2. The Dangling Conversation

As Naruto Uzumaki stepped out of Konoha High to greet the late summer afternoon, his mind remained focused on his earlier encounter with a certain Uchiha. He hadn't really thought about it at the time, but it now occurred to the blond that he had never even asked to make sure if Sasuke was all right. Even though he and Sasuke did not exactly get along all that well, it was unacceptable to do someone harm and try to brush it off with a joke. He would have to apologize to the Uchiha, that much was clear, but of course this left Naruto with another problem: what in the world could he say to make things right?

"Something bothering you, Naruto?"

Naruto snapped out of his reverie at the sound of his name and looked over his shoulder to find a brown-haired boy with a big, toothy grin walking beside him. "Oh, hey, Kiba. How long have you been there?"

"Since we left school. You seemed a little distracted, so I decided not to bother you," Kiba said, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder to force him to a stop. "Now, do you want to tell me what the hell's going on?"

Naruto stared up at the boy for a minute, amazed by how observant he could be in spite of his carefree attitude. When he thought about it, they were a lot alike: both were sub-par students sent to the most prestigious high school in the region by their over-enthusiastic parents, they both had a similar happy-go-lucky view on life, and both were quite terrible at masking their emotions. Knowing this, Naruto did not even try to beat around the bush, but instead looked straight ahead and started walking once more with a sigh.

"All right… I was just thinking about that… thing with Sasuke earlier."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that! Hit him right in the nose!" Kiba exclaimed, giving a quick punch at the air. "'Bout time someone brought the bastard down a peg…"

Oh, God… what kind of rumors are going around now… "No, no, no! It was an accident. I wasn't paying attention and I ran right into him. I never really apologized to him, though, so I just thought –"

"Okay, okay, I get it already," Kiba said, patting his friend on the back. "You feel guilty. I was just giving you a hard time. So, I take it you're gonna go over and talk to him?"

"Well, I don't know… I mean, what would I say? He probably will just slam the door in my face."

"So what? I'd be surprised if he didn't," Kiba replied with a flash of his fanged smile. "At least you would've tried, right? Who cares what that bastard thinks?"

Naruto considered this for a second, realizing that, in spite of how crazy it sounded, Kiba had a point. It was better to at least apologize and get rejected than not to try at all. Glancing to the side, the blond returned his friend's grin, saying. "You know what, you're right? I'm gonna apologize to Sasuke whether he likes it or not."

With that, Naruto took off running with renewed determination. Even if Sasuke decided to refuse the blond's attempts, at least he could sleep that night with a cleared conscience. Before he got too far, however, Naruto came to an abrupt halt and turned to face Kiba sheepishly.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Sasuke lives, would you?"

Kiba laughed and shook his head briefly before replying. "He lives over on the other side of town. It's the big house, you can't miss it."

Big house… "Okay, got it!" Naruto replied cheerily as he started running once more, leaving a dumbfounded Inuzuka standing alone with his thoughts.

"You amaze me, Naruto… you really do…"

xxxxxx

"Have a fun day at school, Sasuke?"

"Go to hell."

It was the usual conversation Sasuke had with his beloved brother, Itachi, when he returned from school. As soon as the younger Uchiha stepped in the door, he could count on his brother to be waiting at the kitchen table, a delightfully obnoxious smirk on his face. Today, though, Sasuke was still dealing with the blood occasionally running from his nose, and as a result wanted nothing more than for Itachi to jump off a cliff.

"Well, well, aren't we in a testy mood today," Itachi said as he intently painted his fingernails a fine shade of black.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Sasuke replied, shooting his brother a dangerous glare.

"Ah, love trouble? You don't need to hide it from me, Sasuke. We all go through it at some point…"

"I had a little accident at school, if you must know," the young Uchiha interrupted with an exasperated sigh.

"I see, and here I just assumed that the bloody nose was from a pretty girl," Itachi continued, his eyes still fixed on his ebony nails.

For a moment, Sasuke considered arguing with his brother further, but ultimately decided that it was not worth the effort. Thus, he simply stormed off and stomped up the stairs to his room, throwing his backpack on the floor as he fell on the bed in exhaustion.

Why do I always have to give that asshole the satisfaction of watching me squirm? I need to learn to just let it go…

Sasuke rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow as he reflected on his day. Over all, for the first day of school, it had been an utter train wreck. The young Uchiha knew that it would have been terrible regardless, but that incident with Naruto, coupled with Kakashi's meddling, did not improve matters at all.

What the hell does Kakashi think he's doing, anyway? Did he expect me to be all bright and bubbly on the first day of school or something? And then he has to use Shikamaru to get to me… what, did he think I'd lie to him or something?

The more Sasuke thought about it, though, the more he knew that he would have lied had Kakashi asked him upfront. It wasn't that Sasuke didn't trust the man or anything; after all, Kakashi had acted like a father towards the Uchiha brothers after their parents' untimely death. The fact of the matter was, the raven-haired boy simply wanted to keep some things to himself. Kakashi clearly knew this, though, and sent Shikamaru, the one person in the world that Sasuke actually confided in.

