Let Me Sleep

by OddlyEnded

Sasuke knows he's strange, because it isn't normal to dream so often of someone you've never met. He fights to make his dreams lucid because it's this insanity that keeps him sane. Even when you're meant for no other things rarely fall into place perfectly, but Sasuke's never been a quitter. Modern Day AU. Warnings Inside. This fic will not be completed.

4. Chapter 3

Warnings: Possible OOC, sexual content, dark themes

Chapter 3

Sasuke was walking back to his room from the library where he had just finished doing a decent amount of groundwork for his paper due the following Monday. Naruto walked beside him, scuffing his feet against the linoleum floor. "Cut it out," Sasuke huffed.

"Gotta be more specific than that, Sasuke," Naruto said and nudged him with his shoulder while scuffing his feet again.

"Can't you pick your feet up when you walk?" He muttered.

"Hmm, no, too lazy," He said with a grin before shoving his hands in his pocket.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted but he felt a slight smile tug at his lips, it grew wider when he noticed Naruto stealing small glances at him as they walked across the walkway that joined the library to his dorm building.

"Hey, Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Hm?" Sasuke acknowledged him.

"Uh, you're probably busy this weekend, but I was wondering…" Naruto's head tipped to the side as he walked and he sucked in a deep breath. "Iruka and Kakashi are going away this weekend and I know how small and cramped your dorm is. I was wondering if you want to crash at my place while they're away?" He asked.

Sasuke paused and looked at Naruto with a frown on his face. "Going away…" He said before he resumed walking. He was having a hard time understanding why Naruto was so hesitant to let him into his life. Maybe meeting family members was a big deal, and Sasuke got why Naruto might not trust him…he really just wished that he knew a way to speed the process along. He knew he'd never do anything to hurt the blonde, not intentionally.

"Yeah, Kakashi has this thing for work, and Iruka's going for part of it…only a part of it though since he's got work on Monday," Naruto shrugged. The blonde was still sneaking glances at him.

"You sure they won't mind?" Sasuke asked, his brow lifted. He wondered what the implications were in the invitation, the good and the bad.

"Nah, they'll be fine," Naruto said. "I mean, I won't bug you or anything, I have some stuff to keep me occupied, promise," He said. Naruto seemed to know when Sasuke needed some breathing room, that's how it had always been. It was honestly part of the reason he enjoyed Naruto's company all through growing up, because he was the only one who seemed to get that he wanted attention, but usually only on a touch and go basis.

"Yeah, I mean, if you're sure about it. When should I swing by?" he asked.

"Whenever," Naruto shrugged. "I mean, we can go now if you want, spend some time together before heading over to Kiba's…y'know, if you're even interested in going to that still. I get it if you're not," he said. Sasuke wondered if he sounded hopeful, or if it was just his own brain projecting expectations on the blonde.

"I'm fine, it might be nice to relax tonight," Sasuke said.

"I don't think relax is the right word," Naruto snickered to himself.

Sasuke looked at him and his brow lifted before he rolled his eyes. "Fine, let my brain take a vacation,"

"Much better," Naruto's voice still had a hint of that laugh and Sasuke sucked in a heavy breath weighted down with the sound. He leaned forward and caught Naruto's lips briefly.

"Just don't lose too much of your brain, moron, you need every bit you can get," He said.

"Oh shut up," Naruto said his smile not wavering before the blonde pushed at Sasuke's face before they reached the room.

"Cut that out," Sasuke growled, but there was no real feeling to it as the door swung open.

"Are you ever not here?" Neji's voice sounded with a melodramatic sigh. Sasuke was counting down the days before he never had to see the prick ever again.

Naruto shrugged as he sat on the bed. "Shut it, we're not here for long," Naruto said with a snort.

"I'm sure you'll be back," Neji muttered into one of his business texts.

"Nah, but I'm sure I'll see you at the party. Hinata agreed to show up, it's going to be great," Naruto said.

Sasuke rummaged around for his things before taking a sneak glance at Naruto. He knew that the blonde knew exactly what he was doing, baiting Neji into going. He still didn't get why, but he didn't interfere. "Pass me that book," Sasuke pointed and Naruto handed it over with a brief wink that probably stopped Sasuke in his tracks seconds longer than it should have.

"No, you probably won't," Neji said with a hum.

"Oh, well that's too bad. I'll say hi to Hina for you," He said and Sasuke could hear Neji's grip on his text tightening.

"Do what you want," Neji said.

"No dummy," Naruto said with a huff as he stretched across the bed so he was within arms-reach of the dresser Sasuke was currently pulling out a change of clothes.

"What? I like that shirt," Sasuke said.

"You're going to need more than that," Naruto huffed and he tucked his legs underneath him before leaning over on his hands and knees. "Take that one, and those pants, they look good on you," He said.

"So I'm there all weekend then?"

"Well, unless you don't want to," Naruto said, playing it off like he didn't care.

"Sure," Sasuke hadn't wanted to presume anything.

"What did I do to deserve such luck?" Neji asked to the room.

"Certainly isn't because you're a decent human being," Sasuke said.

"You two bicker more than a couple that's been married for thirty years and is a dirty sink full of dishes away from a divorce," Naruto muttered, sounding annoyed.

"That's not funny," Sasuke said. "I don't want that shirt…"

"Fiiine, pick what you want," Naruto said as he sat back on the bed, his legs folded underneath him again.

"Like I wasn't going to in the first place," Sasuke said as he grabbed a few things and shoved them in his bag. It wasn't too hard to just come back to the dorm if he forgot anything.

When they had finished up, they opted to go straight to Naruto's place. They pulled up to the two story house and Naruto led him to the door. He unlocked it and pushed it open before stepping inside. "Home sweet home," Naruto said with a hum as he tossed his keys up onto a hook and proceeded to toss his coat on the floor. The blonde stood and stared at it for a bit. It was an odd moment watching him, illuminated by the light of the adjacent living room contemplating a lump of sweater on the floor like it was fascinating before he slowly picked it back up and hung it on a hook. It was odd to see Naruto being so neat.

"I think this is the first time I've been here," Sasuke said, like it wasn't obvious that he hadn't, he just wanted to get away from that faraway look on Naruto's face that seemed to scream discomfort.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. It's not much," Naruto said with a shrug. "Iruka thinks he can decorate. I don't really have a knack for interior design so I really have no idea."

"Hm…" Sasuke looked around, the first thing that he had noted was a sweet scent. It was a little citrusy and entirely unlike the scent of licorice that he had come to dread. The styling of the house was fairly modern in comparison to the dated exterior, it reeked of fixer-upper, he wondered how long the couple had been living here.

"Come on, we can put shit away and then make something to eat!" Naruto said as he dashed up the stairs.

"Oh, I get it now," Sasuke huffed after taking his shoes off and following Naruto upstairs.

Naruto stopped where he was at a door and just stared at him with a frown. "I don't get it…"

"You asked me here to keep you fed," Sasuke said, he was really more amused than anything.

Naruto almost squawked as he pushed his door open. "I would do no such thing! The fact that I can't cook without almost burning the house down has nothing to do with this!" He said, feigning offense.

Sasuke let out a laugh and followed Naruto inside when the blonde waved him in. "It's not too big or anything, but I don't think we'll be too cramped in here…I mean unless, we have a guest room if you want," Naruto said with a nearly timid frown.

"We've slept in the same bed, at least a half a dozen times, why would it bother me?" Sasuke said as he laid his bag gently down on one of the shelves and looked around.

"I dunno, it's not like we have the option in your room," Naruto said as he yanked the hoodie he was wearing under his coat off. His shirt got caught up in the hoodie and lifted up all the way around his chest revealing a gently toned torso. Sasuke had to actively keep himself from staring.

"Muuuch better, they left the heat on for me," Naruto said with a smile.

"Those your parents?" Sasuke asked after a moment, his eyes falling on a photo by the bed. He had almost been too hesitant to ask even though he already knew. Images of Naruto as a child walking hand in hand with both his parents flooded through his memory.

Naruto looked up and a large smile spread across his face. It was very genuine, even though Naruto smiled and laughed around him, there were only a few times when it was as honest as this one. This was the expression he enjoyed most. "Yeah, that's them," He said as he crawled over the bed to look at the photo too. "My dad's name was Minato Namikaze, he was a big time politician," Naruto hummed as he tipped his head to the side. Sasuke didn't recognize the name, but his father might. Naruto moved to trace his fingers over his mother's face. The blonde's resemblance to his father was insane, but upon closer inspection, Sasuke could see more of her features in Naruto. "My mom's name was Kushina, she stayed at home with me. Booooy she could yell," Naruto said with a chuckle.

"I've always wondered what they looked like," Sasuke said quietly. Naruto just grinned before he flopped back on the bed. "Wait…you said Namikaze, but you go by Uzumaki…" Sasuke said.

"Oh, that? Uh, Kakashi told me that was because my dad didn't want me to be treated any differently when I enrolled in school," He said with a shrug, like he didn't think too much of it.

"I see…" Sasuke said and he pulled himself away from the photo to look around. It was pretty bare. Naruto's clothes were tucked away with the occasional shirt draped over a seat or the bed. The walls had one single ramen poster on it and Sasuke found himself amused at that. There was also a stereo in the corner as well as a laptop sitting on a desk. It wasn't really anything he had expected.

"We should eat!" Naruto said as he sat up and tugged at Sasuke's hand before heading out the door.

"By which you mean, I should cook," Sasuke said following the blonde, taking a quick look at the room over his shoulder on the way out.

"Yes!" Naruto said as he turned left at the bottom of the stairs into the kitchen.

"What do we have to work with?" Sasuke asked.

"Dunno. I've got some grocery money if there's nothing," Naruto said with a hum.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and nodded. He knew he didn't have a job at the moment, but was gearing up to start looking. He wasn't sure why he didn't have one yet. Sasuke was on scholarship, as far as he knew Naruto didn't apply to anything, and he wasn't attending on loans. "Let's see then," he said.

