Being Human
Sasuke repressed an irritated sigh as his eyes continually scanned their rented room, cataloging weak points and escape strategies. He would have preferred to sleep outside the town, but Karin had strongly suggested (read: threatened mass murder) that they stay somewhere with baths while she talked to a source about a possible Itachi sighting.
So they had entered this little village as the sun was setting and the gates were closing for the evening, only to discover a costume festival. Sasuke was put immediately on his guard; the masked revelers could be anyone, and he'd never be able to separate out a murderous intent with all those people running around. So he'd hustled his team to a hotel Karin assured him was secure, and then when they were all in the room together they all discovered Karin had been right, so very right, to insist on a place with baths, so he'd given them strict instructions to USE THEM.
Before she had headed off to the women's bath, Karin had turned to him with that pout that she believed he should find attractive, and asked, "Sasuke-kun, can we attend the festival? We haven't had any fun in a while, and I've spent months with only the three of you for company. Juugo barely exists as a personality, and as much as I adore you, you barely make up for having to coexist with Suigetsu."
She directed a scowl in Suigetsu's direction, which he returned, opening his mouth to make an undoubtedly scathing reply concerning Karin's own personality, or perhaps her infatuation with their team captain. Sasuke resisted the urge to rub the bridge of his nose to ward off the headache they always gave him and spoke before Suigetsu could.
"Fine. Everyone bathes, Karin talks to her source, and then you can all go and 'have fun,' as you say. I suppose we could all use a break. Do whatever you want, but wear a mask, and be ready to move out as soon as the gates open tomorrow morning." There was a silence after he spoke as his team stared at him, marveling at his concession to being human.
Then . . . "YEAH!" and Karin took off for the women's bath and Suigetsu split at top speed for the men's, leaving Sasuke with Juugo, who shrugged and fell into step next to him as they followed Suigetsu at a more sedate pace.
After they had finished, they had returned to their rooms, and Sasuke had watched impassively as they used transformation jutsu to change their outfits into something more festive. Karin made Juugo change his costume twice because she deemed his efforts 'not disguising enough to please Sasuke-kun,' and she insisted Suigetsu change the distinct shape of his teeth, a point he conceded with a shrug, much to Sasuke's relief.
Karin and Suigetsu then raced, laughing, for the door, followed more slowly by Juugo, who had given his promise to Sasuke that he would keep them out of too much trouble. This left Sasuke in his present condition: alone, in a room he hadn't wanted in the first place, being annoyed by the noises of revelry outside his window, and becoming dangerously bored.
He went over old memories sparked by his teammates' cries of 'Henge!,' thoughts of Iruka-sensei's pop quiz when Naruto had only been able to manage that crappy, melted-looking version of the Sandaime, following it up with his gorgeous-naked-girl transformation. He shook his head, smirking to himself at the blonde's ingenuity, all his potential for strength, and his potential for weakness.
Sasuke could have continued in this vein for the rest of the evening, since there was no one around to watch his face actually change expressions as he conjured mind-pictures of his old teammate, but the old memory gave him an idea. He stood up and walked to the full-length mirror hanging on the back of the door.
Forming his hands into the proper seal, he smirked at himself and cried, "Henge!" There was a bang, and when the smoke cleared, looking out of the mirror was a bright, bouncy, busty blonde girl in a form-fitting fox suit with pointed ears poking out of her soft, wavy hair and a fox mask that covered the upper half of her face. He winked at himself, the eyes behind the mask flashing a glittering blue as they caught the light of the room.
He was about to open the door to leave when he took another look at his face, then decided there was something missing. He turned on a soft-slipper-clad heel and strode over to Karin's stuff piled on her bedroll in the corner of the room.
Or at least, that was the idea, but he was more top heavy than he was accustomed to, and the additional weight lent him enough angular momentum to spin him in a complete circle before he managed to stop himself.
