Still Suspicion Holds You Tight by Denkira

Pairings: SasuNaru (InoShika mentions)

Rating: M (no real lemon, mostly implications and language)

Summary: "Do you want me to embarrass you in front of all of them then, to make you understand?" he smiled and suddenly I was petrified, "Because I will." What exactly are Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke - friends? Enemies? Or something else? Konoha College AU.

Warning: Boyxboy relationship, some cursing and mentions of sexual situations.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Naruto's characters.

Author's note: First time actually posting a story, so hopefully it will be good! Also, it might very well seem as if it can end as a one-shot, but actually it will be three chapters. The next chapters should be up soon, so please let me know what you think :)

I hated him. I hated him for always having such perfect grades even when we had so many assignments from med school that we were about to drop dead. I hated him for being able to master every single concept so fast even when I needed hours to do so. I hated him for that calm and arrogant prodigy aura of his. I hated him for having so many people admire him without even making the effort. I hated him for acting so adult-like even though he was almost a year younger than me.

I hated him for what he did to me when we were still in high school. When we still didn't know anything about the real world outside of our comfort zone. He was my best friend then. Even if he didn't really care too much about anyone else, he was always there for me. The one I could always tell everything to, the one who helped me study when I decided I wanted to become a doctor and would need perfect grades in all of the subjects. The one who always stayed over at my home when he didn't want to go back to his screwed up family and we were lying in bed until the early hours of the morning, talking about when lazy-ass Shikamaru would finally make a move on Ino and how scary Sakura could be when she wanted to.

And the one I had my first time with. That's right, Uchiha Sasuke was my first sexual experience ever although definitely not the last one. And I was his first too, even though today he is known as one of the playboys in Konoha College, something that none of our friends from high school would have believed even five years ago. It was during our last year in high school, when they took us to a three days onsen trip at the beginning of the school year, to celebrate that it was going to be the last one. We were, as usual, in the same room and we were two horny teenagers who longed for affection and have been dancing around each other for way too long. It had been a bit awkward at first, but it was still one of the best experiences in my life. As I lay next to him afterwards with my head resting on his chest, I felt my stomach doing those strange things for the first time in my life and I found myself thinking that maybe, just maybe, it was not such a bad idea to have overstepped the boundaries of our friendship. But then he had gone and done the unthinkable, he had gone and hurt me in the worst way possible. And it was something I never wanted to think about again.

I hated Uchiha Sasuke for being so fucking perfect. And I hated myself for not really being able to hate him.

I walked into the common room of our dormitory floor today to make myself some very much needed coffee, already fully dressed and ready for an exciting day. All of the students in our year of med school were having lab together for the next eight weeks and were supposed to work on a group project together.

I saw Shika and Ino cuddled on the couch. All of our small group of friends from med school were living on this particular dormitory floor this year, meaning we were sharing the common room. And since today we had lab all day together because of said project, we decided to meet up here and head over there together. The moment they saw me enter the room, the two of them threw me their most amazed looks.

"Naruto, are you feeling okay?" Shikamaru asked.

"What the hell?" I retorted a little annoyed. "Why wouldn't I feel okay?"

"Well, you're early," Ino pointed out helpfully.

"Shut up with the stupid questions, before I kick you off the couch," I rolled my eyes at them.

"Well, I think it was a legitimate question. When was the last time you were early?" Shika said, not feeling particularly threatened by me.

Good point. I just shrugged for the lack of anything better to say. Before I could open my mouth the door of the common room opened once again and in came Neji and Sasuke, who were roommates, ever since we moved to college. My eyes narrowed at them.

"Why are you two coming together? Gross."

"Well, some of us actually enjoy some intelligent company, Mr. I-only-let-people-with-less-than-average-IQ-in-my-room," Sasuke smirked in my direction. Damn, this morning wasn't shaping up to be a very good one.

"I'm sorry, Uchiha, for a moment there I forgot how you can't spend one night without someone else's company."

"Shut the hell up, Uzumaki-" Sasuke started angrily, but was interrupted by his roommate.

"Oh, please cut it off, the two of you, it's still too early for this," Neji said annoyed. "And why do you still call each other by your family names after ten years is beyond me."

I snorted, "Well, what else am I supposed to call the guy I can't even stand being in the same room with."

Sasuke opened his mouth, but saw the warning look on Neji's face and just shrugged, opting to get ready for lab instead.

