!!DISCLAMER: I don't own Naruto… though I wish I did… I don't… GOMENASAI KISHIMOTO!!

Ino (me): ugh!! I hate prologues and fan fictions of 3,000 words or more intimidate me

Naruto: so why are you writing both?

Ino:… I really don't know… I guess I'd feel left out if I didn't…

Sasuke: well that makes no sense…

Ino: I don't ever make sense, in a musical I wrote based on a videogame, I turned a fight scene into an interpretive dance number… and I hate interpretive dance…

Naruto: wow… that's messed up

Ino: -sigh-

Sasuke: wait… we won't have to do an interpretive dance number for this fan fic will we?

Ino: Oh GOD NO!!

Sasuke: -whew-

Ino: ANY WAY!... on with the prologue…

WARNING: prologue contains character death

Naruto: WTF?! CHATACTER DEATH?!

Ino: oh shut up and read already!!

Prologue

It was dark. Almost too dark for Sasuke to see. He was only horribly aware of his parents bloody mangled bodies piled before his feet. He whimpered softly, tears trickling down his face. His spiky haired head stared at his bare feet; tears dripped from his watering eyes onto the tops of his feet, leaving small streaks where they washed away the dirt. "Sasuke" a voice hissed. Sasuke lifted his head, staring across his parents bodies, he saw his older brother Itachi, the katana in Itachi's hand dripped with their parents' blood. "Sasuke" his brother repeated, "to kill me, first you must kill your best friend. Here," Itachi handed the blood stained katana to his little brother. All of a sudden, Itachi was standing behind Sasuke, resting his hand supportingly on Sasuke's shoulder, Naruto stood before him, the young Naruto, the Naruto of their childhood. A sheepish grin was plastered across the blond boy's face, as if he was smiling just to be near Sasuke, not seeming to notice the dripping katana in the distraught young Uchiha's hand. "Kill him" Itachi whispered commandingly into Sasuke's ear. Sasuke gripped the katana in a shaky hand, pointing it at Naruto, until the tip was less than an inch away from his friend's stomach. "Kill him" Itachi urged in Sasuke's ear. Sasuke thrust the katana through the grinning boy's stomach, the grin was gone. Blood poured from the wound protruding through Naruto's stomach and out his back. Naruto fell to his knees, eyes questioning as they stared into Sasuke's. Finally Naruto fell to the ground, a pool of hot, fresh blood gathered around his body. Sasuke's eyes widened and his pupils grew tiny, despite the dim light. He clutched his stomach in pain, grasping at a bloody wound there. The wound was perfectly identical to the wound he had just given Naruto, it was as if their bodies were linked. Sasuke fell to his hands and knees, choking and vomiting blood. He finally couldn't hold out any longer and collapsed next to Naruto. The two boys' blood mixed into a thick, sticky, warm pool of scarlet. Sasuke looked into Naruto's face, the blond's eyes were just barely open. "I'm sorry," Sasuke whispered to his friend. Naruto only smiled weakly, undying trust and friendship shown through his nearly closed eyes. "You are weak!" Itachi's voice echoed in Sasuke's head, "you lack hatred."

Naruto: WTF Ino?! We die!! IN THE FREAK'N PROLOGUE?!

Sasuke:… how is this supposed to be a SasuNaru fan fic if you kill us off before the first chapter?

Ino: just keep reading you idiots!!

Sasuke:… -scowls at Ino-

Ino: ooooooooooooo-k….. next chapter time… -backing away from Sasuke-

Chapter 1: Realizations

Sasuke's eyes shot open, sweat dripped down his cheek. He sat bolt upright in bed, quickly grasping his stomach. No wound. It was only a dream.

Sasuke lay back down in his bed, but his onyx eyes refused to close. He rolled from side to side, trying to get comfortable enough to catch some sleep. His mind was racing with images from the dream, his heart pounded, and though he knew it had only been a dream, he had to know that Naruto was all right.

Sasuke sat up again and turned sideways so his feet slid off the bed and onto the floor. He looked out the window and saw his friend's apartment a few blocks away. The lights in Naruto's room were off, but the faintest movements came from inside, Sasuke could tell Naruto wasn't getting a very good night sleep either.

He stood up, changing from his pajamas (yes, Sasuke wears black silk pajamas) into his normal training attire. It had been only a few months since he had returned to the village. He had asked a local seamstress to resize his old clothes to fit him, but in the end, she couldn't make 

the 12 year old's clothes fit the 17 year old's body. Instead he had ordered all new clothes, the same style as before (blue shirt, big neck band, Uchiha symbol on the back, white shorts… you know) just big enough to fit him.

As soon as the Uchiha stepped outside, he regretted wearing short sleeves. It was late September and the wind was blowing frosty cold air through the night. He stepped back inside, changing his pants to a pair of long blue denim jeans and threw on a black hoodie. Feeling properly dressed, Sasuke left the Uchiha compound, locking the front gates behind him.

