Special Shout out to Abby and Buffy – Happy Birthday! Here, have a birthday chapter :)
Hope you enjoy!
The Long Way Home
Part 17
Dog Eared Pages
Chapter 1/1
He woke up with the sun streaming in through the large open windows of his bedroom and stretched on the soft cotton sheets, luxuriating at the feel against his naked skin. Well he did for a moment at least before he felt became aware of the ache of his morning erection and remembered last night's dream that flashed across his sleepy memory signalling the cause of his state of arousal.
He'd dreamt about them again.
It had been almost four months since he'd seen them, you'd think such desires would be gone from memory by now. And really, it hadn't even been that much of a show truth be told that he should dwell on it for so long. And it also wasn't like he'd had a lot better, more intimate contact since then with other men either but this just seemed to be one experience he could not shake from his memory.
In a dank little town, in a horrifying little country, surrounded by the most unflattering lighting and furnishings picked out by blind people he had seen them writhing on a bed, half naked and seemingly totally lost to each other. Well when they managed to let their guard down that is. He'd seen more convincing shows for sure but this had stuck with him more for some odd reason.
He threw the sheet away from him and slid off the bed, smoothly getting his feet underneath him, standing up and stretching in one fluid movement. With a sleepy yawn he ambled into the adjoining bathroom and over to the vanity in order to wash the tiredness from his face. Red eyes and dark circles peered back at him causing him to frown slightly at his own reflection. Well that wasn't right. Instead he gave himself a devilish smile and a wink with one dark slate coloured eye. He was handsome right? His clear tan skin and long mahogany coloured straight thick hair were always the focus of compliments and as for the rest of his body, well, he had no shyness at all about that. He could probably go out now, this morning, into the huge and accommodating capital city of Arrei and handpick some gorgeous guy to spend the entire day in bed with, fucking him as many times as he wanted if he so chose.
But he knew he wouldn't.
With a sigh he looked down at his persistent 'problem' and realised that in reality he was probably going to spend the next twenty minutes in the shower and fantasising about what he'd remembered in his dream instead.
Oh well, he'd get over it eventually. After all, he just had to realise that what had happened had been a long time ago and in a very far away place and there was no way he'd ever see them again. Once he could get that into his head he was sure he'd dream about it less and less till it was just another faded memory to add to all those other memories of best forgotten, though admittedly hot, moments in his life.
For now though, it was time for his shower.
Sasuke walked back into the camp and set the pot full of water he'd carried up from the river onto the hot coals of their smouldering campfire. In the last town he had found something resembling tea and was keen to see how it tasted.
As he set the pot down he looked up to find Naruto exactly where he had left him, sitting on his blankets with his legs crossed beneath him, his eyes glued to a familiar looking little white book.
"I thought I told you to toss that garbage," Sasuke reminded him.
"I can't stop looking at it," Naruto replied, indeed failing to tear his eyes away for even a second. "It's kinda interesting."
"It's porn," Sasuke stated dismissively. "It's not even real, those characters are drawn, how can it be so fascinating?"
"Dunno, just is." With a thoughtful look, Naruto turned a page. "Woah…"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. No curiosity of his was going to make him go look. No matter how awed Naruto got over that book, he was not going to join in on the spectacle this time. All he wanted was his tea and some peace and quiet.
"Nobody could really do that could they?" Naruto asked no one in particular.
"Just be quiet, will you?"
"C'mon Sasuke, you have to check this out. This has gotta be impossible."
Damnit.
Sasuke got up and crossed to crouch close behind Naruto looking over his shoulder and the page Naruto was referring to.
Well he was certainly impressed that was for sure.
"Less impossible, more uncomfortable."
"He's holding him up completely off the ground, backwards. No one is that strong."
"You aren't," Sasuke corrected, "and neither am I, but we are hardly the most muscled people in the world. Doesn't mean it is impossible. And I very much doubt the effort is worth the gain."
"Well that guy sure looks like he's enjoying it." Naruto paused for a moment. "It'd be easier if the guy in front had something to hang off or something."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It hardly matters, there are far more comfortable ways to have sex than hanging off a branch or whatever you are thinking of to make such a thing remotely possible. And you're certainly not going to be talking me into it anyway."
"That actually never crossed my mind," Naruto admitted finally tearing his eyes away to grin over his shoulder up at Sasuke. "Funny how your mind goes there though."
"It didn't, I just assumed yours did."
With a snort Naruto leant back causing Sasuke who had been crouched behind him to topple backwards till he had Naruto's weight settled back against him. He only just barely managed to throw out a hand to prevent them both going over entirely.
"Do you fucking mind?" Sasuke asked annoyed.
Naruto tossed the book down beside him and sighed heavily.
"I'm really bored."
