Summary:
Naruto runs an underground newspaper called 'The Daily Ramen', focused on poking fun of the fragile egos of the rich and famous. How does Sasuke respond when he moves to town and gets in Naruto's crosshairs? Not particularly well. But who says arguing can't be foreplay? Sasuke x Naruto (Yaoi boy x boy)
Warning: frotting, boy x boy action. 17+ this chapter (chapter edited for ff's M rating compliance)
Author's note: Ok, so this is a LONG ASS CHAPTER. The problem I just realized I am going to have with this fic is that if I start each chapter with the newspaper articles, it means I can't really split a scene that happens all in one day into two chapters, so… it took a while to get to where I wanted to end it. Because they weren't going to like…. just show up at each other's place and drop trou and go for it. Yanno? (this is just an excuse because we all know i am just a wordy writer and I'm just trying to feel better about my inability to be concise. Sorry for crashing your phones).
-xXx-
The Daily Ramen, December 22
OUR DUMB WORLD - Things that are going on in other places that you couldn't care less about. Weekly international and political news column by Nara Shikamaru
Your mother was wrong. All those times she told you that playing computer games was a waste of time? Wrong. Her wrongness has even been scientifically proven. Recent studies have shown that playing first-person shooter games do more than just incite violent tendencies and give parents an excuse for their failure to actually raise their children. It even does more than improve hand-eye coordination. Actually, it now appears that people who played such games have more highly developed spatial reasoning and focus, higher visual acuity and better decision-making. That's right. People who like to play violent, shoot-em-up games are better decision makers than those who don't. With that said, I am off to play Call of Duty. If my next column is late because of it, it is only because I am trying to improve my decision-making skills.
IN OTHER NEWS - If you think you didn't care about Nara's stuff, you REALLY won't care about this. Weekly local news column by Uzumaki Naruto
Many people are looking for a cause, something to give meaning to their life. One local man has finally found something he really cares about, something that touches his everyday life and fuels his dreams. It is a movement by leading porn stars demanding to be fucked harder. That's right. No more of this sub-par fucking. Our local man is totally down with that, and looking for ways to contribute more meaningfully to the righteous cause. And he is very willing to get behind it. Or on top of it. Or under it. Really any position at all.
I SAW WHAT YOU DID THERE - Seriously, people. If you don't know what you're doing sexually, can you please just keep it in your own bedrooms? Weekly column by Hyuuga Hinata
Sweaty dreams. We all have them. Sometimes about that hot, off-limits co-worker that you fantasize about shoving into the supply closet and ripping off his shirt. Sometimes about the person on the radio with the sexy voice that stirs you up. There's nothing wrong with a good fantasy. But if you are prone to being particularly vocal in your dreams, then you might want to be careful about falling asleep on the public bus. I was riding home from work the other day, when a man next to me was clearly having a rather nice dream. He was slumped against the window, just a trickle of drool coming out of his mouth innocently, when the moans started. Followed by a (rather impressive) tent forming in his work pants, and then the calling out of "Oh, Ty Lee… yeah, upside-down on your hands… oh, yeah, uhhhgggg." Evidently he had reached the 'good part' of the dream. Given the verbal description of what appeared to be quite acrobatic sex, I give him at least a seven for imagination. Too bad there was no visual to go along with the narrative.
DUMBASS OF THE DAY - Because some people are just so dumb, they really do deserve an award for it. Weekly award by Inuzuka Kiba
There's nothing wrong with being proud to show off your new tattoo. Especially if it's in a place where not many people will get to see it. But if you're going to snap a pic to post on facebook and share with the world, you want to be sure that you don't have any extra "body parts" showing that could get you arrested. Or fired. One local man didn't quite figure that out. He had a new tattoo on his upper thigh that he wanted to show his friends. Unfortunately, he forgot to have 'Mr. Wiggly' step aside for the photo shoot. And in his excitement to 'share' with his friends, he posted the shot on facebook that included more than half of his penis. Where he shared it with many friends. Including some people at work. And his boss.
So now, he is looking for a new job. And is our dumbass of the day.
BAD SHIT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU - But at least now you know. Weekly horoscope by Aburame Shino
For the monkeys - if you do not enjoy hard, pointy objects being forcefully jammed up your ass you should give up your career as a bullfighter before the end of the week. For the rams - this week you will discover that your entire emotional construct is in fact comprised of emoticons. Especially the little cat ones with the big eyes. To the rabbits, I simply wish to remind you that quantity is not the same as quality. Why? Because if you can really fuck ten times in a day, then at least the first five times were lame.
SPORTS NEWS! - Sports are a celebration of endless youth! Join me in reveling in them! Weekly column by Rock Lee!
[We apologize that the column by Rock Lee will be delayed this week, as he is currently shackled to a wall somewhere in his selfless pursuit of in-depth exploration of the latest dominatrix-driven work-out phase. He wanted to let you all know that there is nothing he won't subject himself to for the educational purposes of his loyal readers. He hopes to return next week, but only if Mistress allows it.]
-xXx-
Naruto sat at his desk at the Daily Ramen, looking through the first drafts of Hinata's and Kiba's columns, along with some additional articles they were running. He had a stack of emails from local vendors wanting to buy advertising space on their website that he had to get to before the end of the day. Shikamaru handled the tax, legal and accounting side of their little business, and Naruto handled most of the editing, proofing, and advertising part. It was a good mix of their skills.
Today, however, Naruto was having trouble focusing. His mind wandered to a particular business card that was sitting in his wallet.
It had been almost a week since Sasuke had given him his number. Naruto had spent the weekend catching up with Gaara and watching him terrorize his friends from the Daily Ramen. He had pushed the library encounter with the dark-haired man to the back of his mind. Monday had been hectic with lots of local socialites doing things dumb enough to require many 'flash updates' on their website.
But now enough time had passed that he really should be deciding whether he was going to call Sasuke or not. Or to be perfectly honest with himself, he needed to decide what he was going to say when he did call. Because there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to call the bastard.
