The Top Floor

Several hours later found Sasuke wandering sluggishly from Naruto’s room, using the heel of his hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. He made his way into his bedroom and groped under the bed for his suitcase. Pulling out a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste and a bar of soap, he made his way back out of the room and into the bathroom.

It was days like these he was glad the bathroom did not have a mirror. He did not even want to think of how disheveled he must look. Last night had been long, and gruesome, and exhausting. It had also been elating. Sasuke smiled slightly, remembering Naruto kissing him, but then frowned again. Mostly the night had been exhausting. Even after Naruto had returned from talking to Shizune, Sasuke had slept fitfully, jolting awake every thirty minutes or so and laying back down in relief at finding Naruto still at his side. He was sure he looked awful, bags under his eyes, hair matted and all.

Sasuke wet his toothbrush and squirted some toothpaste on it. Slipping it inside his mouth, he absently scrubbed his teeth, wondering what time it was since no one else seemed to be awake. A warm hand on his shoulder startled him. He turned quickly to regard Naruto, who had walked to his side, yawning widely.

“Morning.”

“Moahig,” Sasuke mumbled back unintelligibly around foamed toothpaste. Naruto grinned sleepily at him. Sasuke leaned forward and spit into the sink, then turned on the water and rinsed out his mouth. Naruto ripped open two rectangular packages and removed two pieces of gauze-like cotton. He slipped them over his two index fingers and proceeded to start rubbing them over his teeth. Sasuke watched curiously as Naruto finished the top row with one finger and started on the bottom with the other. When he finished, he slipped the glove-like sleeves off and tossed them in the wastebasket. He produced his own bar of soap and proceeded to scrub his hands meticulously under hot water.

Sasuke couldn’t stay silent any longer, his curiosity getting the best of him. “What...?” was the only question his still sleep-hazed mind could conjure up.

Naruto glanced over at him, unaware that he was being watched, but once he realized what had prompted the brunette’s question he gave an odd smile.

“I can’t have a toothbrush,” he supplied. Sasuke still looked confused. Sighing, Naruto took the toothbrush from Sasuke’s lax hand and held it up in front of his face, then pointed at the handle. Realization dawned on Sasuke’s face. Naruto smiled again, trying to keep the atmosphere normal. He rinsed off his hands and turned off the water with his forearm.

“Shit, I forgot my towel!” he suddenly exclaimed, starting to run out of the bathroom. Sasuke grabbed his arm.

“Here, just use mine,” he said, waving his blue towel at Naruto. Naruto looked back incredulously at him with wide eyes.

“Hell no! Do you have any idea how many germs are in that thing?!”

“Funny, germs didn’t seem to be bothering you last night,” Sasuke replied, glancing meaningfully at the toilet. Naruto glared evilly at him but after failing to come up with a suitable comeback, turned angrily and left the bathroom.

Sasuke let himself laugh then. He returned to the sink and turned on the water. Splashing some on his face, he lathered his hands in soap and rubbed them over his face.

“Sasuke.”

He turned to the doorway to see Naruto facing away from him but gesturing for him to come. He followed him out into the common room, finding Kiba and Lee sitting on the couch, facing each other. Lee was as calm as could be, with no hint of emotion on his face. Kiba, on the other hand, was completely red and pressing both of his hands to his mouth, apparently trying to contain himself. Sasuke stood watching the two for a few seconds before he was noticed by Kiba, who promptly dropped his hands and, pointing, laughed uproariously. Lee grinned in victory and turned to regard whatever had undone his competition. On seeing Sasuke he laughed loudly as well.

It was then that Sasuke remembered the suds now dripping off his face. Naruto started to giggle.

Sasuke scowled and stalked back to the bathroom, quickly rinsing his face. Irritation flooded his senses. He had never been one to handle being laughed at maturely.

A sharp poke to his butt sent him spinning quickly. A mop of blonde darted around the corner of the doorway, laughing gleefully. Sasuke wiped his face quickly and sprinted after the offender.

“NARUTO! You--” he started to yell but stopped abruptly upon seeing an extremely irritated Shikamaru exiting his bedroom. Shika glared at the room in general before leaning back against the doorpost and running a hand over his face sleepily.

“Why,” he sighed, “why do you people feel the need to be so damn loud?”

The room was silent for a moment before Naruto raised his hands as though in self-defense, backing away from Shika.

“It wasn’t me!”

Sasuke’s jaw dropped at Naruto’s obvious attempt to hang him to dry.

“Well it sure as hell wasn’t me!” he growled.

Shikamaru looked pointedly at him, one eyebrow raised. “Idiot. I just saw you screaming.”

Sasuke glared then, retrieving his things from the bathroom before stomping back to his room. Naruto followed him in, laughing. Sasuke threw his soap, toothbrush and toothpaste into the suitcase before shoving it violently under the bed.

All Sasuke wanted to do was go somewhere to cool off. Damn this place and its lack of privacy! He was about to stalk back to the bathroom, where he hoped no one would dare to disturb him, when arms wrapped around his waist from behind and embraced him. Sasuke walked forward a few more steps but stopped, sighing resignedly as the arms retained their firm grip. He waited a few moments then turned, making sure his trademark scowl was firmly in place. Laughing blue eyes met his.

“Sorry,” offered Naruto. “You’re just so funny to annoy.”

“Always an excellent way to pacify me, Uzumaki. Aggravate me a little more.” Sasuke’s irritation was starting to waver as he watched Naruto struggle to keep his laughter from surfacing. Finally Naruto managed an almost straight face.

“I’m sorry,” he tried again. Then he lifted his hands to rest lightly on Sasuke’s shoulders and, raising himself slightly on his toes, chastely kissed him. Sasuke closed his eyes, his irritation slowly ebbing away.

Naruto pulled back and raised his eyebrows in question. Sasuke opened his eyes again, smiling reluctantly. Naruto grinned then and laughed.

“C’mon, let’s get some breakfast!” he exclaimed excitedly. Sasuke couldn’t help but widen his smile. Naruto’s innocent excitement was contagious. He allowed himself to be dragged by the arm back into the common room.

They entered just as Ten Ten was delivering their breakfasts to the table. Shikamaru looked at Naruto curiously, then at Sasuke with an eyebrow raised in question. Sasuke just shrugged and hoped that Shika would choose discretion over curiousity, at least for the moment. He had no desire to try to explain what was going on between him and Naruto, especially when he didn’t know exactly himself. Thankfully Shikamaru only stared a moment longer before turning to his cereal, scooping out the marshmallows.

Sasuke sat down next to Shika with his own bowl and lightly elbowed him.

