Realization 5

Things had completely begun to spin out of control. He hadn't meant for things to escalate this far, by any means. Hell, half of the things that he was doing were wrong on a level of human compassion. But if there was one word you'd use to describe Uciha Sasuke, it was not compassionate.

He wearily leaned his back against the front door of his house, absentmindedly running his fingers over the grooves. Sakura had hit Naruto pretty hard, something the blonde haired boy wasn't expecting. A small part of him had wanted to go after the other boy for a moment to see if he was all right, but then, that wasn't the kind of person he was. He didn't care about anything, except for his revenge.

At least, that's what he told himself.

It was very unnerving to find out new things about yourself, after years of denying emotion in order to hone yourself to become an instrument of death. His first frightening realization was that he enjoyed being a part of Team 7. He couldn't remember the moment when Kakashi's tardiness ceased to bug him, Sakura's annoying voice didn't grate on the nerves so much, and Naruto. . . when Naruto became a friend. The blonde boy had always seemed to hate him, want to become better than him, because Sasuke was so well loved by the villiage. The Uchiha couldn't help that. Hell, he didn't even want the attention most of the time, the doting fangirls, and the sympathetic and awestruck adults. They thought they understood the person he was, admired the rookie, but they really understood nothing.

Naruto was the first person to get in his face and wonder why everyone thought his shit smelled sweeter than the rest of the world. And somehow, Sasuke couldn't blame him. Everyone treated him like some sort of teenage god with this tragic past that had to be tiptoed around on rose petals. It made him sick. They didn't know him. They had nothing to do with his actions, his revenge, and he didn't appreciate a single one of them. But the blonde boy, he was different. He made Sasuke strive harder. He brought an edge of fun back to his training.

The black haired boy shook his head. 'What the hell am I thinking? Fun?' Slowly he walked to the kitchen, stopping at the sink to douse his face with cold water.

That damn kiss had been the start of it. Inadvertant though it was, it was constantly on his mind. It was stupid, someone had knocked Uzumaki into him, and their mouths had met. . . Sasuke grimaced. It was an accident. But it was also the closest that anyone had come to him since the death of his clan.

Naruto wasn't afraid to challenge him, interrupt his personal space. . . and maybe that's why it was so wrong. How his skin shivered deliciously as his chakra crackled against the challenge of Naruto's, the childish glee Uzumaki held for the stupidest things. . . those big, trusting blue eyes. . . the black haired boy shook his head.

Sasuke would not even begin to thing about what these feelings were. He could barely accept Naruto as a teammate. He could be nothing else.

Perhaps that was why he did it, why he kissed him in that one awkward moment in the clearing, just to see if it were true. . . if he could actually be. . . like that. . . with Naruto. It had felt good, and then Sakura had come along. Sasuke couldn't say that she ruined it, as he didn't know if it had been ruined in the first place, or if something like that should have happened in the first place.

He made an amazing show of covering it up, if a cruel one. Let Naruto think it was just to win at sparring. Never mind that Sasuke would have never had to kiss him in the first place to win.

Sasuke hadn't expected Naruto to be waiting for him that morning. Or the harsh words that had come from his own mouth. He couldn't remember all of the hateful things he said as he had pinned Naruto down, but he regretted them all. But how was he to tell that to Naruto?

Especially after what Sakura had said. His eyes narrowed. That stupid girl. She had hurt one of her teammates in a childish fit of jealousy over something that wasn't even there. He hadn't had much of a respect for her to begin with, and all semblance of one that might have formed had totally been obliterated by her actions.

In some way, he felt like he understood Naruto, even if they were coming from opposite ends of the spectrum. They shared a similarity that only orphans could. Although Sasuke had been given extra attention over it, and Naruto ignored. Sasuke frowned at that. Why did everyone in the villiage seem to hate Naruto so much?

Sighing, he made his way towards his bedroom to sort out his jumbled emotions. Just what did Naruto mean to him? He didn't. . .

He stiffened as he opened the door. Everything seemed to be fine, but he felt it. . . someone's presence. Glowering, he reached for one of his kunai. . .

And his arm was grabbed by Kakashi-sensei.

"There's no need to go that far, Sasuke-kun." The grey haired man stated, before letting the boy's arm go, as he leafed through his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Sasuke blinked at him, glare never leaving his eyes.

"What are you here for? You going to say something about Sakura's outburst earlier today?" The black haired boy stated, acting unafraid. Kakashi's mask slightly curved upwards in a bitter smirk.

"Something like that."

to be continued. . .





previously ~*~ Back to the other fics