Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! If I did, I would stick every character in a wedding dress. Because I could. Is that too much power for one person to have?

Summary: Uchiha Sasuke left his friends behind to follow in his father's footsteps. 7 years later, he finds himself in an elevator with the last person he wanted to see. Will he walk away again? Will Naruto let him? Rating may change!

A/N: The nice thing about me being back in school is I have to be up at a reasonable hour :P So I can post this nice and early! Hope you enjoy!

Anon, my dude, it's been like 6 months. Imma need you to ~*chill*~


Strictly Professional Extras

Therapy

"What do you want me to say, Sasuke?" Naruto was frowning. "It was a shitty time. I've told you that. I don't understand what more you want from me."

Sasuke fought the urge to get up off of the bed and start pacing. So far, his attempts to talk to Naruto had been steadily rebuked.

"I understand that," Sasuke said, "just tell me more about it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean tell me…the details. Tell me why it was so hard for you," Sasuke said, looking at Naruto.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Because I found out my best friend didn't give a shit about me?"

Sasuke's face softened.

"Why did you care so much?" He asked quietly.

"You really need an ego boost this bad?" But there was no malice in Naruto's voice; he just sounded tired.

"I mean it. You had Sakura, and Kiba, and plenty of other friends. You could have brushed me off as a shitty part of your past. You should have brushed me off as a shitty part of your past."

"Fuck off," Naruto said, a glint in his eye.

"Naruto…"

"That's not fair, Sasuke, and you know it," he said, shoving Sasuke's hand off on his knee.

"Why not?"

"Because you were different! You got me! You understood me in a way that no one else did…at least, I thought you did," Naruto frowned, but didn't look at Sasuke. Sasuke blinked rapidly.

"Sasuke—"

Sasuke stood and gave Naruto a weak smile, "no, I get it." He couldn't leave the room fast enough.

Naruto hugged his knees to his chest, breathing heavily.


Sasuke felt like the walls were shattering around him. He held his head in his hands, leaning in between his knees as he attempted to steady his breathing. This was…exactly what he had been afraid of. That Naruto remembered something he couldn't live up to: that Naruto was in love with someone he wasn't.

It was obvious, now that he thought about it. Sasuke felt his fingers curl and his nails start to dig into his skin. How could he ever have thought that Naruto be so crazy for, so devoted to, someone as stupid and cowardly as him?


Naruto steadied his breathing and tried to sink into his own mind. Sasuke had been pushing at him tonight and he hadn't responded well, that much was for sure.

He sighed. He shouldn't have lashed out at Sasuke like that. Obviously. It was a nasty thing to do and Naruto shuddered slightly as the guilt started to sink in. He knew Sasuke understood him. Sasuke had always understood—he just wasn't getting the hint right now. Naruto hadn't exactly been subtle about not wanting to go into explicit detail quite yet…They had plenty of time for Sasuke to learn all he wanted about Naruto, so why the rush? It's not like he was going anywhere…was he?


When somewhere around 20 minutes had passed, Naruto was fully convinced he had to apologize—the only issue was finding the right words. He had stood up and was pacing back and forth when the door opened.

Naruto looked up in surprise. Sasuke stood in the entrance, hand paused on the doorknob as if he was considering completely turning around, but he seemed to shake himself, and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Sasuke, I—" Naruto started.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke interrupted, eyes downcast.

Naruto stared at him.

"Just…hear me out, okay?" Sasuke said, and Naruto suddenly found himself unable to speak. He nodded.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke began again. "I…pushed. A lot. And I probably shouldn't have. But I...it was my fault that I missed out on all of this. I should have just talked to you from the start. Hell, I should have just talked to my dad from the start. But I didn't. I fucked up every chance I got, and I was so close to doing it again." Sasuke was pacing as he spoke. "And I missed a huge part of your life. And I hurt you. Badly. Don't tell me that I didn't, I talked to Sakura." Sasuke said when Naruto opened his mouth to speak.

