Hello? Anyone? *crickets chirping* It has been forever, I know. I was away from this fandom for a long time. And now I miss it, and I'm back. I want to try continuing this silly angsty story.
So I'm back with a ridiculously long chapter, and a lot of sexual tension. A lot, really. Enjoy : )
Chapter 10
One step at a time
Waking up was difficult in the morning. Pale sunlight filled Sakura's bedroom, lighting up the green walls. The room was somewhat messy; there were clothes thrown across the floor. Feeling the first signs of a hangover, Naruto wondered where the hell he was. Then he remembered. And he groaned as he crawled out of the bed. Sakura didn't wake up. They had been sleeping at a safe distance. Thank God. He wouldn't want to wake up spooning her or something.
Naruto remembered pretty much all of his night, although some parts were a bit of a blur. But he remembered what was important—truth or dare, the kiss, spin the bottle, the jealousy, the confusion, and then, finally, the threesome. Well, the attempt at a threesome really. He hurriedly slid his boxers on. Scratching his messy blonde locks he yawned and went to open the door softly.
"Hmm… Naruto?" A soft feminine voice said behind him.
Crap. He looked over his shoulder. Sakura was sitting up slowly. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake you."
"It's okay. What time is it?" She looked at her alarm clock and Naruto followed her gaze. It was ten o'clock. "I wonder if everyone's okay," she said.
She blushed as she covered herself with the sheet. Naruto made a sound like a nervous laugh and exited the room. "I'll let you get dressed." She nodded and he closed the door.
As for Naruto he went to use the bathroom. It was unoccupied. He actually found his jeans thrown across the tiled floor with the pink thong. Suigetsu had probably gotten changed here last night.
After throwing his pants on Naruto splashed water in his face and also drank some to quench his dry throat. He made his way to the living room and took in the sight before him. Shikamaru, lucky guy, had slept comfortably on the couch all night long, while Chouji, Sasuke and Suigetsu had slept on the carpet. Now these three were a funny sight.
At least they weren't naked. Well Suigetsu and Chouji were fully dressed, but Sasuke was still wearing just his boxers. Sasuke was stuck in the middle, the two others sort of cuddled against him, which was kind of weird, but still funny. It had probably turned out like this during the night. He couldn't resist taking a picture with his phone.
After doing so and shoving his cell back in his jeans pocket, he went to reach out and touch Sasuke's pale shoulder to shake it lightly. Didn't work. He sighed.
Sakura entered the living room, wearing some comfy clothes. She laughed and brought her hand to her lips. Running her other hand through her long pale hair she simply said, "Oh my god…"
"I took a picture," Naruto admitted.
"Do you think Sasuke's okay?"
Naruto sat on the floor, looking up at her. "You kinda like him don't you?"
"Well it's pointless isn't it? Maybe if he was straight he'd actually consider dating me but yeah life is cruel sometimes."
Shrugging slightly, she made her way to the kitchen, "Ugh this place is such a mess. You want some pain killers?"
"Yeah okay," Naruto answered. He tried shaking Sasuke's shoulder again. Still nothing.
He didn't like that he was sleeping like this. Naruto felt so protective of Sasuke sometimes. So he actually grabbed him and pulled him away from the others. Sasuke didn't even wake up. Naruto grunted a little with the effort as he scooped him up in his arms.
The other two didn't wake up either as their arms held onto nothing now. They could move closer in their sleep and cuddle with each other for all Naruto cared. He just didn't want Sasuke there with them. So he carried him to Sakura's bedroom and put him down on the bed. Sasuke rolled on his side slightly, his sleep miraculously undisturbed. Almost reflexively Naruto slid his fingers through the soft raven locks.
Sakura came in her bedroom to find him, with a glass of water and the pain killers in her hands.
"Thanks so much," he sighed as he accepted the medicine. He did have a headache.
"Make sure you drink loads of water. Why'd you bring him here?" She raised a brow, suddenly confused.
"I wanted him to be more comfortable." He shrugged.
"That's sweet. Um, well, do you want to take a shower?"
"No I'll just take one at home."
"Okay. Do you want something to eat?"
"Maybe I'll just wait a little," he took another sip of water and touched his slightly upset stomach. He didn't actually feel nauseous but he felt a bit weird. All this alcohol… He glanced worriedly at Sasuke's pale face; he'd had even more to drink.
Sakura sighed and went to sit in her chair, resting her elbow on the desk. Without looking at him she asked, "Do you remember everything that happened last night?"
"Yeah…"
"Not too freaked out?"
He massaged the back of his neck, "A little bit," he admitted. But he made a little smile.
She looked at him this time, her green eyes trailing across his exposed chest, then up into his blue irises. "I know you said I'm not your therapist," she shrugged, "but you know you can still talk to me if you need."
"Yeah, thanks. But you know, about last night," he said awkwardly, "I think we were just drunk and…"
"I wasn't that drunk," she said. "Well sure, a little but not that much."
"Oh."
"I… you know…" she was a little nervous as she spoke quickly, "I've been thinking about you a lot recently… I know, I know it's too soon… I mean of course, I understand that, I respect that… But if you want, we can go on a date some time, hang out, just as friends, of course, I mean, I'd like that…"
She looked away nervously as the silence lingered. Finally Naruto offered a reply.
"I'll think about it."
