Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, there would definitely be some yaoi in the works, and please do not sue me. I do not even have a job, so it wouldn't be my fault if you wasted all your money on lawyers, only to get zip outta me in the end.
Rated NC-17 - for later chapters

Chapter 4

Sasuke and Naruto both walked in the apartment having just gotten back from Ichiraku's. Naruto rubbed his belly in contentment, smiling at the feeling of a warm, full stomach of Ichiraku's miso pork ramen.

Sasuke smiled behind him, only at the fact that he had put the smile on Naruto's face. Nothing made him happier. His smile disappeared when Naruto turned around (Uchiha's just don't smile in front of people.

"Thanks again for ramen, Sasuke!" he said as his grin increased twice in size.

"Your welcome, dobe," he replied, brushing another kiss across Naruto's cheek, and once again producing a bright scarlet flush to appear on his whisker like scars.

"I'm going to take a nap," he said as he walked away, headed towards his bedroom. Once he closed the door he began counting down the seconds as he slipped under his blankets. Four, three, two, one . . .

. . . Nothing happened.

Sasuke frowned at that. Maybe his timing was off. He waited a few more seconds but he still only heard silence on the other side of the door. Maybe he had gone too far, was showing too much affection too quickly.

"Stupid," he said softly to himself. He would have to hold back on the kisses for awhile. Finally deciding that was the best course of action for now, he fell asleep, licking his lips.

Naruto sat at the table trying his hardest to focus on the work Tsunade had given him, but he failed every time. He kept seeing Sasuke's face leaning in towards his, and feeling his soft lips brushing his cheek.

What the hell was wrong with him?

Why did he keep kissing him? Not that it grossed him out, in fact he was starting to wonder if the butterflies roaming in his stomach meant that he liked it or not. Surely not? Right? And why on earth had Sasuke just started kissing him out of the blue? He was never one to show emotion or affection, and definitely not one to go around kissing peoples cheeks.

Especially not his.

Naruto threw down his pencil and put his hands over his face in frustration. He was thoroughly confused and wasn't getting anywhere close to figuring out the situation.
He sighed loudly, only to jump out of his chair in surprise at the sound of Sasuke screaming.

"NO!"

Naruto ran towards Sasuke's bedroom.

Sasuke saw blood. It was everywhere. His hands were covered with it as he stared at them in fear. Normally, under his circumstances he would never be afraid of blood. The fact that he saw it everyday and it came with his line of work would prove as much.

It was the fact that it was Naruto's blood, and Naruto's lifeless body underneath him that frightened him. Naruto's eyes looked vacant. Empty shells that used to be filled with every type of emotion imaginable were now blank, staring off at nothing in particular. His mouth formed a wide 'O' in shock, his brows furrowed in pain. A gaping hole ran straight through his chest.

Sasuke looked up in terror at his brother, Uchiha Itachi, holding Naruto's still beating heart in his hands.

"He's mine now, little brother," Itachi crooned, throwing his head back, laughing in a most vicious manner. He shoved Naruto's heart in his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed. Raising his hand in a command, he made Naruto rise.

Sasuke stared at Naruto in disbelief. How could this be happening? Hadn't he vowed he would protect Naruto with his own two hands? How could he let this happen?

"You and I both know that you were never fit to protect me, Sasuke," Naruto said maliciously.

Sasuke could merely shake his head. Was he reading his mind?

"But of course," Naruto said.

Please, God, if you love me, don't let him find out that I-

"What? That you're in love with me? You know I would never and could never love someone as weak as you! HA! You poor pathetic idiot!" Naruto pointed a bloodied finger at him.

"You see, Sasuke," Itachi said, coming up behind Naruto and wrapping his arms around him. "Everything you had now belongs to me," he began feasting on the boys neck. Naruto moaned in response to Itachi's ministrations.

Sasuke covered his ears and shouted as loud as he could. He could see Itachi walking up to him with outstretched arms.