“Why do you do that?”

Shika just shrugged, retrieving the last of the rainbow colored fluffs and depositing them on the carpet.

“Don’t you like them?” Sasuke pressed, scooping up a spoonful of his own cereal and taking a bite.

Shikamaru nodded. “I do, but...well, Neji never did. He always took his out and demanded that I stop eating mine too.” He took a bite and looked across the table at nothing in particular as though lost in a memory. Sasuke let him be, continuing to eat. The noise of Sasuke’s spoon dragging against the bottom of the Styrofoam bowl shook Shika from his reverie.

“Just a habit, I guess,” he finished with a small smile. The boys sat in companionable silence, eating and listening to the noises coming from across the table where Lee and Kiba were bickering over who could fit the most cereal in their mouths and Naruto sitting between them, trying to mediate.

“I hate marshmallows,” Sasuke blurted out suddenly. Shika turned to look at him peculiarly. Sasuke continued to eat, shifting around the marshmallows in his bowl. “Anything sweet, actually. I can’t stand sugar.”

Shika nodded, although why was beyond him. Sasuke looked up mid-bite to find Naruto listening. As their eyes met across the table, Naruto scooped up a mouthful of marshmallows and shoved them in his mouth with a smug grin. Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Suddenly a loud spewing noise filled the air. Kiba’s mouth had exploded, sending soggy cereal and milk flying in all directions. Naruto sat in his chair, stone still and soaked. Kiba was coughing violently and grabbing at his throat in frantic flailing motions. Lee, seeing Kiba’s distress, leapt out of his seat and wrapped his arms around Kiba’s waist, slamming his fists into the boy’s stomach in an impromptu Heimlich maneuver.

Kiba was hauled off his feet by the zeal in which Lee was rescuing him. “Breathe! BREATHE!” Lee cried, his fists burying themselves in Kiba’s gut again.

Kiba made a face and hand maneuvers that clearly stated that he was trying his best. And then suddenly, a small piece of cereal shot out of his open mouth straight towards Shikamaru and Sasuke. Sasuke let out a yelp as he tipped his chair backwards in an attempt to avoid the projectile, and Shikamaru hit the floor silently, his chair toppling over as he did. Everything froze for a few seconds.

Then chaos erupted.

Naruto let out a high pitched wail, reminding everyone that he was covered in a liquid that had been regurgitated from someone else’s mouth. Sasuke was letting out low frequency grumbles as he rubbed his sore elbow, sending death glares to Kiba.

Kiba was frantically trying to escape Lee, who still held him tight, and was still performing the Heimlich, seemingly unaware that Kiba had already spat out the problem. Lee ignored the screeches and flailing arms and legs as he continued to “rescue” Kiba.

“If you just sit still this will be easier!!”

“Let me GOOOOO!” Kiba howled.

Shikamaru took one good look at everything that was happening and then curled up into a ball on the floor, pressing his palms to his ears, his face an angry scowl.

Sasuke stood, his mind set on freeing Kiba from Lee’s clutches, when he was bowled over by a sprinting Naruto who was frantically shaking his head and wiping his face off with paper towel.

“Ew—ew—ew—ew--!”

“Naruto!” Sasuke yelled, picking himself off of the floor. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Na—ru—to—he—lp—me!” Kiba screamed, his speech stuttering as Lee continued punching him in the stomach.

Naruto saw his predicament and rushed to his aid, only to trip on Shikamaru on the way over. Naruto’s foot caught on Shika’s elbow, and he went down, taking the table with him as he tried to grab it for balance.

The table hit the ground with a thundering THUD and Sasuke was barely able to jump out of the way in time to avoid it.

“You almost KILLED me!” Shikamaru accused, pointing his finger at Naruto. “That table landed two inches from my head!”

“It wasn’t like I did it on purpose!”

“Everyone QUIET!”

The room fell into a hush and they all looked at the source of the noise. Ten Ten stood at the door, her arms folded in front of her, a very angry, disapproving look on her face. Seeing them freeze, she walked into the room, stopping just short of the fallen table.

“Lee, let Kiba go.”

Kiba slumped to the floor.

“Boys…”

They all cringed.

“What is the meaning of this!” She demanded, pointing to the mess. She saw their mouths open at once to explain and she held her hand up. “Never mind…just—just clean this up. You have group in five minutes, and I want this room spotless when I come back to get you.” With that, she left the room, the door slamming a little harder than usual to emphasize her point.

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Shikamaru let out a groan. “Group…” he muttered under his breath.

A chorus of groans surfaced.

Lee was oblivious as he picked up the bowls off the floor, tossing them into a garbage can. “What is this, “group”?” he asked.

“Sitting around and talking about our feelings…” Sasuke muttered as he and Shikamaru stood the table up. “It’s riveting, really…”

But Lee’s face brightened at this. “Well I should think so! I for one always enjoy such things as--,”

By then they had stopped listening as they continued cleaning the room. Ten Ten arrived a few minutes later and ushered them to the room of hell.

~

Shizune step faltered as she entered the room, having to remind herself to walk to her seat as she took in the boys surrounding the table and the unnatural vibe they had brought with them. Naruto was wet from his hair to his chest, and he didn’t look too thrilled about it. Kiba had his arms wrapped around his stomach and was constantly glaring at Lee.

Rock Lee. The new kid. He seemed the only one of the group that was not perturbed.

Although they were less blatant, Sasuke and Shikamaru looked angry too, and she couldn’t help but notice the disheveled look of their hair and clothes.

This was bound to be interesting.

She sat in her chair, clearing her throat to draw the attention of the boys to herself. Lee smiled shamelessly at her, but that was the only real reaction she was able to get.

A few more seconds of silence passed. Shizune kept looking between each boy, then raised her brows as she sighed. What more had she really expected? Group therapy was a lost concept on this bunch.

“I’m not really sure what’s going on here, but let’s try to put it behind us and move forward with a clean slate, okay?”

More silence.

“Kiba? Will you pass these out for me?” she asked in a resigned voice. Kiba sullenly stood and took the paper from her. He gave one to all the boys except Lee, opting to place his piece on the other side of the circular table so Lee would have to reach for it. Shizune slapped her hand on it and slid it over to an oblivious Lee. Kiba scowled and returned to his seat.

“Shikamaru, will you please read the first paragraph out loud?”

Shikamaru’s eyes quickly scanned the sheet, then widened almost comically. He glared up from the paper at Shizune.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said incredulously. Shizune stared back, not backing down.

“Read, Shikamaru.”

Shika narrowed his eyes spitefully but lowered them back to his paper and started to read reluctantly in a low voice.

