Well, I decided to write again. I have been really out of everything lately, especially writing and school. So this is a big mission and accomplishment for me.

Anyway, I wanted something a little different, so I hope you enjoy it. It is a one-shot, so let's see where this goes.

Disclaimer: Je ne possede pas Naruto. (I do not own Naruto)

Summery: Everyone is allowed to be selfish once in awhile. Naruto realizes this when he says goodbye to his love and reestablishes his priorities which will help him move on with his life.

Warnings: Boys loving boys (There is no smut). Cursing (I think), and pairings that may or may not please you.

~Enjoy~

Table For Two

By: PurpleCranberi

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The snow falls quietly

You just can't feel it no more

Somewhere out there

You lost yourself in your pain

You dream of the end

To start over again

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Naruto Uzumaki muttered darkly under his breath as he entered the establishment where he was, for all intensive purposes going to dive into the bottom of a bottle of beer and only resurface if absolutely necessary.

This week....no, this year had been hell on the sunny blonde-but this week had added to his despair and is the reason behind wanting to ending up at the bar and grill.

Sighing at the sign he begrudgingly opened the door and directed himself to the bar side of the restaurant-not needing to be seated. He really wanted to go to a real pub, however, he lived in the quaint town of Konoha, and there were very few real bars around, and Naruto did not have the patience or the time to scout around in his car for a real bar when he could get his alcoholic need here.

He was just going to have to suck it up and have to be tipsy instead of full blown drunkenness he was aiming for tonight.

He took a seat at the first barstool available, beside an older gentleman who was chatting happily to his friend as they discussed the latest hockey game and how disappointed they were in the fact that the home team had, once again, lost.

"What can I get ya?" a burly voice asked, as a brunette with two red triangular tattoos walked over to the blonde.

"A Canadian please," he murmured out shrugging off his jacket and slipping it between his legs, not trusting the ground to be clean and having to worry about washing his jacket when he got home.

The bartender nodded and pulled out a mug from under the bar and set it in front of the blonde and began to fill it to the rim with the beer.

"There you are mate," he said and walked to the other side of the bar to flip on the television, displaying the sports station, as he began to prepare another drink for another customer.

Naruto relaxed into his stool and pulled the mug off the counter taking a swing of the drink and relishing in the cool sensation flowing down his throat, and proceeded to slam it down on the bar causing few heads around the bar area to turn in his direction.

Smiling sheepishly Naruto murmured an apology under his breath for being so loud and turned his piercing blue eyes to the television screen as they broadcasted the highlights of the previous nights game, along with commentary on how disappointing the home team had been playing.

'Not like they can do better', Naruto thought bitterly glaring at the ridiculing reporters who were so ashamed of the display the team had shown on the ice.

He sighed at the cynical thought that entered his mind-he had been very negative in his thoughts lately, and that alone was upsetting the blonde. So he took another gulp of the alcohol-making the mug almost empty.

Running a hand through his hair, Naruto glanced around the bar and out the windows as the snow softly fell and the darkness danced with the light of the restaurant, mixing and mingling together.

It was well after eight in the evening, and he had just gotten back from a rather tedious meeting at work, where once again they had to establish that the company was still filthy rich and it seemed they would be for a while.

After leaving the meeting Naruto had rushed to his desk to call his guardian, even if he was twenty-seven he needed to inform his perverted guardian that he was going to be late for their planned dinner, because of said meeting, only to find out that Kakashi had made other plans with his boyfriend.

Not that Naruto minded, Iruka was a very loving person, which sometimes Naruto wondered how on earth they worked out for the last five years, but was not about to question it. Kakashi was happy, that's what mattered to him.

So he was left with the evening for himself, which upon seeing the date on the calendar he decided, a nice drink to numb his senses is what the doctor ordered. So what if he had to work in the morning, the finance department at the Rasengan enterprise can survive without him for one day. He hardly called in a sick anyway-he was entitled to one sick day.

Hailing the brunette back over to him, Naruto ordered a refill of his drink, as he had just drunk the last bit of it.

"Rough day?" the bartender asked and refilled the glass obediently as he saw the blonde nod slowly in response to his question and take another big swing of his beer.

"Want to talk?" the brunette found himself asking the blonde, for some reason something about those eyes were off. They were shrouded in hurt, confusion and resentment. Well that is what Kiba could tell at least.

