Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.
A/N: It's been a looooong time (and now I'm thinking of Portal). Like, I'm-a-horrible-person-but-at-least-it-wasn't-a-few -years-like-last-time long! It wasn't out of disinterest, I actually tried picking it back up a few times, but with work, reading, and my original novel that I started in April, time is very squished. Doing something original is harder than I thought. With fanfiction, writing it seems to go so much more quickly. I can do 6-8k words a day, and I was. With my original novel...I don't know. Maybe it's because it's my baby made out of tears and sweat and stress after marinating in my head for two years, who knows. Anyway, on to the long awaited hiking trip! And thank god for outlines!
Chapter 11: Just Is
Naruto knew he was in trouble the moment he was shaken roughly awake.. He felt something soft and warm slide off his shoulder and to the bed next to him, taking its comforting presence with it. His eyes snapped open in confusion to see Sai hovering over the bed. Glowering was more correct. He couldn't quite understand why until he registered the fact that someone was cuddled up against his back. Looking at Sai's face and remembering who he was sitting next to on the bed last night, he didn't need to guess who it was.
Without a word, Sai stood up and marched out of the room, his pack with the few things he brought tossed over a shoulder. "Wait!" Naruto hissed. He jumped out of bed, trying not to wake Sasuke, and ran after Sai. He had to jump over Gaara's sleeping form, who was hugging his own shoe. "Sai!" he whispered again, only to be ignored once more.
His boyfriend must have sprinted through the house, since Sai's car was pulling out of the driveway by the time he got to the kitchen. Itachi was sitting at the table, sipping coffee while reading the newspaper, for all the world looking like the average suburban father. He raised an eyebrow when Naruto rushed into the room looking frantic.
"Spat?" he asked, mouth twitching in amusement.
"It's nothing, we'll talk later after he cools off and it'll be fine. I fell asleep in Sasuke's bed while watching the movie last night."
Itachi took a sip from his mug. "That doesn't sound like a big deal."
"Sasuke fell asleep on the bed, too. Apparently Sasuke cuddles in his sleep, which Sai woke up and did not like." He helped himself to fresh glazed doughnut from the box Itachi had ready on the counter for the boys before collapsing in a chair across from Itachi.
"Ah, that is bad then," Sasuke's brother agreed.
"I know! I'll call in a bit, it'll be sorted out."
"No, I meant it's bad that you found out Sasuke cuddles in his sleep. When he knows that you know, your life will be forfeit."
"I'll give him a doughnut, he'll be okay then." Itachi smirked. Minutes ticked by, and no other movement came from Sasuke's room. Eventually Naruto couldn't take it and grabbed his phone, pressing on Sai's contact number. It didn't go immediately to voicemail, thankfully.
The third ring Sai picked up. He didn't say anything at all, waiting for Naruto to say the first thing. Going by the background noise, he was still in the car. He got up from the table and stepped outside for more privacy.
"I'm sorry, Sai. I fell asleep during the movie, and I had no clue what kind of position I was in. I swear."
He heard his boyfriend heave a sigh on the other end. "You know how feel about the relationship between you and Sasuke."
"I know, and it isn't like that! I'm not sure you can even call us friends, so please believe me when I say we don't have feelings like that for each other."
Sai sighed again, this time gentler, like he was giving in. "I know," he almost whispered. "Just waking up and seeing you two like that... I just snapped."
"As long as we're okay, man."
"We're okay, Naruto." He could practically hear the smile in Sai's voice. Naruto laughed.
"Great. I'm going to get my things and get back to my apartment. So I'll talk to you later, and mwah!"
It was Sai's turn to laugh. "Did you just try to kiss me over the phone?"
"No, shut up!"
Naruto didn't see Sasuke for the rest of that weekend after he left, aside from a few casual texts and middle fingers from their respective bedroom windows. Sunday evening found him and Sai watching a movie at Sai's place, though Naruto didn't stay the night. Naruto found out from Kiba that he and Hinata had a successful dinner date at an Italian place, and that he managed to kiss her on the cheek.
Monday found the group back in school, with Sasuke acting like the usual Sasuke. Naruto wondered if he even knew about the awkward sleeping scenario they were in the other night, but didn't want to inform him by asking. Or taunting him with the fact that he cuddled.
Tuesday was much the same as Monday, while Wednesday morning Naruto found himself in Sasuke's car heading to Konoha Forest Park instead of school. He found himself excited, but only received bemused grunts from the raven when he tried asking if he was excited as well. "It's better than school," Sasuke finally admitted, turning his radio on. "Still nothing to be excited about. It's hiking."
"Are you excited by anything?" Naruto teased. It was likely true that nothing excited Sasuke, though.
"Hn," he responded. "Graduating. Getting out of here once more." Naruto's good mood immediately melted away and it was his turn to grunt, drawing a raised eyebrow look from Sasuke.
"Just drive, asshole," the blond muttered. That was met with an eyeroll and compliance.
