The New Guy

by SilverRose88

COMPLETE!Sasuke is the new guy at school. Naruto hates him from day one. What happens when the two are paired for a project, or even worse, staring opposite roles in Romeo and Juliet? And what happens when Neji joins the picture? SasuNaru

19. Chapter Nineteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Romeo and Juliet.

Author's Note: I've come to deliver chapter nineteen! I'm so sorry for the delay, but I had the entire beginning and end worked out, but had no idea what to do in the middle, that's why it's so late! But, I finally got it, so thanks for your patience! I really don't like this chapter except for the beginning and end, but maybe you all will enjoy it anyway.

Thank you guys so much for you reviews! I'm almost to 300! I'm so excited! Thanks so so so much! I love you all so much!

Uh, a few replies to reviews since I don't do that a lot, and there were some this time I thought I'd comment on…

To TheCagedBird: Hey! Where have you been? Glad you're back! Thanks for the points again, they always make me laugh. I think this chapter it all goes to Sasuke…but whatever. And thanks for what you said about my story. I'm not so sure this story is that good, and I'm not being modest or anything, it's the truth…But, honestly, there are much better SasuNaru stories out there! Anyway, thanks for your review!

To Kali-Swifteye: Your review just made me laugh. Thanks for that. And, thanks for your comment about the last line. Even I'm surprised I wrote it!

To MissDbzMedabots: Thanks for your review! You're right, I shouldn't have to apologize, but I do anyway because I feel it's appropriate. And that 'I'm worried about you, dobe' line is my favorite too! Thanks!

To fb90: Thanks for your review! Yeah, the Mean Girls thing was a completely random idea. Mainly there for humor, glad you enjoyed it! And, thanks for checking out my deviantart site! That was nice of you!

Well, that's all I have to say right now. I'll shut up and let you guys read! The chapter's 24 pages, my longest ever! Have fun, SilverRose88.

Chapter Nineteen

Sasuke squinted as light shone on his face. He turned his head slightly to block the accursed glow and was met with a fluff of something that made him slowly peek his eyes open. The first thing he saw was yellow; a whole head of blonde hair right beside him. Sasuke blinked a few times, trying to figure out what Naruto was doing sleeping next to him.

Then it all came back; watching over Naruto the night before, starting a movie…We must have fallen asleep while watching. I can't believe that happened. Not that it's a bad thing or anything…This was pure luck, but good luck. Sasuke smiled slightly at his fortune as he began to pull himself into a sitting position, but was being tugged back down by the arms around his waist he'd failed to notice. Looking down, Naruto had his arms wrapped around the Uchiha's waist, and was snuggling closer, resting his head on the side of Sasuke's chest. Needless to say, Sasuke was having a mental block. Everything went blank and all he could do was stare and blush.

Get a hold of yourself Sasuke, he told himself. It's not like he knows what he's doing…He probably just thinks I'm a pillow or something. God, why does he have to be so warm?

Knowing that there wasn't a way to get out of his current position, Sasuke slid back onto the bed and Naruto instantly clutched onto him, making the Uchiha blush even more. Guess it'll be okay to stay like this for awhile. I just want it to be like this. There's nothing wrong in that, is there? Telling himself firmly that there wasn't anything wrong, he nodded and sighed. Checking his watch for the time, he was surprised to find it almost noon. We slept for a long time, Sasuke realized.

Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. The night before had been nice; just spending it with Naruto was much better than having gone to that party where he knew he wouldn't have had any time with the blonde with Sakura and Ino around. In some weird twisted way, he was glad Naruto had gotten sick because he was glad to have been the one to take care of him. There had been many times that night when all he wanted to do was just kiss the blonde, but he'd refrained himself; something that was getting harder and harder to do with each passing day. Sasuke was really starting to wonder how much longer he could keep this up. Not telling Naruto about his feelings was just painful. He knew he loved the blonde, but what would happen if he told him? Probably nothing good for him. He was certain Naruto didn't feel the same way…but then what had he seen the previous night?

Sasuke was a hundred percent certain that there had been a moment where Naruto had had the desire to kiss him, just as he did. Why would Naruto be thinking about kissing him unless he had some feelings for him? Could Naruto be starting to like him as well? Sasuke felt hope in his heart as he reopened his eyes and stared down at the sleeping blonde, who was still cuddled against his chest, looking way too cute for his own good. Sasuke smiled as he reached a hand over to the blonde's forehead and was relieved to find that his sickness had gone down. He then wrapped an arm around Naruto's body and pulled him closer, mentally laughing at how the last time he'd found himself in a similar position he'd wanted nothing other than to get away…and how now, he wanted nothing other than to just stay this way forever, just him and Naruto.

Sasuke shut his eyes again with a deep breath. It was getting to be a pain; keeping his secret from the blonde, and every time he looked at him, the desire to just spill his guts became much harder to restrain. He wanted Naruto to know about his feelings, but he could never predict what would happen if he took that move. Would Naruto reject him? Would Naruto never talk to him again, and just ignore him forever? Would their friendship be the same? Or, by some miracle, would he reciprocate his feelings? Sasuke could only ever hope for that to happen, but he knew that the chances were very slim. Even though he'd seen for himself those expressions the night before, he still had no idea what the blonde was thinking. He'd seen anxiety, puzzlement, and even desire…Those were feelings he had felt when he'd been realizing his own feelings for Naruto…So, could it mean that there were some emotions, some thoughts in that blonde's thick head about him? Could it be that Naruto was thinking about him as he always thought about the blonde? Was there a chance in that? Because if Naruto was even considering those thoughts, then Sasuke was getting closer to when he could confess to the blonde his feelings. But, again, Sasuke could only hope.

There was another problem, two problems actually, that made his skin crawl. Neji and Gaara, those two bastards who were always in the way. If they got too close to Naruto, then the blonde's feelings would get even more confused, and it'd be even longer until Sasuke'd be able to tell Naruto about his feelings for him. That's why Sasuke had to make sure he spent as much time with Naruto as possible. Just like the night before; it had been him, not Neji or Gaara, who had cared for Naruto. It had been him, who had bought him soup. It had been him, who had watched a movie with him. Gaara had come by, and Sasuke had been glad that Naruto had made him leave. It had surprised him as well; he knew Naruto liked company, and he'd thought that he'd make Gaara stay as well, but when he told him to leave, Sasuke couldn't have been any more luckier. He'd practically been walking on clouds. And, to make things even better, the Hyuuga bastard hadn't shown up at all. Sasuke wished that things would only be that easy.

But, of course, it wasn't, and Sasuke knew that only too well. Gaara already knew about what had happened the previous night, and Neji was bound to find out, which only meant that the two bastards were going to make it so that Sasuke had no chance to be with Naruto for the next few days. It was getting annoying, really, and made Sasuke extremely pissed off to have it after every time something good happened between him and Naruto, that the next day either Neji or Gaara, or both, had somehow weaseled their way into some action. But, he supposed saying that would be hypocritical, seeing as how he did the same thing after either one of them had made a move. But, what had transpired between him and Naruto that weekend, however wonderful and perfect it had been, Sasuke knew that the race was only just getting started, and the other contestants were not giving up until the end.

Sasuke sighed. It was a big mess, all of this, but it was a mess he was going to win. He loved Naruto too much to let him go, and he'd make sure that there wasn't any way for either Neji or Gaara to get too close. Instinctively, Sasuke pulled the blonde closer to him, and Naruto clutched onto him tighter, sending another blush to heat his cheeks. Sasuke wasn't going to let anyone get to Naruto; he'd make sure of that.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mmm, warm, so warm…Wait, warm? Naruto blinked a few times, eyes trying to adjust to the amount of light in the room and then his gaze feel on a certain body lying next to him. The blonde practically fell off the bed in shock, until he realized who the body belonged to. Sasuke? What's he doing sleeping in my bed? Naruto looked him over and his eyes bugged out. …And what the hell am I doing with my arms around his waist? W-What's hedoing with his arm around me? Gah! How the hell did we get into this position? W-Who started it? W-Was it me?

A hot blush crept up his neck and highlighted his cheeks as he continued to stare, still lying motionlessly in the Uchiha's arms. As he lay there, the only comprehendible thought to pass through his head was something he'd rather not think about, but wouldn't leave him alone. He-He feels so warm…It feels so nice like this…Wait. I did not just think that! Naruto began to mentally attack himself for thinking such thoughts, but no matter what he told himself, the thoughts wouldn't leave him alone, because even if he denied it, deep inside he knew it was true. It did feel really nice being in Sasuke's arms; like he was comforted and safe, as if nothing could go wrong. It was a feeling he liked, but it frightened him at the same time. Why would being in Sasuke's arms make him feel that way?

Naruto looked Sasuke over and was instantly swarmed with new thoughts. He's really attractive…I mean, I've always known that, but right now, he looks even more hot--Hold it right there, I order you! I was not about to say that-that Sas-Sas-Sasukewas hot! No way! Naruto looked him over again and sighed. Oh, who am I kidding, he is hot, but-but that doesn't mean anything! Just because I think he's hot, it doesn't mean a single thing! Physical attraction isn't everything! But he looks so nice when he's asleep…That usual frown isn't on his face…He seems normal, and it's nice…

Unconsciously Naruto reached a hand over to Sasuke's face, but then pulled it back. His heart began to pound in his chest as a voice in his head told him to reach his hand out again. He obeyed, his fingers just an inch from stroking Sasuke's skin, when the Uchiha's hand grabbed his wrist and held it tightly. Naruto's eyes widened, and he blushed profusely, completely embarrassed. Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to find Naruto reaching his hand out towards him, blushing beet red. The Uchiha let go of Naruto's hand and sat up. Naruto looked away pointedly, trying to fight the blush from getting any worse.