He was exceptionally well at reading people's emotions. The eyes are the windows to the soul, but sometimes the windows are closed, and sometimes there is just a glimmer, like now. Naruto's eyes shone with some sort of despair that was haunting him.

Naruto mildly surprised by the offer, shook his head rejecting the offer before staring deeply into the soft brown liquid of the beer that was covered in a layer of thick foam.

"Okay, don't say I didn't ask," Kiba mused out-loud and walked back to the other side where he was discussing a riveting tale of what would happen if dolphins were able to yield weapons. How this topic came about, he didn't know, nor was he willing to find out.

Naruto watched as the barman walked away back to the other side before lazily swishing the liquid in his glass around, causing a small bit to drip down the sides of the mug.

He found himself sighing again reminding himself that he came here to get that numbing feeling that only alcohol can give, the feeling he was searching for.

Today was an important day, a date that made the blonde realize how cruel life could be, to snatch something from right in front of him and dangle it wildly in his face.

Yes, January 10th was the day his best friend, Sasuke Uchiha, had made his life turn upside down and left it there; although that flip was done two years ago to this date, Naruto has still yet to fully recover.

Naruto eyed the beer apprehensively before shrugging and taking another swing of it and placing, this time gently onto the bar top.

Nearly jumping out his skin, Naruto felt his phone vibrate in his black pant pocket, having not changed when he left work and gone straight to the 'bar' in hopes of riding his thoughts away from Sasuke Uchiha.

"Speak of the devil," he muttered and saw the caller I.D displaying his best friend's name on the screen.

"Yes bastard?" he casually asked when he flipped open his phone, smiling softly as he heard the usual 'hn' coming from the other end.

"I assume you're done work?" he asked with a cold detached voice that only the Uchiha's could possibly pull off in any situation. Whether they talk to a complete stranger, the devil himself or their best friends, Uchiha's had the detached, 'I don't care' voice.

'Sexy voice' Naruto thought and smirked.

"No, I enjoy talking while I am at work into the wee hours of the night," he tossed back to his friend, and previous rival.

"Hn," he replied, nobody really understood the term but with Sasuke it is understood to be….his anti-social way of agreeing or ignoring you completely.

"What can I help you with ice princess?" Naruto asked, in a more serious voice but not quite his business voice, longingly looking at his drink before deciding to wait until the call is over.

"Just because we're talking doesn't mean that you can't have a drink, idiot," he heard the dark voice reply amusedly into the phone.

Naruto contemplated this idea, and nodded his head in agreement and took another swing of his drink and allowed a satisfied breath of air leave him.

Well until he realized….

"How do know I am drinking?" Naruto curiously asked, eyes wide and frantically searching the surrounding area, scouting for black hair styled in something akin to a duck's butt and smoldering eyes to match the hair.

A small satisfied chuckle rumbled through the phone and Naruto gritted his teeth, he always loathed the sound of superiority, even if it was coming from his best friend.

"Bastard," Naruto growled out and pointedly gave up his search and took another swing of his drink.

"Hn," he replied and sighed. "The bartender was talking to one of the waitress' and she happened to see a strikingly handsome blonde man sitting at the bar hoping to weasel information out of the bartender. Of course I never assumed it was you," he replied as Naruto snorted out making it clear to the Uchiha that he heard the very obvious jibe at the blonde.

"But apparently he caught your name, and there are not many people in the world with the name of Naruto," he replied in a professional tone. "So I look up and over to the bar and I see you sitting there glaring hatefully at, what I assume is beer."

"Hmm, she said handsome, eh?" he chuckled and saw the bartender nowhere around, verifying Sasuke's tale.

"Hm so I am assuming your celebrating by having dinner together?" he asked feeling his chest constrict a little too painfully making it hard to breathe, as he once again glared at his drink, his stomach rolling around making him rethink the drink.

'Hell with it,' he thought and took another longer swing of his drink and this time placed it back on the bar top with a loud thunk forgetting the other people around for the time being.

"Yeah, we decided to grab a late dinner after spending a few hours at the docks," the other replied softly, causing more of Naruto's insides to twist as he felt his heart increase as the room seemed to start to lack oxygen.

