Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!

Summary: COMPLETE. It was all useless anyway. Ideas useless to entertain, desires useless to indulge. All that was left at the edge of the cliff was the rocks below, and Sasuke had hit them often enough to know better than to take the plunge anymore. Naruto took friendship to the extreme, and the only reason anything he did could be misconstrued as something more was the fact that they were both comfortable that it wasn't.

Or, well. Naruto was. Sasuke was...something else. SNS, modern AU.

A/N: Cutting it real, real, reeeaaaal close here! I know! I was so worried! To be honest, I got on such a roll with Bite Me that I had a good chunk of the month where I just didn't even want to entertain any other ideas, haha! And then this ended up way longer than intended - I'm very grateful I managed to get this done in spite of my brain not wanting to cooperate! ;;; I hope you all like it too.

A bit of a life update - as of next month (two days? aaaa) I'll be off the break I've been taking, so I'll have to find my writing-work-school-life balance all over again. I've done it before and I'll do it again! But on the off chance it takes a bit of time, here's your warning that I might be a bit quieter than usual. I'm still thinking of you all fondly and wishing the best for you - I'll be doing my best to add a bit more happiness to your lives whenever I can. Thank you for all of your kind comments and messages! They've been such a bright spot in my life.

Oblivious

Thirty...thirty-something. He knew it was here somewhere—Sasuke flipped through his scattered pages again, cursing at himself for thinking handwritten notes were ever a good idea. He swore he remembered it, that it was in this section somewhere, but for the life of him, he couldn't—

"—fuck—ow! Ino—"

"Well maybe if you stopped moving every half a second—"

"I'm not moving! You won't even let me blink!"

"Your eyes are already closed! Why are you—"

Sasuke snorted and tuned them out again. Ino had wrangled Naruto into being her model for the night, after Sakura had apparently had enough. It was certainly a more intensive job than either of them had been prepared for, but, well, Naruto had gone and agreed to it—

So here they were.

"Wh—see, Sasuke agrees with me!"

"I don't agree with any of this," he muttered, flipping the page. But all that did was make Naruto start yelling again, and Sasuke forced the smile off his face as he looked up—

"It looks good!" Ino insisted. "Come on, doesn't it—"

Sasuke pressed his lips together.

"Oh my god," Naruto said, reeling back, "Sasuke hates it. Take it off—take it off! I—"

"Damn it, Uchiha!"

"I don't know when I became the standard for all of this," Sasuke said, turning back around.

"You've always been Naruto's standard for all of this," Ino deadpanned, and Sasuke's head jerked up—

"Oh, fuck off!" Naruto flung himself past them, spinning Sasuke's chair around on the way. "Where're the wipes?!"

"I've got 'em," Sakura offered, throwing another caramel popcorn in her mouth as she lounged on Naruto's technicoloured sheets. They'd been another project of Naruto's (and then Sasuke's, of course, because there been no fucking way he'd been about to let Naruto tiedye all over their dorm room by himself).

"No!" Ino yelled, wrenching Naruto's arm out of the air. "No! Come on, let me take a picture at least—"

"Ow, fine, take a fucking—is it that bad?"

He turned his wince back to Sasuke.

"It's...makeup," Sasuke offered, and Ino wailed in anguish.

"It's makeup! Why do none of you understand me—"

"I support you, babe," Sakura said, tipping the carton into her mouth. Ino still huffed out a sigh, and Sasuke...put his notes on the table. And turned back to Naruto, whose eyes had grown a million times more insistent, his body sinking like the weight of the world was slowly pressing him to the ground—

"It's fine," he muttered, as Naruto sulked beneath him with those stupid ocean eyes— "moron."

"No it's not! It's not—you're laughing! Stop laughing, asshole—!"

Naruto snatched his hands from his face and spun him right back around in the chair he'd been trying to turn—

"It's not even done!" Ino protested. "Of course he looks stupid with half his face not even—"

"He always looks stupid," Sasuke offered, and Naruto tried to launch him out of the chair again.

"—done, you—oi, don't ruin my makeup!"

Sasuke paused, midway through shoving Naruto's face away. Naruto only laughed, making a show of biting at Sasuke's fingers as he pulled them back—

"You're ridiculous. Go take your pictures."

"Sasuke," Naruto said, immediately back in his personal space. "Sasuke. I'm gonna be immortalized on the internet. Look at me. Look at me."

Sasuke pressed his lips together as Naruto grabbed his face.

"Be honest. Do I look fucking stupid."

Sasuke...didn't reply.

"Oh, come on!" Ino shouted, as Naruto let go with a loud groan. "Sasuke doesn't even know anything about this!

"She makes a good point," Sasuke muttered—

"He's got a good fashion sense though," Sakura said, and Ino—

"Whose side are you on?!"

"It's not that it's bad," Sasuke said. "I know what makeup...looks like—it's—"

He waved a hand, and Naruto's painted face blinked at him.

Sasuke's lips thinned.

"You drowned his eyes out."

You could barely see the blue. And Naruto's eyes were always visible, even in the deepest night—it was as if they glowed with life. Sasuke had heard of eyes being an extension of the soul, but he'd never thought it to be true until he'd met—

Ino moved between them, and Sasuke jerked his head away.

Sakura's stupid gaze burned a hole into his head.

"I guess I did go a bit heavy," Ino muttered, scanning Naruto's face. Sasuke swivelled his chair around and picked up his notes, content to cut off the humiliation there, thank you—

"Try something more natural," Sakura offered, speaking for him once again. Taking pity on him, once again. Sasuke put his head in his hand and picked up his pen, glaring at his desk—

"Natural," Ino repeated, sighing. "I wanted to play around…"

"So use that glitter you just got," said Sakura's voice, and Sasuke really ought to have stopped listening by now— "Don't you have orange?"

"Ooh! That!" Naruto said, and Sasuke smiled.

