A/N:This was written for Valentine's, but then... I forgot to post it? Oh well, romance is still as nice every other day of the year! This is sort of fluffy, and sort of awkward and sort of... disturbing maybe, but just a little, and you'll soon see why. :3 Have fun!

Naruto rolled out of bed with a groan, bringing the sheets with him, trailing behind him like a cloak as he shuffled towards the bathroom. It was ass crack of dawn o'clock, and he was in no way ready to get up, but he needed to get to work. He cursed out whoever decided that his shift had to start at six am as he stepped into the shower, finally relinquishing the sheets, replacing them with warm water.

He nodded off as he washed himself, probably using shampoo for his balls and soap for his hair and not giving a damn. Clean was clean.

Ten minutes later he was stuffing his feet into his sneakers, a piece of bread in his mouth, and his hair drying into a bird's nest. Same as everyday pretty much.

He slammed the door shut and rushed down the driveway. As usual he was cutting it late, but if he ran he should reach the bus just fine. Mornings like this made him regret taking a year off to work before starting college.

Some instinct made him look at the house across the street as he ran, searching out the window on the second floor. The curtains fluttered as if someone had just moved them, but he couldn't see anyone so he just hurried on. He had burgers to flip.

XXX

Sasuke pressed his back against the wall next to the window, eyes wide, the back of one hand pressed to his mouth. Naruto had almost caught him looking at him. He thought he had ducked out of view in time though, so it would probably be okay.

He found himself standing by the window every Tuesday morning, the sky still dark, watching, waiting.

He'd long since learned when Naruto left for work in the morning, and would always watch, see him stagger out of the house on the early mornings, and bounce out of the house when he left later. The street light would play off of his bright hair, and Sasuke liked watching him.

Turning around and parting the curtains enough that he could peer out on the street he just caught a glimpse of Naruto rushing down the sidewalk.

There was a weird feeling in Sasuke's chest. It was all tingly. He'd been feeling like this for a while now, whenever he saw Naruto. At first he thought maybe some bug had gotten in there, but he had checked, and it looked like it always had, no bug in sight.

Shuffling over to the bed he grabbed the book that was lying on it, sitting down with his back against the headboard as he continued reading from where he had been. There was a notebook lying next to him, and every so often he would write something down.

The room around him was filled with piles of books, neat stacks sorted meticulously. Books to read, books to read again. Those he liked and those he didn't like. There was one stack of books where the main characters both died, and one where only one of them died, and another for ones where the couple didn't end up together at all. Other stacks were filled with books with happy endings. Those were the ones he made the most notes from. He liked the happy endings the best.

The one he was reading now looked like it was going to end up in one of the sad stacks. Romeo had just drunk poison and now Juliet was waking and…

Both characters dead then. Sasuke frowned at the book, and then leaned over to make some notes in the notebook. Don't pretend to be dead.

He paused, and added in neat letters behind, What if one was dead all along?

Finishing the book he placed it in the correct pile, falling back on the bed with a sigh. That hadn't been helpful at all. He didn't want Naruto dead. Love was so complicated, he didn't get it at all. He'd been reading these books for weeks, first to figure out what the weird feeling in his chest was, and then to investigate further, but it was just confusing him.

He had lots of great notes by now though. And he definitely knew that he probably loved Naruto. Or was he infatuated? Was he crushing? In love? Obsessing over?

Why were there so many different versions?

He liked Naruto.

Yes, that he was sure of. When he looked at Naruto he got weird feelings in his body, and he just wanted to see him more, and maybe talk to him, and… And he didn't really know.

Sighing heavily Sasuke threw an arm over his eyes. Things had been so much easier when Naruto was just the guy living across from the street from him, before Sasuke had realised that he found him cute.

XXX

Naruto was dead tired. Ten hours at work flipping burgers and making fries could do that to a guy. He'd ended his day playing videogames with Kiba online, since both of them were too lazy to actually go visit the other. Now it was late, and even though he didn't have to get in to work until noon tomorrow he was pushing it. He'd brushed his teeth and was currently in his bedroom, wrenching off his sweater and throwing it in the general direction of the hamper as he shuffled towards the window to pull the curtains shut.

