Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Sasuke, or any of the characters in this Fanfic. All characters (unless otherwise stated) are copyrighted to Kishimoto Masashi.
Warning: This Fanfic contains boy's love, also known as shounen-ai, homosexuality, slash, etcetera, etcetera. However, I will not write anything hardcore, because well… I'm young and shouldn't write anything hardcore. XD;; So anyways, if you still want to read, then go ahead. Please leave comments and criticism; I love to hear from the readers!
Author Says: Exams are over!! And you know what that means. :3 More time for your BL-depraved author to write Naruto fics. XD! For all the readers out there that like my style of writing, I'll let you know now that once this fic is complete, I'll be working on Kingdom Heart fics, and most definitely more Naruto fics. I just need to brainstorm and think of original ideas… This one lacks originality, but I hope the ones to come will make you go, "wow, Shinksay is sure a genius!" (Probably won't happen. XD!) But anyways, enough outta' me. Read on!
Pairings: Sasuke/Naruto, Kakashi/Iruka (for those of you who don't know me personally, I'll tell you now that I hate practically every girl in Anime. Especially Sakura. So yes, expect Sakura bashing. )
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The Things You Say
-Chapter seven: the Rain-
"Tell me, Iruka."
"Na-Naruto! Are you sure you want to hear—"
"I did say tell me, didn't I?!"
"Okay, okay… You might as well sit down, then."
Naruto plopped down on a simple chair just in front of Iruka's desk, then folded his arms over his chest, awaiting the valuable information he'd been dying to hear for some time. He could barely sleep last night because he was so curious about this 'talk' Kakashi had told him about. As Naruto watched a flustered Iruka take a seat, he almost pounced his sensei for being so slow.
"AUGH! Stop twiddling your thumbs and tell me!!" Naruto demanded, and when Iruka bit his lower lip, still uncertain, Naruto decided it was time to pull out the big guns.
It was time for 'the pout'.
"Iruka… please?" Naruto pleaded, his eyes welling up with tears. His lower lip began to quiver ever so slightly, and he looked directly at Iruka. The man's eyes widened at the "onslaught", then finally caved in.
"OKAY!! I'll tell you!!" Iruka said, and threw a stack of papers at Naruto. Upon recovering from the mass of papers that hit his face, the blond grinned and gave two thumbs up.
"Yeah! You're such a sucker, Iruka," Naruto teased, and Iruka could only glare.
"Anyways," the brunette said, folding his arms over his desk. He cleared his throat, and began.
"Well you see… There comes a point in a boy's life when it's time for him to become a man." He started, choosing his words carefully. Iruka thought that had sounded very mature, but by the flat stare he was receiving from Naruto, the blond was clearly very unimpressed.
"…"
"They experience some changes," Iruka continued, trying to somehow lasso Naruto's attention. "Changes could include your voice getting deeper, you get taller, etcetera."
"I was stressing over this?!" Naruto complained, and Iruka sighed and shook his head.
"Well, other changes could include your perspective on other people," he continued, and at Naruto's silence, he figured he might have triggered something.
"What kinda' changes in perspective?" Naruto prompted, narrowing his eyes slightly at the brunette. Iruka smiled.
"You develop different feelings for that person. The most common feeling would be attraction."
"…Eh?"
"For example," Iruka began, looking up thoughtfully. "Let's say you've known this… girl since you were very young. Suddenly, you start feeling differently towards her. You seem to notice her more, and you like what you see. Does that make sense?"
Naruto tilted his head to the side slightly, thinking. His first thought was of Sakura, but for some reason he didn't get the usual flustered expression. He blinked, and tried to picture her again, but still, there was no reaction.
"Uhh, Iruka, can you lose attraction or whatever for someone?" Naruto asked. Iruka's brows rose, but he nodded.
"Of course. Attraction was only an example, Naruto. You could also lose the feelings you had for that person, because you're changing. You develop different preferences, I guess you could say." The brunette explained, but suddenly looked curious. "Why do you ask? Are you not feeling the same about Sakura anymore?"
Naruto blushed furiously.
