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Sakura didn't very often murmur. At least not where Naruto was concerned. For Naruto, it was mostly impatient shouting and frustrated yelling. Sometimes Sakura spoke to Naruto in a low voice but those times it sounded more like she was growling her words out through clenched teeth. And Naruto knew better than to sidle up closer to listen because he always ended up with his jaw -and ego- painfully bruised.

At least that was one good thing (the only good thing, he told himself fiercely) about Sasuke: Sasuke didn't punch Naruto in the face when he got close. Not that Naruto would have any reason to get anywhere near Sasuke, if it weren't for Sasuke speaking in that reserved-for-funerals voice.

And it happened that on a day slow with missions, Team 7 was using their time instead to practise advanced Ninjutsu. Kakashi-sensei, apparently in a playful mood, split the group into two teams: He and Sasuke as team one, Sakura and Naruto as team two.

Sakura cried foul and if he were perfectly honest with himself, Naruto would have done the same. However, where Naruto is concerned, honesty takes second chair to pride and he challenged that he could beat them both, even if he was blindfolded.

Sakura rolled her eyes, she looked like she was ready to accept her fate on the losing team, and she called Naruto to her side. "Naruto this is going to be nearly impossible, and if we don't want to have our faces ground in the dirt we'll have to have a plan."

Naruto pounded his chest with his fist and exclaimed boastfully, "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I'll protect you!"

Sakura hung her head and sighed audibly. Naruto didn't get it. He'd protected her before, and, sure, Kakashi-sensei would be tough to beat, but Sasuke? Well Sasuke would be a piece of cake. They get him out of the way first and then Naruto and Sakura go after Kakashi-sensei for the (figurative) kill.

So when Kakashi yelled, "Ready, set, GO!" Naruto kick-started his way across the field toward his opponents. He would have dove in head first were it not for Sakura catching his forearm and dragging him away into the cover of the trees.

Needless to say, Naruto's pride was, once again, damaged by Sakura-chan. "Why did you do that?" he asked, rubbing his wrenched shoulder as he crouched behind a bush.

"We have to think this through, dummy," she said. She crooked her finger to beckon him forward behind a large oak tree, her other pointer finger held up to her mouth to indicate silence.

Naruto crawled forward quietly and balanced his weight on the balls of his feet, leaning toward Sakura. And it was at this time another tiny piece of an as-of-yet-pictureless puzzle snapped into place.

Sakura leaned in to whisper into his ear the plan she was quickly concocting to slip up their team-mates. Naruto didn't hear a word of it. He was instead concentrating on the fact that Sakura was speaking in a low voice into his ear (which was a rare enough occasion) and yet, Naruto felt nothing. No butterflies. Not even the half-dead twitch of a fruit fly.

He wasn't really expecting anything. He wasn't even dreading the return of the kamikaze butterflies. He couldn't really compare Sakura-chan to Sasuke. He had yet to understand the situation with Sasuke, anyway. But something inside him said that maybe if he felt it with Sasuke, he ought to be feeling it with anyone. He didn't really want to have special feelings, or whatever the hell, reserved just for that bastard.

Her breath on his ear tickled, but it didn't make his stomach flip or his heart speed up or his face burn like a hot stove. Apparently those physical reactions were a Sasuke-only deal.

Naruto put it down to anger once more. After all, even when Sakura-chan yelled at him or got angry with him, Naruto was never upset with her. But he got frustrated with Sasuke pretty easily.

And then a tiny voice nagged from some remote corner of his brain, 'Kiba and Ino piss you off all the time and they don't have that effect'.

Sasuke-only.

Before he could board this train of thought to try and understand what it meant, it was derailed by a quick thwap on the back of his head delivered by Sakura. "Are you even listening to me, Naruto?" she whispered urgently, her voice reaching a pitch that Naruto was sure Akamaru could hear, wherever he happened to be.

He rubbed the back of his head, his eyes watering up a little from the sting. "Geez, Sakura-chan. Why can't you be a little nicer to me?" he pleaded with her, as he moved a few inches away, loathe to be punished again for something he couldn't help. Sometimes his thoughts just drifted in and out. Besides, planning for a short training exercise was boring, and he told her as much, ducking just in time to avoid another swipe of her painted green nails.

