Summary:
Naruto had been a good boy all through high school, and what had it gotten him? Rejected by his best friend for a series of one-night-stands. (OOC: darker Naruto, sexual Sasuke) SasuNaru - College AU
Warning 17+ only: Yaoi (Boy x Boy) - Not appropriate for young readers.
Author's note: Thanks to everyone who is still commenting... you would laugh at how much I look forward to hearing from you when I post just to see what you think. Like handing in your term paper and waiting to see what grade you get back. Special thanks to BriEva who helped me with some major structural issues I was having with this chapter... it would have been at least another week without her, since I was about to throw my laptop through the window. :-)
-xXx-
Naruto was glad to see some familiar faces in his Monday morning class, looking similarly bleary eyed after the last weekend of freedom before the semester started. A cup of coffee was thrust into his hand, and he looked up to see Gaara taking the seat next to him. "Man, you saved my soul."
Gaara smirked. "I figured you'd be short on sleep this morning. Where's lover-boy?"
Naruto blushed, and was annoyed by it. After moving the three boxes containing all his worldly goods into the dorm room he would be sharing with Gaara for the semester, Naruto had spent the remainder of the weekend locked in Sasuke's hotel room. They hadn't even left for food, just ordering room service. Gaara didn't need to guess what they had been up to, and found it rather amusing. He might still have reservations about Sasuke given everything that had happened, but there was no denying that the blond was absolutely glowing with happiness. "Sasuke's taking a double course load this semester so he can graduate early and help his brother. Most of his classes are fourth year level, so we don't have anything together."
Gaara looked to the front of the class where the lecturer had just walked in the room, signaling the end to their conversation.
As Naruto pulled out his notebook, he realized that the only good thing about Sasuke being so busy was that Naruto would be able to go and talk to Nagato alone about what had happened with his cell phone without Sasuke coming along. He was nervous about the conversation, but he knew it had to be done. Nagato had helped him in so many ways at a time in his life when he had really needed it. But... the phone thing was weird. Why would he have done that?
Naruto shifted in his seat as he tried to focus on the lecture. There would be time later in the day to figure out what to do about it.
. . . . .
Naruto went back to his dorm room after his last class for the day. It felt strange to be back in school after the summer off. He wished he'd had an extra week to spend with Sasuke before it had started, but at least he'd be able to see him this evening. Sasuke still had two more classes that afternoon. And since they were upper level courses, he was pretty sure that they'd pile on the homework, even if it was the first day.
He lay down on his bed with his hands crossed behind his head as he tried to think about how to broach the subject of the cell phone with Nagato. He wasn't really good at planning these types of conversations out, but it felt a little weird to just walk up to the guy and say 'why did you block my friend's number from my phone and delete the texts he sent me?'.
Naruto tried to think about why Nagato would even have done that. Nagato had never once made a move on Naruto that would be considered sexual. He knew that the older man cared for him a lot, but it always seemed more in a mentor or older brother kind of way. So why would he interfere with Sasuke? At the time the number was blocked, he and Sasuke were barely even friends, so he should have been no threat. And the texts themselves had been supportive, not something that Nagato should have thought needed to be deleted.
The door to his room opened and Gaara came in. Green eyes fixed on Naruto for a moment as the smaller boy put his bag down, then leaned against the wall looking at him.
"Is Sasuke fucking you up already?" the redhead asked finally, his voice showing undertones of hostility. It was clear that Gaara had still not fully made his mind up about Sasuke, and was waiting to see how he treated Naruto before he made the call.
"No, it's not Sasuke. Things with him are great, actually," Naruto ginned as he thought about just how great they'd been over the weekend.
But his mind was brought back to the matter at hand, and his grin faded. He needed advice. He could trust Gaara's judgment. Plus he knew he couldn't talk to Sasuke about this, because Sasuke was not likely to be open minded when he found out who had blocked his number. Sasuke and Nagato had already had one run-in before they'd transferred to Suna. He didn't want to make it worse, since he was hoping he could actually get them to like each other in the future. The chances of that weren't looking too great at the moment, however.
