Chapter 8
That flirty guy at the bar counter had lied about the shooters not causing a hangover.
It was Sasuke's turn now to be throwing up in the toilet. It wasn't exactly something he was proud of. He was trembling badly and his whole body hurt. Naruto was holding his hair, and rubbing his back comfortingly.
"Go away," Sasuke muttered.
"I'm staying," Naruto replied stubbornly.
"I'm serious I wanna be alone…"
He pulled away from Naruto weakly and he leaned against the bath tub. Now he could see why his body was so sore; he had bruises everywhere. He was only wearing boxers because he had pretty much just gotten out of bed and ran to the bathroom. He had bruises all over his legs and arms. He hugged his knees and let out a shaky sigh.
"Thank God I already did my photo shoot for that underwear line last week… or my agent would've killed me…"
"You kept falling everywhere," Naruto sighed, "when we got here it got worst…"
"But wait…" Sasuke frowned, looking up at his best friend, "I fell asleep in the car…"
"Yeah, but when we got here you woke up and… You don't remember?"
The raven shook his head.
"Why am I not surprised?" Naruto said, "You were so drunk…"
"What happened?"
Naruto chuckled, "You were trying to use your laptop, but you couldn't even type in the password, I had to do it for you."
"You're kidding?" Sasuke whispered.
"Nope. And then you told me to put on some music and you started dancing with me. Then you pushed me on the couch and you… stripped for me."
"Please tell me you're kidding," he glanced away, feeling embarrassed and humiliated.
"Hey it's okay," Naruto chuckled softly, "don't worry about it. It was fun. The drunk you was fun. Until you started falling everywhere and hurting yourself… Then I tried to stop you, and to calm you down…"
"I'm never drinking again," Sasuke said firmly, "ever."
"Ah," Naruto laughed, "you remind me of when I had my first hangover. I promised myself I would never drink again."
"But you did it anyway?"
"Yeah the next weekend…"
Sasuke chuckled, "Wow…"
He suddenly paled, feeling very sick. He threw up in the toilet again. To his despair Naruto leaned closer and held his hair.
"Stop it…" he weakly tried to push the blond away.
"No."
After that he managed to get up with Naruto's help, and he rinsed his mouth.
"You're trembling," Naruto said worriedly, "I'll bring you something to wear."
He went to his bedroom, and came back with his big and warm orange zip up sweater. Sasuke actually smiled at the sight of this piece of clothing.
"You used to wear this all the time in high school…"
"It's comfy," Naruto shrugged.
"It's also fucking ugly," Sasuke replied, but he let Naruto put the sweater on him.
It was indeed really comforting to be wearing that. He sat on the cold floor and hugged himself again, this time clutching the sweater tightly.
"After… stripping and falling everywhere like an idiot did I… go to sleep or…?"
"It took me forever to get you to go to bed," Naruto sighed, "you hum… you wanted us to have sex."
Sasuke's dark eyes widened, "What?"
"You said that you were an idiot for refusing all this time, and that we should have sex."
"But…"
"Nothing happened," Naruto reassured him.
"Oh…"
"I wouldn't have taken advantage of you like that. If we end up having sex one day I don't want it to be because you're drunk. And I want you to freakin' remember it," he chuckled.
"Thanks…"
Naruto shrugged, "You don't have to thank me. Oh yeah and Suigetsu kept texting you to ask if you were okay, so I ended up texting him back not to worry. I kinda felt sorry for him."
"Why?" Sasuke muttered, "He kissed Saito. Probably would've fucked him too if I hadn't interrupted them."
"You don't know that," Naruto replied.
"Why are you defending him? I thought you hated him."
"I don't hate him," Naruto sighed, "I was just… jealous I guess. But he's not a bad guy. I can tell he really cares about you."
"Didn't stop him from kissing another guy…"
"Oh come on have you seen him? I'm sure he practically threw himself on Suigetsu like the nympho he is. Like Karin did with me…"
"Karin kissed you?"
"She tried…"
"Damn… what else happened to you at that party?"
"Nothing much… but I got like twenty phone numbers," he chuckled.
"Must've been the orange converse."
Naruto smiled, "Oh yeah, definitely."
"Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for taking care of me, and staying here even if I asked you to go…"
Naruto shifted closer and placed his arm around his shoulders.
"It's okay. I know what it feels like, believe me…"
Sasuke closed his eyes and leaned on Naruto. The latter caressed his hair softly.
