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((Oh…my…gawd.))

Chapter 9: 'Fall into Submission'

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Sasuke nudged a loose wooden floor board with his first toe making it come up a little further.

Naruto was coming downstairs with a cup of coffee in his hands. Sasuke listened to his teacher place the glass on the table in the kitchen and make his way to the front door. Naruto had been leaving a lot lately and going to the Hokage towers with paper after paper. He was usually gone for hours at a time and requested that him and Sakura take the time he was using for this as time to study a new jutsu. Busy work, in other words. But this silent routine of simply waking up and making one's own breakfast, watching one leave and leaving the other here, as well as going out to eat alone or just not coming home, had only just started since that last fight.
Neither shinobi would so much as risk a glance at the other. No words were spoken. Only once and that was the very next day following the fight when Naruto had taken it upon himself to apologize, but when Sasuke ignored him that was it. The gap was forged and now both hadn't attempted to make another bridge to close it.

It was becoming quite a weight on the Uchiha's chest.

He nudged the floor board again and heard the dust fall and settle under it. The next sound was Naruto opening the door.

His heart gave a sudden jolt and he found himself fighting with his own wants and frustrations. He wanted to say something and stop him but by the time he had forced his clamped jaws to open the door had been opened and closed. Naruto was gone again.

He settled back into the couch in defeat.

At the very least, Naruto seemed to be doing better. No longer sick or falling somewhere in pain. Sasuke had been pretty heartless in those few days his sensei was weakened, just flat out ignoring or tuning out anything that Naruto said or whined about.

He didn't want to be the one to apologize at all. Or even speak to the stubborn blonde, but having suddenly had the tables turned, now that Naruto was ignoring him, wasn't sitting well with the Uchiha. Not to mention the feeling's clouding his mind.

Just a student.

That news shouldn't have had such a negative effect on him but he wasn't going to deny that he was attracted to the blonde. Had been since the first time he saw him. Still… Was there really an excuse?

And what could he do? It was one thing to be attracted to him, but to have to deal with living with him, getting to know him, hate him on levels beyond understanding and yet…cumming to the mere thoughts of him (with a little help of course). It was way too much indeed.
This silent treatment was starting to get under the raven's skin, too. How long had they been like this anyway? One week? Two? Three?

He sighed.

He didn't want to be the one to apologize. But Naruto had technically already done that himself, he reasoned. So maybe it was okay to talk to him. Just a little. Maybe.

--

"Naruto, you've been informed of the Akatsuki organization, haven't you?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded.

The particular organization was said to be after the tailed beasts and that meant the host as well. He was well aware of most of it. Knew that they were stirring up trouble in nearby lands and undoubtedly would soon make themselves known here, coming after him.

The blonde was currently sitting at a desk facing away from his fellow jonin, staring at a bunch of papers stacked in front of him. Casual conversation with Kakashi wasn't something that happened too often, but Naruto wasn't in the mood to be excited over a few words from his friend.

"They have you doing background checks on Sasuke?" Kakashi asked glancing over the pages. Naruto nodded and let out a sigh. Why was he so talkative all of a sudden anyway?

"Aren't you afraid of what you might find?" the silver haired man asked, with genuine concern. Really, though… He's talking too much. There was going to be something more to this. Naruto put up his guard at this knowledge and made sure to keep his facial expressions in check.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "It wouldn't be anything I didn't know already."

"Ah, that's right." Kakashi mused. "You're infamous for knowing almost everything on the Uchiha aside from an actual member of the clan. You, who are said to know even more than probably even Sasuke."

Naruto lazily shot the man a glare. "I'm not the one with a false Sharingan, you know."

Kakashi blinked then smiled under his mask. "This was a gift."

"So was the information I carry now." He bit out.

Kakashi looked over Naruto's demeanor, noticing his more over bummed look. Naruto wasn't one to sulk around for days as he had been doing recently, so it was a bit of a surprise.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Kakashi chided, seating himself up on Naruto's desk.

Naruto sat back and observed his friend. He closed his azure eyes and opened them after turning his head to face the window in time to see a black bird fly off.

"It's Sasuke."

"There have been problems?" Kakashi asked, interested though he kept the business façade.

Naruto nodded mutely.

"What kind of problems?"

"Aside from the fact that he's mad at me right now, he's been…acting a little strange. Always brooding over something or absentmindedly touching that curse mark on his neck. I over looked it at first because I figured the boy was just traumatized by what happened to him to get it. He froze up…" Naruto sighed. "He never freezes during a mission or fight like that."

