Title: Memory Yields
Author: JaD
Email: jadatyondaimedotnet
Website: bakadotyondaimedotnet
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Kudos, Kishimoto!
Fore notes: For full introduction, see Chapter One.
Is it me, or is every chapter beginning with Naruto screaming at Sasuke? I need to fix that…
Thanks again to Sao-babe for her awesome editing skills; because I'm too lazy to do it myself. :::licks:::
REVIEWERS:
ghostninja85 - There is a specific reason. I might actually reveal that in a prologue (if I ever get around to writing it). Otherwise... well, you might be forever wondering -.
kurokioku - Soon enough. I like to keep it as canon as possible, but I won't keep you waiting long.
Katie - Sasuke's harsh. It's a fact of life. She put herself up for hurt and disappointment for pursuing someone like him P
Az-Strawberry - You can't believe Sasuke did that? Remember, this is /Sasuke/. Don't feel sorry for Naruto - feel sorry for Sasuke. Naruto does ;
xKaelynx - He DOES look like Hinata XDDD
stet- No no bashing, ever. ; I actually don't hate Sakura, especially with her progress in the recent manga chapters (if you read it). I was just being realistic. Sasuke's the only one who really does any Sakura-bashing in this fic P
Also, before anyone bites my head off or attempts to flame, there is nice dose of NaruSaku in this chapter… but yet the fic is still labeled SasuNaru. Huh. Think about it for a while.
- - -
II : Asking Too Much
I want somebody who sees the pointlessness, and still keeps their purpose in mind;
I want somebody who has a tortured soul, some of the time;
I want somebody who will either put out for me, or put me out of misery;
Or maybe just put it all to words and make me go, you know,
I never heard it put that way;
make me go, what did you just say?
I want someone who's not afraid of me, or anyone else;
In other words, I want someone who's not afraid of themself.
Do you think I'm asking too much?
- Ani DiFranco, Asking Too Much
"Was I here before? Uh-oh, I'm not still here, am I? Well anyone can SEE that! Am I here anywhere else?"
- Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
- - - -
"Sasuke, you sonofabitch!"
Naruto's shout was lost to the darkness. By the time he had tore down the stairs, ignored the broken window in the door as he dashed through it, and stumbled out onto the street, Sasuke was no where in sight.
He was not getting off that easy.
Naruto wasted no time in taking off at a run, easily twice as fast as any normal human being due to years of intense training as a shinobi; perhaps thrice as fast now, simply because he was so angry. He could still see the look of frozen horror on Sakura-chan's face, the way her pretty features broke into an emotional puddle of tears and hysteria at Sasuke's uncalled-for cruelty.
Sasuke was going to pay.
Sasuke, however, knew he was going to be followed, and did not stop until he reached his home. Slamming (and after a second thought, locking) his front door, he stormed across the main threshold of the house, ignoring the echoes of angry shouts and the hammering sounded from his porch. Assuming—no, knowing—that Naruto would be too dense to find another way inside to assault him, Sasuke wandered into his room and flopped on the bed, draping one forearm over his eyes as he had done earlier that day. He could hardly hear the idiot from his safe haven… the insults and threats were nothing but a dull vibration coming from the front of the house. Soon, Naruto would get sick of yelling, turn from angry to upset, get depressed and leave.
Sasuke decided not to care.
CRASH!
Apparently, Naruto had other plans.
The door managed to hang onto its hinges, but only barely as it swung open, revealing a very ruffled teenager with baby blue eyes narrowed dangerously. Sasuke groaned inwardly but did not move as the heavy footsteps drew nearer, their owner oddly quiet as he stalked down his target. Outside his open bedroom the footsteps stopped abruptly. Sasuke didn't bother to remove his arm, and his voice was mocking as he spoke.
"If I have to tell you to fuck off once more today, dobe..."
Maybe if Sasuke had been looking, he would have had time to block. As it was, Naruto moved so fast that by the time the sound caught up for Sasuke to hear it, he'd already been slammed into the nearest wall by his neck.
"Shut the fuck up, you asshole, and listen to me," Naruto's eyes were unnaturally dark, Sasuke noted with bored eyes, so much like… "Is it asking too much from you, the great heir to the Uchiha, to be civil for a COUPLE of hours? Just once you needed to behave, just one night that you needed to stop being such a dimwitted prick and act like a normal human being. Is that asking too much?!"
Despite being pinned involuntarily to the wall, Sasuke looked rather relaxed. "Define normal."
Naruto glared.
"Someone who can feel," he snapped, his voice lowering significantly but losing none of its malice. "…someone who is aware that other people have feelings. Someone completely not like you."
Sasuke smirked lazily at him. "Then what did you expect?"
"An effort!"
"Then you were setting yourself up for disappointment. I don't put effort into socializing," Sasuke sneered back at him, grasping his wrist and pulling it free of his collar. "You should be happy, anyway. Maybe now she'll realize once and for all I don't want anything to do with her and she'll turn to you as runner-up."
Naruto didn't give Sasuke the chance to block this time, either, because he hit him hard and on target right in the jaw. The back of Sasuke's head hit the wall behind him with a sharp thwack and his vision blurred for a moment, going black around the edges and threatening to engulf him before finally returning to normal. Vision rgained, he noticed Naruto had abandoned holding him up against the wall and retreated to the bed, sitting on it similarly to the way he had this morning, head down and looking lost.
"You don't deserve her anymore then I do. Stop acting like you're too good for her; like you're too good for me."
Flexing his sore jaw, Sasuke idly wondered if he deserved that. "I am too good for you."
