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“You can’t leave me alone for more than five fucking seconds, can you?!” Sasuke’s voice cuts through the dark forest, his cold glare sending accusing daggers straight into him.
Naruto grits his teeth in frustration. “Sasuke, I can’t just let you destroy yourself like this! We both know that revenge won’t get you anywhere!” He shouts back, chest tight.
Sasuke laughs, a sharp, bitter thing that cracks like glass in Naruto’s chest. He steps closer, shadowed eyes glinting in the pale moonlight. “I don’t know why I let you live that day. I should have finished you off long ago.”
“But you didn’t. Because we’re friends, Sasuke.” Naruto’s fists clench tighter, nails digging into his palms. The memory of their battle at the Valley of the End all those years ago was so vivid in his mind it was as if it had happened yesterday. Sasuke had every chance to kill him there, as he lay unconscious in the pouring rain. Yet he didn’t. He had left without a second glance, and Naruto had felt the emptiness ever since.
Sasuke groans, dragging a hand down his face. “Here we go again. You harping on about all your friendship bullshit like I haven’t heard it all before-”
“Well, clearly, you aren’t getting it, Sasuke! That’s why I have to keep repeating myself!” Naruto’s voice rises with exasperation, his eyes flaring. He feels the shadows of the forest close in around them, heavy and dark, matching the weight of his frustration.
“I’m the one not getting it?! Fucking hell- Just listen to yourself! Friends. After vowing to die together, after chasing me to the ends of the earth- That’s all you have to say.” Sasuke snaps, every word tangling with the anger that already thrummed through Naruto’s veins.
“I- What? Sasuke-” Naruto’s brow furrows, confusion clouding his vision. He barely realises it until he feels the air being forced from his lungs and tree bark scraping against his skin as Sasuke shoves him against it roughly.
Naruto gasps, dazed, the cry of a thousand birds ringing deafeningly in his ears. Flickering, jagged sparks of electricity dance in the corner of his vision.
“It’s unfathomable that someone as stupid as you has survived for this long,” Sasuke snarls, the light of Chidori illuminating his dark eyes, furious and raw with anger and frustration and something else that Naruto doesn’t recognise. The unfamiliarity of his gaze twists Naruto’s stomach into knots.
He doesn’t let himself dwell on it. He lashes out, sending a kick into Sasuke’s ribs. “Bastard- Then tell me! What exactly don’t I get?! If not friends, then close friends! Best friends! You, of all people, should know what I mean!”
Sasuke stumbles back a step, clutching his ribs. He barks out a mocking laugh, devoid of mirth. He doesn’t answer him. Not with words. They clash again, chakra lighting up the forest. They shove and stumble, too close, too fast, too much. Yet not enough. Not enough to get to Sasuke. Dirt and rocks scatter beneath their feet. Naruto’s breath is loud and erratic in his ears. “Sasuke, I said-”
He doesn’t have time to finish as Sasuke lunges forward, forcing his weight down. They crash into the forest floor, and before Naruto can roll away, Sasuke is on top of him, straddling him, bracketing him in with his knees. He holds Naruto’s shoulder down with one hand, the other pinning his wrist.
Naruto curses, struggles, but Sasuke squeezes his wrist tighter, unyielding, a dull pain echoing down his arm. “Stop.” He spits out lowly, the tomoe in his crimson eyes spinning.
Naruto stops.
Sasuke edges closer, eyes boring into his. “Naruto. Don’t you get it? More than friends. More than close friends. More than best friends.”
Naruto swallows the growing lump in his throat, his thoughts tripping over one another. “Get… what? Sasuke, I-”
Sasuke leans in dangerously close, cocking his head. “Tell me, Naruto,” he murmurs, irises dark like the void. “What do you think I want?”
Naruto’s breath catches in his throat as it tightens around his voice. “I don’t- I don’t know,” he whispers thickly. “I don’t know what you want.” He chokes out, the words clutching his insides.
The air between them pulls taut. Naruto shivers, panic sparking inside him alongside another feeling he dares not name. Close. Too close.
He wants to reach out, wants to pull Sasuke in, wants to push Sasuke away. He doesn’t know what he wants, and his limbs don’t either, as they stay paralysed on the ground despite Naruto’s internal pleas.
Sasuke stops just short of brushing their mouths. His exhaling breath ghosts over Naruto’s parted lips like a truth better left untold.
Oh.
Naruto’s chest flutters, his heart hammering painfully as the truth crashes down on him and lights his nerves on fire. More than friends. More than close friends. More than best friends. Sasuke’s words echo in his head like a mantra, relentless and loud and impossible to ignore.
Naruto doesn’t think. His free hand reaches up, grabs Sasuke’s collar, and pulls him down in a bruising kiss. More than friends.
Sasuke freezes, dark eyes widening before fluttering closed in surrender. He tightens his grip on Naruto’s shoulder, grounding him, keeping him there. He exhales sharply, breath shuddering against Naruto’s lips.
Stay, his touch pleads.
And Naruto does.
It feels more intimate and overwhelming than any kiss should ever be - too close, too real, Sasuke’s lips against his, his grip shaking where it holds him down. It’s messy, a rush of teeth and heat and feelings that they’d both been choking down for who knows how long. And Naruto wants more.
He mourns the loss of contact as Sasuke finally breaks the kiss to gasp for air. Naruto’s sure that he can feel his erratic heartbeat through his wrist.
Naruto looks up, dazed, as Sasuke stares back down at him, breathing heavily. He admires the rosy flush spreading across Sasuke’s face.
Naruto swallows, his voice rough. “Sasuke… I’m sorry,” he murmurs, the knot in his chest unraveling.
Sasuke half-heartedly glares at him, his grip faltering. “Took you long enough.” The words lack bite. He releases Naruto’s wrist slowly, thumb brushing over the thrumming pulse point. Naruto shivers and smiles up at him, knocking their foreheads together gently.
He brings both arms up and cups Sasuke’s face in his hands, tenderly brushing the hair out of his eyes, and pulls him down again.
Sasuke lets him.
His fingers creep up Naruto’s neck, his touch burning in a way that feels good, and they curl into his hair desperately like he’s afraid to let go.
Naruto pulls back, for just a second, to mumble, “I know what you want,” into Sasuke’s lips.
Sasuke hums and presses closer, breath uneven. “Stop talking,” he mutters back. He kisses Naruto again, allows himself to take, allows himself to feel.
This time, he doesn’t run.