Sasuke had never… thought about the intricacies of such a simple thing before.
She was a brooding woman, that much would have to be admitted by herself - lest you never actually get the words out of her- but she liked to think that she obsessed and brooded over important subject matters, actions that required a significant amount of thought.
Whilst this situation might be categorised as something to put a lot of thought behind, it was far, far simpler than planning to kill her brother for almost a decade, and yet she felt the feeling swallow her up almost as much as it had when she had been an vengeful teenager.
Perhaps that was pathetic and ridiculous, hopelessly selfish and insensitive, but she didn't care because the only people whose opinions counted were herself and the person who the subject matter was about anyway.
She acknowledged that it was perhaps herself who was making the situation as difficult as it was. All that she was stressing over, after all, was simply saying a few words to an individual and getting it over with. She realised that after she had done it once, told Naruto the truth only one time, it would be much easier to repeat it -but she would still make sure that she only said the words when they held significant meaning.
Because Sasuke Uchiha was an extremely secluded and emotionally independent individual and she had never truly told anyone her feelings before. While she trusted Naruto with her life, and everything that intelled, she had never truly shared any in-depth knowledge about her feelings with him. Most of the time, because he was almost scarily perceptive when it came to reading people, he was able to read her feelings and acted accordingly as such.
It was one of the things she admired so much about him. He could read a situation instantly and work out how to approach it just as fast. If she didn't want to talk, he wouldn't talk. If she wanted to do some training, he would lead her to a sparring field without a word. If she wanted… some more intimate attention, he would smile as if he could read her vague sentences as a perfectly acceptable language and give her a wordless hug.
It helped her remain who she was and not have to change that much, and she was so incredibly grateful for that. She only hoped that as much as he was perceptive about what she wanted and how she felt, he was also perceptive that she appreciated his efforts endlessly.
Which might have been another reason this was so hard. Naruto had changed the way he acted for Sasuke and let her do what she wanted with both herself and her personality, and whilst that was almost definitely a positive action, it had made it harder for her to verbally word her weaknesses.
Because they both knew that he loved her, and that she loved him, but she had never actually said it.
It was so… easy for him to say the words -and that didn't necessarily mean that they meant any less- but he still said it with such honesty and passion that she had no problem at all believing him not only because he said it every day, but because his actions proved as much.
She knew that he knew she loved him as well, she hoped her actions proved as much as that, but she wanted to be able to tell him as well- and that was what she was brooding over.
It was a simple problem, but like everything in her life, she overcomplicated it. Sasuke, once again, was a secluded woman and wanted very little to do with expressing her emotions, but Naruto was the sole exception to that.
-but she was also an extremely prideful and dignified woman who revealed nothing and as much as she was reluctant to admit it, that inevitably bled into her relationship with Naruto, and she knew that he deserved someone who would be able to reciprocate simple words to confirm their relationship.
They had shared intimacy, kisses, everything another couple might do- but Sasuke had remained stoic throughout it all and she had only displayed weakness to him physically. She had never told him anything or shared what she felt - she had just let her body and her actions let him know that.
If she told him what she thought, that he deserved someone who would be able to tell him what they felt, she realised that he would probably laugh at her and disagree -insisting that she was the only person he ever needed.
And he had proved he meant that as well -stupid, loveable fool.
Eventually, after more excruciating deliberation, she decided that she would just brute force the situation. To defeat her brother, she had trained relentlessly and made it her sole goal for that period of her life.
She would just make telling Naruto what she truly felt her goal this time.
\v/
It was once again another perfect night, something that had become so frighteningly common in the recent past, and Sasuke inaudibly sighed as she leant to her side and into the warm body that was sat directly next to her -almost like a miniature sun against the contrast of the cold night air slowly surrounding them.
It was a perfect analogy, she realised. Sasuke was by nature, a cold person, and preferred the more frigid environments to the warmer ones. Naruto was directly the opposite, and preferred the humid heat of Konoha. It was such a hopelessly idiotic thought that it made her scoff aloud.
She felt him shift against her, providing a more comfortable environment for her to lean against before tilting his head slightly, letting her see the blues of his eyes dancing to meet her darker ones both curiously and amusedly.
"What is it?" he asked, voice soft but already preparing for humour, and she smiled -hid in the darkness- as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"Nothing, just an inane thought." she answered, because while he probably would have shared such a thought, it was far too… sappy for her to say aloud.
But the thought reminded her of something.
"I thought that you were so smart that nothing you thought was inane?" he asked, mockingly serious, and she scoffed once again at his snarky responses, only digging harder into his side as a response, even as his arm curled around her shoulder.
Tell him how you like his sarcastic humour.
It was an intruding thought, in relation to what she had been thinking about before, but she realised that it could be used as a gateway.
Because she did love his humour, and how it was both witty and clever, and it was something so ultimately unimportant in the scope of the world around them that it would be much easier to divulge in him that she liked his humour compared to telling him she loved him.
She would never normally tell him something so… simplistic, something so meaningless as a compliment to his humour, but she had told herself that this was her goal and that Naruto deserved something other than just physical appreciation of his love and affection.
"Why are you only clever when it concerns remaining funny?" she… complimented, and she realised that it was as much of an insult as it was a compliment and that she had failed spectacularly in her efforts.
Fighting was so much easier than this. It was almost with a laugh that she realised it had been far more simple to focus on getting stronger as a means to fight Itachi than it was paying the man she loved a compliment.
