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Uchiha Sasuke knew a lot of things.
He knew that tomatoes were red, that Itachi was evil, that Kakashi was lazy and Sakura was annoying.
He knew how much chakra to use in a fireball jutsu, how to find your enemy's weak spots, how many steps it took him to walk home each day.
But what Sasuke didn't know was when he had stopped - disdaining - Naruto.
And he didn't know what to call whatever he felt for Naruto now.
Maybe it started when they were training together, when Sasuke felt a strange sense of comradeship in his competition with Naruto. Maybe it started in the Land of the Waves, when Sasuke realized that he cared whether Naruto lived or died. Maybe it started way back in the academy, when they first shared that accidental kiss.
It was something foreign, something Sasuke didn't understand. And he hated not understanding.
.
.
.
"N-Naruto."
Naruto glanced up. "Yeah?"
Just a glimpse of those whiskered cheeks sent Sasuke's heart racing. He kicked at the dirt with his sandal. "I-I just... well, I was going to tell you-"
Naruto scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. Sasuke found himself wanting to reach out and smooth out every line on that smooth, much-more-attractive-than-Sakura's forehead. But that only made him angrier, and his words came out harsher than he expected.
"I think you- you're such a loser. I don't know why I'm even bothering to talk to you right now."
Shock crossed Naruto's features. Before he could respond, Sasuke turned away. Why had he said that?
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke was stumbling away. Why was being with Naruto making him feel this way? What was wrong with him?
...
Naruto watched Sasuke leave, feeling like he had swallowed shards of glass. He wanted to rush after Sasuke, but hesitated, because he was just such a coward- he didn't know why, but the thought of Sasuke's contempt made him scared.
Wait a minute. What was he thinking? He was Uzumaki Naruto! He never got scared! And he was not a loser! Believe it!
Summoning his courage, he yelled out at Sasuke. "Hey! Teme! Wait!"
Sasuke stopped. Naruto felt his heart skip a beat when he turned around. "What is it, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke drawled.
"Let's spar! You and me, here, right now. I'll show you I'm not a loser!"
Sasuke smiled slightly - if Naruto hadn't known him as well as he did, he wouldn't have noticed. But Naruto did notice, and he felt his chest warm.
Without warning, Sasuke blurred in his speed - and Naruto fell into the familiar movements. He felt his heart pound and blood rush through his veins. This was home.
...
Jab, jab, duck, sweep. Sasuke anticipated every move Naruto made, was hyperaware of his gasps and grunts whenever one of his blows made contact. He found himself focusing on Naruto's hands, the way they curled and uncurled, the way his fingers tensed with every split-second decision.
For no longer than an instant, he allowed his focus to dart up to Naruto's face and his azure, cerulean eyes. Only an instant. But it was enough.
"Yahhh!"
Sasuke didn't even see the blow coming, only felt the jolt to his spine as Naruto slammed him to the ground. Dazed from the fall, it took Sasuke a moment to realize how close Naruto was to him. To be specific, he was lying on top of him.
"G-get off!" Sasuke struggled under the weight pressing him down, but Naruto had taken advantage of his confusion and had pinned his hands above his head.
He leaned forward, close enough for Sasuke to smell the last traces of ramen on his breath. "I win, teme," he breathed, and suddenly, Sasuke found it hard to breathe - and not just because of the pressure on his chest.
...
Naruto laughed, his breath coming out in harsh pants. "Ha, I -" he started to say, then made the mistake of looking down. Sasuke's pale skin was flushed pink from exertion, and the curve of his neck was just barely exposed. Naruto felt his breath hitch, and a hot, coiling sensation began in his gut - and before he could back down (coward, his mind reminded him) he swooped down and caught Sasuke's lips in his.
Sasuke went stiff underneath him, and Naruto started to doubt himself - but then Sasuke reciprocated, flipping them around and pulling Naruto in. Naruto felt himself sigh deeply, letting out all the stress and tension and worry he'd been carrying around dissipate, and made a low whining sound in the back of his throat. This wasn't his first kiss (Hinata had cornered him one day, asking shyly, "Could I try something, Naruto?") but it might as well have been, for how vibrant it felt - every touch, every sense was heightened.
