THE UCHIHA CHRONICLE: THE BRO CODE
By finish line

xi.

"A bro never lets his brokenhearted bro drink alone."

For the most part of the twelve hours after Naruto had hastily announced that he was finally part of his stupid bro-ness, all Sasuke could do was glare, glare, then glare some more. Like that short moment when he exited from the Uchiha household while silently mumbling his good-bye to his mother. He was about to hop into his car when he caught sight of pink.

He glared. (He had already been glaring, but he thought that there was nothing wrong with glaring some more. A thought at the back of Sasuke's mind told him that he was obsessing on glaring. He pushed that said thought aside.)

Sakura Haruno, his pink-haired, green-eyed neighbor (who he used to silently call "my pink fairy crush" in front of his older brother, Itachi—he shuddered at the memory), was sitting by their front porch, a thick textbook settled comfortably on her lap. His already narrowed eyes turned into a more even pair of slits at the sight of the book. He'd honestly bet that the book was at least four inches thick.

The textbook was lucky, Sasuke bitterly thought. It got to be held by Sakura. Hell, it got to sit on her lap. He couldn't and—

Sasuke almost gagged and coughed up to cover his embarrassment. Wait. Uchihas didn't get embarrassed. So he fixed himself and glared. Just shut up, Sasuke.

He entered his black Aston Martin with what could have been a very, very dignified Uchiha pout and completely missed how his childhood "pink fairy crush" lifted her head from her text and shot him a very wary glance.

Sasuke arrived in Naruto's place less than half an hour later. The apartment the idiot was staying in was rather small, but big enough for one messy person like the blond. Usually, when the boredom in the Uchiha household got unbearable, or when there were no homework to turn in the next day at school, Sasuke would find himself in Naruto's messy but otherwise homely abode.

It was a month before high school graduation, and Sasuke was pretty certain that a whole lot of things were going to change soon, so he did not bother picking up misplaced items in Naruto's apartment as he made his way into the Idiot's living room. (He was a certified obsessive compulsive, so you could not really blame him.)

When he turned a corner and into the mentioned living room, Sasuke's mood dampened incredibly. He had vowed to stop glaring from that point onward, but circumstances seemed to call for his Special-Uchiha-Glare-Censored-for-the-Eyes-of-the-Kids™.

He was met with wide, incredulous pairs of eyes that turned into pairs of mocking and laughing eyes—a little too soon, much to Sasuke's irritation.

"Ooohh, and what does a great, ah-maaa-zing Uchiha doing here?" Kiba Inuzuka inquired, a nasty grin spreading across his lips.

Sasuke looked up to the ceiling and told himself to calm down and fight the urge to punch the Inuzuka in the guts. He took heavy breaths and maintained coolness.

"Perhaps the same reason an idiot like you are in here," he retorted, taking a seat on one of Naruto's worn-out couches. Kiba spouted stuff that Sasuke hardly cared to listen on, so he looked around and noticed people he did not expect to be there. Like Neji Hyuuga. "What—"

"So you're saying that you yourself are an idiot?" asked Neji. A damnable smirk appeared on his face and Sasuke felt his right eye twitch.

Sasuke breathed in to compose himself and let an identical smirk grace his lips. "Only if you agree that you are. You would not be here if Naruto hadn't called on the stupidity in you for just one second."

He and the Hyuuga engaged in one-minute glaring contest, while the rest of the group bet on who would give up first. Said group consisted of Shikamaru Naru (surprisingly), Kiba, Gaara Subaku (how the hell did the Idiot manage to get the insomniac into this?), and Suigetsu Hozuki (hah).

"OK, kids, stop that. Daddy Naruto is here to save the day!"

All heads snapped toward the direction of the blond Idiot.

"Whaaaat?" asked Naruto incredulously. For the record, there was nothing orange in what he was wearing that day. He wore a simple black shirt and dark blue jeans with his notorious headphones sitting comfortably on his shoulders. "Calm down, little kids."

Naruto grinned, Sasuke glared, and the rest of them stared.

"Ha, Bastard!" Naruto pointed, laughing hysterically. The group stared as Naruto got to the point where he had to kneel and grip his sides from the full force of his laughter. "Your face! I haven't seen the Special-Uchiha-Pout-No-One-Should-See-Ever™"—everyone turned curiously to look at the dark-haired boy—"in a while!"

"He is pouting!" both Kiba and Suigetsu pointed out. Similar grins were spreading out on their lips.

Even Gaara asked, "He is?"

Sasuke's eyes flared. "I am not!"

"He is," noted Shikamaru with an amused grin. Neji could only snicker.

Naruto stood up and fixed himself, signs of laughter still lingering in his eyes. "Actually, you should see his Special I'm-Sexy-and-You-Know-It-Stare™. It's even more hilarious."

All heads turned to look at the young Uchiha. Sasuke felt his cheek twitch.

"You seriously believe that Idiot?"

