A/N: You people would not believe how sick I've been. As a result, I got this to my beta late in the week, obviously too late for her to get it back to me in time. I'm sorry if the un-edited version detracts from the story, but I read through it myself...so if there are typos, pls bear in mind that I spent today and last night with a sick friend and haven't slept more than an hour or two in 4 days -.-

Thank you^^

Chapter 10

Naruto was hunting through his trunk, looking for something. He was crouched on the balls of his feet, a position that displayed him in all his earthy glory. Sasuke, sprawled limply face down on the now-filthy mattress, studied the way the muscles in Naruto's back rippled smoothly as he searched for whatever it was he wanted. He heard Naruto utter an oath and smiled lazily. The smile turned into a yawn.

Sasuke blinked and was mildly surprised to see a large tin basin (or small tub, depending on how you looked at it) sitting in the middle of the cabin. Even as he was registering this, Gaara came struggling in through the door ahead of a clothed Naruto carrying two full buckets of heated water. Naruto told Gaara to leave the buckets and bring supper. Sasuke saw Gaara throw a worried, anxious look his way.

"Captain, can't I see about my master first? He's been hours without my assistance."

"I'm seeing to him well enough."

"But-"

"Bring food, that is how you can see to him." Naruto gave Gaara a gentle nudge toward the door.

Sasuke could see that Gaara intended to take a stand. "Begging your pardon, Captain, but it's his orders I take and him who I serve."

Naruto cocked a hip, staring down at the trembling redhead with hooded eyes. "And whose ship do you think you're standing on?"

"…Yours, Captain."

"Whose food are you eating?"

"Yours."

"What's that?"

"Yours, Captain."

"And who's paying your brother and sister, in short, enabling you to live a life away from Kiba?"

"You are, Captain."

"And you would still defy me?"

Gaara's eyes and tone had not wavered once during this interrogation. Only his hands shook, where he held them stiffly by his sides. He spoke with conviction, however ill-advised. "Yes, Captain."

Naruto put a stern look on his face to hide his smile of approval. "Well, then. By all means see to him." He swept his hand wide toward Sasuke in invitation.

Gaara scampered to the bed and dropped to his knees beside it. He leaned close to Sasuke's face, shielding his hands –and the note they contained- with his body. "Are you well, sir? Can I get you anything?"

Sasuke carefully took the note shoved into his hand without looking at it. "I'm very well, Gaara, thank you. As a matter of fact, you can get me something. My clothes seem to have suffered a mishap. Perhaps you could locate something for me to wear?"

Gaara nodded vehemently, eyes feverish. "I will, sir. Are there further instructions?"

From the intense look on Gaara's face and the way he subtly tipped his head toward the note hidden in Sasuke's hand, Sasuke understood that he was to send a reply at some point. He cleared his throat to say formally. "That will be all for now, Gaara. Well done. You may check back with me later to see if I require anything." He gave what he hoped was a meaningful look of understanding.

Gaara nodded seriously. He stood and left by way of the door Naruto held open for him. The door shut, and Naruto leaned against it with his arms folded, looking at Sasuke with an amused expression.

"Is something amiss?" Sasuke asked, now openly reading the note.

"The boy thinks you're being held against your will. I do believe he's planning an elaborate rescue."

Sasuke was forced to agree. Especially after reading the note and holding up the sewing needle it had contained. According to the note, Sasuke was to jab it into Naruto's eyes (both of them, Gaara had stressed in the note) while Naruto lay sleeping. Gaara would have by then incapacitated the rest of the crew and Sasuke could then take over the ship and sail them to freedom.

Naruto came to the bed and sat down at seeing Sasuke's frown. "What is it?"

Sasuke folded the needle in the note once more, and placed both note and needle under the mattress. He looked at Naruto and replied absently. "You took away my clothes in order to have control over me, but you must let me leave this cabin, Naruto."

"Why? What did the note say?"

