I don't own Naruto or anything affiliated with it… that belongs to… someone else.

Supsies? Alright so I've decided that I'm going to update whenever the heck I finish a chapter… I can't wait a week to keep going 'cuz then I lose my mo-jo ya know?

Sleepless Nights

Chapter: 7

Say What Ya Need To Say

"Oi! Naruto! Wait up!"

Naruto turned around to see Sakura jogging up to meet him; he smiled and waited for her to catch up.

At the moment Naruto was on his way home from Sai's house, hopefully to see Sasuke and find out his thoughts on a subject of a date or two between them. The blonde was nervous and jittery even though he was still across town from home, just the idea of Sasuke with that dumbfound look of anger on his face after he asked the question made Naruto cringe. He'd seen that look before, plenty of times, and fairly recently but the happy grin of his only female teammate made him forget all about that.

"Hi Sakura-chan, I didn't think your shift ended till later tonight!" the girl smiled and hugged Naruto's arm as they walked.

"Nope, got off early. I cheated and said I was going to take care of Rokudaime for a while, I'm sure Shizune senpai won't mind." As we all know normally Sakura would have never touched Naruto let alone acted so giggley and girly around him, but recently Naruto came out to a few select people of which Sakura was one. As a favor to her old friend Sakura took it upon herself to act like a love struck school girl with him, just so there would be no suspicion or questioning of his sexuality. For his job's sake.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whined, "you're awful! Don't use me as an excuse to get off work early!"

She giggled, "Whatever Naruto… how's your nose?"

Honestly Naruto had forgotten all about his injury from the previous day due to one little problem… Sasuke.

"It's alright I guess, I was just on my way home to see if Sasuke's there yet… you wanna come?"

At the mention of Sasuke, Sakura stopped in her tracks, an angry look on her face, "I don't know if that's a good idea. This is the man who broke both our hearts and your nose," she giggled, "you know better than anyone Naruto; hell knoweth no fury as that of an overworked nurse!"

She started to walk but Naruto called her back anxiously, he could feel his face become pale.

"Um, Sakura, I'm not just going home to see Sasuke… I I-I… I-want-to-ask-him-out-but-I-don't-know-if-it's-a-good-idea!"

Both of them paused, staring into the others' eyes. Suddenly Sakura burst out laughing, holding her stomach as though her guts hurt.

Naruto lifted a finger to his lips trying to silence the hysteric girl who was drawing attention from the people around them. Others stared and whispered.

Finally Sakura calmed herself down just enough to make a sentence that Naruto could understand. "O-oh my God! It's about – about damn time, Naruto!"

The blonde's worried look spread into a grin as he joined her in laughter. As soon as the joy subsided Sakura took on a serious demeanor.

"Are you gonna do it?" Naruto scratched the back of his neck and looked away.

"I'm going to try if that's what ya wanna hear."

She smiled sweetly and nodded as they started again off towards Naruto's house. She was going to walk him home.

Naruto grinned at the woman next to him, she would always be his first love, he would not deny that to anyone and what she lacked in romanticism towards him she made up for in a great friendship. He knew Sakura would do just about anything for him and only wanted what was best for her best friend and future hokage.

Wondering again about Sasuke Naruto realized that it was very possible, more than possible in fact, that Sasuke would say no and laugh in his face. The thought made the blonde's stomach churn and his cheeks heat up, his hands got clammy and he shivered even though the air was hot. He didn't think he would be able to handle rejection but Naruto was sure that if he was rejected he would need quite a bit of alone time to even start to get over it.

Before he even knew it he and Sakura were standing in front of his apartment door. For a moment they stood, hand in hand just waiting for Naruto to muster up the courage to open the door.

After one final squeeze Sakura pulled her hand back before retreating down the hallway wishing her friend good luck and telling him not to get into another fight or she'd have to kick Sasuke's ass.

He gulped, knowing now without a doubt that Sasuke was just behind the door. If not waiting for him then packing what few things he had in preparation to leave. Naruto lifted a shaky hand to the knob, having to use the wall to steady himself.

'Thuk!'

