Thank you to Ochiba. I'm taking your advice and not saying another word about the future of this story.
Because of the whole... ff.n hates lemons, I'm not going to post the whole lemon here. What will be here will be cut to fit the R rating I'm giving it. To see the full version, please check out:
http: adultfan .nexcess.ne t/aff/story.php?no=28941
Chapter Title: 50. Ventilation
Hinata didn't get a chance to speak to her blonde boyfriend until after their patrol, around sunset. She came up behind the young man, smiling to herself as he jumped around playfully with his younger cohorts, the Konohamaru Corps. They had grown a lot in the last years, and Naruto was always joking that Konohamaru himself might even be taller than him one day. But then again, Naruto was still shorter than most his age, and Konohamaru never failed to point that out to his hero.
"... you've got to work on your aim, Konohamaru, or else you're always going to get caught!" Naruto was saying to the teen.
"You try aiming a heavy water balloon." The kid retorted back. "It's not like Godaime Hokage's forehead is as big as your ex-girlfriend's is." Naruto winced.
"Don't let Sakura hear you say that or she'll come after us again."
"Anyways, red paint is so much heavier than water; I wanna see you try it next time."
"And get my butt caught like you did? You didn't even hit her!" The younger genin pouted.
"It's hard living up to your image." Naruto laughed and patted the boy's head affectionately.
"I know, but you're making progress. Why not try an alternate version of Oiroke no jutsu on her next time?" He snickered evilly. Konohamaru's eyes lit up and he ran off to prepare, dragging his friends behind him.
"Ja, Naruto-sempai!!!" He called over his shoulder. "Thanks for the great idea!!" Hinata stepped closer, laughing softly.
"Hinata!" Naruto turned around at the sound of her voice.
"It will never work on her, Naruto-kun." She giggled out. "Girls aren't the same as guys. I'm sure that if Tsunade's affected at all, she'll just drool, not pass out from blood loss." Naruto puffed out his chest proudly.
"I have faith in Konohamaru." He exclaimed. "So, would you like to go for a picnic or something?" He asked, running his hands through his hair. "I know it's kind of sudden, and I have nothing prepared, but, you know, if you wanted to." He trailed off, after realising he'd started to babble.
"I'm sorry but I'm going to go out with my team mates for a little dinner." She exclaimed softly.
"Well, that's okay. There's always-"
"No, Naruto. We can't be more than friends. I realised that last night with your help."
"What? What did I do wrong? I did what you asked. I avoided talking about Sasuke all night. I thought you wanted that!"
"I thought so too, but last night you weren't yourself. You weren't the same Naruto I knew. Sasuke's a part of your life that I just can't compete with. It would be really wrong to try and replace him. It wouldn't work between us because it's a part of who you are. I'm sorry for believing that I could change you. You're perfect the way you are." She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek, trying to ignore the intense look of hurt that had taken over his face. He stood frozen, watching, as she turned away from him and walked towards the center of the village. The pain was still on his face, but he remained too stunned to move.
Everything came crashing in on him when Hinata finally disappeared from his view, around a corner, and he hit the closest thing he could find. He felt his knuckles collapse against the hard stone, blood seeping through his fingers as an intense stabbing pain shot up his arm, causing him to cry out.
"What the fuck did I do wrong?!" He yelled to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately there was nobody around to hear his shouting. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. I'm now the Kitsune and I have to suffer for my past!!" He screamed at the darkening sky, slamming his healing fist against the rock again. "I'm not good enough for them, am I? So even when I do everything I can, I'm still screwed over!!" He licked at the throbbing hand tenderly, clearing out some of the wound, and realised that both of his break ups had one thing in common.
Sasuke.
(Star)(Star)(Star)
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes at the angry looking blonde. It seemed that everyone wanted to come to him to sort out their problems. He folded his arms across his bare chest expectantly.
"You are nothing but a stupid useless asshole, aren't you?!" Naruto yelled, shoving his way into the other man's house. Sasuke frowned and tensed himself for his friend's verbal lashing.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, dobe." Something flared in his bright blue eyes and he curled his lip slightly.
"Hinata broke up with me!" He snarled. "And I only said one fucking word about you all night! She told me that you're a part of me that she just can't compete with. She said it would be wrong to replace you. You just love ruining my life and stealing my dreams, don't you?! And you don't even have a girlfriend yourself." He tackled Sasuke, fists flying in rage. Sasuke managed to avoid a couple of hits, but his furniture betrayed him and he began to trip up, allowing Naruto to pin him to the floor neatly, despite his mood.
"It's your own fault." Sasuke huffed out, not letting his rival see him unconfident. "I didn't do anything to you. You came to me saying you weren't sure about the relationship in the first place. Shouldn't you be happier that you're back to being friends?" Naruto scoffed lightly.
"It wasn't like I had much of a chance to confirm anything. Not only did you steal my only two girlfriends, but my first two kisses, too. All of my dreams of acceptance were shot the moment you stepped into that academy. Everyone hates me and looks up to you. Is there anything of mine you haven't stolen? Why don't we get it over with while we're both here?" Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, but kept a confident air about him.
"I haven't stolen your virginity." He gritted out. Naruto laughed bitterly.
"Of course, you're right!" He sneered down at his pinned team mate. "Sasuke's always right. It doesn't matter that Orochimaru performed the illusion on me... to make me see you fucking me... technically it wasn't you. So once again, I'm wrong." The pinned young man narrowed his eyes.
"You stole my only two kisses."
"Really?" Naruto asked in mock surprise. "And of course that makes all the difference. I've still got you beat a million to one."
"So why don't you try levelling the playing field?" Sasuke asked thoughtfully, lifting his hips up suggestively. Naruto's eyes went wide with the implication of the movement, but Sasuke continued speaking. "I know how you think, what you want. I know that you've never forgotten for one second what Orochimaru did to you. I know that you never really had any feelings for Sakura. And I know that I'm constantly on your mind, whether it's nothing more than our rivalry, or an attraction, or hormones. I know Hinata wasn't enough of a distraction to make you stop thinking about me, and you've admitted to me that Orochimaru's illusion was a guilty pleasure for you. I know you're looking for someone to love you, but you're not going to find it in the places you're looking. This is just an offer of something you've probably been thinking about for a while. Think of it as an alternative. No name calling, no strings, no emotions. Call out whoever's name you want, even mine, and in the morning we're still rivals, best friends. Nothing changes." He took a breath, letting his words sink into Naruto's mind, before adding one last thing.
