Thanks for reading and thanks to tez-chan, 666snoopy, Izolda, moopad, Snowraven17, and Verrine for reviewing.

moopad: Thank you. Despite my portrayal of Naruto, I'm glad you still like the story. I actually feel bad for putting him in this kind of light. The impression he's giving is so much worse than I'd ever intended, and this chapter doesn't help. At all.

It's unnecessarily difficult for me to deal with Naruto, particularly when writing him at this age. He can certainly be self-righteous in many regards, which I think is one of his more interesting and complex flaws, and coupled with him sometimes being slow on the uptake, it's not the best combination. I suppose that's a way to reinterpret Naruto's sort of inherent naivete in this kind of setting?

I hope he doesn't come across as the bad guy, though, especially since this isn't a straight romance story; Sasuke's no saint himself, and there's a lot I'm purposely not letting him say because I'm focusing on Naruto's pov. I think it's a difficult situation for them both, although I'll admit I really just like the idea of those two fumbling towards something, even if it's not exactly romance.

...

Chapter Seven

He doesn't know how long they've been in Sasuke's room, wasting away one of those rare, relatively warm days in December wearing through the sheets.

Vaguely, Naruto remembers being thrown on the bed, a knee in between his legs, warm fingers pushing up his boxers and drawing down his thighs—the hands on his chest holding him down and the slow-moving pressure keeping his cock flat against his stomach.

He runs his hands up Sasuke's back, underneath the black shirt Sasuke won't let him take off even if it means Naruto's the only one completely naked.

Sasuke looks down, hair falling over his face, hands gripping Naruto's shoulders. He grunts when he moves too far back. Naruto cranes his neck, watching Sasuke raise his hips. Repositioned over Naruto, Sasuke lowers himself, slides along the length of Naruto's cock, and Naruto moans, letting his head fall back on the bed.

He breathes out, guides Sasuke back, slowly brings him forward. Wavering hands wander up Sasuke's chest, pushing Sasuke's shirt up to his neck. The material gathers at Sasuke shoulder, Naruto trying to pull the shirt over Sasuke's head.

"…why'd y-you stop?" Naruto uses his thumb to trace a ring around Sasuke's nipple. He catches the nipple between his thumb and finger, flicks it with his thumb rubbing down then up and over it. "I just want to—"

Sasuke pushes himself up from Naruto's shoulders, away from the hands on his chest and sits back on Naruto's legs. When his shirt starts to fall, Naruto reaches to hold it up but pulls away, grimacing at the two fingers pinching his side.

"What was that for?"

"Stop trying to make this into something you want."

"I never said that. I never—" Naruto sits up on his elbows, breathes through his nose. "It's not always about what I want, okay. It's just…not. You said we were doing this. You can't say you don't want it now, not when we—"

"You're being selfish."

"Stop throwing that word around so much," Naruto snarls, leaning up to grab Sasuke's hips. "How the hell is this—"

Sasuke jerks forward, balances himself with fingers digging into Naruto's shoulders as he's tugged over Naruto's cock. It flops from beneath him, and Naruto lifts Sasuke back over it, pushes into the tight space that's only brushing across his cock, thrusts up because simply having Sasuke on top of him isn't enough.

"—this, Sasuke, how's this being selfish?"

Sasuke holds himself above Naruto, rolls his hips back and slides up, hard and fast along Naruto's cock slapping between his thighs. He stares at Naruto with that damn blank expression, like Naruto's the only one affected by this, but he can't be. Sasuke has to feel something.

"It's not selfish if we want the same thing."

"...who said I did?"

Pulling Sasuke against him, Naruto adjusts his weight, pushes off on the bed to gain the momentum to land Sasuke on his back.

"You can't make me believe you don't want this." Naruto brushes away the hair from Sasuke's face. He palms the back of Sasuke's head, steadfast against the expression that doesn't change. With his other hand, he reaches down for Sasuke's knee, hooks the crook of his arm underneath. He lifts Sasuke's foot over his shoulder, settling himself between Sasuke's legs. "Because you asked me first, didn't you?"

Sasuke's hand runs up Naruto's arm, around Naruto's shoulder. Fingers trail along the sharp planes of Naruto's back. Breath hitched, Sasuke tilts his head back, shirt riding up as Naruto slides against his cock.