"I think that - back before I transferred here - Nagato blocked Sasuke's number from my cell without telling me. It was just after I'd gotten kicked out of school for beating up those assholes. Sasuke had texted me asking if I were ok, and saying he wanted to help me. Someone deleted the texts, and blocked his number so he couldn't call me," Naruto grimaced remembering the hurt he had felt at seemingly being completely abandoned by his childhood friend. "It really messed me up. That was sort of the point of no return for me, when I decided that Sasuke's and my friendship was over because he hadn't even bothered to contact me. I thought he didn't care at all, not even for the residual friendship we had left."
Gaara nodded. Given what he had learned about Naruto's past, having the only solid relationship Naruto had ever had seem to crumble in his hands must have been devastating. But he wasn't sure he understood why Naruto thought Nagato would have done it, given that the older man seemed to be protective of Naruto, not someone out to hurt him. "Why do you think it was Nagato?"
Naruto looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, that night I was really upset, so I went to Nagato's place and basically drank myself to sleep on his couch. I was probably passed out when I received the texts. Sasuke's number was blocked when he tried to call me the next morning. And the only people in the house that night were Hidan, Deidara, Zetsu, and Nagato."
"It could have been Hidan. That guy is fucking crazy, and he's always seemed sort of interested in you."
Naruto shrugged. "It's hard to tell if he's serious. The guy loves to shock people with the insane shit that comes out of his mouth, but he's never really tried anything with me. But Nagato had already gotten in Sasuke's face telling him to leave me alone before I had gotten kicked out. He knew who Sasuke was, and that we had issues. I don't think Hidan did."
"But why would Nagato block Sasuke's number? Even if he knew that you liked Sasuke, or that you two were fighting, why would Nagato care?"
Naruto sighed. "I don't really know. That's why I'm nervous to talk to him about this. Nagato is like... I don't know. He's really helped me out, and there are times where I feel like he really needs me. What if I confront him about this and it turns out he's a total creeper and has these weird feelings for me? I don't think I could handle that. He was one of the few people in my life besides you and Shika recently that didn't seem to be trying to fuck me up."
Gaara scowled at that. Naruto did tend to attract weirdoes and stalkers.
"Nagato stood up to Yahiko about the video, even though they had been friends forever. And he's helped me in so many ways over the past year with my writing, and moving out here. If it were all some kind of crush or something, I almost think I just don't want to know," Naruto almost whispered the last part.
Gaara looked at his friend. He understood that Naruto had an almost desperate need to fill the void that having grown up with no stable home and no family had left in him. It was what made him an incredible human being, willing to be friends with just about anyone and always trying to see the good in people. It was also what made him vulnerable to predators.
"If he has ulterior motives, you need to find out now before it gets worse," Gaara said. "I'll go with you if you want."
Naruto shook his head. "No. This is something I just need to talk to him about privately. I'm going to bike over there tomorrow morning before my first class."
Gaara nodded. He watched Naruto for a few more minutes, and decided that the blond was decidedly slipping into 'moping' territory.
"Get up," Gaara said tersely.
"What?"
"Get up. We're going outside to spar."
Naruto hesitated for a second, then grinned. It always helped to clear his head. Sparring with Gaara was even better than running, because if your mind drifted even for a second, he'd send you flying.
It was blazing hot outside, and the late afternoon sun beat down on the two shirtless combatants as they panted for breath. Naruto loved sparring in the heat. It made his muscles seem fluid, each motion flowing into the next. Naruto figured they had been at it for at least an hour. His whole body felt slick with sweat, and Gaara looked to be in about the same state. Several students had gathered to watch what had become a bit of a weekly ritual between the two roommates last semester. Naruto guessed that a large part of the draw was the fact that everyone seemed to know who Gaara was, and were generally terrified of him. They likely found seeing the son of the most feared men in Suna half naked and sweating in the sun intriguing.
There was one girl in particular that Naruto had noticed seemed to be quite fixated on the redhead, but Naruto hadn't been able to find anything out about her yet. It would take a very special type of woman (or man, Naruto wasn't totally sure of Gaara's sexuality, and had learned his lesson about guessing on these things) to handle the redhead.
Distracted by his thoughts, Naruto didn't see Gaara's foot coming in time and found himself sailing through the air, landing in a small cloud of dust on someone's sandaled feet.
"Well, brat, I was about to compliment you on your improved skills 'till you let yourself get owned just now."
