Naruto pulled up in front of Sasuke's house, and then they both just sat there.
"Thank you for the ride." Sasuke said, then seemed like he was about to open the door.
"Wait a second." Naruto said before he could think on it. Sasuke turned to him with a questioning glance "Just wait"
For a moment, he wondered if Sasuke would just leave but the other boy let go of his hold on the handle. Then letting out a quiet sigh, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the seat.
Naruto took the chance to take a good look at him. The golden light of the sunset coming from the window left an impression of his lashes on his skin in intricate shadows, his breath moving the strands of his hair a little every time.
A part of Naruto noticed, as he did usually, that Sasuke's face was objectively other newer part of him looked at this boy and thought about how much he'd gone through in the past two years and yet here he was, so brilliant and sure of who he was and in command of his life, and he felt something like awe.
As if sensing he was being watched, Sasuke blinked his eyes open, his gaze immediately landing on Naruto's.
"Were you just staring at me?" Sasuke asked.
"Jesus" Naruto said, smiling a little "Can you be a little more gracious?"
"I'm surprised you know that word." Sasuke said, smiling back a little too, though Naruto thought he still looked a little drawn "Can you use it in a sentence?"
"Didn't I just do that?"
Sasuke just raised an eyebrow.
"Alright" Naruto huffed, then put on his best educational documentary voice "It is important to teach beautiful children to grow up into gracious adults, so they let a little staring from mere mortals go once in a while."
Sasuke paused "That was more than a sentence."
"Well, Excuse me."
"How do you know I was a beautiful child?" Sasuke asked, his smile widening just a little.
"Please" Naruto said rolling his eyes. Sasuke seemed like he was about to say something else when Naruto smirked. "Who said anything about you?"
Sasuke let out an amused breath "My mistake."
"Forgiven."
"You're so gracious."
Naruto grinned "Indeed, and evidently a great teacher."
"Absolutely" Sasuke said seriously "Especially all the flirting with the student."
"Hey!" Naruto protested, but then realized he didn't have anything to say in his own defense.
"Am I allowed to go now Mr. Uzumaki?"
Naruto opened his mouth, then closed it again. He swallowed, feeling his ears go red and unable to stop them through sheer force of will. Because fuck, why did he like that a little too much?
Sasuke gave him an incredibly amused look like he knew exactly what he was thinking. Damn him. Still, he made no move to leave, which Naruto appreciated.
After a few moments, Naruto having regained the ability to speak, looked outside "It's getting really chilly."
"Seriously? Sasuke asked still sounding somewhat amused "You want to talk about the weather?"
Naruto sighed, then turned to face the front, putting his hands on the stirring wheel, and staring at the little sign in the middle "I just have this feeling like once you get out, you're gonna disappear and I'll never see you again."
Sasuke didn't say anything in response right away and Naruto, unable to take it, snuck a glance at him. He had a thoughtful look on his face. He met Naruto's gaze easily, but Naruto couldn't read his expression at all.
"Would that be such a bad thing?" Sasuke asked after a while, with a small smile.
"Don't even joke about that." Naruto told him seriously, unwilling to lean into Sasuke's teasing tone.
Sasuke turned to face him more fully and seemed like he was about to say something else when he distractedly reached over and pushed a bit of Naruto's hair behind his ears. Naruto couldn't help it, in his surprise he let out an audible breath.
"Sorry" Sasuke said, leaning back again "Force of habit."
"Don't apologi…Wait what do you mean?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
"No seriously."
Sasuke sighed "Normally, if a man is lingering like this in front of my house it's my sign to make the first move."
Naruto couldn't quite pick out how he felt about that statement, but he knew it wasn't positive overall. Still, he tried to play along "So I'm just one in your long line of admirers."
"I don't know if admirer is what I would call you, or anyone else for that matter."
"What would you call me?"
"Well." Sasuke smirked "You seemed to enjoy Mr Uzumaki."
Naruto gaped at him for a moment "You're such a bastard!"
Sasuke just looked at him and smiled. Naruto's heart decided to give a jolt in response, and then like the universe had it in for him, his smartwatch started vibrating against his wrist.
Sasuke's eyes followed his down to it.
"Irregular heart rate detected." Sasuke read the message in a monotone "Take a moment to breathe?"
Then he looked up at Naruto in an unspoken question. Naruto however realized he genuinely had nothing to say. It was quite possibly the single most embarrassing moment of his entire life.
Unlike what he would have expected though Sasuke didn't tease him, or smirk in silence. Instead, his expression took on a more thoughtful look.
"Do I make you nervous?" He asked Naruto seriously.
Naruto didn't know how to respond. The watch's vibrations against his wrist certainly didn't help him concentrate "…Sometimes."
"I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Sasuke said.
Naruto frowned, because somewhere between nervous and uncomfortable, the wires had gotten crossed.
"You don't." He said.
Sasuke kept on watching him and Naruto would have paid to know what he was thinking in that moment. "…Alright."
Naruto raised his eyebrows and wondered if he should call him out on still sounding skeptical. Sasuke was a puzzle sometimes. He was confident, Naruto could tell, and not in the fake way some guys put on, but then there were moments like this when he seemed oddly self-deprecating. Because seriously, if someone's heart beat too fast when you smiled at them, why jump to discomfort? There was a much clearer explanation.
Which, well fuck, didn't bode well for Naruto. But at least he was coming to terms with it.
"Sasuke" He called before he could think better of it.
"Hmm?" Sasuke turned to him questioning.
He looked tired. Naruto wasn't even sure how he could tell, but he did, something about his eyes. Naruto thought about everything that had happened today with Itachi, and what Sasuke had shared with him, and came to his senses. Today was hardly the right time to have that conversation. When his silence dragged on, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
"Nothing." Naruto said belatedly "I'm glad I ended up in that tutorial, that's all."
"You're such an idiot." Sasuke's gaze softened "You realize, I'm not actually going to disappear right? You know where I live." He pointed his head to his house through the car window.
Naruto grinned "Yeah, and where you work, and where you study. I could totally track you down."
"Right" Sasuke said drily "That's not an alarming sentiment whatsoever."
"Of course not." Naruto told him "It's beautiful."
"I'm going now." Sasuke said in response, reaching for his seatbelt.
"Alright." Naruto sighed. "I just hope you're not too bummed your move didn't work."
Sasuke threw him a look.
Naruto grinned "What?"
Unclasping his seatbelt, Sasuke looked like he was about to lean towards him again, and Naruto felt his heart rate pick up in the anticipation. Hurriedly, he shoved his hand in his pocket. Sasuke's gaze followed the move, staring for a moment at where he'd hidden his watch, then back up to his face. Naruto wondered if he'd gone red. He felt hot.
Sasuke didn't say anything, a corner of his lips moving up just a little.
Naruto fought the urge to squirm.
Two heartbeats later, and he couldn't take it anymore. He was going to explode from the tension. He cleared his throat.
Sasuke's expression turned into a full smirk for a second before he blinked, wiping it off.
"Bye Naruto." Sasuke said, his voice low and diabolically casual.
Naruto could barely croak a goodbye of his own as Sasuke stepped out of the car, and he followed him with his eyes as he walked to the house.
Only when he'd disappeared inside did Naruto take his hand out of his pocket, looked at the increasingly intense warnings on the watch face and said quietly to himself "Fuck."