Under the Mistletoe

Chapter 2: Holiday Secrets

‘Idiot!’ It was all Sasuke could think while walking down the many streets of Konoha. ‘I’m such an idiot! Why did I go with him? I should have just punched Naruto in the head and left. Why did he have to go and grab my arm?’ He unconsciously rubbed his forearm, where the blonde’s hand had grasped him. It always tingled when the raven hair thought back to the incident, now over a week ago.


He couldn’t stop thinking about it, though. Sasuke had been embarrassed enough to ask his love those questions, which he just ‘had’ to know the answers to, since his brain wouldn’t shut up about it, and when Naruto grabbed him…. There had been a warm feeling that flowed through his body, and the Uchiha could not find the will to break the contact then. He realized he actually… liked… having the blonde loudmouth attached to his arm. All during the meal, all the raven hair could think was how Naruto’s apartment smelled like him, and he decided he liked the smell, and liked it a lot.


‘Then he had to go and touch my forehead!’ Sasuke growled, slightly. ‘His hand was so soft… yet rough at the same time, and oh so warm.’ Uchiha stopped and shook his head. ‘No! Stop thinking that,’ he ordered himself. Ever since it happened, no amount of training or studying had been able to put the encounter behind him, leaving him very irritated.


“And to top it all off, I went and left my headband there,” Sasuke whispered. He sighed; the Uchiha had been unable to force himself to go back and get it from Naruto, fearing the blonde might catch on to his feelings. “I know he’s dense, but even ‘he’ may be able to figure it out.” ‘Which is something I don’t want.’ He sighed once again, sadness heavy in his heart, as he continued his way down the streets toward Sakura’s house.


She had asked him to come by and help her with some Christmas decorations. Her family was gone for the weekend, and she wanted to surprise them, since it being early December. The Uchiha welcomed the distraction, anything to chase the feeling of absolute dread away from his mind and heart.


Sasuke’s current dreams had been filled with nothing but heart-breaking nightmares, everything from Naruto and Sakura innocently getting together, to the blonde wanting to kill him for feeling the way does. He would actually chase the raven hair down and corner him somewhere, causing the poor teen to wake up with a gasp and covered in sweat, fear clutching tightly in his chest. It was then he decided to never tell the blonde how he felt, no matter how desperate he got. Sasuke would rather not know than live with a broken heart for the rest of his life.


He got to the Haruno household to find a note on the door, telling the raven hair to enter as soon as he arrived. The door creaked a little as he crossed the threshold, eyes immediately seeing a giant entry and living room, it looked like. The ceiling was high in here, and he noticed a loft from the second floor, the stairs just to his right. Threw the hall, he could her Sakura’s sweet voice float in the air. He followed the sound up the stairs and found her placing a decoration on a table in another room, humming “Deck the Halls” happily to herself.


“Sakura?” Sasuke asked, indicating his presence.


She turned and smiled. “Hi, Sasuke!” She had kept her hair short, and it bounced around as she moved. The kunoichi had her headband in its usual placement, and she wore long pants and a sweatshirt. He thought she looked beautiful; always had, but he knew the feelings he had for her were nothing more than friendship, and a fairly close one, at that.


‘Should I tell her?’ The thought briefly crossed his mind, but quickly pushed it away. ‘No, the goal is to keep what friends I have. If I were to tell her… she’d hate me.’


“Well, take off your coat,” Sakura said in her cheerful tone, walking up to the Uchiha survivor. “I’ve got some boxes in the attic I need you to bring down for me.”


He slid his coat off and handed it to her, which she quickly ran downstairs and hung it up by the front door. She then returned and showed her teammate to the attic. Sasuke followed the pink-haired ninja up another flight of stairs to a dusty, dark upper floor, where she instructed on which boxes she wanted brought down. The raven hair carefully followed her instructions and watched her pick up a few smaller boxes and head back downstairs.


After getting the correct boxes to the right rooms, Sakura had him help her with hanging up lights, garland, and many other decorations throughout the entire house. Needless to say he got to know the layout pretty well. She sent him back to the attic for more packages filled with different things for the holidays, even helping the female ninja decorate her own room.


