Coming Out
Naruto stared at his best friend from across the room, watching as Sasuke listened with one ear to Sakura babble about something while his eyes scoured the izakaya for any signs of danger. Naruto knew better than most that just because Sasuke had been pardoned didn’t mean everyone in the village was ready to embrace him with open arms.
Not like Sasuke would allow anyone to hug him except Naruto anyway.
But that was beside the point, the point was Sasuke was always on guard and ready for trouble, and being in a place where people were getting drunk just increased the chances of trouble happening. That sharp awareness was something Naruto liked about Sasuke, he was—of course—a genius, but some of those skills came from experience rather than natural intelligence. And he wanted to know what those experiences were, he wanted to know what Sasuke had gone through while they were separated, but he never could voice that question aloud.
The longer Sasuke stayed in the village, the harder Naruto found it to talk around the handsome man, becoming increasingly tongue-tied whenever he was in Sasuke’s presence. Of course, he’d always known Sasuke was handsome, everyone noticed that about the last Uchiha, but Naruto had begun finding himself mesmerized by the thick lashes that framed iniquitous black eyes. He’d be struck speechless whenever Sasuke cracked a smile at him, which would pull a goofy smile to his own face, and then he’d find himself furiously blushing whenever he had Sasuke’s undivided attention.
He was so excited to have his best friend back home after three years apart, and in some ways, they had picked up right where they had left off with picking on each other, fighting and sparring together, and throwing good-natured insults at each other. But…something had changed between them, and Naruto had spent the past six months trying to put his finger on what it was. Sasuke didn’t act any differently toward him, he was still the hard-ass bastard he’d always been even if he had somewhat mellowed out since Itachi’s death. And Naruto felt pretty sure he hadn’t changed, he was still the prankster even if he didn’t pull them quite as often anymore, and still had his sights set on becoming Hokage.
So, if neither of them had changed, then that only left that his feelings had changed—and that scared the sh*t out of Naruto.
He had tried to ignore it, tried to repress it, tried not to admit what he already knew because he knew as soon as he voiced it—aloud or silently—he would have to do something about it. And it could mean the end of their friendship, it could mean the end of him! But he couldn’t deny it anymore, he was attracted to his best friend, his rival—his other half, because that’s what they were, the sun engraved into his palm and the moon engraved into Sasuke’s spoke of a deeper bond that went beyond simple friendship and affection.
Naruto squeezed the cup in his hand, glad it wasn’t made of glass because he would’ve shattered it by now, and watched as Sakura’s expression changed from hopeful to annoyance as she left. Whatever Sasuke said to her had crushed her expectations again, but she’d been rebuffed so many times at this point that she was no longer hurt by his rejection, just annoyed. But Naruto saw his opening as Sasuke sat alone at the small table, nursing his own cup.
Neither of them drank alcohol, it put them in too much danger of having their senses fail. Though, Naruto was pretty sure he could drink alcohol just because of how quickly he’d metabolize it, but he just felt better about staying away from liquor than testing his boundaries. He was pretty sure Sasuke felt the same way, and thus the two of them were usually drinking water or some kind of non-alcoholic beverage.
He crossed the room, sliding into the seat next to Sasuke as the other man lifted a brow in question. Sasuke knew he’d been avoiding him, cancelling their morning spars and turning around in the middle of the street whenever they were in each other’s vicinity made it rather impossible to deny it, but Naruto had to because otherwise he’d just blurt out whatever was on his mind. And he needed a chance to work through his emotions, to seriously consider his feelings before taking the next step and possibly ruining their patchwork relationship that was still healing.
But he couldn’t keep it in any longer, he had to confess, or it was going to kill him—if Sasuke didn’t get pissed off at him and kill him first for avoiding him the last few weeks. He probably had a better chance of staying alive confessing than continuing to run away.
“Naruto,” Sasuke murmured, that low baritone rumbling quietly with a mix of agitation and elation, “you decided to stop avoiding me.”
He chuckled nervously, scratching the side of his cheek with his pointer finger as his other hand nursed his water as if it were hard liquor, “Guess no use in trying to claim I wasn’t.”
Sasuke leaned back in the chair, those damned iniquitous eyes staring at him—through him as if he could see directly into his soul—and crossed his arms over his chest. “Correct.”
“Ah well, you see…” he hedged, clearing his throat as his palms got sweaty, “I just needed some time to think.” Sasuke didn’t push him, just stared at him and waited. He could feel his face heating up, the scarlet blush rushing across his cheeks and neck, and he chuckled nervously as he stared down at his cup. “I, uh, I think I like men.”
“I know.”
His head snapped up, slack-jawed jawed as he stared at Sasuke, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You know?”
“You didn’t?” he asked, arrogance coloring his words, “I thought it was rather obvious where your preferences lie.”
Naruto squared his shoulders and blurted out, bolstered by vexation, “Well, what if I said I like you?”
That small smile curled into an arrogant, lazy smirk as his eyes glazed over with a lustful heat Naruto had never seen before, “I know.” That took the wind out of his sails as Naruto’s jaw worked but the words refused to form. “Why don’t you come back to my house and we can,” he raked his gaze down Naruto’s body, “talk some more?”
He nodded dumbly, too shocked that his coming out and confession were so easily accepted, and if he was reading it right, reciprocated. He could do little more than offer a half-assed goodbye to his friends as he followed behind Sasuke, ready to see where things would lead now that their feelings were out in the open.
Dhampir
Page 3
6/14/2024
