WNL Series: Living in the Now
Chapter 4
Best Laid Plans…
"When were you going to tell me that you were paying for everything?"
Naruto looked over at him with a confused look. He'd returned while Sasuke had been with Tsunade and so far seemed just as impressed with his welcome home as he had been the last time. Welcome home time had used to be frenzied and passionate all night fucking. Now it seemed to be tempered by a round of fighting first.
Sasuke had come home to find Naruto sitting tensely on the sofa. He'd looked concerned apparently hearing about Sasuke's summons but Sasuke had come in to stand over him and start questioning him before Naruto even had a chance to say 'hello'.
"No offence Sasuke, and it's not like I minded it for one moment, but did you think I get us food and clothes for free?"
"Of course not but I assumed you were getting more money as my jailor than next to nothing. But you bought me clothes and presents and other stupid things you didn't need to!"
"Okay, I'm starting to get the fact you're pissed about that but I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to. I like you being here."
"So what, you keep up my expenses and in return you get a fuck whenever you feel like it?"
Sasuke watched the slow change in Naruto's face, realising as the moments dragged on that he'd probably just crossed some sort of line. But it had been on his mind so he'd just said it without thinking.
"You'd better not mean that like I think you do," Naruto warned him.
"Yeah I get it, you care about me. But do you think I would want to be some leech? I just don't see how that's really equal, do you?"
"I didn't think about being equal," Naruto replied honestly. "You like to remind me what you've given up to be here with me, did you really think I'd gripe about my minor price? Besides it's not like you're a real expensive person to have around. You eat half of what I do, only have about two sets of clothes and when you do cook something or make me cook you save me the cost of getting take out like I normally would. If I had a cat it would cost more money than you do."
"So you'd buy matching silver necklaces for a cat would you?" Sasuke questioned sharply.
"No, but that's not a living expense, that's a gift. It doesn't count and you should know the difference!"
Alright so bringing that up was probably a dick move. If Sasuke weren't here Naruto would probably not be a single guy. He was attractive, a hero of the village and if Sasuke hadn't given him ten different issues about relationships previous to him coming back, would probably have been in a relationship a long time ago. Buying a gift for someone you cared about was just what normal people did for those they loved. If it weren't for Sasuke he might have given out dozens of gifts by now.
"So you felt guilty about the other stuff then?" Sasuke persisted.
"Of course I did, are you kidding?!"
Sasuke's scowl intensified. "So you're keeping me out of guilt?"
Naruto just threw up his hands in angry frustration while getting to his feet. "Stop twisting everything I say! Look, I want you here, more than anything. And I'm not ever going to complain about any stupid tiny little extra cost because of that want. Even if it cost me everything I have I would still want to be with you, I told you that when I offered to break you out of jail remember? But instead you gave up so much so I didn't have to and for that I do feel guilty. But me feeling guilty is not why I'm doing this. But it does put things into perspective as well. I guess that sometimes guilt does make me try a little too hard. I don't want you to regret your choice in staying."
"So if I hadn't sacrificed my power, what would you have done?"
"You already know the answer to that, I just told you. Like I said, I don't care about whatever small cost it is to keep us both fed." Here Naruto's mouth twisted a little as he looked at Sasuke. "But I gotta admit, if you really want things to be equal between us…"
"If you didn't feel guilty you'd be hoping I'd contribute at some point," Sasuke finished for him.
Naruto drew in a deep breath. "I don't know Sasuke. Maybe. But not for me. I wasn't lying when I said you hardly cost me anything and there are ninja out there that support entire families with close to the same pay I get. But admit it, you're bored most of the time."
It was at this point that Sasuke had to decide how he wanted to come out of this argument. On top, naturally. But it mattered how he got there. He didn't want to be a burden, as insignificant as Naruto said the burden was, he wanted them to be equal at the very least. And if Naruto hadn't felt so guilty about his sacrifice, something Sasuke had used to delight in reminding him about, he probably would have ranted at Sasuke months ago about doing something with his life. But guilt had made him just be happy that Sasuke was here at all, or at least that's what Sasuke was getting out of the argument and it was difficult to be pissed about that when he knew that his reminders were probably very much to blame here. And Naruto would never care about money, he would want him to do something, as he'd said, because Sasuke was obviously bored with his life.
