A/N- well I can't respond to reviews since this fic it pre written but trust me when I say I love ya all.
Ummm… this story will be a trilogy….
I didn't have time to edit this a third time so I'll repost later, I have a grad party to go to.
To Junkyard: I would to love you e-mail you but you never gave me your e-mail address in the review. And I'll think about the story, maybe after the trilogy it done.
Summary- Naruto is not like everyone thinks he is, he hides his true self form everybody. The few who know about the other him know very little. When various events force Naruto to spend time with his team mates in situations outside of the norm he finds it hard to keep up the act.
Parings- SasuNaru, some KakaIru others not decided.
Rating- very much an R rated fic
Warning- sexual situations, foul language, self mutilation, attempted suicide, a very OOC Sasuke. And bitch Sakura!
Spoilers- for anyone who is not up to date on the manga
Disclaimer- I wish and wish, yet nothing happens…
XxXxXxX
Red Walkways
Chapter Two
The Surface Scratched
XxXxXxX
Naruto wasn't unhappy about his team going to his apartment… but he wasn't jumping for joy. There were a lot of secrets he kept there, and no matter how well hidden they were, people could find them if they tried.
Scrambling for his keys, the blonde boy ripped them from his pocket and grasped them with both hands to control his shaking and unlock the door. Not a moment later everyone was standing in the front of the small apartment and Naruto shut the door rather hard.
"Stupid fucking rain, so fucking cold…" he mumbled to himself. His teammates looked rather surprised by the blonde's grumpiness that was so out of the norm for him. Said boy turned on them and spoke.
"Take off your shoes and socks; don't worry the floors clean. I'll get some towels and turn up the heat to see if we can't dry ourselves out a bit."
Everyone just nodded, not sure of what to say as they watched Naruto disappear into a small hall where the bathroom and linen closet were kept. A moment later he reappeared with a towel in hand for everyone. Soon the small group was sitting on the floor around the low coffee table in the living area of the room, at Naruto's request not to get the couches wet. The blonde was at the kitchen area making tea for all to warm them up.
Once each person had their cup of warmth, and Naruto was seated between Kakashi and Sasuke, silence fell; Naruto seemed a bit worried about something. The uncomfortable quiet was only broken by the occasional sipping sound until Sakura opened her mouth to speak.
"Well… Naruto your apartment is so… clean." She managed to get out in a shaky voice, either from the cold or nerves Naruto couldn't tell.
"Thanks Sakura-chan! I was hoping…"
Suddenly he stopped with a sigh. Everyone looked confused by his lack of enthusiasm at the complement from his all time crush. The blonde just stared at his friends and sighed again, letting his head fall forward onto the table with a dull thud.
"Sorry guys… too tired to be energetic" was mumbled from the face down boy.
Everyone faltered at this statement, after a few more minutes of silence and sipping Naruto sat back up and smiled.
"I assume no one has had dinner since it rained before we finished the meeting?" he asked out of the blue causing Sakura to jump a bit in surprise.
The group all shook their head, well Sasuke didn't but Naruto took that as a yes anyway.
"Ok, we'll stay here and I'll get us something." The blonde chirped. Sakura put out her hand to stop the boy.
"It's ok Naruto; I would rather starve than eat instant ramen for dinner." She stated matter 'o factly. Inner Naruto swore, he was planning to keep up the act with that, but now he was stuck between a rock and a hard pace. He couldn't let his guests starve but how much should he reveal? Inner Naruto shrugged, if he was going to show anyone else his other side it would be them… beside it's not like he was going to let them know much.
"Who said it was going to be instant ramen?" Naruto retorted.
Sakura hid her surprise at his comeback, "Well, what else can you make?"
Naruto smirked. "What do you want?"
The pink haired girl was surprised again but didn't show it. "How about some miso soup with sushi and fried shrimp?" she replied with a smirk. It would be a cold day in hell when Naruto could make that. "Is that ok with you guys?"
Kakashi just nodded knowing full and well that Naruto could make it; how could he not after hearing Iruka go on and on about the boy's cooking after having dinner here. Sasuke didn't respond, but it was again taken as a yes.
