Chapter 4: Words of Wisdom

Something was wrong.

Sasuke looked out the window not even bothering to pretend that he was paying attention to the teachers lecture, the lesson wasn’t important anyway and he had other things to worry about.

Something was wrong with the dobe.

It wasn’t as if Sasuke cared about the boy, oh no. That idiot was only good for one thing: his body.

Sasuke didn’t mean that in a sexual way either, he meant strength wise. Naruto provided an outlet for all of the anger and frustration that built up during the day. Their fights were the things that got rid of all his anger and let him concentrate on more important things.

And it had to be Naruto specifically; no one else could do this job. Naruto was the only person that he could fight without sending them to the hospital.

Of course messing with the blond was a plus as well.

But back to more important matters, something was wrong with that idiot. He had called him a dobe more than seven times during their last fight and he never said anything about it, and that is something that never happens.

Sasuke didn’t care why Naruto was acting the way he was, it was that he was acting strange.

Stupid dobe…he just had to have something wrong with his life yesterday…

Yesterday was a bad day, and today wasn’t shaping up to being any better. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed at the thought of what happened the day before. It was that girl again. Sakura just would not leave him alone. Normally he would just ignore her and try to get her to go away by glaring at her (no idea why he still tries to get rid of her this way, she must be immune to that particular glare…yes he has more than one glare). But this time was different, this time she succeeded in cornering him. Sasuke had to listen to her go on and on about the stupid festival that was coming up. She just wouldn’t shut up, even when he told her to go talk to Ino…

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“Sasuke-kun what do you think the theme of the festival should be? I don’t think that the committee is doing a good job in coming up with one? Don’t you?” Sakura said, her eyes wide in admiration.

Sasuke, after many failed attempts to ignore the pink nuisance he had given up silently trying to get her to go away a.k.a. glaring at her till she gets the hint.

“Sasuke-kun, I think that the theme should be-“

“Why are you telling me this?” Sasuke said, never letting up his glare.

Ignoring the glare, she smiled at finally being spoken to by her crush, “Because I think that your opinion in on the theme and the festival in general would be very beneficial to the-“

Interrupting the girl’s speech once more he repeated his previous statement, “Again, why are you asking me this? I’m not in charge of the festival; I don’t have anything to do with it. If you’re so adamant about this, you should talk to Yamanaka-san(1); I have given her full authority in making the festival a success.”

“But…I don’t think that Ino has the responsibility or the creativity needed to do the job properly.” She insisted, not giving up. “She doesn’t have what it takes to pull off this project.”

“Then you should talk to her about it. I don’t have any power over her decisions about the festival, so go talk to her.” ‘And leave me alone’ “Or are you questioning my decision to put Yamanaka-san in charge?”

“No, I just um…” she mumbled trying to form an argument that would help her.

Taking a deep breath Sasuke turned to face the source of his annoyance. “Just leave this alone, you’re not part of the committee nor are you part of the student council; if you really feel that it is necessary for your opinions to be heard go talk to Yamanaka-san or any other student that is part of the festival committee. I don’t have any say in the decisions that Yamanaka-san finalizes so don’t come to me with your opinions. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go talk to Kakashi-sensei.”

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That was only one of the times that that girl had come to him to talk about the stupid festival or any other random student council event. She just would not leave him alone!

‘Would anyone miss her if she suddenly disappeared? Or if she suddenly was attacked by rabid wolfs? ...That would be entertaining...’

Yes Sasuke hated her. And not only for occurrences like this one, oh no, she just happened to be one of the top members of his stupid fan club...he needed to get Ino to break them up again.

Ino was one of the very few women that he could stand. One of these main reasons is that she was not one of his fan girls. In fact she is the one that infiltrates disruptive clubs and takes them down. The last time she investigated Sasuke’s fan club more he was able to get restraining orders against more than 60 of the members…unfortunately; Sakura (a.k.a. the pink bitch) was not one of them.

Okay, back to the dobe, something was wrong and it was beginning to piss him off.

