Chapter 12

"Gooooooodddd mmmorning!"

"...Good morning my ass."

"What splendid weather we have today!"

"...Splendid weather my ass."

"The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, what finer morning than this?"

"...What the fuck has gotten into you, Naruto? You're scaring me. It's not even morning."

"...Just hyped up for that party tomorrow! You can totally borrow your mom's care or something and drive us there, right?"

"Yeah yeah, I already asked."

"Awesome! You know my address, right?"

"I'm pretty sure I do."

"Okay, then we're all set! Damn that stupid clock, won't it go faster?"

Kiba laughed and watched Naruto glare childishly at the clock mounted on the wall. It was the last period on a Friday afternoon, and they just had to be stuck with Gai-sensei, of all people. That was not good.

"Students! I propose we run fifty laps around this gym in celebration of another week gone by!"

Everyone groaned and slumped their shoulders.

Yepp, definitely not good.

"Come on, kids! Where's that youthful spirit of yours? Let's jog then!"

A few people begrudgingly started running. Another few people tried to sneak out and escape, but were caught by the watchful (and creepy) eyes of Gai-sensei.

"Get a move on!"

Kiba grinned at Naruto, a glint evident in his eyes. Naruto took the hint.

"Damn straight I can run faster than you!" he shouted, sprinting off suddenly, glancing back at Kiba.

"No way in fuck you won't!" Kiba laughed, chasing after him. This way, the last twenty minutes of class should go by much faster.

"You little runt, get back here!" Kiba yelled, adding more speed to his pace.

Naruto just laughed, keeping a save five feet between them two. Turning his head around, he stuck his tongue out at Kiba.

"You'll never catch me, dog-boy!"

"Why you—!"

By now they had encircled the gym at least ten times. They weren't really counting, obviously.

Glancing back again, Naruto called out, "Wittle Doggie! Can't even outrun me!" It was so fun to make fun of Kiba, just to see the expression that appears on his face.

"Naruto, you little—WATCH OUT!" Kiba suddenly shouted, his eyes widening.

Naruto turned around just in time to see himself collide head first into...a fluff of pink hair.

Haruno Sakura.

"Oooowwww! Watch it!" Sakura whined, pushing herself up from the floor. She glared daggers into Naruto, who sat up too.

"I-I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention and, and—" Naruto stuttered, embarrassed that he had knocked another person over.

"Obviously you weren't, no one could be that dumb." Sakura rubbed her sore elbows where she had crash landed onto.

She looked around quickly then, and sighed, feeling relieved. At least Sasuke didn't seem to notice that ungraceful thing happening.

"I'm really, really sorry," Naruto mumbled, standing up. He offered Sakura a hand, which she hesitantly took.

Patting imaginary dirt off her clothe, Sakura huffed and stormed off in the direction of Sasuke.

Naruto stared at her retreating back and shrugged. Whatever. Girls were weird.

"Nice one there, Uzumaki," Kiba teased, coming up besides Naruto.

"Shut up! I just get easily distracted!" Naruto pouted, folding his arms cutely in front of him.

Awww, Kiba just wanted to ruffle the kid's hair. Which he did, and none too gently.

"Hey hey! That hurts! You're messing up my do!" Naruto complained, putting protective arms around his head.

"...Do? What do? Do you even comb your hair?" Kiba scoffed.

"...once or twice..." Naruto grumbled.

Kiba raised an eyebrow.

"...a month. But so what? I look cool like this!" Naruto defended, turning around and pouting some more.

Chuckling, Kiba slung an arm around him, pressing his cheek against Naruto's, just to mock him.

"Sure you do, kid. Sure you do," Kiba teased, reaching up and ruffling the golden locks once more.

"Arrggg! Why does everyone call me kid? I'm the same age as you!" exclaimed Naruto, shielding his hair from further attacks.

Kiba shrugged. It just sort of came naturally, seeing how kid-like Naruto always was.

"Maybe it's 'cause you're so short! What are you, 5' 5"?" Kiba offered, standing tall, proud of his 5' 7" height. He would still grow, of course, but 5' 7" was good enough for his sophomore year!

"Hey hey! I'm 5' 5 and a HALF"! Hmph!" Naruto's cheeks puffed out in indignation.

"Hahahaha, 'cause that totally makes a difference!"

"It does!" yelled Naruto, slugging Kiba's shoulder.

"So you're one and a half inches shorter than me. Not bad, kid, not bad," smirked Kiba.

"RAWRRR! I'll get you!"

Laughing, Kiba ran off, Naruto right on his tail.

They ran another five laps until Naruto got fed up and launched himself off his feet, grabbing a hold of Kiba's waist and tackling them both to the ground.

Groaning, Naruto sat up, rubbing his head.

