Linked
By The Ambitious Blank
Disclaimer- Naruto still isn't mine. How many times have I said this now?
Comments- Bleh, sorry it took so long for me to spit chapter two of this out. I had really wanted to finish up "Forget Me Not" first. ; And then I had to prepare for FanimeCon, and now I'm trying to plan a local con with my friend.. uh, right, anyway.
..meheh, yes.. I did forget to put what the numbers were in the last chapter.
[1] Onigiri- Umm.. a riceball, basically. Sometimes shaped into a rounded triangle thing.. you see it all the time in anime. ; Like.. in Pokemon.. but they called it a donut. I think they're on crack.
[2] Bonito- I don't think that's the Japanese term for it, but bonito is bluefish, all dried and flaky. ; I read that Sasuke likes his onigiri with bonito filling. So.. yeah. That's what he cooks. Isn't he a genius. oO;
Yeah, I think I'll just shut up now.
----Monday- Escape? Maybe Not.
Naruto awoke and rolled over, looking at the boy he was supposed to be stuck to for today and the next day. Sasuke was so pretty, lying there, still asleep. Unbeknownst to Naruto, of course, the only reason Sasuke had slept later than he had was because of Naruto's seemingly endless snoring and sleeptalking. The blonde moved over, reaching out and touching Sasuke's face. The boy mumbled something and tried to pull away, stopped by the chain binding their wrists. Naruto got closer.. closer.. he could feel Sasuke's warm, slow breaths on his face. He reached out, leaned in close, their faces almost touching, and...
"Hey, you ass, wake up!"
Naruto yelled, shaking Sasuke violently. The dark-haired shinobi awoke with a start, his hand flying to a hole in the mattress, and Naruto soon found a kunai pressed to his throat. Naruto laughed weakly.
"H.. hey, I didn't mean it.." He said, nervously. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Don't scare me like that, dumbass."
"Sorry! I didn't know you were so.. so.. violent when you're woken up!"
"I'm not used to having people wake me up in the morning." The Uchiha retorted, sighing and rubbing his mussed hair. "..whatever.. let's just go get breakfast."
"Yay, food!" Naruto chimed brightly. As the two hopped out of bed, they straightened out their clothes. Sasuke scowled. Even if they could somehow change their clothes, it'd be difficult, seeing as they were attached and being attached to someone who was changing their clothes might prove rather.. ummm.. difficult and embarrassing, considering they couldn't go anywhere without one another.
..right. Anyway.
They were forced to sit next to one another at the table, and unfortunately, since Naruto's right hand was chained to Sasuke's left, Sasuke had a miserable time at breakfast. Not only did he have to sit in uncomfortably close proximity to Naruto, the Uzumaki was not, unfortunately, ambidextrous, and was forced to eat with Sasuke's hand attached to his own. So, after the miserable breakfast, the two headed out.
"I think we should try and find Kakashi-sensei today.. see if he can find some exception and take it off early." Naruto said, frowning and crossing his arms to think, practically yanking Sasuke off his feet in the process. The Uchiha growled and yanked his hand back.
"Yeah, well, he said this was to 'improve team morale' or some crap like that." He said, scowling. "So we'd have to act nice to each other for once."
"..eww. I don't wanna be nice to you." Naruto snorteed. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Well, would you rather be nice to me for a little while or stay chained to me for another day, dobe?" He asked. Naruto blinked, then considered.
"Good point." He said. "C'mon, let's go!" And he dashed off, heading in no particular direction whatsoever, dragging a complaining and rather irritated Sasuke behind him.
After a long, exhausting, and yet still fruitless search, Naruto and Sasuke ended up at the exact same place they'd been before. Naruto fell to the ground, dragging the Uchiha with him. Sasuke grumbled about being pulled into the dirt, but was too tired to do anything about it.
"Dammit.. Naruto.." He panted, glaring. "..blindly running all over the place didn't get us anywhere.. you couldn't stop and think about where Kakashi might be?!"
"To hell with you, Sasuke!!" Naruto snapped back. "Kakashi-sensei could be anywhere! We don't know anything about him!!"
Sasuke calmly pointed to the doorway of a bookstore across the street. Kakashi leaned against the entrance, flipping idly through his orange-covered book, though a faint blush could be seen on his face. Naruto darted over, dragging the still less-than-willing Sasuke behind him.
"Kakashi-sensei!!" The whiskered child yelled, much louder than needbe, especially considering he was standing three feet away from the person he was yelling at.
"Kakashi-sensei, we DEMAND that you let us out of these things!" Naruto jerked up his wrist to show the handcuffs, dragging Sasuke closer to him in the process. Sasuke grumbled something and struggled to keep his fist from meeting with Naruto's obnoxious face. Kakashi glanced up..or rather, down.. at them.
"..I'm sorry, Naruto, did you say something?" He asked. Naruto immediately faceplanted. Sasuke sighed and decided he'd try to handle the situation.
"Look, Kakashi-sensei.. we need you to detach us, please." He said. Naruto jumped up.