"As soon as I realised what you were doing I did get a job. So from now on we split all expenses, no argument!"
Naruto looked too surprised to really argue though. "Huh, you got a job already?"
"Of course," Sasuke replied like it was the easiest thing in the world to do.
"Um, you're not going to be dealing with the public or anything are you? I mean you probably shouldn't be doing a job that relies on you being nice to people or something."
Sasuke spent a few moments wondering if he should be offended by that or not. In the end he couldn't really blame Naruto for the observation.
"My job doesn't require me to be nice."
"Oh. So what are you doing?"
"Training Kyo."
Naruto looked confused. "Aren't you already doing that?"
"Yes, but now I'm going to get paid for it. And more students if all goes well."
Naruto's eyes were getting really wide. "But your chakra…"
"Doesn't matter. I can still instruct even if they think I can't actually use it. I still remember how to be a ninja, dobe."
"So they put you in charge of training…children?"
"Stop looking so horrified. It's tutoring, that's all. They'll still have their own teachers. Kyo was falling behind but since I've been helping him he's one of the best in his year apparently. Tsunade seems to think I can do this with other students too. But whatever, she's going to pay me so I don't care if she's delusional or not."
Naruto didn't seem to know what to say, which was a first. Sasuke couldn't decide whether he looked worried or happy about this news. Eventually though he seemed to beat worry down and smile instead.
"I'm really proud of you, you know."
Sasuke sighed. "Don't take the fun out of this. We had a perfectly good fight going a moment ago."
For some reason Naruto looked a little nervous after that statement.
"Well I've got some news that will probably start another fight if you want, but we could save it till later. You know, space out the arguments a little more," Naruto said hopefully.
Sasuke frowned. "You're leaving again," he guessed.
"I guess not then," Naruto muttered in a resigned tone. "Yeah, the guy is still playing it cool. Kakashi offered to relieve me and go out with Sai this time but Sai said something about replacing someone who knows the mission and our target as well as I do was inadvisable or something like that. So I agreed to go back out."
"Sai wants you to go."
"Yeah, I guess so. Kakashi knows I have my jailor duties but he agrees with Sai too. It shouldn't be for much longer. We had to break off for tonight because we thought the guy might have realised he was being watched but after a night here we'll pick him up again and see if he's a little more relaxed."
"Sai specifically wants you to go," Sasuke repeated even less impressed than before.
Naruto actually looked like he was wincing at this point. "You really have to get over this Sai thing. There is no reason for you to be like this about him. Trust me. You wouldn't be this bent out of shape if it was Sakura instead of Sai."
"You think so?" Sasuke asked him a shade darkly.
That threw Naruto for a moment. "Well of course," he said obviously. "You know Sakura likes you, not me. I accidentally brushed up against her arm last week while we were walking and she almost took my head off."
"She acted strangely when she saw you naked," Sasuke told him.
"Of course she did, I practically flashed her! Anyone would be embarrassed."
"Do you still like her?"
"What? No!"
"You used to," Sasuke persisted.
"Yeah but lucky for me she was more interested in a demented jealous freak than me. She's my friend, so is Sai. I am not interested in either one of my team mates like that! What's wrong with you?!"
"Okay fine, maybe you aren't. But you can't know they aren't interested in you."
"Yes I can."
"Are you a mind reader?"
"No, but I'm pretty sure you aren't either. Okay fine you're crazy but even if there is the smallest weirdest possibility that you're remotely right, it doesn't fucking matter!"
"Why?"
"Because I'm with you!" Naruto exclaimed.
Despite the outburst Sasuke was only marginally mollified.
"I still don't like Sai," Sasuke stated.
"Yeah, I'm getting that. Look is there anything I can do to prove to you that I'm all yours?"
Sasuke looked at him speculatively for a moment.
"Do you have any rope?"
Even after the ranting Naruto still couldn't help but snort and smile at that one.
"Ha ha, very funny teme."
Sasuke however wasn't smiling.
"Um, you are joking right?"
Sasuke shook his head slowly.
So Sasuke had a slight bondage thing. Who would've guessed? Well in all honesty, although Naruto hadn't guessed it, he still wasn't completely shocked by the revelation either for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, Sasuke had control issues. And with very good reason. And no matter how relaxed he had become around Naruto and how willing to give up that control he sometimes oh so readily was, there were still moments like these where Sasuke had complete and utter control over their intimacy and his eyes shone with that special little dark glee that Naruto knew meant Sasuke was confident, in his element and eager.