"You told me not to start this if I couldn't finish it." Naruto shoves into Sasuke, smothers him with his body. He pushes on the leg trapped between them, bearing his weight into Sasuke and not letting him up. "That means you want it, too, right?

Sasuke tries to move against him, the arm around Naruto bringing him closer when Naruto lifts his pelvis and slams back down, sinking Sasuke deeper into the bed.

The muscles in his calves tight, Naruto pushes himself up on the balls of his feet. He drives forward, pulls back and thrusts down again, hissing at the nails dragging lines down his back.

Sticky skin peels away to uncover Sasuke's shirt. Naruto stills then shifts up. The side of his face brushes against Sasuke's cheek, and his hand falls from Sasuke's hair, grabbing the hem of Sasuke's shirt. He pushes the shirt up to Sasuke's chest and holds it there.

Unhooking his arm from Sasuke's leg, Naruto pulls the leg towards him and lays Sasuke's foot flat on the bed. He lets go of Sasuke's shirt, slips his hand under the small of Sasuke's back and nudges Sasuke to push his other leg up. "You wouldn't let me do this if you didn't want it."

Sasuke lets his arm fall, grabs at the sheets. Sliding his foot across the bed, slowly, he raises his leg.

"And if I want to make you feel good…" Naruto places both hands on Sasuke's knees, spreading Sasuke's legs apart. Lowering his mouth to Sasuke's navel, he follows the curve of Sasuke's hip, murmurs against Sasuke's thigh. "If I want to do this because you like it…"

The slight tremors just below the surface of Sasuke's skin tickle the pads of Naruto's fingers drawing down Sasuke's leg.

"Because you like that I know how to touch you there." Naruto presses his mouth against Sasuke's thigh, murmurs into Sasuke's skin, "And the way I touch you like this…"

The corner of the fitted sheet pops off, exposing the area of the mattress beneath it.

Naruto kisses along the inside of Sasuke's thigh, lightly nips at the skin, taking in every shudder Sasuke tries to hold back. But Sasuke's breathing still gets faster, chest rising a little higher when Naruto replaces his mouth with his finger.

Raising his head, Naruto stares at Sasuke's cock bobbing in front of his face. He pushes a finger into Sasuke, slowly pulls out and works his finger through the slickness still there from earlier. "So when you try to tell me you don't want this..."

An arm lifts to cover his face, and Sasuke turns his head to the side, reaching everywhere except for Naruto, tense as the white fabric gathered in his hand seeps through his fingers.

Naruto peers up at Sasuke. He eases in a second finger, breathes over the tip of Sasuke's cock, "That's why I can't believe you."

Sasuke sucks in a harsh breath, and Naruto pushes his tongue against his teeth at the sudden tightness around his fingers. He moves up and over Sasuke, mouth latching onto Sasuke's neck because he doesn't have to imagine what it feels like to have his cock inside Sasuke instead.

"Come on, Sasuke—come on."

Sasuke squeezes his eyes shut when Naruto pushes through with another finger. His voice begins to crack, makes a strained cry he drags his teeth against his bottom lip to stop.

"Let it go." Naruto pulls back and leans over to look at Sasuke. "Stop holding it in."

Sasuke arches against Naruto, begins to rock against Naruto's fingers when Naruto brings an arm around his waist.

"Don't run away from this, too, okay. Don't just—please don't run away from me again."

Naruto breathes over Sasuke's mouth without getting too close. He pauses to watch Sasuke, stares at the contorted expression on Sasuke's face. His stomach tightens as the pressure around his fingers increases.

"…please."

Eyes still closed, Sasuke makes a reach for Naruto's hair. He yanks him down, whispers in Naruto's ear, "You're stopping now?"

Naruto shivers at the breath hot on his skin. "Sasuke, I—"

"M-move."

...

"Ino wants me to have dinner with her parents."

Naruto looks up from his plate, biting off a chunk of grilled eggplant. "When?"

"Tomorrow night." Crossing his arms, Kiba leans back in his chair. His eyes stray to the back of the bar, to the poster peeling off the wall and ready to fall to the floor.

"Tomorrow night?" Naruto licks the miso sauce from the corner of his mouth. "She threw you on the spot like that?"

