Summary: AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

Pairings: SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ShikaTema, ChouIno

Warnings: Language, Sexual terms, Violence

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Thieving Gets You Nowhere
by Aesura

Movie Thriller

Friday afternoon rolled around and by four o'clock that evening, Naruto was exhausted. While Sasuke walked through the doorway of his apartment, she merely stumbled in behind him. Working at Ichiraku Café all week had taken its toll upon her. Even though it hadn't been that busy of a week, she was still adjusting to the whole waitress thing. She threw herself down on the sofa and closed her eyes, thinking back to Monday morning when Sasuke had awakened her that morning with the news that she would be going back to work that day.

At first, she had panicked, her grip on the blanket as she lay in bed tightening until her knuckles turned white. Remembering what had happened on Saturday, her first day, she found her breath beginning to come in short gasps. And just as she was about to tell him that she couldn't go back there, that she would break down if she had to, he had apparently noticed her near anxiety attack and sat on the edge of her bed.

He had slowly explained to her that it was his fault that she had had so much trouble on her first day there since it was Saturday, the busiest day of the week at the restaurant. Very calmly, he informed her that for most of the week, the main business of Ichiraku Café was simply serving high school students, where the only thing the waitresses had to do was mainly take orders for drinks and pastries. Well, that and the occasional dinner order when a customer would rather not eat sweets.

Finally, Naruto had decided to give it another try and hesitantly entered the restaurant after Sasuke had dropped her off there that morning. She was still half-afraid that she would find that he had been lying to her about it just to get her to agree to come back. But, she found that he was, indeed, telling the truth. And she made it through that first day of the week without spilling anything on anybody.

The rest of the week had gone smoothly as well, but on Friday morning, Sasuke had told her that he informed Teuchi to let her off around two o'clock, since it starts to become busier after that with all the Friday night dates. And, true to his word, at two o'clock precisely, Teuchi had called her off the floor and had one of the others take over the few tables she still had. But, surprisingly, instead of just going home in a cab, Sasuke had droved down to picked her up, taking the rest of the day off as well, claiming that they needed to stop for groceries anyways.

So, now at around four o'clock, she was sitting on the couch while Sasuke put away the groceries in the kitchen. She turned her head to the side and stared at him, feeling a sudden wave of gratitude wash over her. Not only did this man taken her in off the streets and gave her a job, but he was also made sure this job didn't stress her out too much.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was in the kitchen and standing in front of Sasuke with a small smile on her face. "Tem- er, I mean, Sasuke, I just wanted to say thank you for making me go back to work this week," she said nervously, moving from foot to foot while she looked down at the floor. She slowly raised her eyes and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him in a light hug.

Sasuke stood there shocked for a moment, feeling her small body pressed up against his and her arms around his waist. It took nearly a full minute before he lifted his arms and placed them around her, hugging her back. It had been so long since he had actually hugged someone, actually wanted to hug someone. But, here he was, standing in his kitchen with this girl holding onto him. "You're welcome," he murmured as he slowly drew away from her, dropping his arms back to his sides.

Together, they finished putting away the rest of the groceries. "Hey, Sasuke. When can I come down to your police station?" Naruto asked as she pulled open the bag of potato chips she was supposed to be putting away and began munching on them. "You know, so I could meet the rest of your frie—"

"No," Sasuke immediately snapped at her as he took the chips away from her and closed the bag, much to her disappointment. He didn't want her to get involved in this investigation. With the murderer targeting him, they'll probably be going after Naruto if they ever found out that she's an acquaintance of his. That fact is now confirmed from the second massacre yesterday…

. . .

Sasuke still had a hard time believing that someone could do something like this. Especially if that someone was aiming to get to him somehow.

But what Sasuke was actually tense about was what the killer's next message would be. He was already greatly disturbed by his name being on the victims' bodies and even after days of thinking, he still hadn't figured out who the murderer is. He'd boggled himself enough with the first four murders, wondering why his name had been on the corpses. At first, he'd thought that someone was taunting him, making fun of him, but the positions of how the parents were placed, the same exact position from his parent's murder, agitated him because he still didn't understand what it could mean. He hated waiting helplessly as much as the next person but the only way he could comfort himself was that his patience and sacrifice would gradually pay off.

