Only Fools Fall For You (SasuNaru)

• Part 15 •

I can't take this anymore! I need to talk to him about it! Naruto put a pillow over his face, cursing that he didn't have better self control. The Uchiha had been long gone by the time he woke up and he had spent most of the morning trying to force a coherent thought. And that was what he came up with.

He couldn't prompt himself to do anything. Getting dressed and brushing his teeth seemed like tasks that took hours so by the time he was ready to start the day he could only bring himself to fall onto the couch in defeat. Every passing moment seemed to ache him painfully and stretched on for, what felt like, a lifetime. His chest was under so much pressure that it hurt to breathe. He had never been this confused before in his life.

The knock at the door wasn't even enough to motivate him to move and he only grunted in reply.

"Naruto?" Shikamaru poked his head in. "I didn't see you down at breakfast, so I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Mnn..." He groaned as he closed his eyes.

"That good, eh?"

"I want to talk about it..." Whenever Shikamaru was around Naruto felt as if he owed it to him to be as honest as he could.

"You did, with me."

"I want to talk to him..."

"Why?"

"Because..." he hesitated. "I want to know what the hell he was thinking."

"And you're sure that's all you want to know?"

"Yeah..." he murmured, knowing that no matter if he tried to hide something, Shikamaru would always know the truth.

"Why didn't you talk to him yesterday when you got back?"

"I couldn't..." He croaked as he finally brought himself to sit up. "No one can just walk up to Sasuke and boldly talk about something like that."

"You'll get the chance," Shikamaru stated. "Kiba, Shino, and I are going to be in the lounge before clubs start. Did you want to join us?"

Naruto shook his head with a weak smile. "I'd be a bit of a buzz kill. Thanks though."

"Suit yourself. I'll see you later." His friend yawned with a lazy wave before shutting the door. He couldn't help but feel grateful for the fact that Shikamaru was so courteous and always knew when not to pry too much.

Naruto stretched as he fell back onto the couch. There was too much on his mind for him to be able to function properly. When he glanced at the new alarm clock he noticed that 4 hours had already passed him by, but when he tried to recall what had happened he would draw a blank. Before he knew it he was asleep again, unaware that he'd wake up the next morning.

"WAKE UP!"

"FUCKING CHRIST!" Naruto leapt from, what he thought was, the couch only to realize that he was in his bed. When did I get there?

"Please tell me that you didn't sleep all day yesterday," Kiba laughed with a look back at Shikamaru. Yesterday?

The blond glanced at the clock. Noon. "It's Sunday?! How did that happen?"

"At least you're more animated," Shikamaru commented with a shake of his head. "How're you feeling?"

"Incredibly heavy and like I have to get to the library!" He yelped as he jumped over the bed and rummaged for some clean clothes.

"The... Library? But you just woke up," Kiba said, looking more baffled than Shikamaru.

"Neji's orders," he explained with an apologetic smile. "Are you guys going to be around here later? I'll try and find you."