Chapter 4 – Wine and Dine
A few days after the last incident, neither Naruto or Sasuke had made a move on eachother and things had been a little more tense. Sasuke was sitting with his reading glasses perched elegantly on the end of his nose, reading a novel on ancient history, as he liked to when he got some down time.
A blonde mop caught the corner of his eye and he glanced up as Naruto knocked on the open door before shooting him a somewhat nervous smile; it irked Sasuke that Naruto had been uncomfortable around him, that was never his intention before things got weird.
"Hey Sasuke, I just checked in the kitchen and we don't have anything to cook for dinner. Do you want me to get groceries or should we eat out?" A tanned hand played with the hem of his shirt as he waited expectantly for the response. Sasuke pondered for a moment, maybe going out would give them a chance to clear the air and force them to spend time together publically.
"Let's do dinner, but not ramen" Naruto pouted but chuckled and disappeared out of the room, claiming he'd be back in about 15 minutes.
Sighing and rubbing his temples against his imminent migraine, Sasuke removed his glasses, bookmarked his page and stood to change into something nicer then sweats for dinner.
While he changed, he contemplated the outcome of the evening – would he try to get an answer out of Naruto as to where they were heading? Were they fooling around, relieving tension? Or was it with the intention of becoming something more than friends?
Frowning, Sasuke shook the thoughts from his head and descended to the front door, finding Naruto putting his shoes on, dressed in a tight blue jumper and black jeans.
Feeling eyes on him, Naruto glanced up to see Sasuke appraising him, it made his ego swell that he could catch the ever-stoic Uchiha's attention. "You ready to go?" Naruto asked, stepping aside so that Sasuke could also put his shoes on. "Where are we going?" Sasuke stood straight, ushering the blonde out of the house and locking it behind him.
"I fancy Italian, but whatever you want is fine" Naruto nodded enthusiastically in agreement and off they went, towards the centre of town.
It was times like this, early evening when Naruto could appreciate Konoha the most – the beginning of an evening hue was setting over the greenery and few people were bustling the normally packed streets, making for a peaceful walk. Glancing to his left, he silently observed his friend; the one he'd fought tooth and nail over for years of his adolescence
He'd never chased anyone else as much as he had Sasuke, either romantically or platonically and it made people talk.
Never before had he pictured himself with anyone, although he'd dreamed of having a family when he was older, whether it be natural or adoption. But as of recently, his body had awakened to his barer senses and he began to appreciate the way Sasuke moved, or the way he was so focused on everything he did.
"Stop staring, unless you have something to say" Sasuke muttered, ignoring the slight heat he felt rising to his cheeks at the obviously admiring gaze of his teammate.
Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, noticing they were pretty much at the restaurant.
They were quickly seated in a more secluded part of the dimly lit restaurant, with old authentic music and décor surrounding them, casting an intimate glow to the room. It was sufficiently busy that they could talk without being heard easily, not that it particularly bothered either of them.
Sasuke ordered a bottle of white wine before Naruto could complain and opened the menu infront of him to browse the selection.
Huffing, Naruto followed suit and decided on ravioli to start with a beef ragu for main, noticing that Sasuke chose a salad for starters (as per usual) and spaghetti bolognaise for main. His mind instantly danced to the Lady and the Tramp before he sniggered at the image of Sasuke being the 'Lady' of the situation.
Sasuke raised a neat eyebrow at the snigger, which just made Naruto smirk in response, thanking the waiter for the wine and taking a slow sip.
"So Sasuke, how are you finding things, being back and all?" The Raven was somewhat startled by the question and the innocent curiosity in the blue eyes.
"It's ok, people aren't as irritating as they could have been" Naruto studied his face, looking for something that Sasuke wasn't sure he would find. "It's been nice, seeing old friends though" He muttered, swilling the wine around in his glass absentmindedly.
A soft smile fell across Naruto's face and his knee brushed against Sasuke's accidentally as their starters appeared out of nowhere.
Sasuke's gaze lingered a moments longer than necessary, before slowly eating his salad, falling into a comfortable silence once again – something he appreciated about this older, more mature Naruto.
"I must say, living with you isn't anywhere near as annoying as I thought it would have been" Naruto smirked and Sasuke scowled, rolling his eyes at the short lived peace.
"You know you enjoy having your meals cooked for you, and a bigger bed. How you live in that closet I do not know" It was Sasuke's turn to smirk, as he saw Naruto's eye twitch in annoyance.
"You do not cook all of my meals, teme! And anyway, you of all people should know I'm firmly out of the closest" Sasuke froze, fork midway towards his open mouth. The comment was teasing and he knew it, but it stirred the pit of his stomach into feelings that he had tried to supress.
"Well yes, it would certainly seem that way, with your eagerness at our situation" Naruto flushed and angrily chewed his mouthful before chasing it with wine.
"And just what situation would that be?" It was challenge; a chance to call out the awkwardness between them, a chance to put a label to it if they wanted to.
Sasuke finished his own mouthful and leaned slightly forward, so that his elbows brushed Naruto's atop the table. "I don't know Dobe, maybe the one where you were begging for more in my garden, or the one where you kissed me several times" His voice was a sinful whisper that went straight to the blonde's groin as their breaths mingled in the little space between them.
When a clang from the kitchen jolted them back to their surroundings, Sasuke cleared his throat and slowly leaned back, finishing off both his salad and his first glass of wine.
By the time their mains had arrived, they were both well into their second glass of wine and the mood had quickly flipped to a more sensual one, with legs resting firmly against eachother under the table.
The waiter was barely even acknowledged as Naruto's foot dancing lightly up Sasuke's calf, rubbing softly before retreating. With their minds now at least partially on their food, Naruto let out a pleased groan and onyx eyes shot to him in warning as the foot shifted again.
"Do you want a taste, teme?" Naruto grinned and twisted his fork in his pasta, offering it to his teammate who glanced appraisingly at the fork before slowly leaning in, never breaking eye contact as he tasted it.
With a nod, he was pleased to find that it was indeed as delicious as it looked, however, the double meaning behind Naruto's sentence left him wanting more than just pasta. Before Sasuke could even offer, Naruto had scooped up some of Sasuke's food and proceeded to feed the Raven some of that, grinning when a strand of pasta escaped Sasuke's lips.
Glancing fervently around the restaurant to see no one was paying them any attention, Naruto leant over the table and sucked at the other end, quickly eating the stray noodle and stealing a short but firm kiss.
There was another moment of intense silence as sparks lit up their eyes, until the waiter came over to check that their food was up to standard. He was quickly dismissed and the two ate their mains at a faster pace than their starters, but neither would admit it was because there was somewhere else they'd much rather be.
Once the bill was paid, and they'd drank the whole bottle of wine, they stood and hustled out of the restaurant, shoulders rubbing affectionately.
The walk back took half the time it did on the way and Naruto had somehow managed to worm his hand into Sasuke's squeezing their fingers and running his thumb over the back of the pale hand.
Sasuke glanced at their hands and said nothing, letting Naruto have his bit of comfort as they approached the Uchiha mansion.
He would never admit that it was nice having someone else fill the void in his house, providing that extra bit of life and it would be hard to let go once his sentence was up.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Naruto had him pressed against it, teeth running along his neck softly before he attached himself to his pulse point. Sasuke grunted at the force, and ran a hand through the thick blonde strands tugging his head away before planting a firm kiss on the plump lips.
"Let's take this upstairs" The glint in Naruto's eye sent an influx of hormones to Sasuke's cock and he growled, re-joining their lips and backing the blonde towards the stairs, discarding items of clothing as they went.
They were finally going to get what they wanted, what they craved and it was going to be glorious.