This is just a little something I've been working on for ages. It ended up being longer than I planned so I've split it into two parts. I'm about half way done with the second part and I'm hoping to publish it sometime later this week or next week. It all depends on school.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Warning: Yaoi, Drinking

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own anything but the plot.

Realization (In a Drunken Haze)

He wakes up late. Of course he wakes up late. Isn't that the first day of school cliché?

By the time he gets to school, he's sweating and he has to wipe at his brow before the salty liquid can drip into his eyes. He ignores the obvious sweat stains on his shirt and he hurries into the building, blue eyes shifting around frantically to try and find the correct classroom.

The number 313 finally catches his attention and he slips inside the door, letting out a deep sigh when he notices he's only a minute late for his class.

The next second he turns to find a classroom full of college students staring at him. A sheepish grin tugs up the corner of his lips, fingers moving to scratch the back of his head nervously. It's then he seems to remember the sweat pouring off him –why the fuck is it nearly 90 degrees out? – and quickly puts his arm down again only to get a good chuckle out of the class. Well, at least he knows how to make them laugh.

"Hey, class. I'm sorry about being late. I'm professor Naruto Uzumaki. You can just call me Naruto and this is English Literature 101."

There's a murmur around the crowd as students turn to each other, brows furrowed in confusion. Naruto shushes them, having decided the day before he was going to try and be stern. It probably wasn't going to work out very well, but he might as well scare them the first day of class.

"I would prefer it if no one talks while I am speaking. I have the class syllabus here and we are going to spend the class going over it. I hope you've bought the proper books, because the first assignment is tonight. I'm rather excited about this book. It's a classic and I plan on- Oh, no questions yet. I'll give you a chance at the end of class."

Naruto takes a moment to scan the classroom. There are less people than he would have expected. Actually, it looks like there are way less people than on his class list.

Taking a moment, Naruto pulls the list out of his bag, eyebrows furrowed as he scans over the thirty-three names on his class list. When he looks back up, he counts just over twenty kids.

"Well, I guess I had a few people dropped out of this class last minute. Anyway-"

The words are cut off when he notices someone standing in the door. She's a pretty woman, pink hair and a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. She pushes them up to sit atop her head when she notices Naruto, eyebrow raised in an obvious question.

"Ah, hello. Are you here to join the class?" Naruto asks, head tilted a bit to the side.

"No, I'm actually here to teach the class."

Teach the….

"This is the science building."

"Shit! I'm in the wrong class."

And he's out the door before anyone can actually say anything. It's at the end of the hallway he realizes he doesn't have his backpack and he sprints back, giving the professor – he didn't catch her name- a big grin as he yanks his bag off the counter. Of course all his papers go flying and his syllabi are scattered over the ground and his class list is sitting on the professor's bag.

"I'm sorry!" There's a sheepish grin on his lips as Naruto picks the papers up hurriedly, stuffing them into his bag before he grabs his class list and hurries out the door and across campus.

The sweat stains on his shirt are even worse now.

It is definitely a terrible first day of work.

"I can't believe I was late on my first day!" Naruto complains, frown pulling down his lips as he flops down on his couch. The beer is popped open in the process and he takes a long sip of it, letting out a sigh after. "I'm such a fucking idiot going to the wrong class. I went there for college! How could I end up in the wrong building?"

"It's because you're a fucking idiot," Kiba comments, chugging half the beer in one go. Naruto shoots him a glare, but doesn't get a chance to comment.

"You were nervous, Naruto. It is you're first day," Ino adds, taking a sip of her water. "Plus, you have a lot on your plate right now with the whole thesis thing going on. I still can't believe of all people, you ended up going to grad school and then going for your PhD. You almost flunked out of high school."

"I didn't realize how interesting literature was then. I was too busy getting detention apparently," Naruto comments, a fond smile pulling up his lips at the memory. High school had been one big prank to him. The only reason he had passed was because he couldn't fail and be on the baseball team. It was the only thing that got him through high school. He had a change of heart in college when he took his first literature class though.

"It's good you found something to calm you down a bit. You were annoying back then."

"He's still fucking annoying."

