Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!
Summary: Sasuke is tired. Sasuke is hungry. Sasuke is...well, hunting, now. Vampire AU, SNS, will be explicit. Two years later...it's done! New chapter will be up every day until the fic is finished!
A/N: Hello hello! Had a really lovely writing stream earlier - if any of you were the ones who joined us, thank you so much! And sorry to keep you waiting on this chapter. It's a real long one today!
Bite Me
Chapter 25: Ramen
It was pretty damn sweet, Naruto thought, to have Sasuke stumble on into his arms without Naruto having to move a muscle. Even sweeter to be able to sleep in his own bed, with his own blankets, in his own perfectly dark room—and sweeter, still, to just be able to...keep sleeping.
No alarms, no sun—nowhere to be, and no one else he'd rather have beside him. Naruto smiled, nuzzling into the warmth.
"Mmph," Sasuke breathed out, "can feel you're awake."
"Sorry," Naruto whispered back. "I'm cozy. Did I ask you how it went yesterday?"
"You did," Sasuke said, swallowing. "Fine. Good. Weird. Better now."
Naruto's smile widened, and one of Sasuke's eyes cracked open.
"Time is it?" he asked, looking vaguely in Naruto's direction.
"I have no idea. Lemmie check."
Sasuke made a small noise of protest as Naruto rolled away, but he was only gone for a second.
"...Two P.M.," Naruto laughed, rolling back.
Sasuke's other eye cracked open.
"Ugh," he said in response. Naruto laughed again.
"Right back at you," he said, breathing in and giving his tired eyes a few solid blinks. "I can't believe I slept this long."
"Stupid," Sasuke muttered. "You haven't slept all week."
Naruto found his way right back into Sasuke's arms again.
"Mhm," he said, nuzzling in. Sasuke tapped at his arm.
"Don't fall asleep again. Moron. You need to be awake during the day…"
Naruto bumped his forehead against Sasuke's chest, laughing.
"I'm awake enough," he said. "Just don't wanna move yet."
"Because you're planning on falling back asleep," Sasuke said, running his fingers through Naruto's hair.
Naruto let out a muffled laugh.
"M'definitely gonna if you keep doing that," he mumbled, head getting heavier with each soft stroke.
Sasuke's ministrations changed to a sharp poke.
"Ow," Naruto grumbled, digging his head into Sasuke's chest in retaliation, "asshole…"
"Bad for you," Sasuke muttered, "get up."
"Make me."
There was a pause. Naruto's smile widened, even as he didn't move—Sasuke's body slowly grew suspiciously still, as if considering his options—Naruto looked up just as Sasuke's eyes opened again, eyeing Naruto with a gaze that was just the slightest bit more awake—
"Move up," he whispered, and Naruto's smile was on his within the second. The kiss was soft and lazy—something perfect in its sleepy comfort. Naruto's nose bumped against Sasuke's and Sasuke's fingers slipped under his shirt, nudging it up ever so slightly…
Naruto's smile broke the kiss.
"What happened to being asleep?" he whispered, pulling away just around to scan Sasuke's face—
"You happened," Sasuke replied. "Get back here."
Naruto laughed and obeyed.
It was well into the afternoon by the time they made it out.
"I have never been hungrier in my life," Naruto muttered, staring at his phone. "Ugh…"
Sasuke snorted.
"Cooking for yourself would likely be much faster than ordering in," he pointed out, but Naruto only waved a hand—
"No! No, I want—oh. Aw, crap."
His shoulders sagged, and Sasuke was immediately alert.
"What's wrong?"
"S'got garlic in it," Naruto said, tossing his phone and himself down on the couch in the same motion. "My favourite ramen has garlic in it—"
He threw his arm over his eyes and let out a loud, anguished whine.
Sasuke...laughed at him.
"You were craving ramen?" he asked, crossing his arms over the back over the couch.
"I'm always craving ramen," Naruto groaned. "Ramen. I could deal without garlic bread, but ramen…"
Sasuke ducked his head to hide his smile.
"Stupid," he said, leaning over the couch just enough to pull Naruto's hand from his desolate face, "order it."
Naruto blinked.
"You crazy? I'm not doing that. I'm kidding, I can live withou—"
"You absolutely cannot live without ramen," Sasuke told him, flicking his hand back at him. "I know you well enough to know that."
Naruto laughed and sat up onto his knees.
"It's only my favourite one! There's plenty of other ones I can get. I think. And you can always make it worth my while..."
He grinned. Sasuke snorted, but didn't move away.
"Stupid," he muttered, and Naruto wiggled in response. "I said I was going to look. On my own terms."
Naruto's face immediately grew serious.
"I—yeah. You did say that."
"I'm not going to find anything out if I don't go looking," he said. "So let's look."
Naruto's chin rose a little, meeting Sasuke's gaze with some sort of glittering determination in his eyes—
"Order it," Sasuke said again. "Let's test my limits."
Naruto had been...obviously been thinking about this. It didn't seem particularly planned or anything, but in the wait for Naruto's ramen to arrive, he had forced Sasuke to drink from him no less than three times, fashioned a makeshift but ultimately useless cross, and laid out a veritable rainbow of fabrics—
"That doesn't make any sense," he was saying, now, shoving another shirt into Sasuke's hand, "you—my floor is practically this colour! You're literally standing on it—does it bug you? Has it been bugging you this whole time and you have—"
"Slow down, moron," Sasuke said, scanning him again. "It's—yes, it's vaguely uncomfortable, if I really begin to pay attention to it. I generally don't. It's no more uncomfortable than—than walking on a rough-textured carpet, really."
Naruto squinted at him.
Sasuke's lips twitched.
"If it really bothered me," he said, "I'd put socks on. I hated that shirt, by the way."
He'd tossed it onto the nearest chair in the minute Naruto had handed it to him. It had felt a bit like his entire hand had fallen asleep, and was still in the process of waking up—
"Okay. Neon is out—wait," he turned around, "that was a 'you hate it because it's uncomfortable' and not a 'you hate it because you're roasting my sweet taste in fashion' again, was it?"
"A bit of both, really," Sasuke said, easily dodging as Naruto swatted the shirt at him.
"Asshole!"
The doorbell rang, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. The place was a mess, and it was a good thing that Naruto had two sets of doors that a delivery man would need to go through. Not that the blonde would likely mind...not that Sasuke would ultimately mind, either—who would mind? Someone would...Sasuke frowned at his own thoughts…
Naruto bounded back up the stairs, and Sasuke flung himself back.
"Uh," Naruto said, freezing in place, "shit. Shit—really? Just the smell?"
