Chapter 3

They walked to the college the next day, surprising everyone. Shikamaru and Kiba stared at them, cornering Naruto the first chance they got.

"What happened?! Friday you were ready to kill the guy and today you're walking to school with him?" Shikamaru said, eyes wide.

"Yeah, and you got to school on time today." Kiba's eyes widened. "Did you guys stay the night with each other?" Shikamaru looked at Naruto sharply.

"He was just over later, figured it was easier to just let him stay then make him walk home that late." Naruto shrugged.

"And why was he at your house to start with?" Naruto sighed. He might as well get this over with, he wasn't going to get out of there without telling them.

After he had stopped talking both of them were looking at him like he was possessed.

"Alright, alright, get whatever it is you want to say out. I gotta get to class." Naruto said, tapping his foot.

"We are just.. surprised. That's all." Shikamaru said, shaking his head with a small smile.

"Yeah! And glad we aren't going to have to pull you off him anymore." Kiba laughed. "Alright, I gotta get to class!" He waved as he ran off, running into a group of girls, stopping to flirt for a moment before heading to class. Shikamaru and Naruto walked to class in silence.

— — — — — — —

Lunchtime came around and Naruto met up with Shikamaru and Kiba and they went to one of the BBQ food trucks on campus.

Sitting down with their food, Naruto caught sight of Sasuke walking across the campus. He had his normal cold expression on as he was walking, Naruto noticed. Watching him, Naruto saw him stop when he passed a group of students, his face changing. Naruto had only ever seen that face once when they were younger. It had been because he had come up to Naruto when someone was picking on him. Sasuke had lost it.

Without even thinking about it, Naruto had gotten up, moving towards Sasuke.

"Hey man, what's up?" Kiba asked, getting up and following Naruto.

"Um. I think Sasuke's about to start a fight." Naruto muttered, picking up the pace as he saw Sasuke grab a guy by the shirt.

"Oh, well that's nothing new, he's always starting fights." Kiba said. Naruto glanced at him, confused.

"You guys really are friends again. Aren't you?" Shikamaru asked, coming up beside Naruto. Sasuke had released the man's shirt but was now standing facing four guys.

Naruto glanced at him. "Um. Yeah." He said almost dismissively.

"Alright, well let's go help him out then." Kiba said, jumping up on the balls of his feet. Naruto nodded, finally closing the distance between Sasuke and himself.

"Hey, Sas. What's going on?" Naruto said, standing next to Sasuke without looking at him, keeping his eyes on the guys they faced. Shikamaru stood on the other side of Sasuke, with Kiba standing next to Naruto. Kiba was grinning, cracking his knuckles as he looked over the guy standing in front of him.

"Naruto? Oh, nothing. I got this." Naruto glanced at him. Sasuke was wearing a worried expression.

"Yeah, well. You don't have this alone." He said, turning back to the guys. He noticed a small smile on Sasuke's lips as he turned.

"So, guys. What do you say? Are we doing this or are we going to part ways amicably?" Shikamaru drawled, looking bored and yawning.

"He started it, not us. Why don't you ask him?" Naruto looked the man up and down. He had already known that Sasuke had started it.

"Yeah. Well. The question stands. Would you like to continue it or walk away?" Naruto said, taking a step forward.

The man sized him up, as well as the three behind him. He didn't find an ounce of doubt among any of them. Grumbling, he turned, motioning to the other guys to leave it alone.

The guy said something under his breath.

"What did you just say?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow, not quite hearing him.

He didn't get the chance to hear the answer because suddenly Sasuke was flying towards the guy. Naruto barely caught him, holding him back.

"You shut your mouth!" Sasuke spat at the guy, struggling to get past Naruto.

"Whoa. Sasuke, what is with you? Just let them go." Naruto held onto him as the guys walked away, shaking their heads and laughing.

After Sasuke calmed down, Naruto released him. Sasuke fixed his clothes and picked up his bag that he had discarded. He looked at Naruto before glancing at Shikamaru and Kiba.

"Um. Thanks for the help. I gotta go to class. See you." Sasuke looked at Naruto one more time before turning and walking away.

Naruto stood watching Sasuke walk off.

"What the hell was that all about? Sasuke isn't normally a fighter." He looked at Shikamaru and Kiba who were looking at each other.

"Um. He's always fighting, Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened.

"What do you mean? He never even looks about to throw a punch."

"He doesn't fight YOU, Naruto. He fights everyone else."

"Yeah, he has some sick moves. Almost no one fucks with him anymore." Kiba said, sounding impressed. Naruto was looking back and forth between Shikamaru and Kiba.

"Why does he fight so much?" He asked.

"Well, most of the time he fights because someone says something about you." Naruto's eyes widened as he looked back at Sasuke's retreating back.

"Wait. So, you're telling me that the guy that NEVER wants to fight me when I'm hitting him, fights other people. Consistently? And on top of that, it's about me?" Naruto stared at Shikamaru and Kiba who glanced at each other.

"Well. That about sums it up. Haven't you ever noticed?" Kiba asked, cocking his head to the side. "Well, I guess these days almost no one lands a punch on him, so maybe you wouldn't have noticed."

Naruto watched Sasuke walk around the corner, not sure what to think.

— — — — — — —

Later that day, Naruto was looking at his phone, spinning it in his fingers, trying to think about what to type. Finally deciding on something, he typed it out, pressing send.

Hey. What's up?

Not much. You?

Just trudging through some homework.

Trudging?

Yeah. It's some advanced stuff and I apparently wasn't paying close enough attention that day.

Naruto watched as the three dots appeared and disappeared.

I could probably help if you want.

Naruto wasn't quite sure why he got excited that Sasuke had offered to help him.

