Stuck To Choose

SasuNaru/NaruSaku

Chapter 2

The next morning I woke up, slowly at first, and with my eyes still closed. The first thing that came to mind was the fact that I was still in Sasuke's arms…and that we had stayed like that the entire night. I wasn't sure why, but I actually iliked/i the fact that he was still here.

I finally let my eyes drift open slowly and was met with dark locks of Sasuke's smooth hair against my cheek. My lips twitched as a smile began to form, and I absently wrapped my arm around his waist. I wasn't sure if Sasuke was already awake, but even if he was, I just planned on going back to sleep anyway. I sighed softly to myself, our exchange from the night before replaying in my head as my eyelids began to droop, darkening my vision of our dimly-lit tent.

That's when I felt it. At that moment, I felt something soft and smooth press against my lips, sending me back to my awakened state. I didn't open my eyes, because I thought that maybe I still could have been dreaming, or, if I wasn't, that Sasuke had thought I was still sleeping. That is, if it was Sasuke who was kissing me, because I really didn't know. But then again, who else could it be?!

After a few moments, I pressed against those lips tentatively, not completely sure if I was supposed to or not, and really not really knowing ihow/i to kiss. I had never kissed anyone before, except Sasuke, of course, but that was a long time ago! Not to mention it was a complete accident and it barely lasted more than three seconds. But I must admit; those three seconds were bliss to my lips. And now I was experiencing that all over again, but ten times better as I felt the pair of lips move gently against mine.

Now I was positive it was Sasuke. Hell, how could it not be? It was surprising, though, how those soft, moist lips that were always hurling insults my way could somehow be so sweet! So, slowly, I opened my eyes once again, and I was met with a similar picture of last time; except now it was Sasuke's closed eyes; his thick, long black eyelashes brushing against the tops of his tinted cheeks and the creases in his eyelids seeming to be smoothed down, up to the point where they were barely even there anymore. I smiled at this; it was nice to see Sasuke's face peaceful and calm instead of full of its usual tension. Gently, I ran my fingertips across his cheeks, brushing a few of strands of his dark ebony bangs away from his face.

To my dismay, this made him pull back abruptly, and his eyes opened and locked with mine. As I gazed into those endless onyx orbs, I couldn't tell if Sasuke was angry with me or if he was more surprised that I was awake. Or maybe I did something wrong? Was I a bad kisser? Did I have morning breath?!

My thoughts seemed to run through my mind at lightning speed, but my eyes never moved away from Sasuke's, and vice versa. We just looked at each other through hazy eyes and tinted cheeks.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, it's time to get up!" Of course, the sweet yet loud voice could belong to no other than the rosette on our team, Sakura Haruno as she unzipped the tent and peeked inside. Thankfully, she had taken long enough to let Sasuke and I separate from our more-than-casual embrace and make ourselves look presentable; our version of presentable being that we looked like we had woken up no more than five minutes ago.

I was the first to do something, grinning up at Sakura as I sat up. "Good morning, Sakura-chan!" I greeted her, equally as loud. I suddenly became self conscious; no wonder Sasuke didn't want to be on our team at first. We can get pretty loud! Sakura just giggled at me, glancing to Sasuke if not only for a moment, before telling us that we were leaving the campsite in no less than an hour. Of course, for us that meant in two hours minimum seeing as our sensei is always one to be late, even when on a mission. She gave a warm smile to the both of us before leaving our tent once more, slightly flustered. It took me a moment to realize why, though. Last night Sasuke and I had forgotten to put shirts on. Or at least I did; I was too busy with trying to fall asleep before he came inside. 'Weird,' I thought as I scratched the back of my head, deciding to lay back down on my sleeping bag for a while. 'She's never gotten like that during training missions…'

Of course only I could so quickly forget that Sasuke still even existed, seeing as I was completely ignoring him now. Once realizing that, my eyes snapped open and I looked to my right, and surely he was still there, sitting cross-legged and watching me with curious eyes. I was beginning to feel self-conscious all over again, and that was extremely strange for me, seeing as I'm usually never even conscious of ianything/i, much less myself. So I sat up, mirroring Sasuke as I looked back at him. Instantly I could feel my body go numb and my stomach begin to flip over and over, and I felt as if my face was about to catch on fire. Why is it that I've never felt this before, and why now? And if now, then why iSasuke/i?! What is it that I'm feeling, what's going on?!