Sasuke grabbed the nearest, darkest piece of fabric.
"No worse than the kitchen," he said, holding it over his face. They didn't bake savory things quite as often as sweet, but it was often enough to have his nose fairly used to the irritation.
"Are you—" Naruto said, still not moving, "are you sure you want to—?"
"I'm sure. Eat your ramen. You've been starving for it all day."
Naruto ducked his head and shuffled in a little more, kicking the door shut behind him. Sasuke made a point to balance on the back of the couch until he sat comfortably—giving Naruto an expectant jerk of the head.
"Well, I mean—okay. Hang on. Is it worse when I come closer?"
"It's—" Sasuke blinked a few times—letting Naruto take his step and then stop again, "...starting to make my eyes water."
"Aw—Sasuke! This is such a bad idea!"
"It's—" well, it have might been, but— "it's better to test it now, when I'm safe, then somewhere else. And once you eat it, it won't be in the air anymore. So—"
Naruto huffed out a breath and slid the bag onto the table, before he spun right back around.
"Naru—mmph!"
Naruto kissed him for several moments longer. Several...decadent moments. The cloth was starting to fall from Sasuke's fingertips and if it wasn't for the slight irritation in the air, he would have let it go completely…he...
"That's gonna have to tide me by," Naruto said, pulling back, "if eating this means we can't touch for like—who knows. I'm gonna be so needy."
Sasuke snorted, but his hand had caught Naruto's wrist and it didn't yet want to let go. If they—if he couldn't touch Naruto again, at least for a little while, he…
Naruto smiled and leaned back in.
"...Well?"
Naruto stared into the bowl.
"I feel like this is the most intense I've ever felt about a bowl of ramen before. And that's saying a lot. I've had a lot of really emotional moments with ramen, y'know—"
"Quit stalling, moron."
One decadent, delicious, absolute bowl of perfection later, Sasuke was still watching warily from the couch, and Naruto was still sitting at the table.
"I get it now," Naruto said, "why you felt so weird about me watching you eat. That was weird. I felt like I looked really dumb."
"You always look that way," Sasuke offered, and Naruto immediately looked around the table for something light enough to throw at him and still get the message across—
Sasuke laughed, and Naruto deflated.
"Moron," he said softly. "Naruto. Come closer."
"Yeah?" Naruto said, standing up. "Should I—like—should I open a window? Can you still smell it?"
"It's easing," Sasuke said. "Step closer."
Naruto took a step. And then another, and another, and he was right beside Sasuke, now—he leaned a little close, and Sasuke leaned closer, and then—
Sasuke sneezed. And then he sneezed, and sneezed, and sneezed again, stumbling back with his hand over his face—Naruto reached out for him but he swatted it away, shaking his head—
"Wh—no! Sasuke—"
"No—stay—there. No—" Sasuke sneezed four more times, backing down the hall. "I'm—I'll—"
He ducked into the bedroom.
"...I'm sorry!" Naruto called through the wall.
Sasuke sneezed in reply.
"At least it's not that bad?" Naruto said, on the opposite side of the door. They'd gone for him sitting in the bathroom—fan on—with Sasuke sitting in the bedroom, straight across from it. Sasuke had been slowly—slowly—inching closer, but he still sat a good few meters from Naruto.
"It's not life threatening," Sasuke agreed, pulling his knees to himself. His nose still felt stuffed and his head felt heavy, but that was a small sickness in comparison to the pain he'd felt before. "Maybe it gets less effective when it's cooked."
"Or eaten," Naruto pointed out, "but—um—can we—we don't have to test that, do we?"
Sasuke snorted.
"No," he said, "not yet."
Naruto made a face, and Sasuke laughed.
"Moron. I won't eat it," he said, sliding his knees back down to lean to the side. "You don't have to either. I imagine the smell will be enough to tell me the difference."
"That's a—that's a good point. Maybe we should—or...uh..." Naruto cut himself off, biting the tip of his thumb.
"Maybe we should?" Sasuke prompted.
"I—uh," Naruto looked up, "I was thinking maybe I should be writing this down 'cause my memory can be kinda—kinda shitty, but then I was thinking if somebody found it that it might be—"
Naruto waved a vague hand in front of his face, as if that would finish the sentence for him. (Which, Sasuke supposed, it did.)
"Changed your tune, have you?" Sasuke said, feeling the smile on his lips. "I seem to recall that nobody would ever believe you and that you'd been calling me a vampire for months—"
"That's all still true!" Naruto laughed, rocking back a little. "But the—fuck, writing it down feels like it's just asking to end up in that—that guy's hands. Your boss—Orochi-whatever."
"Orochimaru."
"Yeah," Naruto nodded, "him."
Sasuke put some more weight onto his hand.
"One man has you quite paranoid," he pointed out.
Naruto ducked his head with a sheepish smile, hugging his knees tighter to his chest.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, I know," he said. "I've just got a—y'know. Sometimes you get a bad feeling around people."
Sasuke scanned him for a moment longer.
"I might have primed you for that feeling," he pointed out, and Naruto's head tilted both ways, a small motion that acknowledged the thought—
"Maybe," he said. "Doesn't change that I have it now though."
Sasuke...settled for inching closer. The feeling in his heart had him wanting to reach for Naruto's hand—to ease the worry in those eyes, even the slightest bit, but he—damn it.
Damn it. He couldn't get any closer.
Sasuke sneezed again.
"Uh?" Naruto's head jerked up. "Sorry—I think I moved closer, I'll—"
"No," Sasuke said quickly. "No—stay."
Naruto blinked, and then slowly settled back down.
"But you're allergic to me right now," he said. "Wh—hey, I wonder if allergy meds would work…I wonder if any meds would work..."
"Given my reaction to a glass of water," Sasuke replied, "I don't have high hopes. Stay where you are. I'll move if I need to."
Naruto relaxed a bit more.
"'Kay." He bit his lip. "So—uh. Are we gonna sit like this all day?"
Sasuke laughed.
"Keep a few feet away from me and we can go wherever you want," Sasuke said. "Where did you have in mind?"
Naruto bumped his head against the doorway.
"Originally?" he asked, smile widening. "The bedroom."
Sasuke snorted.
"We've been there already. Anywhere else?"
Naruto laughed.
"S'not a place I tend to get tired of, bastard. But no—figured we're both tired. You're tired, yeah?"
The smile pulled at Sasuke's lips.
"Somewhat, yes."
Naruto looked up.
"Did you wanna go somewhere?"
Sasuke looked away.
"Not particularly. Whatever you'd like to do is...fine."