Damn it.

"Okay, okay, okay—Sakura, could you help him wipe it off? I'm going to start over."

"Sure."

The door opened, and Sasuke flipped through the notes he wasn't reading anymore.

"Please don't get glitter all over my room," Sasuke muttered, and Sakura scoffed.

"She's a professional, Sasuke. Relax."

Sasuke threw her a doubtful look, and Sakura raised her eyebrows, slowly letting her head fall...towards the bathroom.

Sasuke turned back around.

"I think I got it?" Naruto asked, bounding back out. "Sasuke, did I—"

"Slow down, moron," Sasuke muttered, catching the hand that still held the wipe. "No. Not at all. Stay still."

Naruto laughed and knelt down, and Sasuke pressed his lips together and pretended he didn't love the sound. Of course, scanning Naruto's face didn't help, though it never had—nor did Naruto smiling patiently and happily as Sasuke removed the rest of the makeup from his face. Or, as much as he could, anyway.

"You should probably still go over it with water," he said softly, letting Naruto go.

"Kay!" Naruto said, using Sasuke's thighs to lift himself back up. He bounded away and Sasuke threw Sakura a look that said fuck off as she gestured frantically between them—

In one of his many moments of weakness, he'd told her. He'd regretted it every damn day since.

"Make a move," she mouthed, jerking her head towards the bathroom again. Sasuke flipped her off and turned back around—

And then Naruto was back.

"There!" he said, dripping wet. "Am I good?"

"Depends on your opinion of your natural state," he deadpanned, and Naruto immediately launched himself at Sasuke again, grappling him from behind in an attempt to topple him over—which worked, which was working, Sasuke kicked his legs into the air—

"Oi, fuck, moron, you—"

"Gotcha," Naruto grinned, and Sasuke realized they'd hit the ground already. Or, well, Naruto had, with Sasuke's chair tucked safely against his lap, but this—

"As if," Sasuke muttered, and he kicked the chair out from under him. Naruto yelped as Sasuke broke his grip and swiveled around, catching him unbalanced and wrestling him to the ground—

"I leave for five seconds," came Ino's voice, and Sasuke sprang back. Sakura put her chin on her folded hands and blinked at him several thousand times.

"Sorry," Naruto laughed, kicking at Sasuke as he moved away. Sasuke caught his feet and threw them back as he went back to his chair, focusing on just—pulling it back up. Not on Naruto's laugh or Sakura's stare or any of this bullshit—

"Okay! We're starting this again. Naruto—you...didn't moisturize, did you?"

"Again? But we did already!"

"And then you washed it all off, oh my god, we need to do this all again, come on—"

Sasuke snorted as Naruto was dragged away, vacantly flipping through his notes again. He didn't think what he was doing now could reasonably be justified as studying, but it did give him a convenient place to stare that wasn't…

"Okay. Uh. Sasuke, mind if I lean against your chair again?"

"If you're alright with inevitably falling when you push it too far," Sasuke said, not looking up, "sure."

Naruto laughed and plopped himself right down, shuffling back far enough to be using the back of Sasuke's calf, too—

"That can't possibly be comfortable," Sasuke muttered, turning just enough to catch his eye.

Naruto grinned up at him.

"You make a good pillow," he said. "I've told you this before."

Sasuke let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Here, just—sit up. Sit up."

Naruto obeyed, and Sasuke grabbed his notes before he swivelled around, pressing the back of his chair to his desk, and Naruto's back to his legs.

"There. Sit properly."

Naruto laughed and dutifully straightened his spine, even as he leaned back to rest against Sasuke's legs.

"Aw," he said, grinning up at him, "thanks, Sasuke."

Sasuke slapped his notes on Naruto's face.

Naruto laughed and looked back down, and Ino took her chance to snatch his face and start all over again. Sasuke distinctlydidn't look anywhere other than the pages in his hands. He didn't want to know how the pity would evolve through Sakura's face.

It was all useless anyway. Ideas useless to entertain, desires useless to indulge. All that was left at the edge of the cliff was the rocks below, and Sasuke had hit them often enough to know better than to take the plunge anymore. Naruto took friendship to the extreme, and the only reason anything he did could be misconstrued as something more was the fact that they were both comfortable that it wasn't.

Or, well. Naruto was. Sasuke was...something else.

"You're warm," Naruto said, a hand reached back to tap Sasuke on the back of his ankle.

"You're unnaturally cold at all times," he shot back. "Stop moving before you're yelled at again."

"Thank you," Ino sighed, tapping her knuckles to her lip as she pulled back. "You have such good skin…"

"So stop covering it all up," Sasuke heard himself mutter. Ino's head twitched up— "or do. I don't care."

Damn it. Damn it, even Naruto saw through that one—

"Aw," he said, smiling up as Ino sighed and sat back, "thanks, asshole."

Sasuke smacked his notes on his head again.

"Whatever," Ino said. "All my shit's too pale for you anyway. Alright, we're doing some—some fresh faced, glittery...beachy stuff. Like summer. Okay, yeah, I think I…"

Sasuke tuned her out as she continued to mutter her thoughts to herself. Naruto's thumb ran down the back of his ankle again, and Sasuke...stared at the pages he was holding. Naruto's head tilted and his temple pressed to Sasuke's knee—these small, soft, affectionate touches…

Sasuke sucked in a breath, and it shuddered.

"Whatcha studyin' so much, anyway?"

Naruto's voice cut through his thoughts, as it always did. He could be in the middle of a crowd, people shouting on all sides, and Sasuke would still hear one voice above the rest.

"Stats," he answered, flipping to the page of a particular problem that he remembered causing him trouble. Not that he was altogether sure he could replicate the solution he'd come to, if faced with a whole new one, but if he went over it long enough…

"Stats? We don't have any homewo—do we?"

Sasuke flipped his pages over his finger.