"Third time I've sprawled on the floor now." He looked over to Kiba, who was lying face down on the ground. He flipped over and glared menacingly at Naruto. After a few seconds of playful glares, they both suddenly burst out laughing, Naruto dropping back down and rolling all over the place, holding his stomach in all his mirth.

It wasn't until the bell rang two minutes later that they calmed down, wiping tears out of their eyes.

Boy, they sure had found the right best friend; like a brother from another mother, if you catch the drift.

They both stood up, each helping the other.

"Well, see ya tomorrow at 10:30, kid!" Kiba patted Naruto's head one last time and raced out, laughing.

"Grrr, that Kiba," muttered Naruto, picking up his school bags and slandering out too.

He wasn't in much of a hurry since work didn't start until six, and since the half mile from school to his house would take twenty minutes, making it around 4:45 when he would arrive; and then he'd have to walk the two miles from his house to work, which will take like, forty to fifty minutes to get there; then he'd only have ten minutes to rest at home in the middle of all this, or else he'd be late to his six o'clock shift. Ten minutes at home is not worth walking an extra mile for. So, he's decided that he'd just walk from school to work, just like Tuesdays and Thursdays, except he'd be there an hour early. Normally, he'd try to do overtime, but his very stubborn manager refused 'cause the full capacity of waiter had been filled, since a lot of people work until six, then go home for dinner or something; which he still didn't understand. Shouldn't there be more waiters during dinner rush hours? But the people in his shift were considerably less than the one before. Not that he questioned his manager's skills, but it seemed a bit stupid.

Anyways, so now that he was on his way to work, he could get a bit more excited for tomorrow's party! It really sounded like fun! There'd probably be a lot of awesome people there, and the food! Yesssss! If only the love of his life was there too, then it'd be the greatest thing ever!

Yes, he was in love. Very deeply in love, mind you. And his love was...Ramen.

Miso Ramen, especially.

Oh how he longed to eat that every meal, to feel the slippery wet slickness of each string of noodle, to taste the delicate balance of spices and herbs in each spoonful of soup, to have all this and bring it towards his awaiting mouth...

Mmmmmm, he craved it so badly now!

Naruto drooled a bit, his thoughts contaminated with ramen. Passersby wondered if the boy was retarded or something, seeing as how he walked blindly, a euphoric expression plastered on his face, not paying attention to anything, especially to a certain man that was creeping up behind him.

It was only until the guy breathed a "Naruto" in his ear that Naruto noticed him with a start.

"SAI! Arrggg! You always scare me to death with your sneaky ways!" Naruto accused. Not that he'd notice even if a tornado went by.

"Going to work this early? Determined to not be late for once, right?" Sai teased, his smile never wavering.

"Hmph! Not just because of that! I just have to place better to go! What about you, Sai? Doesn't your shift start at six on Fridays too?" questioned Naruto, squinting his eyes at the dark haired teen.

"I usually get to work one hour early. You just never knew because you're always late."

Naruto pouted, having been defeated.

"Why?"

"'Cause I hate my house," Sai stated, his out of place smile still there.

Naruto's eyes widened at that. "...What? Why?" He for one, loved his house...um, apartment...even though it gets lonely by himself sometimes. He could think of no reason to hate one's house, especially when there's family in it.

Sai put on a thoughtful face, his finger on his lips in the usual thinking pose.

"I don't really know. I just don't like it. Every time I step in there, I feel like I want to kill bunnies."

"...bunnies?"

"Yes."

"...You're creepy." Naruto bluntly stated, grinning.

"And you're so normal, oh yeah," Sai sarcastically retorted. Naruto laughed. Ever since two weeks ago when he first met his fellow waiter, the guy's grown on him, even his weird smile and sense of humour.

"Like every other little boy, aren't you, Naruto? Only the fact that you have no penis being different."

Except Sai's obsession with him having no penis. That, he wasn't so fond of.

"You fucker Sai, I do have one!" Naruto winced at the profanity.

"No proof, no verification, not believing it." Sai smirked, watching Naruto's expressions turn sour.

"Are you suggesting I'm neutered?"

"...sure." Though he was actually implying how girly Naruto looked, but whatever. That'll work too.

"ARRRGG! Fuck you! Mr...I'm obsessed with Naruto's penis!" Naruto exclaimed childishly in exasperation, throwing his arms up in defeat. Several people turned at the word penis and giggled. Naruto slunk back and hid behind Sai, the cutest blush overcoming his cheeks. He muttered a small "fucker" to Sai and fell in step with him again.

Sai just grinned.

