Hey people, Peppermint is back! woo~~. On a more serious note, I apologise for leaving you hanging for so long. I couldn't write... In the beginning of july, both my precious dog and grandmother passed away so I was seriously not in the mood. And also, this chapter is possibly not as good as the last ones but... Next will be better. I promise.

"Gee, you look so cheerful" Kiba said sarcastically to Sasuke as they sat at the lunch table with the rest of their friends. Sasuke glared lightly at him. He understood Kiba's need to comment on this. He looked like a mess. He had massive bags under his eyes and felt about as happy as the grumpy cat.

"He's just upset that we barely had time to spend time together during the school trip" Sakura answered in his place with a small giggle while putting her had on Sasuke's shoulder. She had managed to make herself believe in this statement. Ino just shook her head at her friend. Sometimes Sakura was even more delusional than her.

"I just had a hard time falling asleep." Sasuke explained, ignoring Sakura's comment. He just didn't have the energy right now. Kiba raised a brow. It felt to him as if Sasuke was troubled by something. The group ,after a while, noticed the lack of impeccable insults.

"… Neji hasn't hung out with us much these last few days" Ino sighed. Neji had indeed been dissing them. They had returned 3 days ago and he had taken to eating with Lee instead.

"We prolly just pissed him off again... you know how he always walks off for stupid reasons" Kiba reassured. They continued talking about something, but Sasuke didn't listen. He involuntarily tuned out his friends. The last few days had been awkward. Naruto had been awkward. Or was it Sasuke? Both? Naruto had been acting like a freaking energizer bunny and honestly, Sasuke found that very odd. Because they had been though a dramatic, emotional experience that should have brought them closer to each other. And Naruto had seemed so fragile... But Naruto didn't speak about it, he didn't even look as if the memory of that even crossed his mind. Sasuke felt slightly peeved at the fact that it was only him that had seen that confession as something significant to them. So Sasuke had been losing sleep. He didn't know if it was adrenaline or something that kept him awake, but whatever it was, it was also annoying him.

Meanwhile, on the roof.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuufhkjseng shriiwwet" Naruto angrily growled. Shikamaru tsked. Choji just shook his head. Naruto was so unskilled. You needed a certain finesse to eat with your mouth full and Naruto obviously did not possess this. Nobody dignified Naruto's incomprehensible comment with an answer. He had been like this ever since the school trip, so they weren't surprised.

"Ishrr llaovwe rweealshy shro imporshnat?" Naruto asked his friends grumpily. Shikamaru sighed.

"If you're gonna talk, do it when you're not chewing." He tiredly adviced. Naruto quickly swallowed.

"Is love really that impoertant?" Naruto repeated while wiping his mouth.

"You always like to have deep conversations, don't you?" Choji said Naruto. Naruto frowned slightly. Did he really do it that frequently?

"Whatever, just tell me. Is it really a huge big deal... Like necessary. Is it even possible for everyone to love or is it just a myth? Is love just a myth...? I don't know, I seriously have no idea what to do. I mean, we barely even know each other and.. and GAHHH" Naruto blabbered with wild gestures. Shikamaru pondered a bit.

"Love is just some troublesome thing, why do you feel so concerned suddenly?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto gulped and looked at the floor. He then looked up with a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head.

"Well I sort of got confessed to" Naruto revealed, his smile turning slightly sad. Shikamaru frowned lightly. "But... I just freaked out because I... I don't really get what it is... love" Naruto almost muttered that last word bitterly. Shikamaru nodded in understanding. He had a feeling Naruto's lack of understanding of love wasn't rooted in some angsty teen issues, it was probably more related to his lonely upbringing more than some philosophical reason. Naruto lay down to look at the sky. He gave a deep sigh and looked contemplative.

"Love is warm and nice. And safe. That kind of feeling" Choji supplied curtly. He thought of his atmosphere at home. Those words were the best he could use to describe the love there. Naruto pursed his lips in thought. He did feel warm and fuzzy with Sasuke.

"People need a strong bond to love each other. They need time and experience, so stop moping about troublesome stuff. Just get to know the guy and see what happens." Shikamaru drably explained. Naruto looked at him almost as if god had spoken.

"you say some helpful stuff sometimes" Naruto smiled and punched Shikamaru lightly in the shoulder.

"yeah, whatever" Shikamaru said, looking slightly annoyed, Naruto knew that he wasn't really annoyed. It was just Shikamaru's thing to be like that, he supposed. Wait... Shikamaru said 'just get to know the guy. 'the guy'. 'the GUY'. 'GUY'. Naruto went bugeyed. How the freaking flying fuck did he know that Naruto was gay? Naruto gulped and laughed nervously. He glanced at his two friends. Choji was munching on chips and Shikamaru was looking at the clouds. Did they know? Did they? Naruto decided not to ask. He wanted to avoid the awkward.

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Sasuke and Naruto were driving home together, as Naruto had already moved in permanently at the Uchiha resident. Mikoto had done a lot of discussions at the orphanage to make this a quick painful process. Rumor has it that a large sum of money was transferred, but that could easily be nothing more than plain speculations by some bored kids at the Haven. Naruto really liked his new room. He had only had it for two days, but he still felt at home there. One of the walls was even orange! How Mikoto knew that orange was his favourite colour, Naruto did not know. He really liked it. He was almost doubting the reality of the situation. This was sort of too good to be true, well at least now that Fugaku was who knows where doing who knows what. Naruto shrugged. Maybe the Uchiha's had a violent gene, causing their normally calm persona to turn into a power hungry beast. Meanwhile, Sasuke glanced over at Naruto. He was biting his lower lip lightly and looked deep in thought with the wind calmly gracing his hair, causing it to quiver. He really liked Naruto's hair. It was rare to have blonde hair. Naruto and Ino were the only blondes Sasuke knew. Naruto's was a different shade from her's, though. Ino had something of a light ash blonde while Naruto had a light golden nuance. And Naruto also had those sapphire eyes... He shook his head. Sasuke forced the thoughts out of his head. He did not want to be a sappy chappy, and besides. Naruto didn't like him in that way. Sasuke had made that conclusion after lunch. Even if someone doesn't know what love is, they should still feel something. Naruto should be able to feel something, right? And if he did, wouldn't he have said so after Sasuke's confession?