The leaves on the trees in the park were changing color, taking on the reds, oranges and yellows of autumn as Sasuke walked towards Naruto's apartment. When he stood below Naruto's window, he could hear the blond mumbling in his sleep. Sasuke pictured Naruto sprawled out over his entire bed, drool running down the side of his face as he babbled nonsense. Sasuke's thoughts strayed to the boy himself; he probably wasn't wearing anything but boxers and a loose fitting tank top… Sasuke stopped himself. Why was he thinking about that? He felt his heart pounding hard in his throat and he swallowed, trying to push the thought away.

Sasuke quickly gathered his chakra at the bottoms of his feet and walked calmly up the side of the apartment to Naruto's window. The window was open and Sasuke slid through, sitting on the window sill. Naruto was curled up into a ball, wrapped up in his sheets. His room was filthy; there were empty packages of ramen and cartons of milk strewn about, his clothes (which appeared to have not been washed in months) were scattered about in random locations.

Naruto stirred in his sleep, gurgled something incomprehensible and rolled over the edge of his bed, landing with a thud as Sasuke's feet and knocking his head against a nearby nightstand. 

Groggy and tangled in his sheets Naruto sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He stretched his arms and yawned before noticing a pair of feet standing next to him. His eyes traveled from the feet up the legs and eventually met with Sasuke's onyx eyes.

Not sure whether or not he was still dreaming, Naruto rubbed his eyes, when he was sure that the raven haired boy was really standing in front of him, he sat upright, putting his hands on his knees. "SASUKE?!" Naruto's question doubled as a statement of surprise. "What are you doing here?" Naruto glanced over at his clock "it's three am!"

Sasuke blushed slightly, thinking of what a fool he'd been coming over here. How awkward was it that when he had a bad dream and couldn't sleep he came into his friend's apartment while he was still sleeping? Regaining his composure, Sasuke said "I couldn't sleep."

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush. He had thought the situation was ridiculous before, but with Sasuke standing before him, admitting to coming over because he couldn't sleep? Naruto's heart pounded and thoughts raced through his head. Could it be that Sasuke was saying he couldn't sleep without Naruto? Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts, placing a hand on the bump at the back of his head he stood up groggily.

Sasuke had been right as to what Naruto was wearing, his own accuracy scared him a bit. Naruto turned away and walked over toward the microwave, placing a half eaten cup of ramen into it and shutting the door. For a minute or so, the awkward silence was filled too with the humming of the microwave as it warmed the ramen.

When the timer went off, Naruto took out the half full cup and placed it on top of the microwave. He opened a cabinet above the microwave and pulled out a full cup of ramen, showing it to 

Sasuke he asked "while you're here you want some breakfast?" Sasuke's mind snapped back to the ramen Naruto was making and gave a quick nod in reply. His face felt hot and his legs felt weak, almost like he was going to be sick. His mind flashed back to his dream, and again he saw himself stab Naruto through the stomach. He flashed back to Naruto's room, shaking his head to clear away the nightmare.

He walked over to the side of the bed nearest to the microwave and sat down, when the timer went off again, Naruto handed him a hot bowl of ramen and a pair of chopsticks and sat next to him on the bed. The two ate in silence.

When they had finished Naruto took the bowls and tossed them aside and laid the chopsticks in a dishpan full of dirty water in the sink. As he came back he asked casually, "so, why couldn't you sleep?" Sasuke was caught off guard by the question, it sounded like Naruto was implying that Sasuke was unable to sleep without him.

"I-I-I… I dreamt that I killed you… but I killed myself too… when I killed you…" Naruto's eyes widened a bit and he scooted nervously on the bed away from Sasuke. "Don't be such a dobe!" Sasuke snapped "I wouldn't ever even think of hurting you…… uh…" Sasuke stopped himself, 'that came out so awkward!' he thought.

Naruto lowered his head, "yea," then he raised his head again and shot Sasuke a wide grin "I feel the same way!" Sasuke gulped, did Naruto realize what he was implying? His heart was pounding hard against his chest and his mouth went dry. His stomach churned, as if he had stage fright, but wasn't on stage. Why was he feeling this way around Naruto?

Naruto grinned happily at Sasuke; the raven haired boy hadn't left Naruto's thoughts for a second for the five years he was missing from the leaf village. Naruto was nervous, but he knew now Sasuke must feel the same way.

Sasuke's thoughts were racing, remembering all the time he and Naruto had spent together, they had been rivals, friends, enemies, could this be… love? He found himself wanting to stay with Naruto, longing for his embrace. Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto, his stomach lurched. It had to be… but he would play it cool, as usual, Naruto would probably think he's weird, or make fun of him. A new fear welled up in Sasuke's gut, a fear of rejection.

Wanting desperately to escape the awkward situation Sasuke stood abruptly and walked toward Naruto's open window and climbed out, as he did so, he looked over his shoulder at a dumbstruck Naruto and said simply "thank you for breakfast, Naruto." He climbed out the window and shut it behind him. Leaping down from the second story window to the street and heading back in the direction of the Uchiha complex.

Naruto's head hung, he'd wanted Sasuke to stay, but he knew his own self control was on the verge of snapping. He was glad Sasuke had left when he had, or else a simple visit could have gone further than either boy had intended.

Notes: I know the layout is really dumbtarded... for best results, I recommend scrunching your screen so the lines don't seem so ridiculously stretched out XP