"Let me be the one you vent on."
It took another second for everything to settle in and for Naruto to understand just what Sasuke was offering him. A way of relieving stress. A way to escape the pressure of his life through pleasure. Sasuke saw the conflict running through his rival's eyes and decided to help a little.
"Maybe number three will help you make up your mind." He whispered and lifted his head up to capture the blonde's lips while he was fighting with himself. He felt the man above him start to relax for a moment before he tensed up again and pressed Sasuke's hands harder into the rug on the floor, breaking the kiss.
"No!" He shook his head. Sasuke was uneasy for a moment. "You're my best friend! I can't do this with you!" He growled out angrily, throwing a well- aimed punch for Sasuke's face. He jumped up from the floor and backed away slowly. Sasuke sat up and nodded solemnly.
"It doesn't have to mean anything, dobe." He said slowly. "This offer is forever. Take your time in making the decision, but always know that I'm here for you. You're right in that we're best friends, and I'll never force you into something you don't want to do. Take a day, a week, take twenty years." Naruto frowned, seriously considering the offer before shaking the thoughts from his head.
"You don't mean this!" He yelled before tackling the young man. "You can't be willing to give up that much for just me." They fought for a moment before the blonde pushed his rival away.
"Go home, Naruto." Sasuke exclaimed. "You need a couple of days to get over your break up with Hinata. Don't worry; I'll be here in the morning." Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, fighting with the confusion in his head before stepping away from the whole scene. He took baby-steps backwards, never breaking eye-contact with Sasuke until his back hit the front door. He moved his hand behind him to grasp the knob before finally looking down at the floor.
"I have to go." He muttered and pulled open the door, running back outside, with the same speed as he'd come in, only with different emotions running through his head. Sasuke wasn't supposed to offer him that. He was supposed to fight with Naruto for a few minutes, give him a black eye and a few bruised ribs, making him wish he'd never gotten angry at the prodigy in the first place and then leave. No one was supposed to be there for him. It wasn't right. He was supposed to be the one no one cared about.
(Star)(Star)(Star)
When Sasuke walked home the next evening from his tiring patrol he was exhausted. He'd encountered a couple of high ranked chuunin from the Sound village, and it took both him and Shikamaru and Shino, both of whom were just walking past, to gain the upper hand and leave the two men running for their lives. He sighed and pulled off his hitai-ate to wipe the sweat from his face and his damp hair from his eyes.
He'd barely gotten the door closed when he began slowly taking off his shoes and shirt until he was left in nothing but his shorts. He might have just collapsed there on the rug if it hadn't been for the clattering he heard coming from his kitchen. On alert before he could take his next breath, Sasuke pulled out a kunai from his weapons holster and slunk down the hall towards the light from the kitchen. His footsteps were lighter without the weight of the sandals.
"Ne, Sasuke! Where do you keep your chopsticks?!" A loud voice echoed from the room, catching Sasuke entirely off guard.
"Naruto?" He asked, halting in the middle of the hallway.
"Yeah!"
"How the hell did you get in?" He asked, taking another step forward.
"I found your spare key!" Came the reply, followed by said spare key being tossed out of the kitchen. "Now tell me where your chopsticks are! My ramen won't stay warm forever." Sasuke looked into the kitchen and saw Naruto dancing all over the room, yelling at his ramen bowl for starting to cool, and turning the place upside down for the utensils.
"They're right here." Sasuke opened a drawer, tossing his friend a pair. "What are you doing here?" He asked, caught off guard by how fast everything seemed to go back to normal with them. Naruto hesitated, the food pausing at his lips before he slurped the noodles down. He turned to Sasuke and shrugged.
"I thought about what you said." Sasuke nodded.
"I understand, everything will go back to normal and it will be as though I had never made the offer." He exclaimed, walking past Naruto and pulling open the fridge door for a drink.
"No, you don't understand." Naruto said, hand shooting out to grab Sasuke's forearm. "I... I want to take you up on the offer."
"You do?" Sasuke turned around suddenly, surprise etched all over his face. Naruto nodded and stepped closer to his rival.
"This is just a stress reliever, ne? Stress, anger, sexual tension? Isn't it odd that we're almost eighteen and the farthest we've gone is those three kisses with each other? This will be like practice for what's to come. It's not like I have any virginity left to lose, ne?" Sasuke flinched at his cold words but nodded. "Are you really willing to let me be the one to steal your virginity?"
"Yes." Sasuke exclaimed, sternly. "What use do I have of it?" He leaned forward to kiss Naruto again, but was stopped by a hand on his chest.
"You... you said no emotions. Kissing is supposed to be romantic. No kissing." The dark-haired man smirked.
"Our first two didn't have any emotion in them." Naruto ignored the comment and latched his lips onto Sasuke's bare collar and the man beneath him was suddenly well aware of his lack of clothing.
"This is for that time we had the cookie dough fight." Naruto murmured into his skin, licking, biting, and sucking as roughly as he could. As soon as he loosened his grip on his rival's wrist, he felt himself pushed backwards and being forced to sit On top of the counter. Sasuke tilted his head back, allowing his partner the chance to continue ravishing his neck.
"I know I must still taste like cookie dough, but we can't do it here." Naruto stopped and looked into Sasuke's eyes, a bit of the demon within him glinting deviously in his eyes.
"Why not?"
"The kitchen is not my idea of a place to lose my virginity." He stated. "My bedroom is right upstairs. First door you come to." When Naruto turned away to head upstairs, Sasuke followed close behind, wrapping his arms around his rival's waist and slowly licking a path from the back of Naruto's ear to as far as he could get with the blonde's jacket in the way.
They moved up the stairs together, until Sasuke became impatient with the jacket and whipped Naruto around, attacking from another angle. He pressed the younger man's body against the stair railing and lifted up the orange jacket to lick tentatively along the waistline of his orange pants.
For a moment, Naruto's mind was clear and he remembered the chuunin vest he still wore for patrol underneath his orange jacket and he panicked, suddenly shoving Sasuke's hands and face away from his navel.
"No, let's not do this." Sasuke stood up, stunned, but caught Naruto's forearm before he could run away.
