As always, I own nothing, enjoy and please review

I tried to make this update fast because of how slow I updated last time

I meant to say this last chapter, but, if you want to ask me a question, sign in or create an account, I can't reply to anonymous reviews – I feel that I try to be nice to people when I reply to their reviews, so don't think I'm going to bite your head of if you sign in and review, I promise I won't – unless you leave a flame, then I might

I tried making this chapter longer by adding an extra scene

Please read the comment after the chapter – it's more of a question than a comment

Chapter 11: Friends

The art of love... is largely the art of persistence. ~Albert Ellis

Naruto stood in the long line at a coffee shop. It was apparently the best in town, but it was also usually out of his way. He happened to be in that part of town that morning when he saw it and decided that he should finally try it. He looked around while he waited in line, when someone caught his eye. 'I'd recognize that hair anywhere,' he thought as he got out of line and walked up to the person, cutting in line. "Hey Sasuke," he smiled, but the man just glared at him.

"Is there a reason you just cut me in line?" he asked, obviously not amused. It was obvious that he wasn't a patient person, which just made it all the more fun for Naruto.

"I told you that you wouldn't get rid of me," he smiled. "Come on just do a friend a favor," the blonde continuing to smile as he saw the look that Sasuke was giving him. It was the bright kind of smile that would make most peoples heart melt and Sasuke wasn't exactly immune to it. While the man didn't turn to a puddle of goo, he did just brush it off and let the go in front of him. "Speaking of favors for friends," Naruto said as he continued to smile at the dark haired man. "I know I was kidding, well half kidding, last time I asked you. But I'm seriously asking you this time," Naruto started.

"That really doesn't make me want to hear the rest of your question," Sasuke said with a cocked eyebrow. He shifted his position, obviously uncomfortable and trying to hide it. He looked at the blonde, expecting him to continue.

"Well, I want you to pose nude for me," Naruto said. "Well not just me really," the blonde said nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "The piece I'm doing for the gallery showing," he continued. Sasuke opened his mouth, looking as if he were going to say no, so Naruto quickly cut him off by saying, "Look I can use the right lighting and camera angles to make sure no one sees your face."

Sasuke looked at him skeptically, "You just want to see me nude."

"And yet I didn't take you up on your offer the other night," Naruto said teasingly, causing Sasuke to look down. "Come on, as much as I hate to admit it because you're a total bastard, you do have the perfect body and I could really use it," he said, trying to convince the blonde.

"And what happens to the photos afterwards?" Sasuke asked as he crossed his arms. He still had himself convinced that he wasn't going to do it, but he was curious as to what the blonde did with them.

"Well, with yours I'd most certainly hang it somewhere in my house," Naruto said slightly flirtatiously. He couldn't believe that he was actually flirting with the asshole, but he was and he was having fun doing it. He liked provoking reactions from Sasuke and seeing what different looks he'd get from him. With his last statement he got a glare, though it was accompanied by a slight blush that Naruto was happy to see, "Okay, I was kidding, if it makes you feel better I'd give it back to you and let you do whatever you want with it."

"I'm still not doing it," Sasuke as he signaled the blonde to move up in the line a little more. "Why don't you ask one of your friends to do it?" he asked. "Isn't that what friends are for, to do favors for each other," he said looking at his watch as he let out a sigh.

"You don't have many friends, do you?" Naruto laughed, which just made Sasuke shove Naruto forward in the line. "No need to get angry," he laughed. "How about you become my friend and then you can do this favor for me," he suggested with a smile.

"No, now move, it's your turn to order moron," he replied.

Naruto turned and ordered then walked to wait for his drink. He noticed Sasuke didn't stand next to him to wait, so he moved next to him, "Come on just at least try to be my friend. You know that night out was fun."

"Yes having a hang over yesterday was so much fun," Sasuke replied dryly. He knew that wasn't what Naruto meant.

"Come on, Kiba and I are going out again Friday, just come out with us," he tried to convince him. "We can even hang out before we go to the club, you know so we just aren't friends that go out to clubs together," he said.

