CHAPTER 32: While He Slept

A/N: Hey people!Honestly, I didn't know where to start or end this chapter, so forgive me if this one comes off a little off. 🫠😅Anyway, I still hope you like it!!＼(^o^)／

"Ugh! Dobe! I- *huff* shouldn't have - said I would take you *huff* home."

Sasuke mumbled under his breath as he struggled to climb up the stairs with a precious burden slung on his back. The blond hunk was out like a light.

Sasuke, being somewhat drunk, wasn't exactly able to handle Naruto's weight smoothly. However, he did manage to bring his blond sensei home.

He tried twisting the knob of the door of Naruto's apartment, and to Sasuke's relief yet concern, the door was not locked.

'This dobe should really be more careful...'

As soon as the raven entered the small run-down place, Kurama came running to him and began wagging his nine tails at the sight of Sasuke and Naruto together. He began circling around Sasuke's feet, not letting the raven move even an inch.

"Tsk. Move."

Sasuke scolded Kurama in a whisper as he tried to shoo away the fox but was very unsuccessful in his attempt. Yet, somehow, with Kurama constantly annoying him and getting in his way, he managed to get the blond to his bed.

Sasuke sat on the bedside as he removed Naruto's arms from around his neck. He gently laid the blond on the mattress and tucked him in properly under the unnecessarily bright orange quilt.

'You should really eat less ramen.'

Sasuke wondered while massaging his shoulders to soothe the looming soreness in them, his gaze not leaving Naruto's face for even a second. His gaze then drifted to the fox who was now beside Naruto, snuggling comfortably with him. He was almost jealous of how cozy Kurama looked and secretly wishing he could do it, too.

'What the hell, Sasuke...'

He snapped back to his realit, ashamed of his thoughts. He was fed up with constantly wanting the blond for himself.

'Why am I thinking all this again?!'

He tried to stop himself from desiring Naruto again but to no avail. His mind was already preoccupied with Naruto's face, body, smile, words...

'That's right... it's this dobe's fault I'm like this...'

His thoughts began drifting to the events that took place in the bar, and he still couldn't believe it. He was unable to digest the fact that Naruto had confessed, and yet his brain knew that what had happened was real.

The only issue remaining was that he didn't exactly know who Naruto had confessed to.

'Were those words meant for Sai? Or was it me this time?'

The confusion was driving Sasuke crazy with every minute, and he was not to blame for his skepticism. After all, Naruto had mistaken him for Sai before as well, so it wouldn't be surprising if a drunk Naruto mistakenly confessed to Sasuke instead.

The Uchiha sighed and sat down on the floor, just beside the bed with his back against the wall. He couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself.

'Why am I still here...?'

Sasuke was very well aware of Naruto's love for Sai. He knew he shouldn't even be involved with his blond crush anymore. He knew he should move on, and yet he was here, inside Naruto's house, hoping for one last confirmation from the blond.

'Tsk, I really am pathetic.'

Sasuke gradually stood up from the floor while seeking support from the wall behind him. His gaze lingered on Naruto's sleeping outline for a little longer.

'Should I stay? Or...'

Sasuke quickly shook his head, driving his thoughts away. He knew he shouldn't stay, and that's what he was going to do. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

With the little determination he had found in himself, Sasuke glanced at the blond one last time before turning around and walking out of the room. However, as he stepped outside the room, his eyes caught a glimpse of something familiar in the corner.

He panned his eyes over to the corner where he saw, leaning against the wall of the living room, was kept the very gift Sasuke had presented to Naruto on his birthday.

'You didn't even open it... *scoffs*'

The Uchiha could feel an irrepressible sadness arising in him the longer he looked at it. He had spent 3 days of hard work in its making, and Naruto didn't even bother to open it.

However, Sasuke knew it wasn't his place to judge Naruto. The raven was aware of how bad things had become between them, so it was only natural that his gifts to Naruto were nothing more than mere objects related to a person that the blond wished to do away with.

Sasuke sighed, not at all happy with how melancholic his mood had become over such a silly thing. He needed something to distract himself from Naruto now, or he knew he would end up sobbing like some immature teenager.

However, nothing worked. Naruto was omnipresent in every part of Sasuke's brain at the moment. He desperately wanted to listen to Naruto's explanation for the event at the bar, but his pride had already had enough.

'*sigh* This is the last thing I'll do for him... then we're done for good... hn.'

Sasuke managed to convince himself and his pride as he silently treaded to Naruto's kitchen and poured some water into a mug. He carried the mug to Naruto's room and placed it on the side table beside his bed.

"You'll need it when you wake up."

Sasuke whispered into the silence around him as he gazed at Naruto's face. He wanted to look at those surreal features of his sensei one last time.

He bent down to get a closer look at the tan man's face, who was sleeping like a baby, snoring slightly with his mouth open and drooling. Sasuke couldn't help but smile as he could clearly see how relaxed Naruto was.

His cheeks began to gain a faint pink color as he hesitantly reached out his hand to try and feel Naruto's whiskers but stopped mid-air.

'This... isn't right.'

Sasuke slowly retracted his hand back into his pocket. He inhaled deeply to calm himself and stood up straight.

'This is it.'

