xxxChapter 2: Foreignxxx

Sasuke sat down on the first step of the stairwell, picking at a bagel that he'd bought from the cafeteria. He really wasn't hungry, didn't know why he got the thing. He sighed and dropped the crumbs so they scattered on the floor. "Probably just in the mood to spend some cash," he murmured.

He waited patiently for his new 'friends' to show up. Kiba had said that usually every morning, they meet at the stairwell. Of course, because no one was near the stairwell in the morning. The three idiots- well, really it was just two idiots, Gaara was just...strange -were very secluded from the rest of the school. It wasn't even like they put an effort into trying to meet people, but then again, no one tried to meet them either.

Sasuke never had any problems making friends, he'd just chosen not to have any. Neji, Shikamaru, and Shino were an exception, because they weren't rabid girls that only wanted to get into his pants. And in one way or another, he found a piece of himself in each of them, a similarity to each boy, and that made them bearable and easier to get along with. But as far as close friends, or 'best' friend, he'd never had, wanted, nor needed such a useless thing.

He was interrupted from his musings when he felt something light but solid plop on his head. He dropped his bagel and looked up to find a grinning blond, looking stupidly at him from the balcony of the stairwell. Sasuke's face scrunched up in disgust as the memory of the dobe spitting into the drink yesterday surfaced to the forefront of his mind...Had that idiot spit in his hair?! Pale fingers quickly reached up to dark locks, expecting to feel the smooth liquid of saliva, but instead he grasped something rather hard...and sticky.

His eyes widened in horror and he shot up from his step, glaring up at the still smiling blond. "You fucking loser! Get down here and take it out!"

Naruto laughed and held up an index finger, wagging it from side to side. "Silly prick, you can't just take gum out of your hair."

"Fucking..." Sasuke cursed as he flew up the stairs after the boy. But Naruto didn't seem intimidated by him, because he ran down to meet him halfway at the platform.

"What's wrong teme?" he teased with half-seriousness as they met face-to-face. "Did I ruin your precious long hours of working to make your hair look just right? Just how much time does your conceited, pristine ass spend in front of the mirror?"

The raven swore he was seeing red. This boy was the embodiment of trouble, and trouble had a tendency to piss Sasuke off. He grabbed the front of the blond's shirt, "Why the fuck are you messing with me?" he breathed.

Naruto's brows furrowed as he hooked his hands on the other's wrists. "Because I hate people like you! All of you thinking you're so much better than everyone else just because you're smart and you have shit-loads of money! You can all go to hell!"

Sasuke snarled and jerked him closer. "You better watch that fucking mouth of yours, usuratonkachi. Don't go and fucking compare me to other people when you don't even know me!"

Naruto growled and shoved the boy off of him, tired of having his shirt in his grip. "I know enough, you goddamn hypocrite. Telling me not to judge you 'cuz I don't know you, when you yourself judged me the moment you saw me! And you don't know one damn thing about me!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but then shut it...The idiot was right, Sasuke had judged him and he knew very little about him, if anything at all...But just because he was right did not mean that was going to change anything.

Sasuke snorted and turned around to stalk back down the stairs, Naruto pouting and stomping angrily behind him.

When they reached the bottom, Sasuke was a bit surprised to see Kiba standing there with a grin. And he realized he had watched the whole thing between him and Naruto play out while Gaara stood next to him with an expressionless face.

The dog boy placed a hand in his back pocket, "I swear, you two are worse than an old married couple." He pulled his hand back out to reveal a brown, oval shaped object.

Sasuke raised a brow, but jumped back in shock when a blade popped out of the thing. "What the hell is that for?! That's a weapon! You can't bring that to schoo-" a tan hand clapped over his mouth and he spotted golden bangs out of the corner of his eye, which widened in panic.

"Shut the fuck up! Do you want everyone to hear?!" the blond yelled, "God, and you call me a dumbass?"

Kiba groaned and nodded at Naruto to hold him still.

Sasuke began thrashing, his mind set on the thought that these boys were right here, in the middle of school, intending to kill him!

Naruto wrapped his other arm around the flailing boy's torso. "Damn it Uchiha, will you stop squirming?!"

But Sasuke continued to struggle. And when Kiba yanked at his hair and tugged it back, an image of his throat slit and spilling blood flooded his mind. A tear slipped out and his eyes screwed shut, but just as suddenly as the pressure was there, it was gone, and Naruto released him.

Sasuke blinked a few times, disoriented, before catching eye of something that Kiba was holding up.

