Author's Note: Yo, what's up? Horrendously long wait again (not that you all need to be reminded), so I'm sorry about that. I'm sure I could find plenty of excuses, but I don't have time to make them. -sweat-

So uh... I tried to make this chapter longer than the other ones (and I did! Aren't you proud?), but I actually don't like it so much. It just... eh, I don't like it. Anyway, it has some more making out and stuff, and some Sasuke being OOC, but no romance. Sorry, that's the way things work in hoska-land... making-out first, love later. At least in this story. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, I almost forgot, I have a new story going on, called "The Shining Glass." Which is also SasuNaruSasuWhatever. You might want to check it out, it's better than this one, LOL.

(edit 11/21/05)

Reviewer Responses:

Each chapter, I will randomly select five reviewers to answer to, though each review will be read and stored in a special place in my heart. Flames will be used to respectfully cremate all the victims that died of the sappiness of my last statement.

melmit: Lol, I'm glad you're liking the story so far, and that the pacing isn't too rushed. It goes really slow in this chapter, though, I'm afraid, since half of it is flashback, but we should get back to normal again pretty soon. Ah, yes, sexual tension, one of my favorite things to incorporate in SasuNaru stories. There'll definitely be some of that, and probably some jealousy, too, though I'm not quite sure how yet. Thanks a lot for your review!

demon-flying: Thank you for your review, and for your nice words! Sorry it took me so long to get up!

SitDog-Boy: Haha, I'm sorry for making you wait so long to see what happens! WOW, the best? That's so great to hear! Thank you so much for your review, I hope you keep liking the story!

Twin Sun Leader: Thanks, I'm glad you like it so much and that you think it's intriguing. (I always like hearing that kind of thing!) I hope you keep liking it, and that the pacing stays good for you. Thanks again for the review!

lordessofchaos: Thanks so much for your review, what you said about the scenes really made me smile! I'm glad you like how I wrote Naruto and Sasuke, though I'm afraid their kinda out of character in this chapter. I hope you still enjoy it!

Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I'm just floored by every word of encouragement. You all help me keep going! -hugs you all-

Disclaimer and everything else: See the first two chapters, because I'm too lazy to state all that stuff again. :P

Unit Eight: In Need of Distraction

"Aaargh! I can't believe the nerve of that bastard!"

Naruto stormed into his dark apartment with a look of absolute genocide on his face. Right then, he was in a worse mood than that time when Lee snuck into his apartment and replaced all his orange jumpsuits with green bodysuits and he'd had to go get them back in nothing but his boxers, repulsed at the idea of walking a single step out of his apartment in spandex. At the time, he'd wanted to beat the overly-exuberant boy into the ground with his hitai-ate.

But that was over. Currently, he was entertaining thoughts of killing a certain raven-haired ninja. A certain raven-haired ninja who suddenly had him doubting every logical fiber in his being.

He tossed several plastic bags full of leftovers from the party (given to him by Iruka after they finished cleaning the house up) onto the table, not even bothering to turn the light on, and, after ripping his coat from his shoulders and dropping it to the floor noncommittally, made no hesitation in dragging himself to his bed and flopping his body down into the mussed up ball of processed, white cotton that was his sheets. He figured that if he slept off the incident, he'd feel much more prepared to forget the whole thing in the morning.

That's if he could get to sleep.


"By the way, about that kiss..." Sasuke brought up casually.

Naruto's brow immediately wrinkled, but he fought back a scowl and opted instead for a pout. He really didn't want to talk about it. In fact, he'd rather pretend it hadn't ever happened. Wouldn't Sasuke feel the same way? "What about it?"

The dark-haired boy's eyes faltered for a moment and he looked away. "...We should do it again."

