Sasukec: I apologize if you've been waiting on this first chapter to be posted! I know I promised it would be here earlier, however my Senior year is being so demanding, that I'm really finally trying to squeeze this in!
If you are new to my Sasunaru stories, I would recommend that you venture to my page and read both Solitary Bliss and Do Ut Des before you begin this story. It is not mandatory, but it would definitely help to fill you in! Quite a few things have happened in the past couple of stories that has given both Naruto and Sasuke quite the past together. Not to mention, it might spoil some things in the previous entries from this one!

Anyhow, no more dilly dally! Welcome! And enjoy!

Semester 1, Fall.

The day was finally here. The day that would open the door into adulthood, freedom, and other steps along the way that would define the rest of his life. Once Naruto entered through the doors before him, there was no turning back; it was the point of no return.

"Naruto, you coming inside, or not?"

The blonde came back to reality where he saw his boyfriend, Sasuke Uchiha, standing in the doorway of their new college dorms. With a box of his belongings in his hands and an overstuffed backpack on his back, the blonde felt the items growing heavier with each moment. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the blonde and asked again, "You coming? Or are you going to chicken out at the last minute?"

"It just feels like this is it! Like this is the 'moment of truth'. The moment that I'll look back on and think, 'this is where I took my first steps into my life!'"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes before replying, "Just get in the damn school."

"And then I'll remember, 'oh yeah! That was also the day that destiny was forced upon me by the loving and caring Sasuke Uchiha!'"

Sasuke laughed lightly before signaling with his head for Naruto to continue in.

"Come on. We have to find our dorm. Don't you have Trig today?"

Naruto took one last look up at the tall, brick building before nodding and making his way past the double glass doors. Inside was a long hallway of doors on either side, filled with people of different ages passing in any which direction. Naruto assumed they all must have been students.

"Ugh, yeah. Luckily it's my only class today. You don't have any today, right?"

Sasuke nodded before replying, "I have two classes tomorrow, though."

"Oh yeah. We both have comp 1 together!"

The Uchiha nodded once more before abruptly stopping before a door that read 24A. He brought out a key from his pocket, and opened the door to reveal a square dorm room with a bed on each side of the room, a medium-sized window in between the two beds, and two wooden doors to the left and right of them. Below them was a white carpet and a desk situated directly under the open-curtained window.

"Wow, pretty nice dorm. A little used, maybe, but I like it."

Naruto commentated as he set his backpack and box of belongings on the right bed. Sasuke did the same, setting his things down on the opposite bed as Naruto checked out each door that was in their room.

The Uchiha continued to quietly unpack his things as Naruto explored the other door, finding both to be a good-sized closet. Sasuke looked over to Naruto and saw that he was happily smiling at the Uchiha. Sasuke couldn't resist as he walked up to the blonde, bringing him into a deep kiss. Naruto was slightly surprised by this action, but kissed back deeply. Sasuke's hands moved their way through every inch of yellow hair he could find on Naruto's head before Naruto pulled away.

Sasuke hadn't noticed, but the blonde's phone was going off, much to the brunette's disappointment. Naruto reached into his back pocket, pulling his iPhone out to see that it was an alarm, reminding him that he needed to head to class. Naruto stopped the alarm as Sasuke walked over to his bed, and sat down on the edge of it.

"Sorry, Sasuke. Duty calls?"

Sasuke smiled slightly before throwing his body back onto the bed, one arm covering his eyes as the other shooed Naruto away.

"You don't have to be so depressive about it. It's my only class." Naruto said as he rummaged through his backpack for his Trig book and other necessities.

"I'm not being depressive."

"Okay, then… Pouty."

This made Sasuke sit up in slight annoyance.

"I don't pout."

The blonde turned around to see a sour faced Sasuke with one eyebrow raised. This, in turn, made Naruto laugh before giving the Uchiha a light peck of a kiss.

"Oh, trust me. That is a false statement."

Naruto quickly made his way out of the room to avoid being hit with any sort of blunt object that he suspected could leave any permanent damage. After closing the dorm room 24A door behind him, he took a deep breath.

Time to find Trig…

Luckily for Naruto, his classroom was within the building right next door, so his walk wasn't a very long one. Before he knew it, he was standing before Math Lab 02, contemplating running away.

Would it be worth it if I just… Ran away? No, definitely not. Just walk in, no eye contact. Survive the droning of the professor, and get back to the dorm. Simple!

"Um… Are you lost?"

A soft, tenor voice spoke up, obviously directing his question at the blonde. Naruto came out of his reverie and noticed a male that looked to be not much older than Naruto himself and looked nearly identical to Sasuke. His skin was almost as pale, his hair was shorter, however, and he had a small hint of Asian descent etched into his features. He wore small, darkly rimmed glasses atop his black haired head, a white-button up shirt with a black tie, tucked into dark denim jeans. Naruto considered him to be pretty good looking, but that may just have been because he looked so much like Sasuke.

"Oh, um… No, no. I'm here for Trig."

"Ah," He smiled sweetly. "So, you're in Trigonometry as well. Nice to see a new face. I'm Sai."

