My Unfortunate Luck

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

There are times when Naruto wishes Jiraiya would give him a little warning before he wakes up to find a futon empty, lying quiet and harmless next to his own.

The blonde sometimes forgets that there was a life for his mentor before the training started; that the pervert's writings cannot be entirely forgotten just because some runty blonde punk demands his tutelage. The old man leaves at some point in the night; he never says when, but Naruto guesses that the older man vanished just a few hours ago. The young Uzumaki boy wonders if maybe his mentor makes a test out of his departure, to see if Naruto can detect movement after he has fallen asleep. Of course, the blonde never really knows, and he doubts that Jiraiya would care enough to test him in such a way if he were honest with himself.

Its late, and the boy can see the light of the moon sliced into ribbons by the shutters of the window. They add stripes of glowing paleness to the floorboards and the covers in an otherwise dark room. The darkness is hardly a problem for Naruto's eyesight, and after he looks to his right and confirms that he is alone, he brings his hand to his face. Its almost impossible to see, but the whole hand, sweaty palm and short fingers with blunt nails bitten to the edge of calloused flesh, is shaking.

He takes in a quiet breath, and puts his hand down.

It would be just like his stupid teacher to leave at this very moment, right when Naruto actually needed the guy. Then again, he is silently thankful that his teacher isn't here, because then Naruto would be faced with the temptation to shake the old man awake and ask questions that he wouldn't normally ask. He speculates on girls all the time; he wants his Sexy no Jutsu to be perfect and he is 15 years old. Of course he is curious. But because this question has nothing to do with girls, he is far too confused to figure out exactly what he wants to know.

So instead, he just thinks about the dream. But honestly, he doesn't really want to think about it. He doesn't even remember the body that well, or the colors. He can put together pieces of images, and he can recall the shock of black hair settling across a pale brow, but everything is blurry and the pictures don't play a huge role in the dream anyway. He can remember the pressure of something soft and firm against his lips, and isn't that a weird thing to feel? He has never had a real kiss, and the pressure is slightly new to him. He is almost too shocked to respond, but this is kissing and he would be damned if he didn't try it out. He has seen couples kiss before, so he mimics under these unfamiliar ministrations. The other mouth, and he is positive that this is a mouth under his slick lips, is responding. It is moving, sliding and making sounds that tell him This is ok, please don't stop. He doesn't want to stop, because this feels incredible and he couldn't imagine stopping for anything.

But because this is a dream, and you never actually have to look at something in a dream to know what it is, he wonders why the hell Sasuke is the one kissing him.

Now that he is awake, and that amazing feeling is gone, he is left cold. A small breeze rustles the blankets of his futon, and suddenly he is no longer just cold, but wet as well. He can feel a sticky slickness running along his thigh. His mind is clear after a few moments, and there is no passion to keep him warm, so guilt slides into the bottom of his stomach and its far too much for him to handle. He runs to the bathroom and vomits.

He heaves the contents of his stomach into the toilet. Now he has food from dinner dribbling down the slope of his chin and that disgusting wetness is hardening on his thigh. He absentmindedly wipes away a trail of drool from his mouth. A shower sounds like a good idea. He turns on the shower and lets the water change temperature before he takes off his clothes, but just as he takes his hands to the hem of his shirt, he hears someone pounding on the door.

He almost decides to just ignore the sound until he hears a voice yelling over the solid thump thump thump.

"Naruto!"

After stumbling over a few scattered items in the hotel room, he flings the door open and blinks only once.

"Sasuke…"

Seeing the Uchiha boy standing in the doorway, glaring like an angry cat with it's claws out and ready, is really not helping Naruto at all. The dream is still far too fresh and there is a small moment where Naruto can see a blurry reflection of this boy with his eyes closed and his breath hot inside Naruto's mouth. His best friend is scowling at him, completely unaware that only a few minutes ago, he was in the most vulnerable position Naruto had ever seen. It almost makes him want to laugh, but that sick feeling comes back.

Naruto tries his hardest to keep his stomach under control. "What is it?"

Sasuke opens his mouth to reply. Naruto can almost hear that frank tone before he even makes a sound, but then the other boy stops himself and closes his mouth with a tiny click of his teeth. After a glance from the corner of Naruto's lips to the trail of gray against the white muscle tee, Sasuke allows the smallest arch of his right eyebrow. He almost looks like he doesn't want to ask, but tonight has been a weird enough night so a dark head nods in the direction of the other teenager.

"What happened to you, Dobe?"

Naruto takes a moment to collect himself and looks down. He is still a mess, with saliva sticking to his stomach and his tee. His pants have become uncomfortable in a way he never experienced before. He licks his dry lips, and suddenly he realizes how very tangy everything tastes. There is too much confusion and awkwardness, so he can't get properly pissed when looks back up to find a smirk on those pale lips.

Doesn't mean he isn't upset anyway. "What the hell do you want?"