"...That doesn't sound very convincing."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, meeting Naruto's for a nervous moment—
"I was fine with going anywhere. I am also fine with not doing so."
"Hm," Naruto hummed in response, the disbelief clear in his voice.
"I—moron," Sasuke huffed, because damn it, he knew he was going to have to sit here and spell it out, "there's a common denominator in those two things. That's—what I—what I cared about. Stupid."
There was a pause.
Sasuke continued to scan the floor.
"...You're saying," Naruto said, and Sasuke could easily hear the smile in his voice, "it doesn't matter where you are as long as you're with me?"
"...Shut up."
"And I'm the sap? Gee, Sasuke, I thought that—"
Sasuke pushed himself forwards to swat and Naruto's face, but as soon as he got close enough, he—
"I—crap, sorry!" Naruto said, as Sasuke dissolved into sneezes again. "Crap—I'll—let me get some tissues or something—"
He cut himself off as he stood, and Sasuke sneezed again, collapsing back with his face in his hands. He could only imagine what would happen if he tried to eat garlic—or drink Naruto's blood, even—
"Here! I—uh—" Naruto kicked the box over to him, stumbling back a few steps after Sasuke picked it up.
Sasuke stuffed his face in a tissue, and Naruto ducked back into the bathroom.
"I dunno if the fan's actually doing anything," he said, standing up on his tiptoes. "Um. I could open a window, but then I might just end up blowing the smell towards you, and I—"
"Stupid," Sasuke muttered, sounding like his entire voice was located within his nose, "it was my fault. Sit back down."
"I—okay. Okay." Naruto shuffled in place for a few moments longer before he finally settled down again. "Sorry."
Sasuke laughed into the tissue and leaned back.
"Stop apologizing," he said, and Naruto ducked his head in a pathetic attempt to hide his smile. "You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?"
"You—uh? Thinking about what?"
"How...this all works," Sasuke said, waving vaguely at himself.
Naruto laughed.
"Well—I mean, yeah, kinda, 'cause it doesn't seem to make a ton of sense," Naruto said, shooting Sasuke a grin, "but, it's not like...I dunno. It's just—another part of you I wanna know about. You know?"
Something in Sasuke's heart softened.
"I might," he answered vaguely. "What else did you want to know?"
"About you? Or like—about being a vampire?"
"Either or."
"Ooh," Naruto said, huffing out a breath that seemed to rock him backwards. "That's a huge question, batman. Can you turn into a bunch of bats?"
Sasuke's eyebrow raised, and Naruto's grin immediately grew wider.
"Very funny," Sasuke deadpanned. "You've tried that one already."
"I mean—yeah, but you didn't trust me then."
"I trusted you."
"Not as much! Not like—like—you trust me more now, don't you?"
Sasuke...rolled his eyes. His smile betrayed him, he knew, from the way Naruto let out a soft, laughing breath.
"Yeah," Naruto said, taking the silence for the answer it was, "so—okay, no bats. What else? Is there another animal that you're like...super in tune wi—oh my god, Dia. Oh my god, Sasuke, please tell me you can turn into a herd of cats—"
"I absolutely cannot turn into a herd of cats."
Naruto's fist hit the floor.
"Damn it!" he cried, falling back in utter anguish.
Sasuke threw the tissue box at his chest.
"Ow," Naruto grumbled, tossing it back. Sasuke lazily snatched it out of the air, letting his smirk widen as Naruto's eyes did the same.
"That! That—you've got—like—spidey senses. Right?"
Sasuke let out an incredulous laugh.
"Spidey senses?"
"Like Spiderman! Like your reaction times are—do you know what Spiderman is?"
Sasuke's good mood faltered, just a touch.
"Yes," he answered, flipping through the vague knowledge in his head, "and yes, I think certain things are...enhanced."
Naruto's eyes dropped down.
"Not like that, you moron!"
Naruto dissolved into laughter, and Sasuke's face burned.
"Some things like that," he protested, squashing his cheek against the doorway. "Don't think I don't remember you get all sensitive and stuff."
Sasuke's eyes met Naruto's for a long, long moment. Naruto's head ducked down but his gaze stayed firm, his teeth running over his bottom lip…
"Damn it," he sighed, rocking back. "Damn i—this is brutal! This is like a month ago all over again!"
Naruto flopped back onto the floor with a groan, and Sasuke laughed.
"A month ago?"
Naruto's hand waved across the air above him.
"Whenever. Before we were—actually dating. I couldn't touch you then, either."
"I think you touched me plenty," Sasuke pointed out, and Naruto heaved himself up again—
"I didn't touch you nearly enough and we both know it." He nudged his head against the doorway. "Damn it. Stop looking at me like that."
Sasuke's smile widened.
"Stop!" Naruto whined. "Sasuke!"
"I'm not doing anything."
"You are—you—" Naruto let out a strained breath, pushing a hand through his already fluffed hair. "Jerk. Big stupid vampire jerk."
"Mhm."
Naruto huffed out a laugh again, shuffling in place.
"Okay. Okay—stop distracting me—what else? You're weird with temperature."
"I'm weird with temperature?"
"You—the sensitivity stuff. You—like—"
"I'm sensitive to everything," Sasuke said quietly, "not just temperature."
Naruto put his face in his hands.
"I'm never eating ramen again," he mumbled, "keep—keep going."
"Drama queen," Sasuke shot back, and Naruto split his fingers just wide enough to glare at him. "Fine. I'm uncomfortably sensitive to sunlight. Raw garlic can burn my skin. I can activate my eyes at will, but they activate on their own if I have a...craving."
Naruto made a small noise, shifting his body to face Sasuke better.
"What's it like? When they're like—you can see in the dark, yeah?"
"Much like a room with the lights on," Sasuke replied. "Although a bit...sharper. Movements are clearer. I wouldn't be surprised if my peripheral vision was better."
"Awesome. Keep going."
Sasuke let his eyes roll, and fought his smile back down.
"I have sharp teeth."
"Not as sharp as Suigetsu," Naruto pointed out. "Think Orochimaru went looking for sharp teeth in general and that's how he wound up there?"
Sasuke snorted.
"I think there's a great many oddities he could have found in that man," he said, stretching back, "and given his interest in you, as well as myself, it's possible that he was...drawn to…"
"Weirdos," Naruto answered for him, and Sasuke's head snapped up just in time to see his grin widen. "C'mon. I'm at least as weird as you are."
Sasuke snorted and kicked his feet out. Naruto responded in kind, but his legs froze mid-kick after only a moment, with a—
"Wait, this—this okay? You're okay?"
Sasuke flexed his toes.
"I feel alright."