"WHAAAT?!! Did Kakashi tell you anything??" The boy exclaimed, rising to his feet and smacking his palms down onto the desk. Iruka chuckled.
"No."
Naruto narrowed his eyes then plopped back down into the chair with a huff.
"Did you ask that because you've developed feelings for someone else?" Iruka said, eyeing the blond with an unreadable expression. Naruto blinked then blushed again.
"Could it be… Sasuke, by any chance?"
Silence.
"YOU LIED!! KAKASHI DID TELL YOU SOMETHING!!" Naruto yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Iruka. The man's eyes widened in mild surprise, but otherwise he just sat there calmly.
"You're easy to read, Naruto, that's all." He said, and watched as the boy shot to his feet and stormed towards the door.
"It's not what you think!" Naruto blurted, still blushing.
"Then what is it?" Iruka pressed. The blond turned to give Iruka an angry look, but it began to fade as he averted his gaze.
"It… it just isn't what you think."
With that, Naruto opened the door to Iruka's office, then left with a silent "click!".
"Naruto… If only you'd just talk to me. I feel so useless…" Iruka sighed, leaning back in his chair. He relaxed all his muscles, closed his eyes, and began to doze. Everything was so stressful as it was, and now it had just gotten worse.
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When Sasuke's eyes finally blinked open, it was late afternoon. He frowned, cursing himself for oversleeping then wondering why he hadn't woken up sooner.
A loud sneeze quickly reminded him.
As the dark-haired boy slowly rose from his bed, he mentally cursed himself for falling asleep in his wet clothes. He now felt extremely cold, and even more congested than he probably would have if he had changed into dry clothes earlier. Sasuke felt miserable, and despite it being two o'clock in the afternoon, he was still dead tired.
He snuffled, reaching down to his nightstand to pull a few tissues from a plain-coloured box. The dark-haired boy blew his nose into one of the tissues then tossed it into a can somewhere on the other side of the room.
In all honesty, Sasuke didn't even know why he had bothered waking up. He wanted to stay in bed, and to just let his dreamless sleep consume him. But he couldn't, because he remembered his promise from the night before that he would pay a visit to a certain blond-haired troublemaker.
"Damn it, Naruto…"
He shuffled over to his closet, where he randomly selected a black shirt with the Uchiha insignia on both shoulders and the back, as well as a matching pair of shorts, and a couple of wristbands to make his ensemble look more thought out.
After he was showered and changed, Sasuke decided to skip breakfast and just go find Naruto. The blond was probably out and about, which would make his job much more tedious than he wanted. But promises were promises, and he would keep this one.
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"Am I really that easy to read?" Naruto grumbled to himself, kicking at a stray rock that happened to be in his way on the sidewalk.
The sky was still an ominous shade of gray, and the clouds were still looming overhead, threatening a downpour at any second. The sky mirrored Naruto's innermost thoughts. He decided that his plans weren't going to work, and that maybe it just wasn't worth it anymore…
But everything is set up, I just need to snip the ribbon, Naruto told himself, but it just seemed too troublesome now. He was vaguely connecting with his (former?) rival, and even with that tiny bond, he felt things for Sasuke that he had never experienced before. Naruto wondered if Sasuke felt the same way, but dismissed it immediately. That was never going to happen.
"Oh, sorry—"
Too consumed by his thoughts, Naruto had carelessly bumped into a passerby. How convenient.
"…Naruto?"
The blond looked up, only to find a rather miserable-looking Sasuke looking back at him. Stumbling on words, Naruto just blurted the first thing that came to mind.
"You okay?"
Sasuke blinked, and Naruto mentally kicked himself. Why did he ask? It wasn't his business whether or not the Uchiha boy was "okay" or not. Or was it now?
How annoyingly confusing.
"Yeah, whatever." Sasuke said casually, sliding his hands into his pockets. "I was looking for you, though."
"Oh… Um… Why?" Naruto replied, trying to calm himself. Why was he so flustered?
"Dunno'. Just wanted to talk, I guess." Sasuke shrugged, then turned away to cover his mouth as he coughed.
