I haven't submitted for a while! Here's some lovin' to whoever reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise or any of the characters at all.

xx

Acousticophobia – fear of noise

In a world surrounded by noises of every variety, it would not be very convenient to be terrified of any type of sound. When the rich tones of a person's laughter give you the shivers, or the screech of tires makes you scream, (which in turn makes you even more terrified,) you can assume that you're not going to be as successful as someone with a normal fear, like spiders or something like that. I guess , if you were in this situation I mean, you would probably stay away from the world, home school, have one of those caretakers that smell like piss, asking you in sign language if you'd rather peas or corn for dinner. It's taking the easy way around and sliding through life without having to face your fear. But unlike you, I'm a risk taker, and I'm not about to give up my dreams of being famous because of some stupid shivers. Besides, what's the point of being onstage if you can't stand to hear the people cheering for you? So that's why, unlike you probably, I decided to go to a regular high school. After years of homeschooling with foster parents who constantly worry and constantly try to figure out what the fuck is wrong with me, I chose to go to a public school. I have declared that I will grit my teeth and bare the girls chatter! I will defeat the male grunts and groans! I will crush the cell phone ring tones and the teacher's lectures! Because, if I'm going to live life to the fullest, I, Uzumaki Naruto, am going to have to face my fear! Now, excuse me, I think I just pissed my pants!

Track 1 – Dead!

As the girls and boys filed off the school bus, waved goodbye to their parents in the conservative minivans, and walked towards the school with looks of dread smeared across their young faces, Uzumaki Naruto shook uncontrollably in his foster mother's '96 Prelude Si, wearing a pair of heavy duty earplugs that looked like giant headphones, the kind you wore in metal shop. His mom twisted in her seat and signed with gentle hands, asking if he really wanted to do this. Through all of his shaking, and a little bit of sweating, Naruto nodded eagerly, which could have easily been mistaken for a seizure. The lady in the driver's seat smiled nervously, and she signed 'Good Luck,' and then with a small sigh that Naruto couldn't hear, 'I love you.'

Naruto gave a curt nod, took a deep breath of the stifling air around him, and opened the car door, ready for an onslaught of odd looks and easy to spot gossiping. Girls around him stared and whispered to their friends things which probably included, "What is he wearing?!" and "That poor kid, is he deaf?" But there was never a more determined 15 year old as Naruto, and as he walked through the school doors, still shaking and still sweating, he held his head high and ignored it all, despite the terrified thoughts that were probably running through his mind. Naruto stared down the hallway that was filled with different kids of different styles. He walked slowly, torn between staring at the girls dressed in black and red who were smoking by the girl's bathroom, or the boys that were wearing jerseys and tossing a football between them, by lockers that had rude words scratched into them. Since he was so concerned with not getting hit with a ball, or burned with a cigarette, Naruto wasn't watching where he was going, and walked directly into what would be later described as a human. After landing painfully on the ground, Naruto looked up at a boy who looked to be about his age and had just as messy as hair as him, except in brown. Naruto picked up his schoolbag (brand new for school) and apologized. That was what you were supposed to do when you bump into someone, right? At least, that's what Naruto thought. Apparently that was completely wrong, and judging by this guy's reaction, it was rude and absolutely uncalled for. He started yelling at Naruto, and even though he couldn't hear what the guy was saying, Naruto was sure it wasn't good from the looks that were being attracted. Not knowing exactly what to do in that situation, Naruto just sat and took the obvious punishment. It's not like his homeschooling ever brought up this sort of problem, and if it did, he would probably be in a different foster home by now. Finally the boy stopped flapping his lips, and a sort of tension descended upon the crowd. If Naruto could hear, he would probably describe it as silence, which seems kind of ironic in a weird way. Naruto looked around at the people watching, and then back at the kid in front of him, who mouthed an obvious "Well?". After a few more moments of doing nothing, Naruto looked at him and did the only thing that came to his innocent mind. He shrugged.

When Naruto came to, the first thing he noticed was that he was surrounded by white. Panic rose in him. Dear lord, he had died. That kid had killed him. Just because he had bumped into him! Oh no, oh no, ohnoohno, what will his foster parents say?? Amongst all Naruto's groggy and irrational thinking, a small sob of anguish managed to escape his lips. Needless to say, Naruto finally noticed something else. His earphones were gone. Adrenaline started to pump through his veins, and his hands started to tremble. Was there still noise in heaven? Terrifying thoughts of angels' harps and a booming voice ran errant through Naruto's mind, and he began to sweat and fidget with the hem of his shirt. It made a ruffling noise, and a shudder ran down Naruto's spine. His hands sprung up to meet his ears. A clapping noise, he squeezed his eyes shut. As the terror rose in him, he moved to pull his knees to his chest into the foetal position. The bed creaked, and Naruto started to cry. In any of his memory, he couldn't remember being this scared. As he wept on the bed, fingers in his ears, staying as still as possible, as he had learned the bed made noise, Naruto failed to notice that a man with a stern face and a battered clipboard had entered the room and sat next to his bed.

