that was."

"Idiot," I murmured under my breath.

"Actually!" He shouted excitedly. "I think I have some teabags from when I swiped some from a funeral. You look like the kind of guy who likes tea, want some?"

"Dead-people tea? Not really."

"Oh, c'mon," He prodded, ripping open the package anyway.

I was going to make another joke, but when I turned around he had this disappointed look on his face. If he really wats to make me tea that bad, then who am I to stop him I guess. At least I can cross drinking dead-people tea off my bucket list after this.

"Try not to hurt yourself boiling water," I conceded.

"Aha!" He triumphed, ignoring my insult. "So how do you like it? With honey? Sugar? That nasty artificial sweetener stuff? I don't have creamer, so don't even bother asking for that one."

"Well at least you're being honest about the options this time. I normally just drink it black."

"Seriously? No sugar?" He asked, scrunching up his nose.

"That carcinogenic crap? I'll pass. You know the WBC in the human body already eliminates several million cancer cells each day? I don't need to increase my odds of some of it surviving."

"But that stuff is so bitter, no wonder you're such a bitter guy," He teased. "I'm gonna' add sugar anyway, you look like you need more sugar in your life anyway," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. I'm not even going to ask what that's supposed to mean.

I frowned as he finished stirring in the sugar and placed it in front of me.

"C'mon Sasukeeee, I'm sure your WDD will be fine," he whined.

"WBC," I corrected. "If you give me cancer, I'm sending you my medical bills," I said, taking a sip of the tea. "I might just sue you too," I added, wrinkling my nose. This stuff was definitely too sweet for my liking.

"Yeah, yeah," He said leaning against the table.

"Alright, it's time for you to lose your ramen virginity to me now!" I choked on my tea a bit when he said that, just barely avoiding doing a spit-take.

"Excuse me?"

"You've never had ramen before, right? That makes you a ramen virgin. Well, time to lose it, let's go!" He said cheerfully, picking up my chopsticks from the table.

I set my tea down and rubbed my face with my hands. "Please don't about sex while I'm eating," I pleaded.

"What? I'd never," he said. "I was just talking about your ramen-deficient lifestyle."

"That's like the same thing. You said virginity, which is most associated with sex."

"Well maybe, but eating ramen is even better than sex."

"I'm not having this conversation with you."

"That's okay, you don't have to. Just open wide for the chu-chu train," He baby-talked, holding a mouth-full of ramen in front of me.

"Oh, my god, I'm not eating that."

"What? Are you insulting my cooking for the second time today? You even tried to leave earlier," He said, frowning.

"No, I mean I'm not letting you force-feed me like some disobedient child."

"Well right now you are a disobedient child – a cranky one. I might just have to spank you later too." I looked up at him repulsed and he burst out laughing.

"C'mon wittle Sasuke-chan, didn't your parents ever feed you like this when you were little?"

"No." I snapped.

Naruto's eyes widened, all traces of amusement leaving his face. "Yeah, me neither..." He said, handing me back my chopsticks and moving back over to the other side of the room.

"Hey, wait – "

"Sorry, I guess you're more than capable of feeding yourself then." He replied tonelessly.

Shit. I really didn't mean to snap at him. I just couldn't stop myself from getting defensive like that when he mentioned my parents all of a sudden. We never had a very good relationship. They were always tormenting about how I was never as successful or impressive as my older brother. That I was just some immature child they regretted having. Every day at dinner, if they weren't tormenting me, they'd simply ignore me and talk about all the great things my brother did that day. Itachi's six years older, of course I can't even compare to him. I'm always going to be behind him. But of course, my success will never be enough for my parents, even if I'm doing better than all the other kids my age. But Naruto doesn't know any of that. I shouldn't have gotten mad at him, he probably thinks it's his fault.

I should probably finish eating before I go after Naruto since he was so adamant on me trying it. I wouldn't want to "insult his 'cooking'" for a third time today.

As I took in a mouthful of the ramen, I was actually moderately surprised. It wasn't that bad for something that costed less than a dollar. It seemed like he added some additional spices to it. A bit of oregano and some chili powder, maybe some garlic. It wasn't too salty either. I mean, it was salty, but it wasn't like I was bombarded by salt. I guess all those years of eating ramen gave him an idea of what he was doing. When I finished my bowl, I ended up wanting seconds, but it unfortunately, it seemed as though Naruto had already finished off the pot earlier, while I was contemplating how safe it was to eat. I grabbed my mug of tea and followed the general direction of where I saw Naruto leave earlier. I found him sitting on the steps outside of his apartment as I closed the door.