"I think I'm gonna break up with Suigetsu…"
"Why?"
"Well I'm moving to Kyoto in like, a few days now… Long term relationships never really work."
"Is that the only reason?" Naruto asked softly.
"No…"
He didn't say more, and Naruto didn't push it. They stayed quiet for a little while, and Naruto continued caressing his hair absent mindedly.
At some point he said, "You have to tell him in person. Don't do it by text or by phone."
"Look who's talking," Sasuke chuckled, "you broke up by phone with Hinata, and by text with Ino."
"Hinata's father wouldn't let me come in their house," he said defensively, "and I didn't want to do it at school. And Ino! She…"
"Cheated on you with Kiba. I know."
"You know, I didn't want them to work out," Naruto said, "I guess I felt like it would be some sort of revenge if they just cheated on each other or something. But it's working out so far…"
"Yeah I give them two more weeks…"
Naruto laughed, "We'll see…"
"Hey I just remembered something…"
"What?"
"Did you know that Shikamaru was coming back for Christmas? He's probably with his family now but… Gaara told me that his sister wanted to organize a party for him. You know, with the old gang…"
"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" Naruto exclaimed.
Sasuke pulled away slightly so he could look at him. "You said it yourself, you're not spending much time with your friends anymore…"
"Still, they should've told me."
"Maybe Shikamaru only told Gaara and his sister," Sasuke shrugged, "Temari, that's her name right?"
"Yeah… So when is it? I don't care if I'm not invited I'm going anyway. I miss Shikamaru a lot…"
"I know," Sasuke smiled, "that's why I'm telling you. It's on New Year's Eve I think. We should go together."
"Yeah," Naruto smiled back. "Hey Sasuke?"
"What?"
"You really should drink some water."
Yes, unfortunately for the raven, the roles really were reversed.
…
After being sick the whole day Sasuke felt a little better at least. He showered and put on some comfortable, non orange clean clothes, and he also followed his own advice – and Naruto's – and drank tons of water to rehydrate his body.
They spent the evening sitting on the couch and watching some boys love drama show on Sasuke's laptop. Naruto's Christmas meal choice was instant ramen.
"Why is there always a crazy hyperactive one and a really serious emo one?" Naruto asked, "It's stupid."
Sasuke laughed. The irony.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"Never mind…"
"Hey Sasuke?"
"Yeah?"
Naruto smiled, "I wanna give you your present."
"All right…"
He hurried to his bedroom and came back with a sparkly red and green gift bag. The colour tissue paper coming out of it was all ripped off.
"I was trying to make it look pretty," Naruto said sheepishly, "but…"
Sasuke laughed and shook his head in disbelief. He opened the bag and first discarded the tissue paper. Then he picked up the first item – there seemed to be a bunch of random things in that bag.
"Longjing tea," he smiled.
"Your favourite, right?" Naruto shrugged.
"Why'd you get me tea?"
"You're moving to Kyoto!" the blond said defensively, "maybe you won't have time to buy some. So when you drink your tea you'll think about me."
"I will," Sasuke chuckled. So random.
"Just check out the rest…"
He picked up something else. It was a t-shirt with something written on it.
"Best friends," Sasuke read out loud, "They know how crazy you are but still choose to be seen with you in public."
"I thought about getting the one that said I love my best friend but… yeah this one is better and less corny," Naruto chuckled.
"And it's kinda true," Sasuke smiled, "I mean considering all those times you embarrassed me in public you crazy idiot."
"I... you'r exaggerating," the blond said defensively.
"What about all those times we went to your favourite ramen stand when we were kids, and you ordered like… a bajillion bowls. And then you couldn't even pay for it."
"That was ages ago."
"And what about when we're walking quietly in the street and you randomly decide to start yelling like crazy that we're going on an awesome adventure, believe it, or some other crap like that?"
"I haven't said that in years…"
"Or when you were still underage and always sneaking in sex shops…"
"All right, all right, I see your point."
Sasuke smiled at him fondly.
"Just check out the rest!"
"Yeah why'd you get me so much stuff anyway?"
He shrugged, "You're the only one I bought Christmas gifts to. Felt like spoiling you a little, since you're usually always the one spoiling me. I have the money Tsunade left me so…"
"It's supposed to be for school."
"Just… shut up and check out the rest already," Naruto said, annoyed.
"All right."
There were two things left. A notebook…
"If your laptop ever crashes you'll still be able to write," Naruto explained, making Sasuke chuckle. Again, random...
