Insanity isn't contagious...is it?

Disclaimer:...I don't own Naruto...

Konoha is a relatively big city compared to the surrounding cities. It sits atop of a huge hill with a high cliff to the north and has only one entrance and one exit, a massive gate to the south. Due to its location, Konoha was never extremely hot, but the temperature was on the rise, marking the beginning of summer.

In a dorm from the near by Konoha Collage, a young blond haired student, named Naruto Uzamaki, sat on his small reddish-brown couch. He wasn't dressed hin his usual brunt orange hoodie, but in a plain grey T-shirt and baggy black pants. He had long unkept blond hair, bright blue eyes, and three lines tatooed across each cheek. His usual carefree grin that everyone expected to see was gone and replaced with a more grown up look, one that told you the young man had been through some very harsh times. He numbly gazed around the small dorm.

The living-room had a High Definition T.V. and two light brown doors on ether side of it. The door on the left was Naruto's and the other door was his room mate, Sasuke Uchiha. Across the living-room, next to the front door, was the kitchen. The kitchen had an island separating it from the living-room, and a small table with four chairs pushed under the table in the middle of the kitchen. The island, table, and chairs matched the two light brown bedroom doors. Naruto's eyes lingered on Sasuke's door, thinking about the beautiful pinkette that had turned him down.

Again.

The girl never spoke to him about any thing except his roommate, her Sasuke. Naruto had a crush on her since the first time he attended Konoha High School that blossemed to love their senior year. At first she would kindly point out that she didn't like him in the same way, but since he never gave up on anything, she became more hurtful with her rejections. He had come to terms with the simple fact that Sakura loves Sasuke, but Sasuke pays her little to no attention. Naruto knew why Sasuke didn't like Sakura; he doesn't like the weak type of people who don't stand up for what they believe in. He also knew that Sakura wasn't some stuck up little girl with a petty crush. She was like him in that she was always chasing after Sasuke only to receive the cold shoulder. Naruto was slowly losing his mind. He became withdrawn from anything out side his small, yet comfortable, apartment like dorm. He hasn't spoke to anyone since he tried and failed to win Sakura's heart.

Naruto was so busy drowning in pain so, as one would expect, he was startled by knocking at his door. When Naruto finally opened the door he had to squint to adjust to the bright light following from outside. His lazy friend, Shikamaru Nara, leaned against the doorway with his hands stuffed into his dark grey jeans. He had his spicky black hair tucked into a ponytail as usual and wore the same outfit to school everyday; a white short-sleave dress shirt, a light green hoodie if it was cold, and dark colored jeans or shorts also depening on the weather, but today he had the shirt unbuttened revealing his black fishnet tank top.

"Naruto, why haven't you been at school for three days?" Shikamaru asked as he let Naruto's eyes adjust to the light. Naruto scratched his head as he stepped aside to let Shikamaru in. "It isn't like you to hide out in your apartment all day." The genius stated, staring down at the blond in front of him while he flicked on the lights and shut the door. "Let me guess...it is Sakura related." Shikamaru half asked; half guessed. Naruto looked away, ashamed. Shikamaru sighed his usual "...What a drag..." as he made his way over to the couch and sat down. Naruto followed shortly after, sitting to the right of Shikamaru.

Naruto looked over at Shikamaru with a defeated look, causing Shikamaru to slump his shoulders further. Shikamaru had been one of Naruto's closest friends since he moved to Konoha. He watched out for him like they where siblings and he didn't like seeing Naruto this way. This wasn't the Naruto that everone saw. This was the Naruto that Shikamaru knew, lost, constantly confused even though he was smarter than he let on, and hurt. The Naruto he knew was filled with many emotions nobody thought he would have, mostly pain and stress. Yes Naruto Uzumaki wasn't the happy go lucky idiot, that was a clever defeance mechonism thought up by Naruto since before Shikamaru had met him. The fisrt time Shikamaru met him, the Nara saw through the mask and took the young blond under his wing, teaching him and caring for him since the boy had no family to speak of. They were brothers, he, Naruto and Choji Akimichi were like family to each other. Sure they had made other friends, but they were always at the tops of each others friend list.

"Naruto," Shikamaru began as he tried to find a more comfortable position on the small two person couch. "Sakura sees only what she wants...Sasuke...She wants him..." Shikamaru stated. Naruto looked at Shikamaru who staired back at him. "This will be hard to accept...it's even hard for me to say, but you have to see that Sasuke is what makes her happy...you want Sakura to be happy, right?" Shikamaru asked, while Naruto sat in silence for a while, thinking bout his answer.

"Yeah...I do...I guess I just thought that I could make her happy..." Naruto answered sounding and looking even sadder than before. Shikamaru knew this would happen, but he also knew that Naruto needed to hear this so he could move on, he didn't like seeing one his best friends like this.

