As they stepped outside, Naruto was distractedly relived to find not enough noise was leaking out of the house to warrant a complaint from neighbors. The quiet was a welcome reprieve and without talking about it, they both started walking away from the house. The autumn chill was well and truly in the air, but it was a surprisingly clear night, giving Naruto a rare glimpse of the stars. They walked side by side for a while, their shoulders occasionally bumping into each other.

Naruto finally cleared his throat and decided to start easy. "So, how come you were taking pre-med classes?" He asked as casually as he could manage.

Sasuke looked at him clearly not buying the act and sighed "I was pre-med."

Naruto watched him expectantly, but he didn't offer anything else.

"Dr Sasuke?" Naruto tried experimentally, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Dr Uchiha" Sasuke corrected, then seemed to flinch a little "I didn't want that, I was just trying to make my parents happy."

"I see." Naruto said, "It would have been a shame, you being a musical prodigy and all that."

Sasuke snorted.

"What?" Naruto said "I'm tuned into the art faculty now. You can't hide your talents from me."

"Itachi's always been the prodigy." Sasuke said, his breath creating a faint outline in the air.

"In what?" Naruto asked curiously. He felt a little squeeze in his heart at the fact that Sasuke had brought him up on his own.

"Everything." Sasuke said simply. "He studied law though, worked at my father's company."

Naruto raised his eyebrows "Does he play any instruments too?"

"Not really." Sasuke said.

Naruto gave him a look.

"The point is if he did, he'd be better at it than me." Sasuke said like it was an indisputable fact.

"I find that hard to believe." Naruto said.

Sasuke threw him a sideways glance "Yeah well, I'm starting to think you might be a little biased."

Naruto felt a flush coming on but pretended otherwise and put on an easy grin instead "Damn right I am."

Sasuke shook his head, but Naruto knew him well enough by now to tell that he was amused.

Could Naruto let it go? It was such a nice night out.

"So" he said instead. "Neji seemed like he knew Itachi too."

Sasuke glanced at him then looked straight ahead. They walked a little further, reaching the end of the street. Sasuke stopped and turned to face him "What is it you want to ask me?"

Naruto took a breath "You and Neji…?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, waiting.

Naruto sighed "I'm just curious."

"About…?"

Naruto looked to the side for a moment. He thought it should have been so much easier to ask. He'd ask a friend about that kind of tense encounter immediately, curious to know all the gory details.

"You!" Naruto replied eventually, looking back at Sasuke "I told you that from the first time we talked. I'm always curious about you. Will you tell me?"

Sasuke looked at him for a moment, then looked away "I think you already know."

"You were together." Naruto guessed.

Sasuke didn't deny it. Naruto had kind of wanted him to deny it.

He pictured Neji. His personality was a little similar to Sasuke, wasn't it? Reserved and quiet and smart, and very very different from Naruto.

"I thought you weren't interested in relationships." Naruto tried to make his voice teasing, casual.

"It wasn't strictly a relationship" Sasuke said after a moment.

Right.

"But he seemed to know you better than a hook-up would." Naruto let it hang in the air like a question.

Sasuke shifted his weight from side to side, he looked at Naruto's face, then away, then back at Naruto. "Right, well, we were friends."

Oh. Naruto felt suddenly completely sobered.

"You were friends." He said, his voice suddenly sounding odd to his own ears.

Sasuke nodded tightly, whatever he saw on Naruto's face seemed to make him look away.

"And then you hooked up." Naruto said. "Then what happened?" He didn't really want to know.

Sasuke took a breath "Nothing for a while, then he told me he was…that he wanted more."

He was in love with you. Naruto thought numbly.

"And I didn't." Sasuke said with a note of finality.

The silence hung about them. Naruto, slowly turned to face the field.

"I see." Naruto said after several moments. "Poor Neji"

"Naruto…"

"What?" Naruto snapped back, surprising both of them.

"You said you wanted to know."

"Yeah well." Naruto said, "Thanks for telling me."

He could see Sasuke from the corners of his eyes as pushed his hands deep inside his pockets.

"Why are you upset at me right now?" Sasuke asked.

"I just…" Naruto said, "I feel bad for Neji!"

Sasuke threw him a flat look "I didn't realize you were so close."

"It's the principle of the thing!" Naruto returned.

"Should I have lied and strung him along?"

Ouch.

"No!" Naruto said, "Obviously not."

"So, what is it?" Sasuke asked him.

"I just feel like there is a lot for me to take in right now, alright?"

Sasuke threw his hands in the air "Why is there anything in this situation for you to take in?"

He suddenly sounded so uncharacteristically frustrated that it snapped Naruto a little out of his thoughts. He turned to face the other man.