Sasuke frowned. Naruto hardly ever got that bored. In fact he was the most easily self entertained person Sasuke had ever met. So perhaps that was why Naruto had been looking through the book. And sure, he had a weird fascination with the interesting and sometimes extremely strange drawings in them but Sasuke had never honestly assumed he was getting some great pleasure from it. It was an interesting diversion for him, certainly like nothing he'd ever seen before though apparently the only reason for such fascination was because he was just bored.
"I don't care how bored you are, I'm still not trying that position. Now get off me, the water is probably boiling by now."
Sasuke tried to shove him off with his free hand but Naruto was like a dead weight draped over him at the moment.
"I told you I didn't want to."
"Then why do you even look at that book? You once said it gave you ideas, but you don't seem to get off by looking at it."
"It probably should though, shouldn't it?"
If Naruto simply wanted to alleviate his boredom this was a strange conversation to have. Then again, Naruto having time to think about things in general tended to result in him coming out with some pretty surprising things. The fact that he even put an iota of thought into something like this made Sasuke pause and try to think up some sort of answer instead of blurting out the first insult that came to mind.
"Knowing you, you probably require some personalised input into your fantasies."
Again Naruto craned his head around to look at Sasuke, confusion plain on his face.
"What?"
"You said the book gave you ideas sometimes. Specifically ideas of things we can do. So when that does happen you're personalising the pictures and that is what makes it appeal to you. You're fantasising about a particular person and that's a much stronger visual."
Naruto frowned at him. "You're making this up."
"I'm theorising."
"Yeah, that's what I said. Besides, that's a little full of yourself to assume that thinking about you is like my greatest fantasy."
"No, but when looking at porn dedicated to guys fucking other guys it's the only experience you have to draw on. You're imagination isn't good enough to fantasise anything else."
"How did I know this was going to end up with you insulting me?"
"Perhaps you aren't all that stupid. And it wasn't really an insult."
"It wasn't?"
"No. Are you going to get off me now?"
"You know," Naruto began apparently completely ignoring Sasuke's question, "maybe you aren't completely full of shit. There are a few of those pictures that got to me 'cause I thought about what it would be like to try."
"Oh?"
Naruto finally sat up, allowing Sasuke to push himself back to his feet. He watched Naruto reclaim the dropped book but made himself move back over to the fire and the now boiling water. As he set about making his tea he watched Naruto carefully dog-ear a page before moving on and doing it again a few pages later. It seemed as though Naruto intended to go through the entire book and mark the pages that had sparked his imagination. Sasuke had to assume those were the pages he had been referring to.
Well whatever, Naruto was quiet and Sasuke could finally have his tea in peace.
Sasuke didn't know why he couldn't sleep. It might have been the tea that was keeping him awake. Which had hardly been worth the effort since it had been thoroughly horrible anyway. Generally speaking tea didn't effect him enough that drinking it hours before going to bed would keep him awake but perhaps the local tea had more caffeine in it than he was used to. Which was very unfortunate since until drinking it he had been looking forward to getting some rest.
The last few days they'd been pushing themselves again. Walking as far as they could as fast as they could until the daylight dwindled too much and they became too exhausted to keep going. Sasuke knew it was more his initiative than Naruto's driving them back into this forced march routine brought on by the guilt of letting himself relax too much during last week.
It probably wouldn't bother him so much normally. By now he'd realised that going home was just somewhere to aim for and how long it took mattered very little to him in the grand scheme of things. In all reality it should have been Naruto who was the more eager of the pair of them to want to keep up the pace, someone who was actually looking forward to the end result. But Naruto seemed just as happy to spend a few days relaxing as pushing himself toward the end goal. Such an easy going outlook might have tempted Sasuke to drag his feet a little more but factor in the knowledge that they might have people trying to track him down to execute him made him understand that in this instance speed was the wiser choice. Spending days on end in a hotel room might have been a pleasant diversion but it could well mean being captured if they allowed themselves to make it a habit. In fact he was very annoyed that he'd allowed himself to do it that one time when those days spent might be the difference between life and death.
So in the end what that meant was a renewed determination to keep moving, getting up at first light, walking with very few breaks till dusk, sometimes after, and then doing chores till exhaustion made them sleep.
No wonder Naruto was bored. Sasuke was a little tired of it too. They skirted towns for the most part only venturing in when it was absolutely necessary when they hadn't been able to get their own food or for needed supplies. They also dodged other travellers too since anyone travelling south or east were potential unwitting informants to the authorities if ever questioned by those searching for them. Occasionally Naruto alone would make contact but with the updated maps it was mostly unnecessary and Naruto would grudgingly follow Sasuke off the road to travel in the dense foliage closer to the river whenever they saw another person appear in the distance.
