Disclaimers: Naruto is someone else's, this is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.

Warnings: This story includes strong language, violence, angst, hopefully some decent jokes, and (of course) beautiful SasuNaru love.

Chapter 4: A Growing Desire

"The ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away."

-Sarah Kay

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"You know- I've only been here like four times and it still blows my mind how big it is."

Sasuke smirked. "I get that a lot."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Really, Sasuke? Dick jokes? I just got here."

Sasuke put his hands up and smoothed his face into a mask of picture perfect innocence. "Not ready for it, huh? That's ok. I'll wait."

Naruto rolled his eyes again. "I can already tell that I'm going to regret agreeing to this."

Sasuke laughed lightly and led the blonde across the spacious living room, past the kitchen, and down the hall to one of the spare bedrooms. He pushed open the door and stepped inside. "Alright- this is all yours."

"This place is ridiculous", Naruto murmured as he followed him into the room. "Why is your spare bedroom the size of my entire apartment?"

"Well, believe it or not, I didn't build the place. It was like this when I got here." He looked back to watch the blonde survey his surroundings with a mixture of shock and unease. "You can always share my room with me if you prefer."

Naruto deadpanned. "Shut up, Sasuke."

"Come on- I'll show you where the bathroom is. You should take a shower."

"You should take a shower.." Naruto mumbled back, mocking the Uchiha.

Sasuke ignored him as he walked across the hall to a door equidistant between his room and Naruto's. He flicked on the light and pulled out spare toiletries and towels. "We can stop by your place tomorrow to grab your stuff, but you can just use these for now." Naruto nodded quietly, starting to feel uncomfortable with all of this. I hate this. I freaking hate this.

I don't want his fucking charity..

"You don't need to-" he started.

"I'm aware." Sasuke replied curtly. "Don't make it weird, dobe."

Naruto anxiously ran his fingers through his hair before shining a smile at him, though it rang false. No matter how tight he stretched that grin, it wouldn't reach his eyes. Before he could stop himself, Sasuke reached out and smoothed back Naruto's bangs so he could peer down at his face and into those lost deep blues, surprising both of them.

"Sasuke..?" Naruto whispered.

He pulled his hand away, reached over, and turned on the shower, quickly adjusting it to the right temperature. "Go ahead and take a shower.. I'll-I'll be right back."

He left, and Naruto stood there staring through the open doorway for a while, wondering what the hell was going on. Am I losing my mind, and just completely reading into this, or.. he pulled at his lip as he thought about the look on Sasuke's face when he brushed back his hair.

Does Sasuke have feelings for me..?

He shook the thought out of his head as soon as it appeared. No, that doesn't even make any sense. I mean- it's Sasuke. He's not into- he doesn't.. and besides, even if he did like guys.. he looked at himself in the mirror, there's no way he'd go for me.

He looked away from his messy reflection, closed the door, and got started peeling off his dirty clothes. He discarded his jacket, dropping it to the bathroom floor, followed by his torn, blood-stained shirt. He emptied his pockets, laying his belongings on the counter, before adding his pants to the pile as well, leaving him in nothing but tight black boxer briefs (he had left his shoes by the front door, as any respectable man would). He just started to pull them down his hips when the bathroom door opened.

"Hey, I have some clothes you can-" Sasuke froze, onyx eyes wide as he took in a mostly naked Naruto, his hands pushing down boxer briefs that were now just partially covering his.. Sasuke's eyes shot up to meet horrified azure ones. "Fuck- uhh sorry."

Sasuke pulled the door closed, then reopened it just a crack. He stuck his arm in, holding out the clothes he came with. "Here." Naruto took them and Sasuke immediately pulled the door closed. His heart was racing, his mind flashing back to a tight lean stomach, to dark fabric pulled down freckled tan hips.

Fuck.. what is happening to me?! Why am I looking at Naruto like this? They had spent so much time together over the years, and they had gotten even closer ever since he returned to the village. So, why now?

Maybe it was always there, he thought to himself as he headed to his own bedroom. Maybe you just didn't want to see it.

It changed when he kissed him. And not some weird freak accident, but an actual intentional kiss. When it could be real.. that's when you saw that it was... and probably had been for a long time.

He dropped onto his bed and threw an arm over his eyes. Maybe the curse did something to me too, he thought, maybe this isn't really how I feel. It's just.. a result of the connection. I mean, the curse did link us.. and we're linked through a kiss. He pulled his arm away from his eyes to stare at the ceiling. He didn't know if that was true, and he supposed he would have to do some soul-searching at some point to see if he felt something more for Naruto before the Hourglass Curse, but for now it gave him something to hold on to.

Because now was definitely not the time to fall for his best friend.

