Title: The Darkness In Which We Share.

Pairing(s): SasuNaru, implied KakaIru, possible ItaKyuubi

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing, but you already knew that, didn't you.

Chapter 3: An Apology Worthwhile

There they knelt on those cushions, just the three of them. Red bored into black and black bored into red. Sasuke felt uncomfortable with the tension in the room rising and rising. He couldn't wait until Naruto got back with the tea. The blonde did have a certain thing for living the mood, even when he, himself, wasn't exactly cheery. Which, by Sasuke's observations – such a stalker – was less and less each day.

"Almost done!" Naruto shouted from the kitchen, poking his around the door with that giant grin.

The raven haired could only guess that the sunshine boy was happy because he had guests, including Kyuubi, whoever the hell he was. Sasuke couldn't repress the small smile that touched his lips and shook his head with a small chuckle. However, he glanced back up to his brother and Kyuubi, still seeing how the two had refused to let each others' gaze disappear. It really did baffle how they hadn't lost this stare down when making their way to the table in the first place. So, with a sigh, Sasuke rested his head on his palm, his arm now leaning up on the table.

"How long are you going to keep this up?" he groaned, really not in the mood for one of his brother's showdowns.

After all, Sasuke still needed to apologize to Naruto. Though the latter had seemed to have forgotten all about it when everyone arrived. Naruko, and then it'll be a party... Sasuke thought, grimacing at the idea. Just then, Naruto came through with a tray of home-made tea; four cups of steaming out tea. The blonde placed out all the cups and sat at the opposite end of Sasuke, considering the bad aura that both Itachi and Kyuubi were giving off. Sasuke gently took the cup and smelt it. Never before had Naruto made tea for him, or anything for that matter.

"Thank you," Sasuke nodded.

"Welcome," Naruto grinned, taking a long sip of his own tea.

What came next, however, was the tip of the iceberg in their day of weird and wonderful. Both Itachi and Kyuubi slowly picked their cups up at the same time and took a long sip, each finishing at the exact same time.

"Thank you very much, Naruto-kun," they both said in time, making Naruto's upper lip twitch.

"Yeah... You're welcome, but could you guys cut that out? It's kind of freaky," the blonde giggled, scratching at the back of his head.

So cute... Sasuke thought dreamily, taking another sip of tea. Regardless of what Naruto said though, Itachi and Kyuubi continued to do everything in sync, keeping the long stare up as well. Had they even blinked? At some point, the two younger boys got bored and went to Naruto's room, trying to free themselves of the unwanted creepiness the elder two had brought upon them.

"Man, what's with your brother?" Naruto groaned, clasping his hands behind his skull.

Sasuke perched on the bed, glancing around Naruto's room. It was so bright and dark at the same time. The wooden furniture was so brown, it was almost black, but the curtains, sheets and cushions were bright orange, almost blinding Sasuke and as for that poster of the girl on the ceiling above Naruto's bed, well...he didn't want to think or look at that.

"Ah, are you appreciating the beauty of the womanly figure?" Naruto asked, appearing by Sasuke with a mischievous smile appearing across his features.

"It's disgusting," Sasuke replied bluntly.

The blonde looked outraged at Sasuke's words, so much that he practically fainted on the bed beside his so called rival. The ebony haired teenager peered at the other, poking his head just to get a reaction out of him.

"Are you gay or something?" Naruto sat up, seriously questioning his rival.

"What? I'm not gay," Sasuke spoke defensively.

Now that Sasuke of it, he really didn't know anymore. His desire for Naruto was always so overwhelming. He had asked himself if it was love, but no answer ever came to mind. Perhaps if he kissed him, maybe that would provide an answer, but Sasuke wasn't prepared to go and freak the blonde out. First, he'd have to establish some kind of friendship. So he glanced to the ground, keeping his face hidden by the hair that had fallen over his face.

"Hey...Naruto..." the elder of the two began.

"Hm?" hearing this, Sasuke knew he had the younger's attention.

"I'm sorry for what I said the other day... I...I really didn't intend on coming across so harsh."

Sasuke couldn't see the face behind him, but he wished he had. For it was full of surprise, lips partially opened, silently gasping and a hope starting to burn deep within those cerulean eyes. It was a picture that Sasuke would have never forgotten, had he seen it.

"I'm sorry too," Naruto replied, settling on a warm smile, unlike his idiotic grins.