A little dizzy, he tried again, concentrating on walking more like a woman, and this time he made it to Karin's stuff, specifically her makeup bag. Pulling out her eyeliner, he sauntered back over to the mirror and gave himself three whisker marks on each cheek. Replacing the makeup and arranging Karin's things to erase signs of his intrusion, he walked out the door, masking his chakra signature, swinging his hips gently from side to side with each step.
* * * *
Naruto shook long, silky, midnight-black hair out of his eyes as he strolled past the noisy, well-lit stalls and booths of the festival. He hadn't meant to stay the night in town, but he'd stopped at a ramen stand on his through the town and when he'd finished and tried to leave, the gate guard had given him the bad news.
Still, he wasn't one to say no to a good time, and if he remembered correctly, Ero-sennin had brought him here for this festival when they had been on their training journey. This meant he knew where to find cheap sake and beautiful women, if he had a desire for either. Or both. He was a hormonal teenager, after all. He had hoped that the festivities would distract him from his utter failure to catch up to Sasuke. He could swear he was closing in on him, but every time he thought he had him, it turned out to be someone else entirely.
So, in tribute to his elusive friend, he had dusted off sexy-no-jutsu and altered it to resemble what (he hoped) Sasuke would look like as a woman. Standing in front of his mirror in his hotel, he stretched his arms above his head, then did a slow twirl, feeling the long black hair flair behind him, wondering at the stretchiness of the black spandex catsuit he'd transformed into to complement his new look. The tight fabric clung to his perfectly shaped body from ankle to shoulder, molding toned calves, emphasizing moderate curves, accentuating high, small breasts, barely clinging to pale shoulders and leaving his slim throat exposed. Black stilettos made his legs go on forever, and a cat's mask held back his hair and covered only his eyes, leaving a pouty mouth free to entice onlookers.
It was a good result. All right, if he had to admit it, he wanted to rip his own clothes off and have sex with himself on the spot, but the henge-him was so far out of his league, it wasn't even the same sport. Taking a last look in the mirror, he transformed a final time to fix the glaring blue of his eyes, which would have stood out way too much on a pale raven-haired woman, then headed out.
He wandered up and down the streets, still pleasantly full from his dinner of ramen, debating with himself on whether or not he wanted to get sake, deciding against playing any of the street games because that would definitely reveal his ninja skills; he was keeping a low profile in case reports of him were catching up to Sasuke and that was the reason for his continual failure.
Of course, if the male version of his costume had been with him, Naruto would have insisted they compete at every stall in the festival, despite Sasuke's genius advantage in skill. He'd beat the bastard by being a genius of determination, believe it! That made him recall the genius of hard work, Rock Lee, whom he hoped was having fun with Sakura and the rest of the gang at Konoha's own festival, which he had been too far away from to make it back to in time.
Suddenly feeling very alone despite the crowds of merrymakers swirling around him and the very obvious group of panting men of varying ages that had been trying to discreetly follow him over the past hour or so, he decided that he did indeed want sake. He started to head toward the shop Ero-sennin had recommended, and then changed directions when he realized that, in his current form, he probably shouldn't frequent a brothel. People might get the wrong idea, and even though it wasn't his body, he didn't want to spoil Sasuke's image.
So he headed to the bar across the street, where he had gone after refusing to enter the brothel with the perverted hermit. He remembered it being pleasant, and he was REALLY looking forward to sitting somewhere and discreetly slipping of the stilettos, which were KILLING him.
Stepping inside, he sauntered to the counter and ordered a bottle of sake, which he paid for with a bill he fished out of his moderate cleavage, causing the barman to swallow convulsively as Naruto shot him a sultry smile. The barman presented him with a cup and a bottle of better-quality sake than he had ordered, plus a bonus dango stick and a heartfelt thank-you for making the barman's day.
Naruto thanked the barman in return, and then turned with his purchases to search out a much-needed seat. Instead of a foot-relief haven, he caught sight of three men hassling a cute blonde in an animal costume sitting by the window.
"Come on, Blondie, just a little squeeze. How soft is that fur coat? Are your claws sharp?" and other remarks drifted over to him, and he could tell by the set of the girl's shoulder's that she'd about reached the end of her rope, though no sign of it showed on her face.