"Dear apartment of mine!" yelled Naruto, banging and running clumsily into his apartment room. After closing and locking the door behind him, he collapsed on the bed in an adjoining room. It was orange and navy blue with little swirls all over it. Naruto actually made it himself back in fifth grade for a Home Ec. project and has used it since. He was very fond of it. Now, with his nose buried firmly in it, he inhaled deeply, relinquishing all his tensions in the homely smell it gave off. Quite quickly he nodded off and fell asleep, dreams of many lurking figures haunting his mind.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

Naruto bolted out of his covers and fell with a crash off the side of his bed, rubbing his ribs, the pounding in his heart receding to be replaced by the pounding at the door. Getting up, still light headed and drowsy, he walked to the door, opening it with a confused expression on.

"Dude, you ready yet?" Kiba asked, taking in Naruto's dishevelled state. He had obviously slept in his clothes.

Naruto yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "...ready?" He smacked his mouth together a few times, still asleep mentally.

Kiba sighed and pushed through Naruto to go inside his apartment. Not even paying attention to the interior, he glanced at Naruto.

"The party, man. And you were so excited yesterday too."

Naruto blinked. Party? Party at Neji's...Saturday...eleven o'clock...

"HELL YES! Finally!" whooped Naruto, finally waking up. He jumped around Kiba, grinning like a madman. But then something clicked in his head.

Party...after work... from eight to ten...

"SHIT!"

Kiba was wholly startled by the blood curling scream that suddenly emitted from Naruto, whose face was paling by the second.

"Dude...you alright?" asked Kiba, concerned.

"...I...I DIDN'T SHOW UP TO WORK!" Naruto grabbed onto Kiba's arms and screamed in his face.

Wincing, Kiba patted Naruto on the shoulder, "T-that sucks, dude."

Naruto had a maniacal gleam to his eyes now. "And now I'll be fired! And I won't earn enough money to pay for rent! And my landlord will come and beat me up! And I'll have to go join the mafia in order to survive and live off other people's hard earned money, and I'll have to participate in gang fights, eventually leading to my death by a stab through my chest by a shiny renaissance sword! ARRRUGGGHH!" ranted Naruto, pacing around in worry.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang just then. If possible, Naruto paled even more. Shakily, he walked to the door and slowly pulled it open.

"Hi."

Naruto sighed, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. At least it wasn't his landlord kicking him out.

"Hey, Sai," greeted Naruto, holding the door more open for him. Sai stepped in and gave a small glance at Kiba who had a weirded out expression, before turning back to Naruto.

"You weren't at work," he stated.

Naruto laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Well, I guess my alarm didn't go off... and I was pretty exhausted from this week...am I fired now?" he asked, eyes widening, praying that he was saved by a miracle.

"No. I told the manager that you had called in sick," Sai said, smiling.

"Oh thank goodness, Sai, you're a life saver!" Naruto exclaimed, beaming at the boy. He turned back to Kiba, who was rooted there watching Sai. Realizing he hadn't introduced Sai yet, Naruto cleared his throat.

"Um, Kiba, this is Sai, a co-worker. Sai, this is Kiba, my bestest pal from school."

Sai smiled at Kiba, who grinned back hesitantly.

This Sai guy was a weirdo. Ignoring that fake smile, the first thing that stood out was...his choice of clothing... which was...very...very...he had no way to describe it. A half shirt that showed all of his stomach was pretty... unique...Kiba supposed. And gay.

Was Naruto in danger, Kiba wondered?

"Hey Sai...I totally just realized but...how do you know where I live?" Naruto asked, puzzled. "You're not stalking me, are you?" he joked, grinning. Kiba mentally glared at Sai, hoping that wasn't true.

"I got it from your employee form that you filled out," said Sai, his smiled still there.

"Oh okay, that makes sense," grinned Naruto. "So...what are you doing here?"

Sai stared at Naruto for a few seconds, before blandly pronouncing, "I don't want to go back to my hell hole of a house."

Sighing, Naruto patted Sai on the back, while Kiba stood twitching in the background.

"Dude, you're messed up. But whatever. I'm leaving to go to a party soon, anyways, so you can't stay here."

"Party?" Sai inquired, tilting his head a bit. You could see the cogs turning in his head.

Naruto beamed brilliantly, his sparkling teeth flashing. "Yeah! It's at Neji's, and I'm so excited!"

Again, Sai being the straight forward person that he is blurted out, "Is it possible for me to come too?"

"You? Hmmmm, that's a tough question..." Naruto thought about it. Sai was really nice to him, and it felt bad to deny him the opportunity to liven up a bit. But he didn't know Neji that well yet, so it might be rude to invite random people to his party...

But Neji seemed nice too... so maybe he'll allow it?

But then again, that would be a bit impolite...

AH THE HELL WITH IT! He'll just take Sai along and beg for him to go too. There. That'll work.

"Sure! I'm sure Neji will be fine with me bringing you!" Hopefully, Naruto added under his breath.