"Oh," Naruto said, relaxed a little more, "what about…"
He slowly pressed a finger to the top of Sasuke's foot, sliding it down until Sasuke felt the warmth of his hand wrapped around his ankle…the blood that hummed under that skin used to beckon him, but now it beat with a warning. A low hum of unease that Sasuke didn't know which sense was picking up, but...then again, it wasn't as if it was...
"That's alright."
It didn't hurt. It wasn't even uncomfortable, it was just—different. Sasuke wasn't sure he minded it at all—all it was was another reminder that Naruto's blood was his own and any that Sasuke took drained him of that, and that—almost...comforted something in Sasuke.
Naruto was protected, right now.
Naruto was safe, right now.
Sasuke relaxed a little bit more.
"Alright?" Naruto asked. "What if I, like—"
He blew out a puff of air, and Sasuke wrenched his foot back with a hiss—
"Sorry!" Naruto said, scrambling back. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn't—I didn't think I was close enough to—"
"That's alright," Sasuke said, relaxing back, "it's okay. Moron. Warn me properly next time."
"I—yeah, yeah, sorry, I wasn't—you're okay? There's not…"
Sasuke stretched his feet out a little more, letting Naruto run his thumb over the area his breath had hit. There was no mark, no red skin—it had felt little more than the split second panic of touching a still-hot stovetop—
"Okay," Naruto said, more to himself than anyone, "sorry."
Sasuke snorted.
"I haven't seen you this apologetic since you drank too much."
"Ugh," Naruto ducked his head, "don't remind me. Oh! Secondhand drunk. That's a thing I wanna try, too."
"Of course it is."
Naruto threw him a grin, and Sasuke kicked at his hand. It ended up with Naruto pulling Sasuke's feet onto his lap—a warmth that Sasuke could only assume was comfortable for one of them, but Naruto didn't seem to mind…
"Hm," he said, absentmindedly moving his hand along Sasuke's skin, "this is better. What else…"
Sasuke swallowed, feeling Naruto's gentle touch settle him, little by little. Barely a moment without it and he'd already missed it.
"Oh," Naruto said, tapping two fingers to Sasuke's ankle. "I mean, we already—there's the colour stuff."
"Yes," Sasuke said, "the colour stuff. I imagine it's linked to my susceptibility to sunlight."
"Mm," Naruto hummed, "I dunno enough about all that to tell you otherwise."
"The feeling's mutual," Sasuke sighed, relaxing just a little bit more. Naruto's thumb ran along the top of his foot, his hand squeezing the rest of it in some sort of vague massage...
"Oh yeah," Naruto said, sitting up a little, "didn't you say—you said something about not being able to get sick. Like from the cold, when you gave me your hoodie? Remember?"
"Yes," Sasuke said, "I think so. Or—well, I didn't think I could. But then…"
Sasuke waved a vague hand over himself, and Naruto let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, but this is like—allergies. Not a cold."
"Mm," Sasuke agreed, "but I can still have...a sort of food poisoning, too, I suppose…"
"Huh," Naruto said, "good point. Think there's some weird vampire-specific thing that makes you catch a cold?"
Sasuke snorted.
"It's getting likelier by the minute. And likely involves some variation of food."
Naruto laughed.
"Yeah, like—ice. Maybe if you eat a popsicle you get, like—the ultimate brain freeze."
Sasuke flexed the foot in his hand, and Naruto continued to laugh at his own joke.
"Moron," he muttered, kicking vaguely at the hand that swatted him in response. Naruto caught his foot and pulled it closer, freezing as soon as Sasuke—
"—choo—! Ah—"
"Sorry! Crap, I—"
Naruto scrambled back, and Sasuke sneezed again. It was really some sort of betrayal (by his own body, no less) to have something alerting Naruto every single goddamn time Sasuke moved closer to him. He was usually so much more subtle than this—
"I gotta stop moving towards you," Naruto muttered, scooching himself back. "Okay, this—" he said, hitting his hand against the wood, "this is the line. I'm gonna sit here. I'm gonna—"
"Sit further forwards," Sasuke said, stretching his legs out again.
He couldn't reach Naruto from here.
Naruto ducked his head and obeyed, settling cross-legged, in the doorway of the bedroom—with Sasuke's feet against his lap.
Sasuke leaned back against the bed. Maybe Naruto had also been inching forwards, after all. He hadn't realized he was so far in…
"Okay," Naruto said, his hands coming to rest on Sasuke's feet again. "Hm...well, I—"
He laughed.
"I know you don't sparkle in sunlight. Wait, do you? I—"
"No, moron," Sasuke laughed. "Obviously not."
"Obviously," Naruto mocked. "D'you think werewolves exist? Wait, I never—you have seen Twilight, right? You haven't just been humouring m—"
"I've seen it," Sasuke said. "Or—I—"
He stopped, turning his gaze to the floor.
Another thing he couldn't remember.
"Oh," came Naruto's voice, and Sasuke felt his hands softly squeeze, "crap. Sorry."
"No," Sasuke said, forcing himself to relax. "It's part of it. It's all...part of what I need to know."
Naruto squeezed his feet again.
"Think there're werewolves, too?"
Sasuke looked up, and Naruto's grin widened.
"Bet Juugo's one," he continued, and Sasuke snorted. "He could be! He could—"
"At this point," Sasuke said, slouching back, "he certainly could. What else do we know?"
"Um," Naruto said, "uh—hang on, I'll like—lemmie look up vampire stuff."
He fished his phone out of his pocket, absentmindedly switching hands as one of them fiddled with Sasuke's foot. Did the moron know he'd begun massaging Sasuke's feet at some point? Sasuke didn't know. He didn't exactly mind the feeling, though...
"Uhh, okay…" Naruto said, biting his lip. "We got that one...uh...oh—silver?"
Naruto looked up.
"I have no idea."
"Huh—okay," Naruto muttered, looking back down, "I'm gonna have to find something silver. Uh...ooh! Running water—crossing running water? Apparently that's a thing."
"Crossing running water? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Like a—like a river or something! Hang on, let me...okay. You can't—you can't cross moving water, but over a bridge or something is fine. Huh…"
"What does the site say about showers?"
Naruto laughed, looking up again—
"Ever have any issues washing your hands?"
"Not yet," Sasuke said, feeling the smile pull at his lips, "I'll keep you posted."
Naruto laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, do that. ...Does pee count as moving water?"
Sasuke threw the tissue box at Naruto's face.
"Ow! Ass! It's—" Naruto sat back up, yanking Sasuke's feet back to him, "it's a real question! What—hell, what about blood? That—"
"I have no answers for you, moron. Go to the next one."
