Author's Note: So got a few sweet reviews! Keep leaving reviews they make my day! Well… concerning the last chapter. I thought I made it pretty clear who Shikamaru's crush is, if you go back and read it you might catch it… Sasuke is not the kind of guy, in my story, to bring up stuff like that unless it is brought to his attention. Being that he is incredibly perceptive, he notices something off with Shikamaru, and that is why he says that, he took a guess and was correct, in a way. I don't know if I will reveal the special someone's identity in this chapter, so go investigate! Also, I apologize if you are a Sakura fan… Also, I really like Hinata that is why I made her one of Naruto's best friends. I hate Temari and Tenten, so don't expect to see them around a whole lot. Sorry! --;

Thank you PockyWhore and everyone else who reviewed! Your reviews are awesome. They make me happy. Sorry, enough ranting, enjoy chapter 4!

Chapter Four: Five-Hundred Miles

Naruto tried to get some sleep, but he was constantly being bombarded by people he would have preferred to ignore. His nose did not really hurt, what hurt was the fact that this was his class trip and he was supposed to be out skiing and having good time, but he was cooped up in his room. It was simply him and his pillow, whose time of death was several hours before due to Naruto's grip.

Naruto stared out the window in his room and felt nostalgic almost. He began to think about all the times before when he had gone on skiing trips with his classmates. It had always been fun for him. He would always break some limb but he would still manage to crack jokes all the way home. Naruto always wanted to be the center of attention, not because he was insecure or anything, just because he wanted to see if he could get everyone's eyes on him. He tried multiple tactics to get people to notice him, from starting a food fight in fourth grade to climbing on the school roof during class and jumping up and down a whole lot. These strategies worked, for the most part. He certainly received the attention of the principal and any other authority figure obsessed with perfection. However, he never did get one person's eyes to turn, and this person was beginning to grow on him. Naruto yearned for his attention, just one glance up from his stupid books, just one smile, or any sign that confirmed that he thought Naruto existed.

"Hey." Naruto jumped up and opened his eyes, which were sensitive to the light that Sasuke had just turned on when he entered their room. He had drool all over his chin and his pillow, and looked nervously at Sasuke.

"Uh, what?" Naruto looked at him.

"I want to ski, let's go; you've slept for almost three hours." Sasuke walked towards the door.

"Uh, okay, but could I get my ski pants on first, ya' know 'cause snow is sometimes cold," he grunted sarcastically.

"Whatever, just hurry up," Sasuke leaned against the door. Naruto began to get changed, but then stopped suddenly, when he felt Sasuke's gaze on him. He felt heat flush his face and a cold sweet all throughout his body. Since their little tumble Naruto was sure that Sasuke felt disturbed by Naruto. He paused in his antics to look at Sasuke.

"Hey," Naruto looked at him with concerned eyes. Naruto had come to terms with his feelings now, and even if Sasuke did not return them, he still felt the over-bearing urge to hold him and touch his fine hair.

Sasuke looked back at him, with what looked like concern as well. Both boys had wars waging in their minds, but neither of them was sure of which side was winning in the other's brain. "What?" Sasuke looked away, his brow furrowed and whatever emotion he was holding, vanished.

"Nothing…" Naruto continued getting changed.

"Hey!"

Sasuke did not turn around. "I'm talking to you! Turn around ass-wipe!" Kiba barked. However, the Uchiha continued to walk towards the ski lifts. Naruto turned and looked at Kiba. "Not you, moron!" Kiba finally caught up to them.

"Here we go. Now, mutt if you don't mind I would love if we could continue this verbal beating you have for me for some other time, I paid my pocket change to come to this miserable mountain and I intend to ski it." Sasuke did not even turn around to look him in the eye. He did, however, successfully brush off what snow he had on his shoulder.

"Turn around." Kiba voice was low but strong. Naruto could see he was gritting his teeth behind his cool demeanor. "Turn around you coward." Sasuke whipped his head around and looked at the black-haired boy. Then he laughed and gave Kiba a degrading smile. He folded his arms and looked at Kiba with little emotion except for a twinge of annoyance in the corner of his mouth.

"Kiba… what are you doing… oi!" Shikamaru bounded over to the little gathering. "How troublesome," Shikamaru noted as he looked back and forth between Kiba and Sasuke's glares.

"I'm going to beat the living hell out of you Goth!" Kiba advanced towards Sasuke.

"Would you stop it? You fricking ass holes! This is my problem not yours! I don't need your acceptance, Kiba! I don't frickin' care whether you like it or not. Leave Sasuke alone, you don't know what happened, so don't just go around handing out punches and curses you idiot! Go ski or something, stop being so fricking dumb." Naruto stormed off towards the ski lift, leaving Kiba embarrassed, Shikamaru amused and Sasuke confused. Sasuke glanced at Shikamaru and then walked after Naruto.

"Kiba… you alright man? You know how Naruto gets when he feels cornered." Shikamaru put his arm around Kiba's shoulders. Kiba looked down at his feet, his eyes detached.

