Archive of Our Own

He isn't sure what wakes him up.

It's silent outside, save for the crickets chirping in the grass below his open window and the cicadas singing in the distance. It's a mild summer night, one of the better ones this month. His fan is idle by his bed, the breeze rustling in the trees serving to cool him down.

Cars pass on the road outside. They cut through the stillness; if the crickets and rustling are a whisper, the cars are a shout.

He sighs up into the darkness, slants his gaze to look out the window at the full moon. It's nights like this—quiet, but buzzing with energy—that make him feel invigorated, electrified.

It's nights like this that make him want to lower his inhibitions, do things he would never ordinarily do, change the world—or at least his perception of it.

Nights like this make him believe he's capable of all that.

He rolls over to face his phone, still plugged into the charger, and turns it on. He squints immediately, hurrying to lower the brightness.

The few notifications he has don't interest him so he ignores them, opting instead to open his texts and send a short message. He knows it's late—nearly 2:30 in the morning—but surely he's still awake, right? The idiot hardly ever gets a full night of sleep anyway; he's too full of energy to relax for more than a couple hours at a time.

Sure enough, a minute later—

Sas, why are you up?

Unbidden, a smile stretches across his face. He knows Naruto so well by now.

Good question. I woke up suddenly and now I can't fall back asleep.

Another minute passes, the three little dots on the screen disappearing intermittently as Naruto formulates his reply.

You can't? says the first text. Another comes in not a second later. Or you don't want to?

He can hear him saying it, a smile coloring his words.

Hm, how'd you know?

He watches Naruto type, unable to stop a smile of his own from forming on his face.

Because I don't want to either.

A giddy excitement fills him, a tingle beginning at the top of his head and running down his spine to his feet. Naruto's next message makes his stomach flip in anticipation.

Wanna raise some hell?

He raises a brow in cautious curiosity, an expression that directly clashes with the quiet, breathless laugh that leaves him.

And what does "hell" entail, exactly?

Naruto's reply this time is quick: Oh, you know...

Sasuke rolls his eyes to himself. I'm sure I don't, but count me in.

He can practically hear Naruto laugh and whoop in excitement, practically see him pump a fist in the air.

Hell yeah! Pick you up in twenty, be ready!

A rush of adrenaline spurs him out of bed, kicking the covers off and leaving them when they fall to the floor. He rummages through his closet for something to wear—anything—and comes back with an old black shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. He tugs his tank top off, tossing it to the floor as he replaces it. The jeans are a little harder to get into, and he tugs on the belt loops as he quietly hurries down the hall to the bathroom.

Turning on the light would probably wake someone, and the last thing he needs is for his parents—or worse, Itachi—to wake up and find him violently brushing both his teeth and his hair in the dead of night. When he's done, he tiptoes down the stairs and through the kitchen to the door.

The fluttering of his heart as he tugs on his shoes and sneaks outside—just barely remembering to grab his keys—is intoxicating. Sasuke always feels giddy at the prospect of hanging out with Naruto, but it's amplified tonight.

Tonight, things are different, and he can't wait to find out why.

The cement is cool when he sits on the front steps, gravel and sand sticking to his palms. He wipes them on his jeans, then turns on his phone to check his texts. There's only one, from Naruto.

On my way! Better be ready, bastard! I wait for no man!

Sasuke laughs. Not even me?

It should concern him when Naruto starts typing, but he trusts that the idiot isn't dumb enough to text and drive.

Well, maybe I'd wait for you. :P

His heart skips a beat.

He sets his phone down next to him without answering, not wanting to distract Naruto from the road, and props his elbows on his knees, chin in his palms.

The crickets chirp in the grass beside him, loud but not intrusive. Easy to ignore.

In the dark, in the silence, Sasuke finds himself looking up at the starry sky and thinking about Naruto.

They've known each other for years now, since middle school. He remembers the day they met like it was yesterday. He'd walked up to Sasuke during lunch one day, sat down, and talked his ear off for half an hour. He smiles. Naruto's been talking his ear off ever since.

At some point down the line, he'd stolen Sasuke's heart, and Sasuke has yet to steal it back.

The thing is, he doesn't think he wants to. He trusts Naruto to take good care of it.

A familiar car rounds the corner, stops at the top of his street. He stands immediately, gathering his keys and running down the driveway to meet it. Naruto always complains about the driveway to his house, joking that it's more like an airport runway than a place to park a couple cars. Sasuke thinks he might be right.

In the driver's seat sits Naruto, in all his bright, smiling glory. He fixes Sasuke with a grin that rivals the sun and Sasuke can't help but smile back.

"You two just gonna stare at each other all night, or..."

Sakura's voice in the passenger seat startles Sasuke; he hadn't even seen her. He'd only had eyes for Naruto, and he can't help but feel a pang of disappointment that it won't be just the two of them. She's grinning too, waving at Sasuke when he looks at her.

She jabs a thumb behind her. "Hope you don't mind being squished in the middle between Ino and Lee," she says.

His heart plummets further. He combats his disappointment by telling himself that it'll be fun, they haven't done this kind of thing in a long time.

Lee takes it upon himself to interrupt, loudly saying, "Hello Sasuke! Are you prepared to raise hell?"

"Shh!" Sasuke hisses, glancing surreptitiously back at his house. Thank God for the distance; if Lee were any closer he'd be in danger of waking Sasuke's parents.

"Get in, loser," Naruto teases.

"Oh, I'm the loser?" Sasuke retorts, opening the back door and settling between his friends.

Naruto looks at him in the rearview and rolls his eyes. "Obviously."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "May I remind you who started this whole thing? If I hadn't texted you, you'd still be at home in bed right now. You should thank me, idiot."

"Thank you?" Naruto repeats.

"You're welcome," Sasuke replies smugly.

Naruto snorts, pulling away from the house. "You're such a dick."

Sasuke's heart flutters.

"Where are we going?" he asks, tugging the belt loose from its spot under Ino's thigh while she shifts to help him.

"The camp," Naruto answers. "Kiba's probably already there, I told him to go on ahead of us with... supplies."

The belt clicks into place, allowing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow at Naruto's vague reply. "What supplies?"

"What kind of supplies do you think? Beer, s'mores, the works!" Sakura rubs her hands together. "I'm beyond excited, it's been ages since we did something like this."

"Beer?" Sasuke repeats, his gaze flicking to meet Naruto's in the rearview.

"What?" he asks indignantly. "One beer won't kill me, dude. Or you, for that matter. Hell, I don't even think you can get drunk off of one beer."

Sasuke doesn't reply, which prompts Naruto to sigh.

"If it bothers you that much, I'll only have one, okay? So I'm still good to drive you home at the end of the night," he offers, meeting Sasuke's eye pleadingly.

He softens; he knows Naruto really means it.

"Okay," he mumbles.

Naruto grins. "S'cute that you worry about me, though. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

A blush creeps up his neck. "Shut up, idiot. It's just because I know you can't take care of yourself."

When he meets his eye in the rearview again, Naruto is mildly amused, a smile in his eyes that doesn't reach his mouth. There's a look on his face, almost knowing, like he can hear what Sasuke hadn't said—or rather, what he wishes he could say. He can't hold his gaze for more than a few seconds before he drops his eyes to the floor between his shoes.

His blood rushes in his ears, his mind jumbled. Naruto... It almost seemed like—like he'd known, but surely—surely there's no way—

Is—oh, God, is he being obvious? Does Naruto know?

His fears are trounced almost immediately, because in the next second his carefree, oblivious smile is back and Sasuke's heart tap dances across his ribs.

"How much longer until we get to the camp?" Ino asks through a yawn. "I can't believe you convinced me to get up at three in the morning for this."

Sakura turns in her seat to wink at her. "That was all me, tulip." She grins slyly when Ino's cheeks turn pink.

"Stop calling me that," she mutters, tearing her gaze from Sakura's to look out the window instead.

Sakura just laughs.

"To answer your question, tulip," Naruto starts, cutting himself off with a laugh when Ino lunges for him and ends up locking her seatbelt. "We're almost there, 'bout ten minutes away."

Ino adjusts her belt, grumbling the whole time, then leans her head back and sighs. "Wake me up when we get there, okay?" she tells Sasuke, who just nods mutely as he watches her turn to face the window and close her eyes.

"So," Naruto says once it's silent. He glances at Sakura. "It's tulip now? What happened to primrose?"

She waves a hand, a soft smile on her face. "I change it up every once in a while. I never really got flower language until I met her, you know, and it's just—" She looks behind her at a sleeping Ino, her expression melting into something that can only be described as adoring. "—It makes her happy, you know? So I make an effort to learn."

She pauses for a while, turning back around and releasing a sigh.

"That, and it's fun to see her flustered in public."

Naruto and Lee laugh at that while Sasuke tries and fails to tamp down fantasies of Naruto doing the same with him. God, he doesn't even like flowers!

Then Naruto catches his eye in the rearview mirror and grins, and suddenly Sasuke thinks he'd like flowers a whole lot if Naruto were the one giving them to him.

The rest of the ride passes in comfortable silence, the radio humming quietly in the background. Ino stirs when the car slows, blinking blearily when the road gives way to dirt instead. Thick trees surround them as they roll up to the metal gate in front of the camp. It's already open, which isn't surprising since Kiba's supposed to be here already.

It’s not really a campground, not officially. Or at least, Sasuke doesn't think it is. It's just an acre of land, give or take a few feet, in the woods. Someone's family owns it, probably, though Sasuke can't quite remember whose—not that it really matters.

