Crush Crush
"Naruto! Stop glaring at Sasuke! Kakashi Sensei said we need to practice our weapons drills and you can't do that if you're staring at him!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Stupid Sasuke, thinks he's so cool."
"Sakura, are you copying me?"
"A little. I saw how you could bounce your shuriken off one another and decided to try it out."
"Hmph. You're smart so you can figure out the mechanics on your own right?"
"I probably could, but could you offer me a few pointers?"
"I suppose it couldn't hurt. It'd end up beneficial to the team and help me hone my own skills."
As his team members practiced together, Naruto could feel himself getting more and more frustrated, this frustration channeled itself into his weapons training. He couldn't hit the target like he had been just moments earlier. Meanwhile Sasuke and Sakura were making progress.
"Okay, this time for sure!" Naruto whipped a shuriken in the direction of the target, but it curved off course. There was a sharp clang before Naruto's shuriken hit its mark.
"You looked like you could use some help."
Naruto growled in frustration before storming off into the forest to sulk. He climbed high into the canopy of the forest before feeling satisfied with the distance he put between himself and his friends, "Stupid Sasuke, I could have done it if he hadn't intervened."
Flashes of Sasuke filled his mind and with each one he felt his anger devolve into infatuation; images from their fight in the Land of Waves, during the chunin exams, and, more recently, during a D ranked escort mission. Kakashi had taken over watch with Sakura, leaving everyone else to sleep. He was curled up near the fire and caught sight of his rival, face illuminated with orange and yellow light. Even Naruto had to admit to himself that he was starting to kind of see why every girl in the academy was into him; his features were soft, hair was dark and silky, he always acted to aloof and uninterested, he was also a very strong fighter, that was probably the most appealing thing in Naruto's eyes.
He shook his head, trying to free himself of his thoughts, before turning away from the fire and trying to sleep. He sat there for a good 15 seconds before flipping back over. He caught sight of his friend, still asleep, and finally shut his eyes, a ghost of a smile playing at his lips.
"Why am I thinking about THAT!? I can't stand him!" He was lying to himself, Naruto refused to admit that he had feelings for Sasuke Uchiha, like some love-struck girl.
After sitting alone in the tree for a while, he decided to head back and pick up where he had left off, determined to nail every target. As soon as he dropped to the ground, he spotted Sasuke. The young Uchiha had come looking for him, it made Naruto's hear skip a beat but then his annoyance surged.
"Ah, there you are. You done with your temper tantrum?"
"Shut up!"
"Hmph. If you are done, I can help you out."
"Why would you do that? What makes you think I even need your help?!"
"Look, loser, it's up to you. But if your skills aren't up to par when we're on a mission, I'll have to pick up the slack."
"They ARE up to par!"
The pair locked eyes seconds before Sasuke leapt into the air and threw three kunai, they clanged off each other sending them flying in Naruto's direction, "Show me how good you are."
Naruto reached into his leg holster and flung 4 shuriken away from him, 3 of them deflected the kunai and one followed Sasuke as he fell to the ground. The dark-haired boy dodged the projectile before landing, "Weren't expecting that, were you?"
"I wasn't. I guess you're as full of surprises as always. If you ask nicely, I'll help you out by giving you a crash course in Uchiha shuriken jutsu."
He glared at his rival before swallowing his pride. No matter how mad he was, he couldn't turn down a private lesson from Sasuke. "Can you…help me out?"
A smug smile spread across the dark-haired boy's face as he sauntered over to his friend, "I know you're not the best at math and trajectory, but I know you're good at improvising. So, let's get started."
Sasuke proceeded to coach his friend in a similar fashion as he was when he was a child, guiding him in a unique crash course of plotting weapon trajectory and adjusting your aim according to where your weapon will be and where it will go. Surprisingly, the blonde picked up things quickly and showed gratitude despite his obvious disdain earlier.
"Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi sensei said we can head home!" Sakura called as she strode through the forest looking for her teammates, "There you two are!"
"Oh. Hi Sakura. We got a little distracted by our lesson."
"Lesson?"
"Sasuke was helping me out with my weapons training."
"Well it's good to see you two are getting along. I've got to go to the store to pick up stuff for dinner, so I'll be heading out. See you guys later!"
"You did well today. I'll see you later."
"Wait!" Sasuke paused in his stride, turning to see what his friend wanted, "Do you…do you want to go get Ichiraku with me?"
Sasuke pondered the offer, "You buying?" Naruto nodded, "Sure. Why not?"
Naruto tried to stifle his excitement as the pair headed to the shop. Teuchi welcomed them before preparing Naruto's usual bowl of pork ramen for them. The pair ate in relative silence before Naruto sparked up a conversation. The pair chatted for a while about nothing in particular, before they knew it, they'd downed 3 bowls each. Sasuke vocalized his dread of heading across the village to his home as they walked, leading Naruto to offer his place as a refuge since it was closer. Surprisingly, Sasuke agreed.
The pair had eventually settled into their sleeping arrangements for that evening and were going through the motions of before-bed small talk when Sasuke let it slip that he didn't know Naruto's place was so small. Silence descended upon them before Sasuke apologized.
"It's not much, but it keeps me out of the rain."
That statement hit Sasuke a little harder than expected. He didn't know what to say. Before he could respond, Naruto had nodded off.
As the days went by, Naruto and Sasuke hung out more and more outside of missions and training sessions, sometimes sitting in amicable silence, or making small talk and trying to find common interests. After about two months of this, Naruto decided to spit out how he was feeling because every time they hung out, he felt his like confessing. He thought he was going to burst if he didn't say something.
"So…Sasuke…I have something to say."
"Go ahead."
"I umm…don't think I'm one of those girls from your fan club!"
"Ok…spit it out, loser."
"I…have a crush on you…"
"It took you long enough to spit it out."
"You knew!?"
"Yup, after having girls after me for so long I can recognize the signs."
"So…you're not grossed out?"
"Nope, I'm glad. I thought I was the only one in our year who wasn't straight."
"You're…"
"I'm bi, but I lean more towards guys because all the girls are so annoying."
"Well…how do you feel about me?"
"You're ok, I guess." A coy smile spread across his face before Naruto punched him in the arm, "Ok, ok. I kind of like you too, loser."
"Oh! C-cool…"
"Cool." Sasuke rose from the bench they were on and offered his hand to Naruto who hesitantly took it before being pulled to his feet.
"Your place or mine?"
"Yours. It feels less…lonely."
Naruto felt his heart swell a bit as he led the way to his apartment.