"Not so much threw as waited until I was the last person to know," Kiba mutters, attacking a piece of eel with a spoon. He stirs the runny egg on top and dips the spoon in the bowl, gathering bits of yolk and eel on top of rice. "She'd been planning it for a while now."

"Does that mean you two are serious or…?"

"Who knows?" Kiba sighs, slips the spoon in his mouth. "All I know is I'm screwed—like seriously screwed."

Naruto snorts, almost dropping the sliced eggplant in between his chopsticks. He plops the rest of the eggplant in his mouth and trades his chopsticks for the bottle of sake on the counter. "But that's just like Ino, isn't it?"

"Yeah, except having dinner with her parents, there's no turning back after something like that. So whatever happens then…" The spoon falls out of Kiba's hand. It clanks when it bounces off the bowl and onto the counter. "I don't even know what to wear."

"Clothes would be a start." Naruto hides behind the small glass he brings to his mouth, tries to hide a smile with a poorly timed cough prompted by Kiba's glare.

"Shut up, you ass. All those times I listened to you going on and on, you owe me this."

"As long as you're paying for me this time, right?" Naruto shrugs, swallowing his smile with the sake down his throat. "Making a bold move like that, though, does it mean Ino wants to settle down?"

"Don't say that," Kiba hisses. "Ino didn't even say that, so don't you start." Narrowed eyes widen. "What if she does want to settle down?"

Naruto frowns at his empty glass then blinks at Kiba. "…I wasn't being—"

"I'm only eighteen. I still live with my family. I'm not ready for that kind of relationship yet. I can't handle that kind of relationship yet. I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"Kiba, I don't thi—"

"That means she's going to want kids, too, doesn't it? Because that's what you do when you settle down. Have kids. It's not like she hasn't kind of talked about having kids later on, but I didn't think then that later on would be now. I mean, shouldn't Akamaru be enough?"

A second bottle of sake is placed between them, and Naruto nods at the bartender, reaching to open the bottle. "It's just Ino's parents."

"No, Naruto." Kiba stares for a moment, drags it out until Naruto finishes pouring more sake in his glass. Slowly, taking the time to enunciate each word, he says, "It's not just Ino's parents. It's having dinner with Ino's parents."

"Okay, it's just dinner with Ino's parents." Naruto cocks his head to the side and puts a finger on his cheek. "Although I wouldn't have expected something so old fashioned from her, even if her mom is really traditional."

Kiba picks up the nearly emptied bottle, fills his glass halfway. He makes a face at the bottle and places it back on the counter. "It does sound old fashioned, doesn't it?"

"Yep."

"Well…" Tilting his head back, Kiba downs his drink in one gulp. "You, my friend—it was nice knowing you. Spending all those nights together, it was fun while it lasted."

"If it helps," Naruto says, peeking over the rim of his glass, "Ino's mom is really nice."

"When you talk to her about flowers, Naruto. Not about her little girl. Then she's even worse than those overprotective father types. She stopped liking me as soon as Ino—hey, with those books you have, you'd know about plants and stuff like that, right. What kinds of signs should I be on the lookout for?"

"For what?"

"In case Ino's mom tries to put poison in my food when I'm not paying attention."

Naruto almost chokes on his drink trying to hold back a snort. He covers his mouth with his hand and forces the sudden mouthful of disgustingly warm sake back down this throat.

"I'm serious. Ino let her pick the restaurant, that really fancy place right by Nimomiya's bakery, you know."

Uncovering his mouth, Naruto crosses his hands in his lap, pulls at his pants to keep his shoulders from shaking.

"What if she tells them to put camellias or something in my food because she doesn't like my hair? O-or what if she doesn't think I look formal enough? That one kimono I had when I was twelve—I can't fit that anymore. I can't—the hell are you laughing at?"

"Your—you should…" Naruto's lips start to quiver. He tries contain another snort but can't, lets it grow into a few snickers then dissolves into a fit of giggles that leaves him holding his sides, doubled over with his head hovering above the counter he almost bumps into. "You really should see your face."

"You're the one with the red face," Kiba snarls, shoving Naruto upright.

"No, it's your—" Naruto slumps against his chair, sways as he sits himself up, pointing a wavering finger at Kiba. "Your face."

"It's not funny, man. I've never done something like this before. I might not make it out of there alive. This could be the last time we see each other."

