Disclaimer : Naruto and other characters are not mine.

Warning : SasuNaru. Shonen-ai. Some other pairings later on.

"bla bla" spoken

/bla bla/ thoughts

Sunshine After the Rain

By Misaki Sakura

Chapter 6 : The Thing

Naruto was always fascinated by the nine-tailed fox in the legend. He even had a pet fox which he named Kyuubi. So when Lee asked him to become his replacement for the festival, he had known what painting he would make. The problem was to find a nice place to make it. School was not an option because Sasuke wouldn't want to wait for him after school and he didn't know to what extent the girls would torture him if they ever had the chance to lay their hands upon him. So if he didn't want to walk into his own grave, Konoha was not an option.

He had made the sketches, he had the painting in his head, now how to put it on the canvas? He had tried to do it in the house, but the house was too small. There was no empty room for him to work. And he knew Gaara didn't like the smell of the paint, so he couldn't work there.

He'd been considering using the 'room' as his studio but he hadn't asked for Sasuke's permission. /Why do I have to ask for his permission? Oh yeah, that's his room. Che, I hate this. Who does he think he is/ Talking to Sasuke was not an easy job especially for Naruto. He couldn't recall the last time he talked to Sasuke without ending up at each others' throats. And after the incident in the cafeteria, it'd be best to avoid Sasuke … for now.

The blond boy realized how much Sasuke enjoyed playing with him. Probably that's why he didn't think that the kiss was something serious. Well, it could be called serious because it's his first kiss with anyone and to know that that anyone was Sasuke … for some reasons, it didn't feel wrong.

Naruto shook his head hard. /No, no time to think about that bastard. Have to find a good place./

"Na- Naruto-kun …"

"Ah, Hinata!"

The young Hyuuga smiled shyly at him. "I- I heard you're making a painting for the festival …"

"Yeah, but I don't have a place to paint. Do you know any good place, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata nodded. "You can use my studio, Na-Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled broadly at Hinata, making the girl blushed. "Thank you, Hinata-chan!"

"Actually, I- I'm-"

"What took you so long, dobe!" Sasuke asked him, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

Hinata went silent. Sasuke looked at the girl then he frowned. But before he could say anything, Naruto pulled him out of the class. "Come on! Let's go home!" The relief he felt that he had found a place to do his painting made him forget about his anger for the other boy.

Shaking his hand out of Naruto's grip, Sasuke scowled. He tried sending his glare at Naruto but the smile on the blond boy made him decide to keep silent, for now. He directed his eyes at the Hyuuga heiress who bowed at them and left. If Hinata's making a move on Naruto, he'd do anything in his power to stop her.

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"Why is he here?"

Neji couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice when he saw Naruto in the studio. It's a small studio, made for Hinata by their father. The Hyuuga heiress showed her talent in art as much as in the medical field. She would be the star in the family if only their father hadn't cared much about her gender. Neji couldn't imagine what would happen to him if he decided to kill Hinata the time she was born. But Hinata said her killing her mother in childbirth was the real reason why her father hated for her. He gave her all she wanted except his attention. He stripped her off her heritage and made an adopted son his heir. That should show her how much he hated her. Back to the problem at hand (Neji's problem by the way).

Though it's hard to tell, Hinata was very strict at keeping her privacy. That's the reason that up until now, Neji was the only one she had given the access to her studio. What changed?

"Naruto-kun is making the painting for the festival, Neji-niisan." That's what she had said to him before. At least one thing hadn't change. Hinata didn't stutter so much around him which meant she was comfortable around him. If that changed to …

Neji glared at the boy who focused on his drawing that he didn't notice Neji's glare. The glare intensified when he saw the look Hinata gave Naruto. He should leave them, he knew that. But the thought of leaving Hinata alone with Naruto was unbearable.

Misery indeed needed a friend, so Neji picked up his cell phone and started dialing Sasuke's number.

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"What are you doing here, Itachi?" he opened his eyes lazily. He had been deprived from his sleep by the thought of a certain blue-eyed boy at night and when he tried to take a nap, his brother had to come and disturb him.

"That's not the way to talk to your brother."

Itachi ignored the glare Sasuke gave him. "Neji called. I said you're asleep."

"So? What are you doing here?"

"He left a message." Itachi looked at his brother who had just turned his back at him. "He said that Naruto is at his house. With Hinata."