"Naruto..." The man said softly. Naruto stopped crying immediately, and the man with the clipboard couldn't tell if the boy was calming down, or was more terrified than before. Naruto opened his eyes slowly, and looked up at the man next to his bed. He had dark eyes and hair, and pale skin, almost pure white. More tears formed in Naruto's eyes. He drove his fingers deeper into his ears and squeezed his eyes shut again.

"Are you an angel? Don't take me away." The man seemed slightly taken aback for a moment before the stern look crossed his face once more. In Naruto's opinion, the look wasn't very comforting for an angel. Were angels supposed to be comforting? He didn't care anyway, he wasn't going to die, he hadn't even had sex yet, and no one should have as cruel as punishment as to die a virgin. Naruto felt a tap on his shoulder. He opened one eye slightly to see the clipboard held not 3 inches away from his face. In very neat, very controlled, very precise handwriting, the man had written a little message.

"I'm Sasuke, the school's doctor. You're not dead, idiot." Naruto scrunched up his nose as he came to the last word. He pulled his fingers out of his ears and pushed himself quickly on the bed.

"I'm not an idiot! Isn't it harassment if you call a student that?!" Naruto huffed. Sasuke just smirked and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. He pulled Naruto forward and moved his mouth closer to Naruto's ear.

"Aren't you scared?" Sasuke's voice was low and rich, leaving a lingering vibration in Naruto's eardrum. It was mocking, wispy, alluring and almost sadistic all at the same time. Naruto's breathing grew quicker and he started to sweat again. He felt his cheeks burn, because he knew that Sasuke was making fun of him. Somewhere, between the little temper tantrum that Sasuke had caused and the shock of the less than intimate actions, Naruto had forgotten to be afraid. Though, of course now that Sasuke had mentioned it, Naruto once again grew aware to the groaning bed, his heavy breathing, the tapping of Sasuke's foot on the linoleum floor, and the dull murmur of teenagers learning, (or not.)

"It doesn't hurt you know," Sasuke continued to mutter into Naruto's ear, fingers digging into the boy's shoulder in an effort to keep him from trying to run away. Naruto swallowed thickly, and started to shrug his shoulders, attempting to have Sasuke release his grip. The sound of Sasuke's voice scared the shit out of him, and to be quite honest, Naruto thought he may lose control of his bodily functions very soon. Though at the same time, there was a little thing nagging at the back of his mind. Not a voice, but a sort of feeling that told him without any sort of thought that Sasuke's voice was, well, nice. It was silky, smooth, and flowed with a sort of velvety texture. Not that Naruto's mind had a lot of sounds to compare it to. Not that sounds have textures. Not that sounds were any good at all.

"W-" Naruto had to stop and try to gain some sort of courage. "Where are m- my ear plugs." The words fell out of his mouth with grit and without any of the grace that Sasuke's voice held. Sasuke sighed and let go of Naruto's arm. Rising from his chair, which had a squeak by the way, he walked out the door, coming back with the garish headgear. He tossed it on the bed and turned back towards the exit, but paused with a word of advice.

"You'd better put those on. The bell's going to ring in about 20 seconds." Naruto nodded and slipped on the headphones with complete relief. Talk about a security blanket. With all sound completely blocked out once again, he easily slid off the bed and picked up his backpack off the floor. As he walked out the door past Sasuke, he uttered a thanks, which was nearly soundless to himself. Sasuke looked up, mouthing an obvious "Why?" but was interrupted by something. Naruto watched him look up then back to the blond. Sasuke pointed up and said "The bell." Naruto nodded and waved, leaving the office. As he walked through the halls, much more aware of what was ahead of him this time, Naruto thought that he might have to get into another fight. For whatever reason, he really liked that office.