One of the men stepped closer, setting a hand on the girl's shoulder, and when she lifted an unsteady hand to flip it off, Naruto noticed the bottle of sake that the girl had apparently been nursing. Then, he noticed the way the girl's hand remained at shoulder level. Then, he noticed the barely-there outlines of flat knives under the fabric of the back of the girl's costume. Forgetting about his aching feet, he started toward the group, setting his sake and dango carefully on a nearby table.
* * * *
Sasuke sat with his back to the men, trying by sheer force of will to cause them to spontaneously combust as he stared out the window. He'd only ducked inside this place to lose Suigetsu, who had kept following him, trying to hit on him. Well, to hit on the attractive blonde woman he appeared to be. Figures that idiot would go for a bimbo.
Once inside, though, he figured it was as good a place as any to experiment with being human. He'd tried sake before, even liked it, so he figured, why not? What harm could there be in pretending to be normal for a night?
He'd gotten his answer. After a perfectly pleasant and solitary half-hour, he'd demolished most of his bottle of sake. But then, these men had appeared, and when he had tried to calculate his reaction speed if he were to go for one of the kunai in the neck sheath hidden beneath his fall of blonde hair, he'd discovered his abilities to be substantially impaired. He knew he could still take all three of the men out before they knew what was happening, but he'd still have to get away, and he didn't think he could handle even walking straight just then, much less a speedy escape. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he berated himself.
One of the men touched his shoulder, and he barely kept himself from flinching away (mostly because he figured he might overbalance and land on the floor) and brushed off the hand, reaching for the knives in what he hoped was an unobtrusive manner. The man raised his hand to try again while his two buddies egged him on, and Sasuke was just about to execute the lot of them and damn the consequences when their tableau was interrupted by a throaty female voice.
"I do believe the lady would like to be left alone." Sasuke glanced hazily over his shoulder at . . . well, that was interesting. Standing there, with hands on slim hips, wearing clothes that covered everything but concealed nothing, was what appeared to be a female version of . . . himself. Giving her the once-over, he could tell she seemed able to take care of herself. Sure, she was drop-dead gorgeous, but the way she balanced her weight and the way she held her hands revealed to his trained eye that she was capable of doing damage.
Unfortunately for the three men, though they were considerably more sober, they did not have his training and were unable to read the warning signs.
"What's it to you, gorgeous? Are you lonely, too? I could fix that for you," said one of the men. The man nearest to Sasuke had paused, his eyes taking in the new arrival as his friend moved toward her.
The stunning woman raised her hands in a warding-off gesture. "I was only trying to help you guys out. Or maybe you couldn't tell she was about to seriously injure you." There was a hint of emphasis on the words 'seriously injure' that Sasuke could tell, even through his drunken haze, was meant for him. Fine, no knives. I can do taijutsu, too.
The man near Sasuke scoffed out loud, and then replaced the hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "As if this nice girl would do something like that to us, just for talking to--!" His words were cut off as Sasuke grabbed the offending hand and forced it quickly off his shoulder and down, pulling the man forward so his head smashed face-first into the table, but unfortunately leaving Sasuke off-balance and open to retaliation from the man's friends.
Sasuke sat up, head spinning, tensing for any forthcoming blows, but when he peeked over his shoulder, the man's friends were both incapacitated, one clutching what seemed to be a dislocated shoulder and the other hunching over and cupping an apparently kneed groin. The beautiful woman didn't appear to have moved, but Sasuke knew she must have, and very quickly. Ninja-quickly.
Hmm, even more interesting. He knew for a fact that Itachi had killed all the Uchihas in Konoha, and that there shouldn't be any outside the village, but maybe . . .? Nah, couldn't be. He couldn't sense a chakra signature that would signify a ninja. This was just an ordinary woman who had lucked out with fantastic genes and quick reflexes.
