"You suck at PVP, Kiba,"

Naruto commented, buried under four weighted blankets stacked up above him. Kiba replied with a jab in his direction while Neji reprimanded him, telling him that he shouldn't hit a sick person. Naruto rolled his eyes and reached hesitantly for a tissue. The cold (in his opinion) air was enough to cause him to shiver, leading him to retract his arm back to its previous position, basking in the heat the blankets gave him.

But it still wasn't enough. Naruto groaned and blew his nose. This was his worst cold he'd had in a while. The others knew this, which was why his father and Tsunade had given him a long lecture about why he absolutely had to contact his driver whenever it was needed.

"I want to see you try playing, Naruto. Oh wait, you're sick and stuck in bed."

"Shut up," he shot back nasally.

Neji sighed and picked up his chopsticks, raising a piece of sushi to his mouth. Shikamaru was leaning in, as if the television screen was running away from him, and squinting as he fought back against Kiba in their game. Obviously, due to his surprisingly strategic thinking style, Shikamaru won.

"Damn it!"

Shikamaru picked up his sushi with his hands. He was too lazy to use his chopsticks. "Your turn next, Gaara."

The redhead nodded and scooted over to where Shikamaru was sitting while Shikamaru moved beside Neji, picking up his phone and typing away. He obviously didn't realize that a very sick Naruto was behind him, so the blond took the opportunity to slowly move up and peek at the screen.

"Holy shit!"

Shikamaru jerked up and flipped his phone as fast as he could. Naruto was laughing, moreso coughing, and holding his stomach in pain and amusement. The others watched the ordeal in confusion.

"You didn't see anything!"

"Dude, oh my God. Gaara would love to hear this."

"Shut up! Don't say anything."

Kiba paused the game and turned around. Gaara was also interested, since his name was brought up. Even Neji wanted to know.

"What would I love to hear?" Gaara asked.

A stifled laugh came from Naruto. Shikamaru covered his face and breathed heavily through his hands. Naruto couldn't believe it, out of all people, Shikamaru was actually talking to…

"Sorry Shika, but he has to know. I mean, it's his sister after all."

Kiba howled in laughter, already knowing what Naruto was getting at. Even Neji had an amused look on his face. Gaara raised an eyebrow.

"What about my sister?"

"You know that-"

"Alright, fine," said Shikamaru. "If anyone's going to say it, it's going to be me." He stopped, unsure if he should keep going. After all, Gaara could be quite fearsome when he got angry.

"Er, I'm kind of dating your sister."

Everyone turned to Gaara, waiting for a response. There was no expression or emotion visible on his face for a moment, before he blinked. Muffled laughter was heard from Naruto and Kiba while Neji and Shikamaru kept their gazes on the redhead.

"... Oh."

"... Oh?"

"I don't know how else I should respond. You're not stupid, so I know that you're smart enough to know what will happen if you hurt her."

"Huh, I guess you're right. I don't know why I was stressing."

"You, stressing? Who knew love could change a person so much?" Kiba asked, surprised for a moment.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sat back.

"Speaking of that," he turned to Naruto, "could that be the reason for you too?"

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. You changed, dude," added Kiba. "Like, I don't know if I like it, but it's there."

Naruto blinked. Had he really changed? He reached for his bedside mirror and looked at it. He didn't notice anything different.

"Not like that, dumbass. Like, it's the way you act. You act all, I dunno, different now."

"I see it too," said Neji.

"How?" Naruto asked. "It doesn't feel like I've changed at all."

"Obviously it doesn't. It usually takes a while to realize it, but everyone around you could see it."

"I think you've changed too, Kiba." Gaara commented. "You're less brash. I think Hinata's influencing you."

Everyone else sighed in relief at that. Kiba was just as energetic, maybe even more than Naruto.

Naruto hummed. Maybe they were right. He leaned back in his bed and looked up at the ceiling. What changed him, though? He wasn't in a relationship like Kiba or Shikamaru.

"Oh yeah, why were you even outside that long anyway?"

Naruto glanced at Kiba for a moment, wondering if he should tell him. He didn't think they would all like hearing that he spent most of the day yesterday with Sasuke, but they were his friends. They deserved to know.

"I, uh, I was hanging out with a friend. Sasuke." He clarified.

The others stiffened, much to his dislike. Kiba looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Did you have fun?" Asked Neji.

