Ｐａｒａｄｉｓｅ

I

Sasuke... had always been a player.

Naturally, he was popular—his good looks being the cause of it. He could literally have anyone he wanted and nobody had ever heard of anyone ever turning him down. They would've known otherwise and such rejection would have probably been a trending topic amongst those in town.

Naruto, on the other hand, was not much of an extrovert like Sasuke was. He was loud amongst his group of friends but to anyone else, he was just the quiet kid either looking out the window or too busy being on his phone to pay attention in class. If anyone had ever asked him to describe himself, he'd shrug and say he's just some average-looking teen with interests no one would care to know. He was alone outside of school grounds mostly because his friends had partners, something he didn't have and didn't care for since his school was made up of jerks or overall people who weren't his type. 

Nobody really ever noticed him, anyway—not unless they had to.

Sasuke and Naruto—both childhood friends since the beginning—were completely different from each other; they'd always been different. The only time the two were equally annoying and loud was when they were together either running around the house in their toddler years, casually plotting chaos in their pre-adolescent years, or just sitting across the room from each other, phones in their hands as they communicated through text and plotted some plot against Sasuke's older brother, Itachi.

The Uzumaki family and the Uchihas had always been close. The parents had all been in the same friend group in their teen years and ever since then, they've held that bond for years. One could almost assume they were all one big family as the two families lived close by and visited each other frequently. Sasuke and Naruto, introduced to each other since they were in diapers, were often asked if they were siblings—something Itachi would scoff at seeing as the two couldn't look any more different from the other.

It was a few years later, when the Uzumakis moved away, that the frequent visits stop and became more of a once-a-year type of ordeal due to the distance. Sasuke and Naruto, kids at the time, had no way of communicating but it was almost curious how they never seemed to forget the close bond they shared whenever the yearly visit came around. Eventually, the Uchiha family moved closer to them and once again, the frequent visits began. Naruto and Sasuke got along well after being apart that long and it was almost as if they were never separated.

However, something had changed. Now in his late teenage years, Naruto had come to realize that he had developed feelings for Sasuke. He couldn't quite point out when the feelings started, but he knew he was in some deep shit when he'd get jealous of Sasuke's partners out of nowhere— when he'd be hanging out in Sasuke's room just casually flipping through a comic book and Sasuke would walk out of the shower in sweats and a towel around his neck to catch the drops of water from his hair.

When out of the blue, he'd be laying in his bed late at night thinking lewd thoughts about his own best friend.

But, unfortunately, Naruto knew that Sasuke would never look at him that way. Sasuke would gladly sleep with anyone, sure, but he doubted the Uchiha would ever look at him as anything more than a childhood friend. Hell, he didn't even know if Sasuke had the same preferences as him.

Another thing that hurt to know was that Sasuke was never one to date, or at least, take a relationship seriously. The blond didn't even have to ask, he knew that the Uchiha had never in his life brought a girl home to introduce to his parents. Sasuke was a player—it was always a fuck and on to the next one, unless he wanted the same person more than once and even then, it was strictly just for the benefits.

And yet, even now at his nineteen years of age, Naruto's obsession with Sasuke hadn't ceased. If anything, it had grown painfully so. The blond couldn't help but feel a heat rising within him every time he thought about Sasuke—about his arms, his lips, his hair, and just anything in general. He secretly wanted the boy to himself; being around Sasuke every time their families visited just wasn't enough; he wanted more.

Today was one of those days—Naruto couldn't calm himself down as he sat in the Uchiha's living room. It was a special day—it was the Uchiha's eldest son's birthday. Naruto's parents were Itachi's godparents and naturally, they had visited to celebrate the newly twenty-two year old's birthday.

Sasuke had been away most of the day, leaving Naruto anxious to see him. As he sat in the living room, he couldn't help the urge to go to Sasuke's room and take something—last time, the blond had taken one of the raven's shirts, the excuse being he liked it and Sasuke didn't think too much of it. What the Uchiha didn't know was that Naruto had used that shirt as a pillowcase, falling deep into illusions every night until the scent wore off and was replaced with Naruto's.

The urge was strong, but Naruto felt his knees would give out the moment he stood up from his spot. He was excited to see the Uchiha walk through the door at any moment. It wouldn't be weird for Sasuke to find the boy in his room, after all, they were close friends, but Naruto had the feeling he wouldn't be able to help himself.

It was almost eight in the evening and at this time, Itachi had walked off towards his room with his girlfriend. Shortly after, Sasuke walked in with... a friend of his following behind.

This was unexpected. Naruto was sure he knew all of Sasuke's friends and this boy was completely new to him.

The Uchiha greeted Naruto, introducing his friend as Kiba, a friend from school. Naruto faked his greeting but the two bought it before heading off to the kitchen where Sasuke exchanged a few words with the adults before serving himself and Kiba some food.

Naruto watched them, taking in the fact that this Kiba was being a bit too touchy, a bit too close to Sasuke. The brunette was flirting with Sasuke and to the blond's surprise... Sasuke seemed to be flirting back.

Naruto didn't know if he was jealous or enraged; Sasuke was flirting with someone that wasn't him? Who the fuck was Kiba to Sasuke?!

His heart started beating loudly, his mind demanding that he do something to break these two away from each other and he'd have to do it before tomorrow before the Uzumaki family went back home—home that was at most two hours away.

Seeing Sasuke be this comfortable around Kiba gave him a plan. It was a risk but one he would take if it meant he'd get Kiba out of the way.

He had to confess tonight, Sasuke had to know.

Kiba cannot win.