A/N: I don't own Naruto, or else then everything would be much more slash-y. I wish I did, but I don't. This is a one-chapter story, I'm not even planning on taking it any farther, so give it up. Hope you like it! And if you do please REVIEW. And if you don't, review anyway and tell me why you don't like it.
Expectations
When you're a twelve-year old boy who has spent the past six years with a crush on a girl, it pretty disappointing when you first kiss is a boy. And not just any boy. Him, that boy who he had hated since he first saw him. Naruto still hated that that was how his first kiss had happened, even now. The beating he had gotten afterwards from Sakura and Ino just made that memory worse. And then, to make things worse, he got put on his team. Sasuke…
When your entire life has been about proving yourself to everyone, that you are the toughest, strongest, and most powerful ninja in the fire nation, it sucks to have to be saved. Especially when you were sure that you had become stronger than him. Sure, he had already saved Naruto once on that mission, but that was just because he weren't ready. After that incident with the two Mist ninja, and after all that damn tree climbing training Kakashi, Naruto were sure that it was going to be your turn to save the day. When he entered that fortress of mirrors, he had already planned how he was going to save the day, and pay Sasuke back for the embarrassment from earlier. But no. That damn Haku had been too strong. There had been no way for Naruto to fight someone that fast. And he had to be saved, again.
He probably wouldn't have been so angry if Kakashi had saved him. If those mirrors had been smashed by an angry Sakura, he probably would have even been glad to be saved. But that wasn't how it had happened. Not only had Sasuke saved him, but he had risked his own life to do so. If Sasuke had died, Naruto never would have forgiven him. He would have chopped up his body and danced on his grave. He hated having to be saved a second time by his arch rival. But the all those emotions that had welled up inside him as he held Sasuke's motionless body had given him strength. All he could remember was the anger, and he could feel other emotions, but he couldn't tell what they were. Then the next thing he knew, he was standing in front of Haku, frozen, unsure how to kill. Then everything happened so fast, he could barely remember. So he was surprised to find he had saved the day after all. In his celebration after the fight, he had completely forgotten those other things he had felt.
That is, he forgot until Sasuke showed up at his door one night. Two days after they had both been dismissed from the hospital, he had arrived home from Ichiraku's to see Sasuke sitting at his front door. "Sasuke…" he growled, glaring at the raven-haired boy. The other boy didn't respond with words, but with his signature glare. When Naruto did nothing, Sasuke broke his silence.
"Just let me in dobe. We need to talk."
Finally Naruto walked past the still sitting boy and unlocked the door. Holding it open, he held his glare as Sasuke walked past him.
"What do we need to talk about, teme?" Naruto sat down on the bed in his small apartment. Sasuke stood right in front of the door and looked around the apartment.
"Why do you think I saved you?" Sasuke said finally.
"You already said teme. Your body just moved." Naruto rolled his eyes and then glared at Sasuke. "We both know you wouldn't have saved me if you had had the chance to think of it."
"That's what I thought to. But I keep thinking about that. And I think… there was something else."
"What are you saying…" Naruto asked, confused. This was the longest conversation he had had with Sasuke. Ever.
"There was something that went through my mind when I saved you… and… are you really going to make me say it." Sasuke was surprised at how hesitant he sounded.
"I have no idea what you're talking about teme." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Are you trying to mess with me?" Naruto glared at his rival once again.
"HN! Fine. Listen dobe, I don't want to be your enemy anymore. I don't know why. But I want to be your friend."
Naruto sat on his bed dumbfounded. And then he broke out laughing. "Teme! You want to be friends! You are such a girl!" Naruto fell back on his bed laughing.
"Listen dobe, if you tell anyone I was here. I'll kill you. Friend or not." Sasuke revived his glare at the blond idiot, but Naruto did not stop his giggling.
Suddenly the blonde felt a rush of wind next to his head, and his bed suddenly bent inwards. Naruto opened his eyes in fear, and saw an angry Sasuke attached to the fist that was next to his head. "OK, teme. Don't go crazy now. We can be friends if you want." Sasuke looked back at the dobe beneath him, and then turned and left.
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When you're supposed to be the weak idiot who is predicted to lose, it feels good to beat the genius of Konoha. And when later that day, you beat a demon no one else can stop, it feels even better. So when Naruto saved the entire village from Shukaku, he was ecstatic. But even he was able to remember all the things he thought about during that fight. Gaara had reminded him so much of himself, that he had to think of himself just to beat him. And when the images of all his friends went through his mind, one in particular stayed in the forefront. No, it wasn't Sakura, who was still at death's door thanks to Gaara's sand. It was Sasuke, who was currently awestruck by the display of chakra he had just seen from Naruto. Even as he was dragging himself across the ground toward the paralyzed Gaara, the image of the raven stayed in his brain.
