The winter was in full bloom, the first snow was expected any day now, the people of the hidden leaf village were preparing themselves for the snow season ahead, children could be seen running in the streets with multiple layers on. A certain raven had taken upon himself to help the villagers in need, to prepare for the snow.
Sasuke had spoken to the hokage about his plan to search for white zetsu remnants, to which the blonde gave positive remarks. Now, the raven would leave as soon as the other kage would formally accept the proposition of the hidden leaf.
Sasuke had been successful in hiding his emotions from the blonde the past few weeks, but barely. He constantly had to remind himself that the blonde was better off without him. But he still wanted the blonde to know that he had his back always. It was...complicated to say the least.
Naruto continued to visit the club every weekend in order to distract himself from unwanted desires. Was it working? Barely.
This particular weekend, the hokage and his advisor were working on some new applications, the Uchiha was helping them out. The sun had already set and they were about done for the night.
"Finally done!", the blonde stretched his arms, "I can't wait to loosen up a bit. You ready to go Shika?"
"Yeah im just about done", the advisor replied.
Naruto looked at the raven, who was still reading onto something, "Um, thanks for the help today Sasuke", there was a pause, "Say, me and Shikamaru are going to meet up with the gang tonight, its been a long time since we were all free to meet. Would you like to um...I mean you can join us if you want...?"
"I'd rather not", Sasuke said without even batting an eye.
Naruto's smile faltered a bit, but he immediately composed himself, "Uh yeah, o-ofcourse", to save himself from anymore embarrassment, the blonde left the office in a hurry.
Suddenly a stack of papers was thrown abruptly in front of the raven onto the table he was working on, he lifted his head, annoyed.
"What the hell is the matter with you?", the Nara said, frowning.
"Excuse me?", the raven lifted a brow.
"Its stupid enough that you can't accept your own feelings to yourself, you made that clear to him, but you don't have to be an ass for it, he doesn't need that", Shikamaru said firmly.
Sasuke remained silent, as if unable to understand the Nara.
Shikamaru slid a hand on his face, then to the back of his neck, "So troublesome. Look, whatever might have happened between you both, I'm not getting into that. But after everything, he's been nothing but good to you", there was a pause, "We're not the best of buddies you and I Sasuke. But he's my friend, and you're his, so the least you can do for him is be a somewhat acceptable friend to him aswell. He's never asked much of anyone anyway", with that, the Nara gave the Uchiha no time to reply and followed the blonde suit.
Sasuke was left there baffled, am I really that cruel to him? Maybe this distance thing is doing more harm than good after all , he thought.
Naruto reached to the usual place the gang hanged out at, everyone had gotten so busy with their lives that taking time out to hang out together became rarer. Nearly everyone was getting busier with their jobs like Sakura, or were getting into relationships like Sai and Ino, or were getting married like Hinata and Kiba, or straight up having children like Shikamaru was about to have.
Even though Naruto had the highest official job among them all, he still felt like he was missing out, like he needed more to feel at peace.
He and Shikamaru said their hellos to the gang sitting at their usual table, everyone had ordered their drinks, chatting and having a good time. Naruto was giving his order to the young waiter when a familiar sound made its way to the blonde's ears...
"Make that two", Sasuke had just joined the sitting group, earning gasps from them. "I'm here", he added, nodding a hello to everyone. Everyone replied with a hearty hello, except the blonde, who stayed passive.
Sasuke grabbed a chair and placed it beside the blonde, sitting down, he discreetly leaned into the blondes ear and said, "I'm sorry", that's it. The blonde was surprised, the raven hardly ever apologized for anything. He felt a smile forming on his lips. So did Shikamaru.
The night went on, Ino and Sai had brought along a friend with them, a young, attractive man, who introduced himself as Yuri. Everyone had a good time, drinking and reminiscing the old days. It was getting rather late, so one by one the group started to decimate, so that only a few were left.
Naruto was in conversation with Sai and Yuri, and a certain raven was looking intently at the blonde smiling and laughing.
Absolutely gorgeous, he thought.
"Ahem, care if I join you?", Ino's voice was heard by the raven.