"Great," she immediately said, smiling softly, "okay. Well, I think I'll take a shower. Then I need to clean up, ugh…"
"I'll stay to help you," Naruto offered.
"Really?" Her green eyes widened a little, "Oh, thank you so much Naruto, you're so sweet. Okay, I'll be right back."
She went to lock herself in the bathroom. Naruto sat still for a few moments, and then he looked down at Sasuke. He really hoped things wouldn't be too awkward between them. After stroking his hair lightly one last time he left Sakura's bedroom.
In the back of the living room he found his white undershirt and dark blue button down shirt. So he got dressed completely and then started cleaning up the apartment a little. He just put all the empty bottles on the kitchen counters for now.
The noise woke Chouji and Suigetsu. As for Shikamaru he was still sleeping soundly.
"What time is it?" Suigetsu yawned and went to lean against the couch.
Chouji got up to his feet lazily and checked his phone, "Ten thirty."
"God, so early…" Suigetsu closed his eyes and rubbed his temple.
"It's not that early," Naruto replied from the kitchen, arching an eyebrow.
"Not that early?" Suigetsu exclaimed in confusion. "I never usually get up before three in the afternoon. Give me a break."
As Chouji went to sit in a chair Naruto stopped cleaning and thought of something.
"Hey, Chouji, I didn't get the chance to ask you last night, but I was wondering, what happened during Sasuke's first day at your restaurant?"
"Oh I had off that day, actually. But my colleagues told me what happened."
"And?" Naruto asked. Suigetsu also listened to the exchange, intrigued.
"They said that, um…" Chouji made a face, "that he told some customers to go fuck themselves just because they were complaining… and stuff like that."
Naruto raised a brow. Well no wonder he'd gotten fired. Then again, this was the version Chouji had been told by his colleagues. Naruto didn't know the entire story. He would have to interrogate Sasuke further on that. Across the room Suigetsu was laughing lazily.
"Aw man… Sasuke's hilarious… Where is he by the way? I remember he fell asleep on the floor with us… I think…"
"He's in Sakura's bedroom now."
"Oh," Suigetsu shrugged, and then stretched his back, making a face like he felt really sore. "Man, I need some water."
Suigetsu walked in the kitchen and helped himself to a tall glass of water while Naruto did some more tidying. Suigetsu didn't offer to help him.
Chouji was trying to wake Shikamaru. "Come on man I want to go home…"
"Five more minutes," Shikamaru whined. "Please, just five more minutes."
Sakura got out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. She went to lock herself in the bedroom. Shouldn't she change in the bathroom instead? What if Sasuke woke up? That would be awkward, wouldn't it?
Or what if Sakura molested him while he was sleeping or something weird like that? No, Sakura wouldn't do that… or would she? God he was getting so paranoid. He blamed the lack of sleep.
"You okay there Naruto?" Suigetsu asked.
"Um, yeah, I just…" He dropped some dirty dishes in the sink and stalked across the hallway, trying to come up with an excuse to knock on Sakura's door.
It turned out she opened the door before he could knock, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She was brushing her hair as she walked past Naruto and over to the kitchen.
"You guys want some breakfast? Oh god, I guess we should clean up first huh?"
"Yeah…" Naruto said.
"I wonder where Kiba and Karin are," Suigetsu wondered out loud, picking up his cell and texting.
Naruto and Sakura cleaned up while Shikamaru and Chouji got ready to leave. As for Suigetsu he soon exclaimed, "Holy shit Kiba just texted me back… they're actually sleeping in his car."
"What?" Sakura's eyes widened, "Tell them to come inside! They must be cold."
"Not if they were at it all night," Naruto grinned.
An hour later, they had managed to clean up pretty much everything. Shikamaru and Chouji were long gone, whereas Kiba and Karin had gotten inside, their hair all messy and clothes wrinkled. They seemed tired and hungover but kinda content at the same time. Yeah, they'd definitely had sex.
"You look like shit," Suigetsu told Karin.
"Not as much as you," she snapped back at him. And apparently they were friends.
Sakura made pancakes for everyone, with Karin's help. Naruto decided it was time to go try and wake Sasuke.
So he went to the bedroom and to his utter annoyance Suigetsu followed him. Naruto just ignored him for now and went to touch Sasuke's shoulder lightly.
"Sasuke?"
"What?" he stirred, cracking his dark eyes open. He didn't look too good. In fact he paled considerably, which due to his naturally pale complexion made his skin look a bit grayish. Naruto was worried.
"How're ya feeling?"
"Not too hungover?" Suigetsu added.
Sasuke frowned, and suddenly pushed Naruto away weakly. He got up, pushed Suigetsu out of his way as well and ran to the bathroom to throw up in the toilet. The two others were right after him.
"Poor baby," Suigetsu rubbed Sasuke's back, but the blonde could tell he was annoyed with it more than anything.
"Go away," Sasuke pleaded.
Naruto grabbed Suigetsu's arm and lifted him up, "Come on let's leave him alone for now…"
"But are you gonna be okay Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked as he was being dragged away by Naruto.
Sasuke's answer was to reach out and slam the door shut in both their faces. He clearly didn't want company right now.
"Poor guy," Suigetsu pulled away from Naruto and sighed. "Does he always react to alcohol this badly?"
"Yeah I think so; he really should stop drinking so much."
