It took Sasuke a couple of seconds to realize where he was – and to realize just who it was that was resting their head on his shoulder.

He suddenly remembered everything that had happened in the past two days and his heart skipped a beat, waking the butterflies up again. He glanced to his side and saw the most gorgeous sleeping face he had ever seen.

Naruto's forehead was covered by his blonde mess, even called his hair, and his mouth was slightly open. He looked so peaceful, resting those beautiful clear blue eyes behind his eyelids, and his hair was tickling Sasuke's neck. That's when he noticed that the blonde had freckles on his cheeks and over his nose. They were hard do spot, but they were there, brought forward by the sun.

"Damn…"

He had to look away and bit his lip. Those freckles only made him even sexier.

Naruto shifted a bit, groaning, and Sasuke turned his face away in a try to avoid any awkward eye contact if Naruto suddenly decided to wake up and open his eyes. He would probably get pretty freaked out if he found Sasuke staring at him.

The blonde kept shifting and turned his head back and forth, his hair keeping up the tickling. Sasuke smiled and thought that he definitely could get used to that.

"Mhmmf…"

Naruto brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes, yawned and then slowly sat up straight. Sasuke dared to glance at him for a few, short seconds.

"Sleep well?"

Naruto looked confused and had that classic just-woke-up-look, and Sasuke had to mentally force himself not to smile.

"Hm? Oh, yea, I needed that. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Sasuke stretched his arms in the air, cracking his body awake.

"How come?"

He regretted asking that as soon as the words had left his mouth. It probably had something to do with Sakura, and he really wasn't up for a talk about her and Naruto. Even more importantly; he didn't want Naruto to think about his girlfriend when he was sitting on a plane with a guy that had a crush on him, on their way to New York.

"I was thinking about what happened and I couldn't sleep."

He changed his mind; he definitely wanted to hear it. He sat silent for a few seconds, but realized that he couldn't just sit and keep his mouth shut.

"What about it?"

Naruto shifted, clearly uncomfortable, but Sasuke didn't regret asking; his thoughts were racing way too fast for regrets.

"I didn't really come to a conclusion."

Sasuke nodded. It was fair enough.

They sat silent for a few seconds before the raven spoke up again.

"But you're here."

They looked at each other until Naruto sighed and looked away, his eyebrows wrinkled.

"I guess I am."

Sasuke didn't really know where the limits were, so he decided to push his luck until he found out. After all, Naruto couldn't run away from him this time.

"Is that bothering you?"

Naruto slowly nodded.

"Yup."

Figured. Well, of course it bothered him; he had just left Sweden – and his girlfriend – behind him, and was probably asking himself a lot of questions without being able to answer them. Sasuke knew all that, but he still felt the need to ask more questions. He wanted to figure out Naruto.

"What about… Her?"

He had gone too far, judging by the look on Naruto's face.

"Sorry. I'm just… Curious."

Naruto pulled a half-hearted smile.

"I know. And I'll tell you what's in here," he tapped a finger on his temple, "as soon as I have figured it out myself."

Again, fair enough, and somehow, Sasuke had no problem trusting his words. Naruto seemed like the kind of person that would always try to be clear and honest, as long as he knew for sure what he was feeling.

The rest of the ride passed rather quickly, and without any extreme cases of awkwardness. For Sasuke, at least. He had properly introduced Naruto to his parents, and they had seemed to like him. They were still confused about what had happened at the airport in Sweden, but didn't ask any questions. Itachi, however… Let's just say that he had given Naruto a firm handshake, and then murmured something in the blonde's ear.

They were sitting in their seats, landing in the US in thirty minutes, when Naruto turned to say something to Sasuke.

"What happened last night?"

The raven blinked, caught off guard, and he had to think for a few seconds before realizing that his brother probably had said something about the night before. That asshole.

"What did he say to you?"

Naruto shifted a bit, but kept eye contact the entire time.

"That I should be careful not to hurt you again. What did he mean?"

God, Naruto, you're so naïve and so innocent, it's almost worth laughing at.

"I hurt you?"

Pure worry and guilt was glimmering in his blue eyes. Yes, Naruto, you fucking broke me, but I can't tell you that since knowing that would break you.