On the grounds is a trailer; someone had left it there after a trip sometime ages ago, probably back when the camp first became a place where people would gather for parties. It's old, but functional. Better than nothing. A picnic table, worn and most likely rotting in some places, sits near the fence bordering the property, a grill opposite it on the other side of the clearing by the trailer.

But the best part of the camp—oh, the best part?

Definitely, without a doubt, the lake, and the boat tethered to the dock.

Sasuke can't remember a time he's come to the camp and they haven't ended up on that boat. Dubbed the S.S. Kyuubi—by Naruto, of course, when they were children and first came to the camp with their parents—its rusted hull and ripped vinyl seats remain one of the staples of his childhood.

"We're here?" Ino mumbles, rubbing at her eyes.

"Yup!" Naruto answers, killing the engine.

Kiba's truck sits next to them on the driver's side, the bed filled with cheap cloth folding chairs and a cooler that he's currently hauling out with both hands.

Naruto opens his door and climbs out of the car, hurrying to help him.

"Holy shit, dude," he groans, lifting the handle. "The fuck did you put in here, bricks?"

Kiba rolls his eyes at that. "Yeah, idiot, I filled the cooler with cement, waited for it to harden, then hauled it into the truck all by myself just for shits and giggles."

"At least you admit it."

Kiba kicks at his leg, ignoring the noise he makes in mock pain, before turning to the others, who are slowly but surely making their way out of the car. "Grab the chairs, will ya? We kinda—" he gestures between himself and Naruto. "—got our hands full."

"Oh, sure, right," Sasuke mumbles, going around to the back of the truck and taking two of the chairs under his arms.

Sakura worms her way in after him and hands one of them to Ino, taking the last two chairs for herself.

"I can take a chair, Sakura!" Lee offers valiantly. "I can't in good conscience let you carry two when both of my hands are free!" He holds a hand out and beams when she passes him a chair.

"Thanks, Lee," she says sweetly.

He holds up his free hand to wave off her thanks. Then he turns to Sasuke, holding it out expectantly.

Sasuke looks down at the chairs under his arms and raises a brow. "I've got these, Lee."

Lee won't take no for an answer, it seems, so Sasuke has no choice but to pass him a chair. Satisfied, he marches off to the clearing, raising and lowering the chairs like dumbbells.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino trail after him, hanging back with Kiba and Naruto while they struggle with the cooler.

"D'you guys remember," Naruto begins, readjusting his grip on the handle, "when Lee used to dress exclusively in green spandex."

A chorus of groans rises from the others.

"Thanks for reminding us," Ino gripes irritably. "You wake me up in the middle of the night, drag me out to the woods, and fill my mind with the image of Rock Lee in spandex. Thanks a lot."

Kiba barks a laugh, lifting his side of the cooler to put it on the picnic table. "Didn't he also have a name for himself? Like... the Blue Beast or something?"

Sakura snaps her fingers, pointing at him. "Right, right! Which made absolutely no sense, because he wore green and not blue."

"'m pretty sure he called himself blue because his dad called himself the Green Beast and he was like, really possessive and weird about it," Kiba recalls.

"Ah, those were the days," Naruto reminisces sagely, opening the cooler and handing Kiba a beer.

"It was only five years ago," Sasuke says.

Naruto shrugs. "And? Am I wrong?"

Honestly, he isn't, but Sasuke would never admit that he feels it too. The way time is rushing past him, past them all. Better to just forget about it and enjoy himself.

"You want one?" he asks suddenly, holding a beer towards Sasuke.

He opens his mouth to decline, but then that feeling—that expectant, anticipatory tingling—returns and sets up camp in his heart. To Naruto's surprise—to everyone's surprise, really—he takes the bottle from him.

"Uchiha Sasuke? Drinking?" Sakura asks dubiously, eyeing the bottle.

He rolls his eyes. "It's not like I've never had alcohol before."

Ino waves a hand, her nose wrinkling. "Yeah, but you're usually uptight and stingy about it. Really clenching around that stick in your ass."

"Ino!"

She ignores Sakura, taking her chair and a bottle of water over to the middle of the clearing. Kiba picks up an extra beer for Lee before following her.

"She's a handful," Sasuke mutters, slanting his eyes towards Sakura.

She picks up her drink, her hair fluttering as she lets out a huff. "Yeah, but she's my handful, or whatever."

They all join Lee in the center of the clearing, where he's set up the two chairs. Sakura sets hers down next to Ino.

Lee, on the end near the grill, asks, "Kiba, did you bring food?"

Kiba sits down heavily in the chair next to him, twisting the cap off his beer with his bare hand and shoving Lee's in his cup holder. "Yeah, should be a bag in the truck, if you wanna go get it."

Lee hops out of his chair and jogs back to the truck. Sasuke folds out his chair between Naruto and Ino, shifting his beer to his other hand when he finally sits.

"Bottle opener?" he asks, looking at Naruto.

He holds out his hand. "Nah, I got it. Gimme," he says, wiggling his fingers expectantly.

"Is there no bottle opener?" Sasuke asks again, even as he hands him the drink.

Naruto shrugs, twisting the cap off himself. He winces slightly, rubbing his hand against his jeans, then hands the bottle back.

Sasuke rolls his eyes as he takes it, muttering, "I don't know why you insist on doing it like that if it hurts, idiot."

He laughs, nudges his shoulder playfully. "Why do I do anything? So I look cooler than you, bastard."

He answers with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah, opening a beer without a bottle opener definitely makes you look cooler than me. Especially when you rub your hand on your pants because you hurt yourself. That's gotta be the coolest part."

Naruto makes an offended noise, pushing his arm again. "You're such an ass! Why can't you let me have this?"

He resists the urge to roll his eyes but he can't force the smirk off his face. "Fine. You're so cool, Naruto."

That gets him a broad smile, one that crinkles the corners of his eyes and scrunches his nose in the stupidest, most adorable way. It makes blood rush to Sasuke's face and he has to avert his gaze.

Lee comes back then, hands full of the duffle bag of food from Kiba’s truck and a beer. He drops it on the ground in front of the chairs, immediately kneeling to unzip it.

Naruto rubs his hands together excitedly. "I hope you brought marshmallows, dude, because—"

"—Of course I did," Kiba interjects, offended. "What kind of monster do you take me for?"

Naruto lets out a whoop. "Hell yes! S'more time!" He jumps out of his chair, his beer spilling onto the ground, and bounds into the trailer to collect some logs for a fire.

"What happened to the bonfire?" Sakura asks, gesturing to the open stone enclosure by the lake. "Is the wood in there too wet?"

Kiba nods. "Yeah, checked it when I got here. It's fuckin' useless to us. We should probably empty it but fuck that noise, it can wait until next time."

Naruto comes back then, his arms full of firewood. He drops the logs in the fire pit in the middle of the semicircle of chairs, moving the whole thing a safe distance away before kneeling next to it and pulling out a box of matches.

"You just carry matches on your person?" Sasuke asks incredulously, leaning away a little.

He shakes a match out and makes a face at him. "Yeah, so what? I'm old enough to handle sticks, Sas."

"Those are fire sticks," Sasuke points out. "Need I remind you of the time you singed your eyebrows in fourth grade?"

Naruto's face turns red and he points the match at Sasuke threateningly. "Shut up! That was one time and it was an accident and—"

"Okay, fine, whatever," Sasuke concedes, holding his hands up. "Don't do it again, though—you looked really fucking bad without eyebrows."

His blush darkens. "Yeah, yeah," he mutters, turning his attention to the fire pit and striking the match against the box.

It lights on the second try and he drops it into the thick of the tinder, watching with wide eyes as the flame grows.

Sasuke pulls on his sleeve, saying, "What did I just say? Get the fuck away from it, idiot."

Grumbling, Naruto rocks back onto his feet and sits in his chair, leaning against the arm. His elbow brushes Sasuke's, just barely, but enough to make his heart beat a little bit harder.

He watches Naruto lean down to grab his beer only to pout sadly as he picks it up. He shakes the bottle at Sasuke and says, "It spilled. Can you get me another one?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes but takes the empty bottle as he gets up, throws it away, and grabs a fresh one from the cooler for him.

In the few seconds he's gone, Lee, Naruto, and Kiba unwrap graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows to make themselves some s'mores. Even Sakura and Ino, who have mostly been talking quietly to each other, join in, the two of them moving their chairs a bit closer to the fire so they can reach.

When Sasuke comes back, beer in hand, Naruto offers him a burnt marshmallow on a skewer. He declines it in favor of holding the bottle out.

"Here," he mutters. "Don't spill it again; you have to drive me home later."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto replies, waving a hand before twisting the cap off his drink and taking a swig. "I got it. You know, if you learned how to drive we wouldn't have this problem."

Sasuke whacks his arm. "You know why I don't want to drive, I've told you like, a million times."

Naruto looks at him, an eyebrow raised. "You have, but that doesn't mean I understand your irrational fear of—"

"It is not irrational! It's heavy machinery, accidents happen all the time—"

"Mm-hm, sure—"

"God, can you shut up—!"

Naruto's laugh cuts him off, makes his breath catch, makes his heart skip. He finds himself mesmerized—just for a moment—by the way the moonlight catches on his hair, his eyelashes, and makes the blue of his eyes glitter when he opens them to smile at him.

He feels his cheeks heat and turns to face the lake, bringing his beer to his lips just to have something to do with his hands. Naruto's gaze is still on him for a while after he looks away, but then he too turns to observe the sparkling reflection on the water.