“You’ve got a friend in--”

“What?” Kiba blurted out. Shika’s glare intensified, and Kiba visibly shrank.

“I can’t hear...” he whimpered. Shizune would have grinned evilly if it hadn’t been an inappropriate thing for a psychiatrist to do to her patients.

“Speak up, Shika.”

Shikamaru growled at the use of his nickname without permission but continued, louder this time.

“You’ve got a friend in me, you’ve got a friend in me. When the road looks--”

This time he was interrupted by a loud snicker from Sasuke. Shika did smile evilly.

“I have an idea. Let’s go around the circle and each read a line!” he said in an incredibly fake voice, an equally fake grin in place.

“Good idea, Shika!” Now two glares were fixated on Shizune. Lee was excited to be involved, Naruto was spacing out, and Kiba hadn’t recognized the song yet. Sasuke was sure once he did, he would be bouncing up and down and screaming, or something equally Kiba-esque.

“Okay, Shika, go ahead and start again.”

Grimace. “You’ve got a friend in me.” Evil grin.

Nudge to Sasuke’s ribs. “Oh, um, you’ve got a friend in me.” I hate you, Shikamaru.

Naruto continued in a droning voice, “When the road looks rough ahead...”

“Just remember what you’re old pal said,” read Kiba, his face slowly lighting up.

“Boy, you’ve got a friend in me!” exclaimed Lee, overexaggerating the emphases in each word.

And so they continued reading around the circle.

“You’ve got a friend in me.”

“You’ve got troubles, well I have ‘em too.”

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do.”

“We stick together and we see it through.” (Three grimaces over the cheesiness.)

“You’ve got a friend in me!” Kiba was singing the words now.

“You’ve got a friend in meeeee,” Lee chose to sing as well.

“Some other folks might be a little bit--” Shika paused to glare daggers at Shizune, “—smarter than I am.”

“Bigger and stronger too, maybe?” Sasuke asked in a bewildered voice, wondering how on earth he had liked this song when he was little.

“But none of them will love you the way I do.”

“And as the years go by,” sang Kiba.

“Boys, our friendship will NEVER die!” Lee declared. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“You’re gonna see, it’s our destiny,” Shika grumbled.

“YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME!” Lee and Kiba finished, singing loudly, all traces of animosity gone between them.

Sasuke promptly crossed his arms on the table in front of him and buried his head.

“Well, that was fun,” said Naruto sarcastically.

“Yes, for all parties involved,” Shika added.

“PARTY?” Lee shrieked. Kiba squealed and clapped his hands loudly.

“Nooooo,” came Sasuke’s muffled groan.

Shizune had been watching the group’s new dynamics with interest. However, at the sight of two hyperactive boys growing more excited by the nanosecond, she decided it was time to intervene before things got...louder.

“The point,” she started to say over the noise.

Shika snorted. “There was a point?”

The look on Shizune’s face clearly said that Shika had pulled the last straw. “That’s enough, Shika,” she warned. She turned to Kiba, deciding to try a new tactic.

“Kiba, what do you think that song was saying?”

Kiba smiled widely. “That I’ve got a friend in...in...” He looked puzzled, then suddenly his face split into a grin. “In all of them!” he exclaimed, pointing around the circle. Shika started to retort but stopped when Sasuke lightly elbowed him and shook his head. To Sasuke’s surprise he made a face but remained silent.

“Exactly Kiba!” Shizune grinned for Kiba’s benefit. “Now, it’s important to be able to take care of yourself. But sometimes that means knowing when to ask someone else for help. And you can ask your friends for help, because that’s what friends do. They help each other.”

“Like Woody and Buzz!”

“Yes, Kiba, like Woody and Buzz.”

Kiba grinned and stretched his arms out like wings. “TO INFINI--”

“Not now, Kiba,” Naruto interrupted wearily. Kiba looked at Naruto then abruptly dropped his arms and crossed them across his chest, leaning back in his chair and pouting.

“So,” Shizune went on as though nothing had happened, “let’s all tell about a time when we asked a friend to help and they did.” She had long since given up on asking for volunteers; she had excellent results with these boys when they were one-on-one, but for some reason as a group they didn’t seem to get much out of the sessions. “Lee, why don’t you start?”

Lee was silent for a few moments, looking thoughtful. Then his face lit up.

“I know!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger towards the ceiling. “I asked Naruto to teach me how to do the origami, so I could make paper cranes!”

“Why did you want to learn how to make cranes?” asked Shizune.

Lee instantly sobered, his expression becoming unreadable as he dropped his gaze to the table. The atmosphere was tensing increasingly as Lee sat in silence and the other boys looked on, anticipating the mood swing that was sure to come.

“Why, Lee?” Shizune tried again.

It was a few seconds before Lee gave any sign that he had heard the question. Keeping his eyes glued to the surface of the table, he took a somewhat shaky breath and replied, “My mom used to make origami. She was really good, too. She could make elephants, and dragons, and grasshoppers. I always watched her make them and begged her to teach me how, and she said she would when I turned ten. But...but she was gone by then.”

Lee hung his head, sniffling. Sasuke looked apprehensive.

Wait for it...

Suddenly Lee let out a wail and faceplanted onto Shika’s shoulder, shaking with unrestrained sobs. Shika looked bewilderedly across the table to Shizune. Unfortunately for Shika, Shizune was too busy chewing a thumbnail to be bothered with the trivial matter of a blubbering Lee come undone.

Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba just stared on in morbid fascination as Lee flung his arms around Shika’s neck. But, surprisingly to them all, Shika didn’t react. Well, at least not as badly as they would have thought he would. He just rolled his eyes and with a resigned sort of grimace began to pat Lee’s shoulder uncomfortably.

Sasuke blinked, then blinked again, sure he was seeing things. The same boy who had shook with rage at Lee’s mere request for friendship was now letting said boy cling to him like a...a barnacle.

A few awkward shoulder pats later, Lee was beginning to quiet down. Finally he let go of Shika’s neck and surfaced from his shoulder, resting his temple where his forehead had been. He closed his eyes wearily and slowly his breathing returned to a normal pace.

Shizune smiled discreetly behind her thumb as she watched Lee gradually relax. Finally, finally it seemed that Shikamaru could focus on something other than his loss of Neji. Once Lee had quieted completely, she wiped her face blank once again and removed her hand from in front of her mouth.

“So you see, Lee? You asked Naruto to help you with something that was important to you, and he did.”

Lee nodded solemnly.

“Okay, Shika, you’re next.”

Shika shrugged. “I asked Kiba to eat my mushrooms, and he did.”