He stopped with one hand on the blue curtains with the ramen bowl print. Across the street the curtains were open as well, and the lights were on, so Naruto could see right into the room. Naruto wasn't a peeping tom or anything, he wasn't Jiraiya after all, and if the guy in the room had been naked he totally would have closed the curtains, but he wasn't, he was just sitting cross-legged on his bed, a book in his lap.

It wasn't the first time Naruto had seen the guy, but even if he had lived there for like a year he had yet to actually talk to him. He'd seen him sitting on the porch before, and caught glimpses here and there, but he never really seemed to go anywhere, so Naruto hadn't gotten to meet him properly.

Naruto kind of wished their houses was closer together, because he couldn't see the guy too well. He had dark hair, was slim, and from what he could tell looked about the same age as him. There were no one else living in the house that Naruto knew of, so he was probably a little older, old enough to live alone.

Some kind of hermit? Maybe he was one of those weird writers who just sat alone and wrote all day. He had to do some kind of job that meant he didn't have to leave the place at least, because Naruto had never seen him leave it once.

He was caught up in his musings, so when the guy looked up from his book it took Naruto a moment to realise.

His eyes widened, and he froze. The guy had definitely caught him staring, judging by the way he closed the book, looking right at him.

Shit, shit, shit. What should he do? How could he salvage the situation in a way that didn't make him seem like a complete pervert?

He lifted a hand and waved.

Smooth, Uzumaki, real smooth. Because perverts would never wave.

He was about to just yank the curtains shut and die of shame when the guy lifted a hand hesitantly, giving a little wave in return. Naruto grinned.

XXX

Sasuke looked into the mirror above the sink, pushing a strand of hair to the side with a huff. He was contemplating cutting the long bangs short, but in the end didn't. He had done it to the rest of his hair, and it made it stick up in the back, and it wasn't like it was growing anymore, so he was stuck with having it like that. Better not chance it and just leave it as it was.

There was even less he could do about the rest of his looks. His skin was pasty white, and there were dark rings around his eyes, but he didn't exactly have any makeup. Maybe he should get something, at least to cover up around the eyes so they didn't look so sunken in. Didn't have time for that now though.

He straightened his shirt, making sure all the buttons were buttoned up, and decided this was as good as it was going to get.

Sasuke was a man on a mission. Weeks of research had made him realise one thing. If he wanted to get to know Naruto properly he had to actually talk to him. And since Naruto didn't really have any reason to come into his house it meant Sasuke should probably go out. Casually bumping into him seemed to be the way to go. The characters in his books did it all the time.

He looked at his wristwatch, noting that Naruto should be getting out to head to work in ten minutes. He'd deliberately picked a day where Naruto started late, because Naruto always seemed extra happy then. Sasuke was going to go outside, and just casually stroll down the street as if he was going for a walk, and then Naruto would see him, and talk to him, and Sasuke would tell him how he felt, because making a confession was apparently a big deal.

XXX

Naruto stuffed his cell phone into his pocket and walked outside, locking the door behind him since his parents were already at work. He had plenty of time to get to the bus for once, so he sauntered down the driveway, taking his time, tilting his head back to soak up the sunrays that were finally peeking through the heavy clouds that had been constant for the last few weeks.

In retrospect maybe it wasn't so weird he walked straight into the guy. That tended to happen when you weren't paying attention.

"Oof!" Naruto said, suave as ever.

The guy he had bumped into didn't seem flustered by it at all, just looked at him with dark eyes.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention, are you okay, I really didn—" Naruto cut off his own ramblings when he realized the other guy was just staring at him. He looked a little familiar, but Naruto couldn't quite place it. He didn't think he'd met him before, but there was something…

The dark-haired man looked away, shuffling backwards a bit, creating more space between them. He looked back at Naruto for a moment, only to snap his gaze back to the ground. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.

"Ah, I'm Naruto," Naruto offered, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sa—Sasuke," the other said, voice barely above a whisper. He looked towards the house across the street from Naruto's, and for a moment it looked like he was about to bolt for it.