Most of the day was pretty awkward after that, and it trickled well into the night. After Naruto got himself ready, Sasuke switched with him to do the same and while they had avoided looking at each other as they passed by in the hallway, it was obvious they were both thinking about what happened. They went to separate bedrooms for a while, but there wasn't much to do in them. Naruto made his way out first, and wandered into the kitchen to help himself to water and random snacks. He had only been to the Uchiha manor a handful of times, but he had never been one who was uncomfortable around a kitchen. It was just the rest of the mansion that freaked him out.

After a while, Sasuke joined him, and set about making tea for them. Like the fire the night before, the two let the clink of porcelain and the whistle of the teakettle fill the silence for them. They each grabbed a steaming mug and made their way to the kitchen table, where the silence grew to an excruciating crescendo until Naruto could stand it no longer.

"So.. what exactly are we supposed to do in this empty ass place? I mean.. no missions? I'm going to lose my mind if we have to just sit here everyday."

Sasuke pulled a kunai from his pouch and dropped it on the table. "Want to spar?"

Naruto grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

The two jumped up, threw on shoes, and rushed outside into the cooling afternoon air. Sasuke led them around to the back of the manor to a spacious yard, and targets set up on trees around the perimeter. "Ok, so are we-" Naruto immediately rushed in at him, and he had to throw up a kunai to deflect the shuriken headed for his face.

"Ok, I guess we'll start now."

He gathered chakra to his feet and raced up the oak closest to them. Halfway up he threw a handful of shuriken back at the blonde, only to hit a shadow clone. He smirked as he sensed a foot flying towards him, and caught it, twisting Naruto's body away from him. They both fell back to the ground and landed in a fighting stance, eyes shining with heightened adrenaline.

"Let's go pretty boy", Naruto taunted.

Sasuke shot towards him then flickered out of sight before reappearing behind him. He grabbed the blonde and pulled him close, a kunai against his throat. "I knew you liked me."

The shadow clone popped, and through the haze another Naruto sprang forward. He grabbed the back of Sasuke's head and pulled him close as he shoved his own kunai back towards his throat. "If I didn't, you'd be dead."

Sasuke pulled the kunai forward, slicing his own throat, and his shadow clone disappeared.

"That was pretty fucking dark, Sasuke. Not gonna lie."

The Uchiha dropped down from a tree branch, landing right in front of the bemused blonde. He activated his sharingan and Naruto quickly looked away from his crimson eyes. "No illusions. That's cheating."

"How is that cheating, but your 700 clones are allowed?"

"I was doing that for you! Now you get to stab me in the face 701 times!"

"That's pretty fucking dark, Naruto."

The blonde smiled. "Clever."

They fought through the afternoon, past the setting sun, and into the darkness. Sasuke, when Naruto wasn't looking, checked his watch. They only had a few hours left before..

He had no idea what to expect from the blonde when it was time to "reset the hourglass" as he came to think of it. Sparring had gotten them pretty much back to normal, but he had a feeling that would disappear the minute Naruto realized that Sasuke was going to kiss him again. He knew it would be better to do it sooner, to not drag it out, but he was enjoying Naruto's company, and he didn't want what they had now to suddenly just be over.

He thought back to that first kiss in the woods, when he had to pin Naruto down. He looked scared. Naruto- of all people. The only times Sasuke had ever seen Naruto truly afraid were the times he thought he'd lose Sasuke. Dobe.. stupid, thoughtful dobe.

So, then why was he afraid? He didn't know, but he felt like he needed to. He filed the question away to interrogate the blonde about later.

Naruto threw a kunai down at Sasuke's feet, pulling him out of his thoughts. He walked over and flopped down onto the grass next to him. He was breathing heavily, completely exhausted, but he was smiling too. And it was a real one. Sasuke lowered himself down next to him, and laid back to stare at the night sky.

"I needed that", Naruto breathed out.

"I know."

Their eyes met and Sasuke felt something heavy weigh down in his chest. He leaned towards Naruto, slowly, cautiously, ready for him to bolt. As he moved closer, he saw panic fill those blue eyes.

"I don't want to do this", Naruto whispered.

"I know."

Sasuke pulled his face closer and kissed him, ignoring his friend's wishes, the discomfort that would inevitably push between them, and the feeling of his own growing desires.

Author Note:

Omg omg omg I'm having so much fun writing this story! I hope you're having just as much fun reading it!

I would love to hear your thoughts about this one. I'm trying to slow down and stay in the moment with characters longer and not over-narrate, which I worry I do sometimes. I also love angst but I really want this one to be funny with a slow-build of those romantic feels. Anyways- that's the goal. I'll keep working on it! :)

Thanks again for taking a chance with this one! ~ xoxo