A/N: Wahaha. Be happy, dear reader, for if it wasn't for your request, you wouldn't be reading this now! Anyway, hope you guys like it. :D Oh yeah. I haven't had this proof-read or anything near it (sorry for that!) so if there are any mistakes or whatsoever, I will gladly correct them.

Disclaimer: NaruSasu would be a CANON pairing (well, it's sorta canon, right?) long time ago, if I had owned Naruto.

Sasuke: Near Kisses

Part II

Uchiha Sasuke was not used to emotions. If possible, he makes himself immune to such things. Simply feeling is already a disregard to the first rule of being a ninja, which is to not show any emotion at any given circumstance. Sasuke thought at one point in time, that he reached that stage, where one could feel nothing at all. Feelings, as he had learned to understand, were nothing but hindrances to what a person wants to achieve. They can wound, distract or even destroy a person. It seems that this Uchiha concluded too fast, for within a blur, he was able to feel a lot of emotions.

And the cause of it was a certain blonde, blue-eyed boy.

Since Naruto had gotten out of bed and recovered from his fever, Sasuke decided it was best to avoid him for the meantime. Whatever he said, did or thought during the time he acted as "caretaker" for the Kyuubi boy, he was sure as hell that he won't be capable of repeating it now. He became reckless and thoughtless although he does not deny the fact that he does feel something for Uzumaki Naruto and those same feelings might as well drag him down to the depths of the earth.

The Uchiha would've succeeded in his "mission," if not for the errand Kakashi-sensei asked of him that rainy day. The Jounin suggested that Sasuke train some more for better control of his Sharingan (A/N: If I'm not getting any of this right, kindly correct me. nn;;) and Sasuke, being Sasuke, obeyed.

It wasn't until after his training that Sasuke asked himself why the gods were picking on him. He was walking out of the forest when the rain started to pour harder and any sane person would know that it be best to stay under a shade of something until the rain stops.

Sasuke found a tree, big enough for two persons and so far, it was efficiently doing its job as a temporary umbrella. Now all he had to do is to wait.

"Ah, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at the sound of that voice. He would've appreciated it if a wild stampede came running after him. At least that way, if ever he died, he would have a bit of pride left for being a ninja squashed to death by the animal kingdom. But this… boy… might trigger him to die of hara-kiri (which is technically for samurais) or something. He was already searching for his kunai.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto conveniently situated himself beside Sasuke, his blonde hair drenched, his jacket open and his mouth curved in a grin. So the boy was oblivious to EVERYTHING that happened during that fateful day in his room.

"I needed to get out of the rain," Sasuke shrugged. He felt weird urges at the mere sight of Naruto, which is why the Uchiha was having a hard time restraining himself. Hey, the boy's just human.

"So did I!"

Whatever was joyful about this thought, Sasuke failed to see. He just nodded, for lack of better things to say and was silently praying for the rain to stop. Immediately.

His grip on the kunai tightened.

"Ano sa… Ano sa" (A/N: "Ano sa…" means something like "you know." Naruto has this way of repeating phrases that I find very cute! XD) Naruto began. "Thanks for taking care of me the other day."

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit.

He knows?

"Sakura-chan got mad at me a while ago because I didn't remember anything about it and urged me thank you immediately."

Oh.

"Its nothing," Sasuke replied. Although he knew he should feel relieved, the majority of him would want to end this stupid I-don't-care-about-you phase and admit to Naruto how he really feels.

Somewhere, deep down Sasuke's mind, he knew that once Naruto knew about it, it should be forgotten and buried six feet under and should never be unearthed again. He was a ninja and he can't possibly let himself be lured to actually feeling just because his teammate attracts anyone within a 15 meter radius. Not only will it harm Naruto's friendship with him—if you can call it that—but also their future careers as ninjas.

And Sasuke knew better than to destroy that.

"I distinctly remember some weird things involving you but you'll probably laugh at me," Naruto said sheepishly. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him everything—he looked so adorable at that moment. It took almost all of his self-control to prevent him from doing anything rash.

"Try me," Sasuke said in an oddly choked voice. "Will you?"

Naruto gave him a suspicious look at first and for a moment, Sasuke expected the boy to vehemently refuse to say anything and thus, the two would find themselves in a pointless fight, once again. Thankfully, Naruto didn't do so today.