Naruto nodded with a smile and walked to the other side of the room, taking out the needed ingredients. His movements as he worked around the kitchen area seemed practiced as he prepared the food and Sakura watched in amazement. Once the sushi and shrimp were done, Naruto only had a few minutes to wait for the soup. He looked at the clock and saw that it was seven thirty and shrugged, it wasn't that late of a dinner.
Sasuke suddenly stood up, catching everyone's attention.
"Bathroom?"
Naruto pointed with his spoon in the general direction as he watched the soup. Sasuke nodded and walked across the room and stopped at a door he assumed was the lavatory. The blonde glanced up to see if Sasuke found his way only to see he was about to try and open 'that' room.
"Not that one!" he half yelled in a voice he hoped didn't sound too panicked.
The brunette stopped just before he grabbed the handle and raised a brow at his companion.
"The one in the hall." Naruto corrected in an attempt to cover up. He didn't want them to know that the door was locked and then question him. Though, they might do that anyway since he panicked.
Sasuke altered his path to make his way to the real bathroom, still slightly confused. Naruto finished the soup, taking off his still damp vest as the heat form the stove warmed him. Moving the soup off the heat he made up plates for everyone, each one the same when he heard Sasuke's voice form the hall.
"Naruto, your razor is broken." The brunette deadpanned. The blonde walked to the now open bathroom door and looked at the plastic and metal on the counter. "What happened?" The brunette inquired with another show of out of character curiosity.
Naruto forced himself not to panic; he shrugged outwardly while his inner self thought up a story.
"I stepped on it this morning; luckily I didn't cut my foot open." The blonde lied in an even tone. He stared at Sasuke daring him to call his lie, and he was relieved when the brunette just brushed the remains of the razor into the trash can by the sink and swept by the blonde with a muttered "Dobe." Naruto went to the trash can then reached down pulling out one of the metal blades and hid it in his medicine cabinet before following his teammate.
Naruto grabbed the plates of food before they got cold and went to the living area where Sasuke was just sitting back down with the others. The blonde smirked at the look on Sakura face as he placed her plate before her and the others before taking his seat with his own food.
The meal was held in silence with the occasional chewing, slurping, or the scraping of chopsticks. Sasuke smirked and he dipped another piece of tuna sushi into his soy sauce.
"So maybe you're not completely useless after all, dobe" The brunette taunted and complemented at the same time.
"Yes, this is excellent." Kakashi agreed.
"Yeah, great." Sakura said halfheartedly, her image of Naruto crumbling before her.
Once the meal was done, Naruto took everyone's plates and put them in the sink making a mental note to get to them later. Walking to the window, the blonde sighed at the sight before him. His earlier worry seemed to worsen but he pushed it aside. Sakura noticed but kept silent.
"Looks like it's not going to be letting up anytime soon, so make yourselves at home; you might be spending the night here." He said with a neutral voice.
Sasuke nodded sitting up straighter to take off his vest and unbutton his shirt half way. Naruto looked away with a blush when he saw the brunette's pale toned chest. Sakura and Kakashi followed suit, taking off theirs but leaving their shirts fully buttoned. Naruto took his place at the low table again and silent prevailed.
Not a moment after everything settled again did Sakura point at something through Naruto's fish net shirt on his chest.
"What's that?" the question was innocent.
Naruto looked down and cursed; damn necklace, he had forgotten about that…
"Umm… A necklace." He said dumbly.
"Where did you get it?" her questions continued while Naruto damned her constant curiosity. The blonde hesitated not sure what he should say.
Kakashi finally looked over at the necklace after Naruto hesitated and recognized the item immediately.
"Where did you get that?" he echoed Sakura but with more urgency. This caught Sasuke's attention and he looked over as well.
Naruto cursed under his breath and decided on a generic answer.
"A friend gave it to me." he said calmly.
"Who?" Kakashi asked with the same amount of urgency.
"Why do you care? Not like it's any of your business anyway!" Naruto got defensive. Who was he to be so nosy?
"It's my business when someone has the First's necklace and won't tell me where they got it from!" Kakashi said with some anger this time; everyone's eyes were on Naruto now. Damn he didn't expect Kakashi to recognize it. Well, there was no getting out of it now.
The blonde sighed and hoped Tsunade wouldn't be to mad as long as they didn't tell anyone else.
