Hello all. You've probably wondered where I've been...well...the answer is very simple...I was walking along the path of life when I saw this poor black kitten stuck in *gets pelted with cookies* TT_TT I'M SORRY!

Ch. 9

Naruto's POV

I waited in my seat, with Gaara and Neji, for the bastard to walk through those doors. He never came. What was so important with his brother that he missed class? Did something happen to his family? Is everything alright? Will he ever come ba-

"He's fine." I jumped slightly, not expecting Gaara to whisper in my ear. Looking at him with widened eyes, I started my mental ranting again. How did he know I was thinking about Sasuke? "He just text me saying that he was ditching class." My eyes widened comically. Can he read my mind? "Yes."

"GAH!" I fell out of my seat, trying to get away from the creepy mind-reading person. Unfortunately, my legs were tangled in the stool and down I went. The classroom laughed and Neji and Gaara smirked, clearly amused with my klutziness.

"You're so easy to read. And no, I'm not a mind-reader." I slowly got back up on two legs, watching him warily. Sitting back down, I continued watching, shifting my eyes between the two people at my table.

"How'd you know everything I was thinking?" I whispered, waiting for my answer.

"I already told you. You're easy to read."

"How?"

"Your eyes continued to shift back and forth between the door and Sasuke's seat. I just assumed that's what you were wondering about." I pouted, crossing my arm. Damn him.

"Why's he skipping out?"

"Because his brother made him late for this class. He doesn't want detention with him." He nudged his head in the direction of the pervy snake. Oh, ok.

Sasuke's POV

Vacation day. I don't understand why I have to go to the summer vacation home again. There's nothing to do, I'm surrounded by tree's and I'm not allowed to be inside to play video games. I need to do something that won't rot my brain away. Parent's words, not mine. My brother's lucky. He gets to go to a summer camp where his friends are. He won't be joining us until the last three weeks when camp gets out. Til then, I'll have to find something to pass the time. I watched the scenery go by as I looked out the window.

When we finally made it, it was late. The sun was setting and the stars were starting to pop out. The house was enormous as always. With mother and father being good at saving money, we have the profit to buying extravagant homes. After bringing in our things, mother started on the cooking. We ate in silence, cleaned up, and went to bed.

The next morning, mother tried three times to wake me up for breakfast. It was summer and I deserved some much needed beauty rest...or so I thought til i was dragged out of my room with mother saying it was bad for my health to sleep my life away.

After a quiet breakfast, father disappeared into his study and mother just disappeared. I had no idea where she went, so I decided to go outside and find something to do. We had neighbors but the houses weren't right next to each other. The homes where in one giant circle with a jungle gym in the middle of it all. I sat on one of the swings, thinking about how much fun Itachi was probably having, not realizing that there was someone behind me.

"What are you doing here by yourself." I jumped at the voice. I wasn't expecting anyone to sneak up on me. I stopped my slow swinging and turned my head around to see crystal blue eyes surrounded by golden light.

"Nothing..."

"Do you wanna play?" I smiled and nodded. Maybe summer won't be so bad after all.

I sighed as the bell rang for lunch. Why am I remembering this now? What made my mind drift to that summer memory? Getting up, I headed to the door on the roof and went back inside the school for some much needed food. I skipped breakfast and went straight into basketball. My stomach growled in pleasure at the thought of finally being able to eat. The memory was the summer I was four years old. Shockingly I remember it...well...mostly. I don't remember the little boy I was playing the blue eyes, that's all...and the halo of gold around the rest of his face but that doesn't matter much, now does it?