Just then, he heard Kakashi's voice, pulling him out of his reverie and bringing him back to reality as the silver haired man pointed to the blinking laptop screen which signaled a video transmission request. He and Kakashi were the only ones in his office today. The rest were at the other end of the building, having a closer look at the corpses. Maybe they could pick up something from a close-up view than they could from just pictures…

The young Uchiha accepted the webcam invitation and soon, he found himself looking at an autopsy room full of forensic scientists, with Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru examining the corpses in the background. Jiraiya sat at the other end of the laptop, apparently the correspondent of the investigation taking place. He's one of the top detectives in the Konoha Military Force, who's also in command of the spy network operating incognito throughout the city.

"Sasuke," said Jiraiya, clearing his throat. "There have been four murders."

Sasuke spoke into the miniature microphone probed up on a stand. "What are the details?"

"Same as ever," Jiraiya sounded tired. "The victims were found in their homes. No visible wounds but we found the bodies placed in certain positions."

The two in the office tensed again at this new piece of information. They exchanged a look. Sasuke spoke to Jiraiya. "Show me the photos of the crime scene."

Jiraiya muttered something incoherently about younger brats having no respect before transmitting the pictures. There were two or three photos of each victim, taken from a different angle, and in some, the bodies had already been removed with a white chalk outlining the position in which they had been found. As they had stated, there were no visible wounds on the corpses.

"Estimated time of death?" he questioned.

"Eleven p.m." Jiraiya tiredly rubbed the corner of his eye. "The autopsy reports are due in an hour but we're already theorizing that they were probably poisoned. Maybe induced internal bleeding."

"Hn," Sasuke said gravely, moving aside as Kakashi leaned forward to take a better look at the images, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Are you sure there are no visible wounds?" he asked. Dismally, Jiraiya shook his head.

"I'd strongly urge you not to release any details of these deaths to the media," Sasuke instructed. "Until we know what we're dealing with here, the public needn't be informed that there's a serial killer on the loose. Notify everyone of this matter."

"Understood," Jiraiya agreed. "I'll contact you in an hour once the autopsy reports arrive."

"Very well," said Sasuke, signing off for now. He saw Kakashi looking at him in query.

"What?" he said bluntly.

"Why wouldn't you want the public to be warned?" Kakashi asked, curious to know what compelled the young Uchiha to enforce such a thing. Usually, he'll be warning the people as though there was an outbreak of a deadly disease and informing them on how to treat themselves.

Sasuke remained patient. That had become hard as of late. "Think about it, Kakashi," he reasoned, thinking that he could really do with a cup of black coffee at the moment. "We know nothing about the murderer or his methods of killing. Or his motives for killing."

"He seems to be very interested in you," Kakashi pointed out.

He paused. "I'm not sure how that knowledge will benefit the public," he stated. "Furthermore, he's picking up the victims almost randomly and we have no idea who he'll target next. We wouldn't want the send the public in mass panic."

Kakashi cupped his hand around his chin, pondering about the outcomes before agreeing. "No, I guess not. …Then we're waiting for him to slip up?" he said as if he were talking to a child.

"Hai. Sooner or later, he'll make a mistake," he agreed. "So there are no wounds to draw clues from. Therefore, we have to rely on other details." He pointed at the photos with his index finger.

"The positions of the bodies," he immediately said. Kakashi leaned forward, tilting his head from side to side to get the real picture.

"The bodies…" Kakashi muttered, his brows furrowing. He quickly brought out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote V. "Look at how the two brothers are positioned, almost mirroring each other."

"And on purpose," Sasuke concurred. "The killer's obviously giving us another message."

Kakashi looked down at the piece of in his hand. "V," he mumbled. "Could it be a reference to Roman numerals?"

Sasuke pressed his chin onto his intertwined fingers. "The number five," he muttered thoughtfully.

"Could it be referring to the days of the week?" he suggested. "As in 'Friday'?"

The Uchiha thought about it, trying to figure out all the possibilities. "Or it could just be a…a cipher?"

Kakashi frowned at this. "A cipher?"

Sasuke didn't answer. He wasn't sure. What he was certain of was that he had never been so perplexed in his life Kakashi spoke again. "I think that it's a direct challenge to you," he stated. "Not a cipher, just a message."

"Five as a stand-alone message makes little sense," he pointed out a little irritably.

"Maybe," he granted. "But if we include the positions of the husband and wife," Kakashi pointed to the parallel corpses lying to the right of the brothers, "and with the clue left in the last murder scene, then the message reads 'Sasuke, seven'."