The drive took about twenty minutes. It felt like longer to Naruto, who was using the time to stew in bitter thoughts about their group breaking up after graduation with him being stuck with Sai. Well, wait, he shouldn't say stuck. As long as he got that possessive thing under control. Eventually they arrived at Konoha Forest Park and slid into one of the parking spaces in the large parking lot. Others were already there, with Jiraiya reading one of his manuscripts while leaning against his car.
Naruto slid out of the car, causing some jealous stares from his classmates. He was confused until he remembered Sasuke's super fancy expensive car, which he apparently had grown used to. He located his little group and joined them, followed slowly by Sasuke.
"Who else are we waiting for?" he asked.
"Hinata," Kiba said wistfully. Naruto felt a surge of warmth for his friend, especially since he was sure things were looking up on that front.
"And Lee," Shikamaru added. Gaara's forehead wrinkled a little, and if he had eyebrows he was sure they would be raised right now.
Once the last two had arrived-with Lee sprinting to the class and doing jumping jacks once he reached them-Jiraiya put away the manuscript and started handing each pair a paper. "This paper contains my cell number and the location where each of you are going. The fun of today is to reach this destination with your partner as fast as you can, take a picture by following the directions, and sending that picture to me."
"What incentive do we have to do this?" Shikamaru mumbled. Some of the others nodded in agreement, looking less than thrilled at today's activity.
"Prizes! Third place gets an entire free day of school off with all assignments for that day fully completed except for tests." Already the class was getting more enthused. "Second place is a free day and movie tickets to a movie of your choice. First place is a copy of my newest Icha Icha book!" The excitement died down. Jiraiya's face fell. "Or a free day, movie tickets, and fifty dollars each." The class was happy again, leaving Jiraiya to sigh.
Naruto was handed the paper for the hike, and Sasuke leaned over his shoulder to read it. His long bangs brushed Naruto's ear, causing him to squirm slightly. "The hot springs," Sasuke read out loud, ignoring Naruto's fidgeting. "And once we get there one of us has to take a picture while the other..." Sasuke got a weird look on his face and Naruto choked on air before finishing the sentence.
"The other rubs his nipples with the hot spring in the background. Jiraiya, dude, what the fuck?" he called over. "Is this your idea of a joke?"
"Yep!" Naruto opened his mouth before being cut off. "But you still have to do it!" He closed his mouth. "In this box are flares. Each person grab one flare each, and this other box has the megaphone you'll share with your partner. Grab a map from this pile as well. Now get out of my sight, I want to read."
Sighing, Sasuke grabbed the two flares while Naruto carried the megaphone and map. Looking at it, he saw the hot spring was on the other side of the park, about two miles away. They made their way to the gate with the rest of the class, and saw Kiba muttering under his breath while Hinata blushed.
"What's up?" Naruto asked, leading Kiba to roll his eyes.
"We have to go to the petting zoo and one of us has to record the other doing Gagnam Style." Naruto was thankful he wasn't drinking something, since he would have likely choked on it from his sudden fit of laughter.
"Better than mine!" He showed Kiba his paper, who then proceeded to have his own bout of laughter.
"Good luck man. I doubt you'll get Sasuke to do that." The raven grunted in agreement. On the other side of the Park entrance now, the two pairs stopped to look around at the park around them. "We have to head in this direction now. See ya on the other side, man." Naruto waved in parting and him and Sasuke went in the opposite direction down a path, along with Lee and Sakura.
Lee was jumping up and down while hugging Sakura for the side, who was attempting to maintain her footing and looking put out. She saw Naruto and a look of relief washed over her face, then saw Sasuke and looked positively giddy. Naruto frowned at the look she gave Sasuke. Maybe he wasn't as over Sakura as he thought, then.
The girl released herself from Lee's grasp and jogged ahead towards them. "Hi Naruto. Hi Sasuke!" She blushed, but Sasuke completely ignored the greeting. She cleared her throat. "Where are you guys going? We have to go...," she checked the paper again, "the Leaf Shack."
"That will be annoying," Naruto sympathized. "There are dozens of food vendors over there all bunched up. We have to go the hot spring."
"At least your's is easier to find," she whined. That turned into a frustrated groan when Lee appeared and looped his arm around her's. Naruto had to smother a grin.
"What a youthful outing!" the green-clad boy said passionately, his remaining fist raised in the air. "I wish you luck; Sakura and I are aiming for those movie tickets!" Naruto had the idea that Lee and Sakura had two completely different things in mind with those tickets. With that said, Lee grabbed hold of Sakura's wrist, who squeaked in surprise, and he ran off, dragging Sakura behind him.
"Fifty bucks in my wallet would be nice," he told Sasuke. His partner grunted, and the blond felt a twinge of annoyance. "Are you going to be doing that all day?"
"As long as you're in the near vicinity and drilling into my ears with that stupid voice."
"What got stuck up your ass?" Naruto snorted. Sasuke smirked but said nothing. "Do you know you cuddle in your sleep? Pretty adorable."
Sasuke reached over and gave him a light punch in the arm. Rubbing the spot, Naruto laughed at Sasuke's petulant look. "If you moved off my bed like I told you to, Sai wouldn't have stormed out."