"It's not so much what it said as what it implies." And what Sasuke had understood clearly was that, though young, Gaara was resourceful. He'd seen that with his own eyes whenever they'd landed in port, but to know the boy was capable of incapacitating the crew in some way was a sobering thought. Gaara would go to any lengths to serve his master, as any proper manservant should and would do. Sasuke himself had trained Gaara thus. He would be guilty of negligence and betrayal if he didn't honor his arrangement with the boy. The boy feared for him. It was Sasuke's job to set him at ease. "Let me talk to him."

"You can talk to him here."

Sasuke met the direct stare with one of his own. "I've given you my word I'll honor our arrangement. Do you believe I'll jump ship?"

Naruto waved a hand, snorted. "If you did, I'd swim after you, no problem. No, I just don't want my men seeing you."

"Why?"

"Because then they'll know what we're doing."

"You were on deck just now…didn't they see you?"

"Yes…"

"And?"

"I'm Captain. They'd never dare approach me with questions."

"I can hold my tongue, Naruto," Sasuke said dryly.

"I just don't see why you can't speak with him here."

Gaara came back just then with the large dinner tray dragging at his thin arms. Sasuke capitulated. "Very well. But leave me alone with him."

"I-"

"Naruto, I can resist you just as easily as I give in."

Naruto got up and left the cabin. Gaara dropped the tray on the desk with a whistle of relief, then ran to the bed.

"Did you read my note, sir? Are we escaping tonight?" Gaara's eyes were wide, but his voice low and controlled.

Such an exceptional child, Sasuke thought. Were I ever to have a son, I'd wish for him to be like Gaara. He gestured for Gaara to sit beside him on the bed. Gaara did this, eyeing the way Sasuke drew the sheet around his waste. "Gaara, what do you know of relations between men and women?"

"Relations? Cousins and such?"

Ah, yes. Gaara believed a cup of contaminated wine was how one begot children. Sasuke cleared his throat. "Not quite. Have you ever seen people kissing?"

An odd expression settled on Gaara's face. Sasuke would have described it as carefully, deliberately neutral…while hiding a wealth of sudden apprehension and vigilance. Most peculiar. "Yes, sir."

"And-"

"Sir, don't."

"I beg your pardon?" Sasuke was nonplussed. Gaara never contradicted him, and most certainly never gave commands. He raised a brow in gentle rebuke.

"Don't try and tell me a story about what's going on in this room. I know what's happening to you."

All thoughts of reproof left Sasuke to be replaced with curiosity. "You do?"

"Yes. The same thing that happened every night to my sister when we were with Kiba."

Gaara had never spoken of anything that had happened before he'd met Sasuke outside of peeking at girls and his mother's dying words. "Oh? What happened?"

Gaara's face held that same odd look, but now his voice had the slightest tremor. "Kiba and his men called it poking."

A small smile took shape on Sasuke's mouth before he saw that Gaara wasn't smiling. Not at all. "Poking?"

"Yes, sir. Kiba always got first poke at Temari. Then the rest would argue over whose turn it was to have a poke or who had poked longer than who. Sometimes they poked her till she bled. When Kankurou tried to protect her, they threatened to cut off his claim to manhood. Whatever that is."

Sasuke blinked down at Gaara, realized the boy was sweating, and opened his mouth to ask what this all meant. His mind pieced together Gaara's words, his expression, and the sudden sweat with startling clarity of a sudden and he gasped. He put a hand to his mouth. "You…your sister was violated, wasn't she."

Gaara didn't answer. Whether this was because he didn't understand the word, or because there was no need to confirm it, Sasuke didn't know. He lowered his hand from his mouth, gazing at Gaara closely. "Why do you think that's happening in here?"

"I listen at the door. I hear the captain making the same kind of sounds Kiba and his men made. It smells in here, just like Kiba's shack used to smell after everyone had poked Temari. And I hear the others talking. There's some kind of bet going on."

Sasuke sat there, gravely taking it all in. He'd underestimated his manservant, but no more. "Gaara, listen to me."

Gaara merely blinked.

"What happened to your sister was a crime, one Kiba and his men should be punished for. But that's not what's happening here. Relations are not meant to be used to hurt other people…they are used for begetting children. And…for pleasure."

Gaara listened, said nothing. He watched Sasuke's face.