Sasuke seemed to shake himself a little, "but anyways—I'm not—that's not…if you don't want to talk about it then of course we don't have to. I would like I know. I would. But it was shitty of me to push you like that, and I'm sorry. I didn't—"

"Sasuke," Naruto's voice was barely a whisper. It made Sasuke stop and look up at him. Naruto had a little smile on his face, "you're repeating yourself."

Sasuke swallowed. "Sorry," he said quietly. Naruto smiled a little wider.

"I'm sorry, too," he offered.

Sasuke's head snapped up. "You don't—"

"No," Naruto lifted himself onto the bed and crossed his legs, looking at Sasuke with piercing blue eyes. "I was a dick. Implying that you somehow don't get me anymore was a dick move and I shouldn't have done it. I know you do. So I'm sorry."

Sasuke blinked quickly and looked away.

"And I told you that I'd tell you more about it if you really wanted to know, so that's my own fault. I shouldn't have said that if I didn't mean it." Naruto continued. Sasuke was still, and quiet.

"Come here," Naruto said. Sasuke obeyed, and Naruto reached his arms out to holding onto Sasuke's arms as he came closer.

Naruto ran his thumb over Sasuke's forearm and looked up at him. Sasuke looked…fragile. Naruto gave a small sigh.

"You feel guilty, don't you?" He asked quietly. Sasuke's eyes snapped to his before looking away, swallowing quickly. Naruto took that as a yes.

"If it helps, I don't think I was ever really mad at you," Naruto said. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed and he looked ready to argue, but Naruto moved his hands over Sasuke's arms and kept speaking. "I was mad, yeah, but not at you. I was more confused than anything. You're not a great actor, Sasuke," Naruto gave him a smile and was rewarded with a small puff of air that would have probably been a snort if Sasuke was feeling better.

"I knew something was up. Hell, Sakura knew something was up. And I was upset, but like…I knew it wasn't really goodbye. It's not like it's hard to track down the name 'Uchiha' or anything."

That got a snort. Naruto smiled.

"And anyways, y'know, it wasn't a great process but the thing is…I'm really happy where I am now." Naruto leaned forward to uncross his legs and sat up on his knees to get close to Sasuke. "Things are good, Sasuke. Things are really good. I've got a job that I really like and the pay is great, I've got an amazing group of friends, and I've got you back in my life…and, y'know, you may find this hard to believe but I am well aware I was a little shit in school. Maybe not totally aware at the time, but I knew people found me annoying and I could feel when I was being too much…but I couldn't really control it. It's those kind of…memories that make you cringe, like 'what was I thinking?'" Sasuke was looking at him now, and Naruto couldn't resist; "like when you used to use mountains of that awful hair gel everyday."

That got a laugh out of Sasuke—nearly silent, but a laugh nonetheless. Naruto grinned and rested his forehead against Sasuke's for a moment.

"But, you know," he pulled back to sit on his heels, "I've gotten to a point where I really like who I am. Don't get me wrong, I never like…really hated myself, or anything, but I'm at a point now where I'm…confident, I guess, in myself and in my abilities. And it wasn't great getting to where I am but I'm not sure I would really want to trade it in…you know?"

He looked up at Sasuke, who was looking at him like he had never seen him before.

"When did you get so mature?" Sasuke's voice was quiet, but thick. Naruto laughed, and leaned forwards to rest his forehead on Sasuke's chest. For a moment, he just breathed in Sasuke's scent. He felt arms wrap around him and Sasuke's head come to rest on top of his.

"I'm still sorry," he felt, more than heard, Sasuke mutter.

Naruto have a small laugh and pulled back to look Sasuke in the eyes.

"You're a stubborn bastard," he said. But Sasuke was looking at him with such warmth in his eyes that Naruto didn't want to wait to hear the retort, and pulled the Uchiha on top of him. They didn't end up sleeping for a while yet.


A/N: Cute? I thought so, at least! I like writing fics where the boys work out their insecurities in a reasonable manner because it's such a nice break from canon... :P I hope you enjoyed! The last little extra will be up tomorrow.

Don't forget to vote in the poll on my profile!

- Kinomi