I went into the cafeteria, spotting my group immediately but did a double take at all the new members of it. Two of the tables were pushed together to form a larger one to seat all of them. I noticed the bright blond head first before anyone else and scowled. This was obviously his idea. His whole group plus mine all sat at the large table, talking and chatting. The irritating women of my...well, not my group. They think they're apart of it though, all scowled at the nosy newcomers. Walking closer, I saw that the only chair available was right in between the idiot and Karin. I scowled and grabbed a chair from another table and stood behind Gaara and Neji. They both got my silent hint and scooted away from each other to make room for myself. Neji was not pleased at all but hid it very well. Naruto watched me the whole time as a look of hurt crossed his features when I grabbed the chair. It wasn't him I was avoiding. It was that blasted red-head and I showed him with my eyes as I looked at him, then flicked my eyes to her with a slight glare. A look of understanding lit up his eyes as he glanced at her and grinned back, then continuing his loud and obnoxious conversation with the mutt.

"You do know, that since you ditched class, he's going to give you detention." A true statement. That snake has been watching me closely to find any reason to get me to come to his class without others around. I just gave him the perfect excuse to. "Itachi won't be able to help you if he does." Also a true statement. If I would've went to class, Itachi could have come by and told him that we were talking. Now, even if he does, the snake can say I never came to class and thus was ditching.

"I know. Nor do I care. I can take care of myself." I took a bite out of my tomato sandwich as Gaara continued to watch me.

"I hope, for your sake, you can." I sighed. He can be such a worry-wort.

Naruto's POV

Watching Sasuke and Gaara whispering to each other made me a slight bit jealous. I mean, I understand that he doesn't have the patience or the want to sit by Karin. The only reason she sat anywhere near me after the stunt I pulled, was because it was the only place to sit and she hoped, like I did, that Sasuke would be sitting there.

I brought the idea up to Gaara and Neji at the end of class that I would like eat lunch with them. They agreed and as soon as we sat down in the cafeteria, my group, especially Kiba, got hurt and came over and asked why I'd rather sit here than with them. I just grinned and asked them to join. Hinata sat by her cousin and the rest just kinda picked seats. Kiba sat by me and we all started talking. As soon as the rest of Sasuke's group and fan-girls came, it was decided that we pull two tables together to accommodate everyone. I placed my book bag on the seat to my left, stating it was for Sasuke. Dear god, that was the worst mistake of my life. As soon as those words left my lips, the biggest cat fight over the chair next to Sasuke's, was issued. Karin, Sakura, Ino and many others that I still don't know the names to, started racing for the chair, ripping out hair of the 'bitch' that sat there. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. My poor book bag even got torn.

Gaara finally spoke, saying that if they continued with their tirade, they would end up in the nearest hospital, sucking food through a straw for the rest of their lives. Karin took advantage of all the other stunned women and plopped her butt down in the seat. As soon as the rest came to their senses, they glared at the smirking red-head. All eyes shifted to me then. I gave a nervous laugh as I got needle piercing glares. Neji reminded them of Gaara's warning and they all dispersed. Sakura and Ino stayed and sat with some others, but most of them left to wallow in self-pity. Karin glared at me for the longest time, making me uneasy while Kiba continued to chatter on about what happened not five minutes ago, before Sasuke walked up. I was hurt when he decided to grab another chair and sit between his friends until I noticed that he was glaring at Karin and gave me a look of apology before conversing with Gaara. When Karin realized that Sasuke wasn't planning on sitting next to her anytime soon, her and the other girls left, saying they had stuff to do in the library. After saying there ado's to Sasuke, who only nodded and returned talking to Gaara not caring in the least, they left. Watching them leave, I turned my eyes back to the raven and the raccoon. I remembered that they use to be lovers. That boiled my blood a little more, feeling that they could go back to that again. My eyes shifted to Neji and I noticed, however small, that he was stiff. So, he wasn't comfortable with them being so close either. At least I'm not the only one.

"Was there an epic battle that I missed?" My eyes shifted back to Sasuke, with his chin in his hand, and our eyes locked as he waited in silence. No one else answered his question and I was curious as to why until til it dawned that he was talking to me. He wanted to know from my lips what happened and no one else's. A small smile came to my lips as the jealousy subsided. I even noticed that Neji relaxed a bit.

"Yes. I saved a seat for you."