Naruto recognized that voice, and grinned. "Pervert!"
He scrambled somewhat painfully to his feet and hugged his guardian. "When did they decide to let your scandal-making ass back on campus?"
Jiraya rolled his eyes, but laughed. "I flew back over the weekend. I'm teaching here again this semester. I'm also re-starting my sparring club. You two should join."
Gaara and Naruto exchanged glances. To most people, Gaara might have seemed indifferent. But Naruto could tell the other boy was internally bouncing off the walls in excitement of being able to learn directly from Jiraya.
"Sure," Naruto said. "When do you meet?"
"Monday and Wednesday evenings. We'll start next week. Now, why don't you get cleaned up and help me move back into my office. And you can tell me about this song-writing career of yours. I saw the size of the check that you got... not bad for a first set of published work."
Naruto snorted. Of course the pervert only found him to get some free labor out of him. But he could hear the pride in Jiraya's voice, and it warmed him. Naruto had worked minimum wage jobs when he was in high school, and done some editing for his godfather, but this was on a whole different level. He finished dusting himself off and told the older man he'd meet him back at his office in an hour. Naruto and Gaara walked back to their room to grab some clean clothes and hit the showers.
"You want me to come and help?" Gaara asked as Naruto toweled off his hair. He had already changed into jeans and a black tank top. It was hot as hell outside, and he couldn't even manage a T-shirt.
"Nah. He's probably going to tell me all these embarrassing stories about his sexual exploits since he's been gone. Having one of us mentally scarred by that is plenty. Plus, I have to tell him about Sasuke, so..."
Gaara opened his laptop on his desk and settled in, clearly agreeing that remaining safely in his dorm room away from graphic descriptions of old guy sex and gay confessions was the safest course.
. . . .
Naruto carried the last box of papers up to the third floor where Jiraya's office was located. The fucking thing must have weighed over sixty pounds. Naruto thought briefly about what joke he could make about sixty pounds of porn, but in the end he was just too tired to come up with anything, so he merely dropped it on Jiraya's desk.
"Thanks, brat. These boxes are heavy."
"No shit. Who packs boxes like this? You should use more boxes and not fill them up so you don't throw your back out."
"I'm not going to throw my back out. I knew you'd be here to haul them up for me," Jiraya said, laughing at the exasperated expression on Naruto's face.
"So," Jiraya said, "How did you end up writing songs for Yahiko? Did Nagato retire?"
Naruto was at first surprised that Jiraya seemed to know them, until he remembered that Nagato had said he had gone to school here. "Well, I met Nagato at the writer's workshop I attended here my senior year. And then we bumped into each other again last year before I transferred to Suna, and he ended up reading some of my work. He showed it to Yahiko, and they agreed to use it."
Jiraya looked at him for a minute. "Bumped into each other, huh? So... you're friends with Nagato now?"
"Yeah. He really has helped me out a lot. Both with the writing and with some personal stuff I was going through." The thought of the phone incident flashed through Naruto's mind, and he frowned a bit.
"Everything ok with him?" Jiraya asked carefully.
"Yes, I guess," Naruto said. Jiraya seemed to be waiting to see if Naruto was going to say anything more, but when he didn't, Jiraya just shrugged.
"That's quite a lucky break you had. Even if you did have to pimp yourself out in the video. And the album cover," Jiraya tossed down a copy of the latest Pain CD, and Naruto just gaped at the photo on the front of it. It looked like a screen shot from the video, with Naruto and Yahiko completely naked. Luckily, it only showed them from the waist up, and Yahiko was looking directly into the camera, so all you could really see was Naruto's sculpted back and the back of his head.
Naruto blushed wildly at the thought of the older man seeing him in the video. And then paled at the thought of Sasuke finding out about the album cover. "Shit. I fucking hate Yahiko for this."
Jiraya raised a brow. "You didn't know he was going to use it in the video?"
"I didn't know it was being recorded at all," Naruto said hotly.
Jiraya laughed. "Why not? Sex tapes are fun to watch with your partner later. Or alone to remember the fun." He waggled his eyes suggestively. "Though I have to say, it came as a bit of a shock to see that you were playing for the other team. Last time I remember, I was hearing stories about you hooking up with some girl after your first visit to campus. Although I suppose with all the stuff you wrote about that friend of yours from high school, it shouldn't have surprised me."
