Edit: October 25, 2005: Changed some grammatical errors that I missed before posting.
Edit: October 29, 2005: Fixed the formatting errors from aforementioned edit.
Disclaimer: (Goes into depression) Every chapter that I have to admit I don't own them a little piece of me dies…
Summary: There's a fine line between Rival and Friend and an even finer line between Friend and Lover. Sasuke refuses to cross any of these lines with Naruto, but fate seems to have it in for him. School fic NaruSasu
Warnings: Slash/Shounen Ai/Yaoi, occasional swearing and knowing me some eventual angst. I promise I'll try to make this my first humour fic! WISH ME LUCK!
Crossing the Line
Previously:
'It's resolved then' I confirm as a yawn escapes my lips and my eyes begin to ease shut, 'I just won't, under any circumstances, speak to Naruto.'
Chapter 4: I'm Still Here
I walk into school the next day with grim resolve. I refuse to speak to Naruto, and really, how difficult can it be to avoid him? It's not as if he's in every class with me; I don't have English with him.
A sigh passes my lips; I'm doomed. I can already hear him coming down the hall behind me, who could miss the resounding thump of his footfalls.
He's probably wondering if I'm normal again.
'Don't come near me…' I try to send Naruto little mental messages but apparently my telepathy abilities suck or Naruto is ignoring my warnings, I'm going to go with the former.
"Oi Sasuke!" His voice is directly behind me and I stiffen, preparing for the action I know is coming. He claps his hand on my shoulder and stops me.
Why is he talking to me? It's not as if we're friends by any means.
I turn around and stare at him with dead eyes as he breaks into a wide grin, predictably unfazed by my obvious dislike of him.
"Are you feeling better today?" His smile doesn't waver as he waits for my response and I find a familiar feeling of annoyance wash over me. If there's one thing that pisses me off more that clingy girls, it's people who are constantly cheerful.
"You were the one acting weird yesterday, dobe." I reply and turn away from him, continuing my walk to my locker. A smirk crosses my lips as he whines my name; I can almost see the pout on his face as he chases me down the hallway.
"Saaaasuuuukeee!" Suddenly he's beside me, "I was not acting weird! And…" He looks around conspicuously before lowering his voice so only I can hear, "there is no way in hell I'd ever want to get into your pants so you don't have to think I like you." I stop my brisk walk and stare hard at Naruto, searching his eyes to see if he's lying. I smirk; if he is, I can't tell.
"Good." I continue walking with Naruto by my side.
"That would be just…yuck!" Naruto shudders and I share his sentiment at the thought of touching -never mind kissing- him! We reach my locker and he stops to stand beside it.
"You know, for a pig-headed asshole you're ok." He concedes, clearly under the impression that he's complimenting me. I cast him a dry look and transfer all my textbooks from my locker to my bag.
"And for an idiot dobe you're…" I pause to look at him. His blue eyes are wide and he looks as if he's expecting me to say something nice. I could to humour him I suppose, but where would the fun in that be for me? "…unremarkably clingy." I finish, my smirk widening at the affronted looks he's sporting.
"You're so mean to me Sasuke!" He wails dramatically, leaning against the locker neighboring mine and staring at me with wide, pitiful azure eyes. They're by far his best feature I decide as I shut my locker.
"How's about you cut the dramatics princess?" I propose, waiting for Naruto to peel himself off the locker and join my side before beginning my trek to my first period class.
"If anyone here is a princess, it's you Sasuke." Naruto points out with a flat expression. "What with your feminine figure, manicured nails and chic hair." He's grinning now and I have an urge to smack him really hard, but I don't.
"As opposed to you? The unkempt scrawny mutt with an affinity for the colour orange?" I look him up and down incredulously as his eyes narrow to slits and his bottom lip protrudes in a pout.
"I'm no mutt!" He exclaims, pointing his finger in the air dramatically. I smirk and adjust my bag.
"Of course you aren't." I figure he wants my agreement so I humour him, just this once though.
"…" Naruto pauses and stares at me with his 'thinking face', the one where his mouth hangs open and one eyebrow is raised. Rolling my eyes, I walk into the classroom and gracefully slide into my seat, waiting for Naruto to either snap out of his daze or officially become catatonic.