Sakura threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fine, Naruto, do what you want. But when you end up with a mouth full of grass and dirt, don't whine to me about it."

Naruto was hurt by her lack of confidence but stood up anyway, making a dash for the trees to seek out Sasuke, "Thanks Sakura-chan!" He'd take Sasuke out first, and then maybe Sakura would help him with Kakashi-sensei. Not that he needed help, but Sakura had to train too, right?

He scrambled up a tree and perched on a branch, his ears open and his eyes focused, trying to spot a flash of movement, or hear a twig snap from around him. Damn bastard. Blue was a hell of a lot harder to spot in a dense forest than orange.

Deciding that finding Naruto would be like shooting fish in a barrel for Sasuke, he opted to enter the clearing. A surprise attack would be much harder for Sasuke that way, and he wasn't too worried about Kakashi. He was probably hidden away somewhere reading that perverted book while his students kicked the crap out of each other.

What a sadist.

Naruto jumped down from his perch and sprinted toward the clearing. The faster he got there the better chance for him. But as he ran through the trees and entered the clearing, he spotted Sakura-chan's obvious pink hair peeking from behind a bush. He lost his concentration on the exercise and slowed his pace until he was at standing at a complete stop as his mind boarded that No-Butterfly train, and the unsettling concern resumed its attack on his brain.

He thought he heard a faint voice call out (Sasuke?) and very suddenly he was shocked with intense pain in his right hand. Naruto's mind was cleared instantly of his muddled up thoughts and he looked down to find what he already suspected: A kunai was lodged in his palm.

Naruto cringed as the pain worked its way up the nerves of his arm until even his shoulder ached. "You stupid moron, what the hell were you doing?" Sasuke's voice. He looked up to see Sasuke dashing toward him, the game over now that someone had been seriously hurt.

"Why did you hit me with a kunai, you bastard?" This wasn't the first time Naruto had one of these lodged in his hand, and honestly, it wasn't a performance he cared to repeat. Even if he showed a tough face to the world, it really hurt like hell.

When Sasuke reached his side he motioned for Naruto to sit, as he crossed his own legs and sank to the ground. "You should have been paying attention," Sasuke said simply, not a trace of remorse on his face or in his voice.

"This is going to hurt like a bitch," he said, adopting his murmur and taking Naruto's hand in his own, gripping the handle of the kunai. "Are you ready?"

And for a moment, Naruto wasn't ready. Despite the intense pain in his arm, and the blood dripping all over the grass, stupidly, his stomach had become a butterfly net. And if it didn't make his head hurt and stir his emotions around like they were in a wok, he almost felt like he might want to laugh. It was totally absurd.

"Well, don't chicken out now," Sasuke said, cutting into his thoughts. "I have to pull it out whether you like it or not."

And just like that the jumbled knot in his brain and the unsteady rhythm of his heart had returned to normal. "Chicken? I'm not scared! This is all your fault anyway!"

Sasuke shrugged, "Well you might want to hold onto something with your good hand, or bite down on something," he said. Naruto noticed that Sasuke's hand was trembling slightly. Good. He was probably feeling guilty about sticking Naruto like a pig and he deserved it.

"Okay, here we go: One, two, THREE!"

As Sasuke shouted out three, he ripped the kunai from Naruto's hand and the pain was absolutely excruciating. He pulled his eyes closed tight against the burning in his palm and reached out blindly with his good hand and closed it like a vice. "Damndamndamndamndamn. Dammit!" Naruto shouted through clenched teeth, his nose wrinkled up and his brow furrowed.

"Ahhh, geez," he said as the initial slice of pain dissipated into a heavy ache and he opened his eyes. The gaping hole in his hand still hurt, but the worst was over, at least. He looked down at his, frankly, gross-looking hand and at Sasuke's which held the bloody kunai. Sasuke dropped the kunai on the ground and wiped his palm, which was now soaked with Naruto's blood, in the grass.

A twitching muscle in his left forearm, and his arm suddenly being jerked forward made Naruto realize that he still had a death grip on...

