Chapter Four:

Naruko walked down the hallway behind Sakura and Ino, laughing at something the pink girl had said when Sakura shushed them and peered down the hallway.

"Look, theres Sasuke. Maybe I should go talk to him?" Sakura asked.

Ino shrugged, "I mean you could, but its kind of weird if he already rejected you."

Naruko had turned away as soon as she saw Sasuke down the hall and tried to hide her face. She shouldn't be seen around him at all, and the fact that Sakura was still in love with him was going to cause a problem if they kept trying to get close to him. Naruko did not want to get kicked out of this school.

"Oh look, hes coming this way." Ino whispered and shoved Sakura forward a bit.

Naruko heard Sakura clear her throat before saying cheerfully, "Good morning Sasuke."

Sasuke, the jerk he was, ignored Sakura and peered behind her shoulders at the girl who had turned away and was nonchalantly staying at a wall. Did she not realize how much she stop out? Her head was as luminescent as a sun flower. He pointed at her, making Ino and Sakura look over at their blonde friend. "That girl."

Naruko slowly turned and peered over, seeing him glaring at her. She laughed nervously and pointed at herself. "Me?" She wanted to die right now, oh boy did she want to just curl up into a ball and get away from Sakura's piercing green eyes.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the girl and reached into his pocket, pulling out a key with the pendant of a sun attached to it. Naruko's eyes widened as she recognized it and she lunged forwards, trying to grab it from him but he was too fast and pulled it out of her reach. Naruko jumped to try and get it, but she knew she was causing a scene.

Naruko looked back over at Ino and Sakura who looked very confused. "Haha.. Just a second." She grinned and then angrily pushed Sasuke away from the group and down the hall. She pulled him down a side hall and looked at him with an angry expression.

"Give it to me!" She puffed, "I forgot it this morning."

Sasuke kept it out of her reach and just raised a brow at her, looking somewhat amused.

Naruko groaned, "If the rest of the school finds out, we will be expelled! I can't get kicked out of this school!"

"Wasn't it your fault we are in this mess to begin with?" He asked and smirked.

Naruko puffed, "It doesn't matter now, we just can't be found out, okay?" Naruko lunged for the key again but Sasuke had known she was going to go for it and pulled it away, instead grabbing her and pinning her to the wall with a smirk. "Wheres your 'thank you'?"

Naruko's eyes widened at their close proximity and she shoved him away. "St-Stay away from me you teme." She was lucky she was stronger than most girls.

Sasuke dangled the key chain in front of her. The orange sun swung in front of her, taunting her with its presence. "I'm waiting…"

Naruko almost kicked him for being so jerk-ish. "Thank you…" She muttered quietly and looked away. Her pride was wounded at the fact that she had to give into such a thing.

Sasuke leaned closer. "I couldn't hear you. What was that?"

"THANK YOU!" She yelled right in his face, making him lean back in disgust. He wiped at his face, even though she hadn't spit at him. "Huh. Seems as if the dobe does have manners after all." Sasuke teased and offered her the key. Naruko snatched it from him quickly before he could change his mind.

Naruko turned to leave, but was reminded of something. She turned back to look at him with wide eyes.

"Hey!" She yelled, accusatory tone lacing through her voice. "What happened to your leg, huh teme? I thought that you were supposed to be hurt, how come you were playing soccer!"

Sasuke turned and shrugged. "Who knows…?"

Naruko's ears turned red in anger and she stomped her foot. "I can't believe you would do that! Just you wait, I'm going to skin you like the potato you are!" She growled. Before Sasuke could answer, someone was calling his name.

"Aye, Sasuke!" Kiba called and walked down the hall he and Naruko had turned into. Naruko, not wanting to expose anything about their situation, dashed past Kiba and back down the hall to her friends.

Kiba looked from the retreating girl, to Sasuke. "That girl confess to you too?" He asked.

Sasuke snorted and looked at where Naruko had just run off to. "Not her…" He muttered to himself.

Kiba looked at Sasuke's face and hummed. "You look happier today… Did something happen? Did you get yourself a girlfriend!?"

Sasuke shook his head, but he couldn't get the smirk off his face. The image of Naruko's flustered face just made him smirk. Kiba hummed, "You sure…? Okay then. So I guess you won't mind this huge group date I planned." He smirked and walked alongside Sasuke, rambling on about some girl he had met.

Meanwhile, Naruko returned to her curiously waiting friends. She hadn't had enough tome to think about what to say, so when they looked at her with those prying eyes, she burst out into nervous laughter.

"What was that about?" Asked Sakura. "Why did he have your key?"

"Uh… He found it! Aha! I must have dropped it and he found it!" She grinned awkwardly. "You know me, I'm always messing up."

Ino laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "So clumsy." Naruko nodded encouragingly, trying to stray away from the prying eyes of Sakura.

