Hey guys! Chapter 35! ^_^ By the way, the picture has nothing to do with the chapter. I just found it heart-melting. Anyway hope you enjoy this chapter.

Huddling into a ball on the bus seat, Naruto brought his knees to his chest and played his elbows on them. Sighing in disappointment, the blonde turned his head to the window and stared at the passing street. His mind and thoughts went back to what happened every time.

'Kiba will be Kiba. He hates me more than before now. I guess it's justifiable. I mean Gaara did just ditch him out of the blue. That kind of betrayal hurts.' Naruto said in his mind. He couldn't help but think about his situation just months ago when Sasuke and him were practically enemies.

That kind of pain, the pain of feeling 'not good enough' or 'worthless' was something that's hard to get rid of. It hurts, knowing your friends don't need you anymore or don't want you anymore.

'Makes you think if there is something wrong with you.' The blonde sighed. He felt sympathy for the brunette boy but he couldn't help but hate him also.

Naruto huffed again and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, the bus lurched into a halt. Slowly, the blonde began to unravel himself from the huddled position and stepped onto the bus halt. From there, he walked the rest of the way back to his home. This was the routine now everyday. Sasuke would drive back home while Naruto would take the bus. They avoided the suspicions of everyone in school. It was efficient with no questions asked.

Walking up to the doorstep, he entered, removing his shoes by the door. He knew no one was in the house right now, except for the bastard so he made his way to their room.

Stepping in, he saw Sasuke laying on his bed, eyes closed with one arm draped over his eyes. Books surrounded the bedspread. Pencils, pens and sticky notes were scattered everywhere. A small smile spread across the cute blonde's face as he walked towards the raven. Bending down, he picked up some papers that had fallen onto the floor and placed it on one of the books. He placed the open books onto the side of the bed and cleaned up the stationary. Suddenly he felt a light touch on his arm and the blonde turned to see Sasuke's onxy eyes.

"Hey. Welcome back." The raven said, his voice rough due to the nap. Naruto blushed light pink and grinned bright, trying to cover it.

"Hey. I was just cleaning up. Don't worry! I didn't close the books or anything!" The blonde exclaimed. The raven sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"It's fine. I was done anyway. Thanks." Sasuke gave a small smile to his blonde and grabbed the thin wrist, pulling him down to sit next to him.

"Woah!" The blonde shouted, surprised by the sudden movement. "The hell teme." He said, looking at the breath-taking pale face.

Sasuke just shrugged in reply. "How was school? Settled now?" There were hints of concern in his tone and the blue eyes widened in shock.

'I... never realised he cared a lot. Or maybe it's all in my mind? Yeah definitely, he wouldn't like me like that or care for me like th-'

"Oi dobe, your brain farted or something? What's wrong with you?" Sasuke smirked, amusement clearly evident in his eyes. Naruto snapped out of his trance and glared at the smirking raven.

"Bastard!" He shouted back, huffing out and looking away. Fiddling with his fingers and the hem of his light blue shirt, he tried not to look back at Sasuke.

"Anyway, how was school?" The raven asked again.

Bony fingers continued to play with the soft material for a few seconds before the blonde answered. "It was good. Better than before." He said, grinning at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at the blond, his black eyes now converted into dead seriousness.

"I heard what happened. With you and Kiba. Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, his voice now dropped to a low tenor. Naruto sighed again, his eyes fixed onto his hands.

"It wasn't that bad. Just Kiba being an immature dickhead. Plus it would break the agreement we had Sasuke." The whiskered boy said sadly.

'God I wished everything would be different. I wish I didn't need to hide my damn friendships!' Naruto thought angrily.

"I don't give a shit if anyone knows or what they think and you shouldn't either. Why are you scared if anyone knows dobe?" Sasuke asked softly, knowing Naruto might blow out if he said anything wrong.

"I'm not scared! What the hell made you think that?" Naruto said defensively. Sasuke just snorted in return.

"If you weren't scared, we wouldn't be hiding like this now would we?" The raven argued back, his eyes going soft when he looked at his love's face. Seeing the sadness in his eyes, the way the vibrant blue shade would dim, or the way the small shoulders would slouch as if trying to cower and hide. Wrapping an arm around the blonde, he shifted closer towards him and tucked the soft, blonde head under his chin.

"I'm sorry. It's okay if you want to continue this way. It's not my place to change anything. I just want you to know I don't care about what the others would say. I'll still be here with you." The raven whispered. Looking down at his blonde, seeing the way Naruto's blue eyes looked up at him with gratitude, he felt an over-whelming surge of love fill his chest.

Being used to the affection and the hugging, the blonde wasn't surprised when he felt Sasuke's arm wrap around him. He fell into step and leaned onto the raven's chest. Looking up at him, he smiled in gratitude and whispered...

"I'm just scared we would turn back to what we were and I don't want that."

The raven looked down onto the soft, tan face. his eyes filled with guilt. Bringing the blond head forward, he buried his face into the wild, gold hair, giving it a light nuzzle.

"I will never turn back to what I was before. We will never be that ever again."

Rubbing soothing circles onto Naruto's back, he retracted himself from the embrace. He brought his hand onto the blonde head and brushed the soft hair with his fingers, onxy eyes brimmed with adoration and love but Naruto was in too much denial to see it.

"Thank you Sasuke." He whispered, leaning into the strong body.

"Your welcome, dobe."