Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: Yaoi, OOC-ness, incoherence, weirdness, bad conversation skills. You have been warned!

Something Simple:

Chapter 8:

Naruto had been in the school for a bit over a month now, Kakashi mused as he leaned back against his chair. His class were busy discussing themes of their current text in their groups, which meant that he had the time to laze around a bit. He continued staring at the blond, whose face looked enthusiastic as he spoke to the rather bored Shikamaru. It had actually surprised Kakashi that the two were friends, and although a part of him was glad about this, the other part was quite... confused.

He averted his gaze to the other side of the room. The usual sight of the girls surrounding his nephew was customary, but that didn't mean he didn't feel pity for him whenever he saw it. The boy placed a hand to his temple as the girls' voices heightened. Words like "prada", "versace" popped up and he understood where the annoyed expression on his face came from. Perhaps he should do something about it?

Looking back at the other two on the opposite end of the class, he was suddenly struck with an idea.

"Naruto, Shikamaru," he called. Naruto stopped talking and the two boys turned to look at him. "I thought I asked you guys to work in groups, not pairs."

Shikamaru gave him a confused look before replying, "We always work in pairs."

It was true, the two always worked together and he understood the reason quite well. Shikamaru was the only one friendly enough (or lazy, if he wanted to interpret it that way) to work with Naruto considering the latter's unpopularity. As long as they weren't working alone, the definition of "group" could be stretched a little bit and it shouldn't really bother him. It never bothered him. But, well, consider it their bad luck.

"Which is why it should be corrected. Class, I need a volunteer to work with the two at the back." His class stared at him for a moment before going back to their work, assuming someone other than themselves would volunteer. Of course, Kakashi already knew the answer before asking. It was only, let's say... a formality?

"Since no one is volunteering, I'll just pick someone at random them." He scanned the room for two seconds, trying to keep the act intact before he announced his already decided candidate. "Sasuke, you can work with them from now on."

The boy looked at him, an eyebrow raised. His face continued to hold no emotion, which, considering the situation wasn't a bad thing at all. If the boy didn't really want to do it, then a death-glare from him would surely surface. Kakashi sighed in relief.

Of course, Sasuke wasn't the only of his problems.

"What! Sensei, you can't do that! Sasuke-kun always works with us!" the girls in his group cried, followed by:

"No way! I don't want that idiot to be in my group!"

It was a blessing that Kakashi never cared about much.

"Look, who's the teacher here? Do as I say or I'll ring up your parents." There was a moment of silence and Kakashi felt relieved of the authority he had over them. But as quick as that came, it was soon gone when he heard the bitter comment from one of the girls.

"Che! Not like Naruto has any parents."

Silence ensued and Kakashi suddenly couldn't think of anything to do. He glanced at Naruto and saw that the boy had averted his gaze and was looking out of the window, avoiding everyone's looks on him and their unspoken anticipation of his response to what was just said. In what little time they knew him, it was a well know fact that the boy was vocal. It was present whenever he was teased or taunted by his peers, especially from Kiba's group. He'd hardly physically fight back, but his insults and the volume of it was enough to save him from further harassment. Soon enough, many grew tired of the taunts and reduced it to just plain glaring. But this...

He turned to face the girl again, finally deciding to tell her to apologize. However, something stopped him and he looked up abruptly to the direction of the sudden noise. Sasuke had raised himself, his chair screeching mildly against the wooden floor. It was only soft but the silence in the room seemed to amplify the noise. All eyes went on him as he began collecting his things. When that was done, he stared at the girl, his eyes cold.

"Shut up."

If possible, the silence in the room grew thicker as he walked towards Naruto's table. He was met with a scowl from the blond as he plopped himself on a chair, spreading his things on the vacant table next to them.

Kakashi blinked.

A moment later, he recovered himself. The class did too and went back to their discussion, but the topic was definitely not on the English text. In the other corner, the girl that Sasuke told off was in near tears. "Sasuke-kun...!"

X.X.X.X.X.X

He didn't know why he said that. He really didn't. But things seems to be so screwed up these days, he was more than willing to forget. Only last week did he receive his first A in Methods, and that should be saying something. The outcome had been more than easy, so he should've aced it. But why hadn't he?

"Page 63: 'I didn't know why I was feeling this way. He had always been so trustworthy...' Shika? You're not sleeping are you?" He stared at the moving lips.

The dreams had been more frequent as well...

"Hell-lo?" He continued staring as Naruto tried to shake the other boy from his slumber. "Hey, you can't just let me do it by myself!"

His eyes suddenly narrowed at this. "I'm alive, you know." Giving up, the boy rested in his seat. Around them, students were still working and Kakashi could be seen reading his perverted book. Suddenly, Sasuke realized how isolated this group was.

