Chapter Two
Persuasions and Explanations
Sasuke caught up to Naruto just as he was running out the glass office doors.
It was raining now, but there were no cabs in sight. Sasuke walked up to stand beside the blonde, both of them getting soaked on the city sidewalk. He looked Naruto up and down as he stood there, searching almost desperately for a cab.
The man had yellow-gold hair, like corn but somehow brighter, that stood up in natural spikes that complemented his vibrant style. Underneath the garish orange trench coat was a cerulean blue wife-beater that complemented eyes of the same shade and loose slacks that were a slightly less jarring shade of orange than his coat. Sasuke stared at his face for a moment, admiring Naruto's looks, and then noticed something odd. It looked almost as if a layer of Naruto's skin was melting off.
"Hey," Sasuke smudged a quick finger down Naruto's cheek and then frowned at his fingertip. "What are you wearing make-up for?"
Naruto scowled at him for invading his personal space and then rubbed his palms over both cheeks, using the rainwater to wash off the cover-up. When he brought his hands down, there were three whisker-like scars on either side of his face.
"…I don't like it when people stare at the marks." Naruto looked back at the streets, embarrassed.
"Woah…how did you get those?" Personally, Sasuke thought that the scars made Naruto look even better, but…
"I was born with them."
…But there's no hiding a childhood trauma. Naruto must have gotten a lot of rag because of those…birthmarks.
"Oh. Well, I think they look pretty cool." Sasuke gave Naruto a small smile.
Naruto sneezed.
"Hey, you're gonna catch a cold if you keep standing in the rain." Sasuke frowned. "How about we take my car down to a café?"
Naruto dragged his fingers through his sopping hair, getting his wet bangs out of his face. "I don't know if I can trust that you won't try to get me back in there." He glanced back at the studio doors with an almost comical aversion; Sasuke held back a smirk at the action.
"Tch, I won't. I'll even treat you to coffee and a muffin. What do you say?"
--
"So why were you so freaked when you found out?" The two men sat at a small round table in a small café—it just so happened to be Sasuke's favorite.
Naruto sipped at his coffee and fixed Sasuke with an I-can't-believe-you-just-asked-that look.
"I mean," Sasuke rushed to explain, slightly flustered. "Once you get started, you kinda forget about the cameras."
Naruto flushed and set down his coffee, frowning.
"I wasn't upset about having sex in front of cameras," He said quietly, wary of the people around them hearing. "It's just that I've never…"
"Never what?" Sasuke's eyes widened as Naruto's blush deepened until he began to resemble a tomato. "No. No way. You are not a virgin in this century, at your age!"
"I'm only 18, teme!" Naruto crossed his arms defiantly, shoving down his instinct to bury his head in his hands in embarrassment.
Sasuke sighed, brushing his bangs away from his face. Then he smiled enigmatically at the blonde and leaned towards him across the table. "If you'd like, I can take care of that virginity problem of yours…off camera, in private…" Naruto's eyes widened and he froze in shock. "I promise to be extra-sweet, since it'll be your first time."
For a moment Naruto could only stare at him, stunned. And then he got angry.
Sasuke swallowed and leaned back as he watched Naruto's thoughts in his eyes. He got the feeling that Naruto was considering crushing his bones, smashing his face in, and cutting off vital parts of Sasuke's body.
He was remarkably close to the truth.
Lucky for aforementioned body parts, Naruto had recently been working on controlling his anger. So, instead of doing all the things he wanted to do to Sasuke, he silently stood and walked out of the café. He decided that he'd rather wait in the rain for a nonexistent cab than stay in the same café with Sasuke.
After a moment, Sasuke ran after him. "Are you insane, dobe?! You're gonna get sick!"
"I just want to get home." A car sped by, splashing Naruto and soaking him to the bone. Sasuke bit his lip as he saw that Naruto was literally trembling with repressed anger.
"How far is your home from here?" Sasuke flinched as Naruto shot him with a venomous glare. "Look, I'm sorry; it was pretentious of me and I'll never ever EVER do it again, but if you keep waiting around in the rain you're gonna get pneumonia or something!" Sasuke bit his bottom lip again and gave Naruto his best attempt at an innocent, adorable look. "So please, let me drive you home?"