So, after he was released from the hospital. After Sarutobi's funeral, he headed over to the Uchiha manor. It was no wonder he hadn't been there in the years following the Uchiha Massacre. It was creepy to see what was essentially an entire village emptied. It didn't occur to him until he had walked around the entire compound that Sasuke might not actually live there anymore. Which is why he was surprised to see the raven walking out of a chapel as he was leaving.
"Sasuke! Sasuke! TEME!!" Naruto yelled after the boy as he attempted to catch up with him. Naruto wasn't surprised that Sasuke showed no sign of having heard him. He silently followed Sasuke over rooftops across the city, and caught up with him as the raven unlocked his door.
"Teme! Why didn't you stop!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shoulder as he the other boy continued to unlock his apartment door. Sasuke shrugged off the other boy's hand, but when he unlocked the door, he allowed Naruto to come inside. The apartment he entered was much larger than his own, having a kitchen, a living room, and what looked like two bedrooms. Sasuke made his way over to the plain gray couch and sat down. Naruto slowly made his way through the living room, looking around him, while being careful not to run into anything. Finally he got to the couch and sat down next to the raven.
"This place is amazing!" Naruto said in awe.
"Hn. Well this is what you can afford when your entire family dies and you are the only valid heir." Sasuke said coldly, staring at the floor like he had been doing for the past 5 minutes. The two boys sat like that for a while, Naruto looking around the room, and Sasuke looking nowhere. Finally, it was Sasuke who broke the silence.
"Is there a reason you followed me across the city, dobe?" He turned to look at the blonde boy sitting next to him.
"Oh, heh, well you see, um… ya know how you were saying how we should be friends and all?" Naruto smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Well, ya know, when I was fighting Gaara and I was thinking about all my friends, well um… you were the one I thought about the most." Naruto flashed the raven a smiled and sat, waiting for his response.
"So?" Sasuke asked flatly.
"Well, ah… ya see. I mean. I figured. Um… well. When you told me about saving me with Haku. I guess, I thought you wanted to know about that…" Naruto suddenly realized that he had no idea what he was trying to say.
"Are you trying to say something?" Sasuke sat there, still and emotionless. Suddenly realizing he had to come up with something or look like even more of an idiot, Naruto said the first thing that came to his mind.
"So what were you doing in the chapel, huh teme?" Naruto asked, changing the subject quickly.
"I was praying, dobe." Sasuke said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"For what?" Naruto asked, oblivious.
"My family." Sasuke once again looked away from the blonde.
"Oh…" Naruto sat back quietly into the couch, playing with his hands. "Sorry," he said, finally.
Out of nowhere, Sasuke started talking to the other boy again. "Whenever something bad happens to me or the village, or whenever I'm not strong enough, I go to that chapel to pray." Sasuke started playing with his hands as well, copying the blonde. "It helps me remember why I need to get stronger." His voice got slightly colder.
"Oh… yeah…" Naruto said, looking at the pale boy out of the corner of his eye.
"And every time I go to that chapel, I get reminded what happened to my family. What my brother did." Naruto thought he heard a catch in Sasuke's voice. "And how he ruined everything, just to test himself." Sasuke felt a single tear begin to run from his eyes, but he tried to keep his voice steady. "And I remember how he used to help me with my shuriken practice sometimes. What he used to be like." Another tear fell down his face and dropped from the tip of his nose into his hands. Naruto caught the glint of the tear in the light, and was awestruck.
"Are… you OK… Sasuke?" Naruto stopped looking down and turned to face the other boy once again.
Realizing what he was doing, Sasuke, sighed once, and pulled himself together. Once again, his voice gained an edge. "I'm fine dobe. Remembering those things is what will make me able to take out my revenge and kill my brother."
Without thinking, Naruto reached over and pulled the raven into a hug. Sasuke tried to push his way out of the hug but Naruto held on to tightly. "You don't need to do that to get strong," Naruto whispered. "You have friends. Like me. That's what will make you stronger than your brother." Sasuke stopped struggling, and relaxed into the hug. When he left a few minutes later, Naruto felt like he had done something good for once.
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When the entire village expects you to be a loner and do nothing but train and eat, its pretty nice to prove them wrong. So when Naruto started going over to Sasuke's house after training every day, secretly, he was surprised what it felt like to have a friend. Never again did they bring up what had happened that night. In fact, most of the times Sasuke barely spoke, continuing his silence from training. But sometimes they would talk about fighting techniques, about how much they hated Kakashi, about how annoying Sakura had become, and sometimes, on the nights when Naruto convinced Sasuke to break out the sake, more personal things.
It was one of those nights, when Naruto had had a few bottles too many, and Sasuke had gotten to the point of buzzedness, that things got interested. Naruto was complaining about his life: about having no family, no success, and especially no girlfriend.