Naruto started looking around cupboards and Sasuke took the fridge. It was incredibly bare, unless they wanted a mustard and pickle salad, the fridge was useless. "Oh sweet beautiful thing you," he heard Naruto say. Sasuke turned and saw Naruto holding a cup of ramen and he sighed.

"No, not happening. Not today, I can handle to the restaurant stuff, but not that," Sasuke said.

"But it's miso, Sasuke!" Naruto said holding it in front of his face.

"No, let's go shopping," he said.

Naruto slumped and he put the cup down, "Fine," He muttered. "You owe me, I just took all my clothes off."

"I don't think 'all' means what you think it does, moron," Sasuke said as he headed to grab his things even though, yes, they had just gotten in.

"There's a store just up on the corner here," Naruto said.

"Let's walk then," Sasuke suggested.

"Oh, right you brought your car," Naruto said with a sheepish grin. "Let's go!"

-::0::-

"Put it back," Sasuke muttered as they made their way through the market.

"But I need it," Naruto said staring down at the box of cake mix.

"What could you possibly be thinking of doi—" Sasuke sighed heavily as he walked swiftly after Naruto when the blonde decided to dash down the aisle, "—No, definitely not."

"What could I possibly be thinking? Baking, duh," Naruto said as he looked at the can of icing.

"Like I'm going to give you sugar. I'm sure as hell not baking from a box," he said as he put the things back.
"Uuuugh," Naruto said putting the icing down with a frown. "Well then can we bake it from scratch?"

"We?" Sasuke raised a brow and stared Naruto down for a moment.

"What, is licking the mixing spoon not helping?" Naruto frowned.

"What makes you think I know what we need to bake anyway?" Sasuke said.

"I dunno, you're so good at everything. Can't we just?" Naruto said looking up at him, his brow furrowed.

"Go get the eggs…for breakfast," Sasuke made sure to clarify.

"Fiiiine," Naruto said as he turned on his heel and disappeared around the corner.

Sasuke's eyes lingered on Naruto's back until he was out of sight and he let out a soft sigh before looking down at what they had in the basket. He had to talk Naruto out of six different kinds of microwavable foods and dinners so far and he didn't expect it to be the last. He had managed to convince the blonde of some healthy food. Sasuke smiled quietly as he made his way into the produce section.

"Sasuke!"

"No," Sasuke didn't look up from where he was sifting through the tomatoes.

"But you don't even know what I have," Naruto said, Sasuke could hear the frown on his face.

"The answer's still no," Sasuke said.

"Fine, I'll just use my own money for it then, jerk," Naruto huffed as he reached for the basket. The carton of eggs was placed carefully before Sasuke pulled away.

"Carry it yourself, moron," He hummed.

"Fine, don't be jealous when I don't share," He said as he looked down at the small coconut jelly cups happily.

"I'll sit in the shower and cry," Sasuke hummed as he settled on a few and looked back at Naruto who was grabbing some fruit.

"Long as you're not crying to me, we'll be fine," Naruto said with a snort before looking up at Sasuke with a grin.

Sasuke hummed, "I think we're about done," He said, briefly wondering if this was what shopping might be like all the time if they lived together…maybe it was way too early to be thinking things like that.

"Yes, let's go eat all the food, then hit up Kiba's place," Naruto said.

"Fine, fine," Sasuke said as they reached the registers and was pleasantly surprised when there was no one in line.

The girl at the till smiled at them as she rang everything through and while they were waiting for the debit to be accepted she had her eyes on Naruto. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want, but how did you get the marks on your cheeks?" She asked. She seemed pleasant, but as of this point seeing Naruto tense and the boldness of her question seriously changed Sasuke's view on her previously pleasant attitude.

"Oh, these?" Naruto said with a nervous laugh and he reached up to touch his face.

"You don't have to, I'm sorry, that was rude," she said. Sasuke agreed that it was.

"Nah, I made a bad judgement call once," he shrugged with a false grin on his face. "I was a dumb kid," he said.

"Oh," She said with a nod at the vague answer but she smiled and handed them the receipt before wishing them a good day.

Sasuke watched Naruto quietly as they headed back toward his house and Naruto dug into the bag for the small cups of coconut jelly he had found and opened one. "Want one?" He said, seemingly fine.

"Uh, no," He said.

"Your loss," Naruto chuckled before he tipped his head back eating a pink one.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Naruto frowned and Sasuke decided to drop it.

---

They arrived at Kiba's place probably about an hour into the entire thing, but really, as far as Sasuke knew nobody had specified a time anyway. Naruto kept calling him a nerd and told him to stop worrying about getting there. He supposed the blonde was right.

"Jesus, took you long enough!" Kiba said over top of the music thumping through the house, it was a bit more of a party than the get together Naruto described.

"Are you that desperate for my help?" Naruto frowned as he tossed his coat.

"Yes, shut up now. We've got tr…" Kiba paused as he looked over toward a dark haired girl that looked remarkably similar to his roommate talking quietly to someone else in the corner. "Trouble?"

"How much have you had to drink?" Naruto asked, "And where are you keeping it?" Sasuke watched as Kiba pointed.

"Dude, no…I'm fine," He said with a frown his eyes wandering back to the girl and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'll grab it, you talk to him," Sasuke said and Naruto grinned sheepishly as he headed toward a few open cases of beer. There wasn't really any large selection of anything, he imagined that Kiba just had whatever he could get his hands on most likely being underage. He looped his fingers around two bottles and was about to head back when he heard a voice.

"I'd drink lightly if I were you," the voice said.

Sasuke turned to see another man with his hair pulled into a hair-tie. "Why's that?" Sasuke frowned.

"You're Naruto's boyfriend, yeah?" he said.

"And you are?" Sasuke said, getting annoyed.

"Shikamaru, I'm not creeping, Sakura pointed you out when you stepped in the door," He mused with a shrug.

"You going to tell me why?" Sasuke frowned.

"I guess," He said taking a swig from his own bottle from where he was leaning against the table. "You're going to have to wrap all that…" He made a circular motion around Naruto from across the room, "up when he's done…I imagine that's your responsibility now," He hummed.

"Shika!" Sasuke looked up and saw the blonde woman from the other day. He couldn't quite make out her name in his head. "Oh, I see you found Naruto's man," She said a grin pulling at her now plum coloured lips that matched her too short dress.

"The word 'Find' infers that I would have been looking for him. Really, he just invaded my space," Shikamaru said.

"Don't mind him, he's a buzz kill…how many have you even had?" Ino asked, leaning on his shoulder.

Sasuke frowned and looked toward Naruto, only managing to see the man holding up three fingers. Everyone kept talking about Naruto like something was going to go wrong. "You two together or something?" Sasuke asked absentmindedly, not really caring in the least.

The blonde laughed, "Oh, you're funny," She said her hand resting on his elbow a moment before she stumbled in her heels just a little bit. "No way, Shika's hung up on one of his…what is it? His…"

"I'm not hung up on anything or anyone," He said with a bored expression.

"Internet girlfriend," She said finally figuring out what she was trying to say.

"I don't have one," Shikamaru said with a shrug.

"Suuuure, she's older than him too" She grinned.

"Ino, I'm going to find Chouji," He said. Sasuke looked at him a moment, the man was strangely aware for someone that was in three deep already.

"He's so boring sometimes, I don't know why we're even frien…friends, probably because he's nice even if he's lazy and we've known each other forever an—"

"—Ino, right?"

"Y'hmm," She said. "Forehead! Over here!" She yelled suddenly.

"I gotta get back to Naruto," He said.

"Yeah you do," She grinned as Sakura walked passed him with a timid wave. He just nodded as he made his way back to Naruto.

"Nononono, y'see this is the problem though man, he's always around! You JUST go talk to her," Kiba said, his elbow was firmly on Naruto's shoulder.

"Here," Sasuke said holding his hand up and Naruto grabbed it.

"Thanks," He hummed as he looked toward the girl that Sasuke supposed was Hinata. "I could just go talk to her, it's not that big a deal. Why does it matter if Shino's talking to her or not?"

"Have you seen him?" Kiba asked.

"No…actually," Naruto said with a frown.

"Shino?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh…he's that guy…y'know not showing any skin. I don't think I've actually seen his face ever," Naruto looked perplexed and decided to drink instead of ponder that any more.

"I see…"

"He's Kiba's flatmate," Naruto said, belching low in his throat and Sasuke grimaced.

"He's got mad game bro," Kiba said, his voice breathy.

"No, we're not," Sasuke said, unamused at being called bro.

"No way, he does not," Naruto said.

"No, no, you don't understand. I live with him, you hear things all the time, and it's never the same girl," he said, whispering but was actually being really loud.

"Then get over there and do something before he closes," Naruto said. "I didn't come here to babysit your non-existent love life,"

"Yes you are, it's the only reason I invited you…when did your boyfriend get here?" Kiba frowned.

"You're hopeless, you knew what you wanted and you've drank how much now?"

"I was nervous," He whispered really loud again.

Naruto sighed, "Fine, whatever, I'll go over there," Naruto said as he walked through the people in the house. Sasuke figured that it was growing a little more and more crowded.

"You think she'll go out with me man?" Kiba asked, losing his balance when Naruto pulled away.

"I don't know, but I imagine you should find out before her cousin gets here," Sasuke said.

"What!?" Kiba grabbed his shirt, "how did that happen?"

"Naruto invited him…" Sasuke said prying the man's fingers from his shirt.

"That fucking dick, I'm going to kill him," He said about to take off.

"You really want to show her how much of an asshole you are before she even knows you exist?" Sasuke asked.

"Fuck…logic…man, I hate you," Kiba said, "and your boyfriend," He said.