"Yeah, yeah! See, we're good buddies now!" He latched onto Sasuke's arm. The Uchiha was vaguely reminded of Sakura, and repressed a shudder of disgust. Kakashi eyed the two boys warily, glanced back to his book a moment, and then shut it. He glanced down at the pair again, and smiled.
"Well, it's nice to see that you're getting along!" He said, in that annoyingly perky tone of his. Naruto and Sasuke nodded eagerly, each waiting for their moment of freedom. Kakashi crossed his arms.
"Hmmm.. I suppose.."
"Yeah, yeah??" Naruto asked, getting more excited. Kakashi glanced at him, still smiling.
"..no."
Sasuke sighed heavily. He should have known it wouldn't have been this easy. He glanced at Naruto, who was turning an interesting shade of red. Sasuke blinked, and then sighed, wincing as Naruto exploded.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'NO'?!" He screamed. Kakashi sighed and rolled his one visible eye.
"No means what it means, Naruto.. last I checked, it hadn't changed." He said, sarcastically. Naruto frowned in vague confusion. Sasuke resisted the urge to hit him, and turned to Kakashi instead.
"Please, Kakashi-sensei." He said, giving him a pathetic look. It didn't work, considering Sasuke had his face in a scowl most of the time, and had pretty much forgotten what a pathetic face would look like. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"My goodness, Sasuke.. Naruto's snoring must be pretty damn loud for you to try and put an expression on your face besides pissy.. in a rather pathetic attempt to get me to release you from those handcuffs." Kakashi said.
Sasuke resisted the urge to hit Kakashi, too. He clenched his teeth.
"You sure do like to hear yourself talk, don't you?" He snapped. Kakashi laughed softly.
"Indeed, I suppose I do. Now, on your way, you two." He waved them away impatiently. "I don't have time to babysit you guys."
"Hmph, FINE." Naruto huffed, and immediately stormed away, dragging Sasuke behind him. "We don't need you or your stupid key anyway! We'll find another way out!"
Sasuke was vaguely reminded of an arguing couple. The rather disturbing image was shaken out of his mind as Kakashi called after them.
"Did I mention that those handcuffs absorb chakra if you attempt to escape using jutsus?"
Naruto let out a howl of rage and yanked Sasuke along roughly as he stomped away. Sasuke sighed and glanced up at a small noise. A woman was walking by with her dog. The dog was straining on its leash, struggling to get away, but the woman held it back, scolding it with a few harsh words. Sasuke looked from the dog to the woman, then to Naruto and the chain holding them together, and suddenly felt extremely sympathetic towards the animal as he was hauled away.
"Okay, well, it's worth a shot anyway.. he coulda just been bluffing, right?" Naruto asked as they sat down on a bench. The blonde had been inspecting the chain for a good twenty minutes at this point. Sasuke sighed heavily.
"There's no weak point on them.. even you would have noticed one by now, dobe." He said. Naruto glared at him.
"Well, since you're the smartypants around here, why the hell don't you try a jutsu? One of your fancy rope escapes or something??" He snapped. Sasuke sighed and formed a few seals with his hands. The chain jerked, but didn't fall away.
"Kakashi was right, it does absorb chakra." The Uchiha said, blinking. He sighed. "So that was a total waste."
"Then we have to try brute force!" Naruto cried, jumping up and dragging Sasuke down the road again. At this point, Sasuke just surrendered himself to it, knowing there wasn't much he could do to resist the force that was Naruto.
After several hours of attempting escape using various items such as hammers, lock picks, hairpins, pliers, screwdrivers, and whatever else Naruto could get his hands on as they ran wantonly about the village, the two finally collapsed beneath a tree on the side of the road. Sasuke growled and reached over, smacking Naruto over the head.
"Ow!"
"You idiot.." Sasuke panted, exhausted from all the running around they'd done. "..I can't believe you made us go over to Ino's house to get hairpins from her.. I thought she was gonna suffocate me for sure."
"Yeah, well, I wish she had!" Naruto growled in reply, rubbing his head and glaring back at Sasuke. "At least then I wouldn't hafta listen to your whining!"
"How stupid could you have gotten?!" Sasuke argued back. "You'd think that after we'd gone to all that trouble waiting for Konohamaru to find his 'secret place' where he hides his lock picks, and after they didn't work, you'd realize that hairpins wouldn't either!"
"Oh yeah? Well, who's fault was it that we couldn't stop for lunch, huh?!" Naruto argued. Sasuke threw his hands (as well as one of Naruto's) up in disgust.
"That's not even relevant!!" He shouted, eyes narrowed. Naruto glared right back, defiant as ever.
"Yeah, well, I don't even know what that big word means! So there!" He stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha. Sasuke opened his motuh to respond to that, but remembered that one cannot win an argument with an idiot, and just sighed.
"Okay, fine.. whatever. But since all that didn't work, who's house are we sleeping at tonight?" He asked, exasperatedly. Naruto considered this for a moment. Sasuke suddenly regretted giving him a choice.
