Thank you for all the reviews, everyone! It made me so happy. A few notes about this chapter before I get to writing it. First, I tried to make this chapter as long as I possibly could. Second, the quality of this chapter is not going to be as good as I wanted it because my computer chose to crash while I was in the middle of writing it, so much of what I'd written is lost forever. I'd perfected those paragraphs, too. But they're lost forever now, and I had to start over. So I apologize in advance if the chapter sucks. Hopefully it won't.

Disclaimer: I own no part of this anime/manga.

Chapter Two: Argue

"Damn fox, what did you do to yourself?"

Sasuke tossed Naruto gently onto his couch, wincing as rivulets of blood trailed down the sides of his white couch. Naruto squirmed, whimpering softly. Vaguely Sasuke wondered what it had been like for Naruto, as a child. He was by no means a popular person. While they had both been alone he, Sasuke, had been loved. All the fangirls, the adults--they loved him. What would it have been like to go through life alone, like Naruto had. Sasuke gulped; he didn't think he would have been able to live like that. He ran his eyes down the length of Naruto's body, wincing at all the blood.

With a rough tug he ripped the torn jumper open, gasping at the chest that lay hidden beneath. Such a nice, tanned chest it was. Now if only it wasn't covered in blood... He frowned. Whatever Naruto had done to himself, it had been bad. Moving into the hallway, he began his search for the first-aid kit. It was buried somewhere under all the excess junk of his house, since he never had to use it. Kakashi would usually drag him off to the hospital before he could seriously hurt himself. He slid open a closet and grabbed it from the top shelf. What did Kakashi know about dutiful training in the hope of defeating the one who killed your family? Nothing! His grip tightened around the box as he headed back to Naruto.

The boy was whimpering, tossing and turning in his state of unconsciousness. He muttered a single, in-audible word as Sasuke took his arm and began bandaging. Fifteen minutes later he was done, and he stepped back to observe his handiwork. Not bad; not bad at all. Perhaps he should take up medicine. He smirked. Naruto turned again, spreading some blood and staining the couch further. With that Sasuke realized that Naruto would undoubtedly be spending the night, and he moved off to set up a room. But in doing so he left the boy alone...just as he was waking up. Blue eyes opened to a white ceiling, a dull pain throbbing through his body. The first thing he noticed was the silence. Or more accurately, the lack of silence.

It allowed him to think of all the things that had happened within the walls of this home, all the terrible things Sasuke had had to endure. The loneliness... It bothered him that he hadn't known why Sasuke was so messed up until a while ago. He'd begged Kakashi to tell him and--after weeks of being pestered--his sensei had given in. Naruto shivered. The silence began bearing down on him, causing him to panic. Jolting from the couch and ignroing the searing pain in his back, said fox bolted towards the door.

"Sasuke!" Sasuke!"

He slid on the wooden floor, crashing into a small chest and knocking over a glass figuring. A beautiful crystal rose. Naruto watched with horror as the figurine fell through the air. It smashed. Dazed, Naruto slumped against the wall as footsteps padded closer. Lights danced in front of his eyes, clouding his vision. But he knew it was Sasuke.

"Naruto, what are you--"

Sasuke was cut off as Naruto latched onto him, squeezing him and holding him close. He was shaking, shaking, shaking, pulling Sasuke closer.

"I'm not gonna cry. Th...that's my way of the ninja."

"Naruto..."

The boy tried to give a cocky grin, but failed. A single tear rolled down his cheek, followed by several more. Sasuke was stunned; he'd never seen Naruto cry. Where was the cocky, over-zealous boy he'd always end up saving in the missions? Where was his annoying voice and stupid grin? This couldn't be him. Naruto's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground, hands covering his face as to not let Sasuke see his tears. What a surprise it was for him when Sasuke took his wrist and lightly kissed it. He opened his blue eyes to meet Sasuke's, seeing that they were filled with concern. He gave a low moan as Sasuke picked him up, trying to ignore the pain. Sasuke nuzzled his neck.

"It's okay to cry, Naruto."

"S...Sasuke."

Sasuke began walking down the hallway towards the room he had set up, wondering what in the world he'd just done. It seemed that everything was just out of order today, starting from Naruto coming to look for his wallet up until now. He lay Naruto in bed, noticing how pale he looked against the black sheets. Sasuke stood there for a moment, watching Naruto begin to slip into sleep. He himself was tired--he didn't notice just how much until now. Naruto opened one bleary eye at him and gave a weak smile in thanks for everything. The smile was so genuine, so real--Sasuke leaned in and pressed his lips against Naruto's softly. Now both of Naruto's eyes were opened wide, a look of utmost surprise on his face. Sasuke himself was a bit freaked at his actions, but chose to ignore the thought. He pulled away, smiling. Naruto tasted like ramen.

"Goodnight, Naruto."

-The Next Day-

"Yo."

"You're late!"