Naruto's next statement was said viciously, injected with more venom then he thought he could merge with his voice.
"I'm not too good for your brother."
Sasuke's eyes turned red without him even realizing it as he launched himself at Naruto, returning the hit. Naruto blocked it and threw him sideways, rolling them both off the bed and onto the floor. Sasuke managed to throw his weight in mid-fall, so that Naruto ended up beneath him when they hit the ground. Eyes wide and blinded with rage, he slammed an elbow down into the soft flesh of Naruto's neck, making the blonde gag dangerously as his insides took the enormous amount of pain and swallowed it. Kicking up, Naruto managed to throw Sasuke off of him and scramble to his knees. Sasuke flipped over as he landed, saving his head from smacking into the ground, taking the blow to his shoulder instead.
Naruto sighed, closed his eyes and sulked back to the floor, resting on his forelegs. Why did it always come to this? Sometimes they got along fine; sometimes they seemed like friends, almost like… brothers.
No matter what Naruto did, he could never hold onto that feeling.
Sensing the slight ease in atmosphere, Sasuke also relaxed and sat up, but kept his gaze fixed on Naruto.
"Leave."
"Not until you tell me who shoved that pole up your rear-end," Naruto opened his eyes and stared back in time to see Sasuke blink.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You," the blonde pulled his legs out from under him, stretching them out. His feet went just past Sasuke's knees as he leaned back against the bed behind him. "You were improving—you were in a better mood everyday. You were hanging out, you were smiling—you were acting like you did when I first met you – arrogant and like a prick, but at least alive. Then you just stopped. What the hell happened to you? You're acting just like you did back then. Before you—"
Sasuke hissed before Naruto could finish, cutting him off and putting his hands on his own knees. "That has nothing to do with this."
"Then what—?"
"None of your fucking business."
"Do you really try this hard to be a jerk, or does it just come naturally for you?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, but Naruto cut him off before he could.
"You're a hard person to care about, you really are."
"Don't you ever wonder if it's really worth it sometimes?"
"No."
Sasuke blinked again.
"Why?"
"Because," Naruto shrugged and looked to the side, as if it were unimportant, "I don't."
Stubborn idiot, as always.
"Your hands are bleeding," Sasuke noted dully.
"They had a disagreement with your door."
"It was locked for a reason."
"To get busted open, apparently."
Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He glared at the floor, his eyes hidden in shadow, before pushing up off the ground and standing over Naruto.
"You better be gone when I get out."
Naruto was about to ask out of where when Sasuke answered him by going into the bathroom and closing the door. Naruto could hear him start the shower and after a moment, a solid 'click' as Sasuke locked the door.
Asshole.
Naruto had only been patient enough to stare at Sasuke's bathroom door for about ten minutes before finally getting angry, kicking the door once for good measure, and stomping out of the house. To make matters worse, it started raining as he trotted home and thoroughly soaking him by the time he came to his apartment.
Figured.
- - -
CRACK!
Sasuke awoke with a start as the thunder cracked outside his window, followed by a long, low and yet dauntingly loud rumble of noise. He sat upright quickly, muscles tense, his eyes glowing red orbs in the darkness. His Sharingan, fully developed four years ago, now displayed three marks rotating around his pupil.
Breathing heavily, he threw himself out of bed and bolted from the room.
Somehow his subconscious managed to avoid the broken glass on his way out, remnants of Naruto's visit earlier that evening. It was raining heavily outside, the storm clouds obscuring the moon and making it pitch black in the abandoned Uchiha town. Sasuke ran on from pure memory; he knew every corner, every curb, every stone that made up these streets, and could have found his way if he had been blind. He continued outside the walls of the Uchiha community, running down the familiar, dimly-lit streets of his village, ignoring everything except the path of his feet.
It did not take long to reach his destination. He dashed up the stairs with such force he could feel his knees strain from the pressure and the boards under his feet creaked dangerously.
Almost there…
SLAM!
Sasuke pounded both of his fists against the door. The wood rattled under his attack, striking back at his fists with stiff splinters, shoving them under his skin. Sasuke ignored the pain and continued to bang on the door, shouting out incoherently. He hit the door one last time with his left fist, throwing his whole body at the door, and slowly slid down, coming to a huddle at the bottom of the door. Invisible tears were streaming along the curve of his cheeks, mixing with the rain spilling down his face from his soaked hair. He slammed his left hand, palm open, on the door in a last desperate attempt to drive the pain away.
The door opened so suddenly that Sasuke fell through it, hitting the matt inside with his upper body. Light streamed out into the darkness from within the apartment, outlining a short, spiky-haired figure.
"Sasuke?" said the confused but familiar voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Naruto stared in disbelief as the frantic Sasuke fell unconscious without a word.
"…Sasuke?"
Naruto shivered as the wind blew in some of the rain, which was falling from the sky with the power of a waterfall. What the fuck?
- - -
Sasuke woke up feeling more exhausted then he had in years. His head ached, his chest ached, his legs ached—hell, even his fingertips were pulsating. His body temperature seemed to be on high, because even in the cold night air his face felt hot. He tried to push himself up on his elbows, but the muscles in his arm wouldn't have it. They shuddered violently as he put weight on them and they collapsed, forcing him to flop back onto the bed.
Wait. Bed?
Sasuke took a moment to gather his surroundings. This was not his bed. No, it smelled different… not a bad smell, and not alien—but not his, either. His hands, which he could feel now were considerably more sore than the rest of him, were bandaged neatly. There was also a cool rag draped over his forehead. The material was soft and the cold felt good against his throbbing head; but there was one more thing Sasuke noticed that was different about him.