Naruto sighed in defeat. "Fine."
"Great, how far is it from here?" Naruto frowned as Sasuke's face lit up with a mixture of joy and relief.
"I don't know, maybe a two hour drive?" Sasuke immediately scowled at that answer.
"Tch, like I'm gonna let you wait that long to get dry." And with that, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and began dragging Naruto to his car.
"WHAT THE HELL—ARE YOU KIDNAPPING ME?"
"No, dumbass."
"RAPE! MURDER! POLICE!"
"Shut up, you're showing off your stupidity." Naruto's jaw clenched in anger at the insult. What had happened to the sweet guy that kept insulting him on accident? Now Sasuke was doing it on purpose! "My house is five minutes from here, you can warm up, take a shower, whatever. Once the rain stops, I'll take you home."
Naruto was going to argue, say he could catch a cab home, but then he noticed that his teeth were chattering. So, he reluctantly agreed by getting into the passenger side of Sasuke's small black car. A shower to warm up would be a good thing, and the sooner the better, right?
--
Sasuke sat on his couch staring out the wall-window at the falling rain. Naruto was taking a shower now, and then he'd come out in the white silk pajamas that Sasuke had set out for him.
Sasuke sighed and listened to the rain patter against the window.
Naruto sat down beside Sasuke in the pj's he was given and the soft cushions sank slightly under his weight. His hair was still damp, made a darker gold from the water, and he ran his fingers through it. They watched the rain silently for a few moments, and then Naruto spoke.
"Thanks for letting me take a shower."
"Hn. I put your clothes in the dryer. They should be done in a few minutes."
Silence reigned again, and the sound of thunder drowned out the rain's pattering.
"Sex really is no big deal for you, is it?" Sasuke blinked and glanced at Naruto. His face was carefully blank, and his voice had been clear of any anger, so Sasuke decided to answer truthfully.
"No, not really." Naruto sighed, expecting that answer.
"Then what is?" Sasuke stared at the blonde, waiting until the cerulean eyes met his before answering.
"Kissing." Sasuke scowled as Naruto snorted, disbelief stamped on his face. "No, really. When you kiss for real, your soul touches the person you're kissing. You open yourself to emotional attachment and, because of that, make yourself vulnerable to that one person. When you give someone a real kiss, a true kiss, you're putting your heart in their hands." Sasuke froze as he realized that he had begun preaching his over-romanticized ideals again, and wove his fingers together, looking down at his lap. "At least, that's what I think."
Naruto said nothing. After a long moment of silence, Sasuke risked looking up at his face.
The blonde was just staring at him, shaken and moved by his words, wonder shining in his eyes. He was open, under the spell of Sasuke's passion. It was a one-time-only chance, and Sasuke took it.
He licked his lips and cautiously touched his right hand to Naruto's cheek, swallowing as the blonde unconsciously leaned forward. "You've been kissed before, haven't you?" Naruto nodded once and Sasuke moved so that their noses were almost touching. "Would you like to see what I mean?" Naruto nodded again and Sasuke smiled.
Naruto closed his eyes when he felt Sasuke's lips against his own, letting himself drown in the sensation.
It was just a kiss, right? No big deal…
But it was a big deal to Sasuke. Because Sasuke only kissed people he really liked, and he had never liked anyone as fast as he had Naruto.
Naruto didn't like the persona that Sasuke put on, responding better to when he acted like himself, and Sasuke liked that about Naruto.
Sasuke also liked Naruto's taste, which reminded him of hot summer nights and sweet iced tea.
Sasuke brushed his left hand down Naruto's neck, causing him to shiver slightly.
After a few long moments basking in heaven, Sasuke pulled away, remembering that Naruto was still a virgin, and would probably not react well to Sasuke using his charms to get him into bed. The rain had stopped falling, and it was very quiet, with only their breathing sounding in the room.
"It's…its very late, Naruto." Sasuke looked into the blonde's eyes pleadingly. "You should stay here tonight."
Naruto gazed into Sasuke's pitch black eyes and knew that the pale man was not going to allow him to leave that night.
"Fine." He said quietly. "But I'm sleeping on the couch."