WARNING: Shounen-ai

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, who seriously needs to let Naruto and Sasuke reunite again!


"What the hell is wrong with you?"

The million dollars question. Naruto wished he could answer, but he knew whatever coming out of his mouth will be nothing but duplicity. Anything to defend him now would simply add shame to him. The angered face before him accepted only truth and promised nothing but truths in return.

"Well? What of me didn't you like? Why don't you fucking tell it to my face?"

The hand that violently grasped Naruto's collars moments ago shook him angrily. It was not to threaten, but to shake out the answer, the answer in which Naruto himself does not know. The hall fell dead again. The unbearable silent that forbade any help for Naruto returned to swallow up the two shadows clashing violently in that dead hallway. Naruto missed the fourteen hours between his first (face-to-face) meeting with Sasuke and this moment, the fourteen hours of peace, and no maniac screaming at him. Where did the peace go?

"Are you paying attention?" Sasuke haunted over the blonde, irritated. "If you're done spacing out, then answer my question."

Then Naruto decided to be funny.

"Which one? You asked three." Apparently it was not the right moment to be cracking jokes.

"Quit messing with me." Sasuke's veins popped and his stomach boils, perhaps that was the hot dog from lunch, but it was still very uncomfortable. "Do you even know who I am?" Sasuke leaned closer, until his face hovered ghastly over Naruto's. The blonde's legs weakened, but still holding to his weight, now added on by Sasuke's. "Uzumaki Naruto, do you know who I am?" Even the black strands of hair between them could not hide the urgency, the honest curiosity in Sasuke's expression. It occurred to Naruto that maybe Sasuke did not know that Naruto knew.

"We have met." The blonde replied, eyes revealed no false truth. "In the library." Sasuke's grip weakened.

"...Right..." Naruto's collars dropped back to his neck. He faced Sasuke, who had a bewildered look on. "Yeah, we have met." Sasuke admitted bashfully. He feared that Naruto knew him, yet at the same time, he wanted a look of recognition. What a satisfying yet unsatisfying answer from the blonde boy caused him to be uneasy.

Just a few minutes ago, Sasuke was so sure of his question and Naruto's answer when he waited patiently after the bell rang to corner the blonde. Naruto was nowhere to be found after every class, and Sasuke assumed that he was avoiding Sasuke. Unknown to Sasuke that his assumption was correct. When Naruto came waltzing in the empty halls after the bell to get to his class, Sasuke seized his opportunity and attacked. Now looking back, maybe it would have been better to ask before threatening Naruto. Better yet, he should not have asked at all, now that he knew the answer would pain him so.

"So you do not know me?" Sasuke asked again. He noted that it sounded much more foolish the second time.

"Am I obliged to know?" Naruto continued the charade, feeling no remorse knowing that he was saving his own ass.

"I suppose not." Sasuke cleared his throat to save himself from any further embarrassment. "You should get to class then. You're already late as it is."

Naruto felt a bolder lifting off of him as that concluded his near-death experience.

"'K, I'll see you then, Sasuke."

"..."

"... Sh-..."

Correction: That was just the beginning of Naruto's near-death experience.


A/N: I caught some mistakes (not counting spelling/gramatical errors) I made in the past chapters, so I am hoping to be more informative from now on. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Thank you for putting out your time to read my fanfiction. It was suppose to be a serious chapter, but I couldn't help myself! I will be able to write angst some day!