Disclaimer: Yeah... I would have something witty to say, but I've discovered that I don't have such a sharp wit. Especially when I try. So yup, don't own Naruto.
QY- You know that you're seriously obsessed/have something seriously wrong with you when you have a headache and imagining Naruto say Sasuke's name makes you feel better. And I am so not kidding. I was in bed last night with a really (x4) painful headache, I woke up every hour, and drifted in between. The only times my head didn't hurt was when I, for some reason, heard 'Sasuke' in Naruto's voice. Otherwise, I was too busy punching the right side of my head. I decided it was a sign, so I'm starting the chapter a tad bit early.
Of course, this chapter is mostly fluff, some WAFF, more fluff, some toothaches, a few (hopefully) drool-worthy scenes. A few times when the green-eyed monster appears (no, not Gaara, silly) and basically, this will seem extremely pointless. But believe me. There is a point. Mostly. I think.
Review Responses:
My gratitude to all the readers and reviewers. I still love you even if you're not part of the latter. That is... you do like this story right? That's why you're reading?
luvsanime (Yes'm!), Night-Owl123 (Hurry, hurry), Liliath (Happy that you're happy), My Poetic Desire (Wai! More!), quaebah24 (The rush of words make me dizzy -), Donna Kitsune's muse, Foxfire (I know a good asylum in my house), Tenshi Urameshi (I hope this is cute too, and we shall find out...), Beloved Fool (I hope you do), shineyhappypeople (I'm glad you think so. And yes... I agree.)
ghostninja85- Your review in turn made me blush prettily (ha!), laugh evilly, and smile in glee. I'll take into account what you said when I go over all my chapters at the end. Thanks! And I appreciate what you wrote on the smut scene. I'll be sure to... use it in the future. Hehe, I love being the author, the breakup will be very convincing. And you'll see why.
QuestofDreams- -groans- I can't believe you called it his Happy Time... But thanks for the comments. Their revenge starts in this chapter, although a few people may not realize that... And because you gave me an actual reason to write the lemon, I think I'll push my apprehensions aside and work on it so I can, like you said, solidify their relationship. Yesh. -nod nod-
averaye- I hope you meant beginning piece. Anyway, thanks for the compliments, coming from another author makes it that much sweeter. Humor, it seems, is my best quality. Updating does sometimes seem like a chore... which is why I wait until I can't wait any longer to update. XP
Aurum- -giggle- Thanks for the review, it was marvelous. And I would comment, but then this would turn out to be way too long. I'm glad that I made you write such a long review though. XO And I agree, no matter what, humor is my main thing. (Oh man, the chair... I wince)
YoungSasuke- I was trying not to make him too non-Leeish. I guess I didn't do too well. It doesn't matter much now though. There's no more reason for him to act as he had been. And the revenge starts in this chapter.
Ulitheal- It's hard not to love the extremely pukish sap. It was fast? Probably because I was trying very hard not to make another chapter come out of this. I have a tendency to drag things out too long or as you can see, a little too fast. And Gaara's role will be... somewhat surprising.
sylver rain- Heehee. I blush. I hope that you will find a new purpose for your existence, seeing as this story will end. Lame joke, but still funny XD And I live in NYC, although these days, the temp is at 40 F. -rubs hands- Yessss... delicious revenge. Actually, my title is rather misleading when I think of the rest of the story... it turns kinda sour.
Aimi-chan- Honestly? I have no idea how interesting it would be with their help. I still have my old plan of revenge, but I have yet to revise it. Although a few things will go a little easier... Double revenge... oh man, your ideas are good, but gives me too much extra plot and writing. Darn you!
Seito- It's okay, I'll forgive you if you forgive me. And I think it was worth it. The story is good. Really.
MeanaLitaia- Hee, I've been a little busy these past few days, but soon, I'll be sure to IM you and (hopefully) start a new online friendship. Habits are hard to break. Um, well, there aren't too many surprises yet, but they will definitely be popping up soon. Ah... a fan of all my stories... I love you. So I'm guessing you're a senior, and really, there's always, time for fanfiction, somehow.
ewyounerd- Your "name" is vastly interesting. I thank you very muchly for all your comments, and believe me, I'm reading each and every single word. This response was longer... but I think we can just keep it on the lj pages/e-mails.
I have yet another question for you guys about the pairings at the end. If you don't care, just skip over it and go straight to the review button :nudge nudge: otherwise, read it over.
Delicious Revenge --- Chapter X --- QianYun
And So It Begins
He felt warm. Not particularly safe or loved, as the cliché would have it, but definitely warm. Although, he supposed the feeling of safety and love came from the warmth. The warmth that originated from the arms which were wrapped around him. For a while, he allowed himself to relax within the embrace.
But then he felt the gaze of many eyes boring down on him, pressing into him. The intensity lied not in the numerous stares, though there were many, but from the feeling he could sense emitting through the observers to him.
He shuddered once and the arms around him tightened. A soft sigh was breathed out that was then followed by a multitude of exhales from the observers.
His eyes flickered underneath the closed eyelids. Instinct called him to open them and glare at whomever was intruding on their privacy. However, intelligence told him to keep his eyes closed and bide his time. There was a small timer ticking away in his mind and as soon as he felt the arms shift, the alarm rang - both physical and mental - and he reacted.
