*I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LONG WAIT*
Please enjoy this chapter. Please leave a review; constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

It's Love

Chapter Three

Naruto laid in his bed, looking at the ceiling. He could barely keep his eyes open; he had just awoken from his midday sleep. He turned his head and looked at his alarm clock; 3:07 PM. The boy yawned and stretched as he sat up.

Standing up, he wobbled over to his door, tripping on cups from previously eaten instant ramen that he had neglected to discard, and probably will continue to until somebody tells him to.

Naruto made his way to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Minato watched as his son attempted to open the refrigerator with his eyes almost closed; it was quite amusing. "Maybe you should open your eyes, then you could see where you are," he suggested.

"Ah," Naruto said, turning to see his father… well, kind of. He couldn't exactly see him, just a blurred figure, which even so, he could tell was his dad. "Can you grab me some water?"

Minato sighed and opened the fridge; he didn't trust Naruto to get it himself, anyway. Being as tired as he was, he probably would have destroyed everything else trying to find a bottle, anyway. Minato grabbed the bottle and handed it to Naruto.

Opening the bottle, Naruto brought the bottle up to his face, and then… up above his head. He dumped the bottle of freezing cold water over his head.

"What are you doing!?" Minato yelled angrily, grabbing a rag off of the counter and beginning to wipe up the water off of the floor.

"I needed to wake up. I'm supposed to go meet Sakura and Ino at the mall."

"Oh? And you plan on going there soaking wet?" Minato stood up and tossed the wet rag into the sink.

Naruto grumbled to himself, annoyed that he had not thought through his genius plan before drenching himself in water; he slapped himself in the forehead when he realized he also could have just splashed his face with water.

The blonde boy trudged back toward his room, grabbing a towel to dry his hair with along the way. Upon arriving at his bedroom, he quietly shut the door and began to dry his hair.

He opened a drawer on his dresser and pulled out an orange t-shirt with the Leaf symbol on the front. Pulling off the shirt he was currently wearing and tossing it into a basket, he put on his new shirt and pulled off his pants.

Naruto opened another drawer, closing the other one, and pulled out a pair of shorts; he closed the drawer and put his shorts on, running out the door.

Naruto grabbed his wallet and phone as he darted out the front door, at the same time shouting his good-bye to his father.

On his way to the mall, Naruto heard his phone buzz; he looked at to see he had received a text message from Sakura. Opening the message, he read it to himself.

"Where are you? We were supposed to meet 15 minutes ago."

"Crap," Naruto said out loud as he noticed the time. He spent far too long trying to dry his hair.

He texted back, "Sorry, I fell asleep, but I'm on my way right now. I'll be there in about 5 minutes. Meet me by the food court." Shoving his phone into his pocket, he took off running toward the mall.

When he arrived at his destination, he hurried to the food court and quickly spotted his friends Ino and Sakura.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, jogging up to them.

"Yo," Ino replied, licking ice cream she bought; Sakura also had one.

Naruto walked up to the counter and purchased an ice cream as well, and then they took off walking through the mall, looking through random stores, which, of course, were all girl stores because he was the only guy there and didn't usually buy much anyway.

As Ino and Sakura, with several bags in their arms, began to walk into a very pink store that sold undergarments for girls, Naruto halted. "Yeah, um, I'm gonna go check out another store," he informed them before turning and awkwardly walking away. The girls ignored him and continued into the shop.

Naruto walked through the mall, scanning all the shops; he came across one that sold nothing but shoes. He looked down at his feet and thought to himself, "I definitely need new shoes." His shoes were in tatters; the bottoms were coming off and they barely even fit anymore, anyway, so why not?

The blonde boy trudged into the small store and peered around. He walked over to a shelf and grabbed a pair of sneakers. They were bright orange and white; Naruto tried on a pair his size and checked the price. They were pretty cheap, so he changed back into his shoes and turned to walk up to the counter to buy them.

Just as Naruto turned, he saw a familiar raven. Seriously, why does this dude keep showing up everywhere?

Sasuke was buying a pair of sneakers as well; they were completely black. Naruto watched as the boy left the store; he quickly paid for his shoes and followed after him. Seems like a nice day for stalking! Right?

Naruto walked in a crowd of people, hiding so he wouldn't get caught. "Well, this is more fun than going into some chicks' underwear store," Naruto thought as he followed the boy.

Just following this boy around a store, no idea where they're going, Naruto continued to walk. Sasuke seems to be mindlessly wandering about, no set destination. "When are we getting somewhere?" Naruto mumbled. "I'm tired of this already…" He assumed they'd been walking for about ten to twenty minutes by now, and he was sure bored of it.

Unexpectedly, Naruto heard a woman call out angrily. "Naruto!" she shouted. Naruto turned to see an angry Sakura storm his way, followed by Ino, who couldn't seem to care less.

Shocked, Naruto jumped, glancing back at Sasuke, who, upon hearing the familiar voice and name, turned to Naruto and the two girls.

"Naruto, you idiot, where were you? We've been looking for you!" Sakura angrily shouted. She glanced at Ino, who was currently fawning over some clothing she had bought, and said, "Well, I have anyway."

Naruto whispered, "Crap…" as he smiled sheepishly and awkwardly waved at Sasuke. Sakura followed his gaze, and suddenly brightened.

"Sasuke!" she shouted happily, running over to him. Ino, finally looking up from the stuff she bought, did the same, shoving all of her bags at Naruto to hold.

As the two girls fawned over the boy, Naruto struggled to keep hold of the several bags that were tumbling out of his arms. Knowing Ino, he was a little scared to drop them. Sasuke glanced at Naruto as he hoisted a few bags up in his arms. The blonde boy carefully waddled over to the other three. "Inoooo," he moaned, "take the bags, I'm not carrying them." He shoved the bags into Ino's arms and turned away, heading off in the opposite direction.

Sakura was still fussing over Sasuke, when he suddenly walked off, in the same direction as the other boy. Confusedly, Sakura watched as the raven followed the other boy.

"Aye," Sasuke called, attempting to get Naruto's attention.

"What?" Naruto questioned, turning back to look at Sasuke.

"So," Sasuke began, "why were you following me?"

Naruto jumped slightly at the sudden question; he replied, stuttering, "W-what? What are you talking about? Why in the hell would I follow you? Moron!"

"I noticed right away."

"I didn't follow you!"

Glaring at the blonde, Sasuke interrogated him. "Hmm? Is that so? Then why were you at the same store as me?" He pointed to the bag in Naruto's hand, obviously being the same one Sasuke was holding.

"Crap," Naruto thought, "I forgot I had this with me…" He replied, "...It's just a coincidence. Just because I went to the same store doesn't mean I was following you."

Smirking, Sasuke continued, "The receipt should say the time and date."

Angry, Naruto growled, "Shut the hell up, leave me alone you moron!" and turned away, storming off.

Sasuke smirked. "Hmph… he's interesting…" he mumbled, turning away and heading off.

Please look forward to the next chapter.

10-24-14