Either from the cold or irritation, a hint of red had crept onto Sasuke's usually pale cheeks. Naruto stared at him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in response.

Naruto felt his heart give one strong beat inside his chest. Thump.

"I just don't want to end up like him." He muttered.

It was, he thought, one of the bravest things he'd done in his twenty years of life.

Sasuke stared at him, looking somewhat bewildered.

"Why would you possibly…?" Sasuke said, then trailed off. "We're not…?" He trailed off again.

Naruto wasn't sure he had any bravery left in him, so he stayed quiet and watched as Sasuke seemed to think things through.

"Naruto." He told him after a moment, his voice significantly calmer than before, but Naruto could still hear the tension underneath "Before we have this conversation, I'm going to ask you this one more time"

Naruto swallowed.

"Do you happen to be gay?" Sasuke asked after a moment.

"…No."

Sasuke gave him a look.

"I think." Naruto took a breath "I might be bi, or you know pansexual, technically." He'd done his research.

Sasuke stared at him.

"You think?" He seemed not to know where to go with the question.

"I think" Naruto confirmed. He knew, actually.

Then he added "Maybe you can help me figure it out."

Damn, who knew sexuality would be so much easier to discuss than feelings.

Sasuke kept on staring at him, his dark eyes intense and completely focused on Naruto. Naruto felt goosebumps rise on his arm.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked him, his voice quiet and careful.

This isn't a good idea. Naruto thought. Don't do it half-way. Be honest.

Then he decided to go another way.

"I want to kiss you."

Oh god.

Sasuke's mouth opened, letting out a distinct huff of air.

Well. No turning back now. Instead, Naruto pushed his feet into the ground and stared at Sasuke as defiantly as he could.

"…Are you drunk?" Sasuke asked seriously.

"You know I'm not."

Sasuke watched him, Naruto looked back as steadily as he could. He thought briefly, if they really were enemies like they'd talked about, maybe this is what it would feel like to face Sasuke across a battlefield.

He didn't know how long they went on like that, but he had a feeling Sasuke was waiting for him to back out, to laugh or break the tension.

Good luck to him. Now that Naruto had made it this far, Sasuke would have to wait a very long time for that to happen. Naruto sent him a smirk instead, drawing on confidence that he didn't really feel. The little muscles in his legs were all shaking on the inside.

Then slowly, very slowly, Sasuke took a step forward, suddenly he was only an arm's distance away. Naruto's heart rate tripled in response.

Sasuke kept his unwavering gaze on his face. Then, just for moment, his eyes dropped down to look at Naruto's lips before raising again.

Naruto thought he might go into cardiac arrest.

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked, his voice significantly lower than before.

"I think." Naruto licked his lips, matching Sasuke's tone "It will help me figure things out."

Sasuke sent him a little smirk "Like a rapid-fire sexuality test?"

"Right" Naruto said, staring at Sasuke's lips "Exactly."

"Well, when you say it like that." Sasuke tilted his head "It becomes my civic responsibility"

Sasuke took another step closer, leaving very little space between their bodies. From this distance Naruto could see that his eyes which so often looked black were actually an intense dark grey. When Sasuke let out a breath, Naruto felt it feather across his skin.

Sasuke paused right then, making Naruto want to jump out of his skin.

It was not altogether an unpleasant feeling.

Sasuke's smirk widened.

Naruto took in a breath like he was about to dive under water.

Unexpectedly, Sasuke extended his left arm, placing the palm on Naruto's chest right over his heart. Naruto looked down at the long delicate fingers covering his chest. Sasuke flattened his palm, pressing just a little. Naruto's heart started beating so loudly in response, he heard the blood rush in his ears. From the top of his vision, he saw Sasuke, clearly feeling the vibrations, smile in response.

Naruto lifted his head back up to see the smile.

The moment their eyes met, Sasuke closed the distance in one movement, bringing their lips together.

Naruto's heart beat one more time, and then stopped completely. He felt a jolt go through his entire body, his skin rising in goosebumps from head to toe. Sasuke brought his other hand up to place on the back of Naruto's neck, right behind his ear, and Naruto came alive, grabbing hold of the lapels of Sasuke's jacket with both hands and pulling him even closer.

Sasuke made a small sound of amusement or surprise, and Naruto sucked it right out of his mouth. He wanted his breath, his air, his sound, and he wanted to give him his own. All of it. Somewhere among the intensity of the feeling, Naruto took a moment to notice Sasuke was a fucking great kisser. He wanted to keep on kissing him for the foreseeable future.

As if sensing the thought, Sasuke pulled away just a little, Naruto almost followed, but stopped himself just in time, settling for the fact that with his death grip on Sasuke's lapels, the other man couldn't go far. Sasuke kept on holding onto Naruto's neck, the fingers moving a little in a small caress that Naruto felt all the way down to his fucking toes.