Sasuke lifts his face up to the sky, picking out the stars behind the curtain of leaves above him. A breeze makes the trees sway, their leaves rustling in a way that makes that same anticipation—that same hope, that is somehow both nostalgic and new—bubble in his chest.

He thinks it's rather strange how he's nostalgic for this, for sitting with his friends in the early morning just for the hell of it, even as it's happening. It's the feeling of time slipping out of his grasp. It makes him antsy, like he needs to make the most of it now before it's gone forever.

He feels Naruto's gaze on him again, heavier this time.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asks.

Sasuke glances at him, a slight grin slipping onto his face, then he looks back to the sky. "Not enough pennies in the world," he responds, taking a sip of his beer.

Naruto sighs and leans his head back, looking at the same sky he looks at, the same sky hundreds of thousands of people before them looked at, and the same sky hundreds of thousands of people after them will look at.

"Pretty," he murmurs, gaze roving over the stars.

Sasuke tilts his head to look at him. "Yeah."

Kiba gets up to throw his beer in a garbage bin, then claps his hands together. "You guys wanna head out on the boat? S'kinda been a while."

Sakura and Ino agree simultaneously, standing and stretching. Lee gets a head start down the dock, the wood swaying violently under his heavy footfalls. Naruto gets up too, laughing as Lee almost falls into the water.

Sasuke finishes his beer and tosses it in the trash, stretching silently before following the group to the boat. The dock sways gently under his feet, making him feel more intoxicated than he is. The toe of one shoe catches between the planks and he almost faceplants; luckily, a pair of strong arms hauls him back up.

He looks up, directly into blue eyes and a blinding smile.

"Looks like someone can't hold their liquor," he teases.

Sasuke pushes at his arm in annoyance, flushing. "Shut up."

His resistance to being held only makes Naruto squeeze him tighter against his chest. To his horror, Sasuke finds himself melting into his warmth.

"Maybe I should've made you promise to have only one drink."

Sasuke tries one last time to free himself—albeit gentler and more reluctant than his first attempt—and feels a pang of regret when his arms fall away. Naruto steps into the boat and holds a hand out to help Sasuke.

He slips his hand into Naruto's and hops down, nearly toppling over when it rocks under his weight. Naruto steadies him again, gripping his hand and pulling him against his chest.

"You good?" he asks after a moment, his breath hot against his head.

Sasuke's throat is suddenly dry, so he nods silently and pushes away from Naruto. He ducks his head to hide his burning cheeks and sits heavily in the first empty seat he can find.

The patchy vinyl under him pokes at his legs through his pants, making him squirm uncomfortably even as he idly picks at it. Tiny pieces of white upholstery stick to his palm; he wipes his hand on his jeans.

Up front, Kiba's trying to start the boat, and Naruto's flitting around over his shoulder, pointing out what he's doing wrong.

"I've started the boat before, idiot!" he snarls, swatting at him.

"Then why are you doing it wrong now?" Naruto taunts with a grin.

Kiba shoves the key at him. "If you're so smart, do it yourself!"

Naruto takes it and plonks himself down in the driver's seat, finagling it into the ignition and trying one, two, three times to start it. The engine sputters to life on his fourth try, and he jumps up and sticks his tongue out at Kiba.

"Ha!" he boasts, ignoring the middle finger Kiba sticks up at him and returning to his seat at the very rear of the boat.

Sasuke doesn't like that seat; it's too close to the water, too easy to fall in. Naruto seems to have no problem with that, though.

Sakura flops into the seat in front of him, Ino immediately settling sideways on her lap and wrapping her arms around her neck. Sakura rolls her eyes but pulls her close, her head resting in the crook of her neck.

Sasuke averts his gaze, allowing them even the smallest amount of privacy. Kiba's up front, checking that there's enough fuel in the tank. Lee—legendary for his inability to hold even the tiniest amount of liquor—is red-faced, nearly passed out in the seat across from him. His muscle shirt rides up his stomach, and it's a testament to how drunk he is that he doesn't even bother to fix it.

There's nowhere else for him to look, except behind him—at Naruto—

—who's already looking at him.

The same strange look from earlier is in his eyes, like he knows something and he's just dying to tell someone. Sasuke hopes he's the someone.

But then it's gone, and his usual boisterous, sunny facade slips back into place.

"Come sit back here with me!" he calls over the rumbling of the engine.

Sasuke's heart jumps into his throat. He tries for a bored expression, though he's not entirely sure he pulls it off. "No way in hell am I sitting in the back of the boat. I don't feel like taking a swim today, idiot."

"You won't fall in," Naruto dismisses. "I sit here all the time and I can't even swim. Perfectly safe. C'mon, please!"

Sasuke's eyes widen. "You can't swim?"

Naruto shrugs, resting his arm on the edge of the boat behind him. "No one ever taught me how. It's like that when you grow up in an orphanage, Sas."

Kiba interrupts them suddenly, calling, "Hey, does anyone know if it's like, illegal to set off fireworks in a boat?"

Ino and Sakura instantly voice their disapproval, which Kiba responds to with a roll of his eyes before turning to Sasuke and Naruto for their opinions on the legality of boat fireworks.

"I wouldn't," Sasuke advises. "If it's not illegal—which I seriously doubt is the case—then it's super dangerous and you probably shouldn't do it anyway."

Naruto tsks behind him. "Live a little, Sas! What's one near-death experience?"

Sasuke's eyebrows reach his hairline. "'What's one near-death experience?' One more near-death experience than I'd like to have, that's what it is."

The smirk that finds its way onto Naruto's face is dangerous; Sasuke's face heats up considerably. He swallows, fighting the urge to look away. His grin stretches when he speaks, and Sasuke can't for the life of him tear his gaze from his mouth—

"I'll protect you."

His gaze flicks up to meet blue eyes, eyes he expects to be clouded with the effects of alcohol, eyes that are most certainly not. He unconsciously licks his lips, and Naruto's grin grows wider. He holds his hand out, still staring at him, beckoning.

"Sure you will, idiot," Sasuke mutters, averting his gaze and crossing his arms.

"I will!" Naruto assures. "But you gotta come sit back here with me so I can."

Sasuke glares at him and quirks an eyebrow. "Why do you want me to sit with you so badly?"

He could be mistaken but—his heart rate picks up—but it looks like Naruto's blushing.

He sputters, struggling for an answer. "Because you're my friend, bastard! I just wanna sit with you, that's all." He says it decisively, almost like he's trying to convince himself that it's true.

Sasuke sighs. "Fine." He gets up, ignoring Naruto's cheering, and sits on the bench next to him, arms still crossed. "Happy now, dipshit?"

"Immensely," Naruto confirms, returning his arm to the back of the seat behind him.

It's ridiculous, but it almost feels like it's his way of subtly putting an arm around him without actually touching him. Or maybe it's just Sasuke's crush-addled mind adding subtext where there isn't any.

Kiba—who's been distracted on his phone for the last few minutes—clears his throat. "I don't care what Google says," he mutters, slipping his phone back in his pocket. "I'm setting off my fuckin' fireworks wherever the hell I want."

"Don't," Sasuke says immediately. "You could get arrested—"

"—What cop is gonna arrest me?" Kiba interrupts.

"Literally all of them," Sasuke answers, deadpan.

"Drama queen," Kiba scoffs, returning to the wheel to pull away from the dock. "Naruto! Untie the rope back there so we can get this thing moving!"

Naruto salutes him, then leans around Sasuke to undo the knot.

Sasuke pushes back against his seat, his chest brushing Naruto's arm with every breath he takes. "You could've just asked me to do it," he mumbles, his hands pressing into the vinyl under him. "Or asked me to move."

Naruto looks at him, shoots him a grin. "Nah, it's fine."

He gets the rope loose and tosses it onto the dock, then sends a thumbs-up to Kiba, who throws one back with a wink. He sits back in his seat—is it Sasuke's imagination or is he closer now?

The boat starts moving with a jerk that has Sasuke instinctively gripping Naruto's arm. He mutters an apology at his surprised glance and starts to pull his hand away, but Naruto grabs his wrist.

"I said I'd protect you, didn't I?" he says, smiling wryly.

"Don't be stupid," Sasuke says, fighting the blush that threatens to cover his face.

"I'm always stupid," Naruto replies.

Sasuke doesn't know how to argue with that, so he doesn't.

Kiba's pulled them out to the middle of the lake by now, and he calls over his shoulder, "What do you say to a little joyride before the party starts?"

Without waiting for an answer, he steps on the accelerator and the nose of the boat goes up as they cut through the water like a knife. Sasuke's stomach flips when his end of the boat tilts down, latching onto Naruto's arm once again.

"I got you," Naruto says through a laugh, making Sasuke glare at him.

"If we had life jackets you wouldn't need to have me," he grumbles. "You can't even swim, what if you fell in? What are you supposed to do then?"

"Well," he starts, "I guess I'd have to trust you to save me, wouldn't I."

Sasuke swallows, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. "There's no guarantee I'd be able to," he argues weakly.

"I trust you."

Sasuke has to turn away before he does something really impulsive, like kiss the daylights out of this stupid, beautiful, amazing boy.

He sucks in a breath when he feels Naruto's arm slide around his shoulders, his fingers tapping gently against his arm.

"What are you doing?" he asks, hoping his voice doesn't shake.

Naruto looks fine with this situation. "Protecting you, like I said I would."

Sasuke doesn't move his arm, but he does roll his eyes. "I can swim, stupid, I should be making sure you don't fall in."

"Go ahead."

