Our Eyes Met

Thirteen

By the time Naruto reached school the next day, he was breathing fire. He had been in a daze when he left Sasuke's house. He may have had his doubts for a long time, but when they were confirmed, he was just confused.

He couldn't think of a reason. Actually, he thought of many, but all of them weren't good enough for Sasuke to go such a length. Once a victim of bullying and being considered as an outcast, Naruto did not want anyone else to go through the same.

He was taking heavy breaths as he walked, unable to calm himself down. He couldn't believe that his own best friend, someone who talked to him first and brought him out of his past, would stoop that low.

"Ow." said someone as Naruto bumped into her. It made Naruto snap out of his daze and immediately reach forward to catch the person before she fell. But (Name) already regained her balance before she could fall and gave Naruto a small smile.

"I'm sorry." said Naruto.
(Name) shook her head slightly. "It's alright. Are you looking for someone ? Do you need something ?" she asked him. Naruto frowned and looked puzzled. He shook his head.

(Name) gave him an amused smile. "Then what are you doing here ?" she asked.

"What do you mean ? I'm going to class." he replied, sounding as normal as possible.

"But your class is not here." she said.

Naruto looked at her and slightly frowned. Then he realized what she was saying and his eyes went wide. With his mind preoccupied with thoughts of his latest findings, Naruto did not realize when he walked in the wrong direction and away from his class. He opened his mouth to say something, just when the warning bell rang.

"I'm going to be so late." he muttered and waved at (Name) as he took off to his class. "And I need to talk to you later." he yelled before he disappeared among the crowds of students rushing to their classes.

Naruto reached his class right on time and slid into his seat, taking note of Sasuke's presence near him. He said nothing to greet him. But Sasuke didn't seemed to be bothered, and that made Naruto frown. Sakura was leaning on Sasuke's desk and telling him something about the new clothes she bought during a sale and how she ran into Ino there. Sasuke had his head into a book and wasn't paying attention to her, but Sakura didn't get the hint.

Naruto scowled and looked at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes when he realized that Sasuke hadn't been bothered by the fact that Naruto had not greeted him. In fact, it was like Sasuke hadn't even noticed him there. Naruto huffed loudly on purpose to get his attention, and slouched in his seat. It was horrible when you were angry with someone and were ignoring him, but the person had no idea about that and was not doing anything about it.

Naruto cleared his throat when he still didn't get a reaction from Sasuke. Apparently, the book was very interesting and Sasuke had all his attention on it. But Sakura noticed Naruto.

"What do you want, Naruto ?" she narrowed her eyes and snapped at him. She did not like to be interrupted while she was talking.

Naruto had always had a soft spot for her, although she never acknowledged his feelings for her. Whatever she did, or said, always affected him, whether she did it intentionally or not. But she had eyes only for Sasuke, and Naruto had come to accept that.

Before Naruto could say anything to her, Sasuke beat him to it.

"Go away." he said, without looking up from his book. But Sakura knew it was directed towards her. Sure, she had her dumb moments but she was smart enough to at least understand that. Hurt flashed in her eyes but she quickly covered it with a slight frown and went to her seat.

Naruto was going to tell her off too, but not as harshly as Sasuke had. He noticed the hurt in her eyes, and it hurt him to see her like that. She didn't have to, but she always worked hard to get noticed by him. Since they had been friends for years, Sasuke did not treat her as coldly as he treated other girls, or other people in general, but he still was cold to her. Sakura had done a lot, sacrificed a lot for him, but Sasuke never acknowledged that.

And he knew how it felt because he had been through the same.

Naruto was annoyed at how Sasuke had everything, even what he didn't wish for, and yet he treated the people who cared for him like shit when things did not go his way. He was still not satisfied with his life, and was adamant on making someone else's life hell.

"What happened ?"

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and noticed Sasuke's hard gaze on him. He had those eyes and that stare which would make a person feel intimidated and very little under his gaze in barely moments. But Naruto had gotten used to it over the years and only hardened his own stare to match Sasuke's.

Sasuke sighed. "You were being all dramatic and trying to get my undivided attention and, well, you succeeded. So, tell me. What's up ?" he asked.

Sasuke was cold and indifferent, regardless of who the other person was. But he had a soft side, which he had hidden behind all his barriers, which he never showed, in the fear of getting his feelings trampled over.

He didn't like to show that he cared. But sometimes, things affected him more than he let on. It bothered him to see his best friend annoyed and ignoring him, and he knew it wasn't over something stupid.

"If you don't want to tell me, then I have better things to do." he said when he realized that Naruto wasn't going to speak anything anytime soon.

Sasuke knew how Naruto's mind worked. If it was something that was bothering him about someone, he would do his best to make that person aware of the fact that he was upset, and then sit and ignore the person until the person begged and coaxed it of him with sugar-coated words.

But that was not what Sasuke would do.

Naruto sensed the tone of Sasuke's voice and understood that. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes. He frowned and almost pouted over the fact that he hadn't gotten the attention he seeked, and exhaled deeply.

"I need to talk to you. After class, near the stairs." Naruto muttered quietly.

Sasuke smirked over his victory.