"Y-You were a-awake?" Naruto stammered, still not looking up. How awkward was it to get caught trying to touch him? The blonde was certain he'd never be able to forget this.

"I was asleep, but it was a light rest. I sensed something above me, so I grabbed it. I'm sorry if I freaked you out by that," Sasuke said, yawning and stretching.

"N-No, not-not a problem…Y-You d-didn't freak me out…" Naruto lied. Damn it, you almost gave me a freaking heart attack!

Sasuke looked at Naruto curiously. The blonde was a bit too anxious that it made him rather worried. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Naruto said quickly.

Sasuke chose to dismiss the blonde's behavior and asked, "Are you feeling better then? Your sickness gone?"

Naruto stopped acting nervous as he remembered that he was sick. "I-I feel fine. Yeah, I think I'm okay,"

"That's good," Sasuke said. "You look better too,"

Naruto nodded, then asked, "Uh, Sasuke…What happened? How come you're still here?"

"We must have feel asleep during the movie," Sasuke explained.

"Oh," was all the blonde could say. "That makes sense. What time is it?"

Sasuke checked his watch and replied, "It's almost one,"

"Whoa! We slept for a long time!" Naruto exclaimed, then he said, turning to Sasuke who was getting to his feet. "Hey, Sasuke?"

"What?"

"I'm hungry,"

"Then go eat something,"

"Can we go out and eat…together?"

Sasuke turned around quickly, surprise etched on his face. Naruto was looking up at him, embarrassed, but with big hopeful eyes. The Uchiha felt himself blush, and he nodded. "Yeah, sure, we can go. So, hurry up and get dressed. We're going to stop at my house so I can change too," he said.

Naruto let out a cheer. "Yay! I'll be right back," He grabbed some clothes from the closet and dashed into the bathroom.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You've been here before?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, Neji and I came here once after work," Naruto replied leading the way into the restaurant.

Sasuke immediately tensed at the Hyuuga's name, and he was having second thoughts of being somewhere Naruto had already come to with that bastard. But the blonde was already in line and his chance to get out of there had passed. Sasuke sighed and followed Naruto to the line. The two ordered and paid and then found a table in the corner to eat. For awhile they just sat in silence, slowly munching on their meal, but once silence became unbearable, Naruto was the first to speak.

Quietly, embarrassedly looking down at his bowl of ramen, the blonde said, "Hey, Sasuke…"

Sasuke looked up from his plate at the blonde and raised an eyebrow at his uncomfortable behavior. "Yeah, what?"

"…I-I, uh, just, you know…wanted to th-thank you, a-about last night…You know, tak-taking care of m-me and all…I mean, you-you didn't have to, bu-but you did anyway…" Naruto gave a nervous laugh, and glanced up at Sasuke who was staring at him a bit surprised, but with an extremely soft expression on his face, a look Naruto had never seen before, and that made him lift his head as Sasuke opened his mouth to reply.

"Dobe, I told you yesterday that it's not a big deal. You were sick, so I took care of you. I wanted to, okay? Quit worrying so much about it," Sasuke replied.

Naruto nodded. "Okay," he said. "It's just, you know, it's the first time someone's taken care of me in a long time…and it was nice, that's all…So, thanks, Sasuke,"

Sasuke blinked and felt himself blush slightly. He was the first one to take care of him after such a long time. Him, not anyone else, and Sasuke felt incredibly glad knowing this fact. And the fact that Naruto had said that it was nice made Sasuke feel even better. "Li-Like I said, I wanted to, all right?" Sasuke said. "I was worried about you, and I wanted to make sure you got better. Besides, we're friends. You'd do the same for me, right?"

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed, looking up.

"Good. Now shut up and eat," Sasuke said.

"Aye, aye, sir!" Naruto replied.

"Sasuke-kun!" shrieked a very high-pitched female voice.

The younger Uchiha cringed as he turned around to find a certain pink-haired girl who was staring angrily at him with her finger pointed in his direction. Oh, damn it, this won't be good… "Good afternoon, Sakura,"

"Sasuke-kun, how could you not come to my party? You said you were going to come, but you didn't! Why didn't you come?" Sakura shouted. "The party was so boring without you!"

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but I was, uh, sick…" Sasuke lied, sneaking a glance at Naruto who looked up at him with surprise. "Y-Yeah, I was, uh, sick, so I couldn't go…"

Sakura gasped. "Sick! You were sick! Oh, Sasuke-kun, are you okay? Are you feeling better? Did you have medicine and rest? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Sakura," Sasuke said feeling a headache coming on. God, why is she always so damn loud?

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, Sakura, I am very sure," Sasuke replied. "Now, if you don't mind…Naruto and I are having lunch,"

It seemed as though that was when Sakura first noticed Naruto's presence. She looked at him and then said, "Hi, Naruto,"

"Good afternoon, Sakura-chan! How are you? I'm sorry I couldn't come to your party last night, but I was--"

"What were you doing, Naruto? Don't tell me you were sick too?" Sakura asked.

"I was, uh, I was--" Naruto stammered, not sure what to say because it seemed as though Sakura wasn't going to accept it if he said he had been sick, even if it was the truth.

Sasuke, however, was the one to save him. "He was taking care of me, Sakura," he said quickly.

Sakura and Naruto both whipped around to face him. "He was taking care of you?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah. Uh, we were going to meet up together to go to the party, but when Naruto came to my house, I was, uh, already sick…So, I asked him to stay because I didn't want to be alone…And Naruto took care of me…" Sasuke lied. He tried not to meet Naruto's gaze, but when he did, not able to look away any longer, he saw surprise and confusion in the blonde's azure eyes.

"So-So, Naruto took care of you?" Sakura repeated as if she didn't understand.

"Yes, he did. And, I'm all better now, so he did a great job," Sasuke said.

Sakura searched his face for a moment, as if wondering if what he was saying was true. But she seemed to decide it was because she nodded. Then, she turned to Naruto, and to the blonde's surprise said, "Thank you, Naruto, for taking care of Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto just nodded dumbly.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school! Bye Naruto, bye Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed before leaving.

Sasuke gave a sigh of relief, glad the pink-haired girl had finally left.

Naruto turned sharply to him and said, "What was that all about? Do you enjoy lying to Sakura-chan? You do it all the time!"

Sasuke stood up and headed for the door; Naruto scrambled after him.

"Don't walk away! Why'd you lie to her again?"

"Because if I had told her the truth; that you were sick and I took care of you, she'd get angry at you for keeping me there and not letting me go to the party. So, if I say I was sick, and you took care of me, then she'd thank you for making sure I was okay; which is what she did," Sasuke explained. "I hate it when she yells at you, it's rude and uncalled for. So, I lied so that she wouldn't yell off at you,"

Naruto felt himself blush slightly by that statement, surprised that Sasuke even cared about something like that. But what surprised him even more was that he didn't care if Sakura yelled at him anymore. For some reason, he didn't care if she hated him, and that was something he'd never thought possible. "I wouldn't have minded anyway," he told Sasuke. "I don't care if Sakura-chan yells at me anymore,"

Sasuke looked at him with surprise. "Since when? I thought you liked Sakura,"

Naruto shrugged, not knowing himself when the tables had turned. "I really don't any longer…" he replied, looking away. Sasuke continued staring at him with surprise, but Naruto ignored his stares. He instead began thinking about what he'd just confessed to Sasuke and to himself. Before, if Sakura had yelled at him, he'd always feel upset. But now, for some reason, he didn't give damn if she shouted at him. It was like she could yell for hours and it wouldn't affect him in any way. Why was it that he didn't seem to like her in that way any longer? What had changed that about his feelings for her? Could it be because there was someone else he liked now?

Naruto glanced sidelong at Sasuke and then quickly looked away again, blushing. Damn it. What am I thinking! I do notlike Sasuke! I don't, I don't, I don't! I- "Umph! Ow! Watch where you're going, you--Oh, Neji!"

Said Hyuuga stepped away and said, "Naruto, are you all right?"

"Huh, oh, I'm fine. Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Naruto said.

"It's no problem, Naruto," Neji said. "Anyway, what are you doing out?"

"Sasuke and I came to get some lunch!" Naruto replied cheerfully.

Neji immediately tensed and turned to Sasuke, only then realizing the bastard was there. The image of what he'd seen the night before flashed through his mind, making him just want to grab the Uchiha before him and beat him to the ground.

Sasuke glared right back, annoyed that he and Naruto had already run into one of the bastards, and chances of getting away with just the blonde was now quite slim. Damn it. Hyuuga had to show up now. Now. When I was hoping for a day with just Naruto. Damn him.

Neji finally looked away and asked Naruto, "Where were you last night? You never came to the party. It was very boring without you,"

Naruto blushed slightly at that last statement, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Sasuke scowled behind him and Neji gave a slightly smirk. "Oh, well, I was sick all yesterday. That's why I couldn't go, sorry," the blonde replied.

Neji blinked and stared. "You're sick?" he asked.

"Was sick. Was. I'm fine now. Really. So, quit it with that concerned face! I'm okay, Neji, seriously. Sasuke-bastard took care of me. He made sure I ate and rested," Naruto said, and grinned.

