Somehow, I managed to update. I'm not sure what you were expecting, but I'm pretty sure this chapter wasn't it. Well, don't worry, there's a third chapter coming up... ;)
Sorry for the delay, I've been struggling with writer's block and school and stuff, it's been pretty frustrating. It's better now, I hope. Seriously though, writing takes so much time for me nowadays. That's why I usually make chapters half the size of the ones in this story... and that's also why I had to cut this chapter into two, because I thought of a lot of stuff I wanted to add that I wasn't planning on before.
Oh well, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter two
Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples and thinking she was way too hung over for Naruto and Sasuke to get sent into her office on a Monday, when they were there just last Friday.
"Do you know why you're here?" she asked tiredly, looking first at Naruto fidgeting in his seat while staring down at the floor, then at Sasuke who glared at her desk. "Because I certainly don't."
Neither of the boys answered her, and she tapped a finger against her arm wondering why the usual 'It was his fault!' wasn't coming out of the blond's mouth.
"I'm waiting" she continued, narrowing her eyes. "Kakashi saw you together at lunch looking 'suspicious and disheveled' as he put it, and I'd very much like to know why."
"That pervert should mind his own damn business!" Naruto exclaimed, but quickly caught himself and went back to staring stubbornly at the floor, ignoring Tsunade's raised eyebrows.
"I'm afraid anything the two of you do together is everyone's business, Naruto" she gritted out, finger stilling as she turned to Sasuke instead.
"Sasuke, do you have anything to say?"
"Not really" Sasuke mumbled, straight and stiff in his seat as opposed to Naruto's slumped and sulking posture.
Tsunade sighed again, but when she spoke her tone was hard.
"Well, it doesn't matter what you were doing, because you won't be able to do it again."
At this both boys looked up at her, surprised and a little wary. She placed her hands clasped in front of her, leaning over the desk, brown eyes daring them to interrupt her words.
"The headmaster, me, and your parents have made a decision, since you apparently refuse to mature and stop this silly fighting. I was going to tell you this the next time you were sent in for fighting, but I guess getting each other into some other kind of trouble counts as well."
Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but changed his mind when Tsunade glared at him more seriously than usual.
"From now on you're forbidden to interact with each other, both inside and outside of school. That means no fighting, no talking, nothing. Since we can't put you in different classes, you'll at least be separated during gym class. If anyone catches you fighting…" she trailed off, boring her eyes into each of them to make sure she came through to them, "the one starting the fight will be held back a year."
"What?!" they shouted, Naruto outraged and Sasuke seething.
"Don't think we're not serious about this!" Tsunade shot back, standing up and smacking her palms onto the tabletop. "You two think you can act however you want with no consequences, and Sarutobi has been way too lenient with you, saying 'boys will be boys' all the time and I'm sick of it. Enough is enough, you hear me?! Don't even think about getting away with it the next time something happens. You'll also be taking anger management classes, your parents will tell you more about those."
She clenched her hands, fingertips pressing into the wood as they slid over it, radiating poorly contained anger. Naruto was gaping like a fish, and Sasuke was at a loss for words. He felt as if someone had just punched the air out of his lungs, and now he was desperately trying to breathe again.
"But you can't-"
Tsunade slammed her fist down, the murderous look in her eyes causing Naruto to almost squeak and shrink back into his seat.
"This deal holds until graduation, try to use the time to think through your actions and grow up a little. You're eighteen, not kids in a sandbox. Now get out of here, and make sure you stay separated!"
Sasuke left the office in a haze, walking a few steps behind Naruto on their way to their lockers. Graduation was three months away. Just as things were going to solve themselves, something like this had to happen. He was so stupid. If he just hadn't acted like a complete douche the first day of school… He gritted his teeth, thinking dark thoughts and cursing himself as he gathered up his things and headed for French class. He didn't feel like going, in fact, he felt pretty sick, not to mention hungry since the lunch was just shit today.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he almost dropped it when he saw that the message was from none other than Naruto. Quickly glancing around to make sure no one was watching him, as if he was some kind of criminal now, he scanned through the contents of the message.
This fucking sucks! I hate French if I can't sit with you I'm totally not going. The old hag can go to hell! She didn't even listen!
Are you sure texting doesn't count as interacting? Sasuke typed back, ignoring the butterflies in his suddenly not-as-sick stomach at the thought of Naruto wanting to sit next to him that much.
Who cares! But she said if they caught us fighting right? I'm gonna text you anyway you can just not answer if you're scared.
Sasuke frowned, thinking over Tsunade's words. He wasn't sure texting didn't count, but on the other hand he doubted they were going to search through their phones. That at least had to be illegal.
I'm not scared, I'm angry he answered, then put his phone back into his pocket before entering the classroom, mumbling an excuse for being late.
"In French, please" the teacher said sternly, and he wished he'd skipped the lesson as well.
xxx
When Itachi got the call from his mother, he was sadly forced to put all his nice plans for the weekend on hold. Well, his brother always came first, but it wouldn't be the first time Mikoto had overreacted to Sasuke's sulky behavior. He had to admit that not talking at all, as well as shutting himself into his room every second he wasn't forced to eat or use the bathroom, did sound rather suspicious though.
Normally, Itachi wouldn't have been too worried, but considering what he'd just started for his little brother's benefit, there just might be something of major concern going on here.
