*(Hey, guys. So basically, this is a Naru x Sasu fanfiction that I'm coming up with on the fly, and I've put my own character in so that things'll get a little interesting. So if it sucks, I apologize deeply. That being said, let's see them get rekt! ^-^ Dreams are written in bold/italics like this note, memories are written in just bold, and thoughts are written in just italics.)*
**Edit* I went through the story and rewrote the layout for the spacings - the dreams are still bold/italic, but they're also written in paragraph form now (three sentences).
Hope it makes the read easier.* ^-^
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"Hey, come on Naruto. Things will get better." Chiani Shiku, one of Naruto's friends, attempted to cheer him up as he poked at his ramen with one chopstick; he had finally decided he wasn't chasing after Sakura anymore. Naruto had lost.
He sighed, stirring his ramen aimlessly. Chiani tried saying something else, when Ino came up to them, out of breath.
"Naru-(huff)-to…" Naruto dropped his chopsticks into his bowl and jumped off of his seat. Carefully, he helped Ino onto it.
"Ino, what's wrong?" Chiani asked - Ino never ran to find Naruto unless it was something big that involved him. Ino took a swig of the water that the chef's assistant had brought her, then took deep breaths to steady herself.
"It's Sasuke." She panted. "He's awake. And he's asking for Naruto." Naruto nodded curtly, and dashed off in the direction of the hospital. Chiani sighed, crossing her arms as he left his bowl almost full.
"I think that's a first for him." She laughed, shaking her head. Ino shrugged, grabbed the bowl, and started chowing down. Chiani raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"Wah? Um hungwy." Ino mumbled through a mouthful of noodles.
Naruto thanked the nurse that lead him to Sasuke's room, and shut the door behind him.
"Sasuke?" He said softly. Sasuke whipped his head around to face Naruto. His face broke out into a grin.
"Hey, Naruto!" He motioned for Naruto to come closer. Naruto did so, rather confused, and Sasuke put an arm around his friend, pulling Naruto onto the bed to sit beside him.
"Okay, I knew you had a head injury, but this is weird." Naruto stated, feeling really uncomfortable. "Are you feeling okay? I mean, you're not really one to be all touchy-feely." Sasuke's grin became more mischievous as he slipped his arm around Naruto's waist.
"Oh, I'm fine." He said seductively. "In fact…" He drew Naruto closer so that their noses touched lightly.
"I've never felt better." He whispered before crashing his lips into Naruto's. Naruto felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Just as his eyes fluttered shut, Naruto heard an alarm going off.
Right in his ear.
Naruto shot bolt upright in his bed, slamming his hand on the snooze button on the top of his alarm clock.
He held his head in his hands: these dreams were getting WAY too weird.
Naruto jumped out of bed, and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower; this was the third time this month he'd had a dream like that.
Why was he having this dream so much?
They'd started to get so vivid that Naruto couldn't look at Sasuke without feeling turned on - like, WAY on.
Kakashi-Sensei had noticed there was something going on with Naruto - he hadn't been fighting with Sasuke.
Actually, if Naruto actually thought about it, they hadn't fought for about a half a month.
It felt weird, but it felt good too.
Sakura…Naruto still liked Sakura, but the idea of giving up on her wasn't as impossible as it used to be.
Somehow.
He shut off the water, dried off, got dressed, and headed to meet the others.
"Morning, Sasuke!" Sakura cooed as always when she came up to meet them.
~ Naruto had actually been discussing strategies for defending against different attacks with Sasuke before Sakura had shown up.
Sasuke didn't seem too bothered by the lack of rivalry from Naruto.
Actually, he seemed a little glad of the friendly conversation. ~
Sasuke acknowledged Sakura with a nod.
Sakura turned to Naruto with a slight scowl.
"Oh, hey Naruto." She grumbled.
"Yo." Naruto said uninterestedly, waving his hand above his head in way of greeting.
"But what about Lee's moves?" He continued. "If there are ninja out there that can fight like that, then what?"
Sasuke thought for a bit, then shrugged.
"I dunno. Just don't fight 'em, I guess?" He tried.
Naruto frowned in confusion; Sasuke never suggested retreat.
Sasuke sighed at Naruto's expression.
"Honestly, I don't want to go up against an adult that has Lee's power." He admitted.
Naruto leaned against the railing of the bridge.
"Yeah, I get what you mean. That would be kind of scary." He murmured.
Sasuke looked a little flustered at that, and started messing with the ends of his bangs.
"You know, it's getting pretty weird how you're agreeing with me on stuff." He said in a low voice, kind of like the voice that he'd had in Naruto's dream.