However, Neji didn't find that as comforting as the blonde did. He seethed under his breath, returning his gaze to the Uchiha who was giving him a smug look. "Uchiha took care of you, did he?" Neji repeated as if hoping he hadn't heard right, but knowing it was the truth.

"Yes, I did, what of it?" Sasuke replied maliciously, before Naruto could open his mouth. Sasuke searched the Hyuuga's face and wondered why he seemed angrier than usual. Sure, he'd taken care of Naruto, but he'd have thought he'd be a bit glad that Naruto wasn't alone sick. But for some reason, Neji seemed too pissed off; almost as if he'd seen something he'd rather forget.

"Nothing," Neji said, giving Sasuke another glare before turning his attention to the blonde. "So, you're better, right?"

"Yeah, I'm great!" Naruto said earnestly.

"Good. Then, do you think you're up for some rehearsing today?" Neji asked.

"Okay! That'd be fun," Naruto replied. "When? It doesn't matter since I've got nothing to do all day,"

"Want to right now?" Neji suggested quickly, not wanting to let the Uchiha get in the way.

"All right. We'll have to stop by my place so I can get my script. But then--" he was cut off as someone practically tackled him from behind exclaiming, "Oi, Naruto! Where the hell were you last night?"

Naruto turned around in his head lock and shoved Kiba off of him. Shikamaru and Choji were standing a few feet away. "Hey, guys!" Naruto said.

"Don't 'hey guys' us, where were you?" Kiba asked again. "You missed out on all the fun!"

"Well, I was sick," Naruto replied.

"Sick?"

Neji and Sasuke just stared at the group for awhile as they continued talking about the night before, feeling rather annoyed at being shoved aside. Sasuke turned to Neji and finally voiced what he'd been suspecting for awhile, "You saw, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked, facing him.

"You know what I'm talking about. You went to Naruto's last night and the door was unlocked since the dobe never locks it, so you looked in, didn't you? Well, too bad for you what you saw wasn't anything good for you,"

Neji snarled. "How did you figure that out?"

"You seemed too angry about me taking care of Naruto. It seemed like something else was on your mind. I took a wild guess, but I was right, wasn't I? You saw us together," Sasuke said, emphasizing the last word which only increased the Hyuuga's anger.

"If I find out you did anything, I swear--" Neji seethed.

"I highly doubt you will find out anything. You know Naruto won't go talking about stuff like that, and obviously I'm not going to tell you a thing. So, you'll just have to go on with that lovely image of Naruto and me together, forever. Pleasant, no?" Sasuke said with a superior air to his voice.

The Hyuuga growled under his bed. "You do know this means I'm not letting Naruto out of my sight. I'll make sure that what happened last night never happens again,"

"I just have one question, Hyuuga. If you saw us, why didn't you break it up? Of have you finally admitted defeat?" Sasuke asked, actually curious.

Neji opened his mouth to reply, but then shut it, realizing there wasn't any way he'd tell the Uchiha the truth. How could he anyway? He couldn't exactly tell that bastard the reason he'd left was because he'd seen a look on Naruto's face that he'd never before seen. It was a look of pure serenity and calmness, as if the blonde had been happy where he was. Sure, that should have been a very good reason to break it up, but because he'd never seen that look before, he'd hesitated to split them up. He had liked seeing that look on Naruto, and even if he hadn't been the one to create it, he still didn't want to take it away. And because of that, he'd left Naruto there with the Uchiha without splitting them up.

"Hm, no answer, huh? Maybe you really have admitted defeat," Sasuke said.

Neji bristled. "I'll only admit defeat when Naruto outright rejects me. And just so you understand, Uchiha, I'll never let that happen. Ever,"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Neji, who only glared back.

"Eh, Naruto, maybe you want to stop those two before they kill each other," Shikamaru said, nodding at Sasuke and Neji.

Naruto turned quickly and rolled his eyes at his two dark haired friends. All the time! Even out in the street they glare at each other! What's their deal? "You guys, chill out!" Naruto said, stepping in between. "What's up?"

"We should go, Naruto," Neji said immediately, ignoring the blonde's question.

"Yep," Naruto said, then turned to Sasuke and before the Uchiha could expect it, or the Hyuuga could stop it, Naruto had given him a big hug. He pulled away a second later, a bit embarrassed. Sasuke was staring at him with surprise and a blush on his cheeks, while Neji wanted to kill something, preferably the Uchiha.

"W-What was that for?" Sasuke asked, staring directly at Naruto, his blush deepening.

Naruto shrugged, his cheeks a soft pink. "Uh, just to thank you again for taking care of me last night. You didn't have to, but you did. I'll have to repay you somehow,"

Sasuke shook his head. "You don't have to,"

"But I want to!" Naruto persisted.

The younger Uchiha looked surprised, but searched Naruto's face and then said, "Well, I don't know, you come up with something,"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment and then exclaimed, "Okay! If you ever get sick, it'll be my responsibility to make sure you get better! I'll take care of you if you get sick. Is that okay?"

Sasuke, still surprised, nodded slowly and gave Naruto a true smile. "Sure, that's fine,"

Naruto grinned. "All right! It's a promise! Thanks again, Sasuke-bastard,"

"No problem, dobe," Sasuke replied with a smirk.

"Don't call me dobe!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly, though there was a smile on his lips as well.

Neji, having taken enough of this sickening exchange, said to Naruto, "Let's go, Naruto,"

"Right. Later Sasuke. See ya at school!" Naruto said, then walked off.

Neji glared at Sasuke once more, who was sporting a smug superior look, before walking off with Naruto.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Before we start, I vote we don't do the last scene," Naruto said. "Don't want a repeat of what happened last time, do we?"

Neji looked up at him quickly and felt guilt overwhelm him. "Naruto, you do know I'm sorry about that--"

"I know, I know," the blonde said, waving a hand in dismissal. "I'm just saying, that's all. Anyway, let's just stick to Paris and Romeo's fight scene. I actually think I've got that part somewhat memorized,"

"Let's try not to over-exaggerate the fighting parts, okay? We kind of get out of hand when we do that, don't we?"

"Heheh, but it's fun!" Naruto exclaimed grinning. "You're right though, we do get out of control,"

"All right then, let's start. Act five, Scene 1, Line 49, Paris starts," Neji set his script down, having already memorized his lines for this scene and cleared his throat. Then, he began to recite his part, "This is that banished haughty Montague that murdered my love's cousin--with which grief it is supposed the fair creature died--And here is come to do some villainous shame to the dead bodies: I will apprehend him--"

Neji looked around his room and picked up a ruler off his desk. Then he stepped closer to Naruto, and continued, "Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague! Can vengeance be pursued further than death? Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee. Obey ,and go with me, for thou must die,"

Naruto glanced over his script once more before putting it down. Clearly, he quoted, "I must indeed, and therefore cam I hither. Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man. Fly hence and leave me. Think upon these gone; let them affright thee. I be-be-ah, crap, hold on-" Naruto picked up his script again and read his lines again. "Sorry, Neji, I thought I had it,"

The Hyuuga waved a hand at him. "Not a problem. Take as long as you need. I'll help you out,"

"Thanks," Naruto replied. He scanned the script and then continued, "I beseech thee, youth, put not another sin upon my head by urging me to fury…Stay not, be gone, live, and hereafter say a madman's mercy bid thee run away,"

"I do defy thy conjuration, and apprehend thee for a felon here,"

"Wilt thou provoke me?" Naruto exclaimed, putting anger in his voice. "Then have at thee boy! …Wait I don't have a weapon! No fair!"

"Actually, seeing as how when we perform the play, the fight's only going to be about a minute long, there isn't a reason to practice it. Why don't we just continue after you've stabbed me?" Neji said.

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms childishly over his chest. "You're no fun, Neji," he said.

Don't look at me like that! There isn't a soul who can resist it when you look that cute! "…Fine," Neji relented. "But I don't have another ruler. You've got to find something else," Neji looked down at his watch and smirked, "And I'm only giving you ten seconds, starting…now,"

"Ah!" Naruto exclaimed and whirled around, searching for something, anything, in the room he could use as a weapon.

"Two seconds," Neji stated, glancing up at the frantic blonde in amusement.

"Uh, um, come on!" Naruto gasped as his eyes fell on his script. He shrugged and picked it up, and began to roll it around tightly.

"Times up, too bad," Neji said, a smirk on his face.

Naruto ignored him as he finished rolling his script as tight as it could go, before looking up and grinning at the Hyuuga triumphantly. "I found something! I'll just use my script. It's perfect," Naruto said.

"Are you that intent on fighting? Like I said, when we perform it will only be about a minute, if not thirty seconds," Neji said.

"I know, but that's then. This is now. And, quite frankly, right now, I wanna fight! So, just yapping and get your sword, sir Paris," Naruto exclaimed, grinning, raising his rolled up script in his right hand.

Neji smirked again, and raised the ruler in his own hand, staring at Naruto directly. "Well? Are you just going to stand there? Come at thee, dear Romeo!"

Naruto nodded and obliged, "Only if you insist,"

"I insist. I truly insist," Neji replied, his smirk widening.

"Then take that!" Naruto shouted and hit his makeshift sword against Neji's ruler, only to have, despite his attempts at making the script secure, the booklet fall limply out of his hand and onto the floor.

Both boys paused, looked briefly at each other before dropping their gazes to the script on the floor which was curled at opposite ends.

Neji was first to recover, giving a small chuckle, which in turn made Naruto glance up at him with surprise.