“Was that important to you?”

“Yeah. I really hate mushrooms.”

Shizune closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling slowly.

“Sasuke, you’re up.”

Sasuke’s forehead creased as he thought. He knew he had asked a certain someone for a lot of help since his arrival at the hospital but he struggled to find something, anything that wasn’t so personal.

Coming up with nothing, he sighed.

I hate group.

“I asked Naruto to help me start to talk about my...feelings...more,” he admitted reluctantly.

Shizune nodded and wisely moved on.

“Naruto?”

Naruto turned to Kiba, who had been slowly losing focus, and grinned at him. “I asked Kiba to keep me company one night when I was feeling sad, and he helped me feel better, without even trying.”

Kiba lit up at the praise. He bounced lightly in his seat as he shot his hand up in the air.

“Kiba, your turn,” Shizune told him.

“I ask Naruto to play with me all the time, because I’m bored, and he always does,” Kiba declared. Then, with a thoughtful look, he added somberly, “Except when he’s napping. I leave him alone then.”

Shizune smiled at him. “That’s very nice of you, Kiba. And just like you ask Naruto for help, you can ask your other friends, too.” She looked around the table once, making sure she had every boy’s attention.

“You five are all friends. Do you understand?”

Kiba answered for all of them with an excited yip.

Shizune looked at her watch. “Alright, boys, we’re out of time--”

And, just as always, by the time she looked up the room was empty, save for the slightly crumpled papers littering the table.

~

Kiba walked down the hall, his arms swinging at his sides. His mind flew from thought to thought as he skipped after the group of four boys who walked ahead of him, his attention never landing on something for too long.

Naruto looked back and called out, “Kiba, you coming?”

Kiba grinned, his arms still flopping at his sides. “Yeah!”

He hummed to himself as the group continued, the happy grin still on his face. This was a good day.

Kiba was not a very complex person. If he got something good to eat, got along with everyone and took a nap, everyday was a good day. But hey, life’s much more enjoyable if you’re easy to please. And, despite the morning’s rocky start, he was quick to forget.

His head was bobbing from side so side to the imaginary beat in his head when he saw him. He froze in his tracks as a boy passed by him, holding a bright red fire engine toy in his hands.

The boy from the barbecue. He didn’t seem to notice Kiba as he walked past him and through a doorway.

Kiba stood stalk still, his eyes wide. The truck…that was the truck that made the noise!

Naruto saw that Kiba lagged behind, and he pulled on Sasuke’s arm, halting the group. “Kiba, come on!”

“What is he doing?” Shikamaru muttered, folding his arms over his chest. After no one made a move to retrieve him, he tapped his foot and sighed. “Just go get him already, Naruto.”

“Why is it always my job?” Naruto asked, slightly irritated. “It wouldn’t kill you guys to take some responsibility for once.”

“Hey, hey!” Sasuke interjected, pointing an accusing finger. “I took care of him the whole time you were away. I have paid my dues!”

Naruto let out an offended gasp. “Paid your dues? Is that what you see him as? As some chore that you have to take care of?”

“Ah, but see,” Shikamaru corrected, “We don’t have to take care of it. You do.”

Naruto glared and folded his arms over his chest.

Kiba wasn’t paying attention to the angry exchange between his friends; he only stared at the doorway the boy had disappeared into. An idea was slowly, slowly coming together in his head.

He wanted the truck. The boy had the truck. If the boy had the truck, he couldn’t have the truck…

Hmm…

“I’m just saying that Kiba is a person, as much as any of the rest of us,” Naruto frowned defensively.

“God, just let it GO already Naruto. I said I was kidding!” Shikamaru groaned. “Can we please move on now?”

Aha! He must take the truck…

“All I’m saying is-,”

Sasuke interrupted Naruto, poking him in the side. “Um…guys?”

“What?!”

Sasuke pointed blatantly and they all turned to look.

Kiba had let out a whoop and had started to sprint down the hallway. Naruto’s eyes bulged.

“Kiba!”

Naruto dashed after him without a second’s hesitation. “Kiba, stop! Come back!”

Sasuke’s body acted without his brain, and before he knew it, he was running after Naruto. “Hey, Naruto, wait!”

Kiba was running as fast as he could, through the doorway and into another long hallway. He dodged around nurses and patients and carts, weaving his way after the boy who held his happiness clutched in his arms.

Naruto was on his tail, falling behind only when Kiba almost turned over a cart full of medicine bottles in his haste. Naruto quickly righted the cart, and apologized profusely to the nurse before continuing after him. Sasuke was now right behind Naruto.

“Naruto! Stop, goddamn it!”

“No!” Naruto shouted. “Kiba! Kiba come back!......KIBA!”

The boy didn’t even look back.

Okay, now Naruto was mad.

~

Shikamaru watched with an eyebrow cocked as the three boys sprinted around the corner and out of sight. Lee still was slumped against his shoulder dejectedly as he watched the chase leave the hallway.

“I wish I could run fast…” he muttered, frowning.

Shikamaru snorted and pushed him off his shoulder yet again. “Cheer up, okay? You’re annoying like this...”

Ten Ten approached them quickly, having slowed when she realized their numbers had been cut in half. “Shikamaru…” she said in a low tone, demanding the absolute truth. “Where are the other boys?” The words were ground out between clenched teeth.

Lee let out a melodramatic sigh, his shoulder slumping. Shikamaru ‘tch’ed quietly before responding, “Kiba took off, so Naruto chased him and Sasuke chased Naruto.”

Ten Ten looked like she was going to explode. “I left for two minutes, and all I asked was for you to head toward the room. When is that too much to ask?”

Shikamaru gave her a look. “Not my fault they ran off.”

Ten Ten shook her head quickly, reaching for a phone on a nearby secretary desk. She looked back and regarded Shikamaru once again. “Can you handle getting yourself and Mr. Rock back to your room without my supervision?”

She cut off any witty reply Shikamaru had by dialing a number in on the phone and waving them away. “Yes, security? I have three patients loose—yes…Three boys. One brunette, one blond and one black haired—no, they shouldn’t resist…I don’t think…just get them back up to the West Wing as soon as possible okay? Alright, thank you.”

When she looked up, she saw Shikamaru leading Lee by his shoulders in the direction of their room. Praying fervently that Shikamaru would behave, she quickly moved to follow the boys’ path of destruction, hoping to get to them before security did.

~

“Oh my god, Kiba wait, please!” Naruto wheezed, finally beginning to run out of gas. He finally stopped, moving off to the side as a slew of nurses and security raced after Kiba and leaned against the wall.