"I got it from Tsunade-baba." Naruto half whispered the response.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "That means…" he trailed off.
"Yeah…" the blonde mumbled.
"What does it mean?" Sakura cut in. Naruto just wanted to slap her; he was so close to getting away with only Kakashi knowing.
"It means…" the masked nin started then glanced at Naruto who shrugged, nothing he could do now."It means Naruto has been recognized as the successor to the position of Hokage by the fifth." Kakashi concluded.
Sakura's was stunned and to everyone's surprise Sasuke choked upon hearing the news.
"Seriously?" he asked.
Naruto nodded.
"How long?" Kakashi asked.
The blonde blushed, "Since I was twelve."
This time it was Kakashi's turn to be stunned.
"Well truthfully," Naruto continued, "I won it in a bet."
Everyone face faltered; that was so like Tsunade-sama.
"It was what the bet was about that gained me her approval."
This caught Sasuke's interest. "What was it about?" his question surprising everyone.
Naruto sighed and started the story. "It was not long after we had found Tsunade and Jiraiya was teaching me the Rasengan. I had already mastered the first two steps of the attack when we found the old hag and asked her to come to the village and be Hokage. When she refused, I got mad and tried to fight her… Needless to say I got my ass kicked."
There were smirks all around at this comment, though they were surprised at Naruto's maturity as he spoke of the topic.
"I tried to use the unfinished Rasengan on her and failed, that's when she brought the necklace up. She told me what it was and then said that if I could finish mastering the Rasengan, the attack that took the fourth three years to finish in a week, then she would give me the necklace, come to the village, be the Hokage, and recognize me as her successor. There was a lot of crap in-between but in the end I won." Naruto finished purposely skipping the in-between, not wanting to talk about it.
There was a silence before Sakura uttered "Wow…"
Kakashi still wasn't sure Tsunade had made a good choice. Sure, he knew Naruto had a lot of potential especially with Kyuubi, but how strong could he really be?
XxXxXxXxXxX
It was later and everyone was spread out around the apartment. Naruto was on his bed, Kakashi and Sakura were on the couch since they had dried and Sasuke was on the arm chair. The silence that hung in the air was heavy as everyone was caught up in their own thoughts. They were told by their blonde friend that they could not tell anyone of Naruto's status unless they wanted to face the fifth's wrath.
Sasuke scanned the room for anything interesting when a book case caught his attention, he got up to look over the volumes and see if there was anything interesting to read.
Naruto was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the brunette wander to his layered shelves. A worried looked crossed his face again but it was gone after what seemed to be a second.
Sasuke scanned the rows of manga and sighed, of course his rival didn't have anything but manga, not that he was surprised. The Uchiha didn't dislike manga, he owned some himself. He was a Gravitation fan, but he was hoping for something a bit more enlightening. Sasuke settled for looking at an action manga that caught is eyes amongst the girl central crap; he reached up and pulled it out to read the back. Deciding it looked stupid he went to put it back when he noticed that there were layers to the shelf, how much manga did the blonde own? He leaned closer to read the title and almost gasped when he saw it was Gravitation 8. He put the book back and pulled out another one and saw another Gravitation volume. Again, he pulled a book and saw 'Only the Ring Finger Knows.' Sasuke was completely shocked, not that he would show it. Who would have thought that Naruto of all people owned books like this? Pulling away one last book, he saw 'Golden Cain'((1)). Sasuke almost blushed at this one and looked over at the blonde.
Naruto looked up in Sasuke's direction when he felt eyes on him and completely panicked on the inside when he saw his rival had pulled a book out form the shelf and saw what was behind it. He double panicked when he saw just what manga it was.
Sasuke saw the panic in his teammate's eyes and decided to reassure him. He didn't know why he did but he wanted to. Maybe it was because he wasn't alone now…
"That one had a shitty plot but good everything else." The brunette said with a smirk, putting the first manga back.
Naruto's face went from pure panic to complete shock… that seemed to be happening a lot lately…
Sasuke went back to his chair and acted as if nothing happened, Naruto took that as his sign to do the same. They both knew that they were going to have to talk some time, and that their friendship was going to become stronger with this new shared secret.