The last town they had gone into, where Sasuke had bought the horrible tea, was probably the last civilisation they would see by choice before getting to the capital and the debate was still going on as to whether they might go into that city either. They still had almost two weeks before they planned to meet up with Taro on the farm and due to the pace they'd been setting would have to find somewhere to hole up for a few days at the very least so not to arrive too early. Which was actually fine, despite his earlier thoughts. Sasuke might not have liked the fact they'd spent a few idle days before but after putting some more distance between himself and the Hunters and finding somewhere a little less vulnerable he'd feel a lot better about the prospect of taking a few days off that was for sure. Better to widen the gap now than dawdle and have less choice about where they might run into trouble. Or better yet, find somewhere to perhaps avoid it altogether.
And the theory was fine, but the undertaking was wearing on him again. Thanks to the rest he'd gotten before, he was healed and refreshed at least which made it easier to keep moving, so long as he had enough sleep and enough food of course. Sleep was easy enough thankfully. Before bed he would take the time to set up some homemade early warning devices to alert them to intrusion. Dry brittle sticks that would snap loudly when trod upon and broken arrows mostly buried that would cause a cry of pain to all but the most disciplined mind. But even then stepping on the razor sharp small arrowheads Sasuke had chosen with the entire weight of your body would need some thick soled shoes in order not to draw blood at least and hamper further movement.
Putting all these into place convinced him that they could both sleep rather than putting up a watch. Knowing a potential threat might lurk out there caused him to sleep lightly, waking to anything even slightly out of place in an instant but it was far better rest than spending half the night awake. But it did mean taking the time to set the traps. While he did that Naruto tended to fish, his success completely depending on how much light he had to work with which these days wasn't a lot. So while sleep was easier to come by, food was not. Which was why they'd even ventured into the last town at all. So at least tonight they'd been well fed, which was one problem taken care of for the moment. Unfortunately the tea was keeping him from solving the sleeping issue tonight.
He rolled over and saw Naruto's darkened shape spread out on his blankets, face up, his chest rising and falling with steady even breaths and considered for a moment the possibility of using sex to tire himself out more thoroughly. And besides, they hadn't had sex since the night he'd met Taro thanks to his eat, walk and sleep regime. Frankly they'd both been too tired to bother. Oh they'd had one moment of mutual frustration relief but it had been a hurried hands only affair that had lasted a mere ten minutes from instigation to climax which had admittedly got the job done but was far from the level of intensity he had become accustomed to. It was amusing really, to think that once upon a time that was all he needed and now such an act seemed like nothing in comparison to what they could do now.
The smallest difference of the many was also the time involved. If he woke Naruto up now, assuming Naruto wasn't so tired to just simply tell him to fuck off, it meant taking time spend for foreplay and then the act itself. This was also assuming there was no conflict involving who ended up inside whom. Since that last night, Sasuke wasn't so sure what might have changed about that topic. Thanks to his new perspective about their friendship he did think about which he might prefer but still couldn't come up with an answer to that. Both felt good though for obviously different reasons and he supposed that mainly it depended on the circumstances and what he wanted at any particular time. Assuming the same went for Naruto meant that there might be times ahead where the struggle between them to get their own way for whatever they wanted might result in yet another element in the proceedings. That hardly deterred him either but again, such things took time. And waking Naruto now meant that he was potentially sleep depriving them both and not just himself which was strategically stupid for two people who were in essence on the run.
Sasuke sat up, frustrated with trying to sleep and let his eyes wander around their little camp. Perhaps he could do some drills to tire himself out more or he could…
The white cover of the book stood out in stark contrast against the darkness of the ground next to Naruto's pack. Before he realised what he was doing he retrieved the book and sat by the low fire where he could make out the contents.
Perhaps he was a little loopy from being tired yet unable to actually sleep because generally he rebuked Naruto for even touching this thing yet here he was, opening up the book and took a look inside. Or maybe it was just because he'd been thinking about sex before and because Naruto had taken time to mark those pages that made curiosity win in the end. So he started flipping through the pages taking note of the ones Naruto had fixated on but also checking out some of the ones he had not.
Honestly he'd never really taken much notice of anything resembling porn. He assumed Naruto had since he'd developed a silly jutsu at a young age of a naked woman. Realistically he should have had no situations in which to study the female form so closely to achieve such an effect so he must have gotten his hands on something porn-like. Well at least he hoped that had been studying magazines at least since the alternative would have been spying.
But Sasuke had felt no real desire to look at things like magazines and he didn't really dwell on why that was either. The idea of sex was had just simply not been on his radar having what he felt was much more important things to overcome and accomplish with his life before now. Of course that part of his life was mostly over and finally his body seemed to be waking up to the idea of pleasure and the aesthetic appreciation of naked bodies. Still didn't mean he had a lot of interest in porn now though either. He didn't crave to see naked pictures of strangers in lewd poses in order to get off. Though arguably this could because whenever he did want to see a naked body he had a pretty good one handy whenever he felt the urge.
