Six Geese a Laying

~*G*O*L*D*E*N*~

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Naruto's shout could have woken the neighbors, but when Sasuke had opened her door that Sunday morning to find Naruto lying on some pillows in what she assumed was supposed to be a sexy pose, she really did not care that dumping hot coffee onto him might cause him to yell and wake the neighbors.

However, when she started to hear movement in the apartments around her, she started to care. "Get in here now!" Sasuke hissed. "And take your stupid pillows with you!" She grabbed some of the pillows herself and just barely managed to shut the door behind her and Naruto before she started to hear voices out in the hallway. "Go hide in the kitchen," she whispered quickly.

Just seconds after she had got the words out, she heard a knock at her door. When she opened it, she saw her next door neighbor standing tiredly in the hallway. "What's wrong, Mr. Hayate?"

"I heard screaming. Are you okay?" he asked. Mr. Hayate was a sweet man and always tried to look out for Sasuke because he was worried about a young girl living alone.

"I'm a bit frightened by the screaming," she said in a mock scared voice, "but it did not come from my room. Do you know what it was?" She grabbed his arm to try and convince him that she was genuinely worried about the noise.

"No, but you better stay inside for a while. Lock the doors and windows and don't open the door until I come back," he warned her, then walked away to talk with some of the other neighbors.

Sasuke closed and locked her door with a sigh. "That was close," she mumbled. "Naruto! What the hell were you doing?" She walked into the kitchen to find Naruto scrubbing his bare chest with a washcloth. "Put your shirt back on!"

"I would, but it happens to be covered in hot, sticky coffee," Naruto grumbled. "And, whose fault is that?"

Sasuke rolled her eyes. "What did you think would happened when I opened the door to … that?"

"I thought you were starting to like my gifts," Naruto whined. "You even went along with the ear piercing and they look beautiful by the way."

Sasuke sighed. "And what was this supposed to be?"

"Six geese a laying," Naruto said curtly. "These," he said picking up one of the pillows, "are goose down pillows and they are used for lying down."

"That's stupid, your stupid," Sasuke mumbled, but she really did not have any anger behind her words.

Naruto just smiled at the playful teasing coming from Sasuke that meant she was not angry with him, but from now on, he decided not to give her any gifts before he was sure she had drank her morning coffee first. "Can I use your washing machine?"

"I don't know why I should let you after what you did, but give me your shirt and I'll wash it with a load of my clothes," Sasuke said. It was as close as an apology as Naruto would get and he knew it. Sasuke took the shirt from Naruto's outstretched hand and left the room to wash it. "Make me some new coffee!" she yelled from the other room.

Naruto started whistling as he rummaged around Sasuke's kitchen to find the things he would need to make some coffee. Anyone else would probably be upset by Sasuke's angry behavior, but Naruto knew better. Sasuke never allowed herself to reveal her emotions to just anyone, so to see an emotion from her towards him, even if it was anger, meant that she trusted him.

And, he had to admit this gift was not that great. It was just all he could think of doing. Maybe he could find something else to do with the pillows. The first thought that ran through his head made him choke. "Nope," he muttered. "Definitely can't do that. I need something more PG … hm …. A pillow fight!" He got an evil look on his face. This would be fun.

However, for his own safety, he would wait until she had some more coffee. He was already on thin ice with her. Besides, she would let her calm down and feel like she was safe from his craziness. Mwahahahaha …

"What's going on in that crazy head of yours?" Sasuke asked as she noticed the strange look on his face.

"~N~o~t~h~i~n~g," he chimed.

Sasuke scowled. Whatever it was, it was something. "Where's my coffee?" she demanded. She would need caffeine to deal with whatever he had planned. When Naruto held a cup out to her, she nearly ripped it out of his hands.

"Have you put anything in your stomach this morning besides coffee?" Naruto asked with a chuckle.

"Hn."

"~sigh~ I'll make some breakfast," Naruto said. "Pancakes sound good?"

"Hn."

"Fine. Don't talk to me. Just sit there quietly and drink your coffee, which I made by the way. In the meantime, I will be making actual food to nourish your body. If it weren't for me, you probably would not ever even eat a decent breakfast. I'll be done in 15 minutes," Naruto ranted to Sasuke, who was only half (maybe only a quarter) listening to him. He was muttering about 'stupid antisocial loners' the whole time he was preparing the pancakes. "Here," he said as he slammed a plate of finished pancakes in front of her. Then, he got a plate of pancakes for himself and sat down next to her to eat.

