Finally, the SasuNaru goodness starts to arrive! What is Sasuke's reason for avoiding Naruto so much? Well read and find out! That's why this chapter is here! I own nothing but the plot because if I owned more we would have had SasuNaru babies at the end of the series. Sadly, life is unfair...so this is my release from reality. ONWARD MY READERS!

"It's because you're mad at me for something right?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"The looks…the looks you give me from far away."

"What looks are you talking about?"

"The glare that looks like you're trying to melt the back of my head for giving you the plague, the one that looks like you want me to burst into flames if I go near your personal space, or just the look that you couldn't care less if I was buried twelve feet under."

"I…I've never…given YOU those looks. I don't know what you're talking about."

"You may call me 'dobe' but I'm not as stupid as you think I am. You can't tell me that you haven't glared at me strange for the past SIX MONTHS or that you haven't gone OUT OF YOUR WAY to make sure we don't meet on the street or in the missions room."

"Like I said, I have a reason."

"What makes you think I'll just accept that reason?! It hurts, Sasuke! You're my best friend – even after all the shit went down after you left and during the war! You didn't acknowledge the fact that I existed anymore and it hurt even more than when the people of the village hated me!"

Sasuke at least had the decency to look guilty but at the same time he looked like he really needed to say something back. I knew he was letting me have my rant and he was taking it like the man he was. He was being patient and courteous of my feelings when I didn't even know what I was saying anymore. Before I knew it I was crying and pacing around the coffee table.

"Not only did you make me feel like I was worth less than your fangirls to you, but you turn around and make me feel bad for making you upset! Iruka-sensei said you wanted to talk to me and I didn't want to believe him because of the way you acted for the last few months; but then he shoved me out the door! And he knew how I felt about the whole situation! He told me that it's not what I thought it was and Kakashi-sensei said to use condoms and…and…and I'm so confused!"

After that, all I knew was that I was bawling like a newborn baby while I was sitting on my knees on the floor. My hands flew to my eyes and tried to wipe away the tears as fast as they could, but I was failing so miserably. As fast as it all happened, I soon felt Sasuke wrap his strong arms around me and pet my hair in a soothing manner. He pressed my face into his chest and shushed me like a mother would. The hand that wasn't in my hair was rubbing circles on my back and I felt so safe and warm with him. He let me cry freely into his chest and he just continued to hold me. Every now and then, I could feel him press his lips against my crown and say that he was sorry and that everything would be okay from now on.

"I'm so sorry…I never meant for you to feel that way. I'm sorry Naruto; it wasn't supposed to be like this. I wasn't brave enough to tell you outright so I took the cowards' way out for once in my life. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry."

I calmed down after a bit and he just held onto me tighter than before. It was like he was my lifeline and if he let go I would have another breakdown. Hearing Sasuke tell me he was sorry was a miracle in and of itself but having him say it so much was unheard of. Probably even for his family. But here he was, holding me in his arms with his head on top of mine, whispering to me that it would be okay, that he was sorry, that if he could do it over it would be different. I pushed him away after a while and just looked at him. This time, everything felt right. There was nothing awkward about his stare or the way we were sitting; it was just so comforting and reassuring. Sasuke seemed to read my mind and he answered my earlier question.

"Like I told you before, I had a reason for avoiding you. You may not believe me, but I had come to have…feelings…for you. They were different from what I felt with Itachi or from when we were still kids but I knew they were there. As time went on, they got stronger and stronger. I thought that if I avoided you, they would go away but I was wrong. Every time I saw you I wanted to keep you to myself and steal you away from everyone. I wasn't looking at you in hate or anger…I can't really tell you how I was looking at you EVERY time I saw you. That's when I had to go to Kakashi. He may be perverted but he listened to me. When you came in, we were just getting to the main subject. I needed to know what this feeling was. He sounded surprised but he laughed at me for a few minutes while you and Iruka were in the kitchen. He said…that I was in love with you. At first I didn't really think that was the case but as I thought about it more and more I knew that had to be it. Iruka came out a little later and he asked me why I was avoiding you. I explained everything to him as well and he told me that you thought I hated you. Naruto, you don't know how bad I felt about everything then. Kakashi came back out and he called me an idiot, saying that I didn't know what my actions had done to you and that I made you feel like I didn't want you in my life anymore. That's when I told them I wanted to talk to you alone. I came back here and waited for you, hoping that you still wanted to talk to me. I love you Naruto, and I DO want you in my life; forever if I can help it. I just had to have someone tell me what it was. When I looked at you it was with longing and…I won't deny it…jealousy."

"So, all this time…we could have been together and happy but instead you had to be a coward and run away from it all?!"

"I'm not going to lie Naruto, that's exactly what I…wait…what did you say?"

"You had to run away from it all!"

"No…before that…what did you say?"

"You had to be a coward?"

"Before that!"

"We could have been…."

What I had said before had only just now registered in my brain. I had basically just admitted to him that I felt the same way he did and that I wanted to be with him. Now, don't get me wrong, it is what I want but I've had much longer than he has to come to terms that I want him forever. As girly as it sounds to say that I want him forever, it truly is how I feel. I understood how hard it must have been for Sasuke to accept these feelings, and I was thrilled inside to know he had them for me. But I was terrified at the same time…terrified that if we did become a couple, he would realize that he didn't want to be with me and leave me.

"How long…have you felt this way?"

"To tell the truth…ever since we were put on a team."

"…I must have been so…."

"You were…but I still felt the same."

"So all the time you were chasing me…it wasn't for Sakura or because you were my friend was it?"

"Well I couldn't really confess to you when we were enemies, now could I?"

"And all that time during the war…when we had 'died' or during the fight with Kaguya, it was all for love as well?"

"When you put it that way it makes me sound like a teenage girl!"

"If it's any consolation…I started to notice I felt this way when I first joined you on the battlefield."

I smiled at him, and he smirked back at me. I leaned back into his chest, closing my eyes and listening to his steady heartbeat. The consistent thump-thump-thump was so nice and his hand had resumed its motion of threading through my hair. His actions, combined with the sounds of the temporarily forgotten rain and thunder outside, made a familiar feeling wash over me. I suddenly bolted out of his arms and I could feel my eyes widen. Sasuke looked panicked for a few moments but just grabbed me again and shushed me.

"Sasuke…."

"What is it, Naruto?"

"What word would you use to describe a thunderstorm? One word to summarize the entire experience of it all, what would it be?"

"Kakashi told me you would ask. First, I have a question for you."

"Okay…what is it?"

"What does a thunderstorm mean to you?"

"What?"

"You heard me; what does a thunderstorm mean to you? Why do they mean so much to you and why don't you remember why they're so important?"

"From what I know, it's a long story."