Chapter 8

It was night again. He could only assume it was the next one. After he had been fed and watered like some kind of pet, his gag had been replaced and the bag pulled back down from his nose to be retied around his neck. About an hour after that he had felt a sharp pinch in his arm and everything faded away.

This night was pretty much like the last. He had awoken and the female took him into the woods a short ways so that he could relieve himself. This time however, she didn't seem inclined to stop her touches. He angrily pulled away from her but knew that tied and blindfolded like he was, there wasn't much he could do to escape. He couldn't form seals even if he had wanted to since his arms had long gone numb from the chakra reinforced rope. He could only move away from her gropes as she laughed at him.

"Takako, bring the prisoner back and secure him. You can be a whore on your own time," an authoritative voice barked.

"Yes, Captain," she grumbled. She grabbed his arm roughly and quickly dragged him back to camp.

After he was fed, the camp settled back down and watches were resumed. He tried not to jump when he felt a small cold nose against his fingertips. A tongue quickly passed over them before the tugging started on his bonds. He wished he could tell the little animal that chewing on the ropes was probably not going to do much good. But as long as it didn't get caught, it made him feel like at least something was being done for his release. He couldn't help but wonder where the dobe was currently. He hoped the idiot made it out of the lair and away from Oushi's goons.

He twitched in surprise as he felt the ropes loosen slightly. Did the damn thing have serrated teeth or something? To cover the movement, he stretched his legs out in front of him. Those sharp little daggers continued to work the bindings, only pausing for an apologetic little lick when they accidentally scraped flesh. They stilled long enough for the watch to change. The other male taking over said nothing to the prisoner as he settled himself in to survey the surrounding area. It seemed the female had first watch while he was usually asleep. So, the other two weren't completely stupid it seemed.

He felt the ropes part but the little nin-dog didn't stop there. He felt two small paws on his back shoulder, barely out of sight since Sasuke didn't hear a cry of alarm from the guard. Two swift tugs and the cowl loosened around his head. The paws dropped off his back and receded.

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke prepared himself for the blinding light of the fire and jerked his hands free. Pulling the bag from his head, he immediately located and locked eyes with the male jounin guard. His Sharingan flared to life and the other male froze in place, limbs trembling in fear. Sasuke held his gaze, keeping him in the genjutsu as he quickly moved to the other man. Placing his hands on the man's head, he ended the other's life with a swift twist.

Spotting his katana in amongst the equipment pile, he quickly grabbed it and headed into the trees. A few moments later, he heard sounds of pursuit begin.

He had no idea which direction he was heading. Clouds covered the stars and the time spent within the darkness of his hood threw off his senses. He could feel the two shinobi following behind him as well as something pacing him from the side. He could probably examine the sense closer and get an idea of who or what it was, but he didn't have the time to spare. He assumed it was the nin-dog however since it never tried to converge on his path.

Making a decision, he quickly moved toward the parallel signature. He didn't want to leave it behind until he found out more, but he had to get away from his pursuers. As he approached however, the creature slowly pulled in another direction. He grit his teeth in frustration then raised an eyebrow as it straightened out its path. Perhaps it was leading him somewhere.

Putting aside his doubts for the moment, he moved toward the creature again only to find a snow white fox with brilliant blue eyes leaping from tree to tree. He could tell it was a henge form. "Naruto?" he questioned as he scooped up the fox. It gave a happy little yip as it snuggled into his arms. As soon as it was settled, he poured on the speed, leaving the other nin far behind.

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Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he felt his clone closing the gap between them. He only hoped that Sasuke was with it, but he didn't want to risk dispersing it until it came into visual range.

It was late the next day when he felt the clone nearby. He didn't want to think about the speeds it had to have been traveling to get that far that fast. He frowned as he heard someone approach through the trees. It was either a very tired or a very poor ninja. He heard the sound of bark giving way and the faint outline of something falling. Surging forward, he caught Sasuke just before he hit the ground from the forty-foot drop from the scraggly canopy above. As it was, they ended up in a tangle of limbs in the wet snow from the impact into each other.

"Dobe," the voice said in a soft, breathless tone.

It was indeed Sasuke, but his chakra reserves were very low. He was also shaking with the beginnings of exhaustion and fever. The white fox kit disappeared in a puff of smoke and Naruto received visions of their race through the treetops as well as the brief captivity. Naruto felt a surge of fury as he "remembered" how that dark-haired bitch had touched Sasuke uninvited. He briefly considered leaving his friend tucked safely away while he went to express his displeasure with the Cloud-nin. Preferably with a Rasengan.

