A/N: I totally update my stories, guys.

Oh God, this was brutal. Just brutal. Naruto could barely make it to recess without cracking, and the instant that bell rang he sprinted to the nearest bathroom to regain his composure. He needed to get away from his friends for a while.

They… had not been very accommodating to the idea of Sasuke dumping him. In fact, it was the most outrage he had ever seen on a single group of faces, and that was saying something when the group contained Shino and Shikamaru, who barely had one emotion between them. Naruto almost had to physically restrain Kiba, who upon finding out had said that he wanted to, "punch that fuckhead in his fucking head". In a way, it was flattering to see how aggressively they all came to his defence. In another way, it was really horrible to hear them turn against Sasuke at the drop of a hat.

In the bathroom – mercifully empty, although it wouldn't stay that way for long – Naruto practised his distraught face again. He'd accidentally let it lapse for the second half of his free study class, and Shikamaru had astutely noted, "You don't seem too upset."

Luckily, Naruto had managed to save himself by whining, "Well, I was starting to forget about it until you reminded me!" But he probably couldn't get away with that forever.

He ran a hand through his hair a few times. It felt good, calming him down, and had the added side effect of making him look more dishevelled. "What's the point of looking good?" he asked his reflection in the mirror over the sink, putting on a voice full of melodramatic sadness. "Nobody will ever love me again anyway!"

"Not if you whine like that, they won't."

Naruto almost had a heart attack. He whirled around, trying to figure out how the hell he missed the sound of someone coming in, and saw the familiar face of Gaara Sabaku. Well, that made sense, then: Gaara – whom Naruto had befriended years ago, but unluckily never shared a class with – was weirdly quiet. Whenever they spoke, Naruto pretty much did the talking for both of them.

"Your group is standing outside, arguing about whether you're actually going to the bathroom or if you've sneaked in a razor blade," Gaara said. "Do you want me to tell them it's neither?"

Oh, yeah. Maybe rushing off to the nearest, quietest bathroom while appearing catastrophically sad was a stupid idea. Or was it a very smart idea because it was so convincing? Man, acting was hard. "It's okay, they can deal with it. Say, uh… how's your sister going? She graduates soon, doesn't she?"

Gaara frowned, and Naruto couldn't blame him. That was the least smooth change of subject he'd ever made. Why did he ask about the sister? Not only could he barely remember her name, but he also knew that Gaara's whole family was kind of a mess. His mother and father had both died, his brother had dropped out of school to join a band (or was it a gang?) and he probably hadn't even seen his sister since she practically fled across the country for university. They must have had some pretty awful memories of this town, because Gaara himself had said many times over the years that he was itching to escape like his siblings. It was sad, in its way, but maybe if their early life was that miserable it was okay to get a fresh start somewhere else. In fact, it was probably healthy.

And sure, Naruto didn't have any parents either, and his childhood did suck for quite a few years, but he was completely different from Gaara. He had Sasuke, for one thing.

I wonder if I should beg Iruka to move, he thought, mind drifting back to his own problems. Would that be too much? Or worse, what if he thought it was a great idea? Shit, what a nightmare! Okay, that's a no. No mention of moving. And just to be safe, no letting him read the real estate section of the paper.

"Temari's fine, as far as I know." Gaara eyed Naruto closely. "You aren't, though. You broke up with Sasuke."

"Yeah… well, actually, he broke up with me, but y'know… "

Somehow, each repetition of the lie to a new person was more difficult than the last. Wasn't it supposed to get easier?

"Strange. I wouldn't have expected that."

"I didn't exactly expect it, either! But yeah, after three years, it totally came out of nowhere, and all he said was –"

"No; it wasn't the break-up I found unexpected. Just the fact that it was Sasuke who initiated it and not you."

"Me?"

Naruto knew the smartest thing to do was smile and nod and try to shift the topic again. Something about Gaara's stern gaze told him that digging himself too far into his pit of lies would lead to trouble, but he couldn't just ignore this.

"It was… " Gaara paused, a troubling look on his face as he searched for words. "It was generally accepted that he was getting more from your relationship than you were. In a way, it was like you were giving him a free ride. So it seems counter-intuitive that he would be the one to end things since it benefited him more than you to keep things as they were."

The two of them held the world's longest eye contact without speaking, mainly because Naruto had no idea how to form a response to any of what Gaara had just said. What the hell was he talking about? There was no way anyone could have actually believed that Sasuke was getting some sort of free ride out of him! It made no sense whatsoever. Sasuke was rich, smart and handsome; Naruto was an untidy mess with barely enough brains and money to hold it together. If any 'free riding' was being done, it was Naruto doing it. Sasuke paid for food, transport, movies, games and practically everything else, and they spent the majority of their time in his enormous mansion. What was Naruto bringing to the table besides the pleasure of his company?

Not that it mattered. Why should he have to bring anything to the table besides his company? It wasn't like their relationship was a business arrangement where they needed to pool up assets and make sure everyone was putting in an equal amount. That sounded more like a divorce than anything else.

