"Hm..." Naruto groaned loudly as he wandered down the street from the Ichiraku Ramen shop. The moon was shining bright, across the face of a young, heartbroken boy. After being rejected by Sakura again, he had lost all interest in even looking at her, let alone speaking or mingling with her. He swung his leg at the fence beside him, the bottom of his dark blue shoes leaving a muddy foot print against the wood.
As he was bringing his leg down, he noticed a black kitten had taken refuge there. He was curled in a small ball, his long back tail wrapping around his tiny body.
Bending his knees, he brought his body down to the ground, resting his arms on his legs and holding his rear in the air. He folded his bottom lip over the top and he stared fiercely at the animal.
"Hey there kitty, are you okay?" He reached his hand for it, wrapping his fingers around its body as he rose up again, holding the cat so it was facing him right in the eyes. The cat meowed, aggravated and weary. Unfortunately for the cat, the blonde shinobi was in no way happy, or willing to go out of his way to be kind to him. He twisted his wrist in an attempt to examine the sides and under-body of the cat. He brought his back to eye level and looked him in the eye.
And in a blur of black, the cat used its best defence by throwing his paw at boy's face, slashing it down the middle. The blonde dropped the cat instantly and it swiftly made its way away from the boy, heading down the street and through a nearby alley.
The now-bleeding fox-boy gripped his face with one hand, while he used the other to shake a tight fist at the black annoyance. "Well I'm sorry for caring about you, you stupid cat!"
He flung himself around again, muttering to himself and swearing under his breath. He continued down the dark street, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his orange pants and his face flushe. It was hard for him to swallow; his throat was dry and he was desperately trying to choke back his tears. But, if he had managed to hold them off this long, it shouldn't be hard to continue until he got home.
As he walked, he began to notice the light tap of footsteps coming from behind him. He stopped in his tracks and sighed with high hopes it wasn't Sakura, and really, just as high hopes it was nobody else he would have to stay and have a chat with. If it was Sakura, she could 'Shannaro' her ass somewhere else. Just as he was about to swing himself around, he heard the familiar voice of a certain dark-haired, dark-eyed boy.
"Want a band-aid, you clumsy idiot...?" The raven-haired boy too had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his white shorts, and from what Naruto could tell, was having the same type of shitty day he was.
"Oh, shut up, Sasuke. I'm not in the mood today," the blonde grumbled, facing his back to the other boy. Sasuke chuckled to himself as he looked up at the over hanging above them. "W-What's so funny?" Naruto snapped back, swing around and taking a few steps toward the Uchiha behind him.
"Well for one, you say you're 'not in the mood,' yet you make no attempts to get away from me, nor continue on your path." The blonde let out a light 'ulp' before clenching his teeth together and scowling at Sasuke. The Uchiha smiled lightly and picked at the bandages over his forearms. After realizing there was no point in a fight, Naruto slumped his shoulders back down and replaced his hands in his pockets.
"I'm bored," Sasuke stated suddenly, looking up at the blonde in front of him, a light blush crossing his cheeks. "You look pretty shitty, want to hang out tonight?" His dark eyes shifted the wall beside him, silently looking over at Naruto a couple times before Naruto opened his mouth.
"You expect me to believe that the Sasuke I've come to know would simply come out of nowhere and have the desire to 'hang out'?" The boy grumbled and let out a light laugh. "What kind of trick are you trying to pull?" The raven-haired boy crossed his arms, irritated and blushing.
"It's not so much that I have the desire to hang out," he answered, scratching his temple with a light blush, "as it is I think you could use some cheering up right now."
"Since when do you care about me?" The blonde asked.
"Since when do I care about anything?" The Uchiha grinned slyly.
"That's a pretty good question."
"It's less the fact I care about you, than the fact that I need money, and if you're shitty tomorrow, our missions won't go well." The dark eyes of the boy shifted to the wall again as he tapped his foot nervously.
"Okay, I'm convinced. Let's head to my place," the blonde stated, swinging his body around again and continuously placing one foot in front of the other. Both of the boys, although unaware of the other, were smacked in the face with a bright blush, and even Sasuke has slipped an expression of happiness across his face. He picked up speed a bit and placed himself beside Naruto.
"So, why are you having such a shitty day anyway?" Sasuke asked, turning his face to the fox-boy beside him. Naruto sighed heavily and lifted his head up, as to look at the stars around them.
"It was just some stupid situation with forehead-girl." He folded he arms as he slumped his head back down and focused his attention on the ground he was walking on.
Sasuke grinned devilishly and let out a simple 'ha'. "Got dumped again, eh?" Laughing a bit more, he stopped walking, Naruto doing the same. The blonde's teeth were clenched as tightly as his fists as he stomped over and stared directly into the dark eyes of the Uchiha. Sasuke stopped laughing abruptly and his smile faded.