A shiver within his arms brought his attention back to more immediate concerns. His friend was wearing the remnants of the clothes he had on from the fight in the lair and his shoes, but that was it. No coat, nothing else to keep him warm from the frigid air. Naruto quickly pulled out his friend's coat from his pack and dressed him in its warmth.

He then quickly formed another clone to carry the four packs (which it naturally complained about) while he lifted Sasuke over his shoulder. He had seen a perfect spot to take shelter while they recovered from their respective flights.

A few hours later they were ensconced in a small cave with a narrow opening. While Naruto settled his friend in, trying to warm him up, he sent out a couple clones to gather firewood and enough water for a few days. He sent the clones back outside after they brought back their supplies and spiked a blanket over the entrance with a few kunai, making sure leave a large enough gap that smoke could escape from a fire. Once the blanket was in place the two clones disguised the entrance of the cave with limbs and snow, masking its presence as best they could. They then erased any tracks around the area before dispersing.

The next few days Naruto tended to his ill friend. He had to balance keeping him warm enough not to exacerbate the sickness but cool enough to keep the fever down. So he rotated between bathing his forehead with a cool rag, piling the blanket and coats on him and loosening his clothes to regulate his temperature.

On the afternoon of the third day a tired voice interrupted Naruto's doze. "I knew you would find a way to fuck things up," it groused.

Naruto gave him a weary smile and he opened sleep caked eyes. "That's one of my talents. You should know that by now."

"Hn."

"You feel up to traveling?" he asked quietly.

Sasuke eyed the exhausted form of his companion. "Tomorrow morning. Is there something decent to eat around here?"

"Well, it isn't ramen, but there's food," he said with a tired smile.

"Tch."

Naruto leaned over and started digging through their packs. "Oh, there is something that I wanted to ask you about, teme."

Sasuke glanced over as Naruto pulled out a corner of a very familiar looking orange jacket. It was still shredded and bloodied from the fight with Orochimaru. "Che. Don't ask me why you pack the shit you do." He turned away and shut his eyes, signaling the end of his interest in the matter.

Naruto smiled warmly at his friend and tucked the jacket away. It was too tight on him now anyway. He pulled out some rations and rice then started boiling some melted snow.

Not too long later, Sasuke was awakened by his companion to eat. A part of him felt like bringing up the subject of Naruto's idiocy again and beating the hell out of him on principle alone, but decided that he was just too exhausted to engage the moron in an argument.

"So, where are we going now?" Naruto finally asked, bored with the silence.

"Grass Country," came the short reply.

Sasuke settled down into his blanket again after eating. His chakra had recovered along with his health now, but it wouldn't hurt to rest while they could. Naruto sat against the wall alternately nodding off and jerking awake. He spotted the second blanket over the entrance and realized he was lying on top of the floor tarp for the tent and his own coat.

"Hey, baka," he said as he held up the corner of the blanket. Naruto started slightly as he broke out of his doze. "Come get some real sleep so you won't slow us down in the morning."

The other young man hesitated a moment then crawled over, peeling off his coat. He scooted down into the blankets and unabashedly cuddled into Sasuke.

Fighting down the pink tinge that must surely be on his cheeks, Sasuke covered them both up and settled down to sleep.

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Trying to avoid ninja patrols, it took a little over a week to reach Grass Country. They stayed to the northern countries, avoiding Fire Country. Neither of them wanted to be found on the wrong side of the border by Leaf nins. The snow had melted after five days into their travels. However, the ground was wet and muddy, the trees were slippery and both terrains took imprints too readily for their comfort.

They pushed on as much as possible each day. At night Sasuke would activate his Sharingan and Naruto would channel some of the fox's chakra to his eyes so they both could see into the darkness. Naruto would keep a close eye on his friend and when Sasuke started looking tired, Naruto would start whining that he wanted to stop for the night. It protected Sasuke's pride and allowed them to get the rest that they needed to continue on in the morning.

Their routine fell into their usual patterns as if it had never been interrupted. They shared bedding for warmth at night, took turns cooking and every morning Sasuke would bitch and complain as he was "forced" to fix Naruto's hair.

They avoided all but the smaller villages where Sasuke would henge into someone else to buy supplies. He didn't trust Naruto with the shopping after the first time the blonde came back with a dozen packs of ramen. Besides if the henge dropped for some reason a pale, dark-haired, dark-eyed man would be harder to remember than a blonde, blue-eyed, whisker marked one.