Ino and Shikamaru looked at each other and rolled their eyes, deciding to keep silent this time. I sat on the other couch, frowning, and opened a magazine left on the coffee table to pass the time until Kiba, Sakura and Hinata show up. It was definitely going to be a long day.

After the full day of experiments and boring paperwork in the lab, Kiba, Ino and Shikamaru had somehow managed to convince us all to go out together and have something to drink as a celebration for the start of our new project. I must point out that this didn't happen very often. At least not all of us together – usually it was just me, Ino and Shika, often joined by Kiba and Hinata, sometimes I also went out with Sakura alone or Sasuke went out with Shikamaru and Neji and I know that the girls also went out together more often than not. But the reason all of us rarely went out was that I could not stand being together with Sasuke and he could not stand being together with me. And the others could not stand us bickering back-and-forth the whole time. As simple as that.

Tonight, however, it was different. We were actually enjoying ourselves, talking non-stop and discussing our new project and how exciting it would be if we actually manage to find out something new that could contribute to the overall research on this topic. Ino and Shikamaru were trying to steal kisses from each other without being too obvious, while Neji was looking at them with something between amusement and disgust. Meanwhile I was trying to listen to what Kiba was rambling about some new video game that he got addicted to recently. I have been his roommate ever since we graduated Konoha High and moved to college, so I was used to his addiction and even played with him sometimes, but I still couldn't help but be a little distracted by the conversation Sakura was having with Sasuke asking him about his new love interest (or fuck-buddy, more likely).

More or less, it seemed like a nice peaceful evening for now. Until…

"Isn't that like your fifth beer already? Frustrated much?" I looked at Sasuke who was smirking at me while I was ordering my beer (was it really the fifth?) to the waitress.

I raised my eyebrows at him, "And why, if I may ask, do you care how much I drink?" I ignored the groans from our friends who could easily sense that another argument was beginning.

"I just don't want to have to carry your drunken ass back home, have done that too much already."

"Yeah, when the two of you were still friends."

There were five amazed gasps and Sasuke and I were just gaping at Sakura who had said the last words. She looked away embarrassed and suddenly the table fell silent, because no one knew how to react to that situation. After all, the eight of us were very good at pretending that we have forgotten how Sasuke and I used to be best friends when we were at high school.

I decided that the silence was becoming too awkward so I cleared my throat, "Yeah, before he showed how unworthy he is of being anyone's friend."

All of the others were staring at me with mixed expressions, but I only had eyes for him. The look on Sasuke's face was something I hadn't seen in a while. He was both confused, but at the same time understanding, as though he knew that he had deserved the harsh words. Didn't mean they had hurt him any less, though.

"Uzumaki, I-" he opened his mouth, but I wouldn't let him finish. It was too much to deal with now.

"Don't really wanna hear it, sorry." I left some money on the table and I stood up, ready to leave. "Bye, guys, see you tomorrow."

I thought that after I left they would drop the subject, probably Sasuke making some lame joke about how I was wasted already. Little did I know that Shikamaru asked right after I had left, "So will we one day get to finally hear the story about how the two of you suddenly turned from friends to enemies?"

Sasuke sighed and looked at the other direction, "I doubt it, Shika."

I was positive that they wanted to kill us. Maybe one of us did something to upset Kakashi-sensei, who was in charge of our lab project or principal Tsunade just really liked making us miserable. Because no sane person would think that it would be alright to make us stay 12 hours in the lab with almost no breaks.

"I can't even feel my brain anymore," whined Ino from the other side of the room. "Are they planning on killing us?"

Good, so I wasn't the only one thinking it.

"Well, that's the life of the med student…at least we did a good job, right? I think we really set up a good foundation for the research," said Hinata. Always trying to cheer everybody else up even if she herself was never confident about her own abilities.

As I was sitting on the couch, or more like lying on it, my eyes started to close on their own. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep though, the door burst open and there he came.

"What the hell, are they planning on killing us?" growled Sasuke angrily, too loud for my liking. "And I still have a training with the kendo club tomorrow, this is one insane life, I'm telling you."

I don't know if I was more annoyed that he was being unusually loud for himself or that despite his whining he seemed to be perfectly able to manage both med school and being the captain of the kendo club at Konoha College, just like he had been in high school. But after going through experiments for twelve hours straight, I certainly didn't want to have to listen to Uchiha Sasuke.

"Well, then maybe you will do us all a favor and end this insane life of yours," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shikamaru who was sitting the closest to me shot me a warning look. Usually he tried to stay out of our bickering, being good friends with both of us. But I guess sometimes it was too much for him too, always being the one in between.