-x-x-x-

Nearing the end of school it had started raining, and since Ino and Sakura knew Naruko had a passionate discomfort of the rain, they decided to take her out to get snacks from a cafe. They chatted about random things and made fun of one another, and Naruko even got Sakura to arm wrestle her. The pink haired girl was in lots of sports and was crazy strong, but even yet, Naruko was a tough girl too. In the end Naruko just gave in, because she knew it wouldn't go anywhere. In the end she had to pay for ice-cream for all three of them.

Sakura and Ino walked her halfway home, all huddling under their umbrellas and wishing that it would stop raining soon. Of course, the rain stayed even as Naruko came home. She padded inside and paused. There was no Uchiha in sight… but then also, her bed was missing.

Naruko ran inside and looked around for her MIA bed, only to find a sticky note where she once used to sleep at night. She peeled it from the ground and read it.

"Got rid of the futon frame. It was in the way. Kakashi has it. We will use futons on the floor so I have more room. - S."

Naruko crumpled up the note and stormed back out of her room and downstairs to where Kakashi stayed. She knocked on the door and the man came out lazily, wearing a black germ mask as always. "If you're here about the bed, I already put it in storage." Kakashi said, knowing exactly what she was thinking."

"Why would you do that!?" she whined.

Kakashi shrugged. "He's very persuasive."

Naruko frowned. "What did he say?"

Kakashi hummed and put a finger to his masked chin. "Something along the lines of 'Take this bed frame. Don't give it to Naruko.'"

"Thats not persuasive at all! He just told you to do it!" Naruko yelled.

"Yes, but he's such a charming boy, how could I say no?" Asked Kakashi.

"Charming my ass…" Naruko muttered. "When can I have my bed back?"

Kakashi sighed, "I will bring it back out of storage when Sasuke-kun is back in his own room. He is right though, the bed does take up a lot of space. Its easier if you sleep on bed rolls on the ground." He shrugged and then walked into his room, leaving the door open with Naruko standing there waiting. He came back a few moments later with a futon pad and handed it to her. "I haven't used it. Should be good enough against the hard ground."

Naruko stared in displeasure but took it anyways. "Thank you…" She muttered and walked away, dragging her feet. She didn't want to sleep on the ground.

"By the way, Naruko, Sasuke-kun told me that hes going to be out late with his part-time job! What a hard working student!" Kakashi called after her. Naruko just waved him off and trudged back upstairs.

Kakashi laughed as he closed the door. It was an unusual situation, but Kakashi could see the good in it after all. Naruko, who had always seemed so lonely when she was at home by herself, finally had someone to hang around her and keep her company. Sasuke, who was hard to get emotive responses from, was already showing a bit of progress. Kakashi wondered how well it would go… Too bad it had to end within the month. Kakashi smirked and walked over to his phone and picked it up, dialling a number.

"Hey Guy, I was just calling to let you know that I would like to push the electrician back two weeks, maybe more but I will see." Kakashi said with a smirk.

The kids would thank him later.

-x-x-x-

The rain didn't stop even as Naruko set up her futon that night. She had taken it upon herself to reorganize the room a bit. Her food table was pushed ore towards the balcony so they had room for their bed mats, and she had pulled the carpet underneath the bed roll for more padding. Keeping busy distracted her from the rain. Naruko didn't like the thoughts she had when it was rainy.

Naruko crawled into bed after eating, showering and getting changed. Sasuke still wasn't back and it was almost twelve at night. She knew Kakashi had said that he had a part time job, but she hadn't known it would keep him out that long. He had his own key though, so Naruko knew it would be okay to try and fall asleep.

Sleep never came though. When the thunder and lighting started, it kept Naruko wide awake. Of course, her eyes were shut tight and she was curled up underneath all of her blankets. To an outsider, they may think she was asleep. Naruko almost gave herself away when the door opened and closed quickly, but Naruko realized it was only Sasuke coming back.

"Hey idiot girl, you awake?" Sasuke asked.

Naruko didn't answer. She stayed perfectly still underneath her blankets. It was just easier if she didn't move.

Sasuke shrugged, shuffled off his shoes and went into the bathroom. Naruko listened to the shower turn on and then off a while later. Sasuke came back out, ate something and then laid his futon nearby hers in the same direction and lay down, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

When a particularly loud crack of thunder sounded through the balcony, Naruko flinched and curled up into a tighter ball.

"So you are awake." Sasuke commented and nudged her leg with his foot.

Naruko groaned from beneath her blankets. "Leave me alone."

Sasuke frowned and nudged her some more. "You aren't going to complain about the bed?"

Naruko sighed and slowly pulled her blankets down over her body so that her face and hair was showing. She looked over at him with watery eyes. Sasuke froze as he looked at the girl who looked on the verge of crying.

"I didn't think it was that serious… If its that big of a deal I can call Kakashi and get him to bring it back." Sasuke said as he looked away from the crying girl.

