Stay [SasuNaru]

Chapter 9

Sasuke woke up to the sound of stomachs growling. Kiba was searching the cabinets in the kitchen while Shikamaru was still lazily sitting on the couch.

"Does he seriously not eat ANYTHING but ramen?!" Kiba asked as he slammed the cabinet shut and turned to the fridge.

"Don't even bother looking in there." Sasuke yawned out as he stood up and stretched, a little more refreshed than he had been the past couple of days.

Something about being at Naruto's apartment brought him a sense of comfort. One that he didn't realize he really needed until now.

"We might as well go out and get something to eat." Kiba huffed as he stomped over to the couch, kicking Shikamaru's foot.

"What a drag.." Shikamaru yawned out as he lazily headed towards the front door.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute" Sasuke stated as he walked back to Naruto's bedroom.

Both of the other boys shrugged, put their shoes on, and headed out the front door.

Sasuke stood next to Naruto's bed, staring at the fox plushie that occupied the empty space in the bed.

'Naruto loves you.'

What Kiba said was suddenly running through the raven's mind. He suddenly felt the heat in his cheeks and couldn't help but awkwardly laugh at himself. The thought of Naruto actually loving him.. he didn't understand why.

He had just earlier realized that he loved Naruto as more than just his best friend, but that made sense to him. Naruto was such a bright person. He was always smiling, happy, going out of his way to help everyone else. He was an all around good person.

What could Sasuke himself offer to Naruto? What could Naruto possibly see in Sasuke?

The thought made Sasuke realize that he never treated Naruto the way he deserved. Naruto deserved to be with someone who could make him just as happy as he made them. Someone who would accept Naruto for all his good points and his bad ones. Not that Sasuke thought Naruto really had any bad points.

Self reflection caused Sasuke's mood to damper again. He really wanted to be able to be that person for Naruto.. but he wasn't sure that was a possibility. Especially with how things had ended between them. Sure he had talked to Naruto's spirit, but Sasuke wasn't fully convinced that his mind wasn't just playing tricks on him.

'Maybe I'm seeing him because the guilt is too much for me to handle'

He let out a broken sigh and headed towards the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, he flinched at his own reflection. He was paler than he usually was, his eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and he honestly just looked an all around mess.

He turned the sink on and proceeded to wash his face. Although it wouldn't help with his complexion, it at least got rid of the dried tear streaks that had run down his face.

Going back into Naruto's room, Sasuke walked over to the closet. Sasuke stripped himself from the waist up, grabbing one of Naruto's shirts. Naruto was a slightly smaller build than Sasuke was, but Naruto had always bought his clothes a size bigger than he needed. No one but Sasuke really knew that the blond was self conscious about his slightly more feminine build, compared to his friends.

Sasuke smiled to himself as he put the shirt on, inhaling the scent of his newly realized crush. He grabbed the hoodie he was wearing and tossed it back on, walked to the front door to put his shoes on, and to catch up with the other two boys.

**

After the boys had parted ways, Sasuke decided to go home. He hadn't told Itachi that he skipped school or that he was at Naruto's apartment.