"Hmmmmm," Naruto hummed, scrolling past something, "oh! Mind control?"
Sasuke laughed.
"I seriously doubt that."
"Try! Come on, try. Stare into my eyes or something."
Sasuke huffed out a breath, but dutifully sat up—pulling his feet away from comfort and warmth and back to his distinctly colder self. Naruto shuffled in place and sat up expectantly, staring Sasuke dead in his eyes…
Sasuke let his eyes flicker to life. The warning in Naruto beat stronger in this gaze—-although it might have just been the way his blood filled Sasuke's senses. The bathroom light strained his eyes, but he focused them on Naruto's nonetheless, leaning ever so slightly forwards…
"What am I supposed to be doing here?"
Naruto ducked his head in a laugh.
"Try to control me! Tell me to do something, I dunno. Just try."
"Alright," Sasuke said, slow and filled with doubt. Still, Naruto happily shuffled in place, meeting his eyes again with that stupid, stupid grin.
"Focus!" Naruto said, and Sasuke rolled his eyes—before dutifully moving them back to meet Naruto's. It wasn't his fault the blonde was so distracting. And Sasuke could hardly do anything about it to appease himself, at the moment. He couldn't push himself into Naruto and he couldn't push Naruto into him, so what…
What did Sasuke want, here?
"Are you doing it yet?" Naruto asked, voice soft and low. Sasuke felt his nose twinge and it made him realize just how close he'd been leaning—any closer and he'd be dissolving in sneezes again. He couldn't help it though, he couldn't do it, he didn't know how he was supposed to focus on anything other than the way Naruto was looking at him—
Well.
One of them was being hypnotized, and it certainly wasn't Naruto.
Sasuke flopped back and put his hand over his face.
"What?" came Naruto's voice. "What'd I do?"
"Stupid," Sasuke muttered, because his pride was dead and buried. "It's not going to work. Keep going."
"It might work! Did you try?"
"It's not going to work."
"Why not?"
Sasuke pulled his hand away from his face.
"Because you're distracting."
Naruto blinked. The smile was slow to spread across his face—surprised, disbelieving, and filled with a flattered blush that suited his face in a way that immediately had Sasuke's head in the clouds again. He didn't know how one man could be so—
"Stupid," he whispered. "Keep going."
Naruto bit his bottom lip, but his smile didn't waver.
"Okay," he said, looking flushed and happy and Jesus Christ would someone give Sasuke a break already— "um, the invitation thing—we know that's real."
He shot Sasuke a teasing grin, and Sasuke stuffed his face further into the floor.
"God," Sasuke grumbled, rolling.
"No, it's a—it's a thing! It's one of them! Does it count if like—okay, what if there's like a mat that says "welcome" or something?"
Sasuke forced himself to sit back up.
"I've had that work before."
"Wh—really?"
Sasuke nodded.
"A lot of shops have signage which say...things like that. Come in, you're invited to this sale, whatever. I can...I tend to get the benefit of the doubt."
"Huh," Naruto said. "What's it—like, what's actually stopping you from going in? Does it feel like a—like an invisible wall or something?"
"Not really," Sasuke replied. "More like...a force. I can feel it a few steps away."
"Weird," Naruto said, and then he was quiet. His phone screen stayed on, although Naruto's eyes weren't on it—they were somewhere else, lost in a thought that Sasuke—
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto jumped.
"Huh?"
"You're thinking about something," Sasuke said. "What is it?"
"I—uh—oh. I—I don't—s'not really about the vampire stuff, though."
"But it's about me," Sasuke said, a soft laugh colouring his voice. "I thought we were to stop from shying away from these things."
He met Naruto's sheepish smile head-on, beckoning him to meet the challenge in kind. It was only a moment longer before his boyfriend accepted.
"I know. I just—I've been, um...d'you—you have a bank account or something?"
Ah.
Sasuke breathed out.
"Yes," he answered. "And yes, all of my IDs were entirely forged. Still are."
Naruto made a soft, unhappy noise, pulling his own feet closer to himself. Sasuke found himself missing the way his own had sat in that lap.
"How...when you woke up, what…?"
"I worked," Sasuke started, scanning the unease on that face, "for a few months. General warehouse work, shipments—they didn't care who I was."
Sasuke let out a small breath, resigning himself to delving back to those memories.
"It's a bit of a blur," he said softly. "I wasn't living anywhere. Not in one place. I slept very little. But I...I didn't—I didn't have to buy food, at least. That let me save up. I apparently looked young enough to pass for a teenager who wanted to buy alcohol, and identification let me open up a few new...avenues. Finding a better job. Buying a phone. Most job applications were online anyway. I found the apartment shortly afterwards."
"...Fuck," Naruto whispered, "if I'd known—"
"You didn't," Sasuke cut him off. "You couldn't have. And I was in no position to trust anyone. Even you."
He looked up again. Naruto's gaze was soft and unhappy—his brow furrowed, his lips tight. He looked just about like he'd rather do anything other than nod.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and Naruto finally let out a defeated breath.
"Yeah, I just…" he shoved a hand through his hair, "I just—I didn't have a home for a bit either. And, um—"
Sasuke's head jerked up.
"I—it was before Iruka. It wasn't—it's not anything like what you went through, but—"
"Don't invalidate your pain," Sasuke said, and Naruto huffed out a breath. He shrugged, staring down at the floor with eyes Sasuke couldn't quite catch—
"Well, it was—I was at one of the foster homes. When I left. Or, well. They kicked me out. Basically. I finally pissed them off enough to—anyway."
Naruto shook his head.
"Anyway. I—I had money, at least. Bought a gym membership at the first place that didn't check my age and lived there for a...while. It was—warm. I could shower. Um. Didn't bother with school. I didn't really...I didn't have a plan. I didn't know what I was doing."
Naruto let out a harsh breath.
"And it fucking sucked. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I'm so sorry, Sasuke."
He finally looked up, and Sasuke—and Sasuke—
Sasuke pulled Naruto into his arms.
"Sasuke—! Sasuke, oh my god, get back, get a tissue, don't—are you okay? I—"
"Ah—th—fine," Sasuke stuttered out, in between sneezes—he collapsed back on the floor, shoving yet another tissue over his face. At least he could blame the swelling in his throat and burning in his eyes on the garlic. "You needed a hug."
"I—Sasuke!" Naruto let out an incredulous laugh. "Not when you're allergic to me!"
"Whatever," Sasuke muttered, feeling as if his head weighed a thousand pounds. "What happened after that?"
"After—huh?"
