Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. You have been warned!

A/N: I am absolutely amazed at the kind reviews I've received. Thankyou SO much! I've tried very hard to bring about this chapter and wanted to fit the revelation in here, but…I cant. : ( I realised it'd be too long and an absolute bore if you guys have to read it. So I've decided that it'll be in the next chapter. HOWEVER, this chapter is important too, so you must read! Not that any chapter I write isn't important to the story 0 it's supposed to be light hearted (sort of) and yeah….READ IT! : )

Here we go then…

Something Simple: Chapter four

It was a clear, sunny afternoon. The sky was an amazing blue and not a cloud could be seen. Shikamaru looked through the class windows and found himself smiling at a particular thought. 'Didn't the forecast say it was going to be a cloudy day with potential rain?' He made a mental note never to trust the updates again.

The door suddenly opened and Shikamaru turned, expecting to see a teacher. It was about time too; he'd been sitting in the empty classroom for 10 minutes already and he needed something to do. However, instead of a teacher, Shikamaru saw that it was another student. The boy had blond hair and his face was bruised. But he knew who it was.

"Yo! Naruto, yeah?" he asked. The boy looked at him, seemingly surprised.

"How did you…?" He walked towards him and sat one seat away. Shikamaru gave him a weird look

"I'm in you're English and Lit class. And I was here in the morning."

"Oh," Naruto managed to say. Shikamaru detected a blush forming amongst the badly bruised face. He looked uncomfortable about the topic and Shikamaru quickly tried to change it.

"So," Shikamaru began, "why are you here?" He smiled when he saw Naruto relax.

"Ah. I… er, got into a fight."

The answer was obvious with the boy's state and Shikamaru really wasn't interested to know whom it was with. But he found himself asking anyway, afraid that the little conversation would die out. "With who?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

He gave Naruto a sympathetic smile. "I see." The boy looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"No one ever gets a fair judgement against Uchiha. I'd presume you were the only one punished and he left without even a lecture on his part?" Naruto was wide eyed.

"How'd you know?"

"Ah, the ignorance of a newbie," Shikamaru said, not intending to be condescending. "His dad is a big sponsor of the school's. Nearly everything that you see was paid for by Mr. Uchiha. That's why he can get away with anything." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Though, he rarely does much anyway."

The door opened again and both boys looked at the intruder. It was a male teacher and he carried with him a pile of papers. He approached the two students and halved the sheets. "Finish these and then you may go." He dropped the two piles on their tables and Shikamaru winced when he noticed that there were more than 30 sheets there.

"Sir," Shikamaru said, "I was only meant to be here for half an hour."

"I don't care," came the lazy reply. "Don't finish, don't leave." He reached inside his back pocket and took out another sheet of paper. "Nara Shikamaru…" he ticked off the name. He looked at the other boy. "And your name is?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied.

Shikamaru saw the teacher tense. A frightened look on his face before it was quickly replaced by a look of hatred. The teacher reached over his table and took another half of it and placed it on Naruto's pile. Shikamaru looked on in confusion.

"Finish these before you go, Uzumaki," he said menacingly. After that, he ticked off Naruto's name and left the room.

Naruto's face was down and he held an expression Shikamaru couldn't read. What the hell? Shikamaru thought. It's his first day and his already made enemies with a teacher? Naruto suddenly turned to face him and smiled. "Do you have a pen?"

Shikamaru couldn't believe his ears.

"Wait a minute," he said, trying to digest what was happening. "That teacher came in and gave you nearly 50 pages of work to correct, and you're not even complaining?" The boy gave him another friendly smile.

"You have 30 minutes of detention. I have an hour."

"That's not the point!" Shikamaru heard himself say incredulously. "Besides, they belong to the sophomore year, their mistakes are difficult to detect. It'd be a miracle if you got out in two." Naruto turned back to his pile and studied it. Then he turned back, facing him again.

"It's only reading." Shikamaru gave him a shocked look before he reached inside his pocket for a spare pen.

"You're crazy." Then, as if considering something important, he reached out and grabbed back the pile the teacher took of his. "You better be grateful."

----

Uchiha Sasuke found himself unable to concentrate in his Chemistry class. His thoughts kept wondering to a certain blond haired boy and the events that happened earlier. Why did the principal punish so harshly and what did she mean when she said that they were being "lenient"? Even Kakashi, the lazy idiot who doesn't know anything, seems to be hiding something from him.

He looked out the window, growing tired of wondering and being the ignorant one. The sky was a clear blue and his thoughts suddenly went to the one whose eyes held the same colour. As that thought registered, he blinked a few times. Why am I thinking about that idiot? And how the hell did I know that his eyes were that shade?

