"Oh, sorry." Kakashi blinked up from his studying at the shadow in the doorway.

"It's fine," he squinted at the clock on the wall, he hadn't realized how late it was. "Did you need something?" he asked, looking back up at Naruto and hoping that the answer would be no. The blonde was still standing in the doorway to the common room, wearing rumpled shorts and a tank top. He hadn't officially seen the freshman since orientation, but he had noticed him around campus, and he could always hear him. His raucous laughter carrying down the hall into his room all the time.

"Uh, no," he said, shifting from foot to foot. "I couldn't sleep and Sasuke was getting annoyed, so I figured I'd hang out in here," he said quickly. "But I don't want to bother you, so I'll just go to another floor or something."

"It's fine," Kakashi said, turning back to his books. "I won't bite," he added when the teen remained where he was. Naruto shifted for another moment before seeming to come to some decision and fully entering the room. The common room was small, just consisting of a kitchenette, an old couch, and the small table that Kakashi currently had taken over. Naruto sat on the edge of the couch, hands fidgeting in his lap as he looked over all the books on the table.

"It's Kakashi right?" Naruto asked abruptly.

"Yep," he kept his focus on his notes. "And you're Naruto, like the bridge," he stated, he didn't really need to ask. Despite what Obito thought, he knew the names of everyone who lived on their floor, he might not care about the job, but he wasn't going to purposely be bad at it.

"Hey, didn't you think maybe the bridge was named after me?" Kakashi looked up as Naruto grinned and he noticed, for the first time, the faint, uneven scars across his face, not that he had been paying attention the first time they met. Naruto's smile only grew when Kakashi arched an eyebrow at him. "Worth a shot. Didn't school just start?" He changed the subject, gesturing to all of the books.

"I like to be prepared," he answered curtly, regretting letting the blonde stay as he tried to focus again.

"Huh." He reluctantly looked back over at Naruto.

"What?" Naruto just shrugged and leaned back into the cushions.

"Just, I've seen you around, y'know, you always seem like you don't care about anything," he said casually.

"I have an image to protect," Kakashi said stiffly. He knew how he came off to people, bored and aloof, and he didn't really care. He had spent a majority of his life keeping to himself and he had never been interested in friends. Obito had forced his way into being his best friend when they were six and refused to budge, and Rin had won him over with her quiet, calming presence when they were in high school. He didn't need or want anyone else knowing his business. So why did it bother him when this guy said he didn't care about anything?

"Sorry, my mouth has a mind of its own sometimes," Naruto scratched at the back of his neck. Kakashi just hummed dismissively and tried to get back to focusing on his notes in front of him. He saw Naruto shift out of the corner of his eye, he pulled out his phone and then put it back, twiddling his thumbs in his lap. Kakashi repressed a sigh, this was a lost cause wasn't it? Ignoring him wasn't going to work, he was actually going to have to carry on talking to him.

"You and Uchiha seem like an odd pair," he said finally. It was true, he had watched them interact over the last couple weeks and they were polar opposites but always together. He had even seen Sasuke smile which he had never seen in the numerous Uchiha family events that he had been to.

"The same could be said about you and Obito," he laughed, the sound echoing in the confined space.

"Obito didn't give me much choice," Kakashi shrugged with a small grin.

"Sasuke would probably say the same thing about me." I bet a lot of people say that about you. "We actually hated each other when we were kids, but we were always thrown together because our last names were close, and I guess I wore him down. Oh my god!" he suddenly shouted, causing Kakashi to jump.

"What the hell? Hey!" Naruto's hand flew forward into Kakashi's book bag.

"You read these?" Naruto held up the orange book, a victorious smile on his face.

"So, what if I do?" he asked, snatching it back as Naruto cackled, but the sound was joyous and not malicious.

"My godfather writes them," he smiled gleefully. "I can't believe you of all people have it! I always thought it was horny middle-aged women who read them."

"Wait, Jiraiya is your godfather?" he asked, deciding to focus on that and not the implied insult. "You're kidding right?"

"I wish," he stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. "I've had to deal with his perverted ass my whole life."

"Unbelievable," he whispered. He had questions, lots of them, but just as quickly as Naruto had closed his eyes, he had fallen asleep. "Just unbelievable," he shook his head, turning back to studying and occasionally casting a glance at the sleeping teen. He was mildly curious about him now, but not curious enough to ask Obito for details. He had a feeling that his nosey friend somehow wanted this to happen and he wouldn't fall into whatever trap he was setting.


"Hey Kakashi!" Both he and Obito turned as Naruto ran across the quad to them.

"Naruto! What's up?" Obito greeted him.

"Hey, Obito," Naruto smiled a bit breathlessly, digging into his bag. "Here," he thrust an orange wrapped package in Kakashi's face.

"Why?" he asked, frowning suspiciously at the present. There's no way he could know.

"Just open it!" Naruto rolled his eyes. Before he could move to open it though, it was ripped from his hands.

"You're so slow Kakashi, come on!" Obito said excitedly, tearing into the paper for him. "A book, really?" he sounded mildly disappointed. Kakashi grabbed the green book once he read Icha Icha Tactics across the cover. "Oi this is one of your pervy books!"

"How?" he asked in shock, looking at the grinning blonde. The book wasn't set to be released for another couple months.

"I told you, I know the author," he winked. "Anyways, I gotta get to class. Happy Birthday Kakashi!" with a wave he was off, leaving Kakashi clutching the present and gaping at his back.

"Well," Obito stated, sounding pleased with himself.

"Well, what?" he asked stiffly, trying to regain his composure and carefully stuffing the book in his bag even though he really wanted to stare at it for a little longer. He really, really wanted to know how Naruto knew that it was his birthday, he knew for certain that he didn't tell him. Did Obito or Rin? But Obito seemed just as surprised… He glared at his friend when he didn't say anything. "Shut up." He really wanted to smack that sly grin off his face, instead he just started walking away.

"Hey!" Obito squawked, running to catch up with his long strides. "So, you and Naruto really kicked it off huh?"

"You're delusional," he brushed him off, and Obito threw his head back and laughed. "Did you tell him?" He was trying to wrack his brain, he knew Obito hadn't even put it on that ridiculous floor birthday calendar so how the hell did this complete stranger know it was his birthday? And why aren't I as annoyed as I should be?

"Pfft, of course not!" Obito said, turning a little more serious. "I know you." Kakashi nodded slowly, he had stopped caring about his birthday when his father had died. The only people who even knew were Obito and Rin and they respected his ban on doing anything special on this day. So how? "Hey, you better not be having any dirty ideas in that perverted head of yours." He blinked at Obito, who had jumped in front of him to get him to stop walking. "Do not sleep with any of our residents!" He jabbed his finger into Kakashi's chest.

"Didn't your class start ten minutes ago?" He asked and Obito blanched.

"Shit! And we're on the wrong side of campus!" He took off. "Don't think this conversation is over!" He called over his shoulder and Kakashi watched him go, thinking about what he had said. He wasn't blind, he knew that Naruto was physically attractive even if he was abrasively loud. He could potentially entertain the idea hooking up with him. But he enjoyed casual hookups and thought that relationships weren't worth it, he didn't like clingy people.

"No, it's just that you don't know how to deal with other people's problems," Obito would say. But, even if Naruto swung his way, he figured tangling with him would be more trouble than it was worth. Especially since he was best friends with a Uchiha, Obito would never let him live it down. He shook the thought from his head and went to go get a coffee, he had a new book to read after all. He could figure out how Naruto found out his birthday later until then he could go back to ignoring him.


AN: I'm going to try and update this once a week, either on Monday or Wednesday I haven't decided.