I don't own Naruto. No copyright. No nothin!
_____Mature Themes!!!!_____ This is yaoi, NaruSasu, and can get a little *adult*. If you are offended by any male/male pairings, do not read further. If you are offended by lewd, explicit, or adult themes, do not read further. You have been warned. :D
NOTE: This update comes late because of issues personal and academic, so bare with me until I can get the next chapter out, please. This is a long chapter to compensate for the lateness. Thanks to anyone for reading my story! Enjoy….
Chapter 10: Confrontation and Robbery
Sasuke. It was like trying to figure out the motivations of the stars. There was nothing you could do but watch as they inexorably moved about in the pattern of the heavens. Sasuke's star was one that shone brightly and moved with precision and intent. It was the one that flickered indignantly whenever you forgot to treat it with respect. Sasuke was the boy that had it all, it seemed, except love. He didn't think that this was any real loss is his life, as he was prone to rationalize.
Sasuke liked things, but didn't really think he loved anything. He certainly didn't love anyone, he thought. To his surprise, Naruto was the first person that came to his mind when he made a mental list of possible loves. This list was meant to be empty, he though angrily. Naruto shouldn't be on this list.
Itachi's death was a goal, but he certainly didn't like the responsibility, he merely accepted it. The strong arms wrapped around his body reminded him of when he used to hug Itachi, pleading to the older boy to let them train together. That was a long time ago, he thought.
Things were different now. It was odd. It had been years since he was hugged or even touched in such a way. He didn't even think a hand on the shoulder had occurred in a decade. The silly kisses Naruto forced on him were nothing, he reminded himself. But he couldn't ignore the feeling of the embrace that the fair-haired boy so willingly gave. It was as if he was warmer because of it. Of course, he thought, this is just body heat, simply physics. It was nothing like the stupid love stories where you feel all warm inside. As if love was even in the equation!
Sasuke decided that Itachi could wait. If he could have found a rational way out of his duty of retribution, he would probably take it. Sometimes he just wanted to give up the life mission and just be a ninja; even a genius is less conspicuous than a missing-nin…
Half of him didn't want Naruto to let go. It was nice to know that Naruto was there to worry about him. No, it was convenient, he thought. I am just being lazy, ignoring my duty to avenge my clan. I can't let Naruto slip me up like this again. "I can't fail…my mom…my dad….my whole clan," kept ringing through his head as he watched the comedic scene of Sakura's well known obsession over him manifested in Naruto's demise.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Sakura! I wasn't hugging him, okay?! He looked like he was going to go crazy at Itachi! I mean, what was I supposed to do? HUH?" I screamed in what I hoped would be an obvious regression to my usual loudness and immaturity. The truth was I had outgrown most of those things that had made me so lovable to some of my closest people. Becoming a serious, mature person would have to be postponed until I knew that I could keep the people that I loved. I couldn't lose Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, Tsunade, Ero-sennin, or Kiba. And I couldn't lose Sasuke.
"Alright, Team Sasuke, head back to the village. We can do the rest. We had two teams so that we could find him quicker, but since we found him, you are relieved," Kakashi explained. I was grateful because I didn't want to give Sasuke the opportunity to try anything funny with Itachi. To tell the truth, Sasuke was a little like Kiba in that way. He obsessed over something and had little attention for anything unrelated. But Sasuke can be won over; I'm sure of it.
In a decisive moment, I knew that it was my job to get Sasuke to forget about Itachi. If not forget, at least he had to stop being such a berserk idiot and be happy for once. I had to do anything I could to win Sasuke over to the side of friendship. He can't leave Konoha, not while he is still my best friend. Not now.
"Naruto, are you coming?" Sasuke asked in a voice only slightly less angry than it should have been. Surely Kiba didn't notice, but I did. I had affected Sasuke. The thought gave me the chills.
"Yeah. Sorry." I said without any sarcasm. I wanted to get on the road…or trees…or whatever ninjas call it.
"Sasuke?" I said after Kiba left for his own house. "Want to get something to eat?"
"K," was the response and I was glad he wasn't mad at me for stopping him, if he was, in fact, going to go after Itachi. I had not thought about what if Sasuke hadn't been about to go after Itachi…
"Where do you want to go?" he asked in an unusual display of courtesy.