Sai grinned, his head cogs going faster. (A/N: Hmm, what's he thinking about, I wonder?)

"Um, Naruto, we have to get going now if we want to be remotely on time," Kiba intervened, looking at

The clock that was mounted on the wall of the living room.

"Crap, what time is it?" Naruto yelled, whirling around to see. "TEN FIFTY? OH CRAP!"

He started running around, doing a million and one things at the same time. Kiba and Sai just watched in amazement. It was like he was everywhere at once. (A/N: kukuku, shadow clone technique in real life XD)

Sometime in the span of two minutes, he had changed, brushed (his teeth since it was obviously not his hair), and smashed his alarm clock a few times (just to vent out his anger on it).

"Let's go, Kiba!" And Naruto dragged Sai and Kiba both outside to Kiba's car, humming happily.

Although Sai tried fruitlessly to tell Naruto that he had a car too, somehow the blond was so caught up in his merriment that he was completely zoned out and made Kiba take Sai in his car too. Psh, the idiot.

Upon arriving, all Naruto and Kiba could do was gape, open mouthed, at the beauty that was before them.

Neji's house was freaking HUGE! The place was probably a hundred miles long, and a million miles wide! An exaggeration of course, but that's what it seemed like to them. The rose bush surrounding the palace was magnificent; all glistening with dew, even though the weather had been pretty dry lately. The house itself was of Victorian designs, the gates all fancy and snazzy, the windows extravagant and the walls crawling with vines.

Overall, it had an amazing affect on whoever looked at it.

"Dude... I'm not so sure about this anymore..." Kiba whispered. He felt strangely out of place. Actually, he was obviously out of place in this neighbourhood. This was where all the filthy rich people stayed!

"It'll be fine! Even though the house is fancy as heck, the party shouldn't, right? I mean, it's a freaking PIZZA party!" Naruto consoled Kiba, his excitement doubling.

The three of them got out of the car and walked slowly to the main gates. There was a guard there that stared at them creepily as they approached.

"State your names and business." The guard said, never moving from his stiff position.

Naruto stammered a bit, intimidated. "Uh I'm Naruto... and this is Kiba... and Sai... and we're here for the party...?" Hopefully that answer was sufficient.

Luckily enough, the guard only slightly glared at them before opening the gates to let them through.

"No funny business. There are security cameras." He said as they walked by.

"That guy was eerie." Kiba said after they were a few yards away. Naruto laughed, nodding in agreement.

"So true! Man, he probably had a plank shoved up his ass, which is why he kept giving us constipated faces!" He grinned at them both.

Sai chuckled while Kiba slapped Naruto in his hilarity. Anyways, after walking another two minutes, they finally arrived at the house. Naruto, his spontaneous boldness taking over, rang the doorbell a few times and stood back, waiting.

The door opened and faint music could be heard wafting out. Naruto looked up and stared into bulging eyes.

...Lee!

"Naruto-san! And his fateful friend, Kiba-kun! And some other guy! Welcome to Neji's humble abode!"

"Hah, hi Bushy Eyebrows! Didn't know you were going to be here too!" Naruto grinned back.

"Lee? Who's that?" A voice, recognizably as Neji's, called out from somewhere behind him.

"It's Naruto-san, Neji!"

A small crash could be heard before a slightly flustered Neji appeared at the door, smiling. Lee disappeared back into the deeps of the house.

"Why, Naruto! Good to see you made it! I was getting worried there for a second when thirty minutes passed and you still hadn't shown up."

Naruto shuffled cutely, blushing. Neji could feel the blood rushing to his face. Yepp, this guy was definitely something special.

"Heheh, sorry about that. I got sidetracked. OH! Which reminds me, is it okay if I invited someone else?

He really had nowhere to go today and asked to come with. Is that okay?"

At this, Neji finally noticed the looming presence behind Naruto.

Black hair...black eyes...that gay outfit...and that smirk...Neji definitely didn't like this guy.

"Pleeeaasseeeeeee?" begged Naruto, his eyes growing big and wide.

Damn.

"...Sure! That's fine!" Neji forced himself to say, his smile faltering a bit. Turning to the stupid guy, he raised his hands in a handshake. Sai hesitantly took it.

"Hi, my names Neji. And you are?"

"...Sai."

"It's a...pleasure to meet you." Yeah, a real pleasure.

"...Likewise." Ooooh, this guy was good at pretending. He clearly didn't think so, with the way his smile turned faker and faker by the second.

Hastily letting go, Neji turned back to Naruto.

"So, come on in Naruto! Kiba, you and...Sai... too!" Neji warmly welcomed them in, and closed the door behind them.

...This party was going to be hectic, Neji could practically predict now.

...

Still xXCabbageXx.

Review Please!