Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Innocent Illusions ❯ The Realization ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: Well, here is the eighth chapter.

Thank you to everyone who sent this story a review. :)

Anyways, on to the story!






Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Co.





Innocent Illusions


Naruto walked slowly to the gate while watching out for running children that would undoubtedly run into him. He had decided to skip his usual morning banters. Naruto wanted to talk to all his friends, but he wanted even more to be at the bar. Besides, this kind of decision would only happen occasionally so Naruto didn't think his friends would mind. So here he was, walking to the gate or at least he thought he was until a familiar voice called him.

"Naruto!" He turned at the unexpected obstacle standing in between him and the gate that would release him out of the village before giving his usual friendly smile and a big wave toward the figure.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" She ran over before she dropped into an exhausted position with her hands grasping her legs, her back slumped over, and her head looking at the ground as her breathing came out in short pants. "What's wrong with you?"

"I've... been running... all over the village... looking for... you." She said between tired pants. "Just... give me a minute. I'll... be back to normal." Sakura gave one last deep breathe before looking up and giving Naruto a smile. "Okay, I'm fine now."

"So why have you been trying to find me?" Naruto couldn't help it, but some impatience leaked into his voice. He just really, really wanted to get to the bar quick. Naruto mentally smiled when Sakura showed no signs of becoming angry.

"We have to talk." She said casually although, it still carried a commanding tone.

"Why don't you tell me later? I have to go to work. I don't wanna be late." Naruto gave her one last smile before turning away to leave. He was stopped when a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Umm... Sakura?"

"Can't you just stay a little longer? I don't think your boss would mind if you were a little late." Sakura softly asked before Naruto gave her a negative shake.

"Nope. They're really strict about that kinda stuff. Sorry." He turned again and started walking away slowly.

"I'll treat you to ramen." She called out in a sing-song voice. Naruto stopped momentarily as he thought over the cruel decision. Damn temptation!

His head had a forced smile on it when it turned around to face Sakura. "Nice try, but I really have to go." Wow, who ever would've thought he would've turned down ramen? Naruto gave himself a mental pat on the back. He had gotten over his greatest weakness! There should be a kind of award for this achievement. Ha. I bet Iruka would never believe me if I told him I turned down ramen. I, Uzumaki Naruto, the greatest ninja in the world, has-

"I'll treat you to Ichiraku's Ramen Special." Sakura stated smugly. Naruto gulped as his body refused to comply with his orders and move. His mind had two teams that were currently battling. One was saying that Naruto should go quickly while the other half kept on chanting the words over and over again. Ichiraku's Ramen Special.

"You mean, the ramen with the silky noodles and golden broth?" Naruto said hesitantly while Sakura gave him a confirmative nod. "A-and the one that has everything on it?"

"Yup, beef, pork, and anything else you can dream of!" Sakura smiled when Naruto turned around and walked a little less proudly toward her.

"Fine." Naruto said with a dramatic sigh. "If you insist."

"Good." Naruto thought over his previous smug thoughts, suddenly feeling a little less great. Like I said before, damn temptation!

They walked silently to the bar. Sakura gave the orders to Ayame before turning toward Naruto, who looked strangely at her.

"Aren't you gonna order anything?"

"No." Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at Sakura's short answer.

"Then, why'd you take me here?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you, and this is the only place where you would listen to me." Naruto sighed. Sakura knew him too well.

"So... what did you want to tell me?" Naruto smiled at Ayame as she placed the scrumptious bowl of in front of him.

"Well, I wanted to tell you today is a special day."

"Oh, yeah?" Naruto was in a drug-like trance as he inhaled the intoxicating fumes from the ramen.

"Today is...," Naruto grabbed his chopsticks and lifted the precious noodles out of its bowl. "... Sai's birthday!" The noodles fell back into the water creating a small splash that went by unnoticed by the two.

"What? How did... He said Danzou never told him when his birthday was. How did you find out?"

