Thanks to: Brandon, Shimaki-33, KinkyK and JazzyJ, dragonfire04, nanachan87, and shobe09

Insert disclaimer about me not owning the Naruto Series.

"Talking"

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The weekend went without anymore frivilous distractions or gossiping buzzing about. Staying inside his apartment all weekend must have been one of his greatest ideas he has had as of lately. The frustration of the weekend lingered on his tongue, leaving a bitter after taste. Besides the random messages from Sakura, just to make sure he was still alive, Saturday and Sunday was rather eventless.

Naruto eyes shone with last night's rest around five thirty the next morning like every other school day. The shower was naturally cool since most of the apartments consisted on businessmen would had ungodly hours like himself. Everyone took a shower at pretty much the same time.

Today was the dreaded day he was going to have to see that person. He had no idea as to why Sasuke would even bother transferring back to Konoha High. Nothing of importance was at KH that could not have been provided at the Sound Academy, and it certain that he wouldn't even bother coming back for them. So what exactly was the Uchiha up to?

Naruto dried off his unruly golden locks and put on his uniform with his usual routine. The dark blue pants nicely clung to his slim legs, a white collared polo shirt framed his chest with the Konoha signa etched into his right breast, and a simple navy tie completed the outfit before he slung his back pack over his shoulder.

It was around six o'clock when he left his dull apartment, but luckily he didn't live too far from the school. A good fifteen minute walk would do the job well, but a slight "detour" sounded good right about now. School didn't even start until seven anyways. Anything to just occupy his time was worth the walk.

Naruto was barely through the antique door of a western-inspired shop before a cool voice ringed through the air, "Hello Naruto." Naruto worked as a waiter at Crimson Tails which was a somewhat high classed place but affordable enough for the general public. It was more like a maid café except with men leading the service here.

"Good morning Kyuubi," Naruto smiled as he admired the crimson hair that fell over the taller man's shoulders and flowed down his back.

"What is wrong kit?" Kyuubi asked monotoned to the blond as he wiped down a crystal glass.

Naruto always wondered how Kyuubi was always able to do that? No matter how much the blond smiled and tried to be polite, his boss always knew when something was wrong. Kyuubi's copper toned eyes glowed in amusement as he smirked his fox-like grin, "Don't look at me like that. You should know by now that I know you more than any normal boss should. You never have a good morning afterall."

"Now that's true," Naruto scoffed.

"Am I going to have to force the information out of you deary?"

Naruto gulped at the tone that promised proper punishment if he did not come out with straight answers… soon. With much reluctancy, Naruto whispered, "He's back."

Kyuubi stopped wiping the glass he was holding and stared at Naruto for a few seconds before continuing his minstrations. "So, that Uchiha is back? Well isn't that just a shocker." Kyuubi stated more than asked. Kyuubi was already informed of Naruto's unusual predictament many years ago after just a few mere weeks of working at Crimson Tails. "You shouldn't let this get to you. Sure, he was your friend and crush while leaving without even a single syllable, but that's in the past. Just ignore him and pretend to smile like you usually do."

Sometimes Naruto wished he could just strangle Kyuubi for all that he was worth, but he guessed that this was his version of caring. The rusted clock above his boss clicked to six thirty-five as the object continued to tick. Naruto sighed as he gathered all of his things before walking to the front door once again.

"Leaving so soon?"

"For once, I want to get to school early." Naruto grinned at the thought of his first period with Kurenai. She would always reprimend him for being barely late to History right as the bell would ring. Most of the time, he was usually the last one to class, but that was for the sake of his façade. It was his barrier from the outer world that kept all the horrible lies at bay.

"Well that's a nice change. May be you should try it more often." Kyuubi smirked once again to his employee.

"I plan on it," Naruto mumbled.

"What was that?"

"See you later tonight!" Naruto ran out the door and down the street with his books over his shoulder. The green of the trees blurred past him until he slowed down as he near the school. As he turned the corner, all he could see was the one person he dearly wanted to avoid. Cerulean eyes clashed with onyx as soon as he entered the vast courtyard. Sasuke was finally back in the flesh…surrounded by his horde of fan girls of course.

Naruto carefully tore his gaze away from Sasuke's so that their would be no chance for him to lash out at Sasuke right then and there. The blond turned around as quickly as he could and strolled into the massive hallways full of lockers and flyers advertising almost anything. The distant cry of his name fell deaf on his ears, fearing it would be Sasuke on his tail. Naruto didn't even bother to stop at his locker.

Naruto entered the empty classroom and noticed that even his teacher wasn't there yet. Among the school, it seemed that the only people littering the premises would be him, Sasuke, the teachers, the sports teams, and a few choice fan girls waiting for Sasuke to give them his undivided attention. Sasuke's name was like venom on Naruto's mind that continued to contaminate his thoughts and actions. The only reason the fan girls were even here was because of Sasuke. Most of the students arrived, at most, around a quarter until seven. Sure enough, as Naruto looked out the windows, there were students piling into the school's courtyard full of tall trees that provided a proper amount of shade during the breaks.

