The Uchiha estate flowed with wealth like water. By dusk, paper lanterns bobbed among black pines and crimson maples, their light rippling across the garden. Lacquered trays floated between guests, bearing tempura and sushi that melted on the tongue, konpeito that dissolved like sweet stars, cakes that crumbled into gold dust. Shamisen notes spilled from hidden speakers, occasionally drowned by children's laughter as they streamed around the koi pond in living currents.
Naruto arrived late, his borrowed suit already damp with perspiration. His mother had insisted—Kushina's hands smoothing his collar, Minato's fingers sliding the silk tie around his neck, the scent of aftershave and mothballs drifting between them. Now he lingered at the threshold, watching Mikoto Uchiha drift through conversations, her smile flowing seamlessly from guest to guest while Fugaku moved with sharper currents, cutting through clusters of people with precise handshakes and measured nods.
Slipping behind a pillar, Naruto's heart hammered so violently he could feel his pulse in his fingertips. He tugged at his collar, which suddenly felt two sizes too small. Every dark-haired figure passing in his peripheral vision sent his stomach into a sickening flip. After a week of strategic hallway dodges and fabricated excuses about study groups to avoid Sasuke since their bedroom study session, here he was—twenty feet away—and Naruto couldn't remember how to breathe.
Naruto took a deep breath. "You can do this," he whispered to himself, the words barely audible over the party's hum. "Just walk up to him, say the words, and whatever happens, happens." His fingers trembled as he straightened his tie for the fifth time. "Tonight. No more hiding. No more pretending. Just tell him how you feel and be done with it."
The moment he stepped onto the deck, Kushina's war cry cut through the crowd: "There's my boy!" She barreled over, her red hair a comet trail, and nearly tackled Naruto in a hug so tight his ribs protested. "Look at you! So grown up!"
"Mom," Naruto hissed, praying the neighbors didn't have camera's on them.
She cupped his face, thumb brushing beneath his eye as if checking for hidden tears. "Your tie's crooked. Here—" She fussed with the knot, then smoothed his lapel with military precision. Her eyes darted to the crowd, then back to Naruto. "He's waiting by the pond."
Naruto blushed scarlet, heat climbing up his neck into his ears. He mumbled thanks and slipped past the buffet, ignoring the stares of distant relatives who only ever recognized him as "Minoto's Mini-me." He picked up a can of melon soda and made a beeline for the koi pond, heart hammering so loudly he was certain the old men at the shogi table could hear it.
Sasuke was exactly where Kushina said he'd be, standing with his back to the house, face illuminated by the lantern light's glow. He wore a black suit cut so perfectly it made Naruto's off-the-rack blazer look like a thrift store hand-me-down. His hair was perfectly tousled, just enough to suggest he didn't care but not enough to be truly disheveled.
Naruto stopped, breath catching in his throat. The sight of Sasuke silhouetted against the lantern light made his chest ache with a feeling so raw it bordered on physical pain. His hands trembled, palms slick with sweat. How many nights had he lain awake replaying every accidental touch, every half-smile Sasuke had ever given him? How many times had he caught himself staring at the curve of Sasuke's neck during class, imagining what it would be like to press his lips there? God, he was pathetic—and terrified—and so desperately in love he could barely breathe through it.
Naruto approached, hands clenched so tightly around the soda can that the metal began to crumple. His throat tightened at the familiar slope of Sasuke's shoulders, the way his hair fell against his neck—details he'd forced himself not to think about all week. "Hey," he said, voice coming out thin and stupid.
Sasuke didn't turn. "Your tie's a joke," he said, but his voice was softer than Naruto expected.
Naruto's chest ached with the familiar rhythm of their banter, like pressing on a bruise he'd forgotten was there. He grinned despite himself, heart hammering against his ribs. "Yeah, well, I didn't have a personal stylist."
"Could've fooled me." Sasuke finally glanced over, eyes sharp and unreadable, and Naruto felt himself falling all over again. "You're late."
Naruto's heart thudded in his ears as he forced himself to sound casual. "Fashionably." His feet seemed to move on their own, carrying him beside Sasuke despite the voice screaming inside him to keep his distance. He stood close enough that their shoulders nearly touched, watching their reflections waver together in the pond's surface. His mouth went dry. "Nice party."
Sasuke made a dismissive noise. "It's for the donors, not me. Dad's been introducing me to every idiot with a checkbook."
Naruto snorted, grateful for the familiar rhythm of their conversation even as his palms grew slick with sweat. The confession he'd rehearsed a hundred times pressed against his throat like a trapped bird. "Better you than me. Last time my mom tried to throw a party, the neighbors called the fire department."
The ice didn't quite melt, but a fissure appeared. Sasuke's lips curled in the barest hint of a smile. "Yeah, I remember."
Naruto's heart stuttered painfully. That smile—God, that smile could undo him completely. He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly desert-dry. They fell into silence, broken only by the plop of a carp surfacing for crumbs and the distant giggles of children. Naruto tried to catch Sasuke's gaze but failed, each attempt rebuffed by a flicker of dark lashes or the minute pivot of a shoulder. His palms were slick with sweat, and he wiped them against his pants, terrified Sasuke might notice. The confession burned in his throat like bile, threatening to spill out before he was ready.