Without warning, Sasuke pulled away. Naruto blinked up at him dazedly, mind still in a pleasant fog. Before Naruto could move or open his mouth to say something, he felt the cold edge of a kunai pressing against his neck. "Match." Sasuke grinned triumphantly, removing the kunai and strolling away.
Naruto blinked after him.
...
Kakashi let out a low chuckle. He'd seen some heartless moves in his day, but that one took the cake. Beneath the tree in which he was crouched, Naruto was still staring dazedly at where Sasuke had effortlessly vanished into the foliage. The poor kid was obviously in shock. And no wonder. The sensei had been watching the two of the dance around their feelings for each other for a long time.
With a sigh, Kakashi rose to his feet. It was just as well- a romance might distract them from their training, after all. Deftly and precisely, he leapt gracefully from one branch to the next, back in the direction of the village. He owed Iruka fifty ryō from their bet - Kakashi had guessed that Sasuke would be the one to make the first move.
...
Sasuke waited until he was alone, in a clearing a good distance away from where he had left Naruto, to fall to his knees. Burying his face in his hands, he allowed himself to relive the way Naruto's kiss had swept through him, the way he had, for a moment, considered allowing himself to give in and kiss him back with everything he had. The way Naruto's hair would have felt beneath his fingers...
These were dangerous thoughts. Extremely dangerous. Sasuke forced himself to his feet. No, there was no way he could allow himself to think of this. It was Naruto, for goodness sake. The clumsy, screwup, overconfident, obnoxious-
"Adorable," chimed in a tiny voice at the back of his head. "and charming, funny, attractive-"
Sasuke ordered the tiny voice in his head to shut up. Shoving his way through the tree branches, he found a small brook cutting through the earth. Perfect. He soaked his head until he was sure there were no traces of red left in his cheeks, until the tiny voice was drowned out by the sound of his teeth chattering, until he had repeated the same phrase so many times he almost believed it: I am not in love with Uzumaki Naruto.
...
Naruto blinked at the spot where Sasuke had been. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, but his mind still felt cloudy, a whirlwind of competing thoughts and attraction and ideas and Sasuke - but now Sasuke was gone.
Even without Sasuke's presence, though, Naruto had come to a horrifying realization.
He liked Sasuke. As in, liked liked Sasuke.
Naruto buried his face in his hands. He couldn't help but relive the way Sasuke's kiss had swept through him, the way Naruto had, for a moment, just gave in and let it all go. Naruto remembered the way Sasuke's hair felt beneath his fingers - smooth and soft and so so fine.
Where were these thoughts coming from? Sasuke was- Sasuke. The arrogant, know-it-all, self-obsessed, antisocial, smart funny important handsome good guy that was capable of being sweet, if you could just peel back the prickly exterior.
Naruto shook his head to silence his treacherous brain. No. He may like Sasuke, but Sasuke didn't like him back. Sasuke left him after using their first kiss to win a sparring match, like the kiss was trivial, insignificant to him. But it wasn't insignificant to Naruto.
Naruto was sure he could fall out of - like (love, his brain supplied) with Sasuke. Their friendship didn't deserve to be broken with something as stupid as Naruto's feelings.
No better time to start than the present. As Naruto finally got up off the ground, he repeated his new mantra in his head: I am not in love with Uchiha Sasuke.
...
Kakashi regarded his two young pupils with amusement. Since their last "encounter" after Naruto's battle, this was their first training session together. So far, it was going exactly as he had expected.
"Come on, you loser," Sasuke was shouting. "You're slowing us down, usuratonkachi!"
"Am not!" Naruto shot back. "You're the one who keeps spilling the water everywhere!"
The water brigade was one of the toughest teamwork exercises that many ninja had had to undergo. It was essentially a water relay line, with a bucket at either end - one full and one empty. The goal was to fill the empty bucket with the water from the full bucket, by passing water down the line in cups. Simple, except for one crucial detail: it had to be done in under thirty seconds.
"Fifteen more seconds!" called Kakashi, and the shinobi were thrown into a frenzy.
"Hurry up!" snapped Sasuke to Sakura, who was scooping water into the cup.