Naruto suddenly realized where he recognized Sasuke from. Sasuke was the one who lived across from him, the one whose bedroom faced his own, the one he had waved to just a couple of nights ago. Naruto hadn't seen him outside before, which made him even more curious to know what he was doing here now.

XXX

Sasuke slammed his front door shut and sunk to his butt with his back against the door. He pressed a fist to his mouth and held back a squeal that rose in his throat.

He had talked to Naruto! Actually talked, for several minutes, until Naruto had realised that his bus was about to come and ran off, waving Sasuke goodbye. I'll talk to you later, he'd said. Naruto wanted to talk to him more, wanted to talk to him later. When was later? Sasuke really wanted to talk to him again.

He had intended to confess his feelings, but talking to Naruto it was suddenly a terrifying thought to do so, so he hadn't. Instead Naruto had done most of the talking, and his voice was really nice, and he looked even more handsome up close, and the bugs in his body that wasn't really bugs at all fluttered extra hard. It felt like maggots were having a party in his gut, even if he was very particular about his hygiene and knew he didn't have maggots at all. He took pride in being completely bug free.

Scrambling to his feet he rushed towards his bedroom. He needed to consult his notes to figure out what he should do now. The first meeting was official. He needed to figure out what he should do next. He should maybe make a list. He liked lists, nice and orderly, and he could cross things off. He was going to start it off with, talk to Naruto, because that way he could cross something off right away.

XXX

Sasuke crumpled up the paper he had been writing on and threw it on the floor. Writing poems was hard. All the ones he had read were all pretty flowers and sunsets and stuff, but when he tried to write it himself it just sounded really stupid. He didn't really care much for flowers. Roses are red, violets are blue, he didn't get what was so romantic about that. So he tried to write about things he knew and liked, but he wasn't sure it was very good? Blood is red and bruises are blue, brains are tasty and so are you. Probably. But I'm not going to eat you. Or your brain.

He threw his notebook to the side and with a groan flopped back on the bed, arms thrown out to the side. Why was this so hard? He wanted to tell Naruto that he liked him, and apparently poems was a good way to do that, but he just couldn't write one properly. He needed a better idea.

Over the last week he had talked to Naruto four more times. Two when he was pretending to be walking and met him on his way to work, once when Naruto came up the porch that Sasuke had maybe been sitting on for four hours to wait for him to get home from work, and once when Sasuke had walked up to his front door to return mail that had been delivered in the wrong mailbox. He didn't tell Naruto that Sasuke had maybe snuck to their mailbox when Naruto and his parents were at work to steal the letter just so he could do this.

He was starting to wonder why he hadn't tried talking to Naruto before. It was really nice. Sasuke hadn't really talked to anyone since he moved here, since… the accident. He hadn't realized he missed it. Well, it was hard to remember anything from before thn, so he didn't know if he missed it. The accident had muddied up all his old memories until everything before that day was just a grey blur. Actually, he didn't think he'd really liked talking to people at all before, but Naruto was… different.

Sasuke looked at the calendar standing on the nightstand. Less than two weeks from now there was a red ring around a date. February 14th. Valentine's Day. He had a tentative plan to go on a date with Naruto then. He just needed to tell him that he liked him, and get Naruto to like him back before then.

He needed a better plan than love poems.

XXX

"Naruto, there's someone at the door for you," Minato called, and Naruto thundered down the stairs, jumping over the last four steps, hitting the floor hard. He grinned when he saw Sasuke standing in the open door, a big box under his arm.

Naruto walked over. "Hi."

"Hello," Sasuke said, fidgeting. Naruto noted that he had a smear of glitter on his forehead, and was about to ask what Sasuke had been doing when he found his arms full of the box Sasuke had been carrying.

"This is for you," Sasuke said, the words blending together with how fast he was spitting it out. Then he turned around and ran, leaving a baffled Naruto clutching the box.

"What the…" he muttered, staring after Sasuke as he threw open the door to his house and vanished inside.

"Was that Sasuke?" Kushina asked, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with her apron on.

"Yeah," Naruto answered, closing the door when he realized Sasuke wasn't coming back.

"He's just as pretty as you told me," Kushina said, and Naruto felt a blush creep to his cheeks.

