19. In-Grown Toenail (Sasunaru, but I don't think this has much to do with slash, sorry)

Something had been wrong with Naruto for the entire day. Sasuke had begun to notice the blonde's excessive fidgeting early in the morning, during their breakfast. Usually a bright smile accompanied an extremely fidgety Naruto, but not today. There had been a concerned sort of frown on his face instead of a hyper grin.

Now the team formerly known as Team 7 was dining at a ramen shop, one that Naruto had suggested they go to the day before. Sasuke was going to get to the bottom of this. Naruto was his teammate, and if there was something wrong, he needed to know. Who knows, he might even help.

Both Sakura and Kakashi had excused themselves from the table, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone for the first time all day. The Uchiha leaned across the table, trying to put on a concerned look, but only succeeding in looking broody himself.

"What's wrong, Naruto? You've been acting weird all day," he said.

The blonde gave him an incredulous look. "So? Am I not allowed to have bad days?" Sasuke winced at Naruto's defensive tone.

Leaning away from the blonde, Sasuke sighed. "No, sorry. I just thought you could use some extra help."

"Are you implying that I can't take care of myself?!" The blonde we getting angrier and more agitated by the second.

"No, of course you can! But," Sasuke thought quickly, trying to figure out the best way to calm Naruto down, "Sakura was worried about you!"

That caught Naruto's attention. "Really?" he asked, disbelief filling his voice.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, we've all noticed that you've been acting odd today."

A blush colored Naruto's cheeks, and the blonde looked down at his lap. "Sasuke, tell her I'm fine."

Sasuke could tell from Naruto's voice that he was lying. "But you're not?"

"No, no! I am, really. It's just, I've got this little problem that she doesn't need to know about."

"What kind of a problem?" Sasuke's concern was growing.

Naruto continued to look down as he pondered his answer, then he looked back up at Sasuke with a little smile. "I've got an in-grown toenail and it's bothering the heck out of me!"

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probably the worst thing I've written in a while... grrr...curse you, madhav!! ...sleeeeepp...