There. That didn't sound too odd. The Uchiha doesn't seem very pleased that his question has been ignored, but he answers Naruto anyway. "Heater broke in our room."

The other boy tries desperately to remember what Sasuke meant by "our" and then Kakashi's face appears in his minds eyes. Sasuke was training privately with Kakashi because Naruto was training with Jiraiya, which led to Sakura training with Tsunande. Tonight, Sasuke and Naruto were in the same hotel because Jiraiya and Kakashi had to talk about matters that they felt didn't concern their students. Naruto thinks they just wanted to talk about porn.

The blonde raises an eyebrow of his own at this. "Where is Kakashi?"

"Che. He left."

Naruto is slightly puzzled, but realizes that Sasuke isn't going to clarify as he takes a step forward into the room. Startled, Naruto feels his foot take a step back. He curses to himself because he knows that if Sasuke hadn't been curious about the other boy's behavior by now, the blonde certainly gave him incentive. He wouldn't normally have been worried, because Sasuke isn't known for his inquisitive nature, but tonight has just continued to be strange and he doesn't feel he can trust anything anymore. But now that the shock is fading, his senses return to him again and he distantly hears the sound of running water.

"Crap!"

He reaches the bathroom with a large amount of cursing and turns off the shower. The air still feels relatively cool. It couldn't have been running for too long, so he doesn't worry about the hot water. But with his luck, he feels something wet under his foot and curses when he finds that some of the vomit failed to reach the porcelain bowl. He thinks how he would give up a week's worth of ramen just to have his luck change. When he turns around, however, he sees Sasuke leaning against the doorjamb. Naruto kind of hoped he had been hallucinating.

The Uchiha's face is expressionless, save for the almost invisible wrinkles on his forehead. There is a questioning look in ebony eyes, and Sasuke sniffs the air only once. He walks over to the blonde and crouches so that they are face to face.

"Are you sick?"

"Why do you care?" comes the response, and Naruto is far too upset by everything to regret the childish tone.

Sasuke frowns, his features sharpening into something like worry but not quite.

"I don't want to get sick as well, idiot. I have to sleep here tonight."

Naruto really doesn't like this anymore. The shock has worn off completely, and there is still that disgust that can't seem to go away, but he has enough energy left to raise his head and say "Fuck off and find somewhere else to sleep."

Sasuke looks calm, but Naruto had seen the twitch of his eye. Slowly, the Uchiha stands up and walks to the other side of the bathroom. Naruto is allowed a second of disbelief before he feels cotton against his face. He pulls it away and sees a towel in his hand. When he picks up his head again, Sasuke seems pissed off but collected.

"Take a shower and clean yourself up."

He looks like he is daring Naruto to do otherwise, to contradict his orders or, at the very least, make a fuss about being told what to do. Naruto does none of these things as he turns the shower on again. He simply mutters "stupid bastard" when Sasuke walks away.

Naruto cleans himself, grabs a new set of sleep clothes from a bag inside the bathroom, and walks into the room where he placed his futon. Next to it there is a new futon, a navy blue color and somehow neater than his own. He stares for a moment at the black hair peaking out from the covers, and it is almost enough to make him kick the futon just out of spite. Instead, he tries to quiet the pad pad pad of his feet and sits on his blankets. There is no way he can sleep, so he just sits.

Naruto has never felt so tense before. He can feel the difference when he compares this night to other nights where Sasuke and himself would share a room, or a tent, on a mission. There is a strain in the way he makes loose fists with his hands because his muscles refuse to cooperate under the stress. He almost expects Sasuke to sit up and demand to know what's wrong simply because the air is far too stifling for comfort.

Sasuke surprises him by doing just that.

"What's wrong, idiot?"

Naruto has his legs against his chest with his arms wrapped around him, so when he glances at Sasuke he has to peer over the tops of his knees. Sasuke is lying on his side, his head propped up by his hand as his elbow rests on the floor. He looks upset, as if its Naruto's fault that the Uchiha has to ask about the other boy's state of being.

"I can't sleep," is the simple answer.

Sasuke just scowls again before he crawls out of the blankets and sits up. They are both wide awake together in silence, and Naruto distracts himself from the awkwardness by playing with the edge of his pants. He can see Sasuke studying him from the corner of his eye, just waiting for an answer to the question he refuses to ask. Too bad, Naruto thinks. You aren't getting an answer out of me.

"Naruto."

He peers over his knees again. Sasuke is still studying him, but Naruto knows that there is concern in that expression. He is almost in awe by the fact. He wishes he could answer the question Sasuke has yet to ask, but Naruto is stubborn so he won't. Black eyes peer into his face in a challenge that he doesn't feel like accepting. That in itself seems wrong, because Uzumaki Naruto never backs down from a challenge. But Naruto doesn't feel like talking, and he reflects on how little Sasuke actually speaks. Only when prompted, and sometimes not even then.