"Actually, I'm dating him now," Naruto said, deciding this was as good a time as any to get it out there.
"Yahiko?" Jiraya said, looking concerned.
"No, Sasuke," Naruto said.
"Ah, that's fine, then. When did he turn gay? After seeing you in the video? Does he know what he's doing in bed? He always seemed kind of frigid," Jiraya started shuffling through some books on his shelf that he had just pulled out. "He could borrow-"
"NO! No, thanks. Um... we're totally fine. Just... no sex talk, ok?"
"Do you use lube?"
"STOP!" Naruto said, covering his ears. "I am not having this conversation with you. I lost my virginity years ago, so just... we're fine."
Jiraya was outright laughing. "Ok, but just tell Sasuke that if he needs any advice-"
"Ok, THANKS, I'm LEAVING NOW," Naruto said, practically running for the door. The sound of Jiraya's laugher followed him down the hall.
. . . .
Naruto walked into the library later that evening. As expected, he saw a head of spiky black hair bent over a text book, with a large stack of books waiting along side him. Naruto sighed resignedly at the six pair of female eyes watching his boyfriend from various locations in the room. There was no use being jealous about it. This would just be a fact of life with dating an Uchiha. Though Naruto would have found handling it easier back when he knew for sure that the girls' attention annoyed Sasuke. Their freshman year of college, Sasuke had been treating the campus library like a Chinese menu for what flavor to bring back to his bed. Naruto tried to brush the unsettling memories aside, walking up behind Sasuke and bending down next to him.
"Hey, sexy," Naruto whispered in Sasuke's ear, causing the older boy to jump slightly.
"Fuck, Naruto. Don't sneak up on me like that," Sasuke hissed back. They had to keep their voices low in the library.
"It's eight o'clock. Have you had dinner yet?"
Sasuke looked at his watch, surprised to hear the time. "That late?" He stretched up, and Naruto briefly admired the way he could see the raven's muscles flex beneath the thin cotton shirt. Sasuke looked over at Naruto, taking in the scrapes across the tan knuckles and the light bruising on his shoulder and forearms.
"Please tell me I am not going to have to bail you out of jail for this," Sasuke said.
Naruto laughed, "Oh, so you'd show up this time, bastard?"
He regretted his joke almost instantly when he saw the regret flash across Sasuke's eyes. "Sorry," Naruto said quickly. "I shouldn't joke about it. I was just sparring with Gaara earlier today in the lawn behind our dorm."
Sasuke looked at Naruto, realizing that they still had a ways to go to plow through all the damage they'd done to each other.
Naruto abruptly changed the subject. "I can't believe it's only the first day of school and you already have a pile of work to do."
Sasuke decided that seemed like a safer topic. "Yeah, well I had five classes today, and they all started out with projects or reading assignments."
"Shit. Five classes on a Monday? How many are you taking this semester anyway?"
"Eight."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Eight!? I thought there was a cap on how many credits you could take per semester."
"Special permission from the dean. I got straight A's last semester when I did the same thing, so they decided to let me do it here, too."
"But... why do you even want to? It's going to be hell. And... we'll hardly get to see each other," Naruto felt a little guilty even saying the last part, but he was so happy to finally be together after not seeing Sasuke for the past nine months. The thought of now having almost no time together made him crazy.
"We'll see each other during the weekends, and we can study together. It's just, Itachi finished in a shorter time while taking over the family business and raising me. I feel like it's time I stepped up and took some of the weight off his shoulders."
Naruto sighed. He could understand where Sasuke was coming from. Itachi had been amazingly strong in what he had done, and was more like a father figure to Naruto than anyone else had ever been in his life. And he admired Sasuke for growing up and wanting to share the burden with his brother rather than just freeloading the way a lot of other 'trust fund babies' did.
He could see Sasuke looking at him, a hint of worry showing. Naruto smiled. "I think it's great that you're helping Itachi. It will suck that we won't have much time during the week, but we'll have the weekends, right?"
Sasuke couldn't hide the relief that washed over him. Of course Naruto would understand. "Absolutely," Sasuke said, his voice turning slightly husky.
