I'm online. I'm bored. I finished fixing the next chapter approximately 4 minutes ago...here you go...enjoy!!

Chapter 10: Touch

I sighed as I dropped my backpack beside my desk. I sat down and slouched over for a minute, my arms on the desktop and my eyes pressed against them.

I was unbelievably tired.

The last two weeks, I'd gone from school to my house, from my house to the hospital, and then I'd go back home and try to get a little sleep, only to have Sasuke haunt my thoughts. And then I'd repeat the cycle the next day.

I had yet to get close enough to Sasuke to touch him. If anyone asked why, I would happily tell the truth. I was afraid that he'd disappear, that the last two weeks had been nothing but a dream.

The idea that my best friend wasn't a ghost seemed. . . impossible.

"Tired?"

"Wow." I said, looking up. "You're early."

"Don't be so rude."

"I'm not. . .I'm just tired. Sorry."

Kakashi dropped down in the seat next to me. "It's alright."

"Don't you have a class to teach?"

"I'm marking everyone late. Well. . .except for you and your friends. I saw them at their lockers. They're on their way."

". . .why are you marking everyone late?"

"Because I'm early today, and no one ever bothers to show up on time."

"You never bother to show up on time." I buried my face in my arms with a sigh.

"Murphy's law."

I snorted a laugh.

"I'm serious."

"Oh. Mr. Hatake. . .you're early."

I looked up.

"Kakashi." The teacher and I corrected at the same time.

Hinata stood by the door, a puzzled look on her face. Shikamaru frowned.

"You want us to call you by your first name?"

Kakashi nodded absently. The bell rang, and Shikamaru and Hinata took their seats.

After five minutes, I'd nearly drifted off to sleep.

"Kakashi, huh?" Shikamaru began. "What is that book you're always reading?"

I lifted my head in time to see the silver haired man look in my friends direction.

"Do you want to see?"

" . . .sure?"

Kakashi stood up and sat beside Shikamaru.

"Now. . .you can't tell anyone I let you see this."

". . .alright. . ."

The book was suddenly in Kakashi's hand and opened. In a matter of seconds, Shikamaru's eyebrows had crept into his hairline. His head hit the table in an effort to block the images that were undoubtedly flooding his vision.

"No!"

Now I know what I'm never asking Kakashi to know about. . .

Shikamaru moaned. "My eyes. . ."

Kakashi frowned, looking down at the page he'd shown to the pony tailed boy.

"What's wrong?"

Shikamaru peeked up at the silver haired man. "This is a personal question, but ummm. . .are you gay?"

"Does it change who I am in your eyes?"

". . .no."

"Does it matter?"

"Probably not."

"Do you need to know?"

"Probably not."

"Are you better now?"

". . .no. Are you. . .?"

Kakashi frowned. "Yes. And I'm currently single. Have any friends? Older friends? I can't date Naruto. There's the whole thing about him. . .are you underage? I'm not asking for any reason. . .I'm just curious."

"Seventeen." I answered.

"Huh. Any older friends?"

"My guardian, but I don't know if he's gay, or if you're his type."

"You should find out."

"So that guy a couple weeks back didn't work out?"

"There was a guy a couple weeks back?" Kakashi's mask wrinkled as he frowned in thought.

"Yeah. After school, you saw me and walked me to the front of the building."

"Oh. . .him. Nah. He was nice. Nice to look at. He just wanted-"

"No!"

I looked up, startled.

"Hinata?"

The dark haired girl was blushing furiously.

"Does. . .something like that bother you?" Kakashi asked.

"N-no. . ."

"She just doesn't want to hear about. . ." Shikamaru said, his face still pressed against the desk.

"Well. . .I'm not talking to you two. I'm talking to Naruto."

"How childish. . .Naruto doesn't want to hear, either."

"I beg to differ. He's actively participating."

Shikamaru looked up so fast I thought his neck would crack. "You're. . ."

I was blushing insanely, putting Hinata to shame. ". . .maybe."

"Oh my God!" A voice said from by the door. "You were here on time?!"

Kakashi looked up, his eye closed in a smile. "You're late. And so are you. . .and so are you, and so are you, and. . ." The silver haired man stood up and walked to the door to take down names.

"That's creepy." I said, to change the subject. "How can he be so happy while giving out detention to half those kids?"

Shikamaru glanced at me before shrugging. "Strange guy. . .why are you asking me?"

"I don't know. . ."

"N-Naruto? Why are you tired?"

I looked up at Hinata, then rested my chin on my folded wrists. "Well. . .I have this friend. I've been visiting him a lot lately."

". . .what kind of friend?"

I blinked at Shikamaru's seemingly innocent question.

"Not like that! I met him. . ." How do I explain Sasuke?

"How'd you meet him?"

". . .it's complicated? It doesn't really matter."

"Alright. Do we know this guy? Or his he older than us? Younger?"

"He's our age. Kind of. And no, you probably don't know him, unless you met him when you were seven or younger."

"Interesting. Wait, is this the person you were asking about getting a picture of?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Sasuke, right?"

"Sasuke?"

The two of us turned to Hinata.

"Sasuke. . .Uchiha?"

I nodded. "You know him?"

"No. . .he was on a news broadcast two weeks ago."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"He. . .was in a coma for. . .a very long time?"