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry you had to cancel everything, but I'm honestly worried about Sasuke. I think he's really mad at us, and I can't understand why."
Itachi returned his mother's hug, close to rolling his eyes. As if their mother had even understood Itachi during his teenage years, which shouldn't have been so difficult considering his maturity level compared to Sasuke's.
"I'll see what I can do" he replied, his reassurance seeming to have a calming effect.
"Thank you. It's just strange, you'd think he'd be happy that he'll finally be left alone by that troublesome Naruto."
Itachi blinked, wondering what he'd missed here. He shrugged, patting Mikoto's shoulder a few times before making his way over to Sasuke's room instead, figuring he'd get better answers there. Inside, he found his little brother scrambling into a sitting position, phone at the edge of his bed as if he'd just thrown it there. When he saw it was Itachi, his eyes narrowed and his lips curled upwards into an almost snarl.
"You're so dead" Sasuke hissed, but Itachi simply smiled at him and made himself comfortable on the bed.
"Considering I'm your only ally in this, I wouldn't be so quick to throw threats around."
Sasuke stubbornly turned his head, arms crossed, and Itachi used the opportunity to snatch up the lonely phone just in time to read the message popping up on the screen.
…or rather, the snapchat of what had to be Naruto, the tan blond making a funny kissy face.
"'I'd kiss you even if you were a frog'?" Itachi quoted, holding the phone up in the air when Sasuke launched himself at him.
"Give that back! And stop reading my messages, dammit! I hate you so much!"
"Oh please, you wouldn't be getting kissy faces if it weren't for me" Itachi countered with, pushing Sasuke's face away as he wriggled around to try and reach his phone.
A low growl escaped Sasuke, and Itachi had to rein himself in. Grinning too wide wouldn't help him in this situation, no matter how hilarious it would be to keep taunting Sasuke. Dropping the phone behind Sasuke he corrected his shirt, crossing his legs comfortably.
"Alright" he started, lips twitching when Sasuke scooted as far away from him as possible on the narrow bed. "Tell me what's going on now. There's clearly nothing wrong between you and your boyfriend, but mother said something about how you should be happy you don't have to see him again?"
"It's so fucking unfair" Sasuke gritted out, glaring into empty space. "We finally… and then they say we can't talk until graduation! And we'll get anger management classes!"
Itachi blinked.
"You'll get anger management classes… because you're gay?"
Sasuke stared at him, and for a few seconds all communication was lost between them.
"No, it's because we, umm… a teacher saw us and… well it's because we used to fight a lot before."
Sasuke was fidgeting a little, cheeks reddening and voice just screaming 'awkward'.
"I'm still not entirely following" Itachi admitted, wondering just what was omitted during that 'umm' Sasuke had let out. "You were making out and a teacher caught you? So they think you can't control yourselves or something?"
"No!" Sasuke objected, shaking his head. Before he was able to continue though, his phone buzzed and stole his concentration. "I'll just answer this first" he mumbled.
"Hey, don't ignore me" Itachi complained, but Sasuke just glared at him for a moment before typing away again.
Jeez, how old was Sasuke, thirteen?
"Fine, I'll just ask mother what happened then."
That managed to snap Sasuke's attention back to him, even if he was still glaring.
"We were called in to Tsunade's office last Friday for fighting during gym class, and then again on Monday because that evil Kakashi saw us exiting the restroom, and apparently our parents gave their consent to whoever starting the next fight getting held back a year… and yeah those classes too."
Itachi was silent for a few seconds, then a smirk slowly formed on his face.
"Restroom, huh? And just what were you doing in there?"
Sasuke tensed, looking anywhere but him, causing Itachi to chuckle a little before turning serious again.
"But what's this thing about not talking?"
Sasuke slumped a little, letting out an unhappy sigh.
"It's exactly what it means. We can't talk, or interact, or be seen together. In or outside of school."
"And you're going to stick to that?" Itachi asked, an eyebrow raised. "Sounds pretty boring."
The stare he got wasn't just surprised, it was more like the idea of going against the rules and face possible humiliation horrified his brother, and he'd thought Itachi would agree with him on that.
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"Well, I'm sure you can work around that somehow. You're not being supervised 24/7, are you?"
"Well you think of something then!" Sasuke shouted, frustrated. "This is your fault anyway, if you hadn't started that stupid facebook chat we wouldn't have done that at school, and we wouldn't have been seen and this wouldn't have been an issue!"
"That, huh?" Itachi smirked. "I wonder what that is code for."
Sasuke threw a pillow at him, that he easily caught.
"I don't really agree that it's my fault you did whatever it was in school, but fine. I'll think of something."
After watching him with suspicion for a while, Sasuke went back to his phone conversation with Naruto.
"…did you just take a picture of me?" Itachi asked a few minutes later, frowning a little when Sasuke gave him a 'duh' kind of look.
"Just showing Naruto our doubtful way out of this crap."
Itachi's frown deepened, right up until he thought of the perfect solution.
"Well, how about this? You need someplace to meet, where no one will interrupt you, and you also need a good excuse to go there, right?"
Sasuke hesitantly nodded, and Itachi pushed a few stray strands of hair out of his face, feeling the need for a dramatic flair. There weren't many occasions he was able to watch Sasuke struggle against his pride, after all, and this was going to be fun.