Naruto props himself over the counter, supporting his weight on his elbows. He makes a half-hazard grab for the bottle and knocks back the rest of the sake, nearly missing the counter when he sets the bottle down.

Kiba looks at Naruto and then the two empty bottles of sake. He covers his face with his hands. "That's it—damn it all to hell, I'm screwed."

Naruto snorts again, breaks into another fit of giggles he doesn't even try to stop this time.

Screwed.

He and Sasuke almost—kind of—maybe definitely screwed yesterday. And Kiba just said screwed.

"I am so screwed."

There.

He said it again.

"Stop pretending to be drunk when you're not." Kiba pulls on his hair and winces. He decides to pull on Naruto's hair instead, lunging the short distance between them and almost making Naruto fall out of the chair. "You can't be drunk, Naruto. You don't get that way. Stop acting like you do."

But for once, Naruto feels like he can. Tonight, it feels like he should be. His face is warm enough. His arms and legs feel the good kind of tingly. There's this really nice feeling, this really comfortable buzz that keeps him from thinking too hard about why hearing Kiba talking about his relationship with Ino makes him want to throw his glass against the wall.

"Why are you still laughing?" Kiba hisses, letting go of Naruto's hair. White-knuckled hands press against the edge of the counter. "Ino wants me to have dinner with her parents, but I don't know what to do, and you're still laughing."

Naruto shakes his head, gives a lopsided grin. "No, no—see, that's the thing—that's why it's so…so funny."

Frowning, Kiba pushes himself away from the counter. "Naruto…"

Naruto glances around the bar then leans forward. He holds his hand over the side of his mouth, whispers so only Kiba can hear, "I don't know what to do, either."

...

By the time he makes it out of the bar, Naruto's already come down from his own personal little high, taken over with an unwanted sobriety induced by Kiba's concern. Eventually, he gets Kiba to believe him the umpteenth time he says nothing's wrong, and the conversation that follows and doesn't mention anything about Ino or Ino's parents recreates the refreshingly familiar atmosphere they're supposed to drink and eat in on Sunday nights.

They part underneath the banner at the end of the narrow alley, Kiba bumping his fist against Naruto's shoulder with a tentative smile and Naruto wishing Kiba good luck with another lopsided grin that fades as soon as Kiba turns the other way.

Honestly, he doesn't know what Kiba got so worked up about. Kiba having dinner with Ino's parents brings a new aspect to his relationship with Ino, sure, but Naruto can't understand how Kiba could miss something so blaringly obvious.

As much as Ino respects her parents, she's still the kind of person who goes after what she wants, regardless of what other people say. For all Kiba's stressing over the need to impress Ino's parents, it only matters that Ino thinks Kiba's good enough. And she does. Ino likes him. Really likes him in the same way Kiba really likes her. Despite the short notice, she wouldn't want him to have dinner with her parents if she didn't.

Naruto kicks at the gravel on the road, tiny rocks spurred ahead by feet he doesn't pick up while walking.

Maybe that's why he couldn't stop laughing.

In a way, it is kind of funny, how Kiba and Ino seem to have this permanence leading towards something that sounds suspiciously like a happy ending, and Naruto just seems to be stuck grasping at whatever this fleeting thing is he has with Sasuke—almost as funny as how even the idea of going wherever his feet feel like taking him manages to lead Naruto in front of Sasuke's apartment anyway.

If he still had it in him to laugh, he would, actually tries to until Sasuke opens the door.

"You know what time it is?"

Naruto squints at Sasuke, takes in his bland expression and casual posture, the rumpled shirt hanging off his shoulder that brings Naruto's attention to the dark blemish on Sasuke's neck he remembers putting there the night before. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Sasuke leans against the doorframe and pulls his shirt over his shoulder. "Whether I was sleeping or not, I'm awake now."

"Oh." Naruto takes a step back, keeps both hands at his sides, one hand fiddling with the seam of the inner pocket of his jacket. "Sorry. I didn't think about that."

"No. You didn't." Sasuke sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "What are you doing here, Naruto?"

"I guess I kind of wanted …" Naruto licks his lips. He doesn't want to talk about what happened at the bar, doesn't want to think anymore about Kiba's nonexistent problems with Ino, yet he doubts admitting he's horny will go over too well with Sasuke. "I wanted to see you."

"You didn't come here to see me."

