DISCLAIMER: Naruto isn't mine, I am sure
When it came to Uzumaki Naruto, the people who knew him were used to certain things about him.
They had come to accept that he was indeed a natural blonde and nothing was colored or highlighted and that his shoes size was slightly smaller than an average boy his height. His love of orange, his favorite use of his Gama-chan pencil with the little iconic frog on top that could be popped off to put in lead, how he liked to knock in a syncopated rhythm, and his friendship with the strange boy Sai.
Students around the school were used to seeing the two boys together.
Often Sai could be seen playfully groping Naruto, flirting and teasing, and calling him a dickless.
Sai and Naruto were a duo.
But now it wasn't just a few classmates that knew about Uzumaki Naruto; now it was the entire high school.
Ever since that day on the rooftop when Uchiha Sasuke had announced to the school about his chase for his kouhai, people had not stopped talking or staring. They would ask questions amongst themselves about when this crush had developed, how long had it been going on, and if the two boys would actually go out in the future.
Naruto tried to ignore the talking all around him. He had hoped that the school would get over the news but it had been a week and the hyped still hadn't died down. So he had been walking with his eyes on the ground for a while, occasionally walking into something or someone.
The back of his shirt was pulled back and he yelped.
"Watch where you're going Uzumaki."
Sasuke had pulled Naruto away just in time before he walked into an open door. He glared at Sai who just stared back at him. "You're his friend, aren't you supposed to be watching out for him in situations like this?"
"I can't be held responsible if Naruto doesn't use those pretty eyes to watch where he is going. Besides…" Sai trailed off briefly. "I'm on ass duty. So I'm watching you Sasuke-kun." He reached his arm out to pat his friend's rear end.
Naruto looked at the two dark haired males and pouted at them. "What are you going on about Sai?" he asked as he continued to walk. He led them both to the fields of their school to watch some of the other sports teams practice.
"I'm making sure your beloved behind is protected Naruto. Sasuke-kun might get too hormonal and suddenly pull you into a closet to-"
"Ugh! Shut up Sai!" Naruto groaned. But the blonde did remember that his senpai was a bit of a pervert ever since meeting him inside that bookstore. Still, since that day Sasuke had not done one similar action like that to him so he wondered if it was just some sort of joke. "Senpai… I thought you were a pervert. It's just that, you hadn't touched me since that day at the bookstore so I'm starting to think that maybe you were just joking."
Sasuke looked at his kouhai silently and quickly pulled him flush against his body. His hand coming to rest on Naruto's rear end and give it a squeeze. "Is this what you wanted Uzumaki? All you had to do was ask and I'd be happy to do so."
"I was here first Sasuke-kun."
"Well Naruto is going to belong to me very soon Sai."
Naruto pulled away and just rolled his eyes.
How had his life come to be surrounded by two people that had strange boundary issues?
First his senpai seemed like a nice guy, then he turned out to be somewhat of a pervert, back to a nice guy, and then so on and so forth. He felt like he was being yanked back and forth when it came to Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto could agree with all of his classmates; yes Uchiha Sasuke was very good looking.
But right now his feelings were just that shallow; he saw his senpai as a good looking fellow. And he wasn't going to pursue anything with Sasuke because he had other things to do. He would let him hang around him but he saw it as a fruitless effort of his senpai.
He wondered why he was trying so hard to get him.
"Uchiha-senpai, why do you want me so badly?"
Both Sai and Sasuke stopped their bickering to look at the blonde. Needless to say, they were both equally stunned by the bold question.
"I mean, what do you want from me? What do you see in me?"
Sasuke cleared his throat to answer. "Maybe I like the thought of me standing by your side Uzumaki. It may sound strange, but I can see myself with you. Is it so wrong to think that I have a chance with you?"
"But what if I don't like you?"
Sai gave Sasuke a hardened gaze and waited carefully for his answer.
"If you don't like me, why didn't you reject me right away? You had the rightful opportunity to do so that day in the bookstore and even more so on that day on the roof."
Naruto tensed and cast his eyes sideways, briefly glancing at Sai. He wasn't prepared for such a loaded question from Sasuke and he had no idea what to follow with. Now he felt like he was caught in a corner. "It's just a small crush I have on you Uchiha-senpai. Maybe that's what's keeping you here right now but it won't be enough for you to remain here with me."
"Then what will let me stay Uzumaki? I've offered my friendship but you've yet to act on even that. I've told you that's what I wanted from you for now, no pressure of a romantic relationship should scare you right now."
"But I know what you really want! You want me and I don't understand how you could go through being my friend when all I can think about is the real way you want me!"