"We were encouraging him though," Suigetsu said sheepishly, "I guess we're to blame too."
"I guess." Great. Now Naruto felt bad.
Being the two most shit-faced—excluding Sasuke—Naruto and Suigetsu ate only a few bites of their pancakes. Sakura, Kiba and Karin ate with more appetite and made small talk.
At some point Suigetsu, sitting comfortably in the couch, asked, "Hey, I wanted to know, what happened in your bedroom last night Sakura? What the hell were you guys doing in there? You dirty little—"
"Nothing," Naruto cut him. "Nothing happened, right Sakura?"
Naruto's face heated up as he realized he was, as usual, a really crap liar. He suddenly decided to pick up some empty plates to bring them to the kitchen. Sakura was left alone to answer.
"Naruto's right, actually," she said innocently, "and even if we did something I wouldn't tell you."
"Hey not cool I want to know!" Suigetsu whined.
"I want to know too!" Kiba added, "Naruto and Sakura? Really?"
"And Sasuke too," Suigetsu said.
"No way!" Karin exclaimed.
Naruto was still blushing, embarrassed, as he returned to the living room. He cleared his throat.
"Sakura already told you nothing happened. So shut up already."
"Why did Sasuke leave then?" Suigetsu ran his fingers through his hair. "There's enough room in that bed for three people to sleep. You two must have been doing something."
Suigetsu, Kiba and Karin were all smiling as they stared at them. This was so annoying. Sakura seemed to share his opinion.
"Mind your own damn business if you want me to invite you to my next party," she warned.
"Fine, fine," Suigetsu threw his arms behind his head, leaning back into the couch.
Naruto decided to go check up on Sasuke. At least this time Suigetsu didn't follow him. As he opened the bathroom door he rolled his eyes.
"Why am I not surprised?" He said to himself. Sasuke was curled up on the floor, eyes squeezed shut. But he wasn't asleep. He was cold and trembling, still wearing just his underwear.
"Sasuke are you all right? Come on, say something."
"Go away…" he whispered weakly.
"I'll go get your clothes but I'll be right back."
"…Okay."
He went to find the leather pants and black t-shirt in Sakura's bedroom. When he came back Sasuke was sitting up and leaning against the bath tub. He accepted the small pile of clothes but instead of putting them on he just clutched them in his arms.
Naruto leaned in the doorframe, frowning. "Are you okay?"
"I'm gonna be sick again."
"Maybe Sakura can give you something for that…" He was about to walk away but Sasuke looked up pleadingly.
"No wait, could you… stay here?"
Holding in a breath, Naruto nodded as he stepped back inside and closed the door. He leaned against the sink counter as he looked down at Sasuke.
"Do you remember last night?"
"Not really," he pressed his pale shaky hand to his forehead.
"You sure you don't want a tylenol or something?"
"I'll just throw it up."
As if on cue he tossed his clothes aside and crawled to the toilet seat, which he held with both arms.
"I'm really starting to worry about you, you know?" Naruto said softly. "I've only known you for what… a week and a half—shit, when I think about it, it really feels longer than that—and I've already seen you sick and hungover a few times."
"When there's alcohol I drink. I just like the feeling too much I guess. I don't really like my personality and alcohol changes it… Sure right now," he smiled wryly, "I want to say I'll never drink again. But in a few days take me to another party and it'll start all over. I know how I am."
"Right, well, they say acceptance is the first step."
"I really think I… I'm gonna be sick again… you can leave if you want…"
"No I'm staying I don't mind."
Sasuke tried to talk again but his face betrayed that he was in too much pain. Sure enough, he threw up again, his skinny body trembling, and then he coughed and coughed until it was finished. With a trembling hand he flushed. Naruto had been sitting next to him and brushing his bangs behind his ears the whole time.
After that Sasuke got up and rinsed his mouth in the sink for a long time, and drank some water. Naruto couldn't take seeing him shivering like this anymore. He took off his blue button down shirt and put it on Sasuke's shoulders.
Sasuke slid his arms through the sleeves and clutched the fabric tightly, "Thanks."
Naruto rubbed his back comfortingly, "You wanna go home?"
"Yeah."
He waited patiently as Sasuke put on his pants. He buttoned the shirt, but left quite a few opened carelessly. He just picked up the tight black tee, looking at Naruto.
"This is comfier," he explained touching the blue fabric that hung a bit loosely on his slender frame. Naruto smiled fondly.
"Yeah I figured. Which reminds me," he said as he opened the door and led the way, "we really need to buy you like, comfy clothes that you can wear in the house."
"Yeah I've been wearing yours…" He said apologetically.
"It's okay."
They walked past the others and to the hall.
"You guys gonna be okay?" Sakura came to see them off. Suigetsu also got up from the couch and stood in the entryway.
"Yeah," Naruto said.
"And remember Sasuke," Suigetsu said, "if you don't want to be hungover then keep drinking."
"Don't tell him that!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Whatever let's just go," Sasuke said tiredly.
"So Naruto… you'll call me?" Sakura asked a bit nervously.
"Yeah," he said but didn't return her gaze.
Suigetsu, mocking as always, imitated her but addressed Sasuke, "So… will you call me?"
"I don't even have your number moron."
"Aw does that mean you want it?"
"No."
"Ouch! Oh I know. I'll add you on facebook instead."