"Oh."

Itachi counted .. 3…2…1 …

"WHAT!"

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Neji decided he wouldn't want to be in Sasuke's car if he's the one driving it when he saw Sasuke's car stopped right in front of him ten minutes after he called him. It actually took half an hour from his house to Sasuke's and the raven-haired boy had made it in ten minutes …nope, he wouldn't want to be in that car if he wanted to stay alive.

"Where is he!"

"Calm down, Sasuke."

"CALM DOWN!"

Neji told him to come in and headed straight to the backyard. Sasuke raised his eyebrows when Neji gestured at Hinata's studio.

"They're in the studio?"

Neji nodded. His displeasure's clearly shown on his face.

"I thought Hinata never let anyone gets into her studio except you."

Neji nodded once more. This time, he glared at the door so hard that you'd thought it'd burn. Sasuke understood that time that Hyuuga Neji was jealous. /Wow, and I thought that's not possible./

"He's doing the painting inside."

"Neji, why are you telling me this?"

Neji closed his eyes. "I don't know." Then he opened the studio's door.

"Neji-niisan!"

"Hinata-sama."

Naruto nodded at Neji to greet him. Neji nodded back in response. Then …

"What are you doing here, teme!"

Sasuke ignored him. He took a look at Naruto's painting. Naruto hadn't colored it but Sasuke could see that the painting was beautiful. This boy really got talent. Not that he would admit it to him. Not now anyway.

"It's good."

"Eh?"

Naruto didn't know how to react to Sasuke's compliment. He had heard compliments before of course, but never from Sasuke. He didn't even know the boy could compliment anyone with that big ego of his. That's what he thought anyway.

"I said it's good, usuratonkachi. I think it's time for you to go home."

Naruto looked at his watch and gasped. "Oh my god! I forgot to prepare dinner! I'm sorry, Hinata-chan. I have to go home now. It's seven already!"

Sasuke caught his hand just before he managed to reach the door. "I'll take you home."

Naruto didn't have the time to argue with the Uchiha so he nodded and followed Sasuke to his car. Neji cast a glance at Hinata who looked at Naruto's back with a blush on her face. Yes, Neji decided that he didn't like it one bit. Who would have thought things like this were going to happen? Not him.

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Gaara had the shock of his life that night when Naruto showed up with Sasuke at their doorstep. "What is he doing here?"

Gaara might not know all about what happened in Konoha but he had heard things about Sasuke that made him disliked Sasuke and worried incessantly over Naruto. So Naruto came home with Sasuke was not what he expected that night. Actually he didn't expect anything, but anything was better than that.

"He took me home. I'm sorry I'm late! I'll prepare the dinner now, Gaara."

"It's okay. You go upstairs and take a shower. I'll prepare the dinner."

"But-"

"No buts. Go."

Naruto sighed and took his way to his room. Sasuke was preparing to leave when he heard Gaara called him. "Uchiha, you can come in and join us for dinner if you want to."

Sasuke stared at Gaara for a moment before nodding.

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When Naruto saw Sasuke at the dinner table, he wasn't too surprised. Gaara was not the type of person who wanted to owe people too much. With Sasuke taking Naruto home, it's Gaara's way in thanking him. Naruto could see Sasuke didn't like Gaara very much and that feeling was mutual.

"Miso ramen!"

Sasuke looked at the bowl in front of him with strong distaste and even when Gaara didn't like ramen, the look on Sasuke's face was worth it. They ate in silence. Naruto had tried to strike up a conversation but believe me, trying to talk to Gaara and Sasuke? Not even Naruto succeeded.

"I'll wash the dishes." Naruto said when they're finished. That left Sasuke alone with Gaara alone. Another silence ensued.

"Well, I have to go now."

"I'll take you to the door."

Gaara opened the door for Sasuke. That time, he didn't see anger or anything inside the red-haired boy's eyes. Nothing. Unlike when he talked to Naruto. He could see emotions in those eyes when he looked at Naruto, when he talked to him. He felt a sudden interest in Naruto's relationship with the older boy because he's sure as hell not Naruto's brother.

"You said you're going to leave."

Sasuke nodded.

"Listen, I don't know what you're planning but whatever it is, Uchiha, leave Naruto out of this!"

