Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Warning/s: Unbeta'ed. Awkward grammar.

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"He's not here?"

A beautiful woman in her early thirties shook her head as she looked to him again. "Who are you again, young man?" she asked.

"I am Sasuke, ma'am. I'm Naruto's classmate."

The woman smiled at him. "Ah... Yeah, I remember you. You were that kid he brought here last week, right? You were quite drunk."

Sasuke reddened at the remark but did not speak.

"Oh... I am sorry. I didn't mean it that way," she said, apologetic.

Sasuke shook his head. "It's okay ma'am. It didn't change the fact that I inconvenienced you."

He bowed in front of the woman who merely waved her hand and said, "I do not mind. I also have a kid your age and believe me, he is worse than you and Naruto combined. But he is a very sweet boy..." she muttered the last words as if she was just talking to herself.

"Come. I'll let you wait for Naruto inside. I am sure he is on his way now."

"Thank you, ma'am."

..

Sasuke looked around the small room.

"I am sure he wouldn't mind that I let you inside his room, right?"

Sasuke just smiled.

"I am Suzuki, by the way," said the woman.

"Nice to meet you, Suzuki-san."

She dusted her long skirt and smiled again.

"Do you drink tea, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke blinked. "Yes... but it's alright, Suzuki-san. I don't reall–"

"Nonsense," she said. "I'll bring you a cup. You just wait here."

Sasuke eyed the closed door in amusement. It felt warm here, he thought.

The people who knew Naruto felt oddly warm.

Sasuke looked at his pale, long hands.

"But why do my hands feel so cold?" he mumbled, impassively staring at his fingers who oddly felt foreign to the raven.

It was as if these hands – these fingers – weren't his.

His eyes caught a small picture frame of a young Naruto smiling with his parents.

He knew it was real.

Why would the blonde avoid him then?

Sasuke pursed his lips, a light blush was tinting his cheeks.

Last week, he kissed his best friend.

He was sure of it.

..

"Na-ru-tooo!"

Naruto almost shrieked when she heard the sing-song voice of Chiyo-baasan calling his name.

Kiba and Sai looked at him with great deal of curiosity and he wanted to smack the two of them in frustration.

They were not helping him at all.

"Hey, Naruto. She was calling you."

"The old woman is calling you."

Naruto glared at them. "I heard it, alright? I'm not deaf or anything."

Sai sipped his tea. "But you aren't moving."

Kiba nodded before he slurped a fair amount of noodles from his huge bowl. Then, exclaimed; "Are you shaking, Naruto?"

"I AM NOT SHAKING!"

"Na-ru-tooo!"

Naruto bit his lip and cursed.

The two stooges on the table just laughed at his misery.

"Narutooo!"

Naruto shuddered.

He glared at Kiba who smirked at him again. "See? Aren't ya shaking?"

Damn!

"Coming, baa-chan!"

..

Sasuke irritably knocked again on a large wooden gate.

He was already knocking for five freaking minutes now.

It was starting to annoy the hell out of him.

He scratched his head in irritation and was about to knock again when the huge wooden gate opened slowly revealing a beautiful but feral-looking woman glaring at him.

Sasuke inwardly gulped.

The hell... she was huge!

"Who the hell are you?"

Sasuke blinked for a minute, trying to remember the exact reason why he was here.

Damn. He had never seen a woman so fiercely-looking than Sakura.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I am looking for Kiba Inuzuka-san," he managed to say without stuttering.

The raven couldn't help but winced at the glares he kept on receiving since one minute ago.

"My brother is not here," came the swift, rough reply.

Sasuke nodded. "I see," he said, nodding. "I'll be going now. Thank you for your time."

"You can wait inside, if you want, Uchiha-san."

The raven's eyes widened.

He could see at least seven huge dogs circling inside the garden from where he was standing.

Four of them were warily staring at them as if they were just waiting for the order to pounce on him.

Sasuke gulped.

Hell, no!

And so he politely shook his head.

"Thank you for inviting me in. But I am afraid I have to decline. I have... uh... an urgent meeting this afternoon. I'll appreciate it if you can just tell Inuzuka-san that I was looking for him."

The woman just nodded, sending Sasuke curious glances.

..

Neji watched his friend almost ran away from the huge wooden house.

"Is he in?" He asked.

Sasuke glared at him as he opened the door of his Ford Mustang GT. "No."

Neji raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "What happened to you? You looked like shit."

"Oh hell, yeah," he grumbled. "I met a female dog. A huge one."

Neji whistled.

..

The incessant laughter just wouldn't stop.

Naruto angrily stared at his two purportedly friends.

Chiyo-baachan just decided to let him wear a ridiculous pink apron with an equally ridiculous pink headband.

"My God, Naruto! I didn't know you could look so awesome!" Kiba exclaimed, eyes were glistening.

Sai, while looking so impassive, managed to irk Naruto, too.

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call 'beauty'. Hey, Naru, can I paint you after your work?" he asked.

The costumers almost gagged from so much laughing, too.

Chiyo-baasan looked like she won the lottery, proudly pointing herself as the one responsible for the transformation.

Naruto looked like he had lost his sanity.

Well, he indeed looked stunning – surprisingly – despite his rough personality.

But a man wouldn't really find it endearing to be called beautiful, right?

It would just piss him off.

And that was what Naruto exactly did.

A few minutes more, two young men were seen passed out outside the restaurant. Both of them were sporting ugly black eyes and a few bruises here and there.

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TBC