"WHAT?" Naruto's jaw must've dropped so far it almost pulled him out of the tree. What on earth could have possessed Sasuke to say something that absurd? Was he sick? Was he trying to play some kind of prank? Yeah, that must've been it. Sasuke must've been expecting him to throw a punch at the clone or whatever it was up in the tree with him so that it would disappear in a puff of smoke, leaving the real Sasuke to laugh at Naruto's embarrassment. Except that Sasuke wasn't really the type to play jokes... or at least, he didn't used to be.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean right now, idiot. And don't be stupid, I know you're thinking I must be sick or something to suggest such a thing."

Naruto's eyes widened fractionally; he was suddenly dumbstruck for a whole new reason. Sasuke knew what he was thinking? No, that couldn't be right, they'd changed too much since the last time they'd really talked... It must have just been a lucky guess.

"It's just that... well, I'm sure you felt the difference. Before the... kiss, or whatever, we were both pissed. Afterwards, you just laughed it off like it was no big deal."

"That's because I don't always have a stick up my ass like someone else I could name." The blond crossed his arms and tried pointedly not to think of what the other boy was getting at by his previous statement.

"You have your moments."

"Like when?"

"Like now."

Naruto was beginning to get angry at Sasuke for the second time that night. "I do not!"

The dark-eyed boy still looked relatively unaffected and calm, though there was definitely a trace of agitation detectable in his voice as he replied, "Fine, idiot. Think whatever you want."

Naruto ground his teeth together, knowing his rising anger was completely obvious. How is it that they could speak to each other just fine sometimes but the second one of them brought up something they disagreed on, it escalated into this? Well, that at least hadn't changed about their relationship, though it seemed like some parts of it had. And other parts of it were still mutating, even as they sat in that very tree. He couldn't help but think about how they would've reacted to this type of situation when they were younger. He probably would've thrown the punch by now, and Sasuke would've easily dodged it and called him a stupid dead-last and then left, with Naruto yelling insults behind him. But instead, here he was, sitting there and listening to Sasuke of all people telling him he had an attitude problem.

Up to that point, Sasuke had been gazing at Naruto with that familiar, slightly irritated expression on his face, his mouth pressed into a firm line and his body rigid with well-practiced stoicism. Now, however, it seemed like the boy relaxed just a little, and his lips transformed into a cocky smirk. "Kiss me, now."

"You're crazy! No!" Naruto knew those were probably not the best words to use, but they had been the first things to jump out of his mouth. After all, 'kiss' and 'me' were the two words Naruto had wanted next to least to hear out of the other boy, but there he had gone and said them as if he didn't care at all. Why shouldn't Naruto do the same?

The blond watched as Sasuke allowed the edges of his smirk to take a downward turn, producing a sort of shallow frown. Something about the look in his eyes, though, said that he wasn't even close to backing down, and his next words—and actions—proved it. "Fine," he stated with an even, almost dangerous tone, "If you're too scared to do it yourself..."


After tossing and turning for something like an hour, Naruto decided that resistance was futile. It seemed like he was somehow jinxed into replaying the stupid night ceaselessly in his head, whether or not he wanted to.

Rising from his just-getting-warm-finally sheets and cursing how long it took to get comfortable in the winter, the blond stretched his arms over his head and took a few steps to the space heater in the corner of the room to turn it up a notch or two. He then made his way to the kitchen area of the tiny apartment.

"I should probably put those left-overs in the fridge anyway," he grumbled, still grouchy about having his attempts at sleep thwarted by unpleasantly confusing remembrances of raven hair, dark eyes, and pale-pink lips twisted into smirks and scowls.

Trying vainly to shake his head free of lingering thoughts and images, Naruto grabbed a cup of ramen and began hastily preparing it. He allowed his mind to be swept up in the familiar and happily Sasuke-less motions—boil the water, peel back the lid—and indulged in gazing at his surroundings as if for the first time. The place was pretty clean, with the exception of the left-overs—put those away—but his house plants looked like they could use a good watering. Fill up the pitcher, go around the room. All the posters on his walls from when he was younger still remained, and his eyes scanned over them briefly, returning to his plants when they skimmed over the one, "Beat-"

His water was ready. He set the pitcher down—pour boiling water into the cup—and got out a pair of chopsticks. And then, leaning against the counter, began the torturous 3-minute wait. But what else was there to distract him?