Sasuke's arm. The one that only moments ago held the kunai. He released like it was a hot poker and felt his face get warm again. Dammit, if he couldn't even touch the bastard without going funny, how in the hell was he gonna kick the crap out of him when they had sparring matches?

But when he saw that his grip had left four half moon shapes carved into Sasuke's skin he felt a little pleased with himself. A small price to pay for putting a canyon sized gap in Naruto's hand, he figured. Not to mention for leaving his feelings, or emotions, or whatever they were in complete disarray.

He was a little tired of feeling like this and the pain made him cranky so he snapped in Sasuke's face, "Why the hell did you throw that thing right at me anyway?"

Sasuke, unhappy with Naruto's tone of voice snapped his head up. "I saw you let your guard down for a second but I thought it was something you'd be able to dodge easi-" He clamped his mouth shut quickly, probably hoping that if the whole word didn't come out, that it never existed in the first place, and then Naruto wouldn't be able to take it as a sort of half-compliment.

Sasuke turned his head away and set Naruto's hand down gently, still aware of the bloody chasm in his palm. He reached down to the hem of his shirt and tore a strip away near the seam to make an impromptu bandage. Naruto remained silent. He was going to take the piss out of Sasuke for his unintentional compliment but decided against it. He figured it was sort of nice of Sasuke to tear his shirt for him, so he'd let it slide this time.

Sasuke's voice was quiet as he spoke, but Naruto had enough sense to understand that this time he wasn't doing it with whatever intent he usually had. If it was remorse, guilt, embarrassment, whatever, Naruto didn't know. Just that this time he wasn't goading Naruto to lean in.

Naruto moved closer anyway.

Placed his head close enough to hear as Sasuke said, "I don't have any bandages, but this will have to do for now," as he wrapped the blue strip of cloth around the wound and tied it tightly, eliciting a sharp gasp of pain from Naruto. "I don't even have a clue where the hell Kakashi and Sakura went off to, and at least one of them is usually prepared for first-aid."

Sasuke was right. Kakashi-sensei probably fell asleep while reading, but Sakura, she had to be around somewhere, and it wasn't like her to skip off, even if they were just having a quick team exercise. He glanced around the area and didn't see a speck of pink anywhere.

"In any case," Sasuke said, (Naruto leaned in so close he could almost touch Sasuke's cheek with his nose. Even though something told him to move away, he didn't need to be that close to hear what he was saying) "we have to get this taken care of. We could go to the hospital but someone at the academy could probably patch it up."

Sasuke and Naruto both knew that Naruto's wounds healed quickly, though that made them no less painful, and though Sasuke didn't know the reason for it. In any case, Sasuke was right: Naruto didn't need the hospital, but he didn't need the academy either. He could just stick some gauze and a tight bandage from home to stop the bleeding and it would heal itself soon enough.

He told Sasuke as much, and glanced down to see the condition of his hand when he noticed that it was still resting in Sasuke's own. Sasuke, his attention drawn to it, pulled his own hand away quickly and then stood up just as fast.

He offered his hand to help Naruto up, his gaze unaffected, much unlike the hasty motions he had only just demonstrated. And Naruto, still hoping that perhaps this was all some kind of mistake, took Sasuke's hand with his unhurt hand, trying to stubbornly prove a point to himself.

Butterflies.

And for just a tiny moment, Sasuke's eyebrows quirked in surprise, Naruto usually refused his help, but it was gone like a flash and he hauled Naruto up.

"Well, thanks for the hole in my hand, Bastard," Naruto said as he dusted off the seat of his pants. "I'm gonna go get this taken care of, so tell Kakashi-sensei when he wakes up. Or comes back. Whatever he's doing."

Sasuke bobbed his head a fraction, the movement could barely classify as a nod, but Naruto was satisfied enough and raced off in the direction of his home.

He could feel the skin tightening and healing as he ran -he doubted he'd need to bandage it at all at this point- but he just really needed to get away from Sasuke for awhile.

For whatever reason.

.o.o.o.

He slowed himself to a walk as he reached that path the led back into town and decided that perhaps he would go for a walk to clear his head, instead of heading home right away. His hand was still stinging, though the skin had mended, but there was no rush for him to return home to get it properly bandaged anymore.