"You guys suck."

The laughs echo in the small apartment, a smile tugging up Naruto's lips. He wasn't that stupid kid in high school anymore. He was a college professor working toward his PhD, but apparently he was still that stupid adult that went to the wrong classroom. He just couldn't seem to shake it.

"Whatever, I've gotta get home or ma will kill me. It's my day to close up the vet office and feed the dogs. I'll see ya later."

"Yeah, I'll see you this weekend," Naruto says, fist bumping against Kiba's as he walks by.

"Don't get lost tomorrow," Kiba comments cheekily and Naruto merely sticks his tongue out at him, turning his attention back to Ino. The girl has just finished off her water and is standing up to leave as well. It has a frown pulling down Naruto's lips. Man, being an adult meant his friends couldn't stay over all hours of the night. He was going to miss that.

"I'll see ya this weekend too. I've gotta get up early for work."

Naruto gives her a small smile, standing up to wrap her up in a hug. She laughs and Naruto merely hugs her tighter in response. He only lets go when the girl presses a kiss to his cheek, a big smile on her face as she waves.

"Don't be an idiot when you go in tomorrow."

"Fuck off. I won't do it again."

The rest of the beer is downed before he heads off to grab a book to read before bed.

"Naruto?"

A frown pulls down said professor's lips as he turns to face his students. He doesn't understand why they can't just raise their hands. Was he that bad in school? He thought that was a high school thing. Plus, he regrets telling the class they could call him Naruto. He'll be sure to keep that in mind next semester when he gets a new class. At least call him professor Naruto.

"Do you not understand something, Miki?" he asks, blue eyes glancing at her notebook. There are no notes written down at all. Naruto wonders why he even bothers writing all this information down on the board. They don't even seem to care. They'll learn after the first paper though.

"Oh, I just wanted to ask if you were going to the carnival this weekend to celebrate the start of the school year." She's smiling like she didn't just interrupt his class to ask him a stupid question like that. Seriously? He can't wait till he gets to teach higher level classes with student who actually want to be here rather than students just filling a core requirement.

"I'm not sure yet, Miki. Please ask those kinds of questions either at the beginning of class or the end."

He doesn't even bother to wait for her reply. He just wants to teach these kids what this book is all about. He isn't here to go to carnivals.

He hadn't planned on actually going to the carnival, but Kiba cancels on him and Gaara is being an ass and won't go out with him. He tries to get Ino to go out with him, but she's having some sort of date night with Sai and he ends up with all his friends leaving him on a Friday night. He doesn't want to spend it alone and somehow ends up at the carnival, water bottle full of vodka in hand as he walks around.

A sigh leaves his lips as a bunch of freshman run by him, giggling like school girls as they glance past Naruto from where they came. Naruto shakes his head, fingers running through his hair as he takes a swig of his vodka.

This really isn't how he wanted to spend his Friday night.

"Naruto!"

Blue eyes shift to find Miki waving at him. She doesn't bother to come over, simply shooting him a smile and waving from where she is before turning back to her group of friends. He knows they are talking about him because the group of girls keeps glancing back at him. It's annoying really. He should have never told his class to call him Naruto. It made them think he was some sort of friend rather than their professor and he doesn't like that. He worked hard to get his statues as professor.

"You probably shouldn't have told them to call you that."

The blond turns around, coming face to face with a pink haired girl. He vaguely recognizes her as the professor he accidentally tried to take over for. That was an embarrassing moment and just the thought of it has scared cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I realize that now," Naruto chuckles, blue eyes shifting to look away from the female. "I'll be sure to remember that for next semester, if I'm here."

"That's probably a good idea. I'm Sakura Haruno, by the way. I teach the chemistry class you tried to teach English to. The class got a good laugh out of that when you left," Sakura explains, a pretty smile pulling up her lips. That only has Naruto's cheeks heating up more.

"Naruto. And yeah, the sad part is that I went here for school. I guess I'm living up to the nickname idiot after all."

That gets a good laugh out of Sakura and she pats him on the shoulder, green eyes shining. "I like you, Naruto. I hope you stick around." And she's gone a second later, waving over to a group of other professors Naruto recognizes from his time going to school here.

