24. Quartet

Sasuke's eyes scanned the paper in front of him too quickly to really pick anything up before handing it back to Naruto. "Seems nice," he said, attempting to keep excitement in his voice.

Naruto was not listening closely enough to detect the dejection in Sasuke's voice. He smiled and glanced at the paper in his hand again. "There's going to be a string quartet! Sakura says she knows some people and it's going to be good. I always imagined that," he said, smiling at Sasuke.

The sun was catching in Naruto's hair, making it look like there was a halo around his head. His grin was almost infectious, sparkling in the evening glow. It looked as if he were happier than he had ever been before and that there was nothing in the world that could stop him. Sasuke's breath caught in his throat for a moment and he looked away, focusing on the sidewalk in front of him. "What do you think about it, Best Man?" Naruto asked, nudging Sasuke in the ribs.

Sasuke took a deep breath, closing his eyes to sort through the thoughts shooting around his head. "You don't have to," he said after a moment. He looked up at Naruto from under his bangs.

"I don't have to have a string quartet? But I've always wanted one…" Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow.

"That's not what I meant." Sasuke stopped walking, focusing on Naruto's eyes. "You really don't have to do this."

Blue eyes flickered in the light. "What are you talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, frowning.

Pausing to gather his thoughts, Sasuke reached out to touch Naruto's arm lightly. His fingers twitched. "I don't want you to do it," he finally said. His hand dropped to his side again.

Naruto stared at him unblinking. "I—you—you mean…" he trailed off.

Sasuke nodded slowly, shifting his gaze to the tree beyond Naruto's left shoulder.

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke's heart stopped at the emotion in Naruto's voice. Confusion, disbelief, anger, regret. Sasuke inhaled sharply and looked back into Naruto's eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I'm happy for you, really. I'll just… go now." He took off running in the direction that they had come.

Naruto watched after him, his heart racing and his mind spinning.

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I went to the fair today and discussed with my friends the different ways that quartet could be used in a fanfic. This was not one of those crazy options. This might be considered AU… I know I said I'd write some… so… you can take this as one of those… I guess…