And a bracelet. It was a black and blue braided bracelet.
"Just like yours," Sasuke said, looking at Naruto's wrist.
Naruto almost always wore his. It was orange and blue. Of course. Sasuke smiled as Naruto put the bracelet around his wrist.
"It'll remind you of me."
"I don't need anything to be reminded of you," Sasuke said softly, "but thank you. I only have one for you…"
"That's okay," Naruto smiled excitedly, "what is it?"
"Well isn't it supposed to be a surprise? Isn't that the whole point of wrapping it up?"
"Then hurry up and go get it!" Naruto slapped his ass as he got up.
Sasuke made a little pained noise.
"Sorry," Naruto chuckled.
"Guess I have a bruise there too…"
"Poor baby. Want me to kiss it better?"
"Shut up."
He went to his bedroom to get Naruto's present. Once he had started thinking about it, it had been really easy to find what to offer him. Actually he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before.
"It's so pretty," Naruto said half-teasing, as Sasuke came back and handed him the nicely and neatly wrapped box. "It's really heavy too…" He chuckled, "I feel like a kid. Maybe I could shake it to try to guess what it is…"
"Please," Sasuke frowned, "don't do that."
"All right," Naruto laughed.
He tore the gift paper, revealing the box underneath. And then his blue eyes widened in shock. He looked up. Sasuke was smiling.
"You… crazy bastard you… got me… a freaking laptop?"
"Yeah," Sasuke shrugged.
"But that's expensive!"
"You'll need one," the raven said as he sat beside Naruto. "How else are you gonna do your homework?"
"The library," Naruto said.
"I've been to school with you my whole life and I've never seen you step foot in a library."
"Yeah but…" the blond looked down at the box in his hands in disbelief.
"And how else am I gonna keep in touch with you? You've got to have access to a computer."
"There's always the phone…" Naruto argued.
"You never answer your damn phone."
"That's cause I'm always out of minutes."
"I think I've made my point."
"But it's so expensive…"
"Will you stop worrying about that?"
Naruto glanced at him sideways, "You got a nice paycheck for your underwear campaign?" he said half-teasing.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I did."
"I'd like to see it."
"What?"
Naruto shrugged, and smiled, "The picture for the add."
"I'll be sure to tell my agent to send you a copy."
"Great. I'll be sure to jerk off to it."
"What the fuck!"
"Oh come on!" Naruto laughed, and he started opening the carton box. "I'm sure I'm not the only one…"
"Gaara actually told me he jerked off to a picture of me once."
"Very subtle flirting…"
"I know."
They both laughed, and Sasuke helped Naruto sort out the different items that came with the laptop. Since Naruto was a bit of a technology retard, Sasuke proceeded to set up his new laptop for him. They continued talking while he was doing this.
"It's kinda really cool that you bought me this actually," Naruto was saying, "and we'll be able to have webcam conversations."
"You scared me for a moment there I thought you were gonna say webcam sex."
"The thought crossed my mind," Naruto admitted, laughing.
"I think we should just stick to webcam conversations."
"We can have conversations naked."
"Naruto."
"What?"
"You're gonna have a roommate. I don't think he'll like it if you're naked on your bed."
"Who knows? He might like it."
"Idiot."
Naruto surprised him by suddenly wrapping his arms around him, and holding him really tightly. Sasuke slowly raised his arms and held him back.
"Thank you," Naruto whispered in his ear, "what would I do without you?"
"Sell your body for money and drugs?"
"Probably…"
"I was kidding."
Naruto chuckled and pulled away slightly, turning his head to look into his eyes. He lifted his hand to place his hair behind his ear.
"I know it's silly but… I'm glad you're here with me for Christmas."
Before Sasuke could think of a reply Naruto was kissing him. It felt so good… Sasuke battled with Naruto's tongue playfully, and then the latter bit him slightly. Sasuke moaned through the kiss, and wrapped his arms around the other's neck to deepen the kiss.
Naruto slowly pushed him on the couch, and climbed on top of him. He ran his hands all over his body while he continued kissing his lips roughly. At some point he bit his bottom lip, only to kiss it softly once more.
"You really do like it when I do this," Naruto chuckled quietly, before attacking his lips again – literally.
"Yeah…" Sasuke breathed.
Their bodies pressed against each other like this was such a turn on. Sasuke didn't know if he could resist this time…
But actually the one to pull away from their embrace was Naruto. He was breathing hard, and he seemed just as turned on as Sasuke, and yet he sat as far as possible from him on the couch. He ran his fingers through his messy hair and cleared his throat slightly.