It was his hair, the piece with the gum stuck on it. Sasuke's fingers carded through his locks and felt an uneven patch of hair near the back. He blushed furiously.

Kiba sighed and stuffed the pocket knife back where it came from with a grin. "Wow, you are such a pussy."

Sasuke frowned at him, "I am not a...a..." he trailed off, not able to bring himself to say such a crude word.

"A pussy." Naruto finished or him. He raised his palms encouragingly, "C'mon teme, you can do it, it's only two syllables."

Sasuke shot him a glare, "I will not stoop to your level by saying such a vulgar word."

Naruto sniffed and placed his hands on his hips. "Oh no? You seemed pretty fond of 'fuck' a few minutes ago."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the blond, but glanced at Gaara when the red-head called to him. "Why do want to hang out with us, when you don't even trust us?"

The raven started, not entirely sure what to say in response right away. But after a moment, he answered, "I don't even know you people. What was I supposed to think when I saw dog breathe here pull out a pocket knife, and this baka blonde grabbing me from behind? I panicked."

Kiba snorted. "Well you need to calm your ass down. As low as you may think of us, we're not murderers here, so you can relax." He tossed the lock of hair to some random spot on the floor, half expecting Uchiha fan-girls to dive in and fight for it.

All thoughts and speech were interrupted by the two minute warning bell. Sasuke stood still for a second before picking up his backpack and beginning to walk away.

"And just where the hell are you going?"

The boy in question turned around and raised a brow at the blond. "I know you're stupid, but c'mon, you can't be that dense dobe."

Naruto's cheeks puffed out in anger at the insult, but he took a breath and smiled to calm himself. "We're not going to class today."

"What?" Sasuke asked in confusion, "What do you mean we're not going to class?"

Kiba actually started chuckling and Gaara gave a half smile, but nothing compared to the grinning blond. "It's called 'playing hookey.' Ever heard of it, asswipe?"

Sasuke frowned. "You mean skipping?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "No tight ass, I mean swimming." he muttered, the words dripping with sarcasm. "Of course I mean skipping!"

Sasuke scowled at him. "Well what the hell are we going to skip for? Nothing good will come from that."

Naruto gaped at him. "I think the more serious question is, why the hell don't you want to skip?"

"Think moron. Why in the fuck am I going to waste a day of work where I'll just come back and have to make up all the work anyway, giving me twice as much work?"

"You really are a prick, aren't you? We're skipping, that's it, get over it."

"I don't-"

Kiba cut in, "When you agreed to hang out with us, you also agreed to the way we do things. So if we're skipping, then sorry man, you're coming too. Besides," he grinned, "what if we need you to buy something for us? I don't think you want to trust us with your money when we're all by ourselves, ne?"

"Yeah Uchiha, you're pretty fuck damn loaded. Can't say we won't go all out with the money freedom you give us." Naruto added tauntingly. Truthfully, he didn't want the douche to go with them, but he knew that if he was forced to come, it would piss Sasuke off tremendously. So he could put up with it, as long as Sasuke suffered.

The dark teen contemplated the idea for a moment, studying Naruto's face. And it was while doing this, that he noticed something he was shocked he hadn't noticed before.

Naruto had six marks on his face. Three thin, faint, black lines that ran along each cheek, looking something akin to whisker marks. Why the hell hadn't he noticed that before?

He tilted his head and stepped up to the boy, poking his cheek with a finger and a frown.

Naruto sputtered when the finger touched his cheek and he slapped it away, "Hey hey! Personal space dick!"

Sasuke ignored the comment, and instead asked rather bluntly (rudely), "What the hell are those marks on your face?"

Faster than anything Sasuke had ever seen, Naruto's face drained of all color, looking as if he had been stabbed. He placed a hand on the side of his face and hung his head down, bangs shadowing his eyes. Kiba was staring at the Uchiha with a wide, shocked gaze. And Gaara was giving him a glare so foul, he was surprised he didn't explode or burst into flames.

He thought of the only sensible thing to say in his confused state, "What?"

"You insensitive ass!" Kiba barked, while Gaara's fingers twitched with some suppressed need.

Fuck, what did he do?

The quiet blond's head suddenly snapped up. "Don't you come anywhere with us, you son of a fucking bitch." he muttered angrily, then turned and walked away, hand still cupping his face.

Sasuke was surprised when he realized that the words had actually pained him a bit, evoked an uncomfortable turn in his stomach.

He obviously had hurt the boy, hit a nerve...but why the hell did he care?