"Breathe" Sasuke told him quietly,

Right. Naruto took in a gasp of air. He didn't even have it in him to be embarrassed.

Fuck.

He glanced down at Sasuke's lips, then looked up at his eyes again, which were watching him intently.

Naruto liked having Sasuke's focus on him.

Sasuke let out a breath, it made a white cloud in the tiny space between their lips, and Naruto, not thinking clearly, opened his mouth to breathe it in before it could dissipate.

Sasuke's eyes darkened, his pupils widening to take over the grey of his irises.

Naruto wanted to kiss him again. Immediately.

Sasuke allowed his fingers to run over Naruto's neck again, pressing his other palm over his heart at the same time, before he suddenly dropped both hands and started to pull away. When he couldn't go far, he looked down at Naruto's hands on his collar. Naruto considered just pulling him back in again for a moment. Then he reluctantly opened his fingers one by one, freeing the other man.

Sasuke took a small step back. Naruto watched him carefully. He couldn't have looked away had he wanted to. He would have given everything he owned for a glimpse inside of his mind in that moment. Sasuke watched him back, his expression unreadable, and his breathing still a little hard. Then, he sent him a small smile.

"Well?" Sasuke asked, his voice low and quiet.

Naruto kept on watching him intently. Well, what?

"Are the results in?" Sasuke asked him after a moment, voice closer to normal. They were still very close together and Naruto hated the distance anyway.

"What?" He finally managed to ask Sasuke.

Sasuke gave him a careful look as if checking whether he was putting on an act, then his smile widened "You need to be careful, or you'll inflate my ego beyond repair."

Naruto blinked, pulling himself back to the present moment, even though a part of him wanted to stay in the dreamy state and bask in the haze of the kiss.

"What? Are you just finding out you're a great kisser?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke smirked at him "It's always nice to hear."

Naruto frowned at him "Don't be such a cocky bastard."

Come over here and let me kiss you again instead.

Fuck.

"So I take this to mean it wasn't an altogether unpleasant experience." Sasuke told him. "But does that mean?"

"Yeah." Naruto took a breath "I think I'm ready for my card."

"Your card?"

"My queer card." Naruto said, "So I can get into all the clubs."

"I'll take you." Sasuke said quietly, then blinked as if he hadn't expected the words. Naruto's heart, having had a brief period of rest, started valiantly trying to jump out of his chest again.

Sasuke shifted his weight, moving a little further back, which Naruto thought was quite a counterintuitive direction.

"So congratulations." Sasuke said after a moment "You're into men."

I'm into you. Naruto thought.

"Yup!" He said cheerfully "Figured it out right in time to enter my twenties with a bang."

Sasuke smiled at him, moving a little further back "You seem to be taking this well."

Naruto wanted to kiss him so badly.

"I've had some time to think about it." Naruto said.

"Have you?" Sasuke said dryly, though Naruto could tell he was teasing. "Well thank you for remembering to share that little fact with me."

"I thought you knew already" Naruto said casually.

"How?" Sasuke threw him a skeptical look like he knew Naruto was going to say something idiotic already.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I caught it from you after all." Naruto said grinning. "The queer bug"

Sasuke stared at him for second "Your card's revoked. Effective immediately."

"Hey!" Naruto protested, chuckling, then added "I guess that's fine. I don't need it anyway since you're going to take me with you."

Sasuke blinked, then looked away, clearing his throat.

"Right" He said after a moment "Not to ruin your big moment, but did you want to talk about what you said before, about not wanting to end up like him?"

Naruto felt all the blood rush to his feet. Right.

Now was his chance. How hard was it to say, hey let's try something more. I want more.

He stared at Sasuke, who was watching him patiently. He wondered briefly how long it had been since Sasuke and Neji had seen each other. Neji had wanted more.

"I just meant" Naruto said, "I don't want you to feel like I want too much, with the kiss and all, I don't want us to stop being friends."

Sasuke frowned. It seemed like he was about to say something but stopped himself and looked away.

"I see" He said eventually "Well, this is a completely different scenario to back then."

"Yeah" Naruto said.

Was it though?

Tell him it's not that different. Just say it. Maybe he'd surprise you.

But maybe he wouldn't.

"Completely different." Naruto repeated "So, we're fine right?"

"Yeah. We're fine." Sasuke said after a moment's pause, in which Naruto felt like keeling over. "Kissing friends is a time-honored queer tradition." Sasuke told him with a small smile.

Maybe we should do it again then. For tradition's sake.

Naruto opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Sasuke followed the movement closely for a moment, then looked up at Naruto.

"We should probably head back." He said. Feeling like he was having an out of body experience, Naruto could do nothing but nod his agreement.