"He invited her here didn't he?"

"Yeah…I guess…" He said.

"Hn…" Sasuke was regretting his decision to attend already.

"Man…you guys give good advice," Kiba said as if he had just heard something profound. "I should go talk to her…"

"Looks like she's coming this way," Sasuke said as Naruto headed back toward them with her in tow.

"So much insight…" He murmured in wonder.

Sasuke groaned as Naruto showed back up. "This is Sasuke," Naruto said. "You remember Kiba right?"

The girl looked at Kiba and nodded quietly before her eyes trained back on Naruto, "Y-yeah, your friend…he's studying the sciences?" She said.

Kiba looked at him and he grinned, "Y'hmm, that's me," He said before leaning over to Sasuke, "she remembers."

"S-sasuke is it?" She asked and she held out her hand. Sasuke looked at it for a moment and decided for Naruto's sake that he'd just play along.

"Yeah," He said as he shook her hand briefly and he noted the smile on Naruto's face when he did it.

"Yeah, he's in CRIM. This is Hinata, we have an art history class together," he said.

"I love art," Kiba said as he looked at her.

"I'm in business actually, but I thought the class sounded interesting," She said with a shy smile as she kept her eyes trained on Naruto, Sasuke didn't like that.

"I bet..." Sasuke said, he really shouldn't have agreed to this.

"I love busi—"

"—You want a drink, I'll go grab you something okay?" Naruto said, cutting Kiba off before he said something stupid.

"I-I'd really like that," She said ducking her head with a smile and Naruto smiled back with a nod before turning toward the table. Sasuke was about to follow when he felt a hand on his arm and he turned.

"You showed up," it was Sakura, she had a small smile on her face.

"I said I would," Sasuke shrugged.

"I was wondering, do you want to get together sometime this weekend to work on that project? I mean, let's start over, that whole…whatever it was in the caf isn't even a big thing," She said awkwardly.

"Sure," He said thinking over the discussion he had with Naruto over giving his phone number out. "Where's your phone?" he asked.

"Riiight here…" she said and dug it out and handed it over and Sasuke inputted his number. "Hey Hinata, long time no see," She said with a smile.

"Hey Sakura, I like your dress," her stutter sure seemed to be fixed.

"This old thing? Thanks, it's been a winner in the past," She said looking down at how she was dressed. Sasuke just looked over his shoulder to see Naruto talking with the same guy who Sasuke had talked to earlier.

"How's Naruto been? He missed last class, I hope he hasn't been sick," She said.

"Naruto? Nah, you don't even have to worry about him, he probably just had a project due and skipped class," Kiba said…Sasuke agreed.

"He never gets sick," Sakura said. "No, really, I've known him forever and I've never seen him get sick before. Better be prepared Sasuke, I bet he's a big baby when he's got the flu," Sakura said with a smile.

"He can take care of himself," Sasuke said as he took another drink, waiting for that loosened feeling.

"Cold man, I bet he'd take care of you," Kiba said.

"He probably would," Sasuke said, really it wasn't their business.

"I don't get it," Hinata said quietly "I thought he lived with his parents…"

"He lives with his guardians," Kiba said clearing his throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry…I didn't know," She said quietly.

"He wouldn't have been offended," Sakura said. The speakers in the house were turned up even louder, and it got even more difficult to hear the woman, especially now that she was whispering to Sakura.

"Do you know if Naruto's seeing anyone?" She asked, Sasuke just barely heard it.

"Oh boy…hey let's go for a walk okay?" Sakura said taking her arm and tugging her away, but not before sharing a look with Sasuke.

"Hey, where you going?" Kiba called.

"Just leave them," Sasuke said taking another drink.

"Fuuuck, I need to at least talk to her before Neji gets here," Kiba groaned.

"How do you know him anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto, I dunno…he was just kind of in the caf. He looked like he wanted to skin Naruto around…wait, how do you know him?" Kiba asked, a perplexed look on his face.

"Roommate," Sasuke said.

"Duuuuude, that's gotta fucking suck. How are you still alive?"

"I think a better question is how he is still alive," Sasuke muttered.

"Hey, where'd they go?" Naruto said he had a couple bottles in his hand. "Fuck it, I'll have it," He sighed.

"Sakura is leading her to fucking Narnia, I have no idea," Kiba muttered.

"Chill, I have her number, I can just invite her to the next one if you don't fucking man up this time and talk to her properly," Naruto said.

"I probably would if you didn't invite that jackass Neji here," Kiba said and just as he did someone yelled in one of the other rooms, something about the song that was playing.

"You know if you just ask her out she would probably say yes," Naruto said.

"Why, did she say something about me?" Kiba asked, his elbow on Naruto's shoulder.

"Well not exactly," Naruto said rubbing the back of his head.

"She likes you," Sasuke muttered looking right at Naruto.

"What the shit is with you and girls man? Can't you just, I don't know? Not?"

"I'm not doing anything! I mean fuck, girls wouldn't even talk to me in high school I don't know what's going on," Naruto said sounding completely flustered.

"Your face is stupid," Kiba muttered and he stalked away.

"I don't like her," Sasuke said wondering what Naruto's panicked rambling had been about.

Naruto looked at him and frowned, "I don't even think you're right about her liking me," he said as he took another drink. "Besides, why would it matter?"

"She conveniently doesn't know about me," Sasuke said. Naruto stared at him for a long moment before he just turned and walked away. "We're not done talking about this."

"Aren't we?" Naruto said as he kept walking. "Shika! Hey Shika! How you doing man? Have you met my boyfriend, this is Sasuke, he's my boyfriend," he said Sasuke's lip twitched.

"In fact I have met him, how much have you had to drink?" Shikamaru asked, his brow lifted.

"Uh, one and a bit…barely," Naruto shrugged. "Hey Ino, you remember my boyfriend Sasuke right? He's right here," Naruto said grabbing his arm and Sasuke swatted at his hand.

"Who could honestly forget? Hey," She said with a flirty smirk on her face.

"Hey…" Sasuke muttered with a nod.

"Hinata was asking about you Naruto, has she caught up with you?" Ino said and Sasuke's lip twitched.

"She's found him just fine," Sasuke muttered.

Ino blinked and looked at the brunette, "Shikamaru, I think Sasuke might know," She murmured.

"Know what?" Naruto frowned before looking to where Sakura dragged that girl off to.

"That she's attracted to you," Sasuke said.

"Shikamaru, Sasuke definitely knows," Ino whispered loudly while her hand covered her forehead.

"Doesn't everyone?" Shikamaru said, sounding bored.

Naruto stared at Ino for a moment before looking at Shikamaru his eyes narrowed a little in confusion, as if he were trying to weigh the facts. "Naaaaah, she doesn't," He said leaning back.

"Oh come on, have you ever seen her around you?" Ino said.

"I thought I was the socially stupid one around here," Shikamaru muttered. Sasuke got the feeling he wouldn't care if he was, as he put it, socially stupid.

"What do you mean seen her around me? She's just a nice girl she's like that around everyone," Naruto said with an incredulous look on his face.

"She stutters only when she's around you," Sasuke muttered, he had only spent a few short moments with the girl and it was painfully obvious.

"No she doesn't, that doesn't even mean anything," He said with a frown.

"How would you even know, you can't exactly see her when she's not around you," Sasuke said.

"I think that you're just paranoid, you jerk," Naruto said leaning closer to him, maybe leaning up just a little to match Sasuke's height.

"Uh…Sasuke's right Naruto, I mean you're all she talks about when you're not around," Ino said as her fingers combed through her bangs a moment before making sure to fix the tresses right back into place.

Naruto looked at Ino and he relaxed, but only a little. "Fuck me…" He muttered.

"Maybe later, I thought you knew…we thought you knew, you should probably talk to her since you obviously haven't," Ino said.

Naruto looked off toward Sakura and Hinata before he let out a breath and slowly moved the bottle up to take a drink, "Yeah…I guess so," Naruto said breathily.

"I don't like her," Sasuke muttered.

"Is someone jealous?" Ino said leaning into Sasuke's shoulder with a sly smile on her face.

"I don't care if you don't like her, she's my friend…probably," Naruto said looking at Sasuke with defiance on his face…it must be the alcohol. This was a little part of the blonde that Sasuke recognized from long before that snake bastard tried to rip it out of Naruto. He wasn't entirely sure if their relationship was mostly in a state of peace and that's why Naruto's previously whirlwind personality wasn't always raging or if the blonde felt the need to supress it.

"Fine," Sasuke muttered putting his empty bottle down, deciding that maybe getting shitfaced would be a bad move if Naruto was going to get this worked up over one beer.

"Probably?" Ino frowned.

"Well I mean, I don't know if she wants to be friends or if she just…I dunno," He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Naruto, so this is…your boyfriend then," Hinata said as she walked up on the group, her stutter sure seemed to be gone.

Ino's eyes shot up to the ceiling and she grabbed Shikamaru's arm and tugged him off to the side, "Hey, I think Chouji must have finally showed up, look he's calling us…go, over there, move you lazy—" her voice faded out as she pushed Shikamaru away from them.

"Uh, yeah we've been together for a bit over a month," He said his hand resting on the back of his neck.

"You know, you didn't have to hide it," She said. She was talking low, like Sasuke couldn't hear her anyway.

"Uh, hide what?" Naruto frowned.

"That you're gay," She said.

Naruto blinked and looked at Sasuke and it looked like he was going to laugh but he quickly pulled himself back in before making that stupid mistake, "Uh…yeah, I didn't think I was. I mean, everybody already knows, I just kind of figured…that I didn't have to say anything?" His voice was getting higher.

"You just…kept asking me to these parties," she said.

"Did I?" his voice went up another octave and he looked over his shoulder. Sasuke already knew that was all for Kiba, but it still irritated him.

