Hey everyone. I know that I should be working on Therapy and Italy, but…well I have a reason, I really do, I just can't explain it. My head and heart are a little mixed up right now, and I needed to write something that didn't involve my other stories because I just needed to blow some steam off. This is a one shot; it's going to be extremely different in my writing style. It's a SasuNaru, so I'm staying true to my colors in that way.

And yea, it's not a Naruto POV. It's actually kind of a Sasuke POV, something that I hardly do. I tend to find it harder to write him, and his constant negative emotional thinking normally wears me down, but I really need to get out some frustration. And who else is better to use than Sasuke? If you hate it I'm sorry, but this is really something for me…I guess it's to see if I can do Sasuke without relying on a Naruto POV before or after it.

It's funny really, because I saw this idea as a manga more than a story. But I suck at drawing, and I wouldn't be able to get it right. I'm hoping that they way I write it sounds good though, and that you like the new angle of my writing. I am not giving up on Therapy or Italy! I just needed this. So read, enjoy, and let me know what you think please. It would be very appreciated.

Warning: It's not a lemon, but there is SasuNaru love. And deep psychological thought

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Why He Stays

Why does he stay?

The connection I have with him is not through power. He considers formality and manners a thing not worth his time. Even if I can give him any control he wants in this sleepy town through my last name, he shrugs the offer away. That's not what he comes to me for. It's not why he stays.

"Good morning Mr. Uzumaki." Blue eyes rolled like the ocean while the energetic blonde hopped his ways up the steps, glancing along the wide expanse of the porch. It was huge and new, not that he cared. He was so used to the editing and renovations of the house that nothing seemed to faze him. The butler bowed obediently at his arrival at the door, which produced an unflattering snort from chapped lips.

"Stop with the 'Mr' shit, I hate that kind of stuff. And besides, nothing says I'm better than you. Hell, you probably get paid more working at this rich asshole's house than I do down at the bakery. Not that I'd ever wanna switch spots. The last thing I need is to deal with the 'sirs' and 'ladies' of the town. That's the stoic bastard's job."

His outlook on my personality is not what draws him to me. More often than not, I am subjugated to listen to pathetic names like 'teme' or 'bastard' spewing from his lips. Whenever we disagree, mainly from his constant prying into my exclusive emotional thoughts, he refers without etiquette about the fact my veins were made from ice. Nothing about my character seems to draw him closer to me. It's not why he stays.

"He missed another day of school. I swear that teme thinks he can do whatever he wants and get away with it." The grumbling blonde moved into the huge dining hall, kicking the muddy shoes from his feet while flopping a bag onto the ground.

"The young master had to go with his father to a business meeting today. His classes were excused, of course. He is on his way home now." Despite the butler's informative explanation, a frown marred the teen's face.

"How'd it go?"

"From what Mrs. Uchiha says, the company's profits have sky rocketed in the past few months. The young lord's plans were successful." Another obnoxious grunt was the instant reply.

His infatuation with me has nothing to do with the money that I have. Every time I offer to switch his beaten down truck, or hint at paying his electric bills, he simply shouts at me and walks away. He wants to do everything for himself. He wants to carry the weight of the world of his shoulders like a god. It's not why he stays.

"Would you like to watch TV in the living room, ? The Young master just had a new one installed for his guests' entertainment. Mr. Hyuga seemed to be very impressed." It was able to be seen from the hallway that the two stood in. It barely took the guest a second to shake his head.

"Like I came all the way over here to use his crap. Seriously, where does he get off trying to buy people with fancy gadgets and shit? Neji's just too proper to ignore his host's request to use the TV. He doesn't even like television!" And with the frustrated grumble, a pair of sock covered feet moved their way through the memorized house toward the kitchen. "Come on Iruka, let's go raid his fridge. He hates it when I do that."

"Do you think it's best to anger him after a meeting? You know he gets considerably…" Where the butler left off, the blunt teen continued.

"Cranky? Pissy? Totally inhuman? Yea, I know. Probably because he can hardly speak without a woman fainting over him."