XxXxXxXxXxX
The next morning was a quiet affair. Naruto had slept on his bed, Sakura got the couch, Sasuke the chair and Kakashi was on the floor, not that he minded. As the light came in through the window by Naruto's bed, the blonde groaned and rolled away from it. He knew it was early and that the light in his eyes were the first rays of the morning, making it about 6:00 AM. Naruto sat up pushing the covers down to his waist showing off his well toned chest, glancing around the room he saw he was not the first to wake up. Across the room, Sasuke was awake in his chair staring of into the distance, apparently lost in thought. Naruto stared at him for a moment; he never could get over how much beauty that one boy held. Suddenly dark eyes flicked over at him. Naruto was surprised for a moment, then the shock turned to embarrassment as he felt the brunette's eyes on his bare chest. He blushed as Sasuke's intense stare continued to travel up and down his torso. Getting up Naruto pulled on a T-shirt while shooting Sasuke a dirty look that said 'I ain't a piece of meat, teme.'
The Uchiha smirked while getting to his feet; he unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and let it slide off his shoulders and onto the floor. Naruto was so surprised he almost tripped on his way to the kitchen area, not that he was complaining as he let his own eyes roam over the pale body before him.
"Mind if I use your shower?"
The deep voice broke Naruto from his staring.
"No, go ahead." He murmured turning to the refrigerator to hide his blush, opening the door and pretending to do something constructive.
Sasuke nodded even though his teammate couldn't see him and wandered to the bathroom closing the door behind him. The brunette stretched and yawed then reached down to take off his pants, as he bent over to pull them down he glanced at the trash can. Clad only in his boxers, Sasuke walked over to the small bin when he felt something was not right, looking down he saw the problem almost instantly. There were only two blades of the razor from yesterday. The brunette pulled the trash away from the wall and looked around the sink thinking it might have missed when he swept then into the bin. Finding nothing he made a mental not to forget this; he felt it was important somehow. Shaking his head, Sasuke stripped himself of the last of his clothes before stepping into the shower and running the water.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Naruto tried to concentrate on making breakfast, but it was a bit hard when he kept thinking of a naked Sasuke that was only down the hall. Turning back to the rice and miso soup he tried to suppress his blush that seemed to be moving from his face to take over his neck.
Sakura stirred as a wonderful smell reached her nose. She sat up and glanced around, she spotted Kakashi but no Sasuke.
"Where's Sasuke-kun?"
Naruto turned around when his female companion spoke.
"Umm… he's in the shower." The blonde turned around finding his blush getting worse since he spoke the words he had been thinking for the last ten minutes out loud.
Sakura blushed as well as thoughts similar to Naruto's flashed through her mind.
Kakashi cracked open an eye, he had been awake long before everyone else but pretended to sleep incase anything interesting happened. Finding that nothing too big was going on he decided to 'wake up'.
"Morning Kakashi-sensei, nice of you to open your eyes" Naruto greeted as he set some rice and soup in front of him and Sakura.
The copy-nin gave his former student a dirty look for pretending to not know he was awake earlier but let it go in favor of some food.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Sakura asked when she saw him put together a plate for Sasuke then take the second one that was covered and it putting it aside.
"I'm not a big breakfast person," the blonde answered as he grabbed a granola bar and jumped the back of the couch to sit next to the pink haired girl. She was surprised when she blushed at his closeness but Naruto didn't notice.
Kakashi smirked.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Sasuke finished washing the soap out of his hair and went to turn off the shower but stopped, it had only been ten minutes so he thought he might relax for a moment. He bent his head back and let the warm water flow over his face as thoughts flowed freely though his head. The first thing to come to mind was Naruto; he had been attracted to Naruto for as long as he could remember. He had picked all those fights with him to hide the fact that he liked him… a lot; he didn't know what to do about it. He thought it was wrong until he found some manga that had male/male couples. That was the reason he started to read manga. Over time he accepted his sexuality but was still conflicted about his attraction to Naruto. In truth he wasn't sure he really was homosexual since Naruto was the only person he was ever attracted to in this manner… maybe he was Naruto-sexual.
'That was stupid…' Sasuke deadpanned in his head.
