I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 20:

Naruto exited the building holding Kakashi's office and got into the car. He had been seeing Kakashi almost every other day. It was to help him cope with the Orochimaru incident. This led Naruto into running into Yuto more often. The man still didn't speak to him, but with how many times they ran into each other lately, whatever Yuto was dealing with had to be equally as bad as what Naruto had to deal with.

After Orochimaru and Kabuto's disappearance, a new teacher was hired. Her name was Chiyuki Hatsumi and she was quite young for being a teacher. It turned out that she was very smart and had graduated from high school at the age of fifteen and collage at nineteen. This made her only three years older than Naruto. She was a great teacher that managed to raise the grades of more than half of her students by how easy she made things seem. If someone didn't understand one of the questions on the quiz, she'd explain in various ways until they did. Overall, Hatsumi was Naruto's favorite teacher.

Deidara continued to teach, but with Sasori taking more part as his assistant. There were no more fire alarms going off. Shukaku had asked them why they were still here and Deidara had go off on a speech about the wonders of teaching. Sasori had simplified it as that they wanted to keep teaching here at least until the end of term. Having them leave after Orochimaru and Kabuto, wasn't a good idea.

Kurama changed a bit after the incident. She became even more caring. She also seemed to hang out with them a lot more. Naruto began to wonder if there was another reason she's been around them besides her overprotectiveness. Sasuke also changed. He distanced himself from Naruto. He had to work, this Naruto understood, but it had never been this much before. Even when Sasuke had a meeting overseas, he's still call to check in on Naruto and Kohaku. This time, he'd contact Tsunade instead of Naruto. Naruto began to wonder if Sasuke hated him.

It was Kurama that suggested that Naruto have his friends come over for the night. Sasuke wasn't due back until after dinner, which caused Naruto to hesitate, but Kurama just grabbed his phone and sent a group text to Sakura and the others. An hour later, Sakura, Fu, Sek-kun, Senshi, Hinata, Shino, Nari, Kai, and Yumi were gathered in the living room along with Shukaku and Gaara. Kurama and Naruto walked in, both carrying trays of food and drinks. A maid was also behind them. The three of them placed the trays on the table. The maid bowed to everyone before leaving. "Well," Kurama said. "Have fun! I have a meeting I have to get to." She waved, grabbed her keys and a jacket before leaving the house.

"So, what should we do?" Yumi asked.

"We can watched a movie," Naruto offered.

"Sure," Fu said. "What do you have?"

"Let's see," Naruto said. He moved to the TV and pulled out a binder from the drawer. It was filled with dvds. The group looked on as Naruto flipped through the pages. After a few minutes, they managed to find one that everyone agreed on.

"Let's watch it in the theater," Shukaku said.

"Theater? Yumi asked. "You have a theater?"

"Yeah," Shukaku said. He too had been surprised when Naruto had first shown him the room. He lead the group to the theater. Several jaws dropped at the sight of the large screen. It was just as big as the screen at a movie theater. "We also have candy and other movie food." He pointed to what looked like a concession stand. He grinned at the amazed looks on his and Naruto's friends. Gaara was the only one not surprised since not only did he see the room before, but he also had a similar one of his own. After a few seconds, Shukaku pressed a button on the wall.

"Yes?" a maid's voice came from the speaker next to the button. "How can I help you?"

"We'd like to watch a movie," Shukaku said.

"Alright," the maid said. "I shall be there in a minute to retrieve the dvd. Shall I have someone bring in some snacks?"

"Nah," Shukaku said. "We were already given some by Mari-chan."

"Understood," the maid said. It didn't take long for her to appear. She bowed as Shukaku handed her the dvd. Everyone took their seats, ready to enjoin the movie.

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After the movie, the group talked about their favorite and least favorite parts. Sek-kun and Fu got in an argument over one part until Senshi gave his opinion. Fu complained that it wasn't fair that Senshi agreed with Sek-kun and that as her boyfriend, he should agree with her. He just smiled. The group moved back into the living room where they started to play some games. A maid ordered pizza for them.

"This has to be one of the best days of my life!" Sek-kun said.

"Hey guys!" Yumi said. "Look what I found!" She held up a bottle.

"Yumi!" Fu whined. "We're underage."

"Oh come one," Yumi said. "Live a little." She poured a few cups. Sakura grabbed one.

"Sakura?" Fu asked.

"She's right," Sakura said. "You only live once." She took a sip. The others grabbed a cup. Naruto knew it wasn't a good decision to drink Sasuke's wine, but part of him wanted to see Sasuke's reaction. Besides, if the others were going to do it, he might as well. It didn't take long for the group to go through three bottles.

"What the hell is going on?" Kurama yelled when she walked into the room. "I said to have fun, not to get drunk! That's my wine!"

'Ah,' Shukaku thought. 'So it wasn't Sasuke's.' Shukaku and Gaara seemed to be the only ones not drunk.