"Leave her alone, Sasuke!" growled Naruto. "Worry about yourself for a change!"
Sasuke turned his glare from Sakura to Naruto. "What's the matter, usuratonkachi?" he sneered. "Trying to find someone who won't reject you? A little late for that!"
Naruto's face flushed pink with anger. "S-Shut up, Sasuke!" he hissed.
Kakashi's eye glinted. Now things would get interesting. "Ten seconds!"
Sasuke smirked. He had managed to get a rise out of Naruto. "I don't know," he continued. "I think Sakura prefers a good kisser."
Sakura flushed and ducked her head. But Naruto didn't.
"I SAID, SHUT UP!" he screamed.
"Make me!"
"Five seconds!"
No one was surprised when Naruto wound up and punched Sasuke in the face, though Sakura did go off on an angry tirade at them. Kakashi just mostly felt apathetic and annoyed at the world for disturbing him.
Kakashi dropped out of the tree he was in, making his way over to his pupils. "Okay, my annoyingly cute little brat students, looks like you'll have to do the drill over again!" Sakura groaned, but Naruto and Sasuke both ignored him, seemingly trapped in their own little world.
They were rolling around on the ground in a scuffle with each other, a flurry of limbs - unlike their usual spars, which were more thought-out and less barbaric. Naruto would pull away and grit out a sentence in between their sloppy moves- "I-" punch. "told-" feint. "you-" punch. "to-" dodge. "shut-" kick. "up!" ("Naruto, stop!" Sakura screamed from the sidelines.)
Because of Naruto's single minded carelessness, though, Sasuke was able to pin him fairly easily. Naruto struggled feebly against where Sasuke had him pinned to the ground. "Wow, dobe, you seem out of sorts today. Is something wrong?"
Naruto's face contorted - then he leaned up and kissed Sasuke.
Sasuke froze, much like he had the first time. Sakura screamed. Kakashi nearly dropped Icha Icha Paradise.
Naruto pulled Sasuke closer, tangling his fingers through his hair. Sasuke was still immobile. ("Get away from him, Sasuke! Why aren't you moving?" Sakura screeched. Kakashi was frozen, Icha Icha dangling loosely from his hand.)
After what felt like an eternity, Naruto finally pulled away from Sasuke, who still hadn't moved. "Heh." Naruto wiped his lips with his arm. "Told you to shut up, didn't I? Two can play this game." Naruto smirked, and turned around and walked away from Sasuke, disappearing through the undergrowth. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to miss the rest of training!"
And with that, Naruto left.
Sasuke blinked after him.
Sakura tugged on Kakashi's arm. "Um, Kaka-sensei, what just happened?"
Kakashi conveniently chose that time to substitute himself with a log.
...
Sakura had never been so confused in her life. Naruto had just kissed Sasuke! Bu-but, they were both boys! And they hated each other!
As soon as Naruto had disappeared, she stumbled over to Sasuke. He would explain everything. It must've been a prank... or a weird jutsu.... "Sasuke?" she touched his shoulder. That seemed to snap him out of the strange daze he was in. "Wha-what's going on? Why did you and Naruto -"
Sasuke brushed past her. "Figure it out, Sakura," he snapped, and dove into the bushes, following Naruto's trail into the forest.
Sakura's lower lip trembled, and her eyes filled with tears. "Why is he so mean?" Inner Sakura wailed. "All I did was ask him what he was doing." She sniffed and scrubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands. If no one would explain it to her, then she would just make them explain it. With a new sense of determination, she headed into the foliage after the two boys.
...
Sasuke could feel the branches tearing at his hands, but he didn't care. He had to find Naruto, had to beat him to a pulp for doing... that again. With every new scratch or cut, he cursed the blonde-haired fox boy with all of his heart. Why, why, why was Naruto doing this to him? "I'm gonna kill him," Sasuke hissed under his breath.
Clawing through the final layer of leaves, Sasuke found himself at the base of an enormous cliff face. He smirked to himself. There was nowhere for Naruto to run. It would be easy to catch him now.
"Sasuke." Sasuke whirled around. He had been so distracted, he hadn't even noticed Naruto sneaking up behind him. But it didn't matter. Sasuke felt himself dropping into a fighting stance. He was going to take Naruto down.
