Chapter 24: Rough Houses
Sasuke reached the table, impatient to get Tenten away so that he'd have a chance to talk to Karin.
"Karin," he said. "I need to talk to you."
The girls looked up from their conversation, both of them confused. Tenten bid her a goodnight as Karin stood from the table and raised her eyebrows at Sasuke.
He waited for her to slowly step out of the table and trail closely behind him, an obvious attempt to grate at his nerves a bit. So he took Karin's socialization time, she wasted a bit of his down time. It was an achingly similar trait that she shared with Naruto, and Sasuke pondered how he'd ever grown to tolerate either of them.
Sasuke led her to the lounge, in which he found a napping Shikamaru. He shrugged it off as a threat, knowing the boy was dead to the world. He remained standing and Karin appeared a bit irritated that he hadn't offered her to take a seat.
"Whatever," he said, reading her expression clearly. "I'm just making this quick so I can rest."
Something poked in Karin's stomach. Could this possibly be the long awaited love profession that she had dreamt about until she was twelve? Could they finally reenact a fairy tale and Sasuke would protect her from everyone and everything? This… this was what she had made voodoo dolls for, and this was worth all of the pain when Suigetsu had burned her raggedy Sasuke doll with dirt stuck in its hair.
Sasuke was looking at her oddly, both of his hands in his pockets. "You should know that I'm with Naruto," he deadpanned, but blinked soon after. "As in. Naruto is my partner." Kami, he was thankful for that glazed look in her eyes. He tapped her roughly on the shoulder and tried again. "I'm in a relationship with Naruto."
Karin looked at him in shock, her glasses falling halfway down her nose. "A romantic one? You and…" Karin sagged a bit. Actually, she wasn't all that surprised. All of that following each other around propaganda… those gazes… the jokes Kakashi and Tsunade had mades sometimes… some of those conversations she'd overheard…
"…why do you never listen to me?" Sasuke grumbled. "Whatever. I don't care what you think."
Karin watched numbly as Sasuke left the lounge, presumably heading up towards his own room. He was kind of moody today, Karin noted.
Maybe, in an alternate universe, she would have felt jealous. She would have envied Naruto for receiving Sasuke's affections and learning his deepest secrets. She would have wanted in on something that so rarely came by. But Karin couldn't deny or ignore the protective instinct that washed over her, the dire need to protect her Sasuke from any future harm. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she would have to pass on Itachi's will. Sasuke sure wouldn't; it was one of the very few times in which Itachi hadn't been around to hover over him, and Karin knew that Sasuke would revel in the freedom. She would have to take Itachi's place since none of her lazy teammates would, and Naruto needed to know what he was getting himself into.
So she poked her glasses higher upon her nose and woke up one grumpy Shikamaru, throwing away the thoughts of meeting back up with Tenten.
Karin somehow managed to look down at him though she stood a head shorter than him. Naruto distantly wondered if he should have put his hands up.
All of a sudden, he was actually looking up at her. Karin had taken a fistful of his shirt and shoved him into the seat she had stood out of. He rolled back slightly, coming to a gentle stop when the chair hit the foot of his bed.
Naruto swallowed roughly when she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. He knew that he had the advantage over her already, being larger than her. But Naruto knew to never, ever underestimate the power of a woman - Sakura and Tsunade had beaten that into him years ago, and he already knew better than to strike back. Karin was petite and curvy, but she possessed the will and strength to beat Suigetsu within an inch of his life. Frankly, Naruto knew better than to mess with her of all the girls.
"Uh," he started, giving her a once over to make sure that she wasn't carrying any weapons. "What are you-"
"How much do you weigh!" Karin got in his face again, nostrils flared and eyes wide.
Naruto jumped. "I-I don't know!" He hoped she didn't hit him.
She growled low in her throat, righting herself so that she could put her hands on her hips. "Are you sure that you don't know?"
"Yeah," Naruto grumbled, scrutinizing her from where he sat. "Besides, it's probably all over the place."
"Fluctuating," she corrected. It reminded him of Sasuke. He had probably rubbed the habit off on her.
He grunted, straightening in his seat a bit. A tiny bit of the aggression she had held before had dissipated, and he finally felt a bit more at ease with Karin in the room. "Why exactly are you here? Why-"
Karin glared at him again, silencing him. She crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. "Haven't you already figured it out yet?" she asked.
"Huh?" Naruto was caught slightly off guard.
"Slow," Karin called him. It reminded him of Sasuke again, and it only made sense. Traveling together for some odd years would do that to them, he supposed; a bit of Sasuke's snarky mouth would rub off on her, and Karin's attentiveness would rub off on him.
"I'm here to give you a warning," she continued, observing him with a calculating stare.
A lightbulb went off inside of Naruto's head. Oh. Well, why hadn't she just come out and said it? Subtlety was like a different language to him. He was used to the bluntness of his friends around him, and vice versa.
Naruto's eyes bulged and the lightbulb inside of his head broke from its thin string and crashed to the floor. Was Karin here to roughen him up? Was this like what he'd seen in some of Jiraiya's more dramatic assortment of books?
Naruto held his hands up in a surrendering motion, eyeing her warily. This was unnecessary, he thought, and he wanted to go talk to Sakura. "Hey, if this is about-"
"It is about Sasuke," she interrupted. "So you're not getting away."
He frowned and placed his hands back on top of his lap. Karin smoothed the front of her shirt down and used her index and middle finger to roughly push Naruto's jaw up so that he had a rather intimidating view of her.