But he did also wonder if maybe his theory about Naruto's detachment from looking at this particular book held any weight to his own feelings about it. Unlike Naruto, he had some other experiences to drawn from and even though he'd never even gotten to the groping stage with Taro, he did try to imagine himself in some of the poses with the flute player he'd made out with. To his own surprise as he flipped through the pages he did feel his body warm to the visuals. Not to the point of any great arousal but not completely abhorrent either. So okay, perhaps he had been at least a little attracted to Taro, enough that he visuals of doing things to his naked body wasn't a completely horrible thought. But it seemed the more contrived the pose, the more it appealed to do with someone he didn't know so well as opposed to the ones that would have more direct physical contact than absolutely necessary with the other person. In other words, the pages that were completely different than the ones Naruto had marked.
The ones Naruto had picked out were surprising. After all, Naruto was an adventurous person and Sasuke had assumed Naruto would chose the most taxing and complicated pictures he could find to want to mimic but as it turned out, Naruto was quite conservative when it came to his urges. Well to a point admittedly, there were a few pictures that Sasuke had to raise an eyebrow at, but mostly he seemed to like a more natural progression rather than something a little more staged for effect. And while the pictures were fairly tame in relation to the others, they were fairly intimate for the most part, and therefore types of things he could not see himself doing with someone unknown like Taro. Naruto on the other hand, well, that was different. And unlike when thinking about Taro, those visuals certainly weren't helping his frustration much making heat rush to his groin and for him to shift uncomfortably where he sat. In fact the more he looked at the dog-eared pages, the more tempted he was to go ahead and wake his friend.
With an irritated sigh, Sasuke closed the book and gave it a toss back toward Naruto's bag. If it was just the will to wear himself out more to overcome the effects of the tea there were plenty of things he could do without waking Naruto. Even if it was partially sexual frustration now that added to keeping him awake, there was still at least one other thing he could do that didn't involve his friend. In other words he could take matters into his own hands. But considering the alternative that was unappealing to say the least.
So fine, maybe he would wake Naruto.
He got up and went to his bag, rummaged until he found the bottle he was after then stripped, dropping his clothes onto his bedding before crossing the campsite to where Naruto lay, still on his back and a light snore keeping rhythm with each deep breath.
He planted one knee either side on his friend's waist, settling himself down and leant over, hand sliding around Naruto neck, to rest there just as Naruto sucked in a breath and woke up at the contact. Luckily for him Naruto didn't tend to wake up violently and spent a few moments blinking up at him before yawning widely.
"Sasuke?"
"You'd better hope so."
Naruto yawned again and focussed a little more. "It's still dark, something wrong?"
"Nothing that can't be fixed," Sasuke told him, squeezing the back of his neck to draw attention to its significance.
It took Naruto a few sleepy moments of confusion before his eyes widened a little.
"Now?"
"No, next Wednesday. I just wanted to organise my diary."
Naruto frowned at him.
"Yes now," Sasuke told him testily. "Yes or no?"
He felt hands run up his bare legs as though Naruto was deciding, when they reached his hips they stopped abruptly and squeezed gently.
"You're naked," Naruto realised a little huskily after a few silent moments.
Sasuke couldn't help the smug smirk at that one. The fire was low and therefore there wasn't a lot of light over here for Naruto to see but Sasuke thought he would have noticed that little fact before now.
"Is that a yes?"
Naruto swallowed and nodded.
Sasuke leant down further, capturing his lips and pushing his tongue inside aggressively.
Naruto was slow to react, probably still a little foggy from sleep and the sudden shock of waking up with a naked body sitting on top of him demanding sex. But he responded eventually, moving his lips roughly against the attack on them, his hands roaming around the grip the firm muscles of Sasuke's ass.
Shifting his weight to his knees, Sasuke created some space between their bodies, reaching down, his lips still moving roughly against Naruto's and began undoing Naruto's pants. He didn't need the pants off, he just needed to get them undone in order to free Naruto's growing erection. Once free, Sasuke wrapped his fingers around it, the pad of his thumb smoothing over the tip causing Naruto to exhale sharply into their kiss.
"Are you awake yet?" Sasuke asked drawing away minutely.
"Getting there."
"Good, next to your head."