"Dammit!" Kurama said. "I can't let Sasuke see you guys like this and I can't let you go home drunk." She paused. "Guess I'll need to find you a place to stay until you sober up." She went to get some maids to help her carry everyone to the guest rooms. Shukaku and Gaara helped carry the boys. "Honestly, why did you guys break into my stash?"

"It was Yumi's idea," Shukaku said. "She can be very persuasive."

Kurama shook her head. "For such smart kids, you guys are idiots. That's no excuse for what you've done. You're grounded." Shukaku nodded. He had expected as much and knew that he deserved it. Not only did he not stop the others, but he too drank some of the wine. "Let me know when one of them wakes up." She turned to Gaara. "And you, are you ok to go home?" Gaara nodded. "Alright. Leave when you're ready." She left the room and headed back down stairs to clean up the mess and to see what they hadn't gotten their hands on. As she looked at each bottle, she notes that one of them wasn't familiar. She stared at it for a few seconds wondering where it had come from, for it wasn't hers.

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Sasuke came home a few hours later. Yumi was the only one of Naruto's friends still there, sleeping in a guest room. The others had gone home. Naruto however, was awake. He staggered out of bed and headed down to get some water. He didn't notice that Sasuke was coming up the stairs. Naruto walked right into Sasuke, forcing him against the wall. Sasuke's head hit the wall and he let out a curse of pain.

"S-sorry," Naruto mumbled. He took a step back, before turning to walk down the stairs. He slipped and closed his eyes, preparing for the pain. But arms had wrapped around him and had pulled him backwards. The momentum however caused Sasuke to lose his own footing. They fell backwards, Sasuke landing on his back with Naruto's back still against his chest. Again, Sasuke let out a curse. Naruto rolled over, pressing his hand against the floor, trying to get up. But his hand couldn't hold his weight and he slammed back, his mouth colliding with Sasuke's. Two pairs of eyes widened at the contact. Naruto blushed before he flung himself backwards. He stammered out an apology before runny down the stairs.

Sasuke sat up, his fingers going to his lips. He stared at where Naruto had been, several different things running through his head. He had been avoiding Naruto since the Orochimaru incident, using work as his excuse. Sasuke hadn't known why he'd been avoiding the blond. But the accidental kiss just know gave him his reason. His feelings concerning Naruto were changing. He replayed the scene of Naruto crying into his shoulder, clinging to him. He had found him cute. That thought had pissed him off. How could he find Naruto cute when he was simply seeking comfort after such a terrible event? Luckily Naruto had cried himself to sleep and Shukaku had carried him to his room. Sasuke was afraid that if he had been the one to carry Naruto that he'd have take advantage of the blond. Sure, he had found Naruto attractive, but he wasn't going to do anything to the younger boy.

Sasuke's mind suddenly went into overdrive as how Naruto was acting entered his mind. Concerned that Naruto might be sick, Sasuke went back downstairs and into the kitchen. Naruto was holding a glass of water, drinking it. Sasuke licked his lips as he watched the water disappear into Naruto's mouth. He gulped before shaking his head. Now was not the time for such thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Naruto nearly choked on the water at Sasuke's voice. He swallowed before lowering the glass. "I-I'm fine."

Sasuke frowned as he took as step forward. "Are you sure?" He raised a hand and pressed it against Naruto's forehead. Naruto blushed causing Sasuke's frown to deepen. Naruto didn't seem to have a fever. "You're red. Did you eat something bad?"

"N-no," Naruto said. He looked down at the floor. "I… I um… had some wine."

"What?" Sasuke asked. "You drank alcohol?" Naruto nodded. "Why?"

"Yumi kind of made me," Naruto said. "She can be very persuasive."

Sasuke nodded. He wasn't really happy to hear this. "And I'm guessing you learned a valuable lesson?"

"Yes," Naruto said.

"Hn," Sasuke said. "Alright. I'll make sure you get back to your room safely. Also, I'd like to talk to Yumi about why underage drinking is bad."

"Please don't," Naruto begged. "Yumi knows what she did was wrong. Kurama already…"

"Kurama?" Sasuke asked. "She knew?" Naruto couldn't help but nod. "That…"

"It isn't her fault!" Naruto yelled. "I was pretty out of it, but I know she lectured us." Naruto lifted his head so that his eyes were looking right at Sasuke's. "It is my fault for not stopping them. As the host, it was my duty to make sure nothing bad happened. I failed in my duty."

Sasuke sighed. "Alright. Just promise me you won't do something like this again."

"I won't," Naruto promised.

Sasuke nodded. "Then let's go to bed." Naruto placed the glass into the sink before walking ahead of Sasuke up the stairs. Sasuke followed him until they reached his bedroom. "Get some sleep. You have school tomorrow."

"Good night, Sasuke-san," Naruto said.

Sasuke couldn't help but smile. "Good night Naruto." Naruto closed the door behind him and Sasuke took that as his sign to go to his own room to get some sleep. He glanced back at Naruto's door before he opened the door to his room. His hand went to his chest right after the door closed behind him. He took a deep breath before quickly changing and getting into bed. That night, Sasuke had a hard time falling asleep.