"After the while passed," Sasuke said, staring up at the ceiling. "What happened?"
"Oh," Naruto said. "Um—y'know. Cops came. Teen was reported missing, all that. Dunno why they bothered. I left like a day later. Permanently."
"They got rid of you."
Naruto huffed out a laugh.
"You'd think so, but—um. For once—no. It was—it was actually—Iruka. He was the, um, neighbour."
"Their neighbour?"
"Yeah. And he—he kinda—" Naruto let out a small laugh. "He kinda tore the whole place apart. Everything. Apparently, while I was gone, he...anyway. I got to live with him after that."
Sasuke...breathed out.
"I knew I liked that man."
Naruto laughed.
"Yeah, well. The first thing we did was move out. Moved out here, I mean—to—to dad's house. My house. I dunno."
"It's still your home," Sasuke said. "You can have two homes."
He let his head roll to scan Naruto properly. Naruto's smile widened.
"Feels a bit like I have three, right now," he said, and Sasuke tossed the tissue box back at him. It did a better job of being vaguely thrown in the air, and Naruto laughed as it clattered uselessly on the floor.
"You're—anyway. Anyway, damn it, Sasuke, I diverted this whole conversation, you—"
"Hah," Sasuke said, sniffling, "take that."
"...Take that?!"
"S'your turn," Sasuke insisted. "About time."
Naruto laughed—once, and then another, more surprised than before—
"I never mind when you open up," he said, something breathless in his voice, "you know that."
The smile pulled at Sasuke's lips, and he turned to scan Naruto's face. Something about those eyes, he…
"I do know," he said. "But it's about time you knew the same."
Sasuke ended up taking the bed. He'd tried to argue. He'd tried quite hard, but Naruto had been insistent and charming and set himself right up on the floor with a fluffy pillow and bright white sheets.
That crafty, brilliant idiot.
And so Sasuke was here, in the darkness that...would probably be lightening soon. He'd managed to drag Naruto into his semi-nocturnal madness, it seemed, from the way they both had stayed up so easily. And no matter how Sasuke continually tried to roll closer—
He sneezed again.
"Ah—sorry," came Naruto's voice. "I rolled. I can—"
"I have more space to move than you do," Sasuke muttered, hand still over his face, "moron."
Naruto laughed, and Sasuke pulled the box of tissues closer to himself. It was dark and the bed felt cold—strangely large and Sasuke felt as if it was all far too...flat. Nothing to throw himself over and nothing to hold onto…he hadn't realized he'd grown so used to the feeling of someone there, beside him.
Still, it seemed he could at least lie on the edge of the bed. Or close to it. As close as he could—and if he just let his hand hang, like this...
Naruto's fingers brushed against his.
"Sasuke," he said softly, "can I…?"
Sasuke flexed his hand, and Naruto finally took the hint. He felt that same humming warning in Naruto's blood, but his face stayed firmly turned away, and that let his breath move...relatively freely. Relatively. He was still too close, he knew. But the discomfort was somehow a far more tolerable one than the alternative…
Naruto's hand squeezed his, and he let out a breath.
"S'better."
Sasuke buried his smile into the pillow.
The next day was just as bad. Just as bad! If not worse! Sasuke practically sneezed at the sight of him, and it wasn't until it was well into the afternoon that Naruto could—finally, finally, finally—move closer.
So they watched a movie. On Naruto's couch—not quite side by side, but not at opposite ends of the room anymore. Halfway through the movie, Naruto managed to hold Sasuke's hand. By the time it ended, Naruto had inched his way close enough to have their thighs touching, and as the credits rolled—
"It's gone."
"Oh, thank god."
Naruto all but leapt on top of him. It was a clumsy, laughing hug—Naruto squeezed tight and stuffed his delight into Sasuke's neck, relishing in how good it felt to just hold him again. Sasuke's arms didn't relent either—wrapped around Naruto's hips as if holding him steady...or holding him there. Naruto certainly wasn't in a rush to leave Sasuke's lap.
"Missed you," he mumbled, and Sasuke let out a soft laugh.
"I didn't go anywhere," he said, not letting go. Naruto's smile only widened.
"You went far enough," he retaliated, and Sasuke didn't reply. His hands lingered on Naruto, though—slipping ever so slightly under his shirt. Naruto wasn't sure he would've been able to tell at all if those hands weren't so cold…
"You've gotta be hungry now," he whispered softly.
Sasuke's fingers continued to move.
"You haven't eaten all day…" Naruto continued, pressing himself just a little bit closer—Sasuke breathed in, and—
Naruto pulled back to stare into deep, red eyes.
"Hello," he said, smiling, "vampire."
"You torture me," said Sasuke's fanged mouth—
"Nope," Naruto said, settling his hands on Sasuke shoulders and leaning ever so slightly to the side, "you torture yourself. I'm right here whenever you want me."
Sasuke breathed in, and Naruto's hand moved to rest just under his chin—
"And besides," he said, tracing his thumb along Sasuke's lips, "I've got all this stuff I wanna try..."
Sasuke caught Naruto's thumb between his dull front teeth, and Naruto's smile widened. Sasuke's tongue pressed to it for a soft, flickering moment, before he let go—but Naruto didn't pull his hand away. He only tilted it back, meeting those glowing eyes for another long, tantalizing moment—
Sasuke's mouth opened, and Naruto pressed his wrist into his mouth. Sasuke let out a soft noise as he bit down—and then another, as Naruto used his newfound freedom to press his kisses to Sasuke's neck, trailing his other hand up his body until it reached Sasuke's mouth—
"That's it," he said, gently pressing Sasuke back, "for now."
Sasuke breathed out, eyes lost in a daze—
"For now," Naruto said again. "Heal me."
Sasuke's inhale was sharper, that time—something focusing in his eyes as he looked back at Naruto's wrist. It took only two kisses—although the second one lingered for just a moment longer—before Sasuke looked at him again, eyes still glowing their pained, hungry red—
"I'm experimenting," Naruto said, letting his hand fall. "How's this…?"
His hand slipped under Sasuke's shirt. And Sasuke breathed in and sat forwards, indulging Naruto as he threw the fabric away, but as soon as he sat back—
"Cold," he whispered, the goosebumps breaking out over his skin.
