Author's Notes:

Hello, everyone. Nice of you to click here! I'm back~ with a new Naruto-fic, too! Number four now. I'm pretty excited about this story since I'm writing it with a smile on my face, and I hope you can feel it, too. Thanks to my lovely Beta, XxDreaming of RealityxX, for her amazing work into beta'ing this story to make it mistakes-free as best as she could. Now, I'll leave you to the first chapter, let me know what you think about it. And I hope you love it as much as I do! Enjoy

Disclaimer: Naruto ain't mine…and yes, I'm wallowing in my own tears-filled darkness due to that little fact.

Having finally stepped into the world that he was extremely afraid of, a huge smile spread across his face. Even though his hands were sweating like crazy and his breathing was becoming shallow, he was happy. To overcome the troubles that had faced him constantly for a period that exceeded that of mere two years, he was finally here, outside, in a place where he had his self-felt pride, happiness, freedom and the joy of being alive and breathing. His fangs showed when his smile turned to clattering of teeth. The cold weather around him signaled just how stupid of an act it was to step outside the hospital borders dressed so lightly in such chilling blizzard.

Naruto sneezed and took a shaky glance at his hands. If his blood was able to talk, he was sure some curse words would be included in describing what he had done to it. Shaking his head at the silly thought, he tucked his hands under his armpits and proceeded into running back to the hospital. Okay, so he was more like limping, but what of it? That in itself was a huge success for him!

His face drained from all colors upon seeing the stern face of his physician when he set foot inside the hospital reception. Cheekily, he tried to protect himself by turning his cold hands into small shields and failed miserably.

"I was bored."

With the hit that was given to his head, he knew that that probably wasn't the best lie to get himself out of this situation. Naruto winced. But it wasn't because he was hit no, mind you, he had a head tougher than stone. It was because his physician, Nana, went and placed her hands on her hips, and he knew from experience that it only meant one thing. Nagging was coming his way.

"Uzumaki-kun! You're not a child needing to be cared for at all times! I trust you are an adult and I'm treating you as such! You haven't yet finished your intended course of treatment and you know quite well how bad it is for you to be moving idly in such weather! You need to stay inside as not to endanger your current development! If you wish to delay your date of release, I will not be held responsible for it!"

"Buuuuuuuuuut! I was getting really bored in there! And you said to train my legs to walk more!"

"Inside the hospital premises! Not out in absurd piles of snow!"

"It's not like snow is going to kill me or anything."

"It will affect your bones, rendering all development invalid." She released a sigh as her words fell on deaf ears and added in a different tone, hoping to have the child before her understand how tired she was of his childish behavior. "Anyhow, for now, get back to your room and I'll be back later to assess the amount of damage that has occurred."

As the fifty year old physician went to complete her rounds, Naruto stuck his tongue out for her. It was childish and he knew it, but so what? He was only eighteen years old, in his dictionary of life, he was still a toddler.

Naruto took the stairs, as always, to his room and closed the door when he reached it. His happy expression soon turned to that of annoyance; he was stuck here, within this sickly white room while all other people were enjoying life from the outside. He shook his head to remove the gloom from his mind. He had long learnt that being gloomy got you nowhere good, his wrists were solid proof of that.

Naruto opened the window to gaze outside. The cold breeze hit his face like a hard slap, and he disliked it, but he disliked the warm room he was in more, at that moment. Getting a sniff from the slowly descending snow he got a sudden urge to head up to the roof and just spread his hands pretending to be a wild bird that could fly anywhere with no restrictions whatsoever to this earth.

Being the human he was, Naruto was true to his childish desires. He ran as fast as his still healing legs would allow him and made extra attention not to be caught by any of the hospital guards or workers for he would surely be sent back to his room, without letting him indulge in a silly wish. Finally, he reached the last stairs forbidding him from the cold weather. When he started on the first staircase, his left leg gave up on him and a cramp had him bending down to the ground in smothering pain. The effect of the cold finally getting to him.

Voices of hospital workers were coming close to his ears and cursing, he particularly hobbled his way up the stairs, hiding behind the rows of steel that the upper staircase had provided, safely avoiding being seen. To his good luck, the door to the rooftop was left open, and with quick massages that Nana had taught him, he was able to get rid of the cramp. Slowly raising himself up, Naruto opened the door and took a tiny step outside.

It was colder this time than downstairs. A big stupid grin decorated his face and he went to the middle of the roof and started turning like an idiot, allowing certain childish chuckles to escape his mouth every now and then. It was embarrassing if anyone would catch him like this. But it was only for him, the weather, and God to watch. And he was embarrassed from neither.

Sadly, his turning had to come to a stop as his legs finally decided that enough was enough and forced their stupid owner to the ground. Even though, Naruto kept on laughing as if the world was his and his alone. Yes getting in touch with one's inner child was always a fun thing to do.

"Baaaka."

