Hmmm... I need something witty to say. Um...(Thinking) Oh! No, that's no good. (Thinking) Oooo! Ahh! That sucks. Okay, well, as we can see, I cannot think of anything fun to say, so I will simply say this. If Naruto were mine, he'd be fucking Sasuke! I mean visibly, on screen! Booya!

A/N: I'm so sad, because I can't view my story. It only loads as a blank page on my computer, and sometimes I need to see, just so I know it's still there, and I can't! If anyone has any idea why this is happening, please tell me in a review or e-mail me. My e-mail is on my profile, since it won't let me write it in this document. (Why? Beyond Me) Thanks. That said, here's more author's notes. Blah, blah, blah. And Now to thank my reviewers!

Az-Strawberry: I'm glad you like the chapter, I can't remember if I did or not, and I'm too lazy to go look! Also, I guess the whole point of the project is to give them an excuse for them to get to know each other, which I know that's lame and cliché, but, hey, I did it anyway! The point of that was, I had to make them partners, although, I did consider making there be an odd number of people in the class and having Sakura be in there group, but then I as like, "Nah." As for the music comment, es, you should listen to it! Sure you might end up hating it (I know plenty of people who do!), but you could en up loving it (I know lots of people who do this too!). Thanks for your review. And here is a fresh baked peach cobbler for you! Mmmmm... Enjoy!

Hieisbestbuddy888: Was it long? I thought it was short. Hmm. Shows how much I know. As for the making out comment, wouldn't I love to do that, but they've still only known each other a few days. I promise, it's coming soon, though! Also, about the Latin thing. I suck at it too, but at my school we're required to take three years of a language and my mom thought it would help me on the SATs. So here I am. But at my school, Spanish is the minority. St. Andrew's is a completely Latin Geek school, we have a Latin Banquet, and a Latin Club, and our Latin team (like certamen and stuff) is ranked first in the state. We have also produced the State's Latin Student of the year for three years running. I'm so ashamed. Anyways, thanks for your review. Here is a tasty warm Apple Pie. Hope you like.

someone: I'm glad you like it. That is my goal. As for the quick updates, I try very hard because I know how much I hate waiting. This one took a little longer than most, but whatever. Thanks for reviewing, and since it's pie/cobbler day in the treat corner, I have a fresh baked blueberry pie for you.

Yum: I'm glad I spelled deux right, I had it spelled du, even though I kne that was way wrong, but then I reached into the far recesses of mind and remembered the first trimester f sixth grade and tried a more reasonable spelling. I'm glad you like the story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for your review, and here's a scrumdidleumptious raspberry cobbler for you.

Ly Mizukage: I want them to have sex, but I can't do that yet! I'm trying so hard to make this believable, I hope you can stand the wait! Thanks for reviewing. Here's a delicious peach pie for you!

Coriander: I'm glad you like my story, and thank you for caring enough to be angry about my small number of reviews. You can be put out so I can just enjoy the reviews I do have. Then again, don't feel bad on my behalf, I was expecting maybe ten reviews, tops, and I've already broken forty. I'm excited, Though it would be nice to break a hundred by the end. Also, about the summary. I changed it, it sounds stupid now, but it sounds more eventful. Maybe you were right and my dumb sum (he he that rhymes) wil attract more attention than my boring one. As for Linkin Park. I don't use their lyrics as much, because they're simpler than the songs I do use, but I love 'em so much I had to mention 'em in here. I know I used them once on a chapter title too, because I just had to! I'm glad to know you like them too! (Chester...yum. Mike...Also yum.) Thanks for reviewing. Here's a tasty variety of your favorite pies and cobblers. You get extras since you reviewed twice on one chapter!

Amei: Ahh! You must eat! You must sleep! I promise to update quickly (well, relatively), just eat and sleep. I would hate to be responsible for pushing you into a coma or something! I'm glad you like it though. I love getting reviews from new people! Well, I love getting them from old reviewers too (makes me feel love either way), but that's not the point! Thanks for reviewing is the point. Your treat for today is going to be a Chocolate Crème Pie! Enjoy!

Wow! I think that's everyone. I sure wrote a lot here. I do apologize to those who don't really give a damn, but I just love to talk to the readers...you know, explain myself, discuss sexy goth men, diss latin, find out I'm not the only one who likes the bands I do! Anyways, the point is that all that's over, and now chapter 12 is beginning. Enjoy!