"I'm not on facebook."
"How can you not be on facebook?"
"Okay." Naruto interrupted the ceaseless rambling because Sasuke looked like he was about to either punch Suigetsu or throw up on him. "We should go now. Thanks for everything Sakura." They had shrugged on their jackets and were ready to go.
"Bye Naruto see you later!" Kiba yelled from the other room.
Sakura hugged Naruto, "Thanks for helping me clean up that was so sweet of you."
"Yeah sure no problem… Take care."
"Bye Sasuke!" Suigetsu exclaimed as the two boys exited the apartment.
Sasuke didn't bother answering. They walked quickly side by side until they reached the exit of the building. Sasuke didn't bother zipping up his jacket. It seemed the fresh air was welcome. Well, it felt nice to Naruto too, as it blew in his hair lightly. He couldn't wait to be home though, take a nice shower, put on some comfy clothes, and maybe eat some ramen, eventually. That would heal his hangover for sure. Maybe he'd convince Sasuke to try it. Or not. Sasuke really didn't like ramen, which was weird, in his opinion. But to each his own.
He was still lost in his ramen related thoughts when they reached his beloved orange car. They sat in silence and Naruto eyed Sasuke worriedly.
"Are you gonna be okay…?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's fine I won't throw up in your car."
"I wasn't worried about my car, I'm just worried about you."
"Liar." But he was smiling.
As he drove toward his place Sasuke didn't put on any music, which was unusual. He just leaned against the car door, opened the window just a little and stared at nothing in particular; the other cars driving by, the street signs and circulation lights, people crowding up the sidewalks in front of stores and buildings. Sometimes he closed his eyes and his beautiful face betrayed that he was tired and still in pain.
"You really don't tolerate alcohol well do you?" Naruto said sadly.
"I guess not. Hey…"
"What?"
"You said there was gonna be weed."
"Oh… sorry. I guess no one brought any this time. Maybe Sakura told them not to smoke in her apartment. I don't know. Sorry about that."
"It's okay, I was just wondering. And… Naruto…"
"What is it?" He kept his eyes on the road.
"What happened last night?"
Okay, so he hadn't expected that. Naruto decided to reply with another question, "Um what do you remember exactly?"
"Pretty much everything until… I… did I kiss Suigetsu? Please tell me I didn't."
"Sorry. It happened. You guys were intense, too." Naruto rested both hands on the steering wheel.
"You know what? Forget what I said earlier. I don't like my personality when I'm drunk. Anyway, what happened after that?"
"You mean you don't remember anything else?"
Sasuke frowned and closed his eyes. He raked a hand through his tangled black locks.
"I… It's so… confusing but… I mean I'm not even sure…" His low voice was somewhat raspy and he sounded pretty shaken up. "In… Sakura's bedroom…" Naruto's heart started beating faster and he was pretty sure Sasuke felt just as nervous.
Naruto cleared his throat quietly and bit his lip. Were they really gonna have that conversation now? Oh God… He didn't even know what to tell him.
"We were drunk right?" He tried to laugh it off but he could tell he sounded lame. "It's no big deal." He just really didn't want things to be awkward.
Sasuke didn't look like he wanted to talk about it though. So maybe that lame explanation was fine by him.
"Yeah whatever…"
They lapsed into silence after that.
At home Sasuke made his priority to take care of their pet, and then went to sleep in his room. Naruto took a long, soothing hot shower while trying to calm down and not think too much about relationship stuff. He was still thinking about Hinata all the time, and it was way too soon to consider another serious relationship. He wasn't even sure he wanted to take up on Sakura's offer to hang out as friends. Not when she clearly hoped for more. So maybe he wasn't always the brightest person, but he wasn't that oblivious.
Naruto lazed about pretty much the whole day. He got some work done in his office but nothing much, really. He just ate, watched some television, played some online game on his laptop and that was about it. As for Sasuke, he slept pretty much the entire day.
In the evening he finally got out of his room. He took a shower and then borrowed sweat pants from Naruto, as well as a comfy black hoodie. Naruto didn't mind.
"Are you hungry?" Naruto asked as they went downstairs together.
Sasuke was running his fingers through his wet hair to detangle it as he admitted, "Yeah a little."
There was some onigiri left over in the fridge so Naruto gave him that. It was better to keep it simple in case his stomach was still upset, after all. Naruto himself ate some instant ramen even though he had already eaten some earlier too.
"You really shouldn't eat that all the time," Sasuke pointed out as they sat face to face at the dining table.
"Why not? It's my comfort food."
"Why do you need comfort food?" He raised a fine black eyebrow, tilting his head.
"Because."
"Oh yeah, that explains it," he rolled his eyes.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Naruto shrugged.
"Talk about what."
"That… thing I don't wanna talk about." He stopped eating, suddenly losing all appetite. He looked down at his hands, which rested in his lap.
There was a pause. Then, "You don't wanna talk about what happened last night."
Sasuke also put his half eaten plate away. He was staring at Naruto; he could feel his piercing eyes on him.
"We were drunk…" he said in a little voice.
"…We weren't drunk when we kissed."
Naruto looked up and met his dark eyes. Even after the shower, there was still a little bit of eyeliner under them. Sasuke flipped his bangs, glancing away, then slowly back at Naruto.