"Well, we never had that much time whenever there were missions, but now there's an era of peace! So a few months ago, I searched through all the old documents filed under Sai and found out that his birthday is today!" Naruto was about to speak, but Sakura sent him a look to tell him she wasn't finished. "And I planned a surprise party for him tonight!"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could've helped." Naruto said before turning back to his previously forgotten ramen.

"I don't know. I kinda thought you would've told him." Naruto paused before he took a bite out of the noodles.

"What? You know I wouldn't tell him that!" He complained.

"I know, but you tend to let things slip. And Sai, he's too perceptive for his own good."

"Do you remember him in the beginning? When he used to call us names because he thought they were good nicknames? I don't think that's what you call 'too perceptive'." Naruto chomped angrily on his noodles. Why wasn't he able to know the secret?

"Well, I don't know. He just gets things quickly. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, but I want to surprise him. This is his first birthday party, Naruto. I wanted to make it special." He nodded at her reasons, but he still couldn't get rid of his annoyance of being left out.

"So is that all you're gonna tell me?" He was halfway done with his noodles, its unique flavor slowly bringing up his spirits.

"No, I wanted to tell you that you better be there."

"You didn't have to tell me that. Just tell me it was Sai's birthday, and I'll be there." Naruto said before he picked up the bowl and began to chug down the broth. He put the bowl down and gave a satisfied sigh. Sakura surprised him when she reached over and patted his mouth a napkin. Erasing the traces of his sloppy eating.

"You are the messiest person ever." She put the napkin down and smiled gently. "You never change."

"What's wrong?" There was melancholy tone in her voice that alerted Naruto.

"Well, Naruto, you're Sai's best friend, and I bet he would really want you there tonight." Naruto looked strangely at Sakura. Why was she doubting him? His friends were everything to him. He would never abandon them.

"You know I'll be there."

"I just can't be sure. I mean... you spend too much time working at that bar, and we never get to see you anymore. Everyone notices that you spend way too much time at that place. Why do you like going back there?" Naruto frowned at the thought. He couldn't tell her about Sasuke yet.

"I... have to take care of something there. But I promise, as soon as it's over, I'll probably quit and come back here. So you have nothing to worry about." He gave her one of his full of confidence grin which caused her to smile.

"Okay." They got off their stools and walked outside. "Well, you better head to work."

"Yeah. Nice talking to you again Sakura." He gave her a small wave before turning around to leave.

"But remember, try not to let anything slip when you see him at the gate." She shouted.

"I won't." He shouted back before picking up speed and disappearing and then reappearing at the gate. "Hey, Sai!"

"Hello, Naruto. Leaving for work?" He said behind the stand.

"Yup." Naruto said before he swung his arm around Sai. "Have a happy birthday today!" He chirped in excitement before he could stop himself.

"What? Today is my...," Naruto pulled back his arm when he realized what he had done. "Is that what Sakura wants to talk to me about later?" So this is what Sakura meant when she said that Sai was perceptive.

"Uhh... no. My mistake. I mean, it's Shikarmaru's birthday!" He walked over to the man who was sitting besides Sai and swung his arm around him who in return, gave him a 'You're an idiot' look. Apparently, he must've been part of the plan which was messed up by Naruto.

"But Shikamaru's birthday isn't until a few months from now." Naruto hoped that Shikamaru would try to help him out but instead, the man planned to watch the scene before him instead.

"Well, I... didn't know that. Sorry, Shikamaru."

"Whatever." He said boredly before he pulled Naruto's arm off of him.

"So... uhh... I gotta go now. Okay?" Naruto said before he ran out of sight. Sai looked curiously at Shikamaru who gave him a shrug.

"It's Naruto." He said as if that would explain everything.

"Ah." Sai said before he turned back to the work.


~*~*~*~*~*~


"Ha. You're late. Kana's gonna get you." Mina said as Naruto rushed to put on his uniform. "It's kinda hard to believe you're late though."