"Sorry… I got carried away."
"Don't… apologize I mean it's not like I didn't like it."
Naruto glanced at him sideways, and smiled, "Anyway, when can I use my computer?"
Sasuke chuckled, and started working on the laptop again, "So demanding…"
…
The next day, Sasuke worked up his courage and made his way to Suigetsu's place with determination. He was his first boyfriend. And now he needed to go through his first break up. He had never thought it would be so hard. Even though he was the one breaking up, it still hurt.
Suigetsu's gorgeous smile as he greeted him made it all the more difficult.
"I'm so glad you're okay! You must've been pretty hangover yesterday huh? I wish I could've visited you, but I was working at the stupid restaurant, honestly why is it even open on Christmas? It sucks…"
"Yeah…"
"Come here," Suigetsu pulled him into a hug.
Sasuke returned the hug only half-heartedly, but Suigetsu didn't seem to notice.
When he pulled away Sasuke took off his coat, and Suigetsu looked at his wrist.
"What's with the bracelet?"
"Oh," Sasuke shrugged, "just a present from a friend…"
"Naruto?"
After all he pretty much only had one friend… It wasn't too hard for Suigetsu to make a lucky guess.
"Yeah," he shrugged, "he just wanted me to think about him while I was gone in Kyoto."
"It's not that far, really," Suigetsu smiled, "I'm sure he'll visit you often enough."
They went to sit on the bed, and Sasuke couldn't find it in him to return his smile.
"I don't think so… he'll be at school so…"
"Well don't be so depressed! I'll visit you all the time, I promise," he said.
He glanced away. Suigetsu was misinterpreting his sad feelings…
"Well, I think it's more than time I give you your present!"
Sasuke's heart sank. Why did he have to break up with him on freaking Christmas… It made things even harder.
He forced a little smile as Suigetsu brought him a large gift bag. Just like Naruto's. Except the tissue paper wasn't torn up.
Inside there were… things from a sex shop, actually. Some sort of bondage kit. A blindfold, handcuffs, the whole deal. Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked up at Suigetsu. This was so unlike him.
The silver-haired guy laughed nervously, "It's just… all those times in bed, I noticed you liked it when I… sort of hurt you a little and… I figured maybe you were into that kinda stuff…"
"Oh…"
"You don't like it?"
"No that's not it," Sasuke reassured him, "I guess I'm just… surprised."
"Well I'm not into that kinda stuff myself," Suigetsu admitted, "but I wanna do anything I can to please you…"
"You shouldn't have to…"
"I want to," Suigetsu insisted.
Sasuke sighed. He also had something for him. It was kind of lame though. He had bought something because he had felt forced to buy something. Because it was Christmas. Conformism.
He walked back next to the door where he had left his coat, as well as the plastic bag with the present in it. He handed it to Suigetsu, who was smiling excitedly.
"You didn't have to."
Sasuke shrugged, "It's lame…"
Suigetsu opened it. Sasuke glanced away, biting his bottom lip slightly.
"You got me a cocktail shaker?" Suigetsu chuckled.
"You said yours was broken…"
"Yeah, no, yeah, that's very thoughtful."
He burst out laughing at Sasuke's expression. Again he was misinterpreting…
"I love it. But, why don't we try… your gift?"
He pushed him on the bed and started kissing him. But Sasuke really wasn't into it, and Suigetsu noticed – finally.
"Okay what's wrong?" he asked softly.
"We need to talk…"
Suigetsu frowned and moved away from him, "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he muttered.
Sasuke made a note to self to never use those four words again before breaking up.
"I don't think I can do this…"
After a moment of silence Suigetsu let out a heavy sigh, "You really don't love me at all do you?"
"That's… that's not it… I mean, I'm gonna live in Kyoto and…"
"I already said I was going to visit you all the time!"
"Suigetsu, you've got two jobs… you work all the time."
"That's not true," he said angrily, "I took a lot of days off so that I could spend more time with you and you know it."
The raven looked down. He felt so sad but… he had to do this.
"Suigetsu…"
"Look, if this is about me kissing Saito, I already told you…"
"It's not," Sasuke interrupted him, still averting his eyes, "actually it was hypocritical of me to be mad at you for that."
"…Why?" Suigetsu whispered.
