Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

A/N: And~ chapter 13! I've also updated the other two fics, along with a new fic titled Unbreakable which doesn't seem to be well-received, but oh well. Hope you enjoy chapter 13, and I'll just say shit will start flying in a few chapters, for those waiting for it.

Chapter 13: One Closes, One Opens

Sasuke sat at his table in Art next to Naruto, propping his head up with a fist and trying not to fall asleep. He saw Naruto out of the corner of his eye trying to do some last minute homework for History and he quickly looked away, not wanting to be reminded of the dream he had last night.

He's had a lot of those lately, and not just dreams. Thoughts, too. When did he go from throwing bricks through his window and wanting to endlessly punch him in the face to wanting to kiss him? Maybe it started when they wrestled in the mud out in the rain, or when Sasuke told him about his parents, or when they fell asleep cuddling on his bed. Maybe the feelings had been there all along, and Sasuke was just in a heap of denial and refused them by lashing out at the other boy.

Once again he watched him out of the corner of his eye, how his blond hair seemed to glow and his expressive, beautiful blue eyes were narrowed in concentration as he worked. Was he aware that the tip of his tongue was sticking out like that? Something was familiar about it all, but he didn't know what.

The biggest problem was Sai. Well, that and whether Naruto even shared Sasuke's feelings. Sasuke did know that Naruto didn't feel anything for Sai and just kept him around for comfort at this point, which annoyed him to no end. The blond admitted it back around Halloween, and that was almost a month ago. And still he strung Sai along, though he doubted Sai was clueless about the situation.

The bell rang and the door opened. Sasuke still expected Genma and Raidou to stroll in, and he was disappointed to see it was still Mr. Onoki. He looked to be only a few years older than the class was. He shared Naruto's traits of baby blue eyes and blond hair, except his was long and was always pulled back in class.

The difference was Naruto's eyes held stubbornness, naivety, optimism, hope, kindness. Or maybe that's what Sasuke saw because he knew him. Mr. Onoki's eyes looked hard and dark, even though the man was all smiles and winks and laughs. And if he said "hm" one more time at the end of a sentence Sasuke was going to launch a table at the man. Or if he looked at Naruto one more time in that thoughtful way while ignoring the famous Uchiha Glare.

Naruto chewed on the eraser of his pencil, ignoring Mr. Onoki's yammering so he could think of the best way to break up with Sai. The relationship had long gotten stale, and he thought they both felt that way, but Sai mentioned a summer getaway together and Naruto had to resist the urge to run off and vomit. So yeah, things had to stopped now.

He felt an elbow in his side and the teacher saying his name. "Er, sorry, yeah?"

He could tell Mr. Onoki was trying not to roll his eyes, but instead pointed at a picture that was up on the screen. "What kind of piece is this, hm?" Naruto stared at it, taking in some chick in an ugly dress on a swing with some other guy trying to get a peep show on.

"...weird?" He heard Sasuke sigh beside him, while Mr. Onoki closed his eyes.

"Rococo, Naruto. Rococo, hm." Naruto shrugged, wondering why Sasuke was clenching the edge of the table.

As class let out, he kept up with Sasuke, huffing. "Why does it matter what kind of art it is?" he griped to his friend. Best friend? "Does it matter outside of that class? Are you going to go to a job interview for an office or something and them suddenly go 'Quick, name this art style!'? I don't think so." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, and Naruto knew he was trying not to smile in public. He considered it a victory enough.

They continued to classes and the day wore on as Naruto barely got in his History homework in time, and he was finally in Health. As the bell rang, his guardian put his porn book and picked up a piece of paper instead. Naruto perked up, noticing an announcement sheet when he saw it. Jiraiya winked at him when he noticed his interest.

"Alright class, I'm sure you know about our annual Christmas dance." The class stopped whispering, suddenly as attentive as Naruto. Kiba, Gaara, and Shikamaru all looked at each other, while Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Since Christmas break will start December 20th, the dance will be on the 19th starting at 7 o'clock. There's a small admission fee and it will be semi-formal. There will be no alcohol allowed," he paused to wink at the class, "and non-students will not be able to attend."

The class started chattering about the event, who to bring, and what to wear. Naruto leaned forward so his group could all hear. "We're all attending solo together again this year, right? Or… Kiba, I understand if you want to go with Hinata."

Kiba grinned, flushing slightly. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind. She might even have fun hanging out with you guys too, just not all night."