"Why?" Naruto closed his locker and tied the messy fake locks into a ponytail. The hair was annoying him today. How can girls stand to have them so long? They get in your face, and then they get tangled and then-

"As if you don't know." His rant was cut short by the confusing sentence.

"Uhh... I don't."

"How could you not know? It's just like that time you didn't even remember the one month anniversary thing." Naruto sent a careless shrug toward her.

"I've never really thought that stuff was important." He said as they walked out into the bar.

"But that's like... nevermind. You're the weirdest girl I've ever met, Sobame-chan." Her statement caused Naruto to snort but luckily, the noise in the bar covered it.

"Yeah. So anyways, why is it so hard to believe I'm late?"

"Well, I don't really have the proof since I just came, but Akane and Miyu told me-"

"Hey, guys! I need you to get to work." Kana yelled before the two scurried away.

It was a slow day so not that many people came to the bar. The other waitresses huddled into a little discussion circle while Naruto hurried to the other customers. When he finally had some free time, he walked over to join them.

"So what are you guys talking about?"

"You were late today?" Miyu asked, amazed.

"Yeah, my friend needed to tell me something. What's so bad about it?"

"Well, it's just that you're never late...," Akane said.

"No, I was late before sometimes." He said tiredly. Sometimes, the girls' dug too far into an action to look for some hidden meaning. Their excuse was that they were hopeless romantics who were bored so they felt the need to mess with Naruto who had the most exciting life out of all of them. Oh, yay. You could just sense the sarcasm in his thoughts.

"You used to be late a lot." Miyu corrected.

"So? I got here on time more and more eventually."

"But you were always at least late once a week before he came." Mina jumped into the trio. Honestly, Naruto had no idea where they were going with this. How does being punctual relate to Sasuke?

"And?" The girls sighed when Naruto still didn't get it.

"Well, you would usually never really care about time that much. Now, you're always looking at the clock. Why? Because you're waiting for him." Akane stated.

"Well, it's either I check the clock or I'd have to keep checking the spot he sits at. And that means that I'd have to go back and forth and back and forth and back-"

"Stop, Sobame-chan. Tell us why you keep checking the time." Mina interrogated.

"Umm... Because I want to know what time it is." Naruto said, very confused. He still didn't see their point.

"You're getting closer. Now, why do you want to know?" Miyu asked. They all watched him closely while he racked his brain for the answer they wanted.

"I want to know, because... I don't know." They sent him another disappointed look that he was starting to get very tired of.

"No! Because you have to know the time for you to sit with him." Naruto wrinkled his nose at Miyu's answer.

"You already told me that!"

"And you still didn't get it!" Miyu replied. "Okay, so you didn't get that. Then... tell me this. You seem happier ever since he showed up. Why?" Naruto grinned. This one was easy.

"Because most of the men stopped touching and flirting with me." His grin faded away when the girls' sent him another 'How can you not get this?' look.

"Okay, keep on going." Naruto made a face at Akane when she turned her voice into the one she would use to teach her two-year-old daughter. "Why did they stop?"

"I don't know." Damn it! Naruto was getting irked with their repetitious facial expressions. "All I know is that they stopped when I started to sit with the bastard."

"Well, you're making some progress." Miyu said with a happier expression before it turned into confused one. "You call the beautiful stranger 'bastard'? You have a weird choices for pet names."

"I think it's very fitting." Mina said, receiving a smile from Naruto.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go in a different direction. Why do you sit with him?" Miyu asked.

"I don't know. I just take my breaks with him."

"Why?" Miyu continued to pursue the wanted answer out of him.

"He was the only one that wouldn't flirt with me."

"Is there anything good traits about him that you like?" What kind of question was that?

"Umm... I like that he actually talks to me. He's a really good... listener. And... I don't know."

"Is he funny?" Akane asked.

"No. He's not the type of person who jokes."

"Is he nice?"