"We have a midterm in two weeks."

"Three weeks!" Naruto exclaimed, and Ino grabbed him by the chin again. "You're fucking studying for i—"

"Stop. Moving—"

"That's the attitude that has you going into the exam on no sleep," Sasuke said, letting his pages flick back to flat, "moron."

"Hey," Naruto laughed, swatting at Sasuke's foot, "I got like three hours last time."

Sasuke snorted, and Naruto bumped into his leg again.

"Sasuke," Ino called, leaning back. "Can you take a look and see if this is more what you were thinking?"

"...I wasn't thinking anything," Sasuke muttered quietly, pulling his pages back nonetheless. Naruto spun around and crossed his arms over Sasuke's lap, pressing his face forwards with earnest, happy excitement—

And glitter over his cheeks, sparkling with the stretch of his smile. His eyes lined with orange and white—or, one of them was, but it sparked off the blue of his eyes in a way that stole Sasuke's breath even more than usual, and that was—that was—

"That looks...fine."

He shrugged uncomfortably, looking down at his lap. The lump was back in his throat again—the pain back in his chest...Naruto was beautiful on the worst of days, and today was turning out to be...

Not that.

"Fine," Naruto shot right back at him, the laugh colouring his voice.

"Okay, but like," Ino flicked her bangs out of her eyes, "fine as in 'I can barely tell the difference', or fine as in 'it's looking good, keep going'?"

Naruto pressed against him expectantly.

"...The latter," Sasuke said, stubbornly not looking up.

"Knew it," Naruto laughed, spinning around again. Sasuke snorted as he bumped back against his legs, but he accompanied it with a squeeze on Sasuke's thigh that had the smile wiped off his face within the heartbeat—

Naruto pulled his hand away, and Sasuke started breathing again.

Torture. It was torture, and Sasuke couldn't reach past the selfish part of himself that loved it. It would be much easier to place some reasonable boundaries if Naruto wasn't so damn happy about bounding past them…what were you supposed to do when the person you loved loved being with you?

Suffer, Sasuke supposed.

Ino leaned back in, and Naruto made a small, giggling noise as she grabbed his face again. Sasuke made the mistake of looking up and meeting Sakura's wane, knowing smile—

He sighed and leaned back.

Whatever. He'd succumbed to this long ago. Sakura could think what she wanted, but it wouldn't change anything. The cause had been lost the moment Naruto had smiled at him. Truly smiled at him—not the too-big grin that he plastered over whatever hurt he was facing, but the first time Sasuke had seen him...quiet. Contemplative. He'd turned to him, and he'd smiled, and Sasuke had thought—

Oh no.

Which had been a consistent echo in his mind since that point, because it turned out that that smile was pretty commonly on Naruto's face, once he'd grown to trust you. And it turned out that it grew more beautiful and precious every day, and it turned out that Naruto grew just the same. It turned out that Naruto was his best, most brilliant friend, and it turned out that he'd stand by Sasuke no matter the mistakes or heartbreak or harsh realities they'd had to face—

It turned out that Naruto was worth loving, with all Sasuke had ever had.

And it was miserably confusing, because any and all advice Sasuke had ever tried to receive said to confess or move on, and both of those things were impossible. Even Sakura didn't seem to understand. Naruto deserved to be loved—and he even loved Sasuke, in his own way. A less romantic sort of way, but Naruto held him dear, and that was precious to him. Why would he risk losing it? He knew how Naruto felt, and he knew how he felt, and that was that.

That was that.

"There," Ino said, leaning back. "I think."

"Really?" Naruto asked, unmoving. "That felt fast."

"S'been awhile," Sakura chimed in, and Sasuke caught her stupid, knowing eye again. Naruto's hand against his ankle felt so much warmer, suddenly—

Before he pulled it away.

"Okay," Naruto said, hopping up, "uh—"

"Clothes now!" Ino announced, and Naruto groaned right back to the ground. Sasuke laughed as Naruto rocked back against his legs, grinning up at him with his newly-framed eyes—

"What d'you think? Still fiiine?" he singsonged, bumping his head against Sasuke's knee.

"You're very orange," Sasuke told him, and Naruto laughed.

"Yeah? Okay—I'm gonna go check it out. You're—you approve?"

Naruto hopped up, but spun around before he made it to the mirror—

"Since when do you care about my opinion? Go look."

He turned back to his notes, content with hearing Naruto's short laugh before he ducked around the corner.

"I look weird!" came the next shout, following by Ino's—

"You look hot!" she said, somewhere in Naruto's piles of clothing. "Your clothes suck though!"

"Hey!" Naruto ducked back out—

"Hoodie," Ino said, throwing it behind her. "Sweatpants. Hoodie, sweatpants, this underwear better be clean—"

"Stop going through my shit!" he laughed, grabbing his toad-print boxers out of her hands. "They're clean, oh my god, what about—"

"We need something you never wear. D'you have something you never wear?"

"Uh," Naruto said, "Jiraya gave me one of those bikini shirts once?"

"I—that—no," Ino strained out. "No, no—no. Jesus. I—nothing I have will fit you—"

"You could just put some glitter on his chest and do like a half-nude thing," Sakura said, and Sasuke's face snapped up—

She met his wide eyes with the smile of a devil.

"Ooh," Ino said, and Sasuke's panic shot from his stomach to his head— "that's true, I—"

"You can use my clothes," Sasuke said, and the room turned to him.

"If," he said, swallowing as he looked back down at his notes, "if you want things he wouldn't normally wear."

"Now there's an idea," Ino said, and Naruto hopped over with a quick—

"Think you're gonna regret that, bastard."

Sasuke swatted at his laughing face, but Naruto was already bouncing back away, like the ball of ever-moving energy that he was. But the panic was still pounding through him, the dizziness still in his head as he stared at Naruto's back—longer than he should have, he knew, but—

"Okay," Ino said, tearing his closet apart. "Try...this—"

She slapped his jeans into his arms.