"Fine," Sasuke sighed. "But if you let me get that drunk again, I'm going to kill you," he warned.

Naruto's coffee order came up and he grabbed as he said, "I'll try, but you have a tendency of getting what you want. I don't know if you noticed but you're a little demanding." The blonde smiled, "Plus if I get drunk there's no way 'I'll be stopping you from getting drunk."

"I don't get everything that I want," Sasuke mumbled as he looked at Naruto. The blonde heard it, but didn't know how to respond to it, because they both knew he was talking about that night. Sasuke got his coffee and started to head for the door.

"You almost did," Naruto said to himself, thinking that Sasuke didn't hear. He then followed the Uchiha out of the coffee shop.

"We're going out at nine, so if you want to hang out at eight or so we usually hang out at Kiba's house. He likes to play pool before we go out, I think it boosts his confidence because he knows it's the one think he can kick my ass at," Naruto said, causing the other man to chuckle. "Just text me to let me know so that I know when to swing by and pick you up," he said with a smile. Sasuke just nodded as they parted ways, he wasn't sure why but he couldn't help but have a small smile on his face as he walked away.

NS

Meanwhile, Kabuto sat a good distance away from the two, watching and waiting for something to happen. He had taken pictures of them in the coffee line. It was obvious to him that something was going on; they had been standing too close to be purely friendly. Naruto had a flirtatious grin on his face practically the entire conversation and something had even made the Uchiha blush. Kabuto wasn't sure what was going on, but he was making sure to get pictures of it.

The man thought that when they walked out of the coffee shop was one of the best picture opportunities. The two were standing close while talking; it reminded him of two teenagers talking about a date they were going to go on. It had a slightly shy demeanor, yet it was still playful as well. By the end they were both smiling, which Kabuto was sure to get a picture of because a smiling Uchiha was rather rare. He knew with the way the two looked at each other, or more how they smiled at each other, before walking away, Orochimaru would be able to twist it somehow. He looked at the picture and thought, 'It may not be them kissing, but Orochimaru is still going to love this.'

NS

After walking away, Naruto quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Kiba's number. After a few rings he heard a Kiba's voice say, "Hey Naruto what's up?" The brunette's voice was sleepy, as if he had just woken up and he didn't sound truly interested, but rather annoyed at the call.

"Please don't tell me that you just woke up," Naruto laughed. "It's ten o'clock, you really should be up by now," he pointed out, though the grunt from the other end made it obvious that the other man didn't care what he thought. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that Sasuke is coming out with us again on Friday," he said.

Kiba sighed and Naruto heard some rustling around, which he knew must be the other man sitting up. "I thought you didn't like him, why are you going through so much trouble for this guy?" he asked. "I mean first your saying he's a bastard and now it seems like all you want is for him to be your friend," he said bluntly.

"Well, it's better than fighting with the guy," Naruto reasoned. It was a lame excuse, but he figured Kiba wouldn't call him on it.

"Dude, you don't even have to talk to him anymore," Kiba reminded him. "You're done with the photo shoot and interview," he said, realizing that the blonde wasn't going to let the conversation be a quick one. "If you ask me, it seems like you want to be his friend, it has nothing to do with convenience," the brunette continued to make his opinion extremely clear.

"I just think it could be interesting to get to know him," Naruto said. He sighed as he said, "You know I don't know why I talk to you sometimes. Why can't you just agree with me and say that it'll be fun?"

"Sounds great Naruto, I'm sure it'll be super fun," Kiba said sarcastically as he looked up at his ceiling. It was his one-day off and there he was talking to Naruto at ten o'clock in the morning.

"No need to patronize me," Naruto said in an annoyed tone. He was on his way home from the house of one of the model's that was posing for his exhibit at the gallery. He finally got to his car, finding a ticket on the widow, "Damn it, your bad mood must be contagious, and I got a ticket."

"It's karma for waking me up on my one day off," Kiba said with an amused laugh. "Not all of us are like you and can pick our times and days we work," he said. "This is the one day I was able to sleep in, why couldn't you just let me do that?" he asked with a frustrated sigh.

