The days passed and school went on ordinarily. Naruto kept his seat next to Sasuke, but they didn't talk much. Sakura spent most of her time studying or glaring hate beams at Naruto, so he tried to avoid talking to her too.

Finally, Friday came around and the weekend was near. Having no plans himself; Naruto wasn't terribly excited for it.

Class still hadn't started and the boy was standing around talking to Chouji and Kiba when Shikamaru approached him…

"Naruto, you got any plans for tonight?"

"Nah, Ill probably just eat and get some sleep, why?"

"Well all the guys are coming over for a sort of beginning of school get-together. You should come."

"Great. Sounds like fun."

"Oh, and invite the new kid if you want. It'll be good for him to make some friends."

"Right. Sure thing."

And just as Shikamaru went to do other things, the bells rang and class began…

-Later during class-

"Psst! Sasuke!" (Whispered)

"What?"

"Sleep-over at Shikamaru's tonight. Want to come?"

"Not really."

-Depression from being rejected- "… Are you doing anything else?"

"No."

"Then why not come? It'll be fun!"

-Turns to look at Naruto- "Listen, I'm not interested in whatever you guys are doing. I'm not going."

Naruto looked away from Sasuke, attempting to shun him. Sakura gave him a questioning look, but he just told her it was nothing.

About two seconds passed before his attention span dissipated, and Naruto turned back to Sasuke.

"Please?? Come on, we all want you to go."

-Sighs- "I don't even know half of the names of the guys in this class, what evidence do I have that this isn't just going to be some sort of gay orgy that I'm innocently being dragged into?"

"Why the hell would you think that's going to happen?!?" (Clearly offended)

"That wasn't the point. The point is I'm not going. Now pay attention so that you don't get us failed."

-About four seconds of "paying attention" passes- "50 bucks."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll pay you 50 bucks."

"To go??"

"No, stupid, if it turns into a gay orgy."

"You really are an idiot, ya know?"

"…?"

"… You aren't going to leave me alone unless I go are you?"

"Most likely not."

-Frustrated expression- "I don't know where the place is."

"Sweet! You're coming!"

"Yeah, but remember… 50 bucks."

"Hehe, sure. But what if it was an orgy with girls??"

"You're a virgin aren't you?"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT!?!" –Heated whispers from Sakura-

(Trying not to laugh) "Give me your address and we'll walk there together."

(Grin of amusement on face) "Sure."

Sasuke gave his address to Naruto and Sakura quieted down, obviously embarrassed from the fragments of the conversation she had overheard. Class continued with a lighter atmosphere than before, or at least for Naruto and Sasuke, who were starting to develop a friendship. The clock ticked slowly as they all waited for school to let out. Eventually, the bells rang and everyone went home.

A few hours later….

Naruto looked down at the pathetic-looking piece of notebook paper that had Sasuke's address on it. Double-checking the apartment #, he walked up the stairs and rang the buzzer for Sauske's room, which was towards the top of the very tall building. An intercom beeped and Sasuke's voice came out of it, "Who is it?".

Naruto pressed down the button and said, "It's Naruto". A few seconds passed and, for a moment, Naruto thought Sasuke wouldn't let him in. But the door buzzed and opened and Naruto walked in and took the elevator up to the floor Sasuke's apartment was on.

The walls were covered with blank beige wallpaper with periodic signs asking people to lock their doors behind them, or reminding them the hours the pool would be open. Fluorescent lights gave a yellow tint, so that when Sasuke opened his door, Naruto found the bright whiteness of his apartment somewhat excessive, almost painful.

"Come in, I'll get my stuff." Said Sasuke as he motioned for Naruto to follow. What the boy walked into was an average size living room, a kitchen off to the side and a small hallway towards the back. It even had a little balcony.

"Nice place. Do your parents live here with you?" asked Naruto, touching most everything that fell into his line of sight.

"I live alone." Answered Sasuke from one of the back rooms. Naruto continued to walk around and spotted a family photo hanging on the wall. He smiled sadly and said, "Well where do they live?"

"My parents are dead." Replied Sasuke with an indifferent voice. Naruto spun around to face the direction of the room Sasuke was in. "I'm sorry. I didn't know… but there's another boy in this picture here. Where is he?"

"My brother is gone. He was the one who killed my parents". Naruto felt a pang of horror streak through his body. He couldn't think of anything appropriate to say, so he went and sat down on a couch to wait.

A few minutes later Sasuke emerged from a back room with a bag over his shoulder, seemingly unmoved by the talk of his late parents. Naruto stood and opened his mouth, but Sasuke held up a finger and said, "I told you all you need to know about my family. Let's just put it behind us and move on." Naruto shut his mouth and turned to follow Sasuke out the door.

"So you like Sakura, huh?" asked Sasuke.