Naruto smiled shyly. Yes, he had a lot of fun. The most fun he'd had in a long time. He wanted to punch himself for being so sappy with the Uchiha, but he also wanted to hug himself for getting Sasuke to finally warm up.

Crying in Sasuke's arms was something he never had thought of. Like, how the hell would that even happen? He had just been so scared and paranoid, that when it was over, it felt like they had gone through something so emotional.

The rest of the day was like magic. That new, special look in Sasuke's eyes when Naruto had carried him was almost hypnotizing. He looked so hopeful, like no one had ever crossed his walls farther than Naruto had.

"Yeah, it was amazing."

They were quiet. Only Kiba gave an indication of what they were thinking, with his mouth gaping open.

"Dude… you like him."

Naruto almost jumped out of his bed.

"What? No!"

"You do! Did you not just hear yourself? Or see yourself in that bigass mirror behind us? You like him!"

"No I don't! As if I could ever like a teme like… him…" Naruto trailed off as he was reminded of Sasuke's face when he'd asked him how the rollercoaster was.

He shook his head immediately after. There was just no way.

"If you think you don't, then you're lying to yourself," said Neji.

Gaara nodded. "You may try to deny it, but your eyes tell a completely different story."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it back right afterwards. After all, it was true. Naruto looked at himself in the mirror and analyzed himself. They were right, he was different. And his eyes proved it. He looked like he was… in love.

"Fuck."

Shikamaru nodded. "I need a reward, you know. I've been predicting that it would end up like this."

"So have I," Neji vocalized.

Naruto groaned. "What the hell do I do?"

They shrugged. Shikamaru was the first to answer.

"Think of your emotions as a balance scale. One side is what your brain wants, and the other is what your heart wants. You have to wait until you find a comfortable balance. But there's a catch that people don't typically think about. Unlike a lot of people, you've got guts. So you have to take that into consideration. And when you're finished with that… Well, just know that it's going to be one of the biggest drags of your life."

Of course he had to answer with a strategy.

Sasuke was absent for three days now, and Naruto was beginning to get worried. Two days ago was Sasuke's first absence, but it kept going. Maybe he's still sick, he mused. Or maybe something happened. Hopefully nothing too bad.

His friends looked kind of tense, too. When he asked Juugo what was happening, he only received a stiff "don't worry about it" before Suigetsu and Karin pulled him away. That only led him to become even more worried, but hey, he gave them an A for effort.

So here he was, in homeroom at 8:45 AM while Kakashi droned on about their incoming Halloween carving project. Naruto didn't really care much for Halloween, but the project was enough to get him riled up and excited.

"Obviously, I don't trust myself with keeping hundreds of pumpkins in my classroom so you all could keep them after presenting. I want you guys to be as creative as possible, so use whatever you can to make it eye catching. Be it paint, aluminum foil, cloth… anything. I'm fine with group work, just make sure everyone has their own individual pumpkin to present. Does everyone understand?"

A chorus of yesses came from the classroom, not including Naruto, whose eyes were glued on a blue paper bird he kept from his birthday gift. AP English was going to be boring without annoying the raven, he knew it.

"Alright. I think I've taught you guys about allegories enough to make your heads pound, so today will be a catch up day. I know you all like to talk to your neighbors, so I won't stop you. I'll just need you to keep your voices down."

"Can you play music for us?" Some kid asked.

"Sure thing. I've got a new playlist ready, so it won't be the same three songs anymore."

Naruto smiled. Kakashi was probably the chillest teacher in the entire school. His classroom was one where everyone shared mutual respect and relaxation. He made sure that everyone was as destressed as possible, and Naruto loved that.

He pulled his phone out as the music began to play and swiped a couple of times, his eyes landing on Sasuke's name. He'd changed the contact name from Teme to Sasuke, since Sasuke wasn't necessarily a bastard to him anymore. Even worse, he was his crush.

Chatter erupted immediately from the class. People moved their desks to where their friends were sitting, and twisted and turned so that they could see each other. Naruto sat in the far end of the class now, so not many people he was acquainted with sat around him. Still, people crowded around him anyway. He tried to maintain every topic of conversation thrown at him, but soon enough he gave up and announced that he'd be taking a nap for the rest of the period.

Now that he was alone, he decided to text Sasuke. He just wanted to know if Sasuke was okay, really. He was probably just overthinking it, but there was no shame in wanting to be sure.