The first thing he did every single morning in his own bed was still done in Sasuke's. He slammed a hand down on the alarm clock - nearly smashing it in its innocent ringing - burrowed under the covers, and cuddled the first thing he grabbed onto. In this case, it was not his extra pillow, but another warm, human body: Sasuke. He held on tight for a few moments before judging that enough time had passed in his pretend after-sleep.
He had shifted around to make himself more comfortable, but he froze a moment later, as if just realizing exactly what it was that he was holding onto.
He felt the eyes shift in confusion, could feel their anticipation of him re-tightening his hold. But with a hidden smile, he slowly let go of his boyfriend, sat up and proceeded to stare down at the boy in front of him.
While Naruto sat up on the bed, eyes widened and jaw loose, Sasuke continued to lie on the bed, seemingly undisturbed by the sight of a half-naked Naruto on his bed. When Naruto sat up, Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the balcony, which was directly in front of the bed and in line with Naruto's body. Sasuke's eyes flickered between the two and smiled. A little devilishly, a little mischievously, but also in complete satisfaction.
However, the observers saw only a smug smirk on Sasuke's face even while Naruto grinned back at him, back facing the balcony and thus hiding it from view. It was the perfect timing to truly begin their plan. They hadn't expected too many things to come out of their meeting with the three girls yesterday, but the gazes they felt on them revealed enough, even if a quick glance outside revealed nothing. Suddenly, the day seemed a hell lot brighter.
To those outside, a storm had just intruded.
With a gasp and a muffled shriek worthy of even the girliest of Mary Sues, Naruto scrambled off of the bed, anxious to get away from the... the... the half-naked Sasuke in his bed! He paused for a moment and quickly erased his original thought. He was half-naked with a similarly half-naked Sasuke in his bed! In his haste to get away, he fell out of the bed and onto the floor, pulling away more than half the sheets as he discovered that he only wore his boxers. The too small ones that he had accidentally bought a few months ago. Face flushing in what appeared to be both embarrassment and anger, he stood up quickly, allowing the observers outside the house a full view of a mostly bare backside.
Distracted for a minute, they tuned in a little bit later to catch the end of Naruto's tirade.
"...the hell am I doing in your bed!"
Contrary to what the observers thought Sasuke's reaction would be, he only smiled a lazy smile, content to let Naruto rant on, though he had already stopped.
"Now, now, Naruto. Don't tell me you've already forgotten last night? And we had such a good time too..." Sasuke trailed off, his expression caught between looking pouty and proud.
Naruto blinked in shock before walking backwards, towards the balcony. "Sasuke, what... what are you talking about? What last night?" Panicking was not something that Naruto was used to feeling, but at that moment... he seemed to be teetering on the edge. Teetering on both the mental and physical edge for he continued to back up to the side of the balcony doors.
Sasuke slowly smiled, "Naruto... don't tell me you forgot the wonderful night we had? And I thought..." he trailed off, seeing Naruto reach the doors and immediately burst in laughter.
"Man... I can't believe you thought I was telling the truth. Relax, we didn't do anything last night. Remember? We went to bed together 'cause you wanted to get used to it." He rose one of his eyebrows and cocked his head at Naruto's still panicked look. "Naruto... you idiot, are you okay"
A red color bloomed across the blond boy's face and muffled sounds came from outside. In a sudden movement, both Sasuke and Naruto snapped their heads towards the balcony. Naruto opened the door and peered out, but only discovered a few rustling bushes and trees.
But of course, there was no wind what-so-ever.
The two teenagers waited for a while before relaxing their bodies. Sasuke laid himself back on the bed, keeping his eyes on the other. Naruto, on the other hand, kept his head outside for a moment longer before closing the balcony doors and drawing the blinds. He turned around with a bright smile and ran...
Straight to the bed, jumping on top of Sasuke. He stretched his body right over the dark haired boy's, not caring that in this position, he could feel the other boy's entire body. He crossed his arms on Sasuke's chest and set his head down on them.
"Good job?" Naruto smiled in a slightly silly way, wanting Sasuke to compliment him. Sasuke fulfilled his silent request by smiling back and saying softly, "Great job", before lifting his head to peck Naruto on the cheek. He set his head back onto the pillow and wrapped his arms around Naruto. "Let's sleep some more, we stayed up late last night." The whiskered boy frowned in confusion before his face cleared and he nodded.
"Yeah, who knew that the bed was so hard."
Sasuke rolled his eyes before lightly smacking Naruto on the head. "Kami-sama, your words always sound so dirty."
"Dirty? What do you mean dirty? There's nothing dirty about what I say!" Speaking in an indignant tone, Naruto was the sight of a wrongly accused man... if it weren't for the fact that he was holding onto Sasuke like he was his only lifeline.
"Everything you say is dirty, Naruto. Whether you think so or not."
Several hours passed while the two teenagers lazed around in their bed. They were supposed to meet the rest of their former team at noon and that time was soon approaching. Refusing to wake up, Naruto had tightened his grip on Sasuke as the minutes ticked by, until the dark haired boy started to wince in pain. Deciding that only bad things would come if he let Naruto sleep longer, he shook him.
Except, he didn't budge.