"Uhmmm… Maybe." (Blushing)

"Feh, no wonder she hates you. At least be a man about it when she's not around."

"HEY! I don't see YOU going after anyone!"

"I am uninterested in any of the females in our class."

"Oh yeah?" –mischievous smirk on face- "What about males?"

"I'm not gay."

"Sure, sure. But remember Sasuke, if you ever want to talk about it; I'm here for you. I'll be your friend regardless of your orientation."

-Pushes Naruto into wall. -

And so the two boys' playful talk continued all the way to Shikamaru's house.

. . .

Shikamaru had a pretty decent sized house. Big enough, at least, so that Naruto and Sasuke were out of breath when they reached the top of the stairs leading to the front door. As Naruto raised a shaky hand to knock on the door, Shikamaru opened up and Naruto fell inside.

"Wow. I should've expected this from you, but it still looks pathetic." Shikamaru looked up, saw Sasuke, and smiled. "Hey! I'm glad you could make it! Come on in."

The two walked over Naruto, who was lying helplessly on the ground, and went inside. Sasuke looked at Naruto over his shoulder and asked, "Is he going to be alright? His face is a little green…"

"Naruto has always been the least athletic person in our class. Just leave him alone and he'll be fine in a bit."

Sasuke gave a silent "oh" and followed Shikamaru deeper into the monster of a house. They went through the entry and down a hallway, where Shikamaru opened a door and everyone was waiting inside.

"SASUKE!!! Glad you could make it!" said Chouji, getting up to shake his hand. Shikamaru took his bag and threw it into a pile of other bags. Kiba looked up from a game of cards and said, "Oi, didn't you come with Naruto??"

"Umm, yeah. About that…"

"Hey guys!" Naruto walked into the room looking slightly paler then usual. Everyone said hi and got to playing games and eating food. A lot of food. And to go with it, they all drank a lot of punch. A few hours later…

"Psst, Shikamaru" whispered Kiba.

"What?"

"Want to play a prank on Naruto?"

"What do you have in mind?"

Shikamaru and Kiba continued to whisper in the corner as the rest continued a game of poker. Naruto was loosing.

Shikamaru walked out the door, saying he was going to get something and Kiba joined the game. A few minutes later, Shikamaru came back and sat down, whispered something to Chouji and Shino, and then joined the game himself.

"Damn it. I think we made too much punch", said Shikamaru after a while, "Anyone want to finish it off?" Everyone shook their heads except for Naruto and Sasuke.

"Ill have some more" said Naruto, "Sasuke, you want any?"

"Sure."

Shikamaru exchanged glances with Kiba, realizing where their prank had gone wrong. No one had told Sasuke. But if they told him now, before he drank the punch, Naruto would notice and it would be ruined. So they decided to say nothing and see how things played out.

Naruto, rather than bringing back a couple of cups of punch, brought back the whole 2-liter bottle. Sasuke frowned at him, then rolled his eyes and grabbed it to take the first sip.

Within about five minutes the whole thing was gone, and everyone was watching in amusement as Naruto and Sasuke proceeded to get drunk as hell. Shikamaru had mixed the punch with sake.

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's play truth or dare", suggested Kiba, obviously enjoying this. "I'll go first. Naruto truth or dare?"

"UHHmmmmzzzz what?"

"TRUTH OR DARE?!"

"OH… DAREzzzzzz"

"Sweet. I dare you to… go lay down in the street naked."

"Kiba, that's sick. Not to mention he's to stupid to move when a car came. I have a better one." –Shikamaru whispers into Kiba's ear…

"Oh… I see. You're right, that one's better. Naruto! I dare you to kiss Sasuke."

"Hmmm… ok. SASUKE!?!"

"You don't have to yell… hick-up … I'm right next to you."

"Oh. Haha". Naruto leaned in towards Sasuke as everyone else inched closer with anticipation. Naruto placed his hand on Sasuke's red cheek and tilted his face upwards so that they were inches apart.

"I has to kiss… you." Said Naruto, eyes totally unfocused. Then he moved in and there lips met. Sasuke didn't pull away, but shut his eyes and leaned into it instead. The two remained like that for a few moments, as everyone else took cell-phone pictures, and then Naruto proceeded to pass out.

Sasuke looked down at Naruto and then started laughing hysterically. The smiles faltered a bit as he surprised everyone. "What's so funny?" asked Chouji.

"N-Naruto owes…. Naruto owes me 50 bucks!" answered Sasuke as he continued to laugh, and then finally blacked out. Shikamaru just shook his head and said, "Well, that was one hell of a way to end the first week of the semester."

Kiba chuckled and Chouji yawned. "Its time to sleep" said Shino. Everyone else nodded in agreement and went to bed. That was how their first school week of the semester ended.