"Maybe," Naruto says slowly, trying not to fumble over his words, "maybe not."

"What really brought this on?"

"I don't know." Naruto shrugs. "Can I come in?"

Sasuke pushes away from the doorframe and grabs Naruto by the chin, tips Naruto's head up. Scrunching his nose, he frowns and narrows his eyes. "You're drunk."

"No, I'm not." Naruto coughs and backs out of Sasuke's hold. He's steadier than he wishes on his feet. "I don't get drunk, remember?"

"You were drinking."

"…yeah."

"Why'd you come here?"

"Because?"

"Just because."

"You make it sound so…so bad. When you say it like—like that."

"If it sounds so bad, go bother Sakura."

"You know Sakura has to be at the hospital early on Mondays. She'd kill me before I even got a chance to make it to the door."

"What makes you think I don't have to be somewhere tomorrow?"

"Do you?"

When Sasuke doesn't answer, Naruto looks at the ground, wiggles his toes as he counts them in his head.

"Besides," he says, lifting his gaze back to Sasuke, "I can't do this with her."

"Can't because you don't want to," Sasuke sneers, "or can't because she won't let you?"

"Stop making this about Sakura." Naruto takes two steps forward, struggles to push down the anger that makes him afraid of what he'll do if he's not paying attention. He takes a deep breath and sighs. "This never had anything to do with her."

"It always did, even after she rejected you."

"Why are you being such a bastard?" Naruto grounds out. "I already told you. This isn't about Sakura."

"When hasn't it been with you?"

"No—no, I mean, I can't do this with her. Because I…because I want to do this with you. I don't want to do this with Sakura…"

Sasuke falters, takes a step back through the doorway. Naruto follows with two feet forward.

"…anymore."

"…that's what you came here for?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to." Sasuke puts his hand in front of Naruto's pants, grabs the prominent bulge and squeezes.

"Yeah, well…"

"This time of night and you want sex."

"Do you want to do it or not?" Naruto murmurs, glancing down at the feel of Sasuke's cock hard against his thigh. "Don't try to make this weirder than it already is."

Sasuke lets go and drops his hand, but Naruto takes it as a cue to invite himself closer. He pushes down a growing annoyance at Sasuke turning his head away from him, presses his mouth against Sasuke's cheek, against Sasuke's lower jaw.

"I should leave your sorry ass right here."

Naruto kisses down the side of Sasuke's neck, hums into warm skin that smells like soap. "Maybe you should."

"...I should."

Naruto makes a reach for Sasuke's wrist, leading Sasuke's arm around his waist. His other hand runs down the length of Sasuke's back, steals beneath Sasuke's shirt. He holds Sasuke against him. "So why don't you?"

Sasuke grunts, leans into Naruto with fingers digging into Naruto's side. "I…"

"Hmm?"

"Because…"

"Just because?"

"Because I'm not," Sasuke hisses. "You're the one who came to me. Keep talking and I'll leave you—"

Naruto reaches with both hands for Sasuke's hips, pulls himself back a little and crushes Sasuke against him.

Sasuke drops his face on Naruto's shoulder, tightens his shaky grip on Naruto's jacket when Naruto presses into him again. "...I'll leave you right here."

Dark hair tickling the side of his face, Naruto keeps Sasuke close. He kicks off his sandals, forces Sasuke to step back with every step he takes forward, steers him further into the apartment.

He doesn't say anything about Sasuke not leaving him, ignores the uneasy relief in the back of his mind in favour of the effect of Sasuke touching him—the way it makes him feel lightheaded, makes him wobbly enough in the knees to slam Sasuke against the wall outside his room.

Sasuke winces, seizes Naruto's jacket at the hasty apology muttered in his ear. "You have no sense of direction."

Leaning on Sasuke, Naruto puts a hand on the wall, feeling around for the light switch he could have sworn was there yesterday. But then he remembers it's on the other side of the door, too far to reach without moving away from Sasuke. It's not his fault he can't find his way through Sasuke's apartment in the dark.

"Want to do it here?"

Sasuke gives Naruto a look, unyielding until Naruto's fingers slip past the waistband of his pants and trail right back up the curve of Sasuke's spine. He tilts his head back, makes this low moan that leaves Naruto staring, wondering how many more ways he can get Sasuke to make that sound again.

"…lift your legs."

"What?"