I could barely concentrate on one thought as those dark, endless eyes continued to stare into mine, as if we were both just statues molded to sit like this for all of eternity, staring into each other's eyes. But somehow, I saw Sasuke as a more perfectly sculpted statue; one with perfect posture and smooth, porcelain skin, his face tilted to an angle that was just right and his eyes positioned so that they could peer into my very isoul/i.

….Oh god, what am I saying?!

I only watched as Sasuke finally moved from his perfect stillness, slowing inching towards me as if in slow motion. I could do nothing; my whole body was still frozen, except for my stomach, which was throwing a party with butterflies, professional acrobats, and very active frogs. I wasn't sure what Sasuke was going to do next. Was he going to kiss me again? Or maybe bail out at the last millisecond and smirk at me like it was all just a joke?! Wait; what if this iis/i just a joke?! I didn't have time to think, though, as Sasuke gently cupped the side of my face with his warm hand and just left it there; leaving his thumb to almost normally fall into a soft caress on my cheek.

I was stunned to say the least.

Not just because Sasuke was showing a completely different side of him, one that showed he was capable of being a nice and caring person, or at least it seemed, but that he was also showing this side to ime/i, or anyone at all for that matter! It really blew me away, but I couldn't help but give a small smile in reply to the gesture. How else was I supposed to act?! And what was I to do now? Just sit there and wait for Sasuke to do something, or maybe do the same to him? And God, since when do I think so much?!

Sasuke just smirked at me, as if he could read every thought that was crossing my mind, and he closed his eyes for a moment. It looked like he was the one thinking now, though I'm almost sure he was thinking before, too. When he looked up again, he ended up just gazing into my eyes like before, but something was different. It was as if there was this sort of longing behind the hardness of his eyes that hadn't been there before, or maybe I just hadn't noticed it. Either way, he pulled his hand away now, probably feeling a little uncomfortable about the whole thing, and stood as he began to pack his things. I shot him a puzzled look but shook my head clear of any more rambling thoughts as I did the same; rolling up my sleeping bag, gathering my random necessities around the tent and putting them in my bag. I was waiting for Sasuke to leave the tent before I would change, because I knew I'd end up feeling extremely self-conscious if I dressed in front of him.

To my dismay, Sasuke wouldn't leave either, and he had also saved changing for last. It looked like he didn't care much if I was there or not, because he had already changed from his pajama pants to his plain white shorts, although he was still shirtless. For once I couldn't help but notice the developing muscles in Sasuke's body, and how lean and built he really was. Something made me snap my attention away from the ravenette's upper-body, though, and I realized it was Sasuke's own questioning stare.

My face began to heat up again as I finally caught on that I was full-on istaring/i at my best-friend's chest. He crossed his arms and smirked at me, but didn't say a word as he arched an ebony eyebrow in my direction, as if expecting me to say something.

So, suddenly, I did. "Er, Sasuke, I've-I've gotta ask now…Uh….what exactly…are we now….?" I blurted out very reluctantly, but it was something I had really been thinking about since last night. But then it dawned on me; did it really matter? It was just us holding each other in our sleep, and then a kiss this morning. Did it really mean anything after all? Or, if my fear is confirmed, did it really mean anything to Sasuke?

As if expecting the question, Sasuke gave a soft sigh in acknowledgement and sat down, motioning for me to come sit down next to him. I did as told and looked to him with a questioning gaze, awaiting his answer. "Whatever you want to be, dobe," He didn't look at me as he spoke, thinking it better to focus his attention to the dirt ground underneath us. I, for one, kept looking at him, newly-thought question overflowing my mind. "What do you mean by that, teme?" I asked stupidly, even though I knew exactly what Sasuke meant.

He rolled his eyes slightly, then glanced to me before looking back down at the ground. I caught his eyes, though, and they seemed a bit unsure of something. "We can be whatever you want to be. We could be friends, rivals, teammates….or something else," He said, giving a slight shrug at 'something else'. I frowned slightly as I contemplated what could and what would happen if we stayed the way that we were or if we went on to be something more. Most of the results ended up with me being either upset, confused, or not even in the same atmosphere as Sasuke.

It was like Sasuke could read my mind, because at that moment he stood up again, brushing himself off as he walked over to his bag and pulled a shirt on hastily. "You don't have to tell me now; but do let me know when you decide, because right now…" He murmured just loud enough for me to hear him, and he turned to me with his dark eyes, a sort of pleading looked hidden behind them, "I know as much as you do….Naruto…"

And with that, he left me alone with my scrambled thoughts and a frown on my face.