"—this, and this—"

His sleeveless turtleneck, his leather jacket—

"Aaaandddddd—Sasuke, didn't you have a choker or something?"

"I…" Sasuke stood, slipping his notes into his too-full binder. It had been some time, but he did have it, somewhere here…

He pulled it out, flicking it between two fingers to pass to Naruto.

"I think the black'll look good," Ino was saying, as Naruto's fingers brushed Sasuke's. "Like a contrast. I don't know, I'm working with what I got—go get changed, Uzumaki."

"Yes, ma'am, of course, ma'am," Naruto said, bundling Sasuke's clothes into his arms as he tripped his way to the bathroom. Sasuke spun on his heel and bit down on his regret—not that he was worried about his clothes, Naruto could have them, but he was particularly worried that the idiot might look so perfect that Sasuke would never be able to wear them again without picturing the person who suited them so much better…

Sasuke sighed and sat back down. These thoughts were like second nature to him, now. He caught himself tumbling through them over and over again, like a whirlpool he'd never been able to swim free of. Distracting, yes, but if useless fantasies about Naruto kissing him on the cheek and hopping into his bed as if he'd always belonged there meant he'd never act on this unrequited mess, then so be it. If Sasuke had to never wear those clothes again, because they'd always belong to someone else, then so be it. If all he had was the way he imagined Naruto would smile at him, when his hair was tousled and his lips were wet and thoroughly, thoroughly kissed—

"Okay, uh—I'm back?" Naruto said, and Sasuke nearly jumped out of his chair. "Um, could somebody help me with the choker—?"

Sasuke was already up.

"The clasp is broken," he muttered, fingertips brushing though Naruto's hair. "Be careful with it."

"Uh," Naruto said, holding it as he spun around, "I'll try?"

Sasuke snorted.

"Sure you will."

"I—"

"I don't like it," Ino said, and Sasuke took several steps back. She circled around a Naruto who stood awkwardly, holding his hands out as if waiting for something— "and I don't know why. Why don't I like it?"

Sasuke...let himself look. He hadn't wanted to—but he—fuck. He knew exactly how devastating Naruto could look, and he knew exactly how to get him there. And Sakura wasn't jumping to his rescue this time, apparently, content to just look at him expectantly—

"It's too much," he said finally, turning back to his desk. "Keep the jacket. Lose the shirt."

"Oh!" said Ino, but Sasuke was already sitting down. "Do that! Yes!"

There was a shuffle, and Sasuke...knew he would turn around. Eventually. He knew himself well enough to know he'd give in, and all he'd gain if he resisted would be a Naruto who would know that something was wrong (and be sure he was the one to cause it). Anything that Sasuke did to control this...interest had only backfired in the past—scaring an oblivious Naruto into thinking he was losing his best friend.

So...here he was.

"Uh—" said Naruto, and his voice was alarmed. "Uh—Sas—the choker—"

"It's broken," Sasuke said, turning around. "I knew it."

"No!" said Naruto, his chest very much bare as the shirt remained firmly pulled over his head. "It's caught—help me, help me! Sas—"

"I'm here, moron," Sasuke said, putting his hands on Naruto's bare shoulders only to soothe him. He pulled them back as quickly as he could, but that only meant he needed to reach up underneath the turtleneck, on Naruto's neck, gently threading the necklace through the fabric it wasn't supposed to be on top of. The clasp had caught a little, too, which forced the side of Sasuke's pinky finger to rest against Naruto's skin another dizzying, hot flash of a moment—

Sasuke let go, and the shirt pulled free.

"U—um," Naruto laughed out, his voice breathless and his cheeks flushed, "thanks."

Sasuke nodded, stepping back. The room was hot and Sasuke was sweating—feeling the heat in his cheeks and forehead and all over his arms. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Naruto shirtless—not even the first time they'd been this close—but it never, never, never got any easier—

"Put the jacket back on," Ino said, and Sasuke...didn't turn around. Just stood—just stood, frozen and useless, as Naruto slipped on Sasuke's jacket and ran a hand through his hair and asked—

"Does it look good?"

If only he knew.

Ino snapped her fingers with a small noise, and Sasuke dutifully ducked back in submission to the lump in his throat. His voice would surely crack if he tried to talk past it—and he had no words to offer anyway. No...suitable ones.

"We're doing both ideas," Ino announced, and Sasuke let the room turn to her so he could continue to stare at Naruto's fucking chest.

"Both id—oh! Hang on, lemmie take Sasuke's jacket off, hold on—"

Sasuke blinked back into reality, as Ino fluffed her brush in all the glitter again—

"No," Ino said. "I want to see how it sits with the jacket."

"It'll just get all over it when you put it back on," Sasuke said softly. "Don't worry about it."

Naruto huffed out a laugh, turning to him with bright eyes and a disbelieving smile—

"You're really gonna let me ruin your favourite jacket?"

"A bit of glitter isn't going to kill me, moron," he said, and Naruto ducked his head.

"You—"

"There. See? Sasuke's fine with it. Put it—there, okay, let me…"

Naruto tucked his thumbs in the pockets of Sasuke's jacket—like he did, usually—and waggled his eyebrows at him. Sasuke huffed out a breath in reply, his eyes rolling on reflex and little else. Naruto was insistent, as usual, commanding his attention with even the smallest bite of his lip—Sasuke's notes sat back, on the table, but his gaze stuck to Naruto even as he tried to wrench it away—

"There," Ino said, pulling back, and Sasuke stopped in his tracks.

"Ooh," she said, backing up and circling, as Sasuke continued to stare. "I kinda love it. Okay, okay—let me get my phone. Stay like that."

"I—uh—"

Naruto blinked at Sasuke, his eyes wide and a little bit panicked—

"You look fine," Sasuke managed, and Naruto's mouth stretched into a lopsided smile.