How Kiba had run that fast for that long was beyond him.

“You realize,” Sasuke said, out of breath as well, “that you encouraged this behavior.”

Naruto looked offended. “I did not.”

Sasuke snorted. “‘Come on Kiba, let’s race!’” he said in a high voice, imitating Naruto with a dreamy look on his face. Then the scowl returned. “Let’s turn you into a crazy running machine!”

“Shut up,” Naruto muttered shoving him lightly. He stood on his tip toes, trying to see what was going on with Kiba, but they had entered another hall by then.

Sasuke patted his shoulder. “We should get back to the room…they’ll get him and bring him back.”

They headed off, but Naruto kept sparing glances backwards to look for Kiba. Sasuke squeezed his shoulder assuringly. “He’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“Yeah…” Naruto’s voice trailed off as they went back to their rooms.

But he shouldn’t have been worried. After all...

Kiba was fast.

~

Said boy was currently weaving his way through the crowded halls of the East Wing. He didn’t know his way, and the long minutes of running had thoroughly tired him, so his pace was much slower now, and yet he still kept his captors at bay.

He had lost sight of the truck-toting boy long ago. Now he ran to evade what seemed like the entire staff of the hospital chasing after him. Their hollers of “Hey! Stop kid!” only spurred him on.

That was their mistake…they had made it fun.

Kiba saw a door open to his left and he ducked in, quickly shutting the door behind him. Let’s see them find him in here!

He crouched underneath a table, folding his knees up to his chest. It was only when he felt eyes on him that he realized he was in a patient’s room. A middle aged woman stared at him from her bed with worried, confused eyes.

“What--”

“Shh!” Kiba giggled, his body shaking back and forth.

She looked skeptical, but after a few moments of watching him she decided he seemed harmless enough. “Just don’t try and kill me or anything, alright?” she asked, lying down on her bed again.

“Okay!” Kiba agreed giggly.

He snuggled under the table, resting his chin on his knees, preparing himself for the long wait ahead.

~

Tap...tap...tap...

“Would you please calm down?” Sasuke asked irritably. Naruto’s foot ceased its incessant movements, and Sasuke sighed in relief.

TapTapTapTap.

“GAH!” Sasuke pounced from Naruto’s bed onto the floor, bodily covering the blonde’s feet. Naruto scowled down at him.

“Spaz.”

“Annoying,” Sasuke retorted.

Naruto gave him a look but sighed, “It’s just…” he sighed again. “I don’t like not knowing where he is…”

“I wonder if he’ll get in trouble,” Sasuke wondered aloud. A sudden tensing of Naruto’s legs warned him that he wasn’t helping. “Sorry…”

“I just can’t imagine what possessed him to go gallivanting off like that.”

Sasuke snorted. “Are you kidding? That kid would jump off a cliff to chase a butterfly.”

Naruto laughed weakly. “Yeah…”

They sat in silence for a while, Sasuke still seated on Naruto’s feet until Sasuke could feel the boy’s feet twitching to tap again.

“Naruto, calm down, jeez.”

“I’m sorry!” Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “I can’t help but worry--”

“Naruto.” Sasuke cut him off gruffly, gently rising onto his knees in the tiny space between Naruto’s feet. With his hands on Naruto’s knees he slowly parted the boy’s thighs and inched closer. Naruto flushed at the undivided attention he was suddenly receiving but stayed still, waiting for Sasuke to make his move. Sasuke smirked at the look of innocent curiosity playing across Naruto’s face. If only Naruto knew how powerful that look was...

Sasuke nudged his face against Naruto’s, their noses, cheeks and lips aligned. His eyes darted down, taking in Naruto’s waiting, slightly opened lips before looking back into clear blue. “Stop worrying,” he breathed. Naruto shivered at the warm breath against his mouth. Sasuke took in all of Naruto’s reactions with a bit of surprise amidst a growing excitement he had no control over.

He had planned on a simple, chaste kiss, but if Naruto was going to act like this...

He closed the distance between them, kissing the boy slowly, sensually. He prodded gently at Naruto’s bottom lip with his tongue and slipped his tongue in, sweeping across white teeth and pressing insistently against the small gap between rows. Naruto opened his mouth a little more, feeling himself melting as Sasuke plunged a little deeper into his mouth exploringly.

Sasuke carefully leaned against Naruto’s upright torso as he felt him relax, guiding him slowly to lay down and covering his body with the weight of his own. Sasuke’s hands roamed Naruto’s body, over the flat planes of his chest to the slight curve of his hips, then back up his sides. Naruto held Sasuke’s face close to his own with his hands as they kissed. They pulled apart every few moments, but never for long.

How was it that Naruto always felt so close to Sasuke at moments like this?

He shivered as Sasuke’s hand ghosted up and down his thigh, and even though its intent was nothing more than investigatory, he felt himself blush and a strong stirring of something in his gut.

Sasuke nipped at his lower lip harshly. He pulled back and his hands gripped Naruto’s upper thigh’s, lifting them up so he could maneuver closer to Naruto to make kissing easier. He let Naruto’s legs wrap slightly around his body and he leaned forward to kiss the boy again, when their abdomens rolled together--

Oh god...

A breathy moan escaped although no one knew who had issued it. Sasuke felt his breath all but catch in his throat as he rocked his pelvis against Naruto’s again, experimentally.

“Haaa…” Naruto let out, his eyes squeezing closed as his hands fisted in the sheets.

Sasuke had to bite his lip violently to quiet his moan. The sensation was more incredible than anything he had ever felt. He leaned over and kissed Naruto again, his tongue aggressively plundering Naruto’s mouth as he felt his arousal grip him. He rolled his hips again, more sharply this time, and Naruto gasped, his moan smothered by Sasuke’s mouth on his.

Naruto pushed Sasuke up by his shoulders, his breath fast and his face flushed. “Sasuke-…?”

Sasuke stared at him with half-lidded eyes and heavy breathing. “You don’t want this?” he asked huskily. The tone of his voice alone sent a spark strait to Naruto’s groin and he blushed.

“I-I don’t know. It’s all so fast…”

He could feel Sasuke let out a shaky breath. “Okay, we can stop--”

“No!” Naruto objected quickly, his hands grabbing the front of Sasuke’s shirt to keep him in place. “I just…”

“Okay,” Sasuke whispered in his thick timbre, leaning forward to kiss him again. “Slower this time.”

Their lips hovered over each others as Sasuke slowly ground his hips against Naruto, his eyes closing and a soft grunt escaping him.

Naruto pulled him down for another kiss, cautiously rocking his hips up.

