As always I own nothing regarding Naruto.

I'm so sorry that it took this long to post…I just hope it was worth the wait, if not then I'm even sorrier…

Song of inspiration: Rumor Has It by Adele – it was inspired by the title not the actual song

Chapter 22: Rumor Has It

Sasuke was hanging out with Kyuubi, or at least Naruto thought so, but his opinion was a little bias. Kiba teased the blond for being jealous. Naruto couldn't deny that Kiba was right, considering every time he saw the redhead he wanted to make him burst into flames. The blond was sitting with his best friend, Kiba, at an outside table as they waited for it to get closer to the time for their next class. He had refrained from talking about his dark haired roommate for Kiba's sake, but it was obvious still that it was what the blond was thinking about. "He doesn't like the guy," Kiba suddenly said, allowing the conversation to drift toward what Naruto actually wanted to talk about.

The blond looked surprised at Kiba's choice of conversation topic, but certainly wasn't going to complain. "Really? Then why is he spending so much time with the asshole?" he asked, somewhat bitterly. He let out a frustrated sigh as he laid his head on the table in front of him, causing Kiba to shake his head.

"If he liked the guy then he wouldn't push him away," Kiba said. Naruto only seemed to notice the things that pointed toward Sasuke liking the other man and ignored every action that said otherwise. The blond looked at him confused and Kiba continued, "Every time the guy touches him Sasuke moves away from it, whether it be shrugging Kyuubi's arm off his shoulder or moving away when he touches him in general."

Naruto was surprised that Kiba had been that observant when it came to Sasuke. "Why would you notice that? Are you just lying to me to make me feel better? Because I know that you never paid that much attention to Sasuke's actions before," the blond said suspiciously. He certainly wasn't worried that Kiba would be competition as well, but that didn't stop him from wondering why the brunet was suddenly interested.

"You're my best friend," Kiba reminded the other man. "I would hope that if some other guy were hitting on Hinata that you'd be watching to make sure that he didn't get too close to her," he said. "I may not understand why you like him, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to support you," he added.

Naruto smiled, remembering why Kiba was his best friend. "Oh you know he's growing on you," the blond teased. He knew that Kiba didn't like Sasuke that much, but he did seem to tolerate the man, which made Naruto happy.

Before they could continue with their conversation their pink haired friend, Sakura, walked up. She looked excited, which Naruto had learned over the years that it meant she probably had a new piece of gossip, after all she was the gossip queen. "Guess what I just heard," she smiled at the two men.

"What?" Kiba asked, though he was obviously uninterested. Unfortunately the pink haired girl didn't seem to notice, or if she did then she didn't care.

"Well, I just heard that Sasuke and Kyuubi are dating," she smiled. "At first I was pissed that he was gay," she told the two men. "But then I realized that I should just be happy for him, it's not like he's dating another girl, right? I mean if he weren't gay then I'd probably be jealous and try to break them up," she told them as Naruto tuned out most of what she was saying, concentrating on the fact that Sasuke and Kyuubi were dating. "Anyway, I've got to go," she smiled. "I've got to tell Ino," she squealed as she walked away to find the blonde girl.

Kiba saw the look on Naruto's face, which he knew was a mix of confusion and pure jealousy. "You have no right to be jealous," the brunet reminded him. "If you want him then actually do something about it," he added, knowing that Naruto probably wasn't listening to a word he was saying.

"I'm going to go talk to Sasuke," Naruto quickly said as he got up. He knew that Kiba was right, but that wasn't going to make his jealousy go away. He walked away and it didn't take long to find Sasuke since he was sitting outside of the building his next class was in, as Naruto expected. What he didn't expect was that Kyuubi was sitting next to him. The way Kyuubi looked at him only made Naruto certain that it wasn't just a rumor."Hey guys," the blond interrupted the conversation, trying not to glare at the redhead.

"Hey Naruto," Sasuke replied as he looked at the blond. He had a book out in front of him, which made it look as if he were studying, but Naruto was sure that he wasn't.

"Congratulations," he said, somewhat bitterly. "I heard that you two are dating," he said, seeing the look of confusion on Sasuke's face. His words caused Sasuke to actually laugh, which left Kyuubi annoyed and Naruto confused. "What's so funny?" the blond asked.