He looked away, focusing instead on the floating petals drifting across the water's surface, willing his thundering pulse to slow. "So. You're really doing it, huh?" His voice cracked embarrassingly. "Taking over the family business. Like... for real."
"I never had a choice." Sasuke's jaw ticked. "Not since Itachi ran off to gods know where."
Naruto's chest tightened. "That's not true. You always have a choice."
A bitter laugh. "Not in this family."
Naruto glanced up at the manor, its windows ablaze with light and shadow, silhouettes of Uchiha elders gesturing at nothing. His throat constricted. "Yeah, well. If anyone could get out, it'd be you." His fingers trembled as around the soda can, heart hammering so violently he had to stuff his hand in his pocket before Sasuke noticed. "You're, like, the only genius I know."
"Don't say that," Sasuke said sharply, then bit back whatever else was coming.
Naruto's stomach twisted into knots. He stared at the moon's warped reflection, desperately trying to swallow past the lump in his throat. His pulse roared in his ears like a tsunami, drowning out the party's distant chatter. This was it. This was the moment he'd rehearsed a thousand times in his bedroom mirror. His palms were slick with sweat, and his lungs felt like they were filling with concrete. He shuffled his feet, rocking from heel to toe, heart threatening to burst through his ribcage as he forced himself to look at Sasuke—really look, memorizing every angle and shadow in case rejection meant never getting this close again.
"I need to tell you something," Naruto blurted, the words escaping in a rush that left him dizzy and terrified and somehow relieved all at once.
Sasuke looked over, cautious. "What."
Naruto's heart slammed against his ribs so hard he thought it might crack bone. His mouth went desert-dry, every rehearsed word evaporating like morning dew. The confession he'd practiced a thousand times now felt like a foreign language he'd forgotten overnight. His hands trembled so violently he had to shove them into his pockets.
"It's stupid," he choked out, a nervous laugh bubbling up that sounded more like a drowning man gasping for air. "Forget it."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, pinning Naruto in place. "If you can wake me up at 2 a.m. with a meme, you can say whatever's in your head now."
Naruto's chest tightened until he couldn't breathe, his lungs refusing to expand. The edges of his vision blurred. He tried to laugh again, but the sound emerged as a strangled hiccup. His fingers trembled against his thigh as he forced himself to meet Sasuke's eyes, then immediately looked away. "It's just..." His voice cracked, a betrayal so complete he wanted to die on the spot. He swallowed hard, Adam's apple bobbing painfully. "When I leave, it's gonna suck. Like, really suck. Like, a lot."
Sasuke's mask slipped, just for a moment, his eyebrows drawing together. "Like I said, we can always facetime."
"No, I—" Naruto's voice cracked. He swallowed hard, Adam's apple bobbing. "It'll be different. You'll be busy with all that corporate stuff and I'll be—" His chest tightened, making each breath shallow. "We won't have those stupid late-night ramen runs or—" The words died in his throat as his hands trembled so violently he had to shove them in his pockets. His heart hammered against his ribs like it might break through.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, tracking every micro-expression on Naruto's face. "Is that all?" he asked, voice dangerously soft.
Naruto forced the air out of his lungs, sudden and harsh, the words clawing up his throat like they'd been trapped there for years. "No. It's not." His voice cracked, and something hot pricked behind his eyes. He looked down at his shoes, studied the scuffed toes as his heart hammered so violently he thought his ribs might crack. "I, um. I like you. Like, really like you."
There was a beat of silence, the kind that stretched and stretched until it threatened to snap. The cicadas seemed to hush, the garden suddenly brittle with anticipation. Naruto's pulse roared in his ears.
Sasuke didn't react. He stood perfectly still, lips parted as if trying to recall how breathing worked. Naruto's chest constricted, each heartbeat painful now, but he plowed on, desperate to get it all out before he drowned in his own unspoken words.
"I know it's dumb, and you probably don't—hell, you definitely don't—but I've been, like, totally obsessed since… I dunno. Forever." His voice broke on the last word, and he felt the burn of tears threatening to spill. "And I figured if I didn't say something now, I'd regret it for the rest of my life, so—" He laughed, short and sharp, the sound raw and wounded, "—so there it is. I'm in love with you, bastard." The final confession tore from him like something vital being ripped away, leaving him trembling and exposed.
He finally looked up, heart hammering so violently he thought he might vomit. His ears rang with static, and he couldn't feel his fingertips.
Sasuke stood frozen, face drained of all color. The silence stretched, twisted, became something living and terrible between them. Naruto's breath caught in his throat as Sasuke's lips parted slightly. A flicker of something—confusion? horror?—crossed his face before his features hardened into something Naruto had never seen before.
"You're fucking with me," Sasuke whispered, each syllable like a shard of ice piercing Naruto's chest.