Well, sorry that this chapter is late again, guys. I was busy with the holiday and everything. But, this is a longer chapter, and we get to see another major character appear, so it's all good. I want to thank those of you who reviewed, as well as the rest of you for reading. Now, on with the chapter!

12. The Boxer

Sasuke awoke the next morning feeling more exhausted than he had when he went to sleep. Even though he'd gotten a full night's rest, his dreams had been haunted with memories of his parents' deaths. It had been years since he had nightmares about that fateful night, and it angered him more than anything else that they'd returned.

Dammit, Naruto…

Sasuke knew that he had no one to blame but himself for his current predicament, though. Naruto had tried to talk the Uchiha out of telling his story, but Sasuke hadn't listened. No, he'd momentarily forgotten his goal and revealed everything about his tortured past. What had he been thinking, letting Naruto get to him like that? And then to react the way he did, by snapping at that perfectly innocent blond – it wasn't like him to lose his cool so easily. Why did he even yell at Naruto to begin with? It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong – in fact, he was just trying to help, and Sasuke went and threw it back in his face. Sasuke felt guilty about that, in spite of himself, knowing that if anyone could possibly identify with that overwhelming sense of loss, it was Naruto.

Maybe Kakashi was right… maybe I am just trying to delay the inevitable…

Sasuke shook his head, clearing this thought from his head immediately. No, Kakashi was wrong – he could keep Naruto out of his life. All he needed to do was remain focused and stop telling the blond all about himself. It wouldn't be easy, but Sasuke was determined enough to see it through.

Thus, in this mindset, the Uchiha stepped out of bed, scratching his bare side groggily as he searched the room for his clothes. After a few moments, he realized that Kakashi must have left them outside, and stepped out into the hallway, dressed only in his navy boxers. He wasn't in any way concerned about being seen in this state of undress, as he was certain that Kakashi would still be gone visiting Obito's grave at such an early hour.

He ultimately found his clothes resting on the coffee table in the main room of the apartment, though he grimaced at the sight of the vibrant orange shorts sitting atop the pile. After throwing these clothes on, he headed over to the kitchenette, where he fixed himself a bowl of Rice Krispies. As poured the milk over his meager breakfast, resting his head on his hand, Sasuke found himself thinking about Naruto once again.

Even when I try to forget about him, he always manages to force himself back in. Maybe I should just leave his clothes here, pretend that I never had them… Hmm, I'm sure Sakura would love that, seeing me roaming the streets of Konoha in my boxers…

As funny as this thought was, Sasuke quickly erased it from his mind and turned his attention back to his cereal, which he proceeded to shovel monotonously into his mouth. He really wasn't sure what he was going to do about Naruto, after his outburst the night before. They still had to finish their project, but what could he possibly do to set things right, without further endangering himself? He couldn't just ignore it, but if he made too big a deal of it, he had a feeling that he'd just end up closer to Naruto, which he wanted to avoid.

By the time Sasuke had finished his bowl of cereal, he realized that he had only waffled back and forth on the issue, with both sides seeming equally dangerous. Rather than dwell on it further, though, he decided to simply head home and wait for things to work out on their own. Sasuke knew that Kakashi would want to give him a ride home later, but the Uchiha wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of listening to his teacher pry into his love life any more. Thus, he simply stepped out of the apartment and started down the street, enjoying the still, Saturday morning.

To think, it had only been five days since Sasuke had first bumped into that blond in the halls. Five days – that was all it took for Naruto to barge into his life and turn everything upside down. It wasn't too late, yet – Sasuke could still keep him out if he tried – but Sasuke knew that it was growing increasingly difficult to keep Naruto off his mind.

What is it about him that's so damn appealing, anyway? He's just a loud, stupid, obnoxious idiot… everyone knows it!

But, on the other hand, Sasuke knew that this only scratched the surface of Naruto Uzumaki. Sure, he was an unpredictable knucklehead, but that all meant something more. Naruto was optimistic, perhaps a bit naïve, and generally a good-natured soul. He was selfless, surprisingly wise, when he chose to be, but also mysterious, filled with a sorrow that he kept hidden beneath a mask of blatant geniality.

And that hair that glows like sunshine, or those sapphire eyes, that Cheshire smile…

Sasuke paused at this thought and leaned over the edge of a chain-link fence to his side, staring at long grass as it blew in the morning breeze. What could he do about this? They'd had taken on a life of their own, now, these feelings that he'd tried so hard to drown through sheer willpower. He needed a distraction – anything to keep his mind off Naruto, if only for a moment, just to give him a break.