"It is common for men and women to relate in this manner, but occasionally there are men who…well, prefer other men. Your Captain is such a man. I know I haven't spoken of my circumstances at length, but Naruto has saved my life, Gaara. He's rendered me crucial aid and for that I owe him a debt. This is how he chose to collect on that debt, and I will tell you now, honestly, that he is not forcing the payment of it from me. Do you understand?"

That blank stare.

Seeing it, Sasuke was chilled. He could well believe this slight child capable of taking on a crew of seasoned seamen. That stare hid depths of unknowns. And what was unknown could come up to bite you while you were unaware. "Gaara? Do you understand what I've explained?"

What Gaara understood was that where previously he was his master's sole companion, his confidante, now he was being pushed aside. Debt or no, forced confinement or no, it was his place to obey his master. Aching inside, and swearing to hold his tears until he was in his bunk, Gaara slid off the edge of the bed. "I'm here if you need me, sir."

Sasuke's stomach cramped at hearing the low voice clogged with insult. "Gaara-"

The boy paused at the door. "And if he's hurting you, I'll kill him. I know how to do it." This was said in a whisper.

Gaara slipped out of the door, right past Naruto himself, who entered hurriedly. The door was shut, locked. Naruto came over to him and sat on the bed. "So? You set him straight?"

Sasuke badly wanted to follow Gaara, to comfort him. He'd abandoned the boy, allowed another to order him around…why, Gaara must feel betrayed! He swallowed, disturbed at what a horrible master he'd become in the space of a few hours. At remembering how Gaara was willing to stand up to Naruto's wrath for him, he reasoned that he could do no less.

Naruto was tugging the sheet from Sasuke's waist, already leaning in to nibble his cock. Sasuke snatched the sheet back forcefully and stood up. He faced Naruto with every ounce of command and self-possession at his disposal. His tone brooked no argument when he said, "Gaara attends me as he and I are both accustomed to him doing from this point onward. He belongs to me, no matter that we are both on your ship. I am paying for my passage, and the right to keep him, as I recall. If you require something of him, you come to me. Otherwise, he takes no orders but mine, and as per our original bargain, he may enter this room during the day. At night, he sleeps with the rest of the crew."

"No."

"Our deal is at an end, then."

"No."

Sasuke tightened the sheet about his hips. "You can try to stop me, Naruto, but the fact is this: You had your way with me because I allowed it. And it was not pleasurable enough for me to abandon my servant or forget his loyalty."

The atmosphere in the room, previously one of budding closeness and intensity where they were concerned, turned frigid and forbidding. Each stubborn gaze clashed with the other, intent on getting their way.

"You want the little pisser? Fine," Naruto said between his teeth. His voice was unnaturally calm. "But I am through cosseting you. Drop the sheet."

Sasuke took a moment to regret that it had come to this, but resolved to treat this as the business transaction that it was henceforth. He was being blackmailed, plain and simple. There was no place for enjoyment or feelings in such a situation. The sheet slid to the floor.

Naruto stood and went to the tub. He dumped the buckets of now-warm water into it, filling it. A cake of soap and a rag were in the water. Sasuke went to the tub without being told, noticing for the first time that Naruto's hair was slightly damp. He must have bathed while Sasuke had been sleeping. He stepped into the water.

It only reached a few inches higher than his ankles. On further inspection, Sasuke saw that this was the tub Temari used to do the laundry in. He was stooping to take the rag and soap up, when Naruto beat him to it. He also had a small jug in his hand.

Sasuke spluttered at the first dousing Naruto gave him with the jug. He upended the thing on Sasuke's head, flattening his hair, before he bent, retrieved more water, and proceeded to pour it on the rest of Sasuke's body. The water was only lukewarm now. The room was like an icebox. Sasuke shivered, but did not complain. And Naruto did not seem to care.

He washed Sasuke methodically with the rag, working up a good lather. Sasuke's attempts to take over the task earned him sharp slaps on his hands. Sasuke's mouth thinned at the offense, but he remained upright and still. His hair was scrubbed thoroughly. Naruto then caught Sasuke to his chest and held him immobile with one beefy arm. Sasuke was momentarily distracted by how close their faces were of a sudden. He immediately thought of kissing, but then the reason for the embrace became apparent.