"What about you?! You have tonnes of girls after you, but instead of choosing one and giving it a shot, you just throw them away like paper towel! Do you have any idea what's it like to be rejected by someone you love?! It feels like that solitude you're always whining about!" Naruto was now holding the boy by his shirt, shaking him lightly, tears streaming down his whiskered cheeks.
"There's a reason I don't accept the girls, Naruto... And of course I know what it feels like, to constantly be rejected by the one you love..." The blonde let the shirt of the Uchiha slip through his fingers and allowed his feet to once again touch the ground.
"W-Who have you ever been rejected by? You have every girl in the academy after you!" Naruto shouted, the red on his face darkening. For a currently unknown reason, he wanted to scream at his team-mate, shake him violently, and quickly choke out the words 'why not me?', but he stayed silent.
"Do you want to know who I've been rejected by? I was rejected by you!" Sasuke barked back, trying to conceal the dark blush on his face by throwing his head to the side. The blonde looked at him for a moment, before letting out the loud laugh his body so graciously told him to do.
In the midst of his roaring, his wiped a tear from his eye as he picked at his ear with his pinkie finger. Standing up straight once again and pulling the laughter back into his lungs, he faced the Uchiha once again.
"Ha-ha, you're funny! So who were you really rejected by?" he repeated, this time with a long timid smile across his face. Sasuke grumbled to himself as he threw his torso towards his team-mate, throwing an arm around his body and another one cupping his chin and bringing his face closer.
"Naruto, I'm serious." The blonde could hear his heart beating in his ears, and the heat on his cheeks felt hotter than fire itself.
"S-Sasuke... What are you saying?" The dark eyes of the Uchiha met the light blue of Naruto's as he bent a bit lower, and slowly attached their lips. The blonde immediately snapped his eyes shut, attempted to feel the kiss instead of see it, where as the teen attached to him kept his eyes open. And even as his brain tried to convince him to pull away, Naruto's body wouldn't budge. Being locked in Sasuke's tight, platinum arms felt so right at that moment, and to Naruto, he almost felt as though all the rejection of his past had withered away.
All his life Naruto had been rejected. Mostly because of the well known fact he was the jinjyruuiki of the nine-tailed fox. Constant rejections from Sakura didn't feel too good either. Not to mention how nobody really wanted them in their group. All through his life he attempted to be accepted by others, acting foolishly to gain attention. But with Sasuke, he felt like a normal human being. And kissing him, well, it just felt so perfect.
Sasuke's warm hands trailed off; one headed to Naruto's head, grasping the blonde locks between his fingers and wrapping them up in his palm. He tugged lightly, too, which to Naruto, felt really good. The other hand of the set was heading the opposite direction; slipping under the elastic of his pants, trailing to the side in an attempt to bring the boy closer.
As this was being done, the brain under the blonde's hair began pulsing with heart racing thoughts. What if what he felt for Sakura wasn't real? What if what he was feeling now was the true feeling one has when in love? Perhaps he had only pretended to like Sakura as a way to avoid the truth- to feel normal.
The two men broke apart without any sort of after-moment or gazing lovingly or smiling. They just separated and flipped around; facing the direction they were walking before. Naruto continued walking, as Sasuke took a moment to rekindle his confidence and enjoy the resulting heart beats and adrenaline waves that were so graciously pouring through his veins. Once he caught his breath again, he picked up his pace and caught up with Naruto, lightly slipping his finger around that of his team-mate.
"So, about going to my place..." Naruto muttered, lifted his head to face Sasuke's.
"I'm still up for it if you are. What happens might be a little different from my original plans after that, but there's no point in saying 'forget it." Sasuke kept his dark eyes facing forward as the blush that was across his cheeks darkened. Naruto nodded and a light smile slid across his lips. He used his unoccupied hand to touch them lightly, before bringing his head up to reunite his eyes with the stars above them.
It wasn't long before they reached the door of Naruto's small apartment. Sasuke pulled his hand away from Naruto's as he reached in his pocket for his key. He pushed it into the keyhole and turned it, the small Pakkun keychain swaying with it. He pulled it out again and turned the door knob, pushing the door open and holding out his arm, motioning Sasuke to move inside.
After putting his key back he followed in, closing- and locking- the door behind him. The raven-hair of Sasuke's swayed back and forth as he moved his head around to look around the room. There were Ramen cups everywhere, and the only decorations the room had was the futon closet and desk, the closet having a small ramen-related poster taped to the front and the desk having nothing but a mirror and the photo of their squad.
"The Futon's in the closet, if you want to sit down," Naruto said, pointing over to the closet door as he headed to the kitchen. "I'm getting some milk; do you want any?" The boy in the front room held a hand against the wall as he pulled off his shoes.
"Nah, I'm fine," he answered, stepping up the small ledge with bare feet. He hesitated as he continued, attempting to keep his arm from brushing the wall as he walked to the side of the hallway.