Even though they had both agreed it would be 'casual', he didn't want to make it feel like some cheesy booty call. He really couldn't imagine himself calling someone up and being all: "hey baby, let's meet at my place." It wasn't his style, and he was pretty sure it wasn't Sasuke's either.
But meeting at a restaurant seemed a little dubious, too, since who knows who would see them? And a movie felt like a 'date thing', which Sasuke wasn't really wanting to do. Museum? Sasuke was probably a pretty cultured guy, but it was clear they were both hoping to get sex out of it at the end. Museum didn't exactly scream sex. Not that he wanted to make an offer that was too cliché, but - Naruto cut off his thoughts with a groan, letting his head thud down on his desk. He was overthinking this. He needed to just pick up the phone and call.
"Naruto?" He looked up to see Kiba eyeing him with a bit of worry. "You don't like the draft of the columns?"
"Nah, they're great. I'm just… stressing over stupid things," Naruto scrubbed his hands over his face. "What's up?"
Kiba looked at him for a moment… Naruto didn't usually 'stress' over things. But he shrugged, knowing his friend would talk about it if he needed to. "Let's go out this weekend, then. Blow off some steam. Maybe get you laid."
Naruto rolled his eyes, but he felt his cheeks heat slightly. That was actually a more realistic possibility than Kiba knew, but Naruto wasn't going to enlighten him. He was glad that neither Hinata nor Shikamaru were in the room to see his reaction, or they would have known something was up.
"Yeah. We can go down to The Hidden Leaf and shoot some pool on Friday. After we get the print edition out," Naruto said, giving Kiba a glare for the half-finished article he had handed in.
"Deal! I'll tell the guys. And Hinata."
Naruto bit back a grin. Kiba was the only one of their group who always clarified that Hinata was separate from 'the guys'. He wondered when his friend was finally going to man up and make his move. He grimaced slightly at the thought that he had no right to say anything. He had his own 'manning up' to do.
Sasuke leaned back in his chair behind his large mahogany desk and stretched his back. This had been the week from hell at work. He didn't think he'd gotten more than four hours of sleep for the past five nights. The markets had shifted unexpectedly, and Sasuke had had to scramble to make sure that they adjusted their positions rapidly enough to avoid taking losses. There had been a few hedge funds that Sasuke had decided to pull their investments out of two months ago when he'd realized that a market shift like this could cost the company billions. There had been grumbling from their sales side when he'd done it, since at the time they had thought a shift like this was 'highly unlikely', but he had been proven right in the end.
He smirked in satisfaction. Even his father had been impressed. Sasuke could count on one hand the number of times he'd witnessed that... most of them involving Itachi. But this one had been his own.
Sasuke glanced at his phone. Thirty-seven business related calls received. None from a blond idiot. He rubbed his neck tiredly. It had almost been a week. He supposed it was better that the reporter hadn't called him. He wasn't sure he'd have been able to meet anyway. But still… he had thought the blond would have called. He regretted not taking Naruto's number, but there just hadn't been time. And he had been sure that he would call. If work hadn't been so busy, Sasuke would have been more annoyed about that fact.
He scrolled through the screen on his office computer. It showed the current end-of-day reports. He clicked through, giving it only a cursory glance. He had been invited to join the board of directors of the Business Council of Konoha, and they were going to welcome him at their meeting this evening while they were discussing plans to the city's business regulations for the upcoming year. Itachi had told Sasuke he had to go, even though it was Friday night and he'd had a hell of a week. But Itachi handled most PR aspects to their business, and this was the one area that Sasuke usually covered.
He was just about to close the screen when something caught his attention from one of their business units. He paused, looking at it twice to make sure he was seeing it correctly. Cursing silently under his breath, he picked up his phone and dialed the person who better fucking know what was going on.
"Kakuzu… I'm looking at the end of day report for our hedge fund portfolio. Can you tell me why we are three hundred million dollars short of where we were yesterday?"
"Sasuke-san… where are you looking?" The head of their private equity division immediately sounded concerned. Sasuke never called just to chit chat.
"Page one. If we had an account blow up to the tune of three hundred million dollars overnight, I would have expected to have been notified."
"What?! There is no fucking way we had a loss that big and I didn't know."
"Then where is the money?"
There was silence on the other line as Kakuzu pulled up the reports. "What the fuck!"
"Exactly. I want to know which account, and I want to know why, within the next fifteen minutes. No one from your group goes home for the weekend until I have an answer."
Kakuzu growled in agreement. He was actually even more of a pit-bull than Sasuke was when it came to chasing the bottom line. He hung up the phone, confident that Kakuzu would get to the bottom of it. And rip a new one in whoever let this slip.
He stood and walked over to the espresso machine he had in his office to make himself another cup, wondering if he could use this fiasco as an excuse to get him out of showing up tonight. He doubted it.
His phone rang exactly seven minutes later. Sasuke smirked. He was surprised he couldn't hear Kakuzu shouting from the floor below him.
"Talk," Sasuke said tersely.
"Nothing blew up. But we have a problem with operations. I have Udon here to try to explain this to us," Kakuzu sounded pissed, but not panicked. That was a good sign. It meant the money wasn't completely gone.
Sasuke could hear the frantic breathing of the poor young analyst that Kakuzu had just thrown under the bus. The kid was practically hyperventilating. Sasuke didn't blame him. Kakuzu was scary as fuck when money was on the line. And to have your first meeting with your bosses' boss be over a mistake wouldn't be fun. But the kid shouldn't have screwed up.
"Udon? I don't have all evening. Explain to me where the three hundred million dollars is," Sasuke said, his tone calm but not allowing for any hesitation
"Y-yes, Sasuke-sama. I-It's not gone. We just… one of the h-hedge funds that you said we should liquidate our assets in... "
"Yes?" Sasuke said, feeling impatient. That order had gone through weeks ago.
"We got approval and clearance from all parties. So the transaction is fine. But there was some difficulty in the communication between our system and one of the other parties…" Udon paused.