His thoughts again began to drift unbiddenly.


Then I'll do it for you, was the silent end of the sentence.

Sasuke suddenly sat up on his heels, and in the blink of an eye, one hand was firmly against the bark on either side of Naruto's head, trapping him face to face with the other boy. The blond knew what was going to happen, but was somehow paralyzed by the intense fierceness in the dark eyes of his companion as they drew closer to his own.

His teeth were still gritted together and he may have been growling, his anger boiling from the base of his jaw upward. He vaguely wondered if his body was shaking at all, and what color his eyes were. He wasn't murderous yet, but he clasped his eyelids together just in case, though, he realized in retrospect, it might've been better to keep them open if there was a chance they might scare off his predator. A finger beneath his chin yanked his face up to a more accessible angle, and he wondered again at the fact that he wasn't beating the other boy down, or even really resisting at all.

Without any further warning, a pair of lips descended onto his own. They were firm and rough, but still gentler than they'd been earlier in the evening. They were chapped, much like his own, and he could feel the uneven friction where the dry spots caught on each other and stuck slightly. Shuddering at the queasy lack of aggression, Naruto moved his own lips in an effort to inflict force, hopefully but not definitely force toward getting Sasuke away from him.

It didn't work, of course. His brain, at the time, was a muddle of anger and tension and confusion, and why the hell was Sasuke doing this when they could just as easily fight their stress away with their fists instead of their mouths? Oh yeah, they were at a party. It wouldn't do to give Iruka's tree an impromptu trim by mistake.

Sasuke seemed to change his angle for a moment, allowing him to attack Naruto's lips more fully. Finally, he was getting a bit more violent, the way he was running his tongue across both of their lips. The blonde boy wasn't sure whether it was to smooth over the chapped areas or an attempt at getting into his mouth, but either way, it felt better, with his lips being able to slide against the other's like that. That didn't mean there was any way the kiss was going any further than it already had, though, Naruto decided, so he clamped his teeth and lips firmly shut.

This seemed to slow the other boy down a bit. A small bite was delivered to his locked lips, but he still refused to open up, like a stubborn boy at the dentist's office. Sasuke let up for a moment, obviously seeing that Naruto was going to make life as difficult as possible. Even with his eyes still closed, the blond could imagine the look of frustration on his darker counterpart's face.

He didn't, however, expect to suddenly find a hand on his hip, or a knee between his legs. "Don't be a bigger idiot than you already are," came the agitated breath next to his ear, "the point is to let yourself go."

"I don't trust you." His words came out a lot weaker than he'd planned, but they must've made at least some kind of impact, because only moments later, he felt a semblance of his personal space return as Sasuke pulled back slightly.

"Look at me," he commanded.

Naruto almost expected the Sharingan to stare back at him as he opened his eyes hesitantly. To his surprise, though, Sasuke looked... well, normal, with the exception of the more-irritated-than-usual expression he sported. "Yeah, what about you?"

"It's me, Sasuke. This is about stress relief, not romance, and I know you trust me enough for that, or you wouldn't have brought me back here, let alone invited me to this party." All of this was said with the utmost certainty, if the steady voice and unwavering, coal-black eyes were any indication.

Knowing that he'd give in to the other boy's logic if he gazed any longer upon his face laden with so much conviction, Naruto reclosed his eyes. He didn't want to be convinced, damnit. "Kissing is something lovers do. Not ex-rivals."

"We felt like rivals under that mistletoe, and not lovers at all."

"Damn you, bastard," his resolve began its inevitable crumble as a low, gutteral chuckle resounded from Sasuke's lips. Lips that were again nearing his own.


A knock on the door startled Naruto out of his memory, and he couldn't remember a time when he'd been more grateful. Getting back into the swing of where he was, he glanced down to his cup ramen, which he'd somehow managed to forget about, only to find that it was cold.

