THE BADGE
HOT

by eggadshorace
» Fandom: Naruto
» Rating: M
» On Going(WIP)/One-off/Series: Series
» Classification(s): Humor, Romance, PWP
» Warnings: Language, Sexual Situations
» Pairing(s): Naruto/Sasuke
» Summary: "You're still a little hot," the other man mused. "But I guess the ass-flavored purple crap I just had to find is working." Naruto's the one who's sick, but it's Sasuke who's burning up. Mahture rating, thank you.

Another one for the PWP smutpile, organized like "Wet". Takes place after "Wet" and before "The Badge". This is supposed to give you hope that one day, one day, "The Badge" will explode into the all-out smexy lovefest that you know it is destined to be.

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HOT

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Chills

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"Don't go."

The apartment was dark, and quiet. A breeze stirred in the barren rooms, ruffling paper and flipping through books left on the floor disinterestedly. The windows were flung open to what had been a brilliant autumn day, now was overcast and chill. The temperature was falling rapidly as the light dimmed and the wind rose; in the street the rustle of leaves over the dry asphalt nearly drowned out the low murmur of passing voices and vehicles. The sun was setting somewhere beneath the glowering cloudcover, and one by one the streetlamps outside flickered uncertainly before brightening. The air was heavy with the smell and taste of rain.

One of the open windows was closed with a harsh scraping noise, and a figure appeared briefly illuminated in the wash of gray light before disappearing into the gloom.

"I'm going." Naruto's voice was gravelly and hoarse, an octave lower than usual. He coughed, and it turned into a long, jagged series of them. At least the fever meds seemed to be working. At least he didn't feel so goddamned cold anymore, or so he told himself. He shivered.

"You're just being stubborn."

"Hmph." He stood hunched in the semi-darkness of the entryway, shrugging a jacket over his shoulders and bending down to feel for his shoes.

"You sound terrible," a voice insisted from behind the mound of cardboard boxes in the living room. There came the sound of another stubborn, paint-encrusted window closing. "Stay home."

"I…" Naruto finished tugging on one shoe and paused, breathing heavily for a moment and fighting back a sudden wave of dizziness. Sasuke appeared out of the shadows to lean on the wall of the entryway, facing Naruto. He stood with crossed arms and an air of frustration, still in his uniform—albeit barely; his sleeves were rolled up and the shirt hung unbuttoned, framing a chest almost as pale as it was, his feet bare and his regulation pants hanging low on his hips with the belt undone and dangling.

"It's my shift."

"It's called sick leave, idiot. As in, stay away and don't infect your fellow officers."

Willing himself not to start coughing again, Naruto managed to find his other shoe. "You're a fellow officer."

Sasuke snorted. "If you're sick, it's only a matter of time before I am, no matter where you go." He was quiet for a moment. "Stay."

They were slotted for first and third shifts, respectively. Sasuke worked from morning to evening, and Naruto got paid in time and a half and a nasty caffeine habit for his graveyard shift. In the twilight hours they met, briefly, and in the morning Naruto crawled into bed as Sasuke rose. For the past three months their quality time together had been spent, for the most part, asleep.

They'd never unpacked from the move, and boxes and crates were piled high in every room. The kitchen was bare and empty as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. The bedroom to date held only the mattress (which lay directly on the floor) and milk-crate nightstands. In the bathroom, the only signs of human habitation were the row of cough suppressants and fever reducers that had been lined up like soldiers across the counter.

Naruto straightened, and swayed in place as his head swam. When he could focus again, Sasuke was there, pressing a hand to his forehead. Naruto leaned into it, eyes fluttering closed. Ah, warmth.

"You're still a little hot," the other man mused. "But I guess the ass-flavored purple crap I just had to find is working."

"Grape-flavored children's chewables," Naruto mumbled. He pulled the hand on his forehead away and leaned in further for a kiss, but was stopped with a hand to his mouth.

"D'you think I want to taste it, idiot?" Sasuke growled.

"You like ass," Naruto grinned back at him, and kissed the hand instead. The corner of Sasuke's mouth crooked, but his eyes remained stern.

"Stay."

"Nope." He licked the fingers, and Sasuke snatched them back. Naruto took the opportunity to brace himself, one arm at the time, against the wall behind Sasuke, bringing his grinning mouth a hairbreadth from the other man's. From inches away, Sasuke gave him an exasperated look.

"Even though it is pretty much unavoidable, I still don't want to make it a certainty. No kissing."

"Who said I wanted to kiss you?" Naruto asked ingenuously, then grunted when a fist connected hard with his stomach. "Ouch," he protested, swallowing another cough, and pulled away. "Fine, no kissing. I'm going."

A sigh, almost too quiet to hear. "…fine." Sasuke stepped back, with his resigned-but-you're-still-a-bloody-idiot expression firmly in place, and with a little wave Naruto swung open the door.

With his back to Sasuke, he could wince; intellectually, he knew it wasn't really that cold, that it was just the (nonexistent) fever making him think so, but the first gust of wind through the doorway felt like knives of ice.

"Do you have your cough medicine?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and stepped out, swinging the door closed after him. "Yes, mother." The door paused in its motion, a bare two-inch crack between it and the jam. "I'll bring home breakfast, alright?"

"Bring home groceries so we can make breakfast."

"Nag."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing…"

And the door closed.

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As per usual, two chapters seulement.