"If we don't have our money, how is the transaction 'fine'? And why am I just hearing about this now?" Sasuke bit out. His other phone line lit up. He looked at the number and groaned. Madara. Of course. Sasuke wasn't the only Uchiha who scanned the end of day numbers. "I will be back on in two minutes. In that time, I expect you to have a clear explanation to my question."
Sasuke pushed the button, switching him to his second line. "Uncle Madara. To what do I owe the pleasure of this Friday evening call?" Sasuke drawled sarcastically, though he already knew the answer.
"What happened with the hedge fund portfolio, and why wasn't the board immediately notified of a loss of this size?"
Sasuke bit back a curse, the small headache he'd had from lack of sleep blossoming into a full blown pounding. "I'm on the other line with the account analyst now. I'll know shortly."
"You'd better. We don't make mistakes of this magnitude at Uchiha Financial Holdings."
Sasuke refrained from gritting his teeth, but only because he knew it would make his head hurt worse. He clicked to the other line. "Start talking now, and you'd better make sense."
"Well, we had to see our shares in part of the hedge fund holdings. It was one of the major ones in that part of the portfolio, almost seven hundred million total. It took a while to unwind some of the positions because of the complexity of the -"
"Get to the point. Do we still have the stocks or whatever asset the fund was trading?"
"No, we sold that," Udon said confidently.
"And who has those assets now?"
"Bank of Tokyo bought them," Udon responded quickly.
"Ok, so if the Bank of Tokyo bought them, then where is the money they were supposed to have paid us?"
"Well, it should be…"
"I'm not interested in 'should be'. I want to know 'is'. Where is the money?" Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why were the assets released if we hadn't received payment yet?" You can't walk out of a store with a fucking two dollar pack of gum without handing over the money first. Why this concept didn't seem to have registered to someone working in the financial industry was beyond Sasuke.
"Well, everything was signed off on, and it was only transaction forty-seven from protocol -"
"Stop. Let's try this again. Is the money with us?"
"No."
"Are the assets with us?"
"..." Udon drew a stuttering breath. "N-no."
"Ok. So do you see the problem here?" Sasuke asked, his voice deceptively soft. He could hear Kakuzu swearing through the line.
"Who owes us the money for these transactions?" Sasuke fervently hoped it wasn't the original hedge fund, since they had gone bankrupt earlier this week due to their poor read of the market movements. Just like he'd predicted they would.
"B-Bank of Tokyo," Udon finally managed to get out.
Sasuke drew a breath. This would be fine, then. It was just a system error. And Bank of Tokyo would be able to pay them. "Kakuzu…"
Sasuke hadn't even been able to say more than that when the man cut in. "I know who to call there. We'll have this handled before business opens tomorrow, Sasuke-san."
"You'd better. Madara called when I was on the phone with you. He'll be expecting your update, along with the rest of the board. I'll let him know that you will be calling him directly later this evening."
The board had to sign off on the bonuses for all top executives. Kakuzu would make sure every 'i' was dotted and 't' was crossed on this one. And probably redesign the whole system so it never happened again.
Sasuke looked up at the sound of his door being opened as he hung up the phone. "You're going to be late, Otouto. This is an important position in the community," Itachi said, smirking as he could hear Kakuzu shouting orders from down the hall. "I think you've terrorized your minions sufficiently for the week. Now run along and play nice with the other business leaders. We need to work with most of them."
Sasuke thought longingly of the hot shower and large bed waiting for him at home. "Fuck you," he murmured to his brother, pulling on his jacket and heading down to his car.
Naruto grabbed his tablet and stuffed it into his bag. Hinata poked her head into the door as he was just zipping it closed. "You're covering the Business Council meeting tonight?"
Naruto sighed. "Yeah. It's my turn. Shit, these things are always so boring. We almost never get anything good out of them."
Hinata nodded sympathetically. There were certain events that were known for being deadly dull, and they'd draw straws to see who would go to cover them 'just in case'. Naruto got the short straw this time. "Tell Kiba he owes me a beer tonight after this."
"We'll meet you at The Hidden Leaf when you finish up," she said, mentioning their favorite pool hall bar.
"Sounds good. I'll see you there," Naruto slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out. Maybe if he got a few drinks into him at The Hidden Leaf he'd get the nerve to call Sasuke.
Naruto got to the meeting just as they were opening the discussion on some new set of tax incentives that he couldn't understand and couldn't care less about. He would stay to the end of the meeting on the off-chance that anything interesting happened, but he wasn't going to hold his breath.
The meeting had been going for about fifteen minutes when the door opened and someone walked in. Naruto didn't bother turning to see who it was, assuming it was just another attendee. When the person walked past him and headed up to the row of chairs where the board members sat, Naruto looked up.
And was shocked to see a familiar duck-ass hairdo walk past. Naruto pretended to look more at the hair rather than the fine set of broad shoulders nicely filling out the suit below it. When had Uchiha Sasuke been added to the Board?
Sasuke turned and spoke briefly to the chairman of the board before taking the remaining empty seat at the far end of the row of chairs up on the dais. His face looked as calm and stoic as ever, but Naruto thought the man looked a bit weary.
Sasuke picked up a pack of materials that had been left on his seat for him to read through describing the details of the new policy that would be voted on later this evening. He hadn't noticed Naruto as he'd walked into the room, and was flipping through the documents, a slight frown of concentration on his face. It was the first time Naruto had really seen Sasuke when they weren't arguing, and he was struck again by how coldly beautiful the man was. Sasuke's legs were spread slightly apart as he rested the papers on the table in front of him, his long fingers flipping through the pages as he scanned their contents. There was something both elegant and powerful about his presence that immediately commanded respect from the other businessmen in the room.
Naruto continued to watch as Sasuke pulled out a pen and made a few short notes in the margins before he folded the papers and set them in front of him, evidently having finished digesting the materials. Most of the other members of the board were still reading despite having a twenty minute head-start on the Uchiha. Naruto smiled, somehow finding that amusing. The man in front was still droning on about some minutia that Naruto didn't bother listening to. He noticed that Sasuke had pulled out his phone and appeared to be checking e-mails.
Deciding there was no time like the present, Naruto pulled out his phone as well.