Naruto lowers his hands to the back of Sasuke's legs. His left thumb roams over Sasuke's upper thigh, tracing light circles that don't fail in causing Sasuke to jolt. "I'm going to lift your legs."

Sasuke takes in a sharp breath, closes his eyes and opens them. "No."

"You're flexible enough for this. Just—"

"I don't care. I'm not—" Sasuke raises his arm above his head, hand bracing the wall Naruto's trying to flatten him against. "I'm not doing that with you."

The annoyance from earlier comes back, rises up the back of Naruto's throat with a quiet sting that makes his voice rough. "…that means you've already done this."

"It's not your business to know," Sasuke breathes, too warm, too close. The words sear on Naruto's lips. "I don't ask who you've fucked with before."

Bending his knees, Naruto pushes forward and then up, lifting Sasuke against the wall.

The surprise that registers on Sasuke's face is brief. His hands grapple to reach around Naruto's shoulders, fingers caught between shoving Naruto away and hollowing the material of Naruto's shirt. He lets his head fall on his arm, fights back a groan Naruto can feel vibrating in Sasuke's chest. "Shit, Naruto, you…"

Naruto rests his mouth on the juncture between Sasuke's neck and shoulder. The grin he etches there is vindictive. "What?"

"I told you not to do that."

Sasuke pushes against Naruto's shoulders, and Naruto staggers for a second or two, pushes back with a thrust that presses Sasuke further into the wall. For some strange reason he was expecting Sasuke to be holding on to him at this point.

Still, it feels good like this, easier to get more friction even though they both have clothes on—would be great if Sasuke just put his legs around Naruto's waist so Naruto won't have to bear the brunt of Sasuke's weight.

"Somehow, this turned out a lot better in my head." Naruto plants his feet, grunts as he repositions an almost completely slack Sasuke who's kind of heavier than he looks. "You could, um, you could help me out here, you know."

"I know."

"Really," Naruto says, "you could."

"Why?" Legs still dangling over Naruto's arms, Sasuke raises his hands level with his head. He holds his palms flat against the wall, elbows turned out and framing his face. "Can't do it by yourself?"

Naruto groans and lays his head on Sasuke's shoulder, lightly skims his teeth over the skin near the nape of Sasuke's neck. Of course Sasuke's going to make him work for it.

But the legs around his waist come without warning. The roll of Sasuke's hips—Sasuke brushing against his cock, real slow, almost painful, making it hard to keep his thoughts straight the way Sasuke's moving against him just like that—catches Naruto off guard, relaxes the hold he has on Sasuke, and Sasuke pushes himself off the wall with enough force to send them both tumbling to the floor.

...

"I'm almost there. Hold on for me, okay."

"Either put it in or take it out." Sasuke clutches at the sheets. "Don't just—"

"Just a little b-bit more." The cramps in his legs leave Naruto's entire body taut. Knees sinking into the bed, he begins to push in slowly, so slowly, because the tightness that's yet to go away makes moving more difficult than it should be.

He pulls out just a little, grits his teeth against the urge to push right back in at the sharp hiss from Sasuke.

After too long of a pause, he swallows, listens to the breaths that separate his from Sasuke's. "Does it still hurt?"

Sasuke brings a hand to his mouth. He jerks when Naruto starts moving again, pressing the heel of his palm against his teeth. "What the hell do you think?"

"I think it feels…" Carefully, Naruto pulls Sasuke's palm away from his mouth, places both hands over Sasuke's wrists and holds them to the bed. His fingers trail down Sasuke's arm, go back up to cover Sasuke's hands with his own. "…it feels good.

Sasuke turns his head to the side. He presses his face into the sheets, already short pants coming out faster as Naruto continues to push in.

"Sasuke…"

"Just…just k-keep going."

"You're still too tight," Naruto bites out. "You need to loosen up a little."

"I'm not trying to—"

"I said loosen up. Not—" Naruto stiffens, keeps himself steady over Sasuke. They've already done this a few times, but it's always uncomfortable at first, this really tight pressure Naruto isn't even sure is normal because his experience having sex with guys is limited to doing it with Sasuke.

He doesn't know how he did it all those times before. Whenever they start out, it feels like he can't move, feels like Sasuke's trying to kill him. Naruto knows he is. Sasuke has to be. One day trying to fit the rest of his cock in there is going to make it fall off. Then Sasuke's going to give him that smirk, that really smug look like he's been secretly planning the demise of Naruto's cock all along.