He shrugged and pulled off a smile.

"Guess I was a bit low. No big deal."

That didn't erase the guilt in Naruto's eyes, and Sasuke realized that it was a fight that he couldn't win. He just didn't know what to say.

"What did I do?"

Sasuke just stared at the blonde. Was he serious? He didn't know how he had hurt him? He almost started to think that Naruto was screwing with his mind, but the expression in his face was much too real. It forced him into considering the possibility that Naruto was actually unaware of how Sasuke was feeling. Could it be that he, still, didn't know that Sasuke had the hots for him?

"Naruto." he shifted in his seat to properly face the blonde. "What do you think that I feel for you?"

Naruto looked down and laughed.

"That I'm a weirdo that doesn't make any sense at all?"

Sasuke felt like facepalming. He really didn't have a clue, did he? He was completely blind; that's the only explanation. Sasuke would notice within minutes if someone was interested in him, but Naruto didn't even suspect anything, not even after their kiss – something that kept coming back in Sasuke's dreams, both day and night, for that matter.

He shook his head and pushed the thoughts away. He had to make the situation clear to Naruto, even if that meant causing him even more confusion. It actually kind of pissed Sasuke off that the blonde had come to the airport, cadged the ride to New York with him, acted all confused about his feelings and then didn't even know that Sasuke liked him. He had to know it.

"We need to talk."

The lamp with the seatbelt-sign on lit up.

"When we get to my place."

They dropped the bags on the floor in Sasuke's room, finally home from the airport. It was getting pretty late, so they had decided to skip dinner and just make a couple of sandwiches instead. After finishing their meal, Sasuke led Naruto back to his room to properly show him around some more.

"Well, this is where I live. Make yourself at home."

Naruto was walking around the room, mouth open.

"Whoa. It's so…"

He spun around.

"Classy."

Sasuke snickered and crossed his arms over his chest, amused. He could only imagine what Naruto's room looked like; it probably reflected his personality just perfectly.

Sasuke cleared his throat.

"So, uhm, there's a guest room just down the hall. I'll show you."

Sasuke was about to grab Naruto's bag when he remembered that he hadn't brought one. He hummed, biting the tip of his thumb.

"We'll get your stuff here in a couple of days. I'll just make a call in the morning."

Naruto laughed.

"You guys really can do just about anything with a phone call, huh?"

Sasuke shrugged, smirking. Another good thing with being an Uchiha.

They went down the hall and into the guest room, and Naruto took his time and kept spinning around to look at the paintings and the architecture while they were in the corridor. Sasuke found it kind of cute.

Naruto sat down at the bed in the guest room, feeling the fabric under him with his fingertips.

"We should have a spare tooth brush somewhere, and I'll make Itachi borrow you some clothes. Sound okay?"

Naruto tilted his head.

"Can't I just borrow some of yours?"

Sasuke put his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow.

"Stand up."

Naruto hesitated for a second before standing up, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Sasuke took a couple of steps forward, standing only inches away from Naruto when he tilted his head upwards to look at the blonde, still with an eyebrow raised. Naruto was a head taller.

"See my point?"

Then, something happened inside Sasuke. The way they were standing seemed familiar, and it only took him a mere second to remember their kiss at the central station. He suddenly couldn't look away from Naruto's eyes, and unconsciously slightly opened his mouth. He managed to keep himself from leaning in, but damn, he wanted to. He wanted to taste Naruto with his tongue again and he wanted to feel those soft lips massaging his own with that hot breath on his face. He wanted it so badly, and still, he stood completely still, looking into Naruto's eyes.

The blonde didn't move an inch, but Sasuke somehow sensed that a million different things must be racing through his mind. He felt it, too. He felt the connection, and Sasuke's just about dared to think that maybe he, too, wanted to lean in? Just maybe. Hopefully.

Then, Naruto cleared his throat and turned his head to the side, breaking the spell.

"Yea, I see your point."

Sasuke had almost forgotten what they had been talking about just a minute before, but soon caught up.

"I'll go and..., rob Itachi on his wardrobe."

He turned and started walking towards the door and the corridor when Naruto spoke up again.

