Chapter 14

Naruto stared in horror at the pair in front of him. It was his first time in art, and he swore he was seeing double.

He had thought that Gai was horrid. But that was before he saw the stunning, mini-me, student teacher, who looked exactly like Gai. Even the eyebrows matched.

And the kid even wore the same terrible green spandex and pranced around proclaiming the beauty of the spirit of youth.

Yep. Naruto wanted to shoot himself.

Rock Lee, as the student teacher had so joyfully introduced himself, was thrilled to pieces that Naruto had joined the class. He also broke down into tears with Gai when they looked through Naruto's sketchpad together.

Naruto's determination to kill Sasuke came back ten-fold.

After the initial introductions, however, and a lot of useless proclamations of youth, the class was rather enjoyable. Once they actually started on the day's work, Gai and Lee calmed down significantly.

"So, Naru-chan! What would you like to do for your first masterpiece in our class? Perhaps a stunning charcoal piece!? Or a moving oil painting!? Perhaps a sculpture to rival Michelangelo himself!?"

Naruto gaped. "Umm… I've never had a chance to work with anything other than a pencil."

Lee gasped. "Sensei! This poor genius has been deprived! We must do anything and everything to help him achieve the very best for his natural talent!"

"You are right, Lee. We must do it for the dreams of youth!"

Naruto was sure that if he was a character in some anime he would have sweatdropped.

"Would you like to try color! We have a nice assortment of paints and color pastels! Or perhaps charcoal! Yes, charcoal is always underestimated, but you can make it beautiful with your youthfulness!"

Naruto found himself agreeing just to shut the pair up.

And he also discovered that he really liked charcoal. It was kind of messy, hard to control, and right up his alley.

"So, little brother. I was quite worried when you didn't come home last night." Itachi said the moment Naruto and Sasuke walked through the door.

"I stayed at Naruto's." Sasuke replied shortly, walking past his brother. Naruto moved to follow.

"Really?" Itachi sounded interested. "I hope you played nicely with my little brother, Naru-chan." He said suggestively.

"What!?" Sasuke whipped around to stare at his brother. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

Naruto's eyes widened.

"I did not think you were so naïve, little brother. I hope that Naruto was gentle."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and the color flooded his face. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Am I not allowed to be concerned about my little brother? You're first time could be scary, and a little painful, and I just wanted to make sure that-"

"We didn't have sex!!!!!!!" Sasuke all but shrieked, his face growing redder by the second.

"You didn't? Naru-chan. I'm disappointed. You missed a perfectly good opportunity."

It was Naruto's turn to blush.

"I'm not gay!" Sasuke insisted loudly. "You're the one who works in a gay bar!"

Itachi smirked. "You know perfectly well that I only do that to irk our parents. You, on the other hand, are very gay, little brother. Even if you haven't realized it yet."

Sasuke sputtered, and Itachi quickly swept out of the room.

Naruto avoided looking at Sasuke. He was trying to keep the panic from rising. That had been entirely too close for comfort.

"I'm not gay."

Naruto finally looked up at Sasuke. The brunette was still fighting down the blush, and his arms were crossed. He looked very defensive.

"Okay." Naruto shrugged, discreetly taking a deep breath.

"Okay? What does that mean?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "It means that I don't care either way. You could be a flaming homo and it wouldn't bother me, and it wouldn't bother me if you were straight as a ruler. I don't care."

Sasuke glared for a minute. "I still think he's hot for you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Think what you want. But please, let's drop the subject before Sakura gets here. I don't want this going all over the school too."

Sasuke nodded, the remnants of a blush still on his face.

They quickly retreated to the library and awaited Sakura's arrival.

However, once Sakura got there, it wasn't the smooth sailing they had hoped for. Itachi gleefully interrupted.

"Little brother, have you not offered our guests some refreshments? You know, just because you slept with dear little Naru-chan doesn't mean you can forget that you are a host, and therefore responsible for the happiness of our guests."

Naruto stared in horror at Itachi, while Sasuke suddenly lunged for his brother.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Itachi fled, with Sasuke close on his tail, and Naruto was left alone with a very interested Sakura.

"You… and Sasuke… oh…."

Naruto banged his head on the table. "There is no me and Sasuke. Itachi is just being a jerk."

Sakura apparently didn't hear him, because the next second she was squealing. "That is so hot!!!! Oh! This is great! You and Sasuke did the naughty!!! That is fantastic! I didn't know you were so adventurous, Naruto! Well, I guess I should have known it, considering you are into threesomes, and foursomes, and who-knows-how-many-moresomes. But I really didn't think Sasuke was into that!"

"I'm not!" Sasuke snapped as he came back into the room.

"There's no need to be ashamed!"

"I'm not ashamed of anything! Because there's nothing there to be ashamed of! We didn't have sex!"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, noticing the brunettes face was burning red again.

"Oh! You are lying! You're just as red as Naruto! That means you did have sex! I can't believe it!"

"Sakura!" Naruto looked at the pink haired girl, whose eyes were sparkling with glee and mischief. "We did not have sex. Itachi is making it up. And since we did not have sex, I expect you to keep your mouth shut about it. I don't care if you don't believe it, the simple truth is that we didn't. And even if we did, it isn't yours, or anyone else's business. Got it?"

Sakura's grin wavered a bit at the seriousness in Naruto's voice, but it returned full force. "I understand. It's your business."

Naruto glared at her, not at all pacified. "I'm warning you."

Sakura giggled. "There is nothing you can do that will keep me from spreading this around."

Sasuke looked about ready to kill the girl, and suddenly, Naruto had a plan. "If you tell people that me and Sasuke are in anyway more than friends, I will make sure the entire school knows that you and Lee have a hidden relationship."

Sakura frowned, apparently thinking. Sasuke just started laughing.

"Lee? Who is Lee?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Rock Lee. Art nut. Bowl cut. Big eyebrows. Green spandex."

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't."

"I won't if you won't."

She pouted. "Fine. But do you know how hard it will be to keep this juicy bit of information to myself!? This is worth gold! I don't know why I never suspected it before!"

"Because there's nothing to suspect!"

"You don't have to deny it to me anymore! I know the truth!"

"Just shut up!"