Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the anime or the manga, or any of its associated characters. They are such lovely characters though...

A/N: Chapter 3! Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews and alerts and favs; I've been smiling all day!

Welcome Home

Chapter 3: Yearning

Late that night, Sasuke lay in bed staring at the partition door. He could hear the loud snores coming from the room beside him, and in spite of the fact that he had really been rather exhausted all day, he couldn't bring himself to join the dobe in sleep. He sighed, and turned over to stare at the ceiling.

He had it bad. And it was a problem.

The worst part was he hadn't even really fully realized it until he had already asked Naruto to move in with him. Some part of him knew he was unhealthily attached to the blonde when his entire convocation had been ruined at the thought of never seeing him again, but where the attachment came from didn't fully hit him until the summer. They had met almost every day—planning, grabbing dinner, looking at houses—the domesticity of it all had really grabbed onto Sasuke. Many of the realtors had obviously thought them a couple—Naruto, oblivious as always, probably had no idea, but Sasuke…Sasuke hadn't been able to bring himself to correct them. If they thought Naruto was his blonde, well, he had no problem with that.

And that was exactly the problem.

Naruto wasn't his—they weren't a couple, moving in together and going on dinner dates. Naruto was as straight as they came. Sasuke was still pretty convinced that the blonde would marry Sakura, in spite of the girl's massive crush on him and Naruto's insistence that they had too much of a brother-sister relationship.

Surprisingly, sexuality had never been something Naruto brought up, and so Sasuke hadn't brought it up either. Before he had realized his orientation, everyone else at his high school had already been convinced—he had no idea where the rumor came from, but it had definitely stuck. He could have gotten rid of it, and the kids who started it for that matter, with his father's money, but that had always been Itachi's route, not his. Sasuke preferred the route of a few broken noses—that was something Naruto definitely knew about.

But Naruto never went beyond asking if Sasuke had a girlfriend, simply accepting the "no" as it was, and moving on. Sasuke was never one to prod, either, and he didn't need to be. Naruto was very open with talking about how hot various female celebrities were, or some number he got at a bar, or—

Sasuke angrily turned over in his bed, facing the window this time. This had to stop. He had to get over this miserable crush so he could go back to appreciating the fact that he had a best friend—something that he still couldn't quite fathom.

He checked the time…2:12. Late, but not late enough to call it morning. Resigned to his fate, he rolled out of bed—vowing to distract himself with something else until he could finally get some rest.

Naruto awoke to the sounds of a guitar strumming—they were soft and quiet, and Naruto had no idea what it was about them that had awoken him. He rolled over to squint at his clock…2:34. Yikes, Sasuke must be exhausted. He stifled a yawn and sat up, padding over to the partition door. It was unlocked.

Sasuke started when the door opened—he hadn't even realized the snores had stopped. Naruto, clad in only his boxers, stumbled in and plopped down beside Sasuke. Sasuke flipped the guitar so it lay flat on his lap.

"Dobe," he greeted, keeping his face impassive.

"Can't sleep, eh?" Naruto said through a yawn.

"Did I wake you?"

"Kinda, not really though. You weren't being loud or anythin'." He hugged a knee to him so he could rest his face on it and closed his eyes. "What's up?"

Sasuke wanted to laugh, or maybe cry, but he settled on appraising Naruto's body while he had the chance. "Just…restless. Can't shut my mind off," 'and you're not helping.'

"Mm," Naruto said, "keep playing."

"And what are you going to do? Fall asleep on my bed?"

"Mhmm," Naruto flopped over, essentially spooning Sasuke's hips. Sasuke closed his eyes with a pained expression, feeling the warmth of Naruto around him, and wondered what he had done to piss the universe off so badly.

Eventually, Sasuke got around to playing a little, but he fully intended to sneak off into Naruto's room after his thoughts had calmed. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Naruto had managed to have some sort of death grip, and Sasuke's lack of sleep was definitely catching up to him. He fought to keep his eyes open, prying at Naruto's fingers to wrench himself free—but when Naruto made a noise of protest and wiggled free to hug him closer, there wasn't much Sasuke could do but accept his fate.

Naruto woke feeling very warm, but very annoyed. Why had Sasuke set his alarm so loud? He couldn't even hear his own. Muttering, he went to roll over only to realize he was blocked.

Blinking, he opened his eyes to only to meet Sasuke's, who was already awake and had a strange expression on his face. They stared at each other, the alarms wailing in the background.