The suggestion caught him unaware. He blinked at him several times as the message – the incomplete message – sunk in.

Sasuke, seven.

Why did it sound so familiar?

He kept his expression stoic. "That makes more sense," he admitted. "But still not enough to go on."

"But it makes more sense," he emphasized. "More than the day Friday or a cipher."

Sasuke looked at him. "I think we should keep all possibilities in mind for now," he said, not wanting to admit defeat. Nevertheless, he felt a sudden uneasiness germinating in him like a seed in the darkness of the soil.

Sasuke, seven.

Where had he heard it before? Why did it keep reminding him of something long ago, something he couldn't put his finger on?

"Sasuke?" It was Kakashi's voice again. He met his gaze and didn't waver. He still hasn't grown uneasy of the raven's stoic stare.

"Is there a chance this guy's someone you knew before?" he wanted to know.

Once again, Kakashi had been able to catch him with his sharp intellect, he noticed with an inward smirk. Never could get anything past him indeed.

"Not really," Sasuke lied. He wasn't yet comfortable in revisiting his past and he wanted to avoid it unless it was absolutely necessary. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He didn't look like he believed him. The autopsy reports were given to Jiraiya in an hour, as promised. Sasuke quietly watched through the webcam, listening intently as the other man read them out while Kakashi took diligent notes beside him.

"That's very interesting information," he commented once the reading was done. Well, at least now they had something more to work on. He would hate to find that their research had come to a dead end. "It seems that our suspect used potassium cyanide to poison his victims."

"Yes," said Jiraiya. "Also, the tiny puncture wounds on the victims' wrists suggest that it must have been injected."

"But there were no signs of struggle," Sasuke pointed out. "Our killer must have somehow coerced the victims into take the shots. And you're still sure that the victims were not on any kind of drugs?"

"Positive," Jiraiya affirmed. "None of the autopsy reports have shown drug abuse of any kind." The case was becoming more confusing by the minute.

"Maybe the killer was someone they knew and trusted. There's a chance that this could have been done by someone they were familiar with," Kakashi proposed.

Jiraiya agreed with the theory. "It could be possible," he nodded. "We'll check it out immediately."

"Uchiha," someone interrupted. "I have some information that might be valuable to this investigation." It was Neji who spoke as he walked over to face the computer screen. "I done some background searching on the two families to see if their deaths are the caused of any bad blood," he said. "It turns out that the older brothers from both families happened to friends, best friends. The older son of the first murder was older than the other by three years. What do you make of this?"

If possible, Sasuke would've turned paler than he already was.

"In my opinion," he replied, choosing to lie through his teeth, "it's nothing more that the culprit playing mind games with us. He wants us to think that he's leaving us encrypted messages with all these seemingly meaningful clues. They amount nothing." Was he trying to convince the detective or himself?

Neji, nor the others listening in, didn't seem to be very convinced by Sasuke's answer. Nevertheless, he simply nodded his head slightly in acceptance.

"Domo arigatou," Sasuke said formally. "That will be all for today." He signed off. Kakashi was giving him a weird look when he turned to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow, preparing himself for a lecture about the ethics of lying.

"No, no, I'm not saying anything," he said while raising his hands halfway in a mock show of surrender, already sensing what had been on his mind. "I know why you didn't tell them about your theory." After all, Uchiha Sasuke, the famous detective with a very strong analytical skill, was supposed to solve their problems, not be the cause of them.

"Right." Sasuke glanced at the pictures again before putting them away and making to leave.

"Are you leaving?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow up at the Uchiha's peculiar behavior. Usually, he'll work in his office in solitude once the new evidence was laid out in front of him, working till it was late at night. The man glanced at the digital clock in Sasuke's office. It read 1:50 p.m.

"Well, yes," he answered almost… uncomfortably? "I.. have some errands to run. Inform me if there's more news on the case."

Kakashi watched him walk out the door, a non-believing look on his face. Looks like Sasuke was keeping more than one secret… and this one wasn't related to the case…

. . .

His answer took her aback and her eyes narrowed. "Why not?" Naruto demanded to know as she grabbed the bag of chips back from him. When Sasuke didn't answer her question, she glared at him, which came out to be more of a pout than a glare. Even when she was young, she didn't like being ordered around.

Instead, he sighed. "And how much can you eat?"

