The Life of A Lamb Among Lions [Yaoi] [SasuNaru]

Chapter 2: Mixed Feelings

The first day had certainly not gone well but Naruto was keen to make sure the second day was better. He strode into his new school brimming with confidence and a large smile plastered across his face. Nothing can bring me down! He thought determinedly. I'll just make sure to stay away from Sai and Sasuke's perverted friend.

"Yo"

"Hm?" Naruto looked behind him to see the smiling, perverted face of the boy-who-ate-rice-off-my-face from yesterday. He stopped walking, face turning beet red with embarrassment. He wanted to run away but his legs refused to move. Dammit! Can't he just go away? Why me?

"Shikamaru Nara" The boy called behind him and stopped walking.

"Huh?" Naruto breathed inaudibly, trying to regain his voice as he turned around to face the boy. He felt even more embarrassed at the sound of his own voice and looked down to avoid the penetrative gaze of the taller male.

"My name. Nice to meet you." the boy said, extending his arm. Naruto could almost feel the smirk on Shikamaru's face as he said it but couldn't bring himself to face him.

"Naruto." He replied stiffly, ignoring the other boy's hand. His were fists curled up at his side.Why do I always find myself in these situations?

Shikamaru smiled and dropped his arm, noting Naruto's obvious struggle to face him. "Yesterday you-"

"Can we just forget what happened yesterday?" Naruto interrupted, his face beginning to color again.

"Forget what?" Shikamaru's face remained impassive.

"You know…", Naruto started awkwardly, the color in his face deepened as he remembered. Is this guy kidding? He thought, annoyed.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "I was going to say that yesterday you forgot to pick up a permission note for camp" he started once more, handing him a white note. Naruto looked up at him as he accepted it.

"Thanks." he said, his voice strained.

"No problem" Shikamaru smiled once again and began to walk away. He then stopped. "Oh and one more thing", he said without turning around, "Sasuke doesn't like to talk much so I wouldn't recommend talking to him".

Naruto watched him continue to walk away and then sighed. Yeah but he sure likes to glare doesn't he?

It wasn't as if he wanted to talk to the bastard anyway but he knew that Sasuke hadn't done anything particularly wrong by him. I guess I'd better make up with him, he could probably introduce me to some girls, Naruto decided. After all, they were going to be spending two weeks together and it was unlike Naruto to hold grudges against someone. He made his way to the classroom, hoping perhaps he could undo their earlier 'encounter'.

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"I gave him the note".

"Thanks".

"I don't understand why you couldn't have given it to him yourself" Shikamaru sighed, stretching in his chair, as he and Sasuke waited for class to begin.

Sasuke jumped up off Shikamaru's table and returned to his own table as the rest of his classmates began to file in. "We didn't exactly hit it off yesterday" he replied, lamely.

"What? Did you a glare a hole into his shirt or something?"

"Maybe" Sasuke said and began to do his math homework, effectively ending their conversation.

Shikamaru laid his head against his table. No matter how many times he tried, he still couldn't get used to Sasuke's abruptness, let alone his generally pissed off mood. Still, he could somehow proudly call himself the only person to have cracked his hard exterior at least a little bit. He also had the privilege of taking the number one spot on his friends list. Not even one of 'Sasuke's bitches', as he liked to call Sasuke's horde of crazy fan girls, could get as close as he had. Wait...why the heck am I even happy about this?