Okay so fourth chapter... horray...
I'm in a weird mood these days, is the winter depression I go through every year, so I'm gonna be moody and sarcastic and ou'll be able to tell... But still, be nice hehehe
Thanks againg to Divinely Insane for betaing my work!
This is a transition chapter sort of, so yeha if you think is kind slow that's the reason.
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Two week passed by rather quickly.
Sasuke hadn't seen much of the blond on those 15 days and he wanted to attribute it to the ongoing exhibition.
Besides, he too had been busy.
The raven had gone back to the law firm the Monday after the exhibition's grand opening and had jumped back into action almost immediately, gathering information, interviewing people for the case, researching and asking around.
He decided to throw himself into his work and not let his mind think of anything else besides it.
But it proved to be hard… Especially at night, when he knew that in the room next door, sprawled in his bed, very likely with nothing but his boxers on, was his last thought of the night…
On Wednesday he had gone to see the doctor and he had told him to take it easy, so much walking around wasn't going to help his recovery; but in all honesty, Sasuke thought that if he dared stop, his mind might end up plagued with thoughts of a certain blond.
But on the outside he kept his façade.
He got home and greeted his housemates with the same stoic yet somehow familiar attitude, but he had come up with various ways to avoid the little "family gatherings" with the other two.
Sakura had expressed her concern for the raven's well being, but got dismissed with a wave of the hand and an "I'm fine".
During those two week Sakura had witness at least 5 childbirths and had been amazed by the beauty of it.
It was born from such a mundane process, but when the new human being saw the light of this world welcoming him, she felt like the world could be a place with a little less sadness.
She didn't tell anyone, but she promised to herself in that exact same moment, that if she was ever to become a mother, she would try to make this world a better place to bring her own child into.
And then, for some odd reason she had gone at it like rabbits with Lee.
Naruto was going crazy with so many interviews going on. He was appearing in art magazines and cultural boring shows that he was sure nobody really watched.
He missed the raven, but he wouldn't dare tell him that…
And Sasuke, well, he was busy trying to be who he used to be before he realized he… He what? What was he feeling anyway? What name could he give to those confusing emotions he got whenever he was around the blond?
At nights, when he laid awake for hours and hours, pretending he was thinking of work instead of listening too intently for any movement that came from the adjacent room, he would reflect on how had he gotten to this point in his life…
When his parent had gotten a divorce back when he was ten, he hadn't given much thought to it; but then, one day, when he had gone back home after a long tiring day at school to find a dark lonely house, that was when he decided he would never let one in… He was going to inhabit that lonely house of his own just him alone.
So he wouldn't be abandoned anymore…
And then Naruto had come along…
Sasuke was a bastard when they had met, he knew it. He wasn't trying to be nice to anybody, quite the opposite actually; but the blond seemed to be either very dense or just out right stupid… It didn't take that long for Sasuke to decide it was more like the second option.
All the blond could do was ask about him and his life and what he did and what he liked and what he didn't like; it was like having a fan girl with a penis.
But soon he had realized he liked his presence in his everyday life, it made it somehow fun and… less lonely, less cold… less sad.
And when he had realized what had happened the blond was already everywhere in his life, having spread like a plague on his well kept garden of solitude.
But it was okay.
His sunshine like hair made the garden all the merrier.
A knock on his door brought him out of his musings.
It was Monday night, the start of the third week for Naruto's exhibition, and the start of what Sasuke knew was going to be an agonizingly long week.
The lights of his room were out, the only illumination he had at the moment was the light filtering on the bottom of the door and the little moonlight that entered through his window.
-"Sasuke, are you awake?"- came the voice from the outside of the door.
He wanted to answer the blonds' voice, it was a natural response of his; but he stopped himself. Right now what he really needed was solitude, he needed to figure out what he felt and how had this feeling come to happen.