Naruto sighed as he laid his head down on the hard desk. He was able to get about a second's worth of rest before the teacher entered the room, "Naruto…I didn't think you would be here so early. I'm glad to see this." Naruto barely lifted his head to acknowledge Kurenai-sensei before he raised his head higher to get a better look at her worried gaze…oh boy. "Are you okay Naruto?"

"Just peachy, why?" Naruto used his famous pocelein grin to reassure her even though it meant nothing in value.

"Naruto. You have never arrived to school before anyone else before and you look as if your parents died…," but Kurenai stopped right there as Naruto's gaze turned menacingly icy. For someone so bright and cheerful, it was strange that she didn't know a thing about Naruto's situation. With a sigh, she complied and stopped talking to him as Naruto laid his head back down on the flat wood.

Why did that Sasuke have to come back now? Why did he even bother to come back all of a sudden? Everything was going fine for Naruto, no matter how much life became a boring routine he went through absently. Naruto had to find out through the gossip chain that Sasuke was even coming back! Perhaps Sasuke really did hate Naruto afterall…

The intrusive school bell interrupted his last thoughts as the students piled in while he waited for the teacher to begin. His dedication to his work lately has been giving him good enough grades to be promoted to class 2-A with all of his other friends finally. This was one winning streak he never wanted to lose. Though that moment was barely short-lived when the school announced their new program of having the student change to different classes instead of the teachers. Now everyone was spilt apart from each other. Most nights now consisted of actually doing his homework instead of staring at that boring ceiling of his or watching mindless television.

Down the hallway was a mildly confused Sasuke Uchiha. The look the blond gave him was absolutely puzzling with that hardened gaze of hatred and bitterness worthy of the artic tundra. The Naruto he knew probably would of thrown a punch or two, but never the cold shoulder. This Naruto was not the one he missed. Not the one to satify his days of numbness at that ridiculous private school with the promise of meeting once more. Math did not even seem worth paying attention to if his Naruto was suffering from some sort of extreme personality change.

Class was uninteresting like he expected it to be featuring the complimentary re-introduction process while his fan girls openly drooled over his uniform-clad body. It made him sick looking at them, but the one face he was longing to find wasn't among the crowd. He couldn't find the very blue eyes that made his heart skip a beat or blond hair amongst his peers, but that did not deter him from trying to find Naruto later. Class felt thankfully short as the bell signaled his freedom until Iruka called the raven to the front.

"Sasuke, how have you been?" Iruka smiled as he talked to Sasuke. Iruka once remembered talking to Naruto about this Sasuke at some point, but it seems as if Naruto has found a certain dislike for the Uchiha lately. This teacher was like a foster parent to Naruto, besides the usual ownership and actually taking care of him part, but now his curiousity was peaked as to why this particular student decided to come back considering he did attend Sound Academy previously.

"Fine," Sasuke knew he did not have the greatest social skills, but he needed to find Naruto as soon as he could. He didn't know what he was going to say, but it was better than avoiding the blond. All he knew was that he had to talk to Naruto before his heart knawed a hole right through his chest.

"… Naruto is an important student of mine… we actually started talking about you once…Sasuke, make sure you don't bother him too much today…" Sasuke stood there awkwardly trying to decipher just what this simple math teacher was trying to explain to him. Ignore Naruto? That was seemingly impossible, and Sasuke wouldn't even bother with trying to avoid his Naruto, "Anyways… what class do you have next?"

Sasuke stood stayed silent at the sudden change of conversation before replying that he had English with Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke had already met with this Kakashi beforehand, so he already knew his way around the area for the time being. Sasuke was about to announce his leave with a smirk growing on his face. Just knowing that Naruto was talking about him, whether good or bad, was some sort of beacon of hope for Sasuke. Any chance with the blond could mean the perfect opportunity.

"Well Kakashi is a good person, but he is late most to most of his classes even though we are supposed to stay in our rooms. Naruto is also in that class as well so," but before Iruka was able to finish, Sasuke was out the door and to his next class to the blond.

Naruto was much more appealing when he wasn't glaring. Naruto stared out the window for the up-tenth time that day but was automatically pulled back to reality when Kiba yelled in his ear, "Oi Naruto! Were you even listening!"

"No," the statement flew out of his shocked mouth before he even realized it and immediately regretted it.

"What's with you today? Is it because that ass of a guy named Sasuke is back?" A single eyebrow was raised in question.

"…I don't feel like to talking about it right now."

"Dude like just get over it. He was your friend, but he didn't even bother calling you after he left. So cheer up Na-," Kiba started to advise Naruto until the swooshing sound of the sliding door opened. None other than the Uchiha was in that entryway.

Udder awkward silence unnerved Naruto to no end, but he didn't dare say a word. There was the great Sasuke Uchiha as if he was here almost everyday. Each step that Sasuke made was more pronouced than the last as he made his way to the blond, at least that's what it seemed like to Naruto.

