Sorry for the delay.. I have been really sick for a while. But here's the next chapter, I hope you will like it.

Chapter 15

Sasuke was lying in his bed and was looking up into his ceiling. He liked Naruto. It was weird saying it, even if it was just in his head. The fact that he liked anyone seemed wrong. He had always thought he hated him.. or not really hated him, but he didn't want to be together with him. Naruto had a way of reminded him of all the things he wasn't and at the same time that what was attracted him to Naruto.

Naruto was kind, a bit naive, expressive and very social. Sasuke had a hard time figuring out how Naruto could act like that after what he had been through. Naruto had been left alone, had been abandoned and hated by so many people, so how could he be so different from Sasuke. But they weren't completely different, something they shared was loneliness.

Even though Sasuke tried to conceal all his emotions there were still times where he was lonely, times where he wanted someone to hold him close. He knew Naruto wanted that too, he wanted someone to hold his hand and help him out of the darkness he was left in. No matter how much Naruto tried to stay positive and happy, Sasuke knew Naruto was as familiar to the darkness as he was. The many cold, lonely nights with no one to chase the nightmares away, the sight of happy families that clawed at their hearts, the knowledge that every time something good or bad happens to you no one will be there to hear about it. There will be no one to congratulate you and no one to comfort you.

They all knew these things, so maybe they weren't so different again. Sasuke looked at his hand. It had always been so comforting when Itachi used to hold it, and then Naruto did too. Normally Sasuke felt repulsed when people touched him, but not Naruto. He liked that, maybe even a bit too much, especially if the dream where right. He sighed. He couldn't fool himself anymore. He liked him very much. He liked him in a way that made him want to touch him, to protect him, to.. kiss him. Sasuke loved Naruto and he had a hard time dealing with that revelation right now. He was slowly beginning to accept the fact, but he still didn't know what he should do now.

.

Naruto was still confused about Sasuke, but hoped that going on a mission would get his mind off of things. Naruto didn't know what he missed, the cold Sasuke he was so used too or the Sasuke he only had seen glimpses of who seemed to care. Maybe that side didn't really exist and it was all in his head. How in the world could he think Sasuke cared for him? Naruto sighed deeply and went over to his two new teammates. It would do him good to get out and use his body again.

"So what are we doing today"

"Someone's happy today" Kiba grinned.

"Of course, finally I get to get out and do something. I hate being confined here and just train and train. I want to get back to doing missions again"

"Relax, it's only a small mission, since you are technically not fully recovered yet" Shino just hoped Naruto wouldn't do something stupid in his eagerness.

"I know, but still" Naruto was almost jumping around in his glee.

"Today we're just looking after our subject while he is making a speech. It shouldn't be a problem, since he isn't that important" Shino looked over the scroll with the work description.

"Then why are we going?" Kiba asked annoyed.

"He is rich and paranoid" Shino answered briskly. "Everybody ready? We will walk to the location and secure it, then Naruto can stay beside him while we" Shino looked at Kiba. "We keep around and watch for intruders. It should be over in an hour and then we can go home" Kiba and Naruto nodded and soon they were on their way.

.

Sasuke slowly got up and decided to go for a walk, maybe some fresh air would help. He had thought maybe keeping away from Naruto would help, but that wouldn't do now that he knew about his feelings. That would mean that the only way of making sure Sasuke would never experience Naruto almost dying would be to keep him safe. Sasuke had already seen Naruto's teammates and knew they wouldn't be able to control Naruto. He had to keep him safe himself. Sasuke was walking towards Tsunade's office. He had to talk to her and this time he knew what to say to get her to agree. He needed to change tactic, he had to keep Naruto as close as possible all the time instead of distancing himself. He knocked on the door and waited for her to acknowledge him.

"Come in" Sasuke opened the door and gently closed it behind him again.

"So what do you want know?" She asked impatiently.

"You know me." Sasuke started out. "I have worked here since I was very young, so you should know by now that I would never ever as-". Someone knocked on the door. Sasuke clenched his jaw and tried to open the door calmly even though he wanted to kick the one behind it. He was trying to do something he couldn't do easily.. show emotions and then someone just came and ruined that. Shino slowly walked into the room.

