A/N: Warning to all readers! I must say beforehand that this is a terribly shallow ficlet with little plot and not, I admit, one of my better works. I wrote this a rather long time ago, and I couldn't stand the messy handwriting cluttering my file (full of plot-bunnies and half-written fics, not entirely all SasuNaru, either) so I have to finish typing this up. That way I can throw it out and leave more space for other fics. (I'm focusing mainly on Roxas/Sora or RoxVen now, because Roxas is my god.) So anyway, I hope when you read this you won't kill off your brain cells, and maybe find it worth your time. Thanks. A/N end
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To Sweep You Off Your Feet
A SasuNaru fan fiction
One-shot
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"Where", he asked, "are we going?"
His only answer was a grin, and he felt the faint signs of dread storming around in his stomach. Sasuke Uchiha rubbed his eyes tiredly with his palm and trailed behind his blonde-haired friend.
"We're nearly there~" Naruto sing-songed, breaking into a run. He tugged at Sasuke's wrist, and Sasuke obeyed, although he nearly tripped in the process.
He formed his conclusion that he wouldn't enjoy whatever surprise birthday gift Naruto had in store for him when he first heard the noise of loud, annoying music. Lights pulsed to the beat as the shrieking ricocheted off the walls. Sasuke felt his head start to ache, and so he was even more miserable.
"A skating rink." The Uchiha echoed tonelessly. Naruto stood proudly at the entrance, feeling pleased with himself.
"Yes, teme, a skating rink. Don't you love me now?" he snickered.
"No," Sasuke replied automatically, "I don't."
Naruto heaved a dramatic sigh, put his hand on his chest and twirled around. "Oh, woe is me, for I have failed you, my dear friend!" he cried, while Sasuke stuck out a hand to catch him around the waist.
"I should have let you fall." Sasuke grumbled, to which Naruto cheekily replied, "But you won't because you love me too much."
"However," the blonde removed himself from the confines of Sasuke's lean arms, and made his way to the counter, pulling out a loyalty card in the process. "This place closes at six, so we'd better hurry up!"
"Joy." Sasuke deadpanned, and he was dragged off again by the hyper blonde.
After putting on a pair of skates two sizes too small for him (or at least, it felt that way), and effectively cutting off all circulation to his feet, Sasuke struggled to stand upright. He failed deplorably.
One of his feet shot forward, making him lose his balance, and he crashed back onto the chair while doing some sort of complicated split, which hurt. A lot. Just to make the point clear.
"Ffffffuuuuuu-" he hissed, doubling over in pain. Naruto just threw his head back and laughed as Sasuke cursed, not even making any move to help the other boy up. This was a real blow to his reputation.
Naruto was still chuckling, eyes watery as tied his own skates carefully. He wiped away his 'happy tears', as he liked to call them, with the palm of his hand and stood up.
He didn't even need to balance, Sasuke seethed, envious.
Naruto grinned cheekily at him, then hoisted the raven off the floor. Sasuke wobbled uncertainly, latching onto Naruto's outstretched hand with a death grip, which only made Naruto grin wider.
"Wipe that stupid smile off your face, idiot-Naru." Sasuke muttered angrily. He was promptly ignored, then dragged (rolled) towards the rink by Naruto, who was by now sporting a grin similar the Cheshire Cat's. Sasuke was pushed (quite ungracefully, might I add) by said Naruto into the crowd of bodies on wheels. The effect was immediate. People fell over like dominoes, and soon only a few people were left standing in the rink, most of them those too scared to let go of the railings.
"Dude! The fuck, man!"
"Watch it, noob!"
"Stupid amateurs, seriously!"
Oh the humiliation. Sasuke could feel his face burning, the rush of blood to his head pounding loudly in his ears. Naruto hurried over to the tense boy trying to dig a hole in the cement floor by sheer willpower along. Sasuke hung his head, frozen on the floor, splayed out like a forgotten snow angel (demon… in his case.)