A frown pulls down Naruto's lips and he thinks it's probably time to leave soon. It isn't even dark out yet, but he certainly isn't enjoying himself. He doesn't know how to talk to professors that taught him, but are his colleagues now. Maybe he'll just go home and get drunk alone? Or he could go and knock on Gaara's door until he's let inside and drink himself into oblivion at his friend's house.

He ends up just finding a seat for now in hopes that this carnival might pick up – Gaara seemed pretty serious about not being bothered and drinking alone just seemed pathetic.

The sigh that is emitted from next to Naruto catches his attention. He hadn't even noticed someone sit down. He blames that fact on the alcohol in his system and takes note not to drink more as he takes another sip from his water bottle of vodka.

The guy that is sitting next to him doesn't look like he wants to be here at all actually. The fingers that rub against his temples tell Naruto he has a headache, but he doesn't smell like alcohol at all, which says he has a headache simply from being here.

"Did your friends ditch you too?" Naruto asks, capping the water bottle and placing it next to him. He won't drink from it any more. It's making his head too cloudy and when the other turns to look at him out of surprise, he knows he doesn't want a cloudy head. He wants to be able to properly talk to this person. He just has this weird feeling that sits in his gut and it isn't the alcohol this time – or at least he hopes it isn't.

"They dragged my ass here and then ditched me," the other grumbles, arms crossing over his chest. There's a scowl on his face and Naruto thinks it makes him look oddly attractive. He never thought a look of annoyance could make someone look attractive.

Naruto wasn't really dragged here, but he sure as hell hadn't wanted to come here. It just so happened to be the only thing to do after his friends ditched him. He didn't want to be a pathetic loser and spend Friday night alone in his apartment. That would just be sad. He'd rather just drag himself to this thing in hopes of meeting someone. There were plenty of professors around he could talk too actually. He just chose not to, because they all seemed like friends and he was just the new guy. He isn't so sure about this guy though. He seems like he could be old enough to be a professor, but at the same time he looks too young to be a professor.

"That sucks," Naruto comments, leaning back. It's finally dark enough out to see the stars and it has a smile pulling up his lips. "Can't you just leave?" He should just leave; drop by Gaara's apartment and demand to know why he can't hang out - Gaara has been oddly secretive lately.

"They fucking stole my room key so I wouldn't leave." The frown that pulls down the other's lips has Naruto frowning himself, blue eyes searching this guy's face for any hint of actual enjoyment. He doesn't find any.

"That's a low move." It's totally something Naruto would do actually. He isn't going to tell the other that though. "I'm Naruto, by the way."

"I know. You're the idiot professor that decided to teach English to a chemistry class." Well, the other seems to be enjoying himself now if the smirk on his lips is anything to go by. Naruto had really been hoping to never run into one of those students again. It's bad enough Sakura is teasing him about it. At least he knows the other is a student now.

"Ah, yeah…" Fingers move to scratch the back of his head, a cheeky smile pulling up his lips. "I don't think I'm ever going to live that one down."

"I don't even know how you became a professor being that stupid."

The other is baiting him, but he takes the bait and he's defending himself in seconds, lips thin and eyes narrowed as they go back and forth. Naruto tries to pull out a few quotes from books and explain some literature to him, but he just gets shot down every time this guy mentions anything about Chemistry and how stupid he could be for going to the wrong classroom in the school he went too.

He ends up having more fun than he thought he would.

Naruto groans, fingers pressing against his temples and rubbing in an attempt to stifle the headache pounding against his skill. It doesn't seem to work and the bag stuffed under his arm is shifted to his hand while the other is used to block the blinding sun that morning.

He doesn't even know why he's on campus on a Sunday morning after two solid nights of drinking. Why the hell would he plan Sunday office hours? He was definitely changing that one.

He lets out a sigh when he finally enters his building, lips pressed together when the urge to vomit hits. He manages to keep it in as he trudges to the elevator. The thing seems to take ages to reach the first floor and when it does there's someone inside and he recognizes the other from the carnival.