But Home Is Nowhere...: The Sacrament

Sasuke watched as Naruto faded into the crowd of people, a slight smile playing on his face. He was just telling himself again that he could definitely like that kid when Sakura came up behind him and glomped him. He cringed. Sure he liked the girl, but did she really have to insist on messing up his hair? "Hey, Sasuke! Whatcha lookin' at?" Her voice was cheerful, and he turned towards her as she let go.

"Nothin' much. What's up?" He turned back towards his locker and re-opened it, forgetting that he'd already retrieved everything he needed.

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" Sakura was smiling sweetly and she sounded hopefully. Sasuke hated to tell her he was busy, but he refused to break the plans he'd made.

"I'm going over to Naruto's. I'm gonna stay there 'till Friday for the English project." Sasuke watched as the girl's face fell slowly, disappointment claiming her features first, and then a sort of warped pity mixed with disgust.

"Oh." Her voice held the same emotions as her face. "Well, I guess I'll be having more fun than you, huh?" She didn't wait for a reply before continuing, "I'm so sorry you got paired with that freak. I would die!"

For some reason, Sasuke couldn't suppress the sudden flash of anger that overtook him as the words slipped from Sakura's lips in a tone far more dramatic then necessary. "I don't see what the hell everyone's problem is. Naruto is no that bad! I was actually kind of happy I got paired with him. He could be nice if you people would give him a fucking chance!" Sasuke was fuming, his breathing slightly irregular, and his voice an octave lower than usual. Sakura just looked at him, tears gathering in her eyes. It took a moment for him to notice this, but when he did, his anger fled as quickly as it had come. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just I don't understand how everyone can hate him. It just makes me angry. Its nothing personal."

Sakura nodded, looking relieved at his return to normalcy. "Alright. I guess I can respect that, although it still doesn't change my opinion about him, I'll try not talk like that anymore." She smiled timidly, and Sasuke gave her a half smile, half smirk.

"Thanks," he said quietly, managing to quell his anger for now. He wished he could convince her that Naruto wasn't all that bad, but apparently it was going to take longer than five minutes in the hall to do it. He'd work on her gradually. Sakura was smart enough to see the truth eventually, if he helped her. For now, he changed the subject, "So what are you doing tomorrow?"

Sakura beamed, looking immediately cheerful. "I'm going shopping! I just got my first really big paycheck from work, and even though I know I should save it, I can't help it! I'm gonna celebrate."

Sasuke was a little surprised, he hadn't known she had a job. "Where do you work?" he asked.

"I work at Tropical Gifts, that exotic flower shop, you know?"

Sasuke nodded. "Well, we'll have to get together next week so you can show me all of the wonderful things you buy." She smiled again and hugged him.

"Sure! That would be so much fun, I could do a fashion show!" Sasuke just smiled at her, enjoying her sweet girly innocence. They had exited the school sometime during their conversation, and he spotted Itachi speeding up to the curb, his attention dawn by the loud shrieks coming from the general direction of the road.

"I gotta go Sakura, that's my ride, and if we don't leave soon, I think we'll get arrested."

"Alright then." Sakura hugged him before he left, and as he got into the car, he heard her shout, "I'll see you tomorrow!" He waved at her.

When they were safely out of the school zone, Sasuke realized that Itachi was giving him a gunny look. He growled, "What?"

Itachi smirked, "I was beginning to think you didn't like girls."

For a second Sasuke froze, momentarily unaware of the amusement in his brother's voice, but he recovered almost immediately. "She's not my girlfriend."

Itachi kept smirking, "Is that so?" Sasuke grunted in response, and then remembered Naruto.

"I have an English project with a kid named Naruto. We have to get to know each other, so I'm gonna go stay at his house tomorrow, and then on Friday, he's coming to our house for the weekend."

The only response Itachi gave was a quiet, "Fine." The rest of the ride home was silent except for the His Infernal Majesty CD playing in the background. Sasuke listened intently to "Beyond Redemption", humming along.

When they arrived at their huge three story mansion of a house, Sasuke grabbed his back pack and strode into the house, ignoring the fact that his neighbor was gawking unashamed at him in leather. It didn't help that Itachi was standing right next to him wearing the tightest pair of jeans he owned and a black wife beater with buckles across the front. Sasuke was sure the girl was about ready to cream herself when Itachi began talking to her, and he knew she wouldn't notice if mini-Itachi slipped inside.