"Moooom. I didn't say that he was pretty!"

Kushina ignored him. "Awfully pale though. Do you think he's anaemic? He lives all alone doesn't he? Maybe he's not eating right? He can't be much older than you, maybe you should go over there with some food?"

Naruto groaned. "Mom. Please don't make me go over there with dinner. It's bad enough that dad and I have to eat it."

Thankfully twenty years of living with his mom and dad had thought him when it was time to run, and as he rushed up the stairs he chuckled to himself at his mom's sputtering and yelling. It was a well-known fact that Kushina Uzumaki was a horrible chef, but she hated it when he pointed it out.

Safely in his bedroom with the door closed behind him he sat down at his desk, placing the box in front of him. Why had Sasuke brought him this? What was it even?

The box was wrapped in newspaper, but there was a card on top, so he grabbed it. The front had a picture of a rose and the back had a few words in neat writing. Because it is yours.

Naruto frowned. Did Sasuke have anything that was his? What the hell? The box was kind of heavy, and he had no idea what could be inside it.

He wasted no time tearing off the paper, leaving him with a blank cardboard box. He grabbed scissors and started cutting through the multiple layers of tape keeping the box shut.

Inside there was a mass of toilet paper balled up, presumably to protect whatever was nestled in the mass of it. Naruto started digging through it, throwing paper behind him, caring little where it landed.

Soon he saw the top of what looked to be a glass jar. He didn't think he had ever owned a glass jar before, so he had no idea why Sasuke would think it was his? Was there maybe something inside?

He stuck his hands in the box, grabbed the jar and lifted it out of the box.

It took him a moment to realise what he was looking at.

The jar looked like one of those his mother kept in the basement to preserve jam in. You know, if she ever got around to ever make jam. This one wasn't plain glass though, not anymore. Suddenly the smear of glitter on Sasuke's face made sense. There were swirls of golden glitter all around it, making it look like it was covered in pretty vines or something.

He was so taken by the glitter that he didn't immediately realise what was lying in the water inside. Dark red, roughly the size of his fist, floating in the middle of the jar, looking like something out of a science lab. A heart. An actual heart.

He put the jar down and pushed his desk chair away, eyes going wide. What the everlasting fuck. Had Sasuke just given him a jar with a heart in it? Why would he even? What the hell did the card mean? Yours? Naruto's hands flew to his chest, pressing flat against his sternum. It was all intact, and judging by the way his pulse was beating all up in his throat he was pretty sure he still had his heart.

Naruto had never been the best at biology, barely passing it in high school, but that looked eerily like a human heart.

Pig. It had to be a pig's heart. Naruto was pretty sure pigs were supposed to look really like humans inside. That didn't really explain why Sasuke would give him one though.

Naruto looked towards his bedroom window, noting that Sasuke's curtains were drawn closed. The light in his bedroom was on though.

Naruto chewed at his bottom lip. What should he do? Should he go over there and ask Sasuke what he meant by the heart?

A sudden thought that Sasuke was some serial killer that had rows of jars with human parts lining the walls of his house popped into Naruto's mind. What did he really know about the guy living across the street? He'd lived there for a while, and only a week ago had Naruto even met him? Was Naruto going to end up in a glitter decorated jar if he went over there? He didn't much want to end up in a jar.

Sasuke didn't strike him as the type though. He was all awkward.

Wait, what was serial killers like? Were they awkward around other people? Wouldn't that make sense? Oh my god, Sasuke was totally going to chop him into little pieces wasn't he?

Naruto gulped and rose from the chair, stalking towards his bed, grabbing a sheet and tossing it over the jar. There. Now he couldn't see the heart, so it was all okay. Now he just needed to… He had no idea what he should do? Call the cops? Tell his parents? Call Kiba for backup?

No, there was probably a perfectly good explanation behind this. The heart was just some really well-made replica, and Sasuke was a prankster, and he would laugh at Naruto when he came over there all scared. Pft. Naruto wasn't scared! He could handle himself.

Grabbing his phone he walked down the stairs, calling to his mom that he was going to Sasuke's but should be home for dinner. There. If he didn't come back Kushina would know where to look.

