Linked
By The Ambitious Blank
Disclaimer- Naruto doesn't belong to me...
Comments- Lalala. So.. sorry I took so long to put this out. x.x; I dunno. This fic just doesn't seem as good as Kaerizaki and all that, but somehow has managed to get more reviews at certain times. ::Scratches head.:: Ah, go figure. (I still don't understand the attractiveness of Kabi.. x.x;) Anyway.. here we go.
---Wednesday- If Only They Knew...
"Sasuke-kun.. Sasuke-kun, wake up.."
Sasuke groaned and rolled over, tugging the wrist attached to his with him, trying to ignore the soft whispers ghosting over his ear.
"Sasuke-kun.." The voice repeated. Sasuke irritatedly batted at the face so close to his, grumbling under his breath. The voice persisted.
"Sasuke-kun.. wake up." A hand brushed slowly, sensuously, up his side. Sasuke shuddered and finally rolled over, opening his eyes.
A sheet-white face framed with dark hair and gleaming yellow eyes met him. An inhumanly long tongue slid out from the pale lips, sliding over them.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun.." Orochimaru whispered.
It took about two seconds for Sasuke to yell, lash out, and end up being dragged to the floor as his victim toppled off the bed with a string of curse words. Sasuke stared down at the boy he was now sitting on. The dark, silky hair had turned to unruly spikes of blonde, the yellow eyes replaced with shining blue, the face now much more tan.
Naruto moaned in pain and tried to shove Sasuke off him, only succeeding in having Sasuke topple backward off him, and then ending up being pulled down on top of the Uchiha.
"Dammit, you bastard! Can't you take a damn joke?!" Naruto demanded loudly, pinning Sasuke's arms above his head. Sasuke growled and wrenched his unchained hand away, smacking him hard across the face, earning a yelp from the Uzumaki. Naruto clutched his cheek while Sasuke snarled and fumed beneath him. The blonde growled and grabbed Sasuke's now-free wrist and pinned it over his head, too. Sasuke tried to kick him, interrupted by the door creaking open.
"Sasuke-kun! The front gate was unlocked, so Ino and I thought we might--"
Sakura and Ino stood in the doorway, staring. Naruto was straddling Sasuke's hips, pinning the Uchiha's wrists down against the floor. Both of them were flushed and panting faintly from their little fight. Not to mention, both of them were still shirtless from the previous evening at the hot springs.
It didn't look too good.
The girls remained open-mouthed and utterly silent for a good five seconds or so before both of them let out an ear-piercing shriek. Sasuke and Naruto both flinched.
"N.. NARUTO! YOU!" Sakura snarled, suddenly resembling an angry bull. Ino wasn't any different. "First you steal Sasuke-kun's first kiss, and now you're stealing his vir--"
Sasuke cut her off with a harsh glare.
"We were fighting, Sakura." He said, irritated with this whole thing. "That's all. It's not what you think."
Sakura stubbornly continued to glare at Naruto for a moment, then sighed. Ino seemed to slowly calm down as well. Sasuke shoved Naruto off him, causing the blonde to roll off to the side, ending up flat on his back next to Sasuke, the chain clanking in protest. They stood up at the same time, having practiced this more than once. Naruto rubbed his head, glaring at Sasuke. The Uchiha had turned to face the two girls.
"Alright. So what do you want this early in the morning?" He asked. Ino was still staring at the handcuffs.
"Umm.. can I ask what those are?" She asked, pointing. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances.. that was right, Ino hadn't seen them yet. Sakura blinked.
"Ino, didn't I tell you? They have to be chained together to improve team morale or something. Kakashi-sensei's orders." She said. Ino raised a brow. Being slightly more knowledgable in these sorts of things than Sakura, she glanced at Sasuke, Naruto, and then back down at the handcuffs.
"Kakashi-sensei, you said?"
That pervert! She thought, angrily. What the hell is he trying to do? Obviously, he could have found a better way to do this.. this is all probably for some sick amusement of his, or something. Crossing her arms, she glared at Sakura now.
"You didn't even think about this, did you? I mean, what kind of teacher chains their kids together?!"
"He said it was to improve our teamwork!" Naruto said, scowling. "Don't insult Kakashi-sensei like that! I think he knows what he's doing!"
"Yeah?!" Ino shot back. "Then why is he always, unfailingly, late?! A jounin should be way more responsible than that!"
"She's right, Naruto!" Sakura chimed in. "Kakashi-sensei could have found another way to do this, like.. sending us on more missions or something! What the hell is he thinking?!"
The argument erupted, and Sasuke growled in frustration. The argument went on for a few minutes, when finally, he exploded.
"Shut up. Shut up! Who the hell cares?!" He demanded, eyes narrowing. All three had turned to stare at him. Sasuke hardly ever raised his voice except for in battle, but he continued.
"Kakashi has his own goddamn reasons, there's no point in us standing here and arguing about it." He said, glowering at them. Sakura snorted and thwapped Naruto over the back of the head.
