*Note: This chapter will be in the point of view of poor Sasuko...

Parallel

Chapter 3...My apologies...

As I walked away from school, drops began to fall from the dark sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. It put me at ease because it felt as if the sky was crying alongside me.

I began towards my house and suddenly heard the sound of loud splashing footsteps from behind. When I turned, Kakashi-Sensei stood there in the rain holding an umbrella in one hand.

''Kakashi-Sensei? Something wrong?'' I questioned.

''I almost lost you, I had to run a little bit. I apologize, I meant to give this to you earlier. It's the assignments Naruto will need to make up. I was hoping you would be able to run it by his house for me.'' He replied, pulling out a small binder with papers inside.

'Just say no... Just say no... I can't possibly go to Naruto's house...' I thought as he finished.

''S-sure. I can do it..'' I felt regret surge through me as I replied. I just couldn't say no...

''Thank you. You know, I have a spare umbrella if you want it. Just give it back to me in the morning.'' He added.

As he put his and out with it, I accepted it without saying a word and waved as I walked away. At least I wasn't going to have to be as soaked. I looked down at the binder and with a deep breath, it was off to my best friend's house.

Upon my arrival, I stood at the front door with no movements and in deep thought. 'This is my chance. I will apologize for what I have done. I just hope he forgives me...'

I knocked twice on the door and shortly after it opened to show Naruto's beautiful red haired mother greeted me with a smile.

''It's been a while since I've seen you Sasuko, did you come by to check on Naruto?''

''Well.. Y-yes. And I have some papers for him.'' I replied.

I put Kakashi's spare umbrella at the doorstep and continued slowly to Naruto's room. I suddenly began to worry, 'The last time we seen each other outside of school. It happened...'

I counted to five to put myself at ease before knocking at his door, but when I did, my heart started to beat faster and I could feel my body's temperature rising.

When he opened the door, he yawned and scratched his eyes. When he slowly opened them, they widened and he took a step back. ''S-Sasuko?''

''U-um.. May I come in? K-Kakashi told me to give you today's work, and umm I wanted to make sure you understand it. Oh and umm.. A-are you feeling ok?'' I stuttered. My concern made me blush, I felt as if I was worrying too much.

He looked away, ''Yeah I'm fine. C-come on in.''

When I slowly took a step in, I stood in the corner near the door as he took a seat at his desk. He looked up at me with a serious expression.

''Please close the door, before we get on with the school work. I want to talk about what happened the other night.''

I gulped and I could feel my body tighten up to the point where I couldn't control myself. Before I knew it, I was on my knees with my head down.

He suddenly looked concerned as I began to sniffle and whimper. ''I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry...'' Just like the storm outside, I poured upon his floor.

''P-p-please.. Don't h-hate me...'' I lowered my head further down in fear.

I was alarmed when I suddenly heard chuckling. When I tilted my head up, he looked down at me with a smile.

''Why would I hate you, Sasuko?''

My breathing began to fall short and I could feel my body suddenly being wrapped in warmth.

''I'm still getting used to the fact you're not a boy, but honestly, that doesn't change anything. I didn't come to school today because I was too afraid to face you because I thought you hated me for abandoning you that night. Just to see that you're not mad at me, means the world to me and now I couldn't be happier.'' He smiled.

My mouth had been gaping open and I couldn't do anything about it. My entire body felt so much hotter and I was worried that he could hear my thumping heart.

'He doesn't hate me... And he's glad that I don't hate him.. Even though he knows my secret, he's still ok with it... I can't speak right now.. I'm too happy to talk.. Please talk more... My sweet Naruto...'

''But about that other thing you said. Do you really love me?'' He continued.

I sat back against the wall, ''I was s-sorta spilling out my emotions when I said it..B-but yes. I guess it's true..'' I looked down, I just knew he would begin to feel weird. I had to tell the truth though...

''I'm sorry, but I don't know if I could ever love someone that is my best friend, and just now knowing you're a girl. I almost still look at you as my guy friend. I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship.'' He stood up and crouched in front of me and gave me a gorgeous smile.

I smiled back, even though he didn't love me like I loved him, he still wished to keep our friendship and I was just as happy with that.

He was still crouched in front of me and he held his hand out to help me up. Instead of taking it, I moved forward and wrapped my arms around him.

''You may not want to, but you can't stop me from loving you.'' I held him tightly and gripped tightly at the back of his shirt.

''We can't do this-'' He started.

''Calm down. Friends hug, don't they?'' I quickly replied.

I could tell that I changed his mind and he gripped tighter, ''Yeah, you're right..''

We let go of each other and I handed him the binder with his makeup work. I explained to him what we had done that day and made sure he understood thoroughly. I also reminded him of the test he had to retake and made sure he knew everything that was going to be on it.

We were still in the floor as I showed him everything so it felt as if we were little kids, playing in the floor. Except we weren't exactly playing.

''Thank you Sasuko. I'm glad I have such a smart friend.'' He smiled.

I blushed, ''I-It's nothing. Maybe if you wouldn't sleep in class, it'd be easy for you too.''

He scratched his head in guilt, ''Yeeeah... I just can't help it. I usually stay up so late. Now that I think about it, what time is it?'' We glanced over at his alarm clock.

''7:30?'' We questioned in unison.

''I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stay this long. I'll be on my way I guess.'' I stood up at went for the door until I felt something tightly grab my ankle.