"I know you're not a huge fan of Ramen, so we can go to the BBQ. I'll pay," I offered.
"No, Naruto. I'll pay. I have more money anyway," Sasuke said with finality and casualness that felt normal.
"The BBQ it is," I said, ignoring the money issue. It was true that Sasuke had a lot of money and I had very little, but I had hoped to pay at least once. I didn't like letting Sasuke be so noble all the time.
"Hn," agreed Sasuke. It was only just getting dark, so we were just hitting the rush on this late winter evening. The lady at the front showed us to the back where we were cut off from practically everyone. In the back of my mind, I thought that this is the place where a couple might find some much needed privacy…
Taking off our shoes, I used Sasuke as a crutch. I didn't really think twice about it until Sasuke just looked at me. I noticed the hand on his shoulder and removed it quickly.
"Sorry, Sasuke," I said.
"Don't be," Sasuke said without command or derision.
"Sasuke?" I asked when we sat down on our puffs and started laying out the beef onto the grill.
"Hn?" Sasuke grunted after a long pause.
"Is something wrong? I mean, it's kinda weird for you to accept an invitation to eat with me…let alone pay for me." I asked as boldly as I could. I felt nervous, which I was not very accustomed to.
"Yes," Sasuke said plainly.
"Uhh…ok. I thought that maybe, you know…" I mumbled.
"Thought what? You're not making sense, Naruto," Sasuke said, his full gaze on me now.
"I thought that I was really restraining you back there. Only…I think it was kinda like a hug too. I was wondering if you were angry with me about that or something." I didn't want to avoid the problem, but it was so hard to put it into words.
"I am not angry about that, dobe. I was not going to fight Itachi today, it was not to be." Sasuke said with a small smile.
"Then why didn't you just tell me that so I wouldn't have held on to you for so long?" I asked, getting curious. Sasuke just looked at me. I held his stare for as long as I could but eventually I had to look away because it looked as if he was judging whether to tell me or not.
"Because," he began. He looked down at his cooked food and started eating it in earnest.
"Because," he started again, "I didn't want to stop you." This was not a very satisfying answer and I told him so.
"I didn't want to stop you," he repeated. I guessed that he had chosen his words very carefully.
"You didn't want to stop me for my sake or for yours?"
"Both," he responded.
"Can you please give me real answers? I know that that was technically an answer, but you know what I'm going to ask. Why is it so difficult?" I complained.
"It was for your sake because you need to feel like you're doing something. It was for mine because I didn't mind," Sasuke said with exasperation.
"What do you mean, 'you didn't mind'? Are you trying to say in a roundabout way that you liked it? I know you're not going to admit it, but to tell you the truth Sasuke, I thought it was nice." I said with some effort.
"You liked it? I never thought you could 'like' restraining someone. Unless you admit it wasn't an act of restraint for me. I think that you were exercising more restraint on yourself than on me, Naruto." He said my name with such point that I flicked my eyes up to his for only an instant.
"What do you mean restraining myself? I was trying to stop you from going after Itachi!" I started getting angry. What was he insinuating?
"Your face was buried into my neck. I could feel you breath, Naruto. Your breath was fast and short. You probably thought that an act of kindness would stop me from taking on Itachi. You are wrong, of course, but I noticed that when our faces were close, you looked at my lips. I think that you were going to kiss me, just like you have done already." Sasuke seemed to speak as if he was talking to a child, condescending and arrogant.
"Would it be better if I had kissed you? I thought that you wouldn't like that, Sasuke. I'm sorry for kissing you earlier when you hadn't consented. It was stupid, but for some reason it seemed like the right thing to do. I thought that you…" I couldn't finish. It was too embarrassing.
"It would not have been better if you had kissed me. But it would not have been worse either."
"—tasted like chocolate." I finished, not hearing his words.
"You think I taste like chocolate?" came the surprised response. The dark eyes were now burrowing into mine.
"It doesn't matter. Did you really not like them, Sasuke?" I asked, forgetting all anger.
"I'm still human. Of course, kissing is supposed to be pleasurable. Yes."
"I don't know why, Sasuke, but I think I really do like you. You're an ass sometimes, but I can tell that you really aren't how you appear, or try to appear at least." I said, injecting my words with some mixture of hesitation and passion.