Naruto's laughter died off. "Sai has some weird concerns when it comes to you. Things are fine now, though."
The raven rolled his eyes. "Concerns?"
"I guess he thinks we're going to jump in bed together or something." Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "You know what I mean!"
Sasuke snickered. "Tell Sai that I think he's brain damaged for being your boyfriend in the first place and if I touched you, it would be to deliver pain."
"Duly noted," Naruto said sarcastically. Their eyes met and they chuckled together. They walked for a few minutes before Naruto glanced back over to Sasuke. "By any chance do you really want to win? Because I'm fine with the pace we're doing and I'm betting some of our classmates are sprinting to their marks."
His companion shrugged carelessly. "Not really. I am surprised you aren't trying for the free day off from school, though."
"Eh, it is the most tempting," he admitted. "Not enough to try at this thing, though." Sasuke grunted, and Naruto took it as agreement.
It was an hour before they came to the wooden gate that signaled the hot spring was just ahead. They passed a very bored looking employee on the way in, who barely acknowledged them as they passed.
"I'm guessing you'll be the nipple rubber?" Naruto asked. Sasuke gave him a flat stare that clearly said over his dead body. The blond snickered and stripped his shirt and shorts so that he was left in his boxers.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke said, looking at him oddly before looking at his phone to pull up the camera.
"Like hell am I going to be at a hot spring and not actually use it." Sasuke wordlessly raised his phone and Naruto took that as his cue to place his hands over his nipples. Though he didn't rub them-it was a picture after all, not recorded like Kiba's-he did attempt a sultry look by licking his lower lip as the camera flashed.
"You're an idiot," Sasuke muttered, though Naruto thought he saw a hint of a blush there. Perhaps it was just the sun or the heat of the springs. "Alright, sent the picture at 9:33am." He sat himself down on one of the chairs on the side while Naruto submerged himself in the spring with a hiss of content.
Two hours went by like that. Naruto dozed in the spring, content that no one else was here, while Sasuke surfed the web for movie news and to make sure the press kept thinking he was abroad. Just before noon both of their phones went off at once with their text alert. Naruto looked at Sasuke curiously.
"We're to make our way back to the parking lot." Naruto groaned, not wanting to leave his precious hot spring. Naruto dressed and the two boys made their way back to the parking lot in better time to find the class and Jiraiya gathered around outside the gate.
"About time," Jiraiya mock complained. "I should have known not to send Naruto the hot spring."
"Oh please, old man, you enjoyed the time to write more porn."
"That I did, son." Most of the class snorted or rolled their eyes in disgust. "Feel free to spend the day however you wish after you leave here. Put the maps back in the pile and the megaphones and flares back in the boxes. And Shikamaru, if we ever do this again don't shoot off your flare just because you're too lazy to walk back. Emergencies only." Ino looked embarrassed for her partner.
"This had nothing to do with health," he pressed. He was ignored once again, and honestly most of the class didn't seem to care. Naruto knew for sure he was content with how the day went.
"Third place goes to Naruto and Sasuke. The free day off, valid for the rest of this school year." Naruto blinked in surprise. They weren't even trying to get in the top three. "Second place is Kiba and Hinata. Free day and two movie tickets of your choice." Kiba looked at Hinata, who blushed. "First place, oh this isn't a surprise. Lee and Sakura. Free day, movie tickets, and fifty dollars each."
Lee leapt up, shouting, "I feel the power of my youth in my veins!" while Sakura gave a giddy shriek and hugged him in thanks. "My dearest Sakura, we must go to the movie together to celebrate!" That led to her blushing, and snickers passed through the classmates.
The group dispersed, Jiraiya sent Naruto a wink as he and Sasuke passed the teacher on the way to the raven's richmobile. "That was actually pretty fun," Naruto said as they settled into the car seats and Sasuke started the car.
"It was a good way to spend a day," Sasuke admitted, pulling out of their space. "And we got the free days off anyway."
"I won't forget to use mine," Naruto said, stretching his arms and legs as much as he could. He watched the driver as he did so, who for once didn't look stuffy or angry. He just looked peaceful. "I had fun with you." Sasuke gave him an amused look, causing Naruto to quickly stick his tongue out in defense. "Besides, you know, you being an asshole."
"And despite you being a completely loud idiot, you aren't that bad to hang around with." The way he said it, it sounded like he meant any day, not just today. He felt his heart lift in happiness as he turned to look out his window, watching Konoha pass by them. He didn't feel worried anymore about their friendship. Like anyone else, they'd have their bad patches, but their friendship wouldn't be something that needed to be asked about or clarified, even if Sasuke left Konoha again. He glanced at Sasuke one more time, wondering if he really saw a small smile gracing the raven's mouth. Their friendship just was.
Alright, here's the long overdue chapter 11! Next chapter is a time jump to Halloween, and hopefully you won't have to wait until the real life Halloween to get it! ;D I kid. I'm aiming to update the three fics maybe once a week, once every two weeks at the worst. Don't forget to R/R, feel free to yell at me for my long update.