I turned to see Naruto reaching out and grabbing me, ''You don't have to leave, you can stay. Um.. If you want..'' He looked down.

I felt a warm sensation in my chest and I was glad that he wanted me to stay. I really didn't want to go, leaving his home would've been like ripping open my chest and slowly tugging out my heart.

''Just to make sure, I'm going to go ask Minato and Kushina. I'll be right back.'' I left the room quickly in excitement. Even though I was a highschooler, I would always get so hyper and excited over being able to stay at my best friend's house.

When I made it downstairs, Naruto's mother stood cooking dinner and his father sat at the dining room reading a book.

''Um, Excuse me, may I spend the night tonight? I would hate to be a bother but I'm helping Naruto with his schoolwork. So may-'' I began politely.

''You don't have to ask, Sasuko. You know you're always welcome in our home. We appreciate how much you help out Naruto. He severely lacks in his studies...'' Kushina replied.

''That's true, but at least he's adventurous like the main character of this tale of a ninja!'' Minato exclaimed.

Kushina yanked it from his hands and tossed it into the waste basket, ''I told you not to read that garbage!''

I laughed as I left the lively room, it made me feel like they were my family, since they welcomed me into their home and I had no parental figure like them.

When I entered Naruto's room, he still sat on the floor. He had his cellphone opened in front of him texting away.

'We text so much when we don't see each other, I should've known he texts other people though. Why is this bothering me? Am I that selfish?' I worried to myself. I was actually starting to feel a hint of jealousy from simply seeing my friend talking to someone else.

''I'll be back in few minutes.'' He quickly said as he left his room.

I let him pass without saying a word, though I wondered heavily what his intentions were. I took a few steps down the stairs to listen to him talking to Kushina.

''I'm going to talk a friend really quick, will dinner be ready before I get back?'' He said, entering the kitchen.

''You're just going to leave your best friend by himself up there?'' She quickly replied.

''Come on mom.. I have other friends besides Sasuko. It'll only be a minute.'' He snapped back.

She gave him a suspicious glance, ''Ok, but don't take long. You'll eat your food cold if you do!''

He ran for the door and slipped on shoes as he bolted out.

I had stayed in the same position the entire time. I felt frozen and broken...

'He has other friends? What am I thinking? Of course he has other friends! It's obvious and shouldn't affect me. But why does my chest hurt so much?' I thought as I lied my hand over my cold heart.

I almost jumped from the sound of a voice suddenly beside me.

''Sasuko?'' Kushina questioned.

''Wh-wh-wh-what? Is d-dinner ready?'' I stuttered.

''Well, actually it'll be a little longer than I expected, I was wondering if you wanted to go ahead and take a bath.'' She smiled.

Normally I would always take a bath at my friend's house, but at that moment I felt awkwardness on a whole different level.

''O-Okay.. I guess I will..'' I said, walking back upstairs towards the bathroom.

I continued at almost a brisk pace so I could perhaps get done before Naruto returned home. I lied nude in the hot water and tried to relax my worried body.

''I take baths here all the time. Why is it different now? Just because he knows I'm a girl? Am I afraid of him peeping? Would he want to? Would I let him? If he wanted to come in here to watch would I-?'' I stopped my one sided conversation and sunk half of my blushing face into the water.

I suddenly opened my eyes and realized that I had almost fell asleep. I began to breathe harder and stood up.

''Oh no, I lost track of the time, I've got to hurry. I don't want Naruto to get back knowing that I'm taking a bath!'' I stepped out of the tub and went for my clothes.

I had always been sneaky about hiding my gender during baths. I would normally take boy clothing and sneak my girl's underwear too. I always made sure that none of the underwear was visible also.

I reached into the basket and my body began to quickly heat up from embarrassment. I remembered my underwear, but not my change of clothes...

I wasn't about to put my dirty ones right back on, so I went ahead and put on my panties and bra and tried to conjure up a strategy.

'I have my change of clothes in Naruto's room, I have a few changes that always stay here because I spend the night so much here. All I have to do is hurry across and change into them!' I thought to myself as felt reassured.

I stopped to look in the mirror on my way out, I looked over my petite body and lighter skin tone. My chest was lacking I size, but I couldn't say the same thing about my rear end...

'Another girl would probably tell me to act like a girl because of my looks. I'd rather be comfortable around people than being thought of as hot or cute though. But would Naruto think this is cute?' I shook off my thoughts and continued my mission for across the hall.

I sprinted across and closed the door behind me. I opened the drawer in a flash and found my change of clothes. Though I opened it with so much force that one of Naruto's nicknacks tumbled to the floor and rolled under the table at the head of his bed.

I grumbled under my breath and ignorantly went to pick it up. I lowered and got on my knees to look under the table.

I suddenly heard a door open behind me and I quickly looked over my left shoulder. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped.

Of course, there stood Naruto in the doorway. His face lit up with intense embarassment and he stuttered out unknown sounds.

''S-S-S-Sas-Sasu-Sasuko...'' He twitched and suddenly fell backwards and slammed back onto the floor.

At that moment I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn't even begin to think straight. My heart was racing faster than it ever had and I felt that I was probably as blushed as he was.

'Naruto saw me... Bending over... In my underwear... How am I ever to look at him again?'

To be continued...

(I wonder if Naruto still looks at her like a guy friend? Probably not from that angle!)

I received plenty of requests to update this soon so I decided to go ahead and finish this one! I'm enjoying writing this story a lot and I will update again soon!