When Sasuke Met Naruto (SasuNaru)

- Chapter 3 -

Sasuke sat in class the next day, feeling far more distracted than usual. Not that it made a difference in the quality of his schoolwork. Even if he was clearly daydreaming, he would always know the answer if the teacher asked him a question. Just one of the benefits of being an Uchiha, he supposed.

Yes, the raven-haired boy was troubled as a result of the tongue-lashing he had given Naruto the day before. Normally such things didn't bother him; after all, he had told two girls to go to hell the day before via a personal note. This thing with Naruto, though, was somehow different. Try as he might, he simply could not shake off his newfound guilt.

Why did I even yell at him in the first place? He was trying to apologize to me, right? What did he say? Nothing... he did nothing to deserve that. I was just angry... but to bring up Kyuubi like that... that was low. Not even Itachi would sink to that level.

It was this thought in particular that troubled Sasuke more than any other, for the possibility that he might be worse than his ruthless brother was utterly horrifying. Sasuke tried to convince himself that he was wrong. It didn't matter what Naruto thought; he was a nobody, just like everyone else at Konoha High. Sure, Sasuke was harsh, but what did it matter in the grand scheme of things? To him, Mr. Uzumaki was just another speed bump on the road of life.

As the day progressed, however, Sasuke realized that this wasn't the case. That little encounter with Naruto had really bothered him, and the Uchiha knew that it would keep eating at him unless he talked about it with someone. Almost without realizing it, Sasuke made his way outside the building when lunchtime came around, and soon found himself standing beside one Shikamaru Nara. Without a word, he sat down beside the teen and stared up at the clouds as they drifted along, an event that became had become their special routine over the years.

They sat like that for quite some time, simply watching the clouds, as if there were no worries in either of their lives. To be honest, Sasuke wasn't sure if Shikamaru did have any troubles of his own. The Nara never really talked about them, Sasuke never asked, and they were just fine with that. They respected each other's privacy, for the most part, except for when Kakashi used Shikamaru to pry into the Uchiha's business.

Aside from that one incident, however, the two maintained an unusual relationship, where personal information was only revealed when the confessor was prepared. This suited Sasuke, since he did not like to be forced into sharing his secrets. That's why they were secrets, after all, so that he could keep them to himself until he was ready.

On this day, though, Sasuke knew that he had to share what he was thinking with someone, and Shikamaru seemed to pick up on this instantly.

"Something on your mind, Sasuke?" the Nara said with a sigh.

Damn, he's good.

"Well, sort of," Sasuke replied, glancing at his friend. Before he could go any further, though, the Uchiha shook his head. "No, never mind. It's nothing."

"All right," Shikamaru said before turning his attention back to the clouds.

Sasuke was relieved that he had at least a little while to formulate his thoughts. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Shikamaru, because he did, but at the same time he wanted to at least have an idea of what his problem was. It was such a foreign feeling for the Uchiha, this guilt over a chance encounter with someone, that he needed to make sure he knew what he was really feeling.

"Shikamaru... I lied," Sasuke concluded after a few minutes.

"I figured as much," the Nara replied, sitting up with a groan. "So what's up?"

Sasuke felt embarrassed just thinking about his predicament, and averted his gaze to the side as he spoke. "Well, I'm sure you heard about my little run-in with Naruto yesterday..."