As if suddenly realizing how close they were, Naruto reeled back, face burning.

"I-uh," Naruto blinked around, "can you turn that thing off?"

Sasuke obediently shut the alarm off, and went to get out of bed, rubbing at his eyes and attempting to calm his rapidly beating heart.

"When did I come in here?" Naruto asked, face scrunched up. He looked fucking adorable and it made Sasuke want to throw himself out the window.

"Late last night," Sasuke yawned. "I'm not surprised you don't remember. You made it to about there before you fell asleep." He pointed to the other side of the bed.

Naruto snorted. "What was I even doing? I wasn't sleepwalking, was I?"

"I couldn't sleep; I was playing guitar. I think it woke you up – but apparently not enough," Sasuke smirked. Naruto laughed.

"Alright, get out of here," Sasuke shooed him away, "I'm getting changed."

Naruto obediently left, but not before calling back, "I've seen you naked before!"

The partition door shut, and Sasuke crumpled onto the bed. Sasuke had woken up before Naruto, and the combination of Naruto's arms around him and his face so close had nearly driven him crazy. He was fighting the urge to kiss the blonde from the moment he woke up, and he had been inches from doing so when Naruto's eyes had opened.

This was going to be the death of him.

Luckily for Sasuke's mental state, the rest of the week was relatively uneventful. They went to work, alternated cooking, and Sasuke even scouted out a few places to get take-out from. It was the next Friday when things started to get hectic again.

They had decided, earlier that week, to have a sort of housewarming party that weekend. Well, Naruto had brought it up, and pushed until Sasuke had finally agreed.

"We have all this space! We should use it!" He had exclaimed, spinning around as if to prove his point. Sasuke had snorted and rolled his eyes, but found himself unable to argue.

So, they found themselves preparing for a rowdy bunch of all kinds of guests. Naruto had insisted that Sasuke invite his own friends, and while he hadn't grown particularly close to any of them, Sasuke extended an invitation to Neji, Shikamaru and maybe one or two other people. Naruto, who was friends with everyone he met, had invited the rest of the party—so needless to say the house was going to be packed.

That was for the evening, however. Sasuke had suggested that they invite Kakashi and Iruka for dinner beforehand, when Naruto had expressed that he hadn't quite known how to fit them in. And although Naruto poked and prodded, Sasuke had declined all suggestions to have his family over. His father was a busy man, and would likely see the entire occasion as an inconvenience and opportunity to criticize him. Itachi…well…Itachi was a bit of a loose cannon, and he planned on keeping him as far are from Naruto as he could for as long as possible.

Naruto was currently fretting in the kitchen, although Sasuke was the one doing most of the cooking.

"Okay what can I do?" Naruto said, shuffling over.

"Chop the onions," he slid over a few, "not too small. Just throw them in the pan when they're done."

"'Kay!"

Not five seconds later, the sniffles started.

"Th-these onions are really strong," Naruto choked out.

Sasuke took one look at Naruto's scrunched up face and laughed.

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto wiped at a tear that had slid down his cheek.

"I can take over if you'd like," Sasuke offered, smirked.

Naruto shook his head vigorously, glaring at Sasuke through red-rimmed eyes.

Sasuke opened his mouth—and the doorbell rang.

Naruto opened and closed his mouth.

"I can get it," Sasuke offered. Naruto nodded with a sheepish smile.

He greeted Naruto's parents with a polite handshake, although Iruka quickly pulled him into a hug. He felt himself blush as he pulled away, and he softly invited them inside.

"Wow, Naruto really wasn't kidding," Kakashi remarked.

"It's beautiful," Iruka told Sasuke.

"Thank you," Sasuke replied.

"Is Naruto in the kitchen?" Iruka said, already walking on his way there.

"Yes, he is." And Iruka left, leaving Kakashi and Sasuke alone in the entrance hall.

Kakashi whistled. "This is a lot of money to spend on a house for two people."

Sasuke shrugged. Kakashi looked at him with piercing eyes. From the moment he had met him, Kakashi had seemed to be able to read Sasuke easily, and it had infuriated him to no end.

"A lot of money to spend on a house that you didn't even like that much."

"I like it," Sasuke said, eyebrows furrowed.

"Mhm," Kakashi said. "But he likes it more."

Sasuke blinked and looked away.

"Mhm," Kakashi said again. Sasuke didn't reply.

