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 5: Choices We Make

"One day.. you'll be dying to kiss me."

-Markus Zusak

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When Sasuke pulled away from Naruto's lips, he thought he saw tears in his eyes, but then he quickly turned his face away, letting thick blonde locks hide any traces of it.

"Are you ok?"

Naruto sat up, but kept his head down. "I'm fine.."

Sasuke tilted his head, trying to catch a glimpse of the blonde's face once more. Naruto bit down on his lip, and he watched as one tear broke loose and fell down his whiskered cheek. "Naruto.." he reached out, but Naruto angrily shoved him away.

"Just leave me alone, Sasuke!" He pushed himself to his feet and ran back into the house.

Sasuke watched him go, then fell back into the grass to scowl at the stars. Fuck.

The next morning Sasuke woke before the sun did. He stared at the ceiling, watching it gradually grow lighter as the lazy ass sun finally made its appearance. He gritted his teeth at the sound of the cheerful birds as they flitted around the tree branches outside his window. He was extremely tempted to set them all on fire, but settled for glaring daggers at their insolence and clenching his jaw until it hurt. He looked down at his watch to make sure there was still plenty of time left before the hourglass demanded his attention.

He sighed and threw an arm over his eyes, blocking out the blinding sunlight, the piercing sounds of the day, the thickening guilt in his mind.

This wasn't right.

Naruto literally told him that he didn't want it.. and, as it turns out, Sasuke did.

It felt wrong to act on it knowing that. He felt ashamed of the feelings that rushed through him when he kissed Naruto, especially when he thought back to the tear streaming down his face, the hurt in his voice, the fear in his eyes.

But what choice did he have?

And now I have to do it all over again, he checked his watch, in less than 5 hours.

He roughly ran his fingers through his hair, took a deep breath, and got up to face the day.

He dragged his feet getting ready, then eventually made his way down the hall and into the kitchen, where he went through the motions of making coffee- mostly for something to do. As he waited for the coffee to finish brewing, he dropped his elbows on the counter and pulled back at his wet hair, detangling twisted strands and knotted thoughts.

It'll be ok. That first night was rough too. And the morning was, he thought back to Naruto's muffled screams as he forced his mouth closed.. not great. And even after that total shit show, we had fun last night. I mean, up until..

Just do what you need to do, and fix the day after.

He made himself a mug of coffee, drank deeply from it, then checked his watch. Only a few hours left. After one more gulp of scalding coffee, Sasuke steeled himself and headed towards Naruto's room.

He knocked lightly on the bedroom door, learning his lesson the hard way yesterday. He didn't hear anything, so he opened the door slightly. "Naruto?"

Nothing.

He pushed open the door the rest of the way and found that the room was empty.

"Shit."

He turned and ran through the house, but there was no sign of him. Trying not to panic, he slipped on his shoes and sprinted into his yard. He activated his sharingan and scanned everywhere, but he wasn't here.

Is he seriously doing this to me again?!

He leapt to his roof and looked out, but there was still no sign of him. Ok, don't panic. Just think. Where could he have gone? He's upset, he wants space, he's staying in my house-

"His apartment", he thought aloud, "he went back to his place." It was as good a guess as any. He immediately pushed off from his roof and rushed in the direction of Naruto's apartment.

When he drew close he spotted an open window. He leapt through it, then spun around, his sharingan eyes sweeping the room. The living room and kitchen were empty. He padded his way down the hall, past the also empty bathroom, and over to the bedroom. He took a steadying breath, then threw the door open, startling the blonde who had been asleep in his bed. "Sasuke?"

The Uchiha stormed up to him and went to punch him, but Naruto managed to dodge it. "What the hell?!" he yelled. "What is your problem?!"

"My problem? Are you kidding me?!" He grabbed Naruto and shook him as he leaned close to his face, crimson eyes filled with rage. "Why can't you wrap your goddamn head around all of this?! If I'm not there when that curse resets, you will die Naruto. Is that what you want?"

Naruto looked away.

"Is it really that bad?" Sasuke felt his emotions climbing up the back of his throat, and he struggled to force them back down. "You would rather die a horrible fucking death than just kiss me?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "No- Sasuke, that's not-"

"No? Then why the fuck do you keep doing this?!" Sasuke shoved Naruto down on the bed and climbed on top of him. Naruto tried to sit up again, but he just forced him back down.