Naruto didn't acknowledge my presence as I stood behind him.

I cleared my throat and took a seat beside him on the steps. "The ramen was actually pretty good. Although, I still prefer my tea without sugar…" Naruto still didn't say anything. "I don't know much about ramen, but I'm pretty sure most people don't add a pinch of oregano to it like that. It was a nice touch."

"You know," He began, and I involuntarily tensed. "That white stuff with the pink swirl on it in the ramen is called Naruto. Sometimes I wonder if my parents named me after that, but I never got the chance to ask. Seems like it'd be fitting, right? Given my tastes and all…" He paused. "They… I don't even remember what they looked like. They past away before I can remember." He said, his voice just above a whisper.

There was something eerie about the way he said that – it gave me the chills. I felt guilty about complaining about my parents, meanwhile Naruto had never even had any. My parents may have been assholes, but at the end of the day, they still somewhat took care of me. I mean, my bathroom was the size of Naruto's apartment and I had never even had to resort to eating ramen once, let alone eating it every day.

Since Naruto had stuck his neck out in taking the liberty of explaining things to me, I wanted to return the favour.

"My parents… are the cold, business type. They run Uchiha Corp and treat their home like it's simply an extension of their business. My brother is pretty well following in their footsteps, so they never felt like they ever needed me around. I'm just a waste of their finances. A poor investment they can't terminate," I admitted, clenching my fists.

"They sound like a couple of dicks," Naruto breathed. I laughed hollowly at his word choice. I can just imagine the disapproving look my parents would have on their faces if they ever heard me say something like that.

We sat in silence, looking out onto the city. This may be a pretty shitty apartment, but it has a nice view from out here. It's quiet too.

"You turned out alright though," Naruto said, slapping me on the back. He left his arm resting on my shoulders and offered me a small smile. "Cheers to us raising ourselves," he said taking my mug out of my hands and taking a swig of my tea. He made a sound of protest and spat it out over the side of the railing. "Gaaaaah, I still don't know how you can stomach that," he said, disgusted.

I snorted, "You turned out alright, too. A little rough around the edges but at least you seem human."

Naruto looked back at me, his eyes bright despite the darkness of the night that surrounded us. "That's just part of my charm," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll bet that little stunt you just pulled gets all the ladies."

"Oh yeah, that one gets them all hot an' bothered."

"Yeah, especially if you accidentally spit it out on them," I added, noting that my shirt was actually a little wet from that.

"Oh," he said, noticing my shirt. "Looks like you got wet for me too."

I glared at him, not appreciating the double entendre, but I couldn't keep the smile from forming on my face. "Your lack of manners never ceases to amaze me, Uzumaki."

"Hmm," he hummed pensively. "Yeah, I suppose I'm more of the ruggedly handsome bad-boy type, no?" He asked, slicking his hair back with his hand.

"I think most people would agree with me that angelic blond hair and blue eyes isn't all that dangerous looking."

"I'm a fallen angel then, I guess," He decided.

"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" I joked, quoting an overused pick-up line.

"Trying to pick me up, Uchiha?" He asked as he stood, popping out his hip and giving me a mock-suggestive look, eyebrows raised.

I snorted, looking up at him from where I remained sitting. "I'm not weak or anything, but I don't think that even I'd be able to pick you up."

Naruto fake gasped, "Are you calling me fat?!" He asked, waving his hand in a feminine manner.

"Is this one of those situations where you tell the other person they're perfect the way they are despite it being a lie?" I asked contemptuously.

"See, this is why you don't have a girlfriend," Naruto stated.

"Hn," I huffed. "I don't really want one in all honesty. More trouble than it's worth."

"But if you'd just get one already, then you wouldn't have to keep fighting off all your fangirls with a stick."

"I doubt they mind. They're probably just waiting for me to run out of sticks so that I have to fight them off with my dick."

Naruto laughed, "Oh god, what have I done? I've corrupted the great Uchiha. You're even talking about dicks now."

"Yeah, I'm sure my parents would be real proud of me," I said bitterly.

Naruto's smile fell. "Fuck your parents."

I hummed in agreement. "So, what about you, where's your girlfriend at, hm?"

Naruto looked out into the distance, "I'm still waiting for her to notice that I exist," he said longingly.

"And who might that be?" I asked.

"Sakura," he said, still not making eye-contact with me.