"Am I dumb, I mean I thought you were flirting with me all those days we ate lunch and y'know…paired off to study…"

Sasuke took a long drink as he watched Naruto's face as the flush started creeping up his neck. She wasn't crazy, Naruto did that a lot to basically everybody that he ever talked to. Sasuke was starting to think all the flirting was in his head. "Paired study group hm?"

Naruto cleared his throat, "I was just…being friendly. I mean…Hinata, I'm sorry that I didn't say something, I didn't know you uh…I didn't…I'm sorry," He said looking defeated. "I just thought you might want to…"

"There you are!" Kiba's voice sounded.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, they were back to the four of them again. This was…not the way he imagined this night going down.

Kiba opened his mouth, to say what was starting to sound like an actually awful pick up line before Naruto hooked his arm around Sasuke's shoulder and pointed his bottle at Hinata for a moment. "Have you met Akamaru yet? You like dogs right? He's probably just out back, best dog you'll ever see, Kiba quit being a dick and go introduce her to him, you'll love him," he said with a grin.

"I love dogs," She said quietly with a nod.

"Me too, shit…yeah, I want to be a vet actually all thanks to Akamaru…mostly. He's over this way, I'll show you," He said before flashing a toothy grin at Naruto as he headed toward the back yard.

"That was close…" Naruto said quietly.

"Yeah, he almost said something stupid…again," Sasuke's lip twitched.

"No, I mean that," he nodded toward the door where Neji stepped inside with some girl with brown hair.

"Oh…" no, this definitely wasn't how he pictured the night.

-::0::-

A few more beers into the night and Sasuke finally realized what people meant about Naruto, although he didn't really see how a drunk Naruto could possibly be the best thing ever…unless the best thing ever was Naruto on the table basically stripping as he danced…oh, he just got why Ino seemed to put so much stress on Naruto's inebriated state. He didn't like this.

"Is he always like this?" Sasuke asked, he had decided to stay with just the one beer for the night.

"Uh, yeah…I think he likes the attention," Shikamaru said. Naruto had been right when he suggested he stayed close to Shikamaru, he was quiet and level headed, even if he was on number 5 and still no change in his stone faced boredom.

"He gets plenty of attention," Sasuke muttered…not even just from him.

"I thought he might not do this, since this is the first one you've been to…but no, I guess he just likes being free. I don't really pay that much attention," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke looked at the other man and found he had to disagree, Shikamaru definitely paid more attention than most people. "Does he ever strip fully or do I have to drag him off that table?"

"Usually he's down by now, I don't know where Kiba is," he looked around. "He usually drags him off of there yelling something about him hogging…I dunno, something?"

"You didn't answer the question," Sasuke said, he was quite angry watching the display, he recalled a text from Naruto earlier in the night stating 'people only invite me to parties to ignore me :(' Maybe Shikamaru was right in his first assumption. Maybe Sasuke should have agreed to dance with…no that wasn't happening.

"Dunno," he shrugged.

"Damn it…" Sasuke muttered and with a heavy sigh he headed over toward the table. "Come on Naruto," He said just loud enough to hear over the base filled music.

"Sasuke! You change your mind?" Naruto grinned down at him and held his hand out.

Sasuke frowned and he grasped at Naruto's wrist and tugged him gently, "Yeah, come on now," he said as he helped him down from the table.

"Really?" Naruto's smile was blinding and it almost made Sasuke feel bad for lying.

"No," Sasuke said once Naruto was finally down and he was faced with a frown.

"Ugh, you're a jerk, I was having fun," He said as he grabbed for the dwindling supply of alcohol.

"I think you've had enough," Sasuke said stopping him before he could get there.

Naruto looked perplexed for a moment as he stared over at the table and then back to Sasuke.
"Mn…maybe you're r-right?"

"You don't sound too sure about that," Sasuke muttered as he gathered Naruto's missing shirt and handed it to him.

"I…I uh…don't think I'm sure about anything," Naruto frowned as he began to tug his shirt over his torso before he looked around and saw Sakura and a grin took his face over. "Sakura do you wanna dance?"

"Uh…I don't think Sasuke would like that much," She said with an amused smile on her face, at least she was at least a little perceptive.

"Sas'ke doesn't wanna dance, Sas'ke doesn…doesn't? Doesn't get a vote," He muttered before he paused, "Hey Sakura?"

"Hm?" She said looking up at him.

"Where's your brazier?" He asked with a frown, articulating the word quite well for his inebriated state.

"What?" Sakura let out an absurd laugh at the comment.

"You have no straps…" He frowned.

"Oh, this dress wasn't made for a bra," she rolled her eyes and turned around to show her bare back, the dress restarting just after the small of her back.

"Ooooh…" Naruto frowned and shook his head for a moment before he hugged her quietly.

Sasuke frowned as he watched the two and he grabbed Naruto's wrist, "We should probably go," Sasuke said.

"I'm mad at you," Naruto said with a frown, "But…you're right," he said before turning back to Sakura. Sasuke really didn't know what to make of the situation, but was pulled away from the thought when Naruto leaned forward and hugged Sakura a second time.

"Hey…you okay Naruto?" She said throwing a confused glance at Sasuke but he had no answers for her.

"You be safe 'kay? Love you," he muffled.

"Uh, you too okay?" She said patting his back before Naruto unwound his arms and turned back to Sasuke with a bright smile.

"Onward!" He yelled and pointed to the door just as the song ended, but people were either too engrossed in what they were doing or too hammered to notice. "You tell Kiba not to fuck it up!" he yelled back at Sakura before Sasuke urged him toward the door.

"Come on, it shouldn't take too long to get home," Sasuke said with a hum.

"Home, I like that word," Naruto mumbled he was heavily leaning on Sasuke by the time they got half way down the street.

"Me too," Sasuke said.

"We should just live together," Naruto said his eyes half lidded.

"I think we'd both need jobs for that to work out," Sasuke hummed, trying to ignore the fact that Naruto was actually saying things like that.

"I'm look'n for one, Sakura's g'nna help me," Naruto said leaning even more weight on Sasuke's shoulder.

"You two spend a lot of time together don't you?" Sasuke said with a snort and hooked his arm around Naruto's waist to help support him a little more.

"Mnnn jealous?" Naruto asked and laughed low in his throat. "Yeah, she's hard to handle sometimes, but she's…she's good, yeah…." He said looking up at the sky.

"You wish," Sasuke muttered regardless of how close to home Naruto's words landed.

"Aw, you're my favourite okay?" Naruto said awkwardly tugging him to the side for a kiss.

"Hn," Sasuke breathed in deep once Naruto pulled back and urged him in the direction of his house. They weren't far off now.

When they arrived back at Naruto's place the blonde pushed the door open, "We're home!" he called out into the empty house before he snorted to himself and he walked in, his balance only a little questionable.

"Moron," Sasuke said as he toed off his shoes before moving to toss his coat on one of the hangers.

"Jerk," Naruto said before he laughed quietly as he kicked his shoes off messily. He looked at the hanger where he had hung his coat and he grumbled something that Sasuke didn't quite hear before he knocked the coat on the ground. "Fucking bastard," He huffed.

"Alright, let's get you up to bed," Sasuke said and he reached for Naruto's sweater.

"Leave it," Naruto said as that defiant expression overtook his face again.

Sasuke watched him for a moment before he stood back up, "Fine, come on, let's go upstairs," Sasuke said and he watched a smile spread over Naruto's face again as he nodded.

"I think we'd have all the, uh, the tacky cups," Naruto said.

"What?" Sasuke frowned as his arm wrapped around Naruto to keep him balanced a bit better, or maybe Naruto was walking just fine and Sasuke was just looking for excuses to be near him.

"When we live together, I'm buying all the tacky cups," Naruto said looking over his shoulder at Sasuke as he urged him to the top of the steps.

"You're dreaming," Sasuke snorted at the notion of ugly cups in his house.

"You think you're going to stop me, I'm going to do it Sasuke, I'm going to buy all the cups, you just wait. We're going to be those creeps with the collection of cups. I saw this one at the aquarium, if you drink from the straw the dolphin inside spouts water!" He said with a frown as he swatted at Sasuke's hands.

"We'd have to live together before you buy all the cups," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"What are we waiting for then?" Naruto frowned as he walked into the bedroom and stretched before promptly flopping on the bed with a muffled groan.

"Jobs, remember?" Sasuke said, really just trying not to upset Naruto. They hadn't been dating for long enough to move in together. People would think they were crazy.

"Fiiiine," It was muffled but Sasuke understood before he fell silent laying on his stomach.

"Oh no, you need out of those clothes," Sasuke growled out.

"Fiiiine," Naruto said again before he rolled over onto his back and watched Sasuke from beneath is lashes, looking almost sober for a moment, that was until Sasuke found a foot placed firmly on his stomach.

"No."

"C'mon Sasuke, you're the one being fussy," Naruto's foot wiggled against his abdomen and Sasuke growled again. "You're kind of sexy when you make noises like that," Naruto said with a sly smirk.

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered only because of the situation as he moved to yank at Naruto's sock.

"Other one," Naruto said, his other leg resting against Sasuke's stomach and he shook his head.

"You're not helpless," Sasuke said.

"Y'hmm, you need to get my pants too," Naruto said, laughing to himself.

"Undo the button then," Sasuke said, really just wanting to get in bed and lay down.

Naruto laughed again but it quieted down before his hands moved down and did as Sasuke instructed. The odd gaze that Naruto had trained on him didn't change as Sasuke tugged him closer, distorting the neatly made bed as he placed Naruto closer to the edge of the bed. Naruto's arms rested above his head before he shifted his hips and any idea of Sasuke complaining fled his mind as he tugged the jeans down Naruto's hips and farther down his legs until he could toss them away.

