The Ardor of Every Day

17.

They stayed in that embrace. The rain ceased. Naruto kept his hands around Sasuke but braced his face to converse with him. Sasuke adjusted his face as well. Their heads were so close that Sasuke would be able to count the freckles on Naruto's face if he wanted to. Sasuke stood up straight, pulling his weight from his legs, but Naruto still didn't let go. Their torsos were still tightly wrapped concurrently and legs intertwined. Naruto wasn't a fan of the fact that Sasuke stood taller than him, even if only by a couple of centimetres. Although most of the time he kept his head lowered, and Naruto the opposite. They both awkwardly looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something first. The sensation of Naruto's hands around Sasuke's body dissolved as he had been holding him for so long. Naruto was so tempted to just make his move then and there. Everything was in place, the feeling seemed mutual, they were already so close to each other and waiting for something to happen. He kept glancing at Sasuke's lips, thinking he wouldn't notice. He took a deeper breath, his chest grew bigger, he looked into Sasuke's eyes and moved his head closer by a couple of millimetres. Noticing this, Sasuke shut his eyes, his forehead got tense and he spoke in a raspy, low tone.

"Um, we shou-"

"Ahem..." He was cut off by Itachi pretending to clear his throat standing by the door.

Before Naruto could let go of him, Sasuke hastily untangled himself from Naruto's hands and took a step away from him. Naruto didn't mind as they were both startled by the presence of Sasuke's brother, and the moment felt too intimate for someone else to be there.

"You both should dry up now or else you might get sick. Plus, dad will be home soon." Said Itachi.

"Yeah." Replied Sasuke.

Itachi went back to his room and left the front door open for them.

"I had no idea your brother was home."

"Yeah, he's the one who told me you were waiting outside." He said, walking towards the door.

"Oh." Naruto made an 'o' shape with his mouth.

They went inside and Sasuke locked the door behind them.

"Let's go to my room, I'll get you a towel and a change of clothes." Said Sasuke.

Naruto nodded. They climbed the stairs and entered Sasuke's room. The familiar scent of flowers and tobacco reminded Naruto of Sasuke, even though he was right there. Somehow, his room was the personification of his character. Naruto stood there and looked around at the contents in Sasuke's room. He came back with a towel for Naruto and one for himself. He opened his closet and got out the pair of clothes Naruto gave him to wear last time he went to his house.

"Here um, these are yours, from last time." He handed Naruto the clothes.

"Oh yeah, how convenient." He awkwardly took the clothes from his hand.

"Yeah. You can change in here, I'll change in the bathroom."

"Ok."

Sasuke took clothes out for himself and closed the door on his way out. Naruto took off his shirt and hung it on the end of Sasuke's desk chair. Sasuke walked a couple of steps to the bathroom and heard the shower inside turn on. He decided to return to his room and change in his closet instead. He shuffled back to the room and opened the door. He walked in on Naruto half-naked and his pants unbuttoned. They both glared at each other with wide eyes and Sasuke quickly turned his head and looked away in self-embarrassment.

"Um-"

"It's my bad, I should've knocked first." Sasuke nodded his head and slowly looked back at Naruto's face.