"Shall we go visit the boys in the kitchen?" Kakashi flashed a smile and left, leaving Sasuke able to do nothing but to follow.

Naruto was all smiles in the kitchen. Iruka had a fierce blush on his face and immediately stammered apologies at Sasuke when he walked in.

"Wha—"

"He saw me crying," Naruto could barely speak through his laughter, "and he thought you had done something and he was sooooo mad," Naruto giggled again, and Iruka reddened further.

"Crying?" Kakashi asked.

"Naruto was chopping onions," Iruka filled in.

"Speaking of," Sasuke said, "you all can wait in the dining room. I'll finish up here."

"Really? Thanks Sasuke!" Naruto called, already leaving the room. Sasuke could hear him already engrossed in another conversation.

He sighed, and leaned over the counter, listening to the sizzling of the onions. Kakashi…Kakashi had probably already guessed. It's not like he was being very subtle, but he could hardly help it. Naruto would light up and look at him with excited, bright blue eyes, and Sasuke was his. He could have asked for his own private plane, and Sasuke would have probably started looking into how to purchase them. He was hopeless.

The onions were done, so he turned off the heat and set about mixing them with the rest of the meal. And here he was, serving Naruto and his parents—agonizing over each plate as if he wanted to impress them.

He sighed, and grabbed two plates. Of course he wanted to impress them. Who was he kidding?

One dinner with a boisterous Naruto, laughing Iruka, and relatively quiet Kakashi and Sasuke later, and they were giving a quick tour of the house before Naruto's parents had to say goodbye.

"A partition wall?" Kakashi raised his eyebrows. Naruto just laughed.

"Ya! Cool, right? Look!" He swung the door open so the rooms were connected. "And we share a bathroom. I dunno why it's built like this but I kinda like it," Naruto finished with an excited grin.

Iruka merely laughed at Naruto's enthusiasm. Kakashi smiled and nodded, but stayed back as the two of them moved onto a different room.

"Sasuke," Kakashi called quietly.

Sasuke felt a pit settle in his stomach. He looked back at Kakashi with a blank look on his face.

"A partition wall?" Kakashi repeated.

Sasuke nodded, his throat dry.

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke scowled.

"Don't look at me like that," Kakashi said, "I'm not saying you're going to do something stupid. I'm more worried about you than Naruto. I know how oblivious he can be."

"I'm fine."

"Sure. What are you going to do if he never returns your feelings?"

'He's never going to.' Sasuke didn't reply.

"Nothing, hm? And you'll be content, just living like this?"

Sasuke very intently Not Looked at Kakashi.

"Naruto would probably want you to tell him," the older man commented.

Sasuke scowled. Naruto probably would, but that didn't mean it would result in anything remotely good.

"What do you think he would do, really?"

Sasuke, still making a point not to look at Kakashi, only scowled deeper. It was very obvious what Naruto would do. In a misguided attempt to make Sasuke feel more comfortable, Naruto would become very aware of everything he did—he had already seen it happen once. Neji's cousin—after a horribly awkward confession from her and an even more awkward, but still polite, rejection from Naruto, what had been a budding friendship had been firmly ground into dust. He just didn't know how to act around her, nor her around him.

With Naruto and Sasuke, it would be even worse. Naruto was incredibly clingy by nature, and even more so around those he was comfortable with. He could barely bring himself to hug the poor Hyuuga girl.

No—confessing, while being something he dreamed about in his most desperate nights, was never going to be a good idea.

Kakashi had been watching him, as if reading his thoughts.

"It wouldn't be as bad as you're thinking, Sasuke."

'No, it would be worse.'

"What if he returns your feelings?"

Sasuke snapped his head around so quickly, his neck began to ache.

"No, I haven't heard anything," Kakashi was quick to add, "but—"

Sasuke felt the bubble of hope in his chest burst, and his eyes went cold.

"That was cruel, Kakashi," he said, before he could stop himself, and then he fled.

"Well," Kakashi scratched at his chin, looking around the empty room, "that certainly could have gone better…"

A/N: So, here's our first look into Sasuke's struggle :) What did you think? I have to warn you, by the end of this story, the boys do so much dancing around each other that even I got a bit dizzy... :P

I've turned on moderate guest reviews now, so I apologize that you had to see that angry anon! I'll be leaving that review up, unfortunately, until the staff gets back to me. But nothing else they send will be posted :)

- Kinomi