Naruto's head tipped before he shifted on the bed by himself, not missing a beat he sat up completely and he lifted his arms up and not even a moment later Sasuke was slowly pulling Naruto's shirt up and over his head before he tossed it aside too. Naruto's head was tipped up, Sasuke couldn't handle the azure gaze, especially not when Naruto's hands moved to Sasuke's pants. "Naruto…" Sasuke said cautiously.

"Hm?" Naruto didn't really seemed to care what Sasuke might have to say as he hooked his fingers in the loops of his pants and tugged them but didn't quite pull them down. "You've had a lot to drink," Sasuke said quietly.

"And?" Naruto seemed less interested as he stood, forcing Sasuke a step back as he focused on his shirt then.

"So maybe…we should sleep," Sasuke said swallowing thickly at the half lidded gaze Naruto wouldn't rid himself of before the shirt was on the floor as well.

Naruto's lips were on his a moment later Sasuke lost his ability to think as Naruto's tongue slid against his. All bets were off when he felt Naruto's thigh between his legs before the bond began to grind against him sparking an intense sense of desire deep within his belly. Naruto's hands gently caressed up his sides and to his shoulder blades before he tugged him toward the bed. "M'not tired," Naruto murmured before Sasuke found himself on his back with Naruto straddling his hips.

"Really th—" all forms of protest died when Naruto's lips found his again and he groaned as Naruto pressed their hips together grinding in the most pleasant way. "Shit," He whispered when Naruto pulled back and began to tug at his pants and in his pleasure fogged mind all he could think of to do was lift his hips as Naruto rid him of his clothes while Sasuke yanked his shirt off and threw it aside.

Naruto leaned back over him and the teasing kisses he trailed down Sasuke's neck sent shivers running through him. Naruto's hands hooked on his briefs and with his gaze on Sasuke's face he tugged them down releasing the erection that had formed there. Naruto's hand wrapped around him and Sasuke's head fell back, his eyes closed and he let out a breath. He had attempted to keep any thoughts of a scenario like this supressed for what seemed like forever now. "I've never done this," Naruto said, his previous confidence seemingly on the backburner.

Sasuke's eyes opened and he looked down at Naruto, "You don't have to," He breathed, ready to shift so maybe they could do something else. Naruto just shook his head and experimentally ran his tongue along the head and Sasuke let out a groan that stretched into something a little louder and a little more strangled when Naruto took him into his mouth and slowly began to find a rhythm that drove Sasuke to the brink of release before his hand in Naruto's hair urged him up.

Naruto's pulled back, his lips parted when he looked up at Sasuke and he settled back, "What's wrong?"

Sasuke shook his head, "C'mere," he breathed and Naruto crawled over him and Sasuke leaned up and latched his mouth onto the curve of Naruto's neck before his hands caressed down his back and his thumbs slid into the hem of Naruto's boxers. "This okay?" He asked breathily when he pulled back.

Naruto's eyes were wide before he nodded quietly and Sasuke slid them down over the curve of Naruto's backside, taking the chance to grope the other man before reaching around to grasp the erection that mirrored his. "Sas…" Naruto said his name like a curse.

"Hm?" Sasuke watched Naruto's face as he began to stroke him, watching as the pleasure slowly forced Naruto to settle himself in Sasuke's lap, his legs too weak to hold himself up.

Naruto's breathing increased and Sasuke's eyes never left his face. "Feels good," He murmured quietly before his eyes opened and grasping Sasuke's member in his hand he began to reciprocate. Sasuke was already so close, but he didn't protest and just let them both ride this out until they released.

Naruto's brow unwrinkled slowly afterward he came and he relaxed with a slight tremble in his body before he smiled and he shifted to lie on his side. He didn't say anything and neither did Sasuke as he sat there panting quietly with his eyes closed. When they opened again to look over at Naruto, the blonde had already fallen asleep and Sasuke breathed out with a smile before getting up to clean them off before settling down sideways on the bed with his arm on Naruto's side, one hand interlinked with the blonde's

-::0::-

There was a knock at the door that sounded throughout the house even though the construction was dated and left the walls thick enough that you could hear very little from the outside. Naruto didn't pay attention to it as he sat up in his room looking down at a bunch of math equations that made no sense to him. They were as puzzling to him as his life was, how he came to be in his current situation. Nothing he did ever seemed to matter so he didn't know why he bothered. Keeping his head down was the only thing that seemed to spare him the cold calculating stare that came from every waking moment with Orochimaru. He found himself attempting to focus back on his work when he heard a familiar voice filter through the walls and a wild sense of dread settled inside of him.

"Child, you will have to speak up," it was Orochimaru's voice before he heard the laboured words of his only friend, a boy a few years younger than him, the only person who ever really seemed to need him…the only real person anyway.

"I was wondering if Naruto i-is home?" Naruto stood and he quietly opened the door even though he wasn't supposed to be out until dinner. He needed to make sure that nothing bad happened, he couldn't let Orochimaru take over that part of him too, it just wasn't fair.

"Such and odd name, I've never heard of it," Orochimaru said.

"I-I've seen him come in here," the voice was so filled with fear, it was in no way the adamant nature he had always seen. All confidence seemed to be lost, Orochimaru did that to a lot of people though.

"I think you should leave," Naruto could picture the eerie attempt at a smile spreading over serpentine lips before the door quietly shut, but no footsteps sounded. Naruto was frozen and he turned trying to make his way to the bedroom as quietly as he could. "You're out now, there's no point in trying to hide."

Naruto's eyes squeezed shut and he felt a chill run through him as if it was squeezing him from the outside in before he stood up straight. "I didn't tell him I lived here," Naruto said quietly. He wasn't allowed guests.

"I would trust only you to ruin silence, go set the table," Orochimaru didn't look at him when he walked by…that was never good.

"Yes sir," Naruto whispered as he looked down not falling for the false sense of security that inaction might have presented.

The silence continued until dinner was presented on the table. Naruto sat quietly across the table from Orochimaru staring down at his plate set on the intricately woven placemat, the perpendicular forks on each side of his plate, it was pristine. Everything looked amazing, Orochimaru was arguably talented at everything he did, but even as he stared down at the plate likely worthy of amazing restaurant prices Naruto couldn't taste anything anymore. He almost hated how he used to be thankful for these meals, as if a good meal and a roof over his head was worth all this. Naruto was seriously beginning to doubt it. "Pass me the salt Naruto," Orochimaru requested once Naruto had almost finished his meal.

Naruto reached for the shaker and he handed it over thinking on how he hated the way his name rolled off the man's tongue. He was too occupied to notice the shaker falling from his hand as Orochimaru's hand wrapped around his fingers. "Please don't…" Naruto said in alarm, his eyes wide as he watched the pale hand locked around three of his fingers.

"We have rules in this house for a reason, if only you could get that through your simple mind then we'd get along so much better," Orochimaru said as if he was concerned as he slowly began to push Naruto's fingers back, but only enough to stretch the muscles until they burned.

Naruto swallowed and he tried to tug his fingers back but couldn't at the awkward angle, it just made it hurt more. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again I promise," He pleaded, the desperation welling up in his throat as the man's hand closed tighter around him and fear gripped at his insides forcing his breathing to quicken as if he couldn't get enough air…it was suffocating. "Ple—" Naruto couldn't form any words before a raspy cry of pain was torn from his throat, so much so that his voice faded out of existence as a sickening crack sounded and there was nothing but searing pain radiating through his arm as Orochimaru forced his fingers backwards. There was no amount of twisting that Naruto's body could have done to avoid what was probably a break in at least two of his fingers. He was shaking when the man let his fingers go and Naruto cradled his hand to his chest breathing heavily and unable to keep the pain from pricking tears in his eyes.

"It pains me to have to hurt you this way, child," Orochimaru's voice was soft as Naruto tried to think through the pain. "Such a shame to ruin something of such fine craftsmanship…"

Naruto's eyes squeezed shut and he let out a half sob before sucking in a deep breath as he rested his hand and for a moment it felt like the pain was gone, only a slight underlying throb as long as he didn't move. "S-sir…" he didn't know what to say to convince him to let him leave and take care of himself.

"Wash the dishes, perhaps if you do your job correctly we can go have that tended to," he said, wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin before he stood and left the room leaving Naruto to stare at the table. Naruto could only swallow and make a pitiful attempt to save his hands.

Naruto had no idea how right he was when he mentioned that he only ever dreamed of Sasuke because Naruto was all Sasuke ever dreamed about. No matter how vague the dream, it always had something to do with the blonde and by this point in their lives Sasuke was accustomed to it. Sasuke's eyes opened and he felt an overwhelming sense of dread as he stared up at the ceiling. These kinds of dreams he would never get used to. Sasuke dreamed about Naruto's hands all the time, all he usually saw were Naruto's lightly tanned hands moving, he had these dreams starting when he was a child and always thought of it as a dance. The dark hands always moved with grace and precision and he had become absolutely fascinated with it when he was a child. It wasn't until he was 10 that he finally clued in between dreams that what he was seeing was sign language.

"What time is it?" Naruto said with sleep clouding his voice. He stretched and he turned around, his eyes weren't even open.

"Dunno, daylight though," Sasuke said quietly and wondered what was going to happen now, wondered how he could keep this front up.

"Gross…" Naruto muttered, not seeming to be dwelling on the night before. Sasuke didn't know whether he should be even more frightened that Naruto wasn't acknowledging it, it was an awful jumble of feelings to live with.

"How's your head?" Sasuke asked quietly, Naruto had a considerable amount of alcohol the night before.

"Uh, fine?" Naruto said, his eyes opening to look up at Sasuke before they moved to focus on his chest. Naruto's hands slid onto his torso and gently glided upward, maybe he did remember.