Sasuke climbed the stairs slowly and tossed his backpack on his floor. He deftly unlaced and removed his boots, followed by his pants and the fishnet shirt. He slipped into a pair of black athletic shorts and plopped down on his huge bed, surrounded by deep azure blankets. He slipped slowly into sleep, and didn't wake up again until eight o'clock. He went down stairs and ate a bowl of frosted flakes for dinner before returning once again to his room.

He decided to forego the homework, realizing that it was a bad pattern to set on the second day of school and not caring. Instead, he grabbed a small duffel from his closet and began packing for Naruto's. He grabbed two pairs of black jeans, one pair of blue jeans, and one pair of leather pants with buckles down the entire side of both legs. If there was one aspect of his life that proved him gay, this was it, he had to have variety when he was packing, so he packed twice as much as he needed. As for shirts, he grabbed two black wife beaters, a fishnet shirt, a white wife beater, a black silk button down, and his bright pink His Infernal Majesty t-shirt. (1) Satisfied that he had enough variety in this section, he picked up his black chucks and his knee high platforms with zippers up the inner side and a series of buckles and decorative zippers on the outer side. He then proceeded to fold all of these items and put them neatly into the duffel. He threw in a tube of black lipstick, a bottle of liquid eyeliner, and a few shades of grey and black eye shadow on top of his clothes, deciding that was all he needed. Zipping the bag, he tested its weight and decided it was light enough.

This done, he decided to pick what he was going to wear tomorrow, and after much shuffling, realized he'd forgotten his toothbrush, socks, and underwear. He quickly retrieved his travel toiletries and five pairs of underwear and socks. Then, he went back to scanning his closet, and finally, he picked out a pair of baggy black cargos with chains, buckles, and zippers on every pocket, and a single zipper running all the way up the side of each leg. To go with this, he pulled a black muscle tee out of a drawer and removed his "Kiss The Cock" boxers as well. For shoes he decided on his purple Chinese silk chucks. He laid all of thes out neatly on his desk, and then decided to go to bed. He put his H.I.M. Love Metal CD in the player and turned the volume down very low, falling asleep to the soft piano of "The Sacrament".

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Naruto woke with a groan, his throat sore, and his body not yet ready to rise. He felt exactly like he did every morning, and he still hated it. He crawled slowly out his haven of sheets and blankets, squinting at the meager light coming in through his window. He'd slept later than usual this morning, so he barely had time for breakfast, a fact that inspired him to move more quickly as he pulled on a pair of baggy jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and his high-tops. He made the ramen quickly, and devoured it as he went out the door. He threw the empty cup in the garbage can that was at the street (today was garbage day), and hurried down the road. It wasn't until he was walking up the school's front steps that he remembered that he'd meant to make his bed that morning, since Sasuke was coming over. He sighed, "Too late now, I guess."

He scolded himself silently as he walked down the hall to his locker. He was alone in the hallway, and he figured everyone had just gone to hang out in whatever room their first period classes were in. He grabbed his books and did the same, heading for the English room. He was half wondering how he was going to stay awake through first period, but gave up as he slid into his seat.

There were several people in the classroom, all ignoring him, and he was a little confused at why Sasuke was not there. As far as he could tell, the stoic boy was usually the picture of punctuality. Then again, they'd only known each other for a few days, so what did he know? Maybe Sasuke was always late, and had just been having a stroke of luck the past few days. Maybe not. Naruto shook his head, not even noticing the when the subject of his pointless wondering slipped into the seat next to him. Thus, he was rather startled when he heard a quiet,

"Hey, Naruto."

The blonde's head snapped up, and he felt rather shaken. It was scary the timing Sasuke had. 'Damn! I was just thinking he was gonna be late, and then he sneaks up on me and surprises me out of-' "Hey."

"Did you clean?" Sasuke's voice sounded amused, as if he'd just thought of this and found it funny that they'd ever mentioned it.

Naruto thought about saying he did, but then he replied, "No." 'Why tell him? Why not just let him think I have a naturally tidy house? That way, it'll be easier for him to like it.'

"Good." He smirked then, and Naruto was about to say something about never cleaning for company when the bell rang. He was glad it did, because even if it was just about cleaning his house, he didn't like lying to Sasuke.