"Did you just laugh?" Naruto said, amazed at how the usually reserved Hyuuga had let an actual chuckle escape his façade.

"Yes, I did, because, honestly, Naruto, that was quite pathetic," Neji said, a smile at his lips, while he shook his head. He glanced at Naruto, who was still staring at him with awe, and then said, "What? It's like you've never seen me laugh before,"

"Because I haven't! At least not that I remember. I mean, I've seen you smile and stuff, but laughing is different," Naruto said. Naruto was, by now, used to having friends like Sasuke, Neji and Gaara, who were all just as cold as ice, and stiff as stone. But whenever they pulled something like a laugh in front of him, it was always a sight to behold. He was, however, accustomed to Sasuke laughing, because even though he'd known the Uchiha for the least amount of time out of the three, Sasuke had been the one to open up the most. Guess my defrostation methods are actually working on him. And why not? I am the best at defrosting people!

Naruto shook his head, clearing his thoughts and returning to present time. He picked up his script and sat down on the bed. "But you're right, Neji, that really was very sad,"

"Yes, it was," Neji agreed.

"But I had it wrapped so tightly! Stupid script," Naruto said, glaring at the packet of papers in his hand. "Well, let's just continue then, we still have a few lines left, don't we?"

"Yes, we do. It's my line," Neji said. He set the ruler onto his desk and then started reciting, "O, I am slain! If thou be merciful, open the tomb, lay me with Juliet."

"In faith, I will. Let me peruse this face. Mercutio's kinsman, noble County Paris! What said my man when my betossed soul did not attend him as we rode? I think he told me Paris should have married Juliet said he not so? Or did I dream it so? Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet, to think it was so? O, give me thy hand, one writ with me in sour misfortune's book. I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave. A grave? O no!--a lanthorn, slaughtered youth: for here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light."

Naruto looked up and said, "Do you want to do the lines again? I could use some more practice, anyway,"

Neji nodded, and gave the smallest of smiles. "If you want," he said. I'd help you for as long as it takes.

xxxxxxxx

"Do you have anything to eat? I'm famished," Naruto exclaimed, throwing his script onto the bed about a half hour later. "We've rehearsed that scene about a hundred times!"

"Come on, let's go downstairs. I'll find something for us to eat," Neji said, leading the way to the kitchen. "I'm not sure if we have anything that you would want to eat, however,"

"Are you kidding? It's me, remember? I eat practically everything," Naruto said, grinning.

Neji shook his head. "That's right. Momentarily, I forgot. Well, since that's the case, we won't have any problems, will we?"

"Hey, you know what's funny?" Naruto said suddenly as he took a seat on a stool at the counter.

"What?" Neji asked as he rifled through cabinets and shelves.

"Well, while we were rehearsing, I realized that it's really funny that you're supposed to be in love with Sasuke, when in reality, the two of you hate each other," Naruto said with a laugh. "Don't you think so?"

Neji nodded, having forgotten what he was agreeing to after hearing the Uchiha's name. Just hearing that bastard's name was causing unwanted thoughts and images to flash through his mind, and he felt like throwing something at the wall. "That is rather funny," Neji agreed, setting a plate on the counter. "It would make more sense if you and Uchiha switched parts. I think it would make much more sense if you were Juliet. Not just for me, but for the Uchiha, too. If you were Juliet, it'd make much more sense," he said unconsciously.

Naruto blinked. "Uh…why would that be better?" he asked, confused.

It was only then Neji realized what he'd just said and he swore under his head. Damn it, why'd I say that aloud? And to Naruto! …I mean, it would make more sense if he was Juliet…but, I didn't have to say it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "J-Just forget it, okay? Nevermind,"

"O-Okay…" Naruto said. What did he mean by that though? Naruto stared down at the counter and furrowed his brow, thinking. I said it's funny if Sasuke is Juliet because Paris, aka Neji, is supposed to love him. If I'm Juliet…Paris, aka Neji, would love me…Why would that be better though? He said it'd make more sense for Sasuke too. Romeo and Paris both like Juliet in the story…If Sasuke was Romeo…then he and Neji would like me… Naruto felt a blush on his cheeks, and shook his head vigorously. What was he thinking? Sasuke and Neji like him? Neji couldn't have meant that. He must have meant that since he and Neji were friends, it would be more sensible to have Naruto play Juliet instead of Sasuke, because Sasuke and Neji hated each other.

Naruto nodded. Yes. That must be what he meant. Ha. Where in the deepest pits of hell did I come up with Neji and Sasuke likingme? That must be the most stupidest thing I've ever thought in my life! And, that's saying a lot!

"Naruto?" Neji said, snapping his fingers in front of the blonde's face, hoping to get his attention. "Naruto!"

The blonde blinked and looked up. "Oh, sorry, spaced out,"

"I see that," Neji replied with amusement. "Well, I realized that there really isn't anything to eat here. Nothing good, anyway. Would you care to order a pizza instead?" Neji fixed the blonde with his gaze, praying silently he'd say yes. After letting Naruto spend the entire evening with the Uchiha the night before, Neji was not going to let him get away that easily.

"Sure!" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully, all previous thoughts now shoved into the back of his mind. "Pizza, pizza, pizza!"

"I get it, Naruto, calm down," Neji said, giving a sigh of relief. "I'll go call,"

"And I'll start of movie! You've got to watch a movie when you eat pizza, it's like a rule!" Naruto said, and headed out the door to the living room.

Neji stared after his retreating back and smile conquered his lips. He may have lost the night before, but it was a new day, and just as watching a movie while eating pizza was a rule (in Naruto's mind, at least), it was a rule in this Hyuuga's mind to not let go of what he wanted. The Uchiha may have scored thousands of points in the blonde's eyes because of what he'd done the night before, but Neji wasn't going to let that get to him. Neji was going to make sure Naruto noticed him. He wasn't going to let Naruto fall into the hands of either Sasuke or Gaara. He was going to make sure that in the long run, he would come out on top; that he would be the winner.

Watch out Naruto. I'm still in the running, and I'm coming after you…No matter what.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto sneezed and shook his head. "Gah, I hate winter," he said.

"You're not getting sick again, are you?" Gaara asked, giving Naruto a concerned look.

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it just means someone's talking about me," he replied and flashed a smile.

Gaara just shook his head and the two continued walking down the street. It was now two weeks after Naruto had gotten sick, and on Friday at school, Gaara had taken the initiative to ask if he wanted to do something together that weekend. Since it was the third day of their two weeks off for Christmas/ New Years, and since there wasn't much to do by himself, Naruto had agreed wholeheartedly. He hadn't spent much time with his old best friend in quite awhile and was glad to spend time with the redhead. At that moment, they were looking for a place to dine for lunch before going to the theatre to catch a showing of Wedding Crashers.

"Let's just go in here. I'm cold and I don't wanna walk anymore," Naruto complained and pushed open the door to the restaurant where he usually worked.

"Isn't this where you work?" Gaara asked, taking in the restaurant.

"Yup! Neji and I work here together," Naruto replied cheerfully.

"You…and Hyuuga?" Gaara repeated, having gone tense at the name of one rival.

"Yup!" Naruto said, clearly missing his friend's sudden stiffness. "He might be working today, too. Come on, let's go order,"

Gaara dutifully followed a cheerful blonde to the counter at the front of the restaurant. They waited in line for a few minutes and then were greeted, to Naruto's happiness, and Gaara's annoyance, none other than Hyuuga Neji. Said boy looked surprised, and angry, to find Naruto with Gaara, and green eyes flashed dangerously against white.

"Hey, Neji! Stuck doing work again today?" Naruto said, breaking the tension between the other two boys.

Neji turned to look at the blonde and replied, "At least I do work. You only work weekdays, and even then you're not really working. More like breaking everything you touch,"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the Hyuuga, who smiled slightly at the blonde's incredibly childish gesture. "I do work, Neji! And, I don't break everything I touch! I've improved a lot since I first started working here," Naruto said indignantly. "And, besides, I can't work weekends. Against my Three R's,"

"So, what are you doing out?" Neji asked, and his gaze flicked over to Gaara, anger sweeping through him. How come he was stuck taking orders of people he couldn't care less about, while Gaara got to spend the day with the one person he did care a lot about? Life simply wasn't fair.

"Gaara and I are just getting something to eat before we go see a movie," Naruto answered, smiling.

"You're going to see a movie?" Neji said. Yes, Life really wasn't fair. But, Neji wasn't about to let Life get the better of him. He was going to make Life learn that when it came to certain things, say Naruto, for example, Hyuuga's never played fair. Neji was going to take Life into his own hands. "What are you going to see?"

"Wedding Crashers!" Naruto replied excitedly. "It seems really funny!"

Neji tried not to show his disgust. Of all movies…why that one? "I see…Well, I wanted to go see that too," he lied. "Mind, if I come along?"

Gaara immediately sent Neji a cold glare, which clearly said, 'Shut up you bastard, before I make you. You are not coming with us."

Neji just returned the glare evenly from the corners of his eyes and then fixed Naruto with his intense gaze.

The blonde tilted his head and stared at him for a moment, looking curious. "You don't strike me as the type of guy to want to watch Wedding Crashers," he said.

Neji never let the truth slip into his voice as he replied with another lie, "But I am. It just seems…interesting. A good laugh, and I'm in the mood for a good laugh. So…can I come? I'm only working half day today, and I'm off in a half hour. When does the movie start?"

"Uh, at one-fifteen," Naruto said.

"Then that's perfect, right?" Neji said.