'Thinking must be really hard on the guy.' I muse as he continues to stand in the doorway of the classroom with his ridiculously amusing 'thinking face'.
"Move Naruto, people want to get into the classroom." An annoyingly bossy voice demands from directly behind Naruto. I roll my eyes as Sakura roughly shoves Naruto to the side and strides into the classroom, her eyes landing and staying on me.
"Oh, hello Sasuke!" She greets chipperly, flopping into the desk beside me, the desk that technically houses Naruto. At the beginning of term I was positive I'd rather sit next to Sakura over Naruto, but now I figure he's a tad less annoying than she is.
"How was your tutoring session with Naruto?" She queries in a typical female voice reserved for gossip with a disgusted look on her face, "He didn't bug you too much did he?" She continues, oblivious to the fact that Naruto has now been brought out of his catatonic state and is standing behind her.
Apparently, Naruto hasn't heard what Sakura has just said, for he starts speaking about our conversation from about a minute ago.
"Sasuke, did you just agree with me?" He walks to the desk in front of me and falls into the chair, his body turned so he can still see me.
"Naruto, leave Sasuke alone. He's busy talking to m-" I roll my eyes as Sakura begins her incessant Naruto bashing and cut her off.
"I figured it would be easier to agree with you than to argue." I'm shrugging as I respond and ignoring the hurt look on Sakura's face. I feel marginally bad, because I know that Sakura will channel that hurt into anger and take it out on Naruto.
She stands up from Naruto's seat and storms away, glaring at Naruto as any dutiful girl in love would and slams into her seat, making as much noise as humanly possible throughout the entire ordeal. Behind me, Shikamaru raises his head and glares at Sakura. Apparently, she woke him from his slumber.
"Women are so troublesome." He mumbles as he rubs his eyes tiredly, drawing Naruto's attention. He seems affronted…
"Not my Sakura! She's amazing and funny and pretty, but not troublesome!" Shikamaru rolls his eyes at Naruto and leans his face in his hands sluggishly, watching as Naruto stands from the desk in front of me and relocates to the one beside me. The desk where he's supposed to be sitting.
"She's probably the most troublesome girl here!" Shikamaru argues before pausing thoughtfully, "Other than Ino and Temari."
I nearly snort, forgetting my Uchiha composure at Shikamaru's comment. The only reason Ino and Temari are troublesome is because he likes them on a more than friend basis.
"That's because you like them." Naruto seems to have a talent for mirroring my thoughts. His face splits into a mocking grin as Shikamaru glares at him through the blush that is rising on his cheeks. However, the brunette genius remains silent.
"You're not gonna deny it?" The dobe is staring at Shikamaru, as perplexed as I am. Apparently, we had both been positive that Shikamaru was going to contradict the statement.
"There's no point in denying it when I know you'll bug me until I admit it." Shikamaru drawls with a shrug, yawning tiredly behind his unoccupied hand.
"Yeah I guess... Anyway, I heard from Gaara that Temari likes you too!" Naruto concedes with a wink, ignoring the look of horror on Shikamaru's face. My first thought is 'how can Naruto stand Gaara?' and my second thought is 'Shikamaru? Date a girl? Ha!' I decide to share my wisdom with Naruto; it's not as if he doesn't need it.
"Naruto, he's too lazy to put any actual effort behind liking a girl." I reply, smirking as Shikamaru nods in agreement with me.
"Like I said, women are troublesome. Liking them and dating them are two completely different bodies of water." He concurs, staring at Naruto through half-lidded eyes.
"I'd say to give up on Ino." I nearly slam my head on my desk as Naruto speaks, he just completely ignored Shikamaru and myself, "She's going to follow Sasuke until the end; it's a waste of your time."
I pause midway through crashing my head on the desk; Naruto's speaking about me as if I'm not an active participant in the conversation, let alone in the desk next to him.
"The same could be said for your Sakura." Shikamaru points out and I find myself with a familiar feeling of invisibility.
"I'm still here, you know." I growl and both Shikamaru and Naruto pause their argument to glance at me, just realizing that I really am still here before returning to their 'heated discussion'.
"One day Sakura will realize her love for me and we'll be happy together. Ino though, she's obsessed. Besides, why wait for Ino when you have Temari?"
'Love advice from Naruto.' I muse, watching as Naruto stares at Shikamaru as if he's the idiot.