Mr. Iruka was smiling when he walked in. "Alright class! Settle down." The room went quiet, as people remembered the great book drop of the previous day, and Mr. Iruka continued speaking, "For the next two weeks, you will be working on your projects every day. I know this may sound difficult, since I have yet to inform that there is more to this assignment than I told ou about yesterday, but calm yourselves, I will explain now."(2) He received a chorus of blank stares at this comment, but continued cheerfully nonetheless. "Every day until the project is due, I will be giving you a daily assignment. The compilation of these grades will equal thirty percent of your project grade, and your finally literary work about your partner will count as the other seventy percent. Now, before I tell you what today's assignment is going to be, I issue a single warning. Don't blow this project off, it is one your most important grades this term, meaning if you fail, you will most likely fail this class for the term." There was a group moan.

"This said, it's time to find out what today's assignment is. I want you to write one paragraph each about how you view your partner now, before you actually begin the study of him or her. The purpose of this is to show how your views can change about someone by getting to know them. For extra credit on today's portion of the project, you can switch papers and allow your partner to read what you said about them and discuss. If you do this, make sure you right down what you discussed so I have proof." Naruto saw the light go out of a few eyes, most likely because they'd been hoping for etra credit without proof of work. Mr. Iruka told them to get with their partners and begin.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and said quietly, "Do you want to do the extra credit?"

Sasuke shrugged before replying, "Let's just write our paragraphs and see what we decide when we're done."

"Okay." Naruto turned back to his desk and extracted a piece of notebook paper from his binder. Chewing on his pen cap, he began to write.

Who is Uchiha Sasuke? That is a difficult question to answer. An easier question would be "How does the world view Uchiha Sasuke?" This is a question I can write on quite easily. The first thing that comes to mind is that the entire female population, and I'm sure the entire gay male population, view him as a sexy beast. He has the suave good looks of a movie star, and this draws people to him, causing them salivate over, and worship him. This is not how I view him though. The first time I met Sasuke, I thought he was the coldest, most annoying, heartless bastard ever to roam the planet. He was distant, rude, and almost mean, and this annoyed me to no end. Needless to say, I quickly grew to hate him. By second period on the first day of school, I despised his guts, and had a sincere desire to rip his guts out, but then something happened. In creative writing class, we were asked to write a short poem and then read it aloud. This is when I began forming the opinion I now have of Sasuke. He is not a bad person. In fact, I think he is a very good person, and I think he is cold and distant, because he does not appreciate all of the attention given to him by everyone. I think he's probably had a hard past, and I think it will be very interesting to get to know him. He is the first person who has been civil to me in years, and whether this comes from ignorance or tolerance, I do not know, but my current view of Sasuke is a very positive one. Despite his harsh exterior, I believe that he is truly a good person. But, hey, what do I know?

When Naruto was done, he read over what he'd written once and decided it would be okay to let Sasuke read it. He waited for Sasuke to finish and asked if Sasuke wanted to do the extra credit. Sasuke looked over his paper a few times, as if still deciding and then gave a nod, handing it to Naruto. Naruto handed his own paper over, and began reading.

Naruto Uzumaki is a boy hated by the world. He is shunned and insulted, and no one ever seems to have any sense of kindness towards him. People are constantly bad mouthing him, and lying about him behind his back, and as far as I can tell, after knowing him for three days, there seems to be some sort of twisted group hatred in this town. I find this absolutely appalling. When I first met Naruto, I do admit, I thought him quite annoying, but by the end of my first day of knowing him, I had started liking him. I find his company is really quite enjoyable if one gives it a chance, and I look forward to getting to know him. It is impossible for me to fathom the hatred that so many people seem to harbor for him, especially when it stems from something so out of his control, and I find myself angry at these nurturers of intolerance, because Naruto really is a good person.(3)

Naruto smiled. So it was tolerance then. For some reason, he was really happy to read what Sasuke had said. It meant that he really did have a friend, or at least someone who didn't hate him. He almost felt like crying. Someone had finally pegged him right. Someone finally understood. And even if it was just a paragraph on a piece of paper, it meant the world to him.

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Sasuke touched Naruto's arm, wondering if there was something wrong with him. The blonde had been reading his paragraph, and he'd suddenly gone all spacey and zoned out or something. He hoped Naruto wasn't mad at him for writing what he did, and his voice was tinged with worry when he said softly, "Naruto? Are you okay?"

The blonde turned towards him slowly. He was smiling. "I wanna hug you," he said sheepishly. Sasuke couldn't help but smile back.