"Listen to me," she said firmly. "For the ten years that I've known Sasuke, I've inevitably seen him change in more ways than you could possibly imagine. I have been with him through multiple things, and Itachi and I made sure his well being…"
Naruto's brow furrowed as she trailed off and swallowed roughly. For a fleeting moment, he emphasized with her. He had a hard time planning his speeches out, too.
"I know he asked you to watch his back," she continued. Naruto thought back to the fuzzy night in which Itachi had brazenly ordered him to protect Sasuke alongside him. The deal had suddenly taken a turn after the most recent events, though, and it seemed like Sasuke had taken him as the ugly duckling under his wing. Again. "And I expect you to keep true to that promise."
Naruto grunted lowly. "I don't ever break my promises."
"I see that you haven't yet."
Naruto relaxed slightly once she took a small step further away from him. She was… obviously attempting to collect herself. Though Naruto was terrible at reading the atmosphere and, more specifically, girls - she could have been sorting through any kind of emotion. His best guesses were anger, sadness, happiness… maybe she just had some bad food and had a stomachache. It all looked the damn same to him, and he couldn't analyze for shit. Naruto was thankful enough that Sasuke was an extremely blunt person; he communicated best with and understood the other. Things left unsaid were lost to him.
"Itachi and I have watched over him for so long," Karin's voice was thick and unwavering, though her eyes slightly moistened behind her glasses.
Naruto waited for her to continue, but when she lowered her head so that her hair covered her face, his eyes widened. He jutted a hand out to comfort her. Shit! he thought.
Karin reached her hand to her face and removed her glasses from the bridge of her nose, lowering them to her shirt so that she could clean the lenses. Naruto watched the outline of her thumb through the hem of her shirt as she rubbed it over one of the lenses, his throat tight.
"Don't cry," he smiled weakly, though he knew Karin couldn't see him through the curtain of her hair. "I promise I'll-"
Karin's elbow jerked and the back of his chair slammed against the footboard of his bed, jostling it lightly. He sucked in a breath when he felt something cold and sharp press against the soft skin on the right side of his throat.
Naruto stared into Karin's dry and dark eyes, then glanced down to the piece of plastic in her hand. It went lower, and… lenses? Karin had a hidden blade in her glasses?
"You hurt him and the blade goes a lot deeper," she warned. "He doesn't need this distraction right now, but of course you butt in."
Naruto winced and nodded as best as he could with a blade against his throat. "It's not like I want to hurt him! I don't!"
Karin pushed him slightly again, her sharp eyes unfocused. "Do you understand or not?"
"I got it," Naruto stuttered. "Promise."
Karin narrowed her eyes shoved him again for good measure. She backed away from him and all of the previous tension in the room evaporated, leaving him with a cold sweat on the back of his neck and a slight indent on his neck from what he could feel with his fingers. The front legs of his chair hit the ground.
Naruto watched Karin as she cleaned her glasses for real and slid the cover over her hidden blade, tucking it tightly before putting them back on. Before, it was almost as if she couldn't see him at all; he knew it must have been blurry without the glasses, but the look in her eyes was dull and cruel.
He sat back slightly in the chair and tucked a foot under his other leg, spinning gently. "That's awesome. Why do you have that?"
"Because I do," Karin replied nonchalantly, turning away from him and setting a hand on the doorknob.
Naruto frowned. He'd thought she would stay around and they could have a little awkward boyfriend's-friend bonding.
"By the way," she called. "I don't cry." Karin yanked the door open wide and moved to step out.
"Wait!" Naruto called, scrambling out of his seat. She turned to him, slightly irritated.
"How…" Naruto grinned slightly, motioning to the door. "How'd you get in? I always make sure I lock it."
Karin quirked her lips and cast a thoughtful glance to the ceiling, producing a more mischievous atmosphere. "Well, if you really must know…"
Naruto stood in front of a barely familiar door, his hand already scratching the back of his head. After Karin had shown him some pretty damn cool tricks, she'd left and he had run to brush his teeth and pee before Sakura could knock it out of him. He was ready for this, Naruto told himself.
Naruto knocked a few times on the door, hoping that Sakura would still be awake. He couldn't tell if the light inside of her room was on or not, since the hallway lights obstructed his view.
He waited a few moments, and then the doorknob turned and the door opened slowly. At least Sakura looked as if he hadn't woken her up, dressed in a baggy gray T-shirt and her pink sleeping shorts.
"Naruto?" she asked, using a hand to rub at her eye.
He grinned down at her and pushed himself into her room. Naruto glanced around at how neat she seemed to keep it, a towel neatly folded on top of her dresser. He didn't know how she'd managed to get such girly bed sheets, but Sakura had always been resourceful.
"Why don't you come in," she grumbled, shutting the door behind her and glowering at him. "What is it? We have to be up early."
Naruto lost some of the force of his grin, moving to sit on the chair at her desk. "It's important."
"Scale?" she asked promptly, moving to lean her hip on the desk.
Naruto stroked his chin. "Well, nobody's dying, so a four out of five."
She tilted her head. "What could it be that's so important? I hope you're not pulling my leg, Naruto."
"I'm not," he whined. "I'm being serious." Now that he'd told Shikamaru about Sasuke with a heavy dose of awkwardness, he had a vague idea of what to say now. He knew he'd get all tongue tied, like he usually did, and Sakura would be confused about what he was trying to say, but it would come out nonetheless.
Sakura lifted her knee and nudged him in the thigh, urging him on. Naruto stared at her dainty foot as it rested back on the ground.
"Eh…" he started. "I want you to know 'cause you're one of my closest friends, Sakura."