"Fine," Ino muttered, tapping away on her phone. "Why is it always 'fine' with you?"

"Sasuke has a bunch of different 'fine's," Naruto chimed in. "This one's a good one."

Sasuke crossed his arms and kept silent. He knew better than to try and argue with the way Naruto had come to understand him. He'd made that mistake before, and it always resulted in him being uncomfortably and thoroughly exposed.

"Okay," Ino said, "just stand normally, I'm going to test the lighting."

"Isn't that what filters are for?" Naruto asked, but Ino only huffed.

"Only if you're desperate," she said, "and I did not do all this shit to be desperate. Let the jacket drop off your shoulder, Naruto. No, the other one—that. Look back at me? Oh! That's it, yup, don't smile—"

Sasuke put his hand on the desk and...steadied himself.

"Shit, I'm so good at this," Ino muttered to herself.

"Yeah you are!" Sakura called, but Sasuke barely heard it. He was far too focused on the way his clothes draped around Naruto—the embarrassed, natural way Naruto fiddled with them, when the sleeves slipped past his hands and the pants fell just a touch too low on his hips…

"I feel dumb," Naruto said, the jacket falling back to pool at his elbows. "This looks dumb, doesn't it?"

"When you're talking it does," Ino said. "Don't look at the camera! Look somewhere else."

"Wh—uh—"

"Not at the ceiling!"

"Uh!"

He met Sasuke's eye in a panic—

"At Sasuke, Sasuke works."

Fantastic.

Naruto gave him an embarrassed, bitten-lip smile, and Sasuke let himself fall back against the desk. These stupid weak knees…

"Hi," Naruto laughed awkwardly, his eyes flickering between the camera and Sasuke. Sasuke gave him a raised eyebrow and a shaky wave—

"Focus!" Ino snapped. "Be serious or something."

"You ask the impossible," Sasuke pointed out.

"Asshole!" Naruto laughed, immediately across the room to shove at him. Sasuke automatically caught his hands with his own, pushing forward as Naruto tried to force them back—

Ino's phone clicked.

Sasuke snapped his hands away.

"I didn't agree to being in photos," Sasuke said quickly, trying to push himself away into the space that didn't exist. It was one thing to lose himself, like he so often did—it was another entirely to have that moment captured, immortalized and exposed. Especially to Naruto, whose obliviousness was a godsend, but surely had its limits—

"No!" Naruto said. "No, help me—I'll hide your face!"

"Uh—"

Naruto threw his hands around Sasuke and shoved them right up to Sasuke's face. Sasuke flinched but froze, halfway through slipping from the desk into Naruto's bare chest—

He shoved him away.

"Got it," Ino said, as Naruto grabbed at his hands again. "That's the one!"

"No way," Naruto laughed. "Oh my god, let me see!"

He let Sasuke go, and Sasuke grabbed the edge of his goddamn desk so he didn't melt onto the floor. Fuck that. Fuck this. Sasuke felt like he'd been standing in front of the hottest summer sun for hours before a cloud had finally taken pity—

"Look!" Naruto laughed, snatching Ino's phone to shove it in Sasuke's face. Sasuke flinched back and caught him by the elbow before he broke Sasuke's nose, but Naruto only slipped to his side, pressing close so he could look at the screen, too—

"We make a pretty cute couple," Naruto said, and Sasuke felt a wave of dizziness rush through him, "don'tcha think?"

Sasuke forced himself to breathe.

"Don't flatter yourself," he strained out, pushing the phone away. He didn't want to entertain the thought—not even consider it, god fucking knew he'd spent enough time staring at the way Naruto's grin changed when it was teasing Sasuke—

"They are probably going to think you're dating," Ino said, nonchalantly grabbing her phone back. But she was already typing, already tapping away, as if— "you mind?"

She didn't look up. Naruto did, though—Naruto turned to him, with teasing, curious eyes, that small, lopsided smile on his face—

"...No," Sasuke said, hopeless. Naruto let out a breathless, delighted laugh beside him—a product of Sasuke's own wishful thinking, he knew, but he closed his eyes as Naruto nudged their shoulders together…

"Can I wash this all off now?" Naruto asked, unmoving. "Sasuke probably wants his clothes back."

"Aw," said Sakura, "he'd probably let you keep them if you asked."

Fucking Judas. Her smile only grew as Sasuke's glare sharpened—

"All that work and you're just gonna take it off?!" Ino huffed, finally looking up. "At least go walk around or some shit. I didn't do all that just for you to sit here!"

Naruto started laughing.

"Walk around campus?! Just be some sparkly asshole strutting around like I'm the hottest shit? That's Sasuke's job!"

Sasuke shoved him off the desk. And Naruto took the tumble with a laugh, clutching at his stomach as he tried to catch his breath—

"You think you're so funny," he deadpanned, standing over him, "don't you?"

"I do," Naruto said, grinning, "yeah. You think so too."

Sasuke nudged him with his foot.

"Are you done studying?" Sakura asked suddenly, and Sasuke looked up. "We could go out. We haven't since the term started."

"I—"

"Oh!" Ino said. "Now that's an idea!"

"I don—"

"That's why you keep me around," Sakura said, giving her girlfriend a nod and wink—

"I'm not—"

"C'mon," Naruto said, and Sasuke's voice died in his throat. "They're gonna bully me into going out like this. Save me?"

Sasuke...breathed out.

"Pleeaaasssee?" Naruto asked, giving Sasuke his most charming, innocent smile. Sasuke didn't fall for it for a second.

"You owe me," Sasuke said, and Naruto hopped right up.

"I owe you," he agreed, and Sasuke...breathed out.

"...Alright."

It was loud. Obnoxiously so, overwhelmingly so. Not that Sasuke had expected any differently, but it had been quite some time since he'd been in a place like this—by choice—and that left him feeling his blood thump in time with the uncomfortable bass. He could already hear the way his ears would be ringing.