"Could he possibly not be chasing Temari because he doesn't want her?" I suggest dryly.
"How can he have a crush on her and not want her?" Naruto counters with what he considers reasoning.
"Quite simple really," Shikamaru interjects, "I'm too lazy to put the effort into spending quality time with her." His logic makes more sense than Naruto's, which really isn't a surprise.
"Speak of the devil." I whisper, smirking as Temari stalks into the classroom, her eyes scanning over everyone arrogantly before landing on us. She blushes when she sees me looking at her and then redirects her gaze to Shikamaru, her haughty posture softening.
"She's hot." Naruto whispers to Shikamaru, who blushes and tosses Naruto a weak glare.
"Hey Shika." She sits down behind Naruto and turns in her desk to face Shikamaru. I nearly puke in my mouth, Temari and the genius had better not go out, I really don't want to hear her pet names for him advance from Shika to Shikky-wikky-poo.
"Temari." He greets lazily, still leaning on his hand.
"Where's Gaara?" Naruto asks confused and I once again find myself perplexed as to how those two manage to be friends. Perhaps perplexed isn't the word, jealous however…
'I'm not jealous.' I assure myself and turn to face forward in my desk, ignoring Temari's response to Naruto's question. Actually, I just full out ignore everything around me and fall into thought.
That is until Kiba descends into the desk in front of me at an awkward angle so that we're both staring at each other.
"Uchiha." He says warily, still staring at me through narrowed eyes.
"Inuzuka." I watch him coolly as he glances at Naruto then back at me.
"You didn't kill him during your study session yesterday?" His voice is casual but I can see the surprise in his eyes and shrug in response.
"He was tolerable." I reply noncommittally, my own eyes flickering to Naruto, who is now flirting unabashedly with Temari. I tense and return my gaze to Kiba.
"You two usually can't stand each other." He observes suspiciously. I snort and glare at him, "Not that I'm complaining," He rushes to explain, "Naruto's a pretty good guy, better than you at least." He mutters and glares back at me. I don't see why the males in the class feel the need to 'protect' Naruto from me, I don't talk to them and I rarely speak to the idiot. It's a bit of a piss off in all honesty.
"Why thank you." I bite out sarcastically; fully aware that Hinata and her cousin Neji are now entering the class. "Hinata's here." I state quietly. Relief washes over me when Kiba moves to greet her after one final warning glare in my direction.
The first bell rings and instantly a wave of students comes piling into the classroom accompanied by a massive increase in noise. I sigh, waiting for our teacher, Kakashi-sensei to arrive, already estimating that he'll be later than usual. He was one of the customers I served so dutifully last night at Sharingan.
OoOoO
I stand in the doorway of the cafeteria, staring at the mass of students greeting each other cheerfully and fight down the pang of jealousy that suddenly engulfs me. If I enter, I know I'll be walking into a pool of self-pity, observing them all chatting peacefully and bitching about the party their parents won't let them attend. They'll somehow manage to fawn over me and make me feel excluded at the same time, a talent people in this school have…
I tighten my grip on the bento box I have in hand and spin on my heel, leaving the cafeteria behind me, not in the mood to hold a pity party for myself. Luckily, no one notices my presence or absence and I'm left to find the school roof in peace… Let me rephrase that, luckily no one but Naruto notices my presence or absence.
I am nearly at my destination and veering in the direction of Kakashi-sensei's door when he finds me.
"Sasuke, there you are!" He's out of breath and running towards me with that damned smile of his.
"Just because I spoke to you pleasantly this morning doesn't mean I want to be your friend." I snap at him, stopping at Kakashi-sensei's unlocked door and placing my hand on the handle. I stop and look at Naruto, waiting for him to tell me what he wants.
"You eat with Kakashi-sensei?" He stares at my hold on the door handle with a raised eyebrow, his face the epitome of confusion.
"No," I find myself responding without really wanting to, I do that a lot around Naruto I realize as I continue speaking, "His class windows lead to the roof. I eat there." His eyes widen with shock.
"No kidding?"
I roll my eyes and open the door, "I'm eating now, so if you want to ask me something hurry up." I'm walking into the room and am preparing to close the door when I notice Naruto is still beside me, inside the room.