Sasuke only snorted though, unbothered by my harsh words. "And why would I do something that will make you happy?"

I only rolled my eyes and said nothing at first, pretending that his words didn't get to me. But they did. I hated it that I couldn't say anything to hurt him. He always dismissed even my harshest words, already being used to them. I wanted to have an effect on him. I wanted to be able to hurt him just the way he had hurt me all those years ago.

"I think you should care about my happiness, since I'm the one in charge of the practical experiment for our lab project," I smirked at him. "You wouldn't really be able to finish it and the get your perfect grade that you desire so much without me."

He snorted, "I am pretty sure our project would go much better without some idiot who cannot even finish his experiment on time and is making us stay in the lab longer than necessary."

This time he was on the receiving end of Shikamaru's glare. And not only his to be honest. Kiba and Ino were also glaring at Sasuke, obviously thinking that he had taken it a little bit too far this time. After all, we used to insult each other on a personal level daily, but never on a professional one.

I stiffened and tried not to show the hurt on my face. Because those words of his had definitely hurt me more than any others.

"Who cares what you think, anyway," I mumbled and closed my eyes again, unable to come up with a better retort. He shrugged and started some other conversation with Neji, while I was pretending to be asleep. I suddenly didn't have the desire to sleep anymore, though. Instead I was filled by the desire to get back at him somehow.

I cracked one eye open and looked at Kiba, who was still sitting close to me, looking through a magazine.

"So, dog-breath, what are your parents going to make us for Christmas?" Those words of mine had the immediate effect of everyone in the room turning to look at us amazed.

"Er…" Kiba was looking at me confused, unsure what I was talking about. Of course he wasn't, I wasn't so sure what I was doing myself. But I threw him a look that said 'play along'. "I…I think something traditional, I guess."

Ino asked, "You are going to Kiba's house for Christmas? How come?" she looked a bit hurt that the rest of them were left out.

I threw a pointed look at Kiba, pleading him to cooperate with my eyes.

"Er, well, I invited him…my-my mother suggested that I invite some friends and I thought that Naruto would like to come as well," he stuttered a little while trying to come up with something plausible.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "And you didn't invite any of us, just him?"

"Oh, don't be jealous now, Sasuke," I smirked in his direction and he stiffened a bit at the use of his first name.

"You shouldn't have asked him, Kiba, he is sure to seduce one of your friends or something, being the man-whore he is," Sasuke said a little bit annoyed.

I felt my blood boiling and my fists clenched. I couldn't believe he dared to say that, to call me that.

"You don't get to say this, Uchiha!" I was now standing. "You don't get to say anything like this after what you did to me three years ago!"

The others froze, sitting on edge, waiting to hear details about our mysterious problem from three years ago, the one that made us forget we were best friends.

Sasuke looked at me, realization dawning on his face and he suddenly looked so guilty.

"Uzumaki, wait," he grabbed my arm when I was already on my way out, not wanting to be in the same room as him anymore. "No, please, let me explain this time!"

I turned around and looked at him coolly, "No, I really don't want to talk about it." I freed my arm from his grasp and made my way to the door. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

And without turning around to look at him or any of the others, I was out of the common room.

I was sitting on the roof looking down at the strangers who were walking through the busy streets of Tokyo, each and every one of them with their own concerns and thoughts. I was thinking about him, the man I had stupidly fallen for and the man that I made the mistake to have expectations of. I should have learned my lesson not to expect too much from people until now…but I still did. I still haven't forgotten about him three years later and I still let myself be hurt by his words, by his attitude.

I was so deep in thought, that I didn't notice someone joining me on the roof and coming slowly behind me to sit next to me.

"Naruto, what are you doing here alone?" I jumped a little at Shika's voice and turned to look at him, immediately noticing the gentle concern on his face. He was a good boy and a good friend. Maybe even my best friend now that I have lost Sasuke as such.

"I'm just thinking," I sighed.

Shika didn't say anything for a few minutes, also looking down at the people on the street. I could tell that if I had managed to fool any of them that I wasn't affected by Sasuke's words, it certainly wasn't Shikamaru, being the genius he was.

"I won't make you tell me what happened all those years ago," he said eventually. "But you should know that you can always tell me if you want and that I will listen."

I looked at him again, not knowing how to express my gratitude. I wanted to tell someone, I desperately did. But that story showed a side of me that I didn't want anyone else knowing, a side too vulnerable for my liking.

