!Warning/Disclaimer!
This story – this ancient, undying thing – is an angsty, sorta-dark unhappy love story. The characters don't belong to me, I just have fun throwing them together and dumping in the angst. Sasuke...is not in a good place, and Naruto isn't anywhere near normal, either. This story contains lots of sex and swearing, abuse/non-con and a road through the storm. Eventually. There's a lot of mental fuckery that comes first.
This is Rated R, for a reason. Please read accordingly.
...and if you were around when this was first put up, uh...Hi? I'm not dead? This fic has not and, I fear, will never die and I'm determined to see this shit through. As a bonus, this has been worked over and fixed for flow and clarification.
~white, surge red~
:part five:
The house looms over him with peeling paint and a dusty, unused look to it; Sasuke isn't exactly sure how he arrived at the steps of his empty home. He doesn't remember walking down the road with its dark windows and silent streets, doesn't care about the rumpled, bloodstained clothing or the blood drying on his skin.
No, he had simply walked, thoughts whirling with the memory of fighting with Naruto. Thoughts of being better and faster and superior, thoughts of how good it felt, fighting, how thrilling and intense and painful. Fighting is never painless and every time his minds strays past it, a sick sense of excitement chokes him.
He let me I knew he'd let me brushes through his thoughts, dark and louder with each heartbeat that thumps through his skull and he can't stop thinking about it, can't stop it and he doesn't even want to stop this—
—this game-it's all part of this game and I'll win I always win—
A smile pulls at his mouth, hard-edged and bruised and Sasuke shudders, head down. All but begged me to fuck him, he thinks and remembers how it felt to touch him, how it felt to hold him down and the noises and—
—and next time—Sasuke raises his hand and pushes open his door; he doesn't bother to lock it anymore. There's nothing of value. He steps inside and slips out of his shoes thoughtlessly and drops the laundry onto the floor. There will be a next time.
Perhaps it'll be as soon as tomorrow, perhaps not. Sasuke doesn't know; a part of him is eager-bright and keen to test these limits and power—such power over the other—but he isn't certain. Naruto is unpredictable and Sasuke knows the value of waiting and patience. Naruto is strong and Sasuke knows that to really win at this, to prove to the idiot that he was the inferior one, he'd have to be careful. Sasuke has no assurance that Naruto would allow it a second time, but—
—he wanted it he did he's mine and I will break him—
Next time, dobe stupid dobe…and his thoughts tumble over and under and apart, unfinished.
-::-
(day 15)
Sasuke's watching him through the open door. Naruto knows that Sasuke thinks he isn't aware of it, but he is. He can feel it prickle over his skin so he stays on his stomach out on the bed and pretends to sleep. The sunlight is warm on his back, and he can hear the sounds of the late lunch being made.
Naruto can't stop thinking about it. He can't stop wanting to think about it. It hasn't happened again even though Sasuke glances at him oddly sometimes, but mostly, Naruto is refusing to nicely accept the fact that it did happen. That it hurt and it didn't, that he liked it, sorta, and—
It wasn't that bad, he tells himself. Naruto pulls the blanket closer to his face and examines the weave through half-closed eyes. It wasn't, but it's Sasuke—
Sasuke is standing at the bedroom door, silent, and Naruto can smell the rice and the outdoor sweat smell that Sasuke gets from training. What do I do when he starts asking questions? I can't…
"I'm not hungry," he murmurs before he can stop himself. Yeah—deny deny deny.
"It'll be on the table," comes Sasuke's voice and Naruto has to close his eyes, covers his face with the blanket.
-::-
(day 16)
"Oiy, Naruto—? Are you there?" Tsunade slips into the room, shutting the door behind her and dropping the small bag of items she brought with. For a moment she wonders if Naruto is even in the apartment; the boy is nowhere in sight.
"mmmhrg…Tsunade-hag?" she hears softly in the bedroom.
He must be in the bedroom, then. Probably sleeping. She walks to the door, peering in and pushing it open gently. "There you are—what are you doing still in bed at this time of day, you lazy brat?"
