EPHEMERAL

(adj.) Lasting for a very short time.

"What." His voice was heavy and dangerous. His eyes carried a pure intent to kill in the gleam of his dark colored eyes, waves of fury building inside.

Naruto swallowed heavily, was it not good enough? The fan meant a lot to Naruto, or perhaps Sasuke needed an explanation. Before he could do so, the wealthy man had parted his lips,

his voice had dropped an octave to the point where it stung a poisonous violet.

"Explain." He demanded, not giving any time for Naruto to question why with his glare, getting up to his feet, Naruto doing the same to prevent himself from feeling below Sasuke.

Being a shorter fuse, Naruto found himself finding Sasuke's sudden attitude insulting and infuriating after he had followed Sasuke's instructions.

"You asked me to draw something and I drew this." He defended, narrowing his soft indigo eyes, jutting chin out, and giving a tight-lipped smile from refraining from raising his voice. However, he did take a step forward to emphasize that he wasn't in the wrong whatever the issue might have been about.

Sasuke's anger wasn't simmering down, his blood was no longer frozen it had reached the boiling point of spilling in the form of violence and blood. Flashes of intense pain shot through his spine, but Sasuke refused to emotionally express how he felt. that would have been giving in. He wasn't weak like that. Wanting to feel compassion from someone was weakness in it's cowardly form.

Rage encompassed his limbs, Sasuke slammed his fist against his wooden table, perfectly against the sketch he had just seen, the wood already quivering from the abuse.

"Where did you see this?" His voice sounding tight at the end of his sentence, voice was pitched and squeaky.

Sasuke wouldn't stand for this, the man before him must have hated him to go this far to hurt him, to bring back the burning grief of the reminder that he had no family because of his own blood. Everyone Sasuke loved had left him. It was selfish to blame the dead, but who else could Sasuke place the blame? There wasn't any other place to eternal rage inside of him, letting it go would be admitting defeat to the one who caused Sasuke's hardened soul, he'd have nothing left.

His family's sign was evidence of their existence, the reminder of what happened, bringing flashes of hungry fire devouring the pieces of his family, Itachi appearing before Sasuke with a mad smile, teeth showing brightly.

Defiance was Naruto's initial reaction, but it drew back when he took in consideration of the odd circumstances. Sasuke Uchiha was the type to straighten his back, walk an unbreakable path, and rise to power efficiently without breaking a sweat, which maintaining a mask devoid of emotion, was vital. The outburst wasn't irrational, something about the logo had made Sasuke snap. Like he had accidentally stepped into a sensitive area. The logo was connected with his old friend and Sasuke, it couldn't have been a coincidence, there was a common connection. Although it may have seemed a bit foolish to get his hopes up, Naruto had a good feeling with this clue, it want like the other duds he came across.

Understanding that the situation would lighten if he confessed, Naruto settled with a deep breath to release any aggressive emotions, wanting to progress without any frustrating argument "It originated from a boy I met at the original orphanage I stayed at. When he first arrived, he was empty." He could almost relive the scene, ash filled eyes with no shine of life to them. Sasuke was silently patient, the tight lines around his eyes loosened, the desperate eyes anticipated for something, seeming unsure what he was waiting for, Naruto wasn't sure why the feeling was mutual.

Nonetheless, he continued, surprised to find the nervousness gone, finding serene calm surrounding him.

"Despite his social issues, he was the only person to stand beside me without any traces of shame. Hate to say it, but he was pretty cool, everyone wanted to be around him, it would have been a simple pick and choose for him to live an accepted life, unlike me." He found himself tempted at chuckling from the reversed situation, Naruto had started off with less than nothing, building it from there, he wasn't alone anymore; friends, and family were what eased the lonely feelings he was born with, but he refused to let go of the past. Anger wasn't what he felt, it was the horrible sensation of dry relief of escaping something unhappy in exchange for leaving someone behind. Naruto wasn't stupid to assume he left behind his friend, but continuing on his own life without a word of goodbye made him feel as if he had abandoned his best friend to an unknown future.