The room was filled with soft whispers of moans and cries as they continued to move as one. Sasuke had pulled back to reposition themselves when--…

A knock at the door. The knocker waited for no response and the door swung open.

Shikamaru stuck his head in the room, intent on telling the boys that Kiba was about to be brought back, when he froze, taking in the sight before him.

He blinked a few times, noting how Naruto’s face burned crimson (and it wasn’t all from embarrassment...) while Sasuke’s instantly turned to a scowl.

“What do you want?” Sasuke growled, his hands tightening on Naruto’s hips possessively.

“Kiba’s back soon,” Shikamaru said, giving them one last look before shutting the door behind him.

He walked back into the common room, shaking his head. It wasn’t like he was embarrassed—he and Neji had done worse than that—but he just didn’t suspect those two…He felt a faint smile tug on the corners of his mouth, their predicament bringing him back memories on himself and Neji when they were in the “exploring” stage.

He heard Sasuke’s door open slowly and the shuffling of feet. Naruto pulled up a chair next to Shika stiffly, obviously uncomfortable with the tightness in his pants. He looked over at Shikamaru who gave him a small smirk at the boy’s embarrassment as he hunched over, trying to hide his arousal in the folds of his clothes.

“Lee?” Naruto asked.

Shikamaru sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “He’s in his room. Still in his down phase.” He let out a small laugh. “I can’t decide which side of Lee I hate the most, his up or his down.”

“You don’t hate him,” Naruto rebuked quietly.

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, well--”

It was then that Shikamaru heard some muffled sounds coming from Sasuke’s room. They both listened intently for a few moments, before it became clear what was happening behind the door. Naruto’s face lit up red like a Christmas light when Sasuke walked through his door a moment later, looking relaxed and a bit…frazzled. There was no bulge in his pants, and he seemed pretty happy with himself. He also pulled up a chair and regarded Shikamaru with a look that dared him to say anything.

The door swung open and three large men dressed in blue uniforms walked in, Kiba caged in between their bodies. Ten Ten was the last in the room, her arms folded over her chest and her gaze falling from the boys to Kiba.

She nodded to the guards and they stepped back, fully showing Kiba for the first time. His face was flushed, his clothes were severely rumpled and his breathing was fast. But his eyes were wide, and he was fighting to keep a grin off his face.

Ten Ten walked in front of him and turned on her heel to face the boy. “Kiba.”

He smiled at her pleasantly.

“You’ve broken a lot of rules today, Kiba,” she said sternly.

He nodded.

“For breaking these rules, you will receive punishment.”

Sasuke felt Naruto tense beside him, but Kiba didn’t look phased. He merely nodded again.

“For all the damage you’ve caused, you will be required to complete ten hours of cleaning duty around the hospital. You will be supervised while you work, of course, and you must do a thorough job, or more consequences will be introduced. Is that clear?”

Another nod.

Ten Ten addressed the group. “And as for you all…”

Naruto flinched at her stern tone.

“This hospital has had quite enough of your combined antics over the years. Just stay in line, alright?” Her tone had softened by the end of her sentence, seeing how freaked out they were. “Just lay low for a while, okay guys?”

They all nodded.

“Okay then.” She turned to face the three security guards. “Thank you for your help,” she sighed, motioning towards the door.

With that, the guards left the room with Ten Ten following, the door locking behind them. As soon as it did, Kiba burst out laughing, holding his sides as he doubled over.

“That was so fun!” he squealed.

Naruto rose from his chair and walked to Kiba quickly, grabbing him in a hug. “Don’t do that again, Kiba,” Naruto told him, trying to keep a serious expression.

Sasuke was biting his lips together to keep his laughter in. “You’re not supposed to get caught, Kiba. That’s why it’s called an escape.”

Kiba giggled again. “I won’t next time!”

“Hey!” Naruto corrected, “There won’t be a next time.” He looked Kiba in the eye for confirmation. “Riiiiight?”

“Okay, okay,” Kiba mumbled, but his face was soon back to his happy grin as he moved from Naruto’s arms to skip into his own room.

Naruto watched the young boy leave. As soon as the door closed loudly behind him Sasuke let himself laugh. Naruto turned a mild glare in his direction.

“Don’t encourage it.”

“I’m not!” Sasuke laughed again. “He’s not even in the room, Naruto. Besides, it is a little funny.”

Naruto’s lips were starting to twitch suspiciously but he kept his eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms across his chest.

Sasuke sighed. “Weren’t you just telling me to have a little more fun in life?”

Naruto smiled then, softly as he recalled Sasuke freaking out over Sakura’s “attention”. The room was quiet for a few moments, Naruto lost in thought, Sasuke watching Naruto with a peaceful look on his face, Shika staring at the floor awkwardly and Lee observing Naruto and Sasuke with unabashed curiosity. Finally Shika looked up and poked Lee in the arm.

“Ow!” cried Lee, more annoyed about being distracted from his lover-gazing than the bruise he was sure to get. Shika just grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the table.

“Come on, let’s play some cards,” he grumbled quietly.

“Ooh, I know!” Lee exclaimed. “Do you know any four person games? Because they--”

Shika plunked Lee down gracelessly into a chair. “Let’s leave them be, okay?”

At that, Lee’s eyes grew round, and a knowing grin spread across his face. “OH. Okay. We’ll,” wink, “leave them be.”

Shika groaned and rolled his eyes as he took a seat across from Lee.

“Just deal, would ya?”

~

Kiba sighed loudly, holding his chin in his hand. He let his crayon doodle on his paper, his eyes wandering over Naruto’s paper, which held a happy looking elephant drawn in green. He let out another breathy sigh and Naruto looked up.

“What?”

Kiba wrinkled his nose. “This is boring,” he announced, dropping his crayon and folding his arms over his chest.

This time it was Naruto who sighed, also dropping his crayon. “Okay, what do you want to?” he asked warily. He had chosen coloring because it was close to Kiba’s bedtime and he had wanted to quiet the child down…but he no doubt wanted to do something that involved raised heart rates or something of that nature.

Kiba sat and thought for a moment, tapping his finger on his chin. After a few minutes his face lit up and he grinned widely. Naruto felt uneasy.

“We’ll play story popcorn!”

Naruto’s eyebrows furrowed. “Kiba…we don’t have popcorn or even a book--”

“No, no, no!” Kiba shushed Naruto’s obvious silliness as he stood, pulling the blonde up with him. “Story popcorn is when you…” His voice trailed off as he began to run (Naruto noticed with a grimace) around the room, stopping by Shikamaru and Lee who were playing another game of cards.

“Let’s play story popcorn!”