His clothes were missing.
He wasn't exactly exposed (he did have a couple layers of sheets covering him) but he was in fact, very nude… and dry and soft and actually quite comfortable when he stopped to think about it. He tried to remember what had happened before he ended up here, what he had been doing before he passed out… where the hell was he?
"So, you're finally awake."
Oh.
Sasuke's eyes drifted to his right, where Naruto was propped up on the windowsill, slurping noodles from a cup of instant ramen. He was dressed in red shorts and a black t-shirt with an orange spiral on the front, tawny hair ruffled messily and droopy blues only half-awake.
Naruto, perfectly alive and well… and eating ramen like nothing had happened.
Sasuke just stared.
"Sorry about your clothes, but," Naruto paused to swallow, "You were soaked to the skin and shivering like mad, and you had a fever. I wanted to leave you there, outside my door to die, but Sakura-chan would have had my head."
Sasuke felt his head throb again and winced. A fever… well, that made sense; that was why he felt so hot.
"Your clothes are drying by the heater," Naruto went on, shoving more ramen in his mouth, "And then I had to dry you before throwing you in my bed. I hope you take great pride in the fact that you've denied me any decent sleep tonight."
"What happened to my hands?"
Naruto looked at him. It was dark, but he could have sworn the blonde was gawking. "Don't you remember?"
Sasuke thought on that. "Not… quite…"
Naruto sighed and sat back against the window frame. "Then let me refresh your memory. It was 1 a.m. I was in my bed, having a nice, peaceful sleep when WHAM!" Naruto moved his arms in a waving motion to give his speech a theatrical touch. "Some crazed bastard starts screaming and banging on my door like a lunatic! By the time I roll out of bed and get to the door to open it, the said bastard is lying in a crumpled heap on my doorstep, and full on faints halfway into my apartment!"
Sasuke said nothing to this, but his memories slowly began to return. Waking up in a panic… running through the dark and the rain… charging up the stairs…
"And in banging on my poor old mistreated door, the said bastard managed to impale his hands with about fifty large splinters, all of which were lodged deep into his skin!" Naruto stopped yelling and took a breath, giving him what he assumed in the darkness was a glare. "So I decided that, after undressing and drying you, putting you in my bed and taking care of your stupid fever, that I should probably pull them out before you woke up and had a chance to complain about them. That is why your hands are bandaged, you stupid, stupid, crazed—did I mention stupid?—lunatic bastard!"
It grew quiet in the room while Sasuke took in all of this information, save for Naruto's heavy breathing. He did remember all of it now, and even why he'd come… It had seemed so realistic. So very, very real, like many of his nightmares were. Real enough to make him believe it and to have him come running all the way to Naruto's apartment—just to prove that it was real.
But it wasn't.
Naruto was alive. In fact, Naruto was doing better then he was. Just sitting there, eating ramen, and yelling at him for being a stupid bastard.
Then Sasuke did the last thing Naruto could have expected him to do. He started laughing.
Naruto stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to do. He'd never heard Sasuke laugh before. He'd seen him smirk (how that fucking smirk annoyed him), he'd seen him give Sakura-chan false smiles of reassurance, then there was that creepy-evil ku-ku-ku laugh he'd adopted from the snake bastard on a temporary lapse—but that really didn't count, and he'd even heard him snicker on the rare occasion. But he'd never heard the boy really laugh before.
"What the hell is so funny?!" Naruto demanded, throwing his empty ramen cup to the side, chopsticks and all. "Unappreciative jerk! I should have let you sit out there and die!"
Sasuke stopped laughing when Naruto yelled out, but he was still smiling. "You really are an idiot, aren't you, Naruto?"
That was the last straw.
Naruto launched himself at Sasuke, landing on the unprepared Uchiha with full force, fists aimed at his head. "Don't call me an idiot, you fucking selfish bastard! How dare you! I should have left you out there for Sakura-chan to find and cry over! Fuck you and your stupid laughing! I hope that fever kills you!"
Sasuke didn't move when Naruto leaped at him, but he did bring one arm up to block Naruto's punch, stopping it just inches from his face. Naruto, crouched over him, stared down at him in rage.
Sasuke was still smiling.
"Don't worry," the dark-haired boy said lightly. "Thanks to you, it won't."
"ARG!" Naruto pushed himself off Sasuke, falling off to his side and sitting back on his heels. He glared at the Uchiha teen, half angry and half confused. Why the fuck was that bastard smiling at him?!
Sasuke studied his injured hand for a moment and then held it out to Naruto, his bandaged palm open and asking for assistance.
"I hate you sometimes," Naruto mumbled, "I really do."
Naruto took his hand gently and helped hoist Sasuke into a sitting position, the sheets falling away from his chest as he sat up, exposing the bare flesh. It was cold in the room, but Sasuke did not shiver, for the fever was still keeping him warm. Sasuke propped himself up with two pillows, and then leant his weight back against the headboard. The cloth on his head slowly peeled off and fell into his lap, sinking the sheet between his crossed legs. Sasuke picked it up and looked at it, then eyed Naruto critically.
"When did you become such a good mother?"
"Fuck you, and fuck your stupid smile."
Naruto's anger, at least, seemed to be calming down, though his attitude remained. "Remember that time I got sick last year? I got some stupid bug on a mission while in Earth country. Sakura-chan was over here everyday for a week nursing me back to health. I just remembered some of the things she did, and you're damn lucky I did, too."
"I thought Shikamaru was the one taking care of you," Sasuke asked with a smirk.