Oh the shame! For the very first time in his Uchiha life he had been ridiculed!
"Sasuke? Sasuke, look, sorry about that-"
He was an Uchiha! Uchihas don't fail at anything!
"But it was ridiculously funny, you've got to admit-"
He'd show them! He'd show them what exactly it means to be an Uchiha! (He's getting slightly hysterical at this point.)
"But please, please talk to me, man, dammit, don't get mad, 'kay?"
"Dobe," Sasuke called out as he lifted himself gingerly off the floor.
"Yeah, best friend forever? You're not mad are you? Oh god you have no idea how absolutely creepy you become when you get mad. Please don't get mad, I'm sorry-"
"Teach me how to skate."
"I mean I- Oh. Oh, that. Okay, I can do that." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "Although that alone is punishment enough." he added to himself under his breath.
With amazing patience, Naruto taught Sasuke how to stand properly without falling over, how to balance, how to move fluidly in whichever direction, how to make sharp turns, and how to skate backwards. Except for a few abrupt landings on his 'pale Uchiha ass', Sasuke learned everything with amazing speed. Soon he was getting nearer and near to the centre- where all the pros are.
"Woah. That's one hot ass."
"If I didn't have a girlfriend, I'd so tap that."
"Even if I did have a girlfriend, I'd still tap that."
Sasuke let his lips twitch upwards slightly. This was what he was used to: admiration, lust… the occasional rabid fangirl. This was where he stood.
Naruto slapped himself on the forehead and smiled ruefully. Looks like the bastard had beaten him at his own game.
Skating steadily at a leisurely pace close to the edge of the rink, Naruto was caught up in his own thoughts. He didn't notice the other guy pushed by his friends, flailing his arms and heading right in his direction. He felt a rough elbow ram into his back, causing him to lose his balance. His body shot forward, sliding across the floor, cutting through other people's lanes.
"Dobe-"
Groaning, he looked up into the panicked eyes of his best friend, who was coming straight at him, and suddenly remembered he never taught him another important part of skating: how to stop.
Adjectives fail to describe what happened next, but Naruto could care less about adjectives because in the mess of tangled bodies and flailing limbs, his head was somehow extremely close to Sasuke's… entirely too close for comfort.
Sasuke had his eyes squeezed shut from the impact, hands splayed out on the floor to prevent crushing Naruto under his weight. Naruto lay under him, propped up on his elbows, lowering his gaze and staring intently at Sasuke's hands. He noted absently that Sasuke had really long fingers.
He raised his eyes to meet Sasuke's. Electricity charged through his body. It was like they shared a million thoughts in that moment, and he felt closer to Sasuke than he'd ever been.
"Hey, you okay?"
The voice he knew so well became one he wasn't used to- he wasn't ready for the warm tone, the underlying concern, the slight puff of air that rushed past his lips. He had been expecting a scoff, a cuss word or two, and maybe a good laugh over it. Naruto swallowed..
"I'm- I'm fine."
"You sure?"
Naruto gulped at how intense his best friend's stare was. Was it even appropriate to call him his best friend anymore? What was he thinking, of course Sasuke is his best friend. Always has been always will be. Best friends. Just best friends.
"Yes, yes, I am, mother. Now get off me, but butt hurts." Naruto said loudly, taking on a look of irritation.
Sasuke got off him, brushing the dust off his jeans. He held a hand out to Naruto, who grabbed it rougher than he meant to, and helped him off the floor.
"Damn, that hurt. I think I got a bruise." Naruto grumbled, cupping his behind with both hands.
"Do you want to leave now?" Sasuke asked softly, still using that worried tone.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine, let's go. I've had enough butt hurt for one day. We'll leave if you want. Heck, this was your birthday present anyway. I've actually planned dinner later at the sushi restaurant and cake afterwards, by the way."
"Yeah, thanks." Sasuke said, only half listening as he helped Naruto out of the rink.