Sasuke bit back a groan as he finally finished reading the materials that he'd have to vote on at the end of the evening. This was such a fucking waste of his time. After the week he'd had, all he wanted to do was go back to his apartment take a hot shower and have a glass of wine. Or three. Before he decided whether he was going to fire Udon on Monday.
He checked his emails, finding one from Kakuzu saying he had called someone at the other bank and gotten confirmation that the money transfer would be complete before their team left for the night.
He looked up, trying to at least pretend to pay attention to what the speaker was saying. He'd already read the materials and made his decision, but he had to make a perfunctory show of paying attention.
His phone vibrated as he received another text. He frowned inwardly, thinking it had better not be Kakuzu with another problem. He was surprised to see an unknown number.
Was the packet boring, or are you really just that fast of a reader?
Sasuke's eyes snapped up and he glanced around. He'd had stalkers before, and it always annoyed him. His phone vibrated again.
You're pretty hot when you're pissed.
Sasuke wondered briefly if Karin had somehow gotten his number. He'd have to renew the restraining order, if so.
5th row, 2 seats in from the left, bastard.
Sasuke looked up and over to where he was indicated, but didn't see anyone he recognized, everyone's face was fixedly turned toward the speaker.
Sorry, my left, not yours.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, not surprised at this point when they landed on a familiar blond head of hair. Blue eyes full of amusement met his, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel his lips twitch in response.
He glanced down at his phone and quickly typed out: I was wondering if you were ever going to grow balls enough to use my number.
He saw Naruto glance down at his phone as he received the message, then the tan fingers were flying over the device.
More like grow bored enough to call you, asshole. Will this old windbag ever stop talking about this stupid tax code?
Sasuke glanced down at the new message, his brow arching. He hated to agree with the blond, but really, the speaker seemed to be greatly enjoying the sound of his own voice a little too much. His fingers typed quickly:
What, was my neighbor all booked up for the night? No one better to text?
Sasuke could see Naruto snicker, and he felt his own lips curve slightly in response. He watched as Naruto typed out a reply, and waited for it to arrive.
He said he'd rather watch paint dry than come here.
There was a brief pause, then Sasuke received a second text from the blond.
You look tired. Rough day?
The message surprised Sasuke. Most people couldn't read him well enough to tell when he was tired.
I look better than you even when I'm tired. But yeah. Rough week.
Naruto quickly typed back.
You wish you looked better than me. But if you're up for it, I'm still game to buy coffee. I think I have some extra hats and dark glasses if we need to go incognito.
"And now, we're pleased to have our newest board member, Uchiha Sasuke, co-owner of Uchiha Financial Holdings, give us his assessment on these points." The room seemed to wake from its stupor when the old man who'd been rambling at the front of the room finally stopped, and apparently was handing over the discussion of the fine points of the changes to Sasuke. Naruto panicked, not realizing that Sasuke was supposed to have been paying attention to the speaker and feeling guilty for having distracted him.
Sasuke rose, looking completely composed. "Thank you, Chairman. There were three points in particular that you raised that I wanted to further clarify to the group before we begin voting…"
Naruto watched in shock as Sasuke smoothly went through all the points, the nodding heads in the room assuring Naruto that Sasuke was evidently having no problem. Clearly he had been following the speaker even while texting with Naruto.
Sasuke looked directly at him, and Naruto saw a smug amusement in the businessman's face as he read the worry then surprise that had come over Naruto. He hated to admit it, but he was actually impressed with the way Sasuke pulled it off. Impressed… and honestly more than a little turned on.
When Sasuke finished, the chairman stood back up and took questions from the room, many specifically wanting Sasuke's opinion based on what he'd seen in other cities. Finally, they were ready to call the vote. It wasn't surprising that Sasuke's well-articulated points had clearly swayed the majority of the people in the room.
After the meeting, young businessman was immediately swarmed by people wanting to ask him about everything from his opinion on the business environment of the city to whether or not he was dating. It didn't look like Sasuke was going to be able to escape any time soon, and the man had already said he was tired, so Naruto left with the majority of the spectators.
While he was waiting for a taxi, he pulled out his phone to text Kiba to see if they were already at The Hidden Leaf when his device buzzed again.
Do you always run away?
Naruto looked up but Sasuke hadn't emerged from the building yet. Naruto typed back.
You looked like you were already at your quota of groupies pawing at you for the day. I'm not into the group thing on first dates.
Naruto really hoped that whoever was standing next to Sasuke couldn't read his texts, but he figured Sasuke knew what he was doing.
So you're one of my groupies now?
Naruto couldn't help the grin on his face as he texted Sasuke back:
You're not cool enough to have me as a groupie. But I might consider letting you be mine.
He shivered a bit as the frigid night air was penetrating his jacket. A taxi went past, but he didn't flag it down, wanting to see what Sasuke had planned for tonight. He punched out another quick message.
So… are we on for coffee later or what? If you're too tired for going out, that's fine.
Naruto wasn't expecting Sasuke to agree, given that he'd already said he was tired and he was still evidently being mobbed by the local businessmen. He was surprised when he read the next text from Sasuke:
I'm don't want to deal with going out tonight, but I have a decent espresso machine at my place. I could probably add enough milk and sugar to make it palatable for you. You can come by in about an hour if you don't already have plans. Apartment 3249. In the building with the coffee shop with the name you can't pronounce.
Naruto wrote back:
You mean the one you stalk me in? Yeah, I know it. See you in an hour.
Naruto flagged down the next taxi that came by, sighing in relief as he got into the taxi and out of the cold. He took the cab back to his place, and went in and took a hot shower. He was wondering what excuse he was going to use with Kiba about why he wasn't meeting them all at The Hidden Leaf, when he got a text from Kiba telling him that they'd decided not to go but if Naruto still wanted to hang, Kiba could come over. If Naruto hadn't been so relieved that he wasn't the one who had to cancel, he would have probably been a bit suspicious. But he just wrote back and said he was good and they could go out tomorrow instead.