"You believed that stupid rumor?" Sasuke asked. Naruto didn't know it but Sasuke had no interest in the redhead, blond had always been his type. Though he didn't often admit it, at that point he was only interested in Naruto. "Kyuubi is just a friend," he assured the blond, not wanting Naruto to get the wrong impression.

"Oh," Naruto said, not knowing what else there was to say. "Never mind then," he added. He knew better than to say anything else, he didn't want to show how happy he was to hear it was all just a rumor.

"Yeah," Sasuke said as he got up, suddenly feeling awkward sitting between the two. There was obvious tension between Kyuubi and Naruto and it was far from sexual. He could tell that they didn't like each other, he just didn't know why. He had no clue that Kyuubi liked him in that way, which was why he was confused at the hatred they had for each other. "I should get to class," he told them, hoping that when he left they wouldn't rip each other to shreds. "See you later Naruto," he said to his roommate, not actually acknowledging Kyuubi as he left.

Once Sasuke was out of hearing range, Kyuubi glared at Naruto and said, "Just give up now." He stood up so that they were eye level, "By the end of the semester he will be mine." Naruto hated how cocky the man was, it made him want to punch him in the face. "You're just his roommate, try to remember that," he told him.

"I believe it was me that he said goodbye to, not you," he smirked back. "Oh and being his roommate just gives me more of an opportunity," he added cockily. The two alpha males stood in silence glaring at each other and both ready to start a fight. Naruto broke the silence by saying, "You're just a rumor he laughed off; I wouldn't get your hopes up too high." Before Kyuubi could reply Naruto pushed passed him and walked toward his dorm. 'Game on,' he thought as he took a quick glance back at Kyuubi. While he wouldn't say that winning Sasuke's heart was just part of a game, he knew since Kyuubi had practically just challenged him that it had kind of turned into one.

NS

Later that day Sasuke sat in Suigetsu's room, talking to the light haired man. While it may not have been Suigetsu's favorite subject, Sasuke knew that he could talk to him about anything and trust it not to be spread around like a wild fire. "So let me guess, this has to do with Naruto," the light haired man said as he relaxed and looked at the ceiling. The conversations had drifted more and more toward being about Naruto to the point that Suigetsu just assumed that it would be the subject on Sasuke's mind.

"Shut up," Sasuke snapped. He knew it was obvious that he liked the blond, but that didn't mean his best friend had to inadvertently make it obvious that he talks about him a lot. "It's about Naruto and Kyuubi," he told him with a sigh. He was frustrated with the entire situation. While it may have seemed like it, Sasuke wasn't completely clueless to Kyuubi's affections; he just thought it was a harmless crush. It wasn't as if he thought Kyuubi would make much of a move on him other than harmless flirting and attempted small touches.

"Oh," Suigetsu chuckled. "What happened now?" he asked, for once interested. He was waiting for the day that they got into a physical fight just so he'd know who would win. Looking at them he thought they were equally matched, but Naruto was a bit feistier which may give him the upper hand. "Did they fight? If so did you get it on camera?" he grinned.

"Not physically," he replied, wishing that those questions didn't even need to be asked. He didn't like it when people fought over him, it made him think about Ino and Sakura in high school, only with more appealing people. "All they do is glare at each other every time they're anywhere near each other. It's like they're jealous boyfriends," he complained.

"Well you know what you have to do, right?" Suigetsu said with all seriousness. He was sick of the two fighting over Sasuke just as much as Sasuke seemed to be.

"No, please enlighten me," Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"Either push both of them away and make sure they know that it'll never happen," he suggested. Before Sasuke could say anything he added, "Or grow some balls and tell Naruto that you like him."

"Easier said than done," Sasuke mumbled. While he was fairly certain that Naruto was starting to like him, he didn't want to risk the fact that he may not. They were roommates and he didn't want to make it awkward. Mostly he didn't want to get his heart broken again. To him neither of Suigetsu's options sounded good to him, he didn't want Naruto to think that he didn't like him nor did he want to confess his feelings. Was he being a coward or playing it smart? He wasn't sure but he was hoping he'd soon find out.

TBC…

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