Chapter Two
The Benefits of Unwanted Guests

Its been about five hours since Dobe arrived and all he's done so far is tell me all about his life. Why should I care about his friends or the immunes or how he lives in an old school? Why should I care about the ninja scrolls he found? The ones I was taught with cannot be anything but superior, as they require the Uchiha blood to use.

But now, he's taking up half of MY bed and I'm finding it hard to sleep with someone else with me.

He's a bit odd looking, too. Not in an ugly way, though. He has the brightest yellow the sun has ever shone trapped inside his spiky locks, and his eyes have captured all the truest blue from the sky. He has three scars on each cheek that make him look almost fox-like when he squints his eyes. I can't help but wonder how he got them.

It figures that the first human contact I have is with a loudmouthed Dobe.

xXxXx

Sasuke stared, tense and unmoving, as the loud Dobe that had arrived just two hours earlier snored softly beside him on the bed. He watched the chest covered in soft, worn blue cotton rise and fall softly, and gazed silently at the face that somehow, for some reason, seemed to call to him.

He would never get to sleep this way.

Suddenly, Naruto turned on his side towards him, slinging his arm around Sasuke's waist and pulling him close. Sasuke started to panic, and shoved softly at Naruto's chest to try and get away, but the blonde only cuddled closer, until Sasuke's arms were trapped between their bodies.

It occurred to Sasuke that the Dobe was very warm.

Maybe it wasn't so bad, being cuddled… Besides, the only way to get away now would be to wake him up, and he didn't want to do that, right?

With this reassurance in mind, Sasuke drifted off to sleep in Naruto's arms.

xXxXx

Naruto woke up while Sasuke was still asleep, smiling when he saw that the raven-haired boy had his fingers clenched in his shirt. Sasuke's head rested on Naruto's arm, and Naruto couldn't resist stroking his finger across the line of his jaw. Sasuke was so beautiful while asleep…

The pale boy woke with a start at the gentle touch, automatically shoving himself away from Naruto. Unfortunately, this caused him to fall off the side of the bed.

Sasuke groaned and lay where he fell.

"Are you alright?" Naruto's eyes were bright with concern, and Sasuke closed his own so as not to be blinded.

"Yes, I'm fine. When are you leaving?"

Naruto grinned at Sasuke's bluntness, and decided to tease him a bit. "Oh, I don't know, I thought I'd stay, maybe get to know you. I've never met anyone outside the school, you know."

Sasuke paused, not sure how he should take this news. Finally, he nodded once. "You'll have to help me with the work today."

xXxXx

They had been working silently in the garden for about ten minutes, diligently pulling up weeds, when Naruto decided it was time for bonding discussions.

"What do you do all the time, all by your lonesome, besides work?" Naruto started, his tone companionable.

Sasuke frowned, electing to ignore him, rather than answer as he tugged out a stubborn weed.

"How long have you been alone?" Naruto tugged up another choking plant.

Sasuke's frown deepened into a scowl, and he began tearing out weeds with an almost viscious enthusiasm. Naruto, of course, had no idea how to take a hint, and so the barrage of unwanted questions continued.

"Why is your hair stuck up like that?"

"If you work outdoors often, why aren't you tan?"

"Can you do any cool tricks?"

"Can you show me them?"

Finally, Sasuke had had enough; Naruto was way too nosy. So he tackled Naruto to the ground, straddling his hips and jerking Naruto's face up by his collar.

"Stop. Asking. Questions." He growled, but Naruto only grinned at Sasuke's look of annoyance and frustration.

"Only if you kiss me."

He said it just to tick the guy off, not really expecting anything, but Sasuke paused, contemplating what he perceived as a challenge. If he kissed the blonde, would he really stop asking questions? And if he didn't…well, he had never kissed anyone before, so…maybe it would be nice to find out what it was like?

Naruto's eyes widened as Sasuke slowly lowered his face until their lips lightly brushed together, but just as soon as their lips were touching, he was pulling away.

Naruto wasn't going to let him get away with just that barest feather of a kiss—he flung an arm over Sasuke's neck, tugging his face back down to his own, and then he gave him a real kiss.

Sasuke's hands clenched on Naruto's shirt and he began to shake as the blonde took his breath away and wouldn't give it back. The sensations were unlike anything Sasuke had ever felt, and he was close to fainting from sheer sensor overload.

Then Naruto's hand relaxed, lightly brushing down his back, evoking a new round of shivers. Released from Naruto's grasp, Sasuke shoved himself away from the blonde.

He tripped backwards, and landed sitting across from Naruto, who only had a moment to enjoy Sasuke's flushed and panicked expression before he was up and sprinting across the lawn.

Naruto chuckled as the mansion door slammed.

He'll come around.