Naruto let him go with one hand, reaching blindly next to him and retrieved the bottle Sasuke had placed there. Drawing his legs up he sat up, reconnected their lips just as Sasuke heard the quiet click of the bottle cap being opened behind his back. Sasuke was still holding himself up on his knees so when Naruto pressed into close to him, breaking lip contact so his mouth could rove downwards, eventually latching onto a nipple, Sasuke could feel his own hardness pressed fully against Naruto's very warm skin. With the combination of the feel of Naruto pressed up against him, the persistent lick and suck of a mouth on his chest and over his nipples and then feeling a finger slide against him only once before pushing inside made his legs feel suddenly weak and threatened to give way and dump him unceremoniously into Naruto's lap. He tensed his muscles and locked himself in place, hands sliding over Naruto's shoulders in order to keep himself still as Naruto continued, fingers working inside him.
Naruto was a quick learner, you have to give him that. He might not have done well in his academy days but given the right support, determination and willingness to put his all into things, not to mention practise, and Naruto thrived in almost any situation. Sex seemed no different. He had learnt that Sasuke wasn't real vocal in what he wanted and had developed a sensitivity to reading what his body wanted through physical direction alone. It was to a point now that even Sasuke didn't fully realise what he wanted until Naruto did it, taking him by surprise and almost never failing to make him feel good. Almost never. Sometimes natural enthusiasm and impatience took over but those moments gave Sasuke his own opportunity to take back control and assert himself a little more in the process.
Times like now. Naruto had been busy working him into a frustrated bundle of nerves but now he pushed Naruto backward in a clear demand for him to stop. Naruto caught himself on his elbows, clearly annoyed by the mistreatment. But only for as long as it took for Sasuke to ease himself down and push Naruto inside him. His legs trembled a little with the effort of holding himself up, getting accustomed to the larger invasion into his body but gradually he let himself sink down with a shuddering sigh accompanied by an almost electric feeling of pleasure shooting up his spine.
Sitting up straighter and almost out of instinct to move he thrust his hips forward. The explosion of sensation made him throw his head back and groan. Slowly he began to move himself backward and forward, rolling his hips with each movement and arching his back in response to the stimulation.
The distracting feel of Naruto's hands tensing and un-tensing against the tops of his legs gave him an inappropriate half smile as he shifted forward causing a deep groan from the body beneath him. Naruto had difficulty at the best of times just simply staying still, a trait that became ten times more apparent during sex. This was one of those moments of Naruto fighting his impetuous nature but instead of instantly giving in, was driving himself insane by holding himself back. Naruto might have stopped chewing his own lip in these situations, well sometimes, but Sasuke could see the strain in his flushed features. Even when he had been on his back with Sasuke sliding into him, he hadn't been able to stop himself moving up to meet each thrust with a vigour Sasuke hadn't expected for his first time and fingers digging into Sasuke's arms so hard he'd had marks that had lasted for days afterwards.
Just as Sasuke expected he failed his test of restraint within ten minutes though, letting out something akin to a growl and sitting up, disrupting Sasuke's movement and pulling Sasuke down on him hard before latching his lips onto the side of Sasuke's neck. Sasuke sighed and tipped his head back allowing himself to enjoy the feel of the tongue on his throat and the friction against his cock trapped between their bodies again. But the position was hampering him from moving the way he wanted and eventually he grabbed Naruto's shoulders and pushed him backward again, this time with all his strength and weight. Naruto's back hit the ground with a solid thump and Sasuke kept his hands anchored to Naruto's shoulders as he began to move once again. From this angle, every time he rolled his hips forward and back he could feel Naruto sliding out and back a lot more acutely than before. The sensations were fierce as the hard thickness rubbed against the sensitive nerves inside and outside which only became stronger when he felt a hand tightly grip him and start stroking.
His eyes opened fractionally to watch Naruto through the sweat soaked strands of his own hair. Naruto cheeks were flushed a deep crimson now, with eyes squeezed shut and mouth hanging slightly open accommodating the ragged breathing and the near constant moaning. He was evidently close now and Sasuke felt Naruto's grip on him tighten even more.
Despite the heat Sasuke's skin tingled culminating in a low down pressure that told him he was close to coming himself. Naruto beat him to the punch, but barely, keeping his hand pumping hard flesh until Sasuke forced himself down one last time, coming between both of them and coating himself but mostly Naruto's stomach.
Sasuke let his head loll forward, that tiredness he'd been craving sneaking over him within minutes. He felt more relaxed than he had, well, since the last time they'd had sex.
"Well that was sudden," Naruto said in between deep breaths.
"That stupid fucking tea has more caffeine in it than ten of the cups I would usually drink," Sasuke muttered.
"And what, tea makes you horny?"
Sasuke paused. "No."
"So what brought that on? Don't get me wrong, that was amazing but we've never-"
Sasuke braced himself up on one hand, the movement reminding of what he still had inside him.
"Page twenty three."
"Huh?"
"You marked the page, remember?"
Naruto looked up at Sasuke with wide eyes. "You looked?"
"I thought that was the point."
"Well yeah, but I figured you wouldn't be interested in actually doing anything from that book. I was just sort of doing it to show you what I meant and kinda tease you about it."