"Shikamaru might be able to cook, be he couldn't care for a rock without killing it. He was here, but Sakura was the one taking care of me."
"Did she strip your clothes off and pat you dry as well?"
"I think this is the fourth time I'm going to tell you that I should have left you out there to freeze to death."
"Well, you didn't. And, ah …" Sasuke paused, looking and sounding very much like Kakashi and his smirk quirking into something that was not quite a frown. "…I appreciate it."
Naruto just looked at him, then shrugged and turned away. "Whatever. Like I said, Sakura-chan would have murdered me and Kakashi-sensei would have brought me back to life just to kill me again for letting his favorite pupil die from hypothermia."
Sasuke looked at the window Naruto had been sitting by. It was too dark to see out, and he couldn't tell if the noise outside was just wind or rain.
"Is it still raining?"
"Yeah," said Naruto. "Like crazy. It's been like that all night."
They were both quiet for a moment. Then Naruto looked back at Sasuke.
"Now that you're awake and obviously going to live… what were you doing banging on my door and shouting my name in the middle of the night?"
"…"
Shit.
Sasuke wasn't sure what to tell him. How would Naruto react to the truth?
Sasuke sighed as Naruto stared at him persistently, waiting for an answer. The idiot probably wouldn't even believe him if he told him.
"It's… complicated. Just forget it for now, okay?"
Sasuke was both surprised and relieved when Naruto, after staring at him for a few extra moments, shrugged and nodded.
"Yeah, whatever."
Somewhat relieved, Sasuke took to studying Naruto. The usually energetic blonde was still sitting beside him, drooping slightly in what Sasuke could only guess was exhaustion. He shouldn't have been surprised that Naruto would take care of him like he did, but it still felt so weird to have it happen.
"I should probably go," Sasuke finally said, and began to move.
"Are you insane?" Naruto looked bewildered. "Your clothes are still wet!"
"I'll borrow some of yours."
"It's pouring outside!"
"You have an umbrella, don't you?"
"You've already got a fever!"
"I thought you didn't care?"
"I don't!"
Sasuke couldn't help but look a little bemused. "You could just ask me to stay, you know."
Naruto opened his mouth and stopped, closed it and glared at him before speaking again. "You could just stay, you bastard."
It was his own way of saying he wanted company, and lucky for Naruto, Sasuke caught it. "Yeah, alright, but I get the bed."
"What?! It's MY bed!"
"I thought I was the sick one here?"
"But—but—it's still MY bed!"
"You can sleep on the couch."
"I don't have a couch!"
"Then take the floor."
"The hell I will!"
"You have a better idea?"
Naruto glared at him, fully roused and irritated once more, "Yeah. Scoot over."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said scoot," Naruto made hand motions for emphasis, "If you're going to use my bed, you're at least going to share."
- - -
Upon awakening, Naruto had not wanted to leave Sasuke alone. Not that he was worried, or anything – he was more concerned about Sasuke breaking something or stealing his ramen then dying from a cold. He had almost woken the boy up at noon, but Sasuke had seemed to have a rough night—not that he cared, or anything—so Naruto had decided to let him sleep in. He would probably be gone when Naruto got home anyway… he honestly would have stayed, but he had important matters left unattended from the night before.
Grabbing the small box off the counter, Naruto shoved it in his pocket and trotted outside.
Sakura's home wasn't too far from his apartment, but it was still a fair walk. Naruto had plenty of time to fiddle with ideas: whether he should stay and knock, hand it to her personally, or perhaps knock and run away, leaving it at her doorstep. The latter was beginning to look more and more appeasing as he approached her block and the knot in his stomach wove tighter.
Knock knock knock.
A grown woman in her late forties opened the door, looking aged but still attractive. Bright green eyes, he thought, just like…
"What do you want?" she snapped.
Naruto blinked and cleared his throat. "Is Sakura-chan home?"
"Yes, but she doesn't want to speak with anyone. Some friends you are, making her cry on her birthday. It was you, wasn't it? What did you do this time?"
Naruto looked startled. "I—"
"Naruto!"
Naruto almost fell over with relief as Sakura's familiar face appeared from behind her mother.
"Mother, it's alright, Naruto didn't do anything… really…"
Naruto filed away the memory of Sakura defending him for later as her mother 'hmphed' and moved from the doorway, allowing Sakura to step outside and close the door behind her.
"Hi," he said uneasily.
When Sakura looked up at him, his heart immediately sunk. She was smiling, but just barely and her eyes were still tinted red.
Had she been crying all day?
"Naruto… thank you for coming last night… I…" she faltered slightly, looking at the ground before finishing, "I don't blame you for what happened."
Naruto, now at a complete loss for words, stared and fumbled idly with the box in his pocket.
Sakura took a moment to recover before she noticed the awkward silence, "So… um… yes, thank you for coming last night."
She reached for the door handle behind her but Naruto caught her wrist, gently, "Wait—Sakura, I need to—I mean, last night, I totally forgot—oh, just take it."
Naruto shoved the box in her hand and let her wrist go quickly, not sure if he should be expecting a rebound for it.
Sakura stared at the box, then back up at him. "What is it?"
Naruto blinked. "Um… birthday present?"
Sakura's eyes bulged slightly, as if everything had just now finally registered. "Oh! Oh…" her fingers fumbled as she opened it, "Thank y—oh my god, Naruto, is this…?!"