He and the woman looked at each other for a few seconds as the three men helped each other up, and then were chased outside by an angry barman. The woman seemed to expect something from him. Oh, right, humans express gratitude, he reminded himself. It wasn't something he usually did, at least, not since his mother had been killed, but he didn't usually get drunk off his ass and require a knight in shining spandex either. Might as well get it over with.
Sasuke half-turned, resting an arm on the table in front of him, tapping a foot idly against the legs of his stool. "So, ah, thanks, you know, for, like, helping me out." He winced inwardly. Sure, you look like a stereotypical bimbo, but do you have to sound like one, too? The woman nodded, her lips spreading in a grin.
"You could have handled them all yourself," the woman replied, and Sasuke was again drawn to the curious growl in her throaty voice, "but I know blood is hard to get out of clothes, and I have no idea what a costume like yours costs."
Sasuke found himself grinning back at the woman, the unfamiliar expression coming easily to the mouth of the blonde woman he was pretending to be.
"Do you mind if I join you? I hate drinking alone, and we seem to make a good team," the woman said. Sasuke nodded his approval, and the woman retrieved a sake bottle, a small cup, and a dango stick from a nearby table before pulling out the stool next to him and seating herself.
She stretched her neck forward and opened her mouth, her tongue coming out to wrap around the top dango and pull it gently off the stick and into her mouth, and Sasuke found himself licking suddenly dry lips. He was, despite his lifestyle and goals, a teenager, and the woman was unbelievably hot. And he was a little drunk. Okay, maybe a lot drunk. He turned on the stool to face the window again, his face hot under the mask, trying not to reach for his bottle for another shot that he probably didn't need but definitely wanted.
The dark-haired woman noticed his discomfort, then immediately misinterpreted it. "Did you want one of these? The barman just gave them to me, and I've already eaten. Here, you can have the others." She held out the stick, and Sasuke found himself taking it just for something to do with his hands, rather than any desire to try the sticky sweets.
The woman may have looked icy and self-composed on the outside, but the illusion was shattered after a few seconds in her company, for which Sasuke was exceedingly grateful. He kept himself company all the time; he didn't need a conversation with a personality twin. The angst might cause an emo black hole.
She said her name was Ayame, causing Sasuke to have flashbacks to the smiling brunette that had served Naruto and him ramen at Ichiraku so long ago. He replied that his name was Karin, being unable to come up with anything else on the spot.
Ayame cracked her sake bottle and drank a couple of long swallows directly from it, before setting it back down on the table and wiping her mouth with a sigh of pleasure. After that she proceeded to start a conversation with Sasuke, who got involved despite himself, interspersing her words with shots of sake from the small cup as Sasuke absent-mindedly finished the dango. It was surprisingly like hanging out with Naruto, except Naruto wasn't mind-numbingly hot.
Not that Naruto was bad-looking. He was, in fact, quite good-looking, and he'd only gotten more good-looking over the years of their separation, and Sasuke had hardly been able to believe his eyes when, upon expecting Naruto to appear from the tunnel at Orochimaru's hideout, he was confronted with a young, blonde, tanned sex god, one so attractive he'd been compelled to touch him, had used any excuse . . . Wait, what? Okay, blame that one on the alcohol. He normally kept thoughts like that one on a very tight leash. In a locked box. In a vault. In the darkest and dustiest corner of his brain.
Shit, it seemed the alcohol had dissolved all his mental barriers. If this was the case, he was in for a long night, with vivid erotic dreams featuring a nude and squirming Naruto. Shit, shit, shit.
Wait, Ayame the not-Naruto female-Sasuke-look-alike was still talking to him.
"Ugh, my feet are killing me! I'm never wearing shoes like this ever again!" She slipped her stilettos off, one at a time, letting them fall to the floor with discordant clacks. She crossed one leg so that her left foot was resting on her right knee, then started to rub the foot, making little moaning noises under her breath.
Sasuke felt his usual smirk forming on the face of his henge, but he was too drunk to care that it might look strange there. Her feet, at least, he could do something about, and maybe he could parlay it into something that would distract him from thoughts of a nude Naruto. "Here, let me," he said, then was temporarily startled by the higher pitch of his voice before he remembered he was temporarily a female himself. Ayame looked up curiously, taking in the hand Sasuke had stretched out, before shrugging and placing her foot in it.