Sasuke's mouth hangs open for a beat, his brows tilted in and his cheeks pink as he tries to come up with a clever retort. "Shut up," is what he decides on.

Naruto leans back in his seat, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, and smiles at him. "You got it."

It seems Kiba's had enough of trying to toss the passengers out of the boat like it's a bull ride because he slows down suddenly, stopping once more in the middle of the lake and rummaging around in one of the compartments until he finds what he's looking for.

He pulls out a few small boxes of fireworks, then another bigger one, and sets them in the middle of the vessel.

"We got sparklers, firecrackers, and pinwheels. Who wants what?" He holds the smaller boxes up inquisitively.

Naruto raises his hand excitedly. "Sparkler, please! One for Sas, too! Can we spell out dick with them?"

"Yes!" Sakura answers before Kiba can.

Ino pins them both with a glare. "We cannot spell dick with the sparklers."

"Why not?" he whines, crossing his arms and pushing out his lower lip.

Sakura looks at Ino, a question in her eyes. "Yeah, why not?"

"Because we aren't twelve, dumbasses," Ino snarks, crossing her arms haughtily.

"No fun," Naruto grumbles. He turns to Sasuke, blue eyes wide. "You'd spell out dick with me, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," Sasuke replies immediately, earning a grin from his friend.

"This is why you're my only friend."

Sakura makes an offended noise. "What about me, jackass?"

"Your girlfriend won't let me spell dick with sparklers. Friendship ended with Sakura and Ino, now Sasuke is my best friend."

"If Sakura were still in the picture," Sasuke starts, "would I be bumped down a peg? Is that how it works? Would I be your second-best friend, then?"

"How's it my fault that Ino won't do it?!" Sakura exclaims.

"Hey," Kiba interrupts. "Where do I rank in this bullshit hierarchy? Do I not get best friend status?"

Ino looks bored by the whole conversation; she offers no input. Neither does Lee, but that's probably because he's barely even aware of what's going on.

"Can you guys shut the hell up?" Naruto cries. "You're all my best friends, Sasuke's just my number one best friend."

Kiba looks hurt. "Dude, you know I'd spell dick with you."

Naruto softens, his lower lip jutting out. "Bro..."

"Bro..." Kiba echoes, mirroring his expression.

Sasuke looks between them. "Does this mean my rank changes or...?"

That makes Naruto laugh loudly even as Kiba grumbles next to him. He walks away, leaving a couple sparklers on the seat next to them, and tries to pawn some off on Ino and Sakura.

When he sobers, he fixes Sasuke with an amused look, then says, "Believe me, Sas, no one's even close to being on your level."

His heart pounds to a stop and for one blissful moment Sasuke thinks 'This is it, this is the end' but then it starts again and the blood is rushing in his ears faster than it ever has because what the fuck does that mean?

"Oh," he says intelligently, making Naruto snicker.

He picks up their fireworks and hands him one, pulling his matchbook out once more and shaking one loose. They both hold their sparklers away from themselves, Naruto strikes a match, lights them.

The light that erupts from them is blinding. It makes Sasuke jump back—only a little—but it's enough to make Naruto laugh at him for the nth time tonight. Sasuke can't find it in him to be irritated, though. Not when Naruto looks so happy.

Sakura and Ino both have sparklers of their own, leaning over the water and watching the embers spark off into the depths. Lee has sobered up—or at least, Kiba has deemed him sober enough to equip him with a handful of firecrackers.

Kiba himself is standing on the nose of the boat, fiddling with a lighter.

There's a whistling noise, then a whoosh, then a bang as the firework goes off high in the sky.

Distantly, a dog starts to bark. The distinct sound of a screen door banging open follows close behind.

It's unclear if Kiba hears it too, and if he does he's totally ignoring it, busy setting up another firework.

"Kiba," Sasuke says, but the noise of Lee's firecrackers and the next firework drowns him out.

"Kiba, maybe we should stop," Sakura tries.

He waves her off. "It's fine," he assures, getting to work setting up the third firework.

He lights it and a few seconds pass before it's whistling high into the sky, exploding into a shower of brightly colored lights that rain down on them.

Then the yelling starts.

"Oi! You fuckin' assholes, cut that shit out!" someone yells, their dog still barking.

"Fuck you!" Kiba yells back, much to everyone else's dismay.

"Kiba, we should—" Sasuke's cut off by another firework, another door banging open.

"I'll call the cops, shithead!" someone else yells.

Adrenaline surges through Sasuke's veins but he's paralyzed, unable to stop anything that's happening. If he gets arrested tonight, his dad will kill him, and then Itachi will kill him again.

"Do it, pissbaby! I fuckin' dare you!"

"Kiba!" Naruto hisses.

He either doesn't care, doesn't hear him, or both, because he doesn't even turn around to look before he starts lighting another firework.

The whistle as this one goes off is deafening. As the sparks rain down in the silence that follows the bang, the distant sound of sirens reaches them. Someone must've already reported them.

Sasuke feels like he's on the verge of panicking, his breaths harsh and shallow, and when he looks to Naruto, his wide eyes tell him that he's in the same boat.

"Kiba!" Naruto tries again, the boat swaying as he scrambles to the front of it, his sparkler falling into the water.

Sasuke, spurred on by Naruto's movement, tosses his in after, as do Sakura and Ino, and Sasuke takes the firecrackers from Lee and shoves them in his pocket hurriedly.

At the front of the boat, Naruto is pulling Kiba's arm, telling him frantically that they need to go, that people are angry, that the police could be here any minute. It seems to hit him now. Kiba stuffs the fireworks back in the compartment, then revs the boat and spins them around at a dizzying speed.

Sasuke falls back into Naruto's chest, and he finds that he's laughing. Naruto's laughing.

His mirth rumbles out of his stomach, through Sasuke's back and into his own chest, bubbles up his throat and out erupts a laugh of his own.

It's ridiculous, he thinks, everything is utterly ridiculous. It's nearing four a.m. and he's on a boat with five of his friends, cutting through the water like a knife to avoid having the police called on them for shooting fireworks off a boat, and he's enjoying it.

He's having fun.

Probably the most fun he's had in years.

And, as they near the dock, his laugh trickling away, his heart slowing down, his mirth replaced by something considerably sadder, he realizes he doesn't want it to end.

He's running out of time to do things like this. Pretty soon they won't be teenagers anymore, they won't be some dumb kids setting off fireworks on a boat in the middle of the lake.

It feels like time is sand slipping through his fingers.

Please don't let this end.

The boat's engine cuts off, the deep rumble replaced by the sound of distant sirens. Naruto hauls Sasuke out of the boat by his elbow, Ino and Sakura stumbling after, Kiba with a semi-coherent Lee hanging off his shoulder.

"Come on," Naruto says right by his ear. "We gotta go, Sas."

He hadn't realized he was falling behind, Naruto's grip on his arm tightening. He matches his pace, stumbling over the uneven ground to his car.

Sasuke flops into the passenger seat, Sakura and Ino falling over each other as they climb into the back. Out the window, he can see Kiba stuffing a messy Lee into his truck.

As they pull out behind Kiba, a small giggle rises from the backseat. Sasuke turns to look, finds Ino covering her mouth and snickering into her palm. Sakura snorts, then joins her, a hand on her chest as she leans back against her seat and laughs silently.

Naruto's eyes flick to them in the rearview, and he cracks a grin before glancing at Sasuke.

It so isn't funny, but maybe it kind of is.

A laugh bubbles out of him before he can stop it, and the four of them simultaneously crack up. Ino practically busts a lung, coughing so hard that Sakura half-heartedly claps her on the back as she wipes tears from her eyes.

"If Kiba gets me arrested," Sasuke says, still laughing quietly, "I'm so not being friends with him anymore."

Naruto wipes at his eye, no longer laughing but still smiling hard enough his face might split. "Nah, I wouldn't let you take the fall for him."

Sasuke turns to look at Naruto. He's facing the road, hands deftly moving over the steering wheel, but for a moment he turns that smile on him and it steals his breath away.

"What?" Naruto's voice interrupts his thoughts. "I got somethin' on my face?"

Sasuke starts, clearing his throat and turning to look out his window. "No, you're good."

In the backseat, Ino snorts derisively and Sakura swats her arm.

Sasuke turns around in his seat to look at her. "What?"

Ino shrugs lazily, raising an eyebrow at him. "Nothing. You have something you wanna discuss?"

"Ino!" Sakura hisses, pinching her thigh.

"Ow! What the fuck, dude!" she yelps, batting her hand away.

Sakura gives her a look. "Stop it. Don't—start shit."

"Why not?" Ino asks innocently. "It's fun, and since we aren't getting arrested anytime soon we might as well hash it out."

"Because!" Sakura leans in and whispers something in her ear, too quiet for Sasuke to make out.

Ino just rolls her eyes, but she doesn't press whatever subject she was trying to bring up. Sakura sighs quietly, smiles tightly at Sasuke, then looks out her window.

He turns back around, staring out the windshield silently. He has a sinking feeling in his stomach because he's pretty sure he knows what Ino was getting at and, if he's right, her knowing that he likes Naruto could very well ruin his life.

To make matters worse, apparently Ino's not the only one who knows, because Sakura instinctively knew what she was about to say.

He's less worried about Sakura letting the cat out of the bag, but still; it's one more person knowing something he doesn't want anyone to know.

It's one more opportunity to have the best thing that's ever happened to him slip out of his grasp forever.

He can't panic, not now, not with Naruto sitting next to him, not with a whole night ahead of him.

