Disconnected | SNS

𝑅𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹

"But how? Why? How did–" Naruto is frantic at first, then he takes a deep breath realizing that he is not speaking coherently. Skipping over a question, with another, and then another won't get this discussion anywhere.

His mind is trying to wrap his head around everything but without answers to aid him, it's quite difficult.

"What about Akatsuki University? You said you were going to follow after your brother."

Sasuke isn't quite sure why that's the first thing Naruto decides on, but he answers anyway.

"Decided I didn't want to go," Sasuke shrugs, "I guess...I have you to thank for that."

He knew when he decided on this school it was great for his major, but it wasn't just because it was a good school that he came to this specific one. There is any number of other places he could have gone. This was just around the same area he knew Naruto to be in. If anything, he was lucky there was a school here where his parents were fine with financing his trip and tuition. He's lucky to have a cousin on this side of the country to house him.

All of it was luck that he was sitting in front of Naruto today, and he finds that pretty unbelievable.

If those things weren't in place for it to be convenient for him...Sasuke knows he would have tried hard to find a way to make it here anyway.

He knew how crazy this idea was, he knew it when he thought it initially, he knew it when he boarded the plane. His intentions in coming here were completely unreasonable, illogical even. But Naruto definitely had the ability to make him act uncharacteristically.

He was going to do it anyway, if not for the possibility, then for the peace of mind that he at least tried. Here he was and he'd just have to admit that this was definitely the dumbest idea he's ever had.

It didn't even occur to him that Naruto might not want anything to do with him anymore. (Well, it did. But in his mind, that was a completely low probability answer.) The thought of completely disconnecting from him entirely filled his heart with fear. How could he lose this one real relationship he felt he had that they built?

"Then...if you didn't want to follow after your brother, then why come here?" Naruto asks, and this is the question that digs into the root of it.

Sasuke knows this would be the perfect opportunity to just own up to it. To admit he has a huge fucking crush on him, that it's heart-wrenching and ate at him day by day to love this boy who he assumed he'd never even see. Just tell him straight out and go from there.

But the words won't leave his head. He knows they won't. It's so much easier to say what he feels when it's words on a screen. So much more difficult to say exactly what's on his mind when Naruto can see him. He knew if they were having the exact same conversation thousands of miles away, he'd be much more likely to own up to it. But he was here now. Naruto sees his face, he knows his heart.

"I didn't want to. I never did, and I'm good at other things so I figured I'd come here, for this school's engineering program." As he explains, he knows it's not a complete lie, just a partial truth.

It's not the entire reason why he came. Probably not even half actually.

Sasuke looks at Naruto's face still, trying to get a gauge on his emotions. Sometimes the boy could be very expressive, so he's seen these past two weeks. But as of this moment, Sasuke has absolutely no idea what Naruto is thinking.

"There are plenty of schools with good engineering programs," Naruto points out after a second almost not buying what Sasuke told him.

What else should he say at this point? Is he trying to back him into a corner? Is it deliberate, or coincidental? Whichever it was, Sasuke was still getting increasingly nervous, he chooses his next words with a bit more care, but can't stop a bit of acidity seeping into his tone.