Giving a frustrated sigh, Sasuke attempted to get out of the bed with Naruto still attached to him. After a few moments, he succeeded, but it seemed that even all the shuffling movements he had made to get out of bed didn't bother Naruto as he continued to sleep on. Peering down at the other boy, Sasuke was greeted with a dreaming Naruto, a content smile on his face. Restraining the part of him that desperately wanted to express how cute the sight was, he brought his hands behind him in an attempt to pry off the other's hands. Slipping his own hands between his body and Naruto's hands, he pulled, pushed, pinched and did a few more actions that started with a 'p'.
All to no avail, as the blond boy's grip was firm and not even Sasuke was able to detach him. His mouth twitched and deciding that yelling into his ears would be too plebian, he proceeded to the bathroom, inch by inch, step by step. By the time he reached the bathroom, he was close to panting in exhaustion. The boy was heavy; made even more heavy by the fact that he was attached to him.
Thanking the deities that he had a bathroom on the upper floor as well as the lower, he opened the door and continued to drag Naruto over to the bathtub. It was a good thing that they both only had their boxers on, or else that would've been more laundry to do. Sasuke brought both of them into the bathroom and steeling himself, turned up the cold water. Putting Naruto in the direct line of the shower's spray, of course.
For a few moments, it seemed as if nothing would happen and Naruto would continue to sleep on - leaving Sasuke to wonder how he would ever be able to wake Naruto up - before his eyes started to open oh-so-slowly. He was waking up, but he didn't seem to mind the cold water...
That is, until his eyes snapped open, his arms retracted from around Sasuke's body and he jumped out of the bathtub, shivering all the while.
Sasuke, on the other hand, stayed under the shower's spray for another few minutes as Naruto's arms, hands and wandering fingers didn't draw back quite as fast as he would've wanted it to.
Even with the cold water
A smirk disappeared just as quickly as it came while Naruto looked on. He would've said something; heck, it was on the tip of his tongue, if it weren't for his shivering and chattering teeth. As it was, he attempted to force angry words through his clenched jaw. Only, now it sounded more like he was pouting.
(Add stuttering) "Why did you do that? What in the world is wrong with you, shoving me into the cold water?"
Stepping out from under the cold shower as calmly as he could, Sasuke smirked at him before putting on the most innocent expression he could muster. "You wouldn't wake up," he added just a tad bit of fluttering eyelashes for extra effect, "I couldn't think of anything else to do." Naruto further clenched his jaw, this time, not because of the cold. Damn the boy, he actually knew how to use his abilities...
There was a section of time where Naruto looked ready to say something more, but with an angry frown, he merely flounced away. An amused look crossed Sasuke's face as he watched Naruto exit the bathroom. Sometimes, it really surprised him how feminine Naruto was... you would've never expected it from him. To be honest, Sasuke didn't think that Naruto even really realized the things he did. It was frightening, sometimes, seeing Naruto do something so unlike him. Except, it was really just another quirk that made up Naruto.
He shook his head, flinging water throughout his bathroom. For a moment he stood under the shower spray, allowing his hair to get wet once again before shutting off the shower. He bent his head forwards, backwards, and sideways, working out the cricks in his neck. He stepped out, took off his boxers, tossed them into the laundry basket and proceeded to walk back to his room naked. Actually, at the moment... it was more like their room.
Which Sasuke knew quite well.
The dark haired boy walked into his room, casually approaching his closet to find something to wear. All the while, Naruto stood at the front of the bed, eyes widened and body unmoving. Sasuke drew out a pair of pants and a shirt, pulled them both on, and while fixing his hair, turned to Naruto. Speaking as if nothing was wrong, he asked Naruto if he was alright. But Naruto was only able to blink in silence, and even then, the movement was slow and lethargic. The other boy shrugged his shoulders and informed the blond that he would be starting breakfast - or rather, lunch - and with that, he turned and exited the room.
Sasuke sauntered out of the room, deliberately walking as if nothing was different and making sure that Naruto's eyes followed his departure. A smirk appeared on his face, it was so fun to fool around with Naruto's mind.
As promised, Sasuke went to the kitchen to prepare their first meal of the day. A simple meal of udon provided him with enough opportunities to add in vegetables- particularly in Naruto's bowl. Eating ramen all the time was not healthy, even though it was close to the only choice Naruto had if he wanted to eat three meals a day. Still, at least he drank milk... it was expired half the time, but it was the thought that counted, sort of.
Shaking his head at the thoughts regarding Naruto, he completely missed the boy's entrance until the moment that he set the bowls on the table.
At that point, a hand forcefully turned Sasuke around and before he could do a thing, a pair of lips attached themselves firmly to his. There was a muffled noise from him before he relaxed and leaned into the boy before him. At first, it was a simple lip to lip contact before Sasuke relaxed even more and his lips parted slightly. Taking the chance offered to him, Naruto slipped out his tongue and trailed it across the dark haired boy's lips before sliding it into the other's mouth. The first contact proved to be nothing spectacular, no fireworks, no sparks, nothing special at all. But Naruto lingered in his mouth and soon, a warm feeling spread through both boys' bodies. Their tongues danced around each other, their lips smothered each other, hands wandered, legs rose and a moan escaped.
Caught up in the moment, Sasuke wrapped his legs around Naruto's body, trying to bring himself closer and closer. The kiss grew passionate and Sasuke started to grow fierce, he pushed against Naruto even while he pulled him closer, maneuvered around the blond's tongue to sneak into the other's mouth. He moaned again, feeling the warm, wet cavern- essentially the same as his own mouth, but still oh-so-different.