"Thank you, Shika," I said after another few minutes. "I appreciate it, I really do. It's just…I really don't want to talk about it," I finished lamely not being able to come up with a better answer.

"I consider you both very good friends, Naruto," Shika said standing up, "but you should know that what Sasuke said isn't true."

I looked at him confused and he smiled, "We do need you in our group, Naruto, and not only for the lab project. We all need you to bind us together, more than you think."

I took the hand he was offering to help me stand up and I smiled at him. My first genuine smile in a while.

I have always thought that I was the only one thinking about him all the time. That I was the only one thinking about what happened that winter all those years ago. So if someone had told me then what kind of conversation he was having with Neji the night after the third day of lab, I wouldn't have believed them.

"Sasuke, are you even listening to me?" Neji asked. The two of them were sitting in their favorite bar near campus.

"No, I'm sorry, Neji," Sasuke sighed. "I wasn't listening."

"Is something the matter?"

"No…not really," Sasuke hesitated. "I'm just…thinking."

"About Naruto?" Neji suggested knowingly.

Sasuke stiffened a bit and decided not to answer.

"Sasuke, what the hell is wrong with you two?" Neji didn't want to let it go. "We all pretend that you two have always hated each other and there is just nothing to be done, but I know that's not true. You used to be friends. Best friends."

Sasuke contemplated Neji's words a bit before answering, "Yeah…yeah we used to be. Maybe we have just grown up. It happens. People grow apart."

Neji looked at him skeptically, "You and I both know this is not the case here. What happened three years ago?"

Sasuke jumped a little at the question and decided once again not to answer.

Neji sighed, "Look, I won't force you to tell me, but you should know I am always here to listen if you decide to."

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Sasuke suddenly spoke, "I was the biggest jerk on earth, that's what happened."

Neji looked at him surprised, having not really expected that Sasuke will talk about it. He waited for him to continue, afraid to say something that might interrupt the story.

"You remember the school onsen trip just before Christmas that year?" Neji just nodded, not daring to speak. "Well…Naruto and I were sharing a room…as usual. And well…we talked about stuff all night, you know. And then I guess our hormones took the best of us and…we had sex."

Neji's jaw dropped open. Whatever he had expected it certainly wasn't this.

Sasuke looked a bit uncomfortable as he continued, "It was…I don't know. I guess it was awkward at first, but…there was something special about it. I…I don't think I have ever admitted this to anyone, not even to myself, but it wasn't just two horny teenagers having random sex…"

Neji still couldn't form any words. He was looking at Sasuke not believing what he was hearing. Maybe there was much more to this story than they all have ever thought.

"The next morning when we were leaving, I kissed him before going out of the room and he smiled. It was maybe his last smile directed towards me that I can remember. And then, I went to Kiba's place for Christmas, because my parents were travelling abroad again and since they know his parents well, they had asked them if I could go." Sasuke winced slightly.

Neji didn't miss the look on Sasuke's face at the mention of Kiba's family and he remembered how Naruto had said earlier that he was going to Kiba's place for Christmas.

"There was a Christmas party with all of Kiba's childhood friends and his cousins and his sister. We drank a little too much, I guess," Sasuke frowned at this. "No, maybe this is just my excuse. Truth is I got scared. I got so fucking scared that I had probably gotten myself in a relationship with my best friend, a relationship I absolutely didn't know what to expect from, especially with both of us kind of really only having each other and all. So I screwed it up before it had even started," he placed his head in his hands.

Neji waited patiently, already anticipating the outcome.

"There was this guy, he was Kiba's childhood friend from his hometown, Deidara. He flirted with me the whole night. So when almost all of them were asleep and he dragged me to one of the empty rooms, I let him. And I had sex with him, barely a week after I had slept with Naruto."

Neji's heart ached for both of his friends.

"I decided to tell Kiba about it after we got back, because I didn't want him to find out from his friend. Too bad, that we weren't alone in the classroom when I was telling him. Turns out Naruto overheard it and…I tried to explain, I really did. But he just wouldn't listen. I guess I don't blame him for it, though."

Sasuke glanced in Neji's direction, "I didn't think a time would come where you don't know what to say," he attempted a smile, but it came out too fake.

Neji opened his mouth and closed it again. After a few moments he finally managed to form his words, "I'm sorry, Sasuke. It must have been really painful for you to remember this, I shouldn't have made you talk about it."

"That's it?" asked Sasuke surprised. "No 'You're the biggest jerk on earth' or 'How could you?'"

"Sasuke, Naruto is one of my best friends, but so are you. I know you, I'm sure this was just as hard for you as it was for him."