She frowned, reaching a hand out to pet his hair. It was calming, though he really preferred a touch like this to be from Sasuke only. Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade had the tendency to ruffle his hair; he found caresses and pets to be more intimate, and it was appreciated from Sakura.
Naruto continued once she dropped her hand. He curled his toes inside of his socks and poked at the floor with them. "Uh, well, you used to be really mean to me, and you still kinda are…" he grumbled and trailed off, getting distracted and glancing to the side. Sakura gave him a nice roughing up more often than she offered him affection and some heartfelt conversations. But she really was caring when he didn't provoke her.
"But I…" he patted at the back of his neck, willing himself not to blush as he felt her gaze on him.
"You're not trying to ask me out again, are you?" Sakura asked softly. In the past, she usually would have been a bit more aggressive about his advances; but he had already told her it was a four out of five on their scale that they had made up when they were twelve.
"What? No!" He denied, a bit more loudly than he'd meant to. "Uh, I'm just telling you…"
Sakura tilted her head again.
"Sasuke and me, we, uh… we're together," he finished, blowing out a quiet sigh. It was just as nerve wracking as telling Shikamaru was. Naruto was glad that he hadn't broken out into a sweat and warily eyed his friend.
"What?" Sakura said, looking genuinely confused. She used her index fingers to rub at her ears. "Naruto, stop mumbling! I can't hear you!"
"Oh," Naruto said, the jitters returning to him. He gave her a tight-lipped smile and raised his voice. "Sasuke and me, we're together!" He said with more confidence than he had the first two times.
Sakura stared at him, blinking owlishly. "What?"
"You really didn't hear that?" Naruto frowned a bit. Did she need to get her hearing checked? "Well. Sas-"
"I heard you, Naruto!" a vein popped out in her forehead as she began to get truly annoyed. "First of all, it's Sasuke and I, you dumbass!"
"Hey!" he defended, a hurt look washing over his face. "I seriously just come out to you and you're al-"
"Second of all, how long have you been together?" her voice took on a scolding tone and she bent over slightly to glare in his face.
"Uh…" He glanced down at the fist curling by Sakura's side. Naruto thought back to that evening, trying to remember a specific date, though it was a habit of his not to check it. He saw Sasuke and a dead body. He and Sasuke in a tree. Oh, man, Naruto still remembered hitting his balls really damn hard on that branch. An evening, chasing an official, and Sasuke was all he remembered, though he knew it hadn't been too long. "Like, a few days?"
Sakura threw all of her weight into the punch she delivered to Naruto's gut, pushing him back a bit in the chair. He groaned and keeled over, clutching his stomach and wondering if he was going to throw up right after he brushed his teeth. Hot pain bloomed in all of his torso and he wondered where Sakura had even punched him in the first place. This one was going to bruise quickly, and he knew it would be a nasty one that would stick around for a long while.
"What…" he grunted, gritting his teeth to try to distract himself from the fresh pain in his gut. "Was that for?"
"For not telling me sooner," Sakura snapped. "And forgetting your own anniversary. You'd better ask Sasuke so you can mark it down on the calendar, Naruto. This is one thing you can't half-ass."
He grimaced as the pain turned into a throbbing one, leaning back in the chair and throwing his head back. "Why'd you have to hit me… this was supposed to be happy…"
"It is happy," Sakura scolded. "But you kept it from me for too long. Poor Sasuke…"
"Why does everyone keep saying that," Naruto mumbled. "Sorry for not runnin' to tell you like five minutes after it all happened," he added, a bit of sarcasm dripping into his voice.
She harrumphed and crossed her arms, eyeing him with a look that was all too judgmental. "If you want to make it up, you have to tell me everything. Everything."
Naruto glanced up at her and forced a watery smile, something akin to a freezing shiver of fear traveling down his neck. "What happened to p-"
"Just one thing first," Sakura touched her finger to her chin. "I'm not very surprised, but I need to know this. Naruto, are you gay?"
"Eh?" He jumped in his chair a bit, shocked that she would be so straightforward. "All of that, and now this?"
"Just answer the question."
"Uh," he picked at the drawstring of his sweatpants, twisting his lips to the side. After all, he hadn't really thought about it. Moving so freely back and forth between his groups… he spent a lot of time by himself, but had never delved so deep into his own mind.
All that Naruto really knew was that love was all the same in the end, and he would accept any version of it that he could get in a world like this. He had heard of discrimination against people like… well, himself, he guessed, and he couldn't understand why for any amount of safety in the wild. Why did he have to worry about what others thought of him so often? This was Naruto's life, and he'd obsess over some sarcastic asshole if he wanted to.
Now that he thought about it, it still was a confusing question. Naruto still appreciated the girls' figures, and his body temperature still spiked a bit at the thought of seeing a woman naked. But there was no denying that his eyes had stuck on masculine figures for a few moments too long in the past, and that he'd give Sasuke a thorough once over when he wasn't looking. It wasn't like he had anyone else to experiment with, anyway, and he didn't understand why he was so quick to be labelled. Naruto figured he would eventually find out what he was, but he frankly didn't understand why it was such a big deal.
"No. I mean… I still think you're c-"
Naruto was silenced by a poke to the site of his injury, biting his tongue to hold back a whimper. "Geez… it's a little hard to tell, okay? I like one guy and you think I'm gay… just gimme some time."
Sakura sent him an unimpressed look, walking over to her dresser and yanking open a drawer. "We'll have to get you further educated on this, Naruto. You can't just jump into a relationship with Sasuke and expect everything to work out perfectly."
"I know it won't," he said quickly. "And I didn't jump into it. Maybe you didn't notice, but… it was kind of brewing already. And then everything blew up."
