Yay! I really enjoy the mental image the last line of this chapter gives me, because I could so see it happen. Now I have to go to work. Let me know if you like it!

Iruka's foot still hurt. The part of it that actually touched the ground when he walked had not been marred by the tattoo covering the sole of his foot, but most of the skin around the mark felt sympathetic pain strongly enough to wake him in the night when he'd flexed it involuntarily. He heaved a long sigh. It was close to midnight. Just after. Where was Kakashi? He found the jounin lying next to him on the small bed, squished up against the restraining side bars of the hospital bed.

Why am I even here? Why are we here? We should just go home.

Iruka was uncomfortable, and he waited for the answers to his questions. He knew his groggy head could find them as soon as it stopped lingering on his aching foot.

He became a little more alert upon remembering. He had to watch Sasuke. Keep him here. Keep him in a safe place. Keep him in a place where he would not run into Naruto. Lead him not into temptation, but deliver him from the evil that was his own addicted mind. Iruka raised himself up on his elbows and looked. There was a bump in the bed over there. It was Sasuke-sized. He almost got up to check for sure, before thinking better of it. After all, Sasuke was still probably too weak to manage a replacement jutsu that could lend such incredible lifelike bunchiness to the covers. Plus, his foot hurt. He'd sold his sole to that devil with the silver hair.

Sasuke was at the bridge, and it was 12:49 in the morning. He'd left his bed an hour ago, with only some pillows to bulk up into a Sasuke-esque shape. The Uchiha was pissed to say the least, but had been torn as to which course of action to take for over half an hour. He finally sat down on the bridge with his back to the railing. He could leave now, he reasoned. Return to the hospital bed. No one needed Naruto if this was the kind of hassle he was now. He could slip back into the room with the crazy ninja and his flushing boyfriend, and try to seem apathetic when he looked into the eyes and soul of that ridiculous, god-awful card. He could grab that stupid vase and go up to the roof of the hospital and dump its contents out over the edge of the building. Maybe that blond idiot would just happen to walk past at just that moment, and Sasuke could achieve a quick revenge. At that moment, nothing sounded better than his best friend's impalement by knitting needles.

Alternatively, he could go searching for Uzumaki and risk missing him completely. Who knew what went on in his head? Given the numerous stupid things Naruto had said and done over the years, he wouldn't be shocked if he learned later that the dobe believed midnight to mean one in the morning.

Because he didn't want to miss Naruto if he did eventually show up, and because he didn't want to go back to that dull hospital room with nothing to show for his trouble, and because he hated that stupid card, Sasuke stayed. What else could he do? He was confused, but he barely acknowledged it. It was no good if word got around that he was confused. But seriously, if they were going to have a heated make-out session (he had thought about it, and that really was the only explanation for a late night rendez-vous), then why not do it on time?

"Stood up" was a phrase he had heard and read before, but it had never applied to him, and so it had never had quite the taste it did now. He was no conaisseur, but it was fairly bitter. He had been stood up. By the dobe. By the dobe, who had the gall to think that he was man enough to-

The pale boy tensed in the moonlight, and his breathing stopped for a moment. Had he heard a rustle?

Crickets chirped somewhere far off. The breeze played in his hair, tickling his forehead. It made it itch, but he still didn't move. His pulse quickened in anticipation, but he didn't let his hopes rise. He couldn't, however, stop the biting words that leapt to his tongue, ready to slash at the useless moron the minute he came within range. In some ways, those words were like hopes. He hoped to reduce the dobe to angry tears with his sharp tongue (which hadn't happened yet, but might one day), before goading him into a shoving match and wrestling him down on to a nearby lawn, at which point he would rip that stupid orange outfit to smithereens, whatever those were, and push him down into the grass, and pin his legs with his own, and trail his hands down that tan skin, and feel every perfect jolt of pure power that poured from him (preferably with his lips, which seemed to be that much more sensitive that he'd previously thought), and then just grab him-

Another rustle. It was suspicious to hear two rustles sounding so close together in the night. These rustles probably weren't small animals – they sounded bigger, and clumsier. More human. More ridiculous.

Sasuke didn't turn his head to look at the dobe when he rounded a corner and stepped on to the bridge. He tried to appear calm, as if he hadn't been waiting for nearly an hour. As if he hadn't been contemplating the connotations of being stood up, or the exact colour of the boy's golden skin. As if he didn't want to taste it right this moment.

"You're late, Usuratonkachi." He tried not to give anything away, but he could feel Naruto smile easily and felt like he had spilled all of his secrets with just three words.

Naruto grinned. Sasuke was here. He knew he'd come, but hadn't been so certain that he'd stay. This definitely proved it, though – Sasuke wanted him.