"Yeah! Sasuke-kun's right. You shouldn't argue so much, Naruto!" She snapped. Now, under normal circumstances, Sasuke would have shrugged such behavior off.. he wasn't supposed to care what happened between his teammates, so long as it didn't annoy him. But for some reason, today, Sakura's constant ridicule of Naruto got on his nerves. He snapped.
"Sakura. Knock it off. It isn't his fault." He said sharply. Naruto stared at him, confused, and Sasuke just looked away. Sakura was shocked, her green eyes filling with tears. She hadn't ever been able to handle Sasuke's negative comments toward her very much. She turned and fled the room, Ino on her heels. Sasuke sighed and plopped down on the floor. Naruto was staring at him, blinking slowly.
"Um, Sasuke?"
"Yeah?" He asked, glancing up, trying his best to look annoyed. Naruto flushed a little and shifted from foot to foot.
"..thanks." He said, uncomfortably. Sasuke managed to hold back the smile that nearly formed on his lips, and instead just nodded.
"Yeah.. but don't get the wrong idea or anything."
"Yeah." Naruto said, beaming. "Hey, just for that.. let's go get something other than ramen today."
Sasuke was sure his heart stopped for a few seconds, before Naruto dragged him out the door.
"H-hey! Naruto, wait, we have to go back, we're still not wearing shirts.."
They ended up (totally clothed, for once.. Sasuke had come up with a way to quickly sew a few buttons on one side of their clothing so they could still get in and out of their shirts withouot having to tear them up each time) eating at the Korean Barbeque place that Chouji liked a lot, and coincedently, also met up with Chouji, Shikamaru, and Asuma there. Chouji waved them over to their table, but told them they'd have to order their own food. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"Idiot. Like they'd dare touch your food anyway." He mumbled, glancing up to Asuma. He had his head down on the table, and wasn't eating anything. Naruto decided he must've just been too lazy to eat, or was too afraid of reaching for some of Chouji's food and getting his arm either ripped or chewed off as a result.
Asuma chuckled.
"No indeed.. mess with Chouji's food and you're as good as dead."
"Are you even supposed to be smoking in this restaurant?" Shikamaru asked, glancing up at Asuma, who just shrugged. Naruto and Sasuke took their seats in the booth, facing the other three. Shikamaru sighed and pulled a small, magnetic Go board out of his pocket, unfolding it and setting it down, looking up to Sasuke.
"Wanna play a round? I really need something to distract me from Chouji's noisy eating."
"Um, sure." Sasuke said. Somehow, the other three hadn't noticed the fact that the two boys were chained together. Of course, Naruto, being the tactless blonde he was, seemed to completely forget about it, and raised his hand and called noisily for the waitress. The chain rattled loudly, and several people, including the three in front of them (sans Chouji, who was still totally immersed in his food), stared.
"Er, Naruto? Dare I ask why you and Sasuke, of all people, are chained together?" Shikamaru asked, forgetting the Go board for a moment. Sasuke sighed and put his hand to his face.
"Oh, this? It's just some wierd mission from Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, scowling up at the chain, and the pale left hand that was still chained to his right. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, not bothering to ask for further explanation than that. The waitress slowly approached them, notepad in hand.
"Can I take your order?" She asked, as politely as she could, trying not to stare. Naruto nodded.
"I'll have whatever he's having." He pointed at Chouji. He glanced to Sasuke next. "Wanna share it with me? No way I can eat all that.. it'll save us some money, too." He smiled.
"Uhh.. s-sure." Sasuke said, nodding, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. Asuma smirked inwardly as he saw this. Kakashi had been taking bets on how long it would be before the two of them got together. Asuma had given it another two days, and at the rate it was going, it seemed like he would win.
The waitress hurried off (though whether she was really busy or if she just wanted to get as far away as possible from them wasn't certain), and Shikamaru and Sasuke started up their game of Go. Shikamaru won by a large margin, though he was impressed at how long Sasuke stayed in the game. Their food had come during the middle of it, so Shikamaru guessed the dark-haired boy would have lasted even longer, had it not been for the constant yanking of his wrist as Naruto reached for his food. Sasuke ate very little, and slowly, while Naruto stuffed his face. However, whenever they were about to finish off a batch of beef, Naruto would always offer the last piece to Sasuke before he took it, and Sasuke always looked away, his cheeks coloring slightly, as he refused it.
Chouji polished off whatever they didn't eat, and Naruto and Sasuke left, saying their goodbyes, trying to ignore the stares at their wrists they got as they left the restaurant.
Shikamaru turned to Asuma.
"I'll give it one day." He said, smirking.
"Ha! Check that out, Akamaru.. what Sakura and Ino were talking about was right! Those two really are stuck together!"
The rest of the day had been uneventful until now. Sasuke and Naruto were walking back to Naruto's house, when harsh laughter followed by a series of loud yips sounded from behind them. Sasuke twitched in irritation. This was so not the time..
Naruto turned around, ready to fight, as he always was, his blood pressure rising. Sure enough, Kiba and his team were standing there. Kiba had his arms crossed, an arrogant smirk on his face as he looked at the two of them. Sasuke scowled. He hated Kiba.. he was so loud, so obnoxious, so arrogant..