"Morning," he mumbles. The dark eyebrow that rises goes ignored by Naruto as he leans against the wall, head pressing against the cool metal.

He wonders what the other's name is. He'd ask if he thought he could keep the contents of his stomach down long enough to form any more words.

Fuck, he really needs to slow down on the alcohol.

He's pretty sure he's in the wrong building again when he gets off the elevator.

"Naruto, are you seeing anyone?"

What is with Miki and butting into his life? The headache from this weekend is still lingering –probably because he went home and had one too many drinks on Sunday- and he just wants this day to be over. He really needs to cut down on the amount of drinking he does, especially now that he isn't in college – sadly teaching doesn't count.

"Miki, it's the middle of the lesson." He's exasperated now and he can't help the sigh that leaves his lips as he rubs a hand over his face. He feels like he could fall asleep right now.

"Oh, but are you dating anyone?" She doesn't seem to care really and Naruto notices the blank pages in her notebook again. It kills him to know she isn't taking any notes at all. The most he sees is a little heart in the corner of the page and they are definitely not talking about anything to do with hearts.

"No, I'm not right now," he answers, another sigh slipping past his lips. "I've been focusing on getting myself trough school. I never had the time." He worked two part time jobs and went to school. He didn't have the time to spear for someone he wouldn't even spend the rest of his life with. He isn't really interested in dating at this point in time either. He'd rather focus on getting himself settled in this career before doing such a thing. Plus, he's not done with his thesis yet. That's top priority, especially since it's due at the end of the semester.

"Oh, okay."

He waits a moment and when she doesn't say anything, he turns back to the board and continues on with his lesson.

He ends up in the science building.

The food in the science building is the best at the college and he hadn't felt like making himself something when he left for work that morning. The food is a bit more expensive than he'd like, but he doesn't really care when he takes the first bit of the sandwich, a moan leaving his lips when the flavor hits his tongue.

"I think you like that a bit too much, Naruto."

Blue eyes shift to find Sakura standing in front of him, a smile on her lips. The guy from the carnival is standing behind her, dark eyes turned toward the ceiling and foot tapping against the ground.

"I haven't had anything this good since I came here to eat when I went to school here." That earns him a good laugh from the girl, a smile pulling up her lips as she shakes her head. "Do you want to join me?"

"I would, but I can't today. Sasuke here wants to meet and I missed him earlier."

That would explain why Sasuke looks so pissed off. Naruto would be pretty ticked if he missed the professor the first time and had to wait the second time around as well.

"I'll see you around then," Naruto says, a smile pulling up his lips when Sakura agrees, waving to him before she heads up the stairs to her office.

Sasuke.

He likes that name.

A fist goes out to knock at the door, mouth opening to greet Sakura. It snaps shut when he notices Sasuke sitting behind her desk though, head down and pen moving over papers. He looks concentrated with his work, but Naruto doesn't stop his knuckles from tapping against wood, catching Sasuke's attention.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asks, dark eyes narrowing at the other.

"I was just looking for Sakura," Naruto says, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking on his heels. He wants to come in and talk to Sasuke, but the other doesn't seem like he'd like for that to happen.

"She's busy today. She got called to a conference rather last minute," Sasuke states, not bothering to give Naruto any more time than that before his head in down again and the pen is flicking across paper.

"So…." The grip on the pen seems to tighten, dark eyes shifting to look at Naruto. He's being glared at, but he doesn't care. He's dealt with that before. Gaara used to glare at him all the time before they became friends. It doesn't really bother him anymore. He's used to it. "What cha doing?"

"I'm grading lab worksheets, obviously," Sasuke says. There's obvious annoyance in his tone as Naruto steps into the room, taking a step around the chair in front of Sakura's desk and plopping himself down. The glare only darkens and Naruto has to give Sasuke props for perfecting such a scary glare. It's almost worse than Gaara's used to be.

"For Sakura?" Naruto asks, head tilted to the side a bit. Why would she have Sasuke grading anything? Isn't that a bit unfair?

"I'm her TA. This is the lab I'm in charge of," Sasuke explains without even turning his attention away from the papers. Maybe Naruto should get a TA to grade his papers. It was a tedious job, especially since he taught literature. That shit was only good for writing papers and those took ages to grade.