"I guess it didn't work the way you intended then."
"Maybe not, but I'm totally not complaining. So, you uh, see anything else worth trying?" Naruto asked in what he probably hoped sounded like idle curiosity.
"Perhaps."
"What about page 36?"
"Maybe."
"Page 42?"
"Definitely."
"47?"
Sasuke frowned, "That requires three people. I thought you marked that by mistake."
"No mistake, it was mainly for the two guys at the front. Or with clones."
"Ah. Wait, what?!"
"What about page 87?"
Sasuke shook his head firmly. He remember that page well.
"Not in your wildest dreams."
"C'mon, you gotta admit it's interesting."
"If by interesting you mean painful."
"As if. Where's your sense of adventure?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh right," Naruto realised a little crestfallen, "You don't really have one."
"No page 87."
"You'll change your mind," Naruto predicted.
"I was wrong," Sasuke admitted carefully. "You do have a good imagination."
"That means 'no', right?"
"Correct."
Taro stepped out into the bright daylight and blinked a few times while his eyes adjusted to the newly risen sunlight. He took a deep breath of the sweet morning air, adjusted his bag on his shoulder more comfortably before starting off down the road leading out of town.
Generally he wouldn't start out this early in the day, but he had stayed in Saboria longer than he had initially planned and needed to get a head start on the day in order to make up for the lost time. Actually he would need to do this for a couple of days, he realised with a rueful smile, all because he had eaten a bad piece of meat a few days ago and was unwilling to travel towards the farm like he should have been while his stomach was still recovering.
To be fair though, he had been on the road for a good long time and it had taken him months of travel from his hometown to get even this far. He had made good time too which had allowed him a week of respite in the comforting little town of Saboria but not the week and a half he had ended up staying. But oh well, he was still more or less on schedule and he was looking forward to getting to the farm and getting one step closer to his new life in Sirrianis.
And he had two new interesting friends to do the trip with now as well. Well sort of. The had seemed friendly enough… okay so Naruto had seemed friendly and Sasuke was certainly an interesting character but it was nice to think that he wasn't walking into this big change on his own anymore.
Perhaps it was the loneliness of being on the road for so long that had made him desperate for the company but frankly he was sick of seeing nothing but the faces of strangers and spending most of his days and nights alone. He was keen to make friends, perhaps too keen if truth be told since he really didn't know either of these guys beyond speaking with them over breakfast. And okay, almost sleeping with one of them too. He supposed that meant he should know at least one of them well but Sasuke was a hard guy to read, even when you had your hands inside his shirt and your tongue halfway down his throat. He wouldn't have even found out his name if Naruto hadn't interrupted them.
He was also more than aware that there was something very complicated going on between those two but Taro found it more interesting than uncomfortable and he looked forward to getting to know more about it. And them, when it came down to it. This time without almost sleeping with the cold and abrasive Sasuke first.
On his way out of town, thoughts of finally perhaps finding some new friends swirling through his head and putting a smile on his face he noticed there were a few travellers and merchants, also keen to get a head start on the new day backed up in a line on the main road of the town. His smile suddenly dropping, he went to move past the line when he noticed a man almost completely dressed in black shake his head severely and gesturing him towards the back of the line.
Now greatly confused, Taro did as bid, getting into line behind an older couple with a small handcart who were arguing noisily about the delay bought on by the line of men barring the road out of town.
"Excuse me," Taro began politely to the couple, "Do you know what the hold up is about?"
The lady turned and gave him a grumpy look. She looked so annoyed Taro thought for a moment she was about to yell at him instead of her husband.
"Bloody Hunters," the lady announced a little louder than Taro would have preferred.
Taro gave the lady a surprised look at the information and again looked up toward the front of the line where the 'bloody hunters' had set up their roadblock.
Of course he'd heard about the Hunters though he'd never actually seen them before. Usually Hunters tracked people down outside of the towns, only ever venturing in once they'd caught whoever they were after in order to sentence them in front of witnesses and then just as quickly leaving again either without the found-to-be innocent party or more often than not, escorting the guilty to the local pick up post where the transfer wagons would collect them up and take them to Akkai in the north for their punishment.
It had always seemed strange to Taro that prisoners were taken all the way to Akkai either to go to the prisons there or to the execution pits. But at some point some influential lord had deemed it better that sentences would be carried out away from the townships and the eyes of the general populace because it was too unseemly or something just as stupid. The only variation to this was when the Hunters were forced to kill especially resistant captives no matter their innocence or guilt on the spot if they turned violent. But that was rare. And as it turned out the thought of being sent away to some horror city up north where people mostly disappeared never to be seen again was a pretty good deterrent. The ones who went there for lesser crimes were generally the only ones who ever returned and Taro had never heard of anyone ever having to go there twice. It was a black spot on Arrei's map but still, you had to be a pretty shady type to be sent there in the first place so Taro was fairly unconcerned about it in general. What he was most surprised about at the moment was the fact that the Hunters were even here. Was it possible that whoever they were after were proving too difficult to track down through the countryside or something?