Naruto's fingers had somehow located a pencil and here he was twirling it left and right. "After Orochimaru killed the Hokage that day I've watched how he's been taking it. I was hoping for a reaction that someone like his brother would've had… What I got was an intrigued little raven looking for more power." Naruto's voice quieted. "…He'll become a threat to the village if I mention any of that in these reports."

"So naturally, you don't want to write them." Kakashi concluded.

Naruto gave a curt nod as his answer, though it was more of a confirmation.

"I can't lie either and say he's fine when I know the village is in danger."

"Naruto." Kakashi cut in. "I'm one of the few people on this earth who know that you have no interest in protecting the village. If had been up to you, you would've left a long time ago, chasing Itachi's tail."

Naruto stiffened, watching the silver haired man carefully.

"You're only doing this for Itachi, aren't you?" he inquired. "Even protecting Sasuke. It's all for him. He's not coming back, Naruto, so why don't you quit?"

Naruto glared now. His anger spiked to a certain degree, where it was still safe to at least make a escape. "Kakashi…" he seethed. "I'm doing this for myself."

"Do you still keep in touch with him? Is that why you're so adamant on protecting a village you despise? Is he watching you or do you file reports to him when no-one's looking?"

"Enough!" Naruto stood up suddenly, making the chair topple over. "You of all people..!" his fists were shaking. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because with the council asking questions and no Hokage to cover your story, eventually the village will name you as a traitor to the village and you'll be locked up or killed! If you know anything about him then you have to talk!"

"Why is it suddenly so important? Its old news, isn't it?"

"Because, if you had been paying any attention to me when I asked you about the Akatsuki, you'd know that this has something to do with that."

"What do you mean?" Naruto was glaring, still on the defensive, fists ready and chakra on standby.

"Itachi is part of that organization. They'll be coming after you, Naruto."

Naruto froze.

--

Sasuke was still where Naruto had left him in the morning, sitting on the couch in front of the television, looking completely out of it and deep in thought.
Naruto entered the house, kicked off his shoes, closed the door, made sure to keep his eyes averted from his student knowing full well that the other was still going to be mad; the Uchiha in the next room wasn't one to forgive people very easily, and made his way to the kitchen to make himself some ramen.

Life seemed to be taking some shitty turns now, everything becoming bad news by the second. Not to mention the frequent reports Naruto had to make on Sasuke. The poor kid's privacy was being violated, wasn't it. There had to be a law against what the Hokage was having him do, right? Forget the fact that he and said raven were still far from speaking terms. Then there was what Kakashi had told him about Itachi being part of the Akatsuki. Could life get any worse?

'I might as well be living by myself again.' Naruto grumbled to himself, grabbing a cup of ramen from his cabinet. The very idea was unpleasant, but that's how things were looking at this point.

"Sensei…" Sasuke's voice came in. Things could possibly just have taken another wrong turn.

Naruto paused in his motions; hand on the faucet ready to get the water going into his precious cup. He looked over at the raven standing at the entrance, arms folded across his chest and posture perfect. Eyes disconcerting face impassive.

He stayed quiet, waiting for what Sasuke was going to tell him. He expected something along the lines of, 'I'm moving out' or 'I hate you'. But amazingly, not an insult or words of distaste came forth.

"Your dinner…I put it in the fridge." He said quietly.

Naruto couldn't help but smile suddenly with something in between pure joy and utter disbelief fueling him.

"Thank you!" he found himself exclaiming.

Sasuke snickered and turned to leave.

"Does this mean, I'm forgiven?" Naruto asked chasing after the younger male. Sasuke sped up and rushed to his room but it was too late, the blonde caught him at the door.

"I still don't want to talk to you, Naruto."

Despite the harsh words of the sentence Sasuke so rudely stated, Naruto couldn't help but feel some inkling of happiness that his name was used instead of being called teacher again. Only in the recesses of his mind did he wonder if that was something to worry about.

"Sasuke…" He smiled a soft and warm smile. A small smile of relief on his part. It was never a seen occurrence when the youngest Uchiha forgave anyone so easily. "Thank you."

Sasuke looked over his left shoulder at the blonde. "I said I didn't want to talk to you yet." Like, hello?

Naruto blinked once. Then twice. "Right. Sorry, but I do need to talk to you. There's a lot of movement going on outside of Konoha." His voice took on that of a proctor now and he definitely had Sasuke's attention with it. "Some of which deals with your brother."

Hearing that, Sasuke turned to face him.

"If the Hokage sees it fit, I can make sure we get put on the next mission that'll get us close to him."

Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction. 'Are you serious?!' They had to take it, then.

"Then ta-" Naruto cut him off.