"Cold," Naruto repeated, leaning closer. "And if I—"
He ducked in for a kiss, letting his breath run over Sasuke's neck—
"Nn—"
Naruto's smile stretched against Sasuke's skin. Sasuke's breaths were broken—shuddered and trembling, and Naruto felt his skin rise with the chills he kept bringing back to it—
"Sensitive?" Naruto asked, his voice low and purposeful—
Sasuke shuddered out a breath in response. Naruto let his hand trace down Sasuke's skin, stopping to run his thumb over his nipple once...and then again, pressing a soft kiss as Sasuke—
"Ha—"
—twitched, hitched his breath and furrowed his brows just deeply enough to let Naruto know to do it again. Sasuke's head rolled back and Naruto pushed forwards, feeling the way Sasuke arched into his touch—there was a tension to Sasuke that hadn't been there before, like he couldn't settle totally down, like he couldn't breathe totally right, like every time Naruto touched him, he—
"Na—ah—"
"Hm?" Naruto asked, letting his fingers trail down, down, down...
"I—"
Sasuke cut himself off in a breath, throwing his hand over his mouth as Naruto's hand slipped underneath his pants. Naruto's eyebrows raised and he paused, waiting for Sasuke's still-red eyes to snapopen before he continued, but that only—
"Fuck, fuck—s—"
Sasuke's head twisted and he bit the rest of his words into the back of his hand. Naruto paused, again, giving Sasuke's cock a soft squeeze just to check—
"Na—nngh—god—"
Naruto squeezed again.
"Naru—"
He trailed his thumb over Sasuke's head.
"—to—ah—"
He moved up—just slowly, just softly, just testing the waters—and watched Sasuke arch with the motion, eyes screwed shut—
"It doesn't hurt, does it?"
"No," Sasuke gasped out, eyes snapping open, "no, don't st—fuck—!"
Naruto's bewildered smile widened again as he moved his hand back down, sitting up just a little bit—if he could get Sasuke's cock free of his pants, he could—
"Ah—hah—nn—"
Naruto looked up again. Sasuke's body was tight and full of tension, Naruto could feel the way he was straining underneath him—they'd only just started, but maybe if Naruto moved his hand just like—
"Ah!"
Sasuke came right into Naruto's hand. And Naruto smiled—he couldn't help it, he really couldn't help it, not even as—"
"Shut up," Sasuke gasped out, and Naruto's laugh finally broke free.
"I didn't say anything!" he insisted, gently prying his hand free of Sasuke's pants. He'd managed to catch all of it, he thought—or nearly that, at least—
"You said enough," came Sasuke's miserable voice, and Naruto laughed his way right over to the sink. His hand was clean in a minute and he wiped it off with one of the paper towels he took the rest of back to Sasuke—
"My ego is through the roof right now," he said, leaning over the couch.
Sasuke snatched the paper towels from him, his lips twitching—
"I can see that," he muttered, and Naruto—
"Wh—Sasuke! What'd you do to the back of your hand?! You—"
"I bit it," Sasuke said, letting Naruto grab it again. "My fangs were out. It'll be gone in a second, I think…"
He pulled his hand back and pressed his mouth to it, his eyes starting to glow again. Naruto shuffled a little closer as Sasuke pulled it back, peering over the—
"Oh."
"Mhm," Sasuke said, turning his perfectly smooth hand around. "If a knife can heal quickly, I thought this would be about the same. Certainly different than garlic, though."
Naruto caught his hand, squeezing it at the reminder.
"But you didn't—did you heal yourself?" he said, holding it up as if he'd be able to find the scar. "Back then, with the knife? It just never made a wound, I thought—"
"In a way," Sasuke said, "it did...wound me. The knife was there. I had some sort of—instinct to take it out, and then it was healed. Perhaps bites are different in that I need to heal them...I could cut myself on a knife to test the—"
"No!" Naruto said immediately. "No—I—no, let's—can we not—"
Sasuke sat up a little straighter, laughing softly.
"Well, I'm not going to do it now," Sasuke said. "There are more...pressing matters to attend to."
Sasuke's eyes lowered to the, uh, bulge, conveniently right at his face—
"Aw, come on," Naruto muttered, shuffling away, "what'd you expect? You're all—"
"No, no," Sasuke interrupted, catching him by the hem of his shirt, "get back here."
Naruto stumbled back, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. Naruto met them for another long, embarrassing moment before he had to duck his head—
"Um," he said, shuffling in place, "what do you—"
"Lose the shirt."
Naruto looked up. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, lazily turning the rest of the way to face him properly.
"Um—" Naruto said again—
"The pants, too," Sasuke said, casually reaching out to untie the string of Naruto's sweatpants with an easy flick of his fingers.
Naruto huffed out a laugh and dutifully pulled his shirt over his head. He felt Sasuke's hand on his pants again and immediately felt the blood rush right there in response—god, there was really no way to hide that from Sasuke—
Especially when his eyes were glowing again.
Sasuke's fanged smile widened, and he reached out and snapped the waistband of Naruto's briefs to his hips. Naruto let out a small, breathless laugh—a bit more nervous than before—but let Sasuke coax the rest of the fabric from him…
Sasuke shifted up, gently placing his hands on either side of Naruto's now-bare hips. Naruto sucked in another nervous breath and ducked his head, dutifully moving closer.
"What are you," Sasuke asked, voice warm and laughing, "cold, or something?"
Naruto ducked his head in another laugh, and Sasuke used it to pull Naruto closer. His eyes were still red and his fangs still out, and he tilted his head as if to…
"You don't have to—um," Naruto started softly, "if you just want—food, you don't have to—"
"Moron," Sasuke said, glowing eyes narrowed up at him, "this isn't for food."
Sasuke's head tilted again.
Naruto breathed in.
"Oh," he said, as Sasuke's teeth sank into his hip. "Oh—y—"
Sasuke pulled back, running his tongue along the skin he'd bitten, but he didn't pull back—he bit down again, just for a moment, just a little bit closer, just the slightest fucking bit closer—
"Sas—"
"It's a test," said Sasuke's lips, wet and warm on Naruto's skin. "Let's see how well I can...feel."
Sasuke bit down again. His hands still gripped Naruto's hips but his mouth moved down, to the top of his thigh—to the inside of his thigh, Naruto grabbed his shoulders and tried not to just crumble on the spot—
Sasuke pulled back and looked up.
Naruto met his eyes, and thought he might have begged.