"Ever since you were here, you hadn't said anything or done anything. That's great help, isn't it?"

"Shikamaru hasn't either."

"At least he showed some sign of listening before now. Besides, that's just him, and I've accepted that. Unlike you, Mr. I'm-too-good-for..."

"Why don't you accept me?" he cut. Naruto's eyes widened slightly and he found himself biting his lower lip. That had come out so wrong.

"I meant..." he tried. But what exactly had he meant?

Naruto cleared his throat, trying to ignore the current topic. "So, um... Pg 63's quote is the first indication of Peter's change of character. Er... he begins to have doubt in his friend, which means..." He was struggling to think straight.

"I didn't mean it that way, idiot." The air had grown awkward between them and Sasuke didn't like that.

"Hey, watch it!" Naruto retorted out of habit. He sighed in relief. "You're the idiot around here."

Sasuke mentally noted that their relationship hadn't improved much since their first encounter. Perhaps the reason was that he had actually tried avoiding the blond ever since his first dream of him. He still didn't know what was wrong with him yet, and since he kept doing something silly every time his thoughts were on Naruto, he decided that that was the best thing to do. Avoid; hence, forget. But why was it that he'd sometimes find himself staring at the boy from his seat during classes? And why did he continue fantasizing about him in that way?

He knew for sure that it wasn't love; that would be going too far. Like? Well, he hadn't really liked anyone before, and he highly doubted that he would feel that way towards another boy. Perhaps it was really infatuation then? Or a phase? That would be more like it. He heard somewhere that guys in their teens experimented with these kinds of things. It was a stage of sexual ambiguity, which normally made them, unconsciously, think of both males and females. But if that were the case, why hadn't he entertained the thoughts of girls before?

"God, why are you so up yourself anyway?"

Automatically, he replied, "I'm not up myself."

"Whatever." Naruto went back to his book and for a moment Sasuke thought that that was the end of what little conversation they had. That was until he heard the soft voice. "Y'know, what you did before, that was kinda nice." He lowered the book from his face. A moment later, he added, "Thanks."

It took Sasuke a while to know what he was talking about, but when he did, he felt something inside of him go fuzzy. It's only a phase. "I thought you didn't care about those things."

Naruto looked at him for a moment, as if contemplating if he should answer. In the end, he decided to. "True, or so I tell myself anyway. But no matter how many times you think that these things are so trivial and that you shouldn't worry about them, they end up affecting you more than you like. Everything matters whether we like to admit it or not." He stopped then. "I guess you don't know what I'm talking about, hey?" His eyes lowered and his expression saddened. "You're so lucky, you know that?" The book resumed its place and Naruto continued his previous work.

For the remainder of the class, Sasuke couldn't help but stare at him. He didn't know what he was supposed to feel. He didn't know if he should be feeling anything. But inside, something continued growing despite his will to suppress it. He could only admit that it was longing.

X.X.X.X.X

He felt those eyes on him again. He heard those snickering too. God, it was so annoying! He spun around.

"Stop it!" He hissed.

The boy leaned back in his chair. He recognised him as one of Kiba's friends. The same smirk that was ever present in Kiba's lips was on his now, and so were the other people besides him. "Someone's paranoid," he said teasingly. Naruto growled.

"Students at the back, stop talking!" It was the teacher's voice again. "How many times do I have to tell you guys off, huh? We have an experiment today and you'll most certainly do it wrong if you don't listen. Now pay attention. If I have to repeat myself again, you'll all have to see me after school. Understood?"

Naruto nodded, but the boys behind him tried to defend themselves. "But, Ms., we didn't do anything. It was Naruto."

He suppressed the retort that threatened to escape his lips.

"I don't care. Just listen, will you!" She breathed heavily. "God, students these days."

She went back to her explanation and Naruto resumed copying the notes from the board. He was glad that he wasn't getting into any trouble with the teacher but he knew that soon he would be. He looked at the instructions again. '...Each member should jot down their own observations. The experiment should be done separately, but the results are collated and compared.' His teacher normally went ballistic when he worked alone and did pracs individually. He let out a desperate sigh. What do I do now?

"...There won't be enough time for you to finish it in class, so you'd have to meet up and do it in your own time. Don't worry, though; it's due in two weeks. For every day that it's late, though, it'll be a deduction of 5 marks. You may begin now."

Students lifted themselves from their seats and went to the bench to collect the needed equipments. Naruto reluctantly followed suit. He'd have to tell the teacher that he'd be working alone and the usual lecture would be directed his way again.