"I dunno... I just eat until I'm not hungry anymore," she muttered around a mouthful of chips as she carried the bag into the living room and sat back down on the sofa, forgetting about their entire conversation from before…for now. Grabbing the remote she began flipping through the channels, about to settle on a cartoon when Sasuke stopped her as she passed by the news. She let out a soft groan then tossed the remote over to him, trying to watch the news and not fall asleep at the same time.

After a few minutes of the news, Sasuke looked over at his roommate, who was simply staring off into space and mindlessly eating her chips. He watched as she got up suddenly and walked over to his bookcase, running her finger along the book spines but not taking anything down. She sighed loudly then plopped back down on the sofa, grabbing that morning's paper which had been carelessly tossed onto the coffee table when he had finished with it. Spending a few minutes flipping through it, she laid it back down and leaned against the arm of the sofa, her hands folded atop her stomach and her eyes closed. "Restless, are we?" he chided as she jerked herself onto her side and stared at the TV.

"No, I'm just bo–," she stopped short, cutting her words off as she realized what she was about to say, that she was bored. But she wondered if perhaps it would be seen as ingratitude if she did say that she was bored. Would he think her constantly needing entertainment? "No, I'm fine," she finally said as she tried to find interest in the anchorman's dry voice or the various weather patterns of the area that the weatherman was explaining.

"Naruto, it's okay if you're bored," Sasuke told her when he realized what she had really wanted to say. He tossed the remote back over to her, getting up as he did so and grabbing a random book from the bookcase. "You don't have to lie about not being bored. I know that there's not much to do around here. I even get bored here sometimes."

For a few minutes, both of them sat there in silence while Naruto flipped endlessly through the channels. But, when she started through them for the third time and still hadn't found anything to watch, Sasuke put his book down and went to the other room, dialing Sakura's cell phone number, since the rest of his friends are probably at work. Several ring tones rang as he waited patiently for her to answer her phone. When she didn't answer, he redialed again. Just when he had given up and was about to hang up the phone, someone answered through the receiver.

"What?" she asked in exasperation, surprising Sasuke by her tone of voice. In all the years he had known her, it was very rare that she would be anything but sweet and kind when talking to him. He had never expected to hear this side of her.

"Uh... Naruto's bored and I was wondering what I should do about it..." he stammered, finding himself at a loss for words when talking with this Sakura.

Sasuke heard her groaning in frustration, clearly annoyed right now. He was just glad that he was not talking to her in person right now. Few lived to tell the tale. "Sasuke-kun, I am in the middle of a very dirty phone call with my boyfriend. Please do not interrupt me," she muttered. "Look... I don't know. Take her to the movies or something!"

Before Sasuke had a chance to say anything, Sakura had disconnected their conversation while he simply stood there listening to the beeping sounds in shock. Not only had she been rude to him (which never happened before from the years that they known each other), but she was also having a dirty phone conversation with her boyfriend? This was completely out of character for the Sakura that Sasuke knew, and the poor young man was at a complete loss for words.

He wordlessly entered the living room, shutting his cell phone shut before walking over to the couch. Placing his hands on the back of it, he leaned over it to stare down at Naruto, who was lying on her side and watching a cooking show. To him, she still looked tremendously bored. Sighing, he decided that perhaps Sakura had the right idea. "Come on," he finally said, getting her immediate attention. "Let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as she sat up and stared at him, running a hand through her short hair to help with the loose tangles.

Sasuke picked up the paper, flipping it to the movie section and began reading the different movies and times to himself. "I thought we'd go see a movie or something," he muttered, his brows furrowed as he glanced once more at the movies listed. "That is, if it's okay with you..."

"Yeah, I'd love to go! …I mean, I've never been to one," she explained, reaching down to pick up the sneakers she had discarded earlier and pull them onto her feet. She felt Sasuke staring at her, so she turned around and gave him a questioning glance. "What?"

"You've never been to the movies?" he asked in disbelief, slowly setting the newspaper down upon the back of the couch as he continued to stare at her.

She nodded, going back to putting her shoes on and tying the laces. "Yeah, I know. The orphanage manager did take us to go see a movie when I was three, but she wouldn't let me go…," she paused, dropping her foot to the floor and putting her finger on her mouth while she thought about it. "Or was it when I was two? No, it was three because it was after the other kids blamed me for breaking an antique vase… Yeah, that's right."

Slowly shaking his head while she continued to ruminate on whether it was when she was two or three, Sasuke picked up the paper and glanced back down at the movie times again. "So, what kind of movie do you want to see?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow as he looked back down at her.