He kept his phone in his hand, his finger hovering over the button that would call Kiba, just in case, as he walked across the street, back straight, knees not knocking at all.

He hesitated for a long moment before he lifted his hand and knocked on Sasuke's door. He was contemplating making his escape when the door opened and Sasuke stood there. Pretty and pale and maybe a serial killer.

"Naruto?" he said, sounding surprised.

Naruto had no idea what he should say, so his mouth did what it usually did, started talking, letting his mind catch up later.

"Are you a serial killer? Because if you are I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill me!"

Sasuke stared at him, eyes wide, lips parted in surprise.

"Serial killer..?"

"I'd really like it if you didn't cut out my heart and put it on a jar-thankyoupleaseokay." Naruto winced and hid his face behind his hands, as if that would stop a serial killer.

"Didn't you read the card?" Sasuke finally said.

"Huh?"

"The card, didn't you read the card?"

"Well, yeah. But I didn't get it. Like, it's not my heart, because I'm pretty sure I don't have any spares lying around." Naruto was peeking out from behind his fingers. Sasuke didn't look like he was planning on cutting Naruto into pieces.

Sasuke cast a nervous glance out at the street, and then looked back at Naruto.

"That wasn't what I meant," he said.

"What did you mean then?"

"Uhm, it meant that my heart is yours," he mumbled.

"Your heart?"

"I read in this book. This one guy said to the girl that he gave her his heart, and she really liked it, so I thought you would too." Sasuke's gaze was firmly locked on the floor.

"I don't get it."

"It's romantic. If you give someone your heart it means you like them," Sasuke said, still mumbling.

"So whose heart did you give me?" Naruto frowned, still not getting what Sasuke was talking about. Had Sasuke taken someone's heart because they liked Naruto? That made no sense.

"It's mine," he said quietly.

"Huh?"

Sasuke sighed, cast another nervous glance at the deserted street behind Naruto and then grabbed the hem of his sweater, pulling it upwards.

Naruto knew it was probably rude to be staring at the lean body that was being revealed to him, but since Sasuke was the one doing the unveiling he figured it was probably even ruder not to look. It was a nice body. Slim hips, flat stomach with a shadow of muscles. Skin stretched tight over a faint hint of ribs, a gaping hole in his chest—

Naruto squeaked.

"I told you it was my heart?"

Naruto took a step closer, and the front door closed behind him. The thought that Sasuke was a serial killer was gone from his mind, now he was more concerned about the hole in Sasuke's chest, right over where his heart would be. There was no blood, the edges just greyish skin, the insides pale pink, a cavity where Naruto was pretty sure there used to be a heart.

"How… are you not dead?" he asked. He might not be very good at biology, but even Naruto knew that a heart was kind of essential to being alive.

"I am?"

"You're what?"

"I am dead?" Sasuke said, as if that was the most natural thing in the world.

"You're dead. Of course you are. Makes sense. I'm probably going insane am I not?" It was only logical. Naruto had snapped, and Sasuke was just a figment of his imagination. Didn't explain how his mom had seen him, but maybe she was made up as well.

Naruto lifted a hand, placing it on Sasuke's chest, right next to the hole. The skin was cold to the touch, but otherwise felt very much corporeal. It moved slightly as Sasuke drew a breath and exhaled. He felt remarkably real for something Naruto's mind had made up.

Naruto traced a finger across the flesh, touching the edge of the wound. The cut had to be done with something sharp, because it was completely straight and neat. The edges of ribs stuck out where they had been sawed off, and this close Naruto could see where the heart had been connected.

"You aren't insane, Naruto, I'm real," Sasuke said, and Naruto looked up at him. There were deep shadows around his eyes, and just like his mom had said he looked anaemic. His skin had a greyish tint to it. He looked kind of… dead.

"I'm a zombie," Sasuke continued, shrugging, as if that was a completely normal thing to say.

XXX

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting on Sasuke's couch, Naruto carefully applying Band-Aids he had rushed back home to find, in a neat row down Sasuke's chest, closing up the edges of the wound. He had tried to convince Sasuke to let him bring the heart and put it back, but Sasuke just insisted that it was Naruto's now, so in the end Naruto closed up the chest without a heart. Sasuke seemed just fine without it, so maybe it wouldn't be a problem.