"You want to be a professor?"

"Hm."

And Naruto knows the conversation is over now even if he doesn't want it to be. With a sigh, he's out of the seat, glancing back at Sasuke as he leaves the room. The other would make a good professor. Naruto would take his class. Though, that would be for another reason.

The work becomes overwhelming into the third week of school. He has a pile of papers that need to be graded and he's at a crucial part of his thesis that he can't seem to get right. It's to the point he finds himself staying up all hours of the night to get through papers and work through information for class the next day.

It isn't till after class, when Sakura mentions how tired he looks, that he decides he needs to take a breather. He puts the black pen –because he finds red a cruel color to grade with – down and stuffs a few things he needs for tomorrow in his bag before he heads out.

He runs home to drop his bag off and grad a bat and a bucket of balls. There's a little park not too far from his apartment –about half way between his apartment and campus- that he ends up at. There isn't anyone around –most kids are still in school at this time – so he has nothing to worry about.

He takes a moment to stretch his arms over his head, trying to warm his muscles up a bit before he steps up to the plate. The ball in his left hand is tossed in the air and he quickly grabs the bat so he can connect wood – because he prefers wooden bats- with the ball. It soars through the air and Naruto realizes that he already feels a bit better.

As he hits more balls, it's like a weight is being lifted off his shoulders. With each connection of the bat, he feels himself relaxing.

It ends up leaving his mind open and he finds himself working through the part of his thesis he's been stuck on. The part he's been stressing about these last few days. It's funny what something relaxing can do for your brain sometimes. Apparently all he needed to do was take a step back. He'll definitely remember that for next time.

There's a groan, head hitting against the wood of the table a few times. Grading papers was frustrating and apparently batting practice hadn't done much for that part of his life. Naruto, at this moment, can't remember why he would ever want to go into this profession. The papers were long and all about the same thing. Next time he was definitely giving options on different topics. It was fucking boring reading the same thing over and over and over again.

He keeps reminding himself that he's a professor to spread his love of literature.

"Are you okay there?"

A head of blond hair shoots up and blue eyes meet a pair of green eyes. A smile tugs up Naruto's lips at the sight of the woman in front of him.

"Grading papers. It's like pulling fucking teeth," he answers.

"Oh, I'll-"

Naruto stops her before she can say that she can leave. "No, I need a distraction. Please," he begs. That gets a good laugh out of Sakura, who brushes a few strands of pink hair behind her ear.

"Okay, would you like to grab something to eat? I have a ton of tests to grade and if I don't eat now, I probably won't until I'm done."

There's a smile the pulls up Naruto's lips and the papers are pushed to the back of his mind as he gets up from his seat. He pats down his back pocket to make sure he has his wallet before he's out the door and walking down the hall with Sakura next to him.

It's definitely nice to have a friend at work now.

Naruto's too lazy to make himself lunch on Monday morning, hangover still lingering from this weekend's bar run with his friends. Even after he decided to slow down on the drinking, he's still chugging the beers. It's stupid, he knows it. He isn't in college anymore, but it's a habit that's hard to break.

That day for lunch he finds himself at the science café ordering the first proper meal he's had since Friday – when he worked last. Once the sandwich is in his hands, he makes his way to the tables scattered around the area, noticing a head of pink hair sitting at one of the tables.

"Hey, Sakura!" he greets, taking the free seat at the table. Sasuke is there as well, frown tugging down his lips and glare on his face. Naruto probably interrupted their conversation or something.

"Hello, Naruto." There's a smile on her lips and Naruto takes that as the okay to be here. He'd probably stay even if she hadn't really welcomed him anyway. "You know Sasuke, right?" Naruto nods his head, turning to greet Sasuke as well. The only answer he gets is a grunt in reply. Obviously Sasuke doesn't want him here. "Don't mind him, he's just stressed about a paper due in a few days."