"Naruto, you came to me." He sighed. "If you don't want to see me... then I'll keep the lights off when we get upstairs. You're not afraid of me, are you?" Naruto shook his head.
"Why the hell would I be afraid of you?" He asked, shoving Sasuke back, occupying the man with his mouth on his bare skin and pulling him up the stairs as quickly as he could.
When they made it up the stairs and into Sasuke's bedroom, Naruto slammed the door shut and peeled his jacket and vest off in the darkness. He tossed them aside, before feeling his way across the nearest wall for the light switch. Sasuke caught on quickly to what he was trying to do and flicked the lever with ease.
"Do you have any..." Naruto trailed off, licking his lips in anticipation.
"Yes, under my pillow." Sasuke nodded to the bed, which seemed to be waiting for them.
"How did you know what I meant?" Naruto wondered aloud, walking slowly to the bed, pulling his fishnet shirt over his head as he went. He sat down on the soft bed and put his hand under the black sheeted pillow, finding exactly what he'd been asking for.
"Do you remember when you were kicked out of your body and you spent weeks tormenting me until I was forced to run to the bathroom?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke, who had followed him to the bed, and nodded. "Well, you know what I ended up doing in the bathroom. You gave me my first erection." He purred, taking the bottle of lubrication from Naruto's hands and putting it on the night stand, licking the tips of the blonde's fingers. "I've been using this ever since." Naruto pulled his hand from his rival's grasp and pulled him up by the shoulders.
"Stop talking." He murmured and pushed him down onto the bed, tracing a line of kisses down Sasuke's jaw and along his pulse, marvelling at the fast-paced beating he felt beneath his lips. It sent shivers down his back, but he continued down to Sasuke's collar bone and lapped at the little space where the bones dipped in. His back was hunched over as he paid the spot an extra little bit of attention, mindlessly grinding his hips slowly into Sasuke's. He was rewarded with a small hiss of pleasure and the rocking was returned with equal passion.
He looked up for a moment, and noticed that Sasuke's eyes were half closed, and glazed over with pleasure. Naruto was secretly glad that the red eyes were partially hidden in the growing darkness. He ignored the thought and returned to trailing lazy kisses down Sasuke's bare chest, flicking his tongue casually over both nipples before continuing lower. He shifted on the bed to drop his head lower, smirking at Sasuke's stifled gasp at the loss of friction to his boxer-clad hips. Somewhere along the way the white shorts had been discarded carelessly.
The blonde tilted his head so he could watch Sasuke's reaction as he licked over the man's muscle-toned stomach from hard training, and took the hem of the unoriginal black cotton boxers in his teeth, tugging them down.
Sasuke shook his head, clearing it of the haze of lust that had fogged up his senses and sat up suddenly. Naruto frowned in confusion, but the lust in his rival's eyes answered every question he had.
"You're going too slow." He growled, rushing at the blonde in a fury of limbs, attacking the other's orange pants, pulling frantically at the buttons. It took him a second to pull them off, before they were tossed carelessly across the room. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of Naruto's royal blue boxers and pulled them down to his hips. His partner let his body fall backwards onto the black sheets and deftly lifted his waist up to let Sasuke remove the underwear. Sasuke stood up, momentarily to remove his own clothing, but neither spent too much time admiring the nudity of the other, as Naruto got up off the bed, pressing his body flush against Sasuke's. He lifted a hand to caress Sasuke's jaw line slowly, leaning in to whisper in his ear.
"This doesn't mean anything." He exclaimed softly, pressing his lips to his rival's violently, not bothering with tenderness. They fought within the kiss, nipping and licking the other's lips alternately, until Naruto finally brought Sasuke down onto the bed, flipping their positions quickly so he was above the older man. He could feel the body beneath him getting even more aroused, and was surprised to find that instead of the disgust he thought he should have felt, he was aware of his own body's positive reaction to the intimate fighting.
"This'll hurt a lot." Naruto whispered, breaking the kiss for a moment. One hand shot out to feel around for the bottle of lubrication and the other danced its way down Sasuke's torso. Sasuke arched his back, stifling his sharp intake of air and nodded hazily.
"I trust you, Naruto." Naruto looked up from what he was doing to look Sasuke in the eye. Despite the intense glare of the unmoving Sharingan wheel, he saw the commitment there, and it gave him a weird sense of calm to know that Sasuke was freely giving this up to him. "Please don't stop." He heard Sasuke mumble, but it was so quiet and jumbled he wasn't sure if he'd heard it right.
"I still hate you."
"Of course, I wouldn't expect any less."
(Star)(Star)(Star) (Where the Lemon was)
Sasuke lazily wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders and tried desperately to calm down his racing heartbeat. He opened his eyes to look at the man lying next to him and smiled.
"Oh god." He moaned suddenly, finally being hit with what they had just done. Naruto shifted as though to look up, but couldn't find the energy to make himself move enough to look at Sasuke.
"What?" He asked.
"That was...that was..." He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
"Good?" Naruto offered tentatively. Sasuke barked out a laugh.
"Good doesn't even begin to describe it. People told me it was good, but you made it indescribable." Naruto laughed quietly.
"Thank you, I guess. It takes a lot out of you, though, doesn't it?" Sasuke nodded, finally noticing that he was aching in places he didn't know he could feel, in a good way. "Can I stay here for the night?"
"Sure." The dark-haired man replied. "But first, can we get cleaned up? I feel sticky." Naruto nodded and rolled onto the bed, allowing Sasuke the chance to get up and walk to his bathroom. He smirked to himself, noticing the slight limp in his rival's step.
He closed his eyes listening to the shower turn on and sighed to himself. He would have started to think about the consequences of what they'd done, but he was too sated to care. He thought about his break up with Hinata and frowned realising that it wasn't as painful once he'd taken a step back from it. It was his own fault, really, for allowing himself to rely so heavily on Sasuke to be in his life, but he found he'd rather have Sasuke than Hinata, and he wasn't about to push away his best friend over some girl.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he choked back a cry of surprise when a wet hand towel landed roughly on his face. He pulled it off and glared at Sasuke who was standing in the doorway, grinning. His hair was still wet, dripping water onto his shoulders and he had a towel wrapped modestly around his waist.