Naruto felt the blood inside his face drain with these words. Was there another person who was a witness to his idiocy? Oh Lord! He would not be able to live with the embarrassment had this other person was someone he was familiar with. Turning so slowly, he came in contact with another young man. The other had snow on top of his head, making the black colour that was his hair darken ever so slowly. If Naruto was left to determine the other's age, it wouldn't pass his by much. But what had Naruto staring was the extremely pale complexion. He couldn't remember ever seeing a human with such a complexion alive and kicking.

But then again, he wasn't out much.

Naruto's mouth could only utter one word at the person who clearly had no business into seeing him twirl around himself like a fool, since both the foreign eyes were covered by a thick white bandage that extended from one pale ear to the other.

"What?"

"You heard me."

Getting annoyed at the nasty answer, Naruto forced his aching legs to stand up, ignoring the sharp pain that shot from there.

"Yes, I did. But why would you call me that?"

"Because you are one."

Feeling fed up with the other, Naruto headed towards the door not in the mood for picking up a fight. "Alright buddy, I see you have some issues here and you want to have a fight. I don't. So, 'm leaving. Have a nice day, dickhead."

"Hn." Was the only acknowledgment he was given.

Buffing his cheeks at the way he was being treated in, Naruto hurried to the door. But before he started his mostly exhausting journey down the cement layers called stairs, he took one look behind his back wondering just why the other was in such a bad mood in such a lovely weather –it was true that they were in a hospital where the general feeling circulating around was grief, but people were still respectful of one another. Why was this one so nasty?

A picture of himself two years ago floated to his brain as he turned to the other. And, without meaning to, Naruto found himself running to catch the guy that was so close to throwing himself off the reel. Luckily, he caught him before anything serious has happened. Taking a deep breath, Naruto felt his nerves flare.

"What the fuck were you thinking?! I don't know what shit you're facing but killing yourself is never the answer! Buckle up dammit and face your problems! Don't run away from them and go kill yourself!"

The hand he was using to hold the other with was slapped so harshly, as the raven found his way slickly out of the protective embrace.

"I wasn't planning on killing myself, baka. And had I been, you have no business interfering."

Naruto bit his lips rubbing his slapped fingers from the pain. "Then do it in a place where I wouldn't know or see! You can't just throw yourself in front of me and expect me to stand there and watch!"

"Are you deaf or something? I said I wasn't planning on killing myself. Besides, you were leaving, not wanting to have a fight and all, you lousy coward!"

"Being a coward beats being a dickhead every day, stupid!"

"Moron."

"Egotistical fuck."

"A third class dipshit."

"Teme!"

"Dope!"

"Asshole!"

"Bitch!"

Naruto frowned at the line of curses that would not stop until he put a stop to it himself and stuck his tongue out singling the end to this stupid quarrel. "Why the hell are you so fixed on picking a fight with me?!"

"Hn."

"Sure, keep quiet now. And just for the record, I won't. No matter how much you ignite me, I won't fight."

"That because you're a coward."

"There is nothing wrong with being a coward. It's being hot-headed that's wrong, and innocent people get punished along the way…" Naruto's tone darkened a little at the end.

The raven sat on the place he was standing on and dusted the snow off his head. Now that Naruto had taken a clear look at the other, his face was totally top notch. He was what people would call handsome with well-cut features, Naruto smirked; if his best friend, Sakura, was present, he was sure she would fawn over the new hot guy in town and make up a plan in order to win his heart. Yes, how glad he was that she hadn't come to visit him today.

"What's your name?"

"To you, Master."

Rolling his eyes at the obvious ass, Naruto acted as if he didn't hear him and continued introducing himself. "I'm Naruto."

"I didn't ask."

"Yes, but it would be easy for you to know me had I introduced myself seeing as you can't see and all."

"I don't want to know you."

Naruto felt a pout make its way towards his face. "Your vocabulary is full of unpleasant things, isn't it?"

"Then stop conversing with me."

"No can do, buddy, you were the one who started talking to me, and if you wanted nothing to do with me, you could have just ignored me, which you didn't."

"I still don't see how that progresses as me wanting to know you."

"It does. So, why did you come here for?"

The blond knew that if he could see the other's eyes, a roll would be there. "None of your business."

Naruto shrugged the snow that was falling on his shoulders, reminding him that the weather was really turning bad. He swiftly remembered something and his lips curved into a sweet smile. "Hey, want me to take you somewhere nice?"

"I'd prefer if you just let me be."

The blue eyed male forced his legs to stand up and put his hands on his hips looking at the obviously blind raven before him. "Look, if you're not here to kill yourself, then you want one of two things, to smell some fresh air, which I doubt due to the honorable blizzard we're having, or…you want to be left alone, which I will not do. So, what I'm offering is something that will help you comper-"

"I don't do drugs!"

And Naruto blinked a couple of times. "Who said anything about drugs?"

"You did."

"No, I didn't. I want to show…err…take you to a place, better than this, and I assure you that nothing bad will happen to you."

"Do you honestly believe that I'll go off with a total stranger that I have no idea who he is and just blindly, and yes I know the irony, follow him?"

