"How do you do it, Naruto?" A blonde boy, apparently lost in thought, snapped to attention at the sound of the voice and turned his head to blink at the pink-haired Kunoichi beside him.

"Sorry, what were you saying Sakura?" He replied, attempting to realign himself with the conversation they had been having before he'd wandered off into his own thoughts.

The girl tutted and shook her head, her pink bangs fluttering softly over her cheeks. "Have you even been listening to a single word I've said Naruto? Honestly, sometimes it's like talking to a brick wall!"

He spluttered in a comical way at the insult, and pointed a finger accusingly at the girl. "Hey! Don't be so mean, I was listening, I was also just... thinking." The blonde, Naruto, proceeded to pout and crossed his arms in his usual mock anger.

"You? Thinking? That's dangerous Naruto! You might... hurt yourself or-"

"Why you...!" Naruto hooked his arm around the girl's shoulders yanking her head towards him, she squealed as he proceeded to mess her hair all over her face.

"Nnnnnff! Naruto! Get offa me you great lump!" Twisting out of his grip, she attempted to scowl in a flustered way at Naruto as he chuckled beside her, his hands up in surrender. After making sure her hair was back to what it was meant to look like, and Naruto's laughter had died down, Sakura repeated her question.

"I'm talking about Sasuke" Naruto immediately scowled, knowing there was hardly ever a moment when Sakura wasn't talking or thinking about the raven-haired boy, and complete heartthrob, Sasuke Uchiha.

They had all been part of team seven for almost 6 months now, and Sakura still didn't show any signs of forgetting about her 'love' for Sasuke. Oh, how he wished she would see for herself how much of a teme he was! Not that he cared too much to try and get Sakura's loving attention on him much anymore... but still.

Sasuke was never in a good mood for a start, which made things awkward for the team when trying to get along for missions, as Naruto tended to be exactly what Sasuke avoided.

Bright and energetic, he was the exact opposite in many ways, and they quickly became sparring rivals once they had teamed together. It didn't stop them having some sort of friendship though, Naruto had mused, although they always fought verbally and sometimes physically, they never truly wanted to cause each other pain.

He vaguely remembered a while back, when Sasuke had been fighting with him out in the training grounds, and somehow Naruto had gotten knocked out during the scuffle. Apparently Sasuke had worried enough to take Naruto to the medic nins in the village, and only decided to leave once he saw Naruto crack a cerulean eye open somewhat groggily an hour later.

Both boys had decided never to speak of it again, as Naruto didn't want people to know he'd managed to be knocked out by the raven, and Sasuke didn't want the world to know he cared.

Grinning to himself, Naruto slipped back into conversation just in time to hear Sakura's question.

"..I mean you always seem to know what he's saying, even if he doesn't speak! You're like 'Teme, you know that's not going to work, we tried that last time.' and I can't understand it... I mean, he says nothing! No nod or shake of the head or any sort of sign language. How do you do it? How do you know what he's thinking?"

Naruto looked up at Sakura, and he noticed two different emotions in her eyes. Curiosity, she really was just wondering whether Naruto had some special talent, and pleading.

He knew what that meant; she wanted to be taught how to do it too. To her, maybe it was like being let into Sasuke's world, to know what he was always thinking.

Naruto half-shrugged, taking the time to phrase his answer.

"It's... hard to explain. I mean at first it was like... body language and stuff. You know, like if he scowls you assume he's unhappy, but sometimes I can tell that's not right, he isn't unhappy... he just doesn't know how to show an emotion. Or he wants to pretend he's irritated to hide the fact that secretly he wants to laugh, because I've gone and fallen into a lake or done something stupid again. But he thinks he can't show that... he wants to have no emotion... if you ask me he's got that stick shoved so far up his- Ooft!"

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed, elbowing him in the ribs. "Don't be so mean about Sasuke-kun!" She tutted once again, but more out of habit than genuine annoyance. She was used to Naruto's constant verbal assaults towards her – no – the Sasuke Uchiha.