Of course the second reason Naruto wasn't shocked was because Sasuke was also a teasing, sadistic asshole who enjoyed watching him squirm. Usually he held him down with hands when he was in that mood. But on just a few occasions, he'd actually gone whole hog and tied Naruto to his bedposts.
Naruto wasn't sure if he hated it or loved it. The teasing was merciless, the sex, when it eventually happened, was slow and brutal but the effects of it was usually sent him to dizzying heights of ecstasy before leaving him in a worn out almost comatose mess on the bed. And it fucking hurt his wrists too.
But this was a form of payback for Sasuke and he revelled in his revenge. And if it helped give Sasuke some sense of calm by dealing out this form of retribution while still getting soundly fucked into the bargain, well, it seemed impossible to really complain.
Tonight was no exception. Sasuke had spent over an hour teasing him, licking, biting, sucking and probing before sliding home and finishing off with long, hard and painfully slow thrusts. Every time he pulled slowly out he would ram back in again as deeply as he could go before pulling out almost all the way and repeating the process. It probably wasn't the most loving version of sex ever but it seemed to help them work through any ire with each other when it sometimes seemed as though words just weren't getting the point across anymore. And generally afterwards it was like nothing had happened, Sasuke would mellow out and Naruto would completely forget the importance of why they had been near fighting in the first place.
Well usually.
After this time Naruto felt his wrists being let loose to fall limply back onto the bed, his heart hammering double time in his chest and his entire body feeling like it was on fire only to gaze across at Sasuke who had moved to sit beside him, his eyes gazing firmly out of the bedroom window.
"If that didn't get something out of your system, there's something wrong with you," Naruto told him resting a hand against Sasuke's sweaty side.
"I know," Sasuke ground out. "I need some water, go to sleep."
Naruto watched with a frown as Sasuke got up and padded out of the bedroom still naked and still obviously annoyed. But what could he do? Short of running away with Sasuke and living out their lives in a little cabin in the middle of nowhere with no human contact, that is.
But Sasuke's worries were just something Sasuke was going to have to get over. There was no clearer way Naruto could soothe him about who's he was and after that Naruto just had to admit there wasn't a lot else he could do. And the more he thought about it the more he realised what the underlying problem probably was. Sasuke wasn't jealous, he was scared. Sasuke wasn't someone that coped with loss all that well, especially when losing people he cared about. And well, losing people he cared about was a sad fact of Sasuke's life. It just seemed as though this time Sasuke wasn't thinking he might lose Naruto by him being killed, rather he was scared of losing him in other ways. But loss was still loss and Sasuke's damaged mind connected that loss with pain, with being lost and being alone.
Naruto wondered again how he got himself caught up with someone with so much baggage to begin with. Not that he blamed Sasuke for it, not one bit. But that was love for you and Sasuke's issues wouldn't make him stop caring for him one little bit.
He thought about getting up and talking to Sasuke about it, reassure him that he wasn't going to lose him but he doubted Sasuke would get what he meant. Sasuke might be really smart most of the time but when it came to his own emotions he was dumber than a squashed flower. And even though Naruto was happy he might have figured out the problem he was also pretty sure it would take Sasuke some more time. Pushing him about it would only make him angrier. Besides, Sasuke's worries were completely unfounded so it wasn't like he was going to get hurt in the end and Naruto would rather he see that for himself rather than feeling as though Naruto was just trying to make a point to him to prove him wrong.
So with that happy eventuality in mind Naruto did roll over then and took Sasuke's advice.
Sasuke was pacing.
It wasn't something he did very often because it annoyed him a lot when other people did it, but tonight he was just too agitated to stay still.
He had half expected Naruto to follow him out from the bedroom and either try to calm him down or pick another fight, but Naruto had done neither. This actually soothed him somewhat surprisingly. Naruto had told him not to worry, that it was just another job with his team mate as usual and anything that might worry or annoy Sasuke about this was purely a result of his own paranoid imagination and he should really get the fuck over it. The fact that he wasn't even trying to talk him through it gave Sasuke the impression that he honestly felt there was no reason to. Which was in itself reassuring.