"Hey 'suke! How come you never talk about girls with me!?" Naruto swilled the sake in his mouth.
"What are you talking about dobe?" Sasuke took another swig of the sake instead of answering the question.
"I've never once heard the name of the girl you like. Come on teme! Who is it? Is it Ino? Huh! I bet its Sakura! Everyone thinks you two are gonna be together." Naruto pushed Sasuke on the shoulder.
"There aren't any girls I like, dobe," Sasuke said matter-of-factly. Naruto burst out laughing, grabbing his stomach to keep it from cramping.
"You! Every girl in Konoha wants to sleep with you!"
"Hn. Well I'm not interested in any of them. They are all too weak."
"You're an idiot, teme." Naruto muttered.
After a couple more hours of conversation, Naruto reached his limit, falling asleep on Sasuke's couch.
"Damn it, dobe. What is it about you." Sasuke attempted to wake the sleeping blonde, but the alcohol in Naruto's system made consciousness impossible. Finally Sasuke gave up and sat on his haunches in front of the couch. After dozing off a little bit, he suddenly woke, still sitting by the couch with the blonde sleeping on it. Maybe it was the alcohol that forced him to do it. Maybe it was because he was a sexually frustrated teenage boy. Maybe it was that in the moonlight, Naruto's whisker scars made him look more feminine. But Sasuke got on his knees and started looking at the sleeping boy in front of him. Making sure that the other boy was still asleep, he slowly bent his head and pressed his lips softly to those of the other boy. And, Murphy be damned, that was exactly when Naruto woke up.
And maybe it was because there was still enough alcohol in Naruto's blood to down a small army battalion, but Naruto kissed back, grabbing onto Sasuke's back and pulling him onto the couch with him.
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Sure, they had had a nice, long, awkward conversation the following morning, after they had woken up in each other's arms. But Sasuke was adamant that it was what he wanted. And Naruto, well, Naruto was an idiot, not even realizing that agreeing to be with Sasuke meant a complete change in the way his left went along. But maybe it was better that way. If Naruto had thought about it, they probably wouldn't have ended up turning their friendship into a relationship. But they did.
Once Naruto returned from his trip with Jiraiya, after practice every day, the two of them would go to Sasuke's apartment, much more openly than they used to. There, they would argue about what to do for the night. Naruto always wanted to go to Ichiraku's Ramen. Always. Every night. And almost every night, he won that argument. Every night, Sasuke would sit brooding on an Ichiraku stool, eating ramen with his boyfriend. But Naruto would always make it up to him, by holding his hand under the counter, and kissing him goodnight at the door, kissing that spot, the one directly beneath his left ear, and then walking away, swinging his ass sexily. So Sasuke always put up with the damn ramen, because if it meant getting to spend time with a happy Naruto, he would eat the damn ramen. Every. Damn. Night.
Soon, Sasuke started showing emotions other than hate, mainly, love and kindness. Only when he was with Naruto did he begin to show his softer side, smiling at Naruto's idiocy, opting to reach out for the other boy's hand instead of them just walking side by side. Sasuke began to be nice to Naruto, make joke, and show his affection openly. Naruto was amazed at how much Sasuke had changed, but he loved it. He loved it when Sasuke held him close after he gave him a good night kiss. He loved it when Sasuke blushed after saying something sappy. And so Naruto stopped poking fun at him when he did those things. Even though they were so. Damn. Funny.
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The night that the two boys first spent the night together, was three weeks before that mission. Naruto showed up at Sasuke's door with an overnight bag, not quite knowing what to expect. That night, he didn't even argue when Sasuke suggested a different restaurant. He stayed silent throughout the entire meal. When Sasuke reached over to hold his hand on the walk home, Naruto blushed a deep red and began walking as close to his boyfriend as was possible. When they got to Sasuke's apartment, Naruto quietly sat down on the couch. Sasuke put a movie in his TV and sat down next to the still blushing boy. During the horror movie, instead of being his normal loud boisterous self, Naruto curled up into ball and cowered into Sasuke's side.
"Are you OK, dobe?" Sasuke whispered to Naruto. Naruto quickly sat up, blushing brightly and began playing with his hands in his lap.
"I'm fine," The blonde said quietly.
"No, your not, dobe. Do you want to forget about spending the night?" Sasuke asked, rubbing Naruto's thigh.
"No! I just… I'm nervous…" Naruto said, glancing at his boyfriend from the corner of his eye.
"Dobe…"
"No, just don't think about it. I don't want to ruin your night."
"Baka… you realize you can stay the night without us having…" Sasuke nudged the blonde with his hand. "I just want to spend the night with you."
"Really?" Naruto said, blushing again.