"What, you're not gonna say anything?"
Naruto leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. "What the hell do you want me to say?"
"You told me you liked it."
"I…" He sighed again, feeling anxiety eating away at his chest. He wasn't ready for anything like this.
Sasuke seemed to read his mind. He quickly changed his attitude. "You know what, it's okay, never mind. I'm tired right now, I'm sorry. I really am. You should take your time to deal with this stuff. We can talk when you're ready. And anyway, it doesn't change the fact that we're… friends, right?"
"Right." He hesitated a bit. Then he said, "Thank you. We'll definitely talk. Eventually."
Sasuke laughed softly—a deep, melodious sound—and lowered his eyes, almost like he was shy. "Yeah. That's good enough for me."
Keiko climbed on Sasuke's lap suddenly, and then she tried to get on the table but Sasuke held her back. Naruto just smiled, resting his head in his hand. He jumped a little when his cell buzzed. He had almost forgotten he had it on him. Sometimes when he was at home he just left it in his room.
It was a text from Suigetsu. Naruto wondered how that guy even had his number, but he figured maybe he'd asked Kiba for it. And of course Kiba had given it. Naruto sighed; stupid Kiba. And of course, now Suigetsu was asking for Sasuke's number.
Naruto explained the situation. "So, you want me to give it to him or not?" He secretly hoped Sasuke would say no. For some reason Suigetsu seemed like trouble.
"Sure whatever."
"Really? You sure?"
"Yeah. I don't know if you've noticed but I don't exactly have many friends in town. I'll take what I can get."
"Okay, if you're sure."
Naruto texted back the reply, and then put his phone away. Soon after Sasuke got a text. Well that guy sure wasn't losing any time. Sasuke was smiling.
"What's he saying?" Naruto inquired.
"It says, top or bottom?"
"Oh wow. Subtle."
"Yeah." Sasuke didn't answer the text, for now.
"So do you like him?"
Sasuke searched Naruto's eyes for a moment. "He's kinda funny. I don't like him the way you mean it."
"You seemed to like him last night."
"You seemed to like Sakura," he replied on an even tone.
"Maybe it's better if we really don't talk about last night."
Sasuke shrugged a shoulder. "Agreed."
"So… you wanna watch a movie?"
"Sure."
"Good old horror movie?" They got up and Keiko mewled indignantly as she jumped off Sasuke's lap.
"You know me so well."
They went to the living room, turned off all the lights and cozied up on the couch. Naruto was old school and had an impressive collection of movies, including the horror type.
Naruto did find some parts scary while watching those types of movies, but mostly it was just that he was easily susceptible to jump scares. Sasuke teased him for that. Sasuke just laughed once in a while when he watched horror movies, which… was kind of weird. But oh well.
"What are you gonna do tomorrow?" Naruto asked halfway through the movie.
"I don't know. I guess I could clean up. This place is getting kinda messy."
"You don't have to."
"I want to. What about you, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Maybe go to the gym with Kiba."
"Cool."
They watched the movie for a little while longer. Well Sasuke watched. Naruto wasn't really into it. Some more people getting killed; not really his thing.
"You must be really bored," Naruto said thoughtfully, "if you want to do cleaning, of all things. Must be hard for you not having your violin."
"You have no idea."
Naruto wanted to reach out and touch his shoulder lightly in an attempt to comfort him, but then he pulled back his hand and just said, "But you'll get your new one soon. I can't wait, I miss your music too you know?"
They simply exchanged a little smile, and then they watched the rest of the movie in silence—that is, except for a few random comments, Sasuke's occasional quiet laughter, and Naruto's yelling at the cat for trying to chew on the cables.
The atmosphere wasn't really tense or awkward, and Naruto was glad. Sasuke really was a great roommate, after all.
…
On Sunday Naruto slept in, and then aimlessly wandered on the internet until Kiba texted him so they could hit the gym. He had to listen to him ramble on and on about how things were going well again with his fiery redheaded girlfriend. Naruto didn't mind though; he preferred this to being questioned about what had happened at the party. He was really thankful Kiba didn't bring that up.
Back home Naruto was surprised to find the house extremely clean. Even the dishes and laundry was done and everything was really tidy. He smiled and went to see Sasuke in the living room. He was reading a book lying down on his stomach on the sofa bed.
"Thanks for cleaning up."
He shrugged without looking up from his novel. His hair hid his face partly. "I said I would."
"I did the illustration for that one you know? On both the cover and the back…"
"Really?" Sasuke turned the novel over to look at both sides. "The one on the cover made me want to read it," he admitted.
Naruto was beaming, enjoying the flattery. But then he just shrugged modestly and asked, "So do you have any plans for tomorrow?"
"Look for a job, I guess."
"Hey… I was wondering," he leaned against the wall next to the bookshelves, crossing his arms, "do you mind telling me what happened at Chouji's restaurant?"
"I was rude to some customers…"
"Why?"
He shifted uncomfortably and put the book away, but didn't look up into Naruto's eyes. "They were being assholes."
"Do you think you could be less specific?"
"Why do you want to know that anyway?"
"I asked Chouji yesterday. He told me you actually told some customers to go fuck themselves. Don't you think that's a little extreme?"
"It's also not true."
"It's not?"