"Sure! If you want to come, I don't mind!" Naruto said, grinning. He turned to Gaara and said, "Is it okay with you?"

Gaara opened his mouth and began, "Actually, Naruto--"

Neji, however, cut him off sharply and said, "Then it's settled. Thanks for letting me join you, Naruto,"

The blonde smiled at Neji and said, "Not a problem!"

Gaara scowled beside him and Neji gave the redhead a triumphant smirk. "Bastard," Gaara muttered under his breath, which only increased Neji's smug expression as he began to take their orders.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto shut his eyes tightly and pressed his face against his pillow, trying to will himself to sleep despite the rapping on this door that had woken him up. The knocking continued for another moment before it stopped and the blonde heard a pair of feet shuffle away. But even once Naruto knew that the knocking had gone, and he had absolute silence to go back to sleep, he was now fully awake, curious about who had been at the door in the first place. It was then he realized that it was Christmas, and this made him sit up quickly.

Glancing at his alarm clock, (which he had gotten fixed after throwing it at the wall), he realized it was almost eleven in the morning. Annoyed that he'd been awoken so early, Naruto grumpily walked to the door and subsequent to opening it, he stared at the floor, his mouth slightly open. Three large boxes, all covered neatly in holiday wrapper and big bows were sitting on the floor behind the door. For another moment, Naruto continued to gape before he realized he should probably take his unexpected presents inside. He set the gifts on the floor in front of his bed and sat down on his bed, continuing to stare at the presents.

Scratching the back of his head, he mused aloud, "Who could have--? This hasn't happened before," Naruto never had had quite enough money to get presents for his friends, and therefore between himself, Kiba, Shikamaru, and other friends, they had agreed on a no-present rule for the past number of years. Naruto knew that even if they were going to give him presents, which they sometimes did, despite the rule, that they would at Kiba's Christmas party that night, and not resort to having it brought to his door so early in the morning. "But, if it wasn't one of them…who could have sent these?" Naruto wondered. Then with a sigh, he pulled the first box, wrapped in red and green stripes and a bright gold bow, to his lap and said, "No point staring at them! Might as well see what I got!"

He eagerly tore off the paper and a card fell to the floor. He opened the envelope and pulled out the card, turned the page and read, a smile slowly forming at his lips.

Merry Christmas, Dobe.

Yes, I've heard about your 'no-present' rule, but I don't care. I just felt like giving you something, so deal with it. Your gift is obviously something you like, so you can't not be happy about it. It was hard trying to find something to get you; you're a hard person to shop for, if you can believe it. But, then I realized the perfect thing and basically slapped myself for being so stupid. It was so obvious.

And, for the record, this gift doesn't take away my annoyance at you for not coming to save me from Itachi's Christmas party. I'm still annoyed at you. I hate those business parties and I wanted you to come and keep me sane. If I take a blowtorch to the place, it's on your head, dobe!

I was wondering, however, if you're not doing anything that night, if you'd come and save me from Itachi's New Year's party next Friday. Besides, you have to accept. I just spent money on thatstuff for your sake, so coming shall be your repayment. I expect to see you there, Naruto!

And…I want you to come too, it won't be fun without you. I…really want you to come, so say yes, got it?

Don't finish your gift all in one day! Remember, it'll get to you in the end.

Sasuke

Naruto shook his head with a bright grin on his face. Sasuke…he thought with a lightness in his heart that he couldn't explain. He then curiously opened the box that was Sasuke's gift and stared inside. His grin widened, if it were possible, as he gazed with happiness at the packages of ramen inside. "Ah! Sasuke, I love you!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, as he hugged the box to his chest protectively. Then, contentedly, he placed the Uchiha's card and gift off to a side and focused on the next present.

This gift, wrapped in paper of red and green Christmas trees, was from Neji. Naruto opened the Hyuuga's card and read:

Naruto--

Merry Christmas! I was disappointed that you could not join me at my Christmas party, and so I thought to send you a present as to brighten your holiday. I am also sending this to ask you if you'd like to come to a New Year's party at my house on the thirty-first. I would be really glad to have you there, Naruto.

Please think about that. I hope you like your gift. Have a good Christmas, Naruto.

Neji

Naruto stared at the paper for a moment, taking the time to realize that he'd been asked to two New Year's parties in less than ten minutes. Shaking his head again, he opened Neji's present…only to find another box of ramen. "Yes! More ramen! Happy, happy, happy!" Naruto said, grinning. "This is awesome!"

Putting that gift away, Naruto turned to his last present, and read the card.

Naruto,

Merry Christmas, Naruto. I hope you have gotten this gift on time, and hopefully you'll enjoy it. As your old best friend, I'm quite sure I know that you will. It is your favorite, after all.

Anyway, it was unfortunate we could not spend today together, but I was thinking that instead we can share New Year's with each other. I would enjoy it greatly if you say yes.

I'll let you decide, please tell me soon. Have a good day, Naruto. See you soon.

Gaara

"God. The three most unlikeliest people to have gotten me gifts, all got me gifts," Naruto said, opening Gaara's present, which he found as no surprise. "And, on top of that, they all got me ramen, which I'm not complaining about! I love it, since I have run out…and this will probably last me another month. But, not only that, all three of them invited me to New Year's. I don't have anything planned for that night, so I can go with one of them…But which one?"

Naruto pushed the boxes onto the floor and flopped onto his back against his bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling tired. Sasuke, Neji and Gaara, all three of them had gotten him ramen and had invited him to spend New Years together. What was he supposed to do? Sing 'eeny-meany-miny-moe' and chose one? No, that wasn't right. He should be fair.

Who do you want to spend time with? a voice in his head questioned, making Naruto sigh, shut his eyes and think about the answer. His obvious response was 'all of them,' but he knew that wasn't an option. So, if he couldn't spend time with all three of them…who was first runner up?

Naruto opened his eyes quickly and his gaze instantly fell open a red and green wrapped package…a package with a big gold bow…

A smile touched his lips as he picked up the said gift's respective card and reread the last few lines, which increased his smile to a grin. And…I want you to come too, it won't be fun without you. I…really want you to come, so say yes, got it?

Naruto fell back against his bed once more, pressing the card to his chest as he shut his eyes, feeling unusually excited for the next weekend. He couldn't wait for New Years to come; he suddenly wished it was the next day. He wasn't quite sure why he felt that way; why he unexpectedly wanted to see him, to talk to him, to have fun with him…He couldn't understand why rereading his card was making him grin like an idiot, or why staring at his signature was making indecent thoughts roam vaguely through his mind, causing a blush to paint his cheeks, though he didn't will those thoughts away…The big thing, however, was why Naruto had chosen him. He could have as easily picked the other two, but for some reason, his eyes had fallen directly to his package, as if deep down he had known all along that it was with him he wanted to spend his time with.

Naruto eyed the care again, smiling at the one line that made all the difference: I…really want you to come, so say yes, got it?

Naruto grinned as he shut his eyes and turned onto his side.

Then, to no one in particular, he said, "Don't worry, Sasuke. I got it,"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So, you invited Naruto, did you?"

"How did you find that out? I never told you," Sasuke said, annoyed.

"I guessed,"

"Lucky guess,"

"It was, wasn't it?" Itachi replied with a smirk. "But, it was somewhat easy to tell. You're preparing your own room, which you never do, and you've been looking happy, which you never are. So, putting two and two together, I figured it out,"

"Don't you have to get ready? Go away, Brother," Sasuke said, not in any mood to put up with the older, not quite sane, Uchiha.

"Well, I just have one last thing to say," Itachi said.

"Make it fast. Naruto's coming soon,"

"Does Naru-chan know?"

"Don't call him Naru-chan!" Sasuke snapped angrily. "And what are you talking about? Know what?"

Itachi fixed Sasuke with a stare. "I mean, have you told him yet?" he asked.

Sasuke stared right back at his brother, wondering how in the hells Itachi had found out. Was he that obvious? Surely not, because Naruto would have figured it out by then, right? …Maybe not, that blonde was as oblivious as it gets. But damn, how did Itachi find out? "Told him what?" Sasuke said, playing dumb. He wasn't about to make it seem as though Itachi had won.

"You know what I'm talking about, little brother, so don't pretend you don't know," Itachi said. "I know all about your love for cute little Naru-chan!"

"I said, don't call him Naru-chan!" Sasuke exclaimed, a blush rising on his cheeks. Damn him, damn him to the pits of hell. He's never going to let me live this down. Never. At least not until I tell Naruto…Damn him.

"Well, you still haven't answered my question, little brother. Does he know?"

Sasuke glared at him and walked out the door, shoving his brother against the wall. "It's none of your business, Brother. Just leave me alone. And, if you ever tell Naruto, I swear, I'll kill you," And with that, Sasuke proceeded down the stairs to the front lobby to wait for the blonde.

Itachi just shook his head with a smile. "Guess that means you haven't," he said. "Oh, well. I suppose I'll just have to bug him to make sure he gets to it soon,"

xxxxxxxxx

"You're on time. That's a first," Sasuke said, staring with slight surprise at the grinning blonde before him

"It's New Year's, Sasuke! Of course I'd be on time!" Naruto exclaimed with happiness. "So, has the party started yet?"

"There's only a few people here at the moment. Come on, let's go join them," Sasuke said leading the way to the large dinning hall.

"Whoa! It looks great!" Naruto said, staring around the room. The big table in the center of the room was replaced with about twenty small round tables all over the room. Each table had about six chairs. Along the opposite wall was a long table where the foods were going to be presented. The room was decorated with New Year's banners and balloons and streamers.