"Up next for Konoha in the high jump: Rock Lee!"

The Uchiha glanced up in surprise at this sudden noise, to find that he had stopped outside Konoha High. Looking to his left, he found a decent crowd gathered at the stadium, where he could see a small clump of people running around the track.

"Hmm… is there a meet already? Seems too early – an exhibition, maybe?"

Thinking that watching the track team for a while might just be the distraction he was looking for, Sasuke hopped over the fence and started for the stadium. It was a short walk across the field, and by the time he arrived he found that another race had started. He made his way through the crowd so that he could see, brushing up against a few other students as he passed. When he reached the edge of the crowd, he managed to catch the last few seconds of the race as a young brunet sprinted over the finish line.

"And the winner of the second heat is: Kiba Inuzuka!"

Inuzuka… where have I heard that name before?

It struck Sasuke like a bolt of lighting – Kiba Inuzuka was Naruto's roommate. That meant Naruto was probably there, somewhere. He had to get out of there, before they ran into each other. With his eyes wide in momentary panic, and a light sweat forming on his brow, the teen spun around on his heel and darted towards the exit, only to run headfirst into a redhead, knocking them both to the ground. For a few moments, the Uchiha was too dazed to realize whom exactly he had crashed into, but when he heard the other teen speak, he felt his heart sink with dread.

"Uchiha…" came the redhead's harsh voice, dripping with venom. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

"Look, Gaara, I don't want any trouble. Let's just forget this whole thing ever happened," Sasuke said as he picked himself off the ground, staring at the kanji tattoo on his opponent's forehead.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Gaara replied with a sneer. "Knock me to the ground, and walk away with no consequence whatsoever. Too bad I won't allow it."

"Come on, I don't want to fight you," the Uchiha said, trying to keep his cool as the menacing redhead approached. "I'm sorry I ran into you, but we're both fine. What could you possibly have to gain from fighting me?"

Sasuke knew that it was pointless to try to talk sense into the infamous Gaara Subakuno. He was feared by just about everyone in school – all the sensible people, at least – because it didn't take much to set him off. Usually he was simply looking for an excuse to shed some blood, and now it looked like he was particularly determined to beat Sasuke to a pulp.

"What do I have to gain?" Gaara asked, now standing face to face with the raven-haired teen. "That's a funny thing to ask. Are you stalling? Could it be that the great Sasuke Uchiha is afraid to defend himself? "

"It's not that," Sasuke said with a snarl, realizing that their little argument was drawing quite a bit of attention. "I just want to know what to tell everyone at your funeral."

"That's more like it," the redhead responded, his eyes flashing with an almost lustful anticipation. "Well, then, let's just say I'm going to take you down a notch, Uchiha."

"Hmm… I'm surprised – I'd never pegged you as the jealous type, Subakuno," Sasuke said with a provoking smirk.

What am I doing? If he wasn't going to kill me before, he certainly is now…

"A comedian… but I'm serious, Uchiha. We have the same eyes, you know – those lonely, cold eyes. I'm going to show how different we really are, though. Now, enough chitchat – let's let our fists do the talking."

Sasuke barely had time to react to the first strike, as Gaara's fist seemed to come out of nowhere in a powerful uppercut. Luckily, he was able to step back just in time to avoid the brunt of the blow, so that the redhead's knuckles only scraped his chin. Before he could recover from this sudden dodge, however, Sasuke found that his opponent was already rushing in with a left hook, giving the Uchiha no choice but to counter with an attack of his own. Lunging forward, he delivered a powerful right kick, hoping to catch Gaara's fist mid-punch. Much to Sasuke's dismay, though, Gaara was able to sidestep this assault, leaving the Uchiha completely open to retaliation.

His balance thrown off from the powerful kick, Sasuke could only watch as his redheaded opponent came rushing in with his fist, a sadistic smirk on his face. In an instant, Sasuke received a devastating blow to his left cheek, sending him skidding on the ground. Lying there with his scraped arm bleeding freely onto the pavement, the Uchiha groaned and tried to locate his opponent, but the chaos of the surrounding crowd made it difficult to find that particular redhead. When he finally did catch sight of Gaara, it was too late, for he was looming over Sasuke with his fist cocked back.

"Do you feel it, Uchiha? The vast difference in our power? You're no match for me!"

With an almost maniacal laugh, Gaara thrust forward with his fist, leaving Sasuke with little choice but to wait and take his punishment. Before Gaara could land his blow, however, he was suddenly kicked in the face by what appeared to be a blur of orange and yellow that sprang from the crowd.