Yet, he felt a small smile tug at his lips. That soft, gorgeous voice is what made Sasuke the love of his life. Even though he was in every way sexy-with silky black hair with the matching piercing eyes and baritone voice made him shiver in delight; but the soft side was what made Sasuke beautiful and breathtaking.

It's what made Naruto fall in love with him.

"That sounds so un-Uchiha like," Naruto joked causing the other one to grunt in response.

"It's what happens when you're in love," again that soft voice replied, causing Naruto to feel his heart dive into his chest for a free-fall, but he took a deep breath-away from the speaker of the phone, and nodded his head in agreement.

Sasuke Uchiha was in love, but not with his longing best friend. No, fate had set him up with an old college buddy, Neji Hyuuga.

Two years they've been together, and are now currently living together. Before Sasuke had lived with Naruto in his condo, but on their year anniversary they had moved in together.

Naruto had helped Sasuke moved out, joking the whole time about how much more space there would be for him, when his heart was screaming at him to grab the Uchiha and chain him to the wall.

Naruto at that point had started to slowly convince himself that Sasuke was not who he was destined to be with, and hopefully if he repeated it daily he could start to believe it himself. He hoped someday it would take effect.

"You know bastard," Naruto began with his light relaxed voice, "for being with someone two years, you would think that you'd be celebrating with him and not calling your best friend. As honoured as I am," Naruto smiled softly at the thought that even though Neji was an important part of Sasuke, but so was Naruto.

"Hn," he replied, "Idiot," he muttered half-heartedly.

Naruto laughed an image of his old high-school sweetheart flashed through his mind when she was getting jealous of him using a 'pet-name' for his rival. He had assured her that 'bastard' was in no sense a pet name and he sure as hell did not appreciate being called a 'moron' and 'idiot' all the time either.

"Neji went to mall across the way for a few minutes," he replied in monotone.

"He left you alone on you're two year?!" Naruto exclaimed holding in the mirth at the idea of his best friend sitting at a dinner table alone, brooding with his arms crossed at his chest.

"Idiot, he had a headache, went to get some medication at the drug store."

"Ah," Naruto hummed into the phone as Kiba reappeared into the bar area, making his way towards the blonde who smiled fondly at the brunette as he replace his beer with a new one.

Maybe he could get drunk.

A silence filled the two, Naruto not sure to go about talking to Sasuke when his heart was still not resurfacing from his stomach and his mind was racing saying that this was the way it was supposed to be.

"How you getting home, dumbass?" the voice coolly asked making Naruto feel as though the room had dropped in temperature. "Sai picking you up?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

Naruto smiled, but sighed once again. His friend was concerned about his state and he obviously would not consider touching his car after the first beer.

"No," he replied softly and took a smaller sip of his drink, "we're no longer seeing each other."

He didn't really want to talk about it.

Not because it emotionally scared him or anything, it was just another snag in the road that seemed to become smaller and smaller each day, showing him how he was walking it alone.

"Hn," was the automatic response, "he didn't deserve you anyway," he replied softly, showing that he was not just saying it to cheer the blonde up.

"Hmm…"Naruto hummed and dazed into his drink.

Sai, the guy Naruto had started dating two months ago. They broke up last week because the guy had been after only one thing and once he got it he felt the need to keep exploring, he never planned to be in a committed relationship.

Naruto never really cared, as stupid as it was, Sai looked similar to Sasuke yet different enough for him to not even put an idea to make Sai, Sasuke's replacement. You could not replace Sasuke.

So after Sai got into the blonde's pants, leaving the blonde alone Naruto never felt any emotional turmoil over it. Which nagged at his mind. He knew he was not over Sasuke, he didn't think he ever could be over the raven, but he was going to damn well try his hardest.

One-sided love was extremely painful.

He just never felt the right connection to Sai. So when the perverted artist left Naruto made no move to stop him, nor contact him and actually felt relieved to see him go.

Naruto smiled softly when he recalled how Sasuke had nearly killed Sai because he was invading his personal space too often and never let Naruto go off, so when Sasuke wanted to meet up for coffee he had to bring his boyfriend with him.

That's another reason he felt relieved, Sai did not allow him room to breathe, and he now enjoyed having that freedom again.

"…Naruto?" Sasuke asked into the phone snapping the blonde out of his daze.

