Sasuke fingered the small wrapped gift in his hand nervously, it had been almost three months since Naruto had been shot and the blonde had slowly been working his way back to perfect health. It was also three days before Christmas.
He glared at the box, tempted to throw it into the nearest body of water. He couldn't believe he'd bought Naruto a promise ring. How stupid was that? Maybe Naruto's stupidity was rubbing off on him. Not only was it stupid it was just so gay and something inside him rebelled at the thought; he may be in love with another man but he refused to lose his masculinity and turn into some pansy boy. He thought of Naruto's smile and shook his head as the urge to slap himself washed over him. No, he wouldn't think of giving Naruto this ring as some sort of blow to his pride as a man, because it wasn't. It was proving his sincerity to the one he'd do anything for.
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke swung his leg back and slid off his Harley. He stood beside his bike for a moment and simply stared up the walk way that led up to the front door of Naruto's house. He could do this. All he had to do was give Naruto the present and then run away and drive off before the blonde could react. He nodded his head once; yes, that was a solid plan.
The raven haired teen straightened his spine and walked calmly towards Naruto's door, determined not to let the blonde see how nervous he really was. He raised his hand and knocked twice on the door. When no one answered or called out he shrugged and tried the doorknob, it clicked and the door swung open with ease. He stepped into the house, closed the door behind him, tugged his boots off, and wandered up the stairs to Naruto's bedroom.
He pushed the door to the blonde's room open and smiled at the sight before him. Naruto lay sprawled out on the bed, mouth hung open with a slight line of drool, dressed in a black t-shirt that obviously wasn't his. It was too big and was just long enough to cover the tops Naruto's thighs. What caught Sasuke's attention about the shirt, however, was the Uchiha fan that was printed on the sleeve. The blonde's napping attire was completed by a pair of light orange boxers with sleeping foxes curled up printed on them.
Sasuke smiled softly and perched himself on the edge of the bed, running his fingers through the blonde locks gently. He chuckled lightly when the head butted harder into his hand, like a cat wanting more attention. He arched his fingers and gently began scratching his nails against the scalp, knowing that Naruto enjoyed the slightly ticklish sensation.
A small twitching around the eyelids let Sasuke know that his boyfriend was on the verge of consciousness. The darker haired male hummed and gently placed his lips against the blonde's, moving them across the closed lips softly until they responded, parting slightly to allow Sasuke's tongue entrance.
Naruto hummed and reached up to stroke the pale boy's face with his fingertips. The blonde sighed happily into the kiss and then giggled when the older boy pulled back.
"What a lovely way to wake up," the blonde murmured, eyes dancing merrily.
Sasuke leaned down and gave him another chaste kiss before handing the blonde the box he'd brought with him. Sasuke pushed himself from the bed and was about to put his plan into action when a tan hand wrapped around his wrist and tugged him onto the bed. Sasuke blinked when the next thing he knew he was on his back and pinned to the mattress by an amused blonde.
"Where do you think you're going, teme?" Naruto asked, a blonde eyebrow cocked toward his hairline.
Sasuke feigned for a nonchalant shrug "Places to be people to see."
Naruto hummed and nodded his head in understanding before shrugging, "I'm sure they can wait."
Naruto pushed himself up to sit straddling the Uchiha's waist before gently moving to unwrap the gift Sasuke had given him. He opened the cardboard box and blinked, finding a smaller blue velvet box inside. Gently turning the cardboard upside down, he held out a hand to catch the velvet box as it slid out. The blonde took a deep, shuddering breath as he opened the box.
Sasuke fought the overwhelming urge to buck the blonde off and run away, not realizing he was lightly shaking underneath the blonde.
Naruto gasped at the sight of two nearly identical rings tucked snuggly in a silk setting. Naruto knew immediately that the first ring was his; it slightly smaller in circumference, and a large dark blue sapphire heart cradled gently by two wings with foreign script on both the outside and inside of the ring while the second had a smaller turquoise colored diamond heart cradled by hands with script foreign script on the inside and English script on the out.
He lifted watery eyes to his love's face and smiled shakily, reaching out with his left hand to tangle his fingers with Sasuke's.
Sasuke gently stroked the hand that held his own "They're promise rings...Autre Ne Veuil," he brought the tan hand up to his lips as he translated "No one but you."
Naruto sucked in a breath as he ran is fingers over the beginnings of the engraving on the outside of the band. He could feel the stinging of tears hiding behind his eyes.
Sasuke released Naruto's hand and leaned up to plant a gentle kiss on a whiskered cheek "De M'Amoure Soiez. Of my love, be sure."
Sasuke reached for the box and gently pulled the sapphire ring out and gently lifted Naruto's hand up to his mouth once more he placed a small kiss on the ring finger before pulling away and sliding the band onto the tan appendage.
Tears spilled over and rolled down tan cheeks as Naruto leaned down to nuzzle his nose with Sasuke's who closed his eyes and returned the affectionate gesture with a small, peaceful smile.
After a few moments of lazy nuzzling, Naruto pulled back to look at the other ring.
"Faithless to none yet Faithful to one," Sasuke hushed, hand still stroking over the hand still cradled in his "Because you are the only one who will ever have my unending devotion, and I am loyal to you above all else."
Naruto leaned down and placed a feathery kiss on the material that covered Sasuke's heart, "I know."
"Ne Weil Aymer Autre Que Vous, I do not wish to love any other than you," It sounded like an oath as the sentence fell smoothly off Sasuke's lips. He reached up and began to stroke the soft blonde locks as he continued, "You are the light of my life and I'll never wish you were anyone else, you are exactly what I've always needed, and these are my promises to you."