It was no surprise that the boys ended up coming home having spent the entire drive in silence.

"I WAKE UP EVERY EVENING, WITH A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE" Naruto and Sasuke abruptly stopped at the door. A loud voice was traveling from upstairs. Deidara's voice to be more exact. Apparently he was in the middle of a concert up there. But, Deidara was a good singer so it wasn't an awful experience, just surprising. Naruto looked at Sasuke. Ok, Sasuke did look slightly annoyed, but Naruto figured it was because Sasuke didn't like loudness. Naruto inwardly thanked Iruka for making him more toned down. If he had hung out with Sasuke before that... Sasuke would have been pissed beyond measure... And yet he was friends with Kiba. Hmm. Deidara's singing continued as they walked up the stairs.

"WHEN YOU SEE MY FACE, HOPE IT GIVES YOU HELL. HOPE IT GIVES YOU HE~~LL" Naruto chuckled. He seemed to be having fun with Itachi, Naruto was surprised that Itachi wasn't like Sasuke and was bothered by-

"FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME... SHUT UP" Naruto stopped in terror as an angry roar emerged from the door beside him and without a warning Deidara came flying at him and the door slammed. Naruto almost got Deidara's ponytail in his mouth. Three pairs of eyes stared at the door. Naruto gulped. It seemed like Itachi was every bit as bothered as Sasuke was.

"You fucking TWAT" Deidara yelled at the door and stormed off. Sasuke could only raise a brow in surprise. He did not even want to know.

"wanna hang out?" Naruto asked suddenly with a curious smile. He had Shikamaru's advice in mind and decided to just go with the flow. Go with the flow and get to know Sasuke. Sasuke overcame his initial surprise.

"of course" He replied with a smirk. Time to make some moves... Is what Sasuke had time to think, before remembering that he was going slow. He inwardly cussed as he followed Naruto to his room. Bloody brilliant, now he had to sit in the orange room... And he had to lay low. He atleast tried not to look a that wall as they sat down on the couch. Naruto cleared his throat.

"Sasuke, it feels like we have known each other for a long time already... But we haven't. And really, we barely know anything about each other, right? So... Let's get to know each other more. I mean, we're even living together and all that shit." Naruto said with a smile. Sasuke meanwhile, suddenly noticed that Naruto hadn't really blushed for a while. Was he stopping that? Damn, it had been cute. Sasuke caught himself digressing.

"Yeah, you're right we should." Sasuke agreed.

"Good" Naruto said. Sasuke nodded. A minute passed.

"Um... So tell me about yourself" Naruto said. The air had become slightly thick already. They were feeling the awkward. Sasuke took a deep breath. What was there to say?

"Eh... I know martial arts" Sasuke managed. Not the most interesting thing he could have come up with but... Still. Naruto's mouth opened wide.

"Seriously? That's cool as hell!" Naruto exclaimed. He liked that kind of stuff. "What belt? And which martial art is it?" Naruto asked.

"Black, in karate" Sasuke answered.

"Sweet" Naruto replied.

"Your turn" Sasuke urged. Naruto made a thinking face. Sasuke felt impatient because he looked cuter than a freaking puppy like that. And he could do nothing. Just watch at Naruto's adorable concentrated face.

"I like Ramen." Naruto revealed.

"I already know that" Sasuke retorted. It would have been very difficult to miss.

"Eh..." Naruto sighed before thinking again. "I'm pretty good at graffiti..." Naruto sheepishly admitted. Sasuke dropped a sweat. The occasional graffiti he had seen over the years, had it been Naruto?

"Are you good at drawing as well?" Sasuke asked, he thought it was related. Naruto pursed his lips. Sasuke could only wonder what possessed him to do that. Was he trying to get Sasuke to stare?

"I... guess?" Naruto said. He didn't really consider himself good, but meh, Deidara had always complimented him so he figured it was worth something seeing as Deidara was all 'Art bla, Art bla'. "Or that's what Deidara always said anyways... I think I'm normal. Sasuke was surprised. Deidara studied art, right?

"Show me sometime" Sasuke said. Normally he would care, but he was curious to see what Naruto would come up with.

"Sure" Naruto smiled. Silenece fell again. Was the sound of breathing always this loud? Sasuke wanted to ask Naruto about his parents, but wondered if that was a bad question. He also wondered what he should tell Naruto. He wondered if it was too soon to talk about the incident six years ago.

"Ok, I've got a good one." Naruto revealed. "What are you the most scared of?" Naruto asked inquisitively. Sasuke frowned. He wasn't really afraid of things... There was only one thing that he feared.

"It's... A bit of heavy topic. Sure you wanna know?" Sasuke asked hesitantly. He seriously doubted if this was headed in a good direction. Naruto's face fell slightly, then he looked determined.

"Shoot" He said. "You can tell me whatever" Naruto's big blue eyes looked into Sasuke's onyx ones. Sasuke almost wished that Naruto would fool around a bit like he usually did, but he seemed to have an uncanny ability to be tactful at the right moments.

"Well... You asked for it... Sasuke started with a quiet sigh.

Was that managable? I hope you enjoyed it a little bit at least, and again, I'm sorry for being late :/ Have a nice day, night or whatever it is when you're reading this :)

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LovePeppermint