Naruto had to smile a little. He wasn't sure what her reaction was going to be, or if she'd even accept the gift. It had taken all of the past three months to find it. Every mission he'd gone on outside of Konoha he'd searched merchant shops and trinket places for the damn thing. The gem itself was actually a merge of two—a ruby and a diamond—cut and crafted together to create the illusion of clear, tear-dropped shaped gem with a small, pink flower petal inside of it (the ruby had to be cut small and precise, so the gift hadn't been very easy on his wallet). Expensive as it was, Naruto worked full time now and hardly spent money on anything other than ramen and rent, so it wasn't like he couldn't afford it…
"Naruto…" Sakura stared at jewel, then back at him in turn, "I… I don't know what to say."
Naruto shrugged. "Don't have to. Just don't try to give it back; you'll have better luck selling it."
Sakura's eyes snapped back to him just in time to see the trademark grin, one Naruto gave when he was either being a smartass or stubborn (or both). Before she could reprimand him for spending so much on her, he had turned and trotted off her doorstep.
Sakura looked at the necklace in her hand as Naruto walked away. Squeezing her fists shut around the trinket, she closed her eyes and spoke hurriedly while looking at the ground.
"Hey, Naruto, wait… did you still… wanttogoseethatmovie?"
Naruto stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. Turning around might end the fantasy world he just walked into. Did Sakura just ask him out?
"I mean, if you don't, I'd understand-d-"
Naruto whirled around before Sakura could finish her sentence. Sakura had never seen him look so hopeful.
"Really? You… you want to go?"
"Well," she said.
Naruto beamed. Positively beamed. This was possibly the happiest moment of his life.
"…sure." She finished, smiling sheepishly up at him. "I mean, if you still want t-"
Naruto resisted the urge to run around in circles in a mock-tribal dance of joy. "Yesyesyes! I mean, of course I do! I'd… I'd love to."
Sakura's smile turned into something slightly more genuine.
"Tonight?" Naruto prodded tentatively.
"Um… sure," Sakura looked slightly taken aback, but recovered quickly. "Yeah, tonight's great."
Bright whites flashed a huge grin. "So… see you around, um, eight?"
"Yeah, okay."
Sakura smiled at him one more time, and then disappeared into her house.
Naruto waited until he was around the corner before doing a leap of triumph accompanied by an enthusiastic 'Yatta'
"Keep it down!" some old lady yelled out a nearby window.
- - -
When Sasuke woke in the morning, Naruto was gone.
Correction: it was no longer morning. The bedside clock shown the numbers 2:35 and the sun glared harshly through the open window.
Sasuke groaned and rolled over.
He wasn't sure if it had been due to the fever, or the stress from the nightmare, or if it had been the simple fact that he hadn't been alone that made him sleep so well. He would normally lie awake for hours thinking (usually about his brother) and toss and turn during the night, sometimes sleeping but always neglecting to get any rest. Last night he had knocked out so fast he couldn't even remember falling asleep, nor did Naruto wake him when he got out of bed – something Sasuke was almost positive would have awoken him.
Whatever the reason, decent sleep did nothing to drive his desire to get out of bed. In fact, if he had been in his own home, Sasuke would have probably just laid there all afternoon.
The persistent sunshine and fading smell of ramen, however, eventually convinced him to toss off the sheets and search for his clothes. Right where Naruto had said they were, his clothes were on the heater. They were also stiff, smelly and baked like chips. Sasuke grimaced as he shook each item out. This would not do…
Sighing, the brunette abandoned his clothes and searched a few of Naruto's drawers. Finding a pair of jeans and sweatshirt he guessed would fit, Sasuke sat back on the bed and gently began to pull the articles on, being wary of the delicate state of his body. The headache and extra heat was gone, but his muscles still ached with every flex and his hands throbbed gently underneath the bandages Naruto had dressed them in.
Sasuke spent the next ten minutes wondering if he should stay and wait for Naruto to get back or not. The idiot had helped him out last night, but unless he wanted him to stick around, why had Naruto left him there? Sasuke stood up and began to pace, half-stalling and half looking for his shoes. When the said objects were discovered, he made a quick decision. Shoving his shoes on his feet and his baked clothes in a plastic bag, Sasuke hasted his way out of the apartment.
- - -
Naruto had hardly been able to keep quiet about the date he had with Sakura. In fact, by six-thirty, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, Neji, Ten-ten, Chouji Lee and Hinata knew about it and were all currently crammed into his apartment. Sasuke probably would have known too, but he had seemed to have disappeared (again) and Naruto had a hunch he was stalking around Kakashi's place. Lee was trying to be happy for Naruto, but it didn't seem to be working. He kept smiling when Naruto looked his way, then sobbing in the corner when he thought no one was paying him attention. Hinata was doing a much better job at hiding her upset, but her efforts may have been helped slightly by the fact that Kiba had now grown bold enough to throw an arm affectionately around her shoulders. Neji seemed to be arguing with Ten-ten about the derivative of something or another, and Shikamaru told Naruto he could really care less about his stupid date and was content on playing chess with Chouji, who was losing terribly.
Ino, it seemed, was the only person who was openly disgusted with the arrangement. She spent a good half hour stomping around waving her finger threatening at Naruto, telling him if he tried anything she'd castrate him and feed the leftovers to Akamaru, who yipped as if to solidify her statement.
"I don't know what's gotten into her, but I'm telling you, Naruto, you better make sure she has a good time and if you so much as make the ends of her hair split I SWEAR I'll kick your ass so hard your dead ancestors will feel it!"