"You sure I'm not early?" he sang out. He had spent all day revamping his carefree persona. What good was a carefree persona if it was totally out of commission when he needed it? Sasuke was one of the reasons it developed the way it had. Sure, Naruto had been pretty goofy before they'd met, but, over the years, experience had taught him that he had to add a suave element to his class-clown attitude. He was pretty sure it made him more endearing and more likeable, and Konoha ninjas their age had to have something extra going for them when they had to compete with babe-magnets who were also skilled and proficient.

Said babe-magnet had his eyes tilted suspiciously in the moonlight, trying to find the angle, before they relaxed enough to give their owner a nonchalant appearance. "I knew you thought midnight meant one," Sasuke said, a biting lilt to his words. "Hn. You would, wouldn't you?" Naruto hated that he could do that. Even after they'd become friendly towards one another, Sasuke had kept up the habit of saying his words in a way that got under his skin. With every sentence, it felt like he was displaying Naruto's idiocy to the world.

Thanks, but he was pretty sure he didn't need any help with that. The blond tried to keep his tone light and taunting when he replied, "You're sure I said midnight?"

It was obviously the correct response. He could tell because, as soon as he'd finished the question, his friend's eyebrows returned to their previous position. Naruto tilted one side of his mouth while he waited for the retort – it was looking as thought this was going to be a good meeting. Sure, they weren't acting exactly like they had been before, but at least this was a start. He had to wonder what the chances were of resolving this thing before it got too out of control. If they smothered this situation now, there was a much smaller chance that other people would hear about what they had been up to in the apartment that day. Maybe he could get the girls off of whis back. He and Sasuke could be cool with each other, instead of hot and sweaty, which would be an improvement, he was pretty sure.

Pretty sure, pretty sure, pretty sure, but not positive. It felt like everything could be pretty sure, but nothing in Naruto's life at this moment was truly and irrevocably sure. For instance, he was pretty sure he wasn't gay. Then again, he was pretty sure his pants had been tight when he and Sasuke had had their…incident-thing. Then again, he was pretty sure that had just been some good ol' rivalry tension getting mixed up with unfortunate experimenting and teenage hormones. Then again, he was pretty sure Sasuke had liked their incident. But, then again, he probably really just wanted to make sure their friendship was on solid ground, which explains him showing up to the bridge at all, let alone on time. But, then again, Naruto was pretty solid on the fact that he'd felt something pretty solid in Sasuke's pants.

Naruto's thoughts screeched to a halt, and he gulped, hoping he wouldn't have a panic attack right there.

"Dobe," the dark-haired chunnin's voice cut into the stale silence of Naruto's non-thought. "I know what you wrote on that stupid card." It sounded slightly irritated. This was good. Things were normal.

"You don't have a single doubt? Not a single doubt?"

"I'm obviously more mentally capable than you are, Usuratonkachi."

Naruto allowed a sly expression to creep over his face. "You musta paid that 'stupid card' some serious attention."

At this, Sasuke's expression clouded and he issued a scoff, but he didn't say anything else right away, just stared at him in a way that was pretty odd given the forgive and forget type of meeting they were having. The glare coming his way was definitely verging on hostile.

Naruto stepped forward. "Why don't we just get on with this?"

Sasuke took a step towards him, his dark glare intensifying. "Let's."

While Naruto was raising his right arm in a gesture that was to aid in the peace-making process, Sasuke stepped way into his personal bubble and began knocking it away rather violently. Alarmed, Naruto's first response was to kick at the other boy's legs. One knee buckled and then they both went down.

After all that, you would think that the dobe would have finally figured it out. And had he? It really didn't seem that way, especially with the way his face was looking as they both fell to the ground. Whatever. It wasn't like he was the brightest little light bulb around. It was probably just taking a really long time for the signals in Naruto's brain to figure out what was going on. Sasuke took advantage of the shock the fall brought and jumped on top of his friend, who then began trying to pry him off. They tumbled and twisted, rolling off the bridge and on to the sharp gravel and dewy grass, both sensations sharp and unpleasant, jolting him. It was a good thing, really. He had to stay alert. They'd been together for a few seconds and already his mind was clouding over, his consciousness trying to float away on him. He couldn't allow this to happen.

He allowed himself to be rolled under his friend, but not quite pinned. His shoulder blades dug sharply into hard earth. There. He was intoxicated, but awake. He gazed upwards and met his teammate's confused blue eyes. It wasn't an unfamiliar, except for the fact that the expression was a result of Sasuke's abrupt advances. Now that Naruto had retaliated, he didn't seem like he knew what he was going to do next, so Sasuke resolved that problem by pulling the blond's face to him by his hair. Naruto make a sort of a "gak!" sound as his head snapped forward, and then Sasuke pushed their lips together.