Naruto let out a low breathy laugh before he leaned forward and caught Sasuke's lips in a slow sensual kiss. When he pulled back his eyes remained closed until he relaxed back on the bed and he sighed. Sasuke shifted and gathered Naruto's hands in his own, drawing Naruto's gaze to his face. "You okay?" his mouth was dry.

"I'm sorry I acted like such an idiot last night," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke's brow lifted and his thumbs brushed along Naruto's knuckles and he leaned back. "You remember? You had a lot," Sasuke said cautiously.

"Mhmm, I acted like an idiot," he reiterated.

"It's fine," he said softly, because he acted like an even bigger one.

"No, it's not," He said.

"Don't worry about it, I was starting to think you were perfect," He said trying to push the guilt he felt away regardless of how okay Naruto seemed to be about how the night ended.

"Oh…" Naruto let out a breathy chuckle, but it was half assed at best as he sat up, his legs were already over the edge of the bed since they'd slept sideways. As he sat up he just rested there for a moment, the muscles in his back tense and Sasuke was wondering what he said wrong, maybe Naruto wasn't okay with it.

"Nar?" He frowned as he leaned up on his elbow.

"Nah, far from it," He said grinning over his shoulder, but Sasuke had become well versed in Naruto's genuine expressions and that wasn't one of them.

Sasuke watched him for a moment before he sat up, his hands moving to Naruto's back. "You alright?"

"Hm? Why wouldn't I be?" He said a look of confusion on his face. That one was almost believable. "Hey, I'm hungry," He said as he sat up, not seeming to mind that he was completely bare as he walked around the bedroom.

"Yeah?" Sasuke asked.

"Mhmm, I'm gunna shower wanna join?" He asked with a smirk on his face as he headed toward the bathroom down the hall apparently still not caring about his state of undress.

Sasuke didn't answer, at least not verbally. He sat there and watched as Naruto disappeared down the hall and looked around the room. It was neat if you ignored their clothes that were strewn about. Everything was on angles until he came to the picture of Naruto's parents which was askew, and not at a perfect 45 degree angle, it was haphazardly placed. It wasn't what he had expected from the blonde, he almost expected the place to be a complete disaster. He got up threw on his boxers before heading down the hall. Naruto had left the door open and was standing in front of the mirror with the shower running behind him. Sasuke watched him for a moment and realized that Naruto mustn't have heard him. There was a sombre look on his face as he studied his reflection, he tilted his head before silently moving up with a squeak he spread his hand across the mirror. "Naruto?" Sasuke murmured before he walked in and cautiously he wrapped his arms around Naruto from the back resting un-pursed lips on Naruto's shoulder.

"Oh, Sasuke I thought you were going to skip out," there was a blinding smile on his face but there was still no fooling Sasuke, he could see that when Naruto touched the mirror his hand was wet. Their reflection was distorted and there were heavy water drops running down the length of the mirror.

"I'm sorry about how I behaved last night," He said, wondering if that was the problem.

"What?" Naruto frowned, genuinely confused this time.

"You had a lot to drink…I should ha—"

"—Whoa, whoa, whoa, none of that," Naruto said his hands moving to pull Sasuke's arms away. "Do you regret it, like did you not want to?" Naruto asked.

"No, I mean, I should have waited," he said stumbling over his words a little.

"Sasuke, you're thinking too hard about this. If I didn't want to be with you or if I wasn't ready I would have fucking said it, drunk or not. I mean shit, are you sure it's what you wanted?" Naruto said.

Sasuke frowned and stepped back, now completely confused, "Nothing like that…" Sasuke said.

"You're sure?" Naruto seemed concerned now.

Sasuke let out a sigh before he tugged Naruto forward and he pressed his lips to his forehead. "I just don't want to fuck things up by doing something stupid," He said. If he hurt Naruto, he'd probably never forgive himself.

"You didn't fuck anything up," assured him before he chuckled. "You're kind of sweet," He said.

"Shut up," Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto prodded at his cheek with his finger, drawing his lip up. "Naaah," He said as he looked toward the shower, "Come on jerk face, we're wasting hot water," he said before stepping into the shower that was now steaming up the room.

"Yeah, fine," Sasuke said and followed after him his mind at ease at least on one account.

-::0::-

"Huuuurry up, Oh my god Sasuke," Naruto said with a huff as Sasuke fished around his room for his keys.

"Well if you didn't toss my coat around last night I'd know where they are," Sasuke muttered.

"Are you saying this is my fault?"

"Well it isn't mine," Sasuke snorted.

"You're an ass," Naruto said.

"You know this would go a lot faster if you'd help me move this shelf," Sasuke said as he carefully pulled items off of it to place on the bed.

"Fine," Naruto said as he knelt down and started helping. "This is a lot of crap to be trying to pack into a dorm room…"

"I thought I might need the books for reference, why mess around the library if I have everything I need?"

"You spend all your time in the library anyway. This is the first time I've seen you since Sunday," Naruto huffed.

"Yeah, well I've handed in my last paper and I've done a bunch of exams in class. I have one more next week and I guess I'm free for a bit," He said as he nodded toward the shelf and they both managed to inch it forward.

"Oh, look! There they are," Naruto said as he leaned over. "I think I can reach it," Naruto said. The shelf was too long and awkward to pull out far as it was tucked between the desk and the bed and the room was cramped as it was.

"Your arms going to be long enough?" Sasuke smirked.

"Fuck you, we're the same height," Naruto grumped.

"No, you're not," It was Neji's voice as he walked through the door. Sasuke hadn't heard the lock at all.

"Fuck you, Neji!" Naruto growled while stretching his arm as far out as he could behind the shelf.

"Maybe I should just do it," Sasuke said.

"No, I'm almost there," Naruto said and after a short moment of wiggling on the ground trying to inch himself farther behind the shelf there was a jingle and Naruto let out a loud curse.

Sasuke stared at Naruto who had his face squished against the shelf. "You just pushed it farther didn't you?"

"No…" Naruto said, he slumped down to the ground and groaned.

"Lose your keys?" Neji frowned as he started setting up his desk after tossing a key of his own onto the table.

"It was the dumbass's fault," Sasuke muttered.

"Well try to keep your god damn tongue away from my ear then if you want me to thi—"

"Please stop talking," Neji said.

"Prude!" Naruto muttered as he sat up with a sigh just as Sasuke's phone rang.

"Oh…" Sasuke dug it out of his pocket before answering it. "Oh…okay, hold on. It's my mother, I'm going to step outside for a moment," Sasuke said as he got up and headed toward the door hoping that both of them would be alive when he got back.

-::0::-

It was quiet as soon as Sasuke stepped out. Naruto stared behind the shelf at the keys and sighed as he leaned his head back against the wall and watched as Neji began to look through one of his business text books. "You know, you don't seem like the business-y type," Naruto said calmly.

"Wow, you must think you're perceptive or something," Neji said, not even looking up.

"I'm not saying you're not a business man or whatever, I mean you probably got the whole intimidating thing working in your favour or something," Naruto said. Neji didn't say anything and Naruto sighed as he tried to shift the shelf a bit more, but only managed an inch. "Y'know…I saw you at Kiba's," he said.

"Free beer was a great incentive to show up to that shitty party," Neji said.

"Was that girl you were with your girlfriend?" Naruto asked, he really doubted it.

"Tenten? No, she's just a friend," he said, but he waited so long to answer Naruto thought he wasn't going to.

"Oh…she's really pretty," Naruto said, "she seemed really down to earth,"

"Did you talk to her?" Neji said.

"Hm, only for a minute," he had a good feeling about her though. "So, she's not your girlfriend…" Naruto mused.

"I fail to see why you're so interested in her, you supposedly have a boyfriend," Neji said.

"Hah, nothing like that, I just met her and I've got Sasuke!" Naruto said as he stood up and tried to reach over the shelf this time, but didn't fare any better.

"So, if you didn't have a boyfriend then?"

"What? No, I'm not interested in your friend," Naruto said with a frown. She was attractive sure, but Naruto was a bit of a romantic in the way that he really didn't just go for looks. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm gay," he muttered.

"Pretty sure?" Neji frowned.

"Not the point!" Naruto said as he looked behind the shelf. Naruto had been as attracted to women as he had been to men, several in fact and quite intensely, but he really just couldn't see an honest way to make any of the hypothetical relationships work. "So, are you gay Neji?" Naruto asked.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Neji said, but Naruto could see that he was tense.

Naruto breathed in deeply as he watched the reaction quietly before he walked over to Neji's side of the room and sat on his bed. "You know…"

"Get off my bed," Neji said a hint of anger in his voice.

Naruto looked at him for a moment before he tipped his head to look at the fan he had drawn on the window. "I'm not going to say anything about your sexuality to anyone or anything. I'm not an asshole," Naruto said with a shrug before he turned to look at Neji who was trying to make a point of not looking at him. "But, I know it can be a little difficult finding people who really understand especially when you're away from home, but my friends are really good people. If you ever want someone to hang around with that you can be yourself around I mean, you can come hangout whenever…or you know just hangout even if you don't want to be out," Naruto shrugged.

Neji didn't say anything, and Naruto figured he probably wouldn't. Neji stood a few moments later and he walked over to the shelf, it only took a simple fluid movement for him to swoop over the shelf with his long arm and tug the keys out. He headed back over and stood in front of Naruto and held the keys out. "Get off my bed."

"Oh, sure," Naruto said with a grin as he grabbed them and let out a laugh as he walked a few short steps over to Sasuke's bed and flopped down onto it as Neji sat back down at his desk.

Naruto sighed before he got up to push the shelf back in before he heard Neji's voice again. "Naruto?"

"Hm?" He said looking over his shoulder as he stood back up straight from where he was bending over.

"Thanks," He said quietly.

Naruto's eyes widened before he relaxed and smiled, "No worries," He said with a mock salute before he pushed the shelf back in the last inch and a comfortable silence fell over the pair of them as Naruto organized the shelf.

