A/N - POV switch! We get into Naruto's head in this chapter. And then Sasuke's again. And then Naruto's....yeah, you get the gist. This took FOREVER to write and I'm still not entirely happy with it, but here it is. I'm off to work on the next chapter of Unattainable.

Unbeta'd, so ignore my typos. Reviews are loved.

'I've seen these dreams being crushed by a single thought

And felt the envy of sadness engulf all warmth'

Love: In Theory and Practice - Chapter 4

Dying Song

Naruto was originally introduced to the works of Uchiha Sasuke through the loss of a bet with Kiba. The overbearing brunette had set the the terms and Naruto's penalty was to read a book if he lost.

Now, to most people, that would be an easy penalty, a breath of fresh air among the outrageous schemes his friends usually cooked up. But not to Naruto. Naruto would rather have streaked naked through the campus in the dead of winter than sit down and read a book.

Why?

Because had the attention span of a goldfish and sitting still for long periods of time made him restless and fidgety. He had thought maybe he could get out of reading the novel and just claim to the others that he had, but Shino sat next to him the entire time.

So it had been a slap in the face when Naruto had found himself so absorbed in the Uchiha's debut novel 'The Lone Raven'. From the first sentence Naruto was pulled in, completely consumed by the brilliance of the novel and it wouldn't be an understatement to say it had changed his life.

Naruto had heard of Uchiha Sasuke before then, who hadn't? The prodigy had his first novel published at age seventeen and had attended the very university Naruto was currently at. He had always thought that people were just cracking the man up to be more than he was, or giving some kind of mandatory credit because of the name Uchiha.

He had been so wrong.

Uchiha Sasuke had taken complex philosophical views and molded them in such a way that even a twelve year old would be able to understand. It was impossible to miss the moral of the story, the lessons buried in the pages, the greater meaning. The characters were so deeply connected to one another that when misfortune befell them, Naruto had found himself crying as if it was his own history printed out on the pages.

After the first novel, Naruto had gone out and purchased all of the books that were currently published by the Uchiha. He had devoured them whole, giving up many hours of sleep so he could get lost in the stories.

And then he would paint. He would paint and paint and paint, until his fingers were so tired and cramped he could barely hold the brush and he had trouble keeping his eyes open.

Uchiha Sasuke's novels had given Naruto the capability to make his own art great.

So on that fateful rainy day when Naruto had come to work and found the very person who inspired his art sitting at a booth at Nine-Tails, Naruto had almost fallen over from shock. He recognized Sasuke immediately. It was impossible not to, from the many times he'd seen various pictures of the author on the back covers of his novels. The photos were always black and white and they depicted the stoic raven as cold and reserved.

Naruto wasn't surprised to realize that that was the real face of Uchiha Sasuke. He was, however, surprised that someone so aloof and withdrawn could write so convincingly of things like passion and loss and love.

It had been months before Naruto could approach him.

Naruto, who usually only held a job for a few months until he got fed up and moved on to the next one, had found himself looking forward to coming to work everyday. Looking forward to seeing the raven haired author sitting in the same booth with his laptop open and his dark eyes squinted in concentration.

He would would watch Sasuke stealthily from the corner of his eye whenever he got the chance. When he was the one to deliver Sasuke's coffee – always black – his heart rate would pick up and his cheeks would flush as his nerves went haywire at being so close to someone he had begun to idolize in his mind.

Naruto didn't realize that he was flirting with the dangerous line that was obsession until one day, he snapped.

He woke up and knew he couldn't be content with just standing quietly and watching anymore. He wanted to be closer to the brooding dark haired author who had made such an impact on his life. Not only because he was a fan of his novels and because he greatly respected the man, but because...

Uchiha Sasuke looked so lonely.

Of all the many times the raven came to Nine-Tails, he had never once come in the company of someone else. He radiated an aura of hostility, like a sign that clearly said 'DO NOT COME NEAR ME'. It had terrified Naruto at first, but after a few months of observing the man, he realized the underlaying aura that the raven was emitting.

The small cry that seemed to roll off him, saying 'Someone, anyone, please come and save me from the dark place I've ended up'.

It was that more than anything that convinced Naruto to give Sasuke the flyer that day. He had been so nervous that he was shaking as he had sat down across from the dark-haired man. He had babbled and rambled under the scrutiny of the raven's gaze, but his determination didn't waver.