The raven could see the shadow cast by Naruto standing in front of his door by the crack at the bottom of his door… even that shadow gave him a longing feeling…
A long moment of forced silence elapse and he heard threw his door, how the blond shifted in impatience, but he was not going to answer, not now…
-"Why don't you check the "Share a secret" blog?"- whispered the blond and if it not had been because Sasuke was listening intently to the movements outside his door, he might have not heard it.
What he did hear clearly was Naruto's voice saying, very likely to the female occupant of the apartment: "He's asleep" and then footsteps, a door being opened and then closed.
The raven haven't given it much thought at that for the past weeks, but now as he turned his computer on, curiosity getting the better out of him, he remembered how it had all started.
He had only wanted to say Thank You, those were important words he never shared with anybody, but he thought it was important to tell the blond that he was thankful.
How had it all escalated into this?
This was really a secret, a secret that only he and his soul knew.
But when the glowing light from the computer illuminated the room and in his screen an amplified image of a postcard could be seen, the world did stop for a little bit, even as cliché as it sounded, it did stop…
The postcard was quite simple: plain dark background, white marker cursive letters that read: Can I? And in the center of it, just laying there a big sing that read: I wanted to kiss you… too…
That night Sasuke went to bed and fell asleep right away.
Next morning Sakura woke up to find an already dressed raven making breakfast at the early hours of the morning.
-"Sasuke?"- Asked the woman not quite believing her eyes and wondering if she was still asleep: -"Is it you?"- She asked again, just to make sure.
-"No, I'm just a figment of your imagination. When do you need to be at the hospital?"- answered Sasuke placing the freshly made orange juice on the counter along with the salad fruit.
Sakura eyed it and noticed that it had more apples than necessary, but she sort of knew why.
-"At 10, how about you? When are you heading to the office?"- asked the female while stretching scaring the sleep away.
-"Don't know… it depends…"- answered the other enigmatically while getting the bread out of the toaster and placing in on the counter as well.
Sakura stole a slice of toasted bread and took the whole basket to the table and placed it on the center with the juice and the fruit.
-"It depends on what?"- She asked from the dining room table.
-"It depends at what time he wakes up…"- he mumbled, but Sakura was able to hear him just fine.
The woman couldn't stop the shriek that left her mouth and then she jumped from her chair and ran to the ravens' side with a shocked and questioning look in her eyes.
-"Are you going to…"- she whispered without finishing the sentence knowing the other would fully understand what she meant by that.
-"I don't know"- he grunted while placing the two fried eggs he had made on a plate: -"How many eggs do you want?"- He asked trying to avoid the question.
-"I'll have two"- came the sleepy reply from the entrance of the kitchen.
Sakura would have loved to of had a camera with her at the moment.
Sasuke had turned around to find a shirtless Naruto standing in the threshold of the kitchen entrance, rubbing his eyes in a sleepy, almost childish way; the ravens' lips parted slightly but nothing came out of them. Sakura could bet her entire savings – which wasn't much, since she kept spending them on shoes and bags – that the raven was wondering how much had the blond heard from their conversation.
-"You just woke up honey?"- asked the female from her spot right in between the shirtless Naruto and the formally dressed Sasuke, if this wasn't heaven she didn't knew what was.
-"Yeah…"- he answered yawning lazily: -"What were you guys talking about? What did I miss?"- He added, this time sounding more awake.
-"Oh nothing"- answered the woman: -"Sasuke here was just telling me he had loved me for all this time and he wants to go at it like bunnies… nothing out of the ordinary"- she added as she made her way out of the kitchen area leaving the two males alone.
Naruto had a funny expression on his face, something like a mix of surprise, wonder and a little bit of resentment, but Sasuke couldn't figure out why.
Blue eyes were on him as if questioning the veracity of Sakura's words, but not wanting to ask out loud.
-"Of course we weren't talking about that!"- said the fair skinned man as he handed Naruto a plate with two fried eggs and carried his own and Sakura's to the dining table.
-"No. We were actually talking about how much Sasuke here would like to get in your pants"- The woman commented offhandedly as the other two took their seats at the table.
