Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters, terms, and affiliates of Naruto are not mine, but belong to their respective owners, Masashi Kishimoto, TV Tokyo, VIZ &c.

A little departure from my favourite Naruto pairing, but no less enjoyable. Written ages ago for wildwesternwind, but I added quite a bit as I did a read-through. If it reads like a stream of consciousness at some points, then you know where I added on. AU for obvious reasons.

Friendly Conversation

There is a woman at work who asks me the most inappropriate things.

"Do you think of me when you're with her?" She whispers, mouth almost against my ear. "Do you imagine what it would be like with me?"

Pushing her away would be the smartest thing to do, but my hands are busy making a cup of coffee. We stand in an empty staff lounge, and I figure not touching her in any way would be safest should anyone walk in. Let her explain why she's pressed up against me, lips to my neck, small hand on my thigh and moving in...

I breathe out, perhaps a little too loud, a little too strong. A mistake and we both know it. She croons and squeezes softly. I grip my mug tighter.

"Are you loud when you fuck? Do you groan when you," she slides her hand up and it's insane how well I can feel the heat of her skin through my pants, "sink into her?"

The sips of coffee I take are precise, methodical, and completely unlike the movements of her right hand. It dips and rises in a pattern that is at once familiar and not. It doesn't take much effort to realize what is different; her hand. Her brightly tipped, break a nail the day is ruined touch shouldn't be anywhere near me. Not in this way. I lift my mug to my lips again and stare at the knob of the cupboard directly in front of me. Round. Chipped. Faceted plastic made to look like crystal—and then something like the soft scrape of nails makes me pause mid-swallow.

I burn my tongue.

It almost adds to it. But the pleasure-pain makes me remember myself and I grab her wrist.

"No. This is not the place—"

"Then where should we go?" She hears what she wants, but that's nothing new. I shake my head at the contradiction. She's the same in so many ways, but she's determined for me to see the differences.

And I do. Really. I must have looked away, blinked maybe, in the space and time it's taken her to grow from adolescence into the woman child before me. Adult in the curves of her breasts and hips, in the sway in her walk, but a child, most definitely, in the way she thinks she can play these games and ask for a do-over when things get out of hand. Out of control.

"Not here. Not anywhere," I answer and step away before she can touch me again. The first smart move I've done so far, and it's a lucky thing that is all Shizune sees as she pops her head in to inform us of the meeting Hokage-sama has called.

"Oh yeah, the meeting." The same hand that tortured me not a moment ago is touching her mouth in a self-deprecating gesture. Fuck. Someone get this girl an Oscar. "I'll be there in a minute, Shizune-san."

She waits until Shizune is long gone before leaving, brushing by me as she goes. There's a promise in the look she gives me as she leaves the room, and I'm tempted to tell her no, we won't be continuing this encounter later. But the moment is gone and I'm left with the smell of flowers mixing with the coffee I'm still somehow holding. I finish my drink in one long pull and make my way to the washroom.

It's empty. I almost leave. My hand is still holding the door open, but with no one there to distract me, the decision is made as I secure the lock quietly and lean my back against it for good measure.

It's demeaning—for fuck's sake, a public washroom—but the evidence is in my hand. The pleasure is real. The effort to keep from making a noise is hard won.

"Are you loud when you fuck?"

My hand moves faster, and my focus shrinks to the shaking heat spreading through my body.

"Do you groan when you sink into her?"

There's a tightening low in my stomach, an almost painful spasm, and (do you imagine what it would be like with me?) I hiss a breath out through my teeth. It's quick but satisfying and I collapse back against the door, locking my knees to remain standing. My gasps echo like a haggard song in the tiny room.

"Do you think of me when you're with her?"

Between slowly settling breaths, my lips twist in a rueful grin.

"Bitch."

I can almost hear Ino laughing.