He would've stitched it up, but he wasn't very confident in his own sewing. They'd have to figure out that later, for now the Band-Aids did the job.

Sasuke looked as Naruto worked, seemingly completely unworried about the hole, and just letting Naruto do this because Naruto had insisted.

Naruto had made peace with the fact that he wasn't insane, and that Sasuke was a zombie. Or maybe he was just ignoring it and would freak out later. He wasn't sure yet.

"Okay, I think that's as good as it'll ever be," Naruto said, leaning back to survey his handiwork. The wound was gone behind a mass of skin-colour pieces of tap that was decidedly darker than the surrounding skin, enough so that he could almost forgot that he minutes before had been able to stare right into Sasuke's chest cavity. "I guess we'll find a way to attach the bones you cut out later, when we stitch it up. Maybe just some superglue or something."

Sasuke just nodded in agreement.

"Sooo…" Naruto said, having no idea what he should do now. "Uhm, how long have you been a… zombie?"

"About a year. Just before I moved here."

"What happened?" Naruto had never met a zombie before, and now that he was over the first shock he was getting curious.

"I was out with my family. We were attacked. The zombies killed my parents and my brother. They were about to eat me as well when someone came and killed them. One bit me though, so I later turned." Sasuke shifted enough on the couch to show Naruto a bite-mark on the back of his shoulder.

Naruto had never heard anyone be this calm when telling the story of how their entire family was slaughtered.

"Do you miss them?" he asked.

"No? I don't really remember them. Everything from before I woke up as a zombie is pretty much a haze."

Naruto crossed his legs as he sat back more comfortably on the couch.

"So, like, do you… eat brains and stuff?"

"Yes. I need to eat some, or my brain functions switch of. That's what had happened to the ones that attacked my family. They had been locked up and starved. It makes zombies go mad. They'll do anything to eat."

Naruto leaned back fractionally. Did Sasuke want his brain?

Sasuke seemed to realise what he was thinking about. "I get my brains from the local morgue. I pay, and they bring one over a couple of times a year. I freeze it, and only eat some when I need to.

Naruto relaxed again. "Tell me more!"

XXX

Sasuke leaned closer, concentrating as he put the finishing touches on his masterpiece. Very happy with the result he carefully wrapped the boxes up and put them in a bag. He looked in the mirror to make sure he looked his best, and then headed outside. Apart from when he had been trying to meet Naruto he rarely ventured outside. Didn't really need to. He ordered his books to be delivered at the door. Didn't need food. Had all he needed right here in the house. Now he had a mission for the day though. He was going to take the bus. He hadn't taken the bus once since the accident, but even if the memories of how buses worked were hazy he was sure he'd figure it out. He was pretty intelligent after all. How hard could it be?

Twenty minutes later he got off at the bus stop Naruto had told him was closest to his job and looked around. He had no idea where he was going, but then he spotted the golden arches, and trudged towards the fast food restaurant. Naruto told him he had a lunch break at noon, so Sasuke had prepared lunch for him.

Naruto was sitting outside, waiting for him, grinning and waving as he spotted him. Sasuke was pretty sure he would have blushed if he still had a working circulatory system.

He sat down opposite of Naruto, unpacked the two boxes and pushed one over to Naruto who opened it reverently. Blue eyes went wide as he looked at the content of the bento box.

Sasuke opened his own box, pleased to note that the bus trip hadn't ruined the decorations.

He'd spent all morning making a traditional bento box. His family was Japanese after all, so he had always gotten these for school lunches when he was a kid. Now he had made Naruto one, and he had pulled out all the stops. There was a carrot fox, because foxes were Naruto's favourite animal, and there were halved strawberries made to look like hearts. Four rice balls each had a letter cut from seaweed atop them, spelling ou E.

Naruto's cheeks were red, and he looked over his shoulder as if to ensure that no one was watching it. "It's very nice, Sasuke," he said.

Sasuke felt his cheeks twitch into a very pleased smile. Naruto liked it!