Naruto shivered, and turned away from his friend.
"W-well, it's better than punching you in the face, right?" He stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
Sasuke glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, a small glimmer starting to grow.
He was about to say something, when Kakashi-Sensei poofed in front of them with his same old story about being distracted by nature, to which Naruto and Sakura replied by shouting "LIAR!"
Even though they were full-fledged ninja, Sensei still took them on training missions three days a week.
But there was a difference in the response to his excuse this time; Sakura was irritated, but Naruto was laughing.
Kakashi cocked his head to one side, his hands in his pockets.
"What's so funny then, Naruto?" He asked.
Naruto kept laughing, but shook his head.
"Oh, never mind, Sensei. I'll tell you tomorrow." He said.
Kakashi shrugged, and lead the squad to their next little mission.
The whole day off and on, Naruto could be heard giggling about seemingly nothing.
He talked with Sasuke about different tactics to keep the upper hand in battle, occasionally sparring to test them out.
He also chatted with Sakura about chakra control, output, and input, which surprised Sakura.
Naruto never really wanted to talk about training before.
Naruto spent more time with Sasuke than he used to as well, just talking about how this move was better than that for such and such a purpose, and this attack was better to use while dodging so that you could get your enemy while he was down-guarded.
Sakura shook her head in amazement.
She just didn't get it.
When she asked Sensei, he just shook his head.
"I can't figure it out, either Sakura."
Naruto met up with Chiani later that day at their usual lunch booth, and told her about his weird dreams, and the feelings they were leaving him with.
Chiani sighed as she set down her tea.
"How long have these been going on, Naruto?" She asked.
Naruto stared into his ramen.
"Almost two months now." He admitted.
Chiani groaned, and smacked herself in the forehead, shaking her head.
"Naruto, you should've come to me sooner." She scolded. "Why haven't you said anything before this?"
Naruto never looked up from his bowl.
He wasn't even eating.
"Because…It's only gotten so bad recently." He said.
Chiani crossed her arms sternly.
"How bad, exactly?" She demanded.
Naruto shut his eyes, but almost instantly the kiss from his recent dream flashed in front of him.
His eyes snapped open as he gasped from the slight shock.
Naruto started to shake.
"I can see it when I close my eyes." He muttered. "I can't stand next to him without feeling the urge to take him with me to someplace that no one else can get to, someplace beautiful, quiet, private."
He had to stop for a bit as the shaking got so violent he could barely hold his chopsticks.
Chiani put an arm around the boy, trying her best to soothe him.
Naruto said he wasn't feeling that hungry anymore, so Chiani paid the chef, and took Naruto to a meadow that the kunoichi teachers sometimes took their students.
It was quiet, but it was filled with wildflowers.
Chiani took Naruto to sit by an old tree, and sat down beside him.
"Okay, I'm listening, Naruto." She prompted gently.
Naruto took a deep breath, and started to speak again.
"I…I don't know. I want him to just…Hold me. I want him to do whatever he does in my dreams." He whispered, shivering again.
Chiani looked at Naruto in puzzlement.
"What, you mean sex?" She asked.
It was quiet, but it was blunt.
Naruto took his head in his hands, and started rocking back and forth.
"Oh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I feel like I'm going to explode, or something. I've got the worst stomach-ache ever, and my head hurts." He whimpered.
Chiani took Naruto's hand in hers.
"Relax. I think I know why you feel like you're gonna explode. Just…" She waved her hand across his eyes, using her chakra to make him drowsy. "Sleep." She finished in a whisper.
Naruto fell asleep against the trunk of the tree.
Chiani let go of Naruto's hand, then held her fingers in front of his face.
"Kurama!" She said sternly, snapping her fingers in front of Naruto's nose. "Kurama, now!"
Naruto stirred slightly as his face began to change.
It became more pointed and the whisker-like lines on his face deepened, and became more whisker-like.
Grunting in his sleep, Naruto opened his mouth slightly, revealing sharpened fangs.
His eyes snapped open, but now instead of their normal deep blue, they were a fiery blood red, with slitted pupils.
Naruto/Kurama sat up against the tree, growling lightly.
"Waddya want, kid?" He growled in a voice like Naruto's, but it was rougher.
Chiani crossed her arms again.
"You know 'Waddya want', you daft fox." She growled back. "Quit giving Naruto a hard time. He's confused, and building up your chakra so he doesn't feel well is just playing dirty."
Chiani scolded, thumping the feared fox on the nose rather hard with the handle of her kunai knife.
