Naruto laid his head back against the edge of the tub, arms bent over the sides to keep himself up as he relaxed in the heated water. The steam seemed comforting to his self inflicted wounds from excessive chakra use.
"Tch," he directed to himself, laying back with a folded hand towel at his forehead.
He was the strongest ninja in the village, or in all of the nations to be brutally honest. The strongest, without argument… if he disregarded Sasuke.
Sasuke. They had fought a final battle, but it took a while to clear the air with the village, to explain that Sasuke was not, in fact, a traitor. Now that the true nature of the transgressions of the ANBU under Danzou and The Council were clear, the village was at peace. There was only one thing missing.
Sasuke. Naruto let his posture become rigid, despite his seated position, and subconsciously tightened the muscles in his forearms, balling his hands into fists before letting out a sigh that relaxed himself and staring at the tiles on the ceiling of his new place.
He had won their last fight, though he hesitated to call it a win considering he had slipped unconscious mere seconds after Sasuke. The corner of his mouth curled into a reminiscent smile, remembering how peaceful Sasuke had looked in that five-second moment, after coming at him with the full intent to kill. His hands resumed the fisted motion.
He couldn't rightfully claim he won. Sure, he had managed to keep his eyes open longer, but it wasn't a staring contest. To make matters worse, the medic ninjas had placed them both on stretchers and healed them enough to replenish their energy before reaching Konoha.
He let out a low sigh that disrupted the trail of steam headed above him. No one blamed them. If the medics had waited to get to the Fire Nation Naruto and Sasuke would have died. But…
Sasuke had regained consciousness hours before he did, and by the time he woke up, the raven head was long gone, and several tactical units had been under the effects of a mild genjutsu.
Hours, the tense blonde thought to himself, taking a moment to breathe in the humid air and breathe out the sulking atmosphere in his lungs, opening his eyes as droplets of water dripped from the ceiling, passing his hazed blue eyes, onto his cheeks, sliding down individual whiskers on either side. Where are you… Sasuke?
He abruptly stood from the tub and reached over to get his towel as he placed the hand towel on the sink. Six. Six months and he still had no lead on Sasuke. Nothing at all. How was that possible? He had aided in the war. Surely every ninja alive remembered that pale skin, those piercing onyx black eyes, and the trademark raven hair; not to mention the signature crimson red sharing an of the Uchiha clan. He dried over his biceps and lazily trailed the edges of the towel to his face, his neck, abdomen, and finally his private area.
The towel was clean, but new, and failed to provide the same smoothness as a broken-in towel. The less-than-smooth-to-the-touch towel brush quickly against his sensitive heated skin and the distracted blonde snapped into reality, forcing the dazed image of the bright red eyes of the last surviving Uchiha out of his mind, as he looked down at his eminent hard on.
Did I just…? No. Naruto resisted the urge to drench himself in cold water. There was definitely no way the thought of his teammate, his male teammate, had caused him to get hard. It was the steam in his bathroom, and the fact that he had been so busy restoring the town under Tsunade-sama's instruction, and tackling any lead on Sasuke's location to actually pursue any relationship.
Sasuke had become the center of his life and simultaneously the one person he was missing. Naruto's mind drifted back to the time he stood before a tear-soaked Sakura, the words, "I'll definitely bring him back," spewing from his mouth. He still hadn't made good on his words, not that Sakura was concerned anymore.
After the war, she realized Sasuke might never really care for her, and she had started dating different people. Naruto's eyes lit up. Sakura-chan! That had to be it. His failure to bring back Sasuke made him think of Sakura! He let out a breath of air suddenly, surprised at how he hadn't realized he had been holding it in all this time. He smiled.
Sakura-chan. I'll bring him back for sure! His smile grew even more until the image of Sakura hugging Sasuke at the hospital when he woke up after his first fight with Itachi back then forced his smile to falter. He looked down at his penis, standing proud between his legs as he leaned against the sink. Sakura would end up with Sasuke, huh. He felt a pang of jealousy and thought back to those onyx, switching red eyes, feeling his penis twitch in response.
Surely he was jealous because of his one-sided attraction to Sakura… yeah, definitely, not his attraction for Sas… He turned toward the sink and turned it on, throwing cold water into his face. He was NOT attracted to Sasuke.
He threw the towel over his shoulder and walked out of the restroom into his kitchen. He open the refrigerator and jumped at the sound of an all too familiar voice. "Hey, Naru…to," the voice trailed off as Sakura noticed the exposed shaft, and proceeded to shield her eyes and turn in shock.
"Sakura-chan! Wait, no." He quickly tired the towel down from over his shoulder and covered himself.
Sakura asked quietly if he had covered himself to which he responded yes, and soon enough the routine, "SHANNARO!" echoed in the room as Sakura landed a roundhouse kick at his jaw.
Naruto's face, now bruised, uttered, "Gomen, Sakura-chan," sounding incredibly sarcastic, seeing as it was HIS place she had barged into. He stood up. "What are you doing here?"
Her mouth opened slightly, as if trying to find the words, but holding back as she raised her fist to her own shoulder, unsure of what to say. The Jinchuuriki recognized the worry in her eyes from previous encounters, all involving Sasuke. Still, he held back too many questions, not wanting to get his hopes up, yet again.
"Nani?" he asked, quietly probing. She looked up at him, concerned, and then, determined to get it over with.
"Sasuke came back this morning." The emotionless tone made her lack of obsession toward him seem obvious now, but Naruto took no notice of it, rushing forward grabbing her arms.
"Where is he? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why—."
She cut him off before the stream of incessant questions could go on. "I was just told to give you the news. He's in the hospital. They said he won't speak to anyone but you." The news struck at the future Hokage like hail on bare skin in summer, feeling refreshing and painful all at once. His stared at Sakura, who was there in front of him and not Sasuke, and his painful thought process kept his hands clenched around her wrists, allowing the towel to slip from his hips and onto the floor. The rough material of the slipping fabric caused him to look down and become shocked just as Sakura yelled the routine "SHANNARO!" and landed a straight chakra-infused blow to his head during his distraction. His body slammed through 9 different walls of apartments as Sakura widened her eyes in apologetic regret and he fell unconscious. His last frightened thought: I went limp when Sakura came into the room.