"I know the perfect place."
"Right."
"It even has a bed."
Sasuke gave him the finger, trying to ignore the insinuation in his brother's voice.
"I'm sure your boyfriend would just love something like that."
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"Oh, alright then. I guess that makes the bed even more important, in that case."
By now, Sasuke looked ready to attempt murder, but Itachi held up a hand to calm him down, signaling he was done teasing him. For now.
"I want to meet him, and you have a room in my apartment anyway. Just come over whenever you feel like it."
Ah, yes, this was what Itachi had been waiting for. The moment of gaping shock, the spark of hope followed by the realization that yes, it was the perfect idea except he'd basically be at Itachi's mercy. Sasuke's conflict of emotion was obvious to Itachi, though to someone else he'd probably look as stoic as always. To say he reveled in it might be an exaggeration, but not too far from the truth.
"I don't like it," Sasuke muttered, the rest of his sentence a struggle to get out, "but I guess it's the only way right now."
"Unless you tell everyone."
"Don't you have someone else to bother" Sasuke replied pointedly, the obvious meaning behind it being 'are you an idiot' as well as 'please leave me alone so I can keep texting my boyfriend'.
"Right" Itachi sighed, reluctantly getting up.
So much for trying to help.
"We'll be over on Wednesday!" Sasuke called as he was about to close the door, and when he peeked inside again his brother looked down, rubbing at his thigh in embarrassment. "If it's okay, I mean."
"Yeah, sure" Itachi smiled, closing the door softly behind him.
Sasuke was his adorable little brother, after all.
xxx
"Hey" Naruto said, scratching his neck a little, but smiling all the same.
"…hey" Sasuke answered, hands in pockets and trying to look inconspicuous in the crowd at the subway station.
They'd decided to meet up at the central station, figuring no one would recognize them there, plus it was a good place to meet since they had to switch lines anyway in order to go to Itachi's place.
"It's really nice of your brother to do this" Naruto mumbled, and Sasuke just wanted to punch something to avoid the awkward tension.
Usually he'd punch Naruto, but he figured that might be a bad idea now.
"Yeah, you already said that."
Naruto was squirming a little, looking around the area.
"Is the one in two minutes ours?" he asked, and Sasuke nodded.
Two minutes waiting for it, and then about half an hour to kill before taking a bus for a few minutes in addition.
Not to mention the time they had to spend with Itachi, and alone in Sasuke's room. God, what was he thinking, agreeing to this! He had absolutely no idea what to do or say! And why the hell did Naruto choose this moment to shut up?
Still, it was a good thing Itachi didn't live further away, just on the other side of town. They made some stiff small talk while they waited, wondering why it was harder to talk when you know the other person is interested compared to when you pretend not to like each other at all.
Snatching two seats next to each other, Sasuke felt tense as he stared out the window, Naruto fidgeting to his left. He really, really didn't know what to do. When he felt a buzz in his pocket he almost sighed in relief for the momentary distraction. Picking it up he blinked at the message, glancing to the side to meet Naruto's sheepish grin.
"It just felt awkward to talk…" he mumbled, and Sasuke felt brave enough to smirk a little.
"Nervous, dead last?"
"Bastard! Do you wanna listen or not?"
Sasuke nodded, the suggestion in the text to listen to some music seeming like a good idea in his opinion. Talking in public didn't feel very tempting at all, even minus the awkward. Naruto handed him an earphone, pressing shuffle on his playlist.
"Just tell me if there's a song you don't like."
Sasuke nodded again, fairly sure that if he did that they'd probably end up skipping every song. Naruto relaxed a little in his seat, then glanced around them before giving Sasuke a contemplative look. When Sasuke met his eyes he chuckled nervously, gnawing at his lip in a slightly distracting way. Then he seemed to come to a decision and slid lower in his seat, sending another quick glance in Sasuke's direction before shuffling a little so he could rest his head on Sasuke's shoulder.
At first, Sasuke tensed up, fingers squeezing around his sleeves. When Naruto didn't move he carefully released a breath, trying to force himself to relax. There was no one around who knew them, and it was just a head on a shoulder. They'd done worse after all. By the end of the trip, it was actually comfortable, and Sasuke felt so warm he had to rest his forehead against the cool glass, trying to look like this was a normal occurrence whenever he felt someone's eyes passing over them. Naruto had seemed perfectly at ease after about five minutes, humming and bouncing his knee to the beat.
It was with slight regret that Sasuke nudged the blond just before their stop. Luckily, Naruto seemed to have gotten over his initial shyness and talked animatedly for the rest of the way, up until Itachi opened the door and he turned into a statue.
"Nice to meet you, Naruto" Itachi said, shaking Naruto's nervously stretched out hand.
Naruto nodded a few too many times, and Sasuke just hoped he wouldn't say anything too weird that Itachi could make fun of later.
"And nice to meet you too, baby brother" Itachi continued, pulling him into a hug.
Okay, scratch that, he hoped his stupid brother wouldn't say anything too weird and embarrass him forever in front of Naruto.
"Let me go" he protested into Itachi's shirt, trying to push him away in a not too obvious way.
"Must be nice to have a brother" Naruto grinned, Itachi smirking back at him, and suddenly they couldn't be alone soon enough.