Naruto/Kurama yelped, rubbing at his nose.
"You don't have to hit me." He whined.
Chiani growled at him again.
"Well, YOU don't have to hurt Naruto. Who'd have guessed that the great Kurama plays dirty like any other demon?" She taunted.
Naruto/Kurama snarled at Chiani.
"Tcha, you wanna talk dirty? Do you KNOW the stuff that goes on in this kid's head at night?!" He snapped, knocking on his own head.
Chiani pulled a thoughtful pose.
"Hmm, let me think. NO, I DON'T! That's why I was talking to him, you jerk! Until YOU had to jump in and half-kill him, stupid!" Chiani stood up and kicked the fox as she spoke, causing Naruto/Kurama to jump up in order to dodge them.
"OKAY,I GET IT! No more Mr. Stomach-ache! Ya happy?" He hollered.
Chiani sat down again.
"Very. Now, come here so I can wake up Naruto." She said in a gentler tone.
Naruto/Kurama made a face, and proceeded to try not to claw his eyes out.
"Yeah, you'd better hurry. They're getting to the- UGH!" He shook his head violently as he sat down.
Chiani did the same thing she had when she sent Naruto to sleep.
Kurama's features receded as his face became calmer.
Chiani took Naruto's hand again, and whispered in his ear; "Hey, wake up, bud."
Naruto winced a bit, and sat up.
"Uh, thanks for that. It was getting REALLY weird." He mumbled.
Chiani shrugged, and helped Naruto up.
"C'mon. Let's get you back home, bud."
Needless to say, Naruto didn't sleep very well.
And to top that, he had a prank to pull, so he'd set his alarm for an hour earlier.
He got up, washed, got dressed, and headed off to find his victim, a huge grin on his face.
|-|
"Hmm, three minutes later than she promised." Kakashi muttered to himself. "Where could she -"
A voice cut him off.
"I'm right behind you." Kakashi whirled around to face Chiani, who was indeed standing behind him.
Naruto hid behind a tree, watching everything.
Sensei knew Chiani?
Naruto could've slapped himself as he remembered that Chiani had been Sensei's first student.
~ When her entire team had failed, she had assumed that it was her fault, so she'd asked Sensei what she had done wrong.
"Nothing." He had told her. "It was the others who failed you. You have amazing potential, but if the other two had worked with you as a team, then you would've passed." Chiani asked him then if it was just the others who had failed and not her, then why not just train her by herself?
"You said yourself; it was the others who failed." She had pointed out. "So why not just train me?" Kakashi had been rather young back then, almost ten years older than Chiani. So he had consented, and trained her. Actually, it had been Sensei who introduced Chiani to the squad. ~
But what were they doing here?
Kakashi took Chiani's hand in his, his eyes kinder than Naruto had ever seen them.
Not that he often saw both of them at the same time, mind you - Sensei always kept his left eye, his sharingan, covered unless he needed to use it.
Chiani gently cupped Kakashi's face in her other hand, a tender smile on her own face.
Naruto watched in confusion as Sensei allowed Chiani to remove his mask.
Underneath was a mass of scars that hadn't fully healed.
Chiani pulled Sensei to his knees so she could sit down.
"And you're sure you can mend them?" He asked hesitantly.
Chiani smiled again.
"Of course I am. I wouldn't risk it on you if I wasn't completely sure, now would I?" She said gently, so gently that Naruto almost missed it.
Chiani took a deep breath, and slowly started to move her fingers across the scars.
Her lips were moving, but she said nothing.
Slowly, the scars disappeared like they'd never been there.
Chiani was rapidly turning pale, but her chakra remained strong.
By the time she couldn't keep going, there was only one scar left.
The whole process had taken three minutes.
Chiani panted heavily, her hands on her knees.
Her face was gradually regaining color, but Kakashi was still worried.
"You overdid it, Chiani." He said gently but sternly, taking both of her hands in his. "You always were an overachiever, even when it was a life-or-death fight."
Chiani looked up at Sensei, her eyes shimmering despite her exhaustion.
"Oh, just pay me already." She laughed weakly.
Kakashi smiled, then leaned down and kissed her - a proper kiss too.
Chiani's eyes slid shut as she returned the gesture.
Naruto turned away so fast that he might've been a blur; What was THAT about?
Just then, something inside him clicked: I have to get to the bridge. It's time to leave.
Quickly, Naruto took to his feet, and dashed as fast as he could to the bridge.
About a few feet away from it, he stopped to catch his breath, then sauntered to meet with the others.
"Naruto, you're later than usual." Sakura growled.