Naruto couldn't help but notice that Sakura's conversation was… jumping all over the place. Was she anxious about something? Her movements were a bit jerky as she slid the drawer to her dresser shut and moved back to him, setting a travel-sized first aid kit on the desk. He peered up into her face, but her eyes were cast down on the kit and she wasn't displaying any sort of expression.
Naruto rolled his shirt up automatically, watching as she screwed the cap to a bruise ointment off and placed it between her pinky and ring finger. Sakura frowned as she gently patted it on the area right below his ribs. It still burned.
He frowned. "Are you okay with it?" he asked, growing a bit nervous. Naruto had never pegged her as the phobic type, but he guessed that no matter how nice and understanding a person was, they had their limits of empathy.
"Of course I am," she halfheartedly scoffed, moving to tape the gauze over his forming bruise. "I just…"
Naruto looked at her expectantly, though she kept her eyes glued to her hands. "You've never even had a girlfriend before, Naruto. I don't want you to walk into this…" she pressed her hand firmly against his side. "And get disappointed. Naruto, I'm sure you know what it feels like to get your hopes up and turn only to get let down completely."
Sakura raised her head, a frown set deep in her features. She reached out and grabbed either of his cheeks between two fingers, pulling them apart so he was forced to grimace. Naruto started to protest, but she pressed her palms against his cheeks and pulled him into a tight hug, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Don't grow up without us."
Naruto's hands were still on his knees. He was a little more than surprised by the turn of Sakura's mood, but he guessed it was only expected from her. He wrapped his arms gently around her back, rubbing his hand up and down her shoulder calmly.
"You're still a baby," she said softly, her jaw moving awkwardly against his neck. She shifted to squeeze him a bit tighter.
"Don't cry?"
"I'm not," Sakura insisted. "But I'm happy for you, Naruto. I really am. I just don't want you to get hurt-"
"You've never had a boyfriend, either," Naruto pointed out. "And Sasuke's a lot nicer than you think he is."
"I know that," she grumbled. "You just… need to know. You need to know how everything works."
"Yeah."
"Don't be mean to Sasuke."
"How can you say that? He's the one that's mean to me-"
"He has to deal with you now, Naruto," Sakura teased. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you're not in your room sometimes."
Naruto grumbled and stopped rubbing her back. "I thought you were gonna move out, Sak'ra. I always have to stay around when you shower."
"You can't get rid of me that easily," Sakura scolded. "Especially now…" she tensed up a bit.
She pulled back from him, still holding him by the shoulders. Her face was completely blank. "I think we need to have a talk."
Naruto's lips parted a bit and he stared at her. The broken lightbulb in his mind flickered weakly and he flushed deeply, everything from the tips of his ears to the back of his neck burning. "Sakura, no! I-"
She giggled that giggle she did when they were little, when she stole his building blocks that one time. "I'm just kidding, Naruto," she said.
Naruto sighed grumpily, scowling as he waited for the blood to leave his face. Damn Sakura. This was why he didn't hang out with her more often, because she liked to tease him a lot.
"I like your little pouch of fat," she said pleasantly, poking at his navel.
"That's my pants!" Naruto smoothed out the wrinkle in them. "See?"
"Mhm," Sakura mocked, standing up and putting her first aid kit away. She spun him in the chair gently for a few moments.
"You know, uh, I'm only telling you and Shika for a reason," Naruto said. "So if you could keep it on the down low, that'd be great."
Sakura stopped spinning him and he frowned. "Did you really think I was gonna take it as a piece of hot gossip?" she asked, looking slightly offended. "A relationship that isn't mine is definitely not something I'd blurt out to Ino. Do I really act like that all the time?"
Naruto put his hands up, shaking his head quickly. "No, not at all! It was just a reminder. I told Shika the same thing, too."
Sakura sent him a small smile. "So what'd Sasuke say about telling me? He's obviously not too fond of me, you know. I'd guess that he was against it."
"He doesn't hate you," Naruto said quickly. "Actually, Sasuke didn't wanna tell anyone at all. He just, ah, keeps to himself."
Sakura looked like she didn't believe him, but cast the ceiling a thoughtful glance. "Alright. I promise not to even say a word about it."
Naruto smiled. "Thanks."
He gingerly touched at the gauze on his stomach. The whole area where Sakura had punched him felt hot, and he knew it was the blood rising to his skin to form a bruise. What color would it be this time? Blue and yellow?
"You know," Naruto began. "If you really wanna try at a boyfriend, Lee has liked you since forever."
"I'm well aware of that," she replied calmly. "But I'm not thinking about that right now."
He pursed his lips, feeling a pang of pity for Lee. He'd had a crush on Sakura since just about when they were still in diapers. He could hardly even imagine just how genuinely elated Lee would be to even score a few minutes of bonding time with Sakura, and it really would be touching to watch that happen.
"So," Sakura seated herself on her bed, bouncing on it a couple of times. "Where are you gonna start?"
Naruto groaned and flushed slightly, twirling in the chair to hide his face from Sakura. What a blunt changing of the subject, he thought.
"Kami," he grumbled, scratching at the nape of his neck and staring at the foot he'd tucked next to his knee.
So much for hanging out with Sasuke tonight.
The next morning, Naruto awoke to a loud banging on the door and a buzzing in his ear. He groaned and rolled around in his bed a couple of times, trying to savor the softness and warmth of his blankets. He threw an arm out to turn the alarm off, but since he hadn't been looking, it fell off of the bedside table and crashed onto the floor.
