All right, everyone, here's Chapter 4. I forgot last time to compliment Kabetz on noticing the Simon and Garfunkel theme for the chapter titles. So, yeah, kudos to you, Kabetz! I want to thank the rest of you for reading too, though, and for reviewing. It's all so very helpful. Well, here we go!

4. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

Sasuke Uchiha sat in his room later that evening, waiting for a certain blond to show up so that he could eat his ramen and put all of this nasty business behind him. Of course, Sasuke wasn't even sure if Naruto was going to come, as they had never specified where they were meeting, when, or how they would get there. The Uchiha certainly didn't know where Ichiraku Ramen was; in fact, he had never even heard of the place, and he had been living in Konoha his entire life. Thus, Sasuke had little choice but to wait and hope that Mr. Uzumaki would show up, lest the tensions grow worse between the two.

Come on, Naruto… don't make this a bigger pain in the ass than it already is…

Suddenly, the distinct, two-tone chime of the doorbell signaled that the blond had, indeed, arrived, and the Uchiha forced himself off the bed and began to trudge down the stairs. Much to Sasuke's delight, Itachi was working late that night and was not there to harass his little brother as he usually did. Thus, when the raven-haired boy threw open the door, it was with a surprisingly good mood, and he even managed to smirk upon seeing his companion's broad grin.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed with a quick wave of his hand. "You hungry?"

"Starving," the Uchiha replied as he locked the door shut behind him. "This ramen place better be good."

"You mean you've never been?" the astonished boy exclaimed, as if it were blasphemy to consider such a thing. "Well then, you're in for a treat. It probably has the best ramen in the world. I'd eat there every day if I could, but Iruka says that he isn't paying to send me here just so I can drown myself in ramen."

"Iruka?" Sasuke asked as the two started down the road.

"Yeah, my dad," Naruto elaborated, gazing up at the trees as he thought. "He adopted me when I was six or seven… you know… after Kyuubi."

"Oh," Sasuke said dumbly, averting his eyes from the blond.

That took a bad turn…

"What's with you all of a sudden?" Naruto asked, casting a sideways glance at his companion. "Something I said?"

"No, no," the Uchiha began, only to feel himself break under the blond's gaze. "Well… it's just… I know how much it must hurt to think about that."

"Think about what? Kyuubi?" the vulpine boy said with a slight chuckle, "That was a long time ago, Sasuke. I mean, sure it hurts, but that doesn't mean I can't talk about it."

Sasuke was taken aback by Naruto's sentiment, especially considering the way the blond had reacted the last time Kyuubi was brought up in his presence. For a second he simply stared at Naruto in disbelief, trying to understand how he could change so suddenly, but soon he realized that Mr. Uzumaki's smile was, in fact, even broader than usual. It was a slight difference, admittedly, but it was nothing that Sasuke could not pick out with his sharp, Uchiha vision.

He's covering it up? Is that why he's always grinning like an idiot?

It was a possibility that Sasuke had never thought of before. Naruto had been nothing more than a dobe in the past, but just that subtle change in the blond's exaggerated smile brought whole new layer to the surface.

"Yoohoo! Sasuke! You there?"

Becoming suddenly aware of the hand waving in his face, Sasuke snapped out of his reverie and focused his attention back on the blond. "Huh? What is it, now?"

"You spaced out for a minute there. I thought you were sleepwalking or something," Naruto replied with a playful smirk.

Damn, was I that obvious?

"I'm sorry," the raven-haired boy said, hoping that Naruto would not press the issue any further.

"Don't worry about it. But you never did answer my question."

He asked a question?!

"Umm… what was that, again?"

"I asked about yourparents," Naruto started, resting his hands behind his head. "I saw your brother yesterday, but it didn't look like anyone else was home…"

"They're dead," came Sasuke's curt response. The Uchiha did not even think before speaking, as the words came out almost as a reflex.

"Oh," the blond said, clearly regretting asking his question, "was there an accident or something?"

"They were murdered. I'm sure you heard about it."