"Who's that again?" I asked, scrunching my face in concentration, trying to remember where I've heard that name before.

Naruto looked over at me, "You 'ought to work on your thinking face dude. Your glares already scare away half the girls that try to approach you."

"Looks like my glares are doing their job then."

"You're really not into any of them?" Naruto asked skeptically, looking at me from his peripheral vision.

"No, I'm really not," I huffed again. "How many times do I have to tell you? And why the heck are you looking at me like that?"

Naruto turned his face away from me. Fidgeting with the hem of his shirt he replied, "Well, it's just that… Sakura actually likes you. She's not into me. She only notices you."

"Again, who the heck is this Sakura person?"

Naruto's face snapped back towards mine, eyes narrowed. "Dude, she sits right beside you in class. Pink hair, green eyes…"

"Oh, you're talking about pinky. You forgot that she's really annoying and has no sense of personal space."

"That's because she's flirting with you," he said irritated. "She's touching you on purpose."

"Oh, lucky me." I said sarcastically. "Sorry, why do you like her again?"

Naruto's eyes scanned my face before turning back towards the city. "You really don't like her back, do you?"

"That's what I've been saying. I still have yet to tell you a lie. I don't see why you're so distrusting of me," I said leaning back on my hands.

"It's not that… I just…" He trailed off.

We sat in comfortable silence, watching the cars pass while Naruto collected his thoughts.

"I don't really know why I like her," he sighed. "I never really thought about it."

"Nice," I mused.

"Hey… Shut up."

"Nice one again."

"Bastard!"

"Idiot."

"Asshole!"

"True," I agreed.

"Jeez," Naruto laughed. "You're not supposed to agree with me. Haven't you ever bantered with your brother before?" He asked without thinking. "Oh shit, don't answer that."

"Hn." I replied uncaringly. "It's fine, you idiot." I reassured him, flicking a pebble at him that was beside me on the stairs.

"Hey, I know I said something dickish, but I don't think I deserved to get stoned or smited with a rock for that."

"Dickish isn't a word, you buffoon, but I appreciate the sentiment."

"Right, that's very convincing, because you're such a sentimental person," Naruto mocked.

"Yeah, well. I wouldn't have survived with my family if I were sentimental." I said defeatedly.

Naruto was silent.

"I'm like this because the world demanded it of me. It wasn't like it was much of a choice."

"Yeah, I get that," Naruto said quietly. "Life sucks."

"Hn," I said non-committally, closing my eyes and basking in the crisp night breeze. I definitely used to feel that way as well, but now I feel like it's not so bad. I could feel Naruto looking at me. "What is it?"

"Can I… Can I ask you something?"

"Got a burning question?"

"Yeah… So, about your brother…" My eyes snapped open at this.

Naruto bit his lip and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I've never had a brother before or even a sister. And I never had anyone I could ask about this… But, what's it like having one?" He asked, slightly red. "I know you don't really get along with your family, but surely there's something… special about having a family. Something different at least… I mean, I totally get it if you don't want to talk about it though."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. I really don't like them, like you said. But Itachi, my brother wasn't always so bad. I can't imagine what it'd be like not having him around."

"Mm, I guess it's a bit lonesome," He laughed, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "But what I've found is that being alone isn't what makes you lonely. It's being surrounded by the wrong people that does." It caught me off guard to hear Naruto say something so serious… Something so deep and profound. Suddenly he seemed years older and his eyes had this distant look in them. You could see that he had endured his fair bit of hardships in the past just by looking at him.

"Yeah, I can see that…" I said, unsure of what to say in response to that. "Right, so, my brother, huh?" I started. "I remember when I was really little, we used to have a lot of fun together. I guess at that time he was decidedly too young to start having to worry about all the responsibilities an heir has," I laughed bitterly, trying to relieve some tension.

"Our house in near the edge of the city. It's got lots of privacy, which is what my parents liked, but what my brother and I liked was that there's this forest out back. We'd go romping about day-in and day-out and goof around – our favourite game was playing ninja. We'd carve shuriken using our pocket knives and wood we found in the forest. When we got home, we'd watch videos of parkour and try it out the next day. Naturally, since he was six years older, he had a bit of an advantage and was able to do some of the parkour moves that I couldn't, but I still tried to keep up with him. Often times I'd get injured and then he'd carry be home on his back. Sometimes I even just pretended to get hurt so that he'd carry me home because I'd be exhausted from our games and it was a long walk home. He was… he was pretty much the perfect brother. He was smart and well-mannered, the adults always loved him, the kids his age loved him, and I really looked up to him... At the time, anyway," I quickly added. "He never treated me like a kid. I remember how adults used to baby-talk me even when I was perfectly capable of understanding what they were saying, but Itachi would talk to me and treat me just like he would anyone else. He was my best friend," I reminisced. "It was always hard for me to make friends because of my parents and money and all. Girls were more interested in dating me and guys were more interested in trying to beat me all the time. But most people were just too afraid of the consequences if they somehow messed up on being my friend. I don't really get it in all honesty."