"Damnit, now I have to warm it up again," he muttered, And it's all that bastard's fault. He made his way unhurriedly to the door, where the visitor had begun knocking again impatiently. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Geez, what is this, Be a Bastard to Uzumaki Day?"

When he yanked open the door, however, he was shocked to find one Hyuuga Neji there, standing impassively as ever, with just a hint of business-like conduct etched into his body language. In truth, the white-eyed boy just wanted to get the visit over with as soon as possible. He wasn't in the greatest mood, and he was tired, and he'd eaten too many potato chips at Naruto's party. He wanted to sleep.

"Neji?"

"Naruto."

"Is there... something I can do for you?"

Neji shrugged dispassionately. "I just came to ask you a few questions... about you. And Uchiha."

The blond froze. Hyuuga... of course. Even if the tree hid us pretty well from everybody else, he probably saw me and Sasuke with our mouths attached! But why would he care? Ugh, I really don't want to talk about this... especially standing around in the middle of the apartment building like this... "Uh... come on in, Neji. You want some tea?"

The dark-haired boy stepped inside, not really casually. "No thank you, Naruto. I can't be here long."

"Oh, alright," Naruto shut the door behind them. He didn't press Neji's presence, not really wanting company that knew about his... interesting night, no matter how well it might work to distract him if they were to speak on a different topic.

As soon as they were comfortably inside, the Hyuuga began. "Forgive my bluntness, but why were the two of you kissing?" He knew his questions were probably unwelcome, but they had to be asked, and answered, and he figured that the best and least painful way to go about it would be to be as straightforward as possible.

"Uh... because we were standing under the mistletoe and Shikamaru made us?"

Neji's expression suddenly went from impersonal to frigid, effectively communicating that he was in no frame of mind to beat around the bush.

Well, it was worth a try, Naruto thought, ready to sweat buckets already. "Then... you mean the tree." A stiff nod. "Ahaha, well, a funny thing, that... You see, it wasn't really my intention to kiss the bastard at all..."

White eyes narrowed, clearly skeptical. "You were pinning him to the branch, practically sucking his face off."

A cough abruptly raked through the blonde boy's throat at the way his friend worded his statement, though he couldn't really deny it. It was just... surprising to hear it said so... so... exactly the way it was, now that he really thought about it. "Well, it took a lot of convincing! I really hadn't wanted to, I swear, I just got a little... carried away after it started, and really the whole thing is Sasuke-bastard's fault, because he was the one who wanted to or thought he had to prove this thing to me, and-"

"Naruto," Neji's tone immediately shut the other boy up. Raising a hand to rub at the bridge of his nose, he tried to be as frank as possible, hoping that no more rambling sessions would be instigated. "Just tell me, honestly, are you two..."

Before the older boy could finish, however, Naruto cut him off, sensing where the question was going. "No, definitely not anything like that," he exclaimed. Trying to relax a little in order to give a reasonable explanation, he took a deep breath before continuing. "See, before the whole mistletoe thing, the two of us had a really nasty fight, but I guess we spent most of our anger in the... kiss, or whatever." He knew he was beginning to blush like a fool, and in front of Neji, which was even worse, but he just had to dish out the reason somehow. "So later he suggested that it would be a good way to work off stress without killing each other, but I didn't agree, so he decided to... show me, I guess. He got me worked up purposely, and then... yeah. The tree."

Neji nodded in apparent understanding, and then turned to leave, having gotten what he came for. Before he could make his exit, though, Naruto had a question for him.

It had been bothering him since he'd let the Hyuuga in. "But why'd you come over just to ask me that? I mean, why do you care about it?"

The white-eyed young man turned to regard him, a calm expression back to gracing his features. "It's not that I care, per se," he explained. "I wouldn't have even been paying attention. It was Hinata-san who saw you first."

Naruto paled slightly. Hyuuga... of course.


tbc!

Thank you all for your support, and please keep reviewing! Every review I get is like a kick in the butt to get me writing, so I can't do it without you!