So, instead of giving in to the threat of tears behind his eyes and the lump forming in his throat, he says, "Where are we going now?"

Naruto glances at him. "No fuckin' idea, dude," he says, grinning like that's the funniest thing to him. "I'm just following Kiba."

Sasuke wrinkles his nose. "Are you sure that's the best idea?" he asks. "We had to leave the camp because he got the cops called on us, maybe it's time to acknowledge that he doesn't have the best judgement."

Naruto waves a hand. "It'll be fine, he left the fireworks at the camp, he has nothing illegal on his person right now." He pauses for a second, then adds, "I think."

He's not convinced, but he drops it for fear of being labelled a buzzkill. Normally, he wouldn't care, but Ino has gossip on him and getting on her bad side tonight is a bad idea.

In front of them, Kiba pulls over on the street in front of a playground.

"A playground?" Ino asks, distaste clear in her voice.

"What's wrong with a playground?" Naruto looks at her in the rearview. "It'll be fun!"

"Isn't it kinda..." She wrinkles her nose. "Juvenile?"

"'Juvenile?'" he repeats. "Man, Ino, unclench. It's three in the morning and we have four swings all to ourselves, this is every kid's dream."

"Whatever," Ino mutters.

Sakura nudges her, catches her eye, smiles sweetly. "Come on, babe, it'll be nice. I know I dragged you out here but could you just try to enjoy yourself?"

Ino stares at her for a second, then slumps in defeat. "Fine," she acquiesces, "but only for you."

Sakura beams, pressing a sloppy kiss to her girlfriend's cheek. Ino wipes it away, but the blush on her cheeks belies her disgust.

Naruto opens his door and gets out, prompting the rest of them to do the same. Kiba's closing his door as the rest of them come up to him.

"Race you to the swings," Naruto dares, bouncing on his feet.

"Oh, you're so on," Kiba answers, baring his teeth in a challenging grin.

They both take off running, mulch kicking up under their feet. Sasuke rolls his eyes, peeking in at Lee as he passes the window on his way inside the park. He's either sleeping or resting his eyes, but he looks fine.

Sakura follows Naruto and Kiba to the swings, but Ino breaks off to go sit on the seesaw, staring out at the trees behind the fence.

Sasuke thinks about joining Naruto, is on his way to the swings to take the last one, but he feels the back of his neck prickle and when he turns to look he finds Ino staring at him.

His heart stutters.

On second thought, maybe he should go talk to her.

He changes course, heading for the seesaw and ignoring Naruto calling for him to come back. He stands across from Ino, watching her carefully.

Her gaze—as per usual—is haughty, her arms crossed over her chest even as she gently pushes herself up and down. Sasuke sits down on the opposite end, making her bounce slightly as the seesaw adjusts under the added weight.

It's quiet for a long time. Neither wants to be the first to say something, both too stubborn to break the silence.

Finally, he's fed up with this ridiculous standoff. He sighs. "You can't tell him."

Ino's mouth twists up into a smirk. "Why not? It's not like you ever will."

Already, he doesn't like where this conversation is going. "Ino, please. I—it's my business, I get to decide if I want to tell him or not."

The smirk slips from her face. "You obviously want to. You're just too pussy to actually do it."

Sasuke grits his teeth. "It's not your business," he repeats, trying to stay calm.

Ino huffs. "Maybe not, but where do you think I'd be if I hadn't said anything to Sakura? Huh? I'd be in the same boat as you—" She gestures to him. "—pathetic and pining."

"I'm not—" he starts to protest, cutting himself off when Naruto's laughter rings through the air.

He looks over at the swings, where Naruto's flying as high as he can, almost falling out of his seat laughing at something Kiba's saying. He visibly softens, tension bleeding out of his shoulders.

Then Ino scoffs. "Not pathetic, my ass," she mutters. "You look at him like he hung the moon and all the fuckin' stars. You're not subtle at all, I'm pretty sure everyone at school knows too."

"Then you should take a page out of their book and keep it to yourself," Sasuke snaps.

"Why are you so against telling him?" she asks, eyes narrowing as she leans forward.

His eyes flick to Naruto again, who seems to be trying to flip himself over the top of the swingset.

"I don't want to ruin things," he says softly. His gaze slants back to Ino. "What if I tell him, and he's uncomfortable or grossed out, and we stop being friends?"

"God, you're just as stupid as Naruto is."

Sasuke's brows furrow.

"Yeah, you look at him like he's the single best thing in your life, but he looks at you the exact same way."

All of a sudden, he can't seem to catch his breath. He's aware of his chest rising and falling but there's no air flow. Ino, ignoring his plight, plows on.

"Jesus, I'm pretty sure like, 90 percent of the people at school think you guys are already fucking, so like—"

"Wait—he does?" he manages to ask.

Ino rolls her eyes. "You are so clueless, huh."

"Can you be serious for a minute?" Sasuke cries, making the others look over to see what the commotion is.

Ino doesn't seem to care about the attention. "I am being serious, asshole! What about my demeanor right now makes you think I'm not?"

"Oh, yeah, because insulting me is the best way to get me to believe you," he scoffs.

"God," Ino huffs, starting to stand. "You're so damn annoying." She pauses, turns to leave, then says, "I won't say anything to Naruto—" She looks over her shoulder. "—but you will. Soon. He's waiting. And you're running out of time. Tell him before he goes off to college and falls in love with someone else."

And then she walks away, back to the car, leaving Sasuke to chew on that, his heart sinking into the ground beneath him.

He mulls it over for a while, biting the inside of his cheek as he gently pushes the seesaw up and down. As much as he hates to admit it, she's right. He's running out of time. He's felt it creeping up on him all night long; he's running out of chances to tell Naruto how he feels, and the idea of him leaving and finding someone else terrifies him.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice breaks his reverie.

He looks at the swings, where everyone has considerably slowed down. It seems Kiba's bored of the swings, as he jumps off and sits against the fence behind them, pulling out what looks like a joint and his lighter.

"What?" Sasuke asks, getting off the seesaw and walking over to Sakura and Naruto.

"Swing with us," Naruto offers, jerking his head towards the one next to him.

Kiba's voice filters over from behind them. "Oi, Sasuke."

He turns around, brows furrowed, a question in his eyes. Naruto does too, though his gaze is more like a glare. Kiba waves him over without an explanation, joint between his lips, thumb flicking the lighter.

He spares one last glance for Naruto, then joins Kiba against the fence. The chain links dip as he settles against them, make a soft clinking noise as they bump against the metal posts.

"What?" he asks softly, noticing wisps of smoke drift into the air in his periphery even though his eyes are glued to Naruto's back as he swings.

Kiba takes a second to reply, his dark eyes giving him a quick once-over before he opens his mouth. "Ino was yelling at you. Was it about what I think it was about?"

Sasuke shouldn't be surprised at this point, but his heart betrays him by speeding up. Of course Kiba knows; he's not blind. He's not stupid, either. He's Naruto's best friend.

When he doesn't answer, Kiba continues. "It was about Naruto, right?"

Sasuke just nods, fearing what might slip out if he opens his mouth.

Kiba sighs, smoke billowing out and disappearing into the dark. His eyes shift from Sasuke to Naruto, a tiny grin lifting his mouth as he watches him and Sakura. "Not to be all like, intervention-y or whatever, but you do know she's right, don't you?"

Sasuke runs a hand through his hair, leans his head back against the fence. "Yeah," he says, "I do. I just—"

"Like, I'm not gay or anything—not that I know of—but even I know that Naruto's—he's a catch. If you don't snatch him up now, someone else will. Like, no pressure, but... like, a little pressure."

"That makes no sense," Sasuke deflects.

Kiba punches his arm. "Whatever, okay, I'm just trying to help a brother get laid but if you don't want—"

"It's not about that, Kiba. It's about—Naruto's my best friend, okay, I'm not just looking for like, a fling. I'm—I'm really serious about him, but I can't—" He stops, his throat constricting around a rapidly growing lump. "I can't lose him."

The hand that lands on his shoulder surprises him. He blinks at Kiba.

"You're not gonna lose him," he says somberly. "And you're fuckin' crazy if you think Naruto doesn't feel the same way about you. Even if he didn't, you think he'd just cut you off?" He smirks. "C'mon, man, it's not that easy to get rid of him. You should know that by now."

He manages to crack a smile despite the melancholy carving out a home in his chest. It's gone in a moment, but Kiba takes it as a win.

"I'm telling you, Sasuke," he says, stubbing out his joint in the grass. "There's no harm in telling him. I think it'd be worse if you let him go without saying anything."

Sasuke says nothing, taking a second to chew on that. Kiba's never been the most... mature guy, but he can admit that there's some truth to his advice. If he tells Naruto now and he doesn't feel the same, they have four years to process.

If he confesses now and Naruto does feel the same...

"Sasuke!"

He looks up. Naruto's twisted around in his swing, facing him.

"What?"

He waves him over. "Come swing with us."

He looks over at Kiba, who claps him on the back and jerks his head at Naruto as if to say 'Go ahead, I've said my piece.' So he gets up, brushes off his pants, and heads for the swings.

Naruto twists around when he settles on the swing beside him. Sasuke sways gently, the toes of his shoes pushing mulch around. He watches the mulch give way to dirt, tan giving way to dark brown.

"What was that all about?" Naruto asks, making him look up. "With Ino and Kiba?"

Sasuke shrugs halfheartedly. "You know," he mumbles.

Naruto's eyes sparkle with the laughter he stifles. "No, I don't, actually. That's kinda why I asked."

He shrugs again. Naruto's face falls.