A thick finger, surrounded by the wet rag, pushed its way roughly into his rear passage. It probed deeply for a moment. Sasuke sucked in a breath to bellow his outrage, but the finger was removed. Sasuke was released, whereupon he nearly tripped on the edge of the tub and went sprawling. He managed to steady himself. He faced Naruto, his anus hot and quivering in the aftermath, and prepared to give him a piece of his mind. That thought left him completely at feeling the same rough rag, this time supported by Naruto's hand, close around his cock.

The friction was ungodly.

Sasuke's eyes held the challenging blue gaze as that hand 'washed' him in tight, punishing strokes. Naruto's forearm flexed as he squeezed the length of flesh in his fist. Sasuke felt his knees becoming unhinged and bore down on the sensation of his impending release. He would not succumb. He would not!

Naruto finished with a last yank that jerked Sasuke's body forward despite how inflexibly he held himself. He looked down to find his cock red and raw. The tingling sensation left behind did nothing to lessen his erection.

-oOo-

The water, now cold, was poured over Sasuke repeatedly until he was free of soap. He was told wordlessly with a toss of Naruto's head to exit the tub.

Naruto fetched a drying cloth for Sasuke and threw it to him. "Dry yourself."

When he had, Naruto moved to stand beside his bed, feeling Sasuke's eyes follow his movements. He stripped the mattress of its stained sheet and took up the sheet that was currently covering the gaudy mirror. He spread this on the bed. When the bed was made, he turned and beckoned Sasuke to come over.

Sasuke recalled a part of their deal that had yet to be addressed. "What is the service for keeping Gaara?"

Naruto noted the steady tone of voice. "We'll get to that later. Now is a good time to tell you that I won't be putting up with too much of your noise. Understood? We'll keep this as businesslike as possible."

"You speak as if it was more than that once. That's all it ever was."

Naruto stared into those black eyes and thought, The hell it was. You kissed me back, begged me to save you. By God I'll feel your heat again before this voyage is done. Out loud he said, "If you say so. But as my lover, you will please me as I tell you to."

"That's slavery."

"That's the arrangement. Either perform it as I wish it performed or get the hell off of my ship."

Sasuke closed his mouth.

"Light the lamp," Naruto said. "Then come and undress me."

The lamp was lit and set on the desk. Sasuke came and began unbuttoning the coat Naruto had put on while he'd been on deck. He moved behind him to tug the heavy garment off his arms. He set it aside. Next, he lifted Naruto's shirt from the hem of his pants and pulled it over his head. He went back around to Naruto's front and began unbuttoning his trousers. He had to constantly remind himself to be distant. He would not be pulled into an emotional display.

He had to stoop to undo Naruto's boots. Then he was able to tug the pants down and off. Naruto stood in his long underwear. Sasuke paused, glancing at Naruto's face to see if this was also to be removed. He saw that it was and schooled his features to neutrality.

Once the golden brown skin was exposed, Sasuke found it hard not to remember how it had felt pressed along the length of his body. Hot in slumber, even hotter in wakefulness, when he'd been kissing Naruto or having his cock suckled. He kept his eyes at chest level after his first inadvertent glance below Naruto's waist.

"It's no use trying not to look," Naruto said as he turned to sit on the bed. "We're past the virginal shyness now. You'll be getting well acquainted with my body in the coming weeks. And I'll be getting to know yours. Here." Sasuke looked and saw that Naruto held out a tiny brass key to him.

He took it. "What is this for?"

"The cabinet behind you. Open it and bring out the oil you find in there."

Sasuke looked at the tall, narrow cabinet built into the wall by the desk. It had always been locked. He'd never known what the thing contained. Upon twisting the key in the small lock now he found that it contained shelves with peculiar items indeed. He located the glass bottle of oil and brought it to Naruto. He held it and the key out to him.

Naruto took the key. "Oil your hands. Relieve me."

"I beg your pardon?"

Naruto gestured at his cock. "Relieve me. Or I'll have to relieve myself on your body and I don't think you're quite ready for that. Do you?" He leaned back on his hands and spread his legs.