He said to himself with as much courage as he could gather. He trotted out of the room as quickly as he could with silent steps. He rushed past the living room and the kitchen when he finally halted before the door.

He kept staring at the door for a while as his breath continuously became shorter and heavier.

'There is no turning back after this.'

Sasuke knew the significance of the decision he was going to make right now. His heart was thumping loudly in his chest as his gaze lingered on the door.

It was taking him more courage than necessary to open the door and leave because he knew that if he did that, then he would be leaving Naruto behind along with his feelings for him.

'Ugh! Just do it!'

Sasuke mentally reprimanded himself for complicating the situation so much. However, just as he was about to twist the doorknob, he heard a whimpering sound coming from behind him. He turned around to see that Kurama was standing there, on the doorstep of Naruto's bedroom.

He looked at Sasuke with almost pleading eyes, which were asking the raven to stay. Such innocence was the look on the fox's face that it tempted Sasuke for a little to given in.

"Sorry, puppy."

Sasuke smiled an extremely rare and small smile at the fox with a single tear threatening to fall from his eye. He looked away from Kurama and exhaled sharply before turning around, opening the door, and leaving.

Sasuke brisk-walked down the stairs and onto the streets while rubbing his eyes to stop the tears before they fell. His heart was racing, and his breath was shortening as he could feel a lump form in his throat.

'Now I've done it.'

Sasuke thought as he continuously strode towards his home. He had chosen to finally leave his feelings along with his hopes behind with the first man he truly loved.

'Goodbye, Naruto.'

*TIME SKIP* THE NEXT DAY~

"I'm... home?"

Naruto's head was spinning as soon as he awoke, but he was still sane enough to realize that it was the ceiling of his house that was in front of his eyes at the moment.

'How did I reach...?'

Naruto wondered because he remembered consuming more beer than he could handle last night, and his memories were now extremely blurry.

"Ugh..."

He grunted while laying on his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose as his headache was only worsening. His throat felt dry and was silently demanding water, but the blond was in no state of leaving the bed.

He took a few deep breaths before he began trying to sit himself up right on the bed when, from the corner of his eye, he saw his mug on the side table.

Naruto raised his eyebrow in suspicion of the odd placement of the mug. He had never woken up to a mug on his side table before today, not even when he had been drinking out somewhere but woken up at his house on quite a few occasions.

'Was someone here last night...? Shikamaru?'

Naruto grabbed the mug and realized that it was filled with water. He ecstatically drank the water, internally blessing the person who had been thoughtful enough to do this.

After quenching his thirst, Naruto kept the mug aside as he slowly began recalling the events of last night. He thought back to the last thing he could remember when his eyes widened with absolute shock and terror.

"Shit!"

He exclaimed loudly as he searched for his phone in his pockets, luckily finding it there. He quickly phoned Shikamaru to confirm his memories.

RING RING RIN-

SHIKAMARU (SH): *sigh* What is it?

NARUTO (N): Oi, Shika! I'm sorry for disturbing you so early in the morning, but I have a really important question to ask, dattebayo!

SH: You wanna know what happened last night, right?

N: Y- Yeah...

SH: *huff* You really are a drag.

N: Tell me already, what happened last night?

SH: How much do you remember?

N: Uh... the last thing I remember is seeing Sasuke and some red-haired girl flirting. Ne, Shika, is it true? Did... did this really happen yesterday?

SH: Yeah, but you handled the situation well.

N: Huh? I handled the situation well?

SH: Yes. You went straight in and pushed that girl away shouting "Stay away from him. He's mine."

N: NANI??!! I did that?! Wah... I...

SH: I know. You're speechless. Even I was when I saw you acting like that. *chuckles*

N: Stop laughing! It's serious, dattebayo!

SH: I know, I know, but this isn't even the best part.

N: ...what else did I do?

SH: *smirks* You confessed to Sasuke.

N: ...

SH: Oi, you there?

N: Yeah... *sighs in pure distress* So, what happened after that?

SH: Sasuke didn't believe your words, and I think he still doesn't. He thought you were taking him for Sai again.

N: Shit...

SH: Exactly.

N: Then how did I get home?

SH: *snickers* It was Sasuke. He took you home.

N: WHAT?! HE DID?!

SH: Yeah. I told you, you're a drag.

N: ...I'll call you later, and thanks, dattebayo...

SH: Sure... Hahaha-

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Naruto sat completely frozen in his place. His head was blasting due to his terrible hangover, but that was the least of his worries at this moment. His hesitantly eyes panned over to the mug beside him.

A thousand scenarios were forming in his brain of what could have happened when Sasuke was here last night. Naruto was genuinely afraid. What if he had said insensitive things to Sasuke again? What if Sasuke refuses to see him again? Or worse... what if he had vomitted on Sasuke?!

Nothing was sitting right with the blond about this situation. The only thought looming in his mind was:

'Just what happened while I was sleeping?'

A/N: So... this was it. I really hope I was able to show you a gist of turmoil Sasuke was going through. (^^)dAnyway, I hope this chapter was not so bad😅 (please bear with my low self-confidence, thank you.)In any case, I'll see you all in the next chapter!Author sound out ~ ✌🏻