Chapter 20

Sasuke froze, his eyes widening as he realized what he was doing. Beneath his lips he felt Naruto stiffen, his mouth opening slightly in shock.

The two of them stood motionless. Sasuke's brain ran frantically trying to figure out what in the world had possessed him to kiss Naruto and what the hell he should do now.

Naruto stood rigid, the emotionless mask he had been wearing was gone, replaced by a stunned look.

Before Sasuke could do anything though Naruto shoved him away with a gasp, nearly pushing him off the porch.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called as Naruto spun, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

"How'd it-" Kakashi started.

"GRAH!" Sasuke screamed, locking his hands around his head. Planting himself down and slamming his head against the table.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he watched the boy. Across the table Iruka cocked an eyebrow, looking worried. The man had woken while Sasuke was gone, joining Kakashi in the kitchen.

"What happened, Sasuke?"

"I kissed him!" Sasuke shouted, hitting his head against the table repeatedly as he groaned in despair.

The men's eyes widened, and Kakashi quickly reached out, stopping Sasuke from hurting himself.

"Calm down, Sasuke, and tell us what happened."

"I kissed him!" Sasuke said again, his voice softening slightly. He stood again, pacing back and forth around the kitchen. Kakashi and Iruka's eyes never left him.

"I don't know why but I did and now I ruined everything. He definitely hates me now. I screwed up twice and now he never wants to see me again. What am I going to do? Why the hell did I have to kiss him!" Sasuke said in one long breath. He didn't even notice as tears began to fall from his eyes. All he could think about was how much he had screwed up. He had ruined everything.

Kakashi stood, stopping Sasuke as he paced and sitting him back down at the table.

"Deep breaths, Sasuke." He instructed, kneeling before the boy. Sasuke drew a few shaky breaths. "Now, tell me what happened."

"I did what you told me to. I told him what I told you but he wouldn't say anything. I begged him and he just stood there, with this expression like he never wanted to see me again. Finally he asked if I was done and tried to leave. I didn't know what to do so I kissed him. I kissed him and ruined everything." Leaning forward Sasuke sobbed into his hands.

He had never expected it to hurt this much. He hadn't know just how much he cared about Naruto until the boy had turned his back on him.

Kakashi watched Sasuke, he had seen Sasuke at some of his worst. But seeing the boy like this was almost too much for him.

"Kakashi," Sasuke sniffed after a few moments. "Why does it hurt so much?"

"Because you love him…"

Sasuke froze for a moment, Kakashi's words sinking in. He fought for a moment, he couldn't be in love. There was no way. But finally he gave in, nodding is head in silence.

Why else would it hurt so much? He was in love with Naruto.

* * *

"Is he going to be okay?" Iruka asked, watching Kakashi with worried eyes. Kakashi had gotten the boy to sleep. Sasuke was exhausted so it was too hard to convince him.

Kakashi nodded. "He's taking it hard. I'm going to go talk to Naruto. I'm sure he's as freaked out as Sasuke."

Iruka nodded, standing and making his way to Kakashi. Wrapping his arms around the mans waist he buried his face in his chest.

"I don't like seeing him like this," Kakashi said, holding Iruka against him.

"I know…"

"He's had a hard life, it hasn't been fair to him…" he rested his cheek against Iruka's hair. "I don't want to see him hurt again."

Iruka said nothing as the two of them stood there holding each other.

After a few minutes Kakashi pulled back. Lifting Iruka's chin he kissed him gently, the fabric of his mask separating them. Reminding him he still had his own issues to work out as well.

If I can fix things between Sasuke and Naruto then I'll show Iruka tonight. He thought to himself. He's been so patient and I've been so selfish. He deserves to know what's under this mask.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. Will you keep an eye on Sasuke while I'm gone?"

"Of course."

* * *

"Naruto?" Kakashi said softly, pushing the bedroom door open. The room was a mess, the boys belongings were strewn everywhere. Clothes were torn from the closet, his bookshelf over turned and his bedding in disarray. It was obvious the boy had gone on some sort of a rampage.

Naruto sat on his bed, his back to the corner of the room. He held his head in his arms, his forehead resting on his knees. Beside him Kyuubi sat, her head on her paws. The dog watched as he entered the room.

"Naruto?" He asked again. Naruto said nothing as he sat motionless. The only indication that he was alive at all was the steady rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed and the occasional sniff.

"Naruto, what's going on?" He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know," the boy said, his voice rough.

"Why didn't you forgive Sasuke for last night?"

"I do forgive him…"

"Then why didn't you tell him?"