"But you still need to eat, and I bet you haven't. Let's go grab some dinner, and you can tell me about all these crazy classes you're taking."
"Hn," Sasuke said, loading some books into his bag, and returning others to the book return cart.
"The Pervert's back on campus. I ran into him when I was sparring with Gaara."
Sasuke raised a brow. If Jiraya weren't Naruto's guardian, he would find the man much more amusing. But seeing Naruto struggle through his earlier school years with basically no one looking out for him had definitely soured Sasuke on the man.
"So... what did he have to say?"
"Well, I told him we were dating."
Sasuke paused. He didn't really care what the porn-writing man thought about their relationship, but he suspected that at least on some level Naruto did. He was the closest thing Naruto had to a connection to his parents, after all. "Was he... ok with it?"
"He was cool about it. He just said to be careful, and all that, but seemed glad that we finally got together. He... erm... offered me some suggestions on books to read, but -"
"NO," Sasuke said emphatically, earning a sharp glance from the librarian. He dropped his voice. "You are not taking sex tips from that guy, or any of his friends."
Naruto snickered and leaned in closer to Sasuke, "Yeah, I told he we didn't need any help in that department." Suddenly it felt like the temperature in the library just jumped about a thousand degrees.
Sasuke's eyes darkened, and he leaned closer to Naruto, wishing that they were alone in the room. "One of these nights, we need to come back here just before the library closes and there aren't many people around."
Naruto laughed softly, "So you realized after the coatroom at the club you have a kink for public places? I could be totally ok with that."
Sasuke ignored the stares of the girls who had been watching him and closed the distance to Naruto's mouth, kissing him hard. "Maybe I just want to have something pleasant to think about when I spend the next two semesters stuck in here for endless hours each day."
Naruto glanced around, trying to see if there was any way in hell he could drag Sasuke off to some quite corner of the library without a trail of observers stalking them. Judging by the number of fevered eyes that were latched onto them after the kiss, he realized it was hopeless.
"Maybe we can have room service for dinner?" Sasuke's apartment wouldn't be ready for three more weeks, so he had to stay in the hotel in the meantime. Luckily, he could afford it. It also provided a convenient place for them at the moment when they didn't want to bother staying out of bed long enough to get food.
Sasuke's eyes glinted. "That's the best idea you've had all day." He jammed the remaining books into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. They headed towards the library exit, with Sasuke leading. As soon as they walked out the door away from the prying eyes, Naruto came up behind Sasuke and grabbed his hip bones, pulling him back so their bodies brushed against each other.
"You know," Naruto said, whispering in Sasuke's ear from behind him. "Seeing you in your white button down shirt with your book bag slung over your shoulder... you look like such a good little schoolboy." He ran his tongue over the back of Sasuke's ear, pressing the stud into the sensitive flesh at the delicate juncture of the ear and the neck. He felt the shudder in his lover's body at the wet caress. "It really makes me want to do all kinds of inappropriate things to you."
"Fuck," Sasuke said, turning and jerking Naruto around the corner of the library where there weren't any lights. He dropped his bag and shoved Naruto roughly against the wall, grinding their clothed erections together, leaving them both gasping. One of the girls from the library came around the corner, and squeaked at the sight.
"Oh my god... you guys are so freaking hot," she said, and began reaching into her bag. Naruto and Sasuke didn't bother to find out if she was reaching for her camera or a tissue for her suddenly bleeding nose. Sasuke grabbed his bag and they took off across campus, heading for Sasuke's hotel with all possible speed.
. . .
Sometime later they lay sweaty in the tangled sheets of Sasuke's bed. Naruto slanted a heavy-lidded look at his lover. "You know, I kind of like feeling like the bad boy who's corrupting the straight-A, over-achiever."
Sasuke forced his eyes open, feeling completely drained from their strenuous past two hours. "Not so straight. And I seem to recall doing a bit of corrupting myself."
Naruto nuzzled contentedly into Sasuke's neck. "Mmmmm... and it was fucking awesome."
"You know, I still have a shitload of homework to do tonight," Sasuke said, feeling like he didn't have even the strength to lift his hand.
"Let's just take a quick nap and you can finish it later," Naruto said, enjoying the still new feel of being in Sasuke's bed. Almost immediately, the thought had him wondering about all the others that had been there before, and how long this would last.