Naruto scratched his head thinking this thoroughly. "Hmmm…not really. But I'm not a complete stranger. You may not know my face, but you know my name…and voice."

The handsome pale teen snorted. "You could've changed your voice and there is no guarantee that this is your real name."

"Then what will make you trust me?"

"Nothing. You're a complete stranger." The other teen paused for a second then continued. "Why do you want me to trust you in the first place? You don't even know me."

A gush of cold air had both of them shudder. Naruto wrapped his hands protectively around himself. "Would it be creepy if I said you remind me of someone that I know?"

"Yes it would."

When the other did no notion into moving away from Naruto, the blond relaxed into a corner and thought that maybe, this other guy that represented what he was two years ago, may really not be so bad as he was trying so hard to appear, and maybe he could reach his hand and make a difference in the other's obviously troubled life.

"Okay, how about this. I will tell you a story, you have the freedom to decide to trust me or not after I finish it…"

"I already told you, there's no way I'm trusting you."

"Yeah, yeah, but just listen to my story, and then you can decide if you trust me or not."

Naruto grinned when he saw the other teen sigh as if he was talking to a prick of stones. If there was one thing that he was sure he had, it was a stone-hard head.

"I'm still on my initial opinion that I won't trust you. But seeing as you're not about to back down and leave me alone. I'll allow you to tell your pathetic story."

"Great! Now, where should I start from? Hmm…yes, I know! Okay, it had all started when a silly kid decided that it would be fun to play a small prank on his new neighbours. It was a sunny day, and the kid's prank had unintentionally set the neighbour's house on fire…well, the curtains, anyways, by the time the firemen came to pull everything together, the neighbours called the police, accusing the kid of being an arsonist, and since the kid was still underage, the only thing they could do was judge him some community service time. Anyways, the neighbour's daughter, who felt that the punishment the kid got after having her lose her adorable room and her house was minor, took it upon her shoulders to fix everything an-"

"Is there a lot to the end?"

Naruto puffed his cheeks, not liking the interruption. "Just listen! You're not doing anything better anyway."

The other released a huff of annoyance and gestured Naruto to complete with his tale. "Carry on."

"Well, as I was saying, she took it upon her shoulders to make the other suffer. So, having no knowledge whatsoever with the car's mechanics, she played with the wires inside the kid's father's car, she had known that on that particular day, the kid and his father were going to have a trip, and she had only intended on giving him a scare. But it had rained that day, and what the silly girl had done was play with the car's breaks –rendering them inactive. So, unfortunately, an accident happened that day." Naruto took a deep breath that hurt his lungs from the freezing cold, but knowing that he couldn't possibly leave the other without an ending, he continued. "The kid lost his father due to the crash, and he was crippled in bed for two years. In which he lived in a world full of agony and hatred. He blamed himself for that'd happened. Because it was actually his fault that he'd lost everything dear to him just because of a silly prank an-"

"I don't think it was his fault."

Naruto felt his eyes widen slightly at the words that came to interrupt him again but this time, he smiled sweetly feeling like maybe his story had touched a certain area the other felt connected to. And he responded.

"But it was. If he didn't plan that whole prank, he'd still have his feet and his father."

"You can't blame him for something like that. I don't believe he was thinking that stuff would reach this extent just because of a stupid bad idea."

"He should've calculated the consequences before his actions."

"Before I go into this deeper, how old was this kid?"

"He was fourteen, turning fifteen. You know what's the ironic thing is, the day the accident had happened, it was his birthday. I don't think he will ever be the same."

"There you have it. He was just stupid, a hormone-filled idiot that didn't think of the consequence of his next move. But that doesn't make him guilty of killing his father. It just makes him utterly dump."

"So, you don't think that what he's done needs punishment?"

"No, he does need to be punished. And from what I've gathered, he already has been. He was set to community service for the fire, and he became crippled because of the accident."

"And you think that those two are enough?"

Naruto waited for a while and the answer he got was the silent, quiet movement that had him intoxicated with its elegance. "I'll answer that after you take me to that place you wanted to take me to."

"You trust me, now?"

"No. But I think it will not be such a bad idea to spend some more time with you."

"What if I turned out to be a bad person? I could rape you."

"I know Kung Fu. You're welcome to try your chances. I'm not that weak to take down."

Naruto's smile fluttered into a swift grin and he walked towards the other, taking a pair of cold hands into his own, he explained when the other was about to snatch his right hand away. "I'll need to guide you."

And the raven allowed Naruto to take him by the hand. Naruto started getting inside from the cold weather and slowly with care made his way down the stairs. He was sure not to stress too much on treating the other like how a normal person would treat a blind one, because he knew from experience that no one liked being treated as anything less than a complete human. He made a detour to the left and quickly had to hold himself against the other in a confined storage room as not to be noticed by a group of nurses that were patrolling through the patients.

"What are you doing?"

"Hush!"

Putting a hand on those lips that were close to have them exposed, he released in a hushed tone. "Be quiet, or they'll hear us…!"