"Oi, Ino," Shikamaru, it seemed, was beginning to feel sorry for Naruto. After all, he knew how tiring Ino's speeches were. He got them every day. "Give Naruto a break, eh? He might be annoying, but at least he doesn't go around making Sakura cry all over the place. If you want someone to bitch at, you should be screaming at Sasuke, don't you think?"
That, it seemed, was enough logic to make Ino relent her attack on Naruto and huff to the other end of the room.
Pulling away from Hinata, Kiba walked over to the now unoccupied Naruto and studied him critically. Naruto, who was slumped in a chair against the wall and still recovering from the verbal beating, stared back at him in confusion.
"You're not planning on going like that, are you?" Kiba asked.
Naruto looked down at himself; orange jumpsuit, black t-shirt, and his navy zori… He looked back up at Kiba, even more confused. "What do you mean, 'like this?'"
Kiba rolled his eyes, muttering, "Thought so," as he hauled Naruto off his ass and into the boy's bedroom. Naruto yipped at the sudden jerk and complained loudly as the room watched Kiba drag him away and close the door. Inside, much loud shouting could be heard and Shikamaru sighed.
"So noisy," he muttered.
Hanging out at Naruto's wasn't so bad anymore; he was hardly home, so the place was much cleaner simply by lack of use. It was also convenient since he didn't have any parents to worry about, but without Naruto himself there to keep the place alive and noisy, it could quickly get very boring. It was nearly seven-thirty when Ino, who had been mumbling 'What are they doing in there?' for the past thirty minutes, finally lost patience and banged on the shut bedroom door. No answer. In fact, there had been hardly any noise since the first fifteen minutes of arguing that had commenced when Kiba first dragged Naruto in there.
"Hello? What the hell are you two doing in there, making out?! (Shikamaru promptly spit out his soda, and Hinata blushed) Open up already!"
"In a minute!" came the muffled reply.
Five minutes later, the door finally opened, and Ino had stood up again to berate the two of them for taking so long and what the hell had they been doing that whole time and god damn Naruto looked…
"Wow," Ten-ten muttered. It was so quiet in the room, however, that everyone heard her. Nobody seemed coherent enough to argue.
Naruto looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"What?" he asked, accusingly.
Ino finally noticed her mouth was open, and closed it. "Kiba, what did you do?"
Kiba grinned toothily. "Attacked him with a hairbrush."
If Hinata's eyes got any bigger, they were going to fall out of her heard. Even Neji was staring.
Kiba had done something, that was for sure. Naruto looked… well. Hot. Hot in the hey-baby-lets-go-shag-in-the-alley kind of way. Ino couldn't believe her eyes. Naruto wasn't supposed to be hot. Sure, after four years he'd gotten kind of cute (Did she just think that? Ugh.) , maybe kind of attractive to some people (like Hinata), but he was NOT hot.
Ever.
His spiky blonde hair was still tussled and messy-looking, but it seemed to have been done on purpose rather then just by lack of caring, which somehow made it more appealing. It appeared Kiba had forced him to take a bath, because his skin was clean and bright and his tan stuck out boldly against the sun-lighted hair, which in turn made his eyes appear bluer then ever. His clothes were different, too. Naruto was wearing something he'd never worn (not out in public, anyway); a pair of dark red cargos hung loosely around his waist, not excessively baggy but not tight enough to cling anywhere, black boots and a dark, ashy-colored vest that was zipped halfway up his chest, partially revealing a well-toned chest beneath and displaying strong arms that were usually hidden beneath the long sleeves of his jumper. Kiba had taken off his red headband and tied it around Naruto's forehead where his hiate-ete would normally be displayed. And finally, around Naruto's neck hung the pendant he'd won from the Godaime four years ago.
Akamaru barked and abruptly broke the silence.
"Wow," Ten-ten said again, "Naruto, you look-"
"Like you're going to a rock concert," Shikamaru finished for her from the other side of the room. Naruto made a face at him.
"Stuff it, Shika, you know it's an improvement," Kiba chided, eyeing the watch around his wrist and blinked. "Wow, we were in there forever. You better get going, Naruto. It's already seven thirty."
"Eh…" Naruto looked uncomfortably down at his new image, "I dunno, Kiba…"
"Oh, go," Ino said, sounding exaspherated. "You look…" making a pained, struggling face, Ino forced the words out her mouth, "…really good, Naruto."
Naruto stared at her. "Really?"
"Uh, yeah," Ino said, "Sakura-chan'll be thrilled. Now go or you'll be late and I'll have to kick your ass!"
Naruto, staring at her briefly and then trusting they could all let themselves out, grinned and ran out of the apartment.
- - -
Knock-knock.
Sakura's mother answered the door again. Naruto smiled at her angelically and asked if Sakura was around. The woman eyed him dangerously before disappearing behind the door. He could hear her calling Sakura's name inside the house.
'Sakura! What is that boy doing here?!'
'He's on my team mom, you know that!'
'That doesn't give you permission to go running around with him!'
'Just leave it alone!'
'He's bad news, how many times do I have to tell you? Come back here, young lady!'
Naruto sighed. It was always the same.
Sakura appeared several minutes later, looking slightly ruffled and irritated (not at Naruto, it appeared, which cheered him up slightly). She slammed the door behind her and immediately composed herself, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling up at him. Her gaze faltered slightly when it looked him over, but quickly righted itself.
"Sorry," she said quickly.
Naruto almost swallowed his tongue.