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The next day they would be at the main Grass Country lair according to Sasuke.

"Do you want me to pretend to be Orochimaru again?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shot him a look before stopping to actually consider the question. "The Grass lair is pretty small. They probably know nothing about what happened yet." He shook his head. "They know me. That will be enough. Just follow my lead and try to repress your "save the world" tendencies."

"Bastard, if someone needs help and we are in a position to do something about it, then we should!" he protested angrily.

Sasuke growled in frustration. "There shouldn't be anything like that at this facility. It was more of an information center for the spies he had around the area. Plus he did some scroll research there, which is why we are going."

"If he has someone locked up experimenting on them, I'm not gonna leave them that way," Naruto said adamantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If there is, let me handle it discreetly."

Naruto thinned his lips angrily, then finally nodded.

Sasuke felt himself relax slightly. 'Like a bull in a china closet,' he thought with a shake of his head. "Hey, dobe."

"Don't call me that, teme!" came the knee jerk response.

"Why exactly did you collapse in Lightning Country?"

"Oh, ummm..."

"Ummm...?"

"Well, I got really mad and Orochimaru tried to get out. He took control of his chakra enough to activate the curse marks."

Sasuke recalled feeling drawn to the blonde at that time. "I guess we should be glad that Oushi was the only one there that had one," he murmured.

Naruto nodded his agreement.

"Let's not use his chakra again unless we absolutely have to. We don't want him getting loose again." Sasuke didn't want to think about losing Naruto again to that snake.

Naruto readily agreed, thinking almost the same thing about his friend.

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"One last thing," Sasuke was saying as they approached the entrance to the lair. "If I am in charge of this one, you will call me either Sasuke-sama or at least Uchiha-san."

"Fuck you, teme! I will not!"

"Dobe, it's what everyone here calls me," Sasuke gritted out. "I just want this to go smooth."

"Fuck you," Naruto repeated. "I'm not calling you "san" and I'm sure as hell not calling you "sama." Stoke your ego on your own time, bastard!"

"Pain in the ass," Sasuke muttered. He had hoped by putting Naruto in the position as a subordinate that the idiot would go to him before doing something stupid. He should have known better.

Sasuke opened the entrance and a wave of warmth hit them. They both gladly shed their coats as the door closed behind them. A late middle aged man met them in the hallway as they walked deeper into the lair. Brown hair greying at the temples and chocolate brown eyes almost painfully reminded Naruto of Iruka for a moment.

"Sasuke-sama." The man bowed formally. "We are honored by your presence."

'Oh my god,' Naruto thought. 'Here is a serious booty kisser.'

"And who is your guest, Sasuke-sama?" the man asked politely. Naruto saw his eyes rake over him almost dismissively.

"Yes, Sasuke-sama," Naruto found himself saying as he stepped up to Sasuke's back. He nuzzled the dark hair affectionately and snaked a hand around his chest to run it over suddenly tensed pecs. "Introduce us."

Sasuke snapped open his eyes that had somehow closed to half-mast without his permission. He saw the disapproving look on the steward's face at Naruto's display. "This is my guest...Oturan," he managed to get out in a relatively normal tone.

A hot breath caressed his ear. "How original," it whispered, then followed with the wet tip of a tongue along the lobe. Sasuke tried to suppress a shiver.

"Yes, well." The older man gathered his dignity. "Allow me to show you each to a room where you can rest and freshen up."

"Oh, we don't need separate rooms. Do we, Sasuke-sama?" Naruto protested lightly as his hand started sliding down from the pecs to the abs.

Sasuke quickly captured the wandering hand and drew Naruto out from behind him. "Just the room I usually use, Kyoshiro."

Kyoshiro's mouth tightened almost imperceptibly and started leading the way. Naruto immediately followed with a deliberate sway to his hips. The impulses telegraphed to Sasuke's brain screamed at him to do naughty things to his friend as he watched him walk away.

The blonde paused and looked over his shoulder. "Are you ...coming, Sasuke-sama?"

The pale skinned young nin swallowed with difficulty. Desperately ignoring the hardening within his pants, he caught up to the unpredictable menace to his sanity.

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Five seconds after the door had closed, Naruto had collapsed on the bed and started howling with laughter. "Oh my god, did you see the look on his face?" the dobe demanded before breaking down into mirthful giggles yet again.

Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch. He wasn't sure if he should be irritated or amused at his friend's childish antics. Well, as he had always told himself in the past, when in doubt go with irritated. It was the safer of the two. "You do realize, moron, that the small bed you are currently flopping around on is the one you volunteered to share tonight."

Naruto glanced at the narrow bed, grin still plastered on his face. "Heh. As long as you keep your cold feet to yourself, bastard, we'll be fine."

"You mean as long as you don't hog the bed. I should make you sleep on the floor."

"No way! Besides, you have to admit it. It was funny!"

"Hn." This is what he had missed so much while he was away. He was loathe to admit it because it was almost like a betrayal to the cold harsh reality of his clan's pain and suffering. It felt like to smile or be happy was almost to make inconsequential their deaths and his oath to avenge them. And of course there was his brother. To be better than him, to defeat him, meant to be as powerful as him. To be like him. To hate him and everything to the point where only one thought, one emotion consumed him and gave him unwavering focus and strength.

Naruto stifled a sigh as the ghost of a smile disappeared from his friend's lips and the coldness returned tenfold. Every time he thought the bastard might start to feel something, he shut down or turned frigid. 'Maybe he just needs to get laid,' Naruto thought sourly. 'Hmm, maybe I should offer as a form of stress relief.' The thought brought a light blush to his cheeks. He personally thought that he was pretty talented in that area. He could offer his services to his friend. A self sacrifice on his part naturally.

"I've seen that look on Kakashi's face before. What are you thinking, dobe?" the cold voice shattered his musings.

"Oh, not much," he said with studied innocence. He nonchalantly turned onto his stomach, willing his body to cool itself down. "So, same routine? Laundry, shower, food, etc?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, wondering what was going through the teenager's mind. At some times the dobe was totally clueless, like during their snowball fight and subsequent sword discussion or when it came to young Hinata's crush on him. Then at other times, the idiot could almost give Kakashi a run for his money like when he turned into a naked girl right in front of his whole Ninja Academy class and then turned around and taught the jutsu to an eight year old kid.

That was even before he was taught by their own porn-reading instructor. Sasuke also knew for a fact that he had been at least briefly taught by someone Naruto called "ero-sennin" who he had claimed was even more perverted than Kakashi. For the first time he found himself curious about what Naruto had been up to during their time apart. A smaller, more nostalgic part wondered if he should ask about the rest of the rookie nine, but he quashed it ruthlessly. Having one friend was hard enough. He didn't need to tie himself to others. He also realized, apart from the cryptic statement of "there's nothing there for me now," Naruto hadn't even mentioned Konoha in the few weeks that had been together. That didn't seem like the loudmouth who would talk about anything and everything normally.

Reminding himself that the only thing he cared about Naruto doing was the idiot keeping his promise regarding Itachi, he turned to the only dresser in the room. Fishing out two sets of clothes, he tossed one to the blonde on the bed and kept the other for himself. "Showers and facilities are two doors down on the right."

Naruto held up the white gi with the discreet uchiwa embroidered on the back near the collar. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You could always go naked," Sasuke reminded him.

With a sigh and a scowl, Naruto grabbed the clothes and his toothbrush and stomped off to the shower. Moving two doors down, he entered what looked to be a communal bathroom. There were four separate tile shower stalls with curtained entrances, a large soaking tub and a circular running fountain at which to shave or brush your teeth. A doorway led to another room with toilets and urinals.

Stripping down, he tossed his dirty clothes next to his clean ones on a nearby shelf and then entered one of the showers.

About ten minutes later as he was standing there rinsing off, he heard the main door open and then reclose. He hesitated a moment, then eased his senses out, trying to identify the intruder. He brushed up against a charka signature with an underlying hint of ice with an even more subtle hint of fire beneath that. He knew that signature almost as well as his own.

"It's just me, dobe," Sasuke announced as he felt the brush of something warm and spicy, like hot cinnamon.

"What do you want, teme?"

"Brought you a towel, idiot, but I'll make sure to let you streak down the halls next time." He heard a mutter that sounded suspiciously like "prick" in response. He threw his own clothes up on the shelf and steeped into an empty shower stall. "There should be food sent to the room soon," he said before he turned on the water.

Naruto's stomach greeted the news loudly and happily. He killed the water and quickly grabbed the towel to dry off. After having dressed from the waist down (he refused to wear that damn gi unless he absolutely had to), he walked over to the basin to brush his teeth. Glancing up casually, he happened to see that Sasuke's shower curtain had about a thirty centimeter gap in it. He had a clear view of a pale, tautly muscled flank as his friend washed his hair. The sleek dancer-like muscles rippled and flexed as he shifted his weight with his movements. Naruto's toothbrush paused as Sasuke turned to rinse out his raven black hair.