Well, at least it stopped beeping. Maybe it even stopped working. Naruto lifted his head from his pillow and was greeted by the sight of the alarm clock with a few of its pieces missing and popping out.
He stumbled out of bed, tripping over his blankets, and winced as soon as he took his first step. It seemed like his whole body was unbelievably sore and tense. He grunted as he could hardly make his fingertips touch his toes (barely even his knees) and wobbled towards the door, yanking it open.
A soft smile came about Sakura's cheeks, and she tilted her head. "Good morning."
Naruto hunched his shoulders. "Time is it?"
Sakura reached forward and roughly pushed his door the rest of the way opening, coming inside only to blankly stare at his broken alarm on the ground. "Well… I guess it's somewhere around seven."
Naruto stretched his arms above his head, moaning in agony as all of the muscles in them protested.
"How can you be that sore?" Sakura commented, coming over him and staring at his arm. She lifted a hand up to poke at his tricep, and he shied away from her finger, holding the spot on his arm gingerly.
"That hurt!" he complained. Naruto moved away from her as she seemed fixated to keep on poking at the sore parts in his arms, tucking his shoulders closer to his ears as she moved on to poking at his stomach.
Sakura poked at his side, a smiling playfully. "You're so cute, Naruto. Look at all of your baby fat."
"Stop it, dammit!" he grumbled, grabbing at her thin wrist and flicking it back towards her.
She laughed. "Come on, get ready for breakfast. We'll see if we can get you a new alarm."
Naruto glared at her back as she headed towards his door, casting a knowing grin over her shoulder before she left. He grumbled to himself all throughout tripping out of his boxers and into his jumpsuit (which he should probably wash soon) and jamming his feet in his socks and into his boots. It was painful to bend over as his sides and hamstrings protested, and when he walked, his calves and arms pulled stiffly. Naruto knew the only way to get rid of the soreness was to use the muscles over and over again, but barely being able to move didn't always seem like it was worth it.
He found Sakura leaning against the wall outside of the door, and she pushed off of it when he stepped out. They went down to breakfast together, though he refrained from looking at her. Sakura kept sending him furtive and teasing glances, nudging him in the side as they reached the lobby. Naruto hugged the area she'd punched last night as they walked towards their table, keeping his head relatively low. He could see Sakura waggling her eyebrows suggestively as Sasuke's head came into view, turned to Kiba as he gestured wildly about something.
He was just about to tell Sakura to knock it off when they got within a few feet of the table. She acted as if they hadn't been walking together in the first place, diving off into her signature spot with the rest of the girls.
Naruto gingerly lowered himself onto the bench, sitting stiffly. He glanced towards Shikamaru, who hadn't even given him so much as a glance when he arrived. Another look the other way proved Sakura to be deeply interested in a conversation with Karin, and Juugo sat silently on the other side of Sasuke.
Sasuke turned towards him, giving him a scrutinizing stare. "What's wrong with you?"
"Good morning to you too," he grumbled. "I'm sore, and a certain someone used me as a punching bag."
The other raised his eyebrow. "Did they now? Tell them I said thank you."
Naruto kicked his shin under the table, earning an irritated grunt. "Ass. I'm gonna have the bruise the size of a head."
Sasuke rested his chin on his hands, humming idly. "Who was it?"
He grinned a bit nervously and tapped his thumb on the table. "I'll fill you in later, okay?"
"Fine," Sasuke agreed. He moved a hand under the table to rest on Naruto's lower thigh, squeezing lightly. "It'll go away if you stretch it all out."
"No, it won't," Naruto scoffed. "And how are you not sore at all?"
Sasuke didn't look impressed at all. "Because I stretched properly."
"I don't see how that fixes anything!" Naruto argued. "Your muscles are still gonna be sore no matter how much you stretch them."
"I'm leaning towards more you didn't cool down," the other noted.
"Well…" Naruto glared at the table. "Whatever. I don't see why you're not sore." Naruto supposed that there was a great possibility that Sasuke was just bluffing that he wasn't sore.
"Just a bit," he admitted. "But I think that you should do cool down stretches after conditioning."
"Yeah?" Naruto bounced the leg Sasuke's hand was on. "Our officer didn't take us through those."
Kiba uncaringly slid their tray of food across the table, only coming to a stop when Tenten blocked it with her hand. Naruto slightly frowned when Sasuke removed the hand on his leg to serve himself. It had definitely been a familiar and comforting touch, definitely a refreshing break from the violent ones he'd been receiving lately.
About an hour later, they were all called up to conditioning. Kiba banged on the table irately, whining and bitching that he didn't want to go. Suigetsu called out his agreement and initiated a small argument with Sasuke, leaving Naruto open to Karin's line of view.
He stuck his thumb out, giving Karin his most charming grin. Turning away from her conversation, she returned it with a suspicious glare.
Well, Naruto didn't think that mattered so much right now. Karin would warm up to him sooner or later, and he'd make sure to figure out what she found interesting so that they could hold a proper conversation in the future. Naruto hummed to himself. He really would make sure to get on good terms with her. He swore it.
Hours later, Sasuke walked back to his room from a quick shower. Thankfully, Sai had made a grand decision to not be the bait of the ring and had stuck to his own wing's restroom. The last time he'd been in there, it had been physically exhausting.
Dinner had been a relatively quiet affair, most of its attendants choosing to go to bed early. Sasuke hadn't had much of an appetite for anything, and had idly picked at his stiff spaghetti noodles. He had tried to ask Naruto if he'd stretched out before conditioning properly, but their conversation was short lived. Sakura had hauled him off in the excuse that she wanted to take a shower while everyone else was eating, and Sasuke had simply lowered his head.