"No. Look." He sighed, rolling onto his back and throwing a hand over his head. He often reminded Naruto of a beautiful black and white photograph, especially in the dim light of late afternoon; almost pale white skin, black hair and eyes, black clothes. But there was a touch of color here and there—like the light flush to his high cheekbones whenever he got nervous and worried what Naruto might think. "There was this old dude… he grabbed my ass when I walked away… and first I ignored him, even though it wasn't easy." Sasuke waved with a hand as he spoke. He wouldn't look at Naruto. "But then he kept complaining that his food wasn't okay so I had to talk with the cook and bring him a new plate every time. And then he did the ass grabbing thing again and asked me at what time I finished my shift. I just walked away and asked some other waiter guy to exchange tables with me. He laughed in my face and told me I wouldn't last long here if I couldn't handle it so it pissed me off. When the old guy touched my ass again I just dropped the plate on the table and I said, if you don't like it this time just deal with it. And I didn't go back to his table even when he called. That's it. He complained to my boss and I lost the job."
"But," Naruto protested, unfolding his arms, "you could've just explained to your boss… I mean it's not your fault if some disgusting old fuck…"
"I did," Sasuke said calmly. He turned around on the mattress and his t-shirt rode up to reveal his hip bone. He folded his arm under his head, facing Naruto, watching him under long black eyelashes. The desire to draw him was always present at the back of Naruto's mind, the urge to recreate those lines and shadings, to try to capture his defiant and unknowingly seductive expression. But he pushed the thoughts away, as he had become used to.
"What did he say?"
"He said… that I should just smile and play it flirty when something like this happens. So I told him that I used to work in a place where I did smile and play flirty with customers who wanted to grab my ass. At that other 'place' I was paid at least five times the salary and tips I would've gotten at his crappy restaurant. And maybe I don't want to work in such a place anymore. And you know the rest already."
Naruto nodded sadly. He could understand Sasuke's frustration. Chouji's boss didn't seem like such a nice guy after all.
"You'll find something else." He tried to sound comforting.
"I hope so."
…
The next day was particularly cold and windy and Naruto was glad he had chosen to stay inside. He reminded himself he'd have to go out later for his therapy session with Kakashi though. He had a lot of things to tell him…
Sasuke had been gone for the entire afternoon. Naruto tried texting him, and waited, but got no reply. He tried calling but Sasuke didn't pick up. Damn it, Naruto really hoped there wouldn't be a repeat of last time.
But later, just as he was getting ready to leave for his therapy session, he got a text from Sasuke. It said, I got a job, and they're giving me the training tonight so don't wait up.
Naruto grew suspicious. They were giving him the training tonight—what kind of job was this? So he texted him to ask just that, but got no reply. Sasuke wasn't really strong on using his stupid phone.
Still, Naruto was reassured enough for now. He put on his sneakers, jacket and also black leather gloves to drive since it was so cold. He drove through the evening traffic of the city and all the way to the building where Kakashi worked.
Thoughts were swirling in his mind—thoughts of Sakura, of Sasuke… mostly of Sasuke. He supposed it would be good to talk to his therapist about all the things confusing him so much.
Actually, he ended up telling him pretty much everything that had happened at the party. It took a good twenty minutes. Kakashi sat behind his desk quietly, listening intently, which Naruto appreciated as always. He was himself lying down on the comfy red couch with his hands behind his head.
When he was finished Kakashi took a few seconds of silence, then spoke.
"I hate to say this again, Naruto, but it seems to me like you're replacing what you've lost with this new person."
He sighed, and sat up slowly to stare hard at Kakashi's brown eyes. "I know what you're gonna say. I used to be really possessive when it came to Hinata."
Kakashi seemed a little surprised that he used her name without hesitating. He eventually nodded.
"Yes, that's what you told me when you described your relationship. So maybe that's the cause of the jealousy you experienced." He tapped his pen against his messy stacks of paper.
"But I mean," Naruto shook his head, "they're completely different. Sasuke's a guy, for starters, which is kind of an important detail Kakashi I'm not ready to say that I'm bisexual yet. And besides, they really are different; Hinata was sweet and shy… Sasuke's… he's not a bad guy but he… he has his temper. We definitely get into fights sometimes. With Hinata… I think we had our first argument like, three years after we got together."
He wasn't even lying, or exaggerating. And she had hated it so much that afterwards she'd come crying and begging for forgiveness. He had laughed softly as he held her in his arms, saying everything was okay. Yeah he couldn't really picture Sasuke doing something like that—not when he was sober anyway. Ah, another difference. Hinata never partied much.
"Okay," Kakashi eventually said, "let's put that aside for now. Still, it's definitely something you're gonna have to think about."
"Yeah maybe but…" he frowned, hesitating. He spoke the thoughts as they came. "I think that, if I had met Sasuke, and Hinata were still here… Then we'd just be normal friends, which we are, really, but… I did those things with him at the party… Obviously because I'm a single man right now. But that doesn't mean he's a replacement I mean, I guess I'm just trying to go with the flow…"
"Like I said," Kakashi crossed his legs, and looked down at the sheets of paper on his messy desk, "let's just forget about that for today's session. Let's talk about Sakura. You mentioned she's your ex from high school, and you really loved her back then? How do you feel about her now, after what happened at that party?"
"I don't know," he sat up, swinging his legs off the couch, "I think I still see her as just a friend. I wouldn't have done anything with her if I'd been sober. And I'm certainly not ready to start dating again."