"Yeah."

Shikamaru tilted his head. "You have a friend who was in a coma?"

I nodded once again.

"You must have been good friends when you were younger, if you still called him your best friend."

I couldn't help but stare at Shikamaru.

I haven't known him that long. . .I wish I understood why I care so much for Sasuke. I don't understand it at all.

". . .yeah. We were best friends when we were younger."

It's so much easier to say we were friends when we were little than try to explain it. . .

"Have you looked anything up about taking care of a person who was in a coma? Like. . .the recovery period?"

"Actually, no. I haven't. I should do that, though, shouldn't I?"

"Might be a good place to start. You want to walk to town to go to the library or something?"

"After school?"

"Why not?"

". . .I'll have to call home."

"Hinata?"

"S-sure."

"Alright, class. Except for my star students over there, you were all late. Everyone who was here late is going to have to carry this textbook home," Kakashi held up the five pound literature textbook that was used for this course, "And read pages 147 to 218. Don't worry. There's a lot of pictures. Any questions? No? Okay. Let's start our lesson. Where was I? Oh, right. . ."

0o0o0

I felt kind of bad, now. I'd called and left a message to let Iruka know I'd be coming home late, then I'd followed through with the plan of walking in to town and going to the library. Afterwards, Shikamaru's father had offered me dinner and a drive home.

Sasuke was looking forward to seeing me. He always is, so why would today be any different?

"Naruto?"

I turned my head toward the hall, where I could hear Iruka's footsteps.

"Hey."

The brown haired man nodded at me, a small smile on his lips.

"I'm glad you're home." He said.

"Me too. I need to get to bed before I fall over."

"Are you hungry?"

"Ate at Shikamaru's."

"Well that's good."

Iruka was still smiling, so I watched him carefully for a moment.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Oh. . .nothing. You should go to sleep if you're so tired."

I stared for another minute, before I decided I was too tired.

"I'll take you're word for it."

With that, I walked down the hall and then up the stairs, Iruka following me. He turned into his room, that smile still on his lips.

Crazy older person. . .

I pushed my door open and flicked on the light. I started to pull off my shirt, and then paused, staring at my bed. I smoothed my shirt down and turned off my light, backing out of my room. I headed down the hall and knocked lightly on Iruka's doorframe. I didn't wait for an answer before I entered.

"Why?" I asked.

Iruka looked up from his place by his bed, where he was pulling down the sheets so he could climb in. He still had that smile on his face.

"Why what?"

"You know what."

"He was released this morning. I thought he could stay here, but there aren't any spare bedrooms in this house. I'm sorry, Naruto. You spent more than one night in the same bed before, so I didn't think you would really mind."

"I don't, I just. . ."

I'm afraid to touch him. . .

"You can sleep in here, if you want." Iruka offered with a sigh.

"No. . .I'll. . ." I turned around and walked back into my room.

I shut the door again, this time not turning on the light. I changed quickly in the dark, then sat on the edge of my bed, studying it's current inhabitant.

Sasuke was lying on his back, his chest rising peacefully. His shirt had bunched up, allowing his hand to rest directly against the pale skin of his stomach.

I reached out a tentative hand and touched his cheek. My fingers lingered there, and I saw him slowly open his eyes, breathing in deeply. He turned his head tiredly toward me.

"Naru. . .what. . ."

I smiled down at him.

"Nothing. Let's sleep, alright?"

Sasuke nodded his head slightly as I lowered myself onto the bed and faced him.

I touched his shoulder for a second, and his face turned toward me.

"Hmmm?"

"Sleep." I murmured as I carefully inched closer and pulled his shirt down before snaking an arm around his middle, making sure we were touching.

He's not disappearing. . .

Sasuke cuddled closer, breathing softly against my neck.

"This is alright with you?" I whispered.

". . .yeah."

"Okay. Goodnight. . ."

". . .mmm. . ."

I watched in fascination as Sasuke closed his eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep, his breathing evening out.

His brow furrowed, as though he was troubled by something, and I leaned closer, pressing my lips to his forehead. He murmured something unintelligible, and I pulled him closer, before I rested my chin on the top of his head. My fingers gently stroked his hair, and I smiled.

He's not going anywhere. . .

My door creaked open. Iruka stood there for a moment before entering my room, and I pretended to be sleeping. He stood quietly by the bedside, looking down at us. He leaned over, fidgeting with the covers for a moment. Then he pulled them up, tucking them more firmly around the two of us.

"Keep doing what you're doing, Naruto. Keep this one safe." He murmured.

I wasn't sure if the brown haired man knew I was awake or not. Maybe he did. . .He slowly left my room, the door clicking shut behind him.

I looked at Sasuke once again, memorizing his features. I had gotten to know what he looked like as a seven year old, not a seventeen year old, so this was a little different. He was less cute, more. . .

I'm tired. . .I have to sleep. So we can talk tomorrow, because it'll be Saturday, and I won't have to wake up early. I can do this tomorrow morning. . .That's a good idea…

I opened my eyes, just so I could remember everything that had changed about Sasuke's face before drifting off to sleep. I leaned closer on an impulse, so I could gently kiss his forehead once again.

"Night. I'll be right here for you, sweetie. . ."

If my eyes had been opened, I would have seen Sasuke smile faintly before nuzzling closer to me.

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