"Ah. I know how he feels. I should be working on my thesis right now. On top of, ya know, grading papers and stuff. I still haven't gotten the last batch of papers back to my class. I have a few more left. I probably shouldn't be so hard on them, but I love the book they were writing about." There's a chuckle that leaves his lips, hand moving to rub the back of his head. It is only the first paper. He shouldn't be so hard on them which is partially why they haven't gotten them back yet.

"I'm sure you're being fair. You just want them to understand the book," Sakura says. There is a lull for a moment as the occupants of the table take a few bits of their lunch. "What's your thesis about?"

Sakura is probably going to regret asking Naruto that.

He ends up going on and on about the book he's doing his thesis on and all the information he's gathered so far. He's pretty sure he even has Sasuke impressed, which is definitely something, especially since the other still thinks he's a complete idiot.

Office Hours.

It was a horrible time of the day. He had to sit around and answer the same questions over and over again. The only good thing about this time around was it was more focused on the paper –this one's a short paper – due the next class. It shouldn't even be as hard as the students are making it seem.

The students have finally dwindled down and there's only a good five minutes left before he can leave. He doesn't want to leave early in case someone comes and accuses him of not showing up all together so he grabs the nearest book –he's read it a good six times already – and opens it to the first page.

He doesn't even get half why through the page when there is a knock on the door.

Shocked blue eyes meet Sasuke's dark ones.

It doesn't look like Sasuke even wants to be here right now. Dark eyes are glaring daggers at the wall and fingers are clenched into fists. It actually seems like someone forced him to be here.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

Naruto's leaning back in his chair now, book closed and bookmark –because he's going to go back and read it again – in place. The first answer he gets is an annoyed scoff, but Sasuke doesn't seem like he's going anywhere. Actually, he takes a step into the room and starts to dig through his backpack.

Blue eyes blink curiously at the paper held out in front of him, noting the title has something to do with science. He has no idea what kind of science thought he assumes it is Chemistry. The questioning look is shot up toward Sasuke, who seems to be having a bit of trouble expressing himself right now. Well, expressing anything but obvious discomfort.

"What is this?" Naruto tries again, blue eyes narrowed. He tentatively reaches out for the paper and Sasuke seems to drop it isn't his hands willingly. Obviously Naruto is met to read it over or something. Naruto doesn't know why.

"I'm taking a stupid writing class and I need someone to read this over," Sasuke finally admits, arms crossing over his chest and eyes shifting to look at the wall.

"Why are you taking a writing class?"

"Tch, I thought it would help when I need to write up papers." There is definitely a "it's not helping" implied in his statement.

"Okay," Naruto says tentatively, finally placing the paper on his desk. "What is the paper about?" Because he's only read the first sentence and he's lost already.

"It's a science based writing class, idiot. It's based off a study I previously did over the summer." There's a pause as Sasuke takes a seat. "I don't even know why I came to an idiot like you anyway."

Naruto can tell Sasuke has a lot of doubt in his abilities. And Naruto doesn't really blame him. The first paragraph is a whole lot of words he doesn't know and lingo he's not familiar with. Science was never his forte. Actually, he barely passed the only science class he took in college. It had not been pretty.

"Why am I reading this?" The question comes after he's read the second paragraph, noting the few grammatical errors but not writing on the paper yet.

"Sakura was busy so I couldn't ask her to do it. She suggested I come to you. She's already read it over once. I'm only coming to you for a new set of eyes. I want to make sure all my grammar and such is correct." Another pair of eyes is always a good thing to have when going through a paper. Naruto remembers a time when he was the only one that read his papers over and there was an insane amount of red marks on it when given back to him, especially compared to papers he had other people look at.

"I'm allowed to write on it, right?"

"Obviously." Naruto is pretty sure the idiot is implied in that sentence. The least Sasuke could do is be a little nice about this. Naruto didn't have to read the paper. Sasuke barely fucking knew him anyway. It wasn't nice to call people you barely knew –and need something from - names.

"Jerk," Naruto mutters under his breath, blue eyes shifting back to the paper.

He reads through it twice. Once he makes a few corrects, basic stuff, and the second he gets more into detail about stuff his professors had been picky about in school. The paper probably has a few more marks on it than Sasuke is used too. Especially if that look on his face is anything to go by. He definitely looks annoyed Naruto is marking it up so much.