She was wearing a dress similar to the one she'd worm to her birthday party, only now it was white and the skirt was much shorter, coming to stop at about mid-thigh. It was tight around her upper body, and tapered off into a loose, flowing swirl of fabric around her legs, and navy-colored jean jacket covered her bare shoulders. Her feet were clad in small-heeled white sandals and her hair had been brought up into a partial ponytail, the remaining half of her hair whisking around her slender shoulders. Over her shoulder was a small purse, and, Naruto was surprised to notice, she'd even bothered to put on makeup.
Sakura didn't need makeup. Even still, she was beautiful.
"You look, um, really pretty," he said stupidly.
To his silent delight, Sakura blushed anyway. "Thanks. You look… really good, too."
Sakura was surprised to realize she actually meant that. He did look good. Huh.
Neither of them said another word until they reached the theatre. It was a stupid movie, but it made Sakura giggle in the cutest possible ways at steady intervals, which always managed to make Naruto grin. He spent more of the flick watching her then watching the movie. Sakura actually seemed to be having a good time, which was so… odd for him to feel. She usually acted irritated and unhappy when he was anywhere in the vicinity. Tonight… tonight it was just them, just the two of them, and she was smiling and laughing at the movie, and kept stealing popcorn out of his lap and smiling at him and god it was like a dream come true.
It was almost too good to last.
Sakura was still giggling about the last scene as they filed out of the theatre amongst the crowd of other young couples. Naruto was grinning, not because of the movie but because he was in a great mood even if he hadn't been brave enough to chance putting his arm around her during the movie. Sakura repeated the last few lines and Naruto mocked it, making Sakura laugh more and throw an old piece of popcorn at him. He opened his mouth and caught it, making her purse her lips and stick her tongue out at him.
It was colder outside now that it was dark, but Naruto could hardly feel it. He was too happy to care, to warm from seeing Sakura smile so many times at him in one night to even care if he died at that very moment because at least he would be happy.
Sakura shivered slightly. She was wearing a jacket, but she only had a tank top under it and it was getting chilly. Though, it would be really hard to ruin her mood even if it was cold – she was having a good time, as weird as it seemed. The movie had been predictable but still enjoyable, and Naruto had been an angel and hadn't so much as forgotten to hold open a door or say anything to piss her off. All in all, tonight had been a lot of fun.
"I'll walk you home," Naruto offered.
He looked happy but slightly disappointed that the night was about over at the same time. Sakura smiled at him weakly, "Okay."
Knowing Naruto wouldn't dare offer, they had started walking before Sakura put the words together for the rest of her sentence, "I mean, we could hang out for a bit longer, if you wanted."
Naruto was glad he wasn't looking at her when she said that, because he blanched slightly. "I'd like that a lot."
So instead, they turned left and wandered further from the direction of her house. They lapsed in and out of small talk as they went, no set destination in mind and both making enormous attempts to be pleasant company. For once, Sakura was able to enjoy Naruto's light heartedness without glaring at him over Sasuke's shoulder, or pretending she hated being around him just out of spite. She wanted to ask Naruto about Sasuke, and what had gone on between the two of them the night before, but she was afraid that doing so would break the spell of enjoyment that seemed to have been cast on the two.
They stopped at a collection of small shops that were closing for the night, and Naruto managed to charm the store tender into selling him two more ice-creams before putting the freezer away. Sakura blushed as the man behind the counter eyed her and then winked at Naruto, wishing them a good night.
When they reached the park, Sakura knew they had to have walked halfway across town. Her house was at least a thirty minute walk from here. Naruto slowed and mingled around the trees while Sakura found a comfy rock by the fishpond and poked the surface with the tip of her shoe. The water rippled softly and blurs of white and orange shot back and forth under the disturbance, looking for any possible scraps.
"Do you know what time it is?"
Naruto, who had leant back against a tree to her left, looked up. "Um… actually, no." Glancing at the sky, he shrugged. "Probably close to eleven. Do you want to go?"
"In a little bit. Not yet."
Naruto grinned at her from under the cherry tree (it was late March so they were in bloom, and Naruto almost looked pretty with petals fluttering around him). A gust of wind swept by, causing even more petals to fall and Sakura shivered slightly.
"Are you cold?"
"Not really…"
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, maybe a little chilly. Nothing I can't handle," she said stiffly, retaining a little of her old defiance.
"I'm a bit cold, too, actually," he said, shuddering a little - stupid Kiba for dressing him in a sleeveless shirt.
Sakura sat there for a minute, watching the surface of the water slowly settle and the ripples disappear as they grew wider and wider. Getting up, she walked over to Naruto and stood in front of him and poked the bare flesh showing where the vest was only half-zipped up. "You should have brought a jacket."
"I didn't plan on standing in the woods after dark," he admitted cheekily.
Sakura glared at him. "You can leave if you want."
Naruto grinned at her. "Nah… I think I can put up with it," his finger flicked the gem dangling below her collarbone gently as he spoke.
Sakura looked down at the necklace, then back up at him with a small smile. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. Just for you, though."
It was perfect. Right there in front of him. All he had to do was move. He just had to…
Sakura smiled at him, and did something that made him go rigid-backed against the tree: she leant forward and laid her head on his chest, sighing and using him for support.
Naruto was torn between shock and complete bliss. Closing his eyes and tilting his head so it rested against hers, he kissed her forehead through her hair. He hadn't even realized what he'd done until it was too late.
But Sakura didn't run away, or worse scold him for being bold or perverted or an idiot. Instead, she tilted her face up slowly, pulling her head back but not relinquishing her weight off him. She was wondering why she felt so comfortable, so at ease, so… safe, just standing here in the park in the middle of the night, and leaning against Naruto of all people.