-::0::-

"Sorry about that," Sasuke said as he stepped back in the dorm and he saw Naruto putting the books back on the shelf.

"Whatever," Naruto waved his hand, "Just give me a sec."

"You reached the keys?" Sasuke said surprised as he moved over to help put things back on the shelf.

"Look at me, your knight in shining armour," Naruto said with a grin as he bumped Sasuke's shoulder with his own.

"I grabbed them," Neji said, not looking up.

Sasuke frowned and looked at his roommate before looking at Naruto with a confused look on his face, "Uh, thanks," He said.

"Neji! Not cool," Naruto frowned but there was a small smile on his face that might have meant something happened when he left.

"What's going on?" Sasuke frowned.

Naruto blinked before he looked down to the book in his hand. "I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto said as he looked at the shelf that was now separated by cover type and size instead of alphabetically like he originally had it.

"Sure…" Sasuke said as he placed the last book on the shelf in the pattern Naruto seemed to have going.

"Hm…" Naruto stared at the shelf a moment before he grabbed a small book and wiggled it in between a few of the larger texts he had. The shelf was almost perfect except that one book that stuck out between the towering texts.

"Done?" Sasuke asked, his brow arching.

"Mhm, you ready to go?" Naruto asked while looking a little nervous.

"Yeah, let me grab my coat," Sasuke said.

"Great!" Naruto said as he stood up and he leaned against the shelf and shoved his hands in his pockets. It only took a moment before they were heading out. "See you Neji!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Hn…" if Sasuke didn't know better he thought he saw Neji's hand wave over his shoulder, but that made no sense.

It took a good 10 minutes to walk from the student residency to the art department and when they got inside the building seemed to be fairly empty. "All the classes are during the day," Naruto said with a shrug. "They've got some life drawing on some nights, but they've stopped until next year," Naruto said with a smile. "There's one final class tomorrow so there might be a few people around working until they get kicked out…I do that sometimes," Naruto said with a sheepish grin.

"I see," Sasuke said as he looked around. The halls were filled with artwork, most of them looked like they belonged to certain classes but there were pieces missing here and there.

"That one's Sai's," Naruto said pointing over to an ink drawing on the wall.

"Oh…any of them yours?" Sasuke asked.

"Nah, I took mine down already since they need to be cleared off before next semester," Naruto said with a shrug before they continued on. Naruto pointed out the rooms to him and pointed out artwork of his classmates and went into their specific art styles.

They rounded a corner and Sasuke hooked Naruto's fingers with him before he tugged him close and caught his lips. "I'm crazy about you," Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto flushed before he let out a laugh and he tugged him toward the end of the hall. "Me too," He said rubbing the back of his neck. "Graveyard is this way," He said as they walked through a weird room with canvassed tables. "This is the ceramics room. I'm no good at shit like this, I'm glad I don't have to take this class if I don't want to," He said as they moved back to another room that had music sounding from it.

Sasuke blinked as they stepped inside. It was a full concrete room, it was a decent size and it looked like a gigantic mess. There were paintings propped up against the walls, tucked into a large slotted shelf specifically designed for the paintings and up on various easels that looked abandoned, there were sculptures and piles of wood and scrap metal set up in one corner. There was paint on the floor and all over the wall and there were drainage slots in the ground. "Whoa…" he muttered.

"Heh, yeah," Naruto said. "Anything left behind gets tossed over the next couple of weeks," Naruto said.

"Graveyard…" Sasuke said.

"Yeah," Naruto said as he waved over to a group of people in the corner that had an ipod on a speaker blaring music. They waved back but continued talking amongst themselves.

"Sai!" Naruto said as he headed toward a lone easel in the back.

Sasuke blinked as he looked over toward the man sitting on one of the stools. He was ghostly looking with black hair and black eyes and he looked very focused on the canvas in front of him, he didn't even look up to look at Naruto. "Saaaai!" Naruto tried again before he waved in front of his face.

"Oh…Naruto," the man said with a confused look on his face before he smiled…it looked rather odd.

Naruto waved again, "Hey, I want you to meet Sasuke," he said but Sai just looked confused.

"Oh…right, sorry," Naruto nodded and he began signing with nimble hands and Sasuke blinked before watching the man's face as recognition dawned on his face.

"Oh, Sasske," He said in a slightly while his hand moved to his ear and he scratched at the lobe.

"Sasuke," Sasuke tried to correct him.

"Ah, almost," Naruto said as he began signing again and Sai just frowned at him. "Here give me your hand," Naruto said as he grabbed for the man's wrist and Sasuke was unsure how he felt about their familiarity with one another. He was too confused to really focus on it, especially when Naruto held Sai's palm in front of his mouth, "Sasuke," He said once more.

"Sasuke…" Sai said.

"You got it!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Oh, good," Sai said and Sasuke remained confused. "Sorry, my hearing isn't so great," He said with a smile.

Sasuke nodded before he felt something flutter inside of him as he moved his hands, he remembered this, how to say 'nice to meet you'…Naruto's hands moving and though the dreams were silent he knew what it meant as if it had already been in his head. "You're Sai, right?" Sasuke asked.

Sai nodded with a smile.

"Sasuke, I didn't know you could sign!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Uh…I don't know much," Sasuke admitted.

"Oh, that's fine. Come on, you just gotta make sure Sai can see your face when you talk," he waved his hand and Sasuke came a little closer. He felt like he was intruding on something as if he were the outsider.

"Sasuke's my boyfriend," he said with a shrug, but he was signing the entire time as he looked over his shoulder to smile at Sasuke.

"Oh, so this is your solution to being dickless then," Sai said.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said, eyes narrowed.

Naruto was completely still his hands suspended in front of him in mid gesture before he suddenly grew really loud. "Go to hell Sai!" He growled. Sai just sat there and smiled as he looked back to his painting without saying anything. "Ugh, come on," Naruto muttered as he slid off the stool and headed toward the shelves.

Sasuke watched Sai for a long moment before he turned and followed after him, "What the hell was that?"

"He's just being an ass," Naruto said with a huff as he tipped the canvases to get a look at the front of them before he started pulling one out. "He says stupid shit like that all the time," He sighed.

"Then why are you so angry?" Sasuke asked.

"Because he knows I don't like it," He shrugged seeming to have calmed down and sighed heavily. "He wants to be left alone," Naruto shrugged and dragged the canvas over to a vacant easel that was seated right by an unfinished looking sculpture.

"How do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Don't take it personally, it's just kind of loud in here. He can hear relatively okay when it's quiet, but the music makes it hard for him to hear so he'd probably have to rely mostly on lip reading…we've got a big project due tomorrow so he has to paint too. If it were quiet, he could probably hold a conversation well enough while painting at the same time, can't do that with all the background noise," he said with a shrug.

"And you got that how?" Sasuke frowned as he looked over his shoulder.

"He says shit to piss me off because he knows that I'll storm off…I dunno, I just got a feeling I guess," He said as he slid one of the canvas out walked over to an easel and hoisted it up. "Besides, I was going to show you art, Sai being here was just a coincidence, so here it is," he said as he revealed the large canvas.

Sasuke recognized it instantly to the point that he was absolutely stunned. He walked forward silently and he moved to touch the canvas but stopped himself and let his hand fall down to his sides. "This is…"

"Uh…yeah," Naruto said rubbing the back of his neck as he set the paints down that he had carried with him in a container. "It is," he confirmed as he started setting up.

"It looks just like it," He said, remembering the dreamscape filled with cadmium colours…he still remembered the fear he felt as a child as he stumbled into Naruto's world escaping from the nightmare he thought his life had been. His fingers moved to the bottom corner where the dark muddy colours rested and among the teal trees there were two ambiguous figures huddled together their hands linked, it was them.

"Yea the uh, the project was on dreams," Naruto said quietly.

"I thought you were the weirdest person I had ever met…" Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto laughed as he sat down on the stool and started mixing paints, "I thought you were a jerk…well you kind of were," Naruto mused.

"That's probably Itachi's fault," Sasuke said.

"You think everything's Itachi's fault," Naruto said as he began to paint.

"No, I know everything is his fault," Sasuke said with a snort as he grabbed one of the many chairs and sat down and watched in fascination…he had felt so isolated back then. He had no idea what the dreams meant, but he was almost certain that in that solitude and undeniable loneliness he felt his dream guide or whatever the raven was had delivered Naruto to him because that's what he needed. He knew that just like he knew that it brought him back to Naruto the night that his parents died, because Naruto needed someone too, he wanted to believe that it was because there was no one else properly suited to do the job.

"Sure, I don't have any siblings but I'm sure he feels the same about you," Naruto said with a smirk.

"He's too busy thinking about himself to worry about me," said.

"Sure, sure…" Naruto said as he placed the handle of the brush in his mouth to hold it there before he grabbed another paint brush and used that in its stead.

"Here," Sasuke reached up and grabbed the brush, holding it for Naruto.

"Mn, thanks babe," Naruto mused.

"Cut that out," Sasuke growled low in his throat.

Naruto laughed quietly as he continued working, adding shadows and a weird blend between dimensional and flat. "You know…I was really nervous when I read the assignment," He said quietly.

Sasuke finally tore his eyes away from the painting and looked at Naruto feeling a weird feeling as he saw that Naruto already had paint on his cheek. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Naruto continued fast paced paint strokes and didn't look at Sasuke even once. "You're all that this has ever been about, It's just hard to share this part of me. I wanted to make something up, I really did, I just wanted to bullshit this project right from the get go, but I don't even know how to begin fabricating something like that. What do normal people dream about?" Naruto stopped and turned to look at him.

Sasuke swallowed and he understood immediately under the intense blue gaze. "I-I don't know," Sasuke said quietly.

"Funny how my imagination can fail me, that is kind of what this is supposed to be about isn't it? This art thing," Naruto chuckled to himself.

