A/N: Hey, lovies~! Same ols as to why updating took so long, but for this chapter I have to give credit to Katsheswims, because after her review, I kinda rethought the direction of this chapter. I decided that, instead of entering Naruto's reactions into the grand scheme of things, rather he deserved his own "inner dialogue" chapter, while at the same time using it as a way to show what their relationship has been like before all this. So, my dear reviewer takes all credit for the stuff that you guys like and none of the blame as this happened unbeknownst to her. ^.^

Thank you ALL who read my story and extra smoochies to my reviewers that make writing SO much fun, it's addictive. ;-)

My anon readers. Mo - ^.^ Thank you~! I thought it was funny and sweet in my all-sappy chappie… Hey! That rhymed! Lol Madame Penguin – Thank you so much! ^.^ I do wish that I could write action because I do agree with you that the scene would have had more impact that way. … Uh… you're in for another action-less chapter I'm afraid.. =.= I WILL try to make it up to you next time though! Kakashi's Dog - … What are the chances that I won't hear a jab about my late update? Lol Thank you so much for sticking with me through all the stories… ::tries to kiss up to KD:: ;-) Kiki – "Aw" makes me happy. Lol ;-) Hoshi no Neko – So you still haven't found your password huh? I'd be lost without my alerts. O.O Hang in there and thank you~!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… or anything by Shakespeare (OMG imagine the MONEY!... but I'd be dead… ::sigh::) just using half of the really cool "To sleep, perchance to dream"… which is Hamlet, I think?

The Sun and the Rainfall

Perchance to Dream

This was awkward. It was actually awkward, because it really wasn't awkward. Sasuke was lying beside him, one arm draped across his chest, head nestling in the crook of his neck. It was intimate and cozy as it could get under the circumstances- though not quite as cozy as it had gotten in the past. The proud, defiant Uchiha had snuggled up to him in his sleep and there was no real way to deal with it. There was very little he could do to actually disentangle himself from the embrace, because Sasuke's sleeping mind had somehow recalled the exact way that the dark boy would keep him trapped in bed- because any movement would wake him too and Naruto cherished Sasuke's sleep more than his own. But even if he could, he wouldn't push him away- he had missed him too much, had longed for this proximity quite terribly.

Good luck explaining away this one… Naruto thought to himself, as Sasuke's hot breath on that sensitive curve of his neck had unintended but very real effects on his body. Certain parts of his body in particular. Damn Uchiha and his penchant for agonizing foreplay. Somehow Sasuke had gone from inexperienced to exotic a bit too fast- always curious about what his breath could do to this part of his body, what his teeth might to another. Inappropriate? That was one way of putting it.

Sleep had been the one thing that his body had demanded upon his return to Konoha, but he had easily traded it for this moment.

The hard truth was that he was no longer used to being alone with Sasuke and being casual. Yes, they were often casual, but always with the promise of more, if the mood hit them. And more often than not, it did. The ugly truth was that he had forgotten how to be just friends with the Uchiha- and that shocked him, because they had been rivals, friends, foes and back to friends again for a lot longer than they had been…

Longer than we have been…what..?

Naruto's cobalt eyes traced the Uchiha's sleeping face- eyes moving behind his eyelids that fluttered ever so softly with the movement, pale, slightly chapped lips parted just barely and silky hair cascading his face and spreading like black ink on his tan skin. They had never bothered to define what they were to each other- other than Sasuke-Teme's jokes about who's the girlfriend, but that was only meant to incite the blonde. It worked every time too. Just looking down at him, it felt as though as he hadn't seen him in years and what he really wanted to do was squeeze him to him, feel his cool skin against him and maybe convince himself that Sasuke was real.

Good luck explaining that one…, he thought again with a small smile, imagining Sasuke's surprised, groggy face. It was a familiar expression that he was imagining, one that there was no way to know would be there for him. Because Sasuke wasn't all there.

All there. What did that even mean? When he had found Sasuke inside the apartment he had almost forgotten himself and smiled, his body suddenly overcome with the familiar fatigue of arriving home safely and finding him waiting there. It had only lasted a moment though and then he remembered all that Sasuke didn't. A wave of hurt and anger washed over him at the way the Uchiha was picking up his own notes and examining them like trinkets that belonged to someone else. He had wanted to cry and he had wanted to punch him- all of which sounded very clear in his voice, though Sasuke didn't seem to understand. How could he?

