A word from the author: Thanks for the reviews guys! It made me feel all blushy and grateful. Here's another chapter for y'all. Happy Valentine's Day!

If someone had been looking in through the window, they would have been met with a cute yet suspicious sight. For there, entangled in one another and looking totally comfortable, were our boys Naruto and Sasuke. The channel on the stereo had changed its tune a little in the past hour; it was now catchy techno-type songs that drifted about the room.

Unsurprising, Sasuke was the first one to awake. He shifted and was just arching his back in a stretch when something made him froze in mid-movement.

There were a LOT of things wrong with this picture, but the very first thing he noticed was that Naruto's face was much too close to his own. He attempted to lean backwards, but ended up pulling along the blond. Upon further inspection, Sasuke discovered with great shock that Naruto's arms were firmly wrapped around the raven's neck.

It was like a horror movie. Sasuke's eyes traveled downwards to observe the situation. His entire body was entwined with Naruto's, even their feet were curled together. It looked an awful lot like they had fallen asleep with one trying to seduce the other, and Sasuke didn't like it one bit.

Suddenly Naruto shifted and opened his blue eyes, blinking groggily. They didn't stay like that for long though, when they found an enraged pair of onyx ones glaring back.

"Get. Off. Of. Me," Sasuke hissed.

Once again Naruto found himself shaking in Sasuke's penetrating gaze. There was something about those eyes that were so dangerous, so gripping.

But right now they scared the living hell out of him.

He apologized profusely and began frantically trying to free himself, accidentally kicking Sasuke in the knee cap and causing his second injury of the day. Sasuke resisted clubbing the blond over the head as they worked out the puzzle of untangling their legs.

Finally the "dobe" rolled away from Sasuke, having successfully broken them apart. Sasuke sat up with his back to Naruto, glaring down at his throbbing knee silently.

"Sasuke, I didn't mean to! I mean, I had no idea..." he reached out to set a hand on the other boy's shoulder, but he moved just out of his reach.

"Don't touch me," he demanded without even a glance.

Naruto drew back quickly and the two sat in awkward silence as he racked his brain for some sort of excuse. He wasn't sure if his roommate wanted an apology or for him to just be quiet. After a while Sasuke stood up, albeit a little painfully, and headed for the bathroom.

"Forget it. Just get ready to go out, there's some things I need to buy and there's no way I'm leaving you alone in my apartment."

And with that, the raven disappeared around the corner. With the tension gone, Naruto let out a much-needed sigh. He wished his roommate didn't act like he hated him so much, it made him feel like the scum of the earth. Many different emotions attacked the blond then - from angry to sad to angry again. It just wasn't fair! No matter what went wrong, Sasuke always managed to pin the blame on him. Sure, Naruto DID wake him up too early AND had kicked him in the knee, but those were dumb little things, surely nothing that deserved the way he was treated.

He sat in the living room glumly, shoulders slumped and resembling a kicked puppy. The music that was meant to calm him before now increased his frustration and he turned the stereo off with a grumbled curse.

Before long the two were heading for Konoha's square. Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet, knowing Sasuke's rules of not doing anything stupid while they were out. He felt like a puppy on a tight leash, but he knew better than to question his roommate. The raven's eyes were so powerful that he simply had to look at Naruto to remind him of his established rules.

It wasn't even like Sasuke needed or wanted a grocery shopping companion, he just took Naruto along so he didn't have to worry about finding the apartment in ruins. And so, the poor boy felt very much like a ghost drifting along, with no real purpose.

Sasuke bought everything he needed, one of them being milk. Naruto wasn't used to buying milk so frequently and nearly asked about it, but decided it might be better to just not. Once they returned home, Sasuke put away everything and stole off to his room, leaving Naruto right there in the kitchen. Fury swept up the blond like a wave, and he balled his hands into fists. There was only so much more of this treatment he could take!

Like a blood hound on the scent of a fox (ironically enough), Naruto stormed down the hall and right through Sasuke's door. He found the dark haired boy sitting by the window sill, watching the day go by with his usual emotionless expression. He didn't appear to be alarmed with Naruto stamping right up to him and waiting to be acknowledged. His dark gaze flickered over to the boy nonchalantly.

"What are you doing in my room," the words were a question but his tone made it more of a statement.

"Waiting for you to tell me why you're always acting like a jerk around me!" came Naruto's half yelled reply. Sasuke blinked, almost like he wondered why Naruto was getting so worked up over it.

"I never said you could come into my room," he answered, ignoring the previous subject erupting the whiskered boy even further. Seeing Naruto get more huffed up and more ready to tear apart the room caused Sasuke to raise an eyebrow.