He slowed his pace and his surroundings faded into the background as he focused on his growing agitation. Though he didn't often look it, Naruto could be a very deep thinker when the mood struck. But growing up alone put Naruto on an almost constant emotional guard and he was compelled to show a carefree and confident face to the world so the people around him would think their actions couldn't hurt him.

Sometimes, when Naruto had a problem that made his chest ache or his stomach hurt, he would put it away on a shelf and leave it there to collect dust. After all, an anxious ninja is an awful ninja, and if his goal was to be the best he couldn't focus on small problems.

Except, this time, his problem was his team-mate. He couldn't avoid Sasuke forever, and he didn't want to run away from it either. Though he wasn't sure what he was running away from.

He ruffled his hair forcefully, not for the first and probably not the last time either. And then he thought he had a revelation. It was true, Naruto never knew any family and he had no idea what familial bonds felt like. Maybe... maybe the way he was getting about Sasuke, well, maybe that's how people feel about their brothers. Naruto had no way of knowing; he'd never had a brother before.

And as a tiny bit of relief eased a knot in his chest, he suddenly thought of Iruka-sensei and the knot tied itself back up again. Iruka-sensei, he's always been like how a father is supposed to be, right? But Iruka-sensei didn't make his heart beat quickly. So if fathers and sons didn't act like that, surely brothers didn't either?

He sighed heavily and kicked a stray rock at his foot. Not only could Naruto not understand exactly what he felt, he also couldn't understand what the big deal was. Why on earth was he getting so worked up about it?

So what? What did it matter if his heart sped up? Did it matter if fancy bugs took up residence in his belly for a little while? And even if his face got warm, that wasn't a big deal either.

At first, it bothered Naruto because he thought Sasuke was making sport of him, messing around with his head. But Sasuke told him it wasn't a mind game. Sasuke was many things, but Naruto was sure a liar wasn't one of them.

So if Sasuke wasn't murmuring around him and pulling Naruto close to him to manipulate him or as some kind of power trip, well, why the hell was he doing it?

He was getting disheartened and then he noticed that he had actually reached town. And sitting nearby was a sharp splash of pink. Sakura-chan. Upon seeing her he remembered very suddenly the way she acted that night at Ichiraku when he first made his discovery about Sasuke's mumbling habit. She had spoken softly and moved toward Sasuke at that time, hadn't she? Sasuke had moved away from her, sure, but that wasn't important right now.

He watched her for a moment and was very relieved to find that she was eating. Diets made Sakura grumpy, so to find her with food in her face was a blessing. She was always much more kind and patient when she wasn't hungry. Naruto mouthed a quiet, 'thank you!' to nothing in particular and approached her.

"Sa~kura-Cha~n!" he shouted, waving to her as she lifted her head. Her cheeks were stuffed with food and she was suddenly looking very sheepish, but she raised a hand and gave a small wave of acknowledgement.

He sat down at the table across from her and made the decision to speak to Sakura about his problem. Subtlety was never Naruto's best skill, but maybe he could get some help without making himself look stupid.

After all, who knew how long before Sakura was on another diet? He'd better talk to her while she was still approachable.

"Where did you disappear to earlier, Sakura-chan?" he asked her pleasantly, a bright smile on his face.

Sakura swallowed the food in her mouth before she spoke. "I don't want to go on a date, Naruto."

He was a little insulted. He hadn't even asked her that! He laughed it off, slightly embarrassed and said, "that's not it, Sakura-chan."

"Oh?" she said, her curiosity piqued. "What is it then?"

He rubbed at the back of his neck and tried to think of a way to start. This was a difficult subject. But when she pinned him with a look that plainly said, 'well, get on with it!' he decided he better just get right to it. Apparently a full belly only increased her patience with him by so much.

"Well, Sakura-chan, I noticed that you -ah- well, you sort of talk really softly to Sasuke sometimes, don't you?" he said, staring at the wooden tabletop. "Ah... why is that, exactly?"

Sakura made a funny sort of choking sound and Naruto looked up to see that she had flushed a bright pink colour, and he couldn't decide if it complimented or clashed with her hair.