"Whatever you want to see," she replied, standing up and starting back towards her bedroom to run a brush through her hair, but she stopped at the hall entrance. "I mean, this was your idea after all and I have no clue what's playing and stuff... So, just pick whatever you want to see. I'm not picky about it."

Sasuke watched as she ran down the hall, trying to decide if it would be better to take her to the horror movie or the romantic comedy showing. But, considering the way his thoughts had been going concerning the blonde teenager lately, he finally decided that it would be best to not see anything with romantic undertones.

Just as he picked a movie and showing, Naruto walked back into the room, obviously ready to go as she looked like she was only waiting for him. "Is Ringu alright with you?" he asked, wanting to make sure it would be okay with her.

"I told you, whatever you want to see is fine with me," she told him, looking up at Sasuke as she did so. "So, are you ready to go?"

He nodded and grabbed his jacket, but stopped when he realized that Naruto didn't have one of her own. So, he handed her his black leather jacket and pulled out an older blue jean jacket for himself. "While we're out, we're going to get you a coat and jacket," he told her as he pulled his on.

"You don't–" Naruto started to protest, giving up when she saw the stern look on his face that left no room for argument. "I'm fine without one, you know. Just a couple of sweatshirts and I'll be plenty warm."

Sighing, Sasuke opened the apartment door and ushered her out, making sure to lock the door behind them. "Naruto, a couple of sweatshirts aren't going to be fine when it gets to be the dead of winter," he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I just hate that you're spending so much money on me when I'm not really doing anything in return," she mumbled as she followed him to the parking garage. "I mean, you won't even let me pay you for room and board now that I'm actually getting a paycheck."

Sasuke stopped walking and turned to look at her, placing his hands on her shoulders as he did so. "Would you feel better if I started giving you a list of chores or something to do around the apartment?" he asked seriously as he stared into her cerulean eyes.

"Actually, yeah, I would. I would actually feel like I'm good for something and not just a worthless street rat," she answered in all honesty as it was the way she had felt for most of her life, even before she got kicked out from the orphanage. From almost as far back as she could remember, she always had this sense of worthlessness about her, as if she could do nothing right.

"Naruto, you aren't worthless," Sasuke sighed, taking his hands off her shoulders before they pulled her to him in an embrace... something he had been fighting all week long. "You just haven't found your place yet."

Looking down at the floor, the teenager struggled with her words for a moment before she looked back up to Sasuke. "Um... could you help me find my place?" she asked nervously, her eyes moving from his to look at the wall.

"Yes, Naruto. I'll help you find your place," he whispered, wondering for the umpteenth time why he was committing so much time and energy to helping this girl.

The movie theater Ringu was showing in happened to be located within the same mall that Sakura had taken Naruto the week before. They arrived with plenty of time to buy her coat and jacket before the movie would start, which they had already done. And, now, Sasuke was standing in front of a store window as he waited for Naruto, who had told him in no uncertain terms that if she didn't find a restroom soon, her bladder would explode.

The window he was looking into belonged to a small eccentric type store, one of those places that you could find the strangest things from anything to everything. He looked down at his watch, wondering what was taking Naruto so long when she was just suddenly standing there beside him, having, once again, made no noise when she approached him. And, per usual, Sasuke jumped in surprise. "That's it!" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the store. "We're getting you something to wear so you'll make noise when you walk."

At first, Naruto had thought he was angry with her, but then she noticed the small smile on his face and realized that he wasn't after all. "Honestly, I don't do it on purpose," she explained, pulling out of his grasp to look around the store, eyes widening at all the various knick-knacks, throw pillows, and scarves, among other things.

"I know you don't and that's why we're getting you this," he told her, holding up a red collar with a small golden bell sewed at the center. He gently shook it, making the bell jingled a soft tinkling noise. "See? You won't be able to sneak up on me anymore."

Naruto reached out and carefully took it from his hands. The silky texture from the ribbon ends weaved effortlessly through her finders like it was made out of water. She bobbled the centerpiece slightly with her index finger, the jingling sounds coming out in an audible pitch. "Yeah, this will work," she muttered to herself, handing it back to Sasuke.

Walking to the back of the store, they handed the collar to the cashier, who kept glancing back and forth between Naruto and Sasuke. After ringing up the purchase, he started to put it into a bag, but was stopped when Sasuke told him not to and tied it firmly, but gently around Naruto's neck after pulling the tag off of it. "There. Now you can't sneak up on me anymore tonight, either," he said as he counted out the cash for their purchase.