"Hn," came the infuriating response. I closed the distance between us with an arm. I grabbed his collar and balled the cloth into my fist. I didn't know where to go from there so we just sat there with my hand entangled in his shirt.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked without anger, simply curious.
"I don't know. What should I do, Sasuke?" I asked, hoping for some guidance. I pulled a little on his collar and saw the pale skin underneath.
"You should do whatever you think would be best," he answered enigmatically. A smirk started to play on the corners of the thin lips. I stared at them as if they held the answers. They started curling up more and more. I looked up at the eyes that had never left mine.
"Why are you smiling?" I asked.
"Because you're looking at my lips again, dobe," Sasuke pointed out.
"So? You were smirking. I wasn't going to kiss you, you know…" I finished lamely.
"Why not?" he asked maddeningly.
"Do you want me to?" I asked quietly.
"Do you want to?" he asked in challenge.
"I think so," I responded in a whisper. I noticed that we were coming closer by the second.
"Then do it," he dared me. I couldn't tell if he did want me to kiss him or not.
"By the way," I said calmly, "You're on fire."
"I'm not sure what you mean by that," Sasuke said with a confused look on his face.
"Only that your sleeve is too close to the BBQ and it's caught fire." Sasuke finally looked away from my eyes and saw that nothing was on fire. I let go of his collar and sat back down. We had both been leaning over the grill and the heat was only missed when we moved back.
"Why did you lie?" the Uchiha looked taken aback.
"Because I was making you uncomfortable," I said. I really didn't know why I had stopped what was surely going to be a kiss. Sasuke looked like he had been sure too.
"You were not. I knew that you were dumb, but it was obvious that I was not uncomfortable."
"Fine. I didn't know what else to do. I feel like I'm doing things without thinking and it'll be bad for our friendship. I don't want to ruin anything, okay?" I said defiantly.
"Fine. But later, let's fuck." Sasuke said with a mischievous grin. I was more startled by the grin than the words. When I played the words back, I stared at Sasuke to see what he meant by them.
"Very funny, Sasuke. I'm not that easy," I said with enough joking to be safe.
"I'm serious. I have never been with a guy and I'm not sure I'll get an opportunity later," Sasuke said serious as can be.
"Sasuke. You really think that I'm going to get into bed with you? I'm rather sure that you'd either try to kill me or make me look like a fool. Stop joking around and let's get out of here, I'm full." I said.
"I wouldn't," came yet another vague response. "I won't kill you, I promise."
I thought that this was a very odd promise coming from a supposed friend, but Sasuke wasn't exactly normal, so I accepted it as some insurance. Sasuke's house came first so I prepared to depart with him there, but I had no such luck. The second we approached Sasuke's house, we could tell that something was wrong. The door was open and the frame around the knob was a little roughed up. The house was immaculate, so I knew that this was not normal.
"Someone's broken in." Sasuke said as if commenting on the weather.
"What!? How do you know? Why would someone do that? Should we check if they're still in there?" I spouted off.
"I don't sense any chakra, but we should check to see what they took." Sasuke finally decided. I noticed that he said 'we' so I followed. I had never been in Sasuke's house and was very curious what he kept in there.
It was very dark now and the lights were off so we stumbled through a little before Sasuke found the switch and the room was illuminated with false light. We looked around, but to my surprise, nothing seemed out of place. There was a clean living room off to the right and it had a large desk with some papers neatly stacked on it. The kitchen beyond the dining room to the right was very white and clean too. In front of us was a stair well that probably led to the bedrooms. A blush so small that it couldn't be seen in the light brushed across my face at the thought of Sasuke's bedroom.
"They must've been after something special," Sasuke said after a quick go around the several rooms on the ground floor. I followed, not daring to touch anything. I felt a pang of pity for Sasuke. It was such a big house for one person; a constant reminder of who wasn't here anymore. I imagined a little Sasuke running around the table in the kitchen and it was nice to know that my imaginary Sasuke had a big, innocent grin on his face. The thought made me smile.
Sasuke stalked up the stairs with me at his heels. It wasn't a particularly long stair, but I took some time with the portraits of the Uchiha family on the walls. There was one of Itachi which looked like it was made when he was quite young, before any corruption was probably present. Sasuke's picture was of the same age, around 7 or 8 years old. I couldn't help but think that the little Sasuke was cute. His little spiky hair and sloppy smile. I wished he still had that smile, it was definitely happy.
