Author's Note: Eh, I think my writing skills flew out the window somewhere in the middle of this chapter, but oh well. I like parts of it so I shall live. Without reviews I won't know how to improve, so don't forget to hit the little purple button at the bottom of the page!

Warnings: Mild language and some yaoi, (boy X boy) don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: No, I won't do it! They can't make me! phone rings Hello?…yes sir…of course sir…yes, I understand…it won't happen again sir…hangs up

I own nothing, and my belongings consist of…two origami swans and a few safety pins, so don't sue… (If you haven't guessed by now, I have a safety pin obsession)

Tsunade watched as the eyes of her subordinate scanned over the piece of paper in her hands. Seeing that she was rather involved in doing the job she was asked, Tsunade's hand stealthily crept closer to the bottom left drawer of her desk, the drawer that she had put her newly acquired sake in. Glancing back up at the woman standing by the edge of the desk, Tsunade slowly pulled the drawer open. Only a few more centimeters until she could slip her hand in…almost there…a little further…

"Ano, Tsunade-sama?" She slammed the drawer shut and turned to her assistant, trying to get rid of the guilty expression on her face. "You're not really thinking of putting Naruto and Sasuke in a room together are you?" Shizune asked nervously.

"Well, why wouldn't I? I don't see the problem with having those two in the same room." Tsunade replied, once again adopting a serious expression.

"But, those two are already off to a bad start! Were you even listening to Kakashi when he came in?"

"Of course I was listening!" the voluptuous woman retorted. "What would give you the idea that I wasn't?"

"But, the two boys almost started a fist-fight in the middle of the cafeteria," the petite woman lamented. "Putting them in a room together will only stir up more tension!"

The blond snorted, effectively losing the serious vise that had already begun to slip. "Oh, please, Shizune. If anything, forcing them to deal with each other almost every waking hour of the day will compel them to put aside whatever problems they have with each other. Besides, the Uchiha needs to learn tough love, and the gaki deserves it after what he puts me through every day."

"Tsunade!" Shizune's appearance was one of total shock. "You're just doing this because you enjoy watching them fight aren't you?" A look of mild guilt had again found its way onto the blonde's face. "What happens when Naruto…if Kyuu-…did you think through the consequences of rooming Naruto with someone he obviously doesn't like?"

"Shizune, I believe you know as well as I do what Sasuke's past was like. If it's the violence that worries you, I believe your qualms are unfounded."

"Tsunade-sama, you can't actually be serious about going through with this? I'm asking you to please reconsider!"

"Shizune, just trust me on this one," Tsunade coaxed. "I have nothing but what's best for the boys in mind. Besides," she grinned, "this could prove to be interesting…" Ignoring the disapproving huff from her assistant as she left, Tsunade again reached for her drawer of sake.

"Oh, Tsunade-sama? I took the liberty of putting your sake in the safe down the hall and changing the combination." The brunette stated before leaving the room. Slamming the drawer shut, Tsunade sighed and let her forehead hit the cold, hard surface of the desk in front of her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Aww, come on Shika! You at least have to try!" Kiba wined indignantly. "It's no fun whooping your asses if you don't put up a fight!"

"Nothing doing. Too troublesome," Shikamaru replied, before yet again laying his head on his crossed arms.

Growling at the sleeping figure of his friend, Kiba crossed his arms and looked down at the foosball table. Head suddenly jerking up, Kiba looked wide-eyed at his teammate. "Hey, Naruto," he blurted out, remembering his new companion's name. "We haven't introduced you to everybody yet! Come on," he cried, not giving him much of a choice as he grabbed the blonde's wrist and pulled him, along with a potato-chip munching Choji, to the closest group of people.

Of the five girls gossiping intently, Naruto recognized one of them to be Gaara's sister and mentally prepared himself for the attack. "'Sup, guy– eh, girls! Meet the newbie, his name is Naruto," Kiba said, pushing him forward into the chatty girls' circle. At the sound of his name, Temari looked up and, upon seeing him, instantaneously jumped up and wrapped her arms around him in a secure hug.

"Naruto-kun! I haven't seen you in so long!" Retracting her grip, Temari ruffled his hair affectionately and pulled him further into the circle. Then, turning back towards the other girls, she adopted a tone that was all business. "Alright girlies, this is my little brother's friend, Uzumaki Naruto, and you are going to like him," she finalized, leaving no room for objections.

The pink-haired girl waved optimistically, introducing herself as Haruno Sakura. The redhead, whose nose was buried, curiously enough, in a psychology journal, responded with a curt "Karin" before adjusting her glasses and turning another page of her medical work.

"Ooh, Kiba, where did you find this one?" a sudden voice from behind him asked. Before he could turn around and identify the owner of said voice, two slender arms had draped themselves over his shoulders and around his neck. "He's almost as cute as Sasuke-kun…" Naruto stiffened as one of the hands that were on his neck made its way to his face at guided it towards the right. Now looking over his shoulder, Naruto found himself face to face with blond-haired, blue-eyed chatterbox he had seen in the cafeteria. "Hey cutie, my name is Ino."

"Ino, stop it. You're scaring the newbie," a voice to the left of him sighed. "Get off."

Giving a short huff, the girl withdrew her arms and sat back down on the armrest of the couch. Turning around to find the girl who had just spoke, Naruto found a brunette looking down at his hands. Introducing herself as Tenten, the girl continued to look at them for several seconds before looking up at Naruto with a slight smile.

"I like your nails," she commented, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Upon hearing this, Kiba promptly snorted before beginning to laugh loudly. Naruto self-consciously went to stick his hands in the pockets of his orange cargos, but Kiba made a grab for his wrist and effectively pulled his right hand out of his pocket.