"Wait-!"

Sasuke grabbed a fistful of blonde hair and jerked his head back. "Nnnn", Naruto groaned, but the pissed off Uchiha ignored it. He took out a kunai and forced it close to Naruto's throat. Blue eyes shot open and stared at him.

"Choose" he ground out.

"What the hell, Sas-"

"Make a fucking choice, Naruto." He tightened his fist in his hair as he pressed the knife flush against tanned skin. "Either swallow your fucking pride and kiss me, or you die- right here, right now" he growled. "But I won't just sit here and watch you suffer. You want to die-" he leaned in, "I'll do it myself."

Cerulean eyes flickered between his, trying to read him. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, and Sasuke eased the kunai back just enough for him to talk without getting his throat slit. "You don't understand."

"Choose."

"It's not- it's not like that, Sasuke. It's not because I-"

"Goddamnit, Naruto! Choose!"

"Fine!" Naruto ripped the kunai away from Sasuke and threw it across the room, where it slammed into the wall. Then he grabbed the back of Sasuke's head, and pulled it down, smashing his lips roughly against his own.

Sasuke froze at first, but the heat of Naruto's embrace thawed him out pretty quickly. Just as Naruto started to pull away, he pushed back, deepening the kiss. Sasuke lowered himself onto Naruto, disregarding the hands desperately trying to make him do otherwise. He ignored his muffled protests as he moved his mouth hungrily against Naruto's, need pulsing through him, driving away all other thoughts. He grabbed Naruto's wrists and pushed them down on the bed, and that's when Naruto was finally able to pull his face away.

"Sasuke-stop!"

He looked down and found Naruto staring back at him, confusion flickering in his eyes. Sasuke didn't know what to do, what to say. He had completely lost control. If Naruto hadn't stopped him.. how far would I have gone? Sasuke struggled to clear his mind enough to say something, anything, that might explain away his actions. His mind went blank. So, to hide his desperation, fear, and embarrassment, he chose to lead with the burning anger inside of him.

"Leave like that again," he growled, "and next time I won't."

Naruto watched Sasuke rise back to his feet and storm out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. He took a long exhale when he was finally alone again and stared up at his cracked ceiling, his mind swirling with questions.

What the hell is going on with Sasuke?

He thought about the curse, about Sasuke kissing him so gently last night.. about the fiery force he shoved down on him today. Is it the curse doing that? .. Or is that all Sasuke?

He turned his head to look over at the door his best friend had just stormed out of, wondering what he meant to him.

Sasuke paced in the small apartment living room like a caged animal. Are you out of your fucking mind, he chided himself for the millionth time, you just attacked him!!

What was the point of being so goddamn careful with him last night if you were going to go all rabid dog on him today?!

He pulled his fingers through his hair, anxiety gnawing at his gut. There's no way Naruto just bought that this was out of anger. He's going to know. And then what?

He stopped abruptly, gazing out the window as a judgmental squirrel stared back. You need to fix this, he thought. You need to fix this NOW!

He took a calming breath, squared his shoulders, and marched back to Naruto's bedroom. Before he could start second guessing himself, he threw open the bedroom door.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I don't know what-" he froze and his face immediately flushed with embarrassment.

Naruto was standing there, completely naked. He had just barely enough time to cover himself with his hands, but everything else was just out there for the world to see- or more specifically, for Sasuke to see.

"Really, Sasuke?! Again? Don't you ever knock?!"

"Shit. Umm- sorry. Yea, I'll just.." He spun around and rushed towards the door, but stopped when he grabbed the door handle. "Naruto..?"

"Get out of my room, perv."

He tried to lightly chuckle, but it came out as a wheezy choke. "I'm.. I'm sorry for how I acted. I panicked when I couldn't find you. And.. I guess.. I wanted you to panic too."

Naruto thought on that for a moment, and the more he did the more it actually made sense. He knows you're freaked out by this, and he used it as payback for disappearing again. It made far more sense to him than the idea that Sasuke was secretly in love with him.

"Fine. I forgive you, Teme. But next time you're pissed off at me, maybe just punch me in the face like a normal person."

"I'll keep that in mind."