Sasuke had gone to detention, actually looking forward to it because of Kakashi’s decision to go after his coworkers and leave him in charge. After dealing with Sakura all day he had been looking forward to his favorite pastime, annoying the blond idiot. Except the blond just had to have something wrong with him, god that idiot was irritating.

Well after all was said and done, he had found out many interesting things about his dobe. Yes his no one else was aloud to touch him; he couldn’t risk the moron getting hurt…that was his job.

But back to yesterday, the blonde’s unwillingness to rise to Sasuke's usual taunts pissed him off. But on the bright side (if there even was one) Sasuke learned some very interesting things about his (again, the dobe is his) blond. One of which will be very helpful in the future, the boy hates being called a girl.

Sasuke smirked as he remembered the blonde’s reaction to Sasuke's 'innocent' comparison.

He really does have slightly girlish features though... his body was thin but muscular, making his movements graceful and elegant (when he wasn't tripping over something, clumsy idiot). He was shorter than Sasuke himself but couldn't be less than 5’9’’. But his most striking features were his hair and those eyes. Naruto's hair was golden not blond, Ino had blond hair; Naruto's hair was golden. It was longer than it was when they were younger; he also seemed to have gotten some control over it, though it’s still determined to defy gravity. But his hair was nothing compared to those eyes. Those blue eyes, they weren't just one shade of blue; they held so much more variety and depth, just like the blond himself. They were both a window and a barrier to his emotions. One would think that someone like him would wear his emotions on his sleeve, but they would be wrong. He only reveals what he really feels to those he trusts, strangely this included Sasuke as well, but he brushed it off as the other losing his control in moments of anger. Those eyes changed color depending on what the blond was thinking at the moment, but if he wanted to he could shut that window to his mind, shutting everyone else out as well.

Sasuke had only seen Naruto shut everyone out a few times, the first being when he first met the blond. It was years ago, but he could still remember that empty gaze, when you looked into those eyes it was as if your soul had died, there is no way he could ever forget those eyes.

They were in 5th grade; Sasuke was 10 so he must have been around 9. Both Naruto and Gaara were transfer students. When they were introduced to the class Sasuke’s attention immediately focused on the blond. While Gaara was interesting, with his blood red hair, emotionless green eyes that were outlined with black and the tattoo of the character 'Ai' or ‘Love’ on his forehead, he was nothing compared to the blond hiding behind him. While Gaara was glaring at everyone in sight, Naruto's gaze was focused on the floor. His blue eyes were glazed over as if he was in a semi-unconscious state of mind. He was like a doll, hiding behind his friend like he would be hidden from the world. As Sasuke looked at the boy only one thought when through his head, ‘Someone with hair that bright shouldn't look that broken.’ The blond wasn't like him, he was broken, the blond couldn't be, and someone who looked like the sun should never have that look in their eyes...

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. Putting his memories of the past away he rose from his seat and walked out the classroom door.

‘The past isn't important; the only thing that I should concern myself with is the present Naruto. He's my toy, what he thinks doesn't matter, nor does what he feels. All I have to do is make sure that he is still willing to fight, and that no one hurts him.’ Yes, it would be very inconvenient if his plaything was broken.

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Sasuke walked into the student council office, looking around at the people that were currently in the room as he pulled up a chair to the table in the middle of the room. He still to this day wondered how these people became such high ranking members of the student council; they were the furthest thing away from what the average…well anything.

First there was Hyuuga Neji, the vice president of the student council. He was the natural choice for the position and it wasn’t a surprise when he was chosen for the job, Neji would have been a good president as well but the fact of the matter was that Neji disliked attention (not that Sasuke did either but Neji had the tendency to simply leave the room if he began to draw to much unwanted attention to himself). No, that wasn’t the surprising thing about Neji’s participation in the student council; the thing that would shock others is that there attention hating vice-president currently had his boyfriend straddling his lap and was participating in a heated make-out session that seemed to have no end in sight. Yes, these meetings were another place in which Neji and Gaara made everyone in the vicinity uncomfortable with their enthusiastic display of desire/love/hormones/horniness. Despite this strange and unwelcome display of affection that the two boys showed whenever they were with in 5 meters of each other, Neji was very good at his job and helped out whenever he didn’t have work…or a tongue shoved down his throat.