She pushed her hair behind her ears as Naruto grimaced.

"I was just telling the truth! You did ask me."

"Well... I wanted you to explain how you do it. Not go shouting to the whole street about how he irritates you." Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head absently, looking forward into the crowded street. Somehow, Sakura's words didn't seem right to him.

He searched the area around the statue they were currently leaning against, trying to find the raven-haired boy somewhere out there.

Finally he spotted him, standing by a market stall looking as bored and irritated as ever, inspecting an eight-bladed shurikun he held in his hand. Apparently the stall was selling them, as the woman behind it kept trying in vain to strike up a conversation with the ninja, and at times flirt with him. But even from a distance, Naruto could tell he was just annoyed by the woman and ignored her.

No, Sasuke himself didn't irritate Naruto; it was his need to be emotionally detached from everyone and everything.

How would being a stoic bastard help him in his dream for revenge? Fighting as a team was the way they were taught to complete missions as ninja, because it was the most efficient and effective way of doing so. And with teamwork, they had managed to beat all of the enemies they had come across so far within Team Seven. But Sasuke had decided that his revenge was his alone, and nobody else could help him with it because they just didn't or wouldn't understand.

To Naruto it was absurd, if he defeated his brother by himself or with fifteen other ninja, what was the difference? He still got revenge didn't he? And it would come about a damn sight easier and quicker within a team.

Sitting down at the base of the statue, Naruto's gaze flicked back to Sakura, who was now eyeing up Sasuke again, a wistful look in her eye. Quickly, he decided to look away with a scowl and cleared his throat to get her attention. "Look at him now, what would you say he's thinking?"

"Uhh... Sasuke-kun you mean? Well... I guess bored, he doesn't really look any different to usual does he?"

Naruto leaned back against the statue, hands behind his head, and grinned at Sakura. "You sure? I'd say he looks curious." He nodded to himself.

"Yeah, you can tell cause of the way his eyes have lit up a little, and that woman sure looks like she's irritating him. I mean, look! She keeps trying to flirt with the teme when he's inspecting the weapons; he hates it when I talk all the time when he's trying to concentrate. "After a pause, where both Naruto and Sakura watched Sasuke move the shurikun about in his hands with obvious skill, Naruto continued.

"So... as to what he's thinking, mostly it'd be about the shurikun and using it at practise 'n stuff, but every time the lady tries to say something I'll bet you he's mentally telling her to F-off!" Closing his eyes and grinning, Naruto mentally patted himself on the back for having such skills at keying into body language.

After a moment of internal debate on Sakura's part, she piped up beside him.

"How come I can't get all that from just watching him...? And what did you mean about his eyes? Isn't…" She paused, looking conflicted for a moment, before her expression became more playful.

"… isn't seeing emotion in someone's eyes something cliché, and entirely cheesy, from a romance novel? I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to notice something like that Naruto."

Growling, Naruto opened one eye to look at the smug pink-haired kunoichi beside him. He opened his mouth to reply that no, actually he was just a great ninja with awesome skills when it came to understanding emotions, when a deep voice interrupted them.

"Notice something like what?" The bored gaze of said Sasuke Uchiha was now trained on both teens by the statue, in his hand he flicked about the shurikun, he had apparently purchased a few minutes before, with skill and grace. Naruto snapped his jaw shut and crossed his arms defiantly; he knew what was coming next.

Sasuke raised a delicate eyebrow at Naruto, and then turned his attention to Sakura, who proceeded to flush and giggle under his gaze. Naruto rolled his eyes so only Sasuke could see.

"Sasuke-kun! I umm... I wanted to know if you'd like to come for lunch with me. I mean, at the little restaurants around here or something."

To be fair to Sakura, she was trying awfully hard, Naruto mused. And if he didn't know any better, he'd probably assume Sasuke's look meant he was considering it.