Naruto considered this for a second before it dawned on him, "Wait… you meanyou're one of the Uchiha?!"

"Yes, the Uchiha," Sasuke replied coldly.

Naruto looked around nervously, feeling certain that he had touched an extremely sensitive issue. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I didn't realize…"

"It's fine," the Uchiha said with a sigh.

What did I just say?

"Are you sure? 'Cause I thought–"

"There's no way you could've known, Naruto. It's not like I talk about it all the time or anything."

Naruto seemed relieved to hear this, but did not utter another word. Even though he had been forgiven, the blond apparently knew that Sasuke would want a few minutes to mull things over, given the heaviness of what was being discussed. Or, at least, that's what Sasuke thought as they walked in comfortable silence. It wasn't that Naruto was afraid to speak, but rather that he understood how his companion felt, and was responding accordingly.

Never would've thought this dobe could be so observant…

And so they walked for roughly five minutes, Naruto looking around distractedly while Sasuke tried to gain control of his emotions. It wasn't so much that he couldn't bear to think about what had happened to his parents, but more that he really didn't want to talk about it with anyone. That would involve opening up to people, which Sasuke didn't particularly want to do. Why should they have to know about his parents? They could read a newspaper if they wanted to know so badly and leave Sasuke out of the equation. Then they'd both be happy.

Usually people were a bit insistent on learning "Sasuke's side" of the story. What side was that? He wasn't the one who was murdered, so why the interest. It drove Sasuke crazy when people did that, which was why it was so refreshing that Naruto had decided to drop the subject entirely.

Of course, it was only a matter of time until Naruto was forced to speak again, but by that time Sasuke had regained his composure and was aware of his surroundings once more.

"Here we are!" the blond announced, motioning dramatically to a simple ramen stand wedged between to massive buildings.

Sasuke looked at the stand skeptically for a second, doubting that any place so cramped could possibly serve anything worthwhile. Since Naruto seemed so enthusiastic, though, it seemed that the least the Uchiha could do was to play along. "It's… cozy…"

"I know! Isn't it great!" the blond exclaimed, clearly not catching his companion's doubtful tone. "They have such great service, too! Oh, and the food! It's like… the ramen of the gods!"

Ramen of the gods…

Before Sasuke could utter another word, Naruto grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him up to the counter, where they both plopped down on adjacent stools. Sasuke surveyed the stand for a second, noting that there was only one other customer in the tiny establishment, who had apparently fallen asleep in his bowl of ramen. In spite of this troubling sight, though, the stand did have a certain atmosphere that the Uchiha found strangely charming.

"Ah! Naruto!" the man behind the counter exclaimed upon looking up, "And you've brought a friend today, I see."

"Hey, Gramps! This is Sasuke. He's treating me today."

"Is he now? I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, kid," the man replied with a hearty chuckle as he whipped out a pad of paper.

Shit, I forgot about that. I hope I brought enough…

"Now, what'll it be today, Naruto?"

"Hmm, let me think, Gramps," the blond mused, though he did not bother to glance down at the menu before him. "I think I'll have three bowls of the miso pork to start with."

To start with?!

"Light order today, huh? And how about you, son? What sounds good?" the man asked, scribbling away on his notepad.

"Umm… I'll have the miso pork, too…"

"All right, how many? Three bowls? Four?" the man asked, leaning into the Uchiha's face as he spoke.

"One's fine," Sasuke stammered, trying to ignore the bits of spittle that had flown in his face.

"One?" the man said in disbelief, as if such a miniscule amount was inconceivable, before finally shrugging his shoulders. "Suit yourself. Four miso pork coming up."

It was only a matter of minutes before the man returned with four steaming bowls of ramen, which he expertly laid before the two teens. "There you go. Have at it!"

Sasuke looked at his bowl of ramen suspiciously for a moment, trying to decide if it was even edible. It looked safe enough, and it smelled delicious, but for whatever reason the Uchiha's intuition told him that Naruto was not the most reliable source of information. Glancing to the side, however, Sasuke found that the aforementioned blond had already inhaled his first bowl of ramen, and was currently diving face-first into his second.