"It was really well written," Naruto says, black pen capped and put away before he hands the paper back over to Sasuke. Fingers brush when Sasuke takes the paper back and Naruto curses the cliché tingle that seems to be left behind by Sasuke's touch.

"It doesn't look like it," Sasuke mutters, dark eyes looking at the wall rather than Naruto.

"I was taught to be pretty nit picking about grammar so some of the things I might have corrected wouldn't matter in a science class."

"I thought you read books for your class."

"A big part of English is writing papers as well. I took a few classes when I was an underclassmen and into graduate school. It was a lot of work, but my papers improved with each class. It isn't just grammar either, but positioning of paragraphs and structure and such."

"I thought you were an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot when it comes to this stuff," Naruto answers, smile set on his lips. He does like proving people wrong and proving Sasuke wrong has been sweet. He hopes that he can keep proving the other wrong. "Anyway. I've gotta head out. I'm meeting up with a few friends. They'll kill me if I'm late."

There's a nod and Sasuke is out of the room without another word. No thank you or anything. Naruto sighs and whispers, "You're welcome," under his breath as he packs up a few of his things.

"Naruto!"

There's a sigh, blue eyes closing momentarily before he turns to look at Miki. He doesn't know why she likes to interrupt his class so much no matter how much Naruto tells her to raise her hand or to wait until after class.

"What is it?"

"What are you doing this weekend?"

What was wrong with this girl? She really needs to learn where the boundary between professor and student is. This isn't the first fucking time and Naruto only hopes it won't happen again even if he knows it will. She just doesn't listen.

"I don't think that has anything to do with this book," Naruto states, holding up said book as an example. There's a pout on her lips now and Naruto can't help it when another sigh leaves his lips. The only way he's going to get on with class is if he answers her. She's fucking persistent. "I'm going out with some friends." That should get her to be quite, but on the off chance she wants to ask something else, Naruto continues onto another subject. "Which brings us to how you'll be spending your weekend." And he goes on to explain the paper due next week.

And no, he will not have office hours on Sunday.

"Sasuke!" Naruto calls, catching a glimpse as the other heads into the science building. He must spend all his time there or something because that is the only place Naruto ever sees him.

Sasuke turns around, eyes narrowed when he sees Naruto waving at him. There is obvious annoyance on his face and Naruto thinks for a second he's going to just keep walking. He doesn't doubt that is something Sasuke would do. Surprisingly, he waits a few moments for Naruto to catch up, smile on his lips and blue eyes bright.

"How did that paper go?" Naruto asks, pulling the door open and letting Sasuke walk in first. He's here for another meal. This whole not making himself lunch thing is going to end with him being broke if he isn't careful. The food was just too good at the science café though.

"We haven't gotten it back yet," Sasuke answers and his tone is actually civil today, unlike every other time he's talked to Naruto. It normally has a chip to it, like Naruto is a waste of his time. And he doesn't add idiot to the end.

"Oh." Naruto's a little disappointed to hear that. He wants to know how well Sasuke did, which in turn will tell him how well he did correcting Sasuke's paper and cleaning it up a bit. It isn't the first time he's read over a science based paper, but he still isn't sure how to approach them.

There's a pause accompanied by a glare. It's like Sasuke doesn't expect Naruto to follow him all the way to the line for the little café. "Is that all?" There is obvious annoyance in his voice and Naruto notes the civil tone is gone now. Apparently Sasuke only has a tiny bit of patients to spare Naruto. At least it was more than before.

"Uh-" Naruto doesn't really know what to say. He doesn't feel like eating alone and Sakura's office is much too far away for him to walk too. Well, it was more like he was too lazy to walk too. "Want to eat lunch with me?" He hadn't really been planning on saying that and Sasuke looks just as shocked as he does. It takes a moment for Sasuke to get his composure back, dark eyes shifting to look ahead of him at the line.

"Tch, idiot."

He doesn't say no.

He invites Sakura to hang out with his friends. Naruto's damn friends don't believe him when he says he actually made a new friend. Often it's accompanied by "Who the hell would want to be your friend?" or something along those lines. He'll usually shoot back that they're friends with him.