But Naruto knew too well what it meant, it said I'd rather go for lunch with Naruto than you, and that's saying something.To which, Naruto took immediate offense, scoffing and retorting before he could stop himself.

"Teme, you know you just want to spend time with me because you love me."

Sasuke turned to look at him, expression blank, but his eyes betraying him by shining in a you're an idiot, Naruto kind of way. Or something similar.

It took the blonde a minute to realise what he'd just said, and how it must have sounded to Sakura who hadn't understood Sasuke's inner thoughts. He sounded almost like a fan girl trying to fight for the bastard!

And she obviously thought it sounded like that, as she glared at him looking for an answer to his outburst. Sasuke on the other hand looked even more amused at his struggle, a smirk neatly plastered over his pale lips. Dobe, you fall for it every time.

"Uhh... Sakura, that wasn't what it sounded like I... er..."

Sasuke's smirk grew wider, speaking volumes to Naruto. Try digging yourself out of this one, dobe.

Naruto flushed. "Hey, look, you... Teme! Stop looking at me like that, it's not funny. And I am not a dobe!"

"Naruto, what is going on?" Sakura looked from Sasuke to Naruto, thoroughly confused as to how exactly Sasuke had called him a dobe without speaking. "Will one of you please explain."

Sakura was a lot softer when Sasuke was around, and Naruto just knew if it had just been them together she would be shouting him down until he gave an answer. Thankfully, she wouldn't do it in front of her precious Sasuke.

"He... that asshole... " Exasperated, Naruto just tried to explain as best he could, throwing in his usual insults for effect, so as not to let Sakura get even more annoyed and actually end up punching him. "I can just tell what he's thinking. And he was thinking, dobe! To me!"

He could tell Sakura was sceptical, but she decided to believe him for a minute to ask an annoyingly bad question.

"So what was Sasuke thinking when I asked him to go to lunch with me?" She looked over to Sasuke at that, the wistful look back in her eyes as Naruto squirmed.

"Sa-kura! I can't answer that... " He whimpered. Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto and cut across his begging.

"Just tell her, dobe. I know you understood me well enough." He smirked again as Naruto glared at him. No use backing out now, you said you knew what I was thinking.

"Teme! I'm gonna kill you when we get back to the training grounds." He growled as menacingly as he could while Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.

Sakura nudged him, urging him with an I'm-going-to-kill-you-later-too-if-you-don't-reply kind of expression. "Are you going to answer me or not?"

Squirming once again under both their gazes. But Naruto chose the easy option like always, and called several clones to the area in one swift movement.

"GO!" In 5 seconds each clone, plus the real Naruto somewhere in the middle, dispersed down the street mixing with the crowds. Each clone looked identically like Naruto, and neither Sakura nor Sasuke would be able to detect the real Naruto when they were all moving so fast.

They jumped and dodged waves of people on their way to the exit out towards forest, each grinning with delight as they realised neither Sasuke nor Sakura attempted to follow... at first.

After gathering his breath in the shade of the trees within Konoha forest, Naruto grimaced. "Sakura's gonna give me hell for bailing...ugh..."

Pushing away from the tree, he slowly turned, wiping his hand through his tangled blonde locks, shaking out beads of sweat as he did so. Sighing, he removed his forehead protector to allow the cool breeze to get to his face easier. A minute later he stripped off his jacket and black t-shirt so he stood topless to cool off.

Running, jumping, dodging people, and maintaining the clones all the way to the forest had given him a mini workout. Not that he wasn't used to it, as a ninja with awesome skills.

If Sasuke had thought Naruto was even the slightest bit attractive with his forehead protector and jacket on that was nothing compared to now. He'd seen him take off the protector and even the jacket many times, but the exercise had done a lot of good for his flushed face, and shining eyes. The sunlight catching his tanned skin as he moved also helped.

Sasuke had always known Naruto was attractive, he had caught the attention of many people enough for Sasuke to confess to himself that, yes, Naruto was... pleasing.

The breeze rustled through the blonde hair, allowing it to brush Naruto's face delicately and fall so close to his bright eyes.