"It's not my fault you work and go to school," Naruto said defensively as he got into his car. "Your parents told you they'd pay for your school, if I were you I'd take them up on that offer and start working less," he suggested. "Oh and don't forget to work late on Saturday, we both know you'll drink a lot on Friday or end up hooking up with someone," he said in a slightly teasing manner.

"Fuck you," Kiba said tiredly. He yawned and said, "Look I'm hanging up now, so you can go find someone else to talk to about Sasuke. I really don't feel like listening to your denial right now, but you can tell me all about it tomorrow."

"Denial, what denial?" Naruto said angrily as he pulled out of his parking spot. He looked behind him, trying to make sure that he wasn't going to hit anything. Naruto started to drive home as he said, "I don't like the guy, and I just want to be his friend."

"I didn't say that you liked him Naruto," Kiba said. "I merely said that you're interested and not in just a friendly manner. I'm sure you do want to get to know him, but I don't think it's because you want to just be his friend," he explained.

"Yeah, well now I'm hanging up on you," Naruto said, not liking where the conversation was going. "I'm driving so, you know, I really shouldn't be driving," he said, giving yet another lame excuse. "Bye," he then added.

"Right, bye," Kiba laughed at his friend's sudden attitude change. He hung up, putting his phone back on his nightstand, and his head back on his pillow.

NS

When Naruto arrived home, he saw Kyuubi standing in the kitchen, looking over the layout for the next month's edition of his magazine. "Hey, that took you longer than I thought it would," the redhead said as he looked up at his brother.

"Yeah, I ran into Sasuke while getting coffee," Naruto said as he threw his keys on the counter "Plus the line at that coffee shop was way longer than I expected it would be," he added. "If it hadn't been for the fact that I'd heard they had amazing coffee, I would have just walked out," he continued as he walked to the pantry and started to look for something to eat.

"You mean, if it weren't for the fact that Sasuke was in line," Kyuubi said with a knowing smile. Naruto just rolled his eyes and grunted. "Come on, admit it, you kind of like the guy," his brother teased as he looked at his brother.

"Why does everyone think that?" the blonde asked, grabbing a bag of chips and walking to the table. "You know what, don't answer that question," he said before sitting down. "Instead, tell me how your date was," the blonde decided to change the topic.

Kyuubi decided to let it slide and said, "It was fun; we had a good time. We talked and it turns out we actually have quite a bit in common."

"That's good," Naruto said. "I'm guessing you didn't get very far since you didn't say anything. In fact, I think I even heard you come in last night, that's not a good sign," he teased with a smirk. "Did you even get a good night kiss?" he asked.

"I don't think Itachi is really the type to kiss on the first date," the redhead mumbled as he turned back to his work. "And I don't think that really matters, I mean we had a good time, that's all that really counts," Kyuubi said.

"Right," Naruto said as he put a chip in his mouth. "Maybe you should have got him drunk, if he's anything like Sasuke, he's a slutty drunk," the blonde laughed.

"You know, if you stopped talking so much about Sasuke, people might stop thinking that you like the guy," Kyuubi said. "Anyway, I'm going to my room, at least then you won't be able to distract me," he added before grabbing his things and walking out of the kitchen, leaving Naruto alone to think about what he said.

'I talk about all of my friends,' Naruto thought as he stared as the place where Kyuubi once stood. 'That's all it is, just talking about another friend,' he tried to convince himself.

TBC…

Okay, so what I need to know is, would you rather I start a new story and update this a little slower, or that I just keep only this story? I have an idea in my head and I may make a story out of it if I like the outline that I make, but first I need to know if you guys would be mad if I updated a little slower because I have two stories going…If you want to know the summary before deciding let me know, but just know if you don't put your say in then you can't be mad if people say that they are okay with me updating a little slower…know that I'm probably not going to post anymore stories after this summer, because I'll be concentrating on school so after I finish the stories I start this summer, I'll be done – though I will be sure to finish any stories that I start – I haven't decided yet if it's for good, but it probably is