"Just promise you won't laugh." The boy requested. To this, Sasuke replied with a nod. He didn't know what to expect. Naruto himself was unpredictable. What more if such an issue was involved?

"I won't," Sasuke assured.

"Okay, then." Naruto leaned against the tree, as if thinking hard on how to start his next statement. "I know this may sound weird, but I remember that YOU made me ramen. Either that or you just bought one from the store for me,"

"Really, now," Sasuke tried to sound calm but a lump in his throat was forming.

What else does he remember?

"Yeah, I mean you wouldn't do anything I say, why would you make me ramen when I asked for it?" Naruto was grinning, as if he just told Sasuke a funny joke. He didn't notice the Uchiha's predicament. "Oh. And if you think that's weird, wait 'til you hear this. Don't think that I'm having weird fantasies or whatever but you tried to kiss me!"

Naruto started to laugh hysterically at this point. Sasuke tried to do the same thing—keyword is tried.

"Ha," Sasuke said in what he hoped was an arrogant voice. "Why would I do such a thing?"

Damn.

"Yeah. Your face was nearing mine and I didn't know what to do so I just shifted to my right and—"

Sasuke heard no more. His face paled at the mere words. What could he do? A mere slip of the tongue might send him to a deep pit of embarrassment. After years of scheming, planning and everything in between, Sasuke knew that he must plan each successive step carefully and think things thoroughly. Being rash would just be plain idiotic and being idiotic would get him nowhere.

He didn't want Naruto to know of this. He'd rather he stay as clueless as he is. Many things are at stake here, with their friendship—if you can call it that—on the top of the list. It actually surprised Sasuke that he was capable of such emotions. He'd never bothered to notice them before, even as tons of girls chased him around Konoha, claiming ownership of the said Uchiha. He was free.

And within a few months, that freedom disappeared. The paradox here was that Sasuke didn't mind at all. He was starting to sound like that Hyuuga girl already. Then again, at least Naruto paid attention to her—as in genuine attention, not like the barrage of insults he always threw at him and vice versa—Sasuke wouldn't mind trading places at all—

NO! What could he possibly be thinking? He was not pursuing these emotions for Naruto. Not now, not ever. But something inside him was nagging him… pushing him to tell the truth—

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto's impatient voice interrupted Sasuke's musings. "Are you still listening?"

"Er… Yeah," Sasuke shrugged. It was a complete lie.

"Well, it's weird though. I don't know where that came from," Naruto frowned, then he directed his cerulean blue eyes at Sasuke. "What do you think?"

A second passed.

What would Sasuke say?

What could Sasuke possibly say? He was in the deep end no matter what he did. He'll just end up like some…

Ah hell! Enough with this. I can't stand it anymore.

"Naruto," Sasuke began after taking a deep breath. "I need to tell you something,"

"Okay," Naruto said slowly. Then his face brightened. "Aha! You're going to confess that you're the one who opened my ramen the other day! It's really a mean thing to do, preparing ramen and then just leaving it there…"

"No," Sasuke interrupted. "I just wanted to tell you… that the day I acted as a caretaker for you… was… well…"

"You're not asking me to pay you now, right?"

"Hell, no. Stop interrupting me, dobe, so I can get to the point!" Sasuke growled in frustration.

Naruto was a bit taken aback by Sasuke's mild outburst. He gave the Uchiha a weird look before urging him to continue. It wasn't like he had a choice.

"The say I stayed at your place was… uneventful."

"Event…" Naruto began. "…ful? What do you mean?'

Why does it have to be so damn hard?

"Let's just say that everything you told me right now is true," Sasuke finally said after a few minutes of silence. He awaited the boy's reaction and unsurprisingly, he didn't know what to expect.

Naruto stared at him hard for a moment, making Sasuke a bit self-conscious. If the fates have it, Naruto would be too dense to comprehend this information and just let the matter rest forever.

Unfortunately, it wasn't like that.

Naruto started to laugh uncontrollably. At times he would pause for a moment and then glance at Sasuke and afterwards, he'd burst into hysterical laughter once again. The cycle went on and on until Sasuke's cheeks grew pink.

What was so funny?