A few times, Sasuke thought he tasted a faint trace of peaches and honeydew; an odd combination, but at the moment, Sasuke couldn't get enough of it. Finally, the laws of nature called for them to separate and take a breath, the small amount of air they drew from their noses becoming inadequate.
They parted, a faint trace of saliva connected the two of them before it broke with more distance. The two of them panted; Sasuke and Naruto both licked their lips a few times. Naruto grinned a fox smile, a mischievous one that clearly indicated his satisfaction. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but smiled soon after. With his legs still around Naruto, he curled his arms around Naruto's neck and petulantly said, "Carry me."
Naruto looked over to the kitchen table - which they had somehow wandered away from - and back, "It's like... three feet away."
The paler boy pouted, "Naa-arutoo..."
The blond winced, before complying with his request and carried him the short distance to the kitchen table. "There, happy now?" But it seemed Sasuke was not, for although he smiled, it was a smile that usually came before a request.
"Feee-eed me." Immediately, Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, Sasuke was acting weird- very, very weird. Using one hand to keep the Uchiha from falling, he brought his other hand up to feel the other's forehead. It didn't feel warmer than usual...
"What do you think you're doing?"
Naruto replied cautiously, not knowing what could provoke Sasuke, "I thought you were feeling sick since you're acting so weird." Or maybe not so cautiously.
Sasuke brought his mouth to the blond's ears, "Naruto, if you feed me... you won't regret it..." With each word, hot air brushed across Naruto's ears, each different breath causing a slight tingle to originate from his ears and spread to the rest of his body. He didn't want to be manipulated... but damn if that didn't sound tempting!
After some thinking, and deciding that he had nothing to lose, he sat down with Sasuke in his lap, much like it had happened several days before. Only this time, it was Naruto who was feeding Sasuke. With every bite he took, he gave another forkful to Sasuke; it was tedious at first, but with each mouthful, Sasuke grew more relaxed... more content. Seeing Sasuke so loosened - and non-angsty - made Naruto in turn feel happy. And so, he was content to continue feeding Sasuke.
The meal took longer than usual because of this, so by the time they were ready to leave, they had only a few minutes before noon, although with their teacher, it was unlikely that they would be scolded at for being late. Not that they would since the bridge they usually met at was only a twenty-five minute walk away, or for them, a six minute sprint away. They cleaned the kitchen, gathered up their gear and then raced to the meeting place.
--------
They arrived at the bridge with relatively little fuss, meeting only a few passersby that gave them a mere moment's glance. Amazed at the speed of gossip in the town - for yesterday afternoon, when they decided to visit the town, they were met with all kinds of stares - the two exchanged smiles, concealing their glee within themselves. Everything was working so well.
A little too well, and as everyone knows, that's when the shit really hits the fan. But, that time has yet to approach, and for now, Naruto and Sasuke both basked in the glow of success.
Walking side by side as they neared their destination, their hands occasionally brushed by each other until Naruto became frustrated and grasped Sasuke's hands. He grinned at the dark-haired boy as he turned to look at him and received a small smile in return.
And then they came to the bridge. Or where the bridge was supposed to be, only, it seemed to have disappeared with the amount of people surrounding and standing at the bridge. Naruto sent a confused look at Sasuke, but just received a shrug. He shrugged as well and sped up, tugging Sasuke along with him.
It was inevitable that someone would notice them and as soon as one person saw them, the whole group turned until the two boys became the pinpoint of scrutiny. Silence reigned across the area and almost unconsciously, both of them took a step back before continuing their way to the other end of the bridge. As they walked, the group parted into two rows, creating a pathway that allowed the two of them to walk abreast. It was uncanny, the way that all of them simultaneously parted. Moving past them, the two teenagers caught glimpses of females and males alike, most of whom they recognized, but there was still a great number of people that they didn't recognize.
As they walked down the bridge, Sasuke brought his arm up to set around Naruto's shoulder. At this, Naruto sent a questioning look in Sasuke's direction, but receiving only a raised eyebrow in reply, Naruto gave a soft smile and snuggled into his embrace. A ripple of noise spread through the observers, but by the time the two boys had reached the other end of the bridge, all had fell silent once again, causing yet another chill to go down their spines.
It was extraordinary freaky... the way the whole group just... did these things. Speaking of those things, why on earth were they even there in the first place?
However, even as the two shinobi questioned themselves, they knew that the answer lied in their little "event" that morning.
Ah... the fruits of good acting.
Having reached the end of the bridge, they were greeted with the sight of their remaining teammate, Haruno Sakura and... their early teacher.
The shock! The horror! The... perverted and amused look on his face that was visible even through the mask! Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the other two members of their team before tightening his grasp on Naruto's shoulder, causing him to sigh and snake his arms around the dark haired boy's waist.
And now everybody had the idea of who the uke was in the relationship. Except...
Sakura greeted the two of them with a smile, all the while an anger mark appearing on her forehead. Kakashi stood by, merrily watching the events, ready to intervene should it be necessary. And in Kakashi's eyes "necessary" meant that one or more of his team members were on the verge of death. So help was obviously never coming from him. A fact that Sasuke and Naruto slotted in their minds quite readily.
Approaching their two silent team members, they stopped abruptly as Sakura also seemed to... explode abruptly.