A few hours later, the house was almost done, but Sakura suggested a break, giving her crush some cookies and milk to nibble on in the living room, sitting on the couch and enjoying the silence.


Sasuke took another bite of his cookie and eyed his teammate up suspiciously. “You know, Sakura,” he said, accusingly, “those boxes you had me bring down weren’t very heavy. You could have brought them down yourself; I know you’re not weak.”


She blushed and scratched the back of her neck nervously. “Well, yeah, but then I wouldn’t have enjoyed your company. It’s no fun decorating for Christmas when you’re all alone.” Sakura giggled and sipped her milk.


‘She is cute when she blushes,’ the Uchiha thought. ‘Sakura has been after me since our Ninja Academy days, and I’ve always believed that she has genuinely cared about me. When we were placed in the same cell, on all our missions, she’s always been right there to help me, to take care of me when I got injured, and talk to me when I needed it.’ He could feel a pang of guilt rise within him. ‘It… would be cruel… to let her keep thinking that she has a chance of being with me. If nothing else, I should tell her so her heart won’t be shattered in the future, or if she were to find out some other way, she’d probably feel crushed and betrayed. She must know I’m truly not interested in her sexually, but she doesn’t have to know about Naruto… at least, not yet.’


“Sakura?” he asked in a quiet voice, fear beginning to creep into his heart.


“Yes, Sasuke,” she replied, bright smile on her face.


A blush appeared on his cheeks. “I… have to tell you something.” Sasuke looked into her eyes, which were bright and excited. “But promise me… that it will stay between us. Okay? Our secret, I don’t want Master Kakashi or even Naruto knowing what I’m about to say to you. Promise?”


She nodded quickly, pink hair bouncing. “I promise, Sasuke, it’ll stay between you and me, I won’t tell anyone.”


He nodded, lowering his eyes for a moment, having the tiniest of doubts. ‘She… looks so excited. Please… please understand, Sakura, I don’t mean to hurt you….’ Sasuke could already see a pissed and angry Sakura tearing him limb from limb. He shuddered. ‘I wouldn’t put it passed her.’


“What is it, Sasuke?” the young woman encouraged, leaning in close to listen intently.


“Well…. Look, I’m going to tell you because… I don’t want to hurt you badly in the future. I feel you deserve to know, so you… can move on from me.” The Uchiha looked up to see fear and tears in his friend’s eyes. ‘No, don’t cry!’ He sighed; this was a lot harder than originally thought. “I….” Sasuke cleared his throat and managed to scoop up enough courage; ‘just blurt it out!’ “I’m gay, Sakura!”


The silence was so immense; it felt as though someone had just died in the room. His friend’s eyes were wide, surprise written on her pretty features. She seemed frozen in time, tears looking ready to fall. He didn’t like the wide-eyed look she had. It definitely appeared that she wasn’t expecting him to say that, but her shocked stillness wasn’t very encouraging.


“You… needed to know,” Uchiha continued, not able to stand the complete silence any longer. “I couldn’t stand the thought of carrying on with my life, and having you in pursuit of me when there’d be no chance for you.” He continued to look at her, she still hadn’t moved and Sasuke feared he might have put her into some kind of shock.


Then, she made a quiet sound, something that sounded like a sob to him, but it soon became louder, and Sakura covered her mouth to try and stifle the great bursts of laughter erupting from her.


Sasuke’s cheeks burned and he turned away, crossing his arms. “You don’t have to laugh,” he whispered, feeling quite hurt.


The pink-haired ninja placed a hand on his shoulder, still giggling. “No,” she said between giggles, “it’s not that, Sasuke.”


He looked at her to find her face drowned in tears from laughing so hard, face flushed and shoulders still shaking. The raven hair glared at his friend.


“No, honestly!” Sakura wiped away her tears with her other hand, little giggles bursting from her still. “I’m just,” she smiled brightly at him, “so happy! I couldn’t help but let it out.”