Sasuke's heart sank. Why was this so hard? A tear rolled down his eye, and he glanced at Suigetsu behind his long bangs. This time Suigetsu didn't reach out to brush them out of his eyes.
"Because I kissed Naruto."
"…You cheated on me."
"We kissed. That's it. But if you consider that cheating, I'd understand…"
"Were you trying," Suigetsu chuckled bitterly, "were you trying to help him figure out his orientation, too?"
"Suigetsu, please…"
"Just… don't. Just get out."
Sasuke didn't need to be told twice. He picked up his coat and stormed out of Suigetsu's apartment. He realized he would probably never come back here again, and it made him sad. He would've loved to have Suigetsu as a friend. But he wasn't dumb enough to actually ask Suigetsu if they could still be friends… He already knew the answer.
…
The next few days were pretty much calm and relaxed for Sasuke. If you could call spending time with Naruto calm and relaxed – which you couldn't, really, but oh well. They went shopping together to get a present for Shikamaru, and also decent black shoes for Naruto (Sasuke insisted).
They couldn't really decide what to buy for their old friend. Naruto ended up choosing a really silly gift. It was some sort of samurai umbrella.
"He lives in London," Naruto argued at the mall, "it's always raining there! And this is so cool," he said as he played with it, "I've always wanted one of those."
Naruto was so childish sometimes. As he was playing with the samurai umbrella thing Sasuke took off his jacket to reveal his new t-shirt; the one that Naruto had bought him. It made the blond laugh, and at least after that he stopped being crazy. Until they got to the ramen restaurant, that is. But it was okay. That was how Sasuke loved him, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
On New Year's Eve Naruto was beyond excited. He claimed that he had tons of things to tell Shikamaru. Temari's party started at 8 pm, and it was only 5 pm but Naruto was already ready to go. He wore the same suit he had for the Christmas party – with his new black shoes though.
Naruto was playing some online game on his new laptop to pass the time, and Sasuke was cooking some rice and vegetables in the kitchen, when they heard someone knocking at their door.
"There's too much stuff happening," Naruto exclaimed, talking about his game, "I can't go!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes and went to open the door. It was Suigetsu. He had a box in his hands with, Sasuke guessed, his stuff that he had left at his apartment.
"Oh, hey."
"Hey… I wanted to bring your stuff."
"Yeah, sure, thanks," Sasuke took the box and put it on the floor.
"And also," Suigetsu hesitated. He glanced at Naruto, who was being suddenly very quiet, and then back at Sasuke. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I mean, to tell you the truth I saw it coming… but… it was still hard."
"Yeah, I understand," Sasuke said sincerely.
"Do you think we could still be friends?" Suigetsu made a little smile.
Sasuke smiled back, surprised, "Yeah I'd like that."
Suigetsu's smile widened and he gave him a friendly hug, before leaving. Sasuke just stood still for a moment, still unsure this had really happened.
Naruto confirmed it for him when he said, "Guess he's a really cool guy after all."
Then he came to stand next to him, and he closed the door. Apparently there wasn't too much stuff happening in his game anymore. After that he sat on the floor and started rummaging through the box containing Sasuke's things.
"That or he wants to try to get back with you," Naruto added.
Sasuke frowned, "I don't think so…"
"Yeah well you're oblivious sometimes."
"Look who's talking…"
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not oblivious."
"When we were in high school and Hinata told you that she loved you, you still didn't realize she actually wanted to be with you. Kiba had to slap you across the face and tell you to kiss her already."
"That was a long time ago," Naruto argued, "hey what's… what's this?"
He had found the bondage kit. Sasuke blushed and took the handcuffs from him, putting them back in the box. Then, while Naruto was laughing his ass off, he brought the box safely to his bedroom.
"I didn't think Suigetsu was the type…"
"Shut up," Sasuke said.
He hurried to the kitchen to see if he could save his food. Naruto followed him, still smiling widely.
"So he was tying you up and everything?"
"No!" the raven exclaimed, "We never actually used those things. He bought me those for Christmas…"
"And then you broke up with him? Man that's harsh."
"Shut up…"
"Is it ready soon? I'm starving…"
Sasuke stared at him, "You're actually gonna eat my vegetarian cooking?"
Naruto shrugged, "I'm out of instant ramen and I was too lazy to go to the grocery store."
"Because you were playing some lame online game…"
"League of legends isn't lame!"