Sasuke drove back to his place, and had the valet park his car in the underground lot. He honestly had been looking forward to just going to sleep tonight, but after all the dancing around he and Naruto had been doing he didn't want to blow him off. Not to mention that he had been under a lot of stress, and sex was a great way to release some tension. If they ended up having sex, of course. He'd see how the night played out.
They could at least have coffee and talk a bit. See where it goes from there.
Sasuke set the espresso machine going before heading to the shower so he wouldn't fall asleep before Naruto even got there. The hot shower felt good on his neck and shoulders, and he stood under the pounding spray just letting the heat soak into his muscles. When he felt a bit more relaxed, he finished washing, then toweled off quickly, wanting to be dressed before Naruto arrived. It would be pretty cliché to just answer the door in his bathrobe.
He pulled on a pair of black jeans and a dark blue cashmere sweater, the heat of the shower already somehow leaching out of his body. He always seemed to feel cold when his metabolism started to shut down with fatigue. He poured himself a shot of espresso, downing it quickly despite the scalding temperature. A knock on his door let him know that Naruto had arrived right on time.
His hair was still damp from the shower when he opened the door to find Naruto standing there, looking slightly uncertain. Sasuke noticed that Naruto had also evidently decided to shower. His blond hair looked slightly wet, which must have been cold given the weather. Sasuke noted the he had on a black leather jacket and jeans, but no gloves or scarf. The cold air had left color on Naruto's cheeks and lips, and Sasuke felt his eyes drawn to the mouth that never failed to piss him off.
"Idiot. It's winter out. What the fuck are you thinking?"
Naruto rolled his eyes, walking in and removing his shoes in the entryway. "Yes, mom," he drawled sarcastically. "I only live a few blocks away. Anyway, I'm like a living furnace…. I don't get that cold."
"Tch, whatever," Sasuke took Naruto's jacket and hung it on the coatrack, noticing that Naruto had on only a thin orange T-shirt beneath it. He snorted slightly when he read it.
I'd like to explain it to you, but I don't have any crayons
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sound, noticing Sasuke's gaze drifting over the lettering of his shirt. "Like it? I picked it out just for you."
"Hn," Sasuke said. He might need to have one of those delivered to Udon. Assuming the boy was still employed there on Monday.
Sasuke walked to the kitchen, leaving it up to Naruto to follow. He could feel Naruto's gaze on him, but didn't turn around to look at the other.
"Sorry I didn't bring anything. You already expressed your aversion to flowers, and I would have brought a bottle of wine, but I was intimidated about buying wine for a rich guy, so…."
Naruto was clearly a bit uncomfortable with the situation, and it made Sasuke smirk slightly as he poured himself a second shot of espresso. This clearly wasn't the kind of thing the blond did often. It was part of the other's appeal, in a way. Sasuke wondered if the things Naruto's friends had written in the paper about him were true… if the young journalist had really been avoiding sex for over a year. It was too soon to ask about it, but if it were true, Sasuke couldn't help feeling a bit smug. He poured another cup of espresso and offered it to Naruto. The blond accepted the small, white cup and took a tentative sip of the strong, bitter brew. He crinkled his nose. "Ugh! How can you drink this shit!"
Sasuke chuckled at the expected reaction. "I believe I have larger mugs in the cupboard. There's milk in the fridge, and sugar on the counter. I don't think I have any straws or sippy cups, though. You'll have to manage out of a 'big kid' cup."
"Fuck you," Naruto, laughing slightly as he turned to search the nearest cupboard for a mug to try to dilute the strong coffee down to a palatable level when Sasuke's phone went off. Naruto saw Sasuke frown and check the number before answering, clearly annoyed at the interruption.
"Madara," Sasuke said tersely. "Didn't Kakuzu call you?... Then you know the situation had been handled… Yes. The three hundred million will be back in the proper account before morning… I will be addressing the board on Monday to assure them we have fixed the issue and this won't happen again… Obviously." Sasuke's voice was calm and firm, not hostile but also not the slightest bit deferential. But Naruto could see the tension in the man's posture, and knew he wasn't as calm as he came across. He opened the fridge to get the milk, trying not to listen in too closely since it appeared to be about work. He noted the bean sprouts, tofu, and other vegetables filling it with a snort of derision.
Sasuke set his phone down and run his hand through his black hair, glaring slightly at his still-untouched cup of espresso sitting on the counter.
"That didn't sound like a fun call," Naruto said casually, not wanting to pry, but noticing the tension coming from the businessman. Naruto closed the fridge without getting the milk once he saw it was skim. He wasn't that desperate for coffee.
"Well, telling my uncle that we 'misplaced' three hundred million dollars isn't exactly an easy conversation to have," Sasuke said drily, leaning against the counter.
"Holy shit! I lost a twenty from my pocket once and freaked out about that. How the fuck do you lose that kind of money?"
Sasuke snorted derisively. "You have a system error. But it's fixed now."
Naruto blinked at the way the man appeared to be handling it so casually, though the tightness around Sasuke's eyes indicated maybe that was more of a front than anything else "Fuck. You must have stones of steel to be so calm about the whole thing. I would have been freaking out. It sounded like you fixed it, though. And if it's a system error, then it wasn't your fault. Shouldn't your uncle be happy with you?"
Sasuke's smile was slightly bitter. "As much as I appreciate your admiration of my balls, Uchihas don't allow those kinds of mistakes. It doesn't matter who is at fault. It's one of the divisions under me, so therefore it is my responsibility."
Naruto thought briefly about what that kind of pressure must feel like, and looked at the small cup of coffee Sasuke was holding in his hand. "You're drinking entirely the wrong beverage after a day like that."
Naruto turned and began looking through the cupboards. Sasuke's eyes drifted down the toned contours of Naruto's back, visible through his tight shirt, to the curve of his ass nicely showcased by the jeans he was wearing while the blond finally found the cabinet that held his alcohol.
"By all means, make yourself at home," Sasuke drawled as he casually set his cup down and walked a few steps closer to the sink before leaning back against the counter. Naruto scanned through his stock and selected a mostly full bottle of Johnnie Walker.