Naruto, who had been taking a sip of his juice, choked a little; and Sasuke, who had been about to take a bite of his toast stopped dead in his tracks and chanced a glance at the blond next to him to seize his reaction.
The tan man seemed to be okay, but Sakura, the ever more observant of the three, noticed how a faint taint of pink graced his cheeks and how blue eyes, very discretely, looked through the corner of the eye, and chanced a glance at the raven.
-"Yeah, I have always wondered if he wears orange all the time"- commented Sasuke drinking some of his juice and pretending it was all a big joke: -"Say Naruto, do you have orange boxers as well?"- asked the raven and directing his eyes towards the blonds' ones giving him a playful smirk.
-"Well, who said I was wearing boxers at all"- he said and reached over for the bread basket near Sasuke and by accident brushed his arm with the raven's own.
-"Well, wouldn't that be interesting"- added the fair skinned man as he reached over to retreat the bread basket and this time very intentionally brushed his own arm against Naruto's.
-"I have always wondered if you are blond down there"- said the female from her place already munching on her own eggs: -"Would you happen to know the answer to that Sasuke?"- added Sakura and gave the raven a meaningful look and a mischievous smirk.
-"Well, I'm actually trying to find that out myself"- he added and turned towards the blond who wanted to pretend he wasn't embarrassed by the subject, but he very much was: -"Are you?"- He asked and very subtly let his eyes roam over to Naruto's groin.
-"Well..."- the blond stuttered and averted his gaze finding his own meal far more interesting then the intense look he was receiving from his housemate.
-"Oh, Sasuke I think he wants you to find out by yourself!"- exclaimed Sakura as she took the last bite of her eggs.
-"Well I would very gladly... But only if he allows me..."- said the raven and directed a very serious glance at Naruto who was still trying to avoid the dark eyes in fear of what he might answer to that.
-"Now Naruto, Sasuke made a request, aren't you going to answer?"- added the female playfully as she stood taking her plate and made her way to the kitchen leaving the two of them alone at the table.
Naruto's baby blue eyes looked over to Sasuke and found him staring at him with an expression on his face he could not quite discern what it meant.
-"Please..."- added Sasuke in a murmur when he noticed he had Naruto's attention back on him.
-"Why would you want to know?"- asked the blond really curious.
-"Is not only the color of your hair that interests me..."- whispered Sasuke as he leaned a little bit closer to the blond, who flinched at the movement.
When Sasuke saw this he pulled back to give Naruto his space and went back to his untouched meal that was growing cold on his plate.
-"I was just kidding dope!"- said Sasuke trying to take importance out of his previous actions and faking a playful tone and expression on his face he stood taking his plate, still with the two eggs he had on it, over to the kitchen.
-"I wasn't…"- murmured the blond alone in the dining room.
Naruto regretted that flinching for the rest of the week, since it appeared to have drove Sasuke even farther way than he had been over the last few weeks.
He wasn't even sure what he would have done if had he let it happen... What was going to happen anyways? He wasn't even sure what Sasuke had meant with all the weird comments and attitude.
Sure, he had sent that postcard, but was he really ready for the consequences of it?
He wasn't' even sure if Sasuke had seen it yet or not, and what did he make out of it.
It was all so confusing!
What had the raven meant by that picture that read I wanted to kiss you...? Was he just playing with him? And if so, what could he get out of it? Sure, a good laugh, but that wasn't very Sasuke like; usually whenever he said something, he meant it, this is why he said so little, because when he did it was really important.
And so Naruto had put that other picture next to Sasuke's one and hopped for the best, but Sasuke had seemed, if even, far more distant after the exhibition at the art gallery.
The blond had asked Sakura if he had done anything to upset the other male, but found nothing that could have made the raven so mad to have changed his attitude like it had over the past days.
Sure, he had pretended to be a cat and been a pain in the ass for both of his housemates, but that could not possibly be enough to make the raven angry enough, could it?
He spent the rest of the week trying to remember as much as he could of that night.
To his memory came back snippets of it all...