"Clean yourself up, dobe." He explained, waving a hand dismissively to the wet towel. Naruto blushed and looked down at the mess Sasuke had made on him. He stood up, ignoring his nakedness, and walked proudly past Sasuke into the bathroom with his nose in the air in mock snobbishness. He turned around before he closed the door and blushed bright red again, giving Sasuke another once over.
"You look better with your hair down." He said and shut the door.
When Naruto returned, he found let another thing thrown into his face. This time they were a dry pair of boxers. He shrugged and slipped into them, modesty being a foreign word to him. Sasuke shook his head bemusedly and stood from the bed. Naruto was surprised to see that he's left his hair down.
"Want something to eat?" The older of the two asked. "I figure your ramen downstairs is probably really cold by now. Naruto chuckled to himself.
"Of course, if you're cooking!" He followed Sasuke out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen where it all started. True enough, the ramen bowl was cold and Naruto emptied the entire thing down the sink. He might have been anguished at the thought of wasted ramen, but Sasuke's offer of more food took his mind off of it.
He sat on the counter and quietly watched Sasuke work. It was a few more minutes before his eyes were drawn back to Sasuke's silky hair.
"It really does look good like that." He whispered to himself.
"I'm glad you like it." Sasuke exclaimed, startling his friend. Naruto didn't even realise he'd voiced his thoughts. He blushed slightly and began drumming his fingers on the counter while he waited for Sasuke to finish. A delicious aroma was beginning to fill the room.
Naruto hopped off the counter and hesitantly hugged Sasuke from behind. The older man jumped slightly, unused to the feeling, but managed not to tense up. The blonde wrapped his arms tightly around Sasuke's chest and rested his cheek on the man's back.
"Thank you." He whispered.
"For what?" Sasuke replied reflexively.
"I know how much it took for you to give up control like that to me. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it. It made me feel special. Whoever you chose to help you restore your clan is going to be one lucky girl if she feels even half as good as you make me feel." Sasuke shook his head bemusedly, realising that Naruto had begun to babble. He turned around in the embrace and wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders loosely so that the younger man could rest his tear-stained cheek on his shoulder. He frowned, thinking about it again.
"Why are you crying, Naruto?" He whispered softly, tightening his hold on his friend. He lifted his hands to cradle the head of blonde to his shoulder even tightly.
"I am no." Naruto replied defiantly, but a sniffle betrayed him. "Why can't I ever make things work? Why does everyone have to betray me?"
"What do you mean?"
"First it was Mizuki-sensei, then the boy from the forest turned out to be Haku, then Kabuto turns out to be working for Orochimaru, and then you..." He trailed off momentarily. "Why can't anything good happen in my life?"
"Well, I don't know if it's any consolation, but I did come back because of you." Sasuke leaned his head on Naruto's lightly. "One day you'll open your eyes and find your most precious someone lying next to you and know that everything in the world will be okay."
(End of Chapter)
Well, that was the longest chapter I've ever written. With the lemon it comes to just over 5000. Course the lemon is only 800 more words, so. Heh heh. I need food.
Apologies to Kyuubi-chan who won't get to read this chapter until the middle of July. I'm sorry I couldn't get it out in time. I had sooo many problems with it.
I'd like to thank everyone who said to take my time. Of course, this lemon has been planned for a very very very long time now. I was never influenced by anything anyone said about them getting together. I actually had to add the whole Naruto running off because it seemed too fast.
To Yasai-chan: Are you sure you don't have a copy of my notes or something? I would say what I think happened to Sasuke and Itachi, but I don't want to ruin my story line.
To Random Person: I REMEMBER YOU! As soon as I saw the review I was like 'Hey, that name looks so familiar'.
To ochiba: Thank you for reviewing this story. I never planned on rushing their interaction for the sake of any reviewers. Heh heh. I'm taking your advice and not spoiling anything else that will come in future chapters. Thank you so much for the advice.
To lightdragon1987: I tried to keep Hinata in character according to how I thought she would develop over 5 1/2 years, but I guess not too many people saw that. I guess I should have introduced her earlier on to the story so they could get used to her first.
To the La/=/er: About that part (Itachi becoming an Anbu) if you noticed, his father was either a chuunin or a jounin, cause he still had the vest. I assume that he was a ninja who used his training to enforce Konoha law, instead of being ordered on missions. Also, back to the NaruHina thing, he talks like that because that's just who he is. He is blunt and abrasive, not to mention a little dense. Yay for Tsunade! That was written before I was reminded of her short temper in 89. Also, Hinata does see that Naruto likes Sasuke more than a friend, and she knows that there is no way her crush on him would compare to what he feels for Sasuke. So she takes herself out of the picture in hopes that they can figure it all out on their own. She only tried to get Naruto to stop talking about Sasuke because she didn't realise at the time how deep Naruto's feelings went.
To Teki Star: I sincerely doubt that this fic is the most popular one in the Naruto section. I know hundreds that are far superior to my own.
To Iceheart19: It wasn't that Itachi didn't want to be in the Anbu, he just realised that his father had totally forgotten about Sasuke's ceremony. I feel really bad for Sasuke because of how his parents are treating him. It's like he doesn't exist, and if he does, it's only to follow in the shadow of his brother. Itachi sees that too, and you can see him trying to help Sasuke through it without becoming jealous of his father's adoration of his Aniki. It almost makes me wish I'd been the one to murder the bastard.
To cwazy-azn2: The plotlines were actually a collaboration of a bunch of single stories that I decided to put into one. They were mostly little things I wanted to see played out (for example: the 'ghost' Naruto teasing Sasuke like that). And I really don't know how long it will take to finish this story. It all depends on my mood.
To Kreyana: I probably meant the LAST chapter (the ultimate ending so to speak). Ebisu's seal is something I made up because I figured he needed some sort of defence against what Naruto taught Konohamaru.
To Queen of Anime: Thank you for taking the time to read my story. It seems a lot of people are reading the whole thing in one go. Until I saw your application to my group, I didn't even know that this story had been mentioned in anyone else's author notes. And, of course I care that you liked the story. It lets me know that I've done something right at least. Thank you for reviewing.
BIG THANK YOU TO AKANOSHIKA who told people to read this story. Thanks!!
Edit: Because of what Pale Rider said, and the fact that I agree with what they said, the last tiny scene was cut. It simply did not fit in with the tone of the rest of the chapter. Thank you (See, reviews really do matter).