"I might have a girlfriend, too, you know," Shikamaru said. The rest of them raised eyebrows.

"Who?" Kiba said.

Shikamaru shrugged. "She graduated last year. We started talking two weeks ago after we met at the store." Gaara narrowed his eyes, looking suspicious, and Naruto sensed trouble. He quickly turned to Sasuke.

"What about you? Girlfriend?"

Sasuke scowled. "Not into the whole 'girl' thing." His eyes were glued to Naruto's, as if waiting for a specific reaction. The blond just blushed, missing the looks the other three shared. "You're not going with Sai?" It sounded like a challenge.

"Er, no. I actually wanted to talk to him today, since he probably got ideas about the dance as well. So...yeah."

"Hn."

Before anything else could be said, Jiraiya had continued with the lesson, while Naruto tried to fight down the blush that was brought up when Sasuke pretty much said he was gay. He had no clue, this entire time, even when Naruto had his mini-crisis earlier in the year. Why did it even matter, though, and why was Naruto so flustered about it? It's not like Sasuke was into him, they were just friends. He couldn't help unconsciously frowning about that.

As the school day wound into a close and Naruto walked out of the locker rooms ready to get the hell out of there, he felt an arm wrap around his waist. He jumped, turning to see a sultry-looking Sai. "I heard about the school dance," the other boy said. "We're going together, right?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "Actually, the group of us decided to just go with each other."

"Even Kiba?"

"Well, no, Kiba has a girlfriend."

Sai's eyes were narrowing slightly. "And you have a boyfriend."

Naruto bit on his lip for a second. Just say it, he told himself. Really fast. He turned to Sai. "I wanted to talk to you about that, Sai."

Now his eyes were so narrowed they were practically slits. The rest of the walk was silent until they got outside in the parking lot, then Sai whipped around so that he was blocking Naruto's path to his car. "It's the Uchiha, right?"

"No." Sai scoffed, causing Naruto to glare. "It's the truth, asshole. Can you honestly look at our relationship and say there's more to it than just being physical?"

"It's not even that physical to begin with."

"Shut the fuck up about that, would you?" The blond paused, taking in a breath to brush aside the sudden flare of anger. "I'm trying to say there's nothing here, emotionally. I care about you, especially since you helped me figure out a piece of myself, but I don't like you on that romantic level. I want that in a relationship, Sai."

Sai was glaring less and less until he was just frowning, though his eyes were still hard. "And you think rich boy will give that to you?"

"Again, it's not about Sasuke. He's just my best friend."

"Not so long ago Kiba was your best friend and you despised Uchiha."

That caused Naruto to pause, admitting to the point. He no longer hated Sasuke, that much was clear, but when did he start thinking of the raven as his best friend? Naruto looked at Sai and could only shrug.

The other boy gave him a wry grin, shaking his head. "Being gay isn't the only thing you're in denial about, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to see it. And when you do, he'll just ditch you once he graduates to go back to that stardom of him."

With that, he left, leaving Naruto with a sick feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to think about Sasuke's career, about Sasuke leaving. He wondered how he'd react if Kiba left, but refused to let himself compare the two, worried about how he might feel, and stormed off to his car.

He was stopped at a stoplight, chewing on his nail angrily. How would he feel if Kiba moved somewhere far away after graduating? He'd feel sad, certainly, but the thought didn't leave him feeling completely empty, alone, and depressed like he felt when he thought of Sasuke.

With his inheritance though he could follow the rave, if it came down to it. That seemed pretty drastic though, and shit, was there something a bit more between them than just friendship? He thought back to that look he received in Health when Sasuke said he was gay. He was probably over thinking everything, just paranoid after what Sai said. Crap he said out of bitterness and nothing more. They were just friends, Sasuke might leave, and Naruto would be just fine.

With that thought in mind, he felt resolved about things now. Pretty much. The light at the stoplight turned green and he stepped on the gas, ready to get home. Maybe he should call Kiba and ask him what he thought, prove Sai wrong.

Before he could think more on it, there was movement to his right and he glanced over just in time to see a truck running its red light. He felt a brief moment of panic, then a brief thought of a raven, then the truck was slamming into the side of his car and he wasn't thinking of anything anymore.

And the end of this short chapter. Next chapter will be on the shorter side as well, then the one after that is the one I'm looking forward to writing. :) On a sidenote, after I'm done with this one I don't know whether to do a prequel featuring Minato and Kushina or a sequel featuring more Sasuke x Naruto.