Then there was the boy that was currently sitting on Neji’s lap, Sabaku Gaara the person that you would never expect to be part of the student council and if was he wouldn’t take the job seriously. However, just like Neji, he was good at his job, despite their hormonal urges (they were all use to the two boy’s make-out sessions…sort of). Gaara had initially joined the student council as a way to get closer to Neji, becoming Ino’s ‘helper’ in the process (meaning that in order to get to the two boys together Ino forced Gaara to join. Getting the two boys together was a much longer process than just a quick shove into a janitors closet). Over time he proved to be a valuable member of the SC and gained greater responsibilities, reputation…and more time with Neji. He has two main jobs, one was Ino’s ‘helper’. This meant that he helped organize the events that Ino put together and helped her dismantle clubs/organizations that violated school rules and disrupted school activity. Gaara’s other job was considered one of the most important, if not the most important job (at least in Sasuke and Neji’s opinion) and that was choosing the students that were applying for a position in the SC, meaning that absolutely no fan girl was permitted to join (reason why the Sakura will never be part of the SC, thank god). It is because of this that Sasuke turns a blind eye to Gaara and Neji’s extreme displays of affection, if one could call what they’re doing at the moment ‘affection’ it was more like a full on display of sexual desire but whatever, they were use to it…to an extent.

Sasuke glanced at the door, as it slammed open, reveling an out-of-breath (and late) blond girl, Yamanaka Ino. If there is one thing that everyone agrees with it’s that Ino’s an evil genius. Ino had the respect, responsibility and the reputation that made her a force to be both reckoned with and feared. Considered the unofficial 3rd in charge, Ino handled and regulated all of the social aspects of the student body. This meant that she was in charge of organizing all festivals, dances, all other social gatherings/celebrations and the one that made her the enemy of almost every fan girl, clubs. Any club that caused problems/damage/disruptions/harm to the school and the students were prohibited and were shut down. It just so happen that a majority of the clubs that had been previously dismantled were made up of fan girls, something that Ino despised and she eagerly took it upon herself to punish the members of said clubs. But Ino didn’t just take these clubs apart; she destroyed them. You see, Ino wouldn’t be called an evil genius just for her ability and passion for breaking apart clubs, she gained that title because of how she does it. Apparently having a boyfriend with an IQ higher than 200 had its benefits, especially when he teaches you how to hack into secured computer programs and files. Ino was a hacker, and a pretty good one at that.

Sasuke smirked when he remembered the last time Ino had used her ‘unique’ talent on his fan club, yes the day that she acquired enough information and evidence to get those 60 restraining orders was a good day indeed.

But anyway, back to the rest of the SC members that were in the room.

Sitting quietly at a desk in the far corner of the room was Hyuuga Hinata, the SC secretary. Her job is one of the most sought after positions by fan girls because of the amount of time spent with the president (Sasuke the most sought after man in Konoha High) and the vice-president (Neji who despite being gay and having an extremely possessive and horny boyfriend was the second most sought after man in Konoha High…denial is a scary thing). This was precisely the reason that made Hinata the prime candidate for the job, she wasn't a fan girl, she wasn't a gossip and no one would dare try to manipulate, bully or harm her because of her position due to the fear of what her overprotective cousin would do if he found out that she had been hurt. Despite the fact that Hinata was quiet and shy she was quite good at her job. She completed all of her work on time and was appreciated and supported by those around her, because with out her there would be one more annoying fan girl in their mist. Loved by those around her and hated by those who wanted to be her, she truly was an interesting girl.

Sasuke then looked over at the girl who was trying (and failing) to hide the death glare that she was currently giving the innocent wall in front of her, TemuraTenten (2). One might ask why she was trying to kill the wall with her eyes, or why she was disliked in some way by almost everyone in the room (whether they voiced their opinions or not) the simplest explanation for this is: she’s a fan girl. Neji’s fan girl to be precise. Tenten is the treasurer for the SC, a job that she despises. She had originally applied for Hinata’s job but was declined the position due to her infatuation with Neji. She openly shows her dislike of the fact that she had to work hard and prove herself to achieve her position while others (::chough:: Gaara ::cough–::) got in easily doing nothing. In some ways she works under Gaara (oh the sweet irony), reporting the SC’s budget so that he can in turn give the reports to Ino and Hinata.