"Glasses?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke smirked, but didn't say anything. Naruto narrowed his eyes, suddenly suspicious of why Sasuke chose to stand in front of that particular cabinet. He set the bottle down on the counter walked up to the businessman. Sasuke held his gaze, amusement showing in his eyes, but he made no move to get out of the way. Naruto reached past Sasuke's shoulder, slowly pulling open the door there, their bodies inches apart. He broke eye contact as he glanced up to see the wine and shot glasses stacked neatly on the shelf behind Sasuke's shoulder.
Naruto took two shot glasses down, but didn't pull back from where he was standing, letting the heat from their bodies blend together and amplify. "You could have just told me where they were, asshole," Naruto said, his mouth close enough to Sasuke's ear that the breath from his words moved his hair slightly. Sasuke shifted his legs slightly farther apart as a familiar tingle of heat began to coil in him.
"And what would the fun be in that?" Sasuke responded, his voice low.
Naruto looked at him for a moment, enjoying the slow build of anticipation that was settling between his thighs. It had been so long since anyone had stirred him up like this. "You're just lucky you're hot," a slow grin tugged on Naruto's lips as he stepped back.
He poured them each a shot, ignoring Sasuke's slightly annoyed expression and instead handing him a glass. "When you're already stressed, the last thing you need is coffee. This will help relax you more."
"I can think of better ways to get rid of stress. Given how little sleep I've had this week, it might end the evening prematurely if I drink much of this," Sasuke lifted his glass, though, and took a sip. He didn't really disagree with Naruto's point. He was almost immune to caffeine's ability to keep him awake at this point.
Naruto poured his own shot, rolling his eyes. "After a day like this you deserve to get drunk and pass out without worrying about entertaining a last-minute guest. If I lost three hundred million dollars, even for two minutes, I'm pretty sure you'd be meeting me in the emergency room where I'd be being treated for cardiac arrest. If you fall asleep on me, I won't hold it against you."
Naruto lifted his glass slightly. "Kanpai."
Sasuke hesitated a second, then shrugged, clicking his glass slightly against Naruto's. "Cheers."
They drained their glasses together.
"I hope you can handle your alcohol better than you can handle your coffee," Sasuke said as Naruto grabbed the bottle and headed to the living room. "I'm not carrying your drunk ass home if you pass out on my floor."
Naruto looked back over his shoulder with a smirk. "It wouldn't be the first floor I've slept on, but you don't have to worry about that. You'll probably be passed out after three shots. It's not even worth challenging you when you're already so tired. But one of these days, I'd be more than happy to drink you under the table."
Sasuke levered himself away from the counter and followed, surprised at how comfortable Naruto seemed in his place. And even more surprised at how comfortable Sasuke was having Naruto in it. "Tch. I don't do stupid things like drinking contests. All it would prove is that you've spent more time in bars, which I'm pretty sure we both already know is likely to be true."
Naruto chuckled as he sat down on the black leather sofa. He looked around and noted that everything in the apartment was sleek and either black, white or red. Naruto almost rolled his eyes at the testosterone level in the decor. He was pretty sure that a woman had never even so much as set foot in this place. He realized could probably fit his entire apartment in Sasuke's living room.
Sasuke noted his amusement and raised a brow in enquiry as he sat down on the sofa next to Naruto, not close enough to be touching, but closer than could be considered 'formal space'.
"I was just thinking that the apartment definitely suited your personality," Naruto answered the implied question, looking over at the massive flat-screen TV. The shelves in the room were lined with books, but he didn't see any videos. Maybe Sasuke kept his hidden. The sudden thought of Sasuke with a secret stash of gay porn made him grin a bit.
"Are you sure you're bi? That sounded more 'gay' to me," Sasuke said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Well, you'd know more about that than I would," Naruto responded, looking again at the lack of… anything... fun in the room. "Do you even own any movies? Games?"
"No. If I ever wanted to watch something, I'd just rent it online," Sasuke said, earning a look from Naruto.
"None? Like… not even Fight Club or… Princess Bride?" Naruto snickered as Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "So what do you usually watch on this big-ass TV then? I don't see any game console around. Or stacks of porn. Though you would probably have those put away somewhere."
"I don't have much in terms of personal stuff here," Sasuke said, and Naruto noticed he didn't exactly answer the porn question. "Most of the time I spend here is spent sleeping. I've only lived here a few months, and work has been the first priority," Sasuke shrugged. "I watch the news while I'm getting ready in the mornings, though."
"No wonder you're such an ass. You need more sleep. And something that isn't work related every once in a while."
Naruto poured them each another shot. Naruto lifted his and drank about half, but Sasuke left his glass alone, watching the way Naruto's fingers held the glass to his lips briefly before he set it back down on the glass coffee table.
"You're not work-related," Sasuke looked directly at Naruto, their eyes locking.
Naruto felt his breath quicken slightly at the look. There was something about Sasuke that just instantly got his blood going. The intensity of the man's presence was almost a tangible thing.
"No… I'm definitely not," Naruto said, his voice coming out lower than he expected it to.
Sasuke reached over and took his shot, downing it. He grimaced slightly at the burn. It was normal to have drinks during business dinners, but he was definitely not a heavy drinker. Naruto had been right, though. He did feel some of the tension leaving him as the alcohol warmed his blood. Looking over at where Naruto sat less than a foot away from him on his sofa, Sasuke knew it wasn't only the alcohol that was warming him up. The shirt Naruto wore fit his toned body snugly. Sasuke could smell the subtle scent of the soap the blond had used. It was a warm, honey or herbal scent that he couldn't quite place, but somehow only added to the heat pooling in his body.
He wondered what Naruto's expectations of the evening were. He hadn't asked to go directly to the bedroom, but the alcohol was a pretty commonly used icebreaker.
"So… is this how you usually spend your Friday evenings?" Naruto shifted on the sofa so one of his knees was resting against the back of the seat, his torso turned slightly towards Sasuke. He rested his arm casually across the back of the couch. He wondered how often Sasuke brought someone back to his place like this. It wasn't his business to ask… Sasuke had already made it clear that this was not 'a relationship', but he couldn't help being curious. The man seemed completely casual about it… no sign of nerves about any of it. Though given what he'd just witnessed about Sasuke's job, he expected it would take quite a lot to rattle the Uchiha.
