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The Long Way Home

Part 7

Cashed Up

Chapter 1/3

It took them another day and a half to get to the next town and by then the pair of them were very tired and even more hungry. They had hunted the morning after the party but nothing in the way of meat presented itself and they were too wary and not entirely hungry enough to eat random bits of foliage that they could not recognize apart from the fruit Sasuke had taken a liking to.

They were just getting closer to the town and arguing over what their first priority should be once they arrived.

"Food," Naruto said promptly. "Oooo, I wonder if they make ramen here."

"Clothes," Sasuke argued once more. "These suits are uncomfortable and not practical. Besides we look stupid walking around in formal travel dirty clothes."

"Ah, c'mon Sasuke, I'm dying here! Please can we get some food first?"

"No. It's late afternoon. I don't want to run the risk of the clothes shops shutting before we have a chance to buy anything. The food stalls won't shut as early."

Sasuke had a good point, but Naruto's stomach disagreed really loudly. Naruto figured he could stay in his inappropriate smelly suit for another week if it meant he could finally get a decent meal. But then...

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. We go get clothes first but then when we go look for dinner, we have to have ramen if they sell it."

"No deal. Besides, why do we have to eat the same thing anyway?"

That thought hadn't honestly crossed Naruto's mind. Over the past month they hadn't spent much time apart. He supposed he'd just gotten used to it.

"Well, I just assumed we'd eat together."

"We aren't married dobe, you can eat what you want where you want, we don't have to be together all the time. Actually, if you want to go get some food first that's fine by me, I'm going to find clothes."

There was no rule stating they had to stick together. They just had until now for convenience and safety's sake. But now that they were so far from where they had started, he doubted they were in much danger anymore.

So why the hell did he feel so worried all of a sudden?

Because of the feeling, when they did get to town and Sasuke started searching out a clothes shop, Naruto went along with him. Thankfully Sasuke didn't say anything about it, but he did look around at his unexpected shadow and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I can wait," Naruto said simply while steadfastly not looking directly at Sasuke.

At this point they didn't have much in the way of belongings. They had the clothes on their backs, their new satchel and little else. Before going to the Saito residence in the last town, Naruto had made sure to hide what few possessions he still had in his pockets, not being sure what he had been walking into at the time, and had recovered his head protector and other assorted items from where he had buried them near the river for safe keeping on the way out of town. For some unknown reason he hadn't wanted to lose his protector. It identified him as a Konoha ninja and was an important part of his life. All he knew was that he felt better knowing it was safe in the bag along with their ill-gotten money. He still felt bad about the money though but at least it would help them along on their journey. Clothes and food by this point being an absolute necessity.

They were still a fair way out of ninja lands so the shops didn't have anything obviously appropriate, but the styles weren't too bad and the pair didn't have any problems finding themselves new outfits before the stores closed for the night.

Sasuke ended up in a shirt much like the one Naruto had ripped in half only a deep blue color this time and longer than the previous one, reaching down mid thigh and covering the top part of his new dark grey pants. It still tied together at the side leaving a long vee of pale skin at the neck and much of his arms bare as well but it seemed appropriate enough for the warm weather. And his dark grey pants at least weren't the same as before. Naruto meanwhile had ended up buying a pair of olive green pants and an orange short-sleeved shirt done up with a zip. Sasuke had just rolled his eyes.

"Trust you to find that horrible color."

"I look hot, you can admit it,"

"You want me to lie to you?"

"C'mon teme, you've got new clothes, let's get something to eat."

Naruto had also bought a black t-shirt just to have something else to wear when needed and Sasuke had gotten a duplicate shirt to the one he already had in deep purple and longer sleeves. All in all, they both felt their first shopping trip had been a success.

Naruto saw the brilliance in the clothes Sasuke had bought that night when the pair were getting ready for bed and Sasuke was wearing his new shirt like pajamas without the bottoms. It was weird, the shirt only just covered what it needed to and although they'd spent plenty of time around each other naked lately it seemed somehow more revealing than anything else.

Stupid Sasuke, makes any bit of clothing look like a courtesan's wardrobe.

"You look stupid," Naruto told him.

"I'm going to sleep, I'm not dressing to look good."

Well he certainly failed there. Actually his shirt reminded Naruto a lot of the robes worn by the guests at the party. Which just served to give him even more uncomfortable visuals.

"It must hurt," Naruto commented.

Sasuke laid down with his arms behind his head and looked up at the ceiling with a bland expression.

"As usual you've started a story in the middle without any indication of where it was supposed to begin."

"At the party," Naruto began before realizing maybe this wasn't the best conversation to be having with anyone, ever, least of all Sasuke who'd probably not care what he thought or laugh at him or tease him or something equally as jerkish.