"I'm gonna eat with you." He pipes cheerfully, waving his bento box in front of me and striding over to the closed row of windows at the back of the room.
"Do you ever go away?" I groan, slamming the door and purposefully striding to begin unlatching the window in front of Naruto.
"Nope." He replies gleefully, hopping through the space I've made for him and turning to watch me gracefully mimic the action. I stare at him dryly once I'm through and walk to the far corner of the roof where I lower myself until I'm sitting Indian style with my bento box in my lap.
"You sit all the way over there?" Naruto asks as he moves to where I'm sitting, he's giving me the 'Sasuke is crazy look' and I find that I don't care. I nod while opening my bento box (that's right folks, multi-tasking!) and watch with displeasure as he sits beside me.
"Why do you want to eat with me?" I'm honestly confused as to his motives, "I'm a jerk to you." He shrugs and breaks apart a set of chopsticks.
"You seem lonely." He replies carefully, watching my face as I stare at him, my eyebrows drawn inward as I fight down the fuzzy feeling mounting within me.
"Well I'm not." I retort, angry with him for making me feel fuzzy of all emotions and for assuming that just because I seem lonely I am.
"Sure. I mean why would you feel lonely when you're surrounded by fan girls, huh?" A soft wind passes over us, blowing my hair into my eyes for a moment and I'm glad he can't see the bitter expression on my face.
I think he's expecting me to say something, but I don't. Anything I say will give him the impression he's right, everything I don't say will leave him confused, hopefully enough so that he'll leave.
The sound of a sigh passing his lips reaches my ears but I ignore it in favor of digging into my lunch. Perhaps he won't say anything…
"Sasuke, could we quit acting like five-year-olds for a moment and put aside this stupid rivalry act?" The heat of his glare surprises me. Startles me.
I remain silent.
"Damnit Sasuke, what's so bad about me?" He pounds his fist to accent his point and turns his livid expression on me, "We got along fine this morning! I just want to put this damn fake rivalry thing behind us and try to get along. We don't have to be friends, I mean I'd like to be your friend but I know that's too much to ask from you…" Crystal blue eyes stare at me expectantly, still shining with the fury they possessed a few minutes ago. So he wants to be friends…
"Why the sudden change of heart?" I bite out coldly. We're in dangerous waters now and I know I'm out of my element, unlike Naruto. Heart to hearts are his forte… and my weakness…
"Maybe it's because yesterday I realized that you have a heart underneath all those walls." I roll my eyes at the common expression, "At the risk of sounding cliché." He adds with the amused smirk that can only be described as Uzumaki Naruto.
"Well then, at the risk of sounding cliché myself," I smirk, "there are no walls in place because there's no heart to protect." There, I said it. I'm fighting down a proud smile as Naruto stares at me stunned. I decide to go in for the kill, hoping I'll deter him from his stupid fantasy of us being…friends…
"With that said, I have no interest in getting to know you or becoming your friend, Uzumaki. I don't mingle with those below me." He winces but doesn't back down, much to my annoyance.
"Jeez Sasuke, I don't expect you to trust me." From the tight strain in his voice, I deduct that he's exasperated with me, "I haven't given you any trust. Why would you give without first receiving?" For once, his logic seems to reach me and I find myself smirking, despite my mission to turn him off the idea of being my friend.
"Since when were you so manipulative, dobe?" I watch the surprise leak into his face as he turns to look at me, a smile slowly spreading over his features.
"There's a lot about me you don't know, asshole." He replies, his face accommodating his massive grin as he sees the shock in my eyes.
"Likewise." I reply, schooling my features back to impassivity and returning to my bento box. The serious segment of our conversation seems to be ending.
"Sasuke, are those…onigiri?" His eyes sparkle as he eyes my lunch hungrily, forgetting the conversation we just had. I glance over at him.
"…no?" I find myself pulling my precious food closer to me as Naruto slowly brings his gaze to my face.
Thunk
"SASUKE PLEASE?"
'Damnit, when did he get so fast?' I mentally groan as Naruto attaches his body to my arm and stares up at me with starry eyes that scream 'how can you resist me.'
"No." Calmness is key to winning; if he realizes his stupid puppy dog eyes won't work, he'll release me and concede defeat.