No… it can't be…

"Who the hell are you?" Gaara asked, wiping the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Naruto Uzumaki – and I'm your worst nightmare."

Did he really just say that?

"Oh really? All right, then – I can always go for some more blood."

With that, Gaara lunged at his new opponent, catching an unprepared Naruto right in the gut. The vulpine boy keeled over at this, the wind having been knocked out of him, leaving him wide open for another attack. After several successive blows to the blond's stomach, Gaara kneed Naruto in the chin, sending him to the ground in a shower of blood.

Sasuke tried to move so that he could intervene in this clearly one-sided battle, but found he was being restrained by a few members of his fanclub. He tried to shake the girls off, but it was to no avail.

"Stay still, Sasuke. I need to put a bandage on this arm of yours!"

"Out of the way, Sakura! You're doing it all wrong!"

"Shut up, Ino-pig! I've taken classes on first aid, you'll just mess things up!"

Sasuke blocked the ensuing argument of the two fangirls out of his mind, instead trying to follow Naruto's movements in the fight. After having been knocked to the ground, the blond looked to be down for the count, with smeared blood running from his nose. When Gaara approached to deliver the finishing blow, however, Naruto's eyes snapped open, a wide grin on his face.

"Gotcha!"

With one quick kick, Naruto managed to take out one of Gaara's legs, effectively tripping the unsuspecting redhead. In a flash, they changed positions, as Gaara collapsed onto the pavement with Naruto leaping on top of him. Thus pinned to the ground, the murderous redhead could only growl as he struggled to break free.

"You…"

"Hehe… You shouldn't have underestimated me."

"I'll kill you!"

His muscles straining against his subduer, Gaara managed to break one arm free and latch onto Naruto's shoulder, his fingers digging into the flesh like claws. Naruto winced in pain, but maintained his focus and tried to pry Gaara's hand from his shoulder. Soon, he had successfully forced the redhead's arm back to the ground, though Gaara ripped the sleeve from Naruto's shirt in the process.

"Like I said… now I've got you," the blond sneered, blood running down his exposed shoulder.

Gaara merely stared up at Naruto in what appeared to be horror. Sasuke could understand this sentiment, in a way, for he had never seen Naruto so determined before. It was almost as if he was possessed and had somehow directed his entire spirit towards taking Gaara down. Truly, it was a terrifying force, seeing this raw willpower at work, and Sasuke was just glad that he didn't have to face that intensity himself.

Why are you doing this, Naruto? Why do you want to protect me, even after what I did?

"Uzumaki!" Gaara roared, his newfound terror blending with his rooted wrath.

Using all of his effort, the redhead managed to push Naruto to the side and climb upon him, reversing their roles as they tumbled along the pavement. This was quickly countered by the blond, and they continued in this manner for a minute or so, the rocky ground digging into their backsides as they moved. Sweat and blood rolled down both of their faces, and their breathing grew heavy as exhaustion finally caught up with them. Soon, they could not even muster the strength to push one another over, and simply stared at each other, Naruto having pinned Gaara to the ground once more.

"Tired, Uzumaki?" the redhead managed to say with a semi-triumphant smirk.

"Shut up."

With this sigh, Naruto used the last of his energy to ram his head against Gaara's, causing his eyes to go wide in shock as a thin stream of blood began to trickle down their foreheads. Feeling victorious, the vulpine boy rolled to the side, lying spread-eagled on the pavement as the surrounding crowd grew deathly quiet.

"Did Naruto just beat Gaara?"

"Beat him? He kicked his ass!"

Sasuke could only stare at the two motionless teens in shock, not knowing quite what to think. Naruto had actually done it: he'd won in a fight with Gaara, but more importantly, he'd saved Sasuke. Before the significance of this fact could sink in, however, Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of one woman's angry shrieks rising over the crowd.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Glancing over his shoulder in surprise, Sasuke found an old, but youthful, blond woman standing with her hands on her hips, her mouth contorted to a frightening scowl.

Shit… not Tsunade. What's she doing here?

"Oh, Principal Tsunade!" Sakura exclaimed, snapping to attention at the sight of her superior. "Gaara started a fight with Sasuke. Naruto joined in about halfway through and finished things up."

"I see… so it looks like I have three punks to deal with," Tsunade replied, patting her pink-haired pet on the head as she turned her glare towards Sasuke. "Uchiha, you and Uzumaki meet me in my office. Sakura, go tell the paramedics by the track to come deal with Subakuno ASAP."