"Yeah, awesome" he answered, voice dripping with sarcasm, hoping Itachi would get the point.
"Sure is, Sasuke used to be so cute, sleeping in my bed until- whoa no hitting, Sasuke!"
Naruto snickered, all tension seemingly disappeared from his body again. Sasuke sent him a warning glare before pushing past his brother, shucking off his shoes and hanging up his coat.
"Well, come on in, it's a little too cold to chat out here" Itachi said, as if he just now realized their breaths came in visible puffs of air around them.
"Thanks for letting us use your apartment!" Naruto grinned, adding a "What?!" when Sasuke tugged impatiently at his jacket.
"Don't worry about it, you're welcome anytime. Just don't be too loud."
If the tension had been dropping before, it was now back to maximum height.
"S-s-s-sure" Naruto squeaked out, feeling Itachi's eyes pierce through him like an ice cold laser beam during his last words, disguised as a smile.
"Mind your own business!" Sasuke hissed at him, grabbing Naruto's arm and dragging the blond further inside.
"You haven't been very polite lately, you know" Itachi pointed out as he calmly followed them, clicking his tongue when Sasuke slammed the door to his room in his face.
"Won't your brother get mad?" Naruto asked as Sasuke let go of him to kick at the door and tell Itachi to get lost.
Sasuke shrugged as Itachi called that if they wanted dinner they'd have to make it themselves.
"You seem a little tense" Naruto continued, unzipping the coat he hadn't had time to take off.
"Oh, really" Sasuke retorted, attempting to sit on the bed but falling back when Naruto pushed him. "What the hell?" he added when Naruto was on all fours above him, staring him down.
"I was just thinking…" Naruto drawled, lifting one hand to push a finger against Sasuke's cheek, "That maybe I should get you to relax a little."
Sasuke swallowed, heart suddenly heavy against his ribs, trying not to look at Naruto crouched above him in such an erotic position.
"I didn't know you could think" he mumbled, a little wild around the eyes as Naruto made an annoyed sound and gripped his chin, lifting it upwards.
"I don't need to think when I-"
"Please take off your shoes at least" Itachi's voice interrupted Naruto's lowered voice, and both teenagers shot up at the sound.
"Knock!" Sasuke said, exasperated, but Itachi just rolled his eyes.
"I was just going to tell you that I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back in an hour or so."
The innocent tone didn't fool Sasuke, and he glared at his brother as he smiled and closed the door again. It was probably payback for kicking at the door, but still!
"Man, your brother can be scary" Naruto whispered, and Sasuke sighed and fell back on the bed again.
While he glared at nothing in particular, muttering about revenge, Naruto used the time to have a look at the room.
"I know you said you had a room here, but I didn't expect it to be so… I don't know, lived in?"
Brought back to the present, Sasuke followed Naruto's line of vision and looked at the posters on the walls, the books in disorder on the shelves, and an assortment of trinkets taking up space.
"I mean, isn't your room at home like, the neatest thing ever?"
Sasuke shrugged and sat up again.
"Itachi doesn't mind if it's a bit messy, and I lived here over Christmas break so I just felt like decorating a bit. Brought some unnecessary stuff from home that I didn't want to get rid of."
Naruto nodded, still curious, but didn't ask anything else. The front door slammed shut, signaling Itachi leaving, and it hit Sasuke that they were completely alone now.
"Do you want to play video games or something?" he asked, not really sure if he wanted Naruto to say yes or no.
"Umm, sure!"
Playing brought some sense of normalcy back, making it feel more like two friends just hanging out. Naruto kept glancing at the clock though, whenever he thought Sasuke didn't notice. To Sasuke, it felt like time was going way too slowly, but also way too fast. He wanted to spend a lot of time with Naruto, but he really hated feeling as if he was just waiting for him to do something. But well, with the way things usually went while they texted, it was Naruto who kept things going, taking it further whenever Sasuke hesitated a little. It was a little frustrating, but it's not as if he could force himself to act different either.
To Sasuke, things like dating had always seemed too annoying, but if this was supposed to be a casual physical thing then he really sucked at that too.
"Hey, Sasuke, I don't mean to push it or something, but do you wanna, like, kiss or…?"
How was it possible that breathing became so difficult because of a simple question?! Sasuke wanted to have more control over his body. He wanted to say something like 'yeah, sure' as if it was no big deal, but instead he clutched the controller in his hand too hard, fumbling for words during a couple of seconds before deciding to just nod instead.
Naruto seemed to think his reaction was a little unenthusiastic, but still shuffled over and leaned towards Sasuke, placing one hand on his knee.
"You kinda look like you don't want to do it" Naruto grimaced, starting to move back but stopping when Sasuke gripped his arm.
"I want to" Sasuke bit out, his glare not really helping his case.
"Ah, umm, ok" Naruto mumbled, licking his lips nervously and leaning in again.
Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to relax but feeling his whole body heat up when Naruto's breath washed over his mouth. This was so much more difficult than that time in school, or that time he was drunk. Maybe he should try getting drunk again.
Naruto's lips brushed against his, and he sucked in a breath. Blinking a few times he could see blue eyes clearly, watching him in concern.
"Are you waiting to grow a beard?" He'd meant to sound more taunting, instead of the tense breath it came out with.
