Next Chapter to the Sink or Swim series.
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Beta'd by: XoXgaaraXoX
With his swimming shorts fully secured on his lean waist, Sasuke stared intently into the dark changing room wall while he took a lungful of air to compose himself. He'd managed to settle in the corner of the changing room in attempt to dig through his bag for cigarettes. Mustering up the courage to actually go to the pool proved to be more difficult than he'd anticipated.
He'd decided that he needed to explain his situation about the competition to this guy and maybe he'd understand. As dense as this dude probably was, he could probably understand the basic concepts of it all.
…Right?
With that being said, a rush of adrenaline surged through the Uchiha while he stood up and made a buoyant grab at his black cotton towel which, in turn, became stuck under his right foot causing him to tumble ever-so-gracefully out of the small booth
Luckily, the blond guy probably wasn't there to see him.
"Nice one, princess."
Lady-luck as well as the gods weren't on his side today, evidently.
He gathered his bearings for the second time tonight, and focused his cool stare on the man in front of him, rising up to his full height while doing so. Although he was slightly shorter than the instructor, he knew that his nonchalant glares got to people easily.
"Listen, I want to get some of this lesson done before my shift's over, so can we please go to the pool, maybe…today?" the blonde's tone was pretty harsh, but Sasuke wasn't someone who was easily ruffled
"I was waiting for you, actually," Sasuke replied, knowing that his response was pretty lame, so lame that he was mentally smacking the inner walls of his skull for it, but the way that the guy's eyebrows contracted in confusion was enough to know that he won the argument.
"Okay, whatever you say. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, by the way," the blond man said, extending his hand toward Sasuke.
"I don't care; I thought you wanted to get started."
Sasuke smirked in silent victory when the outstretched hand rounded into a tight fist before dropping to its owner's side.
"Right, let's go then," Naruto said through clenched teeth.
Sasuke waited until he could see the angular shoulder blades of his instructor's turned back before he let his smirk fall. The inner turmoil he was going through was affecting his in-control façade. Sure, he was still going for the 'play-it-cool' tactic, but he needed to cut to the chase.
"Okay, err…Uzumaki," Sasuke began, silently berating himself for speaking civilly, "The thing is, I've got this competition in two weeks' time, and I've got to beat this guy I know. So, you've got a week and six days to teach me the essentials of swimming and a bit more."
Naruto froze in mid-step just as he was about to take his final stride out the door causing Sasuke to mentally go over all the things he just said making sure there wasn't anything too shocking in there; blue eyes filled with something which looked like pure mirth met with his.
"You want me to teach you how to swim in a week?" Naruto inquired, his low tenor border lining on disbelief and amusement.
"And six days, yes."
Sasuke flinched when an agreeable rumble of laughter filled the room; hearty guffaws followed by deep gasps for air weren't something Sasuke was used to in his presence. High pitched yells of mercy, yes, but this, no. He checked his abdomen to see if there were any weird looking growths that might've caused the blond to laugh.
"Get the fuck out."
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at the response he got. On any other day, he'd be the one making scathing remarks while the receptor scampered away in fear.
At a loss for words, he chose to watch silently as the blond settled himself against the cool tiled wall for support, while little beads of sweat formed around his suntanned forehead.
"13 days?" Naruto inquired from his spot on the wall, gradually running his hand down his cheek.
Sasuke nodded curtly, taking a sudden interest in his nails. They really were wasting time; he took a noticeable look at his watch before settling his gaze back on the instructor.
"Okay, if we're going to do this, you're going to play by my rules," Naruto said, his powerful blue-eyed stare settling on the Uchiha.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke retorted, not liking the concept of following someone else's orders already.
"Well, for one, you're going to pay me more," the blond began, pointing an accusing finger toward Sasuke, "Thirty dollars per session."
"What?" Sasuke squawked, his flow completely thrown off balance.
"You're going to listen to everything I say, no arguing," Naruto continued, as if Sasuke hadn't interrupted him at all.
Sasuke began to grind his teeth, but tilted his head in agreement.
"Well, fuck. Let's go, then." Naruto clapped his hands together and strolled outside with new and annoyingly surprising vigor.
Sasuke stood gaping at the door, an awful sense of dread hanging over him with every step toward the blond and the swimming pool.
"Right, now, all you have to do, is stick your head under the water, and start blowing bubbles."
The look on the Uchiha's face could only be described as pure incredulity.
