Chapter 3 – Bruised Ego
Naruto winced as the hot water washed over his healing cut, it was now Monday, and he couldn't just lie around all day. He had signed up for track with Kiba yesterday, after beating the half of the team that was there, on the sprint. People had always told him his muscly legs would get him far.
He had biology again first lesson and to be honest, he wasn't sure if he was looking forward to it or not. Sasuke didn't seem fazed at all by what happened and just proceeded to either ignore or insult Naruto, who snorted and made a snappy comment back at him. He was just trying to push the awkward thoughts out of his head, before someone noticed.
Kiba had somehow talked Sasuke into walking Naruto around for the morning, until lunch, where he would once again take over.
A fist hit his door twice, signalling for him to hurry up, or Sasuke would probably leave without him, not really caring if the blonde got lost or not. Naruto muttered something even he didn't really understand and quickly dried himself off, having already eaten; he was pretty much ready to go.
As he darted across the living room to grab his bag, he saw Sasuke roll his eyes and lean against the open door. Naruto rushed after the figure that was now heading down the corridor. "Hey teme! Wait up, you can't leave me here" Sasuke didn't even acknowledge his shouting and started off down the stairs, ignoring him as the blonde jogged to his side.
"Well then don't be so slow, Dobe" Naruto punched his shoulder, sending him stumbling at the surprise attack. Sasuke growled and glanced around, making sure there was no one around, before he slammed Naruto's back into the wall. "Listen close, because I'm only going to say this once. The reason I don't like girls is because I'm gay, I don't feel the need to talk every few seconds and if that makes me anti-social then fine" Naruto's eyes widened, so Sasuke was gay too, great!
Wait, no, it didn't matter to him whether Sasuke was gay or not… right? Naruto was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't expect the sudden tug of his shirt, as Sasuke dragged him down the stairs, obviously not wanting to waste any more time talking.
People whispered about the black eye Sasuke was sporting, but both boys ignored it, as if they were talking about someone else. Neither could be bothered to talk about what happened; it was done.
There was only about half of the class in when they slid into their seats, eyeing up the heart on their desk. "Cow" was all Sasuke said; Naruto nodded, assuming they would be comparing the heart of a few creatures, to see how they differed depending on their life styles.
No doubt it would lead into them looking into heart diseases and why you should eat healthy, so you don't get fat and what not. Kurenai was surprisingly chirpy as she walked in, for a Monday morning, it was a bit suspicious. Naruto raised an eyebrow, as she hummed to herself, writing the instructions on the board.
A few girls on the bench behind them were giggling and whispering about rumours of Kurenai and another maths teacher called Asuma getting together. Well that would explain the girly behaviour.
"Now class, I'm assuming you can all read, so just get on with it, don't interrupt me unless it's serious, if you need the toilet, take the card, but only one goes at a time, unless someone is about to vomit" She sighed and flopped back onto her chair, 'discretely' pulling her phone out and texting.
Naruto scoffed and looked over, to see that Sasuke had already started it, not bothering to involve the blonde. He frowned, Sasuke was obviously still mad at him, but for what exactly, he was not sure. He decided it was better knowing and accepting, that wondering and huffing.
"Um… Sasuke?" Sasuke glanced at him for a second; not bothering to stop what he was doing, before looking back to the heart. "Look, I don't know what I've done to upset you so much, but whatever it was I'm sorry, just please stop being anti-social and talk to me" Sasuke smirked and finished their work off, glancing around at the others in the class, who hadn't even touched the large heart.
Naruto pouted and began to draw the heart, under the other one, writing up comparisons, stealing glances at Sasuke every now and again. Sasuke looked so peaceful when he drew, it made Naruto wonder if he did it in his free time and it was strange not to see some disapproving or mocking look of the pale face.
"Is there a reason you're staring at me, Dobe?" Naruto flushed and frowned at his sheet; trust the Teme to ruin his moment.
"Like what you see?" Naruto felt his eyes widen and his pen tapping stopped, he turned to make a comment back at the Uchiha, but only found that Sasuke had somehow managed to shuffle closer, without making a sound, or drawing any attention to himself. The look in the onyx eyes made him freeze; there was something unreadable in them - But Naruto was sure he saw a hint of mocking lust.
There were only a few centimetres between their faces and it made his nervous, as he remembered just where they were, not in their dorm, or even an empty corridor. No, they were in a very crowded lab, where anyone could make assumptions, assumptions that were probably more right than he would have liked.
"T-Teme! We're in a c-classroom!" Sasuke smirked, but backed off, turning back to his work as if he hadn't just invaded Naruto's space in the middle of a lesson. Naruto stood, willing the blush away, as he grabbed the toilet pass and slipped quietly from the classroom, trying desperately to ignore the eyes burning holes in his back.
Splashing cold water on his face, he jumped when he saw Kiba leaning casually on the wall behind him. "Hell, Kiba, don't sneak up on me like that!" Kiba just chuckled and shrugged, adjusting his shirt in the mirror as he took in Naruto's flushed features. He shot him an amused look and Naruto frowned, avoiding eye contact with his roomie.
"Girl problems?" Naruto shrugged then shook his head, watching as Kiba's smirk grew bigger. "Or should I say Sasuke problems" It was more of a statement than a question and it had the colour rushing back to Naruto's face, as he spluttered and folded his arms, turning to walk away.
"I'm just messing man, or I was, until you reacted the way you did. What's up now?" Naruto sighed leaning his head against the wall.
"I don't know, it's like he's flirting with me, but at the same time it's as if my presence repulses him" Kiba ran a hand through his hair and whistled softly, pushing the blonde out of the door.