"W-w-wha?" was all she managed to get out, but must have decided that denial was futile for she cleared her throat and closed her mouth tightly. For a moment she studied Naruto's face closely and came to some conclusion, her eyes widening and a smile spreading on her face.

"Naruto, you mean, a girl likes you?!"

At that instant, the world around Naruto seemed to shrink and expand at the same time. 'Like'? 'Like?!' He vaguely heard Sakura speaking rapidly, things like, "a girl was whispering to you?" and "who was it, who was it?" It was when she shouted, "Oh, it was Hinata, wasn't it?" that Naruto was shocked back into his senses.

"Hinata?" he said, taken aback. "What does she have to do with anything?" He rested his elbows on the table and cradled his head in his hands. "Sakura-chan, what do you mean by 'likes'?"

He thought his heart was going to explode, so quickly was it pounding against his ribs. If it beat any faster it would escape right out through his chest. He wasn't sure what he hoped for in Sakura's explanation, and that made him feel even more anxious.

"Well, Naruto," she began, adopting the voice she used when explaining complicated techniques to him. "Some girls" -the way she said some girls made Naruto think she wanted to exclude herself from this group- "use this technique to make the boys they like get closer to them."

"What? What the hell does that mean Sakura-chan?" he asked her, raking his hands through his hair and beginning to worry that premature balding might become a serious issue for him if this kept up.

"Well," she said, her face growing pink again as she very obviously avoided his eyes. "'likes' in the way that I care for Sasuke-kun," the 'Sasuke-kun' becoming little more than a whisper.

Naruto didn't think it was possible for his body to feel this many different things at once. His stomach felt like it was full, not with tiny fluttering butterflies, but with a whole nature preserve for wildly flapping birds. His heart sped up, his mind felt dizzy and far away and he thought he maybe wanted to run to a bathroom and be sick.

He shook his head, though it was completely blank and didn't really need to be cleared of much at all, and managed to plaster a smile on his face, "S-Sakura-chan," he began, "is it possible for someone -ah- for a girl to act that way with a person they hate?"

Sakura drew back, obviously aghast at the simple suggestion. "Naruto, why in the world would someone want to get close to someone they hated?"

Try as he might to find a logical explanation for that, he couldn't. As he was searching his brain for an out, Sakura said, "well, are you going to tell me who the girl who likes you is?"

Naruto held up his hands defensively. "Ahhh, it isn't me, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh?" she said, her disbelief plainly written on her face. "Well why did you come to talk to me then?"

"Ah, well, you see, Sakura-chan," he said, looking for an excuse. He found one. Probably a lame one but it was better than nothing. "It's actually Kiba. He had this problem with some girl and was too, umm, scared to ask another girl about it and asked me to do it instead."

She still looked skeptical, but she took the bait, "Kiba? Well, did he say what girl it is?"

Well, if it was Kiba it was okay to have a little fun at his expense. "Oh, yeah, he said it was the girl with the hairy arms and the one eyebrow."

"What? You mean, Manly-Miyuki?" She said, obviously amazed that someone could like this girl.

Naruto was stunned into silence. Did a girl like that really exist? "Umm, yeah, sure, that's the one."

Naruto could see the cogs turning in Sakura's head and took this as his chance to escape. He thought he needed some time alone before, well that was nothing compared to now.
"Ah, thanks for your help, Sakura-chan. I'll see you around."

He stood up as Sakura waved to him vaguely, her entire focus on this new (untrue) juicy piece of gossip. He didn't know what Sakura would do with this piece of information, probably go talk to some other girls in that screechy voice that was understood only by females and canines.

Oh well. Let Kiba deal with it. Naruto had other problems to worry about now anyway.

He walked in the direction of his home (the dried blood on his hand getting itchy and irritated, he wanted to clean it up as quickly as possible) his thoughts a mishmash of everything and nothing at the same time. He smacked the heel of his left palm into his forehead a few times, trying to shake the hodgepodge into order.

