Naruto pouted, completely unbothered by the fact that the boy currently hugging the Uchiha was dressed in a skirt seeing as he wore skirts all the time, and said, "He calls you Sasu-chan too! Why can't I?"

"Because I've known him for most of his life 'til he moved away. Plus he doesn't like fan girls giving him nicknames," Sai replied, a bit of an edge to his voice. Sasuke had sat up by now, but Sai refused to let go. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah no. I'm not a fan girl, believe it. I wouldn't think of a teme like him as dateable any time soon. We're friends, but that's as far as I take it," he told him.

"Really? Wow," Sai said, looking at the boy in his grip, "you finally managed to find a girl that isn't falling head over heels for you. Good for you."

"Gee, thanks," Sasuke replied as he finally wriggled his way out of the boy's death grip and turned to him. Naruto remember Itachi saying something similar when they'd met back then. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Fighting with my relatives and getting tossed around some more. It doesn't really matter cause I never really like any of them. But the ones I'm with now seem pretty good. Haven't said a word about the skirts, but I don't know if that's because they're too shocked or disgusted to bring it up or if they're actually okay with it. But whatever, at least I found you again," Sai told him. Sasuke shrugged. He seemed fine now that it was just a normal conversation. Or at least normal for them. The subject just made the others curious, although a couple background conversations had started after the initial shock of Sai's arrival.

"I've been visiting you, haven't I? It's not like I moved very far away," Sasuke said.

"True. But I missed teasing you everyday," Sai said with a wink. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sai went to sit next to Sasuke and the others moved over, giving him a chair. "So introduce me. You seem so buddy-buddy with everyone here; I just have to know who actually introduced you to so many people. Normally you're so broody and don't make any friends."

"I'm not broody," Sasuke said, keeping the whine out of his voice. Naruto could almost hear the pout that failed to show as well. He giggled, which caught Sai's attention.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing. When I first met him, my impression was that he was a broody prick, so it's just funny that even someone who's known him can say he's like that," said the blonde with a shrug. Sai laughed at that.

"How could I not say that about him? He's always like that," he said. Naruto laughed and agreed. Sasuke was frowning and dangerously close to pouting.

"I'm right here, guys. I can hear everything you're saying," he said, glaring at both of them. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him playfully before going back to Sai.

"So you're Sai, right?" he asked. The boy nodded in confirmation. "I'm Uzumaki Naruko. I'm the one that made Sasuke-teme branch out."

"Nice to meet you," Sai said with a grin. "I think Sasu-chan's mentioned you a couple times. Something about being annoying and stubborn."

"What? Sasuke, how could you ever say that about me?" Naruto asked, faking a hurt voice.

"Well you go around telling everyone that asks about me that I'm a teme, so I thought it was only fair to return the favor by describing you accurately," Sasuke replied. The blonde pouted again.

"You're mean."

"And yet you still chose to be friends with me," Sasuke countered. Naruto rolled his eyes, and then looked over at Sai to see him smiling about something or other rather creepily. There seemed to be a strange light in his eyes, akin to recognition or a realization.

"Umm, yes?" he asked the dark haired cross-dresser.

"Nothing. Just random thoughts that make me smile, you know?" Sai replied. Naruto nodded sagely, as if he really did.

"So seriously. Introduce me to everyone. Cause I see some delicious guys sitting here just waiting for me to hit on them," Sai said suddenly. Sasuke rolled his eyes again. Naruto shrugged and called for everyone's attention at the crowded table.

"Okay so, everyone, this is Sai-kun," he said, introducing him to them properly. Sakura stood to reach over and shake his hand with a nervous smile.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. It's nice to meet you Sai-san," she said politely.

"It's good to meet you too, big forehead," the dark haired cross-dresser replied confidently. The pinkette's eye twitched; Naruto could just tell that she really wanted to explode about the comment, but was holding herself back only because it was the guy's first day, although she now had a murderous aura about her. Sai seemed completely oblivious to the fact that it was aimed at him and turned to the next person to speak to him.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino, and it's probably best if you don't say that about pinkie here. I'm the only one that gets away with it anymore," the blonde told him. Sakura then turned her glare to the girl next to her hearing the 'pinkie' comment. Ino was unaffected as Sai was and just shrugged in response to her.

"I see, I'll keep that in mind," the boy said with a seemingly innocent smile. Everyone else introduced themselves eventually. They had explained that Kiba was with them sometimes, and then with his other friends at other times. Neji had also introduced himself and Hinata, who had said a shy hello to the newcomer. After it was all over, Sai chuckled a little.

"Wow, Sasu-chan. You've got such a cute group of friends this year. Bet you haven't even gotten into any trouble since last year," Sai said.