"I must say, kinda want to hug you too. But alas, I don't want you to die, and, well, we have observers." Sasuke made a gesture to the twelve girls who were now glaring at Naruto, having heard the blonde's comment, somehow, through their magical Sasuke radars. It appeared, they had missed Sasuke's reply, however, seemed to go unheard. The bell rang five minutes later, and Naruto was the first out of the classroom.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly, and Sasuke sat with Naruto at lunch, surrounded by a mere three girls brave enough to endure the blonde. In creative writing they did reading day, where they each picked their favorite poem from a compilation, and when one student asked why they were doing so much poetry, they were informed that their first unit was poetry. Both Sasuke and Naruto ended up picking something by Edgar Allen Poe.

In their study period, the boys sat in the library, Sasuke working on the Algebra homework he'd put off the night before, and Naruto reading a Poppy Z. Brite novel (4), which he said was trashy, but still well written and enjoyable. Sasuke had smirked at that, having read he back, and laughed. It actually sounded pretty interesting, but he wasn't going to tell the blonde that.

When the finl bell rang, he took his time gathering his books, and wished he'd worn platforms today instead of chucks as began attempting to retrieve his duffel from the top of the locker. On his fourth jump, Naruto looked up and gave a surmised laugh. "Where do you get your clothes? Those pants are awesome."

Sasuke looked down at him and smiled. "I dunno. I don't usually pay attention to what store I'm in, though I go to Hot Topic and Commander Salamander a lot." He reached up one last time, and finally caught the strap, pulling it with him as he went. They left the school soon after.

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Naruto had been surprised when he'd finally noticed what Sasuke was wearing. He had once again thought his pants were utterly awesome, and though he hadn't said anything, he'd loved the shoes too. (5) As they neared his street, however, thoughts of Sasuke's clothes drained out of his mind and were replaced by a sinking feeling in his gut.

They were going to his house. The house that he so desperately needed someone to approve of. The house that he lived in. The house where the garbage men didn't take the trash half the time. When this thought occurred to him, he quit walking for a moment, but when Sasuke turned to him with a questioning look, he just shrugged and sped up.

When they turned onto the street, he saw that the lawn watering woman was staring at him, a look of murderous intention plastered across her face, and he cringed. "Hope you don't mind getting wet Sasuke," he said quietly, and before the other could reply, he continued, "This lady likes to spray me with the hose. Sometimes I think she waters her lawn right at this time for that sole purpose."

Sasuke gave a small, "Oh." He sounded a little surprised, but didn't make a big deal of it. Lucky for them, the lady's aim was off today, so they only got sprinkled a little. This made Naruto smile, and he was even happier when they reached his driveway, and there was an empty garbage can at the end. He grabbed it, saying happily, "This is the one." He dragged the garbage can to the side of his small house, and then came back to let the two of them in. He was relieved when his key turned with no trouble, and as they entered he gave a deceivingly confident, "Welcome, Sasuke, to my humble abode."

TBC...

A/N: Yay! Longest chapter so far...Okay, I know this is an evil place to stop, but I really cannot write anymore tonight...well not so much can't write, but can't type...I keep making billions of typos. I spent two nights on this chapter already anyways, and I like to write things in one sitting, so I don't think I can do it again. I promise to update before the weekend, though. I know, I've taken longer with this chapter than most, but this story is getting harder for me to write. It's not so hard hat I'll quit though, and I promise, SasuNaru very soon! This chapter's title is a song by His Infernal Majesty. It's not mine. Sorry if you guys aren't happy with this chapter, I'm just not feeling well this week. I'll do better next time. Thanks for reading.

-Must Sleep. Good Night...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz-

ISAN

1. As we can see I'm going H.I.M. crazy this chapter. If anyone wants a picture of this shirt, e-mail me (once again, look on my author profile) and I'll send you one.

2. Okay, I know Iruka is totally OOC in this story, but I couldn't help it, he just kind of turned out this way!

3. alright, I know this is poorly written, but I couldn't think of any other way to say what I was saying. Grr.

4. Poppy Z. Brite is awesome, I love her books. I'd say here I was thinking of Lost Souls or Drawing Blood, but feel free to insert some other book by her if you've read it and like it better.

5. I think I could find a picture of these shoes if anyone wants one. I think seeing them would make you laugh. (e-mail me...duh)