Because of the whole... ff.n hates lemons, I'm not going to post the whole lemon here. What will be here will be cut to fit the R rating I'm giving it. To see the full version, please check out:
http: adultfan .nexcess.ne t/aff/story.php?no=28941
Chapter Title: 50. Ventilation
Hinata didn't get a chance to speak to her blonde boyfriend until after their patrol, around sunset. She came up behind the young man, smiling to herself as he jumped around playfully with his younger cohorts, the Konohamaru Corps. They had grown a lot in the last years, and Naruto was always joking that Konohamaru himself might even be taller than him one day. But then again, Naruto was still shorter than most his age, and Konohamaru never failed to point that out to his hero.
"... you've got to work on your aim, Konohamaru, or else you're always going to get caught!" Naruto was saying to the teen.
"You try aiming a heavy water balloon." The kid retorted back. "It's not like Godaime Hokage's forehead is as big as your ex-girlfriend's is." Naruto winced.
"Don't let Sakura hear you say that or she'll come after us again."
"Anyways, red paint is so much heavier than water; I wanna see you try it next time."
"And get my butt caught like you did? You didn't even hit her!" The younger genin pouted.
"It's hard living up to your image." Naruto laughed and patted the boy's head affectionately.
"I know, but you're making progress. Why not try an alternate version of Oiroke no jutsu on her next time?" He snickered evilly. Konohamaru's eyes lit up and he ran off to prepare, dragging his friends behind him.
"Ja, Naruto-sempai!!!" He called over his shoulder. "Thanks for the great idea!!" Hinata stepped closer, laughing softly.
"Hinata!" Naruto turned around at the sound of her voice.
"It will never work on her, Naruto-kun." She giggled out. "Girls aren't the same as guys. I'm sure that if Tsunade's affected at all, she'll just drool, not pass out from blood loss." Naruto puffed out his chest proudly.
"I have faith in Konohamaru." He exclaimed. "So, would you like to go for a picnic or something?" He asked, running his hands through his hair. "I know it's kind of sudden, and I have nothing prepared, but, you know, if you wanted to." He trailed off, after realising he'd started to babble.
"I'm sorry but I'm going to go out with my team mates for a little dinner." She exclaimed softly.
"Well, that's okay. There's always-"
"No, Naruto. We can't be more than friends. I realised that last night with your help."
"What? What did I do wrong? I did what you asked. I avoided talking about Sasuke all night. I thought you wanted that!"
"I thought so too, but last night you weren't yourself. You weren't the same Naruto I knew. Sasuke's a part of your life that I just can't compete with. It would be really wrong to try and replace him. It wouldn't work between us because it's a part of who you are. I'm sorry for believing that I could change you. You're perfect the way you are." She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek, trying to ignore the intense look of hurt that had taken over his face. He stood frozen, watching, as she turned away from him and walked towards the center of the village. The pain was still on his face, but he remained too stunned to move.
Everything came crashing in on him when Hinata finally disappeared from his view, around a corner, and he hit the closest thing he could find. He felt his knuckles collapse against the hard stone, blood seeping through his fingers as an intense stabbing pain shot up his arm, causing him to cry out.
"What the fuck did I do wrong?!" He yelled to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately there was nobody around to hear his shouting. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. I'm now the Kitsune and I have to suffer for my past!!" He screamed at the darkening sky, slamming his healing fist against the rock again. "I'm not good enough for them, am I? So even when I do everything I can, I'm still screwed over!!" He licked at the throbbing hand tenderly, clearing out some of the wound, and realised that both of his break ups had one thing in common.
Sasuke.
(Star)(Star)(Star)
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes at the angry looking blonde. It seemed that everyone wanted to come to him to sort out their problems. He folded his arms across his bare chest expectantly.
"You are nothing but a stupid useless asshole, aren't you?!" Naruto yelled, shoving his way into the other man's house. Sasuke frowned and tensed himself for his friend's verbal lashing.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, dobe." Something flared in his bright blue eyes and he curled his lip slightly.
"Hinata broke up with me!" He snarled. "And I only said one fucking word about you all night! She told me that you're a part of me that she just can't compete with. She said it would be wrong to replace you. You just love ruining my life and stealing my dreams, don't you?! And you don't even have a girlfriend yourself." He tackled Sasuke, fists flying in rage. Sasuke managed to avoid a couple of hits, but his furniture betrayed him and he began to trip up, allowing Naruto to pin him to the floor neatly, despite his mood.
"It's your own fault." Sasuke huffed out, not letting his rival see him unconfident. "I didn't do anything to you. You came to me saying you weren't sure about the relationship in the first place. Shouldn't you be happier that you're back to being friends?" Naruto scoffed lightly.
"It wasn't like I had much of a chance to confirm anything. Not only did you steal my only two girlfriends, but my first two kisses, too. All of my dreams of acceptance were shot the moment you stepped into that academy. Everyone hates me and looks up to you. Is there anything of mine you haven't stolen? Why don't we get it over with while we're both here?" Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, but kept a confident air about him.
"I haven't stolen your virginity." He gritted out. Naruto laughed bitterly.
"Of course, you're right!" He sneered down at his pinned team mate. "Sasuke's always right. It doesn't matter that Orochimaru performed the illusion on me... to make me see you fucking me... technically it wasn't you. So once again, I'm wrong." The pinned young man narrowed his eyes.
"You stole my only two kisses."
"Really?" Naruto asked in mock surprise. "And of course that makes all the difference. I've still got you beat a million to one."
"So why don't you try levelling the playing field?" Sasuke asked thoughtfully, lifting his hips up suggestively. Naruto's eyes went wide with the implication of the movement, but Sasuke continued speaking. "I know how you think, what you want. I know that you've never forgotten for one second what Orochimaru did to you. I know that you never really had any feelings for Sakura. And I know that I'm constantly on your mind, whether it's nothing more than our rivalry, or an attraction, or hormones. I know Hinata wasn't enough of a distraction to make you stop thinking about me, and you've admitted to me that Orochimaru's illusion was a guilty pleasure for you. I know you're looking for someone to love you, but you're not going to find it in the places you're looking. This is just an offer of something you've probably been thinking about for a while. Think of it as an alternative. No name calling, no strings, no emotions. Call out whoever's name you want, even mine, and in the morning we're still rivals, best friends. Nothing changes." He took a breath, letting his words sink into Naruto's mind, before adding one last thing.