Naruto opened the door a tug and released a sigh when the nurses were gone. He grabbed the still cold fingers into his and signaled the other that they needed to move quick, A.K.A, dash.

"I have no problem with it, but can you?"

Naruto fluttered his eyelids. "Excuse me?"

"I may be blind, but I still have my other senses, and they're telling me that there's something wrong with your legs."

The blond sweat dropped as he tried to brush the subject off. "There's nothing wrong with my legs. Your senses are just playing tricks on you."

"Hn."

Struggling to hide them both, and still to continue with their trip had Naruto's dead heart flare with a rush of excitement that he'd not felt in a while. It was foolish, childish and his legs felt like knives were being stabbed through them, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Finally, when he thought the energy in him was about to drain away, Naruto reached the place he wanted the other to see…well, feel then.

"We're here!"

He couldn't stop himself form smiling when the sweet smell of flowers mingling together hit the nostrils of the teen with him and the cold fingers he was holing slipped so effortlessly out of his grasp. Naruto allowed himself a tiny break as he sat on one of the benches placed on the beautiful big garden that was located in the eastern side of the big hospital, protected from the awful weather.

"I found it when I was running away from my physician. Apparently, it's made as a project; 'Healing by Nature' they'd called it. But to me, it's a place to go to when you need a fresh air or when you feel like wanting some time alone."

The blond watched as the other raven nodded absentmindedly to his words and then he came to sit beside him, feeling his way through.

"You do know I can't see any of this."

"That's not why I brought you here. Remember, I told you from the beginning, I will take you to a place where you'll get the chance to be alone, without anyone to bother you, no interruptions and without me worrying about leaving you in that freezing cold all by yourself to commit God knows what."

"And you care so much because I resemble someone you know?"

"Which creeps you out."

"Hn. I'm starting to think about that now…you're a bit unusual, aren't you?"

"Nope, perfectly normal. Just viewing life from a different perspective than normal people."

"And you want me to see it from the same perspective?"

Naruto frowned at this and brought his thumb under his chin, thinking genuinely about this. "…Maybe not the same perspective, and don't get me wrong here, I don't want to push you into anything you don't feel like doing. I'm just…consider me a warm breeze of air that's blowing inside the darkness you're seeing."

And for the first time that day, Naruto saw those dry lips form towards what appeared to be something close to a smile, but sadly, they only reached a smirk. A smirk that he thought came very perfectly with the arrogant personality he was facing.

"You're really a fool."

"A fool who knows how to enjoy life~"

"But still a fool."

Naruto smiled and allowed them to sit in silence. He took this time to watch the other a bit more keenly. Being in that blazing cold didn't give him a lot of time to actually focus on the other male. This time, he took everything he saw in detail. The other had sharp features that were well amended with his chin. He couldn't make out what form or colour his eyes were because they were covered by a white bandage that crossed a smooth soft hair that he found himself wondering how soft it was, but he kept wondering.

Naruto's beautiful blue eyes lowered themselves into the slick neck the other owned. He didn't really have a neck fetish, but if he did, this would be the perfect neck to set standards by. From the way he was sitting, he could tell the other was well built. And from the scratches and scars visible from the skin that was shown through the dark clothes the raven chose to wear, he didn't get into the hospital for something minor.

Naruto just hummed his thoughts a stop.

"…Show me your eyes."

Upon the words that the blond had released and allowed to hang in the air, the other male turned his face to where the voice came from.

"Why?"

"Do I need a reason to see them?"

"Normally, yes."

"But, as you said, I'm not normal, and I don't think you're either. So, would the reason 'I just feel like seeing them' help in this situation?"

"It will make it more the reason why I should refuse."

Naruto smiled, liking this conversation he was leading. It's been a long time since he got to have a conversation that didn't involve him turning into an idiot or remembering sad topics. Maybe it was about time he let go of his frustration and learns to adore life a bit.

"But you're not saying no."

"Hn."

They sat in thirty seconds filled with silence and just when Naruto was about to open his mouth talking again, he saw pale hands turn to the bandages surrendering the hidden eyes and unwrap them open. He didn't know why but with every unwrap the other was making; his heart was thumping with excitement. Naruto just stood in marvel when the bandages were out of the way and the only thing that was separating him from the eyes were thick eyelids.

"Show me."

"This is crazy."

"I think you passed that stage when you decided to follow me."

Naruto was shushed down when dark, sharp, black orbs found their way to his eyes. He felt his own eyes widening. Okay, it wasn't his first time seeing a pair of black orbs – they were very common in his society, but it was his first time seeing a person so handsome. Those dark blind eyes, hair and features –they all went along perfectly to show him a breathtaking painting. And Naruto stared.

"I would never have thought you'd be a Blondie."

Naruto frowned at him and asked with puzzled eyes. "Aren't you blind?"

"Partially, I can only make up lights. But everything else is a blur."

"So, you can't really see me?"

"What the hell did I just say?!"