Sasuke... liked him. In the way Sakura liked Sasuke? Was that even possible? Is that the thing Sasuke said he would figure out eventually? And how the hell was Naruto supposed to take that? He was just trying to deal with butterflies (which evolved into birds just a few moments ago) and now he had this dumped on him. How was he supposed to feel?

He tried to deny it. There was no way Sasuke liked him. Sasuke hated him, right? And then he remembered Wave Country.

Sasuke died for him. Without hesitation.

But they were on a team, right? That's what team members did for each other. It was like obligation. But when he thought about it deeply he realized that, well, would Sakura-chan dive in front of thousands of needles for Naruto? No, probably not. Sakura-chan probably wouldn't die for Naruto.

And Sakura said that you don't want to get close to people you hate. Just the people you like. That's why girls whisper. That's why Sasuke mumbles.

Is that why Naruto always leans in?

He felt his cheeks colour and his heart speed up at the suggestion (though the suggestion came from himself).

And as much as he didn't want to pursue that idea, he couldn't help but be swept away by it.

That's why he didn't feel it with Iruka. It wasn't a family thing.

That's why he didn't feel it with Kiba or Ino. It wasn't an anger thing.

But what about Sakura-chan?

He stood at his front door for a few moments, barely realizing he had reached it, and not even recalling the path he had walked to get there. He took his key from his pocket and unlocked the door, slipping inside and kicking off his sandals.

Sakura-chan. He thought he liked her. So if he liked Sasuke, wouldn't he feel the same way he did around Sakura-chan?

He plopped down heavily on his couch, the springs creaking and the wooden supports groaning in protest.
But what did Naruto feel around Sakura-chan? She whispered right in his ear and he felt absolutely nothing. No butterflies, no face furnace, no breakneck heartbeat.

All Naruto had to do was lean toward Sasuke, or touch his arm and Naruto turned into some kind of basket case.

If that was how liking someone felt, Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted to like someone. And why the hell did it have to be that stupid smug bastard? The one who taunted Naruto and insulted Naruto.

(And died for Naruto)

Naruto was exhausted. He dropped his head back and flung his arms out to slump gracelessly across the couch cushions. And as he did he looked to his right and saw the torn scrap tied around his hand. That bastard didn't even feel guilty about it.

(His hand was trembling when he pulled the kunai out)

(He ripped up his shirt so you wouldn't bleed to death)

(He thought you'd be able to dodge that kunai easily)

Naruto sighed and got up from the couch, shuffling his feet as he made his way toward the kitchen sink. He untied the blue scrap and set it on the counter, running some cool water from the faucet to clean off his hand.

He stared up at the ceiling and slumped his shoulders. So that's what it all came down to, huh? In his own Sasuke-way, he really had been caring about Naruto, and Naruto just didn't get it. He couldn't blame himself: most of his life nobody cared about him. In fact, the majority of people completely hated him. So he didn't really understand the different ways people treated people they...

Liked.

He felt a tiny flip in his stomach. The blustering birds were gone and the butterflies were back. He was a little relieved. The birds made him want to throw up. Naruto felt emotion very intensely all the time, but that was just too much, even for him.

He pulled a tea towel from a drawer and dried off his hand. He finally understood why Sasuke murmured like that. And maybe he had come to terms with it, but Naruto didn't know how he felt about it.

He wasn't angry about it. He wasn't disgusted about it. If he was being completely honest with himself he was a little bit flattered. All the girls liked Sasuke, so he guessed it was maybe kind of cool that Mr. Popular liked him better than all those girls.

But he was tired of guessing, tired of being emotionally drained and his hand still ached. Maybe he'd just go to sleep and see how he felt when he saw Sasuke tomorrow.

He dragged himself to his bed, shedding his jacket but not bothering with the rest of his clothes. He expected that his mind would be a flurry of activity as he lay there, but mercifully, he was simply too weary to go on any longer that day and he drifted off to sleep.

As his eyes closed for the night he registered in some part of his mind that his chest felt light. Warm.

.o.o.o.

The next day Naruto approached the familiar Team 7 meeting space with some hesitation. He was nervous. His heart was beating some irregular rhythm that surely couldn't be healthy and his palms felt clammy and cold. He reminded his body impatiently that it was just stupid Sasuke, and to get a grip but it wasn't to any avail.