The ebony haired boy whipped his head around, surprised himself for his desire's apology. The spiky haired blonde was watching the world out his window, the sun's rays making his hair glow. The onyx eyes watched Naruto, analyzing each and every move the younger made. For it was within those slight moves that Naruto reveal how he really felt about anything.

"I shouldn't have said I hated you, it wasn't true... And I'm sorry about what I said about your family. It was insensitive of me..."the blonde trailed off, It's just that I..."

The blonde couldn't seem to find the words, so he stayed gawking like a fish. Sasuke nodded and patted his shoulder, giving the silent meaning that he knew and it was all right. The raven haired then removed himself from the bed and began to peer at his desire's room. There were quite a few things from the boy's past; pictures of him and Naruko mostly, but there were a few when Naruto was tiny. It was in those pictures that Sasuke saw the two adults, the male blonde almost being a clone of Naruto. He could one conclude they were Naruto's parents. Then, Sasuke shuffled to the next photo and grinned at the sight. A slightly younger looking Kyuubi was holding Naruto with one arm, rubbing his knuckle into his head. The overall photo was slightly blurry, which meant it hadn't been posed. Standing up straight, Sasuke smiled softly at the memories. Wow, he has so many happy memories. I wonder what happened to his parents, Sasuke thought. He turned to glance at the blonde and saw him lying back on the bed, gazing at the ceiling, though thankfully his eyes were on that outrageous poster.

"Why don't we go to the arcade tomorrow?" Sasuke asked, "Presuming you have nothing important to deal with."

Naruto glanced up, staring wide eyed at the dark haired Uchiha, "Y-yes... I'm not doing anything tomorrow," and in a smaller mutter he said, "I never do anything..."

Sasuke winced. He had caught the speech. It hurt him because, regardless that Naruto could be fun and wonderful, people just ignored him, like his existence wasn't worth the effort. That disgusted Sasuke to no end.

"Then it's settled. I'll meet you in front of the arcade at eleven. We can get lunch too," Sasuke said half dejectedly – he didn't want to appear over enthusiastic.

"Yeah! We can go the Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto jumped up into a sitting position, a beam of smile appearing across his face.

It made Sasuke's heart glow like it had never done before. He made Naruto smile and act happy, even if it was just for two seconds. He would climb to the ends of the Earth if he had to.

"You know if you eat too much ramen, you'll just get fat," Sasuke chuckled, smirking at the blonde, "And it isn't all that nice to eat."

"Quit complaining! You chose the place where we're going to go and have fun, so I get to choose where we eat!" Naruto grinned, folding his arms with a look of triumph about his face.

The Uchiha wasn't going to argue, he had better things to do than waste his time fighting a losing battle. He shrugged and nodded, making the blonde jump up and down with excitement.

"This is going to be the best day ever!" and he knew Naruto meant it.

It really was going to be the best day ever, for both of them. For once, they'd forget the hatred that had always flowed between the two and open up to a world of friendship. They would be the people who they told their deepest secrets to, the ones to help the other, to comfort them in their time of need. That's what Sasuke wanted.

-I-

That night, Naruto couldn't sleep. He was far too excited about his trip out with Sasuke. So he lay under the covers, staring at the now bare ceiling. After what the Uchiha had said, Naruto had stripped the poster off and discarded with it, never to look at it again. He had vowed to never look at another one of them until Sasuke said it was all right, which Naruto thought was kind of weird. Really, why did he suddenly care what Sasuke thought? Perhaps it was because Sasuke would be his first proper friend. After all, Naruto didn't want to screw things up. He wanted this to work and he had always connected with Sasuke on some kind of higher level. No one else really did understand Naruto other than Sasuke, he was the only one who truly noticed him, acknowledged him even though they were rivals. He existed in someone's world, Sasuke's world and it made his heart glow. Yes...they would be good friends. Naruto would make sure of it.

The next morning, Naruto was up and about around about dawn, full of life, preparing his, his sister's and Kyuubi's breakfast. The young blonde was rushing about, gulping down a small bowl of whatever he had made and called out for the other two to wake up and eat their breakfast. Naruko emerged from her room, looking exhausted, the sheets of her bed wrapped around her body and the strands of her hair sticking up in all positions.

"Naruto, do you even realize what time it is?" Naruko groaned, discarding with her covers.

