Red Letter // NaruSasu

Awkward Situations...

Naruto pushed me back slowly down onto my bed, his lips still pressed against mine. I felt his fingers trail up my forearms to my wrists, then intertwine with mine.

Naruto pulled back. I was on my back now with Naruto hovered above me. I blushed, I was embarrassed yet excited to be like this with Naruto. I was hoping that if we went any further, he wouldn't leave me like he had the first time.

"You're okay with this?" Naruto questioned quietly.

I nodded and laughed quietly and nervously. Straddling me, Naruto leaned over, and we began kissing again. I tried not to smile each time so he wouldn't end up kissing my teeth.

"Is something funny?" He asked, grinning in response to my smile.

"I don't know...," I laughed, before becoming quieter, "I guess... This it just a little... Weird, maybe?"

"Oh," Naruto responded.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way, It's just... Weird..."

The confusion on Naruto's face told me that he had no clue what I meant by "weird." I'd explain what I meant, but I'm sure it wasn't best to bring it up at a time like this.

Another knock at my bedroom door startled us. It was Sakura.

"Sasuke? Naruto? Are you two in here? C'mon! We are about to open gifts! You two better not be sleeping already!"

It was much later now, a lot closer to midnight, meaning my birthday was almost over. Sakura ushered for me to sit beside her. I sat down, thinking about how much I dreaded opening gifts- especially in front of others.

"Here you are," Sakura mumbled, handing me her gift. Looking around, she seemed to be the only one with a gift. I wasn't surprised, since I wasn't very close with the rest of the guests here. I took the present and placed it on my lap. It was wrapped beautifully with a simple, blue and white striped design. A big, fancy, silver bow was placed on top to finish it off.

"How pretty," I thought to myself.

Carefully, I began taking the ribbon and wrapping paper off of the box, afraid to ruin any part of it. I felt everyone's eyes on me as I unwrapped the gift. Which, in my opinion, is the worst part of any birthday party.

Inside the present was a small stationary kit. It contained small, detailed pads of paper, unique looking pens, stickers, stamps, and colorful envelopes. This made sense since she knew I enjoyed writing letters; however, it must have been a couple months since I have actually sent her one. Perhaps that was the reason she purchased it for me.

"How nice," I smiled, trying to sound as thankful as I could, although I was still nervous being around everyone. She smiled back and nodded, so I think she fell for it. At least she put some thought into the gift, but to everyone else it must have been kind of lame.

I felt guilty for not keeping in touch. Well, we would text each other, but our conversations would never be as in depth as the letters we wrote. In a way, they were a special way of showing our friendship... to actually take the time to write a letter and send it out to one another. The gift really meant something to me. I really needed to make sure to keep in contact with my friends more often.

Near midnight, more people left, leaving my apartment to slowly quiet down. I walked around my house, listening in to the few conversations that were going on and cleaning up a few of the decorations. I noticed Sakura standing in the corner, when I looked over, we made eye contact. She motioned for me to come over to her. Looking around suspiciously, I stepped closer towards her.

"Sakura? What is it?" I asked, wondering what she wanted to talk about.

"Well... I was just wondering... About Naruto...," She mumbled nervously.

I leaned in closer, listening carefully. Sakura bit her lip then continued speaking.

"Isn't is strange for Naruto to just show up again? After so long, with no contact?"

"Yeah... It is...," I responded, "When... When he first began making contact again, he sent me letters, but he seemed to be trying to keep his identity a secret..."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah, he used the alias 'Fox' and he called me 'Raven'; however, I am not too sure why he referred to that. I don't ever remember using those names."

"I've never heard them mentioned before either..."

We were quiet for a moment as another conversation died down. We looked around to make sure Naruto wasn't around to hear us.

"You do know why he left so suddenly, don't you?"

"No, actually... No one ever told me, so I began making assumptions. Maybe, that he had fallen for someone else or that he was just tired being with me..."

"No, no," Sakura spoke, shaking her head, "From what I've heard... Naruto had been suspected of being apart of a crime... I was wondering if you have heard the same, but apparently you haven't."

"What?!" I gasped, a little too loud, making a few other glance over. I kept my voice down low again, "He was involved in a crime?! What kind? Like he murdered someone or what?!"

"I mean from what I was told, it was along th-," Sakura stopped suddenly, her head turned over to the right.

Looking in that direction, Naruto was staring at us, then he began making his way over to the corner we were huddled in.

Sakura quickly looked at me, panicked, hoping he hadn't been able to tell we were talking about him.

"Hey," He spoke, grinning, "You don't mind if I cut into your conversation, do you?"

"No, no... We were just finishing actually," I lied.

"Oh," Naruto responded, sighing in disappointment.

Sakura butted in, "I'm going to go use the bathroom for a moment."

She hurried to the bathroom and left me alone with Naruto again. It was awkward, because I had to try my best to still act normal around him. How was I supposed pretend that I didn't just hear that he was a criminal?! I knew there was something strange about him, but I never expected this.

After Sakura finished up in the bathroom, she left along with the other guests. Naruto and I had been left alone in my apartment, cleaning up any leftover trash that had been left around on tables. Naruto sat down on the couch as I followed him into the living room. He looked up at me as I walked over and sat down beside him.

"Did something happen?" He asked suddenly.

"Huh?" I questioned, confused by what he meant.

"You just seem different," He answered, "I was only wondering if something happened... Was it Sakura? Did she say something?"

My face grew hot, a shiver ran down my spine, and I felt my throat become dry.

"He knows," I told myself, "He knows, what do I do? How do I respond?" I looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact.

Naruto continued to talk, "I should have known."

I looked back over at him, confused.

"You like Sakura, don't you? After all this time that I have been away, you two-"

"Naruto, stop," I spoke sternly, "You're just making up all this in your head, nothing has happened between Sakura and I."

Naruto stopped, he looked a little irritated now. I don't think he believed me.

"But, you like her, don't you?" He asked.

I paused, unsure how to answer. I suppose I did think she was cute and very kind to me, but I never really imagined us actually being together. My thoughts stopped when I heard Naruto sigh. My pause must have already answered for me.

"I'm going to bed," he mumbled to me.

I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I couldn't figure out what to say. He's got it all wrong. Now, I sat alone on the couch as I watched him turn the corner and listened to his footsteps walk further away down towards the guest room. The door slammed shut, leaving me in silence, and I was alone again.