Stepping into the living room, he slowly bent his knees and sat upon them, holding his hands against his legs as he propped himself up, looking around the room a bit more. There was a window on one of the walls- the moonlight shining through it against Sasuke's face. He let his eyes wander out the window, peering over the stars that scattered the sky.
Naruto wandered into the living room after he had finished his milk, kicking off his shoes as he entered, and staring oddly at the other boy who was placed in there.
"Why didn't you just get the futon...?" He asked as he headed toward the closet on the opposite end of the room. "It's much more comfortable than the floor." Naruto slid the closet door open as he reached his arms under the mattress and pulled it through, holding his legs locked against the floor and stepping back slowly. Sasuke watched his shoulder blades move through his coat as the blonde moved.
"If I walk on it, I can sit on it," he replied, putting on the snotty face he usually gave to the blonde. Naruto threw the futon on the floor, dropping to his knees and pushing the small table up against the wall, throwing aside any empty ramen cups. He unfolded the mattress and pulled it to the middle of the room, straightening out the blanket and properly placing the pillow at the head.
"Care to join me?" Naruto laughed as he threw his body onto the mattress. Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked at the boy in front of him. His mind began wandering off unwillingly- thoughts of Naruto's unclothed body and his own, tangled together within a mess of sheets, damped down with sweat, with red faces and a content wave of bliss over it all.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Naruto's smile faded a bit as he crawled softly across the blue patterned blanket and over to his dark-haired love. He placed his hand on Sasuke's leg as his lifted his body as to give a small kiss to his team-mate. Unfortunately for the blonde, his fingers were a bit too long, and hit a bit too close to the crotch of the nervous raven-haired teen. He let out a short moan under Naruto's lips, causing the blonde to slip away and pull his hands back to the sides of his own body.
Sasuke's arms moved themselves closer, attaching his ten fingers together and stretching outwards, in a sad attempt to hide what had already happened. He nervously chuckled in his throat and pulled his legs beside his body.
"Um... Now that I think about it, I'm pretty tired. Maybe I'll just crash here tonight... It's not like anybody at home will be worrying about me," his voice grew softer as he finished, his memory recalling the devious stare he received that fateful night. The three prongs of his older brother's sharingan piercing through him, forcing him to his knees, surrounded by the bodies of his family members.
"Well I'm not tired at all," Naruto whined, a deceitful smile building across his face, his whiskers twitching. "So you'll have to make me feel tired, too." He smiled brightly as he shut his eyes, pushing out his rear end as if wagging a tail. Sasuke penetrated a stare through his eyes as a dark blush floated from under his skin.
"H-How do you want me to do that...?" Sasuke enquired, pushing his hands farther between his legs. Naruto allowed a small fang to penetrate through his lips as he reached for Sasuke's arm. Pulling it out from between his legs, he smiled, crawling in between the dark-haired boys still-attached arms. The Uchiha's blush deepened as he allowed his lip to twitch upwards and let out a guilty chuckle.
"Oh, heh-heh, how did that get there?" he breathed, a light chuckled following. Naruto's eyes squinted joyfully as he smiled.
---
The next morning, Sakura was waiting impatiently at their usual meeting spot. She tapped her foot rapidly and held her eyes shut.
Suddenly, from one of the over hangings above the bridge, the grey-haired Jounin known as Kakashi appeared, holding his hand up in a waving motion, squatting happily as he balanced on the bar.
"Good morning, Sakura, sorry I'm late," he stated, curling his visible eyebrow to the center and upwards. He jumped to the wood below before looking around and scratching his head. "Where are Sasuke and Naruto?"
"I wish I knew," the girl whined, scratching the back of her neck and sighing heavily. She turned her head down the road again, keeping a sharp eye out for her Romeo, Sasuke. Kakashi frowned under his mask and joined his student by leaning against the bars of the bridge. Pulling out his book, Icha Icha Paradise, he folded his leg and placed his foot against one of the lower bars. Normally he would be strict, but he was rather interested in this next chapter that he hadn't had a chance to read the night before.
Only a few more minutes had passed before Sasuke and Naruto appeared from the horizon. They were walking side by side, and appeared to be deep in conversation.
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, bringing her hands tenderly to her face with a bright smile. Sasuke looked at her oddly before returning to his conversation with Naruto, ignoring her much like he always did. Naruto clenched his fist together and glared at the boy beside him.
"Hey, you selfish idiot! At least say hi to her! How would you like to be treated like that every day?!" he barked, rising to his toes to stare into Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke smiled darkly in return and swung around.
"You're just mad because I fell asleep before your turn last night, you idiot." Naruto's face lost all color, and his entire body came to a stand-still. Sasuke smirked to himself before heading toward his teacher and female team-mate, both of which had gained slight looks of disgust and disbelief from the previous statement. But the two brushed the comment away and followed the raven-hair of the boy after he had passed them. And after Naruto had regained mental ability, he chased after, shaking one of his fists angrily in the air.
"So what if I am?! That has nothing to do with how you treat Sakura!!"
