Chapter 4:

Naruto ended up not going back to sleep again. He decided it would be best to just go back to patrolling and trying to forget their conversation completely. Naruto was angry at himself. Why did he do that? He knew that no matter what he said Sasuke would just reject him.. so why? Now Sasuke would just think he was weak, being so emotional over something stupid like that. But Sasuke seemed off too.

He had almost seemed vulnerable when he talked about his brother. Naruto was holding him before he had even realised it himself. It had just been weird, seeing the stoic Uchiha acting like that. They had actually had a decent conversation for a while. Maybe if he tried they could be friends anyway? Maybe if he just tried really hard? He had given up after Sasuke had treated him so harshly when they were younger, but maybe they could become friends now. Naruto felt a little better. He could try again tonight.

The rest of the day was as uneventful as the previously and Naruto had been bored again. Maybe Tsunade had just been lying to get them to go? Naruto hadn't talked to the others all day and was now on his way to bed. It was missions like these that made him feel so alone. Sometimes they had to stay apart all day because they would patrol a very large area, and this mansion Tazuna lived in was, unfortunately, located on a very large lot. Naruto sighed and crawled under the covers. He wanted to talk to Sasuke again, but it would be stupid to stay up until he came. He just hoped he would wake up around the time Sasuke got in.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes. He decided it would be best to go back to sleep for now. He walked up to their shared room and slowly opened the door. He looked towards the window and felt oddly disappointed that it was empty. He frowned. Why was he feeling disappointed? What had he hoped for? Sasuke shrugged the feeling away and went to their beds. He glanced over at Naruto. He was lying peacefully in his bed. He sat down on his bed and looked at him.

It was weird seeing his face like this. There was no sign of emotions. But in a way he liked this too. He seemed even more like a child than usually. Naruto smiled in his sleep. Another abnormal feeling settled inside Sasuke's stomach. This time it was more of a fluttering feeling. He felt something soft underneath his fingertips and realized he had reached out and caressed Naruto's cheek. He quickly removed it as if he had burned his fingers. Naruto rubbed his eyes and groggily looked at him.

"Sasuke.." Naruto was only half awake. He wasn't even sure if he was dreaming or not. He smiled and reached out to him. Sasuke had no idea how he should react, so he did the next best thing… he didn't, he just sat completely still. Naruto took his hand and soon after Sasuke realized he had fallen asleep again. He looked down at his hand. It felt warm and the warmth was spreading from his hand to his whole being.

It had been a long time since he last felt something like this. Itachi used to hold his hand whenever he was sick. It had always felt comforting to him, to know that there was someone there beside him. But why had Naruto done it? And why was he still holding Naruto's hand? He suddenly realized what he was doing and tore his hand away. He began rubbing it to remove the feeling of Naruto's soft hand in his. What was wrong with him?

Naruto woke up and felt frustrated with himself. He hadn't managed to wake up to talk with Sasuke. Oh well. Today was a new day, he could try again. He should just try to survive another boring day.

It was soon evening again, but this time there had occurred something, even though it wasn't that exciting. There had been someone who had tried to get inside the area Sasuke had been patrolling. He had of course quickly dealt with it and had informed the others, telling them to keep an extra eye open. Naruto had grabbed a hold of his arm when he had tried to get back to his area again.

"Could we talk tonight?"

"Has something happened?" Sasuke asked with a frown.

"No, I just wanted to talk" Naruto said sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I thought we had agreed that we shouldn't be friends" The cold voice made Naruto look away.

"We don't have to be friends… think of it as a conversation between colleagues, not friends" Naruto couldn't come up with a better excuse. He had to think of something to convince him. "If we're fighting all the time it would be bad for our teamwork… so we could work on that by talking a little…" Sasuke wasn't completely convinced. "Please. I'm sure it would be a good idea" Something in the look Naruto gave him, made Sasuke nod.

"Alright. I'll wake you up and we can talk for a short while. Nothing much, we both need our sleep" Naruto beamed at him "Awesome" Sasuke turned away. He had spent too much time beside him already, he needed to get away.

Naruto went to bed happily. He couldn't wait for Sasuke to come. He had actually agreed to talk with him. Naruto giggled to himself. He didn't know why he was feeling so good, but he had stopped questioning his feelings whenever Sasuke was involved. Somehow that bastard had a way of turning everything around.

It felt like he had only closed his eyes when he felt hands on his shoulders gently shaking him.

"Dobe, it was your idea that we should talk, so wake up already"

"I'm awake" Naruto mumbled out. Sasuke sat down on his bed and looked at him. They stared at each other for a while, before Sasuke began getting irritated.

"You wanted to talk, so talk goddammit"

"Uhm…Your brother… What was he like?" Sasuke crossed his arms

"Why are we gonna talk about him. I don't want to"

"You sound like a little child" Naruto said amused by his behaviour. "I want to know about him. It will be good to have someone to talk too. I bet you haven't talked about him before" Sasuke snarled

"No, and I'm not going to do it now." He wouldn't or rather he couldn't. He didn't want to think about the past. It was too painful.

"Come on. It will be a good experience" Naruto kept on pestering him about it and after a while Sasuke finally gave in. He was hesitant at first, but soon he relaxed and got lost in the stories. He told him about all their training sessions, about how annoyed he always was that Itachi had to leave him to go on missions, about how caring his was when Sauke was sick. One story after the other. Naruto smiled fondly at him. It was nice to see this side of Sasuke. They seemed to be really close. He had never seen that small smile Sasuke was showing whenever he talked about his brother. Sasuke yawned. They had probably talked for about an hour, maybe two. It was… new. This feeling. He actually felt better after talking to Naruto.

"I'm envious. You sound really close"

"We were…" Naruto saw how the small smile disappeared and didn't know what to say. An awkward silence fell between them.

"It's alright to be sad, you know?" Naruto said softly. "It's normal"

"But I… I shouldn't feel anything. It's not good to be emotional during a mission". Naruto slowly got out of bed and sat beside him.

"It's okay you know. Feelings aren't something you can turn on and off.." He hesitantly put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. He wasn't sure he was allowed to touch him, but he felt like he needed some kind of comfort. Sasuke stiffened for a short while, but didn't shrug the hand away. Naruto's hand slowly glided down Sasuke's shoulder, down his arm and grabbed his hand.

"We should probably go to bed now" Naruto smiled. "But remember, it's alright to feel sometimes. It would just be sad if you never felt anything." Sasuke was just staring at their joint hands.

"Why?"

"Huh?" Naruto raised his brows.

"Do you like holding hands?" Naruto grinned

"I kinda used to look at all the children walking home with their parents. They were always holding hands. I was wondering at that time how it would feel. Holding someone's hand. The knowledge that they were right beside you, that they would never let you go, never leave you behind. I guess I just wanted that. Someone to take my hand and help me through my loneliness… " Naruto blushed softly and looked at the ground. "I guess I should let you sleep now" Sasuke felt Naruto's hand slid out of his. For a second he wanted to tighten his hold on it, to never let it go.

"Good night" Naruto smiled. It had been a long time since anyone had told him that.

"Night" He said back, with a smile that was almost hurting his cheeks.

I know this chapter has a lot of jumps in time... But that will only happen in this chapter.