Looks were not the first thing on his list. Not to say I'm ugly, because from the constant phone calls and stalkers I receive, I know how attractive I am. But he hold no hesitation in insulting my 'feminine' face or 'sickly pale' skin. And any time a girl tries to sway me with their pathetic attempts of seduction; he laughs and teases me the entire way home. Jealousy is not his forte. It's not why he stays.

The grin on whiskered cheeks showed no jealousy over his statement.

"Hey Iruka, how many girls do you think hit on him today? I bet they were probably older, since it was his dad's meeting and all." Without permission, the mischievous teen was rummaging through the food cabinets in the kitchen. The maids that passed through only giggled and waved to him with a casualness that would be completely unacceptable for any other guest. But this one was different from the rest. After all, he had worked for nearly ten years to get where he was today. "Ah, I knew I had some left in here! And the bastard said I ate it all…"

"I'm not sure speaking on the young master's love life is quite acceptable for myself to speak of."

"But it's me! If you can't talk about the teme and sex around me, then I'd like to know who else the guy sleeps with. I doubt it's a better lover than me." The butler nearly choked on the suggestive wink sent his way.

Sex. He rants that sex isn't what makes a relationship worth staying in. One time he said sex was like ramen noodles. If you only focus on them, you miss out on the broth and seasoning. Eventually the noodles lose their taste and you end up despising ramen. Not because of the soup, but because of your lack of attention to every part of the meal. Sex went hand-in-hand with affection and love. The broth and seasoning. His completely moronic explanation somehow stuck with me throughout the years. Sex. It's not why he stays.

"Mr. Uzumaki!"

"Stop calling me that. And you need to relax; I'm only joking. Besides, he's never unsatisfied once he's done with me. He may think he's in control of this relationship just because I let him go all 'controlling Uchiha' on me, but I'm the one with the true brains." A flinging of a noodle through the air immediately had Iruka up on his feet to clean the mess. The teen continued to slurp his hidden stash of 'heaven's delight', not bothering to try and stop the fretting butler. It was his 'job' after all, and no matter what Iruka would never let a guest clean up. Even if it was their own.

"Not to disagree with you sir, but the young master is extremely intelligent." Once he finished picking up the spill, Iruka returned to his seat from before. It was the demand of the guest that he sit with him to eat, after all. "In fact, he is to receive an award this week for having the highest GPA in Hokage University."

"So what? You ask him what the difference between vodka and a martini is and he'll have no idea. That's lack of intelligence right there."

He was always dismissing my intelligence as 'lucky guesses' because he never wanted to admit I was better at something than him. My IQ was the highest in our class, grade, school, and district. And yet, to him, it meant nothing. I was just lucky to him. Hn. It's not why he stays.

"I'm sorry, but I doubt they teach that in school." Iruka couldn't help but smile warmly to the pout he received. If anything, this was the most animated guest of the Uchiha house. And the most loved.

"That doesn't mean anything! They also tell you in school that you have to go to college and get tons of degrees to make something of yourself, and I'm doing just fine with me and Sakura's bakery." He paused in the half-true statement. So the building and most of the paperwork was in Sakura's dad's name. But it was still his and Sakura's business. "She handles all the management stuff with her dad, and I make yummy breads and pies and all that crap old ladies like to serve their friends."

"How is Miss. Haruno? She hasn't visited in a while."

"She's still breathing and beating the crap out of me."

"And have you two decided if you want to increase your business? It is very popular in this town, and you could really do well in the next few years." At the mention of the future, the smile only brightened, followed by a soft shrug.

"Eh, who knows? I don't really want to think about it quite yet."

Goals and the future scare him. He doesn't like living for tomorrow, because he isn't sure if he will make it there. His favorite saying is 'Carpe Diem', meaning 'Seize the day'. How he learned it or figured out what it means I'll never understand. Either way, he never wants to talk about the future. So knowing I am secure and prepared for anything really means nothing in his world. It's not why he stays.