Naruto held up his hands in defense. "No need to get your panties in a twist. Relax. So, if you could see, why are you covering your eyes?"

"I can't see."

"You just said-"

"That's not seeing. I'm merely watching big lights dance before me, and it's extremely irritating. I'd rather see only darkness other than being doomed to them all of my life."

Naruto scowled at the words. "Well, I won't. Right now, because of these lights you dislike, you were able to partially identify me. So, if anything, I'm grateful to them."

"It's been a while, but…" The raven released a playful smirk, "Are you hitting on me?"

"Would you want me to hit on you?"

"That depends."

"On?"

"On if you can entertain me or not."

"You do realize that I'm not a girl, right?"

"You didn't have a problem hitting on me and I'm a male."

"Most people would be repulsed."

"I'm not most people, and as stated, we've already established we aren't normal."

Naruto made a gesture to say something but before he could force himself to pronounce anything, a loud annoyed sound had him chilled to his position and before any of them knew what was coming, an angry Nana came cursing down on her naughty patient and Naruto's brain drained from anything except the simple act of saying how much sorry he was.

Naruto smiled and released fresh air into his lungs. He walked with steady steps into the huge dormitory. It was his first day, finally being accepted to one of his best choices, University of Konoha, the leading star in all academic records. Keeping up his studies while being in the hospital was a struggle, but thanks to his best friend, Sakura, he'd made into his first choice university. He'd finished all of the registration papers and signed himself to all of his classes – the ones he needed to take in order to pass that is.

Until this day, he didn't know what to make of himself, but the one thing that he was sure he wanted to do, was enter into Engineering, Mechanical Engineering to be exact. He remembered how when he was a mere kid knowing nothing of the world, he would look up to his businessman of a father and see if he could be something cool like him, then one day, his hands came to hold a car and he found himself enjoying it. Enjoying the feel of taking a car pieces together and then reassembling them into a decent vehicle.

So, looking up for the room he was given, Naruto clutched his key tightly and waited for his pink haired friend to come from the long discussion she had initiated with the janitor asking all different questions about the dorm. He sighed; Sakura was still treating him as if he was an injured bird.

And he couldn't blame her, because she had taken care of him for the past three years and saw all of his bad sides. Naruto tried to let her know as quietly as possible that he was now a grown up man who could live life depending on his own energy, his own strength, without any aid from anyone. And he hoped that she would understand that before he goes and does something stupid making her hate him forever.

"Naruto! I finally got him to agree to the conditions I had concerning leaving you here!" A tall, curvy girl with short pink locks and green sparkling eyes that made her shining pinkish complexion stand up exclaimed happily to Naruto as she neared him.

The blond sighed as she caught up with him and continued walking towards the room assigned to him. "You mean you forced him to comply with your orders."

"Same thing. So, listen, tomorrow, I'll be coming with Ino to help you organize everything together. I will be bringin-"

"Sakura-chan, it's not that I don't appreciate your help, because I do. But don't you think it would be better if I started minding my own business?"

A pink ponytail twirled as the girl puffed her cheeks, not liking this argument. "I know…"

"And didn't you promise to allow me to do so?"

"Yeah…but I'm doing this to relief my own mind, Naruto. I can never live with myself if anything bad was to happen to you. I won't know how to face Minato-san!"

"Sakura, you've already done more than enough for me. Firstly, you helped me during my bad times, secondly, on my studies and tests, and thirdly, you allowed me to stay in your house the whole time I needed to get a home for myself."

The pink haired girl scowled. "Yeah, but you can't say that that's enough!"

"Yes, it is. It's more than enough. You should start on focusing more on yourself."

"Okay, how about we make a new promise? If you can assure me that you're good and fine in this dorm, I promise not to butt into your life as much as I do now!" She ended with a childish grin.

"Are you sure about that? You're not just making up new promises to have me forget the old ones?"

"No, Naruto. I'm even repulsed that you'd think I'd do something like that!"

Rolling his eyes at his liar of a friend, Naruto continued. "Yeah, yeah…you never deceive, lie or cheat, because it's so beneath you."

"Yep!"

"Yep my ass…" At the glare the blond changed the subject not wanting to enter into old scores with the wolf in woman's clothes standing a few steps beside him. "So, if I can assure you that, you'd back off?"

"Well…it depends on your view of backing off…"

"Sakura!"

"Alright, alright, I will back off completely, but you have to prove to me that you're able to care for yourself! And good luck on that one, Uzumaki!"

Naruto nodded as he came to stop beside the room that held the same number on the key he was carrying, seventeen. And with much anticipated eagerness, he looked at the nameplate, which read in big, bold letters a name that sent a wind of refresh through his memory.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura had pronounced, waking him up from his own trance. "Sounds expensive."

"Would you stop making comments on my future roommate, Sakura?" He said clicking the door open.

"What? I wasn't trashing his name. It just remained me of the smell of money."