"Quiet Bastard," Naruto mutters to himself, for a lack of anything else to say, really.

"I'm surprised you even know the meaning of the word quiet," Sasuke throws back, like a reflex. Insulting Naruto was probably as familiar to him as throwing a kunai. He doesn't even have to think about his words, his tongue and lips move together in a synchronization that took him years to mold into perfection. This just pisses off Naruto enough to open his mouth.

"Well, maybe I don't feel like talking! Maybe I have my own problems to deal with and I don't need some broody shit-head like you in my room confusing the hell out of me!"

Naruto snaps his jaw shut when he finally hears himself talk, but Sasuke is already thinking it over and the blonde has no way out of this. In the dark, he peers over and watches Sasuke, waiting for him to do something. Naruto can only imagine what Sasuke must be thinking, and he sits still as worry accompanies guilt to replace the dinner that guilt threw out earlier. Sasuke finally crawls over the sheets. Crawls over to him.

There is a pale hand settling over a tan forehead.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asks, almost snarling, in Sasuke's face. Its only a foot or so away from his own.

"Checking to see if you really are sick, Dobe."

"I told you, I'm not!"

"Then why the hell are you acting so strange?"

There is heat on his cheek from Sasuke's breath near his face and Sasuke is very real in front of him. His best friend that he couldn't afford to loose was sitting in dangerous territory and Naruto could only think of how this can all go so wrong. He doesn't want to do anything stupid, but he has been put in a position where he just can't think! Sasuke is just sitting there, pissed off and trying to understand but honestly, this is the last thing that Naruto wants. He kicks in fear and he falls on his back from becoming unbalanced. A small yelp and a grunt of pain leave him, and he opens his eyes to see Sasuke just above him. He growls.

"Move, Asshole."

Sasuke growls back. "Not until you tell me what the hell is going on with you." It's not that the Uchiha really cares. Sasuke is testing him. He wants to see how far Naruto can last before he cracks under the glare and tells him everything. Naruto thinks, just a bit frantically, that Sasuke probably doesn't even realize he is on top of the other boy. His arms are on either side of Naruto's head, and his knees are on either side of Naruto's thighs. The blonde can feel the heat; its suffocating. He thinks he could become delirious from it. Unfortunately, Naruto can only handle so much and now he is acting without thinking. And speaking without thinking, too.

"Why the fuck do you care? I just had a dream, and we all have dreams right? It was just a messed up dream that you were in, ok? You fucking kissed me, and I bet I just dreamed it because I was horny and you are the only person that I have ever come close to kissing. There! That's what's wrong with me, you asshole." He pants, and his cheeks feel hot with embarrassment and something else, but he feels a satisfaction is seeing Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise. Naruto bets that the other boy wasn't expecting the confession at all.

"Are you happy now, jerk?"

The silence from before had been nothing like this. Blue eyes turn to look at an arm that is keeping Sasuke balanced. With all the new emotions that have bothered him until now, he takes a moment to lick dry lips and registers something he promised himself he would never feel. He imagines that defeat tastes almost as bitter as the tang of vomit.

"Look, please don't hate me or anything. Its not like I made myself dream that. I just…"

And he stills under the oppressive quietness. There is nothing left to say. He already let his mouth do the talking for him, and now saying anything else seems pointless.

But the arm Naruto had been watching moves, and Sasuke makes himself comfortable by sitting on the thighs of the other boy's legs. With a pale hand, he lightly traces the whisker marks on one side of the blonde's face. He leans down, just enough, and studies the blue eyes again. This time, there is wonder, and maybe something else, but Naruto is too shocked to be sure of anything. He just stares into ebony eyes and prays that his luck had finally changed, and that something will finally go right. Sasuke moves again.

This was much more awkward, because neither boy had ever done this before (except, perhaps, in their dreams), but the press of lips is full of curiosity and deliberation. Naruto realizes that this is completely different from his dream, because the heat is real and there is a smacking sound when they briefly pull apart. He has to learn to breath through his nose, but he doesn't let that stop him when Sasuke leans back down for another kiss. This is most definitely a little wet, but suddenly he feels tingles where Sasuke's breath comes out in little puffs. Sasuke pulls back then, and he almost looks like he isn't quite sure about what he plans to do next. But then his confidence comes back, and he just smirks at the boy squirming beneath him.

"Go to sleep, Naruto."

He crawls off of the whiskered boy, and heads back to his futon. Naruto tries to get his breath back, and after a few moments, makes his way back to his own futon. Now he snuggles under his blanket, confused but fairly happy. He isn't sure what to expect anymore, but doesn't really care. He still has Sasuke, who is tucked under the navy blue covers, and nothing else is quite as important as that. He presses his back to Sasuke's, and sighs just a little.

"So you don't hate me?"

He hears a scoff from behind him.

"Of course not, idiot."

And really, that's good enough for him.