He breathed out into his drink, and Naruto glanced over at him.

Of course, he was incredibly biased towards having a shit time. Naruto was beautiful and dressed up and sitting with his back to the relatively emptier side bar they'd found, which made him a perfect person to approach. Chat up. Hit on.

He laughed at something the stranger said, and Sasuke sunk further into his drink. He was drinking too quickly, he knew. It gave him something to do that wasn't stare at Ino's instagram, and was doing a decent enough job at blurring all the noise together.

Even if Naruto's voice was still clear as day.

"I mean," Naruto was laughing, "I really don't think so, no."

"You could, though," the man was insisting. "You're cute as hell. I've actually got some friends that model, if you wanted—I could get you in touch with them if you gave me your number…"

There it was. Sasuke let the alcohol burn down his throat.

But Naruto shifted, at his side, and it made him glance up and over—

"Um," he was saying, hand reaching up just under Sasuke's stool, "that's okay! I'm not really—"

"No, seriously," the man said, pushing closer. "They're really good people. I'd love to talk to you more about it all."

"I, uh. I don't—I actually don't own a cellphone!" Naruto said, too loud and too awkward. His hand swatted at Sasuke's leg and Sasuke started coughing—

"...Oh. Did—I could buy you a drink?"

"Uh. I've got one, but thanks, I—um—"

"Jesus Christ, just tell him you're not interested," he muttered, and Naruto grabbed his thigh so hard it was painful.

"Sasuke—"

"Are you interested?"

He gave Naruto a look.

"Uh. Um. No. Sorry. Um. I'm sorry, I—"

"Yeah, whatever," the man mumbled, and then he was gone. Naruto let go only to slap him in the arm, and Sasuke laughed into his drink—

"You dick, I was trying to be nice!"

"Yeah, and look where that got you," Sasuke pointed out. "I don't own a cellphone—"

"Shut the fuck up, you're such a—"

Sasuke laughed as Naruto nearly knocked them both to the floor, rocking Sasuke's stool back and then forth again as he shook Sasuke by his deeply-unbuttoned shirt. But he was laughing, too, and Sasuke's smile faltered the same time as Naruto's grip…

"Mine now!"

Naruto spun around. Sakura swept by him and hopped into what had formerly been Naruto's seat, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Naruto groaned—

"Aw, come on! I fought for that seat!"

"You can have it back when my feet stop trying to kill me," Sakura said, kicking her heels out. "Ino's in the bathroom. I'll be gone in a sec."

"Oh," Naruto said, "bathroom's a good idea, actually…I'll be back!"

He ducked into the crowd, and Sasuke managed about two more moments of picking out his hair before it was camouflaged by the neon lights. He made the mistake of relaxing back, looking over at the Sakura who rested her head on her propped up elbow—

"So, about that—"

"Fuck off," Sasuke said immediately, snatching his glass from the counter. It wasn't worth it to stand—not worth it to brave the crowd of people packed so tightly together he'd never make it through. And the bathroom was something he was vehemently opposed to risking until the last moment. The last possible moment. He hated public bathrooms on the best of days—

"Hm," Sakura said, and Sasuke didn't even look at her. "Did you see the picture Ino posted?"

Had he seen it. Sasuke breathed out.

"She might want to make some effort to correct the misconceptions in at least one of her thousand replies."

Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, well," she said, "we're waiting to see how the night plays out."

Sasuke's head jerked over to here.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sakura's smile widened.

"Finish your drink, loverboy."

"We're back!" Ino announced, pulling Naruto behind her.

"Good!" Sakura said. "I wanna dance. Save my spot!"

"It's my spot!" Naruto yelled after her, but he fell back onto the stool with a laugh. "Jeez. This my drink?"

"The empty glass?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes."

Naruto stuck his tongue out.

"Hey," came a voice, and Sasuke's good mood dulled. "You're out, yeah? Mind if I buy you another one?"

"I—oh. I. Uh."

He looked over at Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged and looked away.

'I'm not interested," Naruto spat out, and Sasuke's head jerked back, "sorry! I'm sorry, uh—"

"You're together, huh? No worries."

"Uh—!"

The man left, and Naruto's panicked gaze turned back to Sasuke.

Sasuke's snort turned into a laugh. Relentless tonight, wasn't it? It was as if Sasuke was the only one in the entire world that knew better.

"You tried," Sasuke told him, shaking his head. "You'll get it eventually."

Naruto flopped forwards with a groan.

"The hell is happening? Normally you're the one with everybody tryna get in your pants."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Have you looked in the mirror recently?" he deadpanned. "Or at Ino's instagram comments?"

"I—uh. Shit, no—what do they say?"

Sasuke slid his drink over to Naruto, and pulled his phone out. It was open to the picture anyway, and it only took a few scrolls to get down to the several—

'Blondie could getttttt ittttt'

'Those whiskers? I'd be his bitch lmaooo'

'Grate my face on those fucking abs, girl. That glitter is KILLING me'

Naruto choked on Sasuke's drink.

"What the fuck!" he coughed out, sliding the drink back before he spilled it all over the place—

"You're attractive," Sasuke mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Deal with the consequences."

"The consequences!" Naruto laughed out, and Sasuke...needed some water. That was far past what he'd comfortably admit sober, and if Sasuke kept going at the pace he was, he'd be spilling his guts in more ways than one.

"I don't even have abs," Naruto was mumbling, scrolling through Sasuke's phone. And it made Sasuke look, just to check, like he'd tried to stop himself from doing all night—his jacket was loose and open, and Naruto had used it to fan himself more than once. Sasuke let his eyes linger for just another moment…

"Huh," Naruto said, "weird that they like my scars…"

Sasuke wrenched himself back into reality.

