"Today's tears always bring tomorrow's happiness."

-Joe (the fairy)


"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight."

"Shut the fuck up."

Naruto slammed a fist down his table in irritation.

"Work with me, damn you! It's not like I asked for this class!"

"You sound like a douche." Kiba pointed out, crumpling his own poem piece and tossing it away. "I am not reading this crap and you can't make me."

"Fine." Naruto grumbled, burying his nose onto his own paper. "Fail, for all I care. See if Iruka-sensei lets you off of this one."

"Since when were you a teacher's pet?" Kiba kicked back and tossed his feet up on the desk, much to Naruto's chagrin.

"I'm not. Iruka-sensei's just fucking scary."

He wasn't. At least, not really. Naruto just really, really liked the man, who had given him the first friendly smile in the school and asked him if he had adjusted nicely to Konoha.

"I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith."

Naruto wrinkled his brow in frustration. He had absolutely no idea what the poem was saying and he was expected to write a report on it?

"Hey, Gaara. What do you make of this?" Naruto turned around to address the surly red-head. He had taken up a habit of talking at the boy, who never reacted much except for an occasional glare or hiss of irritation.

As it was, Gaara barely looked up from where he was staring at the table. Naruto snuck a glance beside him, where Sasuke was looking out the window. He punched himself mentally in the face.

Stop it, idiot. You hate the guy's guts, remember? You swore never to look at his ugly mug again.

Naruto quickly turned back to his poem and decided that he was going to make up some bullshit. Lots and lots of bullshit.

"Naruto."

"I'm sorry!" Naruto leapt to his feet in alarm. "I'll do this properly, I swear! No bullshitting!"

There was a round of snickering from the class.

"I'm sure you'll do a great job," Iruka replied, amused. "So why don't you come up here and read your poem to the class?"

"What?" Naruo's voice cracked. "Uh, no thanks. I mean, Kiba ate my poem."

"That's ok, sensei. He can take mine, instead." Kiba grinned, grabbing the paper that Naruto had been clutching behind his back.

A few catcalls and whistles from the boys sealed his fate and Naruto was forced to stumble to the front, where Iruka patted him encouragingly on the shoulder.

"Try to understand what the poet is trying to tell you." Said Iruka. "Every person has their own version and interpretation of poetry. We want to know yours."

"I didn't really understand the poem." Naruto replied nervously.

"Have you ever been in love, Naruto?"

There was a whoop from Kiba, that asshole, and a bunch of girls giggled, causing another round of teasing from the boys.

"Sensei, are you bullying me?" cried Naruto.

"Not at all!" Iruka laughed. "Alright then, how about I put it like this. Have you ever felt something for someone, that was different from anything else you've felt in your life? That moment, when… as if the whole world was down to the two of you. Like nobody else really mattered. Like your heart was being squeezed so hard, it hurt."

A few girls sighed dreamily and Naruto realized in horror that his face was turning red. The floor. Please. Let it crack open and swallow him up.

"H-how do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Naruto began, shooting Kiba the dirtiest look he could muster when the boy swallowed down a large snort of laughter. "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight…"

The thing was, though he was loathed to admit it, Iruka-sensei's question bothered Naruto. Love? Had he ever been in love? If Naruto would have to answer, it would be a 'no.' But what did it mean, to be in love?

Have you ever felt something for someone that was different from anything else you've felt in your life?

Naruto felt the heat creeping into his cheeks again as an image of dark hair and pale fingers rose unbidden in his mind.

"Ugh! No! Fucking NO!"

The class erupted into hysterical laughter as Naruto threw down his poem in disgust and kicked it around for good measure.

Iruka sighed and waved him off, knowing it was no use to force him any longer than that. Naruto gave Kiba a kick for good measure (he was dying on the floor) before slumping into his seat. It felt like every cell in his body was vibrating with tension as he attempted to mentally bleach himself.

Uchiha fucking Sasuke. That was dangerous territory. Naruto tried to ignored the fact that the mere mention of the name made his stomach drop.