He got toward the front of the line fairly quickly and saw that one Hunter was asking a few questions before ushering people past in a pretty efficient manner.
When Taro stepped up he was shown two hand drawn pictures and asked simply, "Have you seen either of these two young men?"
It took all of Taro's self control not to let his expression react to the pictures he was being shown. Whoever had drawn these likenesses was very talented since it was impossible for him not to recognise his two new friends staring back at him from the paper.
Taro pretended to study the pictures for a moment while he thought about what this meant. One thing was for sure, with this much attention being paid, these two must have been involved in something pretty bad.
Eventually he shook his head, giving the man with the pictures his best apologetic smile.
"I'm really sorry, I haven't seen either of these two people."
The Hunter didn't seemed fazed at all. He must have been getting a similar response all morning.
"How long have you been in town?"
"Over a week," Taro replied promptly. "Can I ask a question?"
The Hunter nodded.
"Are these two dangerous? What should I do if I come across them?"
"If you see them you should contact the closest authorities immediately. Under no circumstances should you approach them as they are incredibly dangerous individuals."
Taro nodded to indicate that he understood as the man waved him past, obviously eager to question the next person in line.
As Taro continued on his way out of town, he frowned down at the road, unsure how to take this new information. He also tried to understand why his immediate reaction was to feign ignorance. After all, it was a serious matter to lie to Hunters as any sort of aid given to criminals tended to be a crime in itself.
This time he didn't blame his eagerness to make friends robbing him of logic, instead it just simply came down to the impression he had gotten from them. So maybe Sasuke was cool and a little on the mean side but not once had Taro actually feared for his life while in his company. And Naruto? Yeah that was a guy who certainly didn't give him the impression of hardened criminal in the least.
But the fact remained that Hunters were after them so there was certainly some kind of story there.
Well, interesting just didn't seem to cover it anymore.
TBC in Part 18
Notes: So this turned into another bridging part, sort of moving on from the last part and prepping for the next with a little bit of fun in between.
So we had a bit more Taro, a bit more sex and a first look at an unknown character. Well sort of unknown anyway. But we'll see more of him next part.
Till then,
Dash.
Unsigned Reviews –
Guest – I can understand why you would be disappointed if they slept with other people. From a more traditional standpoint it might seem less romantic if that were to happen. Honestly though, the reasons I thought it might work is purely in the interests of making the bond and eventual romance between them stronger due to comparison and experience. I completely understand though if that would not be your cup of tea.
Guest – I imagine lots of people in Konoha would be pretty panicked to be sure.
Sora – You are extremely welcome Sora!
Absolutely, Sasuke's first attempt was a fail but hey, we got a new friend in the bargain which is nice. Naruto's reaction seemed at the time a little more based on him knowing what Sasuke's problem was. He had a little moment of jealous peek in, but I kept it pretty mild. For now ;)
Absolutely my way of thinking too. It would be a drastic eye opener for both the one to get lucky and the one left in the cold. I believe it would lead to some soul searching and moments of self realisation they will need in order to progress their relationship further.
And no, not Amaya I promise.
As for Taro, well, yes, generally speaking he will get along with Naruto better than Sasuke. I plan that the more Taro gets to know Sasuke the less he will actually be attracted to him but that doesn't mean he will dislike him either. You can think a friend is attractive, enjoy spending time with them but never ever want a relationship with them all at the same time. Of course that doesn't mean I will develop an attraction with Naruto either. At the moment I want Taro to be friends with them and I think they could really use one about now lol.
Well I admit, I have help now with mistakes in the chapter. But I did used to read over them a lot in the hopes of making it readable so thank you very much for the compliment :)
Roro237 – Thanks! Haha, yeah almost got all the basics in there didn't I? Little humour, little tension, tiny angst and a little smut too. Actually that kiss was my favourite moment in that chapter. When he was going to show Sasuke what it was like to be unresponsive and just kinda forgot to lol.
Yup Taro should be a good guy for them to know and I'm looking forward to including him more.
Thanks again Roro!
Minty goodes – Thank you, I'm glad you have been enjoying the story and I appreciate you letting me know. And I completely understand you not wanting them to sleep with other people, though admittedly if I think it will strengthen their relationship and draw them more firmly together as a result then I would be just as reluctant not to use it.
Guest – Naruto's insight has a lot to do with him gaining a greater understanding of the inner workings of Sasuke. I really wanted to highlight how much he has gotten to understand him and know the way he thinks.