“Let’s not,” Shika quickly replied as he drew a card from a pile in front of him.

But Lee perked up. “I’m up for any sport!” He leapt to his feet beside Kiba and he looked at Shikamaru expectantly.

“Come on, Shika, play with us!”

Shikamaru snorted and shook his head. Kiba shrugged his shoulders. “He probably wouldn’t be very good at it anyway,” he muttered to Lee.

“Hey!”

Now that Shika had risen to defend his name, they only had to recruit one last player. Kiba pounded loudly on Sasuke’s door. “SASUKE!” he hollered.

They heard a gasp, then the ruffling of sheets, then a loud thump. A few moments later, a very tired looking Sasuke cracked open the door and looked out. “What.”

Kiba frowned at his tone, but Lee stepped in. “We are inviting you to play a game of story popcorn with us!” He motioned to Shikamaru and Naruto who sat on the floor in the common room.

“No.”

“Aww, come on! Please?” Kiba begged. “It’s more fun with more people!”

Sasuke seemed to weigh his options. The game was bound to be loud, but since he was already awake…

“Is Shikamaru playing?”

Lee and Kiba nodded in unison.

“Fine then, I’ll play.”

“Oh huzzah!” cheered Lee, throwing his hands in the air ecstatically as they joined the other two boys on the floor.

“Now,” Kiba instructed, “form a circle.”

They all scooted into a circle like shape as they sat cross-legged on the floor.

“Okay! Now the rules for story popcorn are, we start out with a sentence.”

He motioned to Naruto who offered up, “The rain was coming down hard…?”

“Then Shikamaru would continue the story with another sentence, and it goes around in a circle!” Kiba explained excitedly.

“…that’s it?” Sasuke asked tiredly.

Kiba gave him an annoyed look before turning to the whole group. “Now! We need a sentence to start things off!”

When nothing but silence answered him Kiba rolled his eyes impatiently.

“Fine, I’ll go. Ummm...The day was growing hotter by the second.” Kiba pointed at Naruto.

“Uh, the two boys stood at the edge of the pool.” He looked to Sasuke.

Sasuke was silent for a few seconds before replying, “They started to count to three to jump in together.”

“When they got to two, one pushed the other, and he fell in the pool with a wail!” Lee exclaimed.

Shika looked at him weirdly but continued anyway. “The boy surfaced and screamed, ‘You fu--”

Suddenly Naruto was coughing far too loudly and Sasuke was interrupting Shika with “fun loving guy! You fun loving guy you!”

Kiba looked around with a confused look but continued anyway. “Sokki jumped in the pool with a big SPLASH!” he said excitedly, motioning crazily with his hands.

“Ryugi was still mad about Sokki pushing him, so he dunked his head under the water.” Naruto supplied.

“Sokki flailed his arms wildly and tried to get away from Ryoko.”

“RYUGI!!” shrieked Kiba, startling everyone.

Sasuke lifted his hands in self defense. “Okay, okay, Ryugi. Sokki flailed his arms wildly and tried to get away from Ryugi.” Kiba nodded in satisfaction.

“Finally Ryugi let go of Sokki and Sokki came up spluttering,” said Lee.

“They splashed each other,” droned Shika.

Kiba glared and crossed his arms, pouting. “You guys aren’t making this funny! This is supposed to be funny!”

“We’re doing our best, Kiba,” Sasuke sighed. “You’re the one that woke me up.”

“So?!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m going back to bed.”

“Nooooo!” Kiba wailed as Sasuke rose. He grabbed at Sasuke’s hands but Sasuke wrenched them away quickly, retreating to his room.

“Yeah, you know, I think I’m going to...” Shika trailed off as he quickly stood up and practically ran to the other side of the room, back to his cards. Lee looked forlornly after him, then back at Kiba and Naruto.

“We can still play, right?” he asked imploringly.

“Yeah,” Kiba grumbled, “but it’s more fun with a lot of--”

Kiba was interrupted by the noise of the door to the wing opening and Ten Ten coming in, holding an envelope.

“Shika!” she called. “Mail!”

Shika looked up in ill-concealed surprise as Ten Ten walked over to him and handed him the mail. Kiba sprinted over quickly.

“Who’s it from? Who’s it from?” he whined.

Shika stared at the right corner of the envelope.

“Neji,” he said softly.

~

Naruto slipped quietly into Sasuke’s room a few minutes later and tip-toed over to the bed to find Sasuke completely buried under the sheets. Cautiously he lifted the sheets to uncover Sasuke’s head.

Loud snores filled the room.

“Stop faking, it’s me,” Naruto said in an exasperated tone. Sasuke stopped “snoring” and peeped one eye open, glancing nervously around the room. Once he had assured himself that there was no Kiba waiting in the shadows to pounce on him, he sat up and moved to the side, patting the space beside him. Naruto sat down willingly.

“So are they still playing?”

“No,” Naruto said with a smile. “Shika got some mail, and it distracted Kiba enough so I could get away.”

“Mail?” Sasuke asked. “From who?”

Naruto looked at his hands, smile quickly fading. “Neji,” he said softly.

Sasuke wasn’t sure what to do, or say in the awkward silence that was now filling the room. Finally he cleared his throat.

“So, how is he?”

Naruto shrugged, still keeping his head bowed. “He says he’s fine. I didn’t catch where he was, but it didn’t sound like he was in a lot of trouble or anything.”

Sasuke watched, concern flitting across his features as Naruto started to scratch at his thumb repetitively, the spot growing red and raw. Sasuke gently put his hand over Naruto’s, halting his movement. Naruto looked up in surprise. Black eyes caught blue, and Naruto found he couldn’t look away, the worry in Sasuke’s eyes far too intense.

Finally he sighed and leaned in, pecking Sasuke gently on the lips. Pulling back slightly, he whispered,

“Let’s go to sleep.”

Sasuke nodded with a small smile and started to lay down again when Naruto yanked him back upright and started pulling him off the bed.

“Wha--”

“Not in here,” said Naruto with a mild glare. Sasuke grinned and obediently followed Naruto to his room and the heavenly mattress waiting for him there.

~

Shikamaru shut the door behind him softly, walking quickly to his bed where he sat cross-legged and opened the letter quickly. He had only brushed over the letter out in the common room, to satiate his roommate’s questions, and now he could sit down and really read it.

He let out a breath as his eyes took in the familiar scrawl of Neji’s handwriting as he began to read.


Shika,

I’m sorry this letter took so long to make its way to you. I had to make numerous requests to my overseers so I would be able to write to you, and even then, it had to go through several screen readings both here and at St. Olaf. I hope this letter finds you eventually.