"You're so fucking weird" Naruto answered, laughter in his voice, flashing a small grin when Sasuke frowned. "And so fucking hot" he added, biting his lip, the look in his eyes sending shivers up and down Sasuke's spine.
When Naruto's lips touched his, it felt as if the air whooshed out of his lungs, except he didn't have any air in there and it just felt as if they'd turned inside out. The controller fell forgotten out of his hand, and unconsciously he pulled Naruto closer with the one that held his arm. You'd think that kissing would make your mind go blank, but Sasuke had time to think a million thoughts while they did. How Naruto's lips felt really soft, except when he pressed them together with a little more force and it almost hurt. How Naruto's tongue seemed to burn against his own every time they hesitantly met, how difficult breathing through your nose could be when your whole body feels as if it's boiling over.
When Naruto stopped, Sasuke was in a pleasant daze. He didn't understand why he'd stopped, not until he followed his line of vision to the hallway, where Itachi was busy making noise. Naruto moved back to sit beside him, and Sasuke tried to discreetly wipe some saliva off his mouth with a sleeve, wondering if it was really obvious to Itachi that he'd interrupted something.
"Are you guys hungry?" his brother asked as he appeared from behind the corner, for once acting discreet.
"I thought you said we had to make our own dinner?"
"Yes, but now I was thinking you could make dinner for me as well."
Sasuke glared, feeling his eyes almost strain from glaring too much. So Itachi was only pretending to be nice, as always. He was just about to tell him to starve when Naruto's stomach growled. He glanced at the blond, who was grinning that sheepish grin again, causing Sasuke to sigh.
"Fine" he said, getting up. "It's not like we have better things to do, or anything."
Naruto laughed at that, bumping their shoulders together as he got up as well, and somehow Sasuke didn't feel that annoyed anymore.
xxx
"Dammit Naruto, I can't concentrate when you're doing that!"
"I'm not doing anything! Right, Shika, I'm really not doing anything."
"You keep rolling around on the bed whining! And stop throwing away your phone if you're just gonna throw yourself after it!"
"Calm down, Kiba, I bet he's just constipated or something."
"What the fuck, Chouji!"
"Shut up, Naruto!"
"You shut up, Kiba!"
Shikamaru sighed, thinking it was too troublesome to get up, but even worse if he let it continue.
"Just tell us what's going on" he demanded, everyone in the room falling silent at hearing his raised voice.
"Uuh, nothing, nothing's going on" Naruto hurried to answer, the words almost tumbling over each other. "I mean, why would there be something going on it's not like something happened lately you know I mean I just-"
He stopped rambling when Kiba let out a frustrated noise and kicked his shin, hard enough to make him clutch it with a curse.
"What was that for?!"
"What Kiba tried to say, is that obviously we've noticed something going on for a while and you can either tell us or face the pain."
"You don't have to threaten me!" Naruto pouted, scooting backwards so his legs were safe from Kiba's attacks. "Maybe I don't wanna tell you, you should be nice friends and respect that!"
Four pairs of eyes gave him doubtful looks, even Shino who'd been sitting quietly in a corner ignoring them up until now. By now Shikamaru had reached the bed and sat down next to Naruto, cross-legged and apparently prepared to use force to wring the truth out of his friend.
"Everyone knows how you and Sasuke used to be, and now that you haven't even talked to each other for over a month, it's obvious there's still something bothering you about it."
"I don't know what you mean" Naruto stubbornly said, playing with his phone but quickly putting it in his back pocket when Shikamaru seemed as if he was going to take it from him.
"You look at him almost as often as you look at your phone nowadays" Shino commented, sounding as if he was accusing Naruto of neglecting his friends at the same time.
"It's just a habit!"
"Which one?" Kiba asked.
"Both!"
"Well he did use to check out Uchiha's ass a lot before" Kiba grinned, pretending to dodge when Naruto kicked the air in his general direction. "Ooh so scary, Uzumaki! Almost as scary as your boyfriend!"
Whatever reaction Kiba expected, it sure wasn't Naruto stiffening, his face an angry shade of red as he struggled to form words.
"He's not my boyfriend!" he finally yelled, falling dramatically to the side and groaning into his pillow. "We haven't even gone past kissing yet" he added, lower but still loud enough to be heard by the rest of the room.
Silence fell for a minute, Shikamaru the first to collect himself after the confession.
"I'm not really sure what you see in a guy who keeps beating you up" he sighed, rubbing at his face tiredly.
"He never did that! I totally won every fight!" Naruto growled, pointing at Shikamaru, face still buried in the pillow. "Plus he's a total bottom!"
"I… have trouble believing any of that" Kiba said, shaking his head slowly, eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline.
Turning slightly, Naruto glared at him, but appeared more sulking than angry.
"Well it's like this, okay? I totally wanna do it with him, but he's so tense! It's like he doesn't want me to touch him, but then when I stop he gets mad! Like what the hell am I supposed to do!"
The silence was now fairly heavy in the room, but Naruto seemed completely oblivious.
"And the sexting is really good, so I don't know why we can't just go any further. But it's like, the moment I try to take off his clothes he panics, but in a Sasuke way so he just tenses up and it's like the whole mood just dies."
Still silence, and Naruto glared harder this time.
"Gah! You talk about this kinda stuff about girls all the time! So give me some advice here, you guys are so shitty!"