He saw his team in the distance, Sasuke and Sakura (he didn't expect Kakashi-sensei would be there any time soon) and plastered a smile on his face. He waved his arms above his head and ran toward them calling out his usual greeting. "Sa~kura-Cha~n!"

When he got closer he folded his hands up behind his head and sauntered toward them. "Good morning!" he said, the grin firmly in place on his face.

Sakura gave a half-hearted wave, her attention on was entirely on Sasuke, and he was quick to notice the colour of her cheeks and the way her folded hands were trembling slightly. She was apparently explaining her absence from the team exercise. "Kakashi-sensei said the you two should be left alone to fight it out so he took me to get a bite to eat."

Sasuke moved his head a fraction of an inch in acknowledgement of Naruto's greeting.

He felt awkward suddenly. Very awkward. This was the normal routine every morning but suddenly, with the tiny word 'like' in his head, the whole world had been turned upside down. A tiny nervous laugh escaped from Naruto's mouth unbidden.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and raised an eyebrow. And Naruto was horrified that with just that look his hands started to feel shaky. And when his hands started to tremble he began to get frustrated.

This was absolutely the most idiotic thing in the universe! He was beginning to recognize that the way he was acting around Sasuke was mirroring, in a very small way, the way that Sakura acted when Sasuke paid her a small bit of attention.

Completely asinine! Naruto was the furthest thing from a girl he could imagine! He was- He was a guy, dammit! He shouldn't be feeling like this around Sasuke!

He narrowed his eyes and his arm shot out to point directly at Sasuke, ignoring the slight tremor in his hand. "Sasuke, you bastard! This is all your damn fault."

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. He narrowed them very quickly and bit out sharply, "What the hell are you talking bout, moron?"

Sakura began to protest but Naruto and Sasuke both ignored her.

"You know what I'm talking about, you bastard. With your damn murmuring and your stupid ripped shirt and your idiotic dying! What the hell are you trying to turn me into?"

Cold fury was growing in Sasuke's eyes, Naruto had seen that look before, but when he saw it this time it bit into him a little bit deeper. "I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about, dumbass. So unless you're going to make yourself clear, you should try shutting your mouth instead."

Naruto noticed from the corner of his eye that tears began to glimmer in Sakura's eyes. It always bothered her when they fought, mostly because she didn't want anyone hurting Sasuke, he knew.

"I figured it out. And I know I'm right this time. And I'd make myself clear, but I don't want to upset Sakura-chan, so I won't say it right now."

Sasuke looked panicked. Naruto recognized that look; he wore it on his face the last time he thought Naruto had figured it out. He glanced at Sakura for a moment and saw the hurt confusion on her face. But Naruto couldn't come out and tell Sasuke that he knew Sasuke liked him. Not when Sakura was standing right there. He knew how much she cared for Sasuke and it would crush her, Naruto was sure.

By the time he looked back to Sasuke he had recovered himself and the panic was gone, replaced with complete impassiveness. He turned to Sakura and said, "wait here for Kakashi, we'll be back in a minute."

Sakura made to protest but was silenced with a sharp look. She hung her head and nodded. "Whatever you say, Sasuke-kun."

As Sasuke approached Naruto he drew back, and opened his mouth to growl out a warning but Sasuke glared and shushed him urgently, grabbing him by his forearm and yanking him across the bridge to the shelter of some nearby trees.

When they reached the shadows Sasuke dropped his arm and said with that familiar bite in his voice, "So what is it you think you know?"

Now that he was standing alone with Sasuke, face to face, suddenly, he didn't want to talk about it anymore. When he looked at Sasuke his heart did a funny skip and the butterflies started doing jumping jacks. Flapping jacks...?

He wanted to turn his head away and stare at the ground but he forced himself to keep his head up. He wasn't inferior to Sasuke. He never believed he was and now sure as hell wasn't the time to start. He looked up, eyes squinted, despite the awkwardness and the stupid Sakura-trembles he felt in his arms and legs.

"Saku-" he began, and then not wanting to admit he needed help understanding what was going on, switched his track, "that is, I figured out what you're doing."