He had never expected it to work. Never expected to be given the time of day. So when Sasuke showed up to his art showing looking as stoic and indifferent as ever, Naruto's jaw had dropped.

His friends were constantly teasing him about his fixation with Sasuke. Going on and on about how Naruto was in love with the Uchiha. Naruto had taken their teasing and stride, knowing deep in his chest that maybe they weren't entirely wrong, maybe he was in love with Sasuke.

But it wasn't the normal type of love that people experience. It wasn't the meeting and flirting and falling in love story that everyone told.

It was something so much deeper than that. Something so consuming that Naruto felt like he was drowning in an ocean every time he looked at Sasuke.

When he and Sasuke had gone to the movie together, Naruto had babbled and rambled like he usually did throughout the entire thing. He was sure he was making a fool of himself and couldn't fathom why the raven had actually agreed to go in the first place, as he barely said a word the entire time.

But something that had been growing restless inside of Naruto quieted in the presence of Sasuke. Something inside of Naruto became content.

When they became friends, Naruto's life had never been more filled with happiness.

Naruto unlocked his apartment and kicked the door closed behind him. He rolled his eyes as he took in the sight of Shikamaru, bent of with his head on the coffee table, asleep.

Naruto dropped the box of pizza in his hands right next to Shikamaru's ear, causing the boy to groan in protest at the loud noise it made.

"Get up." Naruto said, removing his bag from his shoulders and tossing it on the worn couch behind Shikamaru. "If you sleep like that, you'll be in pain tomorrow."

Shikamaru blinked up at him with mildly surprised eyes and then opened the box of pizza and took a piece out. Naruto ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Still nothing from Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked, sounding disinterested. Naruto grimaced and ignored him, walking into his room to check his e-mail. Sasuke had been gone for seventeen days on a book tour and hadn't contacted Naruto once since the day he left. Naruto, while greatly offended by this, was also a little relieved.

Things had gotten kind of weird between him and Sasuke.

So, of course when Naruto saw that message sitting in his inbox from Sasuke, his heart sped up and he bit his lip. After all this time, Sasuke had finally sent him an e-mail. He had given up any hope of getting one a week ago. He gave up any hope of a phone call after the first two days.

Naruto snorted when he read the message Sasuke had sent him. 'Back in three days.'

This is what he had waited for? That was barely a sentence. Weren't literary types supposed to be talkative?

Naruto was pulled out of his brooding when his phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID, not able to help the wide smile that took over his face because of who was calling.

"Hey." He greeted casually. "Long time, no talk." There was a silence that last for a few seconds, making Naruto scrunch his brows in concern.

"I'm coming back." Gaara finally said. Naruto's jaw dropped.

"What do you mean you're coming back?" He demanded. Gaara lived two hours away, in Suna. He and Naruto rarely got to see each other anymore, much to Naruto's dismay. He and Gaara had met at the foster home when they were twelve, and been close ever since. Naruto had kicked up quite a protest when Gaara had told him he'd accepted the scholarship to Suna University. The last time they had seen each other was at the art showing, and that was only because it was a collaboration between the art departments of the two colleges.

"I'm transferring to Konoha U." Gaara said shortly. "Temari talked me into it."

Temari was Gaara's older sister. Naruto had only met her a handful of times, but he liked her. She was loud and kind of bossy, but a good person. She and Gaara, along with their brother Kankuro, had been thrust into foster care at a young age. It was only after they were eighteen that they managed to get in contact with one another. They'd been sent to different foster homes.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, he was excited and nervous at the same time. "You seemed so set on staying at Suna."

He could almost hear Gaara shrug through the phone. "Things change." Was his brief explanation. A large grin broke across Naruto's face.

"When do you get here?" He asked, not bothering to keep the excitement out of his voice. Gaara was coming back, and that was something to be happy about.

"Next week."

"Where are you staying?"

"With Kankuro." A slight disappoint rose in Naruto, but he pushed it back. It was expected that Gaara would stay with his siblings instead of him. He and Shikamaru really didn't have the room anyways, he told himself. A comfortable silence fell between them. Gaara had never been much of a talker, so Naruto was used to the quiet.

"Well," He said finally. "I'm glad."

Gaara grunted. They exchanged a quick goodbye and hung up. Naruto scrolled through his list of contacts and selected Kiba's name.