Water flowed over the defined chest, edging pale pink nipples in its trek southward. It continued over firm abs then parted to caress creamy thighs. However at that point, Naruto's gaze was riveted to the dark curling hair nestled between those wonderful thighs. Or more accurately to the flesh that hung displayed there. Lax but still clearly well endowed, his mouth salivated at the thought of licking the rivulets of water that coursed over that length.

His hand gripped the side of the metal basin tightly as, right before his eyes, that pallid manhood twitched and filled out slightly. His widened eyes darted upward to meet onyx black eyes staring back at him. He froze, his mind abandoning him in his time of need. There was a long moment of silence, and then:

"You're drooling toothpaste down your chest," Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto gave a start as he glanced downward. "Shit!" he said around the toothbrush still jammed in his mouth. As he simultaneously removed the offending utensil, rinsed out his mouth and dove for a towel, he heard the distinctive sound of a shower curtain being jerked closed.

He blinked at the now-shrouded stall and decided that since he was still breathing perhaps he should examine this situation further. His stomach rumbled, trying to gain his attention. 'Okay, after food perhaps,' he conceded. After a last look at the still running shower, he grabbed his clothes and walked back to their room.

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Sasuke finished washing himself, still trying to decide if he should be irritated or amused. Unlike usual, however, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to be irritated this time. Watching the dobe just stand there drooling had been both entertaining and, if he was honest with himself, flattering. Not to mention a little thrilling as well. It was certainly a whole different sensation than when Orochimaru had watched him bathe. Shaking his head, he mentally shoved his thoughts in a box labeled "All Things Dobe" and filed it away for later contemplation. At the moment, he had more important things to do.

After quickly dressing, Sasuke stepped out into the hallway. Instead of moving towards his room however, he moved further into the hidden base. Coming across a servant, he handed the young man his soiled clothing and told him to gather the rest from his room and have it laundered. He moved on, ignoring the "Yes, Uchiha-sama" that the other murmured.

Sasuke quickly came to the door of Orochimaru's study. He confidently disarmed the traps surrounding it and completed the necessary seals to unlock the jutsu protecting it. This he had seen done before on his previous visit with the Sannin. He swiftly entered the room and resealed it behind him. Turning on the lights, he surveyed the relatively uncluttered room. There was a large table with a plush, comfortable looking seat behind it. On the heavy table was a lamp and a handful of blank scrolls neatly stacked by a brush and ink set. Along one wall on a shelf were some more common lower level jutsu scrolls. Nothing that he was particularly interested in.

He activated his Sharingan and studied the room more carefully. He knew that there was a vault in this room. He just wasn't sure of where. His eyes picked up the minute trace of mortar dust on the floor along one section of the far wall. He moved closer and, after several minutes of looking, was able to see a section of stone where the mortar didn't quite meet the edges of several stones. He could sense the presence of charka in the area but was unable to identify the sealing/locking jutsu used.

He had to get into this vault. He was aware that the snake Sannin had placed some of his more valuable scrolls in the vault of this lair. Valuable enough that he had never let Sasuke watch him open it. More determined than ever, he pulled the chair over in front of the wall and sat down, studying it intently.

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It was many hours later when Sasuke let himself into the room he was sharing with Naruto. While he had a few ideas about the vault, he didn't know enough yet to risk opening it. Perhaps after some sleep he would be clear headed enough to discover some more.

The room was dimly lit by a candle on the simple but sturdy desk in the corner of the room. On the desk were the cold remains of dinner which he declined to eat at the moment. He just wasn't in the mood for food. On the chair in front of the desk was a folded pile of clean clothes, ready to be packed away.

He glanced over at the bed to where Naruto was sprawled out, blankets pushed down to his hips. The golden light of the candle seemed to make the tanned skin glow softly. As his eyes slid over the vivid yellow hair, the dobe box in his mind rattled, begging to be opened. He ignored it and moved over towards the bed, staring down at his sleeping companion. 'Not a companion,' a part of his mind denied. 'Merely a tool to be used.'