"Itachi has me on a tighter leash since then so I haven't really done anything. Besides, blame her if they're…cute. They're her friends, she just dragged me into her group," Sasuke told him, gesturing to Naruto.

"Whatever. Oh, and congrats on finding such a cutie here. I might just have to steal him from you," Sai said with a mischievous grin.

"Who?" Sasuke asked, confused. He certainly knew who Sai might be referring to, but she wasn't a guy. And besides, Sai was a flaming gay. After all those years, he couldn't suddenly want a girl, could he?

"Naruko-san," Sai replied. Naruto turned to the two boys beside him at the sound of his alter ego's name. He tilted his head to the side, listening to what they were saying.

"Naruko-san is a girl. I thought you liked guys," Sasuke said slowly, still confused. Naruto immediately went into a panic, although he didn't let it show. Did Sai know? Was he going to tell everyone? He wasn't ready for that yet. How did he even know?

"I do. Naruko-san is a very cute one at that. Better at pulling off skirts than me, that's for sure," Sai said nonchalantly.

"Sai-san!" Naruto said quickly, before Sasuke had the chance to say anything. He drew the attention of both boys, as well as some of the other occupants of the table.

"Ah…um, I…you can't be serious can you? I mean, I'm not a boy," he said in a disbelieving voice, trying to keep it from cracking. He was so nervous. What if they didn't believe him? What if, now everyone found out before he got a chance to tell them himself? But would he ever tell them himself? As of right now, the chances of that happening were slim to none, but he would tell them when he was ready. Still…

Sai looked around at everyone and saw the desperation in Naruto's eyes that they all seemed to miss. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged, giving both an answer to his thoughts and the blonde's denial.

"Nah, I'm not serious all the time. You're just special," he said with a wink in the blonde's direction. Relief flooded azure eyes as Naruto played off the comment by sticking his tongue out at the cross-dresser in a childish way. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the two and felt left out for some reason.

Near the end of lunch, Naruto had told them he was going to the nurse's office for a headache and asked Sai to walk with him since they had the same class afterwards, as they found out when Sakura had asked to look at his schedule. Sasuke watched as the two of them left and realized he had been glaring. At who, he didn't know. He had felt a strange feeling bubble up in his chest as he had seen how relaxed the blonde had been around his old friend. There seemed to be an unspoken trust between the two, and he didn't really like it. The feeling bubbled up again before he squashed it back down. His heart knew what it was, but his mind refused to recognize it was even there, that he was even capable of feeling that. No. Sasuke Uchiha couldn't possibly be jealous of his gay friend getting close to the blonde. Not at all.

"Hey obaa-chan! Shizune-chan!" Naruto called as he walked into the office. He barely dodged the sharpened pencil being thrown at him, which got stuck in the wall behind the blonde. Sai was beside him, rather unaffected by the object that had flown by him.

"I've told you not to call me that, brat," Tsunade growled, not looking up from her current paper work, thinking he was just stopping by to annoy her. She was glad he was feeling better ever since he was getting closer to his mother, she really was. But sometimes he just annoyed her for the fun of it, and it was getting rather old.

"Hey Naruko-chan," Shizune said, also not looking away from her task, which was organizing some folders in a drawer. It was also an unspoken rule to refer to the blonde as Naruko during school hours.

"Obaa-chan, Shizune-chan, this is Sai-san," Naruto said suddenly, catching the older blonde and brunette's attentions. "Sai-san, this is my aunt Tsunade-chan and her assistant Shizune-chan."

The women looked over at the pair to see Sai in all his cross-dressing glory. Both were confused as to why Naruto had brought him here, even if he were just introducing him to them. Tsunade cocked an eyebrow.

"The new student. Nice to meet you, Sai-san," she said finally.

"It's a pleasure," he replied in turn. He then looked over at Naruto. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"Cause you know something you shouldn't," Naruto said simply. "Or at least, something no one should at this point."

"What? That you're a guy? I thought that was common knowledge," Sai said innocently.

"Yes, I'm a guy. But no one else knows so don't go around telling everyone I am," Naruto told him with a light glare. Tsunade and Shizune were looking on with a bit of surprise.

"Did you tell him?" Shizune asked.

"No I-"

"I figured it out. I am the same as him, although I don't think I could ever pull of being as girly as him," Sai told her. Naruto glared at him even more.

"It's not my fault," he said with a pout.

"So what? You just dress like a girl and pretend you're not a guy, and then everyone believes you're a girl? I don't really see how you could pull off fooling everyone else," Sai said, hands on his hips.