"Hmm…"

The two quieted down as their eyes started examining the room assigned to Naruto. The dorm really held up to its reputation. The room was vast, there was a kitchen, a bathroom, two separate beds with nightstands, two closets, a plasma screen TV and a small hall. In Naruto's mind, it should've been called an apartment – since it held everything an apartment should, but it was a room. He closed the door behind Sakura with a click.

"Are you sure you can afford this place, Naruto?"

"I'm starting to doubt that too myself. Hello, anybody here?" He called making his way to the empty bed that had no books on it.

Sakura followed his trail after checking the bathroom and releasing a small shriek of, "Wow, I could totally live here!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at her comment and sweat dropped at the thought that came to his head that maybe his best friend was seriously thinking of barging in every two days to use his bathroom. He shook the silly thoughts and watched her get out of the bathroom.

"Your roommate doesn't seem to be in."

"Yeah. I would have liked it if he was though. Things wouldn't be so nervous if he was…"

Sakura smiled coyly at her friend. "Hmm…is that a hidden meaning for me to stay with you, Naru-chan? Because I can if you want me."

Naruto quickly waved his hands franticly. "No, no, no…I meant that I'm just nervous to meet him the first time, that's all. Believe me, Sakura, I'll be fine!"

The pink haired female smiled. "Relax, Naruto. I'm just pulling your leg. So, want me to stick and help you settle in or you can manage that on your own?"

"Nah, I only have this bag on me, the rest of my stuff, I'll get them tomorrow from your house. You can go."

Sakura spared her watch a look and nodded his way. "Okay. I have an appointment with Ino concerning the part time job she wants to apply to. So, I can't be late."

"What is she applying for this time?"

"Fashion. She is trying a modeling job that came her way." She said making her way towards the door. "Don't forget to tell me anything that you need to. I'll always be there for you, Naruto."

"Yeah. I know that. Thank you."

The girl gave him a small kiss on his cheek and bid him goodbye running to reach her appointment. Naruto watched her disappearing form and closed the door behind him. He went to his bed and started unpacking his bag. Taking the open closet to be his own and the empty nightstand to his pleasure, Naruto hummed as he began enjoying his life of independence.

Blond eyelashes fluttered as their owner groaned himself awake, Naruto rubbed his eyes out of the fogginess and blinked the blanket that was covering him away. He started remembering what had happened and the only thing he could remember was that he was arranging his stuff, then started reading some of his lessons and the next thing he knew, he was falling asleep on his bed. He blinked thinking that maybe sometime during his sleep he'd pulled his blanket over himself or something.

Getting out of the bed, he blinked again at the dark room he was currently in and reached for his cellphone to read the time, shiny numbers read four in the morning, Naruto whistled and quickly clammed his hands over his mouth when the bed next to his released a groan.

Now that he looked at it right, there really was a figure sleeping there. In the darkness, he could only make up a lump of hair, and it was dark. Feeling that it would be improper to have his roommate wake up to find him staring and inspecting him, Naruto decided to complete on his piled up home works now that he was up.

He went to the place where the bathroom was supposed to be in and flicked the light on, washing his face and taking a leak took fifteen minutes of his time. Naruto sighed looking at his reflection in the mirror. From this day…err…night forward, he was on his own. Troubles, mistakes, misfortune and uneasiness were things that he'd need to learn how to care of his own way, alone…just he and himself.

Naruto felt his tips grow cold at the idea and before he could start on getting that familiar anxiety attack that had started attacking him the first time he tried to get into a car after his accident, he splashed cold water on his face, affecting his frontal bangs having them slid to his face. He grinned encouraging himself and with stern, determined eyes, stepped out of the bathroom.

Forcing his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the dark once more, Naruto walked – hoping that the slow moves he was making didn't wake the other up, towards the nightstand that he'd arranged his books and notebooks on. Thinking that it would be a great time to start on solving those problems he got in Algebra instead of getting back to sleep, had Naruto begin his silent search for the book.

It was about half an hour later that he decided that what he'd written as an answer was sufficient enough, and without him realizing a pair of black orbs watched him as a yawn escaped his mouth on his way to his bed. Thinking that it would be best to change into comfortable pajamas instead of the pair of jeans he was currently wearing, Naruto started changing. Oblivious to the second audience that was hooked on his every move.

Naruto fluffed the pillows and so slowly made his way under his comfortable blanket. Setting his alarm to ring at ten in the morning, Naruto ordered his eyes to close and his systems to lower down their functions and ready for divine, blissful sleep.

And the dark eyes lingered watching even after Naruto's body surrendered to the tempting darkness.

Gaara hated his morning job. He hated the orders he was given by the dorm's supervisor to call all the new members and guide them to the cafeteria for breakfast. In fact, he would have liked nothing more than to just have all of these silly duties assigned to him to go float to someone else. In another place, that was hundreds of miles away from him. But that couldn't have happened, and he was forced to get back to reality.

