The last glimmers of fading sunlight shone across Konohagakure, lighting a dancing flame over it's training grounds, and it's one occupant. A young blonde was throwing kunai at the targets, missing the center by mere millimeters every time. As each knife hit, cursing could be heard from the thrower, and seconds later another blade would hit wood being followed by the same cursing. After several failed attempts at hitting the center of the target, the boy sat down under a tree, catching his breath.
Naruto Uzumaki glared at the targets from his spot as he drank some water. His breathing was shallow, labored, from training there for hours nonstop. He let out a long, deep sigh, and rested his now sore body against the tree. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to slip into his own thoughts, barely conscious of the outside world.
Unhindered by anything around him, he let his mind wander where it would, but ended up on a topic that frightened the young blonde. His mind could not have rest from it's eternal thoughts of a certain raven haired boy on his team. One, who along with being Naruto's greatest adversary, was also the one whom he'd come to care for the most. When and how these strange feelings he had for Sasuke had arisen, he wasn't really sure. Though he was sure it probably started somewhere around the Haku incident. After all, seeing him lying there, seemingly dead, had been the most painful thing the blonde had ever been through. That day, he'd thought he'd lost Sasuke forever, and it had shown him that he'd apparently go to any lengths for the cold-natured Uchiha.
He heard the shuffling of a pair of feet, and was suddenly snapped very much awake from his thoughts. He stood at attention, a kunai gripped in his right hand, ready to attack the new comer if need be. As he watched the figure in the shadows begin to approach, he was suddenly aware of the fact that it was now dark in Konoha, and that night's veil had descended upon the land.
"It's just me, dobe." the all too familiar emotionless voice said as the speaker exited the tree line and came into view.
Naruto let out a small gasp that was hardly noticeable before relaxing and putting away his kunai. The knife safely back in it's holster, he turned his usual face of annoyance at the boy in front of him. "Teme! You could have announced it was you sooner, ya know!" he informed rather loudly.
"Hn." was all that came as a response. "What are you doing out here at this hour, anyway?"
Naruto glared. "I could ask you the same thing." he retorted.
Sasuke merely "hmphed" at the comeback and began to walk away.
Now, Naruto wasn't sure when he'd told his feet and hand to move, but they had, and he didn't know why. Before he could stop himself, he'd taken a few paces forward, rather quickly, and reached out to grab the Uchiha's hand. Once he had, he still didn't know what he was doing, but for whatever reason, Sasuke had stopped, and wasn't jerking his hand away or yelling at him to let go.
"What is it, Naruto?" he spoke, but rather low, and he seemed to have a lump in his throat. Sasuke understood why the lump was there, and swallowed a few times to repress it.
"Uh," the blonde began, but seemed unable to form complete sentences at the moment. Not only that, but he couldn't take his eyes off of his hand grasping the paler one. Why was he holding Sasuke's hand, and what's more, why wasn't Sasuke murdering him for holding it? He looked the raven haired boy in the eye, finally, but was taken back by what he saw there. It wasn't anger, or hatred, but rather a sense of sadness, longing, and what seemed like bitterness. So many mixed up emotions, feelings he didn't know the cold Uchiha could possibly hold within.
Sasuke cherished the feel of the blonde's hand latched on to his own like this. Though he knew that the tanned boy wasn't holding his hand for the reasons he would have liked, but still…Wait, why was Naruto holding his hand? He still hadn't said anything, but he wasn't letting go either. Normally, Sasuke would have instantly jerked his hand away, yelled at him for being an idiot and given him the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. But with no one else around, he had no real reason to hide this side of himself, the side that wanted to tell Naruto everything. The only thing holding him back, was the fact that he knew the blonde could never possibly share those feelings. The sting of that thought, was enough to make the Uchiha narrow his eyes in resentment and immediately jerk his hand away, though he didn't really want to.
"Dobe," he spoke with his usual, annoyed tone, "If you aren't going to tell me why you stopped me, then don't do it in the first place!" He then turned away, let out a remorseful sigh that matched his facial features, and began walking away again. He felt the pain in the pit of his stomach as he did so, and did his best to suppress the lump that had returned to his throat.
Naruto felt a great sense of loss when his hand was no longer holding the other's. Though part of him was relieved to see and hear Sasuke acting like himself once again, another part wanted to know why he'd reacted the way he had initially. Why he had allowed him to hold his hand for as long as he did, and why there had been such sadness in his eyes. Naruto narrowed his eyes, focused entirely on the back of the other boy. He had to know what had caused his most precious person to look so sad.
"Sasuke!" he called after him, a sense of urgency to his voice. "What's with you today?" he asked, genuinely concerned.
Sasuke stopped, and his eyes widened a bit, though he didn't turn to face the blonde. What was he supposed to say? The truth? No, that would cause all kinds of problems, and the last thing he wanted was his current relationship with Naruto becoming awkward, strained, or even lost, simply because he couldn't get a handle on his emotions. After all, an Uchiha never looses control.
"Hn." he snuffed at the blonde, still facing away from him. "There's nothing 'with' me, Naruto. You may as well continue with your training, not that it's really going to help." he remarked coldly. Now would have been the perfect moment for him to make a run for it, and avoid any further questioning, but he was curious to get the blonde's reaction.