It was a pity really. His whole life he'd never had a friend his own age he could talk to without fear of being made fun of or made to feel stupid. Sasuke was the closest thing he'd ever had to a best friend and the bastard had left just when they'd been starting to get close.

"What, being chained to the wall?"

"Uh yeah," Naruto lied lying down on his blankets and turning away from Sasuke to face the opposite wall so Sasuke couldn't see his expression. It didn't matter though, apparently, his tone hadn't been convincing enough.

It took Sasuke a few silent moments of trying to figure it out but eventually, he caught on to what Naruto had really meant to say.

"Sex doesn't hurt moron. Otherwise people wouldn't enjoy it so much. Well unless it's rough, or forced. But that wasn't happening at the party."

Well at least Sasuke wasn't making fun of him he supposed and he'd already guessed Naruto's virgin status so what the hell?

He turned back over to see Sasuke watching him still with that unreadable expression.

"That's not really what I meant. I know it's supposed to feel good, I just meant, I mean, some of the things they were doing..."

"You mean the guys."

"Wasn't just the guys getting the treatment from what I saw, but yeah. I guess you saw as much as I did."

"Hard not to since everyone was all over the place doing whatever they wanted to. Nobody was being hurt, just the opposite considering the sounds I heard."

"Have you ever done anything weird with a girl. I mean you have been with one right?"

"I haven't." Sasuke cut him off.

"Wait," Naruto said with wide eyes, "Does that mean you, you know?"

Sasuke gave him his usual jerky little half smile. "I never said I've had sex before. You just assumed."

"That's not fair! You gave me so much crap about being a virgin when you still are too! What the fuck?"

"I only said your virginity was obvious."

Which was true, but it still wasn't fair as far as Naruto was concerned.

"How the hell are you still a virgin anyway? You have girls falling all over themselves for you."

"Doesn't mean I want to have sex with them."

"So you're picky," Naruto concluded willing his cheeks not to redden at Sasuke's tone.

"I suppose. Maybe 'uninterested' is a better word."

"How can you be uninterested?"

"You tell me. You could have had anyone at that party but you acted like it all turned your stomach."

"That was different. They were going to pay me to have sex with them."

"So? Your first time doesn't have to be some special magical moment. Other people pay for sex their first time, I don't see how it's such an issue."

"Yeah but they're not usually the ones getting paid. C'mon Sasuke even you with your don't-care attitude wouldn't have actually had sex with someone there."

"That's true," Sasuke admitted. "But it's a choice thing. I like to have choices about what I do."

"Is it like that thing when you said you'd rather me grope you than some stranger?"

Sasuke took a moment to answer but eventually he said, "Yes."

"I get it. You'd rather someone of your choosing rather someone that chose you, even if that choice was someone you didn't really want either."

"Basically."

"Well I get what you're trying to say, but I don't totally understand that. I'd be flattered if someone chose me out of anyone else they could have."

"That's because you aren't used to the attention," Sasuke told him bluntly.

"That's cold, teme. But I guess you're right. Some girl holding a special crush on you isn't exactly rare to find. Some us don't have that luxury."

"That's because you don't look. You shout to everyone that will listen about how great you are, how you're going to be Hokage and all that but you really have very little self-confidence when it comes to relationships with people or how you look. It's really annoying to hear you complain about it."

"When did this become about me?"

"It's your turn," Sasuke told him simply. "I'm sure plenty of girls have a crush on the hero of the village but you just don't notice because you aren't used to the attention and can't see it for what it is."

"How the hell would you know?" Naruto asked just a little irritated. "You don't know what my life has been like in the last five years.

"No, but I know you and you haven't changed all that much."

"Whatever Sasuke, I think I would have noticed if a girl wanted to be with me." But then Naruto remembered something. "You know Hinata told me she loved me, but I don't really know if she meant she was all in love with me or anything romantic like that."

"Didn't you ask?"

"Uh, no," Naruto replied sheepishly. "But it was real hectic at the time. Pain was attacking and then the Cloud ninja turned up saying they were going to hunt you down and kill you and I got a bit distracted."

"A girl confessed her love to you and you instead got distracted by what someone was going to do to me?" Sasuke asked half surprised and half irritated.

"Sounds stupid when I say it out loud," Naruto admitted. "Sakura told me she loved me too but I knew she was lying. She was still in love with you but she was trying to stop me going after you."

"So Sakura told you she was in love with you and you called her a liar."

"Pretty much."

"You're more stupid than I thought and that's saying a lot. So here's a big question for you, who are you in love with? Because listening to that litany it sounds like the person you are really in love with is me."

"Ha ha, very funny asshole. It's not like I spent every waking moment trying to find you. It's just a coincidence, that's all."

"Just a thought, you can see why I'd get the wrong impression."

"If you're talking about in the box when I kissed you it was just because I wanted to find out why you were being all weird. I asked, but you wouldn't tell me."