"That's okay, you should take your time when it comes to that… Um, I know personal life shouldn't interfere with this therapy but… the other day Jiraya told me he was sure you were gonna date his new secretary soon… But you haven't mentioned her at all so I'm guessing he's just exaggerating and jumping to conclusions as always?"
"Ah man Jiraiya is so annoying. No, I don't want to date his new secretary."
"I see, well, let's stop talking about relationships for now. How are things at work? You're still motivated to draw, like you told me last week?"
"Definitely… but I still have this constant urge to draw Sasuke, I mean that's crazy right?"
"It's not crazy. Why do you think you want to draw him?"
"Cause he's just…" Naruto blushed lightly. But he didn't know how else to say it. "So beautiful I mean… from an… artist's point of view." He wanted to say that maybe he had found his 'muse' but that was way too embarrassing, even with Kakashi.
"Hey do you happen to have a picture? I'm really just curious here."
"Actually yeah, on my cell…" he flipped it open and looked through the pics. He laughed when he saw the one of the three guys sleeping on the carpet. "Okay I'm not showing you that one um…" He had actually taken another one of Sasuke recently. He'd been sleeping on the sofa bed with the little black cat all cuddled up against his waist and he had found it too cute. Naruto showed the picture to Kakashi.
"That's kinda adorable."
"I know right?" Naruto smiled—one of those silly smiles—and caught himself when he realized it. He cleared his throat. "And I mean, even as a straight man, you can sort of appreciate—I mean notice—another guy's good looks right? I mean he's sleeping on that photo but… his eyes too… they're really intense like, pretty…" He interrupted himself and his face got all red as Kakashi gave him back his cell.
There was a moment of silence, and Kakashi just looked out the window at the view of the evening city lights. "You should probably try to accept the fact that you're bi, Naruto."
"W-What? You think so? Just because of that?"
"Yes."
"But I don't… I don't like guys. Not like that."
"Yet you like this one."
"But he's the only one… I can't see myself with any other guy, I swear…"
Kakashi replied calmly, "And I'm pretty sure there are a lot of girls out there you can't see yourself doing anything with."
Well, Naruto couldn't really argue with that…
His therapist continued, "If you accept your bisexuality, you'll probably realize there are at least a few other guys out there you could see yourself with. I'm just saying, give it some thought."
"I'll… try."
…
After the session Naruto had returned home, only to find it empty. Sasuke still wasn't back from his training, whatever and wherever it was. He hadn't texted him back either. Naruto couldn't help but worry but he still made himself something to eat and went upstairs to sit in front of his laptop. He watched some funny videos online, trying to relax.
He tried not to think too much about everything Kakashi had talked to him about. It was a little bit too much for him to handle right now.
Later Naruto lay on his bed exhausted, but sleep remained elusive. He just kept tossing and turning, and somehow he couldn't even keep his eyes closed. So instead he put on some comfy sweats and went downstairs, making himself some tea before entering his office. He got some work done and didn't stop even when it was technically morning. He figured he could always go to work a little late that day since he was making good time with his assignments anyway.
At some point Naruto realized with a start that Sasuke would have surely missed the last train by now. He was extremely worried, simply couldn't draw anymore anyway so he decided to call him. He'd left his cell in his bedroom so he practically ran up the stairs. After picking up his phone and dialing he paced back and forth in the hallway, anxious.
"Hey," Sasuke's deep voice answered, "Naruto, I was gonna call you actually…"
"Where are you?"
"Just calm down…" But Sasuke's voice sounded a bit strained so he didn't calm down at all.
"Are you okay?" He stopped pacing and just stood, leaning against the wall and clutching the phone.
"Yeah I'm fine… It's just… freaking cold…" Naruto thought he could hear his teeth chattering.
"You're outside?" Naruto's eyes widened. "Where are you? I'll come pick you up."
"No it's okay I can just walk… I'm probably halfway there already… I'm just not sure…" There was a pause, and Naruto supposed Sasuke was looking around him or something. "Not sure if I'm in the right direction anymore… Maybe I got lost again I don't know…"
"Wait," Naruto returned to his bedroom and hurriedly opened his laptop, "tell me the name of the street and the address where you are right now and I'll come pick you up."
Sasuke did tell him, and Naruto typed that down in the search engine. "But it's really okay." Sasuke protested. "Just tell me where to go from here and I'll walk."
"Are you insane?" Naruto practically yelled in the phone as he saw on the map where Sasuke was exactly. "You'd still have almost an hour to walk! By car it should take just ten, maybe fifteen minutes. So wait for me… is there a coffee shop or a diner near you?"
"You don't have to…" he protested weakly again.
"I'm coming right now." Naruto reached for the nearest pair of jeans he could find. "Wait for me."
He hung up before Sasuke could argue some more. He shoved the piece of paper in his pocket and then went to run down the stairs. After slipping on his shoes and picking up jacket, gloves and keys he stormed out of the house.
Naruto drove quickly but carefully through the night, without any music on. The heat took some time to kick in and he was shivering. It ended up just taking ten minutes after all. He found Sasuke just two buildings away from the indicated address—sleeping on a bench apparently. Naruto cursed loudly as he exited his still running car.
"Sasuke what the fuck are you doing? There's a coffee shop right across the street you should have waited in there."