Then there was emotion. Anger and most of all hatred. Sasuke looked at him in the eyes and said, "I can't."

Gaara clenched his fist in fury but he wasn't prepared when he heard what Sasuke's said later. "I care too much for him."

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Iruka stepped into the room reluctantly. Kakashi threw his jacket on the couch and started taking off his shoes. Iruka ignored him. He took a look around the room and he realized that there's only one bed there. A frown appeared on his face. There's no way he'd spend the night with Kakashi on the same bed. But he had no choice anyway. The hotel only had one room left and they had to take it.

You'd think that time could mend the wound in his heart. Well, it couldn't. Not when he had to face the cause of his suffering every month. And it became more and more often lately. He didn't hate Kakashi but the term 'forgive and forget' was easier said than done.

"Do you want anything to eat?"

"No."

Iruka dropped himself on the couch and leaned against it. The masked man looked at him with a bit of sadness in his eyes. "Do you hate me, Iruka?"

"No."

"Then why won't you look at me?"

"Do I have to?"

Iruka kept his eyes away from Kakashi. If only he could drive home right then. The thing was, he couldn't. Kakashi owned the car. After surviving hours with him in the car when he came there, he's also stuck in that place. It's in the middle of the night and they had nowhere else to go. So they went to find a hotel. He couldn't recall the place's name. He only knew that He owned it and there's someone he needed to check up on every once in a while.

Someone Naruto knew or to be exact, someone he had known and forgotten.

Like he had wished to do to Kakashi. To forget. But he was too real to be forgotten, too close.

"Iruka …"

"I'll sleep on the couch."

Kakashi sighed. "Don't worry. Even as much as I want to, I won't molest you when you sleep. I'll sleep here on the couch. You sleep on the bed."

That's the last thing Kakashi said to him all night.

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Sasuke stared at the ceiling. The clock had struck midnight and he couldn't close his eyes. Everytime he did, he saw Naruto. More and more he was drawn to him. His smile, his laugh … Sasuke saw Naruto as someone he could never become. He hated his life so much that he wanted people to feel it too, which was one of the reasons he started bullying people. Then the boy came. He destroyed Sasuke's way of life just by coming into it. No, wait. Sasuke was the one who forced him into his life. It seemed that the plan was backfired.

He remembered what he had told Gaara before. He wouldn't admit about his sudden change of feelings towards Naruto, how happy he was when Naruto accepted the deal. It's not about the deal. It's about Naruto. He had told himself that it's all because he wanted to get rid of the girls and he used Naruto to do it. That's all. But he knew it wasn't the truth. What head drawn him to Naruto he wondered?

The first time he saw Naruto, he knew the boy had a happy life. At least from what he saw. That's why he wanted to break him, to make him feel what he felt. Miserable. But later, he found out that happy life was not known to Naruto until five years before, when Iruka adopted him. Then why could he be that cheerful? Didn't he want to know his real parents who abandoned him? The boy was a mystery to him.

The more he knew him, the more he liked him. Naruto had the talent to make people love him. Like he did to Iruka, Gaara, Lee, … and Sasuke …

"Naruto …"

Would he tell Naruto? That's the real question here. Would he swallow his pride and admit his affection to Naruto, the one he disguised, hid behind the bullying, the insults … the kiss …? Would he?

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Shikamaru stared at the screen in front of him. No, it couldn't be right. There, on the screen was the data he collected about Naruto for Sasuke. The first time he checked the blond boy's background, he was surprised on how little he could find. This was a challenge to Shikamaru. Even though it would be too troublesome, but how could it be that Konoha accepted a student with no distinct background? Unless they hid it somewhere else. So Shikamaru ran a thorough check on Naruto, anything he could find, and what he found shocked him even more.

Uzumaki Naruto was dead in a car accident nine years ago.

TBC

A/N : Another chapter finished! It's getting angsty here. Sorry. I'll make it more cheerful next time. I think the story goes to fast so I'm going to slow down in the next chapters. Probably I'll tell more about Sasuke and Naruto.

Yeah, Neji likes Hinata. I hope things will work out for them somehow. Kiba and Shino will be in the next chapter along with Kankuro and Temari.

AND Sasuke realizes his feelings for Naruto! But he won't admit soon. Oh and Mendokuse means troublesome. Shikamaru really loves this word.

Review please!