Naruto dug his way through half the bento before he looked up at him, frowning. "Why aren't you eating yours?"

Sasuke looked down at the box. It was just as neat as the other, he wanted them to match. "I… can't eat food," he said. He had tried. Violently throwing up your guts was not a feeling he wanted to experience again anytime soon. Maybe making a box for himself had been silly, he just liked the idea of eating lunch together with Naruto, even if he wouldn't be actually eating.

Naruto gave him a soft smile before he kept eating, and when he finished off the last strawberry and Sasuke pushed his own box towards him he accepted it with a big grin before eating his way through that one as well.

Nine days has passed since he had told Naruto what he was. He had been afraid maybe it would scare Naruto away, but it hadn't. They had actually hung out together several times since. Talking and watching TV mostly. It was really nice. Naruto hadn't mentioned his heart since, so Sasuke wasn't sure if Naruto had understood what he meant when he gave it to him, but he hadn't known how to bring it up again. Which is why he had made the bento boxes so… pretty. He thought maybe Naruto realised Sasuke liked him, but he had no idea what Naruto felt back. Valentine's Day was getting nearer, and Sasuke really wanted to spend it with Naruto.

When the second box was empty and Naruto grinned at him, a piece of rice stuck to his chin, Sasuke felt his heart beat. Or well, not actually beat since it wasn't there anymore, but he felt something. He hesitated, and then leaned forward, plucking off the rice grain. His fingers brushed against Naruto's skin for a moment, and when Naruto seemed to lean into the touch Sasuke felt as if his body was on fire.

"Go out with me on Sunday," he said, proud that he didn't stammer at all.

Naruto looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected that at all. He had to know which day Sunday was, had to realise what Sasuke meant.

Sasuke swallowed hard. Why wasn't Naruto saying anything? If he didn't want to he should just say so right away, because this tension was so nerve-wracking.

"Sure, I'd love to," he said.

XXX

Naruto found them a couple of seats in the back of the movie theatre, sitting down, balancing his bucket of popcorn on one thigh as Sasuke handed him the cup of soda he had carried for him.

"I'm not sure I should be surprised by the movie you chose or not," he said as Sasuke sat down next to him.

"I thought it would be nice since it's Valentine's Day?" Sasuke answered.

"Well, I guess. Just… most people usually go with the romantic stuff, you know."

"It's not a romantic movie?"

Naruto bit his lip not to laugh. "Not really no."

"But, the title? My Bloody Valentine. I thought it was a Valentine's movie…" Sasuke was sounding perturbed.

"Uhm, you'll see," Naruto said.

Half an hour later Sasuke leaned closer to him. "I get the bloody part now."

Naruto snorted a laugh, getting soda up his nose.

As far as horror movies went it wasn't a very good one, but it didn't really matter. Sasuke seemed happy enough they were on a date, and that meant Naruto was happy as well.

It was weird. Two weeks ago he had learned that Sasuke was a zombie. A resurrected corpse. Commonly known as the villains in numerous movies and TV shows, and now he was on a date with him. It had been kind of apparent that Sasuke liked him, as soon as he realised what Sasuke had meant with the heart, and then later with the bento, so when Sasuke had asked he hadn't been surprised. What had surprised him was how saying yes had felt so right. Sasuke was nice to hang around with, and Naruto liked him. The fact that he was a zombie wasn't even on his mind anymore. Sasuke was just… Sasuke.

He was a little odd, taking everything literally. Naruto wasn't sure if that was a result of him being a zombie, or if that was how Sasuke had always been, but he had been very surprised when Naruto told him what the meaning of giving someone your heart was supposed to be.

That makes so much sense, Sasuke had said, and then proceeded to ask Naruto about other phrases and the meaning behind them. Naruto was glad he wasn't an actor, because Sasuke might've broken his leg if he was.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, saw how he was looking at the screen, his face set in a scowl. Maybe he was disappointing he hadn't brought Naruto to a romantic comedy like he had thought.

Finishing his soda he dumped the cup in the empty popcorn bucket and placed the both of them on the floor, wiping the salt of popcorn off on his thigh before focusing on the screen again. He was glad Sasuke hadn't accidently chosen a zombie movie, it might've been awkward.