Naruto was, at least in Sasuke's view, a dobe for being so oblivious to the attention he received. The raven seemed to be the only one who Naruto would fight with, who Naruto would endeavour to understand, who Naruto would even listen to most of the time. Sasuke was the one Naruto would always try to impress, not Sakura, not even Kakashi, the only opinion he cared about was Sasuke's.

Bringing his attention back to the present, he began admiring the blonde once again. The baggy clothes did nothing for the physique hidden underneath, which Sasuke always attempted to reveal during their numerous sparring matches.

Naruto stretched out his arms behind his head in what was his signature pose, to gaze up at the sky, a satisfied smile on his face. He decided he would deal with Sakura's anger later, and just enjoy his temporary freedom.

Sasuke, still hidden from view some way away, could see quite clearly the muscles in Naruto's back, rippling with every slight movement. And the sweat, from running so far on a hot midsummer day, did a lot for the raven. It dripped, deliberately slowly it seemed, down from his soft blonde hair, onto his neck towards his shoulder blades, curving each time it met a muscle in its path, all the way down to the black pants below. It was fascinating to watch, and Sasuke almost wanted to reach out to stop it from teasing him, until Naruto made it worse by turning slowly around and dragging his hand through his hair.

Without thinking properly, Sasuke dropped the jutsu which hid his chakra from being detected, and Naruto froze.

"Sasuke...?" He whispered, blinking towards where he felt Sasuke's presence. Deciding there was little point in still hiding; Sasuke stepped out from behind the tree, walking slowly towards the blonde. He hoped, prayed, that he had a normal look on his face, and he was not about to blush! It was the heat. Definitely the heat.

Naruto seemed to sense the difference in Sasuke's walk and sent a quizzical look to him before grabbing his discarded shirt and holding it to him, as if he subconsciously wanted to cover himself up. Sasuke disapproved.

"How did you find me?"

Sasuke snorted, glad to be side-tracked, and smirked at the blonde shaking his head. "You always forget to mask your chakra signal; you know people can find you easy if you don't hide it." Dobe.

Naruto scowled "I'm not a dobe." Sasuke's smirk grew wider. "And I just... decided not to mask my chakra, that's all."

Sure, dobe.

"Stop calling me that, teme!" Naruto's face flushed darker slightly in embarrassment at forgetting such a vital detail. But honestly, how was he supposed to remember to do it when he had other things on his mind? Namely what had happened earlier to lead him so far into the forest.

Blushing even darker at the thought, he turned away from Sasuke and proceeded to attempt to put his black shirt back on.

"Oofft!" Pinned straight to a tree. "Teme! What are you doing!"

Stopping you from covering yourself up. "Pinning you to a tree, what does it look like?"

"I... but... that... Teme! You're so impatient. Can I please just put my shirt back on before we have our fight?"

Naruto thought they were fighting, cute really.

Yes, because pinning someone to a tree and standing this close to them , knee placed strategically in between the blonde's legs, holding his arms hostage above his head, and Sasuke's face slightly flushed from the contact (a fact which Sasuke would vehemently deny if Naruto noticed), was entirely because he wanted to fight Naruto.

"We're not fighting. We're talking." Came the sharp reply a minute later.

"I... what? Why?"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he noticed Sasuke's grip release on his arms and instead rest against the tree behind, effectively cutting off escape routes on both sides. Sasuke and Naruto hardly talked during these sorts of confrontations, usually trading insults and throwing kunai worked out better for the two.

"Then why can't we talk like normal people?" Naruto huffed, after getting no reply from the stoic raven.

"Because we aren't normal people." The black-haired ninja paused for a moment, contemplating. His expression calm and somewhat exposed, something only Naruto had been privileged enough to see, much to the blonde's satisfaction. He adored getting one over Sakura and every other fan girl, albeit secretly.

He was pulled quickly from his wandering thoughts when Sasuke continued.