Sasuke only nodded dumbly as Tsunade stormed off towards the school, still overwhelmed by all that had happened. As the crowd began to disperse, however, he snapped out of his reverie and approached the blond, who lay bleeding on the pavement, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Come on, Naruto. We'd better go before we incur Tsunade's wrath," Sasuke said, offering a hand to his savior.

Naruto made no response, but simply clasped the Uchiha's hand and struggled to his feet. For a moment he stood there, wobbling slightly, before collapsing back to one knee.

"You all right?" Sasuke asked, leaning down to look the blond in the eyes.

"I'll be fine. I just need to walk it off, that's all." Naruto panted with a weak smile.

This said, Naruto took a few steps forward before falling face-first on the ground, scraping his hand in the process. He winced in pain, but rose once again with renewed determination. Before he could take even one more step, however, Naruto was forced to a halt as Sasuke placed a hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Hold on, you idiot," the Uchiha said as he threw Naruto's arm over his shoulder. "You're in bad enough shape as it is. Consider this my way of returning the favor."

Naruto chuckled, leaning heavily on the raven-haired boy as they started towards the school. "Favor? What do you mean? That Gaara's been asking for a beating for ages."

"You're a terrible liar," Sasuke responded, his eyes fixed forward. "I know perfectly well that you stepped in to save me."

"Well, I couldn't let my English partner get beaten to a pulp, could I?"

"What about you? You look like hell."

Naruto looked down at his raw hands and bare, bloody shoulder and laughed. "Yeah, but he got it worse."

"I'll say. Tsunade was calling the paramedics for him," Sasuke said, though he stopped upon realizing what the consequences of the fight with Gaara might be. "What are you going to tell Tsunade, anyway? She could expel you for this, you know."

"I'll tell her the truth."

What is the truth, though? Why the hell did he step in? Was he really willing to overlook everything that happened last night to save me? Does he actually care about me that much, that he'd forgive me even when I never once asked for forgiveness? Is that… love?

The duo walked on in silence as these thoughts crossed Sasuke's mind, and soon they arrived at Principal Tsunade's office. There, the Uchiha tentatively knocked on the office door, which was answered immediately by a surprisingly gruff voice.

"Come in!"

Together, Naruto and Sasuke forced open the door and stepped inside, taking their seats in front of the intimidating woman, who seemed to loom over them from her desk. She looked back and forth between the two for a moment, apparently trying to decide who should be her first victim.

"All right, which one of you wants to tell me why I shouldn't expel you both right now?"

"Principal Tsunade, I was –"

"It's my fault," Sasuke interrupted, causing Naruto to stop mid-sentence.

"Really, Uchiha? What happened, exactly?" Tsunade asked, looking quite shocked at Sasuke's confession.

"Well, the thing is, I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going, and I ran right into Gaara."

"So he decided to fight you on the spot?"

"No, to tell you the truth, I egged him on a bit," Sasuke continued, looking at his hands with feigned shame. "He swung at me first, but I kind of deserved it."

"I see, so Gaara was the one that actually started the fight, but you provoked him. I'll take that into consideration," Tsunade said, knitting her fingers in thought. "Now, where do you come into the picture, Uzukmaki? I can tell that you didn't just get caught in the scuffle, so fess up."

Naruto wiped some of the drying blood off his chin with his thumb before replying. "Okay, so I was at the meet today to cheer Kiba on, and I was watching from the bleachers so I could see a bit better. When I was up there, I saw that fight break out between Gaara and Sasuke, and I decided to step in."

"Why, exactly, did you feel compelled to become involved with their fight?" Tsunade continued, her eyes narrowing as she interrogated the blond.

"Because I was worried about him – Sasuke, that is," Naruto admitted, glancing momentarily to the side at the aforementioned Uchiha. "I mean, I'm sure Sasuke would've been fine on his own, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance with Gaara. You've heard the stories about him, haven't you? They say he killed a guy once –"

"I don't care about the latest rumors, Uzumaki, but I would like to know one thing: since when do you care about Uchiha, here? From what I understand, most guys have hated his guts for years. If you really feared for his safety, there must be some good reason for it."

Naruto looked around anxiously, hoping to find some distraction from the current situation. His pleading gaze finally settled on Sasuke, who let out a heavy sigh before interrupting the conversation once more.

"Look, does it really matter why Naruto decided to protect me? The important thing is that he felt obligated to help me, which perfectly explains why he stepped into our fight. So, can we just move on?"