"This again?" He muttered, rolling his head back to stretch his neck out. "Your scars are part of your face and that all falls under the same category."

Naruto looked over at him.

"Which is…?"

"Attractive, idiot," his mouth said, officially not communicating with any other part of him. "Literally just said that."

"Th—a-ass!" Naruto stuttered out. "Um—c'mon, that's not...people are thirsting over you too! And you can't even see your face—"

"I'm not the one under fire here," Sasuke muttered, waving over the bartender. "Can I get some water?"

"Sure thing," said the man, and Naruto sat up a little more.

"Th—you okay?" he asked, sidling a little closer. "We can go when you wanna."

Sasuke snorted, nodding his thanks to the bartender as the glass of water was slid towards him.

"Already?" he asked, lifting it to his lips. "You haven't even danced yet."

"I didn't come to dance," Naruto laughed. "I came to hang out with you."

The water stuck in his throat.

"And 'cause I was gonna be kidnapped either way," Naruto added, as if he hadn't just caused the nerves to zap through Sasuke like a lightning bolt. Sasuke breathed out and shook himself, lifting his water to his lips again—

"But the girls are good on their own," Naruto said. "We can go if you wanna."

His fingers stretched over the back of Sasuke's wrist before they pulled back. Before Sasuke pulled back—he jolted away from the touch just as Naruto did the same—

"Sorry," Naruto said quickly, and Sasuke panicked all over again—

"No, that's—"

"Hey," Naruto said, leaning close enough to steal the words right out of Sasuke's mouth. "Y'know you can tell me if this stuff bothers you, right? If I'm—if it's all bugging you too much. You know that, right?"

Sasuke turned to him.

"You don't bother me," Sasuke said, answering the question that Naruto had actually been asking. Naruto breathed in and sat back, his lips thinning into something as his eyes looked away. Sasuke couldn't quite pick out what it was that flashed across his face—

"What?"

Naruto looked back.

"Huh?"

"You wanted to say something. What was it?"

Naruto let out a laugh, but the smile was small and his forehead was creased. Naruto ran a hand through his hair and looked away.

"Just, uh," he let out a short, heavy sigh, "doubting myself about something. It's fine."

Sasuke kicked at him.

"Hey! Ow, asshole—!"

"Quit lying. Talk to me."

Naruto grumbled something Sasuke couldn't hear.

"Louder, moron."

"Said you're a dick!" Naruto shouted, and Sasuke flicked the tip of his nose. Naruto made a show of yelping and pulling back, but his face faltered into that conflicted something after only a moment...

"Just," Naruto said, huffing out a breath, "it...doesn't bother you. Yeah?"

"You don't bother me," Sasuke agreed.

"Not me! The—come on," Naruto breathed out. "You know what I mean."

"I really don't," Sasuke told him, and Naruto's brow furrowed.

"The—uh."

Naruto stared at him.

"You...serious?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Fuck me," said Naruto's lips, a mutter Sasuke couldn't quite hear. "I've gotta—m'gonna talk to Sakura 'bout something."

Sasuke blinked after his back. Naruto slipped through the crowd before he even had the chance to protest—or chase after him, which was what Sasuke immediately wished he'd done. He'd never find Naruto in that crowd, though—Sasuke grabbed his phone and scrolled until he found the mess of frog emojis Naruto had made his name, tapping on it...not that Naruto had seemed particularly panicked. More—more confused, and maybe worried, but Sasuke couldn't manage to make sense of all the fog in his head, and he wasn't about to sit here by himself...

He breathed out and scanned the crowd again, thumb over the send button. Was he overreacting? Probably. But what the hell, Naruto—

Oh.

"Get—go—"

Naruto strumbled as Sakura shoved him forwards, frog-marching him right back to where he'd been.

"Um," Naruto said, shuffling in place. "Can I talk to you about something?"

Sasuke stared at him.

"...Sure," he said, standing. Naruto glanced behind him, but Sakura had already walked away. Sasuke hadn't been able to catch her eye at all, too busy trying to read the creases of Naruto's face—

"Thanks," Naruto said, looking down at his feet. "Um, sorry—"

"Don't," Sasuke said, pushing them both forwards. "Get me out of here."

Naruto let out a small laugh and grabbed him by the wrist. He'd always been better at breaking crowds—comfortable and kind as he apologized his way though. Sasuke was content just to duck his head and follow behind, holding his breath until the air was fresh—

And then it was. Sasuke heaved a sigh of relief as the cool night surrounded him, the music dulling to his ears. The echo in them remained, as did the fog in his head, and Naruto's hand around his wrist—

"I—uh!" Naruto said, snatching his hand back to himself. "Sorry!"

Sasuke snorted.

"You've done much worse," he pointed out. "Are we walking?"

"Um. We can? I can call a—"

"Walking is fine, moron," Sasuke said, running a hand along the wall as if it would stabilize him. "Whatever. I..."

"Yeah, I—uh. Whoa, don't—"

Naruto caught him by the elbow as he stumbled.

"Sorry," Sasuke mumbled, holding a hand to the wall again. It was—it was all really hitting him, out here, and he—

"Are you—shit. Are you really drunk?"

Sasuke breathed in.

"I…"

"Fuck," Naruto said, stepping back. "We'll—I'll talk to you later, c'mon. We'll go home—"

"No!" Sasuke said quickly, grabbing Naruto's sleeve— "Talk to me now. Talk to—"

"Hey, hey, hey, relax, I'm not going anywhere," Naruto said, laughing softly. "Um. But if you're not gonna remember any of this tomorrow—"

"I don't blackout. I haven't had anything near that much. You know that," he said, stepping closer. "Don't use this as an excuse."

"I'm no—"

"You are. Talk to me."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed. He seemed to realize, all at once, that he still held Sasuke steady, but as soon as he let go, Sasuke caught him instead—

"Don't pull away."