Naruko shook her head. "No… its not that its just-" CRACK! Naruko flinched and whimpered as the thunder hit again.

Sasuke blinked as he realized. "You're… You're scared." It wasn't so much of a question than an observation.

Naruko's eyes widened and she shook her head. "I-I'm not scared. I'm fine." She said, only to flinch when the sound boomed again and light flashed though her window.

Sasuke sighed. She was so troublesome. Maybe he understood why Shikamaru thought girls were an annoyance now. "Why are you afraid? Its just thunder."

Naruko rolled over onto her other side, facing away from him. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?" She whispered.

Sasuke frowned. Why did he even care? He should have just let it be, but somehow he was intrigued by the true answer. "You aren't going to be able to get over your fear unless you talk about it with someone."

Naruko frowned. Was that true? Would she get any relief in telling Sasuke? She didn't see how it would help, but somehow the words just slipped from her lips, exploding like a dam.

"It was a night like this when my parents died." She whispered.

Sasuke froze and looked over at the girl. He had known her parents had been gone for a long time due to her telling him briefly in his apartment, but he had never known why. So they had died in a storm? "You don't have to tell me." Sasuke said.

"No… No its okay." Naruko whispered. "It's like you said. I should talk about it so I can get over it."

Sasuke lay there and turned his stare from the girls blonde head back towards the ceiling quietly. If she wanted him to listen, he wouldn't be that much of an asshole as to not let her. It was disrespectful to someone who was grieving he supposed.

"My Dad and Mom and I were all driving back from a family trip out of Konoha. They liked to do it once a year at least. We would always go someplace different for a week and just do fun family stuff. One time it was Suna, the next we went on a cruise around Mizu… That time we were coming back from Iwagakure." She whispered softly, but still loud enough for Sasuke to hear. "I was eleven at the time… I was such a brat. I had been complaining that I wanted to go home early, because I wanted to attend a girls birthday party back home. We wouldn't have gone out that night if it weren't for me."

Tears streamed out of Naruko's eyes as she lay there, staring at the dark room around her, but picturing what had happened on that night. "We were driving home, and the roads were slippery. My dad was driving, and my mom was trying to cheer up the mood in the car by singing and telling jokes. None of us knew it was going to happen…" She whispered and tightened her hands into balls. Sasuke closed his eyes tightly at the sound of pain in her voice. "Something ran across the road. My dad didn't know what it was, so he swerved. He didn't want to hit whatever it was and… A-And we swerved off the road…" Naruko hiccuped and covered her mouth, trying to compose herself to continue.

"When I woke up, I was in the hospital… As an orphan. Th-They said that m-my Mom and Dad both died trying to save me. My Mom pulled me out of the burning car, but went back to help m-my dad who was stuck inside. My D-Dad knew he didn't have enough time to get out by himself, b-but he made my mom help me first…" She said and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to stop the tears. "The car… I-It blew up. My parents w-were still in there."

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked over to the girl, who was visibly shaking. He didn't know what to say.

"I-It turned out what we swerved from w-was a fox. A s-stupid fox!" She laughed darkly to herself. "Ever since then… I've had these scars on my cheeks. Ironic how they look just like the whiskers of a fox… The thing that tore my family apart... Besides myself of course."

Sasuke had never been a particularly comforting person… But when he had been younger, his mother had always held him and kissed him when he was upset. The presence of someone else, especially his mother, had made him so much calmer.

Naruko froze when she felt something tap her arm. She slowly looked over to her shoulder where Sasuke's pale hand hovered, held out for her taking. Naruko had never been comforted before, especially from a guy. Not since her parents death. The blue eyed girl looked over to Sasuke. He was staring up at the ceiling, not looking at her, but yet his hand lay there waiting.

Naruko slowly reached out, unsure if this was a joke or not, before gaining the courage to grab onto his hand. She slowly rolled onto the side towards him and sniffled. Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. To have thought he would ever hold the hand of such an annoying girl. Another crack of thunder passed by, and Naruko flinched, hand spasming in Sasuke's. Sasuke lay there and sighed again before slowly rubbing his finger across the girls hand in hopes to calm her down.

Knowing what she had been though gave him a whole new viewpoint on her. He hadn't really known about Naruko since entering the school, but whenever he had seen the girl, she was always smiling and making the best out of her situations. She wasn't smart, and wasn't particularly graceful or super model attractive, and her parents were even dead… Yet she was always smiling, always laughing and always trying to cheer up her friends.

What a weird girl.

The rest of the night was spent that way, the two of them laying there quietly as they waited out the storm. Always hand in hand. They didn't say anything more, but they didn't really have to. Sasuke's hand in Naruko's was enough to let her know the seemingly emotionless boy had felt some kind of compassion, or maybe pity for her. Naruko fell asleep hoping that it was the former. Sasuke went to sleep, dreaming of the many stormy nights he had stayed inside and watched the rain with his own mother.