Just like last time, their kiss was rough. However, unlike last time, Sasuke was sensing little participation from the other boy. In effort to force a response, the Uchiha worked his lips harder, his tongue reaching out, trying to prod and push its way into the hot cavern of Naruto's mouth. His body was on fire, and electricity coursed through his veins. He was getting lost in the moment, which was why it came as such a shock to him when the heat was suddenly torn from him.

Naruto gasped. His brain had stopped function while they had been touching like that, but now that he had separated himself from Sasuke, he felt snippets of rational thought begin to return to him. Everything was quiet, save for their heaving breaths and the sound of the blood pumping past his ears.

"You," he heard himself say, "want me."

Sasuke's eyes were wide and bewildered, but his voice was steady. "Yes."

"No," Naruto said. "You want me."

"Yes," Sasuke repeated.

Naruto chanced a look down at Sasuke's pants. "No. I mean, you really want me."

"I said yes!" the other boy finally snapped. "I thought you were at least capable of understanding that!" Then he snaked a hand out and snatch a tanned arm, and immediately his face began to relax. Naruto watched the change curiously, and then remembered why he was there. He jumped back again.

"No! Stop touching me, Teme!"

Apparently the lack of physical contact meant a return of Sasuke's irritability. "Stop moving, Dobe," he bit out with a scowl.

"But you'll, like, die or something!" he protested.

He could see Sasuke's jaws clenching. He still seemed animated, but, after that brief period of physical contact, he already seemed to be unsteady on his feet. He didn't respond to Naruto's worrying, and so they stood there in silence again, one of them swaying in the gentle breeze.

Finally, through gritted teeth, the response came. "You're right." Naruto could not recall a time in recent memory when this had happened before, and because the situation was completely new, he didn't know what to make of it.

"I am?"

"Look, Naruto," he began, in a voice softer than usual. "I think I know why you came here tonight." Naruto leaned forward in order to hear him better. "And now I think I know why you came here, too." Naruto took a step towards him, this time to make sure he was all right. That wasn't a very Sasuke-like blunder to make. In fact, very few blunders, if any, were characteristic of Sasuke. "And what I think," he continued, wobbling backwards and plunging himself forwards in order to keep his body upright. "Is that we should really consider…" he stumbled forward a bit, and Naruto instinctively stepped towards him again, his arms raised as if their position in the air would steady him. "We should really consider…" Sasuke nearly whispered. Naruto moved his ear even closer, so that they were inches apart.

Suddenly, Sasuke's right hand clapped around his left wrist in a vice-grip, and Naruto made another, "gak" sound.

"Improving our teamwork," the Uchiha finally finished with a smirk.

The blond immediately began shouting and pulling, trying to wiggle out from the hold, but his friend made lightning-fast allowances for every tug and turn, and at the end of almost ten minutes, they were still connect. They were still skin to skin.

"If you make me let go now, I probably will, like, die or something," Sasuke told him in a mocking voice.

"We have to see Tsunade," Naruto insisted, tugging them in the direction of the hospital.

"No, we don't." Sasuke pulled them back towards the bridge.

"Yes, we do!" Another tug.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

When someone finally found them, it was about nine in the morning, and it was Hinata. As she walked up, the first thing she noticed was that the two seemed to be holding hands. A flush lit up her cheeks, and she began to walk away, but then Naruto started calling for her.

"Hinata! Listen, you have to come over here!" he shouted.

"Stay away," came Sasuke's cold voice.

She worried her eyebrows together and chanced another glance at the pair. And that was when she realized that Sasuke didn't have any of his own chakra, and that the stuff that was positively dripping from Naruto was all that was keeping the Uchiha sitting upright on the lawn.

"Uh…I think you should, um, go to see, uh, Tsunade-sama."

They both responded simultaneously with "No!" and "Yes we should!"

"Hinata-san," Naruto addressed her in his most polite voice. "Would you please bring her to us? We've been sitting like this all night." His eyes were wide and earnest, and he was wearing that cheery smile that could still make her heart flutter.

Of course she stuttered out a yes, and for her trouble she was rewarded with an even bigger smile from Naruto, coupled with a wink. Her face flushed further when she realized that Naruto had winked at her, and then that Sasuke was glaring at her mercilessly.

"I-I…I'll g-go do that," she declared, and then she skittered off.

Sasuke turned his steely eyes to the blond. "You figured flirting with her was the only way you could accomplish that?"

"No, but it was kind of fun."

There was a beat of silence, and then they stood up and tugged their hardest in opposite directions, gave up once more, and sat down simultaneously.