"Staring at the ceiling's no fun at all!" I mutter, lying on my bed. I absently reach over and grab my phone, half surprised Guy didn't take it away.

You okay? I hit send and let the phone drop onto my stomach, though it only takes a few seconds for it to buzz.

Yeah, I always feel good after my coach chews me out. Naruto's sarcasm ticks me off a lot, but I decide to ignore it.

Hey, you spelled everything out! Hopefully that'll distract him…a little bit.

I'm surprised when I get a text message half a second after I sent it, but it's not Naruto, it's Kaiya.

U're grounded! I dnt believe it! I havnt been grounded since I was 8!

Yeah, me neither. I was pretty quiet in the orphanage, so…

Another vibration notifies me of Naruto's response. I guess

This depressed Naruto? Is getting old real quick. Hey, I'm sorry you got in trouble by Guy, but you aren't the only one who got yelled at! Seriously, I got in twice as much trouble as he did!

~Last night~

"Guy, that wasn't fair of you at all! You never told me you didn't like him, and you knew we were hanging out!"

"Yes, I knew you were friends. Had I known that it had progressed to something more serious, I would have intervened sooner."

"We just moved past the friend thing when you saw us!"

"Then I stopped it just in time." His tone gives no room for compromise, nor does it show any sign of relenting.

"Yeah, that's what you did." I mutter, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"What was that, young lady?"

"Ugh, please don't call me that!" I roll my eyes, and then take a deep breath and settle onto the couch. "So, what else am I in trouble for?"

He sighs, and sits down on the coffee table while Lee goes into the kitchen.

"You've been getting into a lot of fights lately."

"One fight and one almost-fight! And both were justified!" I defend myself. I did fight with Sasuke, and I almost hit that Dan kid, but that's it!

"No fights are justified."

"Says the Karate coach." I retort. Guy growls, running his hand over his face.

"Lee! Come talk to your sister." He says, looking at me tiredly. A tremor of guilt runs through me…but I don't let it show. I'm not the only bad guy here!

He walks upstairs as Lee walks into the room and settles in Guy's spot, balancing a plate with a sandwich on it on his lap.

"Would you care for half?" he shows me a small smile, and I suddenly find myself fighting tears as I shake my head.

"Asa, I'm sorry about you and Naruto…"

"Nothing happened between us yet, and you didn't seem all that sorry ten minutes ago." I say sadly. All my anger left when Guy did.

"Only because I care about you. And Guy does too, I promise."

"He's got a funny way of showing it."

"I know. But just try to see things as he sees them, even if only a little." He smiles at me again. How can I? Guy is great, but we have nothing in common. Whereas he and Lee are like twins!

Then he reaches over and places his hand on my head before walking upstairs, plate in hand. A minute later, I do the same. As I reach my bedroom door, I take down the note tacked to it and read the scrawled handwriting.

I'm sorry, but you're grounded. ~your father

~Now~

Naruto's message and Kaiya's show up at the same time. I open Kaiya's first, not too keen on speaking to Naruto at the moment.

Why did u get grounded?

'Cuz I've been extra violent lately. I hit send, and then take a deep breath before opening Naruto's.

3…2…1… before I have a chance to even look confused, the phone rings, and his picture takes up my phone screen.

"…hullo?"

"I was wondering when you'd open my text. Are you that mad at me?" he sounds upset, but he still has a joking tone in his voice.

"I'm fairly ticked." I respond seriously. I tried to joke with him earlier, but he shot me down, so why should I be any different?

"I guess I can't blame you…"

"I don't think so."

I hear a quick huff of breath before I hear his voice again. "Sorry. You probably got an earful the whole night, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, do you think we could meet-"

I cut him off. "I'm grounded, so probably not."

"Wait, he's so mad about me and you that he grounded you?" his guilt-filled voice is loud in my ear, "that's harsh!"

"It's not because of that. It's because-" buzz "Hang on, I'm getting a text from Kaiya."

Lol. Not cuz u're grounded, but seriously? He's the Karate coach, and he's mad at you for fighting?

I said the same thing to him! "I'm back. I'm grounded for all the fights and almost-fights I've been in lately."

He chuckles. Why does everyone think that's so dang funny? "I guess I kind of see why he'd be upset. I mean, that's really lame, but…you are pretty violent. If there was a girls' Karate club, I'd say you should join, instead of…hey, what happened to the nature club thing?"

I frown, suddenly remembering something that, dang it, proves Guy's point. "Orochimaru-sensei rejected me on the grounds of," I grit my teeth "'attacking another student'."