"Are you done with the mission?" Shino nodded.

"How did it go?"

"It all went as we thought, even though Naruto is in the hospital wit-"

"I told you" Sasuke screamed "I fucking told you so" Sasuke pushed Shino aside, remembering to come back and beat him up later on. Shino was the leader, he shouldn't have let it go so bad.

"Is it bad?" Tsunade asked worriedly.

"No, I was just about to say he only sprained his ankle".

Sasuke was running as fast as he could. Not again. He had just decided to be there for Naruto, to always protect him and then he is in the hospital again. How could this have happened? He still hadn't figured out how he should go about all this "love" thing yet. Sasuke stormed down the hallway and pushed the door open. Naruto was staring at him with big eyes.

"What are you doing Sasuke? Have you been running?" Sasuke was panting loudly and slowly walked over to Naruto.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Naruto laughed from how absurd the situation seemed.

"I just sprained my ankle. My ankle wasn't in the best condition when we left, so yeah..." Naruto looked away and scratched his neck. The silence in the room was almost tangible.

"You know how clumsy I am" Naruto said after a while and tried to laugh, to do something to lighten the mood. He slowly lifted his gaze to look at Sasuke. He couldn't really decipher which emotion Sasuke was showing, he was just standing there, not moving at all. Naruto began fiddling with the bed covers, hoping Sasuke would wake up from whatever he was experiencing.

Sasuke began to slowly move closer. Naruto looked up and was almost hoping to get scolded. He wanted the old Sasuke back, this one was acting so weird and he didn't know what to do. Sasuke was right beside him and leaned in to gently touch their lips together. Sasuke felt the fluttering in his stomach grow and he hesitantly moved his lips against Naruto's. He didn't know why he was kissing him. He had just wanted to since his dream and the fear and adrenaline made his thoughts all jumbled. His brain had just closed down for a while and now he was kissing him. He didn't want to stop and think about it, now that he was finally doing it he just wanted to enjoy it.

He softly pressed his tongue against Naruto's lower lip and licked across the edge of it. Naruto slowly parted his lips and Sasuke's tongue quickly slipped inside. Sasuke wasn't really sure about what he was doing, but when he felt Naruto's tongue moved against his own a fire exploded inside him. He grabbed the back of Naruto's head and pulled him closer. The softness in the kiss was gone as Sasuke began nibbling on Naruto's lip. He felt lightheaded and knew he had to pull back to breathe, but he didn't want to let go, he couldn't.

He felt a hand gently push against his chest and pulled back. Both Naruto and Sasuke was panting hard from the kiss and was trying to figure out what just happened. Sasuke sat down on the chair beside the bed and took Naruto's hand.

"So.. do you want to be my boyfriend?" He thought it would be best to be direct. He didn't really know what "boyfriends" involved, but it seemed like a fitting label to put on their future relationship.

"What do you think?" The confused and slightly angry tone surprised Sasuke. He had been sure Naruto would have said yes. He had kissed back, Sasuke was sure of this... or maybe he had just imagined that.

"I don't know." Sasuke shrugged. "I thought you would say yes". Naruto sighed.

"Sasuke I really like you. I have tried so many times just to be friends with you, hoped you would acknowledge me... Just a little. I just hoped for some kind of recognizing". Naruto looked at him sadly. "But you never did".

"But I do now". Sasuke winced a bit over how obvious the desperation was in his own voice. How could Naruto doubt him. He knew he had been cold towards him before, but he had never felt like this before, he hadn't known what to do. Naruto looked away. This was all too much.

"Just.. Give me some time. I don't want to go into this relationship with half-assed feelings. I want to do it because I really like you. You can't just believe I would say, hey that kiss felt good, lets be boyfriends. I want a real relationship, where the people in it care for and respect each other".

"I do that". Sasuke objected.

"Yeah, and you have done such a good job at showing that, huh?" Naruto said a little bitter. He still couldn't get over the fact that Sasuke just left him alone in the hospital without visiting him just once.

"Seriously Sasuke you can't just do a 180 on me and expect me to forget everything that has happened just because the great Uchiha is kissing me. You should know me better."

Bam, bam, bam baaammm.. So how will Sasuke react to all this and will they end up together?