"Well it's not like they've ever seen me dressed as a boy. And I guess, like you said, you're like me so it might seem more obvious to you than to the others," Naruto said thoughtfully. Sai gave him a questioning look. And so Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizune delved into the reasons he dressed as a girl, avoiding his encounter with Snake as much as possible. Sai nodded at times, but said nothing until they were done. There was an awkward silence as they waited for Sai to respond. Naruto didn't think he would say anything bad about it, seeing as he cross dressed himself, but he couldn't help the worry that bubbled up as he waited.

"So then why don't you just dress like a guy now if you don't like it? From what you've told me, you could do it now without consequence," Sai said finally.

"I've been trying to get him to stop for a while now, but the brat hasn't listened yet," Tsunade told him. Naruto just smiled sheepishly at her before turning to the black haired boy.

"I'm just not ready for that. I mean, they've only known me as a girl ever since they met me, so I'm thinking it would be a complete shock if I suddenly came up to them and said, 'Hey guys, just thought I should let you know I've been lying to you for all these years about being a girl. I've actually been a guy the whole time!' Yeah. That would go over well," he said with a frown. "I don't think they'd even believe me unless I flashed them or something, and I'm pretty sure I would never do that."

"I guess that would be pretty shocking," Sai said bluntly, as though he were really dense enough to think that it would work. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You think?" he said.

"But I didn't say you had to do it all at once," Sai continued, ignoring the comment. This interested the blonde boy. "You'd have to tell them eventually, and yes, that will be a shock to them. But you could get them used to you looking like a boy at least by dressing more like one. There's nothing wrong for going with the tomboy-girl look."

"That's…actually a good idea, Sai-san," Tsunade said with an impressed look. She hadn't thought of that in all the years she'd been trying to get Naruto to start acting how he wanted. The dark haired boy looked at her with a bored expression, but there was smugness in his eyes that annoyed her.

"I know," he replied and then smiled an innocent smile.

"So what? I just get a complete wardrobe change and start shopping in the guy sections at stores?" Naruto asked, a little annoyed at the boy before him.

"No, just gradually stop wearing such girly clothing like skirts and dresses. And then start wearing more T-shirts and baggy jeans or whatever guys are wearing these days. Or whatever you'd wear if you were dressing as if nothing had happened to make you hide your gender. But do it gradually," he told the blonde. "If you do it like that, they'll be used to it by the time you're ready to tell them."

Naruto thought it over while Tsunade and Shizune looked at him expectantly. It seemed like the perfect solution to them. To the blonde boy, well…he could make it work. It seemed like a good enough plan. It would definitely give him time to prepare himself for telling his friends seeing as he wore a dress or a skirt at least twice a week. But he still didn't know if he even wanted his friends to ever find out. He sighed. He'd rather not tell them, but if they found out from someone other than him, it would be worse.

"That sounds…okay, I guess," he said finally, giving the verdict. Tsunade and Shizune grinned, hearing this. He was one step closer to coming out of the shell he'd locked himself in all these years.

"So then you'll do it?" Shizune asked happily.

"Yeah. You guys seem so excited about it, how could I not try?" Naruto said wearily, giving her a smile.

"Good job at convincing the stubborn brat, Sai-san," Tsunade said.

"My pleasure," Sai replied with that innocent smile of his. Naruto opened his mouth to whine at his aunt when he saw the clock and he groaned. They were going to be very late to class, and the excuse of getting medicine from the nurse might not be enough.

"I'll write you guys a pass," Tsunade said, noticing where Naruto had been looking. The blonde boy gave her a grateful look as she did so.

"Thanks, obaa-chan!" he said, avoiding a pen this time that now joined the pencil from earlier in the wall. He took the pass and left through the door before anything else could be thrown. Sai was almost out the door when the nurse stopped him.

"You had best keep the fact that Naruto-kun is a boy a secret, or I will personally hunt you down. If it gets out, and I find you are responsible, just know that you were warned," Tsunade said, her voice dangerously low in contrast to the polite smile upon her face.

"I understand. Although I think that you have mistaken Naruko-chan for someone else. I mean she is girl after all," Sai replied with his innocent smile. And with that he left to follow after the boy who was waiting for him impatiently.

Tsunade sighed as the door shut. She had a feeling that boy would get on her nerves much easier than Naruto could, and without even trying. She silently wished that the day would go by faster. That or that schools let teachers drink during school hours. She really wanted some sake now.

Sai looked at Naruto as they walked down the hall to their class and let out a small sigh. The blonde gave him a curious look, and he answered the unasked question.

"I really did think you were a girl at first, and I finally thought Sasuke-kun had really found a girl that didn't obsess over him the moment she laid eyes on him," he explained.

"There's actually couple of girls I know that haven't obsessed over him. Although I have to agree that he is good looking," Naruto replied. He continued in a quieter voice, "But how did you find out I wasn't a girl?"

"You want to know?" Sai asked. The blonde nodded. They were almost at their destination.