Man, Gaara had some real issues if that was how he thought relationships went. Kind of sad, really.

With an awkward cross between a shrug and a wave, Naruto fumbled his way out of the bathroom, having completely forgotten Gaara's warning about his friends being right outside. He almost barrelled right into them upon exiting but they barely seemed to care.

"Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed, his shoulders dropping with relief. "Shit, man, don't run away like that! You looked like – like –"

"Like you were going to do something crazy," Shino finished for him.

Wow. There wasn't a trace of humour in their faces, which was a bit frightening, really. Not to mention guilt-inducing. God, he hoped they forgave him when this was all over.

"I'm fine," he said weakly. "Just needed to clear my head for a second. I didn't expect it to be so hard to spend a class around Sasuke. I thought I could handle it."

"That was optimistic of you," Shikamaru muttered darkly.

Kiba's eyes flashed. "Don't even say his name, Naruto. He isn't worth it. If he has to be mentioned, from now on he'll be known as Shithead."

"Um, right." Naruto swallowed, feeling more uncomfortable than he ever had in his life. "Shithead."

They began to walk away and things settled down. They carried out a completely normal conversation, sat outside to eat, and even managed to break out in uproarious laughter when Shikamaru revealed that he had witnessed one of their teachers attempting to hit on Principal Tsunade. Everything felt almost normal… almost. He felt clingy thinking it, but Naruto missed Sasuke. It sucked that Sasuke wasn't laughing with them; he didn't laugh much, but when he did, it was a sound that made Naruto love him even more than he already did, every time.

Trying to avoid catching the others' attention, while Naruto laughed he also looked around the area, seeking out Sasuke. He just wanted some reassuring eye contact, that was all. It took a few tries but eventually there he was: standing in the shady area beside the building's fire exit, arms relaxed by his sides, leaning against the wall. His eyes looked distant, bored, until they locked onto Naruto's.

There might have been a great distance between them, but Naruto could read Sasuke's expression as well as if they were side by side. His lips went tight, his brow furrowed, and it was obvious what telepathic message he'd send if he could: "Why the hell are you looking so happy? You'll ruin the plan!"

Immediately, Naruto shut off his laughter, struck with understanding. Crap! He was supposed to spend these two weeks looking sad and pitiful so that everyone would think he was struggling with trauma! It had only been a few hours of school and already he was screwing up.

To make things worse, his friends noticed him go quiet. Kiba followed his line of sight and saw where he was staring. "Ah, come on! No staring at Shithead."

"Right. Sorry." Naruto turned away sadly.

"It feels good to call him that out loud again," commented Shino.

Out loud?

Again?

Naruto frowned and held his head in his hands. Did any of their friends even like Sasuke?

The morning was torture. Recess was torture. Lunch and afternoon classes were torture. Sasuke prided himself on his self-control but this day was making him want to tear his hair out. At least Naruto was allowed to look depressed; Sasuke had to keep up his front of coldness and lack of interest, and that was almost painful when he didn't have any kind of distraction. No friends, no Naruto… it was like the isolation he'd felt on the weekend at home, only magnified because they were right there. They were within shouting distance but he wasn't allowed to say one fucking thing to them.

And Naruto had been laughing. Laughing! How unfair was it that he was feeling good enough to laugh right now?

Sasuke was crawling up the walls by the time the final bell rang, and he had no idea how to find relief. It wasn't as if going home would help. He needed somewhere new to go, somewhere interesting enough to take his mind off things but boring enough that he wouldn't feel bad about Naruto not being there. Somewhere his friends would never go…

The answer came to him before he left school grounds, as he passed a sign for the computer labs. Of course. Nobody ever used the computers outside of class time because the I.T. teacher was a nightmare. He could be alone but still provided with a mountain of distraction. He could study. He could browse any forums that weren't blocked on the school network yet. He could… learn how to program, if that was what it took to get through the next few hours.

He made his way to COMP. L.1 and immediately relaxed as the sterile air-conditioning and robotic hum of electronics greeted him. It was like a high-tech version of the most unwelcoming library in the world. Naruto hated it; hence, it was perfect.

As he made his way to the desks, he heard a noise coming from somewhere over the other side of the room. It sounded like pages being flipped. Sasuke forgot about sitting down for the moment and he approached the source of the noise, taken aback that there was someone else in here with him. Right in the far corner was the mystery page-flipper: a guy with a long, sleek ponytail and sharp eyes that were concentrating on two textbooks at once. He looked familiar, and Sasuke frowned as he tried to place him.

The guy must have sensed that he was being watched because he looked up from his books and met Sasuke's gaze. He lifted an eyebrow expectantly, like he thought Sasuke had a message for him or something.

"May I help you?" he asked, his voice a little deeper than Sasuke thought it would be, but it helped jog his memory. Right! It was Neji Hyuga. He'd finished school the previous year, which was why Sasuke didn't recognise him all that well – and which begged the question, what was he doing working in his old high school's computer room?