"Thank you. I'm sure these will be disgusting since they were made by an idiot, but it would be rude not to eat them after you put in the effort," Sasuke said as casually as possible and started to eat her pancakes quietly.

"You're welcome," Naruto said back just as casually, but when she looked away to eat her pancakes, he smiled brightly at the hidden compliment. He knew if Sasuke really thought they were disgusting, she would not care about being rude and would just throw them in the trash.

As they ate, each of them would steal glances at the other. It was strange how just a glimpse can mean so much when you are in love, although Sasuke had yet to officially and consciously acknowledge her love. However, Naruto was beginning to pick up on the signs that she was in love with him. He could only hope that she would recognize it soon enough for his plan to be completed.

"Hey, Sasuke?" he asked between bites.

"Hn?"

"Do you … ahem … I mean, would you …. Are you doing anything on New Year's Eve?" he asked awkwardly.

Sasuke raised a questioning eye brow. "No~why?"

"I … uh … I was planning to throw a party in the café on New Year's Eve for my friends," he explained.

"So?"

"I want you to come," he said nervously. "I mean … you are my friend, too, right?"

Sasuke was quite for a moment. She stared at Naruto's nervous demeanor and wondered why he would ask that. As far as she knew, they were the typical definition of friends. She had never really had a friendship before Naruto, so she was not good at judging what it meant to be a friend. She thought they were friends. Had Naruto not thought they were friends? Even if he did not before, he at least wanted to be her friend now. Was it good that he wanted to be friends now or bad that he did not consider them friends before this? "I thought we were ... friends," she said quietly. "Did you not think we were friends?" Had she misinterpreted their relationship?

Naruto practically exploded with happiness at her words. "Of course we are friends!" he yelled as he threw an arm around her shoulder making Sasuke blush, which she failed at trying to disguise as a scowl. "It's just hard to tell with you sometimes. You are so quite. Um … Not that that is a bad thing. It means you think a lot and you know how to control your words. I always talk and I sometimes get in trouble for talking too much."

"Sometimes?"

"Okay, a lot, but that's why I'm saying it is good that you are quiet. It is nice to just sit in silence with you because you always look like you are thinking something so profound and deep. When I'm with you, I can feel your passion for knowledge. Bu~ut, it is harder to figure out what you are feeling," he finished with a whine.

"Not everybody wants their emotions known to the world," Sasuke said with a faraway voice. "It can be dangerous."

Naruto smiled gently and squeezed her shoulder lightly. He knew how hard it was for her to admit this to him and it meant that he was getting further and further behind her emotional barriers and into her heart. It really was only a matter of time now. He could not wait until she finally admitted her love! It would be the best moment of his life.

"It's okay to hide your emotions from the world," he whispered into her hair. "As long as you are able to show them to the people who matter."

Sasuke gasped lightly. Naruto had never done anything like this before. No one had ever treated her like this before. She felt so vulnerable. Her mind struggled to force herself to strengthen her barriers, but her heart was peaking cautiously through the cracks. Her heart allowed her a moment longer in Naruto's embrace before letting her mind take control. "I'll go wash up," she announced, standing up abruptly and breaking out of Naruto's hold.

"Okay," he responded quietly. He took a deep breath and then resumed his loud and cheerful persona. "I'll wait for you in the living room!" With that, he scampered into the living room, secretly taking some of his goose pillows with him.

Sasuke slowly washed up the few dishes Naruto had used because she needed some time to think. Letting herself be vulnerable was scary. After her parents had died, her heart had broken and the only way that she survived was by locking her heart far away from anything that could hurt it.

Yet, she had not felt any danger with Naruto. Was her heart fixed? Was Naruto the one who had fixed it? Did she want her heart fixed? Wasn't a broken heart is easy to shatter again? There were so many questions swirling in her mind that she just could not find answers for.

Before she realized, she was out of things to wash and had to make a decision on what to do next. She took a deep breath to strengthen her resolve and walked towards the living room.

*BAM*

As she rounded the corner to the living room, Naruto had smacked her in the face with a pillow.

"NARUTO!"

The ensuing pillow fight allowed her to take her mind off of Naruto, but soon she would have to confront her feelings for him.

~*A*N*G*E*L*~