Kei-Kei Yuki: My beta commented how in this chapter, Sasuke and Naruko reminded her of married couple~! :)

Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades

Drabble Fifteen

Night Before the Second Exam

"Dobe, what're you making?" asked Sasuke, leaning against the wall, hands folded across his chest. Onyx eyes were directed towards Naruko, who stood in his kitchen for a third time, without her jacket on but with an apron tied around her petite waist.

"I'm making tempura and fried-rice!"

"Hn."

"Sasu-teme, maybe we should ask Sakura-chan over one day~!" Naruko suggested. Sasuke quickly narrowed his eyes, displeasure showing in his onyx gaze.

"Absolutely not!" Sasuke quickly turned down Naruko's request. He would try to work more as a team with them, but he was not going to invite another person into his home. Especially a person who was one of his fangirls. Heck, the only reason he allowed Naruko to stay was that of the good food she made, if not for that, he would have changed the locks on his door.

"Mou, so grumpy," pouted Naruko, clearly unhappy that he turned down her suggestion but yet didn't push him on the subject as well. Half an hour later, Naruko announced that the food was ready, setting a plate in front of Sasuke. For a while, the two ate in silence, when Naruko broke it.

"So how do you think things are going to go during the second exam?" she asked him, staring out the window as the sky outside had darkened.

"What? Scared it's going to be another paper exam?" Sasuke teased, causing Naruko to grow angry with him.

"As if, ya jerk! Uzumaki Naruko is a genius that can pass anything!"

"Uzumaki Naruko is an idiot, class-clown, and always gets herself into troublesome situations. It's like you're a magnet for it," Sasuke said, continuing to eat his dinner. Naruko continued to glare at him, shoving some the fried rice into her mouth.

"You're a jackass, ya know that, right? Anyway, I'm serious; what are your thoughts?" Seeing how Naruko wanted a serious answer out of him, Sasuke gave it to her.

"It's going to be tough, way tougher than the last one. Not everyone will survive and out of the three of us, Sakura is the weakest. Meaning both you and I will have to have our guard up even more. Don't give me that look, you know I speak the truth when it comes to Sakura." Sasuke knew Naruko disliked him plainly calling Sakura weak, but it was the truth. The girl might be smart and had great chakra control, but she was lacking in a lot of areas.

"...I know, but you can at least word it a little better. Besides, you are partly to blame for the way she is." Naruko reached out and took a drink of the soda she stole from out of Sasuke's refrigerator.

"I didn't tell her to become obsessed with me. That was her own choice, but if she can't separate her so-called feelings for me with what is more important, than why did she even become a shinobi?" When Naruko heard this, she didn't know whether to laugh or punch Sasuke in the face.

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Sasuke knew Naruko was calling him out for his actions earlier today when he selfishly accepted Rock Lee's challenge. Just recalling that embarrassing defeat, the words Naruko said to him, along with that painful and disappointed look in her eyes, caused Sasuke to feel both ashamed and aggravated. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down and did something he hadn't done in a long time.

"S-Sorry... about before," he apologized, cheeks tainted a light shade of pink, face turned in the opposite direction of Naruko who was just as shocked. Sasuke wasn't one to apologize, and he didn't know what reaction Naruko would make, so he decided not to face her.

"Wow, so the great Uchiha Sasuke can apologize! Someone quickly write this down on paper, 'cause it might never happen again!" Sasuke should've known Naruko would act dramatic, already regretting his decision.

"Shut up, idiot!"

"But Sasuke, you apologized; for once you were not being an asshole but an actual human being. I'm so proud of you~!" Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch, watching as Naruko began to shed tears like a proud parent.

'Next time, I'm definitely locking her out,' Sasuke secretly vowed, vaguely aware how Naruko's presence never ceased to annoy him.

End of Drabble Fifteen