"And Miss Haruno? How does she feel about this?"

"She's constantly bugging out on me about it. Really I need to find new people to hang out with! Between Sakura's beatings, Ino's ranting, Shikamaru's laziness, Lee's youth runs, and Sasuke's stick up his ass, I'm beat. And I don't even want to go into my other friends."

"I'm sure the vivid picture you've painted is enough, dobe." Sometime instantly sparked in dark blue eyes while a blonde mop of hair perked at the sound. Glancing behind him, the grin on his face was as quick as the suddenly shuffling of feet on the floor. Because for some reason, the blonde didn't have enough patience to walk.

We are totally different from each other. He's blonde, with blue eyes and a problem with his vertically challenged body. He is tanned, happy, and completely friendly to anyone that wants to be around him. He hides his sadness and frustration over the injustice of the world behind smiles and laughter, and only cries when he's with me. That's just how he is, I guess. But it's not why he stays.

"Sasuke you bastard! You better not expect me to give you the notes for history because you went off on another one of your little 'business trips'. You're friggen 18, not 40! What are you doing at a meeting anyways? I mean really, they're not meant…"

I was born with pure black hair and matching eyes. I'm taller than him by three inches, but he swears one day that will change. My skin is pale, comparable to a ghost in his eyes. I'm not sad or happy, I just simply am me. He says I'm anti-social, when really I just hardly find an intelligent conversation to partake in. So why my muscles completely relax whenever I see his smile and hear his pointless rambling, I'm still not sure of. That's just how I am, I guess. But it's not why he stays.

"Is there a way to shut you off?"

"Teme!" The angered boy scoffed and glared back to Iruka, pointing behind him. "Tell Sasuke not to be such an asshole to me. Especially since I came all this way to come see him!"

"More like you wanted to scarf down some food." The bickering went on until Iruka made a quiet exit from the kitchen. And once there was no sign of others, the blonde wasted no time in wrapping his arms around his prey's neck and pushing up onto his tiptoes. He couldn't help but smile at how good it felt to have a pair of arms wrap around him in a silent gesture of adoration and protectiveness. Not that he'd ever admit to it of course.

"You've got to stop leaving me like that, you know. A text or something would have at least keyed me into what was going on."

"Hn."

"You're just being stubborn cause I'm right!" And reverting back to the inner child kept inside of him, he stuck his tongue out and wiggled it tauntingly.

Really, nothing about our relationship makes sense. Ask anyone around us, and they'll tell you the same thing. We are like oil and water in every sense of the meaning. Our first five minutes talking ended with his lip busted and my eye bruised. We were only eight. Now, ten years later, we were still known to knock each other around when we got pissed off enough. And yet, if you ask them if they could ever see us apart now, they'd all have the same answer…

"Idiot."

"Bastard."

"I'm not getting into this childish fight with someone that has the intelligence of a rock."

"Shut up!" And with one jerk of his hand, the blonde easily captured his lover's mouth with his own. Tongues danced easily with practice, and yet still stimulated the blonde enough to moan. His fingers trailed along the back of the neck he was holding onto, mentally reminding himself that he was going to control their sex today, even if he ended up being bottom. He didn't care so much now as he did when they first started to fool around a few years before. Because either way, he got what he wanted in the end.

"Naruto needs Sasuke as much as Sasuke needs Naruto. They just fit."

"I love you, teme." There was a moment of silence before Naruto was pulled closer, a hot breath gently dancing along his ear.

"Yea…

"They just love each other. They don't need a reason for how they feel."

…Same, dobe." And when I saw his smile brighten after every one of my evasive admissions, I knew...

That's why he stays.

And that's the end. It's short, sweet, and completely different from what I normally do. Actually I banged this out in an hour, because I felt so strong about what I was writing that it just flowed…I really hope that you enjoyed this, and I'd be very thankful to know what you thought. Call it selfish, because I guess that's what I'm being right now. I just want to know if you enjoyed it. Thank you.