"Umm…" Kiba started, trying to make his brain work through the shock. "I don't know, have you tried removing that huge stick up his ass?"
"You suck!"
Naruto threw the pillow at Kiba who immediately threw it back, but couldn't help grinning a little. They'd spent too much time coming up with stupid theories to Sasuke's stiff prick-attitude for the reminder not to be funny.
"Jeez man, at least let us get used to this! You spend all of high school talking about how much you hate the guy, and now he's your boyfriend? It's gonna take a couple minutes to sink in."
"I told you he's not my boyfriend. Or do you think he could be? But I don't think he likes me that way. Well Sasuke doesn't really like anything, except he does, I mean he totally loves stuff like tomatoes and boring music and movies that don't even make sense!"
"Naruto, why don't you just tell us everything from the beginning?"
Naruto gave Shikamaru a pained look, but then he started talking. And talking. And talking a little more. Kiba tried to escape by mumbling something about the bathroom, but Chouji grabbed his pants and pulled him back down.
"So we're totally not together but we do things like we're together, I mean yesterday he even wrote a heart in his goodnight text! That has to mean something right? But since I told him I don't like him I bet he thinks I'm just using him for sex! Oh my god! That's it isn't it? I'm a horrible person! He probably hates meeeee- ow!"
"Ooh say it again, it sounded like meow!"
"That hurt you asshole!"
Sensing the imminent fight between Naruto and Kiba, Shikamaru hurried to restrain the blond while Chouji did the same to the brunet.
"It's 'cause you wouldn't shut up about stupid stuff! Who cares about a heart and crap, just ask him if he likes you!"
"But there's no way I can do that!"
"Maybe you could-"Shikamaru started, but was interrupted by Kiba.
"You're a wimp! Man up and tell him your feelings!"
"Oh yeah, because you've told Hinata, right."
"God dammit now you sound like him too!"
"Well he sounds a lot cooler than you at least!"
"NARUTO IF YOU DON'T STOP MAKING SO MUCH NOISE I'LL COME IN THERE AND SMACK YOU SO HARD YOU WISH YOU WERE DOING A PHYSICS FINAL!"
Kushina's strong voice vibrating through the house effectively shut them up, and it took at least three minutes before anyone dared to speak again.
"Are you going to listen to me now?" Shikamaru asked, a little surprised Naruto hadn't shouted back at his mom, but figured it might be because of those anger management lessons he was forced to take.
Kiba nodded eagerly, glancing nervously at the door now and then. Naruto simply groaned and went back to his earlier face-down position.
"When are you going to meet him again?"
"Next Wednesday… I told you we meet once a week at his brother's place."
"Right, then you have almost a week left to figure things out."
"Ugh, figure what out?"
"Your feelings" Shikamaru said, as if it was that simple.
Naruto just gave him a look, but it didn't discourage him.
"Also, it's not about asking him how he feels, with Sasuke it's all about how you ask him."
"When did you become such a Sasuke expert" Naruto muttered.
"Shikamaru is awesome at reading people" Chouji helpfully added, and Naruto sent him a scathing look as well.
"Psssh, but not good enough to know they wanted to get into each other's pants apparently" Kiba laughed, clearing his throat instead when Shikamaru made the effort to give him a disapproving look.
"Aaargh none of this helps! Maybe I should ask Sakura and Ino instead!"
After being met with a doubtful silence, Naruto sighed and rolled onto his back instead.
"Fine, no girl advice then."
"You could talk to your mother."
Naruto turned slowly, looking at Shino with horror, then back up at the ceiling with another long-suffering sigh. His phone buzzed, and it was as if Naruto's listlessness was gone in the millisecond it took him to grab his phone and almost push it into his own face.
"Sasuke?" Kiba asked.
"Sasuke" Shikamaru confirmed.
"Hey, don't read my texts!" Naruto complained, shoving Shikamaru away with a foot.
"Maybe if he reads your texts he'll know what Sasuke feels?" Chouji suggested.
"Yeah, show us your texts!" Kiba chimed in.
"Uuh… sure, I just have to delete 95% of them first…"
Kiba's face got a slightly green shade, and he shuddered at the thought of a certain dark-haired ice-king capable of sending the kind of texts you'd have to delete first.
"On second thought, I hate Sasuke and he hates me, so maybe I should just go home now."
"Yeah go home" Naruto agreed, making a face at him when he lunged for his legs and missed.
When Kiba didn't give up and instead got a hold of one ankle successfully, Naruto started shrieking as he was tickled, up until the time Kushina slammed the door open and he wasn't the only one shrieking.
Manly, of course, always manly.
xxx
Sasuke rarely admitted he was sulking, not even to himself, but today he felt he was allowed to sulk a bit. It was Tuesday, and Naruto had acted weird the past week or so. It made Sasuke think about things he didn't want to think about, namely how incredibly slow their progress was. It was frustrating because fantasies of Naruto occupied his head most nights, but also because he didn't know what was causing it. Sometimes it just felt as if his words didn't get through to Naruto, and they ended up just kissing, barely even touching each other. Well, Sasuke's communication skills had never been great, but right now, with hot water beating over his head, he just wanted to scream to get rid of the feeling that things weren't enough.