Track 2 – Loopy Loopy Love

After their first encounter, Naruto began visiting the health station nearly every day. At first he made excuses. Pretending to faint in class, yelling nosebleed and running out, papercutneedabandaidbye, and many other silly things. After a while, Sasuke got used to the constant visits and constant silence. Not that he didn't enjoy the peace. He only had one other patient as frequent as Naruto, and she was not nearly as interesting nor as tolerable as the boy. Haruno Sakura, the only other person that didn't get turned away by the constant iciness that was Uchiha Sasuke's personality. Though, to be perfectly plain, Sakura's strategy was probably that she kept an unreal vision of Sasuke being a prince who was stationed at the school to sweep her off her feet, and misinterpreted the looks of 'get out' as 'wow, I really love your hair. Is that mango tangerine I smell?' which resulted in either tears after Sasuke told her to get out, or more school girl fantasies when he let her stay. Of course, at times, Sakura and Naruto would meet when they were visiting the stoic doctor either dropping off homemade cookies, or asking for a remedy for the hiccups. After their first meeting, Naruto stayed to "talk" to Sasuke, which actually consisted of them taking turns writing on the white board that was stationed in the office.

"Who was that?" Naruto had picked up his usual red pen and scrawled, all in capitals. Sasuke looked up at the sound of the pen squeaking across the board.

"Haruno, Sakura," Sasuke always wrote in green, and always had perfect handwriting even on the white board.

"I liked her. I'm going to make her my girlfriend." Naruto grinned and gave a manly thumbs up to Sasuke who frowned slightly.

"You can try." Sasuke capped his pen and put it back down on his desk while Naruto started to squeal at him.

"What d'ya mean?! Are you saying I'm not good enough, you asshole?!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke, following him back to the desk and sitting in front of him with the angriest face he could muster. Sasuke just smirked at him and offered a bite of the cupcake that Sakura had dropped off. Naruto made a sort of wounded noise. Ouch, the slap to his pride had stung. He growled a sort of muffled version of the word bastard and stalked out of the health station. He didn't visit Sasuke for two days after that, and it might be hard for Sasuke to admit, but he would take Naruto's stupid excuses over Sakura's stupid non-fat soy banana buns any day. It was also hard for Sasuke to admit that he felt that one lump form in his throat and a long forgotten sense of guilt swirl around in his stomach. Two days later, after the lunch bell trilled, Naruto had just walked in, picked up his green dry erase marker and started to write.

"I'm not forgiving you." Naruto's marker squeaked as he wrote, and it bled somewhat with the extra pressure that Naruto was writing with. Sasuke nodded and uncapped his own red pen.

"Fine. Why would I care anyway?" Sasuke's handwriting was, as always, neat and precise, even though he was writing himself into yet another childish fight with the younger boy. As Sasuke expected, Naruto closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in an attempt to keep his temper under control. Soon the deep breaths and counting down from ten would start, no doubt.

"Don't be an asshole. I hate you still." Naruto wrote and paused. He left his marker against the board, as if trying to think of what to 'say' next. Sasuke didn't wait. He quickly wrote down his message and went to sit down at his desk again to finish his lunch. He heard squeaking behind him, the capping of the pen, and the footsteps of the boy leaving. After a few minutes, Sasuke's curiosity got the best of him, and he turned around to look at their finished conversation.

"Don't be an asshole. I hate you still... But lunch was lonely."

"Yeah, whatever." Sasuke winced at his response. He had never thought about Naruto having a lack of friends. Not everybody in the school carried around little whiteboards, just in case the kid with the problem tried to talk to them. He looked back at his lunch and, for the first time since he was a kid, realized that he packed too much for just one person. Sasuke grunted to himself, the coil of guilt rising to his throat and threatening to pounce out and pity the next person that he saw. Christ, Sakura could very well walk in within seconds! He got up off the old plastic chair and moved out into the crowded hallways, searching for a head of blond hair and bright orange earmuffs. His eyes targeted the boy, and Sasuke ran down the hallway and nearly ran right into Naruto. He tapped the boy's shoulder, and gestured for a pen. Naruto looked curiously at the doctor for a moment, and then pulled the sack off his shoulder, pulling out a blue pen. Sasuke grabbed it and wrote a message on his own hand, then held it out for Naruto to read. Teenagers watching the exchange were gawking at the pair, entranced by the abnormality of it all. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and twisted it around, far from being gentle, and read the smudged words.

"I have extra chips." Not exactly an apology, and you couldn't really classify it as sentimental or suave as all the girls would expect from such a good looking and mysterious guy as Sasuke, but Naruto grinned and nodded all the same. The bell rang and the kids scurried off to their lockers to ready themselves for their English and Sciences, and Sasuke nodded, jerking away his hand from Naruto's. The boy just smiled, waved, and hoisted his backpack upon his shoulder once more, as if nothing had ever happened, and all was right with the world. Students bumped past, and Sasuke stood wondering. Was Naruto extremely mature, or was he just an idiot?

xx

Tell me what you think!

Tracks: Dead! - My Chemical Romance, Loopy Loopy Love - The Brunettes