As always, I own nothing…

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated but school and work are killing me…

Also, I try to respond to every review that I get, but I'm sorry if I don't reply to a review…I check my e-mail a lot on my phone and I don't reply using it, I just try to remember who I replied to and who I haven't, so if I'm not on my computer when I reply then I may not reply because I sometimes don't remember who it is that I have replied to and I don't want to send more than one reply…but I do read and appreciate all the reviews that I receive

Song of inspiration: Closer to You by Adelitas Way

Chapter 20: Closer to You

"Okay, I need your advice," Naruto said as he walked into Kiba's dorm room. The brunet looked at him, wishing he'd locked the door. "I know that you hate when I talk about Sasuke, but I really, really need your help," he said as he sat on the opposite bed, glad that Shino was in one of his classes.

"Then talk," Kiba said as he closed his book. He pushed it to the side, knowing that he wasn't going to get any studying done when the blond was in his room. Naruto had a way of making people talk to him, even if they were busy with someone else, yet somehow it didn't get annoying.

"You know how we went to that gay bar?" he asked, though the question was rhetorical. Kiba just nodded, signaling for him to continue. "Well, Sasuke and I danced," he said. The brunet just looked at him, as if to ask if there were a point to what he was saying. "Well, his ex-boyfriend slash stalker was there and he was trying to get Sasuke to dance with him, which was when I cut in of course," he continued. Kiba was getting less interested in the story as it went on, but the blond continued to talk. "Well I thought that he was going to be pissed off because he seems to hate when people protect him, but he wasn't it. Instead he danced with me and so I'm thinking that I'm making good progress. I just don't know how to keep it progressing," he finished explaining.

"You know, you could have just asked advice on what you could do to make Sasuke like you. I really didn't need to hear the entire story," he told him. The blond just shrugged as he waited for an answer. "I don't know the guy well enough to tell you exactly what to do," he told him. "Just try to spend more time with him," he suggested.

Naruto thought about it for a little while, "I know! We could go ice-skating." There was a wide grin spread across his face, though Kiba thought it was a horrible idea. He doubted that Sasuke was the kind of person to go skating at all, let alone ice-skating. "It'll be fun and we can all go so he doesn't get freaked out by thinking that I'm trying to make a date out of it," he said excitedly. "Please tell me you'll come," he begged.

He looked at the blond, knowing that Naruto wouldn't give up. Kiba nodded, "Fine, but you better invite other people because I'm not hanging out with just you and Sasuke the entire night." He refused to just stand by and watch Naruto and Sasuke flirt the entire night. Kiba only agreed to go because Naruto was his best friend.

"Awesome," Naruto grinned as he stood up, ready to leave and convince Sasuke. "Be at my dorm at nine tomorrow. I promise to have a big group of people for you to talk to," he smiled. "You can invite Shino if you want," he suggested on his way out of the room. Kiba just sighed, hoping that the next night would be better than the last time they went out.

NS

The next morning, there were continuous knocks on Kiba's door. He rolled over, pissed off that he was being woken up. He looked at the clock and saw that it was only eight thirty in the morning and thought, 'Whoever it is, is about to die.' Kiba groaned as he got up and opened the door. For once he was surprised to see who was in front of him. "Ino?" he questioned as he saw the blonde girl standing at the door. "What are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

"There's something that I think you should know," she told him. He didn't say anything and instead signaled for her to come in. She made her way into the dorm room, wondering if she was doing the right thing. 'Too late now,' she thought. "I was talking to Hinata about you," she said and he started to hope it was good news. "I wish that I were here to tell you that she likes you, but I'm not," she told him, causing the man to frown. "I'm here to tell you that Naruto knew," she informed him.