The soul deep confession was barely a whisper in the quite room, but it made Naruto shake as if Sasuke had shouted it from the roof top.
"Oh Sasuke," the blonde sniffed "My gifts aren't anything in comparison to this," the blonde head hung lowly sadly.
Sasuke shook his head, knowing that his gifts would only be worth more when talking about cost, because Naruto could never have afforded something like the rings and still been able to eat. He gently cupped the blonde's cheek and lifted his head "Show me."
Naruto nodded and crawled off the bed, reaching for his guitar and the not book that sat beside it. "I have a collection of songs that I wrote for you, this one I started the day I met you, but I didn't actually have all the lyrics until after our first date."
Naruto positioned his fingers on the guitars neck and body and glanced at the notes that danced across the paper that made no sense to Sasuke.
"My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all. The morning rain clouds up my window, and I can't see at all and even if I could it'd all be gray, but your picture on my wall—it reminds me that it's not so bad."
Hearing that, Sasuke smiled and remembered the warm fall day Naruto had forgone driving his truck to Sasuke's and instead decided to walk. The blonde had been less than halfway there when the slightly grey clouds and darkened tremendously and proceeded to open the flood gates, allowing a rush of swollen raindrops to heavily pound the earth.
Needless to say that when the blonde showed up at Sasuke's door step, he'd looked like a drowned rat; he'd been instructed to stand out of the rain under the covered porch while Sasuke sprinted up the stairs to grab him a towel and a change of Sasuke's clothes (including the shirt that Naruto was now wearing). When the raven haired boy had tried to hand Naruto the towel and clothes he simply stared. When Sasuke asked him what he was looking at, the blonde's reply was a small smile, a simple 'You', and a kiss to the cheek as he took the bundle from Sasuke and danced lightly out of his reach and to the bathroom.
Sasuke smiled as he the song drifted along with his memory. It was moments like that, small but wonderful, that made Sasuke realize he would never love another the way he did Naruto.
As the song came to a finish Naruto licked his lips and reached for the glass of water beside his bed as he waited for Sasuke to say something.
The older boy just closed his eyes with a smile and hummed "Can I hear another?"
Naruto grinned, happy to know that Sasuke had liked it and flipped a few more pages "I finished this an hour before we went the movies….that night…"
Sasuke tensed at the mention of that terrible night three months ago, but relaxed when Naruto reached out a hand and stroked his cheek, reminding him that his blonde was fine.
Naruto pulled his hand away slowly and brought it back to the guitar.
"Desperate for changing, starving for truth. I'm closer to where I've started, chasing after you. I'm falling even more in love with you, letting go of all I've held onto. I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you."
Naruto continued to sing, hoping that his songs were half as meaningful to Sasuke s the rings were to Naruto. The blonde didn't bother fooling himself, he knew he could never buy Sasuke things as nice as the rings without cutting back on food and gas money, and then saving up for a year or so, but he hoped that his songs would be enough to show Sasuke how much he meant to the blonde.
Naruto opened his eyes—which had slipped shut half way through—to look at Sasuke. What he saw took his breath away. Sasuke had his own eyes closed, left hand touching his chest right above his heart and the right gently stroking the ring on his finger. What got Naruto the most were the tear trails that stood out on Sasuke's pale skin.
Without waiting to hear what Sasuke had to say, Naruto started on the next song. He'd finished it right before he'd fallen asleep last night and he desperately hoped the last minute tune would be enough. It was the most important song to the blonde out of the three, because it conveyed as best as he could what he felt, what he would always feel, for the man in front of him.
"All I am, all I'll be, everything in this world, all that I'll ever need is in your eyes, shining at me. When you smile I can feel all my passion unfolding, your hand brushes mine and a thousand sensations seduce me 'cause I—I do cherish you for the rest of my life."
Sasuke opened his eyes and watched Naruto deftly move his fingers into the right positions, causing the piece of wood and string to spin a beautiful melody for him. He let the words and the emotion in Naruto's voice penetrate his mind and dance across his skin; ecstatic to know that the person who he would give the world to, would do anything for, was willing to do the same for him.
As Naruto came to an end and sat the guitar down, he was pulled into a fierce kiss. He could feel the slight wetness from Sasuke's tears against his cheeks so he pulled his love closer.
When Sasuke finally pulled away Naruto lifted his hands and placed them on Sasuke's face, using his thumbs to sweep the tears away. Sasuke lifted his own hands and held them against the hands on his cheeks.
"That was the best thing I've ever been given, never let yourself think different," the older whispered, turning his face into Naruto's right hand and kissing the palm, fingers lacing themselves through the open spaces between the tan digits.
"I have one more present to give you, if you want it." The blue eyes boy murmured shyly.
Sasuke cocked his head to the side as Naruto leaned in. A blush spread across his cheeks to match that which already graced the whiskered cheeks of the other when Naruto whispered something in his ear.
"Yes," Sasuke breathed and Naruto pulled him in for another kiss.
Without breaking contact, Sasuke plucked Naruto's guitar from the bed and placed it to lean on the wall beside the bed then turned and gently pushed the other onto the bed, so the blonde head rested on the pillows, sunshine threads surrounding him like a halo.
"I love you," Sasuke whispered, into Naruto's mouth.
"I love you, too," it was returned with a light flick of the tongue which had Sasuke groaning softly.
Yes, this was the best thing he'd ever been given indeed.