"Tell me, what was it you wouldn't tell Sakura?" Naruto blinked at this, he really wasn't expecting that. Sasuke never cared to mention Sakura, unless it concerned a new mission or something she had done wrong.

So Naruto concluded Sasuke was either delusional or...

"Hey!" He pointed an accusing finger in the raven's face, making said raven's face pull back sharply. "Are you Sakura trying to trick me? You are, aren't you?" Cupping the raven's surprised face with both hands he narrowed his eyes in search of something, anything that would give it away.

Sasuke, after the initial shock, raised a delicate eyebrow at the blonde. Dobe.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto pulled his hands away and folded his arms, still looking slightly disbelieving at the Uchiha. His disbelief seemed to anger Sasuke.

"As if Sakura could possibly know how to act like me. She knows absolutely nothing about me." The blonde blinked at the boy in front of him, shocked by how bitter he sounded.

But then, he realised, he guessed he was right. She really didn't understand him. She never really listened to anything he said, or what he didn't say, never took enough notice of his body language when he felt certain emotions.

Naruto saw it, he saw it all. The moments of weakness he tried so desperately to hide, and even those moments of true happiness, which were so rare Naruto often wondered if he'd dreamed them.

Sakura never saw those moments. Although she stared at him whenever he was near her, it seemed she never really saw him at all.

Focusing again on the boy before him, Naruto noticed a faraway look and coughed to get his attention. The raven's black orb eyes snapped back to focus on blue in a second, and seemed to dance with amusement making the blonde squirm, it meant nothing good.

"So, dobe, will you answer my question? What wouldn't you tell Sakura?"

Narrowing his bright blue eyes, the blonde gave another huff of annoyance. After a moment, he flushed and mumbled something incoherently under his breath, making the raven smirk.

"I'm afraid you'll have to say it louder than that, dobe."

"I am not a dobe!" He couldn't help but retaliate, and fisted his hands to his sides, still unable to move due to the raven's hands clamped on either side of him. Gazing away from Sasuke and pouting, he attempted to explain without sounding idiotic. He failed.

"Well... it er... seemed to me that you said... you said you'd rather... go to lunch with me than... with her."

A very red Naruto determinedly stared over the raven's shoulder, avoiding his gaze and looking altogether cuter than ever before. "But... she meant it like a date way so I don't get why you'd think you'd want to go with me instead, I mea-"

Without letting the blonde finish his thoroughly rushed sentence, the Uchiha decided talky-time was over. And proceeded to place a pale hand sharply over Naruto's mouth.

Naruto attempted to struggle at first but he froze, noticing black eyes watching him, not with anger, mirth, or the usual air of smugness, but with something akin to caring.

Naruto was silenced, and though his confusion rendered his body unmoving, his eyes darted all over Sasuke's face. He drunk in the look and attempted to determine whether or not Sasuke was either faking it, again being delusional, or if he wasn't actually Sasuke at all. He found nothing, except the strange look in his eye.

"Naruto..."

That just wasn't right. Nope, no, Sasuke did not just say his name in a caring, soft, and loving voice. This wasn't happening. Sasuke wouldn't do that.

Sasuke slid his gaze away and walked backwards a step or two, still looking so much more open than Naruto had ever seen him. He dropped his hand from Naruto's mouth as he moved away, and opened his own. It took him a minute, staring at Naruto's shoulder, to actually speak.

"You're the only one who..." He focused back on Naruto, and looked more determined, as if he'd suddenly figured out what to say.

"You're so oblivious to everybody else. You walk and people notice you, but you don't notice them noticing you. Sakura even notices how much you've changed since the beginning, how... attractive you are."

Naruto choked on the air at that, but Sasuke continued, louder.

"You've never noticed or cared for anyone's opinions. Although you complain when others criticise you, you don't dwell on them. Any of them, except mine." He paused, watching Naruto for any reaction beyond choking on air. Not knowing what else to do, Naruto nodded in agreement. After all, it was true.