"Hn"
"So Sasuke, I heard you're going on a long mission soon", Ino chimed in.
"Hn"
"It'll be hard for Naruto I'm sure"
The raven turned towards her with a questioning look.
"Oh don't act oblivious Sasuke. I saw how you were staring at Naruto", she gave a knowing smirk.
"I wasn't staring at him", the raven said flatly.
"Oh don't worry, I'm not judging you, if that's what you're worried about", she said keeping on her smirk.
"I'm not worried", the raven shrugged.
"Oh really. Well, we all saw what a mess he was after you had left for your last mission, we got worried for a little while there, but he's Naruto after all, instantly putting up that big smile of his", Ino sighed, looking in the direction of the blonde laughing.
Sasuke thought about what the blonde woman had just told him, I had no idea.
Sasuke thought deeply about what he wanted to say, he knew now that he needed help with this situation of their's, "He....I, I'm a man, Ino".
Ino looked at the raven's eyes, they were almost...pleading?
"Oh my poor man you...is that what you're worried about? Well don't. There might be a few questions and head turns at the beginning, but that's it. The village has changed since the sixth hokage anyway. As much as a big pervert Kakashi was, he made sure he exposed his people with as much of the world and it's wonders as he could", she gave the raven a pat on the shoulder.
Sasuke still seemed unconvinced, so she continued, almost in a whisper, "And if you want proof for my theory, who do you think Yuri is?". Sasuke's eyes widened, he looked at the woman beside her, she was smirking. His head then turned towards this man called Yuri. That's when he noticed Sai's hand on Yuri's waist, standing close, too close.
"But I thought...", Sasuke trailed off.
"That me and Sai are dating? Oh we are...and Yuri", she said with a victorious smile, then she leaned into the raven's ear and whispered, "It turns out, two really are better than one when you're getting...intimate, for all the parties I assure you". Sasuke's face turned red at the revelation. Ino just laughed at that.
"Anddd if you're still not convinced, there's Naruto's new friends he met at the club. Itima and Masashi was it? They've been together for six years now. Aren't they the cutest?".
Sasuke felt...utterly...stupid, for more reasons than one. He felt bad for all the times he had let his beautiful blonde down because of his own feelings. He needed to make things right.
Just then, Ino was called out by Sai, so she stood up,"I'm telling you Sasuke, you should definitely give it a go. And who knows, this might be what you've been missing all this time? I mean, it's sweet Naruto for goodness sake!", Ino gave the raven a light squeeze on the shoulder and left him pondering over the situation.
Her words echoed in Sasuke's mind on repeat. It's sweet Naruto.
Yes, it's just Naruto, the beautiful, sweet, gorgeous human being. The hyperactive, knucklehead ninja. His only best friend. His muse all along.
The raven didn't even care if the blonde rejected him now, he may aswell obliterate him, and he wouldn't care. Anything Naruto did was so pure to begin with, that the raven would accept even death from his hands, smiling. He...he lov...no, he adored him too much, and that's it for now.
Suddenly he had a hope built inside him, and he was willing to hold onto that hope. No more hurting his blonde with his half true, bitter words. No more holding back.
The next thing the raven knew he was accompanying the blonde on his way home. Not that they needed to, but there they were, walking on a deserted street, on a cold winter night. Sasuke remained a step back to the blonde, his heart racing like horses for some reason, his thoughts all over the place, he could feel his skin perspire even in this cold.
Naruto walked leisurely in his own thoughts. He tried to steer clear of thinking about the raven, who was walking a step behind him. Walking in the streets of the village made him reminisce his childhood, when he would dream and wanted nothing more than to be hokage. Well, he was in fact now, living his dream. It didn't feel too good to be true to the blonde, no. Because he knew that he had worked very hard for to accomplish it all. He remembered every minute of his long, hard training. And all his senseis who helped him acheive it. But, here he was, still in need of something more, still feeling half empty, the ocean inside him not completely at peace, yet.
They reached the Uzumaki's residence and halted in front of it. Naruto turned towards the raven, as briefly as he possibly could.
"Well, this is me. See you tomorrow Sasuke", he gave a small smile and headed towards the door when a sound made him stop in his tracks...
"I felt it too"