Underneath, she wore a pair of summer pyjamas, basically shorts and a t-shirt, which were a light blue. Naruto dashed from the kitchen into the living room, setting up the table. Never hard Naruko seen her brother help out so much, especially so enthusiastically.

"What's got you all worked up, huh?" she chuckled, scratching at her head.

"I'm going out today and wanna get breakfast out the way so I can ready!" Naruto exclaimed, clearing away his own dishes from the table.

He didn't have to make us all breakfast if he wanted to do that, Naruko thought to herself. She giggled at her brother's work and sat down, picking up the well prepared breakfast. She picked up her sticks and began to eat.

"So who are you going out with? Is it some girl you've had your eye on?" Naruko giggled.

Naruto poked his head out the door of the kitchen and shook his head, "I'm going out with Sasuke!"

"WHAT? Is that why I found you both in the bedroom when I came in? I always knew it..."

The younger blonde furrowed his brows, clearly confused by what his sister meant. However, two seconds later he got it. It was like a ping inside his head and then he started frantically shouting that he and Sasuke weren't a 'thing' as some would call it.

"How the hell did you get that idea?" Naruto exclaimed, leaving the kitchen.

"Well I've always thought Sasuke was more of a boy lover anyway. It really does make perfect sense."

Hm, so she thinks he's gay too... It couldn't be. Plus, even if he was, I wouldn't have anything against him, Naruto thought, folding his arms. He leaned against the frame of the door, in one of his rare, calm moments where the seriousness ruled his body for those very few moments.

"Naruko, why do you always have to jump to the wrong conclusion all the time?" Naruto huffed, turning his back on his sister.

"It doesn't matter. I could well be wrong. Anyway, thank you for the food Naruto, you should probably get ready, right?" his sister smiled.

"Yes."

And on that note, Naruto left the room to get himself ready for the day ahead. It was just then that Kyuubi emerged from his room. He already knew Naruto was going to meet Sasuke, so he joined Naruko at the table.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," she replied, both of them smiling.

"Naruto seems well today."

"Yes, he's looking forward to seeing Sasuke."

There was a small silence for a moment and then they both laughed, each having the same thing on their mind.

"I'm glad it's finally beginning," Kyuubi chuckled.

"Me too. I think everyone saw it other than themselves," the blonde responded, tapping her finger on her chin.

"I believe so too."

-II-

When Naruto left the train station, he began to get a little worried about the upcoming day ahead. What if he said something again? What if he made Sasuke hate him? What if Sasuke made him hate Sasuke? So many thoughts started to revolve around Naruto's mind, that he didn't realize he was biblically freaking out, with Sasuke only standing across the street watching him, slightly baffled by the panic attack happening across the road from him.

"Oi, Naruto! What are you doing?" Sasuke's voice penetrated the mini freak out.

The blonde gasped and let go of his hair, as he had been clawing in frantically. The whiskered teenager stared at Sasuke. While they were both in casual wear, Sasuke had seemed to make quite an effort. It must have been the best of his casual wear he had on. And was that lip gloss on his lips? Naruto didn't want to know. The Uchiha was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a casual black button down with a fine leather jacket, which was open and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. On the other hand, the Uzumaki had thrown on a pair of baggy jeans, an orange t-shirt with an orange zip jumper which he had left open and he certainly wasn't wearing lip gloss.

"You look nice," Sasuke complimented him, making Naruto glance away with somewhat wide eyes and a blush starting to flourish on his cheeks.

"Uh... Y-you too," Naruto gulped.

"So, shall we go?"

The sapphire eyed one nodded and the two of them walked side by side across the street an into the arcade. The lights of the games and the catchy songs took Naruto out of his embarrassed state and had him jump right into happy mode. He bounced about with glee, glomping Sasuke, thanking him so much, even though nothing had happened. The raven haired chuckled, trying to push the blonde off him. To each of them, this was certainly going to be an apology worthwhile.

A/N:

Seera: I'm so sorry for being a day late. It makes me a terrible person, right? Actually, I was kind of disappointed with this chapter near the end. I felt like as the deadline closed in, I rushed it more and more. It did start out well in the beginning, however, I'll make it up to you next chapter. After all I have been watching JunJou Romantica, so the yaoi spirit is certainly flowing right now :D Anyway, after some thinking, I finally realized how the Itachi and Kyuubi – like the second storyline sort of thing – is going to go. After all, who stares at each other constantly like that?

Next chapter on Wednesday. I'll try not to be late since I start college the next day! I best get it done!