Sasuke didn't hide the fact that his eyes were sliding along the lines of Naruto's body. "You mean… losing nearly half a billion dollars then inviting a guy I don't know particularly well over to my place? One of those has happened a few times. The other not so much."
Sasuke filled their glasses again. "What about you? Given what your friends were saying in the paper, it doesn't seem like this is your usual Friday night activity either."
He watched Naruto's face, noting the slight flush across his cheekbones that could be embarrassment or from the alcohol. Naruto lifted his glass and took a drink. "I usually hang out with my friends, I guess. We go clubbing, shoot pool, or cook out at my place."
Sasuke noticed that Naruto has sort of dodged the question about whether he'd had many casual relationships, but he decided not to push. Naruto had still contacted him after hearing his terms, and beyond that Sasuke figured it wasn't really his business.
"Ah. I would have thought you wouldn't have much time for that, given the number of lawsuits you must deal with for your shoddy reporting."
"What?! I'm not a shoddy reporter. I just enjoy pointing out the obvious about people who really need it," Naruto said, scowling slightly.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, enjoying the expressive flash of temper in the blond, as well as the slight buzz from the alcohol. "There is a difference between 'obvious' and 'wrong', idiot."
"I don't report stuff that's wrong, asshole," Naruto said, draining his glass and glaring at Sasuke. He turned to face the man more fully, his knee brushing against Sasuke's thigh, but neither man moved to break the contact.
"Hn, I can think of at least one article where you didn't have your facts straight," Sasuke said, resting his elbow on the back of the sofa, leaning forward slightly and spreading his legs further apart.
The movement drew attention to his body, and Naruto found himself briefly distracted by the sight. Abruptly, he recalled the scene in the locker room and knew exactly which article Sasuke was talking about. The memory of Sasuke in his speedo had Naruto's jeans feeling tight. Yeah… probably his facts had been pretty wrong when he'd implied Sasuke needed to compensate for what was downstairs.
"You know, if you keep running articles on me, I might start thinking you have some sort of fixation," Sasuke's gaze had settled down between Naruto's thighs, where it was pretty clear that Naruto definitely had a rapidly growing interest.
"Pfft. Yeah, right," Naruto bluffed, not fooling either of them. "You're the stalker, coming up behind me in the grocery store, then the coffee shop, even your brother's office."
"'Stalker' is such a strong word. Maybe I just like looking at your ass," Sasuke said, letting his hand shift forward so it brushed against Naruto's wrist on the back of the couch. "It's almost worth dealing with your annoying mouth."
Naruto decided he was done dancing around this. "You haven't even begun to see what I can do with my mouth."
Sasuke made a noise low in his throat as he tugged on Naruto's wrist, pulling the man forward as he leaned in, bringing their mouths together. Naruto's words had immediately brought images of the blond's wicked, insulting mouth and exactly what he wanted to do with it. "Oh, fuck," Sasuke breathed in against Naruto's mouth before thrusting his tongue into the wet heat. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this hard. Possibly not ever.
He felt Naruto's hands fist into his hair, their teeth clicking with the raw ferocity of their kiss. Sasuke wanted to possess every corner of Naruto's mouth, not giving the blond an instant to speak or even breathe if he could help it. His fingers slid along the tan jaw, pulling their bodies closer, building even more force into the joining of their mouths.
Sasuke slid a hand along the inside of Naruto's knee, tugging the leg forward as he pushed Naruto back until he was laying on top of the blond, rocking his hips against Naruto's. The friction wasn't enough to appease the almost desperate pressure building between his thighs. Tan hands gripped his hips as Naruto thrust up, obviously experiencing the same visceral need, and Sasuke felt a surge of power at the way the blue eyes were glazed with lust.
"Holy shit, Sasuke," Naruto gasped, his body temperature feeling like it just jumped ten degrees. Whatever patience and disinterest his body had felt about sex over the past year was just vaporized. "I take back what I said earlier. I will totally kill you if you pass out on me right now."
"That's not the retraction I'm looking for, Dobe," Sasuke murmured, dragging Naruto's mouth back to his and crushing them together. Their tongues surged into each other's mouths, sliding wetly along teeth and gums, tasting the alcohol on each other's tongues. There had been too much teasing, too much waiting, and too many interruptions for them to even consider stopping now.
Sasuke realized he didn't have any of the necessary items in his living room for what he hoped to god was about to happen, but Naruto's hand had already undone his jeans and slipped inside Sasuke's boxers. Sasuke arched back at the touch, groaning at the skin-on-skin contact that his body was craving.
"Before I print any retraction about that I'd have to do my research thoroughly, now wouldn't I?" Naruto rasped out before leaning up and biting Sasuke's lower lip, tugging on it before running his tongue along to soothe the sting. "Oh, fuck yes," he arched up as Sasuke thrust against him.
"I'm more than happy to give you whatever access you need," Sasuke rolled his hips.
"Smug bastard," Naruto gasped, but retaliated.
Sasuke shuddered, making a sound low in his throat that had Naruto almost coming out of his skin. Naruto had to close his eyes briefly to block out the beauty of the twisted expression of arousal on Sasuke's usually stoic face, or it would be all over for him. There was something about seeing someone as controlled as Sasuke break apart with lust.
"Too many fucking clothes," Naruto gritted out as he tugged Sasuke's sweater over the dark head, revealing the smooth, pale skin and toned chest beneath it.
"Agreed," Sasuke was barely a second behind him in lifting off Naruto's shirt before undoing the zipper of the blond's jeans and tugging them down to his thighs. Naruto groaned as the pressure on his groin was lifted. The sound was swallowed by Sasuke's mouth as he slid his lips with almost bruising force back over Naruto's.
Naruto was annoyed that they both still had their pants half on, but he didn't want to break contact with the hard, perfect body sliding against his long enough to do anything more about it.