After almost an hour of bruising Sasuke's ego, Naruto finally gave them an overview of what their "Bro-ness" would be like. Of course, Sasuke was not amused. He kept hearing stuff that should not be there in the first place.

Among the stupidest stuff that Sasuke had ever had the misfortune to hear included:

-A bro does not put his hand on another bro's waist.

"What the hell, Naruto?" Neji had asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Who knew? This is "Bro-ness", Neji! What if one of us happens to swing that way?" As though it was the most obvious thing in the world, Naruto added, "That's why this part of the Bro-ness Code is called Only-Boys."

Several eyebrows rose up.

-A bro never touches another bro's muscles. No matter how impressive.

"Naruto?" Gaara called out. If only he had eyebrows, he could have raised one.

Naruto looked at him as if he had grown another head, and really, for Sasuke, it was Naruto who had grown one. "Dude! You know, my muscles are impressive! But kids, don't dare touch them. Huh."

-A bro cannot give another bro Teddy Bear.
-Bros don't stop to smell flowers.
-A bro does not keep photos of another bro in his wallet.
-A bro doesn't listen to chick music... in front of other bros.

"Because admit it or not, Taylor Swift rocks!" Naruto announced, grinning widely.

Sasuke could only sigh. "Whatever, Naruto."

It went on. Sasuke would not admit it, but being there with a couple of his friends, it was... it was refreshing somewhat. There were times when one of them would make comments that urged a little smirk off of Sasuke. There were times when Sasuke almost laughed, and somehow, he understood why Naruto was doing this in the first place.

Soon, they would go on their separate ways. Sasuke, for one, would be attending a university different from theirs, having passed into one of the most prestigious universities in the country.

When the bro codes turned serious that even Suigetsu and Kiba had the nerve to look solemn, it was Shikamaru who asked, "Naruto. What's the problem?"

It was the first time in a while when Sasuke had seen that Naruto's smile did not quite reach his eyes.

Two days later, Sasuke found himself walking through the neighborhood, thinking about Naruto's reasons for bringing up his so-called "bro-hood". It was very rare when you get to see a very serious Naruto.

Sasuke was cut off from his brooding when he passed by an alley and saw Kiba being beaten. He honestly thought that it would be troublesome, but Sasuke still came to the boy's rescue. After all, if it continued, Kiba might see himself in a hospital with amputated arms—he did not even move a muscle to fight back.

"Hey!" Sasuke called out, making the three boys who were beating Kiba up stop from what they were doing. His Special-Uchiha-Glare-Censored-for-the-Eyes-of-the-Kids™ made the three boys still from what they were doing.

"It's an Uchiha!" hissed one of the boys. Sasuke recognized them as three of the people he and the other boys had to fight before.

One of them groaned before saying, "Of all times—just—let's go!"

Sasuke watched as they scurried off, cursing along the way. His black eyes turned to Kiba who was sprawled helplessly on the ground. Sasuke sighed and crouched beside the boy.

"Those idiots—you could easily beat them," he began. Kiba had his back turned to him, so Sasuke could not see the full extent of his injuries. Sasuke decided to make him look his way. "Why let them—"

Sasuke stopped. Kiba's face might have been swelling and black-and-blue, but no one could miss the fact that his eyes were glossed over; no one would miss the fact that Kiba was crying.

"Hey, Uchiha," began Kiba, looking up as he settled on his back. Sasuke stared at him, confused. "You know how I used to make fun of all those weak-willed wusses who looked as though their world just crashed? Those wusses whose girlfriends broke up with them?"

Sasuke did not know what to feel for what was coming.

"Hn."

Kiba laughed, and for Sasuke, that was the saddest laughter he had ever heard. "It's because I'm afraid to be one of them. I'm afraid to be called an ex-boyfriend. And now I am."

Sasuke's eyes widened, even by just a fraction.

"Sakura... she—" Kiba did not get to finish as he punched the wall next to him.

Later on after the sun had set and after getting Kiba all fixed up in a near clinic, Sasuke joined him for a drink. According to Naruto, bros do not let broken-hearted bros drink alone.

As he sat beside Kiba in the porch of the Inuzuka residence (Kiba's parents were still out) that night, Sasuke pondered on his childhood "pink fairy crush" neighbor. He liked Sakura—not romantically, no!

But he thought that she was smart and strong and witty and pretty—OK, that was waaaaay over the point. He liked to punch himself, however, because for some reason, he got a little happier of the news that Sakura had broken up with Kiba.

He liked the fact that Sakura was finally back in the market and he'd be damned if he did not do anything about it. Sakura had always been a constant in his life, but when she got together with Kiba almost a year ago, everything changed.

When she and Kiba got together, there were no more morning wake up calls or her coming over to have some girl moments with his mom. She was no longer nagging him into coming with her somewhere, and she was no longer willing to help him with schoolwork.

He kind of missed those. Kind of.

He took a large swig of alcohol if just to drown the fact that yes, maybe this time, he had the chance with her.

"The long ride starts from here on."

notes Hurriedly written. Sorry.