"I'll only take it if you think you're ready." Naruto said smoothly, looking him dead in the face. "You know very well that Itachi isn't your average missing-nin. And the mission will be very dangerous all on its own."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked suddenly. Wanting to hear the point before Naruto went on about how worried he'd be etc.

Naruto leaned back against the opposite wall folding his arms across his chest. A smirk onhis face, but it's nature was twisted with a morbid humor Sasuke wasn't picking up on.

"Protect the tailed beasts closest to Konoha." Sasuke still didn't see what was so funny about that, but he didn't exactly know what a tailed beast was. "That would mean, Kazekage Gaara, and…" the smug look he wore faded from his face. "Me."

"A what?" Sasuke asked, his face hiding most of the confused emotions, but his eyes were the giveaway; the black eyes showing the raven's soul when one looked deep enough. Of course, Naruto could always tell. Always.

"A tailed beast. Demons." Naruto breathed out. "I…carry one of those. Here" He said, placing a hand on his stomach. "It's sealed inside me and recently had been acting up. That's why I was at the hospital. They're checking up on it to make sure the seal doesn't break again." Naruto nibbled on the inside of his lip, nervous. "I'm not…entirely dangerous and I know this information is hard to believe but that's why."

Sasuke stayed unnervingly quiet. Naruto grew worried of what the raven was thinking.

"Naruto." Sasuke called as he walked forward, earning his teacher's eyes. Unconsciously, Sasuke licked his lips and reached for Naruto's shirt. The black fabric was lifted up less than inch, when Naruto made no motion to stop him; he pulled it up, slowly, letting his eyes fall to the symbols painted on to Naruto's stomach. He had seen them before, once or twice in the three years they spent together, but he had brushed it off as a tattoo.

"A seal…" he said under his breath moving his other hand to feel it. His fingers were ghosted over the tanned skin lightly. He had never known. And this was what had caused his Naruto so much pain in those few days they had first not spoken to one another.

Naruto's hands met Sasuke's in the middle of his stomach where they stopped him from venturing further in any given direction.

"You're sensitive here." Sasuke noted aloud more to himself than anyone or anything, but he was given a nod of confirmation none the less.

"This is what was hurting you?" Sasuke asked, pushing his hand so that the palm rested on Naruto's stomach. "Why couldn't you show this to me?" he asked with a hurt look on his face.

"Because…it's not something that usually comes up in conversation." Naruto answered with a meek laugh. "I didn't know how you'd react either."

Sasuke sighed, removing his hands from Naruto's shirt and stomach. "Why would my opinion matter so much?" He shook his head casting his eyes down. "Enough for you to lie to me…" he said it all quietly.

Naruto kept his own eyes intent on Sasuke now. Seeing everything that the raven wanted to say but couldn't. Knowing exactly why it hurt him so much to be lied to. Seeing everything but not having the slightest clue as to what to do with the knowledge. He swallowed yet another large lump in his throat, staring at the pale skinned raven haired child before him.
What bliss it would be to hold him and comfort him. To take away his uncertainties. To show him that there was nothing in this world to be afraid of anymore…as long as someone was there to face your fears with you.
But it would be asking for too much, and it'd be taking away something much more precious than nightmares. It'd be handing over sin and letting him fall into the worst kind of submissions. It'd be damning them both in ecstasy. But would that be so bad?
Naruto knew everything about the Uchiha in front of him. Everything and yet…he couldn't do a thing.

"I was being selfish." Naruto admitted. "Your opinion matters a lot to me, for reasons I cannot explain to even myself. They just do."

Naruto always was a sucker for an Uchiha after all.

"…I don't…" Sasuke turned his gaze away. "I don't want to talk to you, Naruto. Accept the mission. I'll…" he looked back up at his teacher. "I'll protect you with my life."

"Sasuke." Naruto reached out and touched the pale flesh with his fingers gently. He was so soft. Sasuke didn't move away or towards the gesture, simply stood and watched.

Naruto came forward and leaned in close his eyes closed slowly and gently his lips touched his student's. Sasuke finally responded, moving his hands to Naruto's he held them just as gently as the kiss was and allowed his sensei entrance to his mouth, all the while pulling his body towards the other. The kiss deepened and as their tongues began to wrestle almost playfully they both let go and slipped away, falling into their own submissions with this one act of love and tenderness.

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END CHAPTER 9!

((Their first kiss. Was it what you expected it to be in the end? And the tale isn't over. Heaven's no. Itachi still has a key role to play in the next act. Yes he does. Lets ruin it for these star crossed lovers (that can't be the right term but..) Haha! Tell me what you think. It pleases me greatly.))