* * * *
Naruto had no idea what was going on. All he'd wanted to do was help the girl out, and then when she had turned around, he'd been confronted by someone using his original sexy-no-jutsu form. He was fairly certain that Konohamaru was the only person he'd taught it to, so the only way someone else could use it was if they'd . . . used . . . sharingan?
That was as crazy idea, but as the sake warmed his blood, he couldn't think of any other explanations. He knew Kakashi was in the hospital, recovering from injuries sustained on his last mission, so the only options he had were Uchihas. He knew that Itachi had never seen his sexy-no-jutsu, unless there was some form of creepy spying going on, so that left the one person he'd been searching for for years.
But why would Sasuke pretend to be him? It made no sense. Naruto decided to shelve the option, giving equal weight to the possibility that some woman somewhere looked exactly like his female counterpart, until he was able to collect more evidence. Until such evidence arose, he was definitely getting rid of these effing shoes. He let them fall to the floor and rubbed forcefully at his arch, trying to relieve the fierce throbbing.
"Here, let me." The words startled him a little, as lost as he was in his own thoughts, but Karin the blonde-woman-who-could-be-but-probably-wasn't-Sasuke was solicitously holding out her hand, obviously offering a foot massage. How could he say no to that? Naruto placed his aching foot in the outstretched hand, mentally placing a checkmark in the 'Not Sasuke' column for Karin's kindness to a stranger.
However, as strong thumbs dug into Naruto's instep, he found himself going over events since they had met. Aloof - 'Sasuke' column. Hidden weapons - 'Sasuke' column. Ruthlessly destroying some random guy's face - definitely 'Sasuke' column. The smile was 'Not Sasuke,' but the smirk Karin had worn when she had offered the massage fitted completely into the 'Sasuke' column, and the strength in those fingers (aahh!) plus the calluses in the right places also fitted into the pattern he sensed was forming.
He took another shot of his sake before glancing up to study his masseuse, who seemed completely focused on pushing the tension out of his foot. Naruto had to admit, Karin was beautiful, but spending the night with her would seem a little like masturbation.
Not that I object to that, not by a long shot, he thought, taking another shot. He had long ago accepted that it was better for a ninja to be bisexual, taking pleasure where they could find it, because with dangerous missions and well-trained enemies, life was just too damned short to be picky. He just wished he'd been able to bring home the real Sasuke, and that he didn't have to resort every so often to having his kage bunshin turn into his raven-haired, moonlight-skinned best friend, with whom he could perform any number of lewd acts in the utter secrecy of his own apartment.
He let out a low moan, his eyes falling closed as Karin dug her fingers into a particularly tender spot. The talented fingers paused, and then continued, seeming to seek out places to make him moan again. "Mmmm," he hummed, "That feels excellent." His eyes opened and he pouted slightly as Karin pushed his foot off her lap. "Why'd you stop?"
"Moron, give me your other foot." The epithet froze him in place, but he convinced himself to move by telling himself that he was being a moron, and raised his other foot to give to Karin. He let out another groan of pleasure as Karin started working on the new foot, but the 'usuratonkachi' was another mark in the 'Sasuke' column, and when he totaled them both up, he wasn't surprised at the result. Well, as long as I'm jumping to conclusions, I might as well go all the way. He drained the rest of his sake, and then took the plunge.
"Karin-san, do you like tomatoes?"
* * * * (Beware, confusing personal pronouns ahead)
Sasuke wondered if Naruto still thought he was fooling anyone.
After reviewing all the facts, he was about ninety-nine percent certain that Ayame was Naruto in disguise, but he had two unanswered questions: 1) what in kami's name did he think he was doing?, and 2) did he know that the person massaging his feet was, in fact, his old friend Sasuke?