Like your heart was being squeezed so hard, it hurt?

Naruto gritted his teeth and buried his face in his arms as he remembered:

Kiba had barreled head-on to Sasuke and forced him to crash into Naruto, who happened to be mere inches from his face. Flat on his back, blue eyes widened in alarm as he felt lips—hot, dry lips—press onto his with a painful clack of teeth.

They had kissed.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Naruto shook his head violently, trying to physically dispel the images in his head. He didn't want to remember, damn it! He swore he would block it from his memory till the end of time! That same night, wide-awake and thoughts spinning, he decided that he was going to forget the fact that he basically had his first kiss stolen, on a grimy kitchen floor, in front of a shit-ton of people.

"Sensei, sensei!"

That was Sakura's voice. Even in the depths of his despair, Naruto felt a spark of nails-on-a-chalkboard irritation.

"I think Sasuke-kun would do a great job!" She said eagerly. "Don't you think so, everyone?"

A chorus of wild 'yes's filled the classroom as a few girls fervently backed her up. Iruka gave an indulgent smile.

"What do you say, Sasuke? We'll finish with you. Come on up here."

Naruto almost fell out of his seat in shock when he heard the scrape of chair from behind. He was seriously going to do it? Forgetting his embarrassment, Naruto raised his head and watched as the Uchiha slowly made his way to the front. Even Kiba had picked himself up from the floor to watch properly.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate,"

His voice was like liquid gold, and Naruto felt it slowly pooling from his head, warming him up to his toes.

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date,"

Naruto soon noticed that Sasuke held no paper, and the realization made him snap his eyes to his face. Dark eyes glanced towards him at the exact moment and Naruto felt a jolt of electricity as their eyes met.

Holy shit.

He quickly looked away.

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed,"

There were dreamy sighs around the room but no one said a word, too caught up by Sasuke's performance. Naruto kept his eyes firmly glued to the desk, even though he could swear…

"But thy eternal summer shall not fade,"

He suddenly remembered something Grandpa Sarutobi told him once.

It was very rare, but sometimes, Naruto would get a flash of an image, or a face, but mostly strong emotions. When he was around eleven, Sarutobi—who was the Haruno's then-gardener—had once found him crying in the shed. He had been slapped for stealing a cookie from the pantry. He was at the age where he felt angry at the world; his small, child's body struggling to contain the violent emotions of a teenager.

In his moment of weakness, he had lashed out at the old man, who had simply taken it all silently and then pulled him close afterwards. In the face of unexpected kindness, Naruto confessed through bitter tears that, at night, he sometimes dreamed of being surrounded by warm arms and feeling loved. And sometimes, he thought he could make out the faces of strangers. Naruto knew they were most likely fanciful imaginings, and he was angry at himself for wanting something, even though he knew he could never obtain it.

"The mind never truly forgets." Sarutobi had told him gently. "You might not remember it, but your body does. Your heart does. Once upon a time, you had parents, Naruto. Once upon a time you were loved, and you were happy."

"I was never happy." Naruto replied dully.

"What is happiness?" Sarutobi had laughed. "We all strive to reach it but what is it, really? They say those who search for happiness, must have known it once upon a time. That is why they try so hard to find it again."

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,"

Naruto slowly raised his eyes and felt an out-of-body sense of inevitability as Sasuke's gaze turned to meet his.

"So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Naruto held perfectly still until the other boy broke the gaze, turning to accept congratulations from an ecstatic Iruka-sensei. Somehow, in those few moments, he had a mini revelation.

These emotions… this heart-pounding confusion and exhilaration, like the feel of a thousand expanding balloons… he had never known them, but they did not feel alien. For the life of him, he wouldn't be able to say how or why, or when and where. Like de-ja-vu, or the whisper of dreams between the state of waking and sleep. It was not tangible, but somehow… somehow, he knew.

"Those who search for happiness… must have known it once upon a time. That is why they try so hard to find it again."

…Happiness, huh?