And just as Sasuke was starting to think they were doomed, Naruto had started acting weird. Or rather, he wasn't as perverted as usual. Most of their sexting revolved around things like bondage, or getting down and dirty in a teacher's office. To Sasuke, those scenarios just felt unreachable, and maybe now Naruto had realized he was a long way from agreeing to them.
He leaned his head back, letting the water stream from his face down his body, trying to relax. Last Tuesday night he hadn't been able to sleep at all, and Naruto had called him a grumpy bastard. The memory alone was enough to cause a pain in his chest, and he couldn't understand why. Any other time, any other insult from any other person, and he'd scoff at it and forget it five seconds later. But if it was Naruto, saying it moments after it had felt as if they were about to kiss, then Sasuke simply couldn't shake it off. Little things had started haunting him, making him think that there were probably a lot of things wrong with him.
Was he grumpy? Probably, especially while short on sleep.
Was he a bastard? Not technically, but he wasn't the easiest to hang out with.
He just wished he could act like Naruto made him while they texted, if he could just relax and let Naruto use his body as he pleased…
Once again he was reminded of Naruto's lack of perverted suggestions lately. Instead, they'd talked more about everyday stuff, which wasn't bad but perhaps a little worrisome. If this was supposed to be just a casual thing, was Naruto giving up on their progress? And if it wasn't, then what did it mean?
He rubbed his chest, gritting his teeth at the now familiar squeeze he felt there. He didn't know what to do, and it bothered him that it bothered him. Shampooing his hair instead he tried to think of something else, but he was fooling himself if he thought that would be possible. Naruto was constantly on his mind, and he received every 'first' text with an almost nauseated kind of excited anticipation. Sometimes it would be the start of a sexual conversation, sometimes it was just complaining about the lesson they were at. And sometimes, there were messages that made Sasuke's stomach tingle and his body feel feverish, every word forcing him to carefully read it over and over again.
A week ago, Sasuke had dared to send a heart back. He'd been way too nervous before sending it, but Naruto hadn't seemed to take notice of it. He wasn't sure what to think of that. Any feelings of disappointment had been silenced, and Sasuke spent the whole next day debating over whether or not to send one again. Maybe he was going crazy. He felt crazy. He'd spend a week imagining the dirty things he and Naruto would do together, only to freak out whenever they met. It hurt his pride, messed with his sleep and came close to messing with his grades as well.
Realizing he'd been staring at the tap, lost in thought, he blinked and rubbed at his cheeks, slapping them lightly. Even while thinking of depressing things, the fact that they were about Naruto was enough to cause a reaction in his groin. Naruto had been watching him a lot, too. They weren't allowed to be on the same teams or doing exercises close to each other during gym, but that just gave them more opportunity to watch each other, and Sasuke felt as if Naruto's eyes scorched the back of his body whenever he turned around. There was a certain look in those blue eyes whenever their gazes met, even in the classroom. It was the kind of look that made Sasuke suspect that Naruto was thinking of them alone together.
Like always, a heat spread through Sasuke's body as visions of Naruto watching him up close instead flashed through his mind. The way Naruto would breathe against his mouth, eyelashes caressing his jaw when he kissed his neck… Sasuke's hand slid down his wet chest, lungs working harder, heart speeding up as he reached his length and squeezed it, the pad of his thumb circling the tip. How was it possible to want someone so much, to want someone to touch every part of your body, so much that nothing else could make you feel as good?
And yet, even though he pleasured himself imagining Naruto's warmth pressed against his body, the real Naruto's body felt too hot, too much for him to take. His forehead leaned against the cool tiles, legs a little spread as his fingers slowly moved down the small of his back, the other hand stroking, gripping his cock harshly only to tease it with feather light touches a moment later.
His heartbeat was loud in his ears as one fingertip found puckered skin, brushing over it curiously before slipping inside. It was tight and warm, and he choked on a moan at the thought of Naruto touching him there. If he could let Naruto inside, if he could let him move in and out just like his finger did now, if only he could do it…
He pushed another finger inside, eager and desperate to lose himself in the pleasure, pushing and pulling against the tightness, his breaths adding to the fog already in the shower. He was so hard, imagining Naruto's tongue tasting him, swirling around his nipples, around his cock as he sank into his mouth, if only it was Naruto's fingers rubbing his prostate… His hips rocked forwards, mimicking some of Naruto's words: I'll grab your hips and let you ride me, Sasuke, push deep inside and listen to you moaning my name.
Yes, he'd answered, yes, let me feel you, watch me move on top of you. He'd meant it, too, had imagined himself working up a sweat with Naruto watching him, Naruto licking his lips and telling him how sexy he was.
He jabbed his prostate, almost in anger, gasping at the assault of pleasure. He'd come soon, and just like last time, probably like next time, he'd come on his own.
And it was so, damn, frustrating.
xxx
That Wednesday, when they met at the station, Naruto gave Sasuke an almost shy smile and took his hand, leaning in and placing a kiss on his cheek. Sasuke had barely recovered from the shock before they sat in two seats like usual, Naruto's head on his shoulder and Naruto's stupid music in one ear, but with Naruto's hand still holding his.
The blond was quiet the whole way, and Sasuke's thoughts were a jumbled mess. His hand felt sweaty, but Naruto's wasn't much better so Sasuke just let it be. He didn't even think of people watching them, not in the crowd as they got off and headed for the bus, not on the way from the bus to the apartment. Naruto's fingers slid from between his when they got inside though, so they could take off shoes and jackets. Itachi wouldn't be home until later, but Sasuke had his own key.