"He tries to be." He waited for Akane to continue speaking.

"Is he romantic?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Aren't you his girlfriend?" Mina said, tired of the seemingly endless game. But the question had the undesired effect, Naruto was shocked for about three seconds before he fell out of his chair laughing. "Oh god, I think she's going hysterical."

"No, no. It's just that...," Naruto paused as he gasped in a deep breathe. "... I can't believe you think that him and I are like that."

"Wait, you aren't?" Miyu said in amazement.

"We're not like that. Just friends. How could you guys think that?" Naruto said, still feeling the aftershocks of his laughing fit.

"Well, it's just that when we look at you, it's shows clearly that you guys are a couple." Akane commented.

"No, we're just friends. We've never done anything like what couples do."

"Well, I came here after you guys, but when I saw you with him, I immediately assumed you guys were together." Mina admitted.

"And what about the almost kiss I saw the other day?" Miyu questioned.

"We were having an argument."

"It certainly didn't look like just an argument." She remarked.

"Well, it was. I don't think it was anything more than that." Naruto couldn't imagine that Sasuke would like him.

"He was leaning in to you. Meaning that if I didn't call you, you guys probably would've kissed for sure."

"But that's impossible!" All girls gave him a grim look which caused him to worry but only a little. Just a little.

"Maybe it's impossible for you, but that boy likes you. He likes you a lot." Akane said gently as Naruto went into a little shocked state. Kana eventually chased them off but luckily left Naruto alone. Apparently, she only needed three waitresses. Giving Naruto a little bit of time to think.

He can't think like that. I'm a guy! And he's not gay! Is he? Naruto looked out the window but not seeing anything as he blanked out of the normal world into another world filled with his thoughts. But, he thinks I'm a girl. A sigh escaped Naruto when another thought came to him, basically summarizing what he had been thinking all along. I'm in big trouble.


~*~*~*~*~*~


The atmosphere that surrounded Naruto and Sasuke was what you would call... awkward. Well, maybe it was only awkward for Naruto, and Sasuke stood there clueless about Naruto's discomfort. Or maybe he did know but chose to say nothing.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he carefully analyzed what his friend was doing. He hadn't expected himself to watch and criticize every movement Sasuke made, but it had somehow happened. Naruto had just sat down and resumed their regular silence. Naruto made a comment, and it was at that moment Sasuke chose not to speak resulting in a staring contest which Naruto quickly broke out of. He had never noticed that an innocent little game could be associated with 'relationship' ploys.

Naruto then tried to figure out what kind of emotions Sasuke was probably feeling, but he could never get past the bastard's unemotional expression/barrier. It resulted with the conclusion made by Naruto that Sasuke was making up devious plots in his devious little mind. It was then that Sasuke suggested that they go outside. Naruto said yes but panicked inside. Why did Sasuke want to go outside... all alone... with Naruto? Was he planning anything? What if... what if he tried to kiss Naruto again? Naruto bit his the inside of his cheek nervously as his frantic thoughts continued to attack him, totally forgetting that the two had spent Naruto's breaks outside for the past few days or so.

After that, Sasuke told Naruto to put on his jacket, but Naruto volunteered to go out with no coat. But unfortunately, he was currently suffering from the cold breeze grazing past his skin.

So that was what led Naruto to his current predicament, Sasuke walking silently beside a very nervous Naruto. He didn't notice the familiar path that Sasuke was leading him toward, but instead, followed without a thought. He didn't notice the bench that had become their usual spot to discuss things, but sat down besides Sasuke anyways. He didn't notice the scrutinizing look that Sasuke was sending him but chose to look blankly at the field in front in him.

"Hey," Sasuke voice cut through Naruto's thought haze which caused Naruto to whip his head toward Sasuke. And then, finding that Sasuke's face was a mere inch away from his, Naruto jumped which caused him to land not too gently on the ground. "What's wrong with you today?"