"Yeah, well he's a strange one" He sent a wink at Naruto, who rolled his eyes and sent a punch into Kiba's arm. "But hey, you're into guys, go for it, what harm will it do? It's only a bit of flirting" Naruto stood and watched as Kiba disappeared down the corridor and into one of the physics classrooms, leaving his suggestion to float around his head.
Sure it was only flirting, but it was with Sasuke and that was different, he shouldn't like a prick like him and to top it all off, it seemed the girls' plan was playing out, just not in the way they were thinking.
The girls just wanted to know if the Uchiha prodigy was Gay or straight and Naruto already had the answer to that, so why was he bothering with anything else?
Naruto decided to leave it and speak to the girls later, this was a girly thing and surely they would know what to do. He entered the class to see most pairs had finished and with still half the lesson left, he didn't know what they were going to do. They had finished and judging by Sasuke's notebook, he had gotten bored, as little doodles covered the gaps in the pages.
"Don't think too hard Dobe, you might hurt yourself" Naruto growled and slumped into his seat, trying to ignore the thoughts plaguing his head of how good Sasuke looked today, or of how good Sasuke looked every day. Naruto grumbled to himself and let his head slide onto the table, his hair flopping after him.
Kurenai sighed, and pushed herself to sit right. "I'm coming around to help those who need it, for the rest of you, just chat; I've got nothing else planned" Naruto felt a hand brush the side of his on the desk. He held still, his breath hitching at the contact.
He could hear Sasuke talking to Kurenai, before the woman moved on and the hand was back. Once again, Sasuke was risking public sighting, as their hand lay on top of the desk, thought they were fairly covered by all the equipment around them. Plus nobody had come near the desk, so they were free to do whatever.
Naruto took a breath and thought back to Kiba, glad his face was covered by his hair and the desk; it was only flirting. He lifted his pinky and rested it atop Sasuke's who wrapped the end around his.
Naruto was very tempted to glance at their fingers, but was too afraid of what he would find in the onyx eyes that he was pretty sure had glanced to him more than once.
He was startled when the bell rang, but kept his head down, feeling fingertips trail over the back of his hand and dip under his sleeve, before retreating fully. When he was sure Sasuke was gone, he lifted his head and exited the room, feeling himself shake softly.
He slouched towards the Nurse's office, trying to look as ill as he could. He knocked on the door, and entered to find a kind face looking up at him. "Well hello there, is there something I can do?" Naruto nodded and explained how 'ill' he felt, until the Nurse gave him a somewhat knowing look, before writing him a note allowing him to return to his dorms and stay there for the rest of the day. He was pretty unnerved at how everyone seemed to know what was going on in his head.
Pulling out his phone, he texted Kiba, explaining the situation, before he reached their dorm room. Slumping in, he headed towards the kitchen, grabbing a glass of juice, before lying on the couch, with his back to the door, as he watched TV, he felt himself drifting off into a light doze.
The door went unnoticed by Naruto, as one arm hung off the edge of the sofa, his snoring soft. He didn't even wake up when someone sat at his head, their leg resting against the top of his head. He didn't notice the chuckle that escaped them when he snuggled closer, wrapping his arms around the leg.
It was only when a finger poked his forehead, and a rough voice uttered his name, did he stir. "Dobe, wake up" He groaned and rubbed his eyes, one arm still clutching the leg.
He jumped back when he noticed who it was he was clinging to. "Teme? What are you doing here?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and sipped at his tea, as if the tension wasn't there.
"I live here, plus, someone this sick" he paused waving the sick note the Nurse gave him - "Shouldn't be left alone and Tsunade seemed to agree" Naruto raised an eyebrow, he had gone to Tsunade? Or had she brought him in; worried for the blonde? He huffed and pushed himself up.
"Well I don't need anyone's help, especially not yours, not when…" He faded off, stopping himself from admitting that his body was attracted to the Uchiha. Sasuke seemed to read his mind and his trademark smirk appeared as he slowly approached the blonde, who backed away with each step he took.
"Not when what, Dobe?" Naruto's back hit his door and he cursed not having opened it earlier, when Sasuke's hands rested on either side of his head. Naruto swallowed, unable to tear his gaze from the onyx one staring into his soul.
"You don't look so good, maybe I should take your temperature" Hit breath hitched when Sasuke's breath hit his ear and hands brushed under his hair. "Better check your mouth" the words came out in a whisper and soon Naruto found lips pressed against his, his eyes drifting closed as he gave in to the boy infront of him.
Naruto felt Sasuke's body rest against his, as a tongue swept across his lip, asking for entrance to 'check his temperature'. He smiled slightly and parted his lips, allowing the probing tongue to sweep in and memorize the contours of his mouth, before it slipped under his own tongue, acting like a thermometer.
Sasuke pulled back, smirking as he panted softly. "You're feeling a bit hot-" But before he had time to finish, they heard keys enter their main door's lock. Sasuke quickly moved back, his eyes never leaving Naruto, who fiddling with his clothes; until he was satisfied he looked ok.
The door opened and Neji walked in, stopping briefly to glance between the two, before rolling his eyes and shutting himself in his room. Naruto stared at the door, baffled by his lack of communication with others. "He doesn't speak much, does he? Anyway, I'm going to take a shower, so, yeah…"
He scurried into his bedroom, not noticing the amused look on the Uchiha's face, as his mind tried to make sense of the jumbled thoughts. How much further would they have gone?
Naruto groaned to himself, he was falling way too quickly for his liking…