He had been somehow persuaded by the idiotic blond (meaning, after he refused to descend down the obviously unsafe mosaic steps, Uzumaki fully zipped up his swimsuit and breast-stroked his way toward the Uchiha wholly intent on pulling Sasuke in by his legs), to get into the body of water and now he wanted him to do something this ridiculous?
"You can't be serious," Sasuke deadpanned, taking a cursory glance around the room to check for any escape routes.
The indoor pool was surrounded by four tranquilly blue walls, pictures of dolphins and mermaids occupying each corner. The pool itself wasn't that large, occupying the center of the spacious room; signs indicated that the deepest that the pool went was seven foot, and the shallowest three.
Sasuke was wavering somewhere near the five and four foot region, alternating between clinging onto the side of the pool and glancing up at his bored-looking instructor.
The Uchiha shifted his feet slightly on the floor, deeming it safe enough for him to remove his death grip on the elevated side. Naruto was staring at him expectantly from the other side of the five foot region, unconsciously playing with the zipper to his suit, and waiting for Sasuke to begin.
"You want me to hold your hand while you do it, Uchiha?" Naruto taunted, crossing his arms over his now bare chest.
Sasuke sent a chilling look into his instructor's jaded blue gaze before setting his stare downward at the water. He could do this, for sure. All he had to do was dunk his head into the water and start to…blow?
"Tick tock, tick tock."
Sasuke growled under his breath and rounded his hands into fists. One, two, three…
Suddenly, everything around him was blue. It was curious, really. The way each bubble floated up, Sasuke found one that he liked in particular and watched its journey as it rose. He liked the feeling of coolness around him particularly the way it felt like there was no such thing as gravity. He liked it so much that decided to he lift his feet off the ground, just to see if he could. It almost felt like an acid trip; everything around him was so real yet so surreal. Nevertheless, as quickly as it came, everything seemed to drift away as he felt two strong arms hoist him up by the armpits, and he was suddenly shaken into reality.
"Sasuke!"
Large, warm hands clasped his shoulders, violently shaking him back into consciousness. The Uchiha vaguely noted how long each of the Uzumaki's fingers was. His last girlfriend's hands were so small and delicate, but Naruto's hands were far from that. He vaguely entertained the thought of Naruto's fingernails donning pink and yellow nail polish like she used to wear.
"Sasuke, don't die!" Naruto cried dramatically, pulling the black-haired boy into a bone-crushing hug.
"Yes, sod off, I'm fine." Sasuke grunted, shrugging the invading arms away from shoulders.
Spluttering slightly into the back of his hand, the black-haired boy backed up against the pool edge for support. He had no clue what'd happened just there. One minute he was dunking his head in the water and the next he completely lost himself in an odd way.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Sasuke grunted slightly as his vision was completely filled up with concerned piercing blue eyes. He had the sudden urge to punch the guy away, but just as he was about to follow through with this evil thought, his wrist was caught in midair.
"As much as this might destroy whatever self-worth you have," Naruto began, smirking slightly at the baffled look the Uchiha was giving him, "I think I might go ahead and really hold your hands while you do it."
"No, I refuse."
"Sasuke," Naruto continued, his smooth voice lowering slightly, "We have five minutes left of this session. If you want to get this done, you'll listen to what I say."
"Uzumaki, don't think I'll just stand here and be treated like your fucking bitch," Sasuke spat out, pushing the instructor away.
"Fine, forget it. Get out of the pool," the blonde-haired man growled out while elbowing his way past Sasuke to the edge.
Sasuke watched in disbelief as the instructor poised his arms at the side of the pool intending to climb out.
"No, wait."
Naruto turned unhurriedly around to face Sasuke, a pattern splayed across his features from the water's reflection. The Uchiha felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment as he attempted to form an apology. He didn't want to come off sounding like a total queen but at the same time, he knew he needed Naruto to win this competition.
Knowing this was the only thing that was keeping him from walking out right now.
"N-Naruto," Sasuke began painfully, stuttering in attempt to say the Uzumaki's first name for the first time, "I'm not going to beg you, but I just—really…need to win this competition."
The blond-haired man scrutinized Sasuke for a moment or two. The Uchiha huffed slightly and looked away. That was the closest he'd come to pouring his heart out to someone (as weak as it was) and he could already feel the clawed fingers of vulnerability settling in. It was a feeling that he'd only felt once before in his life.