"He gave me a brush to help tame my ratty hair since it was so knotted, the brush had this symbol on it, I admit I teased him for such an out of character action, but you know what? I was happy he cared enough to give something for me to keep, to call my own."

Sasuke shifted his gaze to his desk, he remained wordless though, contemplating a thought, or so Naruto deducted.

"But I was selfish, I didn't do anything to return the kindness. Never did I even ask what happened in his past for him to end up at an orphanage, calling myself his friend was a lie if I didn't know that much. Before I could even think about it, couple of older kids who didn't like me, thought it'd be funny to watch me drown like some animal."

Sasuke gave away his uneasiness by the sharp intake of air, some colour deserting his cheeks, Naruto offered a reassuring smile, reminding him that he was fine by the fact he was still alive.

"Gotta say, when I was tied in a river during winter, I was tired and peaceful almost, I felt drowsy for a lot of the time, luckily I wasn't that much of an idiot to give into sleeping. I didn't want to die yet. My friend came. Tried to carry me, but he was still a kid, still very tiny. When I blacked out, I was so sure I'd finally die. When I woke up, I was devastated to find out my friend had been adopted. We never said goodbye. He abandoned me, and I abandoned him."

Smooth ash eyes looked up to Naruto's regretful ones, the ash collided with raging storms; something was clashing in side of Sasuke.

The brunette was aware of this, but he wouldn't allow himself to speak, the chance of an unsteady voice was disgraceful to his pride, he needed to relax his throat since the muscles clenched in hope.

Hope was such an ugly thing. Bringing lies that could be truths in a dream. If this were a dream, Sasuke had a fair idea of where this was headed. Naruto had shared a story of his past that was too similar to his own, the clan symbol of his family had reared itself again from Naruto. Two coincidences which had to mean Naruto was a close friend from the past.

But reality had a way of snapping off hope when Sasuke was at the edge of reaching it, so Sasuke knew better than to trust this. Life wasn't some fairy-tale.

"You're eyes get so lively." Naruto began, softly whispering "Gray storms fighting with black waters, settling once you have your resolve, hardening like clay. Just like my friend. He'd lower his guard sometimes and laugh, immediately hardening once he realized he had shown a side of himself to me. Stupid jerk never really accepted the friendship, then again, you both have piss poor social skills."

Sasuke's eyes sparked to life at the sentence, his eyes focused on Naruto's words, not noticing the faint lines of a smile beginning to carve into his lips.

"So there. You have my reason. My friend that I owe so much, is somewhere in this city, I need to return the favour he'd done for me, I just hope he isn't too corrupted, it's my fault for forcing him to be my friend and not his, I was selfish, never taking the time to understand his feelings." Surges of warmth and unnamed passion began to feed Naruto's voice, the soft tone of his words beginning to rise in sincerity, inching closer to the truth Naruto hid from himself.

"He knew me the best because he tried to be my friend, even though he was the worst at expressing it, he opened up to me more than anyone else, even if it was just a little, it meant something. Chasing him is my only chance to tell him how I really felt, I can't explain it… but when the idea of my friend hurting because no one is there, makes me hurt. It's my turn to shoulder his pain, because after the years, I've lost people too."
"What difference does that make?" Sasuke suddenly asked, unsure why he had felt curious enough to ask questions.

"Out of everyone I've met in my life, I can finally admit… I love him. Naruto finally said, finding exhaustion flood into his body of discovering the secret of his determined search.

"I know I love him, even if I don't know what kind of love it is, I know it's real."

Sasuke's eyes were hidden by his bangs since his head tilted down. The sound of shifting on his leather seat disturbed the silence and Naruto prepared himself for the harsh words that he knew was coming.

"Go ahead, it's not like you to get so apprehensive about opinions. I won't take it personal." Naruto assured, wanting to get the session over with, if Sasuke said anything harsh, he'd brush it off, but that doesn't mean he'd like to stick around being told he was an idiot searching for someone that could be dead for all he knew.

Expecting arrogance to sneer at his naivety―or the very least, some neutral opinion that he couldn't care less about his past, he was surprised to suddenly have warm breath caressing over his face before he felt a force jerk him closer to close the gap by something pleasant pressing his lips, the tip of a tongue poking on to his. Small pinched of pain tugged on his head when the fingers entwined in his hair when Naruto unconsciously responded to the lip locking.

