Chapter 10
Posted July 26th, 2022
When they go out in the street, it's dark and the weather is very pleasant. They fall into an easy conversation while Naruto leads them to "the best restaurant in the world, believe it!". They stop at a ramen place that is open despite the late hour. Sasuke supposes Naruto frequents the place because as soon as the owner sees her, he beams at her and comes to greet them.
"Oooh, Naruto-chan! Welcome! We hadn't seen you in a while, we were starting to get worried!"
"Is it Naru-chan!?" A young woman comes from the back and goes around the counter to hug Naruto. "And who is that?" The young woman turns to look at Sasuke. Her eyes widen and her cheeks become flushed. People have this reaction when they see Sasuke often but now that it's happening in front of his romantic interest, it makes Sasuke uncomfortable. On the outside he doesn't flinch, of course, a true Uchiha.
Naruto lets out a hearty laugh and redirects the other woman. "I'm just taking my friend Sasuke here to try the most delicious food in the world! If you could sit us somewhere in a corner, Ayame-chan, that would be super great."
That seems to snap Ayame out of the trance she's been in since noticing Sasuke.
"Huh… Oh yes! I have the perfect seat for you guys! Follow me!"
She takes them and sits them at a booth kind of further away from the others, close to a little statue. The restaurant is not packed, but they both appreciate the privacy this seating allows them.
"Here you go! Any friend of Naru-chan's welcome here any time!" Ayame stresses her words and turns to Naruto to wink at her before walking away. When Sasuke looks at Naruto again, she is covering half of her face with the menu, blushing, muttering something at the direction where Ayame had left. Sasuke finds this exchange and the results of it very endearing and relaxes even more. He can still feel the alcohol, but the buzz has mostly worn out, especially after walking around. He now feels just a pleasant tranquility and doesn't know if it is a leftover effect of the alcohol, the brutal orgasm, or being with Naruto, or all three.
They order and when Naruto drinks water through her straw, Sasuke just stares at her. Those lips of hers, wrapped around his cock not too long ago…
"What?" Naruto withdraws from the straw and looks at Sasuke.
Sasuke blinks, realizing he had been staring. He shifts in his seat and spreads his legs further to accommodate the slight erection that had built from his thoughts.
"Hn. Nothing". Sasuke says but not in the mean Uchiha way. "I'm just wondering how come a ramen shop is your favorite place." That seems to almost trigger Naruto and she pushes her cup to the side, puts her elbows on the table.
"Are you kidding!? Just wait, this will be the best meal you've ever had! Just the way old man Teuchi and Ayame-chan make every ingredient by themselves, from the noodles to the meat to the veggies…"
Naruto goes on to passionately explain the details of ramen-making which Sasuke could not possibly care less about. What he cares about though is the addictive intonation of her husky voice, the fervor she talks with, and the satisfaction of basking in her complete and undivided attention. Well, maybe slightly divided when the ramen comes and Naruto starts to eat like she's never had a meal in her life. Sasuke also eats and while it's arguably the best ramen Sasuke's had, he's had better food overall. However, sitting here in a secluded booth with Naruto after a great night, has the potential of making this the best meal of his life like Naruto had promised. Sasuke watches her more and something in his chest gets warmer and warmer, like he'd spilled hot tea with honey on his chest and now his very heart was soaking up the warmth and the honey.
"What made you go into medicine?"
Sasuke pauses at that. Apart from the status of doctor and medicine possibly being the hardest schooling there is (Sasuke naturally being drawn to excel like a typical Uchiha), he had other reasons he hadn't spoken out loud to anybody before. And yet, he finds himself saying to Naruto now, "Because I think at least part of my family could have been saved but they weren't."
Sasuke blinks, startled at his own answer. He doesn't know what had made him share this deepest revelation with Naruto in a ramen shop when he had not even shared it with his brother or with the school committee when he was interviewed. Sasuke feels the back of his eyes burn at his own sincerity and he looks down, stirs the leftovers of his ramen to distract himself and not give power to the oncoming emotions he was good at repressing.
Suddenly, Sasuke feels somewhat emotionally off-balance. He dares to glance up at Naruto – the steady blue eyes looking at him help ground Sasuke. There is no pity or sorry like he would normally expect – one of the reasons why he never told people his whole family had died in a tragedy.
Naruto had assumed that something tragic had happened to Sasuke's family when Itachi had offhandedly mentioned months ago at the theatre that there were only three Uchihas left. Besides, she had noticed a darkness and anger inside Sasuke the very first day she had met him. Itachi carried the same tragedy on his shoulders, but Naruto could see forgiveness in his eyes. With Sasuke, Naruto could see and feel vengeance. Somehow the same tragedy resulted in a bigger burden for Sasuke.
Tragedy was something Naruto knew well. She knew pity was not what Sasuke needed or wanted.
"Were you the youngest?" She asks.
Sasuke looks at her for a moment before answering, "Yes. Why?"
Naruto shrugs her shoulders. "You probably had it the worst. Itachi at least was older." Naruto takes a sip of her water and smiles at him gently.