When he turned to walk further inside he was stopped by Naruto taking a hold of his shirt, tugging at it so he turned back around. He blinked, frozen with Naruto's arms around his neck, his nose a little cold against his skin. Staring at the door, he sucked in a breath when Naruto's mumble tickled him.
"Sasuke, do you hate it when I touch you?"
"I don't" he forced out, fighting to keep his breathing even.
"But you're not hugging me back…"
Sasuke swallowed against the thickness in his throat, fighting the instinct to push Naruto away just so he didn't have to deal with the tension. Fingers twitching slightly, he raised his arms and put them around Naruto's back, light at first but tighter when Naruto stepped closer to his body, burying his nose deeper into his neck. He gripped the edges of Naruto's sweater, letting out a slow breath, relaxing a little at the warm feeling.
"I was thinking, that there must be something wrong, that I must be doing something wrong, since you write about how you want me to touch you, but then it feels like you don't. I don't know what you're thinking, and it's not like you'd just tell me. And then I thought, why wouldn't you tell me?"
Sasuke closed his eyes, listening to Naruto's words reaching him, quiet but clear against his skin.
"And I thought, that usually, all we do is fight and say mean things to each other, and I don't even know why you want to change that. I mean, we did that sudden thing, and then we started texting about stuff, like this is just a sexual thing. But that's not really what I want, and I just don't know how to say that. Like, why do you even do this with me? Spending time with me every Wednesday… I wish we could see each other every day."
It was difficult to breathe, and Sasuke's fingers clenched around bright yellow fabric.
"It's kinda scary when you're quiet like that" Naruto whispered, and Sasuke sucked in another deep breath, letting it out shakily.
"I don't really… I don't really know what you're asking here."
"Will you listen?"
The question hung in the air, it felt like Sasuke's head swam, it felt like suddenly, he'd been offered a huge power over Naruto, as if his answer wasn't just a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
"I'll listen" he murmured, and felt Naruto tighten his arms around his neck for a moment.
"It just feels like the whole order of things got messed up… I… I've wanted to be close to you for a long time, but now it feels like I'm trying to be close in the wrong way. I don't know how to reach you, and I'm really nervous that you just started doing this because it was a challenge. I just… Even if it's just hugging like this, that's enough for me right now. Just meeting your eyes makes my heart beat so fast…"
It was almost impossible to breathe, Sasuke's heart doubling its speed at Naruto's last sentence. Just hugging was enough... He didn't know what to say, but he felt strangely relieved. And it was strange, because Naruto's chest and thighs aligned with his own while standing like this, felt just about what he was able to handle right now, even though yesterday all he'd wanted was more.
"I think, that I'd like to stop trying to have sex and stuff. First I thought it was frustrating we hadn't done more than kiss, but that's not really what I want. It just felt like something we were supposed to do, and then we wouldn't have to think and talk and feel... But I feel a lot. I really... I really feel a lot for you. But I could probably feel more if there wasn't any pressure, and I knew what you wanted from me."
Had Naruto been feeling pressured as well? How could wanting to do something and actually doing it be so different? But more importantly, Naruto felt something for him, and it all but melted Sasuke at the knees.
"I just want you" he replied, dumbfounded, not realizing he'd said it out loud until Naruto tilted his head back to look at him with wide eyes.
"Really?"
Sasuke's mouth felt dry, and his limbs shaky, but he managed a nod. Naruto looked down for a second, biting his lip, then a smile lit up his face.
"Even doing things like hold hands and cuddle, and go on dates?"
Naruto blushed a little while asking this, but there must have been a pained look on Sasuke's face because his smile disappeared, eyes turning to the side. Gathering up his courage, knowing he was close to ruining things if he didn't say something, Sasuke leaned forwards and pressed his lips against Naruto's cheek, too embarrassed to admit it face to face.
"I really suck at those things, so I don't know why you'd want to do that… But if you want to try it…"
He turned his head a little, bumping noses with Naruto, close, so close now, Naruto's eyes a deep blue as they searched his. Their breaths mingled, blood pounding through Sasuke's veins as they connected, lips moving once, twice, separating just enough to let them breathe again.
"Let's pretend we haven't met before, and do things over again." There was laughter in Naruto's eyes, but a seriousness as well that made Sasuke regret a few things he'd done and said over the past years. "Hey, my name's Naruto. I saw you looking at me, wanna hang out sometime?"
Sasuke could remember it, how he'd looked at the grinning blond that first day of school and how his brain had short-circuited, making him say something like 'Get lost, moron'.
"I'd like that" he breathed, and kissed Naruto again.
So, I just felt that these two needed to build up some trust before they can move on to heavier stuff. Next chapter will have more silly things, but also more sexiness. I can't help wanting to mess with these two and make them so childish in some ways... I'm thinking they'll get to mature during their last semester of high school:p And, honestly, I think it's a little annoying how violence can be so glorified, not to mention how easy it is for the characters in fanfiction to have sex. Well, I've written stuff like that too, but I wanted to do something else in this story. Relationships can be so complex...
Anyway I hope you liked this chapter,please tell me what you thought! I'll try to write the next one soon:)