Laughing stopping abruptly when Kiba actually saw them, he studied the sharpened nails with a puzzled expression before looking back up at Naruto. "Dude, what the fuck?"

Naruto flushed, pulling his hand out of Kiba's grasp and hastily sticking it in his pocket. "No, its nothing, just…never mind. I've been meaning to cut them for a while, I just never got the chance," he lied. He figured it was better than telling them what Kyuu…what he did whenever he found the nails blunted. He looked back at the two boys who were now studying him and gave them what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Shrugging carelessly, Kiba fortunately dropped the topic and waved a goodbye to the girls before dragging Naruto off to another part of the large lounge, forgetting to bring along Choji as well. Stopping in front of the last girl in the room, he took a pause, letting go of Naruto and lacing his fingers together behind his back.

"Ano, Hinata-chan," he asked quietly. The girl gave a surprised squeak and looked up from the novel she was reading. Recognizing Kiba, she relaxed again.

"O-ohayo, K-Kiba-kun," she stuttered, looking down at the book in her hands timidly, before again raising her eyes to look at the two boys in front of her.

"Hinata-chan, this is Uzumaki Naruto. He just got here today. Naruto, meet Hyugga Hinata, one of my friends from the Academy," Kiba said solemnly and surprisingly calmly. Hinata gave Naruto a small wave before blushing and looking back down at her paperback. Before Naruto could say anything in response to the gesture, Kiba had already dragged him off to another group of people. Shoving Naruto in front of him, Kiba again introduced the boy. "Okay guys, this is Naruto, Naruto these are some more guys from the Academy."

Something green immediately jumped into Naruto's field of view and before he could focus on what it was, it shouted vehemently "I, ROCK LEE, WELCOME MY YOUTHFUL COMPANION! MAY THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH BE WITH YOU!" The talking green thing took a step back and Naruto recognized it as the boy with the bowl cut and the oversized eyebrows. Smiling nervously, Naruto waved slightly and took a step back from the overenthusiastic teen.

"Lee, please sit down. We all would like to meet Naruto as well, and I believe you might have scared him." Hearing the deep voice, Naruto looked at the speaker, now certain that he was a boy, and found the girl who was sitting at his table contently braiding his long ponytail.

"Neji-san, forgive me," the green-clad boy cried. "Naruto-kun, I must apologize, and as punishment for my behavior, I will do 100 push-ups! And if I cannot do that than I will do 200 crunches! If I am unable to comp-"

"Lee, please just sit down," the pale-eyed boy sighed exasperatedly. Doing as he was told, Lee sat down again and resumed fiddling with the bandages around his arms.

Rising from the couch, the boy who had coaxed Lee into his seat took a step forward, holding his hand out to Naruto and ignoring the wines of protest coming from the girl behind him. "My name is Hyugga Neji," he introduced in a tone that suggested that he had come from a proper, high-class family.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the blond replied, warmly shaking the offered hand. Reluctantly letting go of his friend's long ponytail, the girl sitting in back of Neji stood up and introduced herself.

"I'm Haku, and I'm a boy," she, well, more accurately he, said.

Naruto blinked slowly several times. "Oh," he said dumbly, unable to think of anything else to respond with.

Seeing Naruto's expression, the boy laughed good-naturedly. "It's okay," he replied calmly "everyone does it."

"Maybe if you grew a penis people would stop thinking that, Haku-san." Blushing at the comment, Naruto looked down to find the speaker lying on the floor, drawing in a sketchbook. Giving an annoyed huff, the feminine boy gave the artist a swift kick in the ass, to which he responded to by grabbing Haku's leg and giving it a jerk, unbalancing him and causing him to fall on top of the sprawled out boy. Making the best out of his position above the other boy, Haku made himself comfortable sitting on his exposed lower back and putting one foot on either side of the artist's head. Watching Haku calmly rest his elbows on his bent knees, while the other dismissed the individual on his back and went back to drawing in his sketchbook, Naruto blushed nervously at their rather suggestive positioning.

Seeing his uncomfortable expression, Kiba turned to Naruto. "Haku and Sai flirt like this regularly. You'll get used to it though…well, eventually anyway."

"Nurse," Neji said calmly, giving a pointed look to the two boys on the floor. Whining girlishly, Haku got up off of his human couch, but not before purposely brushing his fingers over Sai's uncovered, toned stomach, earning him a soft moan from the thus far stoic boy.

"Everyone, could I please have your attention," the nurse, whom Naruto knew as Shizune, asked. Waiting patiently for everyone to quiet down, Shizune pulled up a chair and reread the list in front of her. Upon seeing Naruto and Sasuke's names, she crossed them off and put them at the bottom of the list, mentally preparing herself to read those two names out loud. Looking back up, she found everyone ready and waiting for what she had to say. "Tsunade-sama has figured out the rooming arrangements for all of you, so when I call your names, please come up here and you and your roommate may leave and make your way to your assigned rooms. Beginning with the ladies, Sakura and Ino, room one; Hinata and Tenten, room two; Temari and…" Naruto watched as each of the paired off roommates exchanged glances with each other and made their way out the door of the lounge, one in front of the other. "…Shikamaru and Choji, room seven; Shino and Kiba, room eight; Hidan and Kakuzu room…" Watching his friend get up and walk down the hall, Naruto looked around the room at who was still left, mind vaguely registering the unfamiliar names that Shizune was reading. "…Neji and Lee, room twelve; and Naruto and Sasuke, room thirteen." Looking up, Naruto scanned the lounge on the lookout for the boy with the unfamiliar name. However, Naruto found himself alone, save for a particularly familiar face. A flash of recognition, followed realization flickered through his eyes.

"You!"

Like it, hate it? Review! (And cookies to whoever guessed Haku!)