Well, then again, so was Naruto..
Speaking of Naruto, the blonde shinobi was already shouting back an insult.
"Shut up, dogface! At least we don't SMELL like a dirty wet dog all the time, like you do!"
"Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun didn't mean it.." Hinata said nervously, shifting on her feet. Sasuke raised a brow. Hinata was too quiet. But Naruto was thick, never noticing how much she liked him.
Shino was standing there, looking bored. Well, not that they could tell he was looking bored, considering his face and eyes were covered. He just wasn't moving. Kiba snorted.
"Well, at least I'm not a total dunce like you are!" He yelled back at Naruto. The Uzumaki boy snarled and stepped forward. Sasuke felt a surge of anger for some reason, and, unbidden, the possessive thought of "Only I'm allowed to call him that.." flashed through his mind. Confused by this, he put a hand to his head, sighing. He ran the hand through his hair, then turned back to watch the exchange of insults.
"You say that again, you bastard, and I'll fucking kill you!" Naruto growled out. Kiba laughed again, mockingly.
"Is that so, idiot? I'd like to see you try, with that stupid prettyboy chained to you!" He said, smirking. Naruto fumed angrily, his fist clenching. Sasuke looked up, his eyes flashing to the red of the Sharingan.
"..say that again, Kiba." He said, challengingly, eyes blazing. Hinata backed away, and Shino seemed to perk up a little. Naruto smirked at Kiba, reaching forward and poking him hard in the chest.
"I'll betcha you're just jealous because you don't have a prettyboy chained to you!" He said, smirking. Hinata blinked and flushed, looking away. One could practically hear (as they couldn't see) Shino's eyeroll, and Kiba just stared in astonishment.
"You mean.. you and Uchiha.. you're.."
"Maybe we are." Naruto said proudly, crossing his arms. Sasuke was now staring, agape, at him. Kiba stepped back, mouth open wide. Kurenai suddenly appeared behind her team, whistling at them.
"Oi, you three. Stop messing around, we have some D-rank missions we have to complete." She said. Kiba groaned.
"Not more of them.. can't we at least have a B-Rank? C-Rank?" He whined, and Akamaru barked in agreement. Kurenai shook her head.
"Sorry guys. Sasuke, Naruto, carry on. Sorry if my team.." Here she paused, smacking Kiba's head. "..caused you any trouble." She waved and headed off, the three others running ahead of her. She slowed as she passed a tree, smiling as she whispered to a shadowy figure leaning against the trunk.
"I'll give them 'til tomorrow." She said, and then kept walking.
Kakashi grinned and gave her a thumbs up, then vanished.
"Wh-what'd you say all that for?!" Sasuke demanded as they entered Naruto's house, a flush painting his cheeks. Kabi greeted them with a small gurgle, and they stepped past the mold as they spoke to one another.
"Well, I mean, I've been thinking.. after all that stuff at the hot springs and whatnot, I got to think about it for a while, and.. I dunno. I guess the idea of being your.. boyfriend, or whatever.. it didn't bother me all that much." Naruto turned around, a smile on his face, moving closer to his dark-haired teammate. Sasuke was still blushing, and Naruto smirked inwardly.
He's almost cute like that.
"I.. umm.." Sasuke stammered, shifting on his feet. His instincts were telling him to find some way out of this.. emotions made him unstable.
"Look! A-all that stuff at the hot springs, that wasn't anything! That didn't mean anything! I was just.. I was just trying to piss you off or something." He blurted out, looking away and glaring at the wall. Naruto blinked, stepping back, looking horribly disappointed, but making a valiant effort to hide it.
"O-oh. Well.." He said, uncomfortably. Sasuke felt a surge of guilt from all of that, but struggled to repress it.
"Yeah. I.. I didn't.. I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to get the wrong idea." He said, turning away. Naruto lowered his eyes.
"U-um.. yeah.. I.. I guess it was pretty dumb of me, huh?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his head. "I.. I just thought that.. oh, nevermind.. I'm tired. Let's just go to bed.."
"You don't want any dinner?" Sasuke asked, brows furrowing in slight concern.
"Not really hungry." Naruto said, still refusing to meet Sasuke's eyes. "If you want something, we can eat, but.."
"Uh.. I'm not all that hungry, either." The Uchiha said quietly. Naruto nodded.
"Okay. Well, bed it is, then."
They took a few minutes to get themselves ready, and then crammed into Naruto's small bed. Sasuke sighed as Naruto rolled over, facing away from him. Sasuke closed his eyes, biting his lip. He still felt guilt at what he'd said..
Well, maybe he could remedy it all in the morning.
Shifting closer to Naruto's warmth, he closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.
---To Be Continued...
It's amazing how boredom can inspire you.
Anyway, I'm thinking next chapter shall be the last. n.n; I'm barely able to keep up with updating this fic at all.. don't worry, I've got a good ending in mind, and I'll try to make the chapter good, too. Heehee.
Off to work on Kaerizaki next.. uwaa, so much to do..
--TAB