She felt him twitch through the skin of her cheek, and she looked up slightly in the dark of the night to see what his facial reaction might be to something she might not normally say, because while it was hardly a compliment it was still something she would never normally say.
He was quirking an eyebrow, eyes catching hers amusedly, and she was at least relieved that he had looked underneath the underneath and understood that she was more paying him a compliment than indulging in one of the half-hearted insults they traded with each other from day to day.
"I'm glad you appreciate my striking wisdom when it comes to the way of humour."
She groaned, audibly, and buried her head into the pit of his shoulder whilst she felt him shake with a bright chuckle that dug her further into him.
Trust him to turn her attempt at brokering conversation as a way to stroke his ego.
They were silent, or almost a minute, whilst Naruto's laughter died down and they both relaxed into looking at the sight before them. The entirety of Konoha was now flickering out of sight with lights being turned off for night time, only the night-life district in the distance remaining visible, and Sasuke realised that Naruto would likely be taking them back to his home soon.
She had been trying to tell him what she felt, using conversation, but she had let it slip away and instead contented in his presence. She needed to refocus but there was no gateway this time, and she would have to be direct.
She pondered for a few seconds, eyebrows furrowed in thought, and it appeared that he realised something was wrong with her because he prodded at her body softly with the arm that was still wrapped around her.
He was always perceptive, despite appearances, and he knew her body as if it were a street in the middle of Konoha.
"What's wrong? You're tensing up- you only do that when you're thinking about something you don't like."
She supposed he was right, she didn't like the thought of… messing something up and quite honestly, divulging her feelings was still too foreign and alien to her. But she had to now.
She straightened her back, moving from her place on his shoulder so that they could sit in a much more companionable position, and he turned to face her -apparently realising that she wanted to talk and that whatever it was was important, at least to her.
"Naruto…"
And she paused immediately, because she just couldn't think of the words to describe what she wanted to tell him and starting a conversation with something as blunt as 'I love you' was just too brusque and offensive and not what she wanted to-
His arms interrupted her, and he placed his hands on either of her shoulders, forcing her to look directly into his soft, expansive, yet comforting and serious orbs.
"You don't need to tell me anything if it makes you uncomfortable, Sasuke. You don't need to prove anything to me, or say anything. Whatever it is is clearly making you uncomfortable and that isn't what I want you to do to yourself. I love you how you are."
It was….. How did he know what to say? What to do in every scenario? The perfect response to everything she was thinking and feeling without her even saying anything? It invoked a feeling so deep into her, an appreciation so large, that she knew now that she just had to tell him what she thought immediately because he was too perfect, too loving to be told anything else-
"I love you too-" she whispered, almost as if it were a secret for only the shadows to hear, but from the way his muscles tightened around her shoulders and his blue eyes went wide, she knew he had heard it and had realised just what had been eating her up moments prior.
And just as predicted, once she'd done it once, it was much easier to repeat it.
"I love you, as much as you love me and more. I love the way you know what to say in every scenario, what to do and how to deal with someone as problematic as me no matter what. I love your humour. I love the way you hold me. I love-"
He gripped her, so tight that for a second it triggered her reactions in a negative way, but before she could reach for a weapon or attempt to trigger a jutsu he had pulled her into an embrace so tight that she could only bury her face into the alcove of his neck shamelessly, and she found that for once, she had no hesitation in such a reaction.
She could only grip him with one arm, the other lifeless, but she did it as hard as she could in return.
She couldn't think about how she had just confessed like a lovesick school girl, like someone unbecoming of who she was, because it was overshadowed by the fact that Naruto was so obviously moved by her words and that was the only thing that mattered because if she had made him this happy, this thrilled through just words alone, she would never have any trouble repeating them to him again in the future.
But it was more that the weight had been lifted from her stomach, and that even if this didn't change who she was and she told him her feelings as infrequently as she had been planning -only in their most intimate moments- he knew the truth and knew just how much she appreciated him.
He pulled back, just as suddenly as he had pulled in, and claimed her lips so fast that for a second she was physically knocked back before she too returned with just as much passion as she had for the hug.
It was a while, she didn't care to count for how long, before they eventually released each other, breathless and red-faced, and she saw his eyes for the first time since she confessed and saw the raw, unfiltered emotion that was mirrored on them and just how much he felt in that sole moment alone.
"I love you too, Sasuke," he breathed, and the hint of a smile was there even as they both caught their breath. "Thank you, for- for-"
"Shut up, idiot." she heckled, lightly, before moving forward and kissing him again, preventing any conversation that he might have tried to start or thoughts he wanted to share.
Because she didn't care for that, in the current moment at least. Right now, she just wanted to relish in the both of them, alone and away from everyone else, and how good it felt to finally have him know how much she truly loved him.
She was done lying to him, and just as much to herself.
AN: I never meant to make this a collection of Naruto x FemSasuke oneshots :(((
On the upside, it has motivated me enough to keep a semi-consistent schedule!
Honestly, I haven't been focusing on uploading these fanfictions and instead have been more focused on just finishing them and being happy about it. For some reason, I'm in the mood for Naruto x FemSasuke right now and my frustrations in not being able to find any good readable fanfictions about them must be bleeding over to my writing.
Blame me for being a fluff addict. This shit is so much easier to write than actual coherent and planned stories. It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to make you feel good. I hope I did that for some of you.
Luerio