"N-not that I care or anything, but uh, you sound kinda' sick…"
"Because I am."
"Shouldn't you be in bed, then?"
"That's my business, not yours."
"I'm only wondering…"
"Keep your wondering to yourself, then."
"Fine!! I won't care about you anymore!"
"You already said you didn't."
"But I do—"
"That's what I thought—Wait, what?"
Before Naruto could even stop himself, the words had already tumbled from his mouth. The blond could only gape, feeling completely embarrassed. Sasuke stared right back, trying to form a complete response to that.
"Uhh—What I mean to say is—"
"Whatever. I just need to talk to you," Sasuke said, turning away to cough again. When he looked back at Naruto, the blond was holding one hand out, with his palm facing upwards. He was also looking at the sky, and he frowned.
"It's gonna' rain…"
Sasuke, too, looked up, and made a face as he felt a raindrop slide down his cheek. He looked back at Naruto, who in turn looked back at Sasuke.
"Let's go to my house. It's closer." Naruto started, but Sasuke caught his wrist.
"No, my house; yours is filthy."
Naruto gave the dark-haired boy a flat stare, but silently agreed and both boys darted off towards the Uchiha mansion.
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"Mmm… Kakashi, that feels so good"
Iruka was almost entirely limp in his lover's arms. He was in absolute bliss as Kakashi sensually massaged the juncture where shoulder met neck on Iruka's backside. Closing his eyes, the brunette would have gladly drifted off into paradise, had there not been a gentle nip at his left ear.
"Iruka, you still haven't told me what's been driving you mad…" Kakashi said, nuzzling his lover's neck. Iruka sighed, looking down at his lap.
"You already know…" Iruka's reply sounded almost like a whine. The silver-haired man chuckled, and pulled Iruka close to his chest and lazily draped his arms around his shoulders.
"I can't read your mind; and it'll make you feel better if you give voice to your inner thoughts, Iruka-koi." Kakashi whispered into Iruka's ear with his usual drawling tone. The brunette tilted his head back slightly, resting it on Kakashi's collarbone.
"It's Naruto," Iruka began, opening his eyes slightly. "I tried to nudge him about the Sasuke-thing, but he just bristled and shied away from me. I don't understand…"
Kakashi was silent for a moment, and this encouraged Iruka to continue.
"I know he has feelings for Sasuke, but he just doesn't understand them. I don't either, for that matter. First he hates him for whatever reasons, now he likes him."
"That's what he's playing it as, anyway." Kakashi said, planting a gentle kiss on Iruka's neck. The brunette sighed then shifted slightly.
"I think he's testing the waters, to try and figure out what his feelings are." Iruka explained, trying to form some sense of the topic in his mind. "But… I could be wrong."
"You could be, but then again you know him best. You're right about Naruto's confusion, but there's something else there. I think he knows how he feels; he's just in denial." Kakashi explained, his tone sounding somewhat playful.
"Denial?"
"Reminds me of someone…"
"Kakashi…"
"No, it reminds me of you."
"I know, I know! But I don't regret my decision, although you didn't give me much room to decide…"
"Of course not. Why would I?"
With that, Kakashi reached up with one hand to gently turn his lover's head to the side. Complying, Iruka lifted his chin so that his lips were just slightly brushing against Kakashi's.
"I do love you, though." He murmured, a small smile gracing his lips.
"And I love you, my Iruka."
There was some slight shifting of bodies, a gentle rustling of sheets, and then a pleasured sigh. After that, the noises that came from Kakashi's room were undistinguishable, because unfortunately, Iruka thought to close the door behind him.
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Author's Notes: Still a little short? I thought it was alright… I'm also very sorry for the ridiculously long wait, but hey, exams interfered with my creative side. Please forgive me! I hope you enjoyed 'the talk', although I do wish I had made it funnier… My humour just wasn't in me today, so I apologize for that, too. Next chapter will be much more fun to write, I think. I can't say what will happen, but let's just say Naruto gets proved wrong, and he finds the answer the hard way. snickers
