Setting: Pre-Shippuden

Naru/Sasu

"Wait out here." Naruto snapped, heading towards the inn he and Sasuke were forced to stay in together for the night. His irritation for Sasuke grew more and more with every moment they spent together. He couldn't believe Kakashi had thought this could in any way be a good idea.

Sasuke stared at him. "In what world do you think you can tell me what to do?" he snapped right back, pushing past Naruto into the inn. Naruto stared at Sasuke's pale, sender neck, envisioning himself slipping his fingers around it and just… choking Sasuke to death. He stormed after him. How could Kakashi have paired him with Sasuke for this mission? It was so trivial too, trying to find a stupid M.I.A old man from the hidden village that wondered off all the time from his home. His wife had offered a big reward for finding him.

Naruto sighed as Sasuke ranted to the poor woman at reception. He supposed that was unfair to say. Just because the man was old and a little bit crazy didn't mean he wasn't important. Being around Sasuke just pissed him off like that. He crossed his arms, leaning against one of the wooden pillars beside the wide-open doors of the inn. He almost thought it was kind of cute, how a couple could love each other till the end, how people could care for each other, the way no one cared for him.

No one did care for him. Maybe that's why he was bitter about it.

"We'll stay here for the night." Sasuke's jarring voice popped his self-consumed bubble. "She told me some places he frequents around here, I split the list." He shoved a piece of parchment at Naruto. "I gave you the ones that can't be fucked up; although I'm sure you'll find a way. Have fun."

Naruto lifted his hand. He wanted to slap Sasuke's precious face off. Sasuke grabbed his hand at the wrist, and then slowly, creepily, intertwined their fingers. Naruto stared at him, and for some reason his face heated right up. He hated when Sasuke did shit like this, which was frequently. The level of constant sexual tension between them creeped him right the fuck out. Sasuke continued to stare, before smiling. "You love when I touch you like this, don't you?" he asked, thumbing the back of Naruto's hand. Naruto quickly yanked his hand back and managed to slap Sasuke square on the cheek.

He hated him.

"That took embarrassingly long." Naruto griped, kicking his shoes off at the doorway of their room. "I still don't know how he managed to get into that tree. The man was like 93..." He tossed himself unto the one futon in the room, before realizing that there was only one futon in the room. "Oh fuck no." Sasuke voiced his concern from the doorway.

Naruto sat up on the futon and sighed, picking up the phone. A few minutes later it became apparent that the one futon in the room would have to do for both of them, due to over occupancy in the inn. "Whatever, I'll sleep on the floor." Sasuke said. "Wouldn't imagine damaging your precious baby ass skin."

Naruto stared at him. "Even when you're trying to be nice you're a complete and utter asshole."

"It would be really embarrassing if I was to sleep beside you and you creamed yourself in the middle of the night." Sasuke continued, pulling his shirt off. Naruto screwed his eyes shut. "Why are you so insistent that I'm gay?" he asked. "And that I'm attracted to you?"

"Because I'm gay and attracted to you." Sasuke said.

Naruto sat up and stared at him. The way Sasuke had said that was strange, because his voice, for once, was absolutely void of sarcasm. "That would explain a lot." He said finally, his voice breaking off weakly.

Sasuke shrugged, still giving zero hint as to whether he was joking or not. Naruto blinked and stood. "Well then….I'm going to…shower." He said, before locking himself in the bathroom. What the fuck had just happened.

When he finally got out, the sun had set and Sasuke was half asleep on the futon he'd so graciously offered. Naruto toweled his hair off, nibbling at a complimentary rice cake on the dresser. His mind was still whirring as he changed his clothes. Sasuke was always messing with his mind, and he knew he should've gotten used to it by now, but he hadn't and he wasn't. He stared at Sasuke, who was now sleeping very lightly, his mouth half-open. Today had been exhausting, and they had to travel all the way home tomorrow. He leaned against the dresser, rice cake between his lips, thinking.

Sasuke probably was trying to egg some sort of confession out of him so he could laugh about it. But Naruto would be the one laughing, because he wasn't gay, and he wasn't attracted to Sasuke. Who was beautiful. But that was beside the point. He crossed his arms. "I'm straight." He said aloud, to no one in particular. Sasuke stirred, bringing his hand up his cheek in a fist.

Naruto stood there for what felt like ages, his brows furrowed. Sasuke was always doing things like he had done earlier, holding his hand when Naruto tried to hit him, staring him in the eyes till Naruto felt exposed and uncomfortable, complimenting him randomly, and frequently. Sometimes Naruto felt he did it just to piss Sakura off. But she wasn't here now.