"He's right I guess." Kiba pushed Shikamaru's arm off and walked towards the lounge.

"Hey, come on Kiba. This isn't like you."

"Yeah, well I've never lost a best friend before." Shikamaru stood still and watched Kiba enter the lounge. He could almost feel the remorse in Kiba's stride. The poor kid was torn, and so was Shikamaru, torn between comforting a friend or a crush.

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto spoke as they sat into the lift. Together they pulled the bar down over their laps. Naruto sat on the left side and looked away from Sasuke. Sasuke was amused by the family feud he had found himself in. As he looked down at the pine trees and lines left by other skiers he thought about how far he had come with Naruto.

"Why don't you guys get a life!" Sasuke walked into his second grade class only to find a short blonde child on top of one of the tables. He walked over to his cubby and placed his metal lunch pail in it. He took off his navy jacket with his families brand embroidered on to it and hung in of the small hanger. He turned around and watched as the blonde got screamed at by three girls. The pink haired girl had pig tails and a pink dress. She was yelling at the blonde boy. The boy's name was Naruto, as Sasuke soon found out by all the name calling.

"Naruto, you're a dumb fish, you're name means fish!" The girls giggled at their fruitless name calling.

"I'm not a fish, you are a… a stupid girl!" Naruto kicked the girl's bucket of crayons off the table and jumped down.

"Hey, you are mean Naruto! Go home, no one likes you!" A little girl with a long blonde pony tail squawked.

"No!" Naruto folded his arms in defiance and pouted.

"Don't you know when no one wants you around? Why don't you go back to first grade, maybe you will be as tall as them! Shorty!" Naruto looked utterly miserable. The small boy was tearing but continued to glare at his peers.

"I'm… I'm not short!" Naruto loosed his folded arms and eventually let them fall to his sides. He looked down at his torn red sneakers with the laces untied and dirtied. He then turned to walk away towards the back of the room, he slammed his eyes closed and plugged his ears to block out the children's laughter. He sat down in the corner of the room between the cubby's and the sinks; he brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face into them. Naruto looked up though when he heard shuffling around him. Sasuke was standing in front of him and looking down at his shoes.

"Your shoes are untied." He said.

"Oh…" Naruto opened his legs to look down at his feet. He laughed. "That's okay, they're old… I'm going to get new ones… soon." Naruto looked at Sasuke's shoes. They were clearly new, they were black with white bottoms and white laces, they were not plastic looking like Naruto's, but suede.

"You should still tie them." Sasuke bent down next to Naruto and began to tie his laces. "They are dirty, did you know?" Sasuke glanced at the smaller boy and continued to tie.

"Thank… you." Naruto was a little taken a back. He felt embarrassed; he wiped the dried tears away from the corners of his eyes with his too long sleeves, which were dirtied with old paint.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." He stood up and held out his hand. Naruto laughed. He then slapped it sideways, startling Sasuke.

"I am Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto!" With that, a huge grin devoured Naruto's face.

Sasuke stifled a laugh as he remembered meeting the dumb blonde. He really had grown since then, now that he thought about it. He was no longer the shortest kid in the class but darn near the tallest. He was toned and fit, his cheeks no longer puffed out the way they use to, now he had masculine shaped face with well defined cheek bones. His hair remained some what the same, it still had that bounce and about the same length. It was long enough to cover his ears and sometimes his eyes now, however. The thing that never changed at all about Naruto was his eyes. They still glowed with innocence and youth, when you looked at his eyes, and he was looking at you, that is when you knew it. That is when you knew that you were alive, that he was alive, not physically, but mentally. It felt as though he could see through every barricade and façade in the book. He stripped you of your lies and saw who you really were. That is why Sasuke was angry, because Naruto was the only one who knew who he was. He knew how to read Sasuke, unlike anyone he had ever known.

'I'm gay. There is no mistaking it now.' Sasuke thought to himself after he awoke himself from his slumber. He certainly knew how to paint a picture of Naruto in his mind. He turned to look at Naruto who looked irritated. They were almost to the top of the mountain now. Sasuke looked forward and readied himself to dismount, Naruto did the same. He grabbed the bar with his orange and blue gloves and threw it above them. This time, it was Naruto who went down the mountain first, leaving Sasuke behind to follow him with his eyes.

Sasuke stared at the snow that had been stirred by Naruto's skis. He pulled his pole out of the snow from where he had placed it and began down the mountain after Naruto. When he reached the bottom he found that Naruto was waiting for him by the ski lift. He trudged his way over, refusing to look into Naruto's eyes, which he could feel were on him.

After a couple more times up and down the black diamonds they headed back to the lounge for dinner. It had been a silent day. Neither of them said anything to each other the entire time.

Naruto sat at the same wooden table with his friends. They were fairly silent. Kiba was absent from the table, Naruto noted. Shikamaru looked worried, a face he never wore. Hinata was worried as well; however the two of them were concerned for two different people. Choji decided to join the table and was sitting and eating boisterously.