"Let me be the one you vent on."
It took another second for everything to settle in and for Naruto to understand just what Sasuke was offering him. A way of relieving stress. A way to escape the pressure of his life through pleasure. Sasuke saw the conflict running through his rival's eyes and decided to help a little.
"Maybe number three will help you make up your mind." He whispered and lifted his head up to capture the blonde's lips while he was fighting with himself. He felt the man above him start to relax for a moment before he tensed up again and pressed Sasuke's hands harder into the rug on the floor, breaking the kiss.
"No!" He shook his head. Sasuke was uneasy for a moment. "You're my best friend! I can't do this with you!" He growled out angrily, throwing a well- aimed punch for Sasuke's face. He jumped up from the floor and backed away slowly. Sasuke sat up and nodded solemnly.
"It doesn't have to mean anything, dobe." He said slowly. "This offer is forever. Take your time in making the decision, but always know that I'm here for you. You're right in that we're best friends, and I'll never force you into something you don't want to do. Take a day, a week, take twenty years." Naruto frowned, seriously considering the offer before shaking the thoughts from his head.
"You don't mean this!" He yelled before tackling the young man. "You can't be willing to give up that much for just me." They fought for a moment before the blonde pushed his rival away.
"Go home, Naruto." Sasuke exclaimed. "You need a couple of days to get over your break up with Hinata. Don't worry; I'll be here in the morning." Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, fighting with the confusion in his head before stepping away from the whole scene. He took baby-steps backwards, never breaking eye-contact with Sasuke until his back hit the front door. He moved his hand behind him to grasp the knob before finally looking down at the floor.
"I have to go." He muttered and pulled open the door, running back outside, with the same speed as he'd come in, only with different emotions running through his head. Sasuke wasn't supposed to offer him that. He was supposed to fight with Naruto for a few minutes, give him a black eye and a few bruised ribs, making him wish he'd never gotten angry at the prodigy in the first place and then leave. No one was supposed to be there for him. It wasn't right. He was supposed to be the one no one cared about.
(Star)(Star)(Star)
When Sasuke walked home the next evening from his tiring patrol he was exhausted. He'd encountered a couple of high ranked chuunin from the Sound village, and it took both him and Shikamaru and Shino, both of whom were just walking past, to gain the upper hand and leave the two men running for their lives. He sighed and pulled off his hitai-ate to wipe the sweat from his face and his damp hair from his eyes.
He'd barely gotten the door closed when he began slowly taking off his shoes and shirt until he was left in nothing but his shorts. He might have just collapsed there on the rug if it hadn't been for the clattering he heard coming from his kitchen. On alert before he could take his next breath, Sasuke pulled out a kunai from his weapons holster and slunk down the hall towards the light from the kitchen. His footsteps were lighter without the weight of the sandals.
"Ne, Sasuke! Where do you keep your chopsticks?!" A loud voice echoed from the room, catching Sasuke entirely off guard.
"Naruto?" He asked, halting in the middle of the hallway.
"Yeah!"
"How the hell did you get in?" He asked, taking another step forward.
"I found your spare key!" Came the reply, followed by said spare key being tossed out of the kitchen. "Now tell me where your chopsticks are! My ramen won't stay warm forever." Sasuke looked into the kitchen and saw Naruto dancing all over the room, yelling at his ramen bowl for starting to cool, and turning the place upside down for the utensils.
"They're right here." Sasuke opened a drawer, tossing his friend a pair. "What are you doing here?" He asked, caught off guard by how fast everything seemed to go back to normal with them. Naruto hesitated, the food pausing at his lips before he slurped the noodles down. He turned to Sasuke and shrugged.
"I thought about what you said." Sasuke nodded.
"I understand, everything will go back to normal and it will be as though I had never made the offer." He exclaimed, walking past Naruto and pulling open the fridge door for a drink.
"No, you don't understand." Naruto said, hand shooting out to grab Sasuke's forearm. "I... I want to take you up on the offer."
"You do?" Sasuke turned around suddenly, surprise etched all over his face. Naruto nodded and stepped closer to his rival.
"This is just a stress reliever, ne? Stress, anger, sexual tension? Isn't it odd that we're almost eighteen and the farthest we've gone is those three kisses with each other? This will be like practice for what's to come. It's not like I have any virginity left to lose, ne?" Sasuke flinched at his cold words but nodded. "Are you really willing to let me be the one to steal your virginity?"
"Yes." Sasuke exclaimed, sternly. "What use do I have of it?" He leaned forward to kiss Naruto again, but was stopped by a hand on his chest.
"You... you said no emotions. Kissing is supposed to be romantic. No kissing." The dark-haired man smirked.
"Our first two didn't have any emotion in them." Naruto ignored the comment and latched his lips onto Sasuke's bare collar and the man beneath him was suddenly well aware of his lack of clothing.
"This is for that time we had the cookie dough fight." Naruto murmured into his skin, licking, biting, and sucking as roughly as he could. As soon as he loosened his grip on his rival's wrist, he felt himself pushed backwards and being forced to sit On top of the counter. Sasuke tilted his head back, allowing his partner the chance to continue ravishing his neck.
"I know I must still taste like cookie dough, but we can't do it here." Naruto stopped and looked into Sasuke's eyes, a bit of the demon within him glinting deviously in his eyes.
"Why not?"
"The kitchen is not my idea of a place to lose my virginity." He stated. "My bedroom is right upstairs. First door you come to." When Naruto turned away to head upstairs, Sasuke followed close behind, wrapping his arms around his rival's waist and slowly licking a path from the back of Naruto's ear to as far as he could get with the blonde's jacket in the way.
They moved up the stairs together, until Sasuke became impatient with the jacket and whipped Naruto around, attacking from another angle. He pressed the younger man's body against the stair railing and lifted up the orange jacket to lick tentatively along the waistline of his orange pants.
For a moment, Naruto's mind was clear and he remembered the chuunin vest he still wore for patrol underneath his orange jacket and he panicked, suddenly shoving Sasuke's hands and face away from his navel.
"No, let's not do this." Sasuke stood up, stunned, but caught Naruto's forearm before he could run away.