Sasuke smiled, pleased by Naruto's reaction and dragged the blonde to a table in the corner. "Yeah, it might look great, but it took about three hours to get it this way," Sasuke said, his smile gone, replaced by bitterness. "Itachi had me put everything up. I was doing this all day long, so being in here makes me annoyed,"

Naruto laughed and said, "You should have asked me to come earlier and I could have helped you! I had nothing to do the entire afternoon. It could have been fun,"

Surprised at the blonde's offer to have helped him, Sasuke blushed slightly. "It really isn't that fun, believe me," he said.

"That's because you were all by yourself," Naruto said. Then, staring directly at him, he repeated, "You should have asked me, I would have helped,"

"W-Well, I'll remember that for next time, all right?" Sasuke replied, his blush deepening at Naruto's intense gaze.

"Naruto! You're here," Itachi said, walking over to their table.

"Hey!" Naruto replied. "It looks great in here,"

"Thank you!" Itachi said with a grin.

"Brother, what do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"What? Can't I say hi to Naruto?"

"No,"

"Well, that's very rude," Itachi said, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Brother, say what you came to say and leave," Sasuke said, glaring with anger and annoyance at the older Uchiha.

"Fine, fine, fine," Itachi said, then whispered to Naruto, "I'm surprised how you put up with him. Is he always that mean to you?"

Naruto gave a small laugh and Sasuke glared at him as well. "Sometimes," Naruto replied, "but not always,"

"So, it's only me he hates," Itachi said with an exaggerated sigh. Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked away, ignoring his brother. "Well, little brother, I just came to say that the attacks should be starting soon. Most of them have just arrived,"

At this, Sasuke immediately tensed and turned to face his brother. "Already?" he said.

"Yep! I suppose you can have Naruto help you with escaping," Itachi said, nodding to the blonde who was utterly and entirely confused as he switched gazes from younger to older Uchiha.

"What are you guys talking about? What attacks?" Naruto said.

Itachi winked and said, "You'll see soon enough. Actually, it might be quite fun for you, seeing as how you haven't experienced it before. But, then maybe you have, at school…Well, in any event, it's a bit different on holidays. He's only got so many places to run and they've memorized the house by now,"

"They? Who are you talking about?" Naruto exclaimed, getting annoyed. What's going on?

"Well, I'll be off. Don't want to be in this general area right now. Sasuke, I'd say about another minute before they get here," Itachi said and then strolled off to talk with his other guests.

Naruto immediately turned to Sasuke and demanded, "What the hell was he talking about? What attacks? Who are they? What's going on?"

Sasuke only shook his head, feeling a pounding headache coming on. "You'll see soon enough," he said, quoting his brother.

"See what?" Naruto exclaimed with annoyance and a bit of excitement. "Is this good or bad?"

"Bad! Very, very bad," Sasuke replied instantly.

"W-What?" Naruto said, not a bit frightened.

"Three, two, one," Sasuke said dully staring at his watch.

And just at that moment the doors opened and around ten to twenty girls barged through into the room. They looked around for a moment before their gazes fell on Sasuke in the corner, who looked as though he wanted nothing better than to just die, and squealed with delight.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

"Oh, dear god," Sasuke mumbled just as the girls dashed over and swarmed the corner table like bees.

Between all the squealing and shrieking, Naruto managed to ask, "Sasuke, does this happen every year?"

The younger Uchiha nodded. "Yeah. And at every single business party that Itachi holds. All the damn time, and they never take a hint," Sasuke replied. "Understand now why I hate these parties?"

"Oh yes, I get it now," Naruto replied, looking mortified.

"Sasuke-kun! Why are you ignoring us?" one girl exclaimed. "Talk with me!"

"No, with me! Don't talk to her, Sasuke-kun!" another said. "I'm so much better!" And to prove it, she won over the chair next to him and scooted it as close as possible to Sasuke's side. Leaning close she said, "Please, Sasuke-kun, get rid of the others, and we can be alone!"

Sasuke responded by pushing the girl away and promptly ignoring her. But out of the rest, this one seemed the most determined and didn't let Sasuke's cold behavior get to her. She pushed her chair closer again and grabbed his arm, and began whispering into his ear, making Sasuke visibly cringe and shove her away again. The girl fumed for a moment before exclaiming, "Sasuke-kun, quit pushing me away, I love you!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and replied, "Get lost,"

"But I truly love you!" she said and then she leaned closer still, placing a hand on his chest. Whispering, she said, "And, I know you can come to love me too…"

Beside Sasuke, trying not to get ambushed by the mass of female around him, Naruto was watching this scene with growing anger burning within him. He'd never felt so angry than he did at that moment, watching that girl hang all over Sasuke as if she owned him. Who does she think she is? Hugging him like that! He doesn't like you, so get off of him! he thought with anger, but just as the thought clicked into his brain, Naruto froze, almost falling over. W-Wha-What am I thinking? W-Why am I so angry? It shouldn't matter to me if she's hugging him. I-I-I can't believe I'm thinking this! What the hell's wrong with me?

But no matter what he told himself, Naruto could not shake the appending anger that was flaming throughout his veins. It was almost as if he was--No, no, no. I am not jealous! I have no reason to be jealous! I-I don't like Sasuke, so why would I be jealous if he's getting smothered by stupid fan girls? …Damn it, get off of him!

Naruto shook his head vigorously. He couldn't be jealous. It made no sense. To be jealous would mean he'd have to like Sasuke as more than a friend. But-But he didn't…right? Of course! Sasuke was just his friend, he didn't like him in that way. Besides, he-he liked girls…right? He didn't go for boys…right? Of course he didn't! …But then, why was he acting so jealous? Why did he want to just shove all those girls away and warn them to never come near his Sasuke again.

W-Wait. Did I just say mySasuke? GAH! What the hell's going on with me? I did not just say my Sasuke! He's not mine! Have I lost my mind? I-I don't like Sasuke!

"No, no, no, no," Naruto began muttering under his breath. "I don't, I don't, I don't,"

Just then, an arm slung over his shoulders, pulling Naruto out of his insane thoughts and returning him to reality. Thinking it was some fan girl, accidentally mistaking him for Sasuke in the big group of fan girls, he was surprised to realize that the arm over his shoulders belonged to Sasuke, and that the younger Uchiha was slowly leaning close to his side. Naruto felt a blush rise through his cheeks as he stared, saucer eyed, at Sasuke who was gazing intently at him for a moment, before turning his attention to the girls. His next words not only caused the girls to gasp, but also made Naruto almost fall out of his chair.

"I'm sorry, girls, you all seem very nice…But, I'm already in love, you see," Sasuke said. "And, Naruto, here, is my one and only lover,"

The heap of girls all gasped in anger and shock. A few fainted in surprise, while another couple immediately ran away, crying. The rest just stared, but the first to recover was that forward girl from before, the one Naruto really wanted to hurt, though he tried to shove that thought away, and focus on Sasuke, who didn't seem at all embarrassed by what he'd just said.

"Sasuke-kun, is-is this true? H-How can you love a guy?" the girl exclaimed, looking about ready to burst into tears.

"How can I not?" Sasuke said, leaning close to Naruto and resting his chin on the blonde's left shoulder. "I mean, look at him! I just love him, so much,"

Again the girls gasped. "It can't be true, Sasuke-kun!" they shrieked. "We love you more than he ever could!"

"But, I don't care. I love Naruto, and that's that," Sasuke said. Then, giving the girls a mischievous look, he said, "Besides, we're already together…"

The girls paled. "Y-Y-You me-mean…Yo-You've…"

"Yup," Sasuke said pleasantly. He turned to Naruto and caught his shocked and embarrassed sapphire eyes with his own steely ebony gaze and locked it. Naruto stared right back at him, seeming lost within the intensity of his stare, half of him wanting to pull away, while the other, more stronger, half wanted to gaze into his eyes forever.

"And, it was such a wonderful night, wasn't it…Naru-chan?" Sasuke asked the blonde, while the girls gasped again, and another girl fainted. Sasuke then went in for the kill, and to the girls and Naruto's immense surprise, he turned the blonde's face and promptly kissed him on the lips.

Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment, but he didn't pull away. He continued to gaze steadily into Sasuke's onyx gaze and for some reason unknown to him, he liked it. Kissing Sasuke…felt right…It was as if this had been meant to happen. Naruto couldn't understand why he felt as though every weight had been lifted from inside of him by such a simple kiss, and a kiss from Sasuke at that matter, but he felt so lighthearted, it was as if he were flying. The desire of wanting to kiss Sasuke from the night many weeks ago came rushing back to him with full force and he unconsciously pressed his mouth closer to Sasuke's in an involuntary attempt to absorb the younger Uchiha into him. Naruto didn't understand why Sasuke had kissed him like he had, so suddenly and without warning, and why Sasuke seemed so calm about it while right now his own heart was beating a thousand beats per second. Kissing Sasuke felt absolutely perfect, and even though that thought was frightening him inside, he also felt like he couldn't have been happier than he was at that moment.

Sasuke felt the exact same way. It had been far too long since he'd been able to kiss Naruto, since they'd been skipping over all the kissing scenes in the play after the Hyuuga had kissed him, and Sasuke was feeling elated. Mainly because he was able to kiss Naruto, but as an added bonus, he got to wipe out the fan girls as well. Sasuke gazed into Naruto's eyes, which still held much shock…but also a tiny bit of joy, and this make him a bit confused. Naruto…was happy about this kiss? That was a good thing. But, why was he happy? …Was he starting to like him back? Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat at that thought as he pressed his mouth against Naruto's just a bit, hoping beyond hope that that was a possibility.