He hadn't been entirely oblivious to Naruto's attempts to discover his whereabouts over the past months. He knew it--could feel it--every time Naruto got close, but he had managed to escape at the last minute every single time. And now here he was, in a town locked down for the night, his team scattered, too drunk to escape effectively. How had he, the youngest Uchiha, come to be in such a tragic (or comical, it was actually kind of funny if it wasn't happening to you) situation?
Shrugging to himself, he looked over at 'Ayame,' and, seeing that her eyes had fallen shut, he freed a hand from massaging her feet and grabbed his bottle of sake, taking a few more long swallows, effectively emptying it and ignoring the burning sensation it caused in his throat and the hum it increased in his veins. He needed all the anesthesia he could get to numb himself to her low moans. In his head, the growl in her voice morphed into the one in Naruto's, and he involuntarily pictured what he could be doing to Naruto to make him make that kind of sound.
Suddenly desperate to break off that line of thought, he dropped Ayame's foot. When Ayame met his eyes, protesting, the confusion written plain across her face was identical to Naruto's whenever Kakashi-sensei or Sakura tried to explain anything at all to him.
"Moron, give me your other foot." It just slipped out. Well, shit. If he had still had a cover he had now effectively blown it. Not even Naruto could ignore being called a moron by a total stranger. As he kneaded Ayame's other foot he watched the assurance dawn slowly in the dark eyes that should definitely be a brighter shade of blue. He tensed, wondering if he could possible escape as she finished her sake, then opened her mouth to accuse him of being a traitor to the village, to declare that she would drag him back home after breaking every bone in his body, that she would take him back to her room and let him fuck her into the wall . . . Wait, what? Shut up, brain!
"Karin-san, do you like tomatoes?" Well, he certainly hadn't been expecting that, but he couldn't help replying. It felt like his brain had finally disconnected from his mouth, which set off warning bells in his head, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Sure, they're my favorite," he replied. Then, he giggled. Giggled! He was mortified! He had never giggled in his entire life! What was wrong with him?
Suppressing that part of his brain, a task that seemed conspicuously easy, he asked Ayame the question of a lifetime: "Ayame-san, you like ramen, right?"
The huge grin that spread across that seemingly icy and remote face was a little lopsided and completely out of place, but Sasuke felt he had never in his life been more glad to see a facial expression. It was pure Naruto, and he was shocked to discover how much he had missed it.
Swinging the foot out of his lap, 'Ayame' just kept grinning at him. Had he been sober, Sasuke would have realized that Naruto was gathering his chakra for a transport jutsu, but as it was he was utterly surprised when Naruto threw himself at Sasuke with a yell, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his face into Sasuke's shoulder before both of them disappeared with a poof into a cloud of smoke and whirling leaves.
When Sasuke could sense his surroundings again, the first thing he noticed was a lack of a stool to sit on, which caused him to fall to the floor with a thump that jarred him, even with his well-cushioned behind. It also apparently jarred his lap's occupant, who spoke an indignant 'oof!' into his shoulder.
After that, Sasuke's sluggish brain kicked in, registering the dingy little room with a single window and a single door, and walls that seemed solid, as opposed to the higher-quality place where he had left his team, where the walls were made of elegant, if flimsy, paper and wood. He made a mental note that he muzzily acknowledged he probably wouldn't remember in the morning to insist on staying in more solid hotels in the future.
The essentials having been taken care of, Sasuke looked down at the head of ebony hair connected to arms that still grasped him tightly but not unpleasantly around his middle. He hesitated, unsure if he should put his arms around Ayame as well, but then he got a better idea. He put his hands together to form a seal above her head, and then spoke gently.
"Ne, Ayame-san?" When she looked up at him, onyx eyes shadowed by the mask she had never taken off and red spots beginning to appear high on her cheeks as the alcohol took effect, he said, "Kai," dispelling her jutsu and leaving him with a lap full of rumpled and startled Naruto, clad in boxers and an undershirt. Sasuke had never in his life been gladder to see those blue eyes.