But when Sasuke comes up with another one of those moans, there's this weird kind of numbness in the outer side of Naruto's left foot. The tingle makes his ankle twitch. It runs up his leg, coils for a while in his stomach, and settles in his chest.

Now it's starting to feel good, on the verge of something that'll feel even better than really good—right there—if he can just keep it going like this.

He groans, pushes in as far as he can. His toes curl and bear down on the bed when Sasuke presses into him, makes him lose his grip on Sasuke's wrists. Sasuke pulls away and pushes himself back on Naruto's cock, holds Naruto still, makes him tremble and almost fall over.

"…fuck." Naruto clenches his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. He drops his head over Sasuke's shoulder, murmurs into Sasuke's neck something that sounds entirely too incoherent to actually be called Japanese. "W-warn a guy before you do that."

Sasuke picks up a faster pace, not bothering to wait on Naruto. "Keep moving."

Legs folded beneath him, Naruto sits back on his feet, pulling Sasuke on top of him. One arm goes over Sasuke's waist, hand gripping Sasuke's side and holding him upright. His other hand stretches down Sasuke's leg, rubs and kneads the skin alongside Sasuke's inner thigh before his fingers wrap around Sasuke's cock.

Sasuke lolls his head back, arches into Naruto's chest. A hand settles on top of the fingers pressing into his side, and he reaches behind with his other hand to grab a fistful of Naruto's hair.

Fingers tightening around Sasuke's cock, Naruto moves them up and down, pushes himself in and out of Sasuke. Despite the coordinated efforts between his hand and his cock, though, what little rhythm Naruto does establish is thrown out of sync the moment Sasuke starts to circle his hips, when he tugs on Naruto's hair, pulls down hard enough to distract Naruto's focus from the way Sasuke's grinding on his cock.

The bed begins to shift forward. The headboard almost hits the wall, pushes closer at every other creak intermittent with the sound of skin slapping against skin.

"Is that the…?" Lowering his hand from Naruto's hair, Sasuke stills. "You're making the bed hit the wall."

"…huh?"

"Stop hitting the bed against the wall."

"Seriously?" But Naruto still stops, places a hand over Sasuke's stomach and uses the other to push back the hair sticking to his forehead. "That's what you're—the wall?"

Sasuke sends Naruto a less than agreeable look from over his shoulder.

The wall of all things—if Sasuke cares more about the wall than having sex, clearly Naruto's doing something wrong.

Running his hands along Sasuke's sides, he presses Sasuke into the bed, tries to make the creaking from the bed frame louder this time since apparently he wasn't doing enough to keep Sasuke's attention before.

Sasuke turns his face into the sheets. "I better not find marks on the wall."

"Mm-hmm…"

"I find marks on the wall, Naruto, and you'll be—"

"I'll be what?" Naruto breathes next to Sasuke's ear. He lowers his pelvis, pulling his cock halfway out and then raising back up to push forward. "Doing this?"

Sasuke muffles a curse with his arm. He drags his fingers across the bed, tries to twist away from the hands holding him steady. Grip on Sasuke's hips firm, Naruto throws his head back, speeds up shallows thrusts that gradually become deliberate, gradually turn into slow heaves shoving Sasuke up against the bed.

He falls over with a sharp jerk, shuddering on top of Sasuke with his chest slick over Sasuke's back. Sasuke lays still, stays clenched around Naruto's cock while Naruto slowly slides against him. Slipping a hand beneath Sasuke, Naruto lifts him up a little then presses in as much as he can go. Sasuke bites back a choked cry, and Naruto hisses, rides out a few more sporadic twitches until Sasuke relaxes and finally lets him go.

"Still, uh…" Naruto pauses to take a breath, exhales when he feels his cock beginning to soften inside Sasuke. "Still worried about the wall?"

With a groan, Sasuke makes a blind reach behind him, tries to cuff Naruto in the head but misses. His arm flops back on the bed, and Naruto can't help it when he laughs.

This hoarse and guttural sound that comes from his chest, Naruto just laughs.

...