Sasuke didn't give him time to elaborate, even if he had wanted to, because he continued as if he'd always wanted to say all this. "My opinion of you should matter very little, as you continue to go beyond what anyone thought you could. You seem to enjoy being told you can't, because you always prove that you can." He paused.

"So, why me? Why does what I think matter more than anyone else?"

Naruto just looked at him. He had never once questioned himself about these things, having never really noticed his own behaviour. Now, being shown how strange his actions were, and apparently being praised, yes praised, by Sasuke was causing him a headache.

"Uh…" When it became clear that Sasuke wanted a real, genuine, actual reply, Naruto attempted to switch his brain in gear.

"See, thing is… I guess… we are similar." Naruto shook his head. "Wait no.. uh, I'll start from the beginning… maybe."

He didn't actually know where he was going to go with his answer, but he hoped it would make sense. And maybe stop Sasuke from staring at him in what could only be described as a yearning way, like he wanted him to say something profound. Naruto wasn't sure he could.

"Okay, well, when we were... you know... a lot younger at the academy. I was always the one who did things wrong on purpose and messed around, making fun of people" Naruto smiled to himself at that, he had been an awful student. "…and not really… not really fitting in."

"I didn't do it for fun. I did it because I felt left out, and alone. I did it all because I wanted some attention for once, because no-one cared. No-one would even look at me! Like I was some… irrational, hate-driven monster child! I did it all because it felt better to be laughed at, and glared at, than to not been noticed at all."

At this, Sasuke moved. Slowly, he came closer to Naruto, almost as if he wanted to comfort him with his presence. It only made Naruto a little more nervous.

"And you… you were the opposite. Everyone noticed you, everyone loved you. I had a thing for Sakura then, and she did nothing but ignore me and go all gooey-eyed for you. You passed everything with no effort, you were amazing, and people let you know. I hated you… for that. Just for being you, you got everything and I had nothing."

Naruto was quick to look up at Sasuke, for fear of offending him, but the raven's eyes betrayed nothing but his desire to listen. So Naruto continued, thinking that actually, his story was making sense now.

"So… so, uh, when we had to team together, it annoyed me like hell. Sakura was with me, which I liked, but with you there I'd be unwelcome. Again, unnoticed.." Sasuke shifted, placing an arm on the tree to the right of Naruto, not pinning him in place, but bringing himself a lot closer again. Naruto flushed, but he felt more confident now.

"But it didn't happen like that. I never got Sakura's attention, that's true, but I got yours instead." Sasuke seemed to smirk at him. "I.. well.. I began to act more like me, the real me, because I really really wanted to do well, to be a great ninja."

"You are a great ninja." If Naruto hadn't seen his lips move, he wouldn't have believed Sasuke had said it. It wasn't smug and patronising, but it wasn't just nonchalant either, instead he spoke softly and sincerely, almost at a whisper.

Naruto just looked at him, unsure of what to say. He knew he looked startled; Sasuke had never been this nice to him, this complimenting. It made his face heat up, and his eyes turn away.

"Continue."

"Uh…"

"Please."

Naruto cleared his throat. "Okay, well… I, uh, I just started being me. Not being the joker anymore, the idiot." At that, Sasuke smirked again, but Naruto saw only teasing in his eyes and ignored it for once.

"I tried really hard to get attention by being good at things, ninja skills, everything. Because that's how you did it. Sakura, she still didn't notice me, but you, you did. You began talking to me, around Sakura. You didn't want her attention, you seemed to hate it. You chose me over her, I mean, who could? "

"Easily."

"Well… I found it hard to believe anyway. I wanted to understand why you'd ever want to talk to me over Sakura, so I watched you. I watched you all the time... and tried so hard to be more like you. But the more I started to understand you, the more Sakura suddenly wanted to speak to me. Because she saw that you spoke to me."