"My house!" Naruto proclaimed, and began dragging Sasuke in the direction of his apartment building. Sasuke resigned himself to the dog-like fate he'd been forced into once again.
"You actually.. sleep in here..?" Sasuke asked, staring agape at the huge mess that was Naruto's home as the two of them kicked off their sandals. Foam cups of ramen littered the floor, pots and pans dotted the countertops, the fridge was half-open, clothes were draped in the strangest of places, and an odd smell wafted throughout the entire apartment. The Uchiha gingerly stepped in, barely avoiding a patch of slimy mold that he could have sworn gargled at him in greeting. Naruto blinked and kicked it.
"Down, Kabi!" He ordered, and then stepped further inside. He grinned back at Sasuke, who could only stare at him in disbelief.
[ A/N: Kabi means mold or mildew. And yes, I do realize that Naruto probably isn't as.. messy.. as I've described him, but hey. It's a humor fic. ; ]
"You.. have a name for it..?" Sasuke asked, dumbfounded.
"Don't worry, Kabi only attacks if you smell worse than he does." Naruto said cheerfully as he began making his way across the room. He seemed to have a set path for himself, having to hop over or around piles of junk as he made his way onto a clean spot in the kitchen. Sasuke could only follow and stare in disbelief, jerking in surprise as his bare foot landed in something cold, slimy, and wet. Deciding to not ask about it, he turned and looked at the path they'd just walked in, only able to shake his head. Naruto was still grinning.
"Okay! Now, the tricky part is making food.."
"Naruto.. we're going to clean up your apartment, first." Sasuke said. "..I can barely breathe in here."
"What?! But that'll take forever!"
"Shut up and help me." Finally, the chain was useful for something. He knelt down and yanked his left arm, and Naruto toppled to the ground with him. The two of them began picking up the endless amount of foam ramen cups and garbage littered about.
Two hours, fifteen garbage bags, three sponges, and two full bottles of soap later, Naruto's apartment looked normal. Well, almost normal.. Kabi insisted on staying where he was, sitting in the corner and guarding the door. (Sasuke had tried to clean it up when Naruto wasn't looking, but the thing simply wouldn't budge.) Sighing and dusting off his hands, Sasuke stood up. Naruto whined.
"Can we eat nooowwwww, Sasuke?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Hurray!" Naruto threw open the cabinet. Sasuke stared. Aside from a few bowls and plates, Naruto's cupboards were stocked full to bursting with ramen. The Uchiha sighed and slapped his forehead.
"Should have known. Nothing but ramen. I'm surprised you haven't died yet." He muttered. Naruto turned around with a look of indignance.
"Hey, that's not all I eat, y'know! I do have some powdered red bean soup and some packets of miso in here.. somewhere.. oh well, I'll find them eventually!" He said, grinning. Sasuke just shook his head.
"Whatever."
Naruto reached into the cupboard and pulled out four packages of chicken ramen. He set them on a counter, pulled out a pot, and began boiling water, grinning over at Sasuke.
"So, what'll you be having?"
After a small dilemma concerning how they were both going to squish into Naruto's tiny bed, the two had ended up in there anyway. Naruto was against the wall, and Sasuke (uncomfortably) was half on top of him, trying not to fall off the other end. Naruto had been equally unhappy as Sasuke about this fact, but neither of them wanted to sleep on the floor. Sasuke again was being kept awake by Naruto's snoring, and sighed.
"This is impossible." He muttered. "I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight, eith-- guh!" Naruto's foot had connected hard with his stomach, and he toppled off the tiny bed, dragging the still-unconscious Naruto down with him.. and rather inconvieniently, on top of him. Sasuke felt heat rising to his face. If that wasn't enough, Naruto was now snuggling against him, clinging to him. Sasuke tried to shove him off, but it wasn't working.
"Naruto, wake up! Wake UP, damn you!" He cried. The boy's snores drowned him out. Naruto rubbed his face affectionately against Sasuke's.
"Mmm.. Sasuke, don't be so stubborn.." He murmured. Sasuke flushed even brighter.
"Naruto, wake up, dammit!!" He shouted, struggling. Naruto had wrapped his arms around Sasuke, and so the dark-haired shinobi's arms were pinned to his sides.
"Shit, he's stronger when he's asleep.." Sasuke muttered, unable to move. Naruto's leg slid up his thigh, and Sasuke jerked, face a bright red by now. He struggled again, growling in frustration.. he was too exhausted from everything they'd done that day to perform any jutsus.. and in any case, he couldn't move his arms. So he was trapped, with the blonde child rubbing against him. Sasuke shut his eyes tightly.
I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't like this.. He chanted in his mind, trying to ignore Naruto's cute expression as he nuzzled Sasuke's cheek again.
Wait.
Cute?
..aww, fuck.
---To Be Continued..
I know, the situation that poor Sasuke is in is overused, but it had to be done. XD Personally, I find it amusing (and sexy) when Sasuke's an uke.. I mean, hell, it's even in his name..
::Cough.::
..right. Sorry for the delay, again.. hope it was at least partially worth the wait. ;;;
--TAB