And okay, in all truth Sasuke had no real cause to be jealous. Apart from an unnecessary weirdness for Sai to point out that Naruto had friends other than him he had really done nothing obvious to suggest that his attachment to Naruto was anything more than this slight feeling of superiority over Sasuke. And really there were other people Sasuke could be far more jealous over with far better reason. Sakura's look still had him a little troubled but he still wasn't certain that was something he had to worry about yet.
And even though it could have been entirely his imagination that told him there was something to be worried about, it still didn't stop him from worrying. And the worry was made all the worse because there was little he could really do about it. He hated that feeling all the more. That was why instead of sleeping tonight next to a warm enticing body he was up pacing like a impotent moron.
Naruto was under the impression that what it all came down to, whether there was any realism to Sasuke's neuroses or not, was trust. Did Sasuke trust him? Well sure he did... in certain things. With his life, absolutely. But would he really be able to resist the charm of another person? Sasuke was not so sure especially because if it was a competition between his own charm and someone else's, well, Sasuke didn't have a lot to offer.
Not that there was a question of Naruto's honour. He was honourable to a fault most of the time so Sasuke wasn't actually worried that he might sleep around. But there were always other things to be worried over and honestly the thought of anyone touching what was his in any sort of close or affectionate way made him clench his teeth together and ball up his hands so tightly he could feel his fingernails dig into the skin of his palms. It was strange but even the thought of the smallest amount of unnecessary touching made him this angry. So he could trust Naruto all he wanted as far as sex and affection went while he was involved with Sasuke. But he could never control other people and it also didn't mean that he might not break it off with him for greener pastures elsewhere if given the choice.
Of course there was always a way he could allay his fears about this. If he could only witness Sai's interactions with Naruto on one of these missions at least he would know if there was something to worry about. Perhaps Naruto would react badly to Sai's touch if it was offered straight away. Perhaps Sai wouldn't even, as Naruto suggested, try anything at all. Of course perhaps Sasuke was completely founded in his worries and he was completely in his rights to rip the sneaky bastard Sai's head off in a blood fuelled glee.
But of course, he had to be sure.
That would count on a lot of things happening. For one, Sasuke wasn't allowed to leave the village despite the lack of Anbu guard now and even if he could, the chances of following the pair and remaining unnoticed would be tricky to say the least. And even after taking all these risks he was further gambling that this mission, of all the times Naruto and Sai had been out on mission together was going to be the timeSai would do something that Sasuke would feel justified maiming him for. No, he needed more certainties than this. He needed to be sure that all his risks would be worth it.
But what could he do? He couldn't control Sai...
…or could he?
At seven in the morning Naruto was halfway down his street on his way to meet with Sai at the gates when he came across Sakura wandering towards the hospital. At first he hadn't noticed her being caught up in his own thoughts but her voice had ripped him out of his thoughts about Sasuke and he gave her a smile which she quite warmly returned.
"Another mission today?" she asked.
"Same one actually. I'm going to meet Sai now."
"Well I'm early anyway so I'll walk down to the gates with you if you like."
Well… that was odd.
"Uh sure, Sakura-chan."
But apparently his less than enthusiastic reply didn't impress her much.
"Not that I would want to burden you with my presence," she added pointedly.
"No, it's not that. Sure, I'd love to walk to the gates with you!" he told her happily before he gave himself enough time to wonder why he'd been so quick to spend time with her. But then she was his friend, it wasn't uncommon for them to chat when they met each other on the streets. But he figured that Sasuke had him spooked. That bastard was making him edgy already.
They chatted away while they walked, Naruto absently rubbing at his pained wrists. Sasuke really hadn't been joking about the rope but at least he'd released him eventually but not before enough movement had caused the rope to rub his wrists badly. Thankfully by the morning the marks were almost gone but he still felt the sting. He wondered how it was fair that he was the one paying for Sasuke's paranoia all the time. But then thinking back on last night it wasn't much to be complained about. Sasuke's over the top show of possessiveness had made for an amazing night. It was almost worth the fighting.
Actually who was he kidding, it was totally worth the fighting.
But Sasuke's issues still worried him a little.
"Sakura-chan, can you do me a favour?"
Sakura looked over at him quizzically. "Uh, I guess so."