"… Naruto, spend time with Sasuke." Sai said.
Sasuke was surprised by Sai and his words.
ヽ(･ω･)丿
"You really think I should spend time with him?" Naruto asked as he laid a futon on the floor in his bedroom. He fluffed the spare pillow and then crawled towards his television to turn it on. "That's unusual of you to suggest. Usually you say that I should just fuck him or something."
Sai grabbed a controller for their game console and waited for the game to start. "Well, I don't want to hear you ramble on about how ambiguous your feelings are for Sasuke-kun. And he was clearly right earlier; you could have rejected him but you let him stay. Perhaps spending time with him will enlighten how you feel about him."
Hearing how serious his friend was, Naruto was slightly unnerved.
But he couldn't deny that Sai was right.
And when he thought about it, maybe Sasuke was replying on the small attraction he had on him as a small hope. Perhaps he saw it as a little window of opportunity for something bigger between the two of them. And it would be up to Naruto if that window would open wider or if it would be shut and locked.
Could the small attraction he has follow up to something stronger?
"Ugh, I feel like I'm in some television drama right now. But I hate it when you're fucking right Sai." Naruto pressed the start button on his controller to start the game. "But… Is he really worth the time?"
"I guess you won't know until you talk to him."
Yeah, Sai was completely scaring him now.
"What do you think of Uchiha-senpai?" Naruto asked. "He thinks that he could see us together and I can only see us as being friends. And let's say that we did get together, I don't see us lasting a long time. What do you think Sai?"
He could trust Sai's words; his friend had always had good intentions for him.
Sai was silent for a moment and he pressed the start button on his controller. "I wonder if he's into BDSM. He looks he might be the type."
Naruto groaned and threw his head back.
ヽ(･ω･)丿
"Do I have a chance with you Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked as he walked beside his kouhai.
Currently the two were walking down the path of the park, a simple setting in the first step of spending time together. They needed a simple setting with not a lot of social influence around to deter them from the main objective of today.
Naruto was getting pretty sick of those loaded questions but it was the consequence of agreeing to… whatever he was in.
"I… don't know."
"Sai said you liked me but you're not entirely sure how much." Sasuke explained. "And you made that pretty clear the other day that you're still not entirely sure what you may see in me."
"Yeah, that's true. It's not the same as you senpai; I just see you as someone pleasant to look at when you pass by or if I talk to you. I never imagined that we actually have the potential for a relationship. And what almost scares me is that you are so sure of yourself that we may end up together. I don't feel the same way senpai; for me it's just a small crus-"
Sasuke stopped walking and grabbed Naruto's arm. "Uzumaki, what I'm doing right now is entirely reliant on you. You're not rejecting me but you're also not accepting me and I honestly don't want to teeter on that edge. You let me be your friend and that is my first step to getting closer to you. I just want to know the simple facts about you and I hope that you're just as curious about me as I am about you. But I also don't want to be strung along. Do you think you can open yourself up to me and allow me to know you?"
This was too much pressure on the blonde, he didn't like this confrontation.
"I guess I'm willing to give it a chance." Naruto said slowly. "I've watched those love story movies about two people starting off as friends and then all that gross gooey stuff happening. I hope we won't turn out to be so cliché but I guess I won't shut you out senpai seeing as our feelings are sort of mutual."
Still, he couldn't see himself romantically with Sasuke. Something just wasn't clicking in his mind. But seeing Sasuke completely serious about the situation, he thought it was best to give him a fighting chance. After all, at least with the Uchiha his feelings were a little bit stronger than his past love interests. So why not see how it goes? He was certainly the boldest suitor he'd ever experienced.
"I know it's a small crush for you Uzumaki." Sasuke stepped closer to Naruto and ruffled his hair. "But take my feelings into account too. I happen to have a very big liking towards you. And it's more than just physical."
Naruto was a little bit surprised by this. The revelation hit him that his senpai did seem to express real romantic feelings towards him. He would accept that they were there but like he said before, he won't fall so easily for Uchiha Sasuke.
After all, Sasuke was the one pursuing him.
"Okay senpai. I'll... be your friend. But you better because I'm sort of a high maintenance friend."
His senpai was silent for a moment. "Tell me about how you and Sai met."
"Huh?"
"Sai, your friend. How did you get stuck with a guy like that?"
Naruto figured that this was Sasuke's way of easing the tension. "Well I met him at the end of my first year in sixth grade but he transferred almost towards the very end of the school year. I remember how he…"
A/N: Short chapter, I'm really sorry about that. But I was almost about to skip out again until I got this random energy to type this out & upload it. Still, I feel like this chapter could have more… But I want to save it for other chapters.