"Naruto, you came to me." He sighed. "If you don't want to see me... then I'll keep the lights off when we get upstairs. You're not afraid of me, are you?" Naruto shook his head.
"Why the hell would I be afraid of you?" He asked, shoving Sasuke back, occupying the man with his mouth on his bare skin and pulling him up the stairs as quickly as he could.
When they made it up the stairs and into Sasuke's bedroom, Naruto slammed the door shut and peeled his jacket and vest off in the darkness. He tossed them aside, before feeling his way across the nearest wall for the light switch. Sasuke caught on quickly to what he was trying to do and flicked the lever with ease.
"Do you have any..." Naruto trailed off, licking his lips in anticipation.
"Yes, under my pillow." Sasuke nodded to the bed, which seemed to be waiting for them.
"How did you know what I meant?" Naruto wondered aloud, walking slowly to the bed, pulling his fishnet shirt over his head as he went. He sat down on the soft bed and put his hand under the black sheeted pillow, finding exactly what he'd been asking for.
"Do you remember when you were kicked out of your body and you spent weeks tormenting me until I was forced to run to the bathroom?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke, who had followed him to the bed, and nodded. "Well, you know what I ended up doing in the bathroom. You gave me my first erection." He purred, taking the bottle of lubrication from Naruto's hands and putting it on the night stand, licking the tips of the blonde's fingers. "I've been using this ever since." Naruto pulled his hand from his rival's grasp and pulled him up by the shoulders.
"Stop talking." He murmured and pushed him down onto the bed, tracing a line of kisses down Sasuke's jaw and along his pulse, marvelling at the fast-paced beating he felt beneath his lips. It sent shivers down his back, but he continued down to Sasuke's collar bone and lapped at the little space where the bones dipped in. His back was hunched over as he paid the spot an extra little bit of attention, mindlessly grinding his hips slowly into Sasuke's. He was rewarded with a small hiss of pleasure and the rocking was returned with equal passion.
He looked up for a moment, and noticed that Sasuke's eyes were half closed, and glazed over with pleasure. Naruto was secretly glad that the red eyes were partially hidden in the growing darkness. He ignored the thought and returned to trailing lazy kisses down Sasuke's bare chest, flicking his tongue casually over both nipples before continuing lower. He shifted on the bed to drop his head lower, smirking at Sasuke's stifled gasp at the loss of friction to his boxer-clad hips. Somewhere along the way the white shorts had been discarded carelessly.
The blonde tilted his head so he could watch Sasuke's reaction as he licked over the man's muscle-toned stomach from hard training, and took the hem of the unoriginal black cotton boxers in his teeth, tugging them down.
Sasuke shook his head, clearing it of the haze of lust that had fogged up his senses and sat up suddenly. Naruto frowned in confusion, but the lust in his rival's eyes answered every question he had.
"You're going too slow." He growled, rushing at the blonde in a fury of limbs, attacking the other's orange pants, pulling frantically at the buttons. It took him a second to pull them off, before they were tossed carelessly across the room. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of Naruto's royal blue boxers and pulled them down to his hips. His partner let his body fall backwards onto the black sheets and deftly lifted his waist up to let Sasuke remove the underwear. Sasuke stood up, momentarily to remove his own clothing, but neither spent too much time admiring the nudity of the other, as Naruto got up off the bed, pressing his body flush against Sasuke's. He lifted a hand to caress Sasuke's jaw line slowly, leaning in to whisper in his ear.
"This doesn't mean anything." He exclaimed softly, pressing his lips to his rival's violently, not bothering with tenderness. They fought within the kiss, nipping and licking the other's lips alternately, until Naruto finally brought Sasuke down onto the bed, flipping their positions quickly so he was above the older man. He could feel the body beneath him getting even more aroused, and was surprised to find that instead of the disgust he thought he should have felt, he was aware of his own body's positive reaction to the intimate fighting.
"This'll hurt a lot." Naruto whispered, breaking the kiss for a moment. One hand shot out to feel around for the bottle of lubrication and the other danced its way down Sasuke's torso. Sasuke arched his back, stifling his sharp intake of air and nodded hazily.
"I trust you, Naruto." Naruto looked up from what he was doing to look Sasuke in the eye. Despite the intense glare of the unmoving Sharingan wheel, he saw the commitment there, and it gave him a weird sense of calm to know that Sasuke was freely giving this up to him. "Please don't stop." He heard Sasuke mumble, but it was so quiet and jumbled he wasn't sure if he'd heard it right.
"I still hate you."
"Of course, I wouldn't expect any less."
(Star)(Star)(Star) (Where the Lemon was)
Sasuke lazily wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders and tried desperately to calm down his racing heartbeat. He opened his eyes to look at the man lying next to him and smiled.
"Oh god." He moaned suddenly, finally being hit with what they had just done. Naruto shifted as though to look up, but couldn't find the energy to make himself move enough to look at Sasuke.
"What?" He asked.
"That was...that was..." He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
"Good?" Naruto offered tentatively. Sasuke barked out a laugh.
"Good doesn't even begin to describe it. People told me it was good, but you made it indescribable." Naruto laughed quietly.
"Thank you, I guess. It takes a lot out of you, though, doesn't it?" Sasuke nodded, finally noticing that he was aching in places he didn't know he could feel, in a good way. "Can I stay here for the night?"
"Sure." The dark-haired man replied. "But first, can we get cleaned up? I feel sticky." Naruto nodded and rolled onto the bed, allowing Sasuke the chance to get up and walk to his bathroom. He smirked to himself, noticing the slight limp in his rival's step.
He closed his eyes listening to the shower turn on and sighed to himself. He would have started to think about the consequences of what they'd done, but he was too sated to care. He thought about his break up with Hinata and frowned realising that it wasn't as painful once he'd taken a step back from it. It was his own fault, really, for allowing himself to rely so heavily on Sasuke to be in his life, but he found he'd rather have Sasuke than Hinata, and he wasn't about to push away his best friend over some girl.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he choked back a cry of surprise when a wet hand towel landed roughly on his face. He pulled it off and glared at Sasuke who was standing in the doorway, grinning. His hair was still wet, dripping water onto his shoulders and he had a towel wrapped modestly around his waist.