"Knew what?" he asked, hoping that she wasn't talking about what he thought she was. "He saw Hinata reject me, I think it's pretty obvious that he knew," Kiba told her, still annoyed that he had been woken up. The brunet wouldn't let himself that she was going to say that Naruto knew that he'd be rejected. He thought better of Naruto than to think that he'd let him make an ass of himself.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about," she said as she watched his features become a mix of anger and sadness. "Hinata had told him that she liked him," she told him. "He knew that you'd be rejected," she added, wishing that she didn't have to tell him. Ino didn't want to be the one to ruin a friendship that was as strong as Kiba and Naruto's. However she felt it was her duty as a friend to tell him.

"Why are you telling me this?" Kiba asked, anger evident in his voice. She wasn't sure why he was asking; she thought that he'd want to know. "Why is it you and not him?" he asked. He thought that he could always trust Naruto, but what Ino was telling him made him question their friendship.

"I'm sure that he didn't want to make you depressed," she said. "He probably thought that he was being a good friend by not being the one to break your heart," she added, hoping that Kiba and Naruto would still be friends after he found out. "Maybe he just didn't get the chance to tell you," she said with and apologetic smile, suddenly wishing that she hadn't said anything at all.

"Yeah, right," he scoffed as sat down on his bed. "If that's all that you came to tell me then you can just leave," he told her, frowning. The blonde girl just nodded as she quickly left the room, closing the door behind her. Kiba took a deep breath, not sure what to say to Naruto.

NS

Suigetsu wasn't sure what Naruto had done to get Sasuke to go ice-skating, but he wasn't going to ask. No matter what the blond did, Sasuke would use an excuse that it was purely "friendly" and that it had nothing to do with Sasuke having feelings for Naruto. "I've never seen you ice-skate," Suigetsu said as he and Sasuke were putting on ice-skates.

"That's because I never do," the dark haired man replied. It was at that point that Suigetsu knew watching Sasuke attempt to ice-skate was going to be entertaining. "Shut up," Sasuke said when he saw the look on the other man's face.

"I didn't say anything," Suigetsu said casually, though he knew that Sasuke knew him too well to deny that he wasn't thinking something. "I was certainly thinking something, but I didn't actually say anything," he said as he looked toward his girlfriend. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Karin," he told Sasuke. "I need to find out why she's been avoiding me," said while making his way toward his girlfriend.

The light haired man made his way toward his girlfriend, trying to act casual so that she wouldn't walk away. "Hey," he smiled as he sat next to her. He could tell that she was hiding something, but she didn't know what. "Are you mad at me?" he asked before she could respond to his greeting.

"What?" she asked, though she wasn't surprised that he'd noticed she'd been acting weird. "I'm not mad at you," she told him. "I've just had a lot on my mind," she said, suddenly finding the ground very interesting. Karin wasn't sure how to tell him or even how he'd react to the news.

"You know that you can talk to me about anything," he said, trying to figure out what she was hiding. She looked at him and then back at the ground, as if she felt that she couldn't tell him. "I'm serious, just tell me," he said, confused by her actions. "I mean what is it? Do you want to break up or something because that's what it seems like. You've been avoiding me," he frowned hoping it wasn't the reason she wasn't talking to him.

Karin didn't want to lose her boyfriend over keeping a secret that she wasn't even sure was going to ruin their relationship. "I'm pregnant," she finally said, terrified of his response. When he just looked at her, not saying a word, she felt as if she'd made a mistake. "I knew that I shouldn't have said anything," she frowned as she got up, ready walk away.

"Karin," Suigetsu called her back, grabbing her arm so that she wouldn't walk away. "I can't say that I'm not shocked," he told her, still trying to regain his composure. "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to leave you because of it," he assured her. "Can we just talk about this?" he asked as he let go of her arm.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she said as she sat back down next to him. "I just wasn't sure how you'd react," she admitted as she looked down at her feet.

"We'll figure this out together," he told her, making her smile. She was happy to know that she wasn't going to have to do it by herself.

NS

Naruto noticed that Kiba had hardly talked to him since the day before. Usually they would have been talking the entire way to the ice rink, but Kiba had hardly said two words to him. "Kiba," the blond called as he made his way over to the man. He didn't respond, but instead just looked at him. "What's up with you today?" he asked, obviously confused by Kiba's behavior.