"So. What is the awkward silence for?" Naruto half smiled at them.

"Uh, I'm tired I guess." Hinata looked questionably at Naruto.

"Right, so Shikamaru how did your day with Kankuro go?" Naruto asked without looking up from his dish.

Shikamaru stood up and looked at his plate emptily. He then eyed Naruto and walked away.

"Eh… What's wrong with him?" Naruto asked looking nervous.

"I think is it about Kiba… Shikamaru was upset with him… but maybe I was wrong, I think he is mad at you about something, Naruto" Choji charmed in. He had hardly been around and now all of a sudden he had all the answers.

"Great." Naruto visually sank into his seat and poked at his dinner.

Kiba sat up in his bed when he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?" He growled toward the door.

"Open the door. Tch." Shikamaru answered.

"What are you doing here, Nara! I said to leave me the hell alone!" Kiba lay back down on his bed.

"Kiba… please. Open the door," Shikamaru leaned his head against the burgundy door. Kiba sat up again and gazed at the door. He them cursed beneath his breath and started to stand up. He shoved his hands into his pockets and shuffled over to the door. He unlocked it and then turned the gold handle. He opened and looked at Shikamaru. He had one arm above his head gripped on the top of the door, the other was in his pocket. He looked miserable and looked deep into Kiba's eyes. Kiba blushed at his intense stance and glare. Shikamaru slowly released his grip from the door and brought it down to the side of Kiba's face. He pushed the unkempt hair away from Kiba's eyes. Kiba looked at him and unclenched his fist in his pockets. Shikamaru leaned towards him and then pulled his other hand out of his pocket and gripped Kiba's face.

"What are-!"

"Shut up!" Shikamaru cut him off, and pulled him closer to him and kissed him. He gripped his hair harder now, when he felt Kiba pull away. Kiba opened his mouth to breath and try to pull away, but when Shikamaru continued to kiss him and brought one of his hands down to his back he could not pull away. Shikamaru kissed his neck and ear and pulled Kiba's hips into his. Kiba grabbed Shikamaru's shoulder and pulled him back and kicked the burgundy door closed with his shoeless foot.

"Maybe I should go after him?" Naruto asked after a good ten minutes of silence.

"Let him be, Naruto, you know he will come around, this is Shikamaru we are talking about after all." Choji said between bites.

Naruto felt atrocious. There was clearly a distraught feel to his entire group of his friends and he knew it was his fault. He was beginning to believe he should not have told his friends about his sexual orientation. Shikamaru was acting completely out of the ordinary and Kiba was upset. He also might have been successful in making Sasuke completely hate him.

Naruto did not know who to turn to. Hinata was already stressed out about the situation as it was. Naruto contemplated talking to Iruka-sensei, but that would require breaking the news to him too, and Naruto did not know if he wanted to do that just yet.

He decided it would be best for everyone if Naruto left everyone else out of it. First things first, he needed to find Shikamaru and Kiba and apologize. Naruto really liked Sasuke, but he did not know if he would sacrifice his friendships for him just yet.

"Wait… Shika… wait," Kiba pulled his face away from Shikamaru. They were currently stationed on Kiba's bed, (fully clothed).

"Wait?" Shikamaru got off Kiba and sat at the end of Kiba's bed. He sighed and muttered something about 'being troublesome'.

"I mean… maybe we should talk about this?" Kiba sat up too and picked up a loose pillow that had fallen when they leaped into his bed. He placed the pillow behind him. "I mean… are you gay?" Kiba faltered over his words, "I don't even know if I am…" Kiba looked bewildered. Shikamaru turned around and looked at him with the same eyes he looked at him with at the door, giving Kiba shivers and causing him to blush.

"Are you? Does it matter? I don't know if I am either, I think Temari is hot. But I don't feel the way I feel for you for her. Does that make me gay? The whole gay and straight thing… they are labels Kiba, they mean nothing. What has meaning… is that if you… love someone… care for someone… want to be with them… it should not matter whether they are male or female. Kiba… do you hate Naruto?" Shikamaru lowered his gaze to his hands.

"I…" Kiba looked wretched as he searched Shikamaru's expression. "How, could you ask that, Shikamaru? Of course I don't hate him… I just… I hate Sasuke. I hate… I hate that Naruto didn't tell us sooner, and most of all I hate you!" He paused, Shikamaru sank. "I hate you for making me feel this way about you!" With that, Kiba grabbed Shikamaru's ponytail pulling him into his lab and kissing upside down.

"Na… Naruto!" Naruto turned around to find Sasuke running up the stairs behind him. "Wait… Naruto." Sasuke reached him and gazed at Naruto, beads of sweat covered his forehead and he struggled to breath. "I need… no… I need to… just, damnit! Follow me, alright?"

End of Chapter Four

Author's Note:

Sorry… it's been awhile. Please review though? Pretty please? I want to know if you liked it. v.v kei. Bye bye!