Naruto managed to send Sasuke a glare even while he was on the ground. "What?" Naruto sat up slowly, rubbing his throbbing cheek. He peeked at Sasuke who was looking intently at him before turning his head away. Why does he have to look at me like that? Creepy.

Too bad for Naruto, his action made Sasuke grab his chin and force Naruto to look at Sasuke as he began to speak. "What's making you nervous?" Naruto tugged his face out of Sasuke's grip and sent another killer glare.

"W-what are you talking about?" Naruto finally stood up and sat at the edge of the bench, very far from Sasuke, while trying to look as if he weren't trying to avoid Sasuke's contact.

"You're doing it, right now. You're acting different."

"What? I am not-" Naruto turned around to stare at Sasuke who didn't care that he was bursting Naruto's personal space bubble again. But he did care (or at least Naruto thought he did) when Naruto stood up and walked a couple of meters away from him before turning around to shout at the man. "Damn it! Would you not get so close?"

"Hn." Sasuke looked away indifferently, trying to find a solution to the waitress's current problem. "Are you have a monthly problem?"

"What are you talking a-" Naruto paused as he figured it out. Did Sasuke just ask me if I was PMSing?

Naruto glanced at Sasuke who still held his serious expression despite of his earlier silly question. It only took him about another half second before Naruto laughed at Sasuke.

"What are you laughing at?" Sasuke said as he sent an indignant glare at Naruto.

"Sorry, but I just can't believe you asked me that. Say it again!" But the command only met silence. Naruto sighed. Sasuke was still as much of a bastard he was back when they were in school. Ahh, I can remember it all. Sakura, slowly changing into the woman she is today. Me, improving and surprising everyone. Sasuke, getting pelted with girls who had no idea that he didn't like them. But wait, he never cared for romance and girly stuff like that so...

Naruto pieced together the evidence: how Sasuke treated girls, his unemotional behavior, and the way Naruto was treating him. Oh, boy.

"Hey." Naruto said in a melancholy tone, because of the fact that Naruto knew he had to apologize. And the other simple fact that Naruto didn't want to. Damn.

"What? Are you going to tell me why you're acting so idiotic?" Well, that's it. No apology for Sasuke.

"Well, I was, but now, I won't." Naruto waited to see if Sasuke would reply, but instead, chose to stay silent. No shock there. Naruto rolled his eyes at the thought. But he planned for this to happen. "So you don't want to know? I'll tell you if you say 'please'." Nope, Sasuke did not take Naruto's bait, but this time, Naruto got Sasuke to at least look away with an annoyed expression and completely ignored the blonde's taunts. Fine! Two could play at that game.

Naruto narrowed his eyes into a competitive stance. So the two stayed quiet. But eventually, the silence was too much for Naruto to bear. He loved noise. Noise filled the dull quiet with life. But damn it! Naruto was of the competitive nature, and he wouldn't let Sasuke win the battle, would he? No.

But, it was quiet. Not the usual 'no voices' silence, everything was completely motionless and mute. Naruto couldn't hear the cherry tree's leaves rustle as the wind blew through it or hear the lives of the animals chirping or scampering around. It was too much.

"Fine!" Naruto's body instantly relaxed as his voice pierced through the dark silence. "I'll tell you what happened."

Sasuke turned toward him, and Naruto could sense the smugness that practically radiated from Sasuke. Damn him.

But Naruto didn't want to go through the painful torture he went through a minute ago, so he just ignored it, but it was still a hard thing to do.

"What?" Sasuke asked boredly, but it happened to make Naruto feel better that Sasuke was finally starting to speak.

