A/N: At long last... I proudly present the last chapter of this ridiculously drawn-out fic.

I had humble plans for it to be a one-shot, aaaand look at what happened. ^_^'

Thank you, thank you for sticking with it for so long. I hope you'll find the wait worthwhile :) I love you all!

ONWARD!

"How was it yesterday?"

The line was long. It usually was on a Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, Lee was on his shift today, and somehow managing to handle both Panini grills, as well as a hot chocolate.

'How does the guy move so fast...?'

"Naruto?"

"What?"

"God, you're out of it today..." Sakura sighed, wiping the counter. She stood by the second till, waving another customer forward with a smile. "I asked how yesterday was. With Sasuke?"

"Oh... That." Naruto shrugged, handing his customer their change. "Okay, I guess."

"I swear I thought I'd come in today and see you both dead on the floor," she frowned. "But you actually did a really nice job with the place. Even Kakashi looked impressed, and he never looks impressed! I guess you learnt to tolerate each other for a few hours."

"You could say that."

"Hm?"

"Never mind."

His ass hurt. His head hurt. Even his legs felt bruised, from where that fucking bastard had been gripping him. Every bend and squat had him wincing, and he mentally congratulated himself for avoiding sitting down the whole morning.

All experiences he'd dealt with before.

But the heaviness in his heart wasn't so familiar.

How? What kind of cold-hearted monster could spend their evening exchanging heated kisses, longing touches and even fucking their co-worker without so much as a "see you later"? Naruto guessed that even sex friends were more human with one another once they'd finished. Where was the decency?

'He can go fuck himself,' Naruto decided, slamming the till shut. 'At least I don't have to worry about seeing his fucking face until Tuesday.'

"What can I get you?" He asked, without looking up.

"Let's see..." Came the thoughtful reply. "A large cappuccino..."

Naruto's head snapped up.

"...with some of that vanilla syrup?" Sasuke's face grinned from across the counter. "I seem to have developed a liking for it recently."

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Hey, now," Sasuke remarked. "At least hear me out."

"If you had anything to say, I would."

Sakura had noticed Sasuke at the front of the queue moments later. Before she could say anything, he flashed her a smile and informed her that Naruto would be taking his break now. Lee had spun around, whizzing to take Naruto's place at the till with a thumbs-up, assuring him he had things under control.

And now they were sitting opposite one another, with Sasuke's cappuccino between them. The murmured conversations of the lounge filled the airspace around them.

It definitely made their silence a little less uncomfortable.

Naruto sat with his arms crossed, apron still tied around his waist, waiting. He noticed how relaxed the other boy looked, in his cool black jacket, and hair as ridiculously styled as it usually was.

'Looks like he slept well,' he thought bitterly. 'Lucky for some.'

"Are you okay?"

The question surprised him. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Sasuke repeated, bringing the mug to his lips. "After yesterday?"

'My body? My mind? What are you referring to here?'

"You sound concerned." He said flatly.

"I am."

"Bullshit."

"Naruto," he said seriously. "Answer the damn question. Stop making it harder for me than it already is."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the blonde replied, mock worry lacing his voice. "I didn't realise speaking to someone right after you fuck them is worthy of a medal these days."

Sasuke's hands clenched around his mug, but then he relaxed. "I shouldn't have done that."

Naruto simply stared back.

"Stop looking at me like that," Sasuke grunted. "Look, I didn't come here to argue. Or to make you upset."

"Then why the fuck are you here, Sasuke? Because I swear to God, I was looking forward to the next few days without seeing your goddamn smirking face."

"It's not smirking right now, is it?"

His voice was tender. Visions of yesterday flashed into his mind before he could stop them. He stiffened slightly when Sasuke extended his leg to press gently alongside his own.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, not taking his eyes off Naruto. "I am truly sorry, Naruto."

"For what?" Naruto was trying so desperately hard to keep his frigid mask intact.

"For leaving without saying a word." Sasuke laid his hands flat on the table. "For not coming in this morning to check how you were. For not telling you what was going through my mind. For being an absolute fucking douche to you all the time. For... Did I hurt you? Was I too...?"