"Then you opened your big mouth and told the women that." Kiba barked a laugh at the memory. Sasuke's eyes shifted to him in a glare and the mutt shut up instantly.

"I'm sure you can figure out what happened." His eyes shifted back to me and he gave a small smile.

"It's a pity I missed it. I noticed all of them had torn clothes and small bald spots. What caused them to calm down?"

"Gaara. He threatened them with promises of major brain damage." The raven's eyes shifted to Gaara slightly then back to me.

"I understand that. Gaara has less patience for them than I." A long pause came between us as Sasuke looked like he was fighting with himself about something. Our table continued to converse with each other as he slowly got up and moved around the table. His eyes showed that he was debating on if he should just turn around and he even looked back at his previous seat. But his feet still continued to move towards me and he sat down in the seat that I saved. From my peripheral vision, I saw Neji move Sasuke's chair and scoot back toward Gaara. "So I've decided to let you come to my house today for your tutoring lesson. My mother will be home and my father will most likely be gone til around eight or nine."

I smirked. "So, I finally get to see where you live?" A small glare from him.

"You can only stay til six or so. I have my own homework to finish."

"You can do it when I'm working on my problems."

"I could, but you are as dumb as a rock and will continue to ask obscenely obvious questions." He smirked in superiority as I gapped at him with wide eyes. Mine soon narrowed as I pouted.

"My god, you're such an ass Sasuke."

Sasuke's POV

Again, we had Naruto run errands for Guy-sensei. He will not be pleased and most likely, he'll be leaning up against my car, seething wordlessly. I did an inwardly maniacal laughter which, in turn, made me smirk on the outside. "Sasuke-kun?" I looked up into emerald green eyes and sighed. What does she want now? "About the dance..." I inwardly groaned. The wonders of the female mind never cease to annoy me. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt before she opened her mouth to say more, but I cut her off before a syllable left her.

"I already told you I wasn't going. Why do you keep persisting?" She squirmed in place, tightening her hold on the hem of her shirt and biting her bottom lip. Since she was making no effort to answer me, I ignored her while I packed up my things from the council room. She made a couple attempts to say something, but closed her mouth instead. Everyone else made it out the door and only Sakura and I remained. I moved past her to go through the doors and her quiet voice spoke.

"I asked someone else to the dance since you said no." I turned to her and her eyes were downcast to her feet. I made an attempt to congratulate her and wish her luck with her new toy, but before anything was said, she ended her statement with, "And Naruto agreed to go with me." I stood there shock for a brief moment. She asked Naruto...and he said yes...? I thought he was like me…is he bi then?...I schooled my face and turned away from her, continuing my way out the door.

"I hope the two of you have fun."

Naruto's POV

I'm...so...tired...I'm gonna kill that Uchiha. That bastard enjoys tormenting the crap out of me. I walked, on shaky legs, to said bastard's car and leaned against it. After five minutes of inner cursing, I finally saw him walk out the building. He wasn't all that pleased. Wonder what got into him.

He walked to the other side of the car and unlocked his door, getting in. I reached for the passenger handle and found it was still locked. I frowned and lightly tapped on the window. I heard the door unlock but Sasuke wouldn't look at me. The tension in the car made me want to shut the door and just walk home but I swallowed and sat in the car, shutting the door. "What's up?" I asked him in a light mood with a grin and my hand rubbing my neck subconsciously. He started the car and drove in silence, ignoring my question.

This was starting to annoy me. I did nothing wrong for him to treat me like this. "HELLO! I asked you a question!"

He sighed and continued to look straight ahead, the tension subsiding, but not completely gone. "Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking." I squirmed a bit at the tone of indifference but left it at that. The rest of the ride was quiet and I watched the scenery go by as we passed the non-wealthy side of town and into the wealthy. The houses seemed to get bigger and bigger as we continued to drive until Sasuke pulled into a driveway with a black metal gate infront. He rolled down his window with a button and waited for the security guard to look up. When he did, the metal gate opened and the man bowed his head to him.