Well, said blonde didn't appreciate Sasuke's attitude at all. He was hurt, and not by the remark he'd made about his lack of skill with kunai, but because the Uchiha wouldn't open up to him. He wanted to know Sasuke, and really know him, even if it could never be in the way he wished for.
He clenched his fists, and proceeded to yell at the taller boy. "You teme! Why can't you ever trust anyone around you?! Here I am, worried about you, cuz you ain't acting like yourself, and you gotta be a jackass about it! Just talk to me, Uchiha! What the hell has you so damn edgy?!" Having finished his rant, he was now breathing rather hard, and his body was tense, prepared for the punch he was sure Sasuke was about to throw at him.
But Sasuke did nothing of the sort. He stood rigid, shock having washed over him entirely. He didn't know how to begin to respond to this, for it hadn't been the reaction he'd expected from Naruto. He'd thought that the blonde would get fussy, maybe even yell at him about becoming Hokage, and march off in the opposite direction in a huff. Instead, he wanted to talk? He was concerned?
"Why?" Sasuke questioned through gritted teeth, holding back his ragging emotions the best he could.
"Huh?" Naruto was dumbfounded. "What do you mean? Why what?"
"Why," Sasuke suddenly spun on his heel, finally facing the blonde with a look that anyone else would clearly read as anger, but Naruto saw hurt. "Why do you care?! Why should you care?!" he yelled.
Naruto's face softened, and he gingerly took a few steps toward the paler boy. When he did this, and the other didn't bolt on him, he continued until only one or two paces separated them.
"Because I do." he said quietly, and simply, as he looked Sasuke dead in the eye. He was determined to get to the bottom of why his comrade was acting so strangely tonight.
Sasuke fell to his knees, bracing himself with his fists in the ground, his head hanging. "So," he spoke barely above a whisper. "You just do, huh?"
"Yep." Naruto replied as he knelt down in front of him. "And I'm gonna keep bugging ya till you tell me what's going on, so you'd better just come out with it." he added with a slight grin.
Sasuke let out a light chuckle, though there was no real humor behind it. "I wonder," he began to reply, lifting his head ever so slightly, and letting one hand go to place itself on Naruto's cheek. "Would you still care, if you knew?"
Naruto was sent back into a world of confusion at these strange actions. What the hell was going on with Sasuke? What had caused him to act so out of character all of the sudden? His blue eyes were wide, and his lower jaw hung slightly. The feel of Sasuke's hand against his cheek was warm and alluring, and he had the sudden urge to let the taller boy touch other parts of him as well. And maybe more than that, he wanted to touch Sasuke, to have the Uchiha allow him to touch his pale skin.
"Kn-knew what, Sa-Sasuke?" he managed to get out, though his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls.
Though Sasuke could see shock written out in those blue eyes, along with confusion, there was something else there. Something he couldn't quite identify. Whatever it was, Naruto hadn't moved, hadn't smacked away his hand. He wasn't backing away and yelling at him to respect personal boundaries. He was staying completely still, though he was sure he felt a tremor run through the boy's body, and waiting patiently to hear what Sasuke had to say to him. Despite every bit of common sense screaming at him not to, he took his chance.
"Naruto-kun," he cooed, rubbing his thumb against the soft cheek beneath it, "Do you really not know?" he questioned as he eased his face closer to the blonde's.
"Tell me." was all Naruto managed to get out. His mind and vision had gone blurry, and part of him was quite sure this was a dream. He'd had so many about moments like this with Sasuke. But even if it was, he didn't want it to stop. Even if it wasn't real, he longed to hear that sweet sentence come from Sasuke's mouth, and to have it meant for him.
With one fluid motion, Sasuke pushed the smaller boy onto his back to rest on the ground, and bowed his mouth down to the blonde's ear. He blew on it lightly before whispering, "Naruto, I love you."
Naruto was sure he could hear a Hallelujah chorus as the words swam into his ear, the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard from the Uchiha's mouth. He brought one hand under Sasuke's chin, making the taller look him in the eye. "Teme," he said as he smiled at the boy on top of him, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked softly.
Sasuke was shocked, to put it mildly. "Tell you sooner? Wait, you don't mean, you?" he stammered out through his sudden stupor.
Naruto merely continued to smile, and nodded in response. He moved his hand from Sasuke's chin to his cheek, then slid it back to play with the hair on his neck.
"Yes, Sasuke." Naruto finally spoke, after just looking at him for a few moments. "I love you, too."
That single confession sent the Uchiha over the edge. Naruto loved him. After all they'd been through, all the fights and squabbling and bickering. The beautiful blonde beneath him, that he'd cherished secretly for so long, with no hope that his feelings would ever be returned, loved him.
He knelt his head down and softly brushed his lips against Naruto's, judging whether or not he'd be allowed to go further. At the action, both boys felt jolts run down their spines, and Naruto didn't complain a bit with Sasuke hoisted him up bridal style and took off so they could be somewhere more, well, private.
Naruto buried his face in the ebony strands, breathing in their scent, as he held tightly around the boy's neck. The smell was intoxicating to the blonde, and a he felt a strange, painful, wonderful heat wash over his body. Along with the heat, came a sense of urgency to get to…wherever it was Sasuke was taking him. He displayed his sudden need by nipping playfully at the Uchiha's neck, even nibbling on his earlobe.
With each sensual gesture, Sasuke quickened his pace, sending his chakra to his feet to push himself forward as quickly as possible.