Author's Note: I apologize for not updating for like half a year, but to be honest, I think I'm slowly growing out of my fanfiction phase. I don't know if I'll be stopping or not, but hopefully I could still hold onto part of my important yaoi memories by continuing these. Please enjoy.

Chapter 6

Naruto laughed and pushed himself off the ground. He unbuckled himself from the snowboard and walked back to the other two. Snowboarding was a lot easier than he has imagined. It wasn't that Sasuke was a bad teacher or anything, but Naruto was just the kind of boy that responded better to action than words.

"I'm beat." Kiba skidded to a halt and took off his snowboarding goggles.

Sasuke smirked and slid next to him. "Your endurance is rather low."

The blonde took off his beanie and wiped off his sweat. "Whatever, I'm tired. Let's go back."

Sasuke put his goggles back on, "I'm going to stay for a little longer." He slid down the hill without waiting for a reply.

Kiba looked at his friend. "Guilty?"

Naruto spun around and spluttered, "W-what?" He laughed, "Why would I be?"

Kiba smiled knowingly, "Uh huh." He picked up his snowboard and began walking back to the lodge.

Naruto picked up his and ran to catch up. "What?" He asked, annoyed.

"I don't know." Kiba grinned.

"Spit it out, dickface."

"Ooo. We're getting touchy now, aren't we?" Naruto punched his friend on the arm. Kiba laughed, "You're beginning to like him a little bit aren't you?"

"S-sasuke?!" Naruto scoffed, "Y-yeah, as if." He looked at Kiba, "What? Are you implying that I'm a fruitcake?"

"First of all, I'm not the one stuttering. Second of all, when I say like, why would you automatically jump to the conclusion that I'm saying that kind of like?"

"Shut up, you sound like Sakura, for christ's sake." Naruto tightened his grip on the snowboard. "I guess if you ask me now, the bastard's not that bad. I mean, I don't want to hurt him as much now."

"Personally, I think you guys just started off on the wrong foot." Kiba wiped his shoes off on the welcoming matt and went inside the lodge.

"Yeah, and as if that's my fault." Naruto did the same and took off his gloves. "I mean, the whole thing wouldn't have happened if you didn't ask Akamaru to pull off my fucking wig."

Kiba grinned. "All's fair in video games and prank wars."

"Right." Naruto greeted the lady at the renting corner and returned the snowboard.

Kiba waited for his friend and when he was done, they walked back to their room together. "If you really think about it though, wouldn't it technically be Naruko's fault?" Somewhere in the back of his head, Naruto did think this, but he couldn't bring himself to voice this out loud.

"She's my little sister." He replied weakly.

"You let her off too many times." Kiba's tone turned serious, "You know we all think that. Sakura tells you all the time. Sometimes we worry about how much trouble you'll get in one day because of that sister of yours."

Naruto laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "I thought you liked Naruko."

"I'm serious here, Naruto. You remember what happened when we were ten right?"

Neji Hyuuga just happened to pass by and saw a familiar blonde head. He saw Naruto with his friend Kiba. They were laughing and joking all of a sudden then the brown haired boy said something and Naruto dropped to the ground. "Naruto, are you alright?" Neji knelt down put his hand on the blonde's shoulder.

He shrank away from his touch and curled into a little ball. He wrapped his head with his hands, and mumbled, "It's okay, it's okay."

---

Sakura smiled and hugged the package closer to herself. She was sure Naruto would like this early birthday present. She saw it in a small boutique shop and just had to get it for him. She skipped happily down to the hall where Kiba and Naruto's room was. The pink-haired girl stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her friend all curled up, rocking back and forth on the floor. She ran towards him and stopped in front of Kiba who pulled her back.

"He's unstable right now. I don't think we should touch him."

Sakura bit her lip, "What happened?"

Kiba looked away guiltily, "I thought he got over it since Kyouko and Arashi made him go through all that therapy." He scratched his head, "I mentioned it by accident."

Sakura gave him a death glare. She turned to Naruto and got down next to him. She gently patted him but the blonde only flinched. Sakura took a deep breath and tried again.

"Naruto," she said softly, "Naruto, you're fine. We're home, you're going to be okay, sweetie." The blonde slowly looked up, his blue eyes out of focus. Sakura smiled feebly, encouraged. "Naruto, we're safe, baby, don't worry." She hesitantly reached out to him and stroked his cheek gently. "Everything's going to be okay." She inched forward and slowly embraced him. Naruto closed his eyes and melted in her arms.

Kiba almost fainted with relief. Sakura sighed, "Kiba, help him up, he's out."

The brown-haired boy immediately did as he was told and put one of the blonde's arm around his neck. Sakura got up and took Naruto's other arm. She stopped when she saw Neji standing a few feet away.

"Hyuuga-san–"

"Is he going to be alright?"

Sakura smiled, "Yes, but please, don't tell anyone of this incident. We don't want Naruto to be reminded again. Most likely he won't remember what happened when he wakes up."

Neji looked at her, hesitant to ask. Sakura saw the look on his face and quickly said, "It's not our place to tell, Hyuuga-san, I'm sorry."

He nodded, "I understand. Well, please look over Naruto then."

---

"Whoo hoo! A ramen jacket?! That's crazy, Sakura-chan! Where'd you find this?"

Sakura gripped the arm of her chair. The effects of what happened before still hadn't disappeared. Her heart was still pounding in her ears. She forced a smile, "Uh, just a small boutique shop." She traded glances with Kiba. "Hey, Naruto. Kiba and I are going to help out Iruka-sensei with dinner first, okay? Why don't you take a nap?"

The blonde laughed, "You're so nice when it's near my birthday." He neatly put the garment back into its bag and jumped onto his bed. "You're gonna call me when it's ready right?"

"Yeah." She tucked him in and turned off the lights, closing the door behind Kiba and her. The moment the door shut, she looked at Kiba. "Tell me what happened."

The dog lover told her the events that unfolded from start to when she appeared. "I didn't know he was still so affected by this. It's been what? Five, six years?"

"Even so, I thought you'd know better than to say something that will remind him about it!" Sakura looked around and lowered her voice as they began walking towards the kitchen. "What should we do? Should we tell Kyouko-san about this? Perhaps he should go back to the therapist."

Kiba shook his head, "What if he goes into that mode with that therapist?" He scratched his chin, "I'm guessing he probably did considering how he reacted today."

Sakura stopped in front of the kitchen door, "Fine. Let's just keep an eye on him for now." Kiba agreed and went in. Sakura bit her lip, still shaken up from Naruto's little episode.

---

Sasuke lay back onto his bed and rested his head on his hands. He recalled what he saw in the hallway. He barely caught a glimpse, but he was sure of what he saw. The raven was walking back to his room, taking another route to avoid some stalker-like girls when he saw Naruto on the ground and Sakura talking softly to him. Neji and Kiba were standing there with concerned looks on their faces. Sasuke turned on his side. He didn't know the blonde for long, but even so, Naruto seemed like a pretty annoyingly cheerful kid. Seeing him on the ground with those blanked out eyes spooked him a little. He sat up all of a sudden. "Why am I taking my time to think about this?" Shaking his head, he took out his iPod and his book and lay back down. Somewhere on the same floor, a certain blonde bolted up and sneezed.

"W-whaa, what the hell?" Naruto asked sleepily. Rubbing his eyes, he plopped right back onto his pillow.