"Whatever you say…"
At least the food wasn't burned so it was actually edible. They sat on the couch to eat while Naruto watched some live streaming of his new favourite game. Sasuke was bored out of his mind. Naruto was trying to explain it to him but really, he couldn't care less. He was in a good mood though. He was glad that Suigetsu had decided to make up with him.
After dinner Sasuke washed the dishes – without Naruto's help as always – and then he went in his bedroom to get changed into black skinny jeans, a matching tank top, and a grey military style button down shirt. He also took the time to replace the things Suigetsu had brought back. They were mostly just clothes that he had forgotten at his place, and also a book that he had lend to him – which Suigetsu hadn't read anyway because he hated reading. Come to think of it, they really didn't have much in common.
"You look good," Naruto checked him out appreciatively when he walked out of his room. "But now I looked too dressed up compared to you."
Sasuke shrugged, "Just don't wear the tie and jacket."
"Yeah good idea."
"Don't forget the present," Sasuke added.
"…I kinda don't know how to wrap it…"
The raven chuckled and shook his head in disbelief, "Your fault for buying a stupid umbrella."
Naruto tried to wrap it up with gift paper but it just wasn't working. Sasuke took pity of him and decided to help. When he was done the wrapping was okay, but it still looked kind of silly and of course the shape of it made it easy to guess what it was.
"Whatever let's just go," Naruto chuckled.
They took the bus to get to the Sabaku siblings' residence. Technically they lived with their father, but the latter also owned a place in New York and he pretty much always stayed there because of his work. This was what Gaara had told Sasuke anyway. But evidently this family was very rich, because the house was beautiful and huge.
Naruto practically ran to the front door and knocked over-excitedly. Sasuke followed more slowly behind.
Temari opened the door for them.
"Hey Naruto! Sasuke! It's so good to see you! Come in!"
How could she remember their names when they had pretty much only seen her once and hadn't spoken in years? People with such good memory would always puzzle Sasuke.
"How are you Temari?" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, and without waiting for her answer nodded in Gaara's direction, "What's up Gaara? So, where's Shikamaru?"
Sasuke laughed at Naruto's antics. Temari smiled.
"Let me grab your coats. Shikamaru's in the living room with Kankuro. You guys are the first ones to get here."
"Guess we're not fashionably late," Sasuke told Naruto in a low voice.
"Your ex-boyfriend wouldn't be proud of us," Naruto replied teasingly.
Then he hurried towards the living room. Gaara, Sasuke and Temari followed him. They watched as Naruto threw himself in Shikamaru's arms.
"It's been so long! How are you?"
"I'm good, you? God it's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too!" Naruto smiled as they pulled away. "I've got something for you! Late Christmas gift."
"Naruto you really didn't have to…"
"Actually it's from Sasuke and me…"
Shikamaru followed Naruto's stare and smiled. "Hi Sasuke, it's been a while."
Sasuke stepped closer and shook his hand. "Yeah," he said simply.
Shikamaru turned his attention to Naruto, and he laughed when he saw the not very subtle gift.
"An umbrella. Wow."
"Open it," Naruto said.
Shikamaru did as he was told, and said, "It's kind of perfect actually. Mine broke like a month ago… Oh my God this is so funny. I like it."
"You do?" Naruto smiled.
"Yeah," he smiled back, "when I use it I'll think about you, and it'll remind me of when we were kids and always watching those ninja movies…"
"Those were good times."
"So!" Kankuro exclaimed, "who wants a drink to celebrate Shikamaru's visit?"
"I do!" Naruto slapped Shikamaru's back in a friendly way.
After a few minutes, they all sat together in a circle in the beautifully decorated living room. Sasuke was sitting with Gaara on one of the couches, and Naruto was sitting with Shikamaru in another, in front of them. Temari and Kankuro had taken place on some sofa lounge chairs.
They were all drinking wine, even Sasuke, although he promised himself he would only have one glass.
"So how's London?" Naruto asked Shikamaru excitedly.
"Sorry in advance," Shikamaru chuckled, looking at the three siblings, "to bore you with stuff that I already said but…"
"It's okay," Temari smiled, "you're not boring us."
"Speak for yourself," Gaara said teasingly.
"Well I wanna know," Naruto shrugged, "so…"
"London is great," Shikamaru answered, "the architecture is amazing, it's a beautiful city, even though it's true that the weather isn't that great. Let's just say most of the time you can't sit in the grass and watch the clouds."
"Don't tell me you actually still do that sometimes," Temari laughed, crossing her legs and taking a sip of wine.