"Well, it was a slow day today so all of the waitresses including me were talking. And then they told me the funniest thing." Naruto gave a small chuckle before he even told the funny part. "Wait. I have to tell you what happened first. My friend wanted to talk to me in the morning so then I was late to work. And then they all began to interrogate me and all that stuff. And here's the funny part, they thought we were a couple! Can you believe that?! Me and you? So I tell them that I would never like you like that. But then they go and say that you liked me. So I don't know why but I just got kinda scared of you for a while. But then I remembered that you couldn't possibly like me cuz we're just friends. We are just friends... right?" Naruto sent a hyper smile toward Sasuke although, there was a little desperation in it. He didn't want and hoped that Sasuke didn't like him. Naruto had no idea how he would handle that situation.

Sasuke stared at Naruto showing no signs that he even heard what Naruto said. Naruto sat completely still as he waited for the answer. He needed to know. Suddenly, Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, and Naruto unknowingly leaned forward to hear.

"Yes. We are." A relieved grin broke out onto Naruto's face.

"Great. You don't know how happy that makes me." Sasuke just sent Naruto a small nod as he did some more thinking. Naruto was leaning his back on the chair and closing his eyes when he suddenly jumped up. "Oh crap! I think we've been out here for too long! We gotta go back!"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him up. "Come on! Let's go." Naruto tried to start running, but Sasuke chose to keep his slow pace. "Damn it! I'm gonna be late! We have to go."

"We're not going to be late." He said coolly, but Naruto continued to tug on his arm. He stopped for a moment before forcefully yanking Sasuke's arm which caused Sasuke to move forward. But just a little big.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because." That was Sasuke's almighty answer that made Naruto grind his teeth together in frustration. Naruto tried another method. He walked behind before putting his two arms forward and pushing Sasuke.

"I hate you." Naruto said when Sasuke moved quicker but was still too slow for Naruto to be satisfied. It continued for a few more minutes, the tug-a-war between the two. Naruto would pull, push, and try anything to make Sasuke move while Sasuke just pulled, or pushed in the opposite direction. Just making it hard for Naruto. Suddenly, Sasuke turned left and walked into an alley. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Sasuke said nothing as he continued to walk. Naruto looked forward at the direction they were supposed to be heading to reach the club's entrance. Why did he have to do this? They were so close, too. All they would have to was turn the next corner, and they were there.

Naruto looked down the dark alley. Wait a minute.

He was heading toward the back door! Why didn't Naruto think of that? He could still see Sasuke's blank face from where he was currently standing before he walked in.

Naruto smiled when he distinctly made out the outline of the backdoor. Hopefully, he could sneak in, and no one would notice. Naruto sent a small 'thank you' to Sasuke in his mind as he reached for the handle.

Without warning, Sasuke's hand shot out in front of Naruto's face causing Naruto to gasp in a huge breathe of air before turning dangerously toward Sasuke.

"What the fuck?" What did Sasuke want to do? Scare the living crap out of Naruto? "What the hell were you doing? First, you wouldn't move any faster even though I told you I was gonna be late. And now, you're blocking my freaking way. Move!"

Naruto shoved Sasuke's arm away, but it still remained there. Oh, what he wouldn't do to use his ninja super strength. He turned the other way, but Sasuke's other arm slammed down onto the brick wall, blocking Naruto's escape route. Naruto's eyes glanced over to his left where Sasuke's arm blocked the way, and then moved toward his right to see the same.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto shoved Sasuke again who still wouldn't move. "Are you trying to make me late?" It was when Sasuke started to lean down that Naruto finally understood what he wanted to do. Naruto brought both his hands to shield him from Sasuke's face. "I thought you said we were only friends!"

The statement luckily stopped Sasuke who looked like he was contemplating Naruto's sentence. Naruto watched Sasuke's face to see what would happen when Sasuke suddenly smirked.

"I did."

"Then, why...," Sasuke just looked amused at Naruto's mystified expression.

"We are friends." Sasuke leaned his head down but was intercepted when Naruto brought his hands up. "But I want to be more." Naruto had no time to react as Sasuke grabbed both his arms with one hand and moved them to the side and dived in.