"So," Naruto said, sounding a little uncertain. "We're together, right? You're not going to be see anyone else?" Images of rows of endless college girls lining up at the doorstep of Sasuke's apartment filled his head, along with the sound effects he vividly remembered from when they were sharing a dorm room.
"Dobe, we talked about this at the club. We each agreed we wouldn't sleep with anyone else. I don't do 'open relationships', especially not with you," Sasuke narrowed his eyes to make his point clear, and Naruto realized he might not be the only one feeling a little insecure about this whole thing.
"Pfft. Like I'd want anyone else, asshole," Naruto said, curling up against Sasuke and letting his eyes drift shut.
-xXx-
The next morning Naruto didn't have any classes. Before the full heat of the day hit, he called Nagato and asked if he could stop by before his noon class. Nagato said he would be around.
Naruto parked his bike outside of Nagato's house, realizing suddenly that he now had enough money that he could probably even buy a car. Something he had thought would never happen until he graduated and found a 'real job'.
Pushing that thought aside, he rang the bell, nervous about how to begin the conversation.
Nagato opened the door, and Naruto stepped in, glad to get out of the hot sun.
"I'm glad you decided to come out. Its been almost a week since you were here. Can I get you something to drink?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Water would be great, thanks. Sorry its been a while. I was getting ready for school to start and... an old friend came into town."
Naruto noticed the way Nagato's expression shifted to one almost of dislike.
"Sai or Yahiko probably told you about Sasuke, huh?" Naruto asked, trying to understand the intense disapproval radiating from the older man.
"They didn't need to. I saw the shirt you were wearing the other day," Nagato said drily.
"Heh, yeah. That. Well, he's a little funny that way," Naruto said, trying to figure out how to bring up the phone. He decided to just dive right in, given that the conversation was already awkward. "It was strange. He tried to call me, but he couldn't get through on my mobile. And it turns out that somehow his number was blocked on my phone. And I'm pretty sure that I didn't do it."
Nagato sighed. "Yeah, that's right. You didn't. But you should have."
"So you did?"
Nagato didn't answer, but he didn't deny it.
"Why?" Naruto asked, honestly confused. "Do you know how much it hurt me thinking that my best friend didn't even try to contact me when my whole life was going down the toilet?"
Anger flashed across Nagato's face. "Don't you realize how much he had been hurting you before that? It was like every time you saw him, he walked away with another little piece of you. Why would you want someone like that to contact you? You were finally getting out from under him, finally getting to start over with your life where you wouldn't see him every day and..."
Naruto looked stunned. He hadn't realized that Nagato had been paying that close of attention to his emotional state at the time.
"Yes, Sasuke hurt me. But I hurt him, too. We both... had feelings for each other for a long time, but didn't want to ruin our friendship by freaking the other out about it. So we did some stupid things to each other, and misunderstood each other. But Sasuke was the closest thing I had to a real family growing up. You know what that's like. With you and Yahiko. And even though it hurt me to see him with other people, it hurt a thousand times worse when I thought he had forgotten about me altogether."
Nagato looked intently into Naruto's eyes. "I just don't want to see you hurt."
"I know. You've been like an older brother to me. And I don't want our relationship to get messed up. But you have to let me make my own decisions on stuff like this. Who I date, or who I'm friends with has to be my decision. If you have a problem with someone I'm hanging out with, you can totally tell me. But in the end, it has to be my choice. I don't like that you went behind my back on this. I can't have you messing with my phone and deleting messages every time I have a fight with a friend."
"It wasn't just a fight. He'd been bringing you down for years," Nagato was looking off to the side and didn't notice Naruto's head snap up at his words. "It just kept getting worse and worse. I know how much you care about him. And maybe he cares for you, too. But I'm not sure he can help from hurting you. He has a complicated life. And being part of it will be hard."
"What do you know about it? You just met him like a year ago, and only talked to him for about three minutes. How do you know anything about his history?"
Nagato looked slightly uncomfortable. "You showed me your journals, Naruto. I saw the dates. This has been going on for a while."
Naruto nodded slowly. It made sense. But something still felt... off. Though there was nothing he could point to immediately that stood out as a lie.
"Ok, so just... don't do something like this again, alright? I want to be able to trust you," Naruto said, searching the older man's face, still trying to try to understand his actions.
