Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I merely own the plot in this story and the way the words are strung together. Yay me.

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Today. Today he'd confess, Naruto would cry tears of joy, and they'd be together, living their happily ever after. He was sure of it. He'd waited far too long, passed up the chances that presented themselves to him. Now, he'd make his own chance.

Entering the cafe where the rest of the gang had gathered, Sasuke smiled a self-satisfied smile. He was nothing but happy, content. It was how every meeting with Naruto and his other friends made him feel: A part of something, although he'd just lean back, relax, and observe.

Taking a seat, he and Shikamaru engaged in a profound conversation about clouds that non-geniuses could make neither head nor tail of. Everyone was there, except for his ball of sunshine and the newest addition to their group, Gaara. He was a weird, quiet kid, but, just like him, had been sucked into their group by Naruto's charming and winning personality. He and Gaara got along just fine; neither spoke much.

Actually, come to think of it, everyone here had first been befriended by Naruto. He was what made this group a group; he was the link joining them all, without which they would fall apart and separate into small groups. The girls, Hinata, Sakura and Ino would group together, whereas the boys would most likely go off in pairings. And what about him? He'd be back to being a loner.

"Hey everyone!" The all-too-familiar and too-loud voice of Naruto called out, bringing him out of his reverie. He smiled a genuine smile at seeing Naruto, love of his life. Naruto was dragging a... was that possible? Naruto was dragging a smiling Gaara towards their table! Of course, they had all seen Gaara smile before, but today he had a face-splitting grin on. It just looked so out-of-place on his normally surly face.

Everyone gaped at Gaara's smiling face, even Shikamaru, who'd previously been sleeping after ending their conversation.

Sasuke had been happy too. He was a good friend, after all. He'd been happy at seeing Gaara's smiling face. But that happy feeling was gone, replaced with a horrible feeling of hopelessness and dread. Why?

This was because, even though they'd already sat down, Naruto and Gaara were still holding hands. Holding hands, like a couple would. But it wasn't possible, simply impossible. Why? One very obvious reason. Naruto was his, Sasuke's. He couldn't possibly be Gaara's. It was just so wrong.

He tried to suppress the dread welling up in him, tried to push down his numerous fears, blaming paranoia. Them simply holding hands was nothing to go by, it could purely be a friendship thing. When they realised they were holding hands, they'd simply stop, and shrug it off. Everything would go back to normal and he'd go back to his plan. It'd be okay, he reassured himself. He let a surge of hope envelope his thudding heart.

"Hey guys! You'd never believe it! Me and Gaara have an announcement to make!" Naruto sang out happily.

"'Gaara and I', dobe", Sasuke corrected automatically, face impassive even as he felt that little shred of hope wither and die away.

"Yeah yeah whatever, Teme. Anyway..." Naruto rolled his eyes dismissively at Sasuke and turned back to his other, eager friends, like how he'd done countless of times before. And it had never bothered Sasuke before.

This time, however, Sasuke felt an air of finality to it, and the tiny unconscious gesture hurt him deeply.

The others seemed not to have noticed his distress. Even Shikamaru was too busy fending off Kiba's spontaneous hugs (it was his latest quirk) to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Clearing his throat to get his rowdy friends' attention, Naruto continued, "Gaara and I," Cue murderous glare thrown at Sasuke, "are officially an item now! Congratulations are in order; Sasuke, the ramen's on you! (1)"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, lost in his thoughts as Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru and the others all patted Gaara and Naruto on the back by way of congratulations. He was the only one who didn't move. Kiba was teasing Gaara about actually having a love life; he'd apparently thought that Gaara was asexual. Gaara was too happy to pay him any mind though, and Sasuke somehow felt intense hatred towards the redhead. Jealousy.

Sasuke felt himself falling... far, far away from reality, drowning in his heartache. What was happening? He'd never felt such an intense emotion before; and furthermore, everything had been perfectly fine less than an hour ago. How had his life changed so fast? He figured he was probably over-reacting; no one ever said Gaara and Naruto couldn't break up, and Naruto would be once again his. Once again? He was never yours, brat, A little voice in his head felt compelled to point out to him.

The rational part of his brain tried to make sense of it all. Starting at the very beginning; he'd been about to confess his feelings to Naruto, his best friend. Naruto would be so overwhelmed and happy; he'd cry tears of joy into his shoulder. Then, they'd be a couple, announce it to their friends, and their friends would all tell them how they were meant to be, it had only been a matter of time. They'd then proceed to live a regret-free life.

Except, that had so not happened. His role in his little fantasy - for that's what it was; a fantasy – had been replaced by Gaara. Sabaku no Gaara, the new kid with emo eyes.

What was wrong with Naruto? How could he not see that he'd never be truly happy with anyone but him? He was making the wrong choice, Sasuke was obviously the better or the two.

Try as he might, Sasuke just could not bring himself to feel anger, to take away the distress. All he felt was a sense of hopelessness, of longing, of want for something he knew he'd never have. He suddenly felt very tired, too tired to even move. His limbs felt like lead, his head like a bowling ball. He didn't think he even had the energy to cry anymore, not that he'd break down in public like that. He was, after all, an Uchiha. He would not be swayed by this minor setback. The few times he'd ever really been shaken, and he could count the number of times that happened on one hand, he'd always fallen back on Naruto, HIS Naruto... But apparently it was 'Gaara's Naruto' now, eh?

"Sasuke? Hey, you alright, Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was so concerned, it hurt. Snapping out of his daze, Sasuke looked into those sky-blue eyes, stuttered, faltered, looked down and finally managed a nonchalant, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just shocked, is all. Dobe." He added the last word as if it were an afterthought.

Naruto pouted, certain his raven-haired friend wasn't fine. "You know you can tell me anything, right, Teme?" I couldn't help but scoff at that prospect. Right, so I could go all, "Hey, Naruto, I've loved you since like forever but I've been too much of a coward to tell you until today. Unfortunately, it seems you've already found yourself a boyfriend, so its buh-bye to me." Totally.

Outwardly, of course, Sasuke's face showed no emotion other than scorn, and he only grunted out an annoyed, "Hn."

Naruto frowned, but decided not to press. "If you say so, Teme." He said uncertainly. He skipped away with a light heart, whatever it was bothering Sasuke he'd surely tell him when the time was right; he'd always done that.

Sasuke, however, was planning on doing no such thing. The concern etched so clearly on Naruto's innocent face and in his cerulean blue eyes had almost broken Sasuke. Almost.

As Naruto turned his back and started yapping excitedly to the others, arm placed lovingly around Gaara's shoulder, Sasuke felt his heart shatter into tiny little pieces. He'd never really understood the concept of heartbreak before; now he felt he could give an hour long speech about it and still not run out of things to say.

Turning around so no one else could see, Sasuke shed a single tear. One tear. That was all he'd allow himself in public.

~Owari~

(1) To prevent confusion: By this, Naruto means that as a congratulations to Gaara and him getting together, they would have to be treated to ramen, and Sasuke would have to pay.

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