Sai held out his hand to the blonde, and Naruto took it tentatively and shook it.

"Naruto. You a freshman?"

Sai nodded, "Second semester freshman, anyhow. Don't look so daunted about Trigonometry. It's not as bad as everyone says."

Naruto made his way into the stadium-like classroom, replying as he did so, "You sure about that? I heard this subject made someone die from lack of understanding."

Sai laughed lightly as he followed Naruto up the steps and into a row of wooden seats where they both sat waiting for class to start.

"Somehow I doubt it. Word around this college can be really unreliable."

"Oh, sorry. Maybe they just went into a coma…?"

"Now that sounds more probable. Don't worry. I've been in this class in high school. I'll help you out with anything you need."

Naruto smiled and nodded, happy that he'd already made acquaintances with someone on his very first day here.

"Thanks, man. I don't know if this means much to you, but ditto."

Class had ended just as suddenly as it had seemed to begin. Naruto pulled himself out of the trance he'd allowed himself to be pulled into and stretched.

"Freedom!" Naruto let his goofy grin that never ceased to exist shine on his face.

Sai stood up next to him, pulling his messenger bag over his head and onto his shoulder, laughing lightly as he did so, "Was it so bad, really?"

"Well," Naruto replied as he got up as well, "let's see… Homework on the very first day? Yeah, that's pretty bad."

The blonde followed Sai out of the lecture hall and into the crowded hallway. As they exited the lecture hall, they both stopped to the side to be able to speak to one another without causing much obstruction to the hallway's flow.

"It was an easy lesson. Look, I'll help you; we can work at the library here on campus just north of here before my next class."

Naruto thought about it for a moment, knowing his answer already but possibly drawing it out for whatever effect he thought was needed.

"Alright, sounds great! We walking there together?"

Sai shook his head slightly, "Unfortunately, no. I have to stop by my dorm to grab something. I'll meet you there, though."

Sai's lips pulled up into that same sweet smile he'd shown earlier as Naruto nodded.

"Okay, see you there."

Sai and Naruto parted ways, as the blonde exited the mathematics building and entered the cooling air outside. Fall was coming on quickly, and Naruto slightly lamented that he didn't bring his jacket with him. He weaved in and out of other passing students, thoughts casually dropping throughout his mind.

Maybe I should call to let Sasuke know that I'm going to be at the library. Then again, I'm sure he wouldn't care in the first place… Not to mention, he may be busy. Ah, well. I'll call him before I head back. I sure hope Sai is as nice as he already seems.

With a small smile on his face, Naruto opened one of the large double doors of the modern-looking library and entered to find a table to wait for Sai to arrive.

Clothes, blankets, books… Looks like I didn't forget anything.

The Uchiha was still at his dorm room, getting all of his things unpacked and organized on his side of the room. Just as he set his black comforter on his twin-sized bed, he looked over to the blonde's side to see that Naruto didn't at all have time to unpack his things. Sasuke then contemplated whether he should do it for him or not.

He should be back soon… Maybe I should call him and see if he's out of class.

The Uchiha decided to go ahead and set up Naruto's things for him, feeling charitable.

No, I'll just let him be. I'm sure he'll be on his way soon.

As Sasuke pulled the blonde's large bag filled with his belongings onto the bare twin bed, he proceeded to unzip and unpack the large bag. He found the blue sheets that Naruto had packed, and began setting his bed.

I'll do this for him. Maybe I can surprise him.

The Uchiha had a small smile crawl onto his face as he imagined their love would be reignited once more from a small act of generosity. Sasuke had hoped that the distance that had somehow slowly crawled between the two in the past months would be cut out by their current living arrangements. In the past two years that they'd been together, it'd been a tough ride to be on. Considering all that had happened between the two, it took them each a while to get over all the tension that had been built due to those past events.

However, after they'd been at ease with the past they shared, things sailed even smoother than either one could have hoped. Even though the two boys had never necessarily lived with one another permanently, the lovers would easily keep daily contact. Sasuke had worked up the money for the both of them to get an easy ride through college together, and when Sasuke had suggested the idea to Naruto a few weeks before the deadline for applications were due, that's when Naruto had begun to distance himself from the Uchiha.

Their sex life had easily declined in frequency as Naruto was finding ways to somehow always be busy, and when Sasuke confronted the blonde about it before, he just blamed it on wanting to be prepared for a college life. Before Sasuke knew it, they were seeing each other just once a week. But, Sasuke hoped that all that would change now that they were living under the same roof and sharing at least one class together.

Sasuke would never admit it, even now, that he was desperate for the blonde's attention. Even as he finished fixing Naruto's bed, he didn't even take notice to how perfect he'd tried to make the bedding look. It was all, however, a cry for attention and a cry for what they once had. But, Sasuke would never consciously know that he craved it until it would be knocking him down and suffocating him.

I suppose I'll just read until he gets back.

The Uchiha went over to his own bed, grabbed his current novel, and tried desperately to bury himself within another story.

"Sorry that took a bit of time, Naruto."

The blonde turned around from the Trigonometry book that was uselessly open in front of him to see Sai's sweet smile once more.