"Of course, dobe"
That night when Naruto had changed into his bedclothes, Sasuke slipped into the bed and sat, waiting for him. When Naruto walked into the room, he was not in his trademarked pajamas, but in a large black t-shirt, which went down to mid-thigh, covering any underwear he might be wearing. He nervously fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.
"Are you sure you want to stay the night?" Sasuke asked, sitting up and smiling at the cute ninja before him.
Naruto nodded, and made his way quietly over to the bed and slipped under the covers. That night, once Naruto relaxed, the two boys began to settle down to sleep. Naruto moved close to the warmth of Sasuke's body, and Sasuke, in return put his arms around his dobe. That was how they spent the night, and the two boys fell asleep quickly.
From that night on, Naruto spent almost every night at Sasuke's apartment. Eventually he just stopped bringing a bag, and brought over half his outfits and made his stay permanent. The only reason he kept his apartment was to keep up appearances. Three week after that first night, with Naruto used to sharing a bed with his boyfriend, the officially became lovers, having sex for the first time for both of them. It was the next day, with Naruto still sore, that they were assigned the mission to protect Idate. Naruto found Sasuke to be surprisingly cool to him, but did not bring it up during the mission. And after Naruto was able to defeat Aoi when Sasuke wasn't Sasuke didn't stopped speaking to him through the trip home. But being the good boyfriend, Naruto decided to wait until they were alone to bring it up. That opportunity came when they were in the hospital.
Naruto made his way to Sasuke, hoping no one would see him out of bed. "'Suke, why won't you talk to me?" Naruto asked, trying to reach for Sasuke's hand. Instead of greeting the blonde, Sasuke rolled on his side, turning away from him. "Sasuke…? Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked, his voice waivering. He reached out and put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, but the pale boy shrugged it off.
"Will you at least tell me what's wrong?" Naruto asked, almost in tears. Finally he heard a mumbled response from the other boy.
"What?" Naruto sighed quietly in relief.
"You were wrong." Sasuke said very quietly.
"…about what?" Naruto asked, worried he had said something without realizing it.
"You said that friends, and… you, would make me stronger. That I didn't need to hate, or focus on what happened to my family. But you were wrong." Sasuke finally turned around to look at Naruto, but his face was not the kind one which Naruto had gotten used to seeing.
"But, I thought…" Naruto had no idea what to say.
"I'm not like you, Naruto. I can't draw strength from relationships. That was proven to me when I couldn't beat Aoi on my own. But you could. If I can't beat the same people you can, I have no chance against Itachi." Sasuke looked one more time at the blonde boy in front of him and then turned back around.
"Sasuke…" The tears started to leak down Naruto's face. "I thought I was more important to you than Itachi." Sasuke could hear the shaking in Naruto's voice, but offered no solace to the blonde.
"Then you don't know me as well as you thought you did." And that was how Sasuke ended it.
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Naruto knew exactly why Sasuke had left the village, but he couldn't accept it. And so he went after him. He would have been willing to die if it meant he could stop Sasuke from making such a major mistake in his life. As much as he was worried about his friends, he was more concerned about Sasuke's wellbeing, especially after seeing the coffin.
As he risked his life chasing after Sasuke, all he could think about was the other boy. How close they had been, how kind Sasuke had been during dates, during their sweet intimate moment. How slow and comforting Sasuke had been during that wonderful night when they had made love. He thought of his first real date with the other boy, and it was these memories that drove him forward the entire time.
As he fought Sasuke, he held nothing back. He didn't care what happened, he would not allow Sasuke to throw away his life. All those emotions of love and hate welling up inside him became unbearable. And when the Kyuubi came out those two emotions mixed into incredible power. And as Naruto attacked with his final Rasengan, Naruto tried his last attempt to bring the old Sasuke, his Sasuke, back. As the Rasengan and Chidori met in a blaze of light, spewing lightening and chakra everywhere, Naruto propelled himself next to Sasuke's head. And as he was losing consciousness he whispered the last thing he would say to Sasuke for a long time.
"I love you…" Naruto whispered barely loud enough to hear, but Sasuke heard it. And as Sasuke kneeled above the unconscious Naruto, contemplating whether to kill him or not, he was reminded of their first drunken kiss. The memories fought with the memories of his family while drops of water poured over the two boys. And as he headband fell next to the blonde boy, he lowered himself, placing his lips directly next to Naruto's ear.
"I love you to."
Sasuke was about to give the other boy one final kiss when his battle sensitive ears picked up movement in the forest. Stopping immediately he got up and began to run, giving one look back at the boy he had given his heart to.
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After Sasuke left the village, Naruto wouldn't show his face to anyone for a few days. Every night, he dreamed of the times he had had with Sasuke. But even then, all he could think about was bringing Sasuke back. No matter what it took.
A/N: there you go. My first one chapter story. Naruto and Sasuke's relationship in 4000 words. Hope you liked it. PLZ REVIEW HAPPIEZ!