What broke them apart was not their own will, but the shriek of the forgotten fan girls as they all began to sob and run away. Both reluctantly pulled away from their kiss and for a moment stared at each other; Naruto looking embarrassed and confused, but at the same time happy about what had just transpired; and Sasuke just very happy about what he'd done, glad to have finally gotten a kiss in…even if it may not have been wanted from the other party.

"Uh, Sa-Sasuke…what was that all about?" Naruto asked carefully. He was looking away from Sasuke, not able to meet the other boy's gaze at the moment, his cheeks painted a bright red.

The Uchiha turned to look at him and replied simply, "It was just a way to get those girls to leave,"

Naruto felt disappointment sweep through him. That was all it was? …Nothing else? "Oh, I-I see. Glad it worked then," he said.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, looking at the blonde curiously, having heard the clear disappointment in his voice. He's upset. Why? Was it because of the kiss…Or because I said it was only to get rid of those girls? Is that why he's disappointed? "I'm sorry I used you to get rid of them. Are you mad?"

Naruto shook his head instantly. "No, I'm not mad. If it were me, I'd probably do the same thing," he replied. "It's just…"

"Just what?" Sasuke encouraged. Just say what you want to! I never know what you're thinking unless you say it aloud!

"…It's just that…getting rid of the girls…was that the only reason…?" Naruto mumbled, looking even more embarrassed and he shifted in his seat, staring at the opposite wall.

Sasuke felt a lightness overwhelm him. He's upset because of what I said! Meaning…he wanted that kiss to mean more…maybe? Sasuke turned Naruto to face him and whispered quietly, "Well, there may have been another reason,"

The blonde shivered slightly, and caught his gaze. "There is?" he asked softly.

"Yes, there is," Sasuke replied, leaning closer. "Want to know what it is?"

Naruto felt his heart practically stop beating as he stared deeply into Sasuke's eyes and the Uchiha stared right back, making all of his thoughts return to the kiss they'd just shared…and how, despite his confused feelings and denial, he ached for more. But, he couldn't take this, it was too much for him right now and he pushed away from Sasuke and shook his head.

The Uchiha looked surprised at being shoved away, and concluded that whatever Naruto was feeling, it was a ton of confusion. Feeling a bit disappointed, he moved away.

Until it was finally time to eat, the two just sat there, staring off in opposite directions, completely silent, quietly musing over their thoughts.

xxxxxxxxx

"Saaasukeee," Naruto whined.

"What?" the Uchiha snapped.

"I don't like this fancy food,"

"What are you going on about? You've always liked these foods,"

"Yeeaah, but when you make it," Naruto said.

Sasuke blushed, but said nothing.

"Saaasukeee, I want ramen!" Naruto exclaimed.

"We don't have any ramen. Just deal with the food we have right here. Quit complaining, it's annoying," Sasuke said.

"But Sasuke! I really don't want this stuff," Naruto said.

"I just said that we don't have ramen. We don't eat that vile stuff in this house," Sasuke replied. "What would you eat?"

"I don't care. Anything that you make is fine with me!" Naruto said grinning.

Sasuke receding blush returned with full force. "Whatever I make?" he said.

"Yeah, I love your cooking, it's better than whoever made this stuff. Please, Sasuke, please, make me something yummy!" Naruto exclaimed, pleading with puppy dog eyes.

Sasuke looked around the room for a moment, and realized that this would be a perfect way to get out of the hall, and to spend time with just Naruto. And, there was no way he'd pass up spending time with Naruto. "Okay, let's go. But don't say a word about my cooking while we pass the fan girls table. They'll freak out if they know I cook,"

Naruto made a gesture at zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and led the way to the kitchen through the swinging door. The blonde whistled as he took in the kitchen, having never been in it before. "It's huge! This entire kitchen is the size of my apartment," Naruto exclaimed, and Sasuke smirked.

"It's probably a bit bigger than your apartment," he said.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and took a seat in a fancy stool at the center counter. "Why're there stools in here? Don't you guys usually eat out in the dinning room?"

"Only for dinner. Itachi's up earlier than I am on weekdays so we eat separately and in the kitchen. On weekends, we sometimes eat lunch in the dinning room, but other times in here. Usually, when we're just alone we eat in the kitchen," Sasuke exclaimed. "It's stupid to get the entire table set for just one person,"

"Makes sense," Naruto said with a nod. "I like it in here better than out there. It's so giant in the hall, I feel so tiny. This is more comfy,"

"Yes. I prefer to eat in here too, but for dinner, Brother insists we eat together," Sasuke said and rolled his eyes again. "He's like that. But, I suppose it's a tradition. When our parents are here we always eat together in the hall. So, I suppose Itachi just tries to keep the 'family' atmosphere around when the parents are away,"

"My parents, we used to do that too, but once my parents died, well…you know," Naruto said, and looked away.

Sasuke felt bad for bringing up the family stuff and bit his tongue, hard. Stupid, stupid, stupid! he told himself. Quickly changing the subject, he asked, "So, what do you want to eat?"

Naruto looked up and grinned. "Umm, spaghetti! With meatballs!" he exclaimed.

"Spaghetti and meatballs coming right up," Sasuke said. "Watch, and I'll teach you how to make it as well,"

"All right!" Naruto exclaimed as Sasuke smiled back at him before they started to make their dinner.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Mmm! This is good!" Naruto said, grinning an hour later. He and Sasuke were sitting at the counter with their plates full of freshly made spaghetti and meatballs. "Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto said to the younger Uchiha, staring directly at him with joy and gratitude.

Sasuke blushed and looked away. "No problem, dobe," he replied.

"Don't call me dobe!" Naruto said indignantly.

Sasuke smirked at him which made Naruto stick his tongue out in retaliation.

"Oh, yeah, I kept forgetting to thank you for the Christmas present you gave me, Sasuke," Naruto said. "You know you didn't have to,"

"Yes, I know, but I just felt like it," Sasuke replied.

"Well, thanks. It made me happy!"

"Glad to hear it,"

"Yeah, and Neji and Gaara both sent me gifts too, and they got me ramen as well, so now I have a whole ton of it at home!" Naruto exclaimed, not realizing how angry his statement had just made his companion.

"Hyuuga and Gaara…got you presents too?" Sasuke said, the jealousy and anger boiling within him. Damn it! I was hoping to have been the only one! Those bastards thought of it too! Damn them!

"Uh-huh!" Naruto replied. "They got me ramen, too. And, it was kinda funny, they asked me to New Year's as well. All three of you did,"

"They asked you too?" Sasuke repeated. I'm going to kill them.

"Yep!"

"…And, you chose to come here…" Sasuke stated, his anger fading slightly at what this possibly meant.

Naruto turned to him and said, staring softly at him, "Yeah, I did,"

"Why here? Why didn't you chose one of them?"

The blonde shrugged. "I'm not really sure," he said. "I-I just wanted to…come here, I guess. More than Neji and Gaara, I wanted to spend time with you," he said as a blush claimed his cheeks.

Sasuke felt the heat in his cheeks at Naruto's confession, and his inner self was now jumping up and down in victory. Turning to Naruto, he said, a small smile on his lips, "I'm glad you came here tonight,"

Naruto returned his smile with a bright grin and replied, "I'm glad too!"

xxxxxxxxx

"Hey, Sasuke, isn't there some kind of saying that at midnight you're supposed to kiss the person you love?" Naruto mused aloud a few hours later. It was now about ten minutes to twelve and the new year and the two had been hiding out in the kitchen ever since dinner.

Sasuke spluttered as he drank some juice. He turned to Naruto with surprise and said, "Really? Is that true?"

"I dunno. It might be some American culture, but I heard about it somewhere. Once it strikes midnight, you're supposed to kiss the person you love," Naruto said. "I wonder if it's true,"

Sasuke just nodded, not quite remembering what he was agreeing to because his mind was now digesting two things: 1. if that was true, then was he supposed to kiss Naruto when it turned midnight? …Not a bad idea actually, but it'd give away his feelings if he did that, which he didn't want. And, 2. so, that had been the reason why all the fan girls go psycho when it's about to hit twelve. For all those years, Sasuke had never realized that that was the reason he'd been mobbed at midnight on New Year's by the girls. …And, come to think of it, he probably should get a head start on escaping as it was almost twelve.

The Uchiha turned to Naruto and grabbed the blonde's wrist. Naruto looked up at him with surprise, a light blush on his face. "You're good at running, aren't you?" Sasuke asked, dragging him towards the door that led to the hallway and not the dinning room.

"Yeah, I guess I am, why?" Naruto asked, utterly mystified.

"Because you're going to get your exercise right about…now," Sasuke glanced at his watch and in the next second the dinning room doors burst open and the fan girls filed out into the hall. "Come on!" he exclaimed to Naruto, pulling him in the opposite direction, down the hall as the girls all shrieked, "SASUKE-KUN! Come back!" and started chasing after them.

"What's going on? I-I thought you'd gotten rid of them after what you said earlier!" Naruto shouted as he followed Sasuke.

The Uchiha laughed. "They don't give up that easily. Even if I lie and say I'm married, they'd still come after me. It's damn annoying,"

"God, I feel so sorry for you!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Thanks!"

"Where are we going?"

"The roof,"

"The--what?"