"Clean yourself up, dobe." He explained, waving a hand dismissively to the wet towel. Naruto blushed and looked down at the mess Sasuke had made on him. He stood up, ignoring his nakedness, and walked proudly past Sasuke into the bathroom with his nose in the air in mock snobbishness. He turned around before he closed the door and blushed bright red again, giving Sasuke another once over.
"You look better with your hair down." He said and shut the door.
When Naruto returned, he found let another thing thrown into his face. This time they were a dry pair of boxers. He shrugged and slipped into them, modesty being a foreign word to him. Sasuke shook his head bemusedly and stood from the bed. Naruto was surprised to see that he's left his hair down.
"Want something to eat?" The older of the two asked. "I figure your ramen downstairs is probably really cold by now. Naruto chuckled to himself.
"Of course, if you're cooking!" He followed Sasuke out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen where it all started. True enough, the ramen bowl was cold and Naruto emptied the entire thing down the sink. He might have been anguished at the thought of wasted ramen, but Sasuke's offer of more food took his mind off of it.
He sat on the counter and quietly watched Sasuke work. It was a few more minutes before his eyes were drawn back to Sasuke's silky hair.
"It really does look good like that." He whispered to himself.
"I'm glad you like it." Sasuke exclaimed, startling his friend. Naruto didn't even realise he'd voiced his thoughts. He blushed slightly and began drumming his fingers on the counter while he waited for Sasuke to finish. A delicious aroma was beginning to fill the room.
Naruto hopped off the counter and hesitantly hugged Sasuke from behind. The older man jumped slightly, unused to the feeling, but managed not to tense up. The blonde wrapped his arms tightly around Sasuke's chest and rested his cheek on the man's back.
"Thank you." He whispered.
"For what?" Sasuke replied reflexively.
"I know how much it took for you to give up control like that to me. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it. It made me feel special. Whoever you chose to help you restore your clan is going to be one lucky girl if she feels even half as good as you make me feel." Sasuke shook his head bemusedly, realising that Naruto had begun to babble. He turned around in the embrace and wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders loosely so that the younger man could rest his tear-stained cheek on his shoulder. He frowned, thinking about it again.
"Why are you crying, Naruto?" He whispered softly, tightening his hold on his friend. He lifted his hands to cradle the head of blonde to his shoulder even tightly.
"I am no." Naruto replied defiantly, but a sniffle betrayed him. "Why can't I ever make things work? Why does everyone have to betray me?"
"What do you mean?"
"First it was Mizuki-sensei, then the boy from the forest turned out to be Haku, then Kabuto turns out to be working for Orochimaru, and then you..." He trailed off momentarily. "Why can't anything good happen in my life?"
"Well, I don't know if it's any consolation, but I did come back because of you." Sasuke leaned his head on Naruto's lightly. "One day you'll open your eyes and find your most precious someone lying next to you and know that everything in the world will be okay."
(End of Chapter)
Well, that was the longest chapter I've ever written. With the lemon it comes to just over 5000. Course the lemon is only 800 more words, so. Heh heh. I need food.
Apologies to Kyuubi-chan who won't get to read this chapter until the middle of July. I'm sorry I couldn't get it out in time. I had sooo many problems with it.
I'd like to thank everyone who said to take my time. Of course, this lemon has been planned for a very very very long time now. I was never influenced by anything anyone said about them getting together. I actually had to add the whole Naruto running off because it seemed too fast.
To Yasai-chan: Are you sure you don't have a copy of my notes or something? I would say what I think happened to Sasuke and Itachi, but I don't want to ruin my story line.
To Random Person: I REMEMBER YOU! As soon as I saw the review I was like 'Hey, that name looks so familiar'.
To ochiba: Thank you for reviewing this story. I never planned on rushing their interaction for the sake of any reviewers. Heh heh. I'm taking your advice and not spoiling anything else that will come in future chapters. Thank you so much for the advice.
To lightdragon1987: I tried to keep Hinata in character according to how I thought she would develop over 5 1/2 years, but I guess not too many people saw that. I guess I should have introduced her earlier on to the story so they could get used to her first.
To the La/=/er: About that part (Itachi becoming an Anbu) if you noticed, his father was either a chuunin or a jounin, cause he still had the vest. I assume that he was a ninja who used his training to enforce Konoha law, instead of being ordered on missions. Also, back to the NaruHina thing, he talks like that because that's just who he is. He is blunt and abrasive, not to mention a little dense. Yay for Tsunade! That was written before I was reminded of her short temper in 89. Also, Hinata does see that Naruto likes Sasuke more than a friend, and she knows that there is no way her crush on him would compare to what he feels for Sasuke. So she takes herself out of the picture in hopes that they can figure it all out on their own. She only tried to get Naruto to stop talking about Sasuke because she didn't realise at the time how deep Naruto's feelings went.
To Teki Star: I sincerely doubt that this fic is the most popular one in the Naruto section. I know hundreds that are far superior to my own.
To Iceheart19: It wasn't that Itachi didn't want to be in the Anbu, he just realised that his father had totally forgotten about Sasuke's ceremony. I feel really bad for Sasuke because of how his parents are treating him. It's like he doesn't exist, and if he does, it's only to follow in the shadow of his brother. Itachi sees that too, and you can see him trying to help Sasuke through it without becoming jealous of his father's adoration of his Aniki. It almost makes me wish I'd been the one to murder the bastard.
To cwazy-azn2: The plotlines were actually a collaboration of a bunch of single stories that I decided to put into one. They were mostly little things I wanted to see played out (for example: the 'ghost' Naruto teasing Sasuke like that). And I really don't know how long it will take to finish this story. It all depends on my mood.
To Kreyana: I probably meant the LAST chapter (the ultimate ending so to speak). Ebisu's seal is something I made up because I figured he needed some sort of defence against what Naruto taught Konohamaru.
To Queen of Anime: Thank you for taking the time to read my story. It seems a lot of people are reading the whole thing in one go. Until I saw your application to my group, I didn't even know that this story had been mentioned in anyone else's author notes. And, of course I care that you liked the story. It lets me know that I've done something right at least. Thank you for reviewing.
BIG THANK YOU TO AKANOSHIKA who told people to read this story. Thanks!!
Edit: Because of what Pale Rider said, and the fact that I agree with what they said, the last tiny scene was cut. It simply did not fit in with the tone of the rest of the chapter. Thank you (See, reviews really do matter).