Ｐａｒａｄｉｓｅ

II

Kiba and Sasuke were getting attention—negative attention.

To their parents, who had now joined Naruto in the living room, it was obvious that Kiba was flirting with Sasuke. The Uchiha's didn't like it, nor did they like that their son wasn't putting an end to it as he was being completely carefree. He was letting the boy push him in a teasing, flirty way and speak to him as if they were close.

Even Naruto's parents were critical of the boy and went as far as to shame him for being so open in the Uchiha's home.

Naruto sat quietly between his father and Fugaku, the two adults deciding they couldn't watch such queer acts and soon got up to walk outside and have a smoke.

Kushina and Sasuke's mother remained, Mikoto whispering something to Kushina and the two would then look over towards Kiba.

Naruto decided he had been foolish to think so far into this without once considering how his parents—how Sasuke's parents—would react to the issue. It hurt him to see the negativity leave his mother's lips, to see that look on everyone's faces... no doubt he'd be shamed as well, and not just him, but Sasuke, too. He'd be an ass to bring Sasuke into his as well, knowing just how much Sasuke loved his family.

How far would their parents go? How far would their anger take them upon finding out their son was also like Kiba—gay—and in their eyes, disgusting? This was a question that remained in Naruto's thoughts throughout the rest of the night. 

As midnight approached, Kiba was soon escorted home by Sasuke. At first, Fugaku had decided to intervene, claiming the boy could leave on his own without having Sasuke take him by himself, thus leaving the two alone, but Sasuke claimed otherwise. Kiba didn't have a car and his house was a five-minute drive away; meaning Sasuke had to personally go out of his way to take him home. Much to the older man's dismay, he watched as Sasuke drove away and said nothing when walking back inside. Mentioning nothing about Sasuke's behaviour, everyone got ready to sleep.

The Namikazes slept in the Uchiha's guest room; a small room with nothing but a queen-sized bed and a small closet. Not usually one to sleep early, Naruto decided to stay in the living room and watch TV. He didn't mind; Sasuke's room was closest, so this was a plus.

Sasuke arrived—late, too. At least, later than expected.

He walked in, locked the door behind him and seemed surprised to see the blond still in the living room. By now, Naruto would've been found taking the entirety of Sasuke's bed claiming he was a guest in this house and Sasuke had no say in the matter. Not that Sasuke minded, they were close, after all.

The two didn't exchange any words but simply nodded towards each other. Sasuke walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself a bottle of water while Naruto laid quietly on the couch. His mind wandered over whether or not he should go through with his plan, one which considered confessing to Sasuke as an option.

He had exactly eight hours before everyone would wake up, surely they'd all spend about three more hours together before having to leave home, so Naruto had to be careful in considering when to tell Sasuke. Should he do it now, or wait until the last minute?

One thing was for sure, though: he couldn't let Kiba get any much closer to the raven.

"I'm going to shower," Sasuke had interrupted the blond's thought process, receiving a nod in response. "My room's open if you feel sleepy."

Naruto smiled at the invitation. "Sure, I'll be there in a bit."

"I'd ask you not to take up the entire bed but..." He scoffed. "I guess I've grown a liking to the floor."

The two chuckled and Naruto watched as Sasuke disappeared into the dark hallway.

It had been thirty minutes since Sasuke had disappeared into his room and Naruto had all but grown anxious. It was nearing three in the morning and he had decided that tonight would be the night: he would confess to Sasuke and hope for things not to be too awkward later on in the day. He decided that it would be best now because later he would not have the courage to do so.

Not that he had much courage right now anyways, as it was all fake but he had to take advantage of it somehow. 

The problem here was that, no matter how hard his mind cheered for him to get up and do what he was set on doing, his body would not move. He had told himself that he wasn't nervous, but Naruto is not a good liar and much less to himself; he was dying on the inside, dying to know what they would say, how they would react.

"You have to do this now," He said to himself. The only thing he had achieved so far was sitting up as getting himself to stand up was going to need more motivation. "This is stupid," He thought. "just act like you're going to sleep, why are you making this difficult?"

And after a few deep breaths, the boy was finally standing. After turning the TV off, his feet automatically took him to the front of Sasuke's bedroom door. Once there, he began doubting himself. Would he be fine to just leave things as they are rather than possibly ruining the friendship they had? Did he really want to ruin their friendship?

Yes. Gods yes.

There was no question about it. Naruto couldn't go a day without wanting Sasuke any more than he does now. He needed him. Entirely.

He swallowed a lump of saliva as he placed his hand on the doorknob.

"No, no! I can't do this... I can't—"

"Just come in already, I know you're there," Sasuke startled the boy from the inside. Stunned, Naruto didn't move until Sasuke opened the door himself. "What are you doing out here, you idiot? Come in."