"Come on." The voice interrupted my smile. I realized that Sasuke was waiting at the top of the stairs. He didn't sound mad, which I was happy to find.
"Yeah.." I said as I followed him to the long hall ahead. There were several rooms, all roughly the same size except for the large bedroom that I assumed was the parents' room. We skimmed over most of the rooms and didn't even go into the bathrooms. I wondered why there were more than 3 bedrooms.
We came to the smallest room and when we went inside, I immediately knew that this was Sasuke's room. I wondered why he took the smallest room, but guessed that he just never moved out of his old room. He bed was in the corner and it was made. The desk was a little cluttered but suggested some sense of order. Even if parts were a little messy, nothing was dirty. A little smile grew across my face when I saw something furry in his closet. I thought it was a stuffed animal or some other toy. Sasuke was looking at me, I realized.
"Nothing?" I asked. Sasuke looked a little uncomfortable with me in his room so I stepped out.
"No. I don't think that they took anything that I need. I'll see you later." Sasuke said. I was startled at being shoved out so quickly.
"Uhh…" I started. I stopped and gained some confidence from the growing silence. "I don't think you should stay here. It's obviously not very safe with the lock broken and someone could be lurking in the house. I think you should wait a day so that you can inspect the place or something."
"I guess. I am a ninja, you know." Sasuke said proudly.
"A good one, sure, but asleep, you're no more than a kid." I said truthfully.
"I'm not a kid. I can handle myself." Sasuke said, developing a frown.
"I didn't mean that Sasuke. Don't worry about your image, teme. I just don't think that you should assume there isn't a trap or something. If someone was in here and left, they probably wouldn't have left the door wide open. I think that they're still in here. Even if they're not…I'm worried." I said
"It isn't your job to worry about me, Naruto. But I see what you mean. I'll look into a hotel for the night." Sasuke said as he walked over to his phone.
"Well…I know a place you could stay for free then."
"Where? It probably won't be very good if it's free." Sasuke said skeptically.
"My apartment. I mean…it's free, so that's good. Well it's on the 5th floor, so it's rather safe. I have extra blankets and stuff so…" I wrung my hands absentmindedly behind my back.
"Your apartment? Don't you have only one bed?" he asked.
"Yeah, but you know… If you want, I can sleep on the floor. I think it really sucks that your house got broken into."
"Ok." Sasuke agreed and I felt a huge relief come over me. I hadn't realized that my shoulders were creeping up in my anticipation until they fell dramatically when Sasuke consented. Then a sudden horror struck me. I had never allowed someone to sleep in my apartment before! It wasn't clean! How was I supposed to act with a guest sleeping over? I racked my brain for the few times when I had slept over at Kiba's or that one weird time at Rock Lee's. It was mostly their parents that did the stuff like cook and whatever. What was I supposed to do?
"Aren't we going?" Sasuke asked evenly.
"Oh yeah. Umm…follow me." I said before half tripping down the stairs. My hand had gone out to save me but only landed on a portrait and the portrait fell to the ground with a loud clang.
"Sorry, Sasuke. It's kinda dim in here, you know…" I apologized, picking up the painting. As I raised it, I saw that it was a painting of Sasuke's mother. She looked really nice. Inwardly I wished that I had had such a gentle looking mom…
We arrived at my building and the nervousness had only increased with each step. We had said nothing the whole time and it had not helped my anxiety. We got to my door and I fumbled with my key despite having done this a million and one times. I glanced at Sasuke, but he looked normal. He was just looking at me with some disinterest and something I couldn't place. It could've been anticipation, but I can never tell with this guy.
"It isn't much, but it's home." I hoped Sasuke would change his mind with the first glance he had of my messy apartment.
"Stop being cliché. Did you forget that I have seen your apartment before, both with you dressed and when you were naked?" Sasuke asked, obviously aware of my fears.
"Actually, kinda. Do you have to bring up the naked part? That was embarrassing so it'd be great if you didn't talk about that. And one of those times you were pretending to be Kakashi!" I accused.
"Yeah. Doesn't change the fact that you and your apartment are not a mystery to me, Naruto," Sasuke clarified.