"Oh, Sai! It's cool. I was just kind of trying to look like I was caring about Trigonometry."

Sai laughed lightly as he sat on the opposite side of the wooden table, bringing out his own Trigonometry book and opening to the page their homework was located on.

"Dude," Naruto whispered as he leaned down toward Sai, "There's this crazy old lady in here who wouldn't leave me alone. She insisted that I looked like I wasn't here to just do work, but cause trouble. She may still be watching."

Naruto quickly moved his eyes from side to side to see if she was within hearing distance as Sai laughed once again.

"You're so funny, Naruto."

The blonde smiled, looking up to see Sai's smile never wavering, and it somehow made him feel good. Naruto felt at such ease around this guy he just met. It was weird, considering the blonde wasn't very good with new people. Sasuke being his prime example. He took it as a good sign that he'd yet to punch Sai in the face.

"I'm serious, man! I'll warn you if she comes by here."

The blonde smiled at Sai and chuckled lightly before Sai replied, "I feel safe now, thank you, Naruto. Anyhow, let's start, shall we?"

Much to Naruto's dismay, Sai made him do most of his work by himself. There were just a few in which Sai helped him out with, provided he complained about it enough that Sai found it easier to just help the poor blonde out. However, after they had finished their work, their conversations had drifted to stories of where they came from or who they were, mixing with old childhood stories and dreams.

"So," Sai began, "You never met your real family?"

The blonde shook his head, twirling his mechanical pencil in different ways within his hands as he replied, "Nope. I've been told that my parents thought I was some devil or something, and they just abandoned me. I was luckily found by someone else and they cared enough to get me through my diaper days and a little more. After that, I somehow ended up living by myself at the age of seven, and that continued till I moved to this campus."

Naruto saw that Sai's usually smiling face was now distraught with worry and sadness, much to Naruto's surprise. The blonde put his pencil down as he tried to reassure Sai, "It wasn't all doom and gloom, you know. I was awesome at, um… "Finding" candy to sell to the kids at the park. It was enough to get me by and got me to where I am today. I'm still alive, so that's not bad, I'd say."

Sai nodded somewhat, "Konoha never noticed that you were living alone?"

Naruto shrugged, not really knowing how he got away with it either.

"I guess not. No one ever came around to check, and no one ever wondered about me. But, anyway, enough about my sob story, what about you? I don't think I've ever seen you around in this city before."

Sai accepted the blonde's wish to move on, and replied courteously, "I natively live in a small town a few miles away from Konoha. This city was the closest thing that I could get into for college. I don't really come from the richest family, so I had to work my way into here and do this all myself. My parents had never cared much for my academics or future, but at least I'm here now."

Sai smiled once again, making the warmth in Naruto flare up again. The blonde didn't necessarily welcome it, but didn't completely shy away from it. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he should've been repulsed by it. He was with someone, he felt like it was a bit of betrayal. But, he knew that if he just kept it to himself, he could allow a little bit of guilty pleasure from the feeling.

However, before their conversation could float to more topics, Naruto phone began ringing. He quickly brought it out, fear of the crazy old lady making her appearance and charging him with due cause for her earlier suspicions. On the screen was a picture of him and Sasuke together at a carnival, Naruto holding up his phone to take a picture of the two together; Sasuke's face held eyes that were rolled and his usual "I-hate-life" stance contrasted to that of Naruto's cheery and uplifting one. Sasuke was calling.

Naruto gave Sai a quick glance of apology, then answered, turning to the side of his chair, as if it would somehow quiet the disturbance it had already made.

"Hello?"

"Where the fuck are you?"

Sasuke's answering tone could not have been more harsh. The blonde quickly looked back to Sai who was patiently waiting for Naruto to finish his call.

"Look, I'll call you back, okay?"

Without waiting to hear Sasuke response – he already knew it'd be more anger – he hung up the call, quickly gathering his things up before standing.

"Sorry, but… I gotta go, Sai. It was really awesome meeting you, and thanks for helping me out. I appreciate it."

The blonde put as much honesty as he could into the words, as he pushed in the wooden chair.

"Oh, it's fine, don't worry about it, Naruto. I have to get to my next class any way. Before you go, let's trade numbers, that way if you need any more help, we can stay in contact easier."

The blonde allowed himself to drink from the warmth that once again flared up inside him, feeling no guilt just as equally as he actually did. Naruto nodded before replying, "Okay, sounds great!"

The two traded numbers, walking with each other to the doors before parting to each of their own ways. The blonde didn't know what just happened in there.

Why the hell do I feel so… Warm? This isn't some feel-good movie, Naruto. Maybe it's a fever? Ugh, gotta get back…

The blonde brought out his phone and dialed Sasuke's number, waiting to hear just what Sasuke had to say.

Sasukec: I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter! Things are going to be pretty juicy this time around, as you can already see. I hope that I will get the next chapter out in a reasonable amount of time. I'll try to get time out of my Senior schedule and get chapter 2 out.

Reviews are always awesome :) Also, sorry if there are any grammatical errors, I just didn't have time nor an editor to review/revise this stuff!