"I doubt it," Sasuke looked back at his drink guiltily, "he seems to really hate me now."

"Do you love him?"

The question surprised Sasuke, but he thought about the answer "I…I honestly don't know. But I know I could have…If things didn't happen this way…but I guess there is no use thinking about it now."

Neji just nodded, not knowing what else he could possibly say right now.

I was totally mad. My blood was boiling as I was going through the hallways of our dormitory, hurrying to the common room on our floor. Before my conversation with Kiba this morning, I was in a perfectly good mood. We had yesterday off and I could sleep the whole day and do nothing in particular, so when I woke up this morning I was feeling really refreshed and I went to the cafeteria on campus feeling very happy. Until, of course, Kiba told me how a certain lab partner of ours had approached him with his cold and scary attitude yesterday, claiming that he wasn't allowed to invite me over for Christmas. Just you wait, Uchiha Sasuke. You better run for your life after I find you.

I finally reached the common room and I burst in. He was sitting on the couch, reading something on his cell-phone with an indifferent expression. I was ready to start shouting at him, but then I stopped to look around. Neji, Ino and Shikamaru were also in the common room, each of them doing their own thing, so I decided it would not be a good idea to start this argument in front of them.

"Uchiha," I hissed angrily in his direction, "do you have a second?"

He looked up from his cell-phone to stare at me surprised. I guess it was not so common for me to approach him for a conversation like that.

"Er…sure, what is it?" he asked carefully.

I cleared my throat, "Alone."

Now all of them were looking at us confused. Great, just what I wanted. They were afraid that I had finally gone crazy and decided to kill him off somewhere.

He also looked confused, but stood up to leave the room after me, not questioning my strange behavior further. We walked outside in silence as I was checking for an empty classroom. Finally, I found one at the end of the hallway and I rushed him inside.

"So," Sasuke raised an eyebrow and said nothing more, obviously waiting for me to tell him what's wrong.

I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms in front of myself.

"How dare you tell Kiba that he is not allowed to take me to his place for Christmas? Who exactly do you think you are?"

Sasuke frowned a little and turned around so that he wasn't facing me, "I have told him no such thing."

I snorted, "As if. He told me that you have been constantly bothering him about how he shouldn't invite me."

Sasuke just continued to be silent and showed no sign that he was going to face me or say something. I got even angrier at his attitude and I slammed my fist on the wall. He jumped a little at that and turned to face me surprised. I guess this also wasn't typical of me.

"Naruto…" he stared at me, probably a little bit scared that I was finally losing it. Maybe I was.

"Look, Uchiha, whatever you are trying to play at, I don't know, but I don't belong to you or anything. You're not my family, you're not my boyfriend and you're actually not even my friend at all. So, please, explain to me, what exactly gives you the right to tell other people off for inviting me to their houses?"

Maybe my words were a little bit harsh, but they were still true. Sasuke didn't have any part in my life, except for being my lab partner. As much as I wanted him to be something more.

He furrowed his brows as if he himself was not so sure of the answer. "I…I am sorry, okay? I know you're right, but I guess…" he took a deep breath as if it was really hard for him to say that. "I guess I'm just jealous."

I froze. Jealous?! What the hell does that mean? I walked up to him, closing the distance between us. I stared hard at him, leaning closer until I could feel the quickening of his breath on my face. He was staring at me wide-eyed. I leaned a bit closer and my lips were now barely brushing against his. He was holding his breath, eyes still wide open and I could tell that he didn't dare move an inch. And then suddenly, without fully realizing what I was doing or what had possessed me, I closed my eyes and kissed him.

Was it because of that word? The word jealous, the one that sparked the feeling in me that I had tried so hard to bury deep deep down. I really didn't know what I was doing at the moment.

Sasuke had also closed his eyes and his hand went slowly to my neck and held my head in place as if he was scared I was going to push him away any moment. I placed my hands on either side of his hips and pulled him a little bit closer, deepening our kiss. That seemed to give Sasuke more certainty and he started moving his lips against mine faster until he bit lightly on my lip. I took the hint and opened my mouth, letting our tongues brush against each other. I smirked with satisfaction against his lips as I heard him moaning slightly at the contact. And then, suddenly as if he realized the situation we were in he used his hand on the back of my neck to pull my head away from his.

My eyes opened slowly and I found him staring at me. He was without a doubt wondering what had possessed me to do something like this. Uh-oh, he was going to ask any moment now. And I had no answer.