"Huh?" he replied shaking thoughts of Sai out of his mind.

A small snort was heard on the other end with a faint word of 'idiot'. "I said don't worry there are other fish in the sea, as they say."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply but quickly closed it. Finally after his mind had processed what has been said and he was able to coherently answer, "did you just try and comfort me?" he asked surprised. Sasuke did not comfort.

"Hn."

"Well thanks bastard," Naruto lightly smiled and took another sip of his drink and glanced at the clock on the wall as a few people cheered for the game that was still being highlighted on the screen.

"Neji is back," which basically means, 'I got to go'.

"Send my love," Naruto replied and closed his phone softly.

Neji was a nice man, Naruto had the pleasure of knowing his cousin in university and was very pleased to meet the man of Sasuke's dreams. He apparently turned the Uchiha gay, not that Naruto bought that story from the raven-claiming that Sasuke was always gay but never realized until the proper motivation came around.

Neji was sexy, his lavender eyes were almost as breathtaking as Sasuke's piercing coal ones. They looked good together, and he hated to admit that to himself.

He trusted Neji with Sasuke's heart, as much as he could, so he never even thought of telling Sasuke his feelings and having the raven suddenly be thrown into a whirlwind of decisions and awkward tension.

Plus, Sasuke loved Neji. He could not compete with that, telling Sasuke his feelings for him would only complicate things and cause problems between them that they did not need.

Hinata, Neji's younger cousin is the only one who knows of his desire for Sasuke and she respected him for not destroying her cousins' happiness as well, because she figured that Sasuke would leave him for Naruto.

'That's laughable' Naruto mentally snorted gulping down the rest of his drink before motioning the bartender to come over, and then paid off his drinks.

He got up, making sure to take the coat before it fell and started to dress again. The winter was harsh in Konoha and the black trench coat he had kept him warm. Plus he loved the added bonus of feeling like an assassin or like Neo from the Matrix.

Once he securely had his jacket on, he got out his matching black leather gloves and put them on, before giving a two finger solute to Kiba who merely nodded as he left the bar area.

As Naruto reached for the brass handle of the door a woman's voice called to him, not using his name but calling him 'sir' causing the blonde to stop and turn to face the voice.

It was a small slender woman who had dusty blonde shoulder-length hair and pale blue eyes. She smiled shyly before walking up to him and handing him a small piece of lined paper that had been torn.

Quirking a brow Naruto glanced down at the page in his gloved hand and couldn't help but inwardly chuckle but he placed a soft sad expression on his face. There written in pretty green cursive writing was a name-he assumed of the waitress, and a phone number.

"I'm sorry," he glanced back at the page reading the name, "Ino, but I just got out of a relationship and I am not quite ready to be dating again." He mentally chanted to himself that Sai came in handy for an excuse.

"Oh," the woman deflated as she seemed a little hurt from the polite rejection but he was not about to take pity on her.

"I'm sorry," Naruto softly told her and placed the paper into her hand and closed her palms around it before smiling brightly at her causing her to blush and mutter something along the lines of 'don't worry about it'.

As he turned back to the door he stopped in his tracks. His heart once again went skydiving.

Sasuke and Neji were at the table right near the door, though they were not looking in his direction, Sasuke's eyes-if he were to look up, would be trained on the door, but luck would have it that he was staring intently at Neji.

Naruto felt himself shake, his chest constricting as he saw the softest most beautiful smiles gracing Sasuke's face and the soft eyes that matched as he held the brunette's hand on top of the table.

He swear it was hot in the building and he willed away the emotions of jealousy as he continued to stare at the dark handsome man who was utterly stunning when he looked like he was now.

That soft smile…it made Naruto weak, and those sensual eyes that shimmered with unconditional love that Naruto always longed for made his mind turn to goo.

He couldn't help but ignore his feelings of pain and jealously and forced himself to focus on how happy and how in love Sasuke looked.

Naruto did not care, as long as Sasuke was happy he could survive. If he was happy with Neji than Naruto would never interfere with that.

And he was happy with Neji, and Naruto smiled softly, sadly, as he saw the Uchiha lift his gaze a little and lock eyes with him.

Giving a half wave and diverting his eyes, Naruto left the building taking a shaky breath as soon as he was in the January air.