I ran my hand threw my hair, "Inevitably, the day came when my father decided that it was time to start priming Itachi for his future responsibilities. His free-time became virtually non-existent, but when he had time to himself, he'd spend it with me instead. He was more kind than my mother ever was. He used to be the most self-sacrificing person I've ever known." I paused. Fuck, it hurt to talk about this, but for Naruto's sake, and partially some of my own, I continued. "Then one day, all of sudden, he just seemed to change. His eyes no longer held the same warmth, and he no longer set aside time to spend with me. He began taunting me the same way my parents would; well, the way my father would. My mother never said anything, but she never denied anything my father said to me either. After all, her job was to be the perfect wife, not the perfect mother," I sneered.

I could feel more and more of my bottled-up emotions pour out the more I talked. I have no doubt in my mind that keeping all these feelings to myself was never any good for my health, but my pride never would've allowed me to do anything different about it. The only reason why it felt okay to talk about it right now was because Naruto's different, he's like me and seems to understand somehow. He doesn't look at me with pity in his eyes, he looks at me with understanding and compassion, though I can't imagine how he'd understand all this. He said he didn't have parents. I'll have to wait for him to tell me that later though. That's not something you can just ask about.

"For years, he was the one person I could count on, despite all the crap my parents threw at me." I said, unable to utter my brother's name in that moment. "And before I even knew what had happened, it all changed. A complete 180. For years, I wondered if it was something I had done that caused him to change. But I've learned to stop burdening myself with things out of my control. I can't change him and to be honest, I never thought anyone could. He changed himself. He's always been untouchable, even to me…"

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Smiling bitterly, I turned towards Naruto, "Anyway, that's my sob story. Sorry if I talked your ear off."

Naruto returned to his seat beside me and looked at me, taking a moment to read my expression, his eyes shifting back-and-forth across my face, "Don't do that." He said sternly. "You can be as sad or pissed as you want. Given your situation, you're entitled to that if you ask me. But don't fucking pretend to be okay like that. I spent my entire life pretending to be okay so that I wouldn't drive people away. I wasn't like you, I couldn't fend for myself. I had to pathetically depend on others to get by and I got help by acting like a perfectly happy kid that people couldn't help but want to aid," He exhaled harshly. I looked down at my socks, unable to maintain eye-contact with Naruto after hearing that.

"If I was able to 'fend for myself,' I never wouldn't have had to put up with any of that shit my family gave me. I'm more useless than you give me credit for. You actually did something about the situation you were in. I did nothing," I said slowly, trying to keep my voice steady and inflectionless. Naruto responded by grabbing my shoulder and pulling me against him.

"I'm not trying to cop a feel or anything man," He explained, "But you look like you could use a hug." And he was right, after years of lacking any emotional or physical connection to anyone, it felt nice to know that someone cared. I craved it. Needed it.

In that moment, I didn't mind how vulnerable opening up to Naruto left me. He's more than proven that I can trust him and that he's suffered through similar hardships to me. He's the one person that's been able to understand me in the slightest since my brother abandoned me.

Evidently, even the universe seemed to understand the situation, as it started to rained immediately after we stopped talking. Naruto didn't seem to care though and he continued to keep his arm wrapped around my shoulder while we sat in the rain.

I was able to sit there for all 30 seconds until I broke the silence, "I'm not really a fan of pneumonia, so we should probably head inside."

"You're really good at ruining the moment, you know?" He grunted.

"Yeah, well, I think I've had enough bromance and self-pity for one evening," I admitted. "But thanks," I added nearly inaudibly.

Naruto simply nodded in response and I wasn't sure if he even heard the last part or not, but I decided that it wasn't of much importance as I trailed after Naruto into his apartment. I nearly cried and cuddled with the guy like a little girl. Saying thanks isn't nearly as much out of character for me as all that was. It was probably the least of my worries at this point.