Tsunade glared at Sasuke, clearly trying to decide whether she should ignore the boy's request or listen to his reasoning. After a few seconds, however, she sat back in her chair and rested her head on her hand.

"Fine, we can move on to your punishment, then. Now, from what I can tell, neither of you were responsible for starting the fight with Subakuno, but at the same time I can't just let you both off the hook. This is a school, after all, and you were fighting on school premises, but I'll be lenient. You both have detention for the next two hours."

Is that all?

"What about Gaara? Aren't you gonna punish him?" Naruto pouted as he slouched down in his chair.

"No, I think you've punished him enough, Uzumaki. Now, Uchiha, you get going to the library. Uzumaki, head over to the nurse's office – I think Shizune's should still be there to treat your wounds."

With a slight nod of his head, Sasuke rose from his chair and started towards the library, feeling oddly relieved to be spending his Saturday in detention. Sure, it wasn't an ideal situation, but it certainly could've been much worse. Then again, this meant that Sasuke would be forced into contact with Naruto for two hours. Could he really handle that?

No, this is a good thing. I need to talk to Naruto alone… I need to apologize for last night, and ask him why he did what he did. Even if I already know the answer… I need to hear him say it…

It was quite boring for the Uchiha, sitting alone for about half an hour in the library. He pretended to thumb through a book, but all the letters were just a blur as he continuously glanced over at the door, waiting for his blond to come through. Before long, though, the door swung open and Naruto entered, covered with band-aids and with an ice pack on his forehead. He took a seat across from Sasuke and flipped open a book of his own, apparently avoiding the Uchiha's gaze.

They sat like that for some time, the tension building as each turned the pages of their book absentmindedly. Sasuke had no idea what he should say. He'd worked it all out in his head before, but as soon as Naruto had actually entered the room this carefully constructed speech had crumbled, leaving him scrambling for the right thing to say. When he reached the end of his book, though, Sasuke knew he could no longer pretend to be studying, and decided to just come out and say what was on his mind.

"Naruto… about last night…"

"Hmm? What about it?" Naruto asked, clamping his own book shut as he looked up.

"Oh, come on, you know exactly what I mean. I'm talking about how I stormed out of your apartment like that."

"Yeah, so what?" the blond continued, looking genuinely confused.

"What do you mean, 'so what?' I said that you had no idea what I'd been through! That you didn't even remember what had happened with Kyuubi! Doesn't that bother you?" Sasuke asked, growing irritated by Naruto's behavior.

"Well, sure it did at the time, but I knew you didn't really mean it. You were upset, that's all. It was partially my fault anyway – I shouldn't have asked about Itachi in the first place."

Sasuke clenched his fist and pounded on the table, his eyes wide with frustration. "Are you kidding me?! You're blaming yourself for what happened? What the hell's the matter with you?"

Naruto shrunk back, staring at the Uchiha like a deer caught in the headlights. "W-what do you mean? Was it something I said?"

The raven-haired teen collapsed back in his chair, utterly dumbfounded by the other boy's attitude. "I just don't get it… why, after I treated you so horribly, would you be so willing to forgive me? I didn't even speak to you, but you were willing to protect me from Gaara. Why…"

Why do you have to make this so damn hard?

"Fine, if you must know, it's because… it's because I like you, Sasuke," Naruto said, averting his eyes in embarrassment. "I don't know why, but ever since I ran into you that time, I've just wanted to get to know you, to understand you. I know that I'm being selfish and everything, since you've made it perfectly clear that you want nothing to do with me, but I just can't help it, okay? I like you."

Sasuke stared, mouth agape, at the blond for a moment, not knowing quite what to say. He'd known how Naruto felt about him ever since they locked eyes so awkwardly in Kakashi's class, but to hear those suspicions confirmed was so much more profound. Here Naruto was, spilling his heart out to the Uchiha, and all he could think about was how he needed to get away, how getting attached to Naruto would only drag him down. It was with this in mind that Sasuke reached a single conclusion: he was a horrible person.

I can at least be civil with him, right?

"Naruto… after we get out of here, do you want to head back to your place and work on our project?" Sasuke offered, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "I mean, I left my backpack there and everything…"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Naruto replied, his eyes lighting up at this suggestion. "Besides, I need to give you back your clothes now that they've dried. I don't think orange is really your color."

Looking down at his glaringly bright shorts, Sasuke found his lips curling into a smile against his well as the blond burst into laughter. Yes, he could be civil with Naruto. This could work.

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Well, there you have it! Last chapter of 2008. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can, and remember, review!