Maybe it was because out of all of her friends, she'd treated him the worst and yet, out of all of them… he had always been the one there for her. To help her, to make sure she was happy, and on more than one occasion, to risk his life to save her own.
How could she have been so stupid?
Sakura froze when he kissed her; not in disgust, but in shock… she had been so busy with her own thoughts she hadn't noticed him move closer until his lips had brushed her own.
"Naru…" Sakura's words died in her throat as her lips melted on his and she tilted her head to allow him better access.
This had to be one of those 'shit happens' situations Ino had always been telling her about.
His lips were a little dry but undeniable soft, and—Sakura realized with a jolt—they felt really good against her skin. He kissed her lightly at first, nudging her lips apprehensively with his own until she remembered to breathe, at which point he licked the small opening between her lips. Sakura's eyes fluttered closed with the feeling that caused and opened her mouth to allow him inside.
What she expected was a clumsy, slobbery mess of tongue and saliva that would end awkwardly, mostly due to the inexperience of both parties. She had never kissed anyone before (she had been saving herself for Sasuke—so much for that) and Naruto… well, she had been positive that Naruto hadn't kissed anyone yet. He was too much of an idiot still for most girls' tastes, and he was still oblivious to Hinata and the small collection of girls that found him endearing.
…or at least, that's what she had thought until he started to kiss her. Naruto wasn't a natural at anything, except perhaps being loud, so unless he'd done this before… Sakura lost track of her thoughts as his tongue grazed her own for the first time.
The kiss started out gentle, and stayed that way as they rearranged themselves, and soon Sakura found herself with her mouth being invaded by the strange tongue and her back being pushed up against the trunk of the tree. What was even weirder was that none of this made her angry or irritated; when Naruto cupped one side of her face with his left hand and pulled her waist closer with his right, she responded without any complaints, tilting her hips up and her head to the side to better accommodate the kiss.
His tongue wrapped around her own, massaging the sides of it with slow, fluid strokes, each rendering her knees more and more useless. When his tongue suddenly changed course and ran its tip along the roof of her mouth she lost her balance completely, and would have probably fallen if she hadn't been leaning against the tree.
A well-placed knee somehow snaked itself between her legs, and before she knew what was happening, her left leg was arched over his hip and she was standing on her tiptoe with her right as Naruto pushed her into the tree (whose bark was thankfully soft) and continued to assault her mouth. She gasped as he released her lips and he moved his attention to the side of her neck, kissing and nibbling in the most sensitive places between her shoulder and earlobe.
God, this can't be happening…
His right hand traveled further down, following the curve below her waist and cupping the soft flesh of her upper thigh, pulling her almost completely onto his lap as he brought both of his legs in-between hers. Her skirt had ridden up almost all of the way, and his hand cupping her underside snuck under it without him even thinking about it as Sakura gasped again at the touch. His left hand trailed down her neck and slid over her chest, growing more and more daring as she continued to fail to reprimand him about it.
Not like this…
Swollen lips traveled up her chin and covered her own once again and Sakura found herself kissing back, her tongue moving against her conscious as it collided with Naruto's and begged him to keep up the delicious things he was doing to the rest of her body. Her jacket had somehow found itself on the ground in the mess and Naruto had his hips between her legs and was pressing her into the tree so hard it should have hurt - but all Sakura could feel was sweet, sweet ecstasy between her thighs and she wanted to cry out and tell him not to stop. She couldn't believe the sensations, the insane prickling feelings flowing from her abdomen down to her toes and up to the highest point of her spine, making her vision blur with white pleasure.
It's too good…
His hands were both under her thighs now, completely underneath her skirt and gripping her with a pressure hard enough to be firm but not bruise. Pinning her against the tree with his hip and deep-throating her with his tongue, Naruto's right hand let go of her backside and ghosted along her skin until it found her inner thigh. Sakura shuddered against him with the new sensation, and yelped inside his mouth as his hand continued up to the top of her inner leg. He released her mouth and nibbled gently on her earlobe as his fingers pried between the annoying layer of clothing protecting her hidden skin, not knowing exactly what they were doing but determined just the same.
"God…damn…" was all Sakura managed to gasp out as Naruto maneuvered his way inside, burying her head in his shoulder with a pleasurable shiver. Her hands were grasping his shoulders, fingernails raking against the bare flesh, leaving red marks in their wake.
Sakura briefly wondered how it could feel so much better when someone else was doing it. When someone like Naruto was…
She could hear his heavy breathing in her ear—and it had to be the sexiest thing she had ever heard—but when she closed her eyes, Sakura didn't see Naruto. She saw dark, ebony hair and deep, heavy-lidded eyes… eyes that never gave her warmth and never let her sleep. Eyes that she wanted to look into while she felt like this, eyes that would never look at her like Naruto was looking at her right now.
The body against her shifted slightly, his heat pressing forcefully against her left thigh while agile fingers continued to explore the place that Sakura had put aside a long time ago for someone else, someone she had been in love with since a young girl, someone who wasn't Naruto…
Fingers moved deeper still, and Sakura cried out softly.
"Sasuke…"
Sakura felt the body against her go rigid, and the next moment she was falling, and her legs barely caught her, stumbling in an effort to keep her from hitting the ground.
Naruto was standing several feet back from her, staring.
Sakura had never seen him look that hurt before. Her heart fell into her stomach as she tried to reach out for him. "I… I didn't me-mean-n…"
Naruto stepped out of her reach, same look of utter disbelief strewn across his face.
Sakura just stared. "Naruto…"
Naruto didn't say anything, turned, and fled.
- - -
A/N: I have only one thing to say: Ouch.