Sasuke unfolded himself from the bench slowly, clutching his jacket and trying to stop his bluish lips from trembling. Naruto was seriously pissed.
"It's fine…" But Sasuke clearly had trouble speaking.
"Just get in the car."
"I'm fine I'm just tired. W-Why are you so pissed anyway? You're the one who wanted to come pick me up."
"Sleeping on a bench in the street Sasuke? Really? Do you remember what happened last time you did that?"
There were still hints of bruises on Sasuke's body from when he'd been attacked, and every time Naruto saw them it reminded him all too well of that incident. If Naruto hadn't been there that time, on their first night together…
Sasuke didn't speak as they sat in the car. At least it was warm inside. Naruto drove quietly while Sasuke trembled uncontrollably, and clenched his jaw to stop his teeth from chattering.
"Look, I'm sorry…" he said in a low voice as they were almost home.
"Shut up."
Sasuke sighed, almost imperceptibly. "Why do you even care so much…?"
"Cause I care," he said stubbornly. "And stop talking."
Later, when they were comfortably seated across from each other at the dining table with cups of hot tea, Sasuke with a blanket which Naruto had forced on him, Sasuke explained himself.
"You know that gay bar I got drunk at with Suigetsu that other time? Well I remembered them saying that they were short on staff right now. And well the bartender was hitting on me practically the whole time… figured I had a shot if I tried there."
"What? But you're not even twenty yet." Naruto exclaimed.
Sasuke took out his wallet, then a card and slid it toward him across the table. Naruto picked it up. It was a very well done fake ID with a picture of Sasuke himself. Only the year of birth was changed, he supposed. According to this Sasuke was twenty two.
"Sasori did it for me a while back. That's how I got all the… jobs. Most of the time I didn't tell people my real age…" He clutched the blanket tightly. "Actually I think you're the only one I told my real age. I don't even know why."
Naruto tossed him back the card. "I don't know Sasuke… I don't like it. What if you get caught?"
"What are the odds of that happening," he shrugged.
"So what you're gonna be a bartender?"
Sasuke nodded. He took the blanket off his shoulders and instead placed it messily in his lap, before taking a sip of tea.
"Yeah. The bar's called Aquarius. You can look it up if you ever wanna check it out. Well on the week it's mostly annoying old dudes but I've been told it's pretty great on the weekend."
"I thought you didn't want to work with annoying old dudes."
"Naruto it's different. I'm behind a counter at least, they can't touch me, and yeah the salary's a lot better."
"When do you work again?"
"Thursday night."
"How do you plan on getting back here?" Naruto frowned.
He glanced away, eyes lingering on the paintings on the walls. They were mostly paintings of landscapes and flowers Hinata had chosen back when they'd moved in. Naruto hadn't had the heart to take them down. "I'm… still working on that."
Naruto sighed, took a sip of tea. "I'm gonna lend you my car."
Dark eyes widened considerably as Sasuke stared at him for a long moment. "You're serious?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna have to teach you how to drive a manual transmission in two days though. Should be fun." He couldn't help but smile.
"You're really gonna lend me your car?"
"Well yeah I don't want you to die in the cold somewhere…"
"I wouldn't have died in the cold," he said defensively.
"Allow me to doubt that."
"I would've kept walking! I just wanted directions cause I'm the only idiot around without a smart phone apparently. But instead you insisted on driving so I had to wait."
"On a bench outside in the cold with just a stupid little jacket."
"Can we stop now?"
Naruto put his head in his hands. He realized they were fighting again, and he just laughed.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, leaning back in his chair. He was still clutching the blanket in his lap. His black hair was all wind blown. His lips were still darkened from the cold.
"Nothing. Yeah, we can stop."
"I guess I should thank you."
Naruto arched an eyebrow. "You should."
Sasuke just shook his head slightly and pulled away from the table, his hand lingering on the back of the wooden chair before he walked away slowly. Naruto couldn't help but think that he had never seen a guy that looked so good in skinny jeans before Sasuke. Would a hot guy like him really be safe working in a bar?
Naruto cleared his throat. "Well I'm beat. I'm going to bed."
He got up and pushed the chair back into place, before stretching his arms and walking toward the staircase. But Sasuke came after him, and held his arm. The touch of his hand sent a tingly feeling across Naruto's chest and he thought he could feel his heartbeat picking up. He glanced back at Sasuke, wanting to pull back his arm because he was afraid to stand so close to him.
"Thanks," Sasuke said, "for picking me up." As though he could read Naruto's thoughts, he let go of his arm quickly. He parted his lips again but for a moment no sound came out. Naruto was about to put his foot down on the first step. "I just need to get used to this city," Sasuke added at last, in a very low voice.
And I just need to get used to you, Naruto thought. He felt so nervous. Was this because of what Kakashi had said?
Sasuke's hand had still felt very cold when he had touched his arm. Wordlessly Naruto brought a hand to brush his fingers against Sasuke's cheek. He held it there, fascinated by the softness of his skin and hair. He almost forgot to breathe.
"You're still so cold," Naruto said. It wasn't much louder than a whisper. "You should go to sleep. You can turn up the heat in the living room if you want, I don't mind."
He pulled away and climbed up the stairs without looking back. But he could feel Sasuke's eyes following his every movement.