Sasuke flinched as two slightly calloused hands grabbed his own unceremoniously. He tore his eyes away from the spot he was blankly staring at on the wall and started to pull his away out of the tight grip. Two sapphire blue eyes stared down at him seriously, and the energy to fight ebbed out away gradually.
"We're down to three minutes now, Uchiha, and we're not leaving until you've got this. So, let's do it," Uzumaki said, loosening his death grip on Sasuke's fingers slightly so that he was merely holding them.
As corny as Naruto's last statement was, Sasuke shivered very slightly as the skin on Naruto's hand gently, but insistently pressed against his. He wanted to hit his head against the bare chest in front of him from the humiliation, but settled on screwing his face up in a determined grimace.
"Okay, on the count of three, we're both going down. Ready?"
The Uchiha nodded, grinding on his back teeth.
"One, two, and three…"
Once again, Sasuke's vision was shrouded with blue. This time, though, everything felt more real. He was completely aware of the tan hands still gripping his, and the fact that the boy in front of him was adamantly mouthing 'blow' to him. The situation might have been humorous to an outsider, but the Uchiha was set on getting this right.
Unfortunately, all Sasuke managed to do when he opened his mouth was swallow copious amounts of water. As appealing as chlorinated water might appear to be, it isn't the greatest substance to drink. As they resurfaced again, Sasuke wrenched his hands away. He choked up some of the delicious water and hacked.
"Again."
Sasuke paused in mid-choke to shoot a disbelieving look at his instructor when the words fell from the blue-eyed boy's mouth, but before his indigence could be voiced, his hands were grabbed even more determinedly and they were both under again. For the second time Naruto was unwaveringly mouthing the word to him; bubbles emitted from his mouth each time.
The sensation of understanding shot through the Uchiha like a bolt of lightning.
Sasuke yanked harshly at Naruto's hands, taking care to almost crush the appendixes with his grip. Pushing them both upward with his legs, they broke the surface of the water.
"Sasuke, what the fuck are you doi—
But before Naruto could finish his question, Sasuke pulled them underwater. Completely engulfed by the liquid, he formed his mouth in an 'o' form and began saying the word that led him to his initial discovery.
"Blloooow."
Bubbles shot up in every direction and Sasuke's vision was flooded. In shock, he groped around for support and managed to feel the squashy surface of what he thought to be Naruto's arm. As awkward as the circumstances were, Sasuke was silently whooping for joy at his success.
Sasuke would never admit it to Naruto's face, but that was a pretty smart way to teach him how to do it in such a short time.
After emerging again, Naruto pried Sasuke's clasp off his arm and shot him a toothy grin.
"Man, Sasuke. How'd you finally get it right?" the blond man questioned, running his hand through now damp golden locks.
"Well," the black haired boy began, "I just followed your dumb directions and actually said the word 'blow'"
Naruto's features scrunched up in complete confusion. Sasuke, suddenly feeling slightly unnerved, continued to stare back at him as if he'd just said the most obvious thing in the world.
"I never told you to say the word—
"Mr. Uzumaki, the next swimming instructor is here."
Sasuke wanted to smack that confused look into the side of the pool, but decided to vent his frustrations at the blue-eyed idiot by attempting to storm (albeit slowly) out of the pool.
The elderly receptionist shot him a disapproving look as he grabbed his towel and pushed past her.
The nerve of that idiot! Here Sasuke was, thinking that Naruto was some kind of genius in his clever innovative instructions, and all that time he was just being…
What exactly was he being?
Naruto didn't even give him instructions on how to actually blow the freaking bubbles. Did he think that Sasuke would figure it out for himself, or was he really just an inadequate instructor? Either way, the Uchiha bathed silently in his victories. Although they made minimal progress, he felt content in actually learning something.
The short drive back to his apartment was filled with thoughtful contemplations. Truth be told, that little occurrence in the swimming place was probably the most human interaction he'd taken part in the entire year he'd been living in Konoha.
Sure, there were the brief interactions with Kiba, but those were mostly manly grunting cavemen-type battles. There was no need for real articulation. The whole exchange was equivalent to comparing the size of each other's cocks to see whose was bigger.
Sasuke grinned sadistically at the thought as he reversed into his parking space. He would totally win a cock comparison fight. Or maybe that was just what his own manly pride was telling him. He decided not to ponder on that notion any longer.