It’s different here. I suppose that’s to be expected, but it was a bit of a shock to go from padded walls to concrete, carpeted floors to linoleum. I never thought I would say this, but I find myself missing the raggedy ass family we had, back to St. Olaf, you me, Naruto and Kiba. Oh, and that new kid, Sasuke. What a punk.

The kids here are fucked up, too. Every few minutes a fist fight breaks out, as if each boy has to prove his masculinity constantly by knocking out someone else’s teeth. It’s ridiculous. I try to avoid the fights, seeing as the guards get pissed and end up beating the crap out of the two fighting anyway. I’ve only fought once, when someone threatened to cut my hair off…I fought him hard, Shika. My hair…is one of your favorite things about me, isn’t it Shika? So I fought to keep it, and it was worth it.

I hope they will let you write back to me, but who knows. Even if they don’t, I’ll keep writing, hoping that my letters can somehow reach you.

You’re the only thing I’ve got left Shikamaru.

Try to write back.

Neji


Shikamaru let out a shaky sigh as he finished, reading it over a few times before folding it up carefully. Neji was alright. The thought sent relief flooding through his system.

Neji missed him.

He laid himself down on his bed, holding the letter against his chest tightly. He hadn’t felt this good in a long while.

And even though he couldn’t see him, he felt connected to Neji in a way that made his heart swell.

He closed his eyes, letting sleep take him over, a faint smile tugging at the corner or his lips.

Hey everyone! Okay, so I’m really tired and a little bit lazy (okay a lot a bit), so I’m giving you KandKL’s AN from ff.net:

--Okay, so kinda a long wait again. Sorry to say, but you’re going to have to adjust to them, guys. Mirandler 43 just picked up a second job, and I, KandKL, have begun school again. Thing have gotten very hectic, and it takes all we can give to even coordinate times when we are both available to write. Don’t worry, the fic will continue as usual, but be prepared for updates about as fast as this one was. We’re doing the best that we can!

As you probably noticed, Top Floor is posted under my (KandKL’s) penname on fanfiction.net. Because of this, we thought it only fair to post Top Floor under mirandler 43’s penname on AFF, and reviews have become a small bit of friendly competition between us. I just wanted to say to all of you reviewers, you rock! We, on fanfiction.net, have 46 more reviews than AFF. Keep it up guys! Mirandler 43 will be pep talking her AFF readers to review more, so we can’t let them catch up!--


Okay, now, you all see that last paragraph? The one where she’s egging everyone on over there? WE CAN’T LET HER WIN! I’m really, really competitive, and now I’m BEGGING everyone, if you read it, if you like it, or even if you don’t like it, JUST SAY SOMETHING. Anything. I know we're a smaller site, and I know I’m being a high-maintenance review whore but I can’t help myself. We can take them! Defend your names, fellow aff-ers!

Okay, now that that is out of the way, on to my favorite part, review responses! *happy dance* Oh but first, in light of recent events (cough*rasengan*cough) I have decided to plug a few stories worth a read.

No Such Thing As Heroes, by Rasengan22: Excellent writing, characters are well-defined, and the plot is very well planned out. This girl has fantastical skills. Plus, I feel bad making her second-guess herself, so show some love.

The Best Mistakes, by Mercury Chaos: This is the probably the best fic I’ve ever read with Sasuke as the uke. I think it started out as a role play? Maybe? But it’s incredibly well-written. The author(s?) explore their characters and their emotions incredibly well.

Confessions, by Pho: The classic high school AU story with a different twist. It’s still pretty new but looks like it’s heading to excited places.

And lastly, keep an eye on Blind Love by Philosophia, another really well-written one that I think will be great.

Okay, now review responses!

Trollmia: Indeed. Kissing boys makes any day better.
themirror: Thanks! Always nice to hear.
ladygizarme: Haha, yes finally some action. It was a long time coming, I know. And, yeah, I definitely fall into the germaphobic category myself. Seriously, I was so grossed out when I was writing it. Yuck. You rock too, it’s gotta be said.
Rasengan22: There, I updated. *taps toes* Just kidding. Just kidding! I love hearing your opinion. Feel free to give it anytime.
sadistickiss: Sure you make sense. And no, no way in hell will I let Orochimaru into this story. I’m really not a fan. The co-author and I each have our own set of requirements for the story that the other is not allowed to mess with and that is definitely one of mine.
Reno’s_Lover: Thank you! It will be interesting to see who leaves, and how they leave, yeah?
Briryan: Yay, two! I think we would all be scared of Lee like this, and in that case, Gaara, too. I would be hiding under the covers for sure. Shika and Lee are unlikely as friends, but keep in mind that Shika’s best friend is gone and he’s alone now, and Lee’s pretty good about snapping him out of his funks, ya know? Email added to the list. :)
A. Nonny Mouse: Email added!
Rei: Yay!
hanyou-elf: Kand-KL and I were both so flattered by your review. I called her and was like, “Listen to this,” and I read it to her. We were both...so encouraged. Thank you. It helped me more than you know.
sango2sakura: Don’t worry! We’ll update! Haha, we’re trying as fast as we can, but we’re both crazy busy with work and school and, well, having lives. Gotta have fun ya know. Glad you enjoyed. And no I won’t tell you the ending! Are you crazy?! No ruining of endings here. *shakes finger*
Artemis: Haha, I laughed at you yelling at Sasuke. “Act crazy, dammit!!” Haha, another Shino lover. I love him, I just really really hate his little bug guys. *shivers*
Pandora: Aww, don’t cry! He’s okay, I swear! Well, as okay as a suicidal boy can be anyways...Email added!
Mini Mew: Haha. I think we all grin when Sasuke gets molested. Anyone here who says no is LYING. *glares* You know who you are. *clears throat* Anyways...thanks for letting me know. I’m kind of flying off of personal experiences or other people’s personal experiences and a little bit of online research and lot of intuition. So if you see anything that’s wrong, please let me know.
myloveforyou: Thank you! Email added.
Donedin: Lee? Annoying? WHAT?! Haha. Thanks for the encouragement. It always helps.
Raine Mizukage: Haha, thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
yuri-chan: Wow, thanks. I really, really hate sweets, so to be honest your review kind of made me grimace, but I’m taking the message with me! Glad you enjoyed.
Steph: Details, details please.
LemonsLuver: Haha, wow thanks! I added your email to the list. Yeah, Gaara bouncing would be creepy. Glad you like the characters.

Disclaimer: We don’t own Naruto and the gang. Believe me, if we did, they would be escaping to...well, I’ll just leave you with that. ;)

Peace and love y’all!