"Welcome home Sasuke-san." Sasuke nodded and drove through. I stared wide-eyed at the garden in front. There were workers clipping the bushes and mowing the grass and such. I looked at him in disbelief.

"This is your house?" He smirked and relief swelled in me that he got over whatever happened.

"Of course it is, moron. Why else would i come here?" I glared as he pulled into a five car garage. He got out, walking to the door and looked back at me. "You coming?" I nodded and quickly got out, almost tripping twice with how fast I was going to catch up. Opening the door, he stepped to the side and worked on taking off his shoes. I looked around, amazed at the spacious area while sliding my own shoes off. He guided me thru the house, showing me where everything was. The rooms in the house that were off limits was his parents room and connecting bathroom, Itachi's old room, his dad's study, his mom's study, and the banquet room (unless further noticed). When we made it to the most sacred room (the kitchen) while Sasuke looked around the area. "Mother, I'm home." He called out loudly, waiting for a response. "Huh…I guess she's not here. Probably went out for groceries." I nodded and we headed back upstairs to the room he said was his.

The walls were a deep blue color with black carpeted floors. A mahogany desk with a laptop on top with office supplies in one of the cubbies. All in all, it was nice…with a bit of a creepy feel to it. He went to his desk, setting his book bag and gym bag down on the floor. "I'll do laundry later. So let's get started, shall we?" I nodded in agreement while setting my backpack down on the floor, taking a seat on his bed. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "So Sakura, huh?"

"Huh?" I looked over to Sasuke, sitting casually in the chair with his legs crossed.

"Sakura told me that she asked you to the homecoming dance."

"Oh, uh...yeah. She did. When we were walking to 4th hour."

"And you accepted?" I watched him carefully. The conversation sounded normal. Just a friend talking with another. He crossed his arms, waiting for my answer. I finally noticed how tense he was and a grin slowly appeared on my face.

"Why so curious? Jealous?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes and turned around in his chair.

"Hardly." I grinned more and walked to him, throwing my arms around his shoulders. He tensed more at the contact.

"AWW! You're so cute when your jealous." I placed my chin on his left shoulder, trying to peer at his face.

"I'm not jealous now GET OFF!" He grabbed my wrists and pried them off and rolled his chair forward, my chin falling off his shoulder in the process. I watched his ridged body basically hug the desk and smiled.

Sasuke's POV

"It means nothing Sasuke. It's just a dance. I'm not saying 'I do'. Besides" My body started relaxing after the 'nothing' part. "I like guys." I turned to him with a skeptical look. If so..

"Then why accept an invitation from a girl." I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for his answer.

"Cuz I've never been to a dance before, and because if I asked the person I wanted to go with, they'll say no." Oh really? You think so, do you? Che, I most likely would. But why not play with him a bit.

"Really now? And how do you know this?" He shrugged.

"Doesn't seem like the dancing type." Oh, I can dance, I just prefer not to...especially in front of crowds.

"Why not try asking them before making assumptions."

"You know, I think I will. It would be a blast to go with Kiba!" There was a long pause before the imbecile started laughing, nearly to death. Good, he'd deserve it. "You should see your face!" I glared. See if I ever help his ass again. I turned my back to him to begin studying. "Aw, come on Sasuke. I was only joking." The amusement in his voice was still as clear as a bell.

"You should get started on your homework or you can leave." And die. He hesitated a bit before I was forcefully spun around in my chair and I glared murder. He looked at me with sincere blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I was kidding." He smiled a bit. "There's nothing between Sakura and I. I would've liked you to go with me, but I have a feeling you don't like public areas. But if you change your mind, you know where the gym is." He grinned his famous cheesy grin and let my chair go.

"Hn. Whatever dobe." I felt my lips tug up and he grinned more, leaning towards me, and placed his soft lips against mine.

I know. I'm such ashit heat. I'll try to update soon (how many times have I typed that?).