"Do me a favour and check in on Sasuke while I'm gone?"
"Sure. But why?"
"He could do with the company," Naruto told her.
Fifteen minutes after Naruto had left the apartment Sasuke opened the door to the soft though persistent sound of Sai's knocking. Sasuke frowned slightly when he saw him but stepped aside to let the ninja enter without any comment.
Strangely Sai didn't immediately offer up any explanations as to what he was doing here once Sasuke closed the door behind him and Sasuke let the silence drag on for a few minutes while he went to the kitchen counter and made his usual morning tea as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
Sai merely stood in the middle of the room and looked around with interest as though he hadn't been in here before or if he had, hadn't been in here very often at all. Which was encouraging. But the looksee didn't last long before Sai eventually asked a question.
"Is Naruto in the shower?"
Sai saying the two words together like that made Sasuke's eyes narrow even when he knew the observation was an obvious one to make. Both of them could clearly hear the shower water running.
Sasuke nodded.
"He doesn't usually want me to meet at his place," Sai observed like it was an interesting and fun fact but of no real import. "But he left me a note last night."
Of course Naruto didn't want Sai to come over to his place, not unless he felt a keen need to wash a lot of blood off his walls. But today was different because Sasuke had a plan that involved wanting Sai here.
For the moment the plan entailed standing by the kitchen bench casually and sipping his tea looking bored as far as the whole world could see but in fact watching Sai very carefully. He watched his every movement and facial expression as the strange Sai continued to look around the room in a curious fashion.
Sasuke could at least like one aspect of Sai's usual personality and that was his completely absent need to fill up a silence with useless chit-chat. It was the same trait that allowed Sasuke to almost enjoy Neji's company in fact. Of course though if Sai had a point to make that was another story. Apparently then you couldn't shut the irritating freak up if you tried.
"I imagine it would be… noisy, living with Naruto," Sai told the windows he was currently staring out of.
"That's a strange thing to imagine," Sasuke replied gripping his tea cup so hard his knuckles started to go white.
"Which part?" Sai asked with that creepy smile of his as he finally looked around at Sasuke. "That it would be noisy or that I have imagined it at all?"
It was entirely possible, Sasuke reasoned, that Sai was simply saying these things to be a dick. But it was hardly a certainty no matter what Sasuke thought of the guy.
Oh well, enough was enough. He hadn't had long to watch Sai but he figured it would be enough for now. So while Sai continued to watch him Sasuke took another sip of tea and when he moved the cup back down it was to flick red eyes up to lock with black. For one horrifying moment Sasuke thought that Sai was going to resist him. It wouldn't be too difficult at the moment and if he failed there was little else he could do about it since he was hardly in a position to properly defend himself either. But after a few moments of fighting it, Sai fell to the floor in an undignified heap and Sasuke smirked down at the crumpled body.
Although he wasn't exactly at full strength just yet, he still figured Sai would be trapped for at least half a day or more which would give him ample head start for his plans. Of course there was one very big problem with his plan that made him begin to frown again. No matter what happened from here on in, Sai now knew that his chakra wasn't completely dead. When Sasuke been hyped up with jealousy and planned this all last night he'd assumed he could just pass off what had happened to Sai as a simple accident. But since he hadn't managed to completely take Sai by surprise and he had struggled against him, he found it unreasonable to assume that Sai wouldn't remember what had happened and Sasuke's genjutsu wasn't exactly up to the mental challenge of attempting to make someone forget something like that.
Of course it was done now and there was nothing he could do about what would happen with Sai from here. Unless of course he killed him. But he figured Naruto would be strangely upset with him about that. Plus he actually found the thought somewhat unappealing right now. Which was strange. He hated Sai. But in reality Sai hadn't actually done anything to harm him. Except perhaps mentally, but even that could've still been accidental. So no matter how much he might fantasise about killing the unconscious ninja, he knew he wouldn't.
But he wasn't about to let his problem affect the rest of the plan. Even if Sai now knew his secret, there would be nothing gained if he spent the time he'd bought himself agonising over it. So he left Sai on the floor and hurried into the bathroom to first turn off the shower he'd left running on the pretence that Naruto was actually still home getting ready for his mission and then hunting around for the bag he'd buried in the dirty clothes hamper where he was sure Naruto wouldn't disturb it. Afterwards he came back into the main room and crouched down by the still unconscious figure.