"What do you want?" Kiba grunted into the phone. His voice was strained. He'd probably stubbed his toe on something. The boy never could quite figure out how to walk correctly.

"We're going out tonight!" Naruto exclaimed. "Drinks on me, it's a celebration."

"Why?" Kiba asked, sounding curious.

"Gaara's coming back." Naruto said shortly. A surprised silence greeted him at the statement and then Kiba let out a bark of a laugh.

"You serious? That is awesome. I haven't seen the ginger in forever." Kiba had never been as close to Gaara as Naruto had, but they were friends in the lighter sense of the word. Meaning that Kiba liked to annoy Gaara and Gaara liked to ignore him.

"I'm as serious as a heart attack." Naruto grabbed his wallet off his desk and pulled on his bright orange hoody. "And to this great news, we must drink!"

Kiba let out a loud hurrah and told Naruto he would call up Hinata and the gang and then they hung up. Naruto checked to make sure he had everything he needed before rushing out of the apartment, dragging Shikamaru with him.

But not before he sent an excited e-mail to Sasuke.

Sasuke loved what he did for a living. There was nothing that pleased him as much as writing. It was his passion, his calling. It was the best job he could have asked for, as it didn't involve constantly working with people in an overcrowded office.

But there were parts of his job that he hated.

Namely, book tours.

He hated book tours with a passion as warm and burning as ten thousand suns about to explode all at the same time. He hated the constant travel, the overly-enthusiastic fans, the other authors.

Especially the other authors.

Sasuke sat in the small restaurant of his hotel with his laptop open in front of him. He didn't even looked up when Suigetsu sat down in front of him. Suigetsu and Karin were the other two authors from his publishing house that had been roped into going on this joke of a tour.

Sasuke didn't like either of them.

Karin was like every other woman Sasuke had ever met. Bossy, annoying and constantly throwing herself at him. No matter how many times Sasuke deterred her advances, she just came back for more. He was beginning to suspect she was a masochist.

Suigetsu was gay.

Not that Sasuke cared one way or the other about a persons sexual orientation. He was pretty much asexual himself, so what room did he have to judge? No, it wasn't the actual being gay that bothered Sasuke.

It was Suigetsu's constant need to try and feel him up. Sasuke had thought the idiot had learned his lesson after he almost broke his wrist, but apparently he need another reminder. Sasuke wondered what bone he would have to break to render Suigetsu incapable of groping his ass.

"Saaasuke!" Suigetsu reached across the the table and pushed Sasuke's laptop closed. Sasuke growled. "I'm bored." The white haired man said, smiling at him. Sasuke glared harder when Suigetsu's filed teeth were exposed. Author's were expected to be eccentric, but Suigetsu had taken it to a whole new level when he had all of his teeth filed to points.

"I don't care." Sasuke deadpanned, ignoring the look of mock-hurt on Suigetsu's face as he opened his laptop again. He checked his e-mail and wasn't surprised to see a message from Naruto waiting in his inbox.

Sasuke didn't know whether to be relieved or not. Things had been strained between him and Naruto since Sasuke's episode. Their silences had grown tense instead of comfortable and Sasuke hadn't know what to do about it.

He had never apologized for freaking out that night. Because apologizing meant he had to explain what had happened, and Sasuke really didn't know what had happened himself. And then he had left for the book tour with nothing more than an awkward goodbye.

The situation had plagued Sasuke's thoughts every minute for the last seventeen days.

Suigetsu huffed as Sasuke continued to ignore him and got up and walked away. Sasuke smirked. At least he was still capable of driving people away, that was a talent he didn't want to lose. Though Suigetsu and Karin both seemed immune to his animosity most of the time.

Sasuke opened the e-mail from Naruto and his eyes widened as he read it's contents.

'Sasuke! You'll never guess what happened. Remember that friend I told you about, Gaara? Well he's transferring to Konoha U! He'll be here next week and I'm going to introduce him to you, whether you like it or not. I gotta go! Me and Kiba are going out drinking to celebrate.'

Sasuke remembered Naruto talking about Gaara. He was supposedly Naruto's oldest and closest friend. Naruto had spent far more talking about him than Sasuke liked. Pangs of jealousy had stabbed at his chest every time Gaara was mentioned. His only solace had been that Gaara was far away at Suna and he had Naruto all to himself.