It was soft, it was low, and Sasuke moved in with the words. He held their hands between them—not quite together, stopping just enough below for Sasuke to convince himself the motion could still be platonic. It wasn't—of course it wasn't, but Naruto's eyes were a storm and if they didn't calm soon—

"You know," Naruto said, breathing in. "You—you know I—there's a way I—act. Only around you. Right?"

"Yes," Sasuke said, unmoving. Naruto breathed in a short, quick noise—

"No," he said, "no, not like—like—you know how I—I'm close to you. A lot. Um."

"You're comfortable around me," Sasuke said. "I'm aware."

"No!" Naruto said, ripping his hands free— "Or, well, yeah, I am, but—that's not—"

He let out a breath, some high-pitched strain escaping him—

"Just—it's flirting, Sasuke. It's been flirting this whole damn time."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks.

"So tell me if you're uncomfortable with it, okay? You've been weird all night. Don't—don't just deal with it so I don't—"

"Stop," Sasuke begged. "Wait. Back up. Naruto—the—what?"

Naruto crossed his arms and looked away, his lips tight and unhappy.

"You've been—what?"

Naruto gave a soft wave, stopping the motion midway to run his hand through his hair. He bounced on the balls of his feet, as if full of nervous energy—

"Why?" Sasuke asked, and it was a breath. It was a gasp, it was a what? It was a search for any other explanation, any possible explanation, anything to tell him—

"I've—Sasuke, come on—"

"No, no, no, tell me why," Sasuke said, walking forwards. "Naruto, don't play with me like this—"

"I'm not playing with you!"

"Then what are you—"

Naruto looked at him, and Sasuke stopped. His voice and his breath and his feet stopped all at once, Naruto looked at him and he froze, Naruto looked at him and he—

"Oh," Sasuke breathed out, and Naruto's eyes flickered back and forth between his eyes—

"There's a reason," Naruto said, his voice whispered and helpless, "I'm not interested in anybody else."

"Oh," Sasuke said, and his world spun around him. "Oh."

"Yeah, um," Naruto breathed out, running a hand through his hair, "I—sorry."

Oh. Sasuke's head tumbled and then tumbled again, falling over the words that echoed through him like the blood in his veins.

"I thought you were picking up on all this stuff—"

Like the alcohol in his veins, he was drunk enough as it was—

"—and were chill with it, so—um. Fuck. I'm a moron. Um—"

—dizzy enough as it was, and he'd been holding the words on the tip of his tongue every day for the past four years—

"I won't—if you're not comfortable, I won't—"

"I'm in love with you."

The words left him like a breath. Like a realization, like a step forwards that stumbled right out of him. Naruto tensed and relaxed all at once, breathing in as he stared at Sasuke as if he'd never seen him before—

"That was too much," Sasuke realized, and the thought burst right out of him. "Fuck. Don—forget that I—"

Naruto launched himself into his arms.

"You son of a bitch," he gasped, squeezing Sasuke so hard it hurt— "you goddamn son of a bitch—why'd you do this to me! I was freaking out for no—"

He wrenched himself back and shook Sasuke by the shoulders—

"I love you! Obviously! Sasuke—you fucking asshole!"

Naruto threw himself at Sasuke again, and Sasuke thought he must have been dreaming as he caught him. He must have been, he stumbled back as Naruto nearly toppled them over—

"Did you not know? You really didn't know," Naruto said, pulling back again. "Jesus fucking Christ, who's the moron now—"

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered, stumbling back only to have Naruto pull them right back together. "I take it back. You're saying all of this again tomorrow."

"What!" Naruto laughed—

"You're saying all of this again," Sasuke said, "tomorrow. When I wake up. I'm not going to—"

Naruto laughed and grabbed him by the hand.

"The hangover's gonna tell us both," he said, pulling them back along the sidewalk. "But I bet waking up beside me might help."

Sasuke stumbled.

"Aaaaand that's what I've been doing," Naruto said, laughing as he caught Sasuke by the elbow again, "for the past year and a half, Sasuke, did you really not—"

"Shut up," Sasuke said, letting Naruto pull them forwards again. "How was I supposed to—what else did you do?"

"Uh, besides let you wrestle me to the floor?"

"...Oh."

Naruto laughed.

"Oh!" he mocked, nudging Sasuke with his side. "Y'know a pillow you don't wanna be close to isn't a good one? I can keep going. The walk's only ten minutes, though, we better slow down—"

"You cannot have possibly have done enough to fill this whole walk."

Naruto scoffed out another laugh—

"Oh yeah?" he asked, turning just enough to walk backwards. "Yeah? You think I've been subtle, huh? You think tha—"

Sasuke cut him off.

Somewhere between the fog in his head and Naruto's smile—somewhere between the teasing and Sasuke's nerves, somewhere between the shock and the happiness, somewhere between the way Naruto looked at him and the way Sasuke stared right back—

He'd found the strength to kiss him.

And Naruto's smile stretched against his lips—the small breath that was almost a laugh, the hand around Sasuke's neck that lingered, even as they pulled apart—

Sasuke stared into Naruto's ocean eyes and had nothing in him left to hide the love in his heart.

"Oh," Naruto said, and it was a breath. Sasuke found himself breathing, too—breathing hard, as if he couldn't quite catch the air in front of him. As if something—someone—kept taking it away.

"I guess I should've said something," Naruto whispered, "huh?"

"That," Sasuke said, swallowing, "would have been greatly appreciated."

Naruto laughed.

"Sorry," he said, looking far too happy for Sasuke to take the word seriously, "um. I can...make up for it now?"

Sasuke breathed out a laugh, and Naruto caught him by the hand.

"Get started, then," he said, pulling him along the sidewalk again, "moron."

A/N: And there it is! Another one of those ideas I've had for a really long time, actually. I hope you all liked it! Let me know.

Until next time,

Kinomi