"The roof, dobe, the roof!" Sasuke repeated. "It's the one place they don't know how to get to. So, come on, we're turning left, right now,"

Sasuke opened a door with his free hand, his other hand still holding onto Naruto's wrist, and the two quickly rushed inside. They locked the door and leaned against it. The girls arrived a moment later, pounding and yelling on the other side. "Come on, this will keep them for a while. Some of those girls know how to pick locks, so we've got to hurry," Sasuke then led Naruto out the door at the opposite wall of the room and down the hall on the right.

After a few minutes they heard the shouts of the girls, meaning that they had gotten through the door and were on their trail.

"How much longer?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Just a bit more," Sasuke replied. "I don't want them to figure out this path, so we need to move quickly. If they find the roof, then it'll be over for me," The two continued running for about another minute until they reached a small room at the end of the hall. "In here," Sasuke said, and shoved Naruto inside. He followed and shut the door.

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we doing in a closet?"

"This is how we get to the roof. I'm the only one who knows how, because I found it once when I was running from the psycho girls. Follow me, we're going up," Sasuke pushed away old coats and things and jumped to hit the ceiling. Naruto watched in amazement and after a few jumps and hits, a square piece of the ceiling fell open, along with a long length of rope.

"Awesome! It's like a secret passageway!" Naruto exclaimed, looking ecstatic.

Sasuke just smirked and then froze. "Quick, I can hear them," he said. "Grab the rope and climb up,"

"You first," Naruto said.

"You go!"

"Why? You're the one that really needs to get away. If they find me it's not a big deal," Naruto said. "Go!" he encouraged.

Sasuke just shook his head, fighting the blush that wanted to appear on his cheeks. "Fine," he mumbled and took the rope, carefully climbing up. Once up on the landing, he dropped the rope again and Naruto climbed up. When both were sitting beside the opening, Sasuke pulled the ceiling back up and into place.

"What is this place?" Naruto asked.

"It's the attic, dobe," Sasuke replied. "I rigged this place to make sure the rope always falls down when I open the door. It took awhile, but it's worth it,"

"Why don't you just hid out here? Instead of going on the roof?"

"Because it's too small in here," he said. "Now, come on. We're already there, just out this window,"

Sasuke moved over to a small window, that could only fit one person through it, off to the side. He unlatched the lock and pushed it open. "We've got to go out the window and climb up onto the roof,"

"Are you nuts?" Naruto exclaimed.

"What? I've done it before. I had to do this Christmas night just last week. It's easy, really. There's some holdings for your hands that I put up. You go first," Sasuke said.

The blonde sighed. "We've gone over that. You go first,"

"Fine," Sasuke said, deciding now wasn't the time to argue. He crawled out the window and grabbed onto the holds on the left side, and slowly made his way up. Naruto followed after a minute later.

"Man! It's so cool up here!" Naruto exclaimed, sitting on the roof and looking around at the awesome view. "Even if it was to escape your fan girls, I'm glad you brought me up here. It's awesome!"

Sasuke gave a small smile. "Glad you're enjoying yourself,"

"Yeah, I'm having a blast! This is the best New Year's I've ever had," Naruto said, giving Sasuke a bright grin.

Sasuke's smile grew. "That's nice to know," he said.

"Thanks for inviting me, Sasuke-bastard," Naruto said.

"Not a problem, Naruto. I told you, I wanted you here. It wouldn't have been any fun without you," Sasuke said, gazing intensely at Naruto. The blonde stared right back, watching Sasuke with an equal amount of intensity which surprised the Uchiha immensely. I really want to kiss him right now…but if I do, that would just blow everything. He'd figure out that it was for the midnight thing, and I don't want him to know how I feel…At least not until I know how he does…But, I really want to kiss him again…Damn it!

What am I thinking? I can't believe I'm having those stupid thoughts again! No kissing Sasuke, no kissing Sasuke! I do not like Sasuke, I do not like Sasuke! Naruto wanted to tear his gaze away from the Uchiha's onyx gaze, but he held it, not quite sure why, but feeling as though everything was perfect just as long as he continued to gaze into those ebony pools that he'd grown so fond of. …Wait, did I just say that I like Sasuke's eyes? What am I thinking? …But he does have nice eyes…They're so black and cool…No, no, no! I'm not thinking about Sasuke's eyes!

I think I'm going to. I-I just can't hold it in any longer…I'm just going to kiss him…But how should I do it? Think, damn it, it's probably a minute until twelve! "Oi, Naruto…" Sasuke began, sounding a bit apprehensive.

"Yeah, what's up?" Naruto asked.

"Remember what you said…about kissing the one you love at twelve?" Sasuke said as he slowly leaned closer to the blonde on his left.

"Y-Yeah…" Naruto replied, wondering what was going on, but at the same time not quite caring because his desire to kiss Sasuke was coming back with bursting power.

Sasuke leaned closer and was surprised to find that Naruto had leaned in his direction as well. Did that mean he was thinking the same thing? Did Naruto want to kiss him as well? He flicked his gaze to the blonde's lips and again was surprised to see Naruto do the same to him. Naruto inclined forward, and Sasuke moved a bit as well, until the two of them were only a few inches away from each other's face. Sasuke stared into Naruto's azure eyes and saw the confusion in his gaze, but it was mingled with a drop of desire that made his heart skip a beat in hope. Maybe Naruto really did want to kiss him. Should he take the chance, then?

With a careful flick down at his watch, he saw that it would be twelve within five seconds. Either now, or never, Uchiha, he told himself. Which will you chose?

Sasuke leaned forward just an inch, and Naruto did the same, both of them entranced in each other's unwavering gaze, and did not hear the movement from below. But just as they were a mere inch away…

"SAAASUKEEEEEEE-KUUUN!"

Naruto blinked, and in doing so broke contact with Sasuke's gaze and the Uchiha had never in his life hated someone so much as he did those accursed fan girls. Where the hell were they? Looking down, he found a few of them sticking their heads out from the window he and Naruto had climbed through. Damn. They had found his hideaway.

Sasuke ignored them for a moment, turning to Naruto and he saw that the blonde was looking incredibly embarrassed, and utterly confused. He sat there with a hand over his mouth, looking off into space, obviously in deep thought. He reached a hand over and shook the blonde's shoulder and said, "Naruto, Naruto!"

Said boy blinked and looked up at him. "O-Oh, S-Sa-Sasuke," he stammered.

"We've been caught," Sasuke said.

Naruto then noticed the mass of girls trying to get out of the window, but were too frightened to climb up the roof. "Argh! How did they find us?"

"Beats the hell out of me," Sasuke replied. "Oh, shit, one of them got out,"

"Saaasukeee-kuun! How can you be so mean! We were looking everywhere for you!" the girl exclaimed, looking upset and angry. "You're up here with him!"

Taking up the act again, Sasuke pulled Naruto close to him and said, "Well of course I am. He is my lover,"

Naruto blushed to his roots and stared at Sasuke with wide eyes.

"We were trying to have some peace and quiet," Sasuke continued.

"Sasuke-kun! You're just lying, you can't love a guy! So-So, come on and give me my New Year's kiss!" the girl said.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can only kiss the person I love," And to prove it, he quickly turned to Naruto, who was staring at him with immense shock, and kissed him once again on the lips.

The girl gasped. Naruto looked shocked. Sasuke was greatly satisfied.

They pulled away a moment later and Sasuke turned to the girl and said, "See? My New Year's kiss is all gone, sorry,"

The girl began to cry but he ignored her and turned to Naruto. "Come on, there's a ladder on the other side we can use to climb down. There's no getting down from that side,"

"All right," Naruto said, rapidly regaining his composure. He couldn't however fight down the blush on his cheeks. Sasuke had kissed him twice in the same night, and he felt as though everything in his life had been fulfilled. For some reason, he was glad that Sasuke had just kissed him…and

"Quickly, th-that girl looks pissed off now," Sasuke said, and he swiftly turned around and carefully walked over to the other side of the roof. Suddenly, Naruto laughed and Sasuke looked up at him curiously. "What's so funny?"

"This entire night!" Naruto exclaimed. "I absolutely love this night! Running from crazed fan girls, skipping the actual dinner to eat in the kitchen, going through 'secret passages' and sitting on the roof. And, I even got a New Year's kiss, even if it wasn't a real one! I'm coming to your house for New Year's every year! Thanks, Sasuke-bastard!"

Sasuke grinned as the blonde began descend the later. "It was my pleasure, Naruto. Believe me, it was my pleasure," he said.

A/N: Yes, a stupid ending, I know. I feel bad about it. All in all a crappy chapter, I think. The best was all the sasunaru stuff (obviously). The rest was just filler. And, yes, I know my timeline's really messed up. I mean, it should really be like March or something by now, but I've wanted to do a New Year's/Christmas thing, so I just had to put that in here. Technically, for it to only be January, it means that it took Sasuke only like two months to realize he was in love with Naruto, which is kinda short, but then I suppose people could fall in love in that short about of them. I wouldn't really know seeing as how I've never been in love. : P

I'm also sorry for skipping around so much, the chapter didn't quite flow very well, but I hope you got the idea anyway.

And, despite Neji and Gaara's reaction to the movie, Wedding Crashers really is very good! Go on Naruto's take, it was a hilarious movie! If you haven't seen it, go watch it. There were some, um, scenes that I could have lived without, but otherwise the movie was good.

Yeah, um, that's all I really have to say! Thanks again for your reviews! You guys mean so much to me! Love ya tons, SilverRose88.