For a few moments, Naruto just sat there in stunned silence. "...rough?" He offered quietly.

"Yeah..."

He finally uncrossed his arms. "You were seriously worried about that?"

"How could I not be worried?"

"Why would you worry about something like that?" Naruto sighed. "You're Sasuke."

"I'm still human, dumbass." Sasuke's teeth were clenched. "I couldn't sleep last night."

'Really?' Naruto thought in wonderment.

"Then I realised I didn't even have your number, so I couldn't even text you or anything..."

"Sasuke," Naruto leaned forwards, his hands on the table too now. "Look... I'm not gonna be a bitch and throw your apologies back in your face, but... Why now? Why couldn't you even look me in the eye afterwards?"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to hunch back defensively. "I was confused."

"Come again?"

"Put yourself in my shoes for a moment, moron," he grimaced. "I just..." He dropped his voice low, as if he were confessing to murder. "I fucked a guy,"

"I know. I was there."

"Oh, shut up," he kicked Naruto slightly under the table. "And not just any guy, but... Some loser I only ever argue with. I mean... Who does that? We weren't even drunk, Naruto."

Naruto averted his gaze.

"I kept thinking it was some sort of fucked up competition..." Sasuke continued, as if he was talking to himself. "To not back down before you did. And I kept thinking, 'why isn't he backing down? I'll show him,' but then... Last night, it kinda just hit me. I... With you..."

Sasuke sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know I'm a competitive jerk sometimes, but... Then I thought if I'd have done the same thing if it were some other guy."

Naruto's heart leapt to his throat. "And?"

"Would you?" Sasuke asked instead, searching Naruto's eyes. "I mean... I know I'm not the first guy you've been with, but-"

"No, Sasuke." Naruto barely dared to breathe when he spoke. "You answer that first."

Sasuke swallowed, looking more nervous than Naruto had ever seen him before. "...no. I don't think I could have."

Naruto exhaled, his shoulders relaxing. "Well..."

"Yeah,"

"That's... Surprising."

"I'm not gay, Naruto." Sasuke took another sip. "I've never... Even looked at a guy the way I-"

He caught himself before he could finish.

"What was that?" Naruto grinned.

"What was what?" Sasuke coughed.

Naruto chuckled back in response. "You seriously just said that out loud."

"I'll punch that smile right off your damn face, dobe." He snarled, a rare blush across his cheeks.

"Coooouurse~ you will," he replied gleefully. "You just admitted you love my face, so you wouldn't dare." He couldn't believe what he was hearing...

"I did not just say that!" Sasuke hissed.

"Oh you so did, bastard. Someone get me a camera."

The tension slowly melted away like an ice cream, and they were suddenly back to their usual bickering. Naruto glanced up at the ceiling, a sunny smile gracing his features. His heart no longer felt like lead, but something infinitely lighter.

"My body's fine," he answered finally. "You need to work on your technique a little, but it's not anything I couldn't take. And I'd be lying if I said your little apology wasn't enough to earn my forgiveness."

"Really?" Sasuke glanced up uncertainly, despite everything. "I was half convinced you'd throw milk at me again. It took me a while to even walk through the door."

"I really should be writing all this down somewhere, shouldn't I?" Naruto hummed. "It's so surprising to hear you apologise, and then voice all your little agonising worries out loud."

"I'm a normal guy, Naruto." Sasuke said pointedly. "I get worried about doing things wrong just as much as any other person."

"Sure you do."

"Which brings me to..." Sasuke took a deep breath, before ever so gently resting his fingers on top of Naruto's. The touch sent a warm jolt through his body, but he didn't look away. "I wanted to ask if... Well, is this the right way to do this?"

"Do... What?" Naruto was trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"How does... one ask a guy out, Naruto?"

"Huh?!"

"Quiet!" Sasuke urged, glancing at the counter. Sakura couldn't see their hands from this angle, but she kept shooting them questioning looks. "I'm serious, Naruto."