After the initial exercises and more, he'd felt a bit more frustrated than usual with Sai and Suigetsu's antics. Sasuke wondered if he would even be able to concentrate with those two flocking around him all the time.
So now he looked forward to going to sleep a bit early and not returning to conditioning with a couple of day's rest. He fished his key out of his pocket and unlocked his door, pushing it open. Sasuke swiped at the light dial and tossed his key on his desk, turning to slam his door back closed.
With his back turned, he was startled to hear another body shifting in the room. He snapped his head around, his mind going into autopilot for defensive and disabling moves.
Naruto grinned over the long finished cup of his yogurt, having already licked the cover. He spun the cup back and forth between his fingers, his ankles crossed and hanging above the ground from his comfortable position on Sasuke's desk.
"Hi," Naruto grinned, tossing his spoon into the trash bin by his feet.
Sasuke studied him closely, a hand remaining on the door. "How did you get in?" he demanded.
"Karin taught me a little trick," he replied cheekily, leaning back against the wall.
Sasuke sighed heavily, closing the door behind him. He should have known Naruto and Karin would be a horrible mix together. "Well, forget it."
"The trick?" Naruto asked, ignoring the hostility that leaked into Sasuke's voice. "I can't forget it, but it sure is hard to do. I don't have enough hair clips for it."
The other sent him an unimpressed look, walking over and picking the empty yogurt cup up. He inspected it from the inside out. It was perfectly clean. "That's good. You shouldn't be breaking into other people's rooms."
Naruto sighed. Sasuke was in one of his moods again. "Well, Karin did it first. It's not my fault that she showed up in my room and nearly beat me up, you know."
"What?"
"She had a man to man talk with me," Naruto mused, swinging his feet. He began to say something, but stuttered his way through the first syllable and started a new sentence. "Has she always had a blade in her glasses?"
Sasuke practically threw himself into his desk chair, folding his legs and resting his hands on top of his ankles. His shoulder pressed against Naruto's thigh. He looked at Naruto like he had grown another eye in the middle of his forehead. "What in the world are you talking about?"
Naruto frowned and broke their gaze to stare at his hands briefly. "Must be her new weapon. The ear thing comes off on her glasses and there's a rough blade under it."
Sasuke tilted his head a the inadequate description. "What, like a dagger?"
"I guess," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke. He really felt like he was missing something, and the feeling kept nagging him at the back of his mind.
"Hn," Sasuke said, tucking his foot into his thigh and resting the other on the ground to spin himself absently. They sat in silence for a while, relaxed in each other's presence.
"Is Sai still alive?" Naruto asked, reaching his hand out to run a finger through Sasuke's hair. He really felt like showering affection on the other, and it was probably an instinct; due to the amount of roughing up Naruto had taken this week, he felt that he could only retaliate by giving Sasuke a few sloppy grandmother kisses and attempting to hold his hand.
Sasuke glanced up at him, letting Naruto thread the rest of his fingers into his hair. He closed his eyes when Naruto ran gentle circles into his scalp, enjoying the gentle pull of his hair when Naruto detangled his warm hand from it. "I wish he wasn't," Sasuke murmured, frowning when Naruto used his hair to make him look up.
"Don't say that," the other scolded. His hand returned to petting at Sasuke's hair and gently tugging on the pieces of hair framing his face. "I'm going to laugh the day Sai becomes your officer or something."
Sasuke didn't reply, instead choosing to give Naruto a contemplative stare. His eyes didn't hold anything in particular, just a bit of affection and warmth. Naruto offered him a small quirk of his lips, lowering his hand to lightly tug at the top of Sasuke's ear.
Sasuke leant up and kissed him softly, placing his hand on his knee. It took Naruto a second to kiss him back, still a bit shocked that they had really come this far. In the past, he'd only thought about kissing Sasuke a handful of times, and all of those times his face had nearly boiled itself off and he'd had to force himself to stop.
He broke the kiss, keeping Sasuke in place with hands on either of his cheeks. He stared into Sasuke's dark eyes as a sudden wave of emotion rolled over him. Naruto didn't think that he could ever put into words just how lucky he felt to share this undoubtedly mutual feeling with Sasuke, and how thrilling it felt to express that feeling. He pressed his lips against Sasuke's again, holding them for a few seconds before Sasuke quietly sighed through his nose and sucked on his bottom lip. Naruto pressed a series of open-mouthed kisses to the corners of Sasuke's lips before opening his mouth to welcome the other's tongue, his thumbs roving over his cheeks and ears.
Sasuke stood as their kiss deepened, leveling their heads and pressing his tongue harder against Naruto's. His fingers lightly ran over Naruto's neck before scratching at the baby hairs on the nape of his neck. He pulled away only to lay a few kisses on Naruto's collarbone, working his way up until he could flick his tongue at a tan earlobe, taking it into his mouth and nibbling gently. It all went straight to his groin. Naruto shuddered and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's waist, pulling him closer as Sasuke sucked at the side of his neck.
He yanked Sasuke's face back to his as his other hand rested on Naruto's knee, massaging and slowly moving his hands to his lower thighs. The kiss strengthened in ferocity as he held in a groan, pulling at Sasuke's hair as saliva began to collect on their lips. Sasuke pulled away to suck at where his neck and shoulder met, and this time he did groan quietly. He bit his lip as Sasuke bit lightly at the spot, sucking until it became almost painful. All the while, his hands had been traveling higher up Naruto's thighs.
Naruto paused in his caressing Sasuke's neck as his hand became dangerously close to the growing hardness in his pants.