Unfortunately Tenten joined the SC before Gaara and thus was able to be in the SC despite being the annoying twit that she is. Sasuke obviously didn’t care for the girl, she was annoying, persistent, mean, fake, and obsessive, the list just went on from there. Plus she gave away information and various other things to his fan girls; again the girl is an annoying twit. Sasuke just wished that there were a way to get rid of her; her constant glaring and her bad attitude was getting extremely old.

Of course there was the last two members of this strange group of people, Aburame Shino and Rock Lee.

Shino was a strange one, stranger than most of the SC members. He was in charge of student-teacher relations; god knows how he accomplishes the job considering that he rarely talks. There wasn’t much to say about the boy, silent, barely shows any emotion, and he has a strange obsession with biology and insects.

Lee (who Sasuke was not happy with at the moment due to his interruption of yesterday‘s fight) was currently having a mostly one-sided conversation with Tenten. To tell you the truth Sasuke wasn’t sure what Lee did, all he knew was that he took care of the things that the others didn’t do. Somehow this included debating with the teachers over the rules and regulations, it was rumored that Shino gave him the job because of his silent nature but Sasuke highly doubted that. A more believable reason was his ability to make others agree with him just to make him shut up. There was a limit thought on what Lee could help with in the SC; he was not allowed under any circumstances to help Ino with her work for obvious reasons (an all green school is not the environment that students wanted to be in everyday).

Sasuke looked down at the list of things that they had to accomplish that Hinata had just passed to him. Mostly it consisted of things that Ino had to clear with the rest of the group, in other words, nothing that would take mush thought which allowed him to get back to the problem that he had been contemplating over in class: Naruto.

Sighing he thought of ways that he could find out what was going on with his dobe. ‘Talking to him wouldn’t work; nether would trying to find out while fighting. I could talk to Ino or Gaara…’

Sasuke mused over those options; he and Gaara had a limited relationship that was set up by unspoken rules. They didn’t fight with each other (fighting with your best friends boyfriend isn’t the best idea and visa-versa), Sasuke was allowed to fight with Naruto as long as he didn’t cause any long term or emotional damage, and if he followed that rule Gaara would give limited information on the blond. They weren’t friends merely acquaintances that happen to be forced to interact, both understood that it was important for themselves to communicate so that everything stayed peaceful. However despite this Sasuke doubted that Gaara would have any information that would help him, Naruto looked like he was having some troubling thoughts if his distant behavior was anything to go by and Gaara wasn’t one for explanations about Naruto’s emotional thoughts (if Naruto did go to Gaara it meant that something was very wrong and Sasuke knew that Gaara would never tell that kind of information about the blond). This left Ino.

Sasuke sighed, asking Ino for information was beyond frustrating. She always demanded something in return, ‘equivalent exchange’ she called it, and unfortunately Sasuke had already learned that the information that he was seeking came with a heavy price. ‘If I ever find out who introduced Ino to anime…’

Letting out another sigh Sasuke stood up and headed towards where he last saw Ino. As Sasuke walked out the SC’s rooms door and turned to walk down the hallway. As Sasuke was about to round a corner he heard the voices of Ino and Gaara. Deciding that it would be better if he didn’t eavesdrop on the conversation and risk getting caught, he wisely chose to try to talk to Ino at a different time. Sasuke then turned around and began to walk towards the library. ‘Might as well get some work done since I’ve been worrying about that idiot all day…’

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Gaara watched as Sasuke walked away, turning all his attention back to Ino he picked up the conversation they had having before they had sensed that they weren’t alone.

“So what’s wrong with Naruto?”