Mimi – Wow, thank you so much! I just hope I can live up to epic expectations lol.
Actually fear is a good word to describe it, just probably not how Sasuke would choose to describe it haha. But yeah, I think they both needed to overcome a little fear there and happily it all worked for the better.
Taro is going to be the friendly helpful type. And I'm looking forward to writing more with him in it.
And indeed thank god for lube :D
Abby – Yes, you can most definitely count this as your birthday present. And this one too, though you might have seen that.
But yeah, methinks Sasuke will feel the same way you do ;)
So yeah I have been doing sex from Sasuke POV almost entirely. Totally not on purpose lol. But next part it will be Naruto POV for sex just for a little change of pace.
Yup, Taro will be making his mark on the story but more so than this in Part 19. We will see the odd hint that Naruto is perhaps not as mellow about Taro as he first appeared but it will still be pretty mild.
L – All good L! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Notyourcupoftea – Wow, thanks! Admittedly this was a very fun chapter to write and had lots of different aspects to it. I always enjoy the chapters that give me a chance to have a little bit of fun with the characters.
And yet another big thank you. Most certainly this is not a traditional type of romance at all and I think it will take some less traditional pushes to get them into a better understanding of what they have with one another. And again, that is another point about exclusivity and something a later character will be sure to mention as well.
You mean the post sex hair play? Yeah that was a favourite for me too. I actually removed that from another scene but had to put it back in because I loved the imagery so much.
Thanks and hugs!
Mayb – So sorry I got a little confused, are we talking about the jealousy? I was unsure in which part I made them look like girls… Just wanted to clarify so I could better address it for you.
Bunnyguest – haha, yeah methinks they have a little growing to do before they come to that realisation lol. My bad, I like playing with their mutual denial.
Guest – What do you mean become? It already is a long ass soap opera isn't it? It will end, of course, but I've mentioned this a few times, this story is gonna be loooooong. Not a good story for a quick read for sure.
Yup – Indeed, poor Naruto lol.
Sweet and totally I felt that level of dislike was about right for the stage they are in at the moment. Especially I guess because of Naruto's understanding of the situation as well. And absolutely their communication and understanding with one another has improved to the point that we can have moments like these too which is nice for their interaction. Smooth, as you say.
*tries to look innocent* me, fuck with them? Whatever could you mean? Okay yeah, so I do have a tendency to rock the boat in moments like this, you've gotten to know me too well :) But as far as their relationship with each other goes, well, it'll be solid for a couple of parts to come at least. No promises regarding plot drama though lol.
Because I'm still at the thinking about it stage, I haven't completely decided about the sleeping with other people thing. I think it would take a bit more time for either of them to consider it seriously. I can probably say that I will be giving Sasuke the first chance to but, as you've pointed out, because of the way Sasuke is at the moment, whether he actually will take the oppertunity remains to be seen.
Anyway, thanks so much!
NoToLogins - Haha yeah, we have the glimmer of a plot on the horizon lol. Plus yes, finally got one aspect of their relationship sorted, for now at least.
Well you'll probably guess from this chapter that Taro at least will not be totally in the dark concerning their troubles. And yeah, I didn't really get around to talking much about the farm but they won't be there for the whole season and are basically going to be hired for transport and further work in Sirrianis. So their stay on the farm won't be as long as all that. My bad, I should have had Taro explain that better. But yeah, they'll get to interact with a few different people as well.
Haha, don't tempt me to recreate the sound of Sasuke playing. I have a midi player and I'm not afraid to use it lol.
You are most welcome, thank you!
Guest – Thank you!
LongTimeFan – Yay indeed. It'll be nice to get into another country and get back into the adventure aspect a little more now that the relationship is more solid.
And here is where I want to thank you. A lot. With cookies and everything. Although you said it would upset you that they might sleep with other people but that you are completely willing to see where I might take the story regardless is wonderful. Can I say thank you again? The idea really is in the interests of their relationship and progression, solidification and eventual romance I assure you and the things I have in mind make for a firmer relationship in the end as opposed to exclusivity with the themes I have in mind. Not saying that wouldn't work either, but I'm suggesting I could do more with it this way I guess.
Ah yes, my play around fic. I remember that dream too. Of course I'm not exactly complaining about its general evolution either lol. And it makes total sense, and very flattering to boot. You actually made me so speechless I had to stop for a while and go have a think for a few minutes before coming back lol. What else can I say but wow and thank you and wow again. To think that I set some kind of high level for you is yep, I'm gonna say wow again :) I really wish sometimes I could just reply to reviews with hugs.
Ginaj – Yep I agree with you, it already is a long ass soap opera for sure. Hopefully I'm only at about 75% talking about their feelings though… okay, maybe 85% with the rest sex and walking.