From the other side of the door Naruto heard a loud thump followed by a cry, multiple voices, and scuffling against his floor.

'Who's in my house?' Naruto wretched the door open, letting it slam against the wall and rushed inside.

"Sasuke?-" he paused mid-sentence at the sight he was met with and what was going on in his living room.

Sasuke was sprawled on the floor with Jiraya sitting on his back keeping him pinned down. Across the room Kakashi tended to the injured Iruka who was clutching his stomach in pain while glaring daggers and the immobile raven who had commenced struggling to shove the heavy toad ninja off of him.

Naruto looked at each one of them for an explanation but got nothing.

"Why are you all in my house?"

There was a short silence before Iruka (still in mother hen mode I might add) darted forward and kicked Sasuke roughly in the side, making him cough and struggle harder against Jiraya's immense weight.

"That stupid kid tried to kill me!" he yelled, "he's a threat to your wellbeing-" Kakashi slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Well he did try to harm Iruka-kun but it was far from unprovoked."

"I don't want him messin' you up and makin' all that training for nothing!" added Jiraya, "you shouldn't have to be living with someone like him, I don't know what Tsunade was thinking!" the old man shifted his weight, earning a pained whimper and a sickening crack from Sasuke's back.

Immediately Naruto rushed into the house and shoved Jiraya off his friend and helped the Uchiha to his feet, brushing him off and making sure the crack emitted from his spine was nothing serious.

"All of you need to get out of here," Naruto ordered sternly, when no one moved he got angry, "you three are idiots! First of all ask me before you jump someone like that, you could have killed him! And what's more Sasuke's not the same person he was! He's really here to stay and I believe that because he told me so, and for his probationary period I wouldn't want him living anywhere else!"

The entire time Sasuke had not said a thing, too stunned to open his mouth and too afraid of Naruto's mentors to join in on the argument. He was stunned because of Naruto's testimony, hadn't he told the blonde off and broken his nose just the day before and now he was defending Sasuke? And what of Naruto's speech just now 'Sasuke isn't the person he was' Naruto didn't know that for fact and yet he stood there half lying to his teachers to save Sasuke from further harm by their hands.

Sasuke didn't know what to think. He was not going to cry again because, frankly, he was all cried out. He didn't get it. He just didn't get how after everything that had happened in the past two days and all the drama Sasuke brought with him when he came home could Naruto even stand to be around him let alone continue to live with him.

How could he act like Sasuke hadn't ripped his heart in two?

As soon as the raven returned to reality Naruto was shoving his mentors out the door, telling them to stay away from his apartment unless invited and that he would deal with them later. Sasuke stood in the middle of the floor, unable to move as Naruto locked the door and approached him. The blonde looked Sasuke over for any new injury.

"They didn't hurt you did they?" Sasuke shook his head no, "no bruises, bumps, cuts? You can tell me you know." Sasuke shook his head again and flinched away slightly, shamefully, when Naruto wrapped his arms around his lean body and just held him there in a concept foreign to the Uchiha.

A hug.

"Where were you all night?" Naruto whispered, almost to himself, "I was so worried you'd left. I couldn't even work, I was so worried, so worried."

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing; Naruto had been worried about him? But why? Why would it matter to Naruto if Sasuke disappeared for a little while, it's not like he was alone, but he wasn't going to tell Naruto that? He had been worried… during the night Sasuke hadn't even given thought to how Naruto felt about his absence. He couldn't bear to answer the question but the least he could do was return Naruto's embrace.

The raven reluctantly placed his hands on Naruto's back and squeezed, the motion forcing his face into the crook of the blonde's neck. Pleasantly the smell of cinnamon and, predictably, ramen met Sasuke when he breathed in. his legs felt like jelly and a shock ran down his spine when Naruto's hand rubbed its way up his back to rest on the back of his neck and before he knew it he and the blonde were moving backwards.

"Wha-" Sasuke tried to ask Naruto what he was doing but was rendered unable to finish his sentence when the backs of his legs collided with the arm of the couch, he toppled onto the less than comfortable monstrosity as Naruto fell on top of him. As soon as the blonde was settled above Sasuke his hands rocketed to his uke's face to keep him from moving away.