"Hey dobe…" Sasuke was in front of the said blond while everyone stared at the two as if they were witnessing a predator hunting its prey. More students cautiously entered the volitle atmosphere of the classroom as others questioned their well beings if they were to get stuck in a fight between the two.

"Teme," Naruto shifted his gaze to those piercing black eyes. The look in his eyes betrayed any words that would have been passed. Naruto expected hatred and annoyance, and yet a warm nostalgia filled the orbs of obsidian. "…Don't you have someone else to bother?" Naruto slightly pouted.

"Not at the moment," came Sasuke's cool reply. He wasn't going to back down, and now glares were being sent at each other.

"Yo kiddos. Sit down everyone… including you Sasuke. I will not have any disruptions in my class while I am speaking," demanded Kakashi-sensei as his came through the open door. Kakashi didn't care if they spoke during class but when he was talking… it would be better if you would just simmer down. His voice of authority was slightly muffled by the thin mask across his face and the highly decorative scarf around his neck. Naruto always wondered if he was mulled by a bear or something.

Throughout the class period, Naruto couldn't shake off the feeling of Sasuke eyes poking holes in the back of his head. He was the one who left for God's sake! Behind his handy dandy Ichi Ichi book, Kakashi wouldn't stop staring at the two teens as time progressed. He almost started laughing at Naruto, who was squirming quite uncomforably in his seat under the ever famous Uchiha glare.

When the next bell finally ended the class period, Kakashi was the first person out of the door before any of his students. Everyone sweatdropped at the sight. It seems the teacher didn't want to be in there anymore than the students did.

As Naruto stood up to leave, he felt strong fingers encircled his right arm. Naruto took a deep breath before turning around knowing that it was probably Sasuke. "That hurts teme," Naruto growled. It didn't really hurt as badly as it could have, but the feeling of electricity running up his arm did not sit well with Naruto. He could not allow Sasuke to tear his heart again.

"Look, we need to talk," Sasuke started to say before Naruto tried ripping out of his grasp. Students started to gather around to see if a fight was about to start, all forgetting about their earlier qualms of getting stuck in a fight. Sasuke only tightened his grip on Naruto, earning a well deserved punch in the face from the blond.

"We don't need to talk about anything teme! I was your fault that you even left! Don't think that I can just forgive you like that!" On that last note, the two boys starting throwing punches left and right. Most of the time the two students dodged each others attackes and grappled at each other shirts while the spectators tried not to get hit. Sasuke was able to slam into Naruto's gut before Kiba deceided to interfere as the ever responsible Hinata ran to find a teacher.

Kiba jumped right in the middle of the action to grabbed Sasuke and pulled him back while Shino came out of nowhere and held Naruto back.

"LET ME GO! LET ME HIT THAT DAMN BASTARD! HE DESERVES IT!," Naruto yelled before a teacher by the name of Jiriya entered.

"Shut up Naruto! Jeesh, I can't believe you would resort to violence. Never a dull moment around when you are here…can you two boys help me take Naruto and that other guy to the principle's office before they damage any school related stuff?" Jiriya asked with a huff.

Naruto's complexion paled a great number before Shino started dragging him pass the rows of desks. Sasuke was able to walk on his own without a fight. He knew that he was going to end up there sometime if he was going to somehow make it up to Naruto anytime soon. It's just that Sasuke never thought Naruto was going to react like that this early in the game. Even the students were surprised by the blond's anger.

It was quite comical to watch Naruto as he had "anime" tears running down his face the closer he got to her office. "It's your own fault kid. No one forced you to hit him," Jiriya said as he walked along side Shino and Naruto. Naruto still tried to bid for his freedom anyways.

They finally reached the massive front desk where the brown haired secretary, Shizune, sighed at the sight of the new transfer student and her beloved Naruto, "Let me guess. These two need to see the principal Jiriya-san?"

"Yes they do. It turns out that this trouble-maker," Jiriya took this time to ruffle the blond's head, "had a fight today with the new transfer, and I believe she would enjoy speaking with them."

"Understood," Shizune smiled uncertainly as she looked at Naruto. This wasn't the first time he has been summoned to the office, but the cheery kid grew on everyone around him with that smile of his. Shizune called the principal and told them that they could go in. Jiriya left Naruto in his fear-induced stupor caused by the certain wrath they were sure to endure. When they approached the door, Naruto's mind went completely blank as he tried his hardest to run away. It was a pretty hilarious scene to witness if Naruto trying to get out of Shino's arms and clawing at the walls for traction was funny.

"Hey, Sasuke. Mind knocking?" Shino asked while holding Naruto. Sasuke was kind of disturbed by the fact that Shino even bothered to talk to him. Sasuke was only a bit ticked off by the famililarity Shino shared with him. Only Naruto and his family called him by his first name without any honorifics afterall.

A simple 'come in' was the answer to the hollow knock as Naruto stuck himself against the door frame, holding on for dear life. This was going to take a while…