He sighed as Sasuke's lips trailed up and down his neck. Naruto didn't want to take this too far to the point that Sasuke and he became uncomfortable. Maybe they should stay in grey territory before they ventured into lands they didn't know. Of course, he wouldn't mind if a new problem of his got some attention, but he valued Sasuke's comfort more than his own pleasure.
He turned his lips to Sasuke's ear. "We should stop before we get too excited," he murmured, the meaning hanging in the air between them.
Sasuke removed his hand from his neck, placing it on his own thigh. His hand squeezed soothingly over Naruto's. "Should we?"
"I dunno," Naruto whispered back. "Are you sure? Like, are you okay with this?"
Sasuke raised his eyes, filled with lust and certainty. "Yes."
"'Kay," he replied, crossing his ankles behind Sasuke's legs. He grunted as Sasuke ran a firm hand over the bulge in his pants, smashing their lips back together in bruising force.
Naruto closed his eyes, his hands rubbing over the planed of Sasuke's sides and hips. He dipped them under his shirt, using his thumbs to stroke at the hipbones and taut abdomen he found there. As his hands went higher and over the muscles there, he worked Sasuke's shirt off, tossing it somewhere to the side. He couldn't believe that he had Sasuke burrowed in between his legs and palming slowly at his hard on through his pants. It almost felt as if he were dreaming, his body temperature spiking unbelievably at the friction his sweats caused under Sasuke's hand.
Naruto let out a short, broken moan, feeling pre-cum begin to leak from himself and drip on his thigh. He boldly grabbed a handful of Sasuke's ass and broke the kiss briefly to glance down at the tent in the other's pants, biting his lip. Sasuke sighed against his forehead when he groped at his erection through his pants, running his hand along the length and pressing hot kisses against his neck. He bucked gently into Naruto's touch. Sasuke's hand on him squeezed lightly, causing him to grunt and yank their hips flush against each other.
He gasped sharply, kneading his hands on Sasuke's firm ass as they grinded tentatively against one another. This was new, and it was good, all of it. The glorious friction, the expanse of a pale torso in front of him, Sasuke's hot breaths in his ear. Naruto raised his eyes back to Sasuke's and, as soon as they connected, a rush of understanding flowed between them and he initiated another rough kiss. Sasuke's hand dove into his pants and gave him a couple of friendly strokes, his hands hurrying to his hips so that he could yank the sweatpants down. Naruto aided him by raising his hips and scooting closer to the edge of the desk, planting a foot on the ground for leverage.
"Fuck," he murmured as the cool air hit his bare cock, making a shiver run down his spine.
Sasuke rested his forehead on his shoulder, blocking his view of his hand at work. Sasuke's warm hand wrapped around the shaft and his thumb passed over the head of his cock, slowly pulling his foreskin down. Naruto moved his head so that he could watch Sasuke's pale hand work over him, speeding up slightly and twisting his wrist as he got to the head.
He moaned in approval when Sasuke dug his thumb into the slit at his head, flicking there and spreading the pre-cum around. Naruto grimaced in pleasure and hooked a finger inside the other's waistband, pulling at it lightly and peeking inside at the black curls. Sasuke's panting filled his ear as he pushed his pants down, letting his erection spring free. Naruto's lips parted at the sight and he wrapped his hand around the base of his length, squeezing firmly and slowly stroking up. Sasuke was cut, and he was surprised that he knew how foreskin worked in general.
Naruto's hand worked quickly over the head, making Sasuke groan. "C'mere," he breathed, using a hand on his hip to press their cocks together.
Sasuke's breath hitched and he took the opportunity to push his tongue into Sasuke's mouth, licking at whatever he felt like. Moisture collected on their lips as Sasuke pressed the heads of their dicks together, his hand open wide. Naruto wrapped his hand around where Sasuke's couldn't reach and moved them in tandem. A groan spilled from Sasuke's mouth into his, their kiss frantic and heated. His foreskin felt amazing moving against another man's cock.
Naruto moved his lips to suck at Sasuke's collarbone, his breaths escaping in pants across his necks. Pre-cum lubed their quick hands and he bucked himself in Sasuke's grasp, heavily aroused by the little grunts and moans directly into his ear. It was kind of embarrassing to already be so close, but it was Sasuke.
Sasuke's teeth licked over the shell of his ear, making it feel like it was on fire. He nibbled and gently tugged at his earlobe again, and below their waists, he used another finger to massage at the head of Naruto's cock.
His head thumped against the wall, groaning loudly as his hand trailed from Sasuke's ass to grip tightly at his shoulder. His bare, pale chest was flushed and covered in a thin sheen of sweat, his dark bangs just beginning to look a bit damp. Sasuke's lips were parted and swollen as he panted, his eyes fixed on his hand. His eyes flicked up for a moment when Naruto groaned loudly, intense and filled with arousal.
"Close," the other panted, pulling him into a sloppy kiss that made their hands a bit clumsier.
"Me too," Naruto murmured against his wet lips, licking at them to create a trail of saliva again.
Sasuke pressed his lips together as he moaned, closing his eyes. He involuntarily bucked his hips into their hands, gasping and flushing even more deeply.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, tilting his head back and biting his lip. "Sasuke, coming-"
Naruto's cock jerked in his hand as he came, letting out a loud groan and sagging against the wall. He rode his orgasm out, letting the shocks of pleasure run low in his hips. He wrenched his eyes open in time to hear and see Sasuke grunt and emit a shaky moan, bucking his hips into the hand he'd placed on top of their cockheads. A few drops of cum hit the table and, out of Naruto's view, Sasuke wiped his hand on the side of the desk.