(Insert caps) "What in the world do you guys think you are doing! Trying to fool us with that stupid act? If you wanted to tell us the truth, you could've told us straight out! There is no reason in hell that you had to put on an act just to get your revenge on us. And what the hell were you thinking about that too! Revenge! REVENGE! I'll give you revenge you little measly bas-mmph humph phm mmphph. Get off of me you idiot! What the hell-
Oh. Um, Lee-kun. How are you?"
But Lee only shook his head in a slow, disappointing manner. "My dear Sakura, cherry blossom that you are, how could you ever think of such things of these two wonderful youths? I have seen their love in all of its pure beauty, and even now my heart beats in all of its fragility in the absolute miracle that I have seen coming from the two of them. Their love is a blessing sent to them for the losses the two of them had to go through. A love that they have searched for all their lives in that one perfect person so that the pain of the past could be erased. No... not erased! Treasured! For it was those painful memories of the past that had brought them together. Through trials of hardships, through all the bigotry of the people, through unexpected diversions from their paths, they have found in each other the hope they had been yearning for all their lives!
Their love is like a flower that bloomed in the late spring, slow in coming, but the most beautiful of them all! Their relationship is as balanced as yin and yang, the darkness in each reaches out for each other, even while the light in each searches to save the dark spots. The triumphs that they have suffered through in their lifetime, the absolute pain that each had to live through has come to this point so that they can finally come together. Their love... no, it is not only love, it is beyond love! Their absolute compatibility has brought them together to join in a union that will prosper even while all other things around them fail! Even when the winter finally arrives and the trees and nature falls into a deep temporary sleep, their love will blaze like an unending fire! It will never go out because their love goes beyond love! It reaches deep into their souls and pulls out all that a person will ever need to survive in this harsh world! The hardships that they have gone through will not stop them! No, it will bring them further together because those hardships are what brought them to this point. Their hardships are not to be forgotten! They are to be treasured because of their role in-"
"Lee, you're repeating yourself. You can stop now. They're all gone." It was quite obvious that Naruto was trying - and failing - to contain his laughter, but even so, he managed to give a grateful look to Lee. (1)
"All of them?" Lee looked around the bridge's area, noticing that, indeed, during his long speech about the purity of Sasuke and Naruto's love, the entire area was now free of all people except for the three boys. It appeared that not even Sakura nor Kakashi could handle the speech for much longer for even their chakra trail had long gone cold.
Lee smiled in glee, clapped his hands and struck the good guy pose, "I have succeeded in my mission! Even so, I shall do three hundred laps around the bridge on my hands!"
"Lee? I don't think that's such a good idea. The river is pretty cold." Worry crept into Sasuke's voice as he contemplated what Lee was proposing for himself to do. He may have still thought that the other teen was freakishly weird - the eyebrows did not help - but he was a good friend now, of sorts. Not to mention he was sort of important for the rest of their plans. Lee walking on his hands through negative something or other degrees Celsius water would not promote his health.
But Lee refused to listen and merely stuck the good guy pose again, "No worries! I will not get sick from negative something or other degrees Celsius water! My youth will prevent that from happening." And with that, Lee bent to do a handstand and proceeded to walk around the bridge - that means in the river as well - on his hands.
The two onlookers winced as Lee first put his hand into the water, to immediately bring it back. Even so, Lee "walked" into the river with determination, miniscule shivers already traveling up and down his body. They wanted to persuade him not to do it... but it was highly unlikely that he would even listen, so they decided to sit there until Lee was done. It wouldn't do for him to get sick because he got tired and flopped into the river.
So Sasuke and Naruto walked to the edge of the forest that lined the end of the bridge and leaned, side by side, on a tree facing the bridge. It started out with the two of them contently watching Lee do the things that made him... well, Lee. But soon it gravitated to a cuddle session. At first, Sasuke held Naruto in his arms, giving the perfect picture of Naruto being uke and submissive. After a while though, Sasuke's arms slid down along with the rest of his body, leading to Sasuke sleeping in Naruto's lap.
The blond stayed awake - sleep never came easy during the daylight - and ran his hands through the dark strands on his lap. The repetitive motion soothed Naruto and apparently also relaxed Sasuke, for he soon fell into a deeper sleep than before.
For a few hours, that was the scene at the bridge. Lee was walking on his hands around the bridge and into the water. To the side, Naruto sat with his back against a tree and Sasuke in his lap, running his hands through the dark hair every once in a while. The sun shone down at the area, bathing everything in a soft yellow light that sank lower and lower as night approached. The sun's strongest blazes had already passed at the time of their arrival and for now, the most volatile natural occurrence was the wind, leaving it to be a peaceful scene.
But as everyone knows, all good things must come to an end and so... it came to an end.
Lee finally finished all three hundred of his laps without any incident, if his shivering was to be considered completely normal. When Naruto saw this, he shook Sasuke awake and both of them dragged the deathly cold boy back to his home. Lee's house stood on the outskirts of Konohagakure; lonely-looking but still managing to have a good cheer, it seemed to embody the boy in their arms.
Arriving at the house and stepping in, Lee shakily offered them refreshments, but after a polite decline, the two boys left Lee shivering in his bed, tucked in by Naruto. And visited by another teenager within minutes.
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After leaving Lee tucked in comfortably in his bed, Naruto and Sasuke set out to visit the town. It had been a while... and their fingers were itching to start their plan. Among other things. They walked leisurely to the main part of the hidden village, quietly going over their plans once more.