"So what did your little experiment tell you?"

"That you have a really complicated and moody sense of personal space."

"Well, at least it wasn't for nothing then."

"I really wish you'd stop teasing me teme. You were never like this before, you were always doom and gloom and must avenge clan. I suppose it explains your sense of humor though. It's crap 'cause of lack of use."

Sasuke didn't say anything at first but he didn't seem angry either.

"Isn't this what you wanted?"

"What do you mean?"

"You used to go on about this bond we share, how close we were and then you get freaked out because I actually talk to you like a friend might?"

Was Sasuke thinking about when he'd gotten pissed at him about the 'not being friends' comment just after they'd crossed the border? If so Naruto was shocked Sasuke would care about that or even try makes amends for it. He hadn't seemed to care at the time after all.

"You weren't really ever that kind of friend," Naruto replied honestly, still surprised Sasuke would bring this up.

"So you wanted a friend who didn't act like a friend?"

"I didn't mean that. You weren't that kind of friend, but I sort of hoped that one day you would be," Naruto told him softly.

"Close ties with people only hurt you in the end," Sasuke told him evenly. "You should understand that by now."

"So you keep saying. So what, are you throwing me a fake pity friendship now or something, is that what you are doing?"

"I'm not trying to do anything, why would I? It's kind of a relief not to be trying to hard to do anything actually."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked curiously, crawling a little closer so he could see Sasuke's expression.

"All of the old problems, everything I felt I had to deal with is all now very far away. Literally. There's nothing I can do but focus on each new problem as it comes up. It made me angrier at first, but realizing there is nothing you can do about it for now is actually somewhat liberating."

Sasuke met his eyes for a moment and then looked sharply away as though angry and embarrassed he'd admitted such a thing out loud. And Naruto was completely surprised yet again that he had confessed to such a feeling at all but Naruto could understand his point. Naruto was eager to get home because he had things and people he loved waiting for him there. All Sasuke had was painful reminders, loneliness and what must have felt like an overwhelming sense of pressure. No wonder he seemed a little different from his usual self sometimes.

"I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining," Naruto told him with a small smile. "I like the new you. Well, sometimes. When you aren't teasing me or making fun of me."

"I did that before," Sasuke pointed out.

"Yeah, but now you do it with less... Sasukeness."

"I'm not sure if that's offensive or not."

"Best not to think about it."

Sasuke smirked at him. "Now you're teasing me."

"You deserve it, jerk."

"Moron."

"Bastard."

"Virgin."

"Hey! So are you!"

"Yeah, but I don't find the information insulting."

Which was probably true. Sasuke cared so little about what other people thought and people in general seemed like such a hassle for him to deal with so it wasn't a shock to understand now why being a virgin wouldn't faze Sasuke in the least. It also went a long way to explaining why he still was one too. But still, he had to have some interest. What teenage guy didn't?

"So just what girl in the whole wide world is good enough for Uchiha Sasuke anyway? I know you said you want it to be someone you pick and not just random girl that makes moon eyes at you. But you have to have some idea."

"I don't care, I haven't thought about it."

"Never been tempted?"

Sasuke paused. "Never."

"Liar!" Naruto crowed triumphantly. The little pause, the hesitant tone was so unlike Sasuke that Naruto knew he had to be lying.

"Fine I was tempted."

"Hah, I knew it. Pretty?"

"Not really a word I would use."

"Oh. Let me guess, some big busted dark haired no nonsense type."

"No."

"C'mon, at least give me something!"

"Their bust was inconsequential."

"Well, that was informative," Naruto remarked sarcastically. "One moment you're all chatty, the next you're same old Sasuke

"Whatever," Sasuke replied turning over, away from Naruto.

Naruto closed the distance between them and then lying on his stomach across the space between their beds, his legs still on his own futon, braced up by his elbows, he rested his chin in the crook of Sasuke's neck and sighed. Sasuke didn't even flinch this time.

"Ne, Sasuke?"

"What?"

"No matter what, you are still my friend no matter what you say. New you, old you, in between you, I don't care."

"How touching," Sasuke replied insincerely. "Get off me."

Naruto didn't move. "I want to do something tomorrow. With the money we have, we should see if we can get you a new sword."

"Why?" Sasuke asked a little surprised.

"Because we have no weapons and even without chakra, you're really good with a katana."

"What about you?"

"Without my chakra, I'm better off relying on unarmed fighting anyway."

"Aren't you wary of arming me with such a thing while you have nothing?"

"No," Naruto replied without hesitation. "I trust you. Besides, my fists aren't nothing."

He rested his lips against the back of Sasuke's neck for a few seconds before drawing away and crawling back to his own futon.

"G'night, Sasuke."

"Yeah... whatever " Sasuke replied hesitantly.

TBC

See you tomorrow. :)