Could Sasuke really be gay? And into him? Naruto straightened suddenly. Either way, it WOULDN'T matter. Sasuke was his rival, gay or not, and his goal in life was to become stronger than him. That was it. He looked longingly at the futon, before climbing beside Sasuke. Whatever. Sasuke was right. The floor was too hard for his baby ass skin.

When Naruto woke, it clearly wasn't morning. The room was pitch black, and he didn't need to pee. Why had he woken up? He looked around. Sasuke was sitting on the edge of the futon, as if he'd been in the process of getting up. "Sorry." Sasuke whispered. "I was trying not to wake you up."

Naruto yawned, the wonderful hazy sleepy feeling still all over him. "Don't worry about it." He whispered back. "You don't have to get up. Sleep here." Sasuke looked at him, before crawling back beside him. Naruto was exhausted, and Sasuke was warm and soft. He moved towards him, resting his forehead against Sasuke's bare shoulder. "Goodnight." He mumbled.

Sasuke was silent, and stiff. "No, I should sleep on the floor." He said quickly, standing. Naruto nearly smacked face-first into the futon. He was awake now. "What?" He said, sitting up. "Why? What's the problem?" His eyes widened as he spotted the problem, the big…hard problem. His eyes moved from it to Sasuke's face, and his mouth fell open in disbelief.

After…what felt like ages he said "So you were being serious then." Sasuke said nothing, standing there uncomfortably and embarrassed. Naruto quickly turned away to allow him some dignity. He had no idea what to say. The room was painfully quiet. 'Say something.' His mind screamed, imaging Sasuke, standing behind him, vulnerable, the way he, Naruto, constantly felt inside. It hurt to see it on someone's face.

He turned to Sasuke, surprised to see him right in front of him, on the futon. Sasuke reached out and took his hand, intertwined their fingers, thumbed the back of Naruto's hand. Naruto felt his cheeks heat up, his breath catch. But Sasuke didn't let go, and he didn't break the stare. And neither of them were breathing, and Naruto felt light-headed, when Sasuke pulled him closer, and he felt a tightening in his own pants. He wanted to protest at being sucked into this…thing, whatever this was, that he knew was just a terrible idea to be a part of.

"Stop it." He mumbled, hating, and loving how he was feeling inside. He was shaking, all over, and yet Sasuke had full control over him. Sasuke finally let go of his hand, wrapping his arm around Naruto's shoulder. Naruto bit his lip, his breath suddenly coming back all at once. Sasuke kissed him, and all at once, he was so hungry for Sasuke he felt he was absolutely losing his mind.

He pressed his hands to Sasuke's chest and kissed him till they were both breathless and gasping for air, and Sasuke stared at him, pink-lipped and wide-eyed. He hadn't been expecting that reaction. Naruto stared at him angrily, mad at Sasuke for pulling something from him he had been trying to desperately hard to bury with one fell swoop, with one tentative kiss. He slapped Sasuke, because he hated him because he loved him, and he wanted to slap him again, but Sasuke had grabbed his hand the way he loved to be grabbed and was kissing him again and they were kissing again and he loved it.

He loved to be kissed by Sasuke.

Because someone cared for him.

"I hate you." He whispered bitterly when they finally came up for air again. Sasuke lay on his back, pulling Naruto on top of him. His cheek was still red from where Naruto had hit him; his lips were red too. He was so pale, and beautiful in the darkness. His eyes were dark and bright and staring with confusion up into a passionate pair of blue ones.

"I love you." Sasuke said, turning his head to the side. He said it off-handed, like he was talking about the weather, or like he was stating a fact everyone just knew.

1+1 equals I love you.

Naruto furrowed his brow. "You can't just…just come out of nowhere kissing me and confession to me." he said. "You're ruining everything. We hate each other and you KNOW that. You stupid asshole." He was so mad. How could he compete against Sasuke with these ridiculous emotions filling him up? Sasuke kissed him again and he was helpless, and clinging to him and wanting more, and forgetting EVERYTHING. He held Sasuke tight and bit his lip and claimed his mouth because he was angry, but he also loved Sasuke, he really did. And he always had.

Sasuke held him in his arms, and Naruto became acutely aware of the warm hardness directly below his warm hardness. He wasn't even going to allow himself to think about that. "This doesn't change anything." Sasuke said. "We're still rivals, I'm still going after my brother, you're still going to try to stop me. I just am in love with you. I'm not so foolish as to let it get in the way."

Naruto furrowed his brow. He knew that was a lie. This changed everything, because even now when he looked at Sasuke the idea of being separated from him ripped him up inside. He hoped it ripped Sasuke up too. He put his head to Sasuke's chest and felt him wrap both arms tight round him. As he listened to Sasuke's pounding heart, he knew he wasn't giving up without a fight because for once, he had someone, and he really wasn't willing to let him go.