"You're - " Sasuke began, before cutting himself off. His fingers uncurled, his defenses lowered.
Because Naruto was crying. Actually crying.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the boy. He felt a twinge of pity, but he forced himself to suppress it. "What are you doing?" he snapped. "I could kill you right now. Why are you crying, you big baby?"
Naruto crumpled to his knees and let out a sob. Sasuke stared. Something was genuinely wrong. "N-Naruto," he began, but he was interrupted.
"Sasuke, you're so dumb," Naruto gasped between sobs. "Do-don't you get it?" He turned away from the dark-haired boy. "I-I'm in love with you, idiot!"
Sasuke felt like he'd just been hit with a shuriken. He stumbled backward. "Wh-wha?" he gasped.
Naruto turned his teary, puffy-eyed face toward Sasuke. Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. Was it possible? Was Naruto telling the truth? "Naruto," he whispered. "I- just get off the ground. You're getting your knees all dirty."
Naruto stood, never taking his gaze off Sasuke's face. "Sasuke. Look at me."
Reluctantly, Sasuke met the boy's eyes. Almost against his will, his lips parted partially. Those blue eyes were shining. His heart sped up.
Naruto stepped closer. There was almost no space between them. Sasuke was aware of every breath, of the way his pulse pounded in his ears. "W-we should get back to the lesson," he choked out. "Kakashi-sensei will be angry."
"Kakashi-sensei can wait," Naruto murmured, and closed the gap between their lips.
...
Sakura made her way through the dense foliage after Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun!" she called out, but she didn't get a response.
She emerged at the base of a cliff to see Naruto pulling Sasuke in to kiss him. What? Once was enough! Sakura fell back on her instincts, and shrieked as loudly as she could. "NARUTO! What do you think you're doing?"
Sasuke immediately jumped back from Naruto, leaving Naruto, off-balance, to fall backwards onto his butt. Naruto licked his lips. "Sorry, Sakura-chan... would you mind leaving us alone for a minute?"
Sakura hesitated, but her logic won out. "No! You're - this is - wrong! Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke, who had until then, been staring at Naruto with glazed eyes, snapped out of his stupor. "Sakura, leave," he growled.
Sakura hurried away, but hid behind a tree so that she could see what was happening. Sasuke's eyes flitted over to her hiding spot, and she knew that he knew she was still there - but he turned back to Naruto, seeming not to care.
"Naruto, what's your problem?" Sasuke snapped.
"What?"
Sasuke suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Naruto by the shirt and kissing him roughly. Sakura gave a small gasp. Sasuke met her eyes from where he was kissing Naruto, and pulled him closer, as if he was making a point.
Suddenly, Sasuke threw Naruto to the ground, breaking off their kiss abruptly. Naruto was breathing heavily, his hair mussed and his cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink. "Sasuke," he breathed.
Sasuke turned his back. "Naruto. I am not in love with you." When Naruto was silent, he repeated quietly to himself, "I am not in love with Uzumaki Naruto." And with that, Sasuke half-ran into the forest, disappearing into the trees.
...
Sasuke pulled the branches away from his face violently, as he struggled through the foliage. "I am not in love with Uzumaki Naruto," he repeated to himself. "I'm not, I'm not, I'm not-"
Sasuke was so preoccupied that he didn't notice Kakashi hanging upside down from his tree branch in front of him. "Yo." Kakashi smiled, putting away his book.
...
Kakashi had been expecting Sasuke to do a lot of things. Maybe scream. Maybe try to attack him. Maybe run away. He was completely unprepared for Sasuke to burst into tears.
For a good minute and a half, they stood together in the woods - the dark-haired boy bawling his eyes out and the white-haired ninja patiently hanging upside down. Finally, Sasuke hiccuped and rubbed his face on the back of his sleeve.
Kakashi reached forward, dangling a tissue in Sasuke's face. "Sasuke," he said pleasantly. "Why do you think you're crying?"
Sasuke accepted the tissue stormily. "Because Uzumaki Naruto's an idiot."
Kakashi chuckled. "Really? Then why'd you kiss him?"