Nagato just looked at Naruto, but didn't say anything for a bit. "I just want to protect you," he said finally.
Naruto sighed. "I know. But not by doing stuff like this, ok? Just talk to me about it if you are worried."
"Alright. Can you come by for dinner tonight? Dei will be here."
Naruto knew that Sasuke had a meeting with the group he was doing his finance project with, so he wouldn't be around. "Sure. I'll be by for dinner."
-xXx-
Naruto was lying in his bed in the dorm room. It was the second week of classes, but his first night sleeping in his own bed. Sasuke had told him he wasn't allowed to come to the library or his hotel room tonight to 'study together', since every time last week Naruto had come they had ended up having sex for hours, leaving Sasuke too exhausted to finish his work. It was only the second week of school, and Sasuke was already falling behind. If he wanted to keep his special permission to do extra courses, he had to make top grades.
So Naruto was left cooling his heels alone for the evening. Gaara had gone somewhere with his siblings, and wouldn't be back until late. Naruto heard his phone chime, and he looked to see who the text was from, hoping it was Sasuke inviting him over for a 'study break'. But it wasn't Sasuke. It was Yahiko.
I'm in the parking lot by your dorm
Just give me 5 min to talk
Yahiko was leaning against his car when Naruto approached.
"Hey," Yahiko said, levering himself away from the car when he saw Naruto.
"Hi," Naruto said, a little unsure of how to act around Yahiko after everything that had happened. "I was surprised to get your message. What's up?"
"I just wanted to catch you before we leave on tour. We'll be heading out for about four months."
Naruto smiled sincerely. "That's great. I'm really glad that the album is doing so well."
Yahiko smiled slightly. "The songs were great. It makes it easy to sell tickets. How are things going with you and the Uchiha?"
Naruto grinned. "They're great. We're... really happy."
Yahiko just looked at Naruto for a minute, then drew a breath. "Look, I still want to work with you on the next album. If you and Sasuke are serious, and all we can be are collaborators professionally, I'm cool with that. I really think you are talented, and I think we work well together."
Naruto hesitated. "I don't know. What about Nagato?"
"Things are better between us. We're talking again. But he doesn't really want to write more right now. And you already have a lot of material that we could use. Maybe the three of us could work on it together, like last time."
"Maybe," Naruto said. If he were honest with himself, he had to admit that working with Nagato and Yahiko on turning scraps of poetry and thoughts into songs had been one of the most exciting things he had ever done. And he missed it. "I'll think about it. But if I do, I don't want any more shit with me in any of the videos or album covers."
Yahiko sneered a bit. "What, your boyfriend won't like it?"
Naruto bristled, in part because he hadn't worked up the nerve to show Sasuke the album cover yet, and also at the implication that he wouldn't have been mad about it if he hadn't been dating Sasuke. "I didn't like it, Yahiko. You might not care if everyone sees your naked ass, but I care if people see mine. I don't like my personal life all over the TV, and I don't like people lying to me about what they want from me."
"I never lied to you, Naruto," Yahiko began.
"Please, let's not go over this again. Look, I'm telling you I'll think about it, ok? I liked writing songs with you guys. It was really fun. And I know that this was a chance in a lifetime for me. For the first time ever, I don't have to worry about paying my rent or having to drop out of school because I can't afford it." Naruto paused, still getting used to this new reality, and feeling such a volatile mix of intense gratitude and extreme mistrust for the man standing in front of him. "I know that you guys gave me a huge break, and I am incredibly grateful. But if I am going to write, I need to stay in the background out of the videos, album covers and everything else. I don't want people to recognize me, or want to know who I'm sleeping with, or know what I look like naked... just none of that."
Yahiko laughed softly. "You're such a good boy, still, aren't you Naruto? Even after all this. I guess it's part of your appeal. You just never seem to get jaded." He sighed. "I can agree to your request. Just think about it, ok?"
"Ok," Naruto said. "Good luck on the tour."
Yahiko looked at him intently for a moment, and Naruto felt a heat rise on his cheeks. "Sasuke better deserve you," Yahiko said, and got into his car.
Naruto watched him drive off, feeling somehow guilty about the exchange.
-xXx-
to be continued...