Now this was the hard part.
Last night he'd had mixed success trying to copy someone using ninjutsu. Strangely it seemed to depend on whom he was copying which was a bit unfortunate. For instance after he'd managed to get the use of enough chakra to even attempt the transformation the only person he'd managed to copy with any degree of success had been Naruto. But that was hardly surprising because it was a particular body he knew very intimately inside and out.
But transforming into Naruto and others he knew had only been the test run, trying it out with Sai, after he'd already used his Sharingan to take him out was going to be a great deal harder. And since Naruto had already left to meet Sai by the front gates as they'd previously agreed on he was running out of time to make this work.
It took him longer than he would have liked but he stayed and focussed on Sai, focussed his chakra till the air around him puffed as the jutsu took effect. Sasuke quickly went to a mirror to inspect his work and watched as a pleased and evil looking smile graced Sai's pale features staring back at him.
Well one thing was for sure, the clothing was really annoying. How did the little prick move in his getup let alone fight? Sasuke spent most of the time walking quickly down to the gates tugging at the infuriating cloth while trying not to look too conspicuous doing so. The clothing was way too tight and way too revealing by far and it only made his ire for Sai grow worse.
Once he was in full view of the front gates he stopped fidgeting and cleared his expression walking over towards the two familiar figures standing by the front gates chatting and waiting. Trust Sakura to be here too. It can't have been his imagination that she seemed to be spending a lot more time around Naruto when he was off mission than usual. Every time Naruto was out and about, there she was...
Sasuke clenched his jaw and warned himself to focus. One jealousy at a time was just about his limit. Deal with the Sai thing first then start making Sakura wish she'd never met Naruto. One at a time.
When he stepped up to the pair he felt a thrill of excitement that he had not been expecting. Well he thought he might have been keen to put his plan into motion, but this was more than keenness and it took him a little while to figure out what this feeling was about. And it wasn't actually until Naruto turned from talking with Sakura and gave him a bright smile did he completely understand.
"So, you ready to go?"
Was it possible that he was actually excited by the notion of going off on a mission again? He decided that yes, that certainly had something to do with it. Even more so that he was going with Naruto too.
Strangely this excitement made something in his chest constrict. What the hell was he doing? He was hardly in any condition to be going on a mission where his skills as a ninja might be relied on. What happened if they got into trouble? What if something bad happened to Naruto because he couldn't back him up? The thoughts were not pleasant ones.
But then Naruto had said it himself; this was mainly a scouting mission to watch a guy. Once they caught him in the act they had to capture him. Simple right? Sasuke figured even he could get something that easy done without too much effort. Which was a good thing because keeping up the transformation just after incapacitating Sai was just about his limit with his chakra network still not completely functional.
It would be fine, the mission wouldn't suffer and Sasuke would be reassured about his relationship. It would be worth it in the end.
Sasuke nodded and tried not to smile.
TBC
Notes: Well holy fucking workload. Yeah I know, later than usual but more hours at work means less time Dash spends writing. It happens. It also might explain why this chapter might have ended up being a little fast paced too. But anyway that means lots happened this chapter. Sasuke has let his jealousy completely cloud his usual intelligence and has attacked Sai and taken his place in order to test Naruto's loyalty. Bad bad Sasuke, when will you learn…
Unsigned Reviews –
N8mine – (I Need Review) Wow, thank you! I didn't think my descriptions were generally all that good so I am so ecstatic that you enjoyed those scenes from 'I Need'. I've had a couple of people comment on these moods that I have through my stories and it really makes me happy to know that I can make such a stamp on a fic that stands out so much :) Thank you so much for your beautiful review!
Thud – Well this is going to be epic since you read so much since I last posted. Let's begin with 'Dreams Aren't Real' –
You know I believe you might be the first one I remember asking me about their pants. And I'm not too certain what exact idea I had with that other than Naruto's getting darker and Sasuke's getting lighter as a sort of meeting in the middle thing. Plus Sasuke's thoughts were getting a little brighter while Naruto was doing himself harm by getting obsessed. But I never really played with that idea all that much admittedly.