Sasuke slammed his laptop closed and shoved it inside of his bag. He fished his Blackberry out of his pocket and called Sakura. He hadn't spoken to her since her wedding. She'd been gone on her honeymoon and he'd been busy with the book tour.

Usually, Sasuke never called Sakura, but he needed someone to talk to. He needed to vent about the weird emotion that had once again risen in his chest and Sakura was the only person he could talk to about it.

Sasuke wasn't surprised when he unlocked his apartment and found Naruto inside. The blonde was in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled amazing. Sasuke licked his lips, unsure of how to announce his presence.

Naruto turned around and grinned at him. "You're late!" He accused jokingly. "You said three days. It's after midnight, that's four."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and lugged his suitcase to his room, tossing it on his bed. He'd unpack later.

He wandered back out into the living, unsure of what to do with himself. He didn't know what to say to Naruto or how to act anymore

Especially after his phone call with Sakura.

She had bluntly told Sasuke that he was experiencing the early symptoms of love for the blonde idiot. Then she had gone on to tell Sasuke that she had suspected it would turn out this way all along. He could still hear the smug tone she had used echoing in his ears.

But she was wrong.

Sasuke wasn't in love with Naruto, that wasn't possible. He wouldn't deny that he harbored some sort of affection for the idiot, but nothing romantic. Whatever he felt for Naruto was deeper than that, stronger.

Naruto had made stir-fry. They ate on the couch as Naruto babbled about the return of his infamous friend Gaara. Sasuke studied the blonde through out the conversation, trying to decipher what exactly it was he felt for him.

"So," Naruto said through a bite of stir-fry. "How was the tour?"

Sasuke shrugged and Naruto rolled his eyes. "Come on, something interesting had to have happened!"

Sasuke snorted. "The only thing that happened was Suigetsu and Karin annoying me for twenty days."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Those are the other authors?" Sasuke nodded and took a bite of his own stir-fry, savoring the taste. "What's so annoying about them?"

"They sexually harassed me the entire time." Sasuke grimaced at the loud burst of laughter this brought from Naruto. It wasn't funny.

"Wait, both of them?" Naruto was clutching his side and trying to catch his breath. "Isn't Suigetsu a guy?"

"He's gay." Sasuke said shortly, putting his plate on the coffee table. Naruto's big blue eyes had widened comically and his mouth was parted slightly.

"Wow," He said finally. "You attract players from both sides of the field, don't you?" Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. This subject was too close to the one he desperately wanted to avoid.

"Wait," Naruto had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Sasuke, have you ever even been in love?"

Sasuke let his head fall back on the couch and closed his eyes. Trust Naruto bring up the one thing he didn't want to talk about. He decided not to answer, which turned out to be a mistake.

"You haven't, have you?" Naruto pointed at him accusingly. "I think we've figured out your problem! We need to get you laid!"

Sasuke snorted. "That doesn't make any sense, idiot." He tossed one of the pillows on the couch in Naruto's face and almost laughed as the blonde spluttered indignantly. When Naruto finally regained his composure, he looked serious and thoughtful. Sasuke didn't like that one bit.

"Sure it does." He said slowly. "It explains why you're so tense, you know? All that built up tension or whatever, but that's not the point!" Naruto pointed his finger at Sasuke again and Sasuke glared back at him. "The point is, love is a wonderful thing. It makes people want to better themselves or some crap like that! So we need to find you some."

"I have no interest in having a romantic relationship with anyone." Sasuke said flatly. Naruto frowned at him.

"Why not? Most people can't wait to find their soul mates and settle down."

"I'm not most people." Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto shook his head rapidly in disbelief, causing his golden locks to fly around wildly. Sasuke had a sudden impulse to put his fingers in Naruto's hair and find out if it was as soft as it looked.

"Of course you're not most people," Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're Sasuke. Which means you're are a cold bastard who's standards are probably too high for any human to meet."

"You're an idiot." Sasuke said shortly. He picked up the remote and turned on the television, trying to ignore Naruto.

"Yeah, I know." Naruto's joking tone turned serous. "But I'm right. Cause everybody wants to be loved, Sasuke. Even you."

Sasuke didn't answer that, afraid of what would come out of his mouth if he opened it.

Naruto was happy. More so than he had ever been.