He shook his head, making his blonde hair brush over his face and temporarily distracting the raven. "Sakura was… well, she isn't a mean person. Not at all! I don't think she really knew she was doing it, and we're friends now. I just… realised that all she wanted then, was to use me to get to you."

He looked at Sasuke at that moment.

"I understood you, at least, how you felt when you said or did things. Your body language isn't too hard to get. I know you try to stay blank and show nothing, but your eyes give it away every time."

Sasuke blinked at him. "You notice my eyes?"

"Yeah, yeah... Sakura already said it. I'm apparently not supposed to notice that, or whatever."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"Uh... anyway, I could tell that you didn't hate me. You said things, and did things that made Sakura and everyone else think we hated each other, but I know you don't and I know I don't."

Naruto furrowed his brow, trying to figure out how to conclude his little speech.

"I used to want to be you…" He began. "Then, I wanted to be like you."

He took a deep breath, and steered himself towards some sort of finish.

"Now… I just want to be… with you. You're the only one who cared to speak to me, when nobody else did. So I want to stay with you, be the best, uh, best-est friend that I can so that you would want to stay with me too. I didn't ever want you to leave because you caring about me made me care about you. So, uh… obviously I care about your opinions, I want you to always… want to talk to me."

Naruto finished, relieved that he'd even managed to find an answer, albeit a complicated and strange one. He glanced at Sasuke when it became clear that the raven was not speaking, but just staring at him.

"What…? Did I say something wrong?"

"No. You said..." He looked conflicted, and eventually leaned in very very close to Naruto's face. The look in his eyes was one that, for once, Naruto wasn't sure he could interpret properly. "You want to be with me."

The realisation of what he had implied made him blush redder than a tomato and he instinctively jumped to the side, away from Sasuke.

Naruto remained speechless for a second. "I... you..." He really had no idea what to say.

There was a very long pause, and Sasuke made a surprised sound at the back of his throat.

"Are you going to tell me you didn't mean it like that, or not?"

Really, Naruto should say that. He truly hadn't meant that he wanted to be with Sasuke. He hadn't meant it like that, he really hadn't. Sasuke, however, did not look disgusted, or angry, or even negative about the idea at all, that's what made Naruto stay silent.

In fact, Sasuke's face was blank, but his eyes danced. They spoke only of surprise, and oddly, a strong curiosity.

He was studying Naruto, searching for something. Apparently he found it.

In an instant, Naruto was once again pinned to a tree. A different tree, but that didn't matter. What mattered to Naruto was, in fact, that Sasuke was kissing him.

He was in shock at first, focusing on making sure this wasn't just some weird and twisted dream.

After a moment, Sasuke pulled away.

They were so close, sharing the air between them. Naruto couldn't speak, and Sasuke watched him, releasing his grip on Naruto's arms, seeming to expect the blonde to flee.

They stood, breathing heavier than normal, and both flushed in the face.

After a minute or two, and realising that Naruto was actually not running away, but waiting, Sasuke glanced at Naruto's lips, where he had been moments before.

Naruto made no effort to move, and he wasn't really sure why. So he watched, and waited, as Sasuke glanced back at his eyes, appearing to ask for some kind of permission. Naruto swallowed thickly, but couldn't take his eyes away from Sasuke. His gaze was intense.

Deliberately slower, and gentler this time, Sasuke leaned closer. He was a centimetre away from kissing the blonde again, but stilled.

Naruto had apparently been expecting the kiss, and he made a very odd and very unintentional sound of annoyance at the back of his throat. Sasuke seemed to stop breathing at that, and Naruto's mind was reeling.

He wasn't sure how he felt, what he was doing with Sasuke, and what the consequences of such a thing would be. What he did know, was that he badly wanted Sasuke to kiss him again. To feel that need so strongly, and the boy he had hated, idolised, and now loved (as just a best friend or… well, he wasn't sure), to hold him so close.

He moved before he had made up his mind, and closed the gap between their lips. Sasuke inhaled sharply, but nevertheless pushed back against Naruto, softer than before.