Sasuke looks at Naruto and evaluates her. He is sober now with food in his belly, a pleasant calmness has settled in his chest with Naruto's company. Somehow, he doesn't feel uncomfortable talking to her about the dark things in his life, even if just barely scratching the surface. He didn't feel forced to talk about it like he had during therapy and with Itachi, it just came out naturally with Naruto. Maybe another day he would tell her more about it but for now, that was a bigger step than he had ever taken, bringing it up on his own. Sasuke as if feels yet another wall come down in his chest in Naruto's presence. He catches himself smiling back at her.
They eat some more and chat about other things. Naruto tells him about a play she has coming up, seems like she needed to rehearse for most of summer.
"What made you go into acting?" Sasuke asks but he feels it shouldn't be a question at all. She seemed so natural to him in that way that he would be perplexed if she was to do anything else.
"My mother was very expressive. She was an opera singer. I remember looking at her, admiring her when I was younger. I would try to imitate her, act out the opera scenes I'd see her practicing when she'd take me to rehearsal with her. I guess that's where it started." Naruto smiles and rubs the back of her head.
The past tense Naruto uses does not go unnoticed by Sasuke. But just like with Naruto earlier, Sasuke knows not to press and ask further unless invited. He feels they'll have a deeper conversation about all that another time, but today wasn't that day. Regardless, he understands now why Naruto understood his tragedy so well even without knowing all about it and why she was so easy to talk to. Sasuke realizes he barely knows Naruto but cannot help but feel surprisingly close to her and comfortable in her presence.
When they check out and leave, they proceed to slowly walk the streets. Naruto does most of the talking – with anyone else, Sasuke would find it annoying, but he cannot look away from her and is mesmerized by her presence. The warmth in his chest blooms and he stops her mid-step and mid-sentence, leans in and kisses her. He holds her jaw and draws her close to kiss slowly. Their tongues gently caress each other and Naruto leans into him. When they part, Sasuke looks down at her, soaking up her bright eyes and warm smile. Naruto slips her hand into his and as if nothing happened, they continue their walk and conversation.
The sun paints the sky orange and yellow before sunrise. Naruto and Sasuke reach a park where they sit at a swing and talk, looking at the sunrise. Sasuke has his arm around Naruto's shoulders and feels like he never wants to be without her warmth by his side ever again. Sasuke is sober now but feels more and more drunk and high off the feeling of being with Naruto and how that makes him feel. He holds her chin and kisses her then, the kiss growing more passionate and lustful by the second. Sasuke feels her against him, hot and willing much like a few hours ago at the bar. He holds her waist and hip and when she grinds against him, he helps her move over to straddle him. Having Naruto on top of him now, warm and with hazy eyes, Sasuke knows for sure he must have her.
Their mouths lock again in a fierce kiss. Sasuke grabs her ass and draws her to grind right over his crotch. Naruto moans into the kiss, feeling Sasuke hot and hard in his jeans. Sasuke's hands snake under her dress and lift it up to knead her ass and grind her right against his crotch. Naruto rubs against his erection, her panties rubbing right over the rough material of his jeans and the warm hardness underneath, stimulating her clit and her senses. Sasuke moves down to lick and bite at her throat in a fit of possession, wanting to taste and mark every part of her. Naruto fists his hair and claws at his shoulders, loving the rough treatment. Sasuke feels drunk all over again as he kneads her ass cheeks harder, grinds against her with powerful thrusts. He looks up at her with cloudy black eyes and sees how Naruto bites her lip looking down at him, whimpering and letting out little curses. They could both finish like this, they feel, as they grind against each other on the swing.
A sound goes off in Naruto's bag then, an alarm on her phone. At first, she doesn't hear it because of the high of the moment, but the alarm gets louder and louder and now Sasuke is grabbing for her bag, giving it to her. Naruto takes her phone out and turns off the alarm. Naruto rests her forehead against Sasuke's, breathing hard, looking in each other's eyes.
Naruto rolls off of Sasuke, pulls her dress down for the second time this night, and sits a few moments in silence to completely catch her breath. Sasuke sits up, adjusts his jeans, and wills himself to fight the erection down. They hadn't even noticed when the sun had come up and there were now sounds of people starting to fill the streets. Soon, there will be people and kids in the park.
"That was my alarm for rehearsal," Naruto says. "I have a play tonight and the final rehearsal is this morning. I need go home, shower and change, and then get to rehearsal."
Sasuke feels the tinge of guilt. Naruto didn't have the summer off like him and he didn't even think to ask if she had the next day free when it was becoming obvious they were going to spend the whole night together.
"Hey," Naruto grabs his hand, having noticed the guilt in his black eyes, "I had a great time. Awesome even! I made the choice to stay out."
"Will you have time to rest in between?" Sasuke asks with concern.
"Yes, I should be done around noon, I'll just nap then and be like new!" Naruto grabs her bag and jacket and stands up. "I really need to go now though. I can't be late for this one."
Sasuke nods and helps Naruto get a taxi. Before she gets in, Sasuke can't help but steal one last kiss from her.
"Text me." She says as she gets in and closes the door. Sasuke watches as the taxi drives away. There is a small smile on his face as he walks home. The smile doesn't fall as he showers, changes, and goes to bed. The warmth in his chest as if continues to intensify just at the thought of his time with Naruto.