Sasuke looked at what he was supposed to be touching as he uncorked the oil. It was erect, red, and giving off an odor distinctly its own. A heavy, somehow ripe smell that was not precisely unpleasant. Had he been aware of this smell before? He didn't think so. Sasuke was helpless not to think of the odor as that belonging on a wild animal. He'd never smelled anything like it and concluded that this was what being of the lower classes meant; you stank no matter if you'd just bathed.

He disliked kneeling, but it did afford him the proximity he needed to get the job over with. The threat of Naruto using his body had been duly noted and filed away. He filled his palm with the oil and reached for Naruto's tumescence.

They both shivered. Naruto in groaning pleasure, and Sasuke in sudden distaste. The thing was warm and hard and mobile. The skin move over the engorged tissue in such a way as to call attention to the large vein pulsing against his fingers and how truly hard Naruto's cock was. Like iron. Warm iron, clothed in skin. It filled his hand so that his long fingers could barely meet around the thing. Sasuke summoned up a recollection on how one whore had handled him this way and began moving his hand uncertainly up and down.

Naruto stopped him. "Slow down. Squeeze, turn your hand."

Sasuke set his teeth and did as bidden. When he had this simple movement mastered, Naruto took his other hand and placed it above the one already on his shaft. He showed Sasuke how to move both hands in opposite directions, traveling up and down the entire time. Naruto seemed to be suffering, his voice strained and sweat on his brow, but he made sure Sasuke knew what to do.

Only then did he tell Sasuke to use his new knowledge until he told him to stop. "When I tell you to," he reiterated. "Not when I spill my seed." Sasuke nodded and began again.

It took some concentration, but not enough to detract from the way Naruto put his head back and groaned. His face was slack with pleasure, his throat working whenever he swallowed. His large hands gripped the sheet near his thighs. Sasuke's eyes traveled over Naruto's body, noting how his abdominals tightened, how his chest bunched and flexed, how his thighs tensed. I have complete power over his body with the simple act of holding his cock in my hand, Sasuke thought in wonder. It came to him that he'd thought the way he'd experienced such pleasure at Naruto's touch and mouth was irregular. He'd thought it was only him, but if Naruto was also capable of being brought low to the depths of slavery (for Sasuke had felt enslaved to Naruto's peculiar ministrations, as the man was now clearly enslaved in turn), well then by all means Sasuke would see to it that he performed so admirably as to put the blond beast firmly in his control.

Now then. A bit of invention was in order if the task was to be accomplished properly. Sasuke let his hands glide up and down the hot, oil-slicked shaft thoughtfully as he considered. Naruto grunted and thrust his hips upward every so often. Experimentally, Sasuke squeezed sharply, tightening his hand unmercifully for a moment.

Naruto bucked nearly strong enough to stab Sasuke's eyes from his head with his cock. He bellowed.

Biting his lips to hide his smirk, Sasuke resolved to do that again shortly. When Naruto had calmed down, lulled by Sasuke's resumption of his earlier slow up and down slide, Sasuke eased the ski covering Naruto's tip downward.

A bulbous, glistening, leaking head of flesh was exposed. Naruto hissed in air and spread his legs even wider.

Sasuke stopped his movements for a few seconds, briefly mesmerized. Here was the source of Naruto's wild smell. Right here, this head that was roughly the size of a lemon. Sasuke squeezed the shaft in his hands and watched a small amount of clear fluid swell out of the meaty lips of Naruto's opening. He recalled how Naruto had suckled his cock as if a babe to a teat.

Dirty.

Yes, it was. It had been a dirty act, one that had nearly blinded Sasuke with pleasure. He'd never done anything as dirty as the things he'd done in this room. The allure of doing something so base, surely the dirtiest act a human could perform, more so that actual copulation with a man, caused Sasuke to salivate. He was going to do it. He was going to put his mouth on this weeping, pungent cock and take suck as Naruto had done. He met Naruto's gaze, unsurprised to find the blue eyes dark and watchful on his face.

It took a few tries to work up his nerve, but when he finally touched his lips to Naruto's shaft, it sent a bolt of electricity humming through him. Naruto must have felt it, because he jerked powerful against Sasuke's mouth, nudging his lips hard.