"Hey, Sasuke, uhm… What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Sasuke hesitated in the doorway and looked back at the blonde.

"Give me a sec. I'll get the clothes first."

The truth was that he had no fucking clue about how he was supposed to approach the subject. He knew what he wanted to tell Naruto, but he had no idea about how he would say it. 'I have a massive crush on you' was probably the easiest way, but it didn't feel quite right. He knew that he would have to explain his damned jealousy, which would lead to another explanation about the reason that he had ran away from Naruto and Sakura at the central station just a few days earlier. He would have to put it all out there; all the things that he had thought that Naruto knew about. Oh, man.

Sasuke took a deep breath and went to Itachi's room, not even knocking before entering. His brother sat in a chair, his glasses on the tip of his nose and a book in his hand. He looked up for just a second before turning back to reading. Sasuke went straight for his wardrobe and started digging around, not even sure what he was looking for; he was way too focused on the soon to be talk about his feelings, which, for that matter, would be his first talk about that kind of feelings ever.

"What are you doing?"

Itachi didn't even look up from his book.

"Borrowing some clothes for Naruto."

He finally found some clothes that seemed to fit the blonde, and turned to go back to the guest room.

"Burn them when you're done."

Sasuke glanced back to shoot his brother a glare.

"Be nice."

"I don't think so."

He sighed and went to the corridor again, slowly making his way to the guest room. He still had no idea about how he would say it, and from what he'd seen of Naruto, the blonde wouldn't get what he was saying unless he told him that he liked him, word by word.

He took another deep breath before he entered the room, spotting Naruto in the exact same spot as when he had left. Sasuke dropped the clothes on the bed and then put his hands in the pockets of his jeans, literally feeling the silence filling the room.

He cleared his throat.

"What I wanted to talk to you about, Naruto, is-"

"I think I already know."

Sasuke crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?"

Naruto nodded, avoiding eye contact, and Sasuke waited to hear the theory.

"You think that I'm…, gay."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"That's not what I wanted to say. But yes, I do think that there's some part of you that likes guys, as well."

Naruto hung his head, making his face impossible to read. Sasuke almost thought that he had gone too far for a moment before the blonde spoke up again.

"I don't know. I've never… Whatever."

Naruto took a deep breath and sat down on the bed, facing Sasuke again.

"So, what was it that you wanted to say?"

Sasuke sat down next to Naruto, but still kept some distance between them. It was possible that he would scare him off, and he wanted to avoid that as much as he could.

"I'm not sure how I should tell you."

Naruto pulled off a smile.

"Just say it. I'm sure I can handle it."

Sasuke snorted, but didn't comment the blonde's sudden confidence.

"Let me start by explaining why I…, ran off. When we met up with Sakura."

"Yea, please do! Did something happen? You never answered me when I tried to figure it out."

No, I just asked you to kiss me, instead.

"Yea. Well, nothing really happened, but…"

Sasuke sighed and looked down, clenching his fists in his lap. Naruto gently put a hand on his shoulder, trying to look him in the eyes.

"Hey, you can tell me."

He closed his eyes and bit his cheeks, ignoring his racing heart.

"Naruto, don't… Don't touch me right now."

The blonde looked confused, but did what he was told and put his hand on the bed instead. Sasuke tried again, taking another deep breath.

"When I saw you and Sakura hugging and…, kissing, I just… I freaked out. I couldn't breathe."

He looked at Naruto from under his bangs, but the blonde didn't get it.

"I got jealous, okay?"

Naruto sat silent, and didn't seem to suspect anything yet.

"And the next night, when we met up and…, we kissed, I… I liked it."

Sasuke couldn't look Naruto in the eyes, it was much too embarrassing, so he just kept going.

"I really liked kissing you. You… You took my breath away."

Naruto nodded, a bit embarrassed.

"Well, you're gay. Isn't that supposed to be what you like?"

Sasuke sighed again. How could the blonde be so naïve? It seemed impossible, but Naruto had proved him wrong – several times now.

"I don't enjoy it like that unless it's with someone that…"

He paused to take a breath. The room felt incredibly hot and he was breathing heavily. Here goes.