The Uchiha slammed the car door behind him and walked into the respectable looking apartment building with his fingers interlaced and behind his head. He vaguely wondered how long he was going to stay in Konoha. He hadn't settled into a final location for more than a year in the last five years because he always felt like there was something missing.
"Oh, Sasu-kee."
Sasuke uttered a quick "Oh, shit," before he whipped around, and made a violent grab for his keys in his pocket. After he managed to fish it out, he attempted to shove it through the keyhole.
"You can't hide from me, sweetie-pie," the high-pitched voice chided, followed by a series of tsk'ing sounds.
The Uchiha desperately jammed the key further into the hole, twisting and turning it into surrender. Thoughts of masochistic castration rituals flitted in and out of his mind as the tsk'ing got closer.
Suddenly warmth enveloped on his shoulder and Sasuke resisted banging his head against something for the third time that day.
"Sasuke-poo, you haven't even given me a chance to give you back all your clothes."
Although her voice was sugar-coated, he could distinctly hear the tone of pure steel.
"Sakura," Sasuke's voice betrayed none of the pure displeasure he was feeling right now. Thankfully it remained offhand and indifferent—the type that always seemed to infuriate her when they were dating.
The hand on his shoulder clamped down hard, and Sasuke could've sworn that he'd been pushed down an inch further into the floor. The Uchiha half-heartedly attempted to unlock the door again before he heard unconcealed snickers from behind him.
"So eager to get away, Sasuke…? You were always one for abandonment," Sakura said, her voice laced with unrestrained anger and resentment.
The black-haired boy flinched when he heard the unmistakable pop of knuckles being cracked behind him.
"You see…what that was—uh," Sasuke rattled the doorknob desperately, wishing for it to open.
"What was that fucking excuse you gave me? 'I need time to myself, and you just take up way too much of that time,"' she spat out, swinging Sasuke around to face her.
Sasuke was whirled around to face the fuming young woman in the face. His hand, with key in hand, still planted on the doorknob.
Her normally dull green eyes were aflame with blatant anger. Her usual attractive face was screwed up with such wrath that Sasuke actually took a few steps back to create some distance between them.
"Hah, and to think, I was the one to help you settle into this crappy town," she began, gesturing around the cramped carpeted hallway of the apartment building, "And now you're going to pay, Sasuke."
The Uchiha wracked his brains trying to think of a solution. He'd already decided that he was going to have to catch her off-guard for a while, but the solution he had in mind wasn't foolproof.
"Sakura, the truth is," Sasuke softened his appalled facial expression into one he hoped was seductive.
The black-haired boy craned his neck so that his head was hovering somewhere near Sakura's right shoulder, all the while jiggling at the lock behind him.
"I…still," Sasuke whispered, hearing the distinct catch in her breath as he leaned closer to her ear.
The tell-tale clicking sound was covered as Sasuke gave a dramatic sigh.
"I still hate you, sucker!" Sasuke yelled immaturely, twisting around and flinging the door open. Without checking to see her reaction he slammed the door shut, and placed the door chain attachment into its lock.
He could hear the muffled cries of, "You're going to pay for this, Uchiha!" as he snickered and dropped his keys on the wooden coffee table.
Sasuke vaguely wondered what the hell she was doing outside his apartment at two 'o' clock in the morning, anyway. There was no reason to hide the faint smile that caught on his lips when he recalled how much power he still had over her.
The Uchiha could be described as a control-freak, and he would admit it, damn it.
That's probably why tonight he felt so vulnerable and exposed; which also was coincidentally the reason why he felt like he'd achieved something so great no matter how small and insignificant it might've seemed to an outsider.
Of course, he didn't feel grateful toward that blond bastard anymore, because he hadn't helped at all–except to make Sasuke's experience even more awkward. This was quite a feat, considering how awkward the circumstances already were.
The Uchiha stripped off his sweater and pants, and toddled over to his small bathroom to shower. Lately, he'd gotten into the habit of kicking off his clothes before he got to the bathroom itself. Considering he never got guests (except for the odd visit from Sakura, and the landowner), it never seemed like such an absurd idea.
Wrenching back the shower curtain, he adjusted the hot and cold faucets and stood inside the tub expectantly with his face turned upward. The cold spray hit him full on in the face, but Sasuke didn't move a muscle. Most people would've at least sped up the warming of the water process by turning up the hot water, but Sasuke just stood there letting the spray hit his face.
That's it for now, hope you liked. :