His mind drifted to other times. Sometimes he would be in the kitchen, reading a book or a scroll and would look up just for a moment to say that there's food in the oven- sometimes it would even be ramen. Other times, after a dangerous mission or if he was late, he'd find the Uchiha sitting on the bed, very still, his mouth resting on his interlaced fingers in thought. Even so, he would make room for him and Naruto would sit beside him. They didn't speak much those times and they rarely left the bed either- other than times that the pure physicality of their encounters was more akin to a sparring session that might carry them to other parts of the room, or the rest of the apartment even. His landlady had left notes of complaint for the "persistent disturbance", that had mortified him and- predictably enough- amused the Uchiha. In fact, he was convinced that ever since he started getting the notes, he got fussier on purpose. Of course, when Naruto had confronted him about it he had looked up at him quite innocently- which only confirmed that the bastard knew exactly what he was talking about. There was no such thing as an "innocent Sasuke" in the multiverse.

"And never will be…" he trailed his own thoughts with a scoff, getting some satisfaction out of uttering his accusation aloud. As loud as a whisper could be anyway.

The moment of annoyance was short-lived, because he felt the other boy shudder against him, his dark brows creasing to a frown and his breath becoming shallow- the telltale signs of a nightmare. Naruto stroked his back all the way up to his neck and back again for a while, watching as the Uchiha relaxed under his touch. Something inside him remembered that that touch meant that he was safe. Yet even as his gestures had always been clear, he had always found himself mystified by the other boy. He didn't know what Sasuke said to him in the different ways that he touched him- couldn't translate neither the hard bites, nor the feathersoft kisses- and had never asked because it had been enough that something in him just knew. But now the dark boy lay against him without any of those memories and it was all he could do to wish that he had one more chance to ask.

And then Sasuke had gone and cupped his face, in that familiar way of his that there was no way he remembered. Didn't he know how intimate that was between them? No… No- of course he didn't. Sasuke could not begin to fathom what his merest touch could do to him- how weak, disgustingly weak it made him feel. Was it even right that he would be so mad at the dark boy for what he didn't remember- what he knew, in his heart of hearts, that Sasuke would have never chosen to forget, if he had any say in the matter?

Why isn't that enough?

It was because Sasuke awakened greed and selfishness and terrible single-mindedness in him- because nothing less than Sasuke's everything would be enough, after having tasted him. That taste lingered in his mouth, dried on his lips and nothing short of drinking up Sasuke in a kiss- Please, at the very least a kiss- could quench his abstruse thirst for him. And it was all wrong- all new to him- because he had never realized that he even had those feelings.

Talk about bad timing…

In that moment, almost more than the idea of Sasuke never remembering, he was afraid that he would, because then he would have to decide if he could tell the Uchiha any of this.

Yeah… that will go over really well…

No matter how it played out in his head, it was always awkward- and he hated awkward more than any other reaction, because Sasuke would just stand there with an infinitely stupid look on his mug that would beg for a punch. The Sakura-chan type too, which was no joke.

But then…

What if something happened and Sasuke never knew? What if he died during one of those missions and the Uchiha was left behind with questions about what his feelings were? What if Sasuke died and he lost the choice that seemed like such a burden right now- the choice to tell him. The thought of the dark boy feeling anything like what he was feeling during all this seemed too cruel.

If you remember…

His cobalt eyes fell on the pale face, treading lightly over his features, the inky black eyelashes, the silky raven hair. Shocking as it still was to him, the Uchiha had tried- had dared to try- to piece things together. It still seemed entirely unreal, but he had actually confronted him about who they had been to each other. Sranger yet, he had actually admitted that he- the Dobe, the Usuratonkachi- had power over him and he was desperate to understand. And what had he done?

Naruto threaded between his fingers a stay strand of hair that seemed to tickle the Uchiha's perfect nose in his sleep and tucked it behind his perfect ear- with a smile at how sometimes he looked like a child and eyes filled with regret.

Cowardice had hit a new high in him as he came up with all that Sasuke shouldn't have to hear in a fragile moment like that. Was it really his fault that he felt the need to protect himself? Sasuke had never been the soft or the loving kind. They just weren't like that- and this Sasuke, that had waltzed into his bedroom as though he owned the place, had no concept of all the things that had torn them apart and stitched them back together until it was impossible to know where each of them began and where the other ended.