Sakura ends up saying they she'll come and that is how Naruto finds himself at the restaurant with Sakura waiting for his friends.

"I'm sorry they're all late. They probably did that on purpose or something," Naruto mutters. He's already ordered a beer and half of it is gone within the first few minutes. He notices Sakura watching him closely as he takes another long chug of the drink, but ignores the look.

The sudden slam on his back has beer going down his throat the wrong way causing him to start coughing. "Dude, you fucking jerk," he manages to get out between coughs. Kiba only laughs and takes the seat across from him.

"It's your own fault for starting without us," Ino says, arms wrapping around his shoulders and lips pressing against his cheek. She's laughing lightly as she joins Kiba on the other side of the table. Sai slips in next to her without a word, only that odd smile pulling up his lips. He's happy they're getting so much amusement from him chocking on his beer.

"It isn't my fault you guys were late," Naruto replies, drinking the last of his beer in one more go. The bottle is placed aside and the menu is picked up. "Is Gaara even coming? The ass has been skipping out every time we hang out. I bet he's dating someone."

The waitress is back at the table now that she notices a few more people and she asks if anyone would like a drink. Naruto orders another beer, while Ino, Sai and Sakura order a glass of water. Kiba orders himself some sort of ice drink with alcohol and Naruto teases him about it being a girly drink.

"Did you invite anyone else?" Ino asks when the waitress wants to know if they're ready to order.

"Gaara is supposed to be coming as well as Lee and Tenten. I don't think we'll all fit at the table though. We might need to grab a chair or something."

The waitress nods at his answer, excusing herself to get the drinks they wanted. Just then the three others walk in the front door. Tenten waves over to Naruto, a smile on her face and Lee is already going on about youth.

When the whole group is finally there, he introduces Sakura to everyone before they order.

It ends up being a good night. Everyone seems to get along well with Sakura and Sakura doesn't seem to mind his crazy friends.

"Dude, Sakura is totally into you," Kiba says, words a bit slurred in his drunken state. After that iced drink – the on Naruto so kindly called girly – he ordered a few beers. Naruto was already further along than him. Sakura had even mentioned that he probably had enough.

Why can't he seem to stop himself?

"No she's doesn't." Naruto's finally made it to his couch, head hanging over the back and hand pressed against his stomach. He doesn't feel so great, but he'll live. He always manages to somehow.

"I think he might actually be right, Naruto," Ino adds. She had been nice enough to drive the two to Naruto's apartment. It sadly isn't the first time she's done that.

"But I don't like her like that."

There's a furrow to his brow as he tries to think of any indication that Sakura might like him in more than a friend way. It's hard to pull things from his memory with his mind so hazy, but he can't think of a single time. It doesn't really matter though, because he doesn't like her like that.

"Do you like anyone?"

Ino's always likes to use his drunken state for information like this.

There's a shrug of his shoulders in reply and for some odd reason Sasuke's face pops up into his head. He hasn't even known that jerk for a long time. They've only had a handful of conversations that usually just end with them going back and forth to try and prove that Naruto isn't a complete idiot. It is nice when they have a good conversation though, like when they eat lunch together. Sasuke had been civilized. They hadn't talked about much more than school and classes but Naruto enjoyed being with Sasuke.

There's a moment of pause as Naruto sifts through the haze of his mind, two of his friends waiting in silence for an actual answer. After thinking it over a bit, Naruto realizes he actually does like Sasuke. He can't really tell how much at this point in time, but enough to say he'd date him. It was an odd realization and it has blond eyebrows furrowing as he looks at his two friends.

"Sasuke."

They had hit it off the first time they talked and Naruto's enjoyed the little time they've spent together. He's definitely going to have to change that though.

To Be Continued...

I know people are probably going to complain that Sakura is in this way too much or something, but Naruto's friendship with Sakura helps him get closer to Sasuke. This is because Sasuke is normally with Sakura. Sasuke is on her team and doing research with her and he's her TA so they spend a lot of time together.

I hope everyone enjoyed and I'll have the second part out as soon as possible.