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day for being forced to wake up at eight when his first lecture didn't start 'till somewhere around eleven and twelve, didn't help into raising his morals one bit. He came face to face with room number seventeen, and that's when he groaned. Sasuke Uchiha has finally been given his thirteenth roommate. For the past six months that he'd been present here, Sasuke Uchiha had made it his top priority to kick out any roommate that even thought about continuing one week with him in a room.

The last roommate held a record of one month. And even though he'd betted against him, that dude exceeded the one-week period and Gaara had to pay up his lost bet. He knocked on the door hoping not to get greeted with the A-hole; because as much as he liked having fights to prove himself, he disliked pointless petty fights, especially when they were this early in the morning.

And it seemed like his lucky day had finally came, because the door was opened revealing a shuffled, blue-eyed, blond male that had a confused look on his face. Gaara released a beam.

"I trust you're Uzumaki Naruto, the new victim…I mean student."

"Y-Yeah?" An unfocused Naruto answered.

"Good. Go get ready. All I'm giving you here are fifteen minutes. Wash up quickly and meet me downstairs at the base of the right staircase."

Before Naruto could demand any other explanation from the weird redheaded, Gaara walked away with a nonchalant expression. Naruto yawned and returned to his room. He contemplated the thought of returning back to sleep or going down to see what this stranger had wanted. But thinking that it would be best to learn about the people he was supposed to interact with now, and the fact that he was about to wake up in a matter of only two hours, he chose the first one. And headed to the shower to get ready.

About half an hour later, he got down finding a clearly irritated red-haired in waiting.

"I said fifteen!"

"Umm…sorry, I couldn't really comprehend what you were saying, so, it took me time to catch up, clean up, dress up and get down here."

Gaara sighed and started walking. "It doesn't matter, anyways. I'm Sabaku Gaara, just call me Gaara. I'm the vice-president here. Responsible for the students' affairs within the dorm. If you have any complain, any inquiry or questions, you're free to ask me. I'll be of help."

"Oh, thanks. I do have a question right now. Where are we going?"

"Firstly, I'll be taking you for a tour around the dorm and get you familial with your new grounds and then I'm taking you to the cafeteria where you'll learn about the times for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Please pay close attention to what I'll be saying because I don't like to repeat myself twice."

Naruto nodded and allowed the other to lead the way as the foreign maze that seemed so big and huge to his eyes the previous day, unfolded into spacious, exquisite, well demarcated areas. He smiled when his knowledge about his new surroundings came to light. Gaara didn't appear like a bad guy to him either, yes, he was a bit uptight and maybe needed a couple of pills to relax him here and there, but he was an alright guy.

Something that he still didn't know applied to his roommate or not. He'd intended the previous night to get to know the other as soon as he wakes up, but now, as he was being introduced to new people, and was making his way to the cafeteria, that thought had to wait its sweet time to arise.

"So, how is he treating you?"

"Did he start throwing iron at you, yet? Because he has a pretty good hand when it comes to throwing stuff!"

"I would say to watch his tongue! That's the worst quality he has. He can really break you using it!"

"Yeah, I agree with that. So, you still didn't tell us, what did he do to you?"

Gaara hushed the two excited males as they started pushing a clearly dumb founded Naruto for answers, and steered them away from them. When the two males were out of their eyes sight, Naruto allowed his questions to be asked.

"Ummm, Gaara, what were they taking about?"

"Nothing. Petty gossip. You need not to concern yourself with it."

"It didn't sound like that though, who were they taking about?"

"No one. Ignore those two. Nothing they say is useful."

They took a detour coming straight into the big glassy doors of the cafeteria, Naruto's eyes scanned through the big fallacious, neat place. The floor sparkled with bright red and yellow colours, and the walls took a calming orange-ish hue, it wasn't like your normal cafeteria where everything smelled like shit and food was the last thing you'd think of ordering. It was the complete opposite actually, anywhere he looked, he would be met with a beautiful, weird design, and even the benches made for students to sit on looked awfully comfortable.

Naruto eyed a group of students sitting with books surrounding them. Before he asked, Gaara answered him.

"Those are Med-students. I don't advise you to interact with them today since they have upcoming exams, and most likely won't be very friendly."

The blond sweat dropped when a glare was given to him from one of the girls sitting on that table. He quickly looked away, taking Gaara's warning to heart. A few instructions were given to him, and he was taught about the system of this dormitory. About who was in charge and about how he needed to maintain a level of control over his timetable as not to miss out on the specific days where trash was taken, or room patrol was occurring.

After assuring the dorm vice-president that he'd memorized everything that needed to be memorized, and that he would make sure not to break any of the stern rules he was given, Naruto was left to get back to his room. As soon as he was sure he was inside his room's protective walls, Naruto released a loud sigh.

It wasn't that he didn't like the little tour he was given, it was just that there were so many things he needed to abide by, and since young he was never that good with following rules.

Naruto made his way inside through the small hall and before he could reach his bed, a dark shadow blocked his path. He blinked the light away and looked as a tall, pale-complexioned, apparently annoyed male glared daggers at him. He blinked again.

"H-Hello…?"

"Get the fuck out!"