He nudges his foot against Sasuke's gently, trying to get him to meet his gaze. "Hey," he says. "You okay?"

Sasuke just nods quietly, still thinking about what Ino and Kiba said. He wonders if Naruto does look at him the same way, if that's what the looks from earlier were, on the boat and in the car.

He's never seen that expression on Naruto's face before, so it might be true. But then again, someone as amazing as Naruto liking him? Someone as beautiful and bright and intense?

Naruto is a thunderstorm, a tidal wave, a wildfire in the forest of Sasuke's heart.

How could he ever be deserving of someone like that?

How could he let him go?

"Sas."

He looks at Naruto now, his hands tightening around the chains of his swing. He looks concerned, sitting almost sideways to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"What happened?"

Sasuke can't look away. "Just—" He cuts himself off, thinks about what to say. "—They just opened my eyes to something, and I—they were right. That's all."

Naruto doesn't answer for a while, and when he does all he says is, "Oh."

A silence falls between them; when Naruto next speaks he sounds shy, hesitant.

"You're okay, though?"

Sasuke's chest aches. What did he ever do to deserve the concern, the friendship, the presence of this radiant boy?

"I'm okay, Naruto." As long as you're here, I'm okay.

In his periphery, Naruto relaxes a little, looking back out at the street. Sakura gets off her swing and starts for the car, saying she's getting kind of tired.

Naruto waves at her retreating back. Behind them, Kiba spits into the grass and stands up, stretching his arms over his head.

"You douchebags ready to go?" he calls. "I'm kinda thirsty."

"Sure," Naruto agrees easily.

He stands up, Sasuke following suit, and the three of them leave the park, get back into their cars.

Kiba starts driving, Naruto follows him, and no one really cares where they're going.

They start to slow near a 24 hour convenience store and Kiba pulls into the lot and parks around the back. The parking lot overlooks a grassy hill, starry sky, and a quiet, sleeping neighborhood. Naruto pulls in next to him, then opens his door and gets out.

Sasuke starts to follow his lead when Sakura's hand closes around his wrist. He looks back at her, his hand falling from the door latch.

She fidgets for a second, then says in a quiet voice, "Ino told me."

His gaze flicks to Ino, who seems to be fast asleep in the seat next to her.

"I bet she did," he says dryly.

Sakura narrows her eyes. "Don't be mean."

"She wasn't exactly nice about it either," he grumbles. "So she told you. So what? You obviously already know how I feel without Ino telling you, and you already know that I'm running out of time to say something about it."

Sakura bites her lip thoughtfully for a few moments, eyes focused on something out the windshield.

"I'm not gonna lecture you," she starts gently. "Because I know Ino and Kiba already have, and anything I say will just be repetitive and unhelpful."

Sasuke lets out a sigh born of very short-lived relief, as Sakura continues.

"But, I will say this: even if it doesn't go the way you want it to, at least you'll know. It might hurt for a long time, and you might feel like your heart will never be whole again, but you'll know. And I think there's a certain peace in that."

He turns away from her, stares out the windshield for a long, quiet moment.

"Maybe you're right," he says softly.

A knock on the driver's side window makes him jump; he looks over at Naruto's smiling face.

"Come on! What are you waiting for?" he says, his voice muffled by the glass.

Sasuke rolls his eyes but gets out of the car, closes his door and rests his forearms on the roof. Sakura stays in her seat next to Ino, leaning forward to turn the air conditioning up.

"What are we doing here, Kiba?" Naruto asks as his friend steps out of his truck and comes around the bed.

"We didn't wanna go home yet, right? My sister works the night shift here, she'll let us hang for an hour or two s'long as we're well-behaved."

"I don't think you've ever been well-behaved in your life," Sasuke intones, propping his chin on his arms.

Kiba snorts but doesn't respond, tugging the tailgate down and climbing into the bed of the truck. "Yo," he calls, gesturing for Naruto to hand him something. "You got the blankets in the trunk, right?"

"Yup! You told me to bring 'em." Naruto opens his door to pop the trunk, then goes around to it and lifts it. "Sas, give me a hand."

Sasuke joins him. In the trunk are four blankets, all comforters in different shades of yellow and orange. He wrinkles his nose.

"Does everything you own have to be orange? Is that the only criteria a thing has to meet for you to buy it instantly, no questions asked?"

Luckily, Naruto's arms are full of a sickeningly orange blanket, so he can't punch him like Sasuke suspects he wants to.

"Just because you're emo—" Sasuke's punch lands on the blanket, and Naruto sticks his tongue out, then laughs. "—I like bright colors, okay, they make me happy."

He walks over to Kiba and hauls himself into the truck to lay it out, leaving Sasuke to grab another one and bring it over to them.

He and Kiba lay that one out too, then Naruto jumps down and follows Sasuke back to the trunk to get the last two. Kiba's coming down as they get back to the truck.

The passenger side door opens and Lee practically falls out of his seat. He manages to right himself, standing on wobbly legs.

"Where are we?" he asks.

"7-Eleven parking lot," Kiba answers. "We almost got arrested—long story, come with me. We left all the chairs, but I know Kiko's got some we could use." Without waiting for an answer, he jogs off to the convenience store.

Lee stares at his back for a second, then shrugs and follows him.

Naruto and Sasuke dump their blankets into the bed and hop in, spreading them out over the others.

"Take your shoes off," Naruto says as he kicks off his sneakers. Sasuke notes that even his socks are orange, a detail that makes him smile to himself. "These are pretty new, I don't wanna have to explain to Dad why they're already dirty."

Sasuke starts to tugs his own shoes off when Lee doubles back, jogs up to the truck.

"Sasuke!" he says brightly.

He looks at Lee warily, the smile on his face giving him an inkling of where this is going.

"Yeah?" he says slowly, his shoelaces still between his fingers.

"I'd like for you to accompany me!" He holds a hand out enthusiastically.

Sasuke looks at Naruto, who shrugs, then reties his shoe and hops out of the truck to follow Lee into the store.

Once they're inside, Lee leads the way to a rack of candy, idly browsing.

"What did you want?" Sasuke asks, his voice loud in the emptiness.

Lee looks at him. "Kiba caught me up," he replies. "About the conversation he had with you earlier."

Sasuke barely suppresses a groan. "Great. Awesome," he mutters sarcastically, turning his gaze to a rack of magazines.

"I know you're probably sick of hearing it," he continues, his voice much softer now.

Sasuke blinks. He's never heard Lee take up such a gentle tone. He looks over at him to find a small, reassuring smile on his face.

"But Naruto is... he's a great guy. And for you, this feeling is probably this huge weight on your chest. You don't need to keep shouldering the burden, Sasuke. I don't know exactly what Sakura, Kiba, and Ino said to you, but I know they're all pretty smart."

Sasuke turns his attention back to the magazines, surprised to feel a stinging sensation behind his eyes.

"And maybe the same can't be said of me." Lee laughs quietly. "Maybe I'm not great at understanding feelings, but the way Naruto looks at you..."

Sasuke looks back to him. Lee's eyes have always bled sincerity, but never more than they do now.

"He looks at you like he loves you."

Sasuke's heart thumps to a stop, the store so quiet he can hear the lights buzzing above them.

Kiba comes out of the back with two chairs tucked under his arm. Lee turns to greet him but Sasuke is frozen, his eyes unseeing. There's distant chatter, then a hand is on his shoulder, shaking him.

"Oi." Kiba's voice comes to him, clearing the fog. "Let's go, we're done here."

He blinks, avoids Lee's gaze as they all go back outside and head for the cars.

Kiba and Lee set up their chairs on the hill in front of them. Quietly, Kiba twists open a beer—he must've brought it from the camp, or maybe his sister had some—and takes a swig.

Sasuke climbs up into the bed of the truck, pulls his shoes off and drops them on the tailgate, then sits heavily on the blankets next to Naruto and lies back.

He props his head up on his arms, mulling over what Lee said as he gazes up at the stars above them. They're harder to see now, with the street lamps and convenience store glow so close, but they're still there.

In his periphery, he sees Naruto flop back and bunch the blanket up under his head to act as a pillow. He rests his hands on his stomach, looking up at the stars with a somber look on his face.

Sasuke's heart flutters; it's not often he sees Naruto like this, serious and quiet and intense. It feels like a secret between the two of them.

He looks back to the night sky, his heart skipping every few beats. It's so quiet, it feels like they're the only people in the universe.

It scares him, but at the same time it's exhilarating.

"Do you ever think about it?" he whispers, quiet, kind of breathless.

The blanket shifts minutely, Naruto's cheek pressing into it as he looks at Sasuke. His gaze lingers for a moment before he replies, "What?"

"How we're so small, and the universe is so big."

Naruto turns back to the sky, his hands clasped loosely on his stomach.

"How nothing we do here on Earth is ever going to change anything up there, and how we're still going to try because that's the kind of foolhardy assholes we are."

"I don't think that makes us assholes," Naruto disagrees, his gaze shifting to Sasuke once more. "I think it makes us persistent. Determined."

Sasuke hums quietly.

"And besides," he continues up into the silence. "Wanting to change how things are isn't necessarily bad, is it?"

It's Sasuke's turn to look at him. The firm line of his jaw, the way his forehead slopes into his nose, the sharp drop-off to his lips.

"I suppose," he murmurs, his heart pounding against his ribs, "some change is good."

Naruto meets his gaze and Sasuke's heart skips several beats when he smiles at him, like he knows what Sasuke is thinking. Like they're the only two people in the parking lot, the country, the world, the universe.