"Yeah. I slipped in the shower, so…"

"You lie!"

"Like hell you slipped!"

Naruto and Sakura attempted to pound their sensei into the ground, only succeeding in being held back. Sasuke leaned—as usual—on the bridge wall, watching Naruto closely. The two had agreed to keep quiet about last night; at least until they figured out what it meant. Kakashi would just tease them, wondering who would be uke, and Sakura…well, Sasuke wasn't going to even think about that. Sakura and the other rabid fan-girls were going to have to remain blissfully ignorant.

"Well we have a small mission today. D-rank," Kakashi informed them with an easy smile. "Pulling weeds. Naruto, I expect you remember what happened last time we had this mission?"

Unknowingly, Naruto fingered his left eye as he nodded.

"Good. You and Sasuke will work together on this one."

"But I can do it myself!"

"Be quiet, dobe."

"Urusai, Sasuke-teme!"

The two glared at each other, and both would be dead if looks could kill. Sakura glanced nervously from one to the other—the tension had been very bad this morning. Much worse than the usual tension that came between her two teammates. She wondered what had happened between them… Perhaps something that had occurred last night? Naruto was looking for his stupid purse; she remembered his frantic look as he nearly pounded her door down to get to her. Sheer terror. Maybe he'd gone to Sasuke and done something stupid. Inner Sakura urged her to whack the blond, but she suppressed the urge.

In silence the four set out to do their mission, hoping that it would end soon and they could all go back to their peaceful lives. Training for Sasuke, ramen for Naruto, perverted books for Kakashi, and Sasuke-stalking for Sakura. The owner of the garden was a bit reluctant about letting Naruto in her garden but as Kakashi assured her he wouldn't be left alone, she gave in. Still glaring at each other Sasuke and Naruto moved off to a secluded corner of the garden to pull weeds and…discuss things. It was unspoken between the two that something had to be made of their rather strange night, or the feeling of not knowing would drive them mad. Weed after weed was pulled and the two said nothing, feeling that nervous pressure in their gut increased.

"So…" Naruto gulped, eyes pointed down. "What did it mean?"

Sasuke pulled another weed, silent. The clouds overhead were white and puffy, so unlike the black storm clouds of last night. He vaguely wondered if Naruto's blood was still splattered across the streets of the city, hoping it had washed away. Blood on the streets did not remind him of pleasant things… Naruto, upon recieving no reply, gazed up at Sasuke, but the boy still said nothing. He didn't know what to say. What did it mean? Was it just that they were becoming better friends or could they possibly have the potential to be something more? The mere thought made him clench his sweaty palms anxiously. There was no doubt that Naruto was attractive. Most times he was downright adorable. And when he was fighting he took on a look so amazing…

But what would that do for his dream of replenishing his clan? He very well couldn't do that with a boy.

"Look, Naruto. I don't know what it means. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Naruto's voice was depressed. "That's okay. It was a bit...weird."

Sasuke turned at the blond's voice. Naruto was--for but a moment--frowning, his bottom lip quivering lightly. But then it was gone and on his face was an impossibly large grin. So fake... Sasuke glared at Naruto for trying to hide behind his mask. Uchiha Sasuke was no idiot; he knew when Naruto was trying to hide his real feelings. How could he not--he did it all the time!

"Naruto!" he snarled, grabbing his collar and yanking him close. "Stop doing that!"

"Let go of me, teme!"

"If you're sad, then be sad!"

"S...shut up! You don't know anything about me!"

"You're such a fake person!"

"You're one to talk!" Naruto jumped up, angry. In his anger he didn't notice that the last thing he'd yanked from the ground was not a weed but was, in fact, a pretty red flower. "You're such a cold, heartless bastard to everyone and I hate you!"

With that he shot off, brushing past Kakashi and Sakura and running quickly into the distance. The villagers glared at him as he rushes past, nearly knocking them all over. He glared at nothing in particular, mad at himself. He really went to far with that, with calling Sasuke a bastard. After everything Sasuke had done for him the night before...! But then again, he wasn't willing to talk about last night, either. It must have meant something; why would Sasuke have kissed him if it didn't? Was he just trying to toy with his mind? 'Damn Sasuke.' Still weak from his fall last night, his legs managed to carry him to his home before completely giving out. Disgusted with himself, he kicked open his door and plopped down onto his couch. It wasn't even noon and he'd managed to turn his whole day shitty. Before the day was over, he'd have to apologize to Sasuke for yelling at him, and Kakashi for skipping out on the mission. He released the flower in his fist, cursing.

"Damn it..."

The flower hit the floor in silence.

There you go, readers! I finished it, and I'm dang proud of it too. And I had lots of inspiration from watching the anime, too! Go Naruto! Ah, said blond is such a hot-head isn't he? What will happen in the next chapter--I'm not even sure yet. -pout- Until the next chapter, Hatori is signing out! Ja ne!