"Naruto..." Shikamaru sighed from having to talk this much, but he did want to help his friend. No matter if it was a huge drag it was; Naruto was worth it after all. Naruto looked at Shikamaru, knowing he was smart enough to do almost anything, if he applied himself. He would have smiled at the thought of Shikamaru applying himself for him, but his bad mood made it impossible. "...Sasuke can make her happy, if you convince him that she is acceptable in Sasuke's eyes...I know it will be a hard thing to do," Shikamaru placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You have to let her go, Naruto." Shikamaru explained. Naruto gasped at the information that Shikamaru gave him. Naruto had told himself that many times, but no one had told him that it was in her best interest to let the girl go and move on with his life.

Naruto sighed, looking a little better than before. Man I gotta find something to keep my mind off of Sakura He thought while Shikamaru slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic ziplock bag with a green leaf like substance inside. Naruto smiled a tiny little smile as he finished his previous thought; Tomorrow.

Sakura sat on a park bench, extremely close to Sasuke. The raven haired boy was glaring at the sky, silently cursing the heavens for placing that girl beside him, like she would die if she didn't ask him out at least three times a day. "Sasuke, would you like to eat lunch with me?" Sakura asked pulling out a picnic basket, shoving it under his nose. Sasuke glared at the basket and was about to deny her, when Naruto yelled.

"Hey Sasuke! Sakura!" Naruto shouted as he jogged his way over to the two. Sasuke noticed that the sufix had been dropped form her name, but didn't question him on it. Sakura sighed heavily, while Sasuke smirked at his hyper friend, he was secretly glad his child hood friend had gotten out of his foul mood, the blond was starting to remind him of...well himself. "What's up?" Naruto asked when he stopped in front of the two and Sakura glared at the blond for interupting her time with her Sasuke.

"I am having lunch with Sasuke-kun." Sakura spoke, emphasizing that she wanted to be alone with Sasuke, and Sasuke sent her a look that said otherwise. with a nod, mostly to himself, Naruto decided to do what he came here to do. Tell Sasuke how much Sakura loved him and try to get them together...even if it killed a peice of him to do so.

"Oh sorry, but I need to speak the Sasuke for a sec!" Naruto explained grabbing Sasuke's hand and yanking him off the bench. "...It's...about our landlord." Naruto said as he sent a glance at Sasuke, who nodded. "Be right back!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder, as he dragged the Uchiha over to where Shikamaru was. The lazy genius was leaning against a tree with his hands in his pockets.

"What do you want?." Sasuke demanded when they made it over to the tree. He had folded his arms over his chest and Naruto nodded to Shikamaru, who sighed.

"You want me to tell Sakura that you two are going to be a while?" Shikamaru asked pulling out a cigarette.

"That would help." Naruto spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Thanks Shika..." Shikamaru hummed a 'so troublesome' as he lit his cancer stick and walked over to where Sakura was sitting, while Sasuke staired at Naruto, who was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"Spit it out, idiot." Sasuke instructed as he moved to lean against a near by tree, while Naruto to glare at him. Naruto looked at the grass for a long time until Sasuke spoke. "Well?" Sasuke asked starting to get impatant as Naruto's face flashed through many emotions, finally ending in an uncomfortable one.

"Well...umm...What do you think of Sakura?" Naruto blurted out after he looked up to see a slightly surprised Sasuke, who quickly recovered. Naruto tried to read his face...he failed. Sasuke was always collected, a trait Naruto wished he had. Sasuke looked at Naruto for what seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke.

"Sakura is...annoying." Sasuke stated. Naruto's glare returned and Sasuke almost flinched at the murderous intent behind it.

"She does every thing for you, you ungrateful bastard!" Naruto stood, quickly stepping in front of Sasuke. "She would give her life away for you and you have the nerve to label her annoying!" Naruto's fists involuntarily clenched at his sides. "You stuck up son of a bitch!" Naruto yelled as he pinned Sasuke up a against the tree. His nails dug into the taller boys shoulders. "You think she isn't good enough for you? The way I see it, you are the annoying one! You emotionally handicapped piece of shit!" Naruto growled and Sasuke had been glaring daggers at him the whole time Naruto had been yelling.

"Naruto," Sasuke spoke in a low and warning tone. "Take your hands off of me." Naruto tightened his grip, his nails became more like claws as they dug and finally drew blood from the Uchiha's shoulders. Sasuke hissed at the claw like nails digging into his skin and was about to shove the blond off, but found himself lying on the ground, tightly clutching his stomach from the uppercut to the gut delivered by Naruto. Sasuke was still gasping for the lost air, while Naruto took the opening and pounced on his chest. The angry blond had Sasuke's arms pinned to the ground above his head. Sasuke, finally catching his breath, glared up at Naruto and what he saw caused his heart to leap into his throat. Naruto had nothing but pain in his features and tears threatening to flow.