"I will have you, too, little brother"

"NO!"

Naruto barreled into the room and shouted, "Sasuke!" Running to his side, he grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, trying to shake him awake.

"Sasuke!" he screamed louder.

Sasuke kept dreaming. The feel of Naruto's hands were taken as Itachi's. He reeled his arm back and punched at his thought to be attacker.

Naruto flew back from Sasuke's bed, landing hard on his ass. He stood up and rubbed it, trying to rid himself of the pain.

"TEME!" Naruto ran up to Sasuke and threw a full force punch at his jaw.

That woke him up.

Sasuke sat straight up. Sweat poured off his brow, and his breathing sounded labored and heavy. His eyes wide, he began searching the room for Itachi, despite the fact that he knew he was dead. All he found was Naruto standing next to him, heart intact, ready to throw another punch.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried, face full of concern for his kitsune. He jumped out of his bed and wrapped Naruto up in his arms, tightly. Placing one hand on the back of his head, holding it to his shoulder, he kissed the top of his head affectionately.

"Naruto," he whispered, rocking him in his arms. "Thank, God."

Even though Itachi was dead, he was still very much alive in Sasuke's dreams. 'Damn you Itachi,' he thought to himself, still rocking back and forth with Naruto held closely.

Naruto was confused to say the least. He punches Sasuke, and gets hugged for it? Something was going on, but all Naruto could think of was getting away. The butterflies had returned full force, and he still hadn't gotten to figure out if they were good or bad yet. He pulled himself out of Sasuke's arms, immediately missing the heat.

Sasuke's arms fell limp at his sides as he stared at the floor.

"If you're okay now, I'm going to-"

"Please," he interrupted, "Stay. Don't go," Sasuke murmured. The need in Sasuke's words pulled at Naruto's heart.

"Just lay with me until I fall asleep?" Sasuke was praying to whoever would hear him, to not let Naruto leave. He had just lost him in his dreams; he needed him here in reality to assure him that he was okay.

Naruto thought about what Sasuke was asking him. He remembered on some occasions his dreams were horrible, and afterwards he just needed human contact to assure him he was alright. Sasuke was the one who was there for him, so he would be there for Sasuke. Again.

"All right."

Sasuke let out the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding.

"Thank you."

Sasuke edged himself into his bed, scooting all the way to the other edge, his nose pressed against the wall. He felt Naruto crawl in and lay down, his back touching Sasuke's back. He shivered at the contact. He wanted nothing more in the world right now than to roll over and put his arm around his kitsune's waist and pull him close to him.

Sasuke lay there for a few minutes. arm twitching in need, his mind screaming at him to make sure he was okay, that he could still feel his heartbeat. He sighed in defeat and rolled over, putting his arm around Naruto's waist.

"Sasuke wha-" Naruto stopped as he felt himself being pulled flush against Sasuke's body.

"Please," he was now able to whisper in Naruto's ear.

Naruto merely sighed in defeat. Sasuke usually always got his way, why argue now? Besides, for Sasuke to be begging for this much contact, the dream must have been really horrible. Naruto understood.

Naruto could feel Sasuke's warm breath on the back of his neck, and the butterflies returned heavier than ever. He heard him let out a huge sigh, almost contented, before he squeezed him arm tighter around him, snuggling closer to Naruto.

Despite the swarm of a million butterflies in his stomach he could feel himself giving in to sleep. Sasuke's bed always was very comfortable, plus he could hear and feel the boys slow even breathing behind him and knew that he was asleep. Wasn't he only supposed to stay until he fell asleep? Oh, well. Naruto felt his eyelids closing. He never was one to follow directions.

Naruto awoke to the most wonderful feeling on his neck. He moaned in response, only to stop midway at the sound of his name being whispered huskily in his ears.

"Naruto." Sasuke's hot breath caused shivers to be sent down his spine. He could feel something hard being pressed up against his backside. A hand slipped up Naruto's shirt as Sasuke thrust forward against him in his sleep.

