Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 19

Sasuke made his way to his gym locker. Already boys were changing. Sasuke ran a hand through his sweaty hair in annoyance.

He hated feeling all sweaty and hot.

Naruto was changing next to him and this time Sasuke focused once more on his creamy skin. There was something off. Naruto had bruises and scars running along his back and legs.

"Hey Naruto--" Sasuke began but lost his focus as Naruto smirked not two inches from his face. Sasuke flushed a bit.

He could feel Naruto's breath on his face again. Unbidden the scene from earlier in the locker room raced to his mind along with a few pervy thoughts.

"Hey keep things P-G people!!" Kiba said with a grin chuckling. Sasuke scowled and Naruto rolled his eyes moving away. Naruto pulled on his skinny jeans and shirt. Sasuke did the same next to him.

"I still can't believe how fast you are Naruto!!" Kiba exclaimed begrudgingly. Naruto smirked. " Why aren't you on our track team anyways!? We could so beat Sound with a runner like you!"

Naruto rolled his eyes again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Inuzaka think for once will you. If I wanted to join I'd be on it regardless if I was good or not."

"Huh?" Kiba was confused. That still didn't explain why he wasn't in track. And he was good. So what was the problem?

Naruto seeing the baffled expression on Kiba's face sighed and explained. " Inuzaka I have enough fan girls here why would I go out of my way to get more from other schools? Plus I'm busy after school, things to do."

"Speaking of which you never did tell us what happened to you after school." Shikamaru said sitting on the bench waiting patiently for the bell to ring. Ten minutes left. It felt like an eternity.

Sasuke and Kiba watched Naruto closely. He seemed to be having some internal conflict.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his messy blond locks.

Damn Shikamaru for being perceptive. Now Kiba will never let the subject go. Sasuke as well, though I doubt he'd go to annoying lengths to get info out of me. He seems hell bent on making me like him. Naruto despite himself felt deeply amused.

Looking back at Shikamaru however his eyes got steely. He might be starting to accept them as close acquaintances but that didn't mean he was going to pour his heart out to them.

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" Naruto replied coldly. "Stuff happened just leave it at that."

Shikamaru nodded with an exasperated sigh. Troublesome. It wouldn't hurt uzumaki to just tell them. What could he possibly be hiding I wonder.

Sasuke was thinking along the same lines..

Is it really that hard to just trust us? Sasuke felt immediately disheartened. Maybe Naruto would never really be his friend. Maybe he only talked to them out of a whim and would eventually just ignore them once he got bored with them.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and immediately noticed his sudden mood. Naruto sighed.

Sometimes the Uchiha was like an open book despite his 'Oh so emotionless' face. (note the sarcasm).

And that damned expression on his face made his heart contract in brief pain. Damn that uchiha for affecting him like this.

Naruto sighed again and ran a hand threw his blond locks out of habit. " Well I guess I can tell you guys. It wouldn't hurt." He muttered.

Sasuke's emo moment immediately cleared and Naruto felt immensely relieved. Yes his emotions were back in his control!

"So?" Shikamaru prodded a bit. Naruto frowned despite himself.

He couldn't just tell them what was happening. It wouldn't help. If anything it would probably make things worse and he shuddered to think what his father would do to him and his mother if he found out he had run his mouth to the authorities.

He especially feared what he'd do to his mother. His father was cold and ruthless when it came to his mother .The only reason he went easy on her so far was his compliance….He opened his mouth to say who knows what and….. the bell rang.

Immediately boys made their way out of the lockers. Pushing and shoving. Laughing and talking excitedly. Lunch was next.

Of course everyone was impatient to get out and meet their friends and relax. In about a second the only ones left in the lockers were sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba and himself.

Naruto closed his mouth shut and picked up his backpack slinging it on his shoulders carelessly. He spared the silent trio a glance and looked away.

He walked away his footsteps magnified by the sudden silence. Then he paused at the door for a second. He knew they were watching his every move especially a pair of ebony eyes.

"I'll tell you next period okay. I got to avoid my fan girls now. Can't have them finding out where I hide off in lunch now can I?" Naruto said smirking at their stunned expressions, from over his shoulder. Guess they weren't expecting that. he thought highly amused.

"You better!" Kiba said threateningly with a grin, hands folded behind his head. Guess Uzumaki isn't as cold as he makes himself to be. Kiba thought smiling inwardly.

"Mah how troublesome you are Uzumaki." Shikamaru said with a smile playing on his lips. Even he hadn't been expecting this.

If anything he thought that Naruto would of just took off and let the matter drop. Maybe even stop speaking to them altogether.

And looking at Sasuke, Shikamaru concluded that would have been bad for a number of reasons. More so that they'd miss him.

No matter how arrogant and cold he acted the uzumaki was starting to grow on him. Shikamaru smiled bemusedly. Since when had that started.

He knew Uzumaki before after all. Well not really. He knew who he was but he never bothered to get to know him or talk. Naruto would have never allowed someone to get this close to him before.

Sasuke meanwhile felt immensely relieved.

He hadn't wanted to push Naruto or anything. He was kind of scared that he would just draw away from them and start to treat him like everybody else. And that thought cut him deeply.

He didn't want that. He didn't want those azure eyes to look at him blankly like he did the rest of the population. He didn't want to be another seemingly useless person in Naruto's eyes. He wanted to be acknowledged and noticed.

To make Naruto laugh. To make him smile. To talk to him. To be his everything. Sasuke flushed at the thoughts before regaining his expressions on his face.

No way was he gonna lose his cool in front of Naruto again. So he smirked at Naruto and said, "Fine we'll be waiting till next period so you better not ditch." He smirked some more when Naruto scowled at him but nodded.

"Yeah yeah Uchiha I'll be there." He said with a careless wave and made his way out the door. After a pause they followed out. Naruto was turning down a deserted corridor and sasuke immediately knew he was headed back to the roof.

He smirked and made a mental note to come after he got something to eat from the cafeteria. So without further ado he made his way toward the cafeteria with Shikamaru and Kiba.

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TBC…..