Sasuke leant heavily against him as they caught their breath, sated and relaxed. His hot breaths ran over Naruto's shoulder and down his back. He was the first to move, leaning back to rub at the back of Naruto's sweaty neck. Naruto reached his hand up to run and caress at his cheek and tuck his bangs behind his ear, his skin sticky and hot.
Naruto opened his eyes and gazed into the depths of Sasuke's, a few seconds of silence passing between them. It was neither comfortable nor awkward, just a very contemplative and thoughtful one. He leant forward and kissed him softly, a pleased sigh escaping his nose. Sasuke leant off of him to pull his pants and underwear back up, now resting loosely on slender hips. He lightly bumped their foreheads together, gripping Naruto's elbow in a hand.
He offered Sasuke a small smile. "You're white as paper," Naruto commented, brushing his knuckles over a hipbone. Sasuke grunted disapprovingly and turned away from him, glancing around for the shirt Naruto had thrown off to the side.
He took the opportunity to stand up and yank his pants back on, stretching with a satisfied grin. He frowned when he caught Sasuke stuffing a wrist into the armhole of his shirt.
"Don't put it back on," Naruto protested. "I don't wanna be alone when I let this air out." He lifted his shirt to his chest and pointedly glanced down at the thick piece of gauze doing absolutely nothing to heal or cover his nasty bruise the size of a palm. Hidden under the small piece of gauze was an angry purple swell in the center and, as it flared out, it phased into an ugly yellow.
Sasuke regarded him with a slightly concerned look and dropped his own shirt back onto the desk, coming closer to him to rub lightly at the gauze. He removed the tape securing it as gently as he could, tossing the square to the side and inspecting the bump under.
"Hurts?" Sasuke asked, barely ghosting his thumb over the bruise. It almost tickled. He pressed down on it a bit, and Naruto winced.
"When you poke at it like that, yeah," he replied. "'S gonna take forever to go away."
"I'm sure you can get some ice tomorrow," Sasuke stated. "But I'm guessing you don't want to go anywhere near Sakura right now."
Naruto grinned and turned to jump heavily on Sasuke's bed, hissing when he landed right on his bruise. "You read my mind." He lifted the covers and tucked his legs under them, pressing his head and shoulders into the pillow.
"What on earth are you doing?" the other asked him dryly. "Do you think I'm sleeping on the floor? This is my room."
Naruto gave him an odd look, as if his intentions were obvious. He motioned to the space beside him. "No. You're sleeping next to me."
Sasuke snorted and cast his eyes to the ceiling. "Two people don't fit in a single bed, you dumbass. Why don't you go grab a pillow and your blankets from your own room."
"Two people don't fit in a single bed, you dumbass," Naruto mimicked in a nasally voice, his best impression of Sasuke's.
He felt Sasuke tense directly in front of them. They were both laying on their sides, facing each other. "I'm going to push you off of the bed in your sleep."
"Yeah, right," he drawled. "I told you it would work out. But do you ever listen to me? N-"
"There are hundreds of valid reasons for not listening to your ideas," Sasuke interrupted, his breath washing over his face.
"I'm not gonna be the one that falls off the bed and busts my ass," Naruto continued. "You're gonna fall off the bed, bust your ass, sprain your ankle, and break your dick."
Sasuke paused in his response. "Do you ever listen to yourself?"
"I can certainly hear myself."
There was a small pause, and then a small, amused huff. Sasuke relaxed back into the pillow, and Naruto envisioned him closing his eyes.
"Go to sleep."
Naruto fisted the hand tucked under his pillow, the side of his lip curling up. He reached his other hand out to play with the drawstring of Sasuke's pants, feeling at home in this proximity to Sasuke. It had been a while since they'd been like this, and the only other time was back at their very first camp when Naruto had dreamed of such bad nightmares that he'd asked to sleep next to Sasuke. It was a bit nostalgic, but he felt
"You know," Naruto began, sheepishly tugging at the string. He waited for Sasuke to tell him to be quiet, but nothing came. He wondered if the other had already fallen asleep.
"Where would we be if you hadn't made Kakashi turn back?" he murmured, resting his palm on Sasuke's hip.
He felt the other's breath pause, but quickly return back to its slow rhythm. Sasuke didn't say anything, but Naruto could feel the sharp attention that he had on him.
"It's crazy," Naruto huffed even though it wasn't funny at all. "What if you hadn't seen me at all."
He pressed his lips together and swallowed the lump forming in his throat, telling himself that this was a happy thing and that he'd already cried in front of Sasuke once. "I don't know where I'd be without you, Sasuke. Sometimes you seriously act like such a bad guy, but you're the one who basically taught me how to walk again. Do you get me? I'd be dead."
Naruto knocked his forehead against Sasuke's keeping them pressed together. Sasuke pressed a comforting hand over the one resting on his hip.
"I love you," he said, his voice quivering slightly. "So much. Don't you ever forget it."
Sasuke's hand rested on his cheek and he kissed him chastely, trying to convey his emotions through it.
"I'm not crying," Naruto said, intertwining his fingers with the ones resting on his cheek. "So don't make fun of me."
"I'm not," Sasuke mumbled. He squeezed his hand. "But I love you. Am in love with you, too. So you'd better not forget that, stupid."
Naruto snorted dryly. "What's the difference?"
He felt Sasuke lift a shoulder. "I don't know."
He left is at that, kissing Sasuke on the cheek before burrowing back into the blankets and falling asleep.
A/N: Sometimes there's awkward semi-undressing. Sometimes you people will get some pillow talk. Thank you for all of the feedback, and I hope you liked this chapter.