"Gods, Naruto," his whispered huskily at the delicious friction.

Naruto fully awoke when Sasuke rolled him over to end up halfway beneath him. He felt Sasuke's mouth upon his, and he opened his eyes in terror at the realization of what Sasuke was doing to him. Even though he was still asleep, Sasuke's actions were unforgivable.

Sasuke released Naruto's lips and whispered breathily, "I love you, my little kitsune."

Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Had Sasuke really just confessed that he loved him in his sleep? No way. It couldn't be! He threw Sasuke off of him and ran to the other end of the room, breathing heavily from Sasuke's touches and the fear welling up inside of him.

Sasuke slowly awoke from his dream, immediately missing the warmth that radiated from Naruto's body. Groggily he opened his eyes. The sun was beginning to set as he first looked out the window.

Then he felt it. That unmistakable hardness that could only come from thoughts of Naruto. 'Shit! Naruto! Please tell me I didn't do anything stupid," he thought looking around the room for his kitsune. He finally spotted him in a shadowed corner, heaving in big gulps of air.

He had done something stupid.

"Naruto," he said softly, rising from the bed. "What's wrong? What happened?" He was halfway across the room when he was frozen from shock at Naruto's words.

"You love me?"

Every muscle in Sasuke's body tensed up. He had just ruined everything. He was careless and had moved too fast with him. He hung his head down, running his fingers through his hair.

"Naruto, I-"

"Kitsune?"

Sasuke looked back up at him at this statement. He had called him that? 'Fuck' he thought. He couldn't think of anything to say to Naruto. He wasn't about to apologize for saying the truth, no matter how much he wanted to.

"How long?" Naruto asked, fists clenched at his sides.

"Naruto-"

"HOW LONG!" Naruto was pissed. How could he do this to them? This would ruin everything. He wouldn't have a best friend anymore . . .

"Since- since our first kiss."

Naruto thought back to the pecks Sasuke had just recently given him until he remembered something long forgotten.

Naruto could feel eyes upon him. He was used to stares by now, but this one felt different somehow. He looked to his left and saw a boy with raven hair and eyes to match glaring at him.

'What's his problem?' Naruto thought.
Sakura, his crush at the time, brushed past him without even so much as a glance and ran up to the dark child.

"Sasuke, can I sit by you?"

'What's so great about him?' Naruto watched the boy turn his gaze slowly away from him, ignoring Sakura. Naruto had to figure out what was so special about this Sasuke kid.
He jumped over and landed in a crouch right in front of him. He angled his head to get a better look at him.

"Naruto! Get away from Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke turned and looked at Naruto, glare returning. The next thing Naruto knew, he was locked in a kiss with the boy. Naruto saw his eyes go wide, before he turned around to spit at the foulness of kissing the boy. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sasuke do the same, but then put his fingers up to his mouth, feeling his lips. A tongue darted out, tasting . . .

Naruto came back to reality with a shock. If he had paid attention to the situation long ago, he would have seen that Sasuke actually enjoyed the kiss. He could only stare at the dark young man; nothing would come out of his mouth.

He ran.

Opening the window, he leapt out into the night, cool air on his hot flesh making him shiver.

"Naruto! Please, wait!" Sasuke called after him. Jumping out after Naruto he caught up with him rather quickly. He always was faster than him.

Grabbing hold of his arm he pleaded. "Naruto, wait.

"Let go of me, teme! Don't touch me! I don't want to have anything to do with you right now!"

Sasuke dropped his hold on Naruto's arm and fell to his knees, watching Naruto run away. The words Naruto shouted- 'I don't want to have anything to do with you' -echoed over and over in his head, causing a single tear to roll down a pale cheek. It was quickly washed away by the sudden downpour that fell over the whole of Konoha. This time, it did nothing to lighten Sasuke's mood.