"Sometimes," Shikamaru smiled at her, "it's a very relaxing activity, you know? It's underrated."
"How's the physics program?" Sasuke inquired.
"It's great," the brunet answered, "but troublesome, I must say… At my level, I have to do so many assignments, and write so many reports all the time… It's a lot of work. Thankfully I won a scholarship so I don't need to work part time."
"I always knew you were a genius," Naruto told him sincerely.
"Everyone knew that," Sasuke said, "who else could sleep in all their classes and still get straight As all the time?"
"If I'm not mistaken," Shikamaru frowned slightly, "you and Gaara were my biggest competition. You both had really good grades."
"Gaara's a genius too," Kankuro said proudly, "he already has a really promising career as a lawyer."
"You're exaggerating," Gaara told him.
"Don't be modest now," Temari teased him.
"I'm not being modest," the younger of the siblings shrugged, "I'm just saying he's exaggerating."
"What about you Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked, "Didn't you want to go into mathematics or physics as well?"
"That… didn't work out."
Sasuke shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't really like talking about those things. His older brother would've had a promising future if it hadn't been from that underground organization getting him involved in their shit… Their parents had always encouraged the both of them to seek brilliant university careers in science.
But with the death of his family, and all the horrible things he'd been through, Sasuke had lost his motivation. Sure he had graduated high school brilliantly, but he hadn't continued after that. With no one to push him in a direction or another, he had been confused as to what to do with his life, kind of like Naruto.
But then Shisaki had discovered him. That was his agent. He had struck Sasuke as a very smart and charming man, in his early thirties. He was a little bit obsessed with money, but weren't all celebrity agents obsessed with money? That was when he had become a model. It had sort of just happened…
Seeing that he was uncomfortable, Gaara and Naruto decided to answer for him.
"Some people are extremely smart, like Sasuke, but decide science is not for them," Gaara said.
"He's kinda becoming a super star now though," Naruto added proudly.
"Not to mention he's a great writer," Gaara informed.
"And he's gonna play in a movie!" the blond exclaimed.
Sasuke scratched his hair, feeling embarrassed to be the center of attention.
"Guys," Shikamaru chuckled, "let him speak for himself."
"Well I think they pretty much said it all," Sasuke shrugged.
He was saved from all this attention by the arrival of one of the guests. It was Chouji, also an old friend from high school, and Shikamaru's best friend if Sasuke wasn't mistaken.
Indeed the two men seemed really close as they hugged each other.
"I missed you Shika!" Chouji exclaimed.
"Missed you too Chouji," the other replied.
"Do you guys have some food, I'm really hungry!"
Naruto chuckled, "Some things never change."
After that the other guests arrived, one after the other; Kiba and Ino, Sakura, Hinata and also a couple others of Shikamaru's old friends that Sasuke barely knew. Drinks were flowing, but Sasuke stuck to his promise to himself to have only one glass of wine.
As everyone talked together excitedly, reminiscing old memories, and asking Shikamaru about his life in London, Sasuke was kind of bored. Naruto didn't constantly accuse him of being antisocial for nothing…
He was happy for the blond though, and he smiled fondly as he watched him absorb every word spoken by Shikamaru. He knew those two had been really close once, and he was glad that Naruto had the chance to see him again.
Gaara also looked bored.
"Do you want a tour of the house?" he offered.
Sasuke shrugged, "Sure, why not?"
Naruto sent him a glance as he got up and started walking down the hallway with Gaara, but Sasuke ignored it. So what if he was being antisocial? The blond shouldn't be surprised, it was no newsflash.
The red-head didn't end up giving him a tour of the house. Instead he brought him directly to his bedroom, which made Sasuke laugh.
"I decided to skip some parts," Gaara said.
"Uh-huh…"
He looked around his bedroom. It was big, that was for sure, and dark too. It reminded Sasuke a little of his own bedroom. The curtains were dark red, matching the bed and pillows. As if the huge bed wasn't enough, there was also a pretty large couch in the room. There were dark abstract paintings on the walls. Sasuke didn't know much when it came to art, so he didn't comment on those. Instead he took a look at Gaara's stereo sound system and his collection of music records.
It looked like they had something in common other than writing. They seemed to have pretty much the same taste in music.
"You can put something if you want," Gaara suggested.
Sasuke chose one of his favourite records from a Japanese hard rock band that he really liked. They listened to it together, and Sasuke smiled.
"So much better than laptop speakers."