If you remember, I…

Sasuke confused him and made him feel too much- more than his simple, young mind had imagined ever feeling about anyone. Was this love? Kurenai-sensei had once told him that he was in love- before the notion had even occurred to him and certainly not encompassing anyone other than Sakura-chan. The fact that his world hadn't fallen apart when Sakura had started dating Lee had somehow failed to tip him off. Another thing was that he had also avoided revisiting the subject since that first time that Sasuke had kissed him on top of the Hokage monument. Maybe grown-ups just knew about stuff like that and when he was old enough- whatever that was- he'd know too.

But Naruto didn't know much about anything- certainly not about something as elusive as what it was like to be in love- but he thought that the feeling of belonging and happiness and pain and desire that Sasuke overwhelmed him with, that had to be it, because nothing would ever surpass it. It was an absurd statement, given his lack of experience in the field, but somehow he knew it to be true. The rush of feeling that familiar body curling, coiling, grinding against his night after night, the way that his breath caught in his lungs when he woke up to the blessed sight of that beautiful, pale, scarred form, whose chest rose and fell in even breaths right there, beside him, day after day- if that wasn't the fabled feeling, he'd need a new, better word for it.

If you remember, I will...

Grimly, his mind landed him squarely on the present. Though one- if anyone knew and no one really did- might have looked at them, as they lay entangled in the cozy confines of the small bed, and thought that nothing had changed, everything had been turned upside down and inside out. He hadn't been very subtle about it either, judging by everyone's open concern- nor had his feelings for Sasuke been as convoluted as he had liked to believe, apparently. The fact that Sakura might have guesses a thing or two- or more- about them made him very self-conscious during an average day in Konoha, but, back at the hospital, he had found a sense of solace in her understanding. Would she question him further once- if- this was over? Kami, he hoped not.

"So, Naruto…" Sakura's imaginary voice started mischievously in his head, "… who tops?"

Blood rushed to his face and he suddenly felt like he couldn't quite breathe and was overwhelmed by the urge to kick the oblivious Uchiha out of his bed. Then keep kicking. Sasuke's relaxed features provided fuel to that urge, but, the more he watched him, the more he found himself forgetting about his plans of punishment and just blinked, tilting his head as he noticed how the light seemed to glow off of the creamy skin. Blessed be his short attention span- and the memory of how easily said skin turned red and purple with hickeys.

Naruto scoffed at himself this time. You better remember, Teme, he thought at the Uchiha's sleeping form, pulling the bed sheet just a little higher over the pale shoulder, because Sasuke always complained about getting cold during the night. Something about him hogging all the covers… I am SO not dealing with this one on my own.

A small shadow moved hesitantly along the rim of the window sill, bringing his half-indignant thoughts at the dark boy to an instant halt as his ninja mind kicked into high alert. Naruto tensed as he reached for a kunai under his pillow, eyes never wavering from the possible threat- and definite intruder- aimed and hurled. The sharp blade landed right next to the shadow, articulating his warning very plainly- as was intended- and evoking a yelp that did not sound all the way human.

"Naruto, wait- it's me!" a gruff, little voice came back, quite panicky.

It was familiar enough that he had to blink to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep. When he threw the kunai at the intruder he had been pretty sure it was Kakashi sneaking up on them and, therefore, deserving it. In retrospection, he wished it were his old mentor. "... Pakkun?" he asked in disbelief.

Adding to the increasingly long list in the comedy of errors, it hit him too late that he should have modulated his voice. If there had a way to deal with this without waking Sasuke, who had barely stirred in his deep sleep, he'd never know, because his surprise had overpowered caution. For the first time in forever, he found himself agreeing with all the people who had said that he was always obnoxiously loud as he watched, this time in suspense, the dark eyes fluttered open under a disgruntled scowl. Just for a second, he let himself drift to lala-land- because he honestly believed that Sasuke might fall asleep again- before the Uchiha was wide awake and very much aware of his- their- rather- as in all-out- compromising position.

Pakkun, whom Naruto had just about forgotten in light of his new predicament, coughed discreetly and proffered his next words with more-than-apparent unease. "I'll just come in… backwards... uh... okay?" he suggested. "I know it's late, but Kakashi asked me to deliver this message…" he explained with increasing agitation in his voice, all of it directed to the Copy Ninja, who got a kick out of making people- and summoned pugs- feel bad about themselves.