…
I always seem to forget that with Naruto it's about more than getting your desired goal, it's about pride and winning…
"But Saaaasuuuukeeee!" There's that whine again. I groan and shake my arm, trying to rid myself of my newly gained appendage. I'm feeling a hint of amusement at his antics but it's being smothered by annoyance.
"No." A steady voice will lead him to believe he's not affecting me and in concordance, he will give up.
…
Naruto give up? Ha!
"Pwease?" He loosens his grips and slowly straightens. However, his pathetic 'love me… feed me' face is still firmly in place. I sigh.
"Fine." Sometimes you just get to the point where resisting feels like it takes too much effort…
I pause, my thoughts. Can I resist the lure of having a friend?
My eyes wander to Naruto, who is cheerily munching on one of my onigiri and babbling on about god knows what.
I suppose I could learn to like him, be his friend.
But then there's the issue of trust. Can I trust Naruto? Because I'm well aware that if I can't trust him then I can never befriend him. I look over at his innocent face as he stuffs another onigiri in his mouth. I'd like to trust him...but it's not that easy for me. I want to tell him that, but I remain silent and instead, return my attention to my sushi, having given up on being able to indulge in my onigiri.
'If Naruto wants to be my friend, he can walk through hell and back to gain my trust,' my mind is made, 'I won't trust anyone, especially him unless they truly want it and earn it.'
TJ here. That's chapter four! I really hope you enjoyed it! Oh and don't forget to review! I LOVE compliments, in fact I'm pretty sure I'm a compliment whore '
Also, this story is officially the longest story I've ever written! I'm currently on chapter 10 O.o. Which is amazing for me! Anyways, the reason I'm not posting all chapters immediately is because if I stay ahead of my current place I'll be able to update once a week.
Also I realize that I'm portraying Sakura as a Sakura basher would but don't worry. She'll mature and quit being such a (insert any four-letter word you please) pretty soon. I'd like to point out that this is her general personality in the first few episodes of the anime and like in the anime, she will become more bearable and possibly likeable depending on your general view of Sakura.
POOF
toodles
TJ
word up.
(Grabs all reviewers in a giant bear hug and kisses them) MUAH! You guys make me so happy and I really need to thank each and every one of you!
Fractured Dreams- Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU! I really like the way the kitchen scene turned out and it definitely was meant to be humorous. Glad to know someone liked my little speech to those nearly flame-like reviews. I hate it when people write negative reviews, there's a definite difference between friendly critiquing and just being an ass. Thanks again for continuing to read and review this!
Whiterose03- Thank you for your review I hope this chapter is up to snuff!
Azamiko- Hehe, I love Sasuke's dysfunctional family. Along with the interaction scenes with Naruto, the family scenes are probably my favorites to write. Oh Sasuke, I'm going to have fun with him and Naruto…
The New Shinigami Hikari- YES! Much appreciation for the review! Sweet and short yet leaves me with a stupid smile for two hours!
The Ersaj Chronicals- Thank you very much! I kind of wanted to toy with the idea that Sasuke's family is very vain and basically, as you put it, dysfunctional. Thanks for your comments!
Pink Raine- I'm so flattered that you think my AU fic is readable, I really am! I ran and told my mom. (sweatdrop) I was like "MOM! SOMEONE THINKS MY STORY'S ONE OF THE FEW READABLE ONE'S IN ITS CATEGORY!" She smiled and nodded…thanks again! (Head begins to swell…)
Gravity Rise- ANOTHER MASSIVE REVIEW FROM YOU! I love your reviews, they're chocked full of comments that just make me all happy inside! Like how you think my story is original, that's really flattering to me because I really strive to avoid clichés, although I suppose that's rather difficult to do in fanfiction. Hehe, for the milkman part…just imagine Sasuke in a milkman suit beside some happy go lucky cow farmer…so unrealistic yet…(bursts out laughing). Regarding Sharingan, OMG I'M SO GLAD IT DIDN'T SEEM CHEEZY AND CLICHÉ! Thank you for pointing out that you liked that, I was so scared of sounding redundant or something of that manner! Thanks a ton for the massive review, made my day!
Carazon- Thanks a lot, hope the update came soon enough and that it lives up to the other chapters!
NaruSasuObsessed- (In reference to name) Aren't we all? Lol, thank you so much for both your reviews and for adding me to your faves list!