Like they're in a world all their own.

Sasuke opens his mouth—to say something he'll regret, most likely—but Kiba interrupts.

He raps on the side of the truck, shakes his empty bottle at them. "You guys thirsty?"

Naruto cranes his neck to look over at him, then nods. "Sas?"

Sasuke shrugs, which Kiba interprets however he does and leaves, heading back into the store to pick up more beer.

Unfortunately, despite the interruption, the words he's wanted to say for the past three years are still on the tip of his tongue. Somehow, they don't feel quite as scary as they normally do.

Ino was right, God, they were all right. He needs to tell him; it'll only tear him apart if he doesn't. The thought of Naruto in someone else's arms makes him feel sick to his stomach, makes the backs of his eyes burn with the threat of tears.

"Hey," he whispers before he can talk himself out of it.

Naruto's eyes are on him in an instant, making his face heat up.

"I—there's something I want to tell you," he starts, butterflies swarming in his stomach. "Something I—I need to tell you."

He looks at him seriously, heart rate ratcheting up with every second he stalls. As he struggles to draw a breath, Naruto smiles, which doesn't do him any favors.

"Is it the same thing I need to tell you?" he murmurs, light dancing in his eyes.

His breathing stops altogether.

"What do you—" he tries to ask.

"I asked you first," Naruto insists.

Despite his heart clogging his throat, Sasuke feels a smile growing on his face. "I asked you second."

Naruto doesn't answer, just studies his face for a long, silent moment. The crickets in the grass seem to get louder, as if they know something is coming, like an orchestra crescendoing.

It seems like he's about to say something when Kiba finally comes back, making Sasuke flinch when he gently tosses their beers on the blanket between them.

Naruto pushes himself up, opens his beer, props his elbow on the side of the truck and takes a swig.

Sasuke sits up too, staring at the bottle in his hands, knuckles white and heart still racing from whatever just happened between him and Naruto.

A hand enters his field of vision and he blinks, then glances at Naruto.

"I'll open it for you," he offers.

Sasuke hands him the beer and he does just that. He hands it back and their fingers brush slightly when Sasuke wraps his hand around the neck of the bottle.

Sasuke's face heats but Naruto just smiles at him, dropping his hand to the blanket and taking another sip, gazing out at the empty parking lot, the empty street.

He looks at you like he loves you.

He tries to distract himself from the thumping of his heart with a long, drawn-out gulp of shitty beer. A buzz settles in his bones, but whether it has to do with the alcohol or his proximity to Naruto he doesn't know. He doesn't care.

What was Naruto about to tell him?

He wants to ask.

Another sip of beer has his head feeling fuzzy and he thinks that this can't be an effect of the alcohol because he feels far too tipsy for someone who's only had two drinks all night.

Should he ask?

He sets his beer down on the side of the truck, making a conscious decision to stop drinking. Naruto looks over at him, confused.

"Something wrong, Sas?" he asks.

Naruto is fine, or maybe his alcohol tolerance is higher than his. That's probably it, Sasuke doesn't drink much.

"Sas?" Naruto repeats, leaning closer and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke looks at him, his heart kicking up. He feels like he's blushing, but he can't tell if it's because he's tipsy or because Naruto is so close he could kiss him.

It's probably Naruto.

It's usually Naruto.

"Do you need to go home?" he asks quietly, and Sasuke feels that all-too-familiar tug of longing in his gut.

He shakes his head. "No, I—don't take me home, not yet. There's something I have to—"

Naruto's brows knit together in confusion and maybe... worry? A little bit, yeah, behind his eyes.

Sasuke wets his lips, suddenly nervous.

Naruto opens his mouth, his perfect mouth— "What do you—"

"I love you."

The silence that follows makes his stomach turn. Naruto just stares at him, his mouth open slightly in surprise, and Sasuke feels the overwhelming urge to keep talking, to fill the silence, to explain.

"I mean—no, well, I do, I do, um, love you, I have for like, a really long time, I guess, but it's—it's cool if you don't, like—you know, I'll be fine if—if you don't—"

He cuts himself off when he sees the shine of tears in Naruto's eyes.

"Don't cry—please don't—God, I shouldn't have—"

Naruto's laugh comes out watery as he wipes at his face. "It's not that, Sas. I just—I didn't think you'd ever say it out loud."

Sasuke chokes on his heart. "I—what?"

"Don't know why I'm crying," he mutters, sniffing and then laughing again.

"You—" His tongue feels like ash. "You knew?"

Naruto looks at him, eyes slightly red. "Of course I knew, Sasuke. You tell me all the time."

His anxiety makes room to allow for confusion to take the reins. "What? But I never—"

A weak punch lands on his arm. "You don't have to say it to say it, asshole."

Sasuke stares hard at the spot on his arm that Naruto punched, blinking rapidly. "But—if you knew... If you knew, why didn't you ever say anything?"

Naruto shifts closer, the blanket bunching up, and meets his eyes. "I wanted to hear you say it. On your own, when you were ready."

Sasuke blinks at him, still not entirely sure what's going on.

"I don't—are you—like—" He presses his palm flat against the blanket, stares at the back of his hand. "So you—"

"Sasuke."

He looks at him, heart and mind racing. When Naruto leans closer, his brain short-circuits.

And then Naruto's mouth is on his and the whole world stops.

His eyes flutter shut in time to his heart when Naruto's hand slides into his hair. His fingers wrap around his wrist and he allows himself to be pushed back against the blanket, Naruto leaning over him, pressing down on him.

He tastes like the same shitty beer he was just drinking, but on Naruto it's so much better.

Sasuke lets out a sigh, his hands finding their way to his neck, his arms winding over his shoulders and pulling him down.

Naruto grins against his lips, his eyes opening, glittering at Sasuke.

"Eager, aren't we?" he teases, the hand that isn't in his hair resting on his chest.

Sasuke blinks at him, mesmerized. The light from the store and street lamps just barely reaches them, enough to create a gentle halo behind his head.

He's beautiful.

"Naruto," he whispers reverently, fingers threading through his hair.

Naruto hums in curiosity.

"If you knew," he starts, "if you knew that I liked you—that I—" He swallows. "Love you, and you... felt the same, why didn't you say anything?"

"Like I said," he murmurs. "I wanted you to say it. I didn't want to, like, force you into anything before you were ready. I know I do that sometimes, and this is a big deal." He shrugs a shoulder.

Sasuke tugs him close again, feels his breath on his lips. "You should've said something. We could've been doing this the whole time."

Naruto laughs, right into his mouth. "Yeah, we could've. But I think you're forgetting something."

He blinks, a question in his eyes.

Naruto meets his gaze and gently traces his jaw with a finger. "We still have forever."

Sasuke's lungs have long since stopped working, but he manages to ask, "Is this—are you sure? Forever is a long time."

He smiles but his eyes are serious. "It is," he agrees quietly, "and there's no one I'd rather spend it with."

He exhales slowly, willing his heart to calm down. "You're going to be the death of me."

Naruto's smile widens and he feels like he's looking into the sun.

He leans down, their lips barely brushing, and breathes, "I love you, Sasuke."

And Sasuke finds his mouth far too occupied to reply.

The sound of knuckles rapping on the side of the truck makes Naruto pull away, leaves Sasuke wanting. He turns to look and feels his whole body heat up when he sees Kiba standing there, Lee a little behind him. The broad smile on Lee's face embarrasses him, but Sasuke knows it's born of pride, of genuine happiness for them.

"If you two are done," Kiba says, "I should take Lee home. He's got a family thing tomorrow morning and it's really late."

"Oh, sure, yeah." Naruto sits, drains the remainder of his beer and stands up. He turns and holds out a hand to help Sasuke.

Sasuke takes it—his heart fluttering at the contact, still sort of dazed, sort of bashful—and pulls himself up. He dumps the rest of his beer over the side of the truck, where it splashes on the pavement, then he sits heavily on the tailgate to tug his shoes on and hops out, Naruto right behind him.

Lee and Kiba help them pull the blankets out of the bed. The four of them take the bundle back to Naruto's trunk and shove it inside.

Naruto closes the trunk and bumps Kiba's fist in a silent goodbye, then Kiba collects his chair, climbs into his truck, and starts it up. He throws them both one last parting wave, directs something like a proud grin at Sasuke as he pulls out of the parking lot.

The two of them lean back against the car, Sasuke's elbows resting on the spoiler. Adrenaline and shock have caused the alcohol to mostly wear off, which is how he knows this fuzzy and warm and relaxed feeling is because of something else.

He peeks at Naruto out of the corner of his eye.

Yeah, definitely something else.

"Hey," Sasuke says, garnering his attention.

He looks at him, automatically smiling. "Hmm?"

"Are we—" He pauses, trying to gather his thoughts. "What are we?"

Naruto thinks about it, craning his neck back to look at the stars overhead. "We're us," he answers simply. He looks back to Sasuke. "I'm yours, and you're mine, and that's it. That's all we need."

Warmth blooms in Sasuke's chest. He takes Naruto's hand, twines their fingers together, tugs him close.

Naruto presses him against the car, presses his mouth to Sasuke's, presses the pads of his fingers into his hips. Sasuke's hands drift up his arms until they rest lazily over his shoulders, one tangling in his hair. He grins into Naruto's mouth.

He doesn't think he'll ever get tired of this.

"I should take you home," Naruto says once he pulls away.

Sasuke nods. He's starting to feel tired for the first time all night, and distantly he wonders what time it is. The sky is a little lighter than it was a few moments ago, the stars fading.