"Now, Naruto. I'm sure I don't have to tell you this again, but remember, what I do in the village is for the plan. The Plan. So don't-"
"Don't knock the shit out of you if you try to feel me up in front of hundreds of other pairs of eyes? Yeah, I'll try not to."
Immediately at Naruto's tone of voice, Sasuke's blank expression turned into a pout, "Not fair."
"Don't you try that on me again Uchiha Sasuke! I may have fell for that once-"
"Thrice."
"-three times already, but that does not mean I'll fall for it again!"
"But Naa-aruu-utoo-o." Sasuke tugged on Naruto's sleeve and despite him having a few centimeters on Naruto, he seemed tinier. Like a child. Like an adorable child whose pout makes you just wanna-
"Argh! Fine! I can't believe I agreed to this! Of all the things!"
By this time, the two teenagers had arrived at the main area of the village and Sasuke's entire demeanor changed. His posture grew stiff, his entire aura turned domineering and the arm he wrapped around Naruto's waist gained a... possessive grip to it.
All in all... Sasuke screamed "seme".
He ducked his head those few centimeters and breathed his words into Naruto's ears, "Don't forget, Naruto. I'll make it... all... worth... it..." His teeth appeared to tug at Naruto's ear lobe and the shiver he felt travel down the blond's spine said enough for him to straighten and glare menacingly at the passersby. In a voice louder than a whisper, but not loud enough for the other people to believe they were meant to hear it, Naruto said, "Now, now Sasuke. There's no need to glare at innocent people. You know I only belong to you."
Inwardly, Naruto was retching at the words. God, he loved the boy, but he wasn't his possession! Sasuke, knowing the thoughts that were running through the other's head, tightened his grip for a few moments in apology before continuing their way to their destination. The one place that was guaranteed to have some kind of response, the one place Naruto was always seen at.
Ichiraku Ramen.
From the place where they stood, going to Ichiraku meant passing through most of the town (if they didn't have to, this wouldn't be much of a story, now would it?), including the Yamanaka's Flower shop.
The opportunities!
Sasuke and Naruto walked casually around the town, as if it was an everyday occurrence to see what used to be the town's greatest rivals/best friends acting like a couple. But after the past month or so, the question that rose in everyone's mind was whether they were really acting, as certain sources had discovered, or if they had finally found real love. However, as the couple passed by shops, talked and joked, paused and argued, the routine and the gestures seemed so natural that it was hard to say they weren't a couple.
Until some people thought about it some more and discovered that this was the way the two of them had always been acting.
And then came the series of events that hammered in the fact that yes... the two of them really were a couple. Here are a few examples:
Example 1:
Naruto pointed to a really expensive set of kunai put on display in one of the multiple weaponry shops in the town. Sasuke and Naruto had stood in front of the display cases for a few moments, discussing amongst themselves of whether the set was really worth all the money. After a little bit of arguing, Naruto conceded, depressed for a few moments, before dragging Sasuke off to another display.
The first point of this was that the infamous Uzumaki Naruto gave up to Uchiha Sasuke.
Then when Naruto was suitably distracted by the owner of the shop explaining in great detail the merits of that particular brand of color dye - for future reference for pranks - Sasuke had ducked back into the store to emerge with an intricately designed wooden box. After haggling with the owner on how much the dye really should be worth, Naruto managed to buy two multicolored packs of dye for the price of one and a half.
Naruto went up to Sasuke with that smile on his face - the one that causes everyone nowadays to want to go up to him and hug him and never let go if it weren't for Sasuke's Death Glare - and showed him his new purchases. Sasuke in return gave him an endearing, soft, fluffy smile - that caused a few girls to faint - and presented Naruto with the box he had held behind his back until then. The blond cocked his head in curiosity and when a lock of hair fell across his eyes, Sasuke raised his hand to brush it out of the way again. Naruto beamed at the other before carefully opening the box.
As soon as he saw the contents and carefully closed the box again, he jumped at Sasuke, hugging him till his lips turned blue. Then Sasuke pushed him off, scolding him slightly for that blatant public display of affection before saying that it wouldn't be wrong to assume that he liked the present?
To which Naruto responded with a kiss. With tongues and all that.
For a few moments, there was some fondling going on before the moment was broken by a high-pitched shriek of joy. Sasuke immediately threw a Glare at the offender before grabbing their purchases and ushering Naruto out of the street.
So the second part was the really expensive gift bought by Sasuke the miser to Naruto the... well, to Naruto.
And the third part of this example was the allowance of PDA, a big no-no in the Uchiha book.
And then there's the next example
Example 2:
The two teenagers were finally nearing their destination and stomachs were growling in protest of the emptiness. Sasuke sped up the pace and Naruto kept along with him, until he bumped into a big, burly man twice his size and most likely twice his age. Who was also (conveniently) drunk.
In a completely random display of the prince saving the dams-... erm, the young man in distress, Sasuke made quick footwork of the drunk man before grabbing Naruto possessively and bringing him safely to Ichiraku Ramen.
But not before...
Not before...
Not Before...
(Don't you hate me?)