He knew exactly what he was doing… and it worked. Dammit all… and now Shikamaru's suddenly concerned about me. Where did that come from? Did he have an epiphany over the summer or what?

"Sasuke! You have a visitor!"

The sudden sound of Itachi's voice forced Sasuke back to reality, causing him to sit up rather irritably. Who could possibly be visiting him now? Kakashi was probably still at school, and it wasn't like Shikamaru to go out of his way to chat. Then again, if that day had been any indication, Sasuke's evaluation of the Nara might have been a bit off.

All of this passed through the young Uchiha's mind as he stomped down the stairs, shooting his brother a nasty glare as he descended. As soon as he stepped into the mansion's rather large vestibule, however, Sasuke realized that the visitor was neither Kakashi nor Shikamaru, but rather an all-too familiar blond.

"Naruto."

"H-hey, Sasuke," the vulpine boy replied, a distinctly nervous smile on his face.

"Well, I'll leave the two of you alone," Itachi said, smirking at the obvious tension between the two teens.

Once the elder Uchiha had left the room, Sasuke turned his icy glare to the new arrival, noting a distinct sting in his nose as he did so. "What the hell do you want?"

Naruto flinched visibly at Sasuke's question before speaking. "Umm… well, I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier today. I wasn't paying attention, so I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, and if there's anything I can do to make up for it…"

"Anything you can do?" the raven-haired boy interrupted, stepping towards the blond dangerously. "You can start by doing us all a favor and getting the hell out of here."

"W-what do you mean, Sasuke?"

Perfect, he took the bait…

"What, like you don't know?" Sasuke replied with a derisive laugh. "We all know who you are, Naruto. You're the son of that Kyuubi guy. You think we want someone like that bringing down the reputation of our school?"

"B-but I had nothing to do with that," Naruto protested, his eyes welling up with tears.

"That doesn't matter. The fact is you're the son of a murderer, a monster. How do you think I feel being associated with someone like you after today?"

"B-but…"

"Shut up! If you want to make up for running into me earlier, why don't you just go call your mommy and tell her to pick you up, alright?" With that Sasuke threw open the door standing off to the side with mock courtesy. "Right this way."

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a moment, trying hard to stifle his tears before finally giving in and rushing out the door, his sobs echoing throughout the Uchiha mansion. As the blond ran into the distance, wiping his eyes quite pitifully, Sasuke felt a sudden pang of regret and sealed the door shut in horror.

My God… what have I done?

xxxx

Kiba Inuzuka sat on the couch in his apartment, watching some deliciously trashy television, his pet dog, Akamaru, curled up in a ball in his lap. He absently stroked the dog's fur while occasionally glancing over at the clock, a slight frown on his face. It had been over two hours since Naruto left to go talk to Sasuke, and the Inuzuka had a sinking feeling in his gut that something was amiss. Moments after this though crossed his mind, however Kiba heard the front door swing open, at which point he rose off the couch in anticipation.

"Naruto, is that you?"

"Hi, Kiba," Naruto replied rather morosely as he poked his head through the door.

"Where the hell have you been? I was worried about you!" Kiba exclaimed as he made his way over to his roommate. As he drew closer, however, the dog-boy noticed a distinct wetness on Naruto's cheeks, at which point his concern increased tenfold. "Wait a second, have you been crying?"

"What? No, there was just something in my eyes," Naruto replied, rubbing his cheeks vigorously with his shirtsleeve.

"Don't give me that bullshit. What happened?"

Naruto sighed and took a seat on the couch, a concerned Akamaru leaping into his lap. "Well, I went over and apologized to Sasuke, just like you said, and… and…"

"What? And what?" Kiba pressed, taking a seat beside his friend.

"He told… he told me that everyone would be better off without me," Naruto said, fresh tears running down his face. "He said I'm just the son of a murderer… that I'll never be anything more than a monster…"

At this point, Naruto could not continue any longer and began to sob uncontrollably into Kiba's shoulder. Not knowing what else to do, the dog-boy began to pat the blond's head consolingly, while his other hand formed a rather tight fist.

"Don't worry, Naruto. I'll give that bastard an ass-kicking he'll never forget tomorrow. No one messes with my friends like th–"

"No!" Naruto exclaimed, surprising both Kiba and himself in the process. "I mean, it's okay. Sasuke was just mad… I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Kiba stared at his roommate in disbelief for a moment, not knowing quite what to say. "Naruto, you can't be serious. You can't just let him get away with this."

"Kiba, really, it's all right. I mean… I think we should just let it go this time."

The Inuzuka eyed Naruto suspiciously as he rose from the couch, feeling certain that there was something else that the blond wasn't telling him. After a few seconds, though, he felt satisfied and whistled quickly for Akamaru, leaving an exhausted Naruto to fall fast asleep on the couch.

I'll ask him more about it tomorrow…