Sasuke was home and they'd seemed to get over whatever awkward tension had formed between them. Naruto was glad they were back to normal. All of the anxiety that had built in his chest while Sasuke was on tour had dissolved as they resumed their usual routine. He'd been fearing that maybe things would never get fixed and Sasuke would stop talking to him.

Naruto didn't think he'd be able to live if that happened.

Gaara had arrived safely and come to see Naruto as soon as he'd gotten into Konoha. Naruto had helped the stoic redhead unpack his things and get settled at Kankuro's. The redhead didn't say much, but he didn't really have too. He knew Gaara was as happy with the reunion as he was.

He and Gaara had gone to Iruka's the day of his arrival and had dinner. Iruka had acted as ridiculously happy as Naruto felt when he saw Gaara. Iruka had adopted Naruto when the blonde was fifteen, and while he couldn't afford to take in Naruto and Gaara both, Gaara had been around enough to be considered a second son.

Everything seemed to be going well. His grades were good, his friends were awesome, Sasuke had stopped being weird. Everything was great.

And then Gaara met Sasuke.

Naruto had been looking forward to introducing the two. They were both the silent type, so he'd been sure they'd hit it off and then all three of them would be close.

So what actually happened had come as a total shock.

Gaara and Sasuke sat glaring at each other in a booth at Nine-Tails while Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably from beside Sasuke. There was a strange tension in the air that he didn't understand, but he didn't like it.

"So, Gaara, this is the one I've been telling you about, Uchiha Sasuke." He said finally, attempting to break the silence. Gaara inclined his head in Sasuke's direction but his gaze had shifted to Naruto, making the blonde fidget all the more. Finally, Gaara spoke.

"I've read your books." His voice was toneless. "They're good."

"Hn." Was Sasuke's response. Which was normal for Sasuke, but the slightly hostile edge to the condescending syllable was not.

The tension in the air seemed to thicken.

"Naruto!" Naruto jumped in surprise and looked toward the bar. Ino was motioning him over. He got up quickly, thankful for an escape from the strange standoff between his two friends.

"What's up?" Naruto said, sitting down on one of the stools and grabbing a cookie out of one of the many display cases.

"Nothing." Ino said shortly, putting her elbow on the bar and leaning forward. Her voice was low. "You just looked like a drowning man desperate for a lifeline, so I thought I'd give you one. What is going on over there?"

Naruto grimaced. "I don't know. I figured they'd get along, cause they're both withdrawn bastards, you know? But the opposite seems to have happen. I think they hate each other."

Ino's eyes widened and she flicked the bangs out of her eyes with her free hand. "That's really weird. I've never seen Gaara act like that before."

"Me neither." Naruto agreed, sending a glance back toward the table. Sasuke was in the middle of saying something, a glare on his face. Naruto was out of earshot, but he was sure whatever they were talking about was not pleasant. "Crap." He stuffed the rest of his cookie in his mouth and got up. "I gotta get back over there before they rip each other's throats out."

Ino nodded to him. "If they start fighting, I'll kick all of you out."

Naruto ignored her and rushed back over to the booth just as Sasuke was getting out of it. The look on Sasuke's face wasn't good. Gaara was glaring at the raven with cold eyes.

"What's going on?" Naruto demanded. Gaara shrugged and lifted his cup of coffee to his lips, looking away.

"I'm leaving." Sasuke's voice seemed to quake with quieted rage. It made the hair on Naruto's arms stand up.

"Wait, what?" Naruto looked back and forth between the two of them. "What's going on?"

"Ask him." Sasuke grunted, pushing past Naruto. Naruto as Sasuke walked out of Nine-Tails and took a few seconds to collect himself before turning to Gaara. He was going to demand the redhead explain, but Gaara just shook his head at Naruto in a way that said he didn't want to talk about it.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and let out a growl of frustration.

It was two-thirty in the morning and Sasuke wasn't asleep. But that didn't mean he welcomed the loud banging on his front door. He yanked it open to see Naruto standing in the hallway, fist raised as if it pound on the door again.

"What?" Sasuke snapped. Naruto shook his head and pushed passed Sasuke into the apartment. Sasuke shut the door.

"I left my key here the other day. Sorry for being so loud." Naruto said. Sasuke watched the blond set his orange backpack down on the kitchen counter. He saw Naruto's shoulders fall and rise in a deep breath before the blonde turned to him with a determined expression.