Dinner was not exactly comfortable. Naruto was more on edge, startled by everything and losing himself in his own thoughts. Sasuke talked little, less than he usually did. Together they had an awkward, silent dinner, although Sasuke paid without asking whether Naruto had any money or not (the dobe wouldn't, because he blew the little allowance he had on the rink) like usual. After dinner Naruto loosened up somewhat, pulling Sasuke enthusiastically towards the newly opened cake shop, where he had ordered Sasuke's cake. Black forest, with dark chocolate icing, because Sasuke didn't like sweet stuff and Naruto wouldn't eat anything but chocolate, so they compromised. The words 'Happy birthday Teme!' were written in pink cursive icing (much to Sasuke's horror), with heart-shaped sprinkles scattered all over. Naruto could get under his skin, even while celebrating his birthday. The boy is amazing.
Naruto laughed loudly at Sasuke expression when he first saw the cake, and took out his camera to take pictures. He was laughing so hard he nearly dropped the camera into the cake too, although Sasuke wasn't sure if he really noticed. Sasuke got him back by spreading dark chocolate icing onto Naruto's face, though the two didn't want a full-blown cake fight, since it would be a waste of good cake, and the rest of the patrons were looking at the oddly. Naruto wiped off the icing on his face and stabbed a piece of cake.
"Happy birthday, you assholish person I call best friend."
"Hn. Why thank you, mildly tolerable idiot of a best friend."
Naruto didn't even have to ask Sasuke's driver to drop him off at his apartment first. The driver was much too used to it by all of their odd affectionate ways, and always prepared band-aids and lots of tissue paper, if only to keep his leather upholstery clean. He also had a PSP (courtesy of Sasuke as a sort-of apology for always making him wait for the two of them and messing up the car) which was fully charged most of the time and filled with long games. The driver nodded good night to Naruto, and pulled out his PSP as Sasuke slipped out of the car together with Naruto. Considering how they had habits of losing track of time, the driver estimated he had enough time to get through another world on his game. He glanced at the clock. He might also be able to make it back in time to catch that football match, if the two boys do not settle down to 'watch a movie before I leave'.
Naruto yawned widely as they climbed the stairs to his third-floor apartment. Sasuke silently trailed behind him. "Hey, thanks for walking me up," Naruto said absently. Sasuke was slightly disturbed by the comment. Naruto never said thank you, not even the first time. They always got out of Sasuke's car, walked up, went in, maybe have some coffee or watch a movie or two because neither one felt like leaving, and then said their goodbyes when Sasuke really did have to leave.
Naruto never said thank you, and Sasuke never mentioned it, so why did he start now?
Naruto made no move to invite Sasuke in. There was something off about Naruto that Sasuke could feel all through dinner, so the raven didn't make any move to waltz into the apartment.
"I'm tired, sorry. Good night, Sasuke."
Sasuke took a step back, seemingly shocked by those words. They never cared how tired they were, Sasuke always, always went in for at least some coffee. "..ah. Alright, Naruto. So- I'm still… I'm still picking you up tomorrow morning, right?" he asked, desperate for something normal that he could hold on to. Naruto saying thank you, chasing him away from his apartment, giving a bullshit excuse… it was just so odd, so out of character for him.
"Hmm? Yeah, I suppose so. Sure. Thanks, Sasuke."
"Hn."
"Happy birthday. Nights." Naruto smiled a tired half-smile, and closed the door in Sasuke's face.
The second he closed the door, Naruto let the smile fall.
Naruto knew he was acting weird, and he knew that Sasuke knew, but he couldn't care anymore, he couldn't face Sasuke more than he needed to, especially alone, in his apartment, cuddled up on the couch. He had problems keeping up the act at the mall already, and he wasn't lying when he told Sasuke he was tired.
So very tired.
