disclaimer_standard disclamation...wtf i didn't even know that was a word.

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"Where the hell is he?"

"Still chasing after your brother like a lost puppy I see."

"I know you know where he is. Tell me."

"Poor baby."

"Stop fucking around–"

"Or what? You'll shoot me? Hahaha, all right then. Go ahead, pull the trigger, kid."

"Fuck you."

"Hey...hey...hellooooo. If you keep staring at that bagel without blinking, your eyeballs are gonna shrivel up in their sockets."

Sasuke blinked once and Kisame's sharp-toothed sneer faded from his mind. He barely flinched as his thoughts jumped to focus on the pink-haired girl sitting across from him.

Realizing that she now had his attention, Sakura leaned forward and propped her head up on her hand. "So, how were your exams?" she asked conversationally.

"What do you want," Sasuke asked flatly.

"I'm Sakura Haruno by the way."

"I know. You already told me."

"…."

"What," he snapped.

"Now you're supposed to tell me your name. We're introducing ourselves. This is what friends do," she said matter-of-factly.

Sasuke replied without hesitation. "We're not friends."

"Please, after all I did for you? Fine, we're at least at the acquaintance level," she declared, "which still requires a name."

"It's Sasuke, now leave," he bristled. This girl felt like a cheese grater against his nerves. The only other person in the world who could annoy him this much was that dumbass Naruto.

However, instead of storming off in huff like he had expected, Sakura held out a hand and looked at him dead in the eye.

"What."

"Compensation," she answered without missing a beat.

"The hell are you–"

Sakura grabbed the bagel off of the plate between them and wagged it accusingly in Sasuke's general direction. "Because of you, my paper was two hours late. Now the highest grade I can get on it is a B, which is going to screw with my entire GPA. I. Want. Com. Pen. Sa. Tion," Sakura demanded with each shake of the tubular bread.

Sasuke snorted.

"I have a 4.0!" She protested.

"You can have that bagel."

"Don't be cheap, jerk. Besides, this thing is stale," She complained around a mouthful of the bread. "Hey! Where're you going? Stop running away from our conversations!"

Sasuke turned around to make it clear he wasn't "running away", saw her cheeks bulging with half-chewed bagel bits, and began walking away again. He knew from living with an idiot that there was no point in arguing with one

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As soon as Sasuke opened the door to his room, his head was assailed by a pillow. Fortunately, he managed to catch it before it came in contact with his face.

"Yo bastard," Naruto greeted from his desk, "where the hell were you last night?" The blonde's voice was light and casual, but it couldn't completely mask his worry.

"Out," Sasuke answered evenly.

"Out where?"

"Out," he repeated.

"The whole night?" Naruto pressed.

"The whole night." Sasuke threw back the pillow and Naruto knew the conversation was over.

The blonde sighed and tossed the pillow back onto his bed. "Well as awesome as those strip clubs are Sasuke–whatthefuckisthat?" The blonde blurted when Sasuke took off his shirt.

"Nothing," Sasuke said, shifting so that the bandaged wound was turned away from his roommate's piercing gaze.

"Like hell it is," Naruto muttered. He had seen red blooming on the gauze; it was bleeding. "You're going to go to a hospital for that right?"

Sasuke snorted. Naruto didn't like the implications behind that. "Look bastard, you really should go see a doctor, that one looks pretty serious."

Sasuke grunted noncommittally, keeping his attention fixed on his wound.

"Sasuke–" Naruto began, but he was cut off by a knock at the door.

"Got it," Sasuke announced, glad for the interruption. The last thing he needed was another one of Naruto's "Moving On" sermons. He threw his shirt back on and opened the door.

"Hi–"

Sasuke slammed the door shut and pressed the lock on the knob.

Naruto looked on with a puzzled expression. "The hell was that?"

"Nothing," Sasuke said nonchalantly as he walked away from the door. He sat down at his desk and flipped open his econ textbook, immediately absorbed in the reading.

...knock, knock, knock….knock, knock, knock…

Naruto looked from Sasuke, then to the door, and then back to Sasuke again. "Aren't you going to get that?"

...knock, knock, knock...

"No," he answered distractedly.

...knock, knock, knock...POUND, POUND, POUND…

"Damn it," Naruto cursed as he got up from his chair.

Sasuke's head snapped up as his black eyes followed his roommate walk across the room. "What're you doing?" He demanded.

...POUND, POUND, POUND...

"Better not be one of your crazy arch enemies or anything," Naruto muttered.

Before Sasuke could stop him, his roommate had opened the door. "Yo, what's with all the pounding–"

"Hi. I'm Sakura. Is Sasuke there?"

"Uh…" Naruto paused for a bit and then turned around. "Hey bastard, did you know there's a really cute chick looking for you at the door?"

"Don't let her in," Sasuke commanded.

"Do you wanna come in?"

"Sure," Sakura answered and strode in.

Sasuke sighed wearily and slammed his book shut. "The hell are you doing here?"

"I live on this floor too," she reminded him.

"Oh you do? Where?" Naruto asked amicably.

"Just four doors down," Sakura replied. "Can I sit here?" Sakura motioned to the bed nearest to her.

"Sure, go ahead," Naruto nodded.

Sasuke didn't like how she was starting to get comfortable. "No, just go back to your room."

Unfortunately for him, Sakura chose to take up Naruto on his invitation instead. "As if. I'm in a single, and it's soooo boring," Sakura whinged. She appealed to Naruto with woebegone eyes. "You wouldn't send be back would you?"

The blonde looked at her sympathetically. "No of course not!"

"Really?"

"Yeah don't worry, you can just come over and hang here whenever you're lonely or bored. We even got a fridge and it's stocked," Naruto said, his mischievous grin insinuating alcoholic paraphernalia.

"Seriously? Whenever I want?" Sakura pulled a pillow onto her lap. She didn't really care much for alcohol though.

"No," Sasuke objected, "stay in your own room."

"Yeah, of course!" Naruto answered with a thumbs up.

Sasuke shot the blonde daggers and Sakura smiled victoriously.

It was the start of something beautiful.

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Far away from the alley where the shark-faced man lay with his brains blown out, he sat against a wall breathing hard. It was dark. He didn't know where he was. His thoughts, his conscious, everything was out of grasp. All he had left to hang onto was the gun in his hand and one word.

Akatsuki.

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author's notes_

1.I officially have no friggin clue where I'm going with this...

2. okay, that's a lie. I kind of have a roadmap...

3. ...a crinkled, coffee-stained, barely legible roadmap. wtfail.

4. on a side note: Check out "A Backwards Goodbye" if you're in the mood for some twistedness and friendship (and yes...it's vague on purpose. my entire life is VAGUE ON PURPOSE. wait what?)

5. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS AND SUPPORT *SNIIIIIIIIIFF* YOU GUYS ARE TOO SWEET! DAAAAAW!

6. return and rehash...will...be...returning. (did you see what I did there? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL)

7. reviewssssszzzzz prease?