Another part of his mind urged him to reach out and touch that skin. The whisker marks were drawing his fingers in to explore them, to see if they were scars or birthmarks. Finally, unable to resist any longer, he allowed his fingertips to ghost over the surprisingly smooth skin. However, in a typical Naruto fashion, he could feel the faintest trace of a ridge along those lines, leaving the answer as enigmatic as everything else that really counted about the young man. If only he could delve inside that mind as easily as he traced those tanned cheeks. If only he could figure out what made him tick, what it was about him that seemed to infect and change everyone around him. Perhaps one day he could use his Sharingan to project himself into the younger shinobi's mind and go exploring. His lips twisted into a facsimile of a smile as he thought he should be afraid of that particular prospect.

Blue eyes snapped open, meeting his own and disrupting his thoughts. A left hand immediately jerked up to cover the right side of a chest protectively as a swirling mass of charka formed in the right palm. Sasuke immediately used his speed to move himself out of range, faster than the eye could follow. Those blue orbs blinked and awareness flooded them. The chakra dissipated as Naruto gave a short, embarrassed laugh. "You startled me, bastard."

Sasuke noted that the left hand hadn't fully relaxed. "You should be more aware of your surroundings," he murmured reflexively but without his usual rancor.

"Pfft, whatever, bastard. Maybe you shouldn't hover over people while they sleep." Naruto watched as Sasuke turned away and started to strip down to his boxers. "So, get the scrolls?"

"No."

Naruto waited in expectant silence for a long moment. "Annnd?" he finally prompted. Sasuke made a shooing motion with his hand and Naruto obediently scooted over.

"And I will get them tomorrow," he said shortly as he crawled under the blankets.

Naruto stared at his companion for a long moment before speaking. "Hey, umm, Sasuke," he said as he propped himself up on his right elbow. "I've been thinking…"

"There's a first."

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto paused to glare at his friend then continued his train of thought. "Well, you know stress relief is really important. You know getting rid of tension and all. And I've always been bad at meditation even though I'm supposed to meditate to keep my chakra pathways clear, but I really suck at it."

Sasuke turned his head to look at his bedmate in slight confusion. Apparently this train of thought had many stop-overs before it reached its destination.

"And I've only seen you relieve stress and tension by beating the shit out of things and people…" he continued to ramble.

Sasuke couldn't deny that last statement.

"And I'm sure an ice prick like you must get stressed since you're an uptight asshole…"

"Besides insulting me, is there a point to this?" Sasuke interrupted coldly.

"See, that's kinda what I mean," Naruto said while pointing a finger at his friend.

Sasuke wondered which would occur first, his headache or Naruto's conclusion to this meandering conversation.

"So anyway, no strings attached, doesn't have to mean anything, just stress relief…"

"Naruto," Sasuke intervened once more. "Take a deep breath." He waited until the other boy did so. "Now tell me what the hell you are trying to say."

"Wanna fool around?" he almost squeaked out.

Sasuke caught himself before he did a double take. After the scene in the shower, he shouldn't be surprised really. However, that didn't change the fact that he was. Did the offer intrigue him? Of course. He had already semi-admitted to himself that he found Naruto attractive. Did he think it was a good idea? Of course not. If they had been complete strangers then perhaps they could've avoided entanglement. But he didn't believe it was possible for two people with as much history between them as they did to be unaffected by a new level of intimacy.

He watched as Naruto started fidgeting nervously. The fingers of the younger boy's left hand unconsciously caressed the smooth unscarred flesh where Sasuke's hand had once pierced. He ruthlessly quelled any feelings of guilt. He had no reason to feel guilty. He had left the dobe alive in the end. The fight would have never happened if the idiot hadn't pursued him in the first place. However Sasuke was sure that on some level, Naruto didn't trust him completely. This would be a way to bind him closer to Sasuke and, by default, Sasuke's purpose. If they were to fight together against the murderer of his clan, then it would be best if the blonde trusted him absolutely. He almost nodded to himself, reassured that his thinking was logical and in no way was influenced by other factors. Factors like underlying emotions and curiosity. No, there was no other reason at all.

"Well you know, it was a passing thought," Naruto laughed nervously into the silence. "Forget I said anything. It's late, I'm still aslee-"

"Okay," Sasuke agreed without inflection.

Naruto froze. "O..Okay?" Surely he had heard wrong.

"Yes, dobe. Okay," he reiterated quietly.

A slow grin crept across Naruto's face until his eyes squinted in delight. He let out a "whoop!" and in one bound was out from under the covers and sitting across Sasuke's legs. He rubbed his hands together gleefully then cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let the master get to work! I'll have you moaning the name of Uzumaki Naruto in a matter of seconds!"

'What have I done?' Sasuke asked himself faintly.

TBC