"All she wants is for you to notice her, you asshole..." Naruto squeaked out in a mixture of furry and sadness. "Only you...can make her happy..." Naruto loosened his grip on his roommate's wrists. "Thats something I will fight for; Sakura's happiness." Naruto's determined voice made Sasuke stiffen. After Sasuke recovered from his surprise he shoved Naruto off of himself before he slowly sat up in a slumped position, while Naruto numbly fell back onto the grass in front of Sasuke with his eyes welded shut in an attempt to keep the tears at bay.

"You idiot." Sasuke started after a long minute, but despite the slightly irritated tone, it really didn't sound like an insult to blond, and said blond looked up to notice he was standing over him with his a pale hand reaching down to help Naruto up. "Thank you, Naruto." He smirked as the blond wearily took it while not looking at the raven haired boy.

"Hey it's nothing, bastard." Naruto replied as he stood on shaky legs. Then felt a fist slightly lift him off the ground and send him stumbling backwards, clutching his abdomen. Naruto looked at his attacker and flinched at the sight of a fuming Sakura.

"Don't you EVER lay a hand on Sasuke!" Sakura yelled raising her other fist. "Or I'll smash your head in!" Sakura then took her raised fist and smacked it into her opposite palm to emphasize her point. Naruto gulped at the threat, because he knew she would probably do worse and never regret it. Sakura, satisfied with her threat, turned on a dime and looked worriedly at Sasuke. Sasuke smirked to both Sakura and Naruto's surprise.

"Sakura..." Sasuke looked into her soft green eyes.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" She asked all to excited.

"You should be thanking Naruto." Sasuke glanced at Naruto for a split second, then went back to Sakura's confused face. "He has opened my eyes to someone who has been...kind to me when so few have..." Sasuke looked a little nervious and had a faint reddish tint to his cheeks. "So does that offer from before stand? Would you like to have lunch with me, Sakura-chan?" Sasuke finished, and the moment the words were spoken, Naruto felt three emotions; happiness for his two friends, sadness for knowing Sakura was forever out of his reach, and finally...relief. Relief because he knew that Sasuke would protect and care for her and Sakura would help him become more open about his feelings. Yes Naruto felt the weight of the wold lift off his shoulders, witch Sakura felt fall onto hers.

On one hand she felt giddy that Sasuke wanted to go on a date with her. On the other hand she couldn't believe it. Sasuke Uchiha, out of no where, wanted to take her up on one of her offers. To both Sasuke and Naruto's surprise, she turned and glared daggers at Naruto.

"Is this some kind of evil prank?" She asked with a tone that sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

"What...n-no S-Sakura I wouldn't...I-I mean I W-would never..." Naruto stuttered, trying to save his life, with out stretched hands moving left and right to show that what she thought wasn't true. Sakura didn't look convinced, because she popped her knuckles. She took a step towards Naruto to beat the shit out of him, but was stopped by a pale hand grasping hers. "Wha-" Was all she could get out before she was pulled into an aquward hug. Sakura blinked before she realised it was Sasuke whom had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "As I said before you should be thanking Naruto...not threathing him." Sasuke said quietly and Sakura looked over his shoulder at Naruto as she slowly returned the embrace. The whiskered blond just stared back, not smiling. No super huge grin on his face, the kind that made you think that every thing was going to be alright. Nothing but silent acceptance and a hint of pain.

"Naruto...thank you so much." Sakura managed. Naruto made no sign that he heard her but instead flashed a fake grin, for once not caring if they saw through it, and stuffed his hands into the pockets as he slowly made his way over to Shikamaru, who was about to light up another cigarette.

Sakura watched the blond as he swiftly stole Shikamaru's cigarette and took a long hit before he turned to glance back at her, not removing the cigarette form his mouth, but simplely stuffing his now free hand back into his jacket pocket. Her eyes widened when she saw Naruto's empty gaze, cigarette hanging from his mouth like it hadn't been his first time smoking. Naruto was not supposed to look that...defeated. He was supossed to be running all hyper without a care in the world and never letting anything bother him for long, but deep down inside she knew that she had just killed a part of that Naruto...but at least she had Sasuke now, so why did she feel so...well to put it bluntly she felt like shit. The green eyed girl stared unitll she felt Sasuke's pale arms slowly untangle themselves to push her back so they could to look at each other.

"That selfless idiot." Sasuke spoke before the two watched said 'idoit' numbly follow Shikamaru, cigarette still handing from his lips like it belonged there. "He would give anything he had only to see you smile." Sasuke looked down at Sakura who was still silent for once as she traced after Naruto's retreating back. "I...don't know how to...to make you happy, since I cannot seem to do the same for myself, but I will try." Sasuke finished while he leaned in and kissed the side of her forehead. Sakura blinked out of her daze at the display affection with a startled giggle and snuggled back into his shoulder and returned the affection with a soft lingering peck on the cheek. Sasuke, much to his surprise, found himself smiling. The two stayed like that for the longest time, silently thanking their blond haired hero of a friend.

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