Sunday
Sasuke watched in awe as Naruto drew the bow. As usual, he seemed calm and collected—the complete opposite of him. Ever since yesterday, he'd had trouble sleeping and concentrating on anything other than the same set of words. He couldn't make heads or tails about what happened. It threw him off balance. Usually, he had no problem solving a matter but this one seemed impossible to decipher. Ah, his head hurt.
"Uchiha! You're next!"
He snapped out of his thoughts and approached the front. Though he tried to take deep breaths to keep his hands steady, the first arrow missed its target by a margin. Damn it, these thoughts were going to be the end of him. He tried again and this time he hit it but found it ten times harder to land a bullseye.
In the end, he couldn't do it. The instructor and some of the members looked worried but never voiced their concerns. Eventually, the day had gone and it was time to head home. However, he didn't feel right about leaving without speaking to Naruto first. There were so many things that he wanted to ask. But did he have any right?
"Sasuke?"
He snapped up to meet blue.
"What happened? Today you were all over the place."
He hesitated but when he found no one to be around them, he decided that everything was fine.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise when you don't mean it."
"Then what should I say?"
"That's not somethin' for me to decide." He paused and sighed. "Come on, I'm worried about you."
"I just– I should be all over the place." He clenched his hands into fists until they hurt. "As expected, Naruto was focusing his mind only on the bow and got a steady shot like always. But I..." He sighed. "I wasn't thinking about archery at all."
For a moment, Naruto was quiet.
"Did somethin' happen with Nami?"
Sasuke looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Why are you bringing Nami into this?"
"Why, you ask..."
"For your information, I've never thought about her when I'm with you."
The surprise in Naruto's eyes was almost palpable. It appeared that his attempt to throw caution into the wind had paid off. He closed his locker door and moved towards the exit.
"Come on, there's something I need to tell you properly."
They relocated to the place where they had shared their first kiss. Unlike that day though, the number of couples around them was far and few between. Still, it hadn't lost any of that glamour. The scenery looked breathtaking as usual but did little to stave off his internal turmoil. However, he knew that things couldn't continue like this. It was now or never.
"Naruto."
"Yeah?"
"Tomorrow... From tomorrow on, I still want to go home together with you." He paused. "I want to go out occasionally and–"
"Sasuke..."
"Please. Let me say what I want to say."
Naruto appeared taken aback. However, he quickly composed himself and crossed his arms. "All right."
Sasuke smiled despite himself. "I still want to go home with you, Naruto. I still want to go out. I still want to go to the movies, coffee shops, or wherever else you want to go. But that's not all." He paused and took a deep breath. "I want to be able to hold your hand so that I know you're there. I want to kiss you whenever I feel like it. I want to hold you close and never let go."
"Why?"
"Because I love you."
Silence greeted them once more. Though there was a sense of curiosity that grew with each passing moment, he managed to brush it aside. Even if Naruto didn't feel the same way, he had said his piece. He got to say, it felt amazing. Who knew a love confession felt so free? Is this what all those girls who he'd dated previously experienced? Maybe, maybe not. After all, most of them had asked him out because his family was loaded.
He shook his head and refocused on Naruto, only to find him crying. Concerned, he approached him. "Naruto? What's wrong?"
"You..."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and that's all he had time to do as a hand met his cheek. Pain bloomed from the area that had made contact. This is not how he'd expected it to go. A smile or a sorry look would have more than sufficed.
"You bastard! Do you have any idea what I've been through? Heartbreak! Complete and utter heartbreak. Yesterday, I decided to give up on you. I knew that I couldn't compete with Nami. You cared for her too much. There was no way for anyone to come between you two."
Ah, so that's it.
"But you were wrong," he said and closed the distance between them. "You came in between. And I'm so glad that you did."
Naruto smiled. "You're such a bastard. You could've dropped a hint or two."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I did. Plenty of times. It's not my fault that you're so damn thickheaded."
"Hey!"
"Even so, I can't deny that I like that about you."
"Flaws and all?"
"Flaws and all."
"Hey, Sasuke?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"More than Nami?"
"Wow, you sure know how to ruin the mood."
"Am I wrong then?"
He sighed. "What am I gonna do with you?"
"That's easy! Tell me you love me more."
"All right, you win. I love you more than Nami. More so than I could ever love anyone. Happy?"
"Very."
Sasuke leaned closer and without any hesitation pressed his lips on Naruto's. It took a moment before he felt a response, followed by a hum. This was exactly what he'd wished for.
Author's Note: And so, the story comes to a close. The next one you'll probably see me uploading will be the sequel—don't quote me on this though. You never know what could happen, right? Anyway, thank you for reading Seven Days! See ya.