Naruto crosses his arms behind his head, stares at the ceiling while he waits for his eyes to adjust. He doesn't need to look at the clock to knows it's somewhere before seven. There's enough light outside to see the sun's starting to come up, but even though the late mornings in the winter make the days shorter, it still feels too early to be awake.

It's usually when he gets up anyway, but he can afford to stay in bed a few more minutes. Five more. Or maybe twenty. An hour won't hurt. He can get out of bed then, use the time it doesn't take to shake off the groggy feeling from just waking up to lie here a little while longer.

Naruto flexes his toes, stretches his legs to work out the kinks from last night. With one hand pushing into the bed, he sits up without jostling Sasuke sleeping beside him. The blanket falls over his lap as he turns around to glance at the wall that doesn't have any of the scuff marks Sasuke was so worried about.

Mouth wide, a loud yawn has him wiping at the corners of his eyes. He leans against the headboard, looks around the room. Despite how many times he's been here, he's never really paid that much attention to it, much less to the rest of the apartment and the kinds of things that exist in a world beyond Sasuke's bed.

Overall, it's a pretty ordinary place. It actually reminds him of Sakura's in some ways, with the motif of blue and green accents scattered against an otherwise bland backdrop. Aside from the colours, he wouldn't think their tastes would be so similar, although it shouldn't be too surprising since Sasuke helped Sakura set up her apartment.

It's still nice, though, with a few simple touches here and there. Like the vase on the counter near the kitchen window, the stubby black one Naruto remembers Sakura carrying when he ran into her that day in July.

The only difference now is that the handful of jasmine isn't there anymore. Sasuke killed those off not too long after Sakura gave them to him, which wasn't so unexpected, but it definitely made Naruto think twice about giving Sasuke one of the potted plants taking up too much space on his balcony.

There's the sitting room, too, probably the only part of the apartment that truly stands out since it's so traditional in comparison, but, at the same time, there's something about it that seems to embody Sasuke more than anything else.

Sasuke doesn't even use it. Once a week, he kneels on the floor to open the screen door then goes inside to sweep the tatami mats and polish the small table in the middle of the room. The porcelain tea set on the table, Sasuke takes extra care when he's dusting it, is meticulous arranging it the same way every time, like he's preparing to serve tea to four people, and Naruto can never bring himself to ask why Sasuke bothers to keep it there at all.

Sasuke doesn't really let him go in the sitting room anyway. The few times Naruto's been were exceptions, mostly because he was helping Sasuke install the tatami mats after he moved in. Although even if Sasuke allowed him to go there again, actually used it for something other than decoration, the room feels too personal for Naruto to ever feel comfortable in.

The movement on the bed makes him start, and Naruto stills, looks to see if Sasuke woke up.

Sasuke turns over towards him, eyes still closed, mouth slightly opened, with the left side of his face against the pillow. He moves his knee up, bringing an arm between his head and Naruto.

Lifting his half of the blanket, Naruto lays it over Sasuke. He peers down, eyes the small dimple on Sasuke's right cheek.

It isn't often that he gets to see it. There isn't a certain expression Sasuke has to have, nothing special Sasuke has to do to make the dimple show. But on the rare occasion it does, Naruto wants to press his mouth against it, use his lips to map out the small area of skin he wants to rediscover again and again so he'll always know where to find it even when Sasuke isn't smiling or laughing or smirking—so he won't have to waste moments like this wondering about the next time he'll be able to see it.

Naruto blinks, shifts away from Sasuke and starts to make his way off the bed. The soft rustling of the sheets almost convinces him to stay, almost gives him to a reason to wake Sasuke just so he'd have an excuse not to leave.

With the floor cold beneath his feet, Naruto stands still, stifles the urge to slip back into the bed because it's easier to give in than go home to an empty apartment. But the backlog of paperwork sitting on his desk can't wait. Tsunade's giving him until Wednesday to finish, more than enough time considering she handed him the paperwork last week, yet somehow, looking at the warmth next to Sasuke makes Naruto feel like the day's already over.

Sighing, he bends down to pick up his clothes from the floor, shuffles into them while facing away from the bed. He shrugs on his jacket, adjusting his collar as he takes short strides across the room.

He pauses under the threshold, places a hand on the doorframe. With one last look behind him, Naruto snorts, stares at Sasuke a little longer before he turns away and lets his hand fall from the doorframe on the way out.

Sakura was right.