Now that he was confronted with Naruto's true form, he knew exactly what to do with his hands. He placed them on either side of Naruto's face, lightly tracing the whisker marks with his thumbs, before lowering his face to Naruto's and pressing their lips together. For a moment, Naruto participated, surging forward and moving his lips against Sasuke's, but then he growled deep in his throat, the noise Sasuke had been imagining all night, and pulled back.
Biting his lip with determination, without slackening his grip around Sasuke's chest, Naruto apparently formed the correct hand seal behind Sasuke's back and spoke the word of release. Sasuke felt lighter all over, as the heavy hair and heavier breasts and hips vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving him dressed only in the boxers he'd planned on wearing to bed before he'd gotten the brilliant idea to go explore the festival.
He had a brief second to look over Naruto again, at the rumpled golden spikes and tan skin, before he was shoved backwards and pressed into the floor as Naruto's hands went to his shoulders and Naruto's mouth went back to his own.
This time he did put his arms around Naruto, not just to hold, but to roam up and down Naruto's back, running over the defined muscles and pressing him as close as he possibly could as they attacked each other's mouths. Irrationally disturbed by the feel of fabric where there should have been skin, Sasuke tugged at Naruto's shirt, pulling upward until they had to separate their lips in order for it to come off over the blonde's head.
For a few seconds they stared at each other, panting slightly, and Sasuke felt the rush of emotions he usually kept locked in that vault with his naughty thoughts, released from captivity by alcohol and proximity, and he wanted Naruto, so much that he thought his heart would burst, so much that he briefly considered letting Naruto drag him back to Konoha. For a few glorious seconds he allowed himself the thought, and then he transformed that thought into a hope, another goal to work toward. Then he couldn't stand the distance any longer and launched himself upward at Naruto again, throwing him over backward so that he was now looking down into those sparking blue eyes.
"Na-," he started to say, but was silenced by a hand covering his mouth, and the blue eyes sparkled even more than they had a second ago before a tear escaped one and slid over the side of Naruto's face to disappear into his golden hair.
"Don't say it. If you don't, this can be like a dream, and I won't have to think about getting up tomorrow and going back to the village empty-handed, only to leave it again to keep searching for you for the day after and the day after that. Let me enjoy this for now. Bring reality into it later," the blonde said, with a catch in his throaty voice. "I'm just so happy to see you," he added with a watery smile, then, "Teme," as an afterthought.
Sasuke was shocked. Such depth of feeling from the perpetually happy boy was so thoroughly unexpected that he was frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do. Then, deciding to wing it, he pulled the hand over his mouth away, pressed it to his lips, and then kissed the tears out of Naruto's closed eyes. "Of course. But I'm allowing very few requests, so use them wisely." The sapphire eyes shot wide again in surprise, and Sasuke smirked, adding "Dobe."
The grin came back to Naruto's face, and his hands shot around Sasuke's neck and pulled him back down. Their tongues twined together sloppily, and their legs tangled as each tried to get leverage over the other. Mustering focus, Sasuke sent his hands to explore the broad expanse of Naruto's chest, trailing over bumps and valleys, eliciting the kind of noises he had hoped for while massaging "Ayame"'s feet.
When he absolutely could not stand the drool running over his chin for a second longer, he broke the kiss and sat back, straddling Naruto's hips and wiping his face on the back of his hand, chest heaving as his lungs tried to make up for lost breathing time.
Speaking of making up for lost time, he found himself transfixed by the sight of the mostly-naked teen between his knees, whom he'd been away from for far too long. He knew he was staring, but he couldn't help it. That smooth tan chest, heaving up and down, those disheveled golden spikes, those blue, blue eyes he wanted to jump into and swim around in . . . he idly traced his hands over Naruto's chest, tactilely mapping it to store in his memory, to recall when his other goal seemed out of reach.
The sake in his system was urging him to remove their remaining clothing and make some even more detailed memories, but he was fairly certain he'd heard somewhere that alcohol lied to you. Or maybe it was people that lied and alcohol told the truth? Or maybe that alcohol made you lie? Whatever. He still needed some goal, some incentive to return to Konoha after he defeated Itachi, so he told the sake-voice to shove it and returned to kissing the one person who made him human.
