Touching the untouchable

Chapter 31

"I'm fine, Sasuke." Naruto grumbled when the Uchiha somehow bumped into him at the cafe he was chilling in to get work done. Sasuke had promptly sat his ass down in front of him and have the audacity to pull out a laptop to work when Naruto wanted to be alone. Then Sasuke kept pestering Naruto, asking him how he was doing at least 5 times in the past half hour. Naruto knows that Sasuke was being concerned but it was upsetting him. Having Sasuke so close to him reminded him of Itachi, of the love of his life that he had to leave because he was ruining Itachi's life and the chance at producing a clan heir for the Uchihas. 

Sasuke had spent days tracking Naruto's movements, despite the blond being in such few places, it was hard to find him and keep a constant surveillance. It's almost as if the blond knows ... wait does he? Sasuke's face twitched, there was no way the blond would have known. He watched Naruto work, never pausing, never even realising that lunchtime had passed and it was almost dinner time. Sasuke had been busy with his own work as well, eating on his own not remembering to check in with Naruto. It just felt like they were just there to keep each other company but not to make friends. His heart panged slightly, they were friends... they were friends and he had thrown that back into the blond's face years ago without realising. 

"Why did you and Itachi break up?" Sasuke asked bluntly, knowing his friend still remembers how extremely straight to the point he was. Naruto paused slightly, his pen hovering on the paper before the motion continued as if Sasuke hadn't said a single word. The Uchiha waited, the blond would either give him an answer in his own time or the blond would stand up and leave. Sasuke was not forcing him to stay, neither was he being forced to speak. The blond can make that decision himself. 

When it seemed like Sasuke was not going to get a response, Naruto spoke up softly. "He deserves better." Sasuke almost flinched, not wanting to react badly in case the blond took it the wrong way. It hurt Sasuke to see his friend believing that he was not good enough. He had thought it was something very cliche to say but now that he hears it from someone he knows... it felt different to what he thought it would feel like. He initially scoffed at the idea that someone would actually say something like that. He sees it now, the way it was said and the small smile that Naruto plastered on his face that broke Sasuke's heart into a million pieces; nobody deserves this, no one should ever feel that they are not good enough for someone else. 

"You do too." Sasuke said firmly, leaning forward to make eye contact with Naruto. The blond blinked a few times before he looked down and stared at the pen on the table, shaking his head. 

"Itachi's the best that has ever happened to me." Naruto said, so soft to the point that Sasuke almost could not hear him. "In my eyes, Itachi is the best thing in this world and I have already had the fortune of being by his side... I believe it is right that I allow him to feel that he has obtained the best as well, not some useless orphan." Naruto had somehow packed up without him realising. Sasuke only snapped out of it when Naruto stood abruptly, muttering a goodbye before he disappeared through the cafe doors. 

Sasuke took a shuddering breath as the emotions he kept hidden flooded out once Naruto was out of his line of sight. The pain behind those words that came from the blond's lips... his eyes held unshed tears and sadness when he had just sat there without saying a word. The soft loving look in his eyes when he spoke about Itachi, the longing in his eyes when he spoke of the man he wished to see once again. 

He cursed at himself, angry that things had gotten so bad for Naruto and he could not do anything to help him. He knows that there was no way he would have known but still. When they had been friends in high school, he should have tried harder to be an actual friend for him. 

Sasuke buried his face into his hands, thinking about ways that he could talk to Naruto and convince him to meet up with Itachi to sort this out. He knows that someday they will have to see each other at work but Sasuke knows them well - they are both too professional to be pestering each other about relationship problems at work. 'What to do? What to do?'