He saw Sasuke's lips twitch, though—saw his red eyes flicker down to Naruto's dick, saw him shift up, again, moving his hand to grab Naruto in a tight, still motion that was something like the best fucking torture—Naruto felt Sasuke's breath and immediately knew he needed to move his hands, he couldn't keep digging his nails into Sasuke like this, but he—but he—
"N—fuck, Sasuke—"
Naruto heaved out a breath as he doubled forwards. Sasuke's tongue was soft and warm and he pushed it forwards, leaning over the back of the couch as if going to fall right off it—Naruto found his grip somewhere along Sasuke's back, along his torso, his smooth, incredible fucking skin—Sasuke breathed out and Naruto felt it, felt the warmth and the heat and the desire—
And the intention. And the care—Sasuke hadn't caught his fangs and hadn't taken Naruto in completely, and Naruto knew it was on purpose. Sasuke had thought about this, he'd planned this, he'd been wanting this and it had every inch of this feeling like so much more than Naruto could handle—
He trembled out a breath as Sasuke pulled back, letting his tongue slowly run its way up along Naruto's cock until their eyes met. Sasuke's mouth was open and his fangs out—his tongue reached the tip and Naruto's cock pulsed in answer—he felt it as the precum leaked out and he—
"Wait—wait," he gasped out, holding Sasuke back, "I don't want you to be sick, you'll—"
Sasuke let out a soft laugh.
"I'm not planning on swallowing, moron," he said, voice low and tantalizing—teasing in the most perfect way—
"I—"
"Trust me," he said, and Naruto felt the words on his skin. Felt the words on his cock, until all he could do was groan in answer—all he could do was duck down and grab Sasuke again, fuck, this felt so—
"Hah—"
So good. So good he could barely stand, so good he could barely think—Sasuke ran his lips and his tongue and his skin against Naruto and it was all Naruto could do to stay stable—Sasuke twisted, in his hands, and Naruto let him, biting back the moan as he felt Sasuke's hand on him, ducking forwards as it began to move, the pleasure reared up in him and he—
"Sas—Sasuke, I'm—"
—close, he was so close, he was—
"Fuck, Sas—ah!"
He ducked forwards as he came, feeling his orgasm burst through him as if it was going to knock him off his feet—and it nearly did; Naruto stayed stable for about two more gasping breaths before he fell, dropping to his knees with just enough of his head left to press a kiss to Sasuke's upside down forehead on his way down—
Naruto pressed his head to the back of the couch and just...breathed.
"...Are you alive down there?"
Naruto let out a soft, breathless laugh. He was dizzy and his head still felt in a fog, but Sasuke had turned back around to peer down at him—holding a bunch of paper towels in his hand, cleaning his chest which Naruto had...cum all over…
"I'm working on it," he replied, breathless. "Sorry that I—I can help you get clean, I didn't—"
"Moron," Sasuke said, stuffing one paper towel into another, "this was planned. Better me than the couch."
Naruto laughed again, pressing himself back against the couch to keep him...sorta upright.
"Yeah, I...fuck," he shoved his hair back, looking up at Sasuke's smug, satisfied smile. "That was…"
Naruto laughed, and Sasuke's eyebrow raised.
"Good to know," he commented, and Naruto finally got enough energy to sit up. Just sit up...
"I'm impressed," he said. "You didn't cut me once. That had to suck to try to do."
Sasuke snorted.
"The sucking was the difficult part, actually," he said, and Naruto reached up to swat at him—
Sasuke caught his hand and pulled him up. Naruto laughed and let him.
"It wasn't so bad," Sasuke said, eyes scanning his.
"Come on," Naruto said, laughing— "be honest. You can be honest."
"I am," Sasuke said, the smile pulling at his lips. "It was awkward and difficult, but I enjoyed...focusing. On you."
Naruto swallowed, and Sasuke's lips twitched.
"I imagine it will get easier with...practice."
He tilted his head with the word, and Naruto bit his lip. Sasuke's little smile told him he knew exactly what he was doing, the bastard—
"Besides," Sasuke said, something in his smile changing, "if we're trying my limits, why not add in the ultimate test of restraint every now and then—"
Naruto dissolved into laughter.
"I—that—" he crumbled again, laughing back up into Sasuke's face, "was I right, though? Did you wanna bite my dick?"
Sasuke's lips twitched.
"I did plenty of biting beforehand, thank you."
Naruto laughed.
"That—oh, yeah, did it work? Were you, um—all sensitive again…?"
"I was," Sasuke said, meeting his eyes with quiet amusement. "It was an...interesting sensation."
"Uh," Naruto replied. "That—I dunno if that's better or worse."
Sasuke snorted.
"Neither do I," he said. "I haven't attempted it with my regular senses yet."
Naruto laughed, and Sasuke sat up a little more, raising an interested eyebrow as Naruto shuffled in place.
"That, uh—"
"Future plans."
Naruto let out a surprised laugh, and Sasuke smiled along with him, catching his eyes easily and comfortably. He must've been pretty pleased with himself, Naruto thought, for him to be so casual about all this—
"Future plans," Naruto replied, breathless. "Um. D'you think you'll need to—like—bite me a bunch and get full beforehand so you won't wanna—uh—"
"I doubt it," Sasuke replied. "I'm fairly sure my desire for you to maintain an erection supersedes any desire I have to destroy it."
Naruto snorted out a laugh.
"I'd let you destroy it," he said, waggling his eyebrows. Sasuke shoved his face away with a soft laugh, and it was Naruto's cue to duck down and grab his clothes. Sasuke only peered back over the couch, though, unabashedly checking him out as Naruto did his best not to fall flat on his face—
"I'm—um," Naruto pulled up his pants, "I'm glad, though. That you're—that you felt comfortable enough to do that—for a lot of reasons, y'know. Um—"
He shuffled closer to Sasuke, and Sasuke caught him by the waist.
"Seems like you...trust yourself more."
Sasuke's lips widened into a soft, small smile.
"You've been working quite hard at that," he pointed out, and Naruto ducked his head.
"Yeah, well," he said, letting out his breath in a laugh, "I…"
He shrugged a little, letting himself trail off. Sasuke seemed to understand, though, from the way he leaned forwards, resting his forehead against Naruto's stomach with a soft sigh.
"...Thank you," he said, after a long, quiet moment. His voice was almost a whisper, and his head didn't move—his eyes stayed closed and his hands stayed still, holding Naruto to him as if memorizing something about this…
"You don't have to thank me," Naruto told him. This was just as much for him as it was for Sasuke—the bonus of Sasuke feeling comfortable enough to date him wasn't exactly small, and Sasuke had to know that Naruto—
"I know," Sasuke said softly, unmoving. "I'm going to do it anyway."
Naruto let out a soft laugh, and let his arms wrap around Sasuke properly.
They stayed that way for a long time.
A/N: Bam! You thought it would be plot, but it was more emotion! What a twist!
...Probably not that much of a twist. My writing always seems to go this way. I hope you liked it, thank you so much for still being here! I know there's lots of anticipation, but I hope you enjoy the ride.
See you tomorrow for more fun,
- Kinomi