But how would he start? Naruto flushed a deep red as he watched his thumbs type and delete his message repeatedly. Ever since he and his friends had acknowledged his feelings for Sasuke, anything that related to the brooding teen was ten times more difficult than it needed to be. Even thinning about Sasuke made Naruto blush.

heyyy sas, you ok?

Sas? No way. And damn, that amount of y's made him sound so needy.

hey sasuke, you alright?

Ugh, now he just sounded weird. Maybe grammar would help.

Hey Sasuke .How're you doing?

Now he was beginning to sound like his dad!

hey Sasuke , how are you? hopefully you didn't get to sick lmao

Naruto grimaced. Maybe Sasuke cringed whenever Naruto made spelling errors. Maybe he didn't like when Naruto didn't capitalize.

Hey Sasuke, how are you? Hopefully you didn't get too sick haha

Naruto frowned. Something was wrong with his message, but he didn't know what-

You've been typing for minutes now. Spit it out already.

"Damn it," Naruto facepalmed. He'd been typing for so long that he couldn't even get a word in before Sasuke noticed.

Haha sorry about that I was just distracted

Are you trying to use grammar?

Naruto rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.

Nooooo

Suree. Here's some advice, commas and periods exist.

Bastard I know that! I just dont know how to put them.

Well, at least you got the period right. Don't worry, I can teach you that the next time we see each other.

Naruto grinned. This was his chance to ask him without it getting awkward.

Oh yeah,, why arent you in school rn?

He watched the typing notification flicker a couple of times before completely stopping. Did Sasuke not want him to know? Naruto began to type once more to let Sasuke know that he didn't have to answer. Sasuke began to type again, though, which prompted Naruto to delete his message.

Rn?

Naruto laughed. Of course the teme didn't know what it meant.

LMAO it means right now

Oh. LMAO?

Naruto covered his smiling face. Sasuke really had no idea, did he?

Laughing my ass off lmaoo dude I think i need to tutor you on acronyms

He could tell Sasuke was rolling his eyes right now.

Whatever.

I'm not in school because of some complications in my personal life. Don't worry, I'll be back in no time. Don't miss me too much.

"So that's what you're up to."

Naruto whipped his head around to meet Kakashi's one eyed gaze. The eye closed into a lowercase N shaped arc while Naruto placed his phone down.

"What?"

"I was wondering why you were quieter than usual. But now I've gotten my answer."

"You know it's not polite to spy on your students' private conversations, right Kakashi Sensei?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Kakashi said, chuckling and raising his hands up in defense. "I was just a bit surprised to see that you were messaging Sasuke, of all people."

Naruto frowned. What was so shocking about him texting Sasuke? And how would Kakashi know? Kakashi seemed to notice his confusion, so he decided to elaborate.

"Sasuke's a very private person. He doesn't just hand anyone his number."

He blushed and looked away. It was reassuring to know that he wasn't just anyone to Sasuke. That still didn't clear up any confusion he felt towards Kakashi, though.

"How would you know?"

Another chuckle was his response. "He used to stay at my house every weekend. Of course I'd know."

Naruto's mouth opened in shock. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't that.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He also makes the playlists I play for my classes."

"Huh… I didn't know that."

"Mhm. By the way, whatever you're doing, keep doing it. It's nice to know that you're finally pulling Sasuke out of his shell."

Naruto nodded, smiling as Kakashi gave him a pat on the back and walked away. So far, no one was against him getting closer to Sasuke. But he knew that would change once Sakura and Ino found out. What Shikamaru had said a couple of days ago was bothering him, too.

"And when you're finished with that… Well, just know that it's going to be one of the biggest drags of your life."

It really was, wasn't it? Naruto groaned and looked back at his phone. The last thing he wanted was drama, and he knew that was the case with Sasuke too. Speaking of Sasuke, Naruto cursed to himself when he realized he hadn't answered him yet.

Pff as if you dont miss me already

An instant reply. Who said that?

Naruto's eyes widened considerably. Did that mean…

Aw so you miss me?

Well, I'd rather be anywhere but here, so I guess so.

That earned a blush from the blond. That still counted as something. His joy was cut short when the bell rang.

I guess that means I miss you too lol .the bell just rang so i have to go

Like last time, the conversation ended when all he saw was a read receipt. He didn't think any of it, though. Just knowing that Sasuke wanted to be around him was enough to make his entire day.

Naruto almost skipped to his next class. Behind him, Shikamaru sighed and ran a hand through his ponytail. Naruto was clearly head over heels over Sasuke.

"Why does life have to be so troublesome?"