"You do that a lot, don't you?" Sasuke said quietly, maybe he had finally figured it out.

"I don't get it," Naruto said with a frown.

"You compartmentalize your life…you keep everything separate," he said judging from how Naruto didn't want to paint these dreams because others would see.

"Is this because I didn't introduce you to my friends right away?" Naruto frowned.

"No, only sort of," Sasuke said.

"You've met them, they're certifiable!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Is that why you haven't introduced Sai to them, but you were fine inviting Neji to that party?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto was growing tense and he stopped painting for a long moment. "Sai doesn't venture far out of the art department…the cafeteria is all background noise, he doesn't like it. Neji needed to meet some people," Naruto said.

"I doubt Sai would be opposed to meeting people though," Sasuke said.

"He's really important to me Sasuke…I dunno, he's a really good friend," Naruto said.

"How long have you known him?"

"Beginning of the semester…but I had a feeling okay? I trust my gut, the last time I didn't…" Naruto let his arm fall to his side and he stared at the painting for a long time. "It just didn't turn out so well," Naruto said quietly and Sasuke recalled the dream he had of when Naruto first met Orochimaru and that sense of distrust that settled the second Naruto had laid eyes on the man, Sasuke felt guilty.

"And you feel like you shouldn't introduce him to your friends? They want to meet him, is he not important enough to introduce to them?" Sasuke didn't want Naruto to bolt but he couldn't stop himself.

Naruto frowned and looked at Sasuke, "That's what you think?" Naruto said quietly.

"I don't know what I think," Sasuke admitted.

"Liar, you think that I was hiding you because you weren't important enough to meet my friends, you're wrong," he said as he turned to look at Sai who was calmly working on his artwork. "He reminds me of a friend I used to have. They weren't anything alike, not really…Konohamaru was hard of hearing too. He had it a little worse, he used to get picked on a lot and I dunno. I know what you thought when I was always showing up all beaten up and everything, truth is I got in a lot of fights over that kid," Naruto smiled.

"Really?" Sasuke remembered seeing Naruto bruised all over on multiple occasions. "But you said tha—"

"—Not all of it was Orochimaru," Naruto said quietly but he shrugged.

"You think you're protecting him…" Sasuke said, "But from what?"

Naruto looked down at his hands that had paint on them too and started picking at it quietly. "Sai doesn't need protecting, it's not that," Naruto said.

"Then what is it?" Sasuke said.

"I don't want to talk about it," Naruto said quietly.

Sasuke watched the blonde as he began to paint ad he let out a breath as he tried to sort through all the information he had been given but found he was only left with more questions and perhaps a substantial amount of jealousy. "Sure," Sasuke said quietly as he leaned to rest his elbows on his knees and they stayed like that for a while. Sasuke helped where he could, but mostly watched.

"I'm not keeping you away from the people in my life Sasuke…I'm keeping everyone else away from us…" Naruto said quietly.

Sasuke blinked and he stared at Naruto for a long time, but the blonde kept his face turned away as he busied himself with mixing paint on his palette. "Naruto?"

"It's always been just you and me Sasuke," he said quietly.

"Hey…look at me," Sasuke urged and Naruto just sat there for a few long moments before he finally turned to look at Sasuke. "It's still you and me though," Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto smiled and a quiet laugh bubbled from his throat as he nodded quietly. "Yeah, it is," he agreed quietly.

Sasuke didn't really care that there were other people in the room when he leaned forward and caught Naruto's lips. The others weren't paying attention, and it really was just them. He understood it though; Naruto's entire existence was made up of acts of self-preservation. If his relationships were going well, he tried to keep them in a static state because he didn't know what changes might do to unravel them. He pulled away from the tender lip lock and rested his forehead on Naruto's for a moment and breathed in the light scent of the cologne Naruto had put on. "Change can be good you know?" he said.

Naruto bit the inside of his lip and he looked toward the painting, "I know," he whispered.

"I mean, we changed," He said remembering a time when they were friends, when they had no idea where one another were. It all seemed so distant now.

"I guess we did," Naruto said.

"You know…you can tell me anything," Sasuke said quietly. He remembered all those years ago lying on the river bank beside Naruto as the blonde fumbled around silence trying to tell him something. Instead of revealing his original intent he simply told Sasuke he didn't want things to change, like the admission would ruin them.

Naruto's lip quirked and he nodded quietly, "Sure," he said.

Sasuke nodded, not feeling very reassured in that statement but he let it go, smiled, and continued watching as Naruto somehow made the already perfect painting even better. "Hey, I can go grab us something to eat if you don't want to get up," Sasuke offered.

"Fuck yes," Naruto said with a grin, their previous conversation seemingly forgotten.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit," He said.

"Oh, that door right there opens, just toss something to keep it propped and you can get in that way," Naruto said pointing to the large double door to the room.

"Oh, okay," Sasuke said as he headed back outside and headed toward the cafeteria with his hands in his pockets.

-::0::-

Sasuke came back about twenty minutes later and when he opened the doors and noticed that Naruto was talking with someone.

"Wow Naruto, it's really good," a blonde girl said as she hovered over Naruto's shoulder.

"Oh, thanks," He said with a smile.

"Here," Sasuke said when he came closer handing out the paper bag to him.

"Thanks," Naruto said with a grin as he looked inside, "Sasuke you're the best," Naruto said as he found the sandwich inside.

"Sure," Sasuke mused as he sat down in his chair.

"How do you do the…inverted paint splatters?" She asked pointing to the tree tops and made a circle motion with her fingers where Naruto had decided to shade in an unconventional manner.

"Oh, well…you just put the acrylic on," He said placing a few strokes down in a messy fashion, "Wait a few seconds for it to dry a little…flick some water on it," He grabbed a paint brush and flicked the bristles onto the paint, "Wait another few seconds for it to settle then grab a cloth and dab at the water," He said as he did as he instructed. When he dabbed at the water the paint lifted with it, leaving the pattern of the water drops behind.

"Wow, that's really great…it looks perfect, I bet you'll get an A+ tomorrow," She said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh…thanks," He said with a hum and he turned back to the food Sasuke bought him.

"No worries," She said and she looked at Sasuke and nodded before she headed back to the group of people working in the corner around the speakers.

"Hey Naruto?" Sasuke watched as Naruto began to eat as he stared at the canvas in front of him. He got an odd sense that something was wrong.

"Hm?" he didn't look away from his painting.

"Thanks for showing me this," Sasuke said.

"No worries, there's more in there if you want to poke around for'em. Mine are the ones edged in colour," he said with a wide smile.

"Right," Sasuke stood and he walked over to the shelving unit where there were several edged in black making Naruto's stick out. His fingers rested on the canvased frames and he tipped them as he looked through and pulled one out of a raven and he looked over his shoulder to take a peek at Naruto. It had been a bit of a heavy talk, but it felt good. He spent time looking at all of them, Naruto was talented there was no doubt about it. He could see echoes of their dreams in them, but they were rarely obvious to Sasuke, he had to look. When he was done he went back and sat down and started eating himself.

"Uh, I'm heading back home for the holiday and my mother…she kind of, she wants to know if you want to come with," he said quietly after some time had passed.

"What?" Naruto dropped a paintbrush and left it there.

"You don't have to feel pressured about it," Sasuke said watching Naruto's face.

"Do you want me to go with you?" He asked cautiously.

"I don't mind," Sasuke said, he was under the impression that this would never end, what difference did it make Naruto meeting his parents now rather than later?

"But do you want me to go?" Naruto said again.

"I want you to meet my parents, it doesn't have to be now if you don't want to," He said.

"Sasuke, yes or no…" Naruto said with a frown.

Sasuke was quiet for a long moment as he tried to weigh what he thought the right answer might be. "Yes," he eventually decided.

Naruto nodded and tipped his head as he thought. "I've gotta talk to Iruka, but I'll go with you f it really isn't any trouble," he said.

"Really?" Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction.

"Yeah…do you think they'll like me?" Naruto asked.

"They'll love you, just don't be worried about how my father is going to act," Sasuke said.

"You said that he's really guarded," Naruto said. "They're okay that I'm a guy?" He sounded worried this time.

"I think so," they had said as much when he told them about Naruto.

"You're never brought anyone to meet them?" he frowned.

"There's never been anyone to bring home," Sasuke shrugged.

"You've never dated anyone before?" Naruto's brows lifted in surprise.

"No…I have, it just…it wasn't this," He said gesturing between the two of them while he focused on a paint stain on the wall.

"How many?" Naruto asked.

"Oh…" it seemed like a trap, "Two," he eventually admitted.

"Oh," Naruto tipped his head, but he smiled.

"How about you?" Sasuke asked cautiously.

"Uh, two…too," He chuckled at the sentence. "I'm sorry, I made it awkward, I was just curious. I mean Iruka and Kakashi don't care…obviously," he shrugged.

"I don't think they care," Sasuke reiterated.

"Itachi going to be there?"

"I hope not," Sasuke said.

"Rude. When are you leaving?" He asked.

"In about four days," Sasuke said.

Naruto leaned back from the painting and he smiled, "Good, gives me some time to take care of Iruka, he's probably going to be all upset that I won't be home for the holidays," Naruto laughed.

"They sound nice," Sasuke said.

"They're crazy," Naruto shook his head and it left Sasuke wondering if that's why he hadn't met them. "Oh my god, I'm suddenly nervous," Naruto said shaking his arms out a little to rid himself of the nerves.

Sasuke smiled and he reached over to grab Naruto's hand, "It'll be fine," He said, really hoping it would be.

TBC…

Well that wasn't a long wait at all :c I'm sorry, holidays got in the way. I'm going to try to keep to a 2 week update schedule, I hope it will pan out that way from now on if school will allow for it.

Please leave me a review, I'd love to know what you think~

KoriC