Ino sighed moving her hair out of her face and stared at the floor with a thoughtful look, “It’s more complicated than I originally thought,” she said taking a deep breath before she continued. “Naruto’s having dreams about Sasuke.” She explained ignoring the amused glint in her companion’s eyes as she said this; she had that same look as well when Naruto first told her.

“He thinks it’s because his subconscious is trying to make him see that he’s attracted to Sasuke’s looks but we both know that he had thought that Sasuke was hot before he started having these dreams.”

Gaara leaned against the wall, taking his eyes off of the blond in front of him to look out of a near by window. “So what's going on in his head? Do you think that it has something to do with that incident?”

“He’s starting to like Sasuke, whether it be as a friend or something more, Naruto’s beginning to enjoy the guys company.”

“And that’s what’s bothering him,” Gaara finished. “This is going to be troublesome.”

“Stop acting like Shikamaru.” Ino snapped, looking over the red head as she did so, taking note of his tired features as he let the wall support him. Suddenly a sly grin appeared on Ino’s face, “late night?” she asked with a suggestive tone.

Gaara gave her a blank look, “are we talking about Naruto and his dreams about Sasuke or my sex life? Choose one of those topics because I’m not going to talk about both.”

Ino’s grin faded into a sheepish smile, “sorry, sorry; let’s talk about Naruto.”

“So what are we going to do about him, you know that we can’t just tell him what’s going on in that head of his; the boy’s the king of denial after all.”

Ino leaned against the wall and followed Gaara’s gaze out the window. “I have no clue, but we need to talk to Sasuke, from what Naruto told me the last fight they had Sasuke ended up pinning Naruto against the wall.”

Gaara looked at Ino skeptically, “doesn’t all fighting involve getting pinned up against things and rendering your opponent incapable of fighting?”

“Not when it makes Naruto afraid to fall asleep, he didn’t sleep at all last night. Added to the amount of sleep he misses regularly and all of the work that school and the boss(3) give out, the boy’s exhausted.”

Gaara closed his eyes in thought, when he finally spoke his tone was uncharacteristically quiet and thoughtful. “Whatever we do we have to talk to Sasuke, we can’t tell him everything but we have to tell him not to put Naruto in situations that will make him uncomfortable. If we don’t Sasuke will most likely do something that will hurt Naruto, making him retreat back into his shell. As much as I dislike it, Sasuke needs Naruto more so than he admits.”

Ino looked at Gaara with a serious gaze, “And Naruto needs Sasuke. That boy has done more for Naruto than Kiba, Shika and I ever have.” She smiled bitterly, “and I can’t help but be jealous about that.”

Gaara placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “You’re not the only one that feels that way,” he said as he met Ino’s serious look with his own. “But you and I both know that this is how things are; we can only support Naruto so much, he needs to interact with other people and learn how to trust others. Sasuke is the first person in years that has been able to break through that wall of his. They are the same, both looking for someone to confide in, someone to love and to love them back. I don’t know if they are looking for each other or if this is just another step towards that goal but we need to let them continue this strange relationship, if not for their own sanity but for ours as well; we can only worry so much.” (4)

Ino’s smile became softer as she listened to Gaara’s words. “You’re right, as usual. You should really go into psychology, I bet you would make millions.” She said as she came out of her temporary depression.

“To much work, and besides I only care about those close to me I don’t give a rats ass about other people.” Gaara said as he too came out of his serious mood. “You know that I would just tell people to go talk to someone who cares about their problems because I’m to busy trying to make sure that two blonde’s don’t breakdown and start shooting people(5).” A rare grin began to appear on his face as he went on.

“No the one that we need to worry about snapping and harming others is Sasuke,” Ino replied with a matching expression on her face. “We both know that if he didn’t have Naruto he would have blown up the school long ago, thanks to that temper of his.”

“True, true” Gaara agreed with an amused glint appeared in his eyes at the thought of the Uchiha losing his composure.

With the dark atmosphere lifted the two friends began walking to class, quietly continuing their conversation, joking about how they would break it to Sasuke that he couldn’t put Naruto in any suggestive positions and the ravens reaction to their demands. However despite their joking attitude, inside they were both anticipating the future and what it would mean for the ones they cared for.