Forced Stripper || FullbusterFic » vonlane

Chapter 15: Concert

Those words had left Naruto completely astonished. He'd never imagined that Sasuke would be so direct with a topic such as this one but a faint smile appeared on his face, that resentment he felt... it was nothing more than the fact that he still loved him; deep down, he was hurting because he still felt something and if that were true, then there was still time to fix his mistakes.

A lone tear slid down Naruto's cheek upon [noticing the feeling], upon hearing the Uchiha's words.

"Don't hang up on me, please," Naruto begged, getting Sasuke [to stay on the line] and thus telling the blond that he was right—that Sasuke still felt something for him. "I... I'm very sorry for everything that occurred and I know words don't do much, Sasuke."

"No, they don't."

"If I could go back (in time), I'd do so right now, Sasuke. But... you also don't know my part of the story. You don't know why Hinata was given your role in the band. I know I rushed and I had to talk about it with you beforehand but... it was too complicated and I was just a teenager who didn't know how to handle the situation. I'm sorry for the damage I've caused you; I made bad decisions and you were in between all of them."

"I know you loved her," Sasuke said. "but... you..."

Naruto waited patiently for Sasuke to ask his question, but it didn't seem to come. It was as if he dared not ask and finally, gave up.

"It's whatever, [forget it]. See you tomorrow."

And before Naruto could say anything, Sasuke had hung up. He couldn't ask him or better yet... he wasn't sure if he had wanted to hear the response. He looked at the phone in his hands—they were still shaking! But that was something that happened whenever he talked to Naruto: his entire body reacted before him, before his voice.

***

"Are you listening to me, Naruto?" Sakura asked, sitting on top of the table in front of him.

"No, sorry. What were you saying?"

"That I've brought you your suit from the dry-cleaners for the concert tonight and—"

"Oh, thank you. Leave it wherever."

"Can I know what's going on? You're very distracted."

"Just... thinking."

"About what?"

"More like about who."

"Don't get started about Sasuke. You know he's not trustworthy. He leaves when you least expect it and without any explanation. You have a good life now, managing this company. You can't go back to living in the past with him and you know that. He might be a good guy and everything you want, I have nothing against him... but... come on... the most he's come to be in his life is a babysitter."

"Sakura... enough. I don't need you to tell me this, I can see for myself."

"Doesn't seem like it—you have too much work to do and instead you're here going in circles about Sasuke... he's your babysitter, Naruto, nothing more. Forget everything about him except for the fact that you have to pay him at the end of the day for his services. He's just another employee. Maybe you should focus more on... I don't know... another person on a romantic level."

"It's been years since I've abandoned looking for someone on a romantic level." Naruto smiled.

"Maybe you should change your point of view. A mother for Asahi wouldn't hurt and... you might even have the ideal person a lot closer than you think," Sakura whispers, moving her hand over the table until placing it over Naruto's.