But when the words sexual and Naruto went through his head in the same sentence he felt himself stir. Images from fantasies he has been holding went through his head not helping his problem very much, then the image from this morning came to mind, Sasuke groaned at that thought and felt himself get harder.
Not wanting to take a cold shower after he had finally loosened up from the night in a chair with the warm water, Sasuke came to a quick conclusion.
Slowly he ran his hand up his chest then down again, stopping right before his erection, hesitating for a moment. Eyes closed and Sasuke summoned the best image of his blonde he could. Reaching down, he wrapped his hand around himself, but in his mind it was Naruto's hand.
A small squeeze sent a wonderful feeling through the brunette's body making him moan; quickly he covered his mouth to stop further sounds. Slowly he started to move his hand from the base to the head, letting the water glide between his fingers. The slow movements gained speed as Sasuke's control slipped away with the water.
The faster he pumped, the harder he had to press his hand to his mouth to muffle his moans. Sliding his hand up in a frantic motion he slid his thumb over his tip collecting his pre-cum allowing his hand to move even faster.
Sasuke's entire body jerked and he came; his breath hitched stopping his loud moan from leaving his throat in favor of a chocked groan. Rinsing his hands under the spray Sasuke made sure all his cum was washed down the drain before turning off the shower and stepping out. Grabbing the towels he had laid out, he rubbed his hair then his body, wrapping the cloth around his waist and slipping the other one over his shoulders.
Now that he knew Naruto was gay, or at least bi, seemed to lighten his mood. There was a voice in the back of his head that was saying, 'Now you have a chance…' He wasn't sure what to do with this information; he knew he had to talk to Naruto to at least know he wasn't alone. His logical side squished the little voice in his head knowing that if Naruto was going to date a guy it wouldn't be him. An image of a blushing Naruto popped into his head, but Sasuke knew that physical attraction wasn't enough.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Sakura finished Naruto's wonderful breakfast and didn't question the covered one on the counter. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling the blonde would find a way out of giving a straight answer.
Just then her thoughts were cut off as Sasuke came out of the bathroom fully clothed, but his shirt wasn't buttoned and his towel hung over his shoulders. Naruto looked up and found himself blushing again along with Sakura.
'WHY THE FUCK DOES HE KEEP DOING THAT? I SWEAR, HE'S TRYING TO MAKE ME PASS OUT FROM TOO MUCH BLOOD RUSHING TO MY HEAD!' the blonde screamed in his mind.
Sasuke pointed to the plate of food on the table. "Is that mine?" he asked no one in particular, refusing to meet Naruto's eyes after what he had done.
"Yup! Try it Sasuke-kun; it's really good!" Sakura chirped happily, still blushing.
Naruto's blush had faded as his embarrassment was replaced by anger; Sasuke took a seat in front of Naruto on the floor to eat. The blonde leaned forward a bit and whispered so only the brunette could hear. "You're doing this on purposearen't you?"
Sasuke felt a smirk lift his lips. "Doing what dobe?" he said in the same whispered tone.
Naruto 'humphed' then stood, going to the bathroom for his own shower.
XxXxXxXxXxX
After Naruto was showered and everyone had eaten, it was 9:00 AM and time for everyone to go home to start to study their files. Naruto knew he would have his down in a couple of days, but he didn't know about the others.
After the dishes were in the sink, everyone was at the door. Sakura wanted to get home and shower since she abstained from doing so after Naruto finished. She didn't feel comfortable undressing in a boy's apartment with said boy in the next room.
Kakashi opened the door stepping out claiming he needed to see the Hokage and said a quick goodbye before vanishing into the already busy street. Sasuke with his shirt fully buttoned now did the same without the excuse and an even shorter goodbye, but the look he shot Naruto made a promise of a talk to come. Sakura also said her goodbye and exited the apartment, once the door was shut she stopped and turned around, deciding to go back and thank the blonde. Her behavior over the past couple of days caught up with her mind and after his generous hospitality, she could feel the jaws of guilt nipping at her mental heels.
After a couple of steps she stopped, catching a glimpse of the blonde in the window,; he was picking up the plate he had set aside earlier. He seemed to be making sure it was still warm then started to walk towards the door. Sakura almost panicked but managed to hide around the corner in a small alley. When Naruto walked out and started in the opposite direction, Sakura made a snap decision to follow him.