It took his brain a while to catch up, and when it did, he furred his brows thinking that he might've entered the wrong room because he wasn't paying attention, but glancing at the bed behind the pissed off male, Naruto found his stuff present, crossing the idea that he'd entered the wrong room.

"Excuse me?"

"Didn't you hear me, you little shit?! I said to get the fuck out! Take your shit with you and leave!"

His furred brows were matched with scowling features, Naruto responded. "If I'm not mistaken, this is my room. I paid money to live here. Why should I get out?"

"Because you're not welcome in here."

"This is my room. There is no such thing as being welcomed into my own place."

"Yes, there is. And I decide it. Now, take your pretty little ass and get the fuck out." The annoyed male grabbed Naruto's bag that was lying on the ground and threw it on his face.

Luckily, the blond was able to catch it – since he'd unpacked everything the previous night so it was light as a feather.

"Excuse me, but this is not the behavior of an adult person!"

A snort was given to him, and even though Naruto was trying with every part in his body not to flame and to maintain a composed exterior, the dick before him was making that a very hard task to have done.

"Look here, chibi, last night, I felt sorry for your ass so I allowed you to sleep the night. But now, you're leaving. So, you better leave by peace before I wreck your bones!"

And that control Naruto worked so hard to preserve, snapped. He threw his bag over the Ass's head having it hit his bed after "Now look here, you jerk! I don't know what your problem is, but I'm not going anywhere! This is my fucking room and if you don't like it and want a fight, I'll give you the best damn fight you've never seen!"

"Huh? You think you can land anything on me, Dobe? Think again!"

Naruto dodged the punch that was coming his way. And tried one of his own, but the male before him was sharp to his moves. They began a series of fistfights, kicks and brawls. Neither wanted to give up for the other and even though the other male had the advantage of the extra centimeters he was taller than Naruto with, Naruto wasn't about to give up.

The black haired male tackled Naruto from his feet causing him to thud loudly on the ground and then hopped on top of him, but Naruto delivered a swift punch to his stomach and took the chance to reverse their positions. He was about to land himself a black eye when their room's door flickered open and the girl that he saw glaring at him from her table in the cafeteria came running inside with a death glare on her strange lilac eyes.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing, you two?!"

Naruto blinked in puzzlement not following through with the reason she was so upset. "…Umm…fighting?"

"Which is strictly forbidden, stupid! Sasuke, he is new so he doesn't know, but you fricking know better! Why the fuck are you fighting with him?!"

"Neji, stay out of this, it's not your business."

"Oh, bet your stinking ass it is! With you wrecking this place down I can't even concentrate on my studies! I have three whole references that I still didn't even open and the exam is in a week! Hear me, fuck? One lousy week! How do you expect me to understand a single thing when you're killing each other above my head?!"

"Che…he started it. I told him to get out but he wanted to fight instead!"

"Hey! That's not how it had happened! He wanted to kick me out! From my own room, and he threatened me!"

The lovely, long, black haired girl put her elegant long fingers on her forehead not wanting to hear who started what on this childish fight.

"You, the new kid, get off of him." Naruto didn't know why those ordering lilac orbs frightened him right about this moment, but they did and he obeyed them. "And you, Ass, suck this shit up. There is no way I'm letting you room in this room all by yourself. He is your new roommate. So, just live with it. And stop trying to pick fights with him, either. I want some peace and quiet!"

The black haired male that was known now as Sasuke, rolled his eyes and crossed his arms not liking what he was being told. "He will not last a day, Neji."

"Yes, he will!" The blond was surprised when the beautiful girl walked towards him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Listen to me, whatever he does to you, ignore it. This is your room; don't ever allow him to kick you out!"

"…I wasn't about to."

"Good!" The long haired raven called behind his back. "Gaara!"

Naruto blinked when the redheaded teen that was accompanying him a few minutes ago popped out from behind the door, with a passive look on his face.

"Yes?"

"Take him to the doctor's office. Have his wounds tended to and only leave him when you make sure he is alright."

"Understood." Gaara signaled his finger to Naruto to follow him. "Come."

"Huh? Me? Why? I'm alrigh-"

"No, you're not. You're bleeding and if you were fighting I don't know what you might've hit your head with…"

"Nah…I didn't hit my head or anything, he looks in a worse condition than I."

Sasuke snorted at him and Naruto sent a glare in return. Neji sighed and started walking towards the door, "If you don't want to go, it's your choice, but if you get down with anything later today, I don't want to hear anything about it!"

Frowning at the words he was left with, Naruto closed the door behind the two retreating backs. He felt his insides flip when he was met with glaring black eyes, he glared back.

"What are you looking at?"

"Hn."

Naruto watched as the nasty male pushed him aside and went inside the bathroom. And then that familiar feeling he'd when he first read the nameplate beside the door, kicked back inside his brain and he thought as he placed his fingers under his chin, making his way towards his bed.

Have I met him somewhere before?

Thank you all for reading! The second chapter will be up when I finish it. I'll be waiting for your reviews!