"You knew," he calmly stated, though didn't look at his best friend. He was watching the dark haired girl whom had rejected him. He was leaning against the side of the barrier between the ice-rink and the seating area. "You knew and you didn't tell me," he said before looking down at his hands.

"I'm so sorry," Naruto said, immediately knowing what he was talking about. "There were so many times that I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how to bring it up," he told him, hoping that his friend would forgive him.

Before Kiba could say anything else, Hinata interrupted. "Can I talk to Kiba?" she asked somewhat timidly. Naruto just smiled at them before nodding and heading away from them. She took a deep breath as she looked at the brunet, deciding to take Sakura's advice.

"What's up?" Kiba asked trying to sound normal. He didn't want to act as awkward as he felt while talking to her. He tried to play it off as if her rejection didn't hurt him, but he knew that he wasn't doing a very good job at it.

"I'm sorry," she said, still feeling nervous about the entire conversation. "I was shocked when you told me," she said with a little stutter, showing just how nervous she was in that moment.

"It's fine," he tried to play it off. "You don't like me like that, I understand," he said, hating the conversation. The last thing that he felt he needed was to talk to her and act as if it hadn't affected him. He looked down, wishing that the conversation would end and he could go back to avoiding the woman in front of him.

"I was hoping," she started, nervously glancing between him and the floor. She wasn't sure how to phrase what she wanted to say. It wasn't like she expected him to go back to how they were before he asked her out. "I was wondering if you wanted to skate with me," she blushed as she looked at him.

He looked at her, completely confused. She had just rejected him and then she was asking him to skate; he wasn't sure what to think about the entire situation. "Excuse me?" he looked at her, his bewilderment clearly shown across his face.

"I just," she stumbled on her words, trying to articulate exactly what she wanted to say. "Well," she continued, feeling like an idiot as he stared at her. "I don't think I was fair to you," she stuttered.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, not wanting to get his hopes up. He wanted her to like him, but he also didn't want it to be something that was forced. Mainly he didn't want her to take pity on him and date him just because she felt bad. He knew that Hinata was the kind of girl that would feel horrible for hurting someone else and then try to do anything to fix it.

"I was thinking maybe," she tried to find the right words to say but her nerves were getting the best of her. "Maybe we could spend more time together," she said timidly. "Sakura pointed out to me that I never even considered you," she bit her lip, feeling as if everything she was trying to say was coming out wrong.

She wasn't able to continue because Kiba cut her off, "You don't have to try to like me because of something Sakura said." He was a little annoyed that she wasn't doing it on her own, but because of something her friend said. He thought that if she liked him then she would have said yes the first time he asked her.

"But she's right," Hinata said, stronger than the last. "I ignored everyone that isn't Naruto," she frowned, knowing that she'd never have a chance with the blond. "It was wrong of me," she said as she looked at him. Kiba was an attractive guy and he was a good friend, she couldn't see how it would hurt to at least try to have some sort of relationship. "I'm not doing this just because of Sakura," she assured him. "Please skate with me," she requested shyly.

"Okay," he smiled. He was happy with the opportunity to try to show her that they could be something, but he was still worried that she was doing it for the wrong reasons. He followed her out onto the ice-rink and they talked while slowly skating. However he only let a little bit of hope seep in, he wouldn't let himself get hurt again because of false hope.

NS

It took some convincing but Naruto finally got Sasuke out onto the ice-rink. As they started to skate the blond realized why Sasuke didn't like skating. He wasn't good at it, but to Naruto that just made the day more fun. "It's not that hard, just pretend that you're roller skating," Naruto said with a smile, though all Sasuke did was glare.

"I'd have to be good at roller skating then," he mumbled as he clung to the wall around the ice-rink. He hated doing things that he wasn't good at, yet somehow Naruto always found a way to make him do those things. "Why'd I come here?" he asked himself, still mumbling.