* * * *
Naruto strode through the confetti-littered streets of Konoha on his way to turn his mission report in to the old hag. Around him, people were sweeping the street, scrubbing decorations off windows, dismantling booths, generally recovering from the gaiety of the festival. Many of them smiled at him as he passed, a few scowled and muttered angrily to the people next to them, but at least no one threw anything. It was pretty standard, these days. He waved to the friendlier-looking ones.
"Naruto!" He turned toward the sound of his name, and his eyes picked out the pink hair of his best female friend as she ran toward him down the street, followed by a few other members of the Konoha 12. "We missed you at the festival last night. Couldn't you have made it back faster? There were fireworks and everything! Plus, we all think Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama got drunk and slept together last night, so we're headed over to Hokage Tower to see if we can nonchalantly figure out details!"
Naruto laughed, hold his hands up in surrender. "I'm headed over there, too, so I might as well join you. So, you all had fun last night? Eh, Sakura-chan? You and Fuzzy Brows?" He laughed harder as he ducked her half-hearted punch at his head.
She opened her mouth to retaliate but her attention seemed to be caught by something else. "Naruto, what are those bruises? Did you have trouble on the mission?"
Naruto tried his best not to blush, replacing the scarf that had fallen away from his neck during his dodging maneuver. "I'm fine. Those are nothing, nothing at all. So, were the fireworks good?" His feeble attempt to change the subject went completely unnoticed as Kiba slid forward and grabbed the scarf, pulling it off and revealing the multiple blotches in various colors, shapes, and sizes that decorated Naruto's neck and disappeared under his shirt.
"Hot damn, Naruto, you were someone's bitch last night, weren't you? No wonder you didn't make it home for the festival."
"Shut it, dog-boy, I was not. Besides, how do we know Hinata didn't top you last night? Why don't you take off that hooded jacket and let us see the pretty fireworks?"
Red exploded into Kiba's cheeks, and the good-natured bickering continued as they made their way down the street to the red tower that dominated the city. Naruto looked at his friends, glad to be home, treasuring the knowledge that some day, Sasuke would be there, too.
* * * *
Making sure his robe was tied securely around his waist, Sasuke knocked on the door to his team's room before entering; it wouldn't be a good idea to surprise groggy ninja. He and Naruto had passed out in each other's arms, but he had woken himself a little before dawn, reluctantly extracted himself from the blonde's arms and gathered his chakra to transport back to his room.
The alcohol was still circulating in his bloodstream, so it had taken him a second to realize that he was wearing an incriminating amount of clothing, plus he was sweaty and his hair was a mess and he stank of sake. Altering his intended destination, he had leaned down to kiss Naruto on the forehead a final time, his mouth turning up at the corners as Naruto smiled in his sleep at the contact, and then vanished in a swirl of smoke.
After reappearing in his hotel's bath house, he had soaked away any traces of the night's activities, concentrating on rebuilding his mental barriers to lock away his human side, drinking as much water as he could hold to avert the massive hangover he was already beginning to feel. Then, he had taken a complimentary robe from a rack and made his way back to his room, unsure what he would find there.
As the door swung open, he was confronted with his team in various states of undress but all in full readiness to stave off an enemy attack.
"Oh, it's just you," Suigetsu said, sounding disappointed, before putting his sword on the ground and continuing to fasten the pants he had apparently been in the middle of putting on.
"Don't say it like that!" Karin screeched, causing the other three in the room to wince. "Sasuke-kun, we were so worried! We all got back to the room late and you weren't here!"
Ignoring Karin's hinted question and Suigetsu's suddenly interested expression, Sasuke walked to his pile of things and began to pull on his clothes. When he was dressed, he turned to his team and asked, "What did you get out of your source, Karin? Where are we headed next?"
He kept all emotion from his voice, a feat he had perfected over the years, but he was almost unable to keep his features schooled to stoicism when Juugo interjected, "Karin's source gave us a general location to head toward, but . . . Sasuke, are those whiskers on your face?"