"Unless it's with someone that I like."

Silence. Sasuke forced himself to look Naruto in the eyes, determined to get the message through this time, and finally, something seemed to click inside the blonde.

"What are you saying?"

He gets it. He finally, finally gets it. But somehow, Sasuke felt like a nervous breakdown. How would Naruto react?

"I'm saying that I have a crush on you."

Naruto had his mouth slightly open, and he was sitting completely still for at least fifteen seconds. Sasuke just focused on breathing normally and looked at the blonde, hoping for the best.

"Oh."

Oh? That's it? Sasuke tried to convince himself that it was okay, that Naruto probably was shocked and didn't know what to say, but still. He had just spilled his heart out and that's the reaction? Well, at least it was better than 'that's just gross'.

"Sasuke, I'm…"

Hm?

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea how to tackle that fact."

That's better.

Sasuke smirked and stretched his arms.

"You don't have to tackle it. That's just how it is. Now you know."

Naruto looked down and nodded, still looking confused, but probably for whole other reasons than before. Sasuke stood up and yawned in a try to act relaxed, as if what he had just told the blonde was no big deal.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Just make yourself at home. The fridge is all yours."

He smirked at Naruto and received some kind of smile back.

He went out in the corridor and allowed himself to start shaking. He was practically hyperventilating and the walls were spinning. Damn, that had been hard to say, but at least it was out now. No more hiding, no more confusion about that matter.

He went into his room, got undressed and got in the bed. He put off the lamp and turned on his side – the way he always slept –, closed his eyes and then allowed his thoughts to go through what had happened that day. Or, what had happened that weekend. He had realized that he had a huge, huge crush on Naruto. He had gotten his heart broken – twice. He had looked like a ghost in an airport, and he had almost gotten a heart attack when he saw Naruto outside the plane. And, finally, he had told the blonde about his true feelings. He had a feeling that it would take a while for him to adjust to this whole new situation, especially with Naruto in the same house.

He was just about to slip into that border between awake and asleep when he heard a knock on his door. He groaned and opened an eye, ready to growl at Itachi for disturbing him, when the door slowly opened and showed a shirtless blonde standing in the doorway. Sasuke could now add another almost-heart attack to his list.

Naruto was holding a pillow and a blanket in his hand and was wearing Itachi's sweatpants. Sasuke leaned on his elbows.

"Naruto? It something wrong?"

The blonde took a few, shy steps into the room.

"Can I sleep in here? Just for tonight?"

Sasuke wasn't sure if he was dreaming or if Naruto had actually just asked that, but he nodded anyway.

"Yea, of course."

Naruto nodded, thankful, and closed the door behind him before he walked over to Sasuke's bed. He sat down at the floor and started making some kind of bed down there, when Sasuke snorted.

"You're not sleeping on the floor, Naruto. Come here."

Naruto hesitated while standing up.

"I'll be at the wall all night. Promise."

The blonde whole-heartedly laughed as Sasuke scooted over to the inner side of the bed, and put his pillow and blanket at his own side. He slid in under the blanket, breathed out and made himself comfortable. Sasuke's heart had never been beating so fast and so hard before, and he was convinced that it would cause him an early death some day. He shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts, and turned so that he was facing the wall. It was the best for both of them; Sasuke didn't have to torture himself more than necessary, and Naruto wouldn't have to feel so uncomfortable. It was a win-win situation. Well, kind of.

After what seemed like forever, Sasuke started to drift off again, entering that blurry line that comes right before falling asleep, and could finally breathe normally. Until he felt Naruto shift.

The blonde scooted over to the raven's side of the bed, and Sasuke thought that he would just die right there and then out of pure happiness. Naruto was lying behind him. Sasuke could feel his bare chest on his back, and the blonde carefully placed his arms over Sasuke waist, his hand slightly touching the raven's stomach. He was moving very carefully and quietly, and Sasuke somewhere noted that he must think that he was asleep.

After a few minutes silence, Sasuke could both hear and feel Naruto's breath becoming heavier as he drifted to sleep. He felt that hot breath in his neck, and fell asleep feeling happier and more love struck than ever.