"Come on, it's fun," Naruto smiled as he skated with ease. He was enjoying the fact that for once he was better than Sasuke at something. "Just let go of the wall," he said as he pulled his hands away from the wall.

"Stop it Naruto," the dark haired man snapped, only making the blond laugh. He was having a difficult time keeping his balance and if any previous experiences told him anything, he knew that he was going to fall. He tried to grab for the wall again, but instead he ended up falling onto the rink. "Damn it," he growled.

Naruto tried to hold back a laugh, but failed completely. He held out his hand to help the other man up. Sasuke took the hand but continued to glare at him the entire time. "Don't look at me like that, you just need to practice," he smiled despite the evil look that Sasuke was giving him. "No grabbing the wall," Naruto instructed after Sasuke got back on his feet.

"Shut up idiot," Sasuke snapped as he attempted again. They moved a little, but yet again Sasuke fell. The only difference in the second fall was that he took Naruto with him. When he felt his feet slipping out from under him, Sasuke grabbed the closest thing next to him, which happened to be the blond.

"Fuck that hurt," Naruto complained after having fallen. It wasn't until he opened his eyes fully that he realized he was face to face with Sasuke. Their faces were just mere inches apart, which made him blush a little. They stared at each other for a few moments as the blond hovered over Sasuke, just enjoying the closeness.

They were pulled back into reality by Kiba's voice. "I thought you were ice-skating," the brunet chuckled as he and Hinata skated past them. Hinata told him to be nice but he still laughed at his friend's position.

"Right," Naruto said as he pulled himself up, using the wall next to them as leverage. He held out his hand for Sasuke, who kept quiet as he got up. "You, uh, just have to practice," Naruto said, trying to break some of the awkwardness between them. Naruto hadn't wanted to get up, he wanted to lean down further and kiss the other man, but he knew that probably wouldn't have been the best idea so instead he tried to act like it was no big deal.

"I'm holding on to the wall," Sasuke mumbled as he looked away from the blond. Naruto just laughed before making him continue to skate. Deep down they were both hoping for a repeat performance, but knew it was unlikely to happen again.

NS

Friday night Sasuke sat in front of his brother, talking as they always did on Fridays. He was still sore from skating, or more falling, and it was noticeable. Every so often he'd adjust his shoulder or rub a particularly sore spot like his neck. His actions made his older brother curious, "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be," Sasuke responded quickly. He didn't want to tell his brother that he had gone ice-skating, but he also knew that he wasn't very good about lying to his brother. Itachi knew how much he hated to things he wasn't good at and he was sure that he'd tease him about Naruto being able to get him to go ice-skating. All he was hoping for was that Itachi would drop the subject.

As he figured, his brother didn't change the topic. "You seem sore," he said and Sasuke could see him going into over protective mode. "Did someone hurt you?" he asked, looking as if he were ready to hurt someone. Itachi had always been protective of his brother, more so than normal older brothers. He felt that after everything Sasuke had been through in his life that he needed someone to look after him, even if Itachi couldn't be there in person.

"I went ice-skating," Sasuke mumbled. He didn't want Itachi to hear what he had said, but by the smirk on the older Uchiha's face he knew that he did. Itachi was staring at him, expecting him to elaborate further. "Naruto made me," he said lamely.

"Made you?" Itachi asked, knowing that nobody could truly force Sasuke to do something. "You must really like this guy," he said, causing the younger Uchiha to look away. He was happy that his brother was making friends and actually being social, he knew that it was difficult for him to do. Mostly he was happy to see that Naruto appeared to have an effect on Sasuke, he made him loosen up a little.

"Shut up," Sasuke replied, not truly responding to Itachi's claim. "Let's talk about something else," he suggested, wanting to get away from the topic of Naruto. Itachi didn't protest, he knew that when Sasuke was ready then he'd tell him all about his roommate. He knew better than to push his brother, he just hoped that one day he'd be able to meet the man that was causing his brother to change a little. He wasn't going to ask Sasuke to bring him with when he came next Friday, it was another thing he knew that his younger brother would do when he was ready.

TBC…

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