He had laid on Sasuke's lap, had licked his neck and ear... had placed his hand near his family jewels... Could that have upset him to the extent of him avoiding Naruto so much?
It could not have been the fact that he had told him he REALLY LIKED SASUKE, could it?
Normal people don't get upset over the fact of being liked... But well, this was Sasuke we're taking about so maybe he did... maybe he understood LIKE, like, LIKE LIKE... Shit! What if that was what was upsetting him so much?
Was he so uncomfortable with the idea of a guy LIKING him that way?
Maybe he was, maybe he understood it that way and he was now distancing himself from the blond to avoid those feelings coming from him...?
Now, Naruto had not meant it that way, he had just meant he LIKED him, like a friend, like a housemate, like a buddy... and who was he kidding! He had meant it to be like that! He DID LIKE LIKE Sasuke that way...
But apparently it wasn't mutual...
Then what had it been that time when they had almost kissed... and then that picture... and then that weird ass comment about him being interested about more than just his hair color "down there"?
-"Ahhhhh! Sasuke's so confusing!"- exclaimed the blond pulling his hair in a frustration fit.
Why had it been so much simpler when they were in high school? Sure he had not discovered he had funny feelings for his MALE best friend back then, but that was not the point!
He let out a frustrated sigh as Iruka, his advisor, teacher and friend, entered the small cafeteria Naruto had chosen for their meeting.
The blond didn't have a parental figure he could run to whenever he felt confused on a dire need of advice, but when his collage teacher Iruka had appeared in his life that changed. He became sort of a father/big brother kind of figure.
And right now, Oh did Naruto need advice!
Naruto motioned the older man over to his table, and after they exchange their hellos, Naruto let out a tired sigh.
-"What did you wanted to talk about?"- asked the older man as the waitress approached their table setting the utensils and leaving the menus for them.
-"Well..."- Naruto was having trouble accommodating his ideas and questions into words: -"It's about me... and Sasuke..."- mumble the blond fidgeting with the mantel piece and the fork.
-"What about you... and Sasuke?"- Asked Iruka trying to get Naruto´s attention, but he seemed to have retreated into his own world: -"I cannot help you if you don't tell me"- added the male and that was when blue and brown eyes collided.
-"I think I'm gay"- said Naruto very seriously.
-"You think or you know? There's no 'I'm not sure' in this; either you are or you aren't. Which is it?"- asked the brunet, but the answer to his question was interrupted with the arrival of the waitress asking for their orders.
Naruto took the opportunity and took as much time as he could in ordering, making a few jokes and comments with the woman and she seemed very receptive and attentive towards the blond.
However, Iruka noticed that Naruto didn't seem to have that kind of interest on the female.
When, after around 15 minutes and a brief exchange of names, the waitress left to place their orders.
-"You are gay"- commented Iruka after the departure of the woman and chanced a glance at the blond.
-"Yeah... I am... it's just... it's scary..."- admitted the blond who returned to his fumbling of the mantel piece; he briefly wondered if he could ask the waitress for some crayons and one of those paper mantel pieces they give to little kids to draw on it.
-"It is scary... but you need to work it out..."- added Iruka who studied the young man sitting in front of him: -"But, why now? How did you realize?"- He asked curious about the answer.
-"That's what I meant about me and... Sasuke"- answered the blond whispering the last part as if the name should be kept a secret.
-"Oh I see! So you two are a couple!"- exclaimed the older of the two and gave Naruto a pat on his hand.
-"NOOO!!"- Exclaimed the younger: -"He's... well I don't think he is..."- mumbled Naruto averting his gaze from place to place avoiding Iruka's eyes.
-"You think he's straight as a ruler?"- asked the teacher putting into words what Naruto had been thinking during these past days.
-"Well... yeah..."- answered the other and yet again another sigh left his lips: -"I'm hopeless... It took me a hell of a lot of time to digest this and now it turns out I'm gay for a complete impossible love..."- grumbled the blond who let himself slouch in his seat.