"Naruto…" he said a little breathless and my heart jumped a little at the use of my first name. "What the heck was that?"

I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "I don't know," I answered honestly. "I'm sorry, okay, just forget it." And with that I turned my back on him and started walking away, the reason I was yelling at him earlier completely forgotten.

But of course, Uchiha Sasuke was never one to do exactly what I say. He grabbed my wrist and forced me to turn around again and look at him.

"No, I won't forget it." He was watching me so intently that I suddenly had the feeling that my arm was burning where he was still holding it. "Look, Naruto, I think it's time we talked about this."

I yanked my arm free from his grasp and averted my eyes, but I stayed in place. I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about it, but maybe he was right, maybe it was time.

"I…" Sasuke began as soon as he realized that I was not going anywhere. "I know that probably it means nothing to you after all those years and I know that what I did can never be excused…but I truly am sorry." I snorted at this and Sasuke sighed.

"Naruto, you may never believe this, but the reason I did it was because I was scared…I was so fucking scared of the commitment…because you weren't someone random, you were my best friend."

I finally turned to look at him and my eyes softened a little bit. I was surprised to see the emotion in his eyes. It was something so strong that I couldn't quite place…but for the first time in three years, I had the feeling that I could trust him again.

"I did the most horrible thing to you, Naruto, and I will never be able to forgive myself…but I did it because I liked you…as more than a friend. That night meant so much to me that it was scary and I know it doesn't make any sense, but I guess being the coward I am, I just had to run away from it."

I was staring at him with wide eyes, not sure if I was hearing him correctly. I felt my body begin to tremble a little, but I still couldn't form any words. Sasuke continued anyway.

"I know I was acting like I hated you, but it was all just that – an act. I still care about you so much, Naruto. I still like you the way I always have…what I felt right now kissing you proved that…and I know you felt it too, so don't try to tell me you didn't."

I felt Sasuke coming closer but my mouth was still hanging open with surprise at his sudden confession. I never thought that this could be the reason behind what happened three years ago and I most certainly didn't think that he could still have feelings for me…the way I did for him.

"You would hurt me again," I whispered and Sasuke frowned. "I can't trust you again, because you would hurt me."

He reached out to grab my hands and looked me in the eye as if trying to convey all of his feelings with that look. "I promise you, Naruto. If you give me just one more chance, I will never ever hurt you again."

I looked him in the eye and suddenly thousands of thoughts were running through my mind. How the hell did our argument about going to Kiba's for Christmas turn to that? What did I feel when I kissed him? It certainly felt different than kissing anyone else I ever have in my life…Should I give him another chance? Have I actually forgiven him?

"I'm sorry…" I whispered still looking him straight in the eye. "That promise just isn't enough anymore."

A look of deep hurt crossed his face for a second, but then he let go of my hands and smiled wryly. "Don't worry. I get it." And with that he left and went back to our common room.

When I finally returned to the common room a few minutes later, I heard Neji asking Sasuke through the slightly open door:

"Sasuke, what's going on with you and Naruto?"

Sasuke paused a little, before he answered, "Nothing. Why should something be up?"

"Well, we certainly didn't expect you to come back alive," came Ino's voice. "He came here ready to kill you with a look."

Sasuke just shrugged at that.

"So…are you fighting again?" Neji pressed the issue.

"No, we're not fighting," Sasuke answered and then paused for a second. "I guess we will argue less than before now."

I closed my eyes for a second, took a deep breath and walked in the common room. I felt all eyes on me, but I didn't pay them any attention looking only at Sasuke. He also lifted his head to look at me.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice not betraying any emotion.

"Maybe it is enough," I said and I could see out of the corner of my eyes Neji, Ino and Shikamaru share a questioning look. "Maybe it is enough after all."

Sasuke's face suddenly turned into a bright, genuine smile, the one I haven't seen for so long and the one I've missed so much. He stood up, took my hand gently and led me out of the common room, closing the door behind him and ignoring the collective gasps from inside.

As we were standing in the hallway, he looked at me searchingly and asked, "Are you sure?"

I couldn't form any words with him looking at me like that, so I decided to show him just how sure I was. I placed both of my hands around his neck and kissed him for the second time today, trying to put all my built up emotion in the kiss.

After we finally parted he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly to him as if he never wanted to let me go again. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that before he whispered in my hair:

"Don't go to Kiba's for Christmas."

I laughed softly in his chest and felt him shiver a little at the contact. "I won't. I have someone else I'd rather spend it with now."