The cool air rushed into his lungs causing a wisp of smoke to emit from his mouth as he stood dumbly outside of the restaurant. He could feel the hot sensation of tears prickling the sides of his eyes but he concentrated on his breathing. He refused to shed tears over Sasuke's happiness.

Finally having gained control of himself, Naruto closed his eyes and envisioned the sky full of stars, which was impossible to see with the clutter of the city. He needed to take his mind off of Sasuke, and right now anything was better than picturing him perfectly happy with someone else. Stars, was the first thing he could think of.

Smiling softly up at the sky , he took a step towards the parking lot cracking one eye open just to bump into someone.

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled trying to keep his balance having found an ice patch right where he bumped into the person, and failing miserably to keep his balance.

Suddenly arms were wrapping around his forearms and helped support him on the ice, giving Naruto time to gain his footing instead of causing him to fall to the ground in a heap of a mess of how he felt.

"Thanks," Naruto replied finally looking into his support's eyes, and felt his breath leave him.

Staring at him were piercing green eyes, something shining in them that Naruto was familiar with-lonliness, causing him to smile brightly at the man who seemed to recoil and stare in stunned surprise at Naruto.

The stranger removed his arms from Naruto, as he seemed to be able to keep his balance, as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Suddenly shivering as a strong gust of wind blew past through the area, making the blonde pull his coat tighter to his body, and the redhead to stand there impassively.

The red-head held out his hand in greeting, slightly uncomfortable but at the same time a small glimmer of hope shined in his brilliant green eyes. "Gaara."

Naruto eyed him and smiled, taking the redhead's hand and shaking it, "Naruto," he replied to the introduction.

"Why don't we go inside and warm up?" Gaara softly asked, something that would seem foreign to the dark aura surrounding the man before him, but it made his features softer, gentler-and it look stunning on the redhead.

"Sure," Naruto smiled and walked back towards the restaurant he was desperately trying to escape..

Naruto cringed once Gaara had opened the door and Ino was standing there looking a little hurt that Naruto had returned with someone else by his side.

"What can I help you two with?" Ino asked with a bit of a hint of malice in her words.

He probably will never be 'over' Sasuke, Sasuke is irreplaceable

Sasuke was always how Naruto centered himself. 'As long as he is happy' he would chant in his head, every time he saw the soft smile and love in his eyes for Neji. He is happy and that is what mattered, he reassured himself even as his heart crumbled.

The idea that Sasuke's happiness was always number one in Naruto's life was something that needed to be fixed. Sasuke was, and always will be important to the blonde, but he realized one major flaw with the entire thing.

He ignored his own happiness.

Naruto had always downgraded his own happiness so that Sasuke could be happy. Not that he blamed the Uchiha for this thought process he had, but he was so blinded and swirling in a vortex of pain that he forgot about himself.

He smiled softly as he image of Sasuke's smile entered his mind and he hoped he could smile like that for someone else too.

Naruto was determined to find out if he could and if it be deemed selfish he was going to put his needs above everyone's and pursue his own happiness; Gaara maybe being that happiness. Screw the rest of society, being selfish once in a while was okay, it was human.

He didn't know if Gaara was this happiness he was looking for but he was going to find out.

"Table for two, please."

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Nobody wants to go it on their own
Everybody wants to know they're not alone

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Fin

Please Review! I enjoy hearing what you thought. (Constructive Criticism is always welcomed xD)

Hope this was good; I wanted to get away from someone pinning after someone else and they end up happily ever after, after a love confession-sadly reality isn't like that, sometimes, and I thought this showed that nicely-because Naruto didn't end up with whom he desired and because he never told Sasuke how he felt-which is normal. I hoped this is what you got from it too, and I hope I did a good job at writing it.

Songs belong to: Nickelback-Gotta be somebody; Tokio Hotel- Don't Jump

Thanks for reading ^^

Note: I never mentioned the pairings in this story for a particular reason, nor hinted that this was going to be Naruto and Sasuke together. It's under "Naruto" and "Sasuke" in the characters because, honestly who should I put it under? It's not about Sasuke and Neji, nor about Gaara and Naruto. I felt that Sasuke and Naruto were a better fit, and that's why I have their names (plus essentially it is about them). If this upsets or disappoints you, I don't know how to accommodate for you.