"Isn't it?" Gaara smiled back.
Sasuke also took a look at his collection of books. There, their tastes were different. Gaara really liked fantasy, and science fiction. Sasuke preferred action and romance, although it was true that his latest story could be categorized as fantasy.
"You can borrow anything you want," Gaara said as he sat in his computer chair.
Sasuke shook his head, "Nah… you wouldn't get it back in a while since I'm moving to Kyoto…"
"I'll miss you," the red-head said, "but hey you'll continue writing to me everyday?"
Sasuke smiled. It was true, they were writing to each other pretty much everyday lately. At first it had just been to seek advice concerning their stories, and their writing, but then it had changed. They were pretty much writing about their every thought. It was comforting to have such a relationship with someone.
"Of course," he said.
"So when are you going?"
"In two days," Sasuke said.
Gaara stood up, and stepped closer. Sasuke swallowed hard. He always had trouble being really near people. It made him feel nervous. Gaara's pale green eyes encircled with black were really intense, almost entrancing…
"Do I get a goodbye kiss?"
The raven held his breath. He didn't answer, but he could feel himself being drawn to Gaara, and he decided not to resist it...
Gaara kissed him and Sasuke was shocked by his intensity. It was almost too aggressive, and it was strange since it was their first kiss. He hadn't expected it.
"Sorry," the red-head smirked as he pulled away, "it's just that… I've been wanting to do this for a while…"
"It's okay…" Sasuke breathed.
Gaara looked into his eyes, then at his lips again, and sure enough they found themselves making out passionately once more. They simply couldn't stop.
But something felt wrong. The texture of his hair felt strange, his body felt strange, and there was a very simple explanation for that; Gaara wasn't Naruto. After the whole Suigetsu thing, Sasuke felt like he wanted to wait for Naruto. He didn't want anyone else.
So he pulled away from Gaara's hold softly. But he was shocked again at the red-head's aggressiveness. He didn't let him go that easily. He tightened his hold around him and crashed their lips together again. He tugged at his hair, and it kind of hurt… Sasuke frowned, and tried to push him away again.
Gaara chuckled and pushed him on the bed roughly. He climbed on top of him and pinned his wrists above his head.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Sasuke asked, trying not to sound panicked.
"Don't tell me you don't like it…"
"Look, just stop, I'm serious…"
Gaara pulled away slightly, and looked into his eyes. He seemed to finally understand that he was indeed serious, and he pulled away completely.
Sasuke crawled away from him, sitting cross-legged on the bed and rubbing his painful wrists.
"I'm sorry. It seems I misunderstood you."
The raven frowned, tilting his head to the side slightly, "What do you mean?"
"I thought you wanted this, but you don't," Gaara said simply, "not now anyway. Don't worry I'm not gonna do something like this again unless you ask me to."
"What makes you think I'll ask you to?"
He smirked, "Intuition."
"Uh-huh…" Sasuke raised a brow, "Anyway, we should go back to the others."
He got up and walked towards the door. Gaara took his arm though.
"Don't be scared," he chuckled.
He simply sleeked out his hair and his clothes a little, which Sasuke had to admit it wasn't a bad idea.
They returned to the party after that. Naruto sent Sasuke a suspicious glance, but he didn't say anything. Sasuke knew he would hear about it later though…
And he was right.
Much later, in the bus on their way back home, Naruto interrogated him.
"What were you doing with Gaara?"
"Nothing."
"You guys disappeared for like, half an hour…"
"We just listened to music and talked about… books."
"Sasuke."
"What?"
"Look at me."
The raven sighed, and turned to look into those deep blue eyes. Deep blue accusing eyes at the moment.
"Stop lying to me."
"I'm not lying."
"Sasuke."
"What?"
"I said, stop lying to me."
"We kissed," he finally blurted out. "We made out. That's it. I stopped him before it could go further."
"Was that so hard?"
"Why do you wanna know anyway?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.
"You know exactly why I want to know. We always tell each other everything."
"Well now you know I made out with Gaara. Your life must be changed forever." He said sarcastically.
Naruto chuckled and looked out the window. There was a long moment of silence, and Sasuke felt kind of sleepy. He rested his head on Naruto's shoulder. It had become familiar to do this now.
"Promise me we'll always be honest to each other," Naruto said quietly. "Even if we don't live together."
"I promise," Sasuke said without hesitating.
"Good," the blond smiled, and put his arm around his shoulders so that he could lean against him more comfortably.