The green-eyed monster reared its ugly head - so quite obviously, it wasn't Gaara, since Gaara has a very pretty head - and attacked Sasuke. Jealousy rampaged through his very blood, through his very blood-red Sharingan when he saw someone fondle his Naruto. He had stepped to the front of the counter to place their orders while Naruto sat at the end of the counter of Ichiraku Ramen when some idiot brushed by Naruto "accidentally" brushing his hand against the blind's posterior.
And what a lovely posterior it was.
But that was not what had enraged Sasuke, oh no, it was the fact that Naruto seemed to have not realized that the gesture was more than an innocent accidental brush on the other participant's part. So when the guy placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder to apologize, he only smiled a bright smile and said that it was alright.
With that, Sasuke leaped over the horde of people to pummel...
Okay, he didn't do that, he just snapped his fingers and made everyone look at him in his awesome aura. When he had everyone's attention, he first Glared at the offender and said in a deep, scary voice, "Naruto is mine." And then did that little growling thing semes always seemed to like to do.
So the first and only real point in this example was that Sasuke was possessive of Naruto in a way that goes way, way beyond the normal limits.
And then we come to the part where...
We tell you the truth.
This is not to say that the events mentioned above did not occur. No, that would be blatant lying, and authors would never do that -cough- It is simply that the observers of the past examples have heavily biased points of view. As such, we believe that it is imperative that we give you the truth. Where Naruto and Sasuke did not suddenly jump into their roles of uke and seme respectively, because really, where's the fun in that?
So, the truth:
The truth is that in Example 1, the kunai set that Sasuke bought for Naruto was actually pre-ordered and meant for Naruto's birthday after a bet that was made a few months prior. Basically, Naruto could not eat Ramen for an entire week and could not even think about mooning over Sakura.
There's the thought here that Sasuke had already known of his feelings towards Naruto at that point, but that should be pushed aside, never to be discussed again.
And so, the extremely expensive gift was not bought on a whim, nor was it really that expensive since Sasuke had, quite intelligently, pre-ordered it when it was at the introductory sale price. Which also explains Naruto giving up, since the whole thing was planned out anyway.
The PDA... was not planned out. But hormonal teenagers will be hormonal teenagers and having a tongue stuck into your mouth in a most extremely erotic way will cause just about everyone to forget about that fact that they were in public. And even if they didn't... what sort of sane person would stop!
And we move onto Example 2, in which Naruto was blatantly saved from being molested by a big, burly, drunk man. The truth was that Naruto was so pissed off at having to pretend to be a beyond submissive uke that he was ready to kill anybody who crossed his path. Which Sasuke knew and so saved the big, burly, drunk man from being beaten to death by the "uke" in the relationship.
Now the jealousy in Ichiraku... wasn't really there at that specific point. Sasuke was more or less too amused by the image of Naruto acting innocent to even think about being jealous. The tightening fist that was hidden at Naruto's side probably helped. At which point Sasuke decided to save the offenders ass by snapping his fingers and bringing everyone's eyes in the small place to him. The glare was completely genuine, but the statement of Naruto being his was more or less Sasuke's way of pushing the blond's limits.
Which he did quite well.
Of course, things never did like to go exactly as planned as Naruto staged his little revenge right then and there.
His revenge?
He turned utterly, totally, completely, perfectly, unconditionally, undividedly, wholly, absolutely, comprehensively uke.
So at the moment that Sasuke ended his little growl, Naruto had managed to plan out his whole revenge on the spot in a speed that he could only do when creating pranks or that last measure against an enemy. He brushed off the edges, shined the surface and brought it out to life.
He bounded over to Sasuke's side and clutched at his sleeve. "Sasu-chan? Why is Sasu-chan so angry? Did Naruto do something wrong?" For a moment, Sasuke stared incredulously at the blond boy clinging to his sleeve before he winced almost imperceptibly. Almost, as Naruto saw it and smirked inwardly. Ah... he had such a smart boyfriend, he already knew what Naruto was trying to do. And like the smart boy he was...
He freaking twisted the whole thing around.
"No, Naru-chan. You didn't do anything wrong. I just got angry because... Naru-chan belongs to me and only I should be allowed to touch him. Because I love you very much, don't I?"
'Bite me, bastard', was the thought running through Naruto's head, but outwardly he beamed and hugged Sasuke tighter. "Yes, and Naruto loves Sasu-chan very much too! That's why Naru-chan promised Sasu-chan that he would behave and he wouldn't bother Sasu-chan because bothering Sasu-chan isn't good. Is Naru-chan bothering Sasu-chan?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth, but it unnoticeable to everyone except, once again, Naruto. In the softest voice he could muster in the situation, he said, "Of course not. Naru-chan can never bother Sasu-chan, because Sasu-chan loves Naru-chan and no matter what he does, he'll never get angry."
'What the hell? Now I'm starting to refer to myself in third person too!'
"That's good." And with that, Naruto smiled at Sasuke. The Smile that melted everybody's hearts. The Smile that every uke had to defeat their seme whenever they wanted them to do something for them. The Smile that Naruto had practiced on Iruka - not that it worked very well... they were the same type... - and Sasuke. The Smile that Naruto sometimes cursed himself for having - it was so... uke- but at times like these, congratulated himself for mastering. For when he smiled, all those who could see it sighed in the cuteness that was the uke smile. The uke smile that brought bliss to all who saw it and turned some people's knees into jelly and even more hearts into mush.