Sasuke clenched his jaw so hard it hurt. "I wanted to prove that he was wrong," he muttered.
Kakashi arched his eyebrow. "Wrong about what, exactly? Because the only thing you managed to do was hurt him."
Sasuke jerked his head up. "He said he was in love with me, Sensei!" he burst out. "But he- he can't be! It doesn't make any sense, and he's just trying to... he's trying to make Sakura jealous..." He trailed off. Kakashi was giving him a skeptical look.
"Sasuke," the older ninja sighed, "I think it's pretty obvious what's happening here. You're trying to convince yourself, for whatever reason, that you have no feelings for Naruto. Do you really believe he was only trying to make Sakura jealous with everything he's done?"
Sasuke thought of the way Naruto had asked her to leave the two of them alone, the way he had stared at Sasuke before every one of their kisses.
"No," he admitted sullenly. "He's not just trying to make her jealous."
"Exactly." Kakashi swung down from the branch, falling into a crouch before rising to his feet, this time on the same level as Sasuke. "I can't tell you how to live your life, Sasuke, but," the shinobi rested his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "I do think you should apologize. If anything, Naruto probably thinks you were the one using him."
Sasuke scuffed the ground with the toe of his sandal. "I wouldn't do that,'' he mumbled.
Kakashi smiled. "I know. But I'm not the one you need to tell that to."
Sasuke kicked at the ground again. "I-I'm not in love with him, if that's what you think," he snapped.
"I never said you were. But you know, Sasuke, there's no shame at all in admitting you care for someone. Or in admitting you were wrong."
After a minute, Sasuke slowly gave a nod. "Okay." He said quietly. "Okay. Okay. I'll talk to Naruto."
Kakashi's eyes crinkled in a smile, and he reached out and ruffled Sasuke's hair before he could flinch away. "There's my little cute Uchiha!"
Sasuke scowled.
...
Sakura was conflicted. She was still confused as to what she had just seen, and Naruto was annoying, but...
She kind of understood what it was like.
Resolving herself, Sakura breathed deeply, put on a smile, and emerged from her spot to go sit next to Naruto. For a while, they sat in companionable silence.
"Sasuke's so infuriating, isn't he?" Sakura broke the quiet, turning to smile softly at Naruto. "I mean, he's like, so hot, but he can be a jerk, too, you know?"
Naruto smiled, but it seemed fake - unlike his normal huge grins. "Yeah, I know, right?" He still seemed kind of subdued, though.
"Why'd we have to have the misfortune of loving someone like him?" Sakura sighed theatrically. "Seriously, out of everyone, we had to pick the stupidly hot guy with no social skills whatsoever." She waved her hand playfully -
Suddenly, Naruto hugged Sakura, fiercely, the way he did everything. Sakura was shocked to feel her shoulder growing damp. She tried awkwardly patting Naruto, murmuring comforting nonsense into his ear. "Shh, it's okay, Naruto. For what it's worth... I really do think Sasuke likes you." Now there were tears in her eyes, but she blinked them away. "You're lucky. You just gotta go get him." She rubbed circles across his back. At this point, she wasn't sure who was comforting who.
Naruto lifted his head, smiling at Sakura. "Thank you, Sakura-chan! I really -" He broke off, eyes going wide as he stared at a spot above Sakura's shoulder.
"Sasuke?"
...
Sasuke hadn't realized he was nervous until he stood in front of Naruto. He had tried to approach them quietly, not wanting to interrupt whatever moment they were having, but he had been spotted. And it was a good thing too - he might have completely backed down if Naruto hadn't seen him.
"Naruto." He took a deep breath. What was he going to say? "I...I didn't.."
Sakura stood up, making a show of brushing herself off. "I just realized," she announced, way louder than necessary. "I forgot my... bracelet... at the training site. Gotta be going!" With that she sprinted into the brush.
Sasuke could feel himself turning red. Could Sakura have been any more obvious? But Naruto didn't seem to notice. He hadn't taken his eyes off Sasuke the whole time. Come on, Sasuke. You can do this. he told himself. It's just like a sparring session. You just have to say or do the right thing at the right time.