Just as they were leaving the store and had reached the exit, the voice of the cashier floated to their ears and stopped Sasuke in his tracks. "I swear, these pimps keep hooking younger and younger ones!" the middle-aged cashier had muttered, believing that they were too far away to hear him.

Standing beside Sasuke, Naruto felt him visibly stiffen, and just as he was about to turn and re-enter the store, she stopped him by gingerly putting a hand on his arm. "Sasuke, just ignore him. I'm used to being called a lot worse than that," she whispered, gently pulling him back into the mall.

"But he just implied that you're–" Sasuke started but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Yes, Sasuke, I know what he was just implying and I'm telling you, I'm used to it. I've heard it for years now. It's okay," she reassured, her hand still on his arm as she tugged him in the direction she believed the movie theater to be. "Let's just go see the movie."

Sighing, Sasuke gave in to her and allowed himself to be pulled away from the store. "Alright," he finally muttered.

They continued to walk the length of the mall, coming across the movie theater at the very end and immediately got into line. Looking around, Sasuke noticed all the couples that apparently on dates as they had their arms around each other and stealing kisses while they waited to buy their tickets. He suddenly became very aware of the fact that Naruto's hand was still holding onto his arm and he very carefully pulled it out of her grasp, using that hand to pull his wallet out so she wouldn't be offended.

The line moved quickly and it wasn't long before Sasuke had purchased their ticket, drinks, and a large bucket of popcorn that Naruto had insisted on and then led her through the complex to the theater their movie was showing in. Seeing that there were few people in the theater to see this particular movie as it had been out for awhile, they had their choice of seats and Sasuke allowed Naruto to chose since this was a relatively new experience for her. She chose the back row as it was close to the door. Wanting to be near an exit in case she had to make a break for it was a hard habit for her to break.

After sitting down, Sasuke, out of habit, put his arm around the back of Naruto's chair, being careful to keep it on the chair and not on her. The previews passed quickly and the movie soon started, the popcorn already being half gone as Naruto had been constantly munching on it since he had bought it. Sasuke, himself, had only taken a few bites of it.

It wasn't long before the first scary scene of the movie began, and Naruto, unused to the tension that came with these movies, instinctually hid her head in Sasuke's chest and griped his jacket. "Tell me when it's over," she muttered as she took another peek at the screen and then quickly hid her eyes once more.

Trying not to laugh, Sasuke brought his arm down from the back of her seat and gently lowered it onto her back, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "I didn't think you'd get scared so easily," he whispered jokingly as he lowered his head closer to her ear, not wanting his voice to carry over to the few other movie-goers in the theater.

Naruto peeked out from his jacket long enough to give him a mock glare and take a glance at the movie screen. "Yeah, well I'm not used to this stuff, you know," she muttered, hiding her head once more. But, she noticed that the feel of his arm on her back seemed to have helped calm her down, making her feel strangely relaxed.

"Okay, it's over," Sasuke whispered after the scene had finished and it moved on to the next part of the movie. Yet, even after she had removed her head from his chest and was sitting against the back of her seat once more, he kept his arm around her and was still giving her shoulder small squeezes occasionally.

As the movie progressed and the scary scenes multiplied, Naruto found herself hiding her head more and more often in Sasuke's chest. Finally, she succumbed to the temptation and left her head resting against it, only having to turn it slightly when she was scared. But, with his arm still resting around her, she became scared less easier and really didn't need to hide her head as often. She just wanted to keep her head there and, since he didn't seem to be objecting, she did leave it there.

The movie ended and the credits rolled past, but Naruto and Sasuke were still sitting there, her head still resting on his chest and his arm still around her. But, when the ushers came in to clean up the mess left behind, she lifted her head and stood up, stretching as she did so. "Arigatou, Sasuke. I've never actually seen a movie and I really had a lot of fun," she told him as she waited for him to get up as well.

"Hn." He started towards the exit, then stopped and turned to her. "You want to get a hamburger or something before we head back?"

Forgetting about the huge bucket of popcorn she had just finished off, Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed, bounding up the aisle and beating him to the door. "I am absolutely starved!"

Sasuke followed her out of the theater, wondering the whole time how anyone as tiny as her could eat so much food in such a short period of time. "How did I know you were going to say that?" he muttered sarcastically as he they headed back into the mall and towards the parking lot exit.