He took a step back, pushing Sasuke off him before the tight fingers gripping the back of his cranium, pushing forward. Hormones began to shift, aroused by the crisp rush of citrus and smooth after scent of cucumber filled Naruto's nose. Normally he'd find the overwhelming colognes with multiple scents overpowering and borderline obnoxious, but something about it mixed with Sasuke's scent made it entrancing to his body; he couldn't help but melt into the kissing, pressing his body closer, hips flexing forward to create some friction from the rising heat he felt build from the mild stimulation. The kiss became harder, teeth began to mash, bringing in pinches of pain from the force both applied to their kissing.

Normally Naruto wasn't the type to simply go along with sudden groping and kissing, it didn't mean he didn't have a sex drive, he just desired a close relationship first to actually deem sexual acts as something appropriate; but somehow all train of thought hid themselves under instinct, allowing his desires take over for the moment, pushing further into an untamed passion.

Electrical surges of numbing desire began to eat at Naruto's nerves, drowning his body in something entirely intense and foreign. Soon Sasuke's teasing tongue slid violently in to interact dominantly over Naruto's tongue, forcing it to follow the rubbing and stroking of his sensitive mouth.

This impulsive move had shook Naruto enough to snap out of the heated kiss once the brunettes tongue sensually teased the side of his tongue, becoming greedier with every stroke.

Shifting his eyes in curiosity, Naruto noticed the way their lips had still been connected by a string of saliva, the cherry coloured swelling that rose on Sasuke's pale lips was tempting, and the lusty gleam of his eyes and cheeks were radiantly staring at Naruto.

Swallowing heavily, pushing away the animalistic desires to gather his comprehending thoughts to properly calm himself. Before Naruto had processed what had happened, Sasuke was the one to speak first.

"I always knew you were an airhead… I just never expected this level of complete idiocy from you. Going this far to find me, It's almost endearing." Sasuke confessed with a bittersweet tone, shaking his head for the disappointment Naruto was in for once the naïve blonde processed this newly revealed information. Of course it didn't explain why Sasuke had kissed Naruto, in actuality, Sasuke didn't know either.

The dreams were borderline nightmares with the way the dreams fluctuated with his composure and emotions, disturbing the steeled resolve he had, tormenting his mind into believing that there was something more to his scheduled life than his revenge he was closing in on. It was best described as a panicked instinct that numbed parts of his brain into thinking a kiss would have been appropriate.

Sasuke hadn't realized it yet, but he had been wallowing in his own darkness and pain that the moment anything resembled welcoming, his body would lunge at it out of desperation, because his subconscious yearned to be saved, but his mind believed nothing could shoulder his burden he carried.

Kissing Naruto had been his own emotions rejoicing that someone had searched for him, but it was turned to a manipulative action to push Naruto away. A person like Naruto had the ability to influence others, that was clearly shown through Neji and his art, which was why Naruto was an obstacle for Sasuke's resolve to hunt down his older brother. Sasuke could almost feel it happening, thoughts of revenge disappearing to the appealing daydreams of a chance of living peacefully with someone who'd love him unconditionally. It was tempting. Which was why Naruto had to go before his hatred surrenders to Naruto's warmth.

Naturally, Naruto was confused to what was going through Sasuke's head with all the sudden unexplained actions. First came the aggressive demand to know the reason behind Naruto's sketch, then he found himself being forcefully persuaded into lip locking, now he was left with Sasuke finding him endearing.

"What are you-" Like simple math, the logical part of his brain connected the puzzle pieces of blanked memories and blurred voices. An arrogant smile would decorate a young looking Asian boy, pretty almond eyes dipped in fondness disguised as disdain. Yes. This was what he had missed. Sasuke Uchiha was his best friend as a child. Although his best friend had changed considerably over the years (not without reason), Naruto found the powerful air around Sasuke the same.

"Could you love someone as cold hearted as me? Or was that just another lie?" Dark eyes cynically taunted.