-"Well it's always hard at the beginning, but you just have to deal with it"- added Iruka and gave Naruto an overall look.
-"How do you do it? How do you just let it go? It's impossible! I fucking live, eat, and sleep with him!"- Exclaimed the blond, but then though better of it: -"No wait, if I did sleep with him I wouldn't be having this sort of conversation I guess..."- he added and again he sighed.
-"You're sighing a lot lately"- commented the other man as he saw the waitress approach them back with their orders in tow.
-"Isn't that what people in love do?"- asked the blond, his blue eyes still glue to the table.
-"Love?!"- Half exclaimed half asked the older male as the woman placed their drinks on their table.
Naruto fell silent until the woman had finished placing their orders down and then with a polite "Excuse me" left them alone.
-"Well it seems to be a hopeless case"- added Iruka after being left alone.
-"I decided I'm going to become…"- but before the blond could even finish his sentence, the entrance door has being opened and he caught a glimpse of fair skin and a dark husky voice ask for a table for two.
This was a very popular dinner, so the fact that both the Uchihas were at the same place as Naruto and his teacher were, wasn't all so strange; however Naruto slouched in his seat as far down as he could go and he motioned for the other to do the same.
-"Why are we hiding?"- asked the older brunette in a whisper, not really sure why he should be whispering at this moment.
He thanked whatever divine force out there for the fact that he could pretty much blend in with the crowd; there were just so many blond, blue eyed men!
-"I don't want him to see me"- mumbled the other, his blue eyes never leaving the younger Uchiha from the entrance to the table booth right next to his.
-"Isn't that the point? Don't you want the person you like to notice you?"- asked Iruka again in a whisper.
-"Just shut up and let me listen"- answered Naruto angry at whatever and thanked God for the flowerpots in between his boot and the Uchihas'.
-"What did you want to tell me then?"- heard Naruto and immediately recognized the voice as Itachi's.
-"I…"- mumbled Sasuke and the blond could sense the hesitation in his voice.
-"Good evening! What can I get you this afternoon?"- asked the waitress with a sweetie voice and the eavesdropper couldn't help but dislike that girly flirty tone she had used.
-"Just two coffees and… Sasuke do you want cake?"- Asked Itachi and Naruto knew the answer to that right away.
-"No, I hate sweets. Just coffee please"- answered the younger raven with no inflection whatsoever in his voice.
-"I'll have a strawberry short cake with my coffee please"- added Itachi and he could almost see the dazzling smile he directed to the waitress.
Naruto could almost see dark eyes rolling in distaste at Itachi antics.
-"Why does it bother you?"- He heard the older of the two asked and felt himself smile at the confirmation of how well he knew Sasuke.
-"She just seemed annoying, that's all"- answered Sasuke and the blond could hear him shuffle in his seat.
-"So you were saying?"-asked Itachi and he could feel the smirk on his lips through the playfulness of his tone.
-"I'm… planning on moving out…"- mumbled Sasuke and had the blond not been listening to intently he might not have heard it.
-"What?! Why?!"- asked the older man putting into words what Naruto was thinking as well.
-"I… it's… complicated"- grunted the other, but kept his mouth shut as the waitress approached them with their coffees.
When she left them, Naruto saw her hips swaying a little bit too much and he sent daggers down her way.
-"How is it complicated?"- Naruto heard Itachi's voice ask and he refocused his attention back on the two raven men.
-"I…I can't live with Naruto…"- Sasuke blurted out and the blond could hear the erratic breathing of the other male.
'It is as I thought…'- and the blond felt the well known sting of tears forming in his baby blue eyes.
-"Why? I thought you liked him?"- asked the older brother and Naruto saw the blurry image of his teacher sending him a pained expression.
-"Yeah… I did…"- mumbled the other and his voice broke even if just a little, but Naruto failed to notice this; the only thought in his mind was that of running away from the place, running to a place where it wouldn't hurt this much.
A long silence elapsed in which Naruto was struggling to keep his tears at bay while Iruka's hand rested on his in a comforting manner.