He leaned his body against the wall, hardly having the strength to stand. Ever since that happened, Naruto felt… different. Like he was way more aware of Sasuke than before. Sure, the two of them were always in sync. They hardly needed to converse, sometimes. Naruto just read Sasuke's body language, while Sasuke just read his eyes. It was natural to them. Still…
He thought back to how Sasuke easily picked up new fans and admirers at the rink. He knew that it wasn't their fault, it was Sasuke's for always showing off, but…
He hated this.
He hated being Sasuke's best friend, because being a best friend meant that he couldn't be something else.
He hated seeing all those girls throwing themselves shamelessly at him, and trying to soothe himself with the knowledge that Sasuke won't like any of them.
He hated being paranoid, either way.
Most of all, he was hated always having to smile.
He was tired, he was frustrated, he was fed up with this. He wanted to scream, break things, smash Sasuke's head in, yell at him, cause him bodily harm, and tell him…
"…I love you…"
It was so pathetic. Sasuke was his downfall. Was it wrong to want more than what they have now? Being best friends, spending all their time together?
"I'm so pathetic."
So, so very pathetic.
The next morning saw Naruto jumping into Sasuke's car with his usual vigor.
"Bastard!" he yelled happily.
"Ah, the idiot arrives."
Naruto scoffed. "Yeah, well. You failed to get into MENSA, and you call me the idiot."
"That was because I was hanging out too much with you and your stupidity rubbed off me." Sasuke shot back. "Not to mention , I actually did nearly get in. However, they'd probably throw you out on your ass the minute you step into the building."
Naruto fumed. "Damn."
Sasuke smirked. Stupid sexy smirk. Stupid sexy bastard. He had decided to just be content with being best friends, but the pain in the ass just wanted to make this hard for him, didn't he?
"Naruto…"
"Hnh?" Naruto grunted, distracted by the view outside.
When he heard no reply, he turned around, a small frown on his face, only to be met with a hungry pair of lips.
His heart leapt out of his chest.
"The- What the hell?" he hissed, shoving roughly at Sasuke's chest. Sasuke didn't budge.
"Oh, c'mon, dobe, you can't pretend you didn't feel it yesterday. And besides, I figured you needed some cheering up. You were especially mean to me last night." Sasuke murmured into Naruto's ear. "And what better way to…"
Naruto yelped when he felt Sasuke's hands on his chest (when did he get my shirt open?), dragging his fingers sensually all over his skin.
"Stop! You can't do this!" Naruto insisted, even though his face was stained a dark hue of red, and honestly looked like he enjoyed the treatment.
"It's my birthday," Sasuke said simply, grinning sinisterly.
"That was yesterday!" Naruto yelled, confused and feeling strangely vulnerable, being trapped between the cushioned car door and his- and Sasuke, because he wasn't sure what Sasuke was to him anymore.
"But I didn't really enjoy that…"- Oh good god, was that tongue? -"So I want to return it for something I'm sure I'll enjoy."
It was a dream, wasn't it? He was being ravaged by Sasuke, in a car with beautiful leather seats, on the way to school. It was his secret fantasy, and he was going to wake up soon. He always will, eyes snapping open, focusing upon the cracks in the ceiling, every single time before he could say-
"I love you." he said breathlessly, feeling slightly delirious that his dream had actually allowed him to say that, and not to his crack ceiling.
"Me too." Sasuke murmured softly into his ear, before nibbling on the outer shell.
Naruto shivered in pleasure. And pure happiness.
"This isn't a dream, is it?" he asked hopefully. He need to hear it, to hear this…
A soft chuckle. "I sure hope not, Naruto. I sure hope not."
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OH GOOD. I've finished it! I won't go back and try to fix it, because I know it's a hopeless piece of romance fluff, so yeah. I actually wanted to make Sasuke not return Naruto's feelings, but then that'll be long and would need brain power because it wasn't originally written that way, and I'm saving my brain power for the finals.
If you like it, review it. I would appreciate it very much. And hey, I still have a lot of untyped SasuNaru fics…