Sasuke, the target of the smile, tried to resist it with all he had. The hatred and anger that he nurtured during his childhood years seemed to have abandoned him however, for it seemed that any defense he used to have against this kind of smile had already been destroyed by the executor of the smile.
'Damn him!'
But he was unable to resist any longer and the last of his mental defenses clawed at Naruto's image, only to be defeated by the similar smile that was appearing on Sasuke's face.
At the sight of the smile, Naruto was taken back. He hadn't expected Sasuke to smile back at him! But still, something in Sasuke's smile... The grip that Naruto had on Sasuke's arm loosened and the two of them turned their faces to each other. They inched closer and closer, the smiles on their faces slowly falling away, their eyes seeing only the other.
Their lips were mere centimeters away from each other, their hearts pounded, their palms began to sweat. Their eyelids grew heavy and the two of them moved in closer to...
"Your ramen's ready." The cheery voice of the owner of Ichiraku sounded out, drawing multiple groans of disappointment from the crowd that had started to grow inside and outside the stall, while the interrupted couple blushed slightly at the realization of what they were about to do.
Sasuke silently thanked the man for interrupting them before verbalizing his thanks for the ramen. He took the take-out bag in one hand and grabbed Naruto's hand in the other and proceeded to drag both of them outside the stall. He walked through the streets of Konohagakure with Naruto next to him, hands and fingers lightly intertwined. His thumb soothingly moved across the back of Naruto's hands before a slight laugh escaped from the blond. He glanced at him curiously to gain a response of, "Sorry, it was starting to tickle."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled at Naruto's arm. "Whatever, idiot, let's go before the food gets cold."
"Hey! I resent that remark!"
"What? That the food's gonna get cold?"
Naruto lightly "harumphed" before tearing his hand out of Sasuke's. He stood there on the middle of the street and crossed his arms across his chest, tapping his foot against the ground and staring at Sasuke.
They stared at each other for a few minutes before Sasuke sighed and gave up, "Fine, fine, I won't call you idiot anymore - unless you deserve it - now can we get home before the food gets cold?"
Having missed the middle part - or rather, choosing to miss it - Naruto gave a solemn nod, before saying, solemnly, "Good."
And then he ran off yelling back at Sasuke, "Last one to the house has to wash the dishes"
Sasuke blinked in surprise before frowning, "That's not right, you have a head start and I'm carrying the food!" But nevertheless, he started running as well, chasing after Naruto to their house.
Their routine carried on for the next few days. Walking through the town, usually after training, Naruto would give the image of being submissive in the relationship, while in reality, the roles were always up for grabs.
Sasuke continued to act possessive and jealous, although, quite a few times, he didn't need to act.
The image of Sasuke and Naruto walking past the many shops and buildings in Konohagakure soon became a regular occurrence. After a while, the two of them even visited certain people during their "dates". Their classmates quickly got used to the sight of Naruto being submissive and knew to act carefully around Naruto when Sasuke was around. Which was always.
The two of them became the "it" couple in the town. It lived off of the gossip about them, gave scandalized gasps whenever news of Sasuke's jealousy traveled once again, muttered sympathetic words when news of Sasuke's overbearing possessiveness hurt Naruto, tittered nervously when they heard of their fights, giggled and blushed when there was news of them discovered in the midst of a make-out session and sighed in bliss when they gave off the image of a beautiful couple never to be separated.
So the whole town lived in content, knowing that they had a hand in allowing the two of them to live in such joy. They now took joy in their joy, forgetting the reasons of why they hadn't been joyful before. The fact that Sasuke and Naruto were together made all of them relax. The absolute bliss that was always seen on their faces made their hearts throb in yearning, the vitality their relationship held gave the villagers hope.
The plans brewing in their minds would give the village chaos.
The plans which were already well under way, only waiting for the next step to be taken...
To Be Continued...
(1) Idea is courtesy of Aimi-chan. While this may not have been what she expected, it gave me great joy to write this rambling that eeked out of my fingers in less than five minutes. Reading it over... its so freaking corny... and Lee-like. Don't you agree? Oh and the idea was that Lee would be supporting Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, and would accuse people of not supporting them and is about to punish them (in here, in the form of a long speech) only to realize later that they're all gone.
QY- 13 pages. 13 freaking pages. 6 of them took me over a week to write and the rest took me 3 hours. Tch. If you spot any glaring grammar/spelling errors and/or typos, feel free to tell me. And as I've also discovered something freaky happened when I uploaded this, apologies for any blurring between speech.
As to the pairings question, I have more or less solidified the ending pairings. If any of you have any major problems with any of them, kindly inform me. And when I say major, I mean the sight of it makes you puke, otherwise, I won't do anything. So here they are: Sasuke/Naruto, Kakashi/Iruka, Kiba/Hinata, Neji/Lee, Shikamaru/Ino, Shino/Sakura.
In other words... the original pairings. Only... there's a lot more plot thingies involved now...
And since we're on the topic. There will be, unofficially, three endings to this story. The original (which is the reason for my very first author notes for DR), the second one which I cooked up when I felt devious and the last one which I made after a conversation with Seito that reminded me of something. So "Owari" will appear three times, do not be shocked about this. You can choose which one you like best and if I write enough, I'll give you an explanation at the end of each "Owari" about why I originally had that ending and then changed it.
I wonder how many people just read that?
Written: 2/1/05- 2/13/05
Edited: 4/27/05