"You just don't get it, do you?! You're always acting like you're better than me! Every day I have to deal with your stupid rules and your even stupider hair!"

Hey, what can I say. Naruto was never very good at insults.

"And as if that wasn't enough, here you are sitting like nothing's wrong! What is the MATTER with you?!"

All the anger Naruto had unleashed made his chest heave and his breath come in pants. Sasuke just stared back at him, rather annoyed now.

"Leave my room and stop breathing up my air," he finally said, a cold edge in his voice. He was losing patience.

Naruto's inner spark was now an inferno. With a howl of rage, he drew back his arm and swung out, about to teach Sasuke once and for all that he wouldn't just lie down and take it anymore. The space closed between Sasuke's face and Naruto's fist, it was so close...

Then, as luck would have it, the power went out.

Every light in the apartment snapped off at once. Outside a storm began its first wave of attack, the rain hammering against the window so hard it created little 'tink tink' sounds.

Naruto's knuckles were lightly touching Sasuke's forehead. Outside, a loud clap of thunder made the blond leap away. Sasuke watched him, a completely unimpressed look on his face.

"See what happens when you let yourself get so emotional?"

Naruto trembled with rage as Sasuke rose and brushed by him on his way to the door.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about! You think you can act however way you wa-"

The sound of the bedroom door closing made Naruto bite his lip. It was useless trying to prove a point to that thick-headed, bossy, snobby, jerkwadish, arrogant, cocky, sarcastic ass-

A gust of wind rattled the window, interrupting his thoughts. He could almost feel the apartment sway in the storm that had become relentless. Just like that, Naruto's anger faded and was replaced by nervousness.

He couldn't believe this, but he was actually worried for Sasuke's safety.

Hurrying out the door, he tried to keep himself from panicking.

"Sasuke?" he called out, his concern evident in his voice.

No reply.

"Sasuke? Sasuke?!"

Naruto frantically searched around, checking every room and freaking out even more when he found they were empty. He headed back down the hall towards Sasuke's bedroom, hoping he was just looking in the wrong side of the apartment.

In his haste, Naruto failed to notice the hallway closet door creak open. It was only until Sasuke emerged with a flashlight in his hand, the beam pointing up into his face as he tried to find the off switch, that Naruto was finally aware.

The blond let out a god-awful shriek and leaped backwards, arms up for defense.

"S-Sasuke! Y-you're a ghost!"

Sasuke's gaze slowly turned on him and again he cocked an eyebrow. He found the switch with his finger and snapped it off casually. Naruto instantly dropped his guard, ridiculously relieved.

"O-oh...you scared me for a minute there...but thank god you're okay!" he breathed, bending over and setting a hand on his chest.

The raven eyeballed him suspiciously. "I was checking the generator. Do you really get scared that easily?"

The question made Naruto blush with embarrassment.

"N-no way! It's just that I don't really like storms is all..."

Sasuke's expression told Naruto that he wasn't convinced.

"Whatever. Listen, there's no way to tell when the power will come back on, so I suggest you find something to entertain yourself. Oh, and it's not going to be bothering me."

Sasuke went into the kitchen to return the flashlight to its drawer, and headed for his room again.

Naruto didn't want to be alone. To put it simply, he REALLY didn't like storms or the dark. The only solution he could see was to stay with Sasuke, but the chances of that were very slim. Still, when he failed he wanted to be able to say he had tried.

"Uh, Sasuke?"

He stopped the Uchiha just before he slipped in through his door.

"What?"

"Could I maybe...stay in your room with you?"

Fingers crossed.

Long pause.

"...didn't I say that you aren't going to bother me?"

"Yeah, and you were right! Please, I don't want to sit in the dark by myself...I'll be good, I promise!"

Another long, suspenseful pause.

"...fine. But if you do anything that makes me regret this, anything at all, you're going on the roof."

His decision voiced, Sasuke stepped into his room without even waiting to hear Naruto's grateful "thank you".

Naruto stood there a moment, surprised that he was triumphant. With a soft smile, he jogged down the hall to Sasuke's room, eager to get out of the dark.

Touching the door, he allowed himself one more thought before going in.

Maybe he doesn't hate me after all...

That's it for this chapter! Now, I know where you all think this is going (or maybe you're one of the small handful that wasn't thinking about it), but there will NOT be a lemon in the next chapter. At this stage the boys are too young to be thinking of sex, so bear with me for now alright? The time will come...one day. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!

- T-t-T