He looked back to his teacher explaining the experiment they were to do in the next period; his ears tuned in to what he was saying. Maybe it's better if I just listened to this crap instead.

----

Shikamaru stared in disbelief. Only 20 minutes passed, and Naruto was already half way through his pile.

"Are you really reading the essays, or are you just ticking however you like?" The boy looked puzzled.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm only up to my third essay and you're half-way finished? You know, the teachers do check it just to make sure we did a proper job. If they find out you're just carelessly correcting, they'll make you sit another detention and fix the whole thing again!" Naruto chuckled.

"I'm really correcting. You can check if you want."

Shikamaru reached out to the offered paper. Scanning some lines, he was, yet again, shocked to find that all the corrections made were done accurately and precisely.

"How the hell?"

"I write a lot at home. So I kind of trained myself to edit faster. Not that it covers all the mistakes, but I guess these don't really matter as much." He gave a sheepish grin. "I'm starving." As if on cue, Naruto's stomach growled loudly and he blushed an embarrassing red. Shikamaru smiled.

"You want to be a writer, hey?" he asked. Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep."

They resumed working and not long later, Naruto's pile was done. Shikamaru saw a hand reach over his own pile and he turned to see Naruto giving him a cheeky grin. "You better be grateful," he said and Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh. Naruto's good nature was getting to him and it seemed that even at times like these, he'd still manage to joke around.

Not long after sixth period began, Shikamaru and Naruto started to organise the essays in alphabetical order. When that was done, they placed the pile on the desk at the front of the class. "The teacher will come and collect it half way through this period," Shikamaru said.

"You're experienced…" Naruto said as they walked out of the classroom. "Do you always have detentions?"

"Sort of," replied Shikamaru.

"Why's that?"

"Dunno. Think 'cos I always sleep in class or something." Naruto stared at him in disbelief.

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Teachers are boring. And paying attention is too troublesome." Naruto laughed and Shikamaru saw that the bruise on Naruto's face was slowly fading. "Hey, you heal pretty fast," he couldn't help but point out. Naruto touched his face.

"Really?" He shrugged it off anyway. "What're we doing now?"

"Eat?" Naruto's face lit up.

"Ramen? I know this place that's really good!"

Shikamaru didn't understand why the boy was so excited, but he nodded anyway. "Sure," he said and followed the boy outside.

----

Sasuke concentrated pouring the nitrogen solution in the test tube. His partner was carefully observing, getting ready to mark down the results. As expected, the liquid in the tube bubbled and the girl –Hinata, was it? –quickly jotted down her observations. He went and grabbed the final solution to add to the experiment. It was sulphuric acid, and he remembered the teacher warning everyone to be careful because of its dangerous properties. Ever so gently, Sasuke began to pour it's content into the tube. As he was doing that, he suddenly heard a person's laughter. The distant voice was familiar and he looked out the open window to see who it was. Even though they were on the third level, Sasuke couldn't mistake the mop of blond hair belonging to none other than Uzumaki Naruto. He saw that there was someone else with him but he couldn't make out the other person. The laughter continued; it sounded carefree and genuine. He continued to stare at the two leaving the school grounds and was brought back only by his partner's screams.

"S-S-Sasuke, y-your h-hand!" He looked down and saw that the acid was spilt and some had come in contact with his hand during his few seconds of inattention. The burning pain was slowly getting in on his senses as he felt the teacher and what seemed like the whole class surrounding him. In a daze, he heard the teacher say something like, "I told you to be careful!" and the others repeatedly asking if he was okay.

He tried to look at it more, ignoring the new thoughts coming in. He was lucky that it was only minor and not much damage had been done. He concentrated hard on the blood escaping the wound, but his mind still drifted to the one place he didn't want it to go. What was he doing with him? Why did he seem so happy? What was he so happy about? It was crazy, he knew, but the questions just wouldn't leave him. He felt someone leading him out of class –probably to the medical room –but he couldn't feel it happening. He couldn't feel his legs moving; couldn't feel him being dragged along; couldn't see who the person was. Instead, he continued on staring at his hand, his gaze never once leaving. Who was he with?

Amongst all the absurdity, Sasuke still managed to grasp onto a little sanity of his. He knew that he was thinking too much on the situation. But the problem was, he didn't know why. Why was he paying so much attention on Naruto, anyway? Why was he so absorbed? How could he be so careless?

His wound was slowly being bandaged, but Sasuke couldn't feel anything.

TBC…

A/N: okay…I'm no chemistry genius, so that sulphuric acid thing being dangerous came simply from the acid part, which I know is dangerous. Hehe Er…so, what did you think about the lighthearted aim of mine? Did it work? Comments and criticisms welcome.