Did Naruto think that it was so detestable… so ridiculous that he had to laugh? Here was Sasuke, practically confessing on the spot and Naruto had the heart to laugh? Needless to say, it took away the bit of pride Sasuke had left.

"What's funny?" Sasuke finally asked, his voice composed as ever yet inside, he felt the exact opposite.

Naruto then stopped laughing and stood up straight. He had a serious face on he looked at Sasuke in a weird way that Sasuke found himself trying to match his expression with one of his own. He didn't succeed, though.

I like you…

So what?

"It was a joke, right?" Naruto asked.

"No," Sasuke replied curtly. "It's not."

His face didn't project laughter or mirth or anything remotely near it this time. The boy seemed at a loss for words. All the while he was frowning at Sasuke and gaping like an idiot.

Sasuke wanted it to end. It wouldn't last long enough for either of them, anyway. After he says his feelings, he would trample them to the ground. If not, then he's just end up as a lonely, loveless Uchiha—somewhat like before but worse. When this happens, Sasuke wasn't sure if there will be another Naruto to save him from this kind of despair. It was hard, Sasuke of all people knew, to suppress feelings for someone. Feelings were powerful and at the same time uncontrollable. Which is why ninjas aren't supposed to have them. Feelings are uncontrollable and even with the ninja rule, inevitable.

So why was Sasuke running away?

I don't want to drag Naruto in any of this.

I don't deserve the right to hurt him, much less posses him.

"Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'd better—" Sasuke was about to leave the tree and walk under the pouring rain when Naruto called out his name.

On mid-step, Sasuke stopped to look at him. Naruto's hair was still wet, temporarily taming his usually wild hair. His blue eyes were much bluer today and with his jacket left wide open, revealing his black shirt underneath, some thoughts sneaked in the Uchiha's head that were so unmentionable that Sasuke felt blood rising to his cheeks.

Who knew this Uchiha can blush?

"What?" Sasuke asked him.

"Why?"

"Because…" Sasuke paused. How was he going to say it? Direct to the point? He was used to a lot of girls confessing their feelings to him and most of time he thought it rather pathetic. The boy would never ever imagine himself in the same situation. "I… I like you."

There goes the confessing part. Now for the trampling-of-feelings part.

Sasuke didn't give much thought to what he just said. Whether it made him look like an idiot or a dunce, he didn't care at all. Thinking about it would just reduce the statement to a mere half-truth, filled with practicalities and most of the time false assumptions. Sasuke didn't want Naruto to hear that. He wanted him to hear the truth.

And after this, he will restrain his feelings to the extent of his capability.

"You do?" Naruto asked in disbelief. He seems to be taking this quite lightly. As if his kunai got lost somewhere or his hitai-ate got scratched on the day of his graduation or something. "I thought you hated me."

"Well I obviously don't now, do I? Or else I wouldn't be telling you just that."

Naruto looked as if Sasuke has just recited something in Greek. The boy was thinking hard, as if battling the Kyuubi demon inside of him. What he was thinking about, though, was still a mystery.

"Look, dobe… Naruto, I just wanted to let you know. I don't mean to pursue further these feelings so it would really be helpful if we don't talk about this again,"

"So you'll return to hating me again?"

"If that's what it takes—"

"Is it that easy?" the blonde interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Is it that easy to lo—like someone one moment and the hate him the next?"

"Stop making this harder than it already is, usaratonkachi! These kinds of feelings will get us nowhere! What would happen to me if I let myself get distracted by these emotions? Everything I worked for will crumble. I need to hate you so that I can get this annoying feeling out of chest and get on with my life and I'd rather you do the same."

"But…"

"What?" Sasuke snapped.

He didn't mean to be rude. He was just frustrated, that's all. He wanted Naruto to understand that he can't possibly pursue such feelings. What would become of him? Uchiha Sasuke—the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, Uzumaki Naruto's part time admirer? Nope, he won't let himself sink that low. He had a goal, after all.

Why is he so interested, anyway?

"I like you too."

tsuzuku

A/N: Yehey! It's done. For the reader's information, the third chapter is done already. I'm just too busy to type it right now. Fear not for I will find the time to do so. Again, corrections, constructive criticism and violent reactions are most welcome. Just tell me if the characters are OOC, 'kay? I'm trying my best to keep them in character. There, hope ya like it! And I need reviews! Ehehe.