Naruto felt a cold touch against his hand, and when he peered down he saw that Sasuke had moved his hand so they were pressed together, side against side. Hesitating only for a split second Naruto turned his hand around, palm up. Sasuke grabbed it, intertwining their fingers.

Sasuke's skin was cool, but not unpleasantly so. More like how a breeze was really nice during a hot summer day. Naruto tightened his fingers around Sasuke's hand, and for the rest of the movie they didn't let go once.

After the movie finished and they walked outside they were still holding hands, Naruto reluctant to let go, and Sasuke making no move to do so either.

For some reason neither of them seemed to come up with anything to say, so they just walked towards the bus stop hand in hand, sitting down on the bench and waiting. They had just missed one bus, so it would be another fifteen minutes until the next one came.

His pocket vibrating put a stopper to everything. Naruto wanted to ignore it, but Sasuke had already noticed the vibrating and dropped his hand, as if the buzzing sound had startled him. Figuring the moment was ruined anyways Naruto dug out his phone, and answered the call. He was going to make sure to yell at Kiba the next time he saw him.

Kiba was having a crisis. Of course he was. He had been talking about asking Ino out for months but never had the guts to do so, and now Ino was on a date with someone else, and Kiba was freaking out, because what if she was going to get married to the creep? Naruto rose from the bench and gave Sasuke an apologetic look as he did his best to calm Kiba, taking a step away so Sasuke wouldn't be forced to listen to it. Kiba talked loud enough Sasuke would've heard both sides of the conversation easily.

It took eight minutes and forty-seven seconds to convince Kiba that just because Ino went on one date with another guy it did not mean she was going to get married to him.

Turning back he saw Sasuke sitting on the bench, looking at a small notebook, chewing on a pencil.

Naruto sat down next to him, startling Sasuke who proceeded to drop the notebook.

Naruto stooped down to pick up the notebook before Sasuke could do it himself. He couldn't help but to look at the page it had been opened on, eyes drawn to his name on the top, written in large, neat letters.

It looked to be a list, most of the items crossed out with a sharp line. Normally he wouldn't be one to look at other people's stuff, but he had been drawn in by his own name and before he knew it he had read the first line.

1: Talk to Naruto.

He looked up at Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes were wide, but he wasn't grabbing for the notebook, so Naruto read more. They all revolved around him, and Sasuke liking him. It seemed to be a to do list.

12: Go on date

13: Hold hands

Sasuke must have crossed those out right now, and now only one item wasn't crossed out.

14: Kiss

Naruto looked back up at Sasuke. "Uhm, what is this?"

Sasuke fidgeted. "It's a list of things I wanted to do with you," he said quietly, looking anywhere but at Naruto. "I read it in my books, and I wrote down what I wanted to try."

Naruto looked down at the list again. He couldn't help but to smile. He had seen the stacks of books in Sasuke's room, knew he had been reading them to learn how romance worked, sometimes having a hard time separating metaphors from real stuff. Sasuke seemed to be disconnected from his feelings, unsure what they meant, relying on his books to teach him. Too long without human contact or a side effect of becoming a zombie.

He was getting better though, Naruto had noticed as much since he met him.

"Sasuke, have you ever kissed anyone before?"

Sasuke shook his head.

If someone would have told Naruto a few weeks ago that he would fall for a zombie he would have laughed it off. Back then he thought zombies were fictional creatures that longed to eat brains and little more.

Sasuke was nothing like that. He was a little awkward, and a little pale, but he wasn't a movie monster, he was… Sasuke, and Naruto realised that he liked him.

"Sasuke," he said, and Sasuke looked at him. Naruto leaned in, and he saw the realisation of what he was doing flit over Sasuke's face. Dark gaze dropped to Naruto's lips and then quickly snapped back as Sasuke leaned forward.

Sasuke's lips were cool but soft as their lips met for the first time, the kiss gentle and unsure. Naruto pulled back, pressing his forehead against Sasuke's. Their bus drove past the stop, but they didn't care.

"If I could I would give you my heart as well."