I should have known this was going to happen. He's always been the one to jump up and fight without thinking of the consequences. So how did I not know this was going to happen? Maybe I was blinded by happiness while I was with him. That could be the reason I didn't see this coming, but I still should have been more careful. I should have protected him. I should have stopped this from happening. He shouldn't be laying on the ground bleeding to death while I have to fight Itachi so that he doesn't hurt the man that I love anymore. I should have protected him. I should have protecting him from the moment that he confessed to me. So why am I incapable of doing just that?

"I love you." They were muttered words, and I could barely hear them over the voices of the people outside. That's why I could convince myself that I heard the words wrong. Not that I didn't want those to be the words that slipped past Naruto's lips. God knows I've always wanted Naruto to love me just as much as I love him, but I never thought that he actually would. I mean I've been so cruel to him. When we first met I always made fun of him and then I tried to kill him several times after abandoning him for power. I'm glad that I didn't kill him. I would have never been able to live with myself if I had. In fact, I think I probably would have killed myself. If Naruto ever dies I'll probably kill myself because I can't live without his presence.

"What?" I asked. I wanted to just pretend that I hadn't heard him at all, that way I could tell myself that he really did say that he loved me even though I thought I was just hearing things, but his face looked really serious. He very rarely shows that face. He only uses it when he is truly serious. I remember that he made that face when he was trying to get me to come home from my idiotic journey to Orochimaru. It was only for a fleeting moment before anger and pain took over, but I remember seeing it. There was no way I could miss it. I never miss anything that Naruto does in my presence, and that face had always struck me with a certain kind of sadness that I can't explain. I think it has something to do with the fact that I know he only makes that face when he's serious about something that he thinks he will never get.

"I love you," he repeated a little louder. It was just loud enough for me to hear it and I wondered why he didn't want anyone else to know, but that didn't really matter to me at the moment. What really mattered to me was the fact that Naruto had actually said that he loved me. I never thought that Naruto could ever love me after all that I had done to him. I mean I even tried to kill him several times. This must be a joke. Naruto couldn't actually love me as much as I love him.

"Don't be stupid Dobe," I said without thinking. I mean there was no way he was serious right? He must have been joking, but Naruto wasn't really the type of person to joke around a lot. Even though he played the part of a fool, I have come to realize that everything that he said had a serious sort of undertone to it. Whether his words were serious or his intentions were, Naruto never really joked around. Especially not with someone's feelings.

"I see," he muttered as he put the money down for my meal and got ready to leave. I was supposed to be paying for the meal today. I had promised that I would pay for the meal when he had asked me if we could go somewhere to talk. I don't know why I thought of the ramen stand, but that's what I thought of and I promised him that I would pay for the meal and that I would listen to whatever he had to say. I broke both promises. I didn't pay and I didn't truly listen to him and now he was getting ready to leave because I had insulted him even though he had been speaking the truth. I'm stupid. I never should have said that he was stupid for telling me the truth. I have to make this right. I have to tell him that I feel the same way and have felt the same way for a very long time. "I'm going to go home now," he gave me a fake smile and then turned to leave, but I couldn't let him. I reached out and grabbed his wrist without thinking. His hand was warm. I've always had cold hands so his hands felt hot against my skin. I remember Sakura once telling me that the reason a person has cold hands is so that their one true love could warm them up. Naruto was my one true love and my skin immediately began to warm against his.

"Wait," I said. "I understand. If you want, we can start dating." Darn it. Why can't I tell him the truth. It's this Uchiha pride. It's stopping me from telling Naruto what I want to tell him. No. I can't blame something like that for my inability to confess. I was just unable to say the words that I wanted to say. I was unable to tell him that I love him to. Why? I don't know. I just couldn't get the words past my lips. It seems that I have never been able to do that. It seems that I am just incapable of speaking about my feelings just like the psychiatrist said. I hadn't believed her until now. I thought that she was just making that stuff up so that she could keep me in her office. She was one of my fan girls even though I had just come back from abandoning the village.

"I would like that," he said. I could tell that the words were a little strained. I could tell that he was afraid to be with me. I couldn't blame him after everything that I had done to him, but I would show him that I could be a great boyfriend for him. I would show him that I loved him. I watched as a true smile worked its way onto his lips, but fear and uncertain happiness were all that were in his eyes. I would show him that I could be a great man. I would show him that he had nothing to worry about. I would show him that the only emotion that he needed to feel while he was with me is happiness. I would show him that I loved him more than anything in the world and that he deserved to be happy.

I pulled him closer to me so that I could bathe in his warmth. Even though we weren't actually touching, I could feel my body warm up while he was standing before me just like my hand had done against his. That reminded me that I still had his hand in my own. I lifted it slowly, making sure that he was okay with what I was about to do, and kissed it gently. I would have kissed his lips, but because of his previous quiet words I was afraid that he wouldn't want me to show such affection in front of people. His skin was so soft. I loved the feel of it against my lips. Compared to my own scarred skin, his skin was like silk. I lingered for a moment longer, until I felt that it would be weird if I stayed like that, before I looked back up at his face. He was smiling the brightest smile I had ever seen him use, but his eyes were so sad that I could barely bare to look at them. I wanted them to be happy. I wanted him to be happy. I would do anything to make him happy, no matter what the cost would be for me. Even if I have to kill the whole village to make him happy, I will.

"Move in with me?" I asked. I probably shouldn't have said it quite like that. It almost sounded like I was demanding him to move in with me, but that wasn't what I was doing at all. I just thought that if he moved in with me I would have more chances to make him happy. Not to mention the fact that the villagers wouldn't be able to break into his house and destroy all of his things like they usually did. I wasn't actually supposed to know that though. Naruto had been trying so hard to keep it a secret from the team, but I used to go to his house every now and again when I couldn't sleep because of bad dreams about Itachi killing the family. The place was almost always wrecked. It wouldn't be like that if he lived with me. I would make sure of it. Just like I would make sure that he was happy in the end.

"Yes," he smiled happily. There were tears falling from his sky blue eyes and I couldn't tell if they were tears of happiness or tears of sadness so I simply wiped them away from his cheeks as gently as I could with a small comforting smile of my own.

i bet you weren't expecting that.

i hope you guys like this chapter. i will post the next chapter in a week unless i get 10 reviews before then.