Of course, Naruto could've broke Sasuke's tight grip, but he lost the ability to move when he felt Sasuke's lips on his own. His arms stopped resisting, and his body went limp. Sasuke let go of Naruto's arms and opted instead to hold Naruto's body to keep it from falling on the floor. His other hand held up Naruto's chin.

Every thought ran out of Naruto's mind as all he could do was simply stare at Sasuke. It was a weird sensation actually. To not welcome the other pair of lips on his own but not really detest the feeling. He didn't want to like it, but he knew the feeling he felt wasn't exactly hate.

Naruto was feeling two completely different emotions that were battling inside his body. The want to deny any feelings that aroused during kiss other than disgust and then, the actual feeling. Naruto knew he wanted Sasuke to stop, but he couldn't identify the emotions that he was feeling.

Finally, Naruto breathed in a deep breathe when he felt the removal of a certain pressure on his lips. His mind finally broke through its haze that (Naruto thought) was caused by the denied oxygen assess. Naruto was still breathing with deep pants when Sasuke stood up.

Wordlessly, Sasuke offered a hand which Naruto took. His body was still a little numb but managed to walk into the bar without arousing suspicions of their earlier actions that caused Naruto to become breatheless.

Naruto immediately took off as Sasuke took off toward the corner table booth that was claimed as his own.

There was something Naruto should be realizing. Something he should know. But for some reason, his mind was pushing the realization out his mind. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't even know what it was, but he knew that if he thought about it long enough, he would find out. And like they say, ignorance is bliss.

Although, it didn't help when Sasuke stayed longer than he normally would've. Naruto wanted to block out all thoughts that concerned Sasuke, but how could he possibly not think of him when Naruto could feel Sasuke staring at him?

The other waitresses chatted and giggled when it was turning late, and Sasuke was still there. Naruto looked at the clock, and then glanced at Sasuke.

It was almost time for him to leave, but he knew of the confrontation that was bound to happen as soon as he stepped out of the bar. Eventually, when Naruto knew he could stall no longer, he walked outside.

His predictions proved true when Sasuke cornered him.

"Just leave me alone." Naruto whispered.

The moonlight gently displayed Sasuke's face. Dark obsidian eyes filled with mystery, and long dark locks that framed his face beautiful. How did Naruto not notice how perfect Sasuke's facial image was before?

It was then that the realization that Naruto had tried to avoid came to him. Of course, he tried to stop it before it became a full fledged thought, but it still came. His heart pumped faster, and he hid his face in hands as the thought finally made itself known.

I-I like Sasuke.

Naruto knew that this little information made everything much more complicated. It also became more complicated when Sasuke lifted his face out of his hands and gave him a soft kiss. But what made it even more troublesome was when Naruto kissed Sasuke back with the same intensity.

This was certainly something Naruto had never expected, but what he did expect that it would change everything for him.


~*~*~*~*~*~


Sasuke certainly didn't think he would be kissing his little victim, but the girl's little comment made him think. Which route would accomplish his goal faster? Obtaining her trust through friendship or a relationship?

He thought back to all the girls that easily fell to his feet and concluded this girl was no different.

So seduction would be the better choice.

But he had to admit, it unnerved him how much the girl reminded him of Naruto. He didn't let this little suspicion get away either. His sharingan was used, but it still didn't prove the girl was Naruto. And his sharingan was never wrong. So while he doubted it for a while, he knew nothing was strong enough to fool his ability. So as much as she resembled him, she wasn't Naruto.

This wasn't arrogance, either. Sasuke was smart. He would know. But there was also a little detail that he didn't know would happen.

When he made up the plan to kiss the girl, he thought he would have to endure the feelings of disgust that would come from touching her in an intimate way. But how come he didn't feel any disgust at all?

Sasuke discarded this little detail when he concluded it was not important. He had bigger things to think about.


~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: It was a little rushed at the end, but I wanted to put this up before I'm forced to go on this trip my family is forcing me into. So I might come back and edit this later. Hope you like this chapter! Review.