"Doesn't your university have computers?" Sasuke asked in return. It came out sounding more hostile than he'd meant it to, but then, he was feeling rather agitated.

Neji continued to survey him. "Of course, but only PCs."

"What, and you just have to have a Mac?"

"Linux, actually. I need a bit more functionality for my purposes."

Huh. Sasuke hadn't known that any of the computers in here had Linux. Everywhere needed at least one relic, he supposed. "Mind if I sit here?" He gestured at the next desk over.

"By all means. It's your school."

Sasuke sat, but he felt strangely discomfited doing so. This wasn't going quite the way he expected. While his computer started up, he stretched his mind to recall everything he could about the Hyuga. He had a big, rich family, didn't he? Yes, and they owned some huge business that designed extravagant tech – security systems, that was it. The Hyugas dealt with the electronics behind things like panic rooms and bulletproof windows and doors with lockdown features. In fact, the old security cameras littered throughout the Uchiha house were probably Hyuga products; Sasuke's parents had bought them for a cool twenty thousand dollars years ago, but of course after they died he and Itachi never bothered with them. Ordinary locks were good enough.

Now, what about Neji himself? Sasuke wasn't positive, but he thought he'd seen Neji's name on one of the Distinguished Achievers lists outside Tsunade's office. That meant he had received top marks in his final exams and at least one scholarship offer after finishing school. Actually, hadn't some teachers bragged about recently having in their classes a student who topped the state in four subjects?

Sasuke felt a twinge of envy. He was the best academically in his year, but he could only hope to get results like that. Maybe if he completely gave up on everything else in his life and became a study hermit, sure, but people like that were robots.

Furrowing his brow, he asked Neji, "Why are you here?"

"I thought I said that. Computer with Linux."

"No, I mean why are you even still around here, in this area? Weren't you the one who was accepted into the Institute of –"

"I turned it down," Neji interrupted.

Sasuke stared. He must have been mistaken. "The Institute. As in, the top university in the country."

"Yes, I know."

"Top three in the world."

"I am very well aware."

"Then – then what the hell is wrong with you?"

Nobody turned down a spot at the Institute. It just didn't happen – you'd have to be a complete idiot to do that, but then you'd never get the opportunity because the Institute didn't accept complete idiots. Short of some horrible, catastrophic accident, there was no good reason not to go there.

Neji shrugged, turning back to his books and computer. "I didn't need it. My career's already laid out for me. University's just a luxury before I actually start working, so there was no point travelling across the country for it. There's a perfectly good one fifteen minutes away."

"That's crazy. K.U. is good, but it's not brilliant. If I got into the Institute, I'd –"

Sasuke stopped. That sentence wasn't going to go the way he thought it would. If he got into the Institute…

Well, he'd turn it down. Because the plan was to go to university with Naruto.

"You seem smart enough," Neji commented, still not looking away from his work. "You're Itachi Uchiha's brother, aren't you? He did well for himself. Where are you planning to go?"

Sasuke had to think for a second before answering, not because he didn't know, but because he had been wondering lately if it was in the best interest of the break-up scam to reveal it. There was always a tiny chance that someone could find out that he and Naruto were planning to enrol at the same university, in quite similar courses, and wonder if that didn't seem a little suspicious.

"I had a place in mind, but… my preferences might have to change," he said slowly, choosing his words with care. "My very recent ex-boyfriend planned on going there with me, but since he got the worse end of the break-up, it might be better if I go somewhere else. He's more committed to going there than I am."

"Making a life choice based on an ex-boyfriend's feelings?" Neji glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "That's short-sighted of you."

"Yeah, well, I only made my initial decision based on him anyway, so this is more like… fixing the damage. I can always get into somewhere better. He can't."

God, his insides were churning as he said it. Sure, he could mock Naruto to his face all he wanted, but dismissing him behind his back to some stranger? It felt so wrong. But this was his role for the next two weeks: he was the asshole. He instigated the break-up that put Naruto's university chance in jeopardy. He couldn't care about anyone besides himself.

Neji was nodding. "Fair point. There's nothing more stupid than including a high school romance in your future decisions."

"Of course," Sasuke agreed, though he had to clench his jaw to keep himself from swearing.

"Quite frankly, it was silly of you to string the person along until this late in the year. How many days did you waste on dates when you could have been studying? One a week? Those extra hours probably would have translated to at least an extra ten percent to your marks. The Institute doesn't seem so unattainable when you put it like that, does it?"

This time Sasuke didn't answer. An extra ten percent to all his marks, just from not taking one day off a week? And he saw Naruto much more than once a week… No. No way. Neji was exaggerating, pulling numbers out of thin air. And the time Sasuke spent with Naruto was way more valuable than ten percent. Without Naruto he'd have gone too crazy this year to get any work done at all.

If Neji thought relationships meant so little… well, he was pretty sad, then.

Still, Sasuke proceeded to study furiously for the entire afternoon until the I.T. teacher roared at him to get out.