“Happy?” Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.


“Yes. I will admit it does hurt a little, because I won’t be able to have you as a boyfriend, but I’m just so glad that you… want to confide in me, that’s all.” She looked away, still smiling. “It makes me feel… special… that you would come out to me.” The pink-haired teen turned back to him, eyes sparkling. She then wrapped her arms around him in a tight, friendly embrace. “Thank you, Sasuke.”


Sasuke returned the hug; just so damn happy she accepted him and didn’t push him away. “Thank you, Sakura, for not shunning me.”


“Never.” She squeezed him before sitting back. “You’re like my best friend, I could never reject you!”


For the first time in weeks, Sasuke smiled, feeling so glad that he hadn’t lost a friend. In fact, it felt as though their relationship had grown stronger. He knew he could rely on Sakura. “Not a word to anyone, now,” he reminded her.


“I know, I know,” she replied before she slapped her hands together and gave him a mischievous look. “Now, we get to do what I’ve always wanted!”


“What’s that?”


She blushed a little. “Talk about boys, of course!”


He could feel the blood rushing to his face. “W-why?! I don’t want to talk about boys! Isn’t there more decorations that need to be put up?”


The female ninja giggled. “Come on, Sasuke! What’s the point of having a gay best friend if we can’t even talk about boys? There’s got to be someone you like! Let’s see….” Sakura sat back, thinking. “Someone you like…. Who would be perfect for Sasuke?”


“N-nobody!” he practically shouted, cheeks burning, but she merely waved his outburst away with a shake of her hand.


“Oh, could it be Master Kakashi?”


He humphed, sitting back on the couch. ‘Me and my big mouth. But I know she won’t give up until she figures it out; I might as well play along.’ “No way. He’s such a pervert, always reading his porn books, right in public, too.”


“All right. Then how about….” Sakura went through a whole list of guys she knew. Some guesses did grant a blush from Sasuke; the way she described having his arms draped around the Uchiha did excite him a little bit. However he was strong, and Sakura started to get desperate to find out who it was her friend liked. “Oh, please tell me, Sasuke! I’m dying to know who it is!”


“No, no way am I telling. Isn’t there more decorating to do, Sakura?” Sasuke knew she was running out of people to guess, and she was getting very close to his love’s name.


“It can wait,” she stated, too caught up in her guessing game. “Well, I know it’s not Naruto.”


He started, just hearing his name brought such an array of emotions, he still wasn’t able to contain them all.


Sakura noticed this. Her eyes widened. “It ‘is’ Naruto?!”


Sasuke blushed a deep crimson, eyes looking down at his feet, trying to hide behind his bangs.


“What’s Naruto?”


They both turned to see the blonde standing by the door, freshly fallen snow just starting to melt in his hair and on his jacket.


Sakura quickly stood. “Uh, nothing! We were just talking. Besides, you’re late!”


The blonde chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know. I just got in the same routine as Kakashi-sensei. If he’s always going to be so late, why should I be early, right?”


Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. ‘How much did he hear?’


His love’s beautiful blue eyes looked at him, sparkling brightly. “Oh, yeah!” He reached into his pocket and tossed something to the raven-haired teen, still seated on the couch. “Here’s you headband. Sorry it took so long to get it back to you, but I kept forgetting to grab it.”


He nodded his thanks and tied it securely back to his head. His cheeks still felt warm and his heart pounded, being only a few feet away from the goof ball was really nerve wracking. “I’ve got to go,” the Uchiha said, quickly standing and walking to the door.


“Awe, c’mon, Sasuke, I just got here!” the blonde whined. “I know you hate me and all, but we agreed to help Sakura today.”


“You can handle the rest.” ‘And I don’t hate you, quite the opposite,’ he thought, eyes glancing at his comrade, before he grabbed his coat and exited the house into the falling snow outside. He heard Naruto ask Sakura, just before he shut the door behind him, “Man, what was that about?”


He sighed. ‘I trust you, Sakura. Don’t let me down.’ The raven-haired teen then began his walk home, heart heavy and aching.