"Na-Naruto? What are you d-doing?" Sasuke panicked as the blonde's face got closer and closer to his own before Naruto paused mere centimeters from his lips, waiting for Sasuke to start talking again and when he did the blonde took advantage of the situation and kissed him. Naruto's tongue licked Sasuke's lips slowly before he pulled back.

"You looked pale… I thought I'd check and see if you had a fever."

Sasuke blushed profusely and succeeded in shoving Naruto to one end of the couch while he huddled behind his fort of approximately one pillow on the other.

"You could have told me that!"

"But then it wouldn't have been such a nice surprise." The blonde was not smiling but Sasuke could tell he was just as happy as when he was grinning. Not wanting to worry himself with the real reason Naruto had kissed him just yet Sasuke went back to the subject of his roomy's teachers.

"Why did Kakashi sensei and the others come in here and attack me like that?"

Suddenly Naruto looked away and Sasuke wondered if he should not have asked that questioned.

"They're my teachers, they've known me my whole life and they've always been protective of me – I'm the jinchurriki after all-"

"Noo way," Sasuke interrupted, "not like that, they were never protective like that!"

Naruto turned the other way to stare out the window, still unable to look Sasuke in the eye. "if I tell you that you can't tell anyone until it's made official," Sasuke nodded affirmatively, "those three are so worried about my welfare now not just because I have kyuubi and am their friend but because… I'm going to be… Rokudaime hokage."

Sasuke's face was blank. "I already know that dobe you've been telling me that for years with all of your 'I'm going to be hokage one day' shit."

Now it was Naruto's turn to shake his head, "no, you don't get it, I made it, I'm being trained for the title, by this time next year I'll be walking down the street and people will be calling me 'lord hokage' I am Rokudaime hokage."

Now this shouldn't have bee n such a surprise to Sasuke who had figured Naruto'd attain the occupation anyway but he could not keep the look of complete shock from his face.

'Rokudaime hokage, that's… amazing. I'll never be stronger than him now…' Sasuke wanted to be angry that the dobe would always be better than him but he just couldn't. He didn't care about that anymore and if anything, he was happy for Naruto that he'd finally achieved the thing he'd been striving for since they were children, finally realized his dream. Sasuke looked up at Naruto and opened his mouth to speak.

"So what?"

X

"So what?" Naruto had just gotten finished telling Sasuke he was going to be Rokudaime, that Sasuke's bestfriend was going to be hokage and all he said was: "so what?"

"So," Naruto replied, "I've decided to give you a second chance, but that all depends on how you answer one question…" Sasuke nodded attentively waiting for Naruto to speak. The blonde's mouth was open but no words would come out. He was about to do it, ask Sasuke to date him that is. Suddenly all the forgotten doubts and negativities from before captivated his mind, he couldn't do it!

"Well," asked the impatient Uchiha, "what is it? What's the question?"

Naruto babbled out something completely incoherent and after a mental face palm and a mini pep-talk from kyuubi he recomposed himself enough to actually speak.

"D-Do you want to move back to your house?"

Sasuke raise a thin eyebrow in confusion, "My house?"

"Yea," Naruto nodded vigorously hoping to have covered up his folly, "if you do well here I can make sure you can get back in your house sooner! I-I mean… if you want to."

Actually Sasuke was completely comfortable living here with Naruto, just the two of them. He was so comfortable in fact that their accidental nocturnal activities from a few nights ago didn't bother him anymore, if anything, Sasuke wanted to try it again just to remember what it was like. Though Naruto didn't need to know that but Naruto asked him if he wanted to move out… did that mean that Naruto wanted Sasuke gone? Just the thought of this depressed the Uchiha and he smiled as much as he possibly could.

"Yea, I think I'd like that."

Once again, the greatest Christmas present you could possibly give me is reviews or socks but mommy says I'm not allowed to accept socks from strangers… lots and lots of reviews okay? Tell me what you think and a VERYMERRYCHRISTMAS!