Edited: [05/16/15]
A/N: I have a bad habit of posting everything like the half-assed retard I am and I make it a thing to edit it afterwards TT^TT" Um, either way, here's Chapter One in all its edited glory. There are some changes so you might wanna reread it.
Disclaimer: Speaking of which, I forgot this too. Nope. Own nothing.
Warning: Ah, swearing. And if you hadn't seen that SasuNaru thing in the description, then there it is.
"What did you call me here for, dobe? Sakura and the others are waiting for us in the cafeteria so make it quick," Sasuke said, irritably clicking his tongue and quite unfortunately missing the anxious stare that Naruto was directing towards him and the anguished look that briefly flitted across the blue-eyed youth's face.
Naruto laughed sheepishly as he raised his hand to scratch the back of his head.
"It won't take long, I promise," he said with a reassuring grin. "Just… promise me that you'll listen, alright? And, well, just hear me till the end... And promise me that you also won't tell the others! And-"
Sasuke rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Just spit it out, idiot."
"I can't help it, you bastard!" Naruto growled. "I'm nervous!"
Realizing his mistake a second too late, Naruto received an amused stare from none other than the Uchiha himself who inclined his head and smirked.
"The greatest idiot of Konoha is nervous?"
"S…Shut up, teme! Everyone can get a little nervous sometimes!"
"It's not like you to be nervous, dobe."
Naruto kept his mouth firmly shut at that. It really wasn't like him to be apprehensive of anything.
Sasuke heaved a deep sigh. Whatever he had to say was either ridiculously stupid or gravely serious. For it to provoke such a strong reaction – hesitation, of all things – was rare, especially when the subject of the matter was Naruto.
"Just get it over with already," he said flatly. "We can't keep Sakura waiting for too long. She'll think that we're fighting or something and you know how annoying she could get when it involves the two of us."
Something flickered within Naruto's frosty blue eyes.
It was… off-putting, to say the least.
The expressiveness that the blond-haired teen usually carried with him was nowhere to be found and in its place stood an unfamiliar something that induced more uncertainty than the Uchiha was willing to admit.
"Sasuke," Naruto finally called as he took a few steps forward. "Promise me that you won't punch me for this."
And before Sasuke could even begin to comprehend what Naruto had meant – why would he punch him in the first place unless he starts a fight? -, Naruto was kissing him.
Naruto was kissing him.
And it was over before Sasuke could even push him.
"I like you," Naruto confessed as he hastily pulled away, casually shrugging his shoulders while refusing to meet the Uchiha's gaze.
"...Naruto," Sasuke reluctantly began and he was sure to emphasize the fact that he called the other by his name – something which he seldom does -, "If this is some sort of prank, don't-"
"I'd give anything for it to be a prank, Sasuke," Naruto intervened before the other could even finish his sentence. "I'd give anything."
And Naruto meant it, Sasuke realized.
He didn't laugh and the smile on his face was far from the mischievous grins that he offers to the victims of his pranks. His expression was strained, eyes purposefully avoiding Sasuke's own as he stood, rigid and unmoving.
Naruto was serious.
Naruto was serious.
And when that sunk in, there was nothing left but silence.
Pressing against them was the real weight of their situation and the understanding that things might change between them as friends, as best friends and as two people with nearly indestructible bonds from years of camaraderie. There will be a shift, unwelcomed and abrupt, to their relationship and depending on Sasuke's response; it could actually sever whatever kind of bond they had.
Silently raising his hand to wipe at his lips with the back of his hand and knowing that Naruto caught the action despite his refusal to meet the Uchiha's eyes, Sasuke unhesitatingly replied with brutal honesty.
"I don't see you that way and I don't have any intention of seeing you in that way anytime soon," Sasuke bluntly stated as if the confession hadn't fazed him in the slightest.
And maybe, Naruto mused, it really hadn't.
This was Sasuke, after all.
"I never thought you will," Naruto, much to his surprise, replied lightheartedly with a soft laugh. "I just, you know, thought that I'd get it off my chest and stuff."
Sasuke frowned skeptically. "Is that all, dobe?"
A convincing smile was all he gave as he waved his goodbye to his best friend - and that's all he'll ever be -, discreetly trying to hide the trembling of his hands by shoving them inside his pockets and leaving as quickly as he could. He vaguely heard Sakura arrive, saying something about 'taking too long' and he hastened his pace. It was a mistake to leave but he didn't think he could handle facing anybody for a while.
All he needed was a while. Just a little while.
And hopefully, he'll be strong enough to force another smile by then.