"You really want to know?" he asked again, teasing the blonde who was frowning by now.

"Yes I want to know," he said.

"Really?" Sai asked again, slowly, drawing it out and successfully annoying the boy even more.

"Yes, just tell me already you prick," Naruto said, through being toyed with. Suddenly he found himself, against the wall next to the door they would go through to their next class, with Sai's face only a few centimeters away from his. He shivered feeling the dark haired boy's breath on his lips, and all he could think was, oh shit.

Sai smirked at seeing the surprised expression. This boy would be very fun to play with, especially seeing how close Sasuke was to him. Because Sasuke was always fun to taunt, and dangling the thing Sasuke wanted (even though he may not have known he wanted it) seemed the perfect thing to do. He leaned even closer, nearly closing the distance between them.

"It's a secret," he whispered finally, his lips nearly on top of the other boy's. And just as suddenly as he'd had Naruto against the wall, he was on his way through the door they were next to with that innocent smile of his in place. Naruto stared at the door incredulously, not believing Sai had just been close enough to kiss him. He didn't want his first kiss stolen by Sai!

Sai's head poked out of the door. "You have the pass, and the teacher requires that you give it to him, so if you don't mind…" he said, and then he disappeared back into the room. Naruto narrowed his eyes and sighed heavily. Grumbling about stupid guys having issues with personal space, he entered the room finally to give the pass to the teacher.

Sasuke was seething at the moment. He wasn't quite sure why, but he knew it was because of Sai. Or maybe it was Naruko. Or maybe it was just both of them in general because of the situation he'd caught them in. Whoever it was he was mad at, he didn't care. All he knew was, they better be ready for a bitchy Sasuke.

All he'd been doing was walking innocently down the hall to the bathroom. He wasn't on the other side of the school from where his class was. He wasn't doing it just to walk past the nurse's office and see if Sai and Naruto had left yet. No. He was just doing it for the exercise. For the pure enjoyment of walking around free from his class because he had a pass. Of course, he had to pass the nurse's office on his way, but what did that matter?

He saw no blonde or black as he passed aside from the nurse and her assistant. And he kept walking as if he hadn't just looked for his friends in there intentionally. He just glanced over and happened to notice they weren't there, that's all. So he continued down the hall. In the next hall, after this turn he would find the bathroom he was looking for. No it was not near Naruko's classroom, and no he did not know it was there because he'd looked at the room number after Naruko had happened to mention that Sai was in that class with her. And he most definitely was not going to look for them as he passed by.

But he didn't even get a chance to not look in the window of the doorway for them because as soon as he'd rounded the corner he saw them. He stopped dead still, and watched as Sai kissed the blonde, who was currently up against the wall. He didn't even stay to see what happened after that. He just turned on his heel and walked back toward his class. He wasn't running away, he just changed his mind about going to that bathroom. He just decided the one near his classroom was much better. Of course it was.

Suddenly the image flashed in his mind again and he frowned deeply, his eyes narrowing in a glare that was directed at anything and everything. He stopped a little bit away from the door to his class, attempting to calm himself.

Why should he be mad? His friend was gay and Naruko was a girl. He knew she wasn't with anyone, but he certainly thought her too annoying to stand as anything more than a friend. If they wanted to have a nice little make out session on their first day of meeting each other, who was he to say they couldn't. No, he didn't care at all. He didn't care. That's what he told himself, and that's what he would believe. As long as his mind was shouting louder than his heart, at least.

A/N: Yes! I finally got it done! I stopped right in the middle of the explanation to Sai and took a break from writing because I had homework piling up, so sorry if that seems badly written. Actually, sorry if any of this is badly written in general for the whole story. I like how it's turning out, but some places…I don't like how it's written. I might go back and redo them one day, but probably not until this is done. And I'm pretty sure this is far from over.

So Sasuke's jealous and in complete denial. Lovely isn't it? I think so. Makes it that much more fun to convince him he actually likes our little Naru-chan as a girl, and even more a challenge to convince him when he goes back to being a boy. I'm excited. (grins) I don't know when that's all gonna come to light, but I'm thinking soon-ish…maybe? So get ready. I hope Sai will provide us with problems and comic relief galore. I love him, I really do.

And thank you so much everyone for your lovely reviews! You're all amazing and it makes me so happy whenever I read them. They are so very much appreciated, and I would give you all cookies if I could whether you've reviewed or just read. So here are some cyber-cookies for you all! Thanks again, and I'll try to make the next update sooner or about the same time as this one.

I also realized that I used Naruto's phrase, 'believe it' in this, but I had the urge and couldn't stop it. I hate when it's over used cause it gets really annoying after a while, but I felt the need to use it at least once in this story. And sorry my author's notes are so long…

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto, never will.