Naruto closed his apartment door and started in a direction he went so often with a plate of food in hand. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going; letting his feet carry him down a familiar road. He was so lost in thought, a freight train could roll by and he wouldn't notice. His mind was taken up by thoughts of Sasuke and his odd behavior. He wondered what he was going to do at training tomorrow and if Sasuke was going to corner him to talk or wait until later.
Sakura started to follow when she felt he was a safe distance away. She noticed he was lost in thought and could have cheered at her luck. She was surprised when he turned a corner into what she assumed was an empty ally. Following a bit closer, she stopped at the corner of the turn and looked around the wall to watch.
Naruto wandered a bit farther down the alley than Sakura would have done considering the type of people that would hang around here. She watched as the blonde seemed to be searching for something, looking this way and that. Then his eyes brightened as they fell on a pile of rags, he walked over and crouched down putting the plate on the ground. He reached out to gently shake the pile, Sakura was surprised when the pile moved and sat up slowly. The rags was revealed to be a middle aged woman who seemed rather dirty, she smiled when she saw Naruto which was something Sakura knew not many did. Naruto smiled back and said something Sakura couldn't hear, the woman uncovered the plate and started to eat then stopped to speak.
This time Sakura strained her ears to hear what was being said.
"You're not the demon everyone thinks you are. Bless you child, bless you for your deeds." The woman said in a truly grateful tone.
Naruto smiled again and said, "No problem. I'll be back at lunch, and remember you always have a place to crash when the weather gets bad or you need to wash up."
The woman nodded while she continued to eat, then a thought seemed to come to the blonde's mind.
"Where did you go last night during the storm?" It was a reasonable enough question.
The woman stopped her continuous eating to speak. "It came to fast to get to your apartment; I walked into the shop over there and pretended I was caught in the rain. The workers let me stay and gave me some food for the inconvenience; it was early when the rain stopped and I left."
"That's good; I was worried you got caught in the storm." The blonde said in a truly caring voice.
Sakura's eyes widened, so that's what was worrying Naruto yesterday while it rained; he was thinking about this woman.
Naruto collected the plate once it was cleared it of food and said goodbye, walking towards the exit. Sakura moved up the street a bit and made it look like a coincidence when she walked up to the blonde.
"Hey Naruto, good thing I bumped into you! I wanted to tell you something." She began ignoring the plate not wanting to make this situation anymore awkward then it already was.
"What is it Sakura-chan?" Naruto responded, glad she didn't question the plate.
"I just wanted to say thanks for taking me and the team in last night. It was very kind of you." She smiled a bit.
Naruto smiled back, "It was no problem I was happy to help."
Sakura nodded then turned to leave saying one more thank you over her shoulder as she left. Naruto smiled and shook his head with a slight laugh as he walked to his apartment, his thoughts filled with a sink of plates that needed to be cleaned.
Sakura was shocked to say the least as she walked home to clean up since she assumed training was canceled. Her vision of Naruto as a loud, stupid, self centered brat was changing after the last couple of days; she discovered he was not as bitter over the Kyuubi as she thought he would be. Even if he wasn't as selfish as she thought, he was still stupid and loud… and sometimes a brat.
Naruto entered his apartment and walked straight to the sink. He put the plate he was holding with the rest and turned on the water, pulling out a bottle of soap. As he washed he realized that since training was probably canceled, he had the afternoon to himself. He looked at the clock; it was 10:00 AM. Since he had brought Kaita's breakfast a bit later than normal because of his team, he could bring her lunch at 2:00 PM and dinner at 7:00 PM, then he could talk to the owner of Ichiraku's after that. This left him with about three and a half hours after the dishes were done if he went fast. The blonde smiled, he could do his testing! With that thought, Naruto started to speed clean the dirty plates and cups.
A/N- by the way all the other manga in the middle row are yaoi and shounen-ai of different calibers.
Glossary ((god I hate having these))
Golden Cain- an 18 and older yaoi manga with sex every five pages but a really shitty and rushed plot (only one volume long.)
Original Finish Date- 3-23-05
Revised 7/23/2011
Thanks to my beta Afria 3