After a second of Naruto's voluntary taste on his mouth, Sasuke decided he wanted more and reached a hand behind Naruto's head to yank on his hair, making the blonde gasp and part his lips.

Exactly what he'd wanted, he dove his tongue inside the cavern, moaning at the taste of Naruto that seemed so intoxicating to him. After several minutes of heat, and light, and Sasuke smothering all of Naruto's senses at once, his brain kicked into gear.

What am I doing! Kissing. Sasuke. Uchiha. WHAT?

How is this even happening?

The consequences of these actions sprang to the forefront of his mind. Sakura's hatred, Kakashi and Iruka Sensei's disapproval maybe, and Sasuke's disgusted denial if he realised he didn't want this.

Not quite knowing what else to do, he placed both hands on the raven's chest, pushing him off of him. Sasuke made a deliciously needy sound at the back of his throat once he realised he'd be separated from the precious taste and licked his lips staring back at the blonde.

Naruto went silent for a moment, attempting to ignore, the lust gathering inside the coal black eyes of the Uchiha. "You don't… want this." He really had no idea what else to say, except to stare pleadingly at Sasuke, hoping that wasn't true.

"And Sakura is going to kill me..."

Sasuke made a growling sound, and straightened up, taking a moment to walk back towards Naruto, close his eyes, and breathe deeply. It made Naruto nervous.

He placed his hands on either side of the blonde without looking. Naruto waited in silence.

Sasuke quickly opened his eyes.

Dobe.

"You-"

"I... I am not a dobe!" Naruto shouted, saying the first thing that came to mind, to make the situation seem just a little bit more normal, and not heartbreaking or anything.

After several seconds of blinking from the black-haired ninja, and flushed fake glares from a spluttering blonde, the rarest of sounds filled the air.

Laughter. Sasuke was laughing. The Sasuke Uchiha. The stoic, I-wont-show-any-emotion-on-the-outside-because-it' ll-make-me-weak Uchiha. Was laughing.

It sounded delicious. It sounded unbelievable. But there he was, arms resting either side of Naruto, head resting on the blonde shoulder, laughing like he'd been able to, all along. Like he had laughed every day so easily.

And to Naruto, the sound was like music. He'd never heard a sound sweeter than the laughter of Sasuke Uchiha. It made him tickle inside with a sort of happiness he'd never felt before, the situation was no longer heartbreaking, and Naruto was no longer quite so unsure. Sasuke was here, now, showing more emotion than he'd ever shown to anyone.

So Naruto took a chance, and brought his arms up to grab Sasuke's waist, pulling him closer.

After a moment the laughter died down, and the raven pulled his head far enough away to look sideways at Naruto, a small smile tugging at his lips.

A beautiful sight. A magical sight. He stared at those lips as they slowly opened, and spoke.

"I can't believe you were angrier about me thinking you're a dobe, than the fact that I kissed you? You think I'd just do something like that without considering the consequences first? You truly are a usuratonkachi." The raven smirked as Naruto grew red once again, and breathed lightly on the blonde's neck increasing the redness.

"I... you're… still a teme."

There was a pause, and Naruto just had to hear it said aloud.

"So this... is okay then?"

"You're asking me that, now? After everything that just happened? Yes, this is what I want."

Sighing, half in defeat, half in overwhelming happiness, Naruto pulled the raven in even closer, and nuzzled into his neck softly. The only response was a soft snort, before Sasuke spoke again.

"Dobe."

"I am not a-"

His automatic retort was swallowed into a heated kiss, which he returned tenfold... once his brain had managed to figure out that he was indeed being kissed again.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, it makes me incredibly happy! This was written back when I was 16 years old (I'm 19 now) and was edited/reposted just recently. The story is a one-shot and is not intended to be continued BUT if someone else wanted to continue, or wants to attempt to convince me to continue it I might be persuaded to do a two-shot. It's a little difficult considering I haven't watched Naruto in a long, long time but there we are.

Once again, thank you so much! Eve x