But when he looks at Naruto, when Naruto smiles at him, it feels like they exist within him now, like they fell from the sky, landed right inside his chest.

Naruto backs away and they both get back into the car, where Sakura and Ino are almost falling asleep against each other.

"Naruto?" Sakura mumbles sleepily, wiping at her eyes and nudging Ino gently.

Ino shifts, sliding down in her seat to lay against the back of it.

"Hey," Naruto replies. "I'm gonna take you guys home now."

Sakura hums vaguely, leaning around Ino and fastening her belt for her before putting on her own. "Tonight was fun," she murmurs. "I've—missed you guys."

That makes Naruto laugh a little. "What's to miss? We see each other all the time."

"Yeah," she agrees, "but—I dunno, we haven't done anything like this in a long time. I missed it."

Her unspoken words ring loud and clear in the silence that follows: We're running out of time to do things like this.

Ino's head falls onto her shoulder and she smiles softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

He looks at them in the rearview. "I guess we haven't." I guess we are. He glances at Sasuke. One of his hands leaves the wheel, takes Sasuke's.

He laces their fingers together, lifting his hand to press a kiss to the back of Naruto's. In the backseat, Sakura smiles.

They pull out of the parking lot and onto the empty streets, the only sounds being the wind rushing past them and the occasional clicking of the turn signal.

It sounds like the end of youth. Of stupid, reckless, wild youth.

Sasuke doesn't want it to end yet.

When they stop in front of Sakura's house, Naruto turns around and jostles her knee. She blinks blearily a couple times, then takes off her belt and nudges Ino.

"C'mon babe, we're home," she says, pushing her shoulder.

Ino rouses, looking absolutely murderous, takes her belt off, and gets out of the car without saying goodbye.

Sakura opens her door, waves tiredly at Naruto and Sasuke, then follows her girlfriend to the front door and they both go inside.

They pull away from the curb once the girls are safely inside. Sasuke rolls his window down a little, the wind tousling his hair.

He squeezes Naruto's hand wordlessly and Naruto squeezes back.

The sky has lightened to a very pale blue, the stars nonexistent now.

Sasuke pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the time. It's close to 5:30 now. It doesn't feel like it's only been three hours.

It feels like he lived a lifetime in one night.

Their intertwined hands rest on his thigh, a comforting reminder of what he's gained, what he's changed. Looking at them, he can't help but smile.

When they pull into his driveway, Sasuke's heart sinks. He doesn't want it to end. He doesn't want this to end.

"Naruto," he says, hating the desperation that seeps into his voice.

He looks over, squeezing his hand again. "It's okay, Sas," he replies. "The night ends, but we don't. I already told you: my forever is yours. I'm yours."

Adoration swells in his chest, replaces his worries. "Can you stay over?"

Naruto searches his eyes and he must see something in them because he nods slowly. "Yeah, I'll stay over. We'll just... make up some kind of excuse for your parents, I guess."

Sasuke pokes his forehead, much like his brother does to him, but gentler, sweeter. "You don't need an excuse, they love you. You know that."

Naruto rubs a hand over the back of his neck, flushing. "They love me, or you do?"

He pretends to think about it, laughs when Naruto pushes his chest in mock offense. "Come on, let's go. I'm tired." He opens his door and gets out of the car, waits for Naruto to join him before starting for the door.

As Sasuke turns to unlock the door, he crosses his arms behind his head, loudly complains, "Man, I can't believe it's the first time I'm sleeping over as your boyfriend and we're just sleeping."

Sasuke freezes with his hand on the knob. "Shut up!" he hisses, even as his face heats.

That's when it registers.

"Boyfriend?"

Naruto opens his eyes, a pink tinge to his cheeks, his arms falling to his sides. "Oh, is that—um, is that too forward? I didn't mean to—" He cuts himself off when he sees the shy smile on Sasuke's face.

"No, it wasn't... I mean, if you're—like, if you want me to call you my—my boyfriend, then—I wouldn't be, like, opposed to that. Or something."

Naruto beams. "Cool," he breathes, unable to resist leaning in and kissing him sweetly. "So you're my boyfriend. So we're... we're boyfriends."

Sasuke's expression mirrors his. "Yeah."

A yawn runs over Naruto's smile, his eyes blinking sleepily. "Can we go inside now?" he asks, his lips turned down in a soft pout.

Sasuke has to stop himself from kissing him again because he knows if he does they'll be outside even longer, so he turns back to the door and pulls out his keys. He twists the correct one in the lock and pushes the door open, quietly stepping into the house and slipping his shoes off. He peeks into the kitchen to make sure his mom hasn't gotten an early start, then beckons for Naruto to follow him.

Naruto's mouth finds the back of his neck, presses a gentle kiss there before giggling against him.

"Quiet," he whispers as a shiver runs down his spine, as Naruto's hand slots against his and their fingers knit together. "Don't wake them up."

"I thought they loved me?" he teases lowly, his shoes joining Sasuke's before they start for his bedroom.

"They do." Sasuke looks over his shoulder. "But they love sleeping more."

Naruto doesn't answer, just follows Sasuke up the stairs and into his room. He doesn't say anything until the door closes behind them, until he flops onto Sasuke's bed, watching him with a grin on his face.

"What?" he asks when he notices Naruto staring at him.

"Nothin'," he replies, folding his arms behind his head and propping himself up on the pillow.

"You're staring at me," Sasuke points out.

He shrugs. "A guy can't stare at his hot boyfriend?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes, crawls in next to him and pushes him over to make room. "You're annoying," he grumbles.

As soon as he's lying down, Naruto shifts, an arm resting around his waist and a knee wriggling between his legs, his head on his chest. Sasuke's arm lights around his shoulders.

"But you love me," he says, his voice slightly muffled by the cotton of Sasuke's t-shirt.

Sasuke hums. "No 'but,'" he says, "You're annoying and I love you."

Naruto laughs into his chest, his fingers curling into the fabric at his hip. Sasuke trails his fingers through Naruto's hair, unable to stop the smile from spreading over his face.

"I can't believe it took us so long," Naruto murmurs once he calms down, looking up at him.

Sasuke meets his gaze, holds it. "It wouldn't have if you'd just told me how you felt."

"But..." He looks conflicted, turns his face away from Sasuke again. "What if it ruined things? What if I confessed and you weren't ready?"

That makes him laugh. "Naruto, look at me."

He doesn't.

Sasuke presses a finger under his chin, guides his head. Naruto's eyes meet his.

"I've been ready," he says, "since we were thirteen."

His eyes widen. "That long? Jeez, Sasuke, I—"

"It's okay." He continues playing with his hair. "We're here now, so it's okay."

Except, he thinks as his heart drops into his stomach, how long do we have, really?

Naruto's brows knit. "You okay? Your heart started beating faster."

"Yeah, I'm just... thinking."

"Probably too much, right."

Sasuke averts his eyes. Naruto's hand moves up to his chest and he sits up a little.

"Hey. Talk to me."

He does, but he can't bring himself to look at Naruto. "I just—how long will this last?"

Naruto doesn't say anything in response to that and anxiety sets up camp in his throat. He makes himself look at him, only to be taken aback by the fire in his eyes.

"I told you," he says eventually. "Forever."

The thrill that dances up his spine is cancelled out by his distress. "Yeah, but—Naruto, you—I know you have your heart set on Handai, and I—" He stops short when Naruto starts laughing. He furrows his brow. "What's funny about that?"

He shakes his head, his eyes bright when they meet Sasuke's again. "University? You're worried about—" He breaks out in another fit of laughter.

Sasuke jabs his stomach. "Yeah, I am! Why is that funny?"

He flops onto his back, Sasuke's arm under his head, and glances over at him, light dancing in his eyes. "It doesn't matter to me where I study, Sasuke. I'll go anywhere as long as I'm with you."

Sasuke flushes down to his neck. "But—but I thought Handai was like, your dream—"

Naruto twines his fingers with Sasuke's, a smile playing on his lips. "Maybe I have a new dream."

Sasuke's breath catches.

"I wouldn't want to live in Osaka without you, anyway, it wouldn't be any fun," he continues. "No matter where you go, I'll follow."

His voice is thick when he tries to speak. "Naruto, I—"

"I know."

It's not clear who leans in first but it doesn't really matter, not when Naruto's kissing him like a drowning man breathes air. His hands tangle in Sasuke's hair, his teeth catch his bottom lip.

His own hands grip Naruto's waist, his thumbs brushing warm skin where his shirt rides up. He feels Naruto shudder against him, their noses bumping as he tilts his head a little more.

Sasuke pulls away first, panting into his mouth. Naruto's forehead rests against his own, his eyes still closed.

"We should—we should get some sleep, it's—" He twists to grab at his phone, turn it on. "—it's six a.m."

"Yeah," Naruto agrees quietly. He slots himself against Sasuke once more, his head on his chest. "We still need to—" A yawn cuts him off. "We still need to come up with a reason for why I'm here."

Sasuke's eyes slip shut. "Hn. We'll do it in the morning."

"It is the morning."

"Shut up, you know what I meant."

He can feel Naruto's grin through his shirt. He can see it in his mind; sleepy and sweet, warm and dripping with the kind of happiness only Naruto can exude.

Sasuke falls asleep to a whispered profession of love, the same sugary sweet words on the tip of his tongue, passing through his lips as a soft breath.

Nothing is certain, he knows, but right now, this is comforting. For now, Naruto’s soft breath against his chest, their legs tangled together, the promise of forever ringing in his ears, is comforting.

And that's enough.