Naruto shrugged nonchalantly as he came up with an excuse.
"I got up too early, so I took the long way around." He said calmly, going to stand beside Sasuke.
In a voice low enough that Sakura couldn't hear, Sasuke muttered to Naruto:
"It's about time you got here, she's been talking nonstop. Giving me a headache."
Naruto chuckled lightly at that.
Sasuke looked at his friend in slight suspicion.
"Where were you, by the way?" He asked, still in that low tone.
Naruto kept his voice low too as he replied:
"I followed Sensei."
Sasuke cocked an eyebrow in surprise.
"Really?" He asked.
Naruto nodded. "I'll have to tell you later, though. He should be here in 3, 2, 1_"
POOF!
Kakashi poofed up again like always whit his same old excuse.
"LIAR!" Sakura shouted again, but this time Naruto kept quiet until Sensei walked past him.
"So Sensei, how did your date go?" He asked casually, examining his fingernails as he did.
Yeesh, I really ought to clean those. He thought to himself as Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks.
"What are you talking about, Naruto?" He asked quietly, but Naruto could tell he was a little scared that his student knew about that.
Naruto glanced at Sensei from the corner of his eyes, a huge grin on his face.
"Your appointment, how did it go?" He rephrased.
Kakashi turned to face Naruto, his one visible eye betraying worry.
"How did you know about that?" He asked.
Naruto quickly scanned his sensei, trying to find something that would give it away.
Then, he spotted it.
"Your mask is loosened, and you've got something on your face." He pointed out, shrugging. "Kind of obvious."
Kakashi raised his hand to check his mask, turning away from his students.
Sakura looked at Naruto in awe, and Sasuke just grinned mischievously.
Naruto held out his hand for a high-five, which, to his surprise, he got.
The moment their hands made contact, Naruto felt a strange impulse that he didn't have time to stop.
His fingers laced themselves in between Sasuke's as he brought his hand down.
His face betraying his shock, Naruto quickly pulled his hand out of Sasuke's, his face rapidly turning pink.
"S-sorry." He stammered, putting his hands in his pockets. "I-I don't know why I did that."
He looked at Sasuke, expecting to see him a little mad.
But he wasn't; Sasuke was turning pink himself, his hands in his pockets also.
Sakura just kept looking from Naruto to Sasuke as if watching an invisible tennis match.
Sensei was staring too, but more out of curiosity than confusion.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Kakashi-sensei led the kids to their next training mission.
As they walked, Naruto kept his eyes on the ground, not daring to look at Sasuke.
He didn't look up until he felt someone slide their hand into his pocket and take his own hand in theirs.
Naruto looked up, startled.
It was Sasuke.
"Don't…Don't pull away this time?" He asked quietly, looking ahead of him. "Please."
Sasuke tightened his hold a bit.
Naruto sighed, and squeezed back, a small smile starting to grow on his face.
It wasn't a dream this time.
"Alright, we're here." Sensei said, causing the kids to stop walking.
Sasuke quickly pulled his hand out of Naruto's pocket, leaving Naruto's hand empty and cold.
Naruto's smile vanished, and he turned to see where Sensei had led them.
It was an old-ish tower, sort of like the one that the chunin preliminaries took place.
"Why here, Sensei?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi-sensei waved them on as he started walking again.
"We're going to do a little test. One night here, just as a start." He said, looking at the tower the whole time. "It's perfectly clean on the inside, and well situated for three people."
"Wait, three?" Naruto jumped in. "You're not staying too, Sensei?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"I'm afraid, Naruto, that I have another 'appointment' later." He said this with a bit of amusement and a bit of hostility combined.
Naruto got the hint, and grinned devilishly.
"Oh, I see. Well, what're we waiting for? Creepy sleepover, here I come!" He cried out, some of his former characteristics coming back.
Sakura sighed in relief.
"Finally, he's being annoying again." She said, following Kakashi-sensei to the tower.
Naruto followed behind her, the momentary relapse over with.
Sasuke stayed by Naruto, behind the other two.
He looked to Naruto, a slight sparkle in his eyes again.
Naruto grinned again, this time it was more friendly.
He took his hand out of his pocket, and took Sasuke's hand in his briefly.
Well, maybe tonight he wouldn't have that dream again.
~ Naruto stood at his window, looking at the moon and stars. He leaned against the window sill, his chin in his hands. Behind him, he felt someone wrap their arms around his waist, and rest their chin on his shoulder.
"Hey, come on Naruto." Sasuke whispered in that low, seductive tone. "Let's have some fun. You promised." Naruto grinned mischievously, and took his lover's hands in his own.