The musky scent of their arousals blended together, somehow seeping into their pores. Naruto pressed their mouths open wider, sucking harder on Sasuke's tongue before biting is slightly, not able to think of anything but 'more'.
Their hands were trapped between their bodies as they pressed harder together. Wanting them out of the way, Sasuke shifted position, grabbing Naruto's hands and lacing their fingers together before pushing them up over Naruto's head, pressing them firmly into the sofa as they continued to thrust against each other heatedly.
"Oh, shit," Sasuke knew this was going way too fast. He started to slow things down before it was too late, but Naruto arched his neck back, momentarily breaking their kiss. Sasuke's lips trailed down the tan throat, not willing to lose contact from Naruto's body. He couldn't control the urge to mark that flesh, an impulse he had never had before. Before he could process it, he slid his teeth along a cord of muscle at the base of Naruto's throat, then bit down, just shy of drawing blood.
Naruto's eyes flew open at the unexpected flash of pain and his entire body arched up as he came. "Sss-ke, fuck!"
The sound of his name ripped from Naruto's lips had Sasuke cumming as well, his whole body locking as wave of pleasure crashed through him, streams of his cum shooting over Naruto's stomach and chest. The sight made him shudder before he collapsed on the couch next to Naruto.
They lay on the leather sofa together, shocked, panting and sticky.
Sasuke felt disoriented, unable to believe he had cum that hard from just rubbing up against someone. His pants weren't even down to his knees, for fuck's sake. He wasn't sure what had just happened. Usually, he had pretty good stamina. But this had been… totally… out of control. He never lost control like this.
He raised his head just enough to see the huge hickey and bite mark on Naruto's throat, trying to figure out what had possessed him to do that. That was another first for him. As was the strange surge of pride that flooded through him at viewing it, despite the fact that it had been a stupid move for someone wanting to keep his sexual activities off the radar. Of course people would see a mark like that. What the fuck had he been thinking? He closed his eyes, deciding maybe he'd had too much to drink after all.
"Well. That was… fast," Naruto said, laughing and sounding slightly stunned. "Sorry about that. And about your couch. Um… shit. I guess… we should go wash off?"
Sasuke blinked, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. "Yeah. Give me a minute."
Sasuke didn't know if it were the alcohol or the incredible heat that was radiating from Naruto's body like the furnace he had claimed to be, but he felt completely relaxed. He wanted to just lay there, and not move. Possibly for the rest of the night, though he knew he wouldn't like the dried, sticky mess he'd have to deal with in the morning.
Naruto looked at Sasuke's face, seeing his eyes drifting closed.
"Hey, bastard. I'm not going to have you falling asleep on me, then getting pissed about the mess in the morning. Anyone who keeps their place as clean as your has to be one of those OCD neat freaks. Let's go get you washed up and into bed before you get pissy about it."
"Hn," Sasuke felt like there were lead weights attached to his eyelids. He really shouldn't have had that third shot. Or was it four? Not when he'd been running on so little sleep for the past week. And Naruto just felt so warm. He really didn't want to get up.
But Naruto was already sliding out from under him, taking all the warmth with him and tugging their jeans the rest the way off. Sasuke reluctantly stood and let Naruto grab him by the wrist and lead him down the hall to the bathroom. He didn't bother to correct Naruto that this was actually the guest bathroom, not the master. He had soap and shampoo in both, so it didn't matter. Naruto turned on the shower and in less than a minute it was billowing with steam. Sasuke managed to stay awake long enough for them to wash off, but he was barely aware of anything except Naruto gently (and very thoroughly) washing him with a soapy washcloth.
"You're dead on your feet, asshole. Go get some sleep before you actually pass out," Naruto said gruffly, not wanting to notice how different Sasuke looked with his guard down.
Naruto had thought he could handle this. They were both attracted to each other, both had reasons to not want to jump into anything serious. But now he wasn't so sure. He'd never been a person who did things halfway. And this…
He had to get out of there. This had been too intense. Not the simple release of sexual tension that he had been expecting. That Sasuke had been offering. Naruto was feeling things he knew he shouldn't be feeling. Wasn't ready to be feeling. He wanted nothing more at the moment than to curl up next to his exhausted lover in the big bed, then wake him up and have sex where they both could hopefully last more than a couple of minutes.
But if he stayed the night, there was no way his emotions weren't going to get too involved. Sasuke was… dangerous. There were just too many things that pulled at him from this man. Too many facets of him that Naruto wanted to explore.
Sasuke didn't bother with clothes as he turned down the rich blue sheets of the massive bed and lay down. Naruto vaguely wondered if he always slept in the raw, or if the businessman was just too tired to care tonight. Sasuke lay back on the stack of pillows, noticing that Naruto was still just standing by the edge of the bed.
"You're leaving," Sasuke stated, his voice sounding tired but otherwise containing no emotion.
Naruto tried to read Sasuke's expression in the darkness. He had assumed Sasuke would want him to leave. They would be more likely to be noticed if he left in the morning. He couldn't tell if Sasuke wanted him to stay, or go, or didn't give a fuck either way.
"Yeah. I should go," Naruto said, hoping none of his uncertainty showed in his face. "There will be fewer people around now than in the morning."
"Lock the door on your way out," Sasuke said simply, laying down and pulling the thick quilt up. Naruto thought he saw the man shiver slightly, and again had to fight the urge to crawl into bed with him.
"Sure, no problem."
Naruto went and grabbed his clothes, tugging them on, happy to find them free of stains. He took a few wet paper towels from the kitchen and cleaned up the mess they'd left on the couch.
Biting his lip, he looked back at the darkened door of Sasuke's bedroom. Should he have stayed? Had that been an invitation to do so, or had Sasuke been giving him a nudge that he should in fact be leaving?
Naruto turned off the hall and kitchen lights, then grabbed his coat. He was careful to lock the door on his way out.
It was cold outside.
to be continued….
Credits: dumbass of the day nominated by Soras. Shika's is true, and I have a friend who works in the gaming industry so we were talking about this over the weekend. Oh, and one of my friends works at an investment bank, and this actually happened. They 'lost' $500M for about a day.