"Because I shouldn't have forgiven him," he said after a few moments. "I shouldn't forgive him but I do…"

"You should tell him… he needs to hear it… he's convinced you hate him. That you never want to see him again."

"I don't hate him. I hate what he did, but I could never hate him…"

The two of them fell silent.

"He kissed me…" Naruto said after a few moments. Kakashi couldn't tell if Naruto was pleased or upset with the fact. "I'm so confused. Does he really like me or was he just trying to get me to listen to him?

"He loves you…"

Naruto lifted his head finally, his glasses were off, his scars in plain sight. He looked shocked. "He does?" He asked, his voice soft and disbelieving.

"Yeah… I know he'll be too shy, or stubborn, to tell you himself."

Naruto's face fell a moment later. "I screwed up too, didn't I? I should have just told him I had forgiven him instead of acting like a jack ass…" He said in despair. "Kakashi, how do I fix this?"

"I don't know," Kakashi said, falling silent as he let the boy think.

After a silent minute Naruto scooted off the bed.

"Kakashi, can you help me with something?"

* * *

"Ugggnnnn…." Sasuke groaned as he dropped onto the couch. His head was throbbing painfully as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He was exhausted despite the several hours of sleep he had gotten. He had finally been shaken away by Iruka several minutes earlier. The man said he had been screaming and crying in his sleep. He had been having nightmares again.

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. Before he had come downstairs he had glanced briefly in the mirror. His hair was an absolute mess, resembling matted fur. Tear stains marked his face, and his eyes were puffy and bloodshot. He was an absolute mess.

The house was quiet around him as he sat there, Iruka sipped coffee in the kitchen, reading a book he had taken from Kakashi's collection. Sasuke hadn't heard or seen the man since he had woken up.

He wondered briefly about where the silver haired man could have gotten to. He would have asked Iruka if he had been able to summon the energy to move. That not being an option however he opted to try his best not to think about the situation. Which was difficult, he didn't have much else to think about.

After a few long minutes he finally gave in. Climbing slowly to his feet he began to make his way to the kitchen, ready to ask Iruka for some sort of sleeping medication so he could pass out once more.

But before he could make it to the kitchen the front door swung open.

"Stay right here, I'll go get him," Kakashi said before turning to the door. His eyes widened as he saw Sasuke standing in the foyer, his hair a mess and his pajama's wrinkled. From outside he heard a voice mutter embarrassedly, "this is so fucking cliché…"

"Never mind, actually," Kakashi said over his shoulder. "Sasuke could you come here for a minute?"

Sasuke cocked an eye brow, padding forward. He froze as he saw Naruto standing on the front porch. What was going on?

"I'll leave to two of to talk then," Kakashi said, quickly disappearing into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone. Sasuke looked after him, silently willing the man to come back. He didn't want to be alone with Naruto after what had happened.

"Sasuke…" Naruto started, his face flushing slightly. He shifted awkwardly, one hand behind his back. "I-I uhh… I'm sorry…" He stuttered. Pulling his hand from behind his back he held out a small bouquet of roses.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared down at the flowers. His mouth fell open as he tried to figure out what was going on. Naruto was supposed to hate him. He was supposed to yell at him, slap him for what he had done. Not give him roses!

With shaking hands he reached out, taking the flowers from the blond.

"I don't hate you, Sasuke. I should have said so this morning… I'm sorry I didn't…"

Sasuke's eyes were still fixed on the roses. He held him softly, as if they were the most delicate things in the world. No one had ever given him roses before.

"Roses…" Sasuke said softly.

Naruto's face flushed deeper, he shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "Yeah… I know flowers are cliché and everything but I gave you the wrong idea this morning… I wanted to make it up to you some how… So uhh… I was wondering it you maybe want to go out sometime or something?" He asked timidly, his hand rubbing the back of his hands.

Sasuke felt tears of relief spring to his eyes. He hadn't ruined everything!

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked after a few silent moments.

"Naruto," Sasuke choked out. Stepping forward he wrapped his arms around the boys neck, burying his face in is shoulder.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he felt Sasuke give a shuddering sob.

"Yes," Sasuke said, his voice thick. "Yes I would love to."

A/N: Sorry this chapter has taken so long to be posted. I had a bunch of tests last week and some more on monday so I've been focused on studying and planning out my next two costumes. I'm making a faun costume for Renn Fest and I'm going to start my new fursuit! My goal is to have a partial fursuit of my character Tricks for Halloween. I'll probably post pictures of both costumes on Deviantart as I work on them if your interested, lol.