Yeah, not a lot of smut in Dreams. I'm getting slightly smuttier as my writing gets more recent I find. My earlier stuff was a lot more beige lol. Ah but as you noticed later, teasing I can do ;)
As for who is behind this all… well I wouldn't want to spoil things for you yet *grins*
When you mentioned a feeling that some action was going to happen like the chapter before the monster coming into it, I was smiling so hugely because I knew you wouldn't have to wait long lol.
Haha, poor Sakura, if only she knew.
'I Need You' –
Surprisingly no one seemed to find the Sasuke POV chapters tedious. I actually re-read them somewhat recently and I can see why now. It almost does read like a different sort of story without too many repeats of the same scenes. I also am starting the get the strong impression that people prefer my Sasuke POV which might have helped.
Oh my, I kept you locked up reading for how long? *Imagines locking someone in a dark cell chained to a laptop and demanding 'read!' while cackling evilly* I feel like I've kept you hostage haha. But eh, sounds like you've had some reading fun so I don't feel all that bad *grins*
'Living in the Now' –
The overall progression in their personalities makes me grin like an idiot to know it's all working so smoothly and that people are enjoying it. The people they started off as and the people they are now, it almost seems like they are different people sometimes. Especially Sasuke since he's probably done the most changing.
It's interesting that you bring up the equality thing between them. I have epic warnings that go with all my stories about no particular expected roles because I do like undefined roles in my stories quite often and it tends to take people unexpectedly sometimes. I don't really like writing ultra submissive uke or ultra dominating seme really at all for these particular characters because personally I find it hard to wrap my head around the concept of either one of them being completely submissive of the other. Just seems to go against the personalities for me. That being said, I do have a few instances where one is being more submissive than usual but generally there is some overriding factor as to why. I wouldn't like to write either of them girly either and doing so never really occurs to me. They are both guys and to me because of the types of characters they are, it seems important to keep them well, manly, as you said. It's not difficult for me to do when trying to keep them in character if that makes sense. And yeah even when Sasuke bottoms, I can never quite manage for him to lose control completely. Though in the fullness of time I am hoping for his control to slip just a little in TLWH. But that's for another review :)
I really do worry about my characterisations a lot so I am always over the moon when I get compliments about them being in-character. Especially other characters like Sai and Hinata which I don't use very often. So thank you so much!
I am trying to bring out the fact that Naruto is attractive more so, helped along by the fact that Sasuke is getting so jealous but I really don't think I am doing it enough. I will have to rectify this in the next chapter a little *grins*
I laughed when I saw you comment about 'where does Sasuke sleep'. I have for the most part left that subject alone and that the others just assume Sasuke sleeps on the couch. Or Naruto does or something like that. I had addressed this in a scene I had written a while ago but never actually published because the story wasn't right for what I wanted to do at the time but it might re-surface in the next instalment. Originally I had Kyo's brother asking this obvious question but I cut that character's scenes as I mentioned. So I suppose that's why I haven't really had any one else question it because it sort of got addressed by someone else but then that never made it into this version of the story. Yeah it sounds really weird to me too lol.
I sort of tried to touch on Naruto's loneliness in the Yule special when he was desperate to make some traditions with Sasuke. But admittedly I think that ended up being more about Sasuke than Naruto though. But you've certainly put it into my mind to bring up again.
Did you mean have I had any personal experiences I've drawn from for this story? Well sort of. But since this is being published with the story I won't go into too many details about the more personal stuff if that is okay. For the not-so personal well, I have given up some dreams for the person I love. Feeling cut off from family is also something I suppose I can relate to as well. But I don't really intentionally drawn from personal experiences too much. I'd rather be in a fictional character's head than my own. Which is sad, but freeing. I think I like it so much because I get to leave my own problems behind while I'm writing. Was that sort of what you were asking?
Oh yeah, no I couldn't let Yukio rape Sasuke. The fact that he got so close even bothered me a little to write. Definitely not what the story needed either. Mostly I wanted Sasuke to feel back in control of his life which was the reason for the whole set up.
I did at one point consider using that jutsu again but couldn't decide whether it might be fun or in bad taste. Such a thin line sometimes lol.
But anyway, wow, thank you so much for so many reviews and such great details too! I had a smile so big on my face while reading your reviews I think I hurt my jaw. If I didn't make much sense though I apologise it's like 2am and I only finished work about 4hrs ago so I'm a little wasted lol.