"Want to tell me what the hell happened between you and Gaara?" He asked bluntly. Sasuke clenched his fists. He should have known Naruto had come over to talk about this.

"Nothing." At least his voice was still impassive. On the inside, he was seething. A mere thought of what the redhead had said to him made Sasuke want to punch a hole through the wall.

"You're lying." Naruto accused, taking a step closer to him. Sasuke fought the urge to back up. "Gaara never acts like that."

Sasuke felt a strong wave of jealousy rise in his chest as Naruto defended his friend. He didn't want to deal with this. Didn't want to face whatever it is that caused him to lay awake at night, thinking of the blonde. Confronting it was impossible, because Sasuke didn't know what it was. But the possessive way Gaara had talked about Naruto had caused Sasuke to get so angry he could have gladly killed the other man.

"Then why don't you ask him." Sasuke spat. Naruto's blue eyes narrowed further at the hostile tone.

"I did. He told me to ask you. So here I am." Naruto's voice was cold and it sounded unfamiliar. Sasuke wasn't used to the angry side of Naruto, he'd only seen it a handful of times. Naruto was usually happen and unphased, it took a lot to get the blonde angry.

"Well you're wasting your time." Sasuke crossed his arms and pulled his impassive mask onto his face. "I've got nothing to tell you."

"The hell you don't!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke almost flinched, surprised by the outburst. "Something happened between you guys and I think I have the right to know what it is!" Naruto closed the gap between them by taking a few steps forward. He was right in Sasuke's face and looked threatening, despite being slightly shorter than the raven.

Emotions swirled in Sasuke's chest. His had itched to reach out and grab Naruto, to touch him. How, he didn't know. He just wanted the physical contact. He clamped his arms closer to his body.

"You're really not going to tell me?" Naruto demanded. "When I tell you everything, don't keep anything from you, you're not going to tell me what the hell happened between you and my friend?"

The tension in the air was so thick that Sasuke could almost taste it. He didn't know what to do. Telling Naruto would mean having to admit something he wasn't ready for, but not telling him meant that the blonde would probably never talk to him again.

Naruto took a few steps forward, making Sasuke retreat until his back was against the wall. Naruto's arms went on either side of Sasuke, pinning him to the wall. Sasuke did not like that at all.

"You know," Naruto's voice was low and seething. "I think I'm pretty fucking tolerant of you, Sasuke. I put up with your insane mood swings and 'I don't give a shit' attitude. But you've gone too far this time."

Sasuke ground his teeth together. "Get away away from me." He bit out. When Naruto didn't move, Sasuke pushed him. Naruto stumbled back a few feet and then regained his composure, glaring at Sasuke.

"Is this how it's going to be Sasuke? You're just gonna shut me out whenever there's something you don't want to talk about? Then why am I even here at all? If you're going to treat me like I don't exist and I don't matter, I may as well fucking leave!"

Sasuke's chest clenched in panic. If Naruto left now, he'd never come back. Sasuke knew that and wasn't okay with it. Naruto was his life line, the thing that kept him connected to the outside world, the annoying voice that woke him up in the mornings.

Anger surged inside of Sasuke and his vision went red. His body started shaking and he clenched his fists to his sides. Naruto threatening to leave him was not acceptable. He wouldn't allow it.

"You want to know the truth?" Sasuke seethed, "You want to know the fucking truth, Naruto?" It was Sasuke who closed the distance between them this time, getting in Naruto's face. The blonde didn't step back. "The fucking truth is there is something dark and twisted inside of me that's want to pull you in and fucking devour you whole, until you can't even think about anything except me. There's something sick and fucked up inside of my head that wants to take you away from all of those damn people you care about until I'm the only one left. That's the fucking truth" He spat the words out of his mouth like poison.

Naruto's expression didn't change. Silence pulsed between them for a few seconds. Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to breathe. He'd said it. He'd said what had been on his mind for months, what had pulling at his thoughts every second he was with Naruto. He'd made his selfish desires known and now the blonde would freak out and leave anyways. Perfect.

When Sasuke opened his eyes, Naruto was ever closer than before, there noses were almost touching. Sasuke didn't understand the look that was alive in Naruto's blue eyes, but it seemed to hypnotize him.

Naruto's next words hit Sasuke like an anvil falling on his head.

"Then do it."

TBC