I'm sure you have your own work to do. I'll get through it one way or another. But thanks!

No trouble. I can bring mine too. Be there in 10?

Naruto smiled a little.

If you're sure, that sounds good.

I'm sure. See you soon.

Naruto's smile grew as he threw his phone on the bed and made sure the house was picked up until Sasuke arrived. He figured he should get some snacks together for studying.

When the knock came on the door, Naruto's breath caught. What the hell is going on with me? Naruto shook his head, taking a deep breath before answering the door. As he pulled open the door, he was met with Sasuke standing there, smiling. Naruto felt like he was frozen in place for a split second before recovering and standing aside to let him in.

They moved to the living room, Sasuke setting up his books while Naruto found where he had stopped again.

"Okay, so lay it on me. What's the question you're having a hard time with?" Sasuke asked Naruto, moving to sit close to him so he could look over Naruto's books and homework easier. Naruto pointed out the question and started explaining what he did know about the subject matter. Sasuke listened quietly, nodding his head now and then. Once Naruto had finished Sasuke dived in.

Once they had finished their work, Sasuke cooked dinner again, teaching Naruto some of the basics. While they ate, they watched a movie, it had started getting late and they began cleaning up the living room, working around each other with ease.

"Well, I guess I should head out." Sasuke said, grabbing his school bag.

Naruto waved at him dismissively. "Oh whatever. Just stay. It's late." Sasuke looked surprised.

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said, moving past him to grab him some PJs again.

"Wow. We went from you throwing punches at me daily to hanging out all of a sudden." Sasuke said, almost like he didn't quite believe it.

"Complaining, are we?" Naruto asked, smirking as he returned with clothes for Sasuke. "I could punch you if you'd like. For old times sake." He stood in front of Sasuke, holding out the clothes.

"No, no. I'm good. You throw a mean punch." Sasuke chuckled as he reached for the pants.

"Why haven't you ever hit me back?" Naruto asked suddenly, looking at Sasuke. Sasuke froze, his hand gripping the pants. "I mean. I know you can fight. You're also not scared of a fight, obviously based on today and last Friday. Yet, you let me beat the shit out of you without lifting a finger."

Sasuke unfroze, finishing his motion of grabbing the pants from Naruto, glancing at him quickly before his eyes darted away. "It didn't seem worth it." Naruto stared at him.

"Bullshit. Truth." Sasuke looked up quickly, eyes wide. 'Truth' was something they had established when they were younger. As long as they were friends, there was no way around it. You had to tell the truth and also accept the response as the truth, regardless of what was said.

Sighing, Sasuke's shoulders slumped just a little and he looked away from Naruto. "Alright. I never wanted to hurt you." He glanced up at the end of his statement. Naruto could tell he was telling the truth.

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "So why make me want to beat the shit out of you? If you didn't want to hurt me?" Sasuke's eyes widened a little as they slid away from him, looking at the pants now in his hands.

"I was wrong about how to approach something. I see that now. Sometimes I don't think things through as well as I should." He said, shifting nervously.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, sensing he wasn't going to get much more out of him tonight on that side of things.

"What did that guy say that made you grab his shirt?" Naruto watched as Sasuke tried not to panic. "Truth, Sasuke." Naruto looked at him meaningfully.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, sighing. "He was bad mouthing you."

"And you get into fights regularly because of that?" Sasuke winced, nodding. Naruto paused for a moment. It still didn't make much sense, but at least Sasuke was answering him. "One more question. What did he say at the end to make you attack him like that?"

Sasuke closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. When he opened them and leveled them at Naruto, his gaze was steady. "He said 'Of course his boyfriend steps in.'" Sasuke kept eye contact with Naruto, gauging his response.

Naruto's eyes widened a little. "Oh." He said quietly. He wasn't sure how to take that. They hadn't even been friends for a few years till this last week. He felt like he was missing something important here. "Well. Um. Thanks for standing up for me. But you should stop worrying about what people think. It's not like it matters. Right?" Sasuke looked surprised at Naruto's response as he nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." Sasuke said, looking at the ground.

Naruto smiled at him. "Go get changed, we can watch another movie, unless you're ready for bed?" Sasuke looked up, smiling back at Naruto and shaking his head.

"You'd better pick a good one!" He said, moving towards the bathroom to change. Naruto snorted.

"I always do. You're the one with the bad taste!" Sasuke laughed.

— — — — — — —

As they laid down for the night, Naruto laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about the answers that Sasuke had given him. The conversation hadn't cleared everything up of course, but he did understand a little better at least now.

He rolled over to the edge of the bed, he could just make out Sasuke's form on the floor. Sasuke had been asleep for a while now. Normally Naruto would be asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but for some reason whenever Sasuke was staying the night, he never fell asleep first. Sasuke was sleeping close to Naruto's bed, facing it. As Naruto watched him sleep, his eyes started to close, his hand hanging off the bed a little.

Naruto sighed, closing his eyes the rest of the way when he heard a grunt from below him. Propping himself up on his elbow, he looked down at Sasuke, seeing him begin to move a bit.

"Sasuke? You okay…. Oh.." Naruto said, trailing off. He remembered now, Sasuke normally had nightmares, so Naruto had taken to staying awake till it happened so he could calm Sasuke down. Thankfully they generally happened early in the night and once Naruto calmed him, he was good for the night. It seemed that he didn't have them every night anymore, which was good.

Naruto immediately laid back down, laying on his stomach, face towards the edge and placed his hand on Sasuke's back, rubbing it up and down till he calmed, his breathing evening out. Naruto smiled. He had never told Sasuke that he did this. I guess we both have secrets huh? Naruto chuckled to himself, finally allowing his eyes to close, falling asleep immediately.