Sasuke didn't seem concerned about Naruto figuring it out, though Naruto had yet to tell him what it was he figured out. Instead he said, "Dammit, Sakura? She knows? God damn you, Naruto."

Naruto was slightly taken aback by his tone. "What? No. Sakura doesn't know. Why the hell do you think I didn't bring it up in front of her?" he snapped.

Sasuke relaxed his posture somewhat. Relief. Maybe these butterflies had had their toll on Sasuke as well. Maybe it was best to get it out in the open. But once it was out in the air, some kind of result had to come of it, right?

Naruto was dreading that. Once it was in the air it was final. There was no going back to how things used to be and there had to be some kind of resolution. Naruto didn't know what he wanted yet. He still wasn't sure about how he felt.

He wanted to be sure.

He moved closer to Sasuke and stared up into his dark eyes.

Sasuke's eyebrows trembled and he appeared to be holding his breath. Faint colour appeared on his cheeks. Naruto, a man on a mission, took hold of Sasuke's hand, ignoring the shock that raced up his arms, like a live wire. He didn't want to stand there holding it like a girl, he was just checking to see if it was...

Trembling.

Sasuke pulled his hand away and took a step back. He mumbled something. Naruto couldn't hear him, and partly out of habit, partly because he simply wanted to, he drew closer to him. "What did you say?" he asked, and Sasuke repeated himself.

"What are you doing?"

"You like me, right?"

Sasuke made no move to confirm or deny the accusation.

"I wanted to see if you did the same things I was doing. Like, when my hands tremble." Naruto admitted, though he was embarrassed to do so. He thought he must have been acting like a woman, but Sasuke was trembling too, and holding his breath. If it was okay for Sasuke to do it, it was okay for Naruto to, as well.

And the sight of Sasuke, looking less angry and arrogant, it made him feel like he wanted to be honest, pride and boastfulness forgotten for the moment. Even though his face was burning and his hands trembled and his heartbeat was in his throat and butterflies threatened to escape from his stomach.

Naruto realized then, seeing Sasuke act like that, that Naruto must like Sasuke too. Sasuke liked him and Sasuke was acting the way now, that Naruto had been this whole time. Surely, that was the only, proper conclusion to be drawn.

Naruto liked Sasuke too.

He didn't think he'd be able to come out and tell Sasuke directly. Not if he didn't hear it from Sasuke first. His emotions had been jostled around as a child so badly that he wasn't ready to be hurt. Maybe when he heard it from Sasuke, he'd be able to tell him too.

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but he closed it again, indecisive. Sasuke had his emotions messed around too, didn't he? Except, Sasuke's hurt was at the hands of his brother. But maybe it was nice to have someone who could understand Naruto's pain. Even if it wasn't exactly the same kind.

"Naruto, I..." Sasuke had his brows furrowed and he shook his head from side to side as though he was making a difficult decision. And at that moment Naruto felt a stab of panic. He wouldn't deny it, would he? Sasuke wouldn't deny it outright. Naruto was sure this time. Sakura had told him why Sasuke made Naruto get close to him this whole time.

Sasuke's hands trembled, surely that meant...

He didn't want Sasuke to deny it. He didn't think he wanted Sasuke to tell him bluntly that he liked him right now either. He just didn't want him to deny it. Naruto decided to cut him off before he had a chance.

Naruto shot up on his tiptoes, balancing himself with a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and pressed his mouth to Sasuke's.

He honestly thought, at that moment, that his heart had erupted.

He pulled away hastily and took a step back, the panic knot in his chest growing so large he couldn't believe he had enough room in his body to contain it. "Shit. I didn't mean- that is-"

Naruto glanced up and saw the absolute shock on Sasuke's face. He didn't utter a sound.

Naruto took a few steps back, preparing to retreat before he made a bigger mess, but Sasuke's hand on his arm stopped him.

He still didn't say anything, just placed a hand on the back of Naruto's neck and leaned down.

And as Sasuke pressed his lips lightly to Naruto's (his lips are always set in such a hard line, it was hard to believe they could be so soft) a little flutter in his belly made him smile into the kiss.

Perhaps butterflies weren't such a bad thing after all.