"Sasuke." Sasuke blinked. Naruto had risen to his feet, and for an uncomfortable moment, Sasuke was reminded of their awkward kiss earlier in this exact spot. Almost unconsciously, he took a step backwards. But Naruto watched him expectantly.
"R-right," Sasuke stammered. "Naruto, I just wanted to say... I didn't ... I'm sorry. For shoving you and... everything else. For being rude. And a jerk. I was just..."
"Confused." Sasuke glanced up. He had been staring at the ground, desperately trying not to make eye contact with Naruto, but when he raised his eyes, he found Naruto was looking at him in a way he never had before. It made his heart speed up, and his stomach attempted a triple backflip.
"I get it," Naruto said softly. "I-it's confusing. And scary. But Sasuke..." He leaned forward and caught Sasuke's hand in his own. Sasuke felt his pulse flutter, felt the heat from where Naruto's fingers interwove with his. He couldn't breath. He couldn't think. Why was it that this simple act of holding hands was somehow more intimate than their kisses?
Naruto leaned forward. Just an inch. But it was enough. "It might be terrifying," he whispered, "but you're not alone."
Sasuke's breath stopped for a moment- here was Naruto, blue eyes wide open, looking at him with - dare he say it - love. But then Sasuke stepped back, shaking his head.
"Naruto," Sasuke began. "I'm sorry if I was giving off mixed signals or something, I mean, I really didn't mean to lead you on." He took a deep breath. "But... Naruto, I - I can't have this," he gestured between them vaguely. "It's not going to work. I'm-I'm not in love with you. At least not the way you are with me."
Naruto's face fell almost imperceptibly. Naruto quickly plastered on his signature grin, though. "C'mon, lighten up, Sasuke! You don't think you're breaking my heart or something, right? 'Cause you're important, but you aren't that important." Naruto laughed. "We're still gonna be friends, right? I wasn't expecting much, ya know, but-" Naruto's tone suddenly dropped- "you can expect me to keep trying. I'm not the kind of person who lets go that easily."
Sasuke met Naruto's eyes, the air around them charged, much like when they had shared their first (accidental) kiss back at the academy -
- then Kakashi fell out of a tree.
Sasuke whipped around. "What the hell, Kakashi?" he growled.
Kakashi got up, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Icha Icha Paradise was just getting interesting, and I couldn't help but think that the main characters in it were like you guys, and-" He chuckled nervously. "Anyway..." If glares could kill, Sasuke and Naruto's would've roasted Kakashi alive, thrown him in a volcano, and brought him back to life just to die again. "I should... probably... be going now!"
...
From her hiding place in the nearby bush, Sakura gave Kakashi a grateful smile. His "accidental" fall had covered any audible noise she might have made during the boys' silence, and had kept the two young shinobi from being alerted to her location.
Plus, it hid the sound of her crying.
When Naruto had taken Sasuke's hand, Sakura was in the perfect position to see Sasuke's face. And what she found there was not anger, or disgust, or even shock - it was affection. She recognized the look on his face: it was the same way she stared at Sasuke when he wasn't looking.
It didn't really matter what Sasuke said, or even if he acted like he was cold and detached. He was in love with Naruto, and they would end up together as surely as if Naruto had just fallen to his knees and proposed, and Sasuke had accepted. Which was amazing and adorable, Sakura reminded herself, but it still didn't explain the tears coursing down her face or the way her heart felt like it was tearing in half.
...
Kakashi, newly positioned in a different tree, couldn't help but sigh as he watched Sakura bury her face in her hands. Genin are complicated. There was always so much drama involved in affairs of the heart.
Not that Kakashi really minded. Icha Icha Paradise was getting too predictable anyways.
...
Naruto had released Sasuke's hand when Kakashi had fallen. Impulsively, Sasuke considered grabbing it back.
Don't be stupid, he told himself. That's not something friends do.
Naruto scratched his head. "We should be getting back to the village."
Sasuke nodded too vigorously. "Right. Yeah. We should."
"Uh-huh." Naruto kicked at a stray pebble. "Well... bye." He plodded off into the trees, pausing only to glance back once before disappearing.
"That went well," Sasuke told himself, but it didn't explain why his cheeks were wet with tears.