Right about then, Naruto's desire to kick had found a new target- and Kakashi had none of Sasuke's tantalizing characteristics. It would have all seemed like quite a joke, if those charcoal eyes weren't filled with such sincere confusion and questions that he could not answer. Thankfully, there was none of the disgust that he was afraid he'd find there- and he did search for it. Whatever Sasuke thought or felt, some distance between them was needed. Maybe by the time that he was done with Pakkun, the Uchiha would have gone over his questions and decided which ones were wise enough to ask.

"I'll be right there." He said rather quietly and cursed himself that he couldn't just have done that before.

Another thing he was thankful about that moment was the infamous canine hearing that allowed Pakkun to hear his mumblings. "Okay." said the pug, sounding a bit too relieved.

Naruto slid away from underneath the Uchiha and thoroughly ignored his intense gaze as he walked to the window. One fiasco at a time… he reminded himself and took a deep breath, forcing a smile as he looked at the tiny dog. "Kakashi-sensei sure is cruel having you run errands in the middle of the night." He said a little too casually. It sounded forced and he knew it. "I hope you have some plans to get back at him."

Pakkun went along, yet his eyes betrayed some kind of sympathy for the blonde. "I'll chew on his latest Icha Icha book when he's not looking." He said deadpan, making it hard to guess how serious he was about it. "Here. This is for you."

It was a plain, folded note that read, "Meet me at the Hokage's Tower around 9 in the morning. Bring Sasuke with you.". It required no confirmation that Sasuke was with him, which, on a day that he didn't have bigger concerns and he actually cared, would have triggered his paranoia. Kakashi was a pervert, after all. "Tell him we'll be there."

The pug simply nodded and jumped off to the next roof. Naruto wished he could take that leap with him. In fact, he'd be pretty much okay with licking hot iron, swallowing burning coals or some other feat that was- to him, there and then- much less inhuman than turning around and facing Sasuke. There had to be worse things, though he couldn't think of something right then.

Turning around, he was surprised to find the Uchiha lying down on his own side, one arm folded underneath his pillow and the other draped over it, his bare back turned to him. His lips were buried in that fold, but, as far as he could see, Sasuke's- questioning, confused, demanding- eyes were closed and silent. Naruto seriously doubted that the other boy had fallen asleep, but he accepted this as a show of mercy that was uncharacteristic of the Uchiha. Cobalt eyes blinked in surprise as he walked over to the bed. I guess memory-loss has its upside… he thought bitterly, because, if not for the memory-loss, there'd be no need for that upside.

He lay down quietly, carefully, playing along with the charade that Sasuke was indeed asleep. Lying on his side with his back to the dark boy felt plain wrong, but that was a good as it could get in this messed up situation. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and hoped for a better day come morning.

Leave it to Sasuke to be unable to let very well be. "If…" he started in a somewhat chocked tone and stopped.

If you remember… Naruto thought at him, but refrained from a verbal acknowledgement that he had heard him.

"If I were to turn around…" he finally started again, after a long silence, "… and hold you…" his voice sounding somewhat muffled, betraying that he had not moved with the intention to do so, "… would that be wrong?"

Naruto's eyes opened and became fixed on the picture frame of the old Team 7. It was Sasuke that was asking him this. "No." he said without thinking about what he was being asked or what his answer meant.

"Then… it's okay if that happens to come about… while I sleep." He said a bit more quietly and very, very nervously. "Unintentionally, of course."

Unintentionally, of course. He smiled a little. That was Sasuke- finding some convoluted way to express his intentions and the fact that he was okay with what was happening even if he didn't quite understand, all of it under the safe guise of plausible deniability.

"Of course." Naruto said with another sigh, which, he realized, had come with relief.

There would be no more words, but he knew that sometime before morning, the Uchiha would- unintentionally, of course- find his way back to him. It was enough to let him hope that what dreams may come will coax him into restful slumber. Maybe it was even enough to let him hope that, come morning, it would be a better day.

When you remember… he dared to fight off his 'if's… I will tell you all about me.

And he couldn't think of a more dangerous promise- and that was okay.

So that's my Naruto sappy-chappie. ^.^ I loved writing it so maybe you guys will enjoy. Next chapter we'll have guests, because it's been very private. ;-)

Tons of love!

Ja~!

M.