"I guess. So there's the bed. It's not very late, but if you want to go to bed, then you know where to go." I said, trying to keep my voice even.
"Where are you sleeping?" Sasuke asked, surprising me.
"Wherever you're not, I take it?" I ventured a sarcastic guess.
"Your bed is big enough for both of us. We're not very big." Sasuke said while looking at the ruffled sheets. I had not considered sleeping on the bed together…
"Yeah. I mean – if you wanna sleep alone, I'd understand. I'm not saying that I wouldn't appreciate it though…" I tried to be articulate but failed.
"We're both sleeping on the bed. You don't need to sleep on the floor because I'm here." Sasuke said with a suggestion of kindness that was unmistakable.
"Thanks." I was so tired from all the tree jumping that I didn't care that it was only 9pm.
"I'm going to sleep soon. I'm tired from today," Sasuke said, as if mirroring my thoughts. "Do you have a shower?" Suppressing the urge to argue with the wording, I decided to answer his real question.
"The towels are in this closet and the shower is just over there, in the bathroom." I showed.
"K," said the dark-haired boy before grabbing a towel and promptly going into the bathroom. I stood where I was for several minutes listening to the sound of the shower running. I didn't think of the naked Sasuke inside; instead I just thought about the whole day. I was not happy with how things had gone, but I wasn't angry either. It was something of day, to be sure.
Sasuke came out of the bathroom in my towel and I tried to act like I didn't notice his half nakedness. I failed miserably when he faced me and spoke.
"I forgot my clothes. Can I borrow some underwear for the night? I'm not going to wear your orange shit either," was a joke that I missed.
"Um yeah. Lemme grab some." I pulled out some boxers and turned to Sasuke. His smile could not have distracted me from the fallen towel and what it revealed. Sasuke took the underwear and put it on over his surprisingly naked form. I dragged my eyes off the sight that bested my effort of ignorance. Sasuke just smiled.
"Only fair. After all, we both know that I've seen enough of you," he chuckled a self-satisfied laugh. I could only stand there like an idiot. He was bigger than me.
"I knew you would try to make a fool of me!" I blurted.
"Try? Or Succeed? It's not a big deal. You could say that I would have the same reaction if I didn't have better self-control," Sasuke admitted. What the fuck did that mean? I decided not to exhibit my stupidity and kept quiet about it.
"Teme," I said to be on the safe side.
"Why do you call me that?" Sasuke asked as he sat on the bed, which was about thigh high.
"Because you are. You make fun of me all the time and degrade me. Don't tell me you don't notice. I mean, you call me dobe like half the time!" I said with a disbelieving smile.
"I don't mean to hurt you. I would have thought that you could handle it." Sasuke said, with some regret in his voice.
"I'm not hurt by it, Sasuke. I am simply playing your game. If 'teme' hurts your feelings, teme, then by all means, tell me that it hurts you," I said impishly.
"Oh, you'd like that. I think I'm going to go to sleep now." Sasuke said, smiling despite himself.
"I'm tired too. All that restraining today, it's tough work." I joked. I followed Sasuke under the sheets on the bed. Sleeping in the same sleeping bag was one thing but this... That was on a mission when it was really cold outside. Now we had chosen to sleep in the same bed. On top of that, Sasuke was wearing my underwear…and only that. I had shucked my pants and shirt so I was in a like fashion. If I wanted to, I could touch Sasuke's bare back. If I wanted to, I could press our bare bodies together. If I wanted to…
So there was no lemon…like I said would come later. Please, all you horny ppl, bear with me. I hope the KakaIru was good, because that's the kind of lemon I do.
Sasuke is still not sold on this whole friendship idea, let alone love. Naruto wants to be able to be in love, but he's finding it hard to ignore Sasuke's rebuffs. All in all, a long and filler chapter. I think it is important to create a history between the two so that you really feel something when they finally develop the relationship we all know is coming lol. I'm trying to differentiate this story from others in that fact. You always know that this is a NaruSasu, but it's how you get there that is important. I hope people don't hate me for taking it slow. Tell me if it really isn't working….cuz this is my first story I've written since 3rd grade haha so I'm inexperienced.
Next update will be a double chapter if and only if I get 5 reviews ;D