"Well, I bet crunch crunch if it had been anyone crunch other than Sasuke it would have been fine."

"Probably…are you eating?"

"No, why?"

"Because you're crunching." I say, listening to the rustle and crunch on his side. Suddenly it changes to a soft tapping, leaving me really confused.

"Sorry, I was walking through leaves. I'm on the sidewalk now." He explains.

"Where are you off to?" I ask, jealous. I remember when I could walk around town…mostly because that was yesterday.

"You'll find out. In 5…"

"More countdowns? I mean, I'm impressed by your counting skills, but…"

Naruto's laugh echoes from outside. "You're a jerk!"

I rush to the window and look down at Naruto. "What are you doing here?" I ask happily.

"Can they hear you?" he asks, looking around for Guy and Lee.

"No, they left for…something. I forgot." Naruto's shoulders droop as he looks at me in disbelief.

"So they're gone, and you're still sitting here?" he sounds like he's going to scold me about it! He runs out of sight, and a moment later the door creaks downstairs. I hurriedly open my bedroom door and walk to the stairs, looking at my blonde intruder below.

"Didn't your mom ever teach you to knock?" I joke. He bounds up the stairs two steps at a time, and purposely bumps into me as he reaches the top.

He looks at me with an eyebrow raised. "Since when should a guy knock to get into his girlfriend's house?"

"I couldn't tell ya," I laugh. "But if Guy or Lee-"

"Stop worrying! Now come on, I want to see your room." He grabs my hand, looking at all of the doors running down the hall.

"If they see you in my room-"

"You're still worrying! It's not like we'll be doing anything," he grins devilishly, "Well…not much, anyways."

I will my face to not turn red as I open the door to my bedroom.

"Green paint. I figured as much. But I see you managed to sneak in some color." He comments, looking around at my (thankfully clean) room. The walls are, yes, olive green, and the floors are a dark brown wood.

But the comforter is actually a deep purple, and the curtains are red with orange flecks.

"This…doesn't match." He scratches his chin and looks down at my outfit, which kinda matches! But…it's still awful! I didn't expect anyone to come over, so I just changed into a lime green shirt that I bought. Guy was outraged when I showed him, but it's still green, so nerts to him! A pair of dark grey sweatpants completes the outfit, which is screaming "Why is your boyfriend seeing you in this!"

"Uh, I'm gonna go change now. Just a second!" I walk out the door towards the bathroom.

"You're not going to change in your own room?" Naruto calls. I look over my shoulder.

"Asking you to leave seemed rude. And sorry, but I am not okay with changing in front of other people. That's a special skill I don't possess."

"That's a shame." Ignoring that! And I didn't change in front of you!" I look back at him, eyebrow raised. "I changed behind you. You were the one who decided to be a Peeping Tammie."

"Either way, I'm not changing in front of you."

"Is there someone else you'd change in front of?" he jokes, ducking back into my bedroom as I throw a penny from my pocket at him.

Hidden inside the room, I hear him chuckle. "You know, this is why you're grounded! That penny could've taken my eye out!"

I respond only by slamming the bathroom door shut, before changing into a sea foam green v-neck shirt and dark denim jeans. I walk back into the room, where I see Naruto lying on my bed, tossing the bracelet he got me into the air and catching it.

"Think fast." He tosses it over to me, and I hold my hands out…even though I have the coordination of a drunken cat on ice. The bracelet hits me square in the chest and falls into my shirt!

"I don't think fast, obviously." I mutter, resisting the urge to search my cleavage for the jewelry.

Naruto sits up, grinning wildly. He reaches out and rubs the hem of my shirt between his fingers, looking up at me. "Want some help with that?"

"N-n-no…." I look down at his hand, still holding the hem of my shirt, holding it just high enough to see my stomach, which is hardened from running with Guy.

Who walks in and sees Naruto sitting on my bed and holding my shirt.

Repeat, walks in and sees Naruto sitting on my bed and holding my shirt.

"GET OUT!"

Naruto scrambles off the bed, looking at Guy with the wide eyes of a criminal caught red handed.

"Guy-sensei, we wouldn't-!"

"It's not-!"

"GO!" Naruto rushes out the door, and then his footsteps pound down the staircase.

"Naruto?" Lee's voice chills my blood even more than Guy's did. "What-?"

SLAM! The door cuts his question short as Naruto hurries out, taking my happiness with him.

Probably taking the rest of my life with him.

Wish he'd take me with him.