The teacher stared at him as he approached, seemingly already knowing the problem. "No partner?" she asked and he nodded solemnly. "I don't care. This cannot be done individually, Naruto." She turned to face the class. "Naruto here has no one to work with. Who would be kind enough to let him in their group?" He lowered his head as mild laughter ensued and no one volunteered. He had thought that by now, the teachers would've understood that asking for a volunteer to work with him would just be an embarrassment on his part since no one ever did. He let out another sigh and was about to work out a compromise with her when he heard a soft voice.

"N-n-ar-ru-t-to-k-kun c-can w-work-k i-in m-my g-group-p." He turned to the general direction of the voice. It was a girl with short black hair and freakishly grey eyes. He vaguely remembered that her name was Hinata.

"It's done then. You'll be working with Hinata from now on."

He walked to her bench that was near the front. The class were beginning to tease her and he could see her cheeks turning crimson. "Um, thanks," he said when he approached the table. He was partly grateful, but also, partly worried of this. He had never really spoken to her.

"T-that-t's-s o-ok-kay," she offered.

He saw that in what little time, she had already collected the needed chemicals. However, as she bent to reach for another set of equipment from the little cupboard below, Naruto saw, to his confusion, two sets already placed. "Who's the other person," he asked.

When she straightened herself, she gave him a shy smile. "S-sas-suk-ke-k-kun. H-he's-s j-j-us-t g-gon-ne t-to t-the t-toil-let-t."

He couldn't suppress the scream. "WHAT!"

X.X.X.X.X.X

Shikamaru waited for his friend outside the gates. He didn't know what was taking him so long but he decided that if he didn't come out soon, he'd most likely fall asleep. Just when he was about to doze off, however, the familiar voice greeted him. "Hey."

"What took you so long?" He stretched himself as he got up.

"Don't even talk about it," came the bitter reply.

"Okay. Let's go then."

They walked the usual path to the popular ramen stand. The trip was quiet save for the soft mumbling coming from the rather annoyed blond. Shikamaru ignored it. He didn't want to know about it, since he was sure that the boy would spend forever explaining to him, so he just continued walking. The place was getting closer and he suddenly wondered why they'd always go to the same place to eat. That's right, he remembered. Naruto loves the place and we couldn't be stuffed changing.

He stared up at the clouds. There's something I'm supposed ask...

And it hit him.

"Oh yeah. Naruto, its my friend's birthday next week. Wanna come?"

"Don't tell me its Sasuke," he said through gritted teeth. Shikamaru blinked. Sasuke?

"No, it's Chouji. From another class."

Naruto let out a gruff breath. "I don't know him."

"Who the hell cares? Free drinks. Waddya say?" When he heard no response, he tried again. "It'll be fun. You need to relax some time, you know?"

"Since when were you interested in these stuff anyway?"

"I'm not. But I need to get out of the house. My mum is such a pain these days." He rolled his eyes despite himself.

"Who'll be there, though?"

"Um...everyone from school I guess. He needs as many people to come as possible to fool his parents that he has friends. That's what all the rich kids do."

"Er...but...I..."

"They wouldn't even notice you."

Naruto turned away. "Thanks a lot."

"You know what I mean. C'mon. It'll be fun."

The familiar welcome was heard as they entered the place and both boys went to sit in their usual seats. "So?"

"Okay, fine. But only if Sasuke isn't gonna be there."

"What's this with Sasuke?"

Naruto looked at him for a while before answering. "You wouldn't believe my bad luck. In English we had to work together, and now for Chem, we're in groups! Bastard!"

Shikamaru offered a smile. "Don't worry, then. He never comes to parties."

The man asked for their orders and as usual, Naruto did the ordering. Shikamaru stared at the blond. He felt guilt rising in his gut. In what little time he had known Naruto, he had actually grown to like him. Evil past aside, the blond was just a normal person. He wasn't as they said to possess any of his family's violent traits. All he ever did was swear and yell, but that could hardly be seen as dangerous. And considering the circumstances he was in...

He let out a wary sigh. Forgive me, he thought. If I don't do this, she'll just annoy me more.

TBC...

A/N: IMPORTANT! As you can see, I don't exactly know what i'm doing. So here is a serious question. Would it be a complete 'heartbreak' if i didn't continue this fic? May be a little over the top, but you know what i mean. Don't review if you don't mind or don't care. If there's a dramatic decrease in reviews, i'll know the answer. Please don't blame me, it's just that, i feel that this fic has just gone weird and the amount of OOC-ness is...staggering! So yeah. Just gimme an answer. REMEMBER: do not review if you're not really following it and you think it's no big deal if i discontinue. Thanks.

And a huge thanks for the kind reviews. I'll deeply miss it.