Well… I guess it's not poisoned…

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Sasuke tentatively raised a few noodles from the bowl to his mouth, cringing slightly as he took a bite. Soon, however, he was overcome by sheer ecstasy, as the flavor of Ichiraku Ramen's specialty noodles began to sink in.

"My God, this is the best ramen I've ever had…" Sasuke started, staring at the bowl before him in utter disbelief.

"I told you," Naruto said, his mouth full of noodly-goodness. "Hey, Gramps, can I get a few more bowls?"

Sasuke didn't even care that Naruto was slowly running up the bill, but instead began to eat his own ramen with similar voracity. It was not long before his bowl was drained, as was Naruto's sixth, and the Uchiha took a moment to study his companion.

It was strange, but the blond had proven Sasuke wrong yet again that night. He actually did know what he was talking about; at least when it came to ramen, that is. Of course, how could he really doubt Naruto, when he so greedily downed bowl after bowl of the stuff?

Then again, Sasuke had already learned that the ethusiastic boy was a pro at hiding his true emotions. What if his ridiculous love of ramen was just an act to cover up his inner turmoil? It was absurd to think that Naruto would calculate his movements so precisely, but Sasuke felt that anything was possible at this point.

How can someone who seems so incredible stupid be so… interesting? It's like… it's like…

It was then that Sasuke pinpointed exactly what was bothering him about the blond. It came so suddenly that his jaw almost dropped open in surprise, and he was forced to momentarily conceal his face with a napkin as he thought.

It's just like me. It's like he took my experiences and just turned my reaction on its head. Why didn't I see it before?

Shortly after this thought crossed his mind, Sasuke realized that Naruto was staring at him once again, and he snapped out of his reverie. Had he been zoning out again?

"Ah, are you full, then?" the Uchiha asked, nodding at the pile of empty bowls.

Naruto scrutinized the bowls for a second before responding, "Yeah, I think that's enough. Don't wanna over do it. Gramps!"

"Oh, done already, are you? Let's see then," the man said, pulling out a calculator from his pocket. After crunching some numbers for a second, he looked up with a satisfied grin. "That'll be fifty-seven dollars."

Fifty-seven dollars for ramen!? How much did he eat?

Deciding that it would be best not to argue, Sasuke pulled out his wallet and laid his Visa on the counter. "Will that do?"

"Sure. Just give me a sec."

After briefly stepping into the back room, the man returned with Sasuke's card and wished the two teens a wonderful night. Naruto waved enthusiastically to the man, and together he and the Uchiha stepped outside Ichiraku Ramen into the cool, evening air.

"Thanks for dinner, Sasuke," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I know it was probably a bit more than you expected…"

"Don't worry about it," the Uchiha interrupted as he placed the credit card back into his wallet. "Just as long as we're even."

"Okay… 'cause I could cover part of it if you want…

"It's fine, Naruto. Now, I think I know the way back from here, so I think I'll just say goodbye now."

"Oh, all right. I'll see you later," Naruto said as he turned to make his leave.

"Later," Sasuke replied, starting off in the opposite direction.

Sasuke struggled with his thoughts on the way home, trying to come to terms with his revelation over dinner. He suddenly found Naruto to be so intriguing, a feeling that he had not had about a person for quite some time, and it was frightening. Sasuke knew what happened when he found someone interesting like that. Unless he did something, it would only be a matter of time until Naruto forced his way into the Uchiha's life, and that was something that Sasuke wanted to avoid if at all possible.

By the time Sasuke had reached this conclusion, he had already returned to his home and was lying comfortably in his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, repeating it over and over in his head, like a mantra, lest he forget it in his sleep.

I must avoid Naruto… I must avoid Naruto…

In spite of himself, however, Sasuke ultimately fell asleep with the slightest trace of a smile, a faint murmur escaping his lips.

That dobe…

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And there you have it. Four chapters down, and we actually got some NaruSasu goodness in this one. How will their relationship develop from this point on? You'll just have to read to find out. Until next time!