Chapter Text
Sasuke didn’t know what the feeling was at first. It didn’t have a name.
It just showed up quietly, like warmth in his chest when Naruto smiled too wide in class or laughed after getting scolded like it didn’t matter. His attention kept drifting back without him meaning it to.
At first, he ignored it. That’s what he did with anything that didn’t fit.
“This is not something you focus on,” his father’s voice echoed in his head. “Focus on strength. Control yourself.”
So Sasuke tried.
But Naruto made that difficult. He was always there—loud, messy, impossible to ignore. And Sasuke hated how easily he noticed him.
One afternoon, Naruto got punished again and stood outside the classroom pretending it didn’t bother him. When Sasuke walked past, Naruto called out.
“Hey, Sasuke!”
Sasuke stopped before he meant to. He didn’t fully turn, just glanced.
“You’re always serious,” Naruto said. “Do you ever relax?”
“I don’t waste time,” Sasuke replied.
Naruto just laughed. “That’s not an answer.”
Sasuke should’ve walked away. But he didn’t.
Later, alone in his room, the moment kept coming back. Naruto’s voice. His smile.
Something in Sasuke tightened.
This is wrong, he thought. Not because he understood it, but because it didn’t feel like something he was supposed to feel.
After that, he started avoiding Naruto in small ways. Sitting further away, taking different routes, replying less. It should’ve helped.
But Naruto didn’t act like anything changed.
He still showed up. Still talked. Still smiled.
And Sasuke still noticed him every time.
One day after school, Naruto caught up to him.
“You’ve been ignoring me,” he said.
“I’m not,” Sasuke replied without stopping.
“Yes, you are.”
“I have better things to do.”
Naruto frowned. “That’s a lie.”
Sasuke glanced at him, then looked away again.
“You act like talking to me is a problem,” Naruto said.
“It isn’t,” Sasuke answered too quickly.
Naruto went quiet for a moment. “Then why does it feel like it is?”
Sasuke didn’t respond.
Naruto scratched the back of his neck. “Did I do something?”
“No,” Sasuke said, sharper than he meant.
That made Naruto pause.
“I just don’t have time for this,” Sasuke added, turning away.
But Naruto’s voice followed him anyway.
“You’re weird lately.”
Sasuke didn’t answer.
That night, he couldn’t sleep.
He sat in his room staring at nothing while Naruto kept replaying in his mind—his voice, his smile, the way he acted like nothing stayed heavy for long.
Sasuke pressed a hand over his face.
“I shouldn’t care,” he muttered.
But he did.
And that was the problem.
The next day, Naruto was already at the school gates.
“Hey,” he said when Sasuke passed.
Sasuke didn’t stop. “Move.”
Naruto blinked. “What?”
“You’re in the way.”
He wasn’t. But Sasuke needed distance anyway.
Naruto stepped aside slowly, watching him. “You’re really like this today?”
Sasuke didn’t answer.
Behind him, Naruto spoke again, quieter. “You’ve been acting different.”
That made Sasuke stop for a second.
But he didn’t turn around.
Naruto added, “Did I do something wrong?”
Silence.
Sasuke’s chest tightened. “No.”
Naruto hesitated. “Then what is it?”
Sasuke didn’t have an answer.
And that was what frustrated him most.
He walked away before anything else could be said.
Behind the school, he finally stopped. The quiet should’ve helped, but it didn’t.
Naruto stayed in his head anyway.
Not loud. Just present.
Sasuke exhaled slowly.
“This is stupid,” he whispered.
But it wasn’t leaving.
And that scared him more than anything.
Because no matter how much he pushed it away, Naruto didn’t disappear.
He stayed.
And Sasuke didn’t know what to do with that.