It took longer for him to tamp down his disgust enough to open his mouth. The fact that there was burning curiosity beneath his disgust, and a certain dark, voiceless pleasure helped. He let the cock slide into his mouth, let it widen his jaws, and then just stopped. He knelt there, Naruto's cock in his mouth, consciously aware of how his acquaintances would view him if this became public knowledge.

It was salty. Most of that was probably due to the dunking Naruto had taken in the sea while he'd slept, but some of it was just him. Sasuke found the taste…interesting.

Naruto settled his hand behind Sasuke's neck and gave a very gentle tug, a suggestion. Sasuke felt saliva gathering in his mouth and swallowed. Naruto shuddered uncontrollably. His hand gripped Sasuke's neck harder and a sigh escaped him. "Please," Naruto hissed.

Sasuke responded to the plea, to the clear power he had over Naruto, and mastered his growing doubt. He adjusted his kneeling position slightly, took a firmer grip on Naruto's length, and attempted to put all his new knowledge to use.

To use both hands and his mouth took coordination, a feat Sasuke was able to execute after a minute or two of slurping and squeezing. Naruto whispered further instructions –make his mouth tighter, suck harder, rub faster- that further enabled Sasuke to perform this act with success. Naruto grew to weak to hold the back of Sasuke's neck; he could barely hold himself in a sitting position. His face was contorted into such an enraged expression of monstrous pleasure that Sasuke was half afraid.

Naruto abruptly roared, shoving Sasuke away at the same time. Sasuke landed on his arse, sprawled at staring as Naruto fell backward on the bed, shooting his release into the air.

Sasuke wiped at the one stream of seed that had landed on his neck. Naruto twitched and gasped on the bed for some time, then was still. Sasuke got warily to his feet.

He'd thought Naruto was asleep, but apparently not. The man sat up shakily, spotted Sasuke, and leaped from the bed to tackle him. Sasuke's hair was pulled sharply as Naruto crushed him in a searing embrace, placing his open mouth on Sasuke's neck. The length of Naruto's soft organ was between them, but one of Naruto's hands moved downward to clamp firmly around Sasuke's own flaccid member. He began massaging it, handling it so that Sasuke stiffened against his will. His body was losing it's defensive posture, wilting in Naruto's arms as the mouth sucked him and the hand squeezed him.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke gasped.

Naruto went still. Keeping his face in Sasuke's neck, he asked, "What?"

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said again. "For angering you earlier, but I had a right to say what I did and I don't think it's just of you to hurt me in retaliation."

Naruto lifted his head. Sasuke's eyes were nearly closed, his mouth open for whatever use Naruto wanted to put it to. His face was flushed, and even now Naruto could smell his own essence on Sasuke's breath. "You think I'll hurt you?"

"Won't you? You seem bent on making whatever happens in here as humiliating and painful as possible. You said you were through cosseting me. I'm aware that your earlier…attentions were kind. If you intend now to be-"

"I won't hurt you, Sasuke." He searched the dark eyes with his own. "But I won't deny myself what I want anymore."

"Because I defied you? That's petty. I'm trying to make the best of an untenable situation. I said I wouldn't resist. Why do you need to boorish about it just because …why are you being boorish? All I said was that Gaara stays with me from now on."

Naruto dropped his arms, stepping back from Sasuke. "Him being here during the day means less time for me to touch you. I don't want that."

"Oh?"

"I don't want to leave your side for any reason, Sasuke."

Sasuke swayed with the motion of the ship as it created a large swell. "I see. May I ask why?"

"I want you."

Sasuke felt his cheeks warm, but did not look away from the eyes boring into him. "Is there any particular reason that you do?"

Naruto only let his eyes drop, raking Sasuke's naked body longingly. A look of pure need. When Naruto held out a hand to Sasuke, Sasuke took it without hesitation. He was drawn down to the bed, rolled to his back, and covered from head to toe by one heavy, hot, hungry man. He pushed against the heat when it tried to pin his arms above his head, turned his face into the hungry mouth, and decided the reason was unimportant. For now.