All understanding is interpretation.
-Martin Heidegger
"Honestly, Kiba. You and I don't work." Naruto gritted his teeth, frantically mopping up the mess that was their work table. "I can't believe you tossed a whole bowl of unpeeled potatoes into a pot of boiling water. Are you an idiot?!"
"You told me to put the damn potatoes in, so I did!" Kiba snapped, brandishing a knife.
"Don't wave those around!" Naruto cried shrilly.
"What's going on here?" The teacher looked down at them disapprovingly and shook her head at the overturned pot. "A change of partner seems to be in order."
Naruto and Kiba kept silent, scowling at each other.
"Inuzuka with Nara." She waved an impatient hand. "Uchiha! Get over here. You're pairing up with Uzumaki. That should keep you both out of trouble."
Naruto felt himself go pale and then bright red in an instant.
"No! I'm sorry! I'll do better. Kiba, I love you after all!"
"Heh! Idioooot." Kiba stuck out his tongue. "Take you stupid potatoes and go throw them at Uchiha's hair for all I care."
"You're an asshole, Kiba!"
"Language," The teacher sniped, already dragging Kiba by the ear towards Shikamaru.
Sasuke approached the work-station, stoic as ever.
"And play nice!" She tossed over her back.
Naruto resolutely kept his eyes down as he stiffly bent to pick up the discarded potatoes. He refused to look even as the Uchiha began to wordlessly peel them.
For the whole of five minutes, the pair worked in complete silence, disturbed only by the occasional clang of pots and soft bubbling of the water. Naruto was halfway convinced that they could go through the entire class without speaking, before his hand slipped and the knife cut deep into his finger.
"Shit!" Naruto cried, dropping the knife. He was an idiot. He was so preoccupied with mentally beating himself up that he didn't notice the other boy talking until his hand was grabbed.
"Wh-wha—?"
"I said, you need to stop the bleeding." The Uchiha muttered, ripping out a paper towel. "Dumbass."
Naruto could only gape in shock as the other boy pressed the paper towel onto the wound. Embarrassed, he went for his default reaction.
"Who are you calling dumbass?!"
Sasuke made an annoyed sound under his breath. "So loud."
Naruto's face was in flames. Lost and embarrassed, he did the only thing he could at the moment—run away.
He ducked inside the pantry where it was blessedly free of people, clutching his wounded hand to his chest.
Why? Why? Why?
He didn't understand how and why this boy's presence made his insides feel like jelly. The place where Uchiha had touched him still felt hot, and—what the fuck was he even saying?! Get a grip, idiot!
"Ahh, stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Naruto beat his head against the wall.
"Oi!" Someone started banging on the door. "Who's in there? Open up!"
Naruto grabbed a few onions from a nearby basket and slapped himself in the face with it.
"Get a grip, Naruto. He's just some asshole. You just need to keep cool. Keep cool. Just… whatever. Be cool." He took a deep breath and opened the door. He was on the slow trek back to his worktable when something made him stop dead in his tracks in disbelief.
"Neji!" He cried, jogging over to the boy who was standing at the far end of the classroom. "What are you doing here?"
The tall boy nodded at him in greeting.
"Supervising."
Naruto threw up his hands in indignation. "Did the teacher report me or something? I don't believe it! It was just a pot of potatoes, and I cleaned it all up! Jeez!"
Neji's lips twitched for a split second before he folded his arms in a stern manner.
"While I'm sure you've caused Kurenai-sensei enough grief for one day, I assure you I have better things to do than supervise a freshmen in his Home Economics class."
"Oh right, mister Student Council President." Naruto frowned. "By the way, I totally didn't know, okay? You're not allowed to suspend me for rude behavior."
"Am I?" Neji finally cracked a smile. "Well, I am allowed, however, to give you an official warning on record, for disruption of duty since I am currently in the middle of supervising the board of directors."
Naruto whipped around and finally saw the strange people in suits milling around the room. No wonder the class seemed uncharacteristically orderly. That also explained why Kurenai-sensei was on hair-trigger all day.
"Did you ice that, like I told you to?"
For a second, Naruto had no idea what he was talking about, until Neji brought up a hand and poked his badly bruised cheek. Honestly, he had completely forgotten about that.
"Ow!"
It was still painful, though.
"If you don't ice it, it's going to look even uglier." Neji sighed, slowly putting his hands on Naruto's face and gently tilting it to inspect the bruise. Naruto squirmed. Neji's hands were warm.
"Oi, dobe."
Naruto grit his teeth before turning to face the Uchiha, who was standing with a hand on one hip, looking very annoyed.
"Are you going to spend the entire class slacking off?"
Naruto felt a spark of irritation. "I don't know if you've noticed, asshole, but I'm bleeding out of my finger."
Neji made a sound behind him. "How do you find ways to constantly hurt yourself?"
"I told you, Neji." Naruto grumbled, giving Sasuke the stink eye. "Trouble always finds me."
Sasuke's hand shot out and grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt. Naruto was stunned into stillness and he could only stare into the dark, bottomless eyes locked onto his own wide blues. They were so close, Naruto could count his eyelashes. Sasuke's eyes were cold fire, boring holes into him and burning him from inside out.
"Don't fuck with me, dobe." The boy whispered. "You don't want me as your enemy."
"Uchiha." Neji spoke up. "Violence is frowned upon in this school. Release him."
Kiba, who took one look at the scene, threw down his soup ladle and scrambled towards the blond, with every intention of helping him out. That Uchiha bastard needed to have his ass kicked and besides, he was itching for a fight.
"Oi, Uchiha!" Kiba yelled, stomping towards the pair. "Let him go right no—WHOA!"
He skidded on a wet patch of linoleum and barreled straight onto Sasuke's back. The momentum caused all three boys to topple over with a loud crash. Some girls screamed and the adults came rushing forward, headed by Kurenai-sensei who looked like she was ready to murder them.
Kiba immediately rolled off the Uchiha, who gave him a blood-curling glare, before rising to dust himself off. He gave a sound of disgust and turned to leave the room, ignoring the cries of indignation from the teacher.
"Sorry man, are you okay?" Kiba peered down at Naruto who now had a split lip to go with his shiner. The blond was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling and Kiba was concerned for a moment that he had hit his head. "Oi! Earth to Naruto! How many fingers do you see? Speak to me!"
"Move back, let him breathe." Neji snapped, kneeling before the blond and helping him sit up.
"I…I'm fine." Said Naruto, absently batting his away. "Really, I'm…"
"Hyuuga, bring him to the nurse's office." The teacher said. "Everyone else, back to your stations! Move! Now!"
"Up you get." Neji muttered, helping Naruto to his feet. "I've never met anyone so prone to catastrophes, honestly…"
He was concerned when the blonde kept silent. He did look awfully pale.
"Are you alright?" Neji asked quietly as they made their way to the nurse's office.
Naruto made a non-committal sound and kept walking, eyes downcast. He was afraid of opening his mouth and letting out the turbulent emotions raging inside him. The cut on his lip was throbbing and he must have banged his elbow on the way down because it hurt like a bitch—but all he could think of was the sudden intake of breath, the painful clash of noses and a scent-like the smell of lightning in the air.
Naruto raised a hand and touched his lips.
The feel of lips, rough and impossibly hot, pressing onto his like something he'd never felt before.