"Alright." He said softly. "But we have to keep quiet." Sasuke grinned back as he pulled Naruto towards the bed.
"No promises." He murmured silkily. Naruto's heart was racing. Now he knew…These dreams were DEFINITELY getting too in-depth. ~
Naruto shot upright once again, groaning quietly.
It was still dark outside, and the moon was full, the stars twinkling and sparkling all around it.
Naruto walked over to the window and leaned against it, just like in his dream.
But unlike his dream, he felt so confused that he couldn't think of anything.
He just looked at the moon, trying to make sense of it all; his dreams, his feelings, where his heart was telling him to look.
"Naruto?"
Naruto whirled around to face Sasuke as he walked over to the blonde's side from his post in the doorway.
He'd been standing guard just in case; you could never tell with their luck.
"Hey." Naruto mumbled.
Sasuke stood next to his friend, his hands in his pockets.
"What's the matter, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, looking towards the moon.
Naruto didn't answer, fearing that Sasuke might punch him if he told him what he'd just been picturing.
Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. "Look, we've just started getting close as friends." He murmured. "Don't shut me out now."
Naruto turned to look at his friend, who was looking at him as well.
Naruto bit the inside of his mouth as he tried to hold back the urge to kiss Sasuke.
He settled for reaching out his hand towards him.
Sasuke took Naruto's outstretched hand, holding it gently but firmly.
"I just…" Naruto said, trying to pick his words carefully. "…Feel so at war with myself right now."
His eyes started to sting from tears that started to well up slowly as he finished.
Sasuke said nothing, but his grip kept getting tighter, and his hand started shaking.
Naruto winced at the strength of Sasuke's grip.
"Hey, think you could lighten up on my hand, there?" He asked. "You're gonna squeeze it off."
Sasuke loosened his hold, but his hand was still slightly shaky.
Naruto turned to face his friend, grabbing hold of his shoulder.
"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered.
Sasuke looked at him from the corner of his eye, which was half-filled with pain-induced tears.
Naruto could see that Sasuke was biting his lip so hard that it drew blood.
Naruto let go of Sasuke's hand, and pulled a clean hankie from his pocket.
Chiani had given it to him a while back, and he'd never used it before now.
Gently, he took Sasuke's chin in one hand, and softly dabbed at his bleeding lip with the other.
In the moonlight, he could see Sasuke turning a light shade of pink as he glanced away.
Naruto kept wiping the blood off his friend's lip till most of it was gone, then he pressed the handkerchief against Sasuke's lip.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, something akin to the look Konahameru, the hokage's grandson, would give him whenever Naruto said something inspirational to him; wonder, but also a sort of deep kindness mixed in with it.
Naruto couldn't help it. He started staring.
Straight into Sasuke's black eyes.
Sasuke stared back, and it brought back a memory from the first day they met Kakashi-sensei.
~ Naruto and Sasuke had been glaring at each other, because back then they hated each other's guts. All the girls had gathered in one corner of the room and started shouting for Sasuke to knock Naruto out, and get it over with. Naruto had been perched on Sasuke's desk, and the guy that sat in front of Sasuke was having an absolute hoot. He pulled his arm back so he'd have a more comfortable position to watch, but wound up elbowing Naruto in the back, forcing him forward.
"Sorry." He'd said. "Did I bump you?" Everyone had gone silent at the result of the guy's "bump." Naruto and Sasuke were the most surprised. They'd been accidentally forced into a kiss. Sakura had freaked out majorly, and Naruto and Sasuke had quickly turned away from each other, choking and gagging.
"They are RUTHLESS." The guy had said. ~
Naruto stroked Sasuke's lower lip with his thumb, looking from his mouth to his eyes and back again.
Finally, he went for it.
Leaning in, Naruto pressed his lips against Sasuke's, not waiting for anything to hold him back.
Sasuke seemed to relax as, without warning, he kissed Naruto back, so fiercely that Naruto stumbled backwards two steps, his eyes flashing open in momentary alarm.
He found solid footing, and matched Sasuke's fierceness with his own fire.
At the sound of Sakura moaning in her sleep about missing the last test answer, the two broke away from each other, holding their breaths.
Sakura stayed asleep, though.
Quietly, they let out their breaths, and headed to bed.
Well, Naruto did anyway.
Sasuke went back to keeping watch.
Smooth, kid. Kurama chuckled. REAL smooth.
Naruto chuckled as well, rolling onto his side.
Thanks, Kurama. I sure thought it was.
He grinned as he heard Kurama growl.