"Are you honestly..." Naruto gulped. "Asking me out?"

"What's it look like, dobe?"

"Why?" His hands were trembling slightly now, but Sasuke held them firm.

"Because..." Sasuke trailed off, as if trying to chew his words before speaking them out loud. "I... Don't think yesterday was a mistake. Or a one-off thing. At least to me, it wasn't. I couldn't stop thinking about you the whole night. I know it sounds insane, but... at so many points yesterday, it just hit me..."

"What did?" Naruto didn't dare to move. This couldn't be happening. Was this really happening? His heart was ready to burst...!

"How..." Sasuke finally offered him one of his classic smirks. "Goddamn gorgeous you are."

"...wow." Naruto breathed.

"Are you crying?!"

"Like hell, bastard!" Naruto blinked furiously. "Who'd ever... Cry over something like that?"

"You're so adorable," Sasuke leaned closer, his eyes dropping immediately to Naruto's mouth.

"Shut up..." Naruto sat back, catching the look. 'This is getting dangerous... I'm in the middle of work...!'

"Well?" Sasuke cleared his throat, trying to get his heart rate under control again. "Is that a yes, then?"

Naruto stood up, but gave Sasuke's hands a lingering squeeze. "Well... Since you've asked so nicely, I guess I could indulge."

Kakashi rarely worked on the weekend.

Since Naruto had learned the ropes so quickly, he'd come to rely on him for the more administrative tasks, alongside his regular duties. It also meant, more often than not, that he got to have two well-earned days to himself.

When he'd left the two of them alone on Friday, a part of his mind was heavy with regret.

'Am I insane?' He marveled, settling in the back of a cab. 'As if they could handle such a big task on their own... It would take the entire team a few hours if we worked together. And here I am expecting them to have gotten everything done in one evening.'

Needless to say, when he'd walked in on Monday morning, to be greeted with the sight of gloriously frosted windows, perfectly laid out Christians menus, and even the beginnings of a decorated tree up beside the window, his eyes widened in surprise. Not only had it been done, but... It had been done well.

Very well indeed.

Naruto was already in, emptying some coffee into one of the machines.

"I see you and Sasuke managed to work together." He clapped him on the back. "Good job, Naruto."

"Thanks."

"You alright?" He'd known the boy long enough to know when something was bothering him. He wasn't even looking at him.

"Yeah, just... Didn't sleep much last night."

"Okay," he knew when it best not to press further. He stepped away from the counter. "I'll be in the office if you want to talk."

"Thanks, boss," Naruto offered him a genuine smile.

Once he'd shut the door, Kakashi slipped off his coat and sighed.

'How did they manage to get everything done in one night?' He wondered, firing up his PC.

After a few clicks, he loaded up the footage from the security cameras. He skipped ahead to Friday evening and hit play once he saw himself waving them off as he left.

Naruto's mopping... Now they're both cutting those decorations... Ah, see, they're fighting again...on the floor, they're going to kill one another these days-!

"...huh?"

Kakashi's jaw dropped.

"This cannot be real..." He pinched himself, unable to tear his eyes away from the slightly blurred images. "How far did they...?" He skipped forward an hour or so, only to find them directly beneath the camera near the armchairs.

"My word..."

"Kakashi-san!" A knock at the door, and Sakura was suddenly peeking her head around the door. "Naruto said you were here already! I had to come and see for myself."

"Thank God the cameras don't record sound," he murmured thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry?"

He soon minimised the window, shaking his head.

"Nothing, Sakura," He grinned up at her from behind the PC. "Just thinking that I should definitely get repaid somehow for all the joy I end up spreading."

"...Okay, yeah. There's definitely something extra weird with you today."

A/N: Thank you all so much... please leave a review with your thoughts and let me know if you enjoyed it! It really means a lot to me :) Always has done!

I'm almost feeling sad to see the end of this... but oh, so accomplished at the same time! FINALLY!

Thank you for all your lovely kind words - I don't think I'd have made it this far without them all, so thank you so much! :) And hopefully, see you all again in another fic!

Much love~ 3

TAM