-"Then?"- asked Itachi.
Naruto didn't want to hear the answer to that. Having figured out he had the hots for his best MALE friend had been a terrifying experience, those were emotions very hard to deal with and coming to accept them was even harder… But hearing this, this, was just…
-"I have fallen in love with him…"- said Sasuke, his voice hinting of the conflicting ragging emotions going through his heart.
Blue eyes were unfocussed, wide as platters. Naruto could feel a lonely hot wet tear trailing down his cheek, leaving a moist trail at the corner of his lips at its wake.
-"I… I love the stupid dope, good for nothing, Naruto!"- Finally exclaimed the younger raven letting an altered sigh escape his lips.
-"Well, it took you long enough"- commented Itachi offhandedly as he took a bite of his cake.
-"WHAT?!"- Exclaimed the younger of the two and Naruto felt himself jump a little on his seat: -"What do you mean by that?"- He asked angrily.
-"Well, I pretty much knew… And I guess Sakura did too… and that Neji guy from your work… and my neighbor Gaara and his sister, do you remember her? What's her name? She's so nice, we should go visit them again sometime"-commented the older letting himself get carried away by his own random conversation, while the other emanated some dark dangerous aura.
-"What do you mean you, stupid!?!"- exclaimed the other and a loud thump and then an "Ouch bastard, that hurt" could be heard.
-"It's good that you realized, now what you going to do about it?"- asked the older raven as he took another sip from his coffee.
-"I told you… move out"- answered Sasuke in a mere murmur.
-"Why? Are you really that stupid?"- asked Itachi with a mocking hint on his voice.
-"Shut up will you! You don't understand! I can live with feeling somehow… attracted to him… but… in love… that's another level… I know I won't be able to stop myself… I'm going to end up doing something stupid… and I'll lose him forever…"- said the younger brother.
Naruto felt his heart rate jump up at the words.
-"Wow! That's the most I've ever heard you say"- added Itachi and something that sounded like a MANLY chuckle left his mouth.
-"Don't be a smartass"- grumbled the other.
-"Listen… You and me, we have our issues. Very few people know how we truly are, know that we smile and cry just as the rest of the humans beings do… I know it myself, it's rare to find someone that makes you feel comfortable enough for you to open up… when you are with Naruto you actually seem normal"- said the older raven and a smile could be hinted in his voice: -"Why would you want to lose that? Stay around and find out"- he added and then a long silence.
-"This is scary…"- finally said Sasuke after the long lapse of silence: -"I never… I don't know… I'll guess I'll try…"- he said finishing his coffee and fishing a few bills out of his wallet: -"I'll head back to the office, could you pay my tab?"- He asked handing the older the bills.
-"I'll pay"- Itachi answered and some shifting could be heard and finally some retreating footsteps.
When the dinner's entrance door was closed Naruto noticed his untouched cold meal.
He failed to notice when it was that Itachi had left the place as well, all his attention could focus on was the platter sitting in front of him.
In it laid two fried eggs, a sausage, and bacon. He had asked that instead of the pancakes, they added a tomato salad… just like Sasuke ate for his breakfast.
-"So…"- commented Iruka finally bringing Naruto back from his musing: -"Aren't you lucky!"- He exclaimed and took a sip of his orange juice.
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Review if you liked it! And if you didn't... then don't be cruel!
Okay so, I'm having trouble coming up with a decent sumary... so if anyone has any ideas I'll be glad to hear them!
Don't read the following if you are not up with the manga!!!
On a more somber note... NO Kakashi!!!! I'm sad... I'm honestly sad and depressed about him... I just hope ahhhhhhhh!!!!
Well, we'll just have to wait and see what Kishimito has in store for us, but if he does it, I'll hunt him down and kill him! he cannot take him away from me!!! please don't! I just had this sudden realization that Kakashi sensei is the sole purpose of my existence!! Hehehehe not really, but I'll be mourning for a few days... an dthen go back to normal hehehe