"I'm tired," Naruto says, upright in the bed but rumpled and sleepy. He rubs at his eyes with one loose fist, yawns. "…'snot like I have stuff to do…"
"Well, I've just come to check on you. How are you feeling?"
Naruto shrugs, staring up with groggy blue eyes, blinking, yawning again. Tsunade fights off a reflexive yawn herself and sits on the bed near Naruto. She takes a wrist between her fingers, skimming over with both mind and fingertip.
"How often have you been sleeping, Naruto?" she questions absently. "You haven't been overdoing it? No training?" she pauses, setting his hand aside to press fingers to his temple. Hmm. "Have you been fighting?"
His chakra spikes into subtle shades of bluish-purple and she wonders what it means. She watches his fingers twitch and hears, "No. Setting traps for Sasuke-bastard doesn't count. And I don't get as tired as I did before."
"Mmm, good, good." She pauses and compares how he senses to her, how he is now and wonders. It isn't a good feeling. She sits, tilting his head as she touches the deeper weaving of chakra.
Kakashi was right; Naruto's moods in correlation to his chakra…but what was it that she was missing? The drop in chakra was subsiding; he was stabilizing, but why? "Has Uchiha been here today?" she asks, absently. "He's not treating you poorly, is he? Getting you food and making sure things are done?"
Naruto's face shifts into irritation and scowls, petulant. "It's fine. I want to go outside. There's nothing to do and I'm going crazy," he says, flatly. "I don't care if Sasuke-bastard has to babysit me 'cause it pisses him off. Make him take me outside."
"Have you asked him yourself?"
"No."
"Well, I'll talk to him about it. I'm not sure if it's safe enough to go out, yet. What if you get tired, all of a sudden, and fall asleep in the street?"
"Then he'll have to carry me home, won't he?" Naruto mumbles. He rubs at his face again, yawning. "Am I getting better yet?"
"Do you feel better?"
Naruto shrugs; the meaning of it escapes her. A shrugging Naruto could mean everything from 'Who knows?' to 'Duh.' and she isn't as quick to read it. She 'hmms' through a sigh and taps a finger against her chin. "Well," she says sourly, after a deep moment of consideration. "If he's willing, I don't see a problem with you outside. But no stress or training, and no fighting," she reminds him.
Naruto's sweet, tiny smile and the brightening expression—if a bit mischievous—is almost worth the doubt that still coils in her middle.
-::-
When Sasuke shows up later that afternoon, Naruto doesn't bother in avoiding him. Instead, he follows Sasuke to the edge of the kitchen, instantly ignored, watching the dark-haired boy drop apples in his sink. Ramen goes unceremoniously into the freezer. Finally, Naruto announces, "I wanna go outside, bastard."
Sasuke's response is a measured and insolent "No."
"Tsunade-hag said you could, and I'm bored. Take me outside."
"No."
"I want to go outside," Naruto stresses patiently. "Sucks that you'll fail the mission if you don't."
"I have no reason to take you outside," Sasuke's voice is monotonous. His dark eyes are amused in a weird way; irritated and cunning. Naruto knows the look is because Sasuke enjoys pissing him off. "Shut up and go clean up your apartment if you're bored."
Just to irritate him further, Naruto gives him a narrow-eyed grin. "That's your job, asshole."
-::-
(day 17)
It isn't a conscious decision. It isn't even a ripple on the surface, but when Sasuke kicks the door open the next day after the idiot's stupid demands, laden with a bag of food and laundry, always laundry, he sees Naruto there across from him. Standing there, legs bunched and muscles flexing under the fabric of his shirt, heaving at the couch.
Again.
Is he still doing this? Sasuke thinks and the sight nearly stops him cold and then it's there, flashing in hot prickles under his skin. "What are you doing, dobe?" Sasuke asks over the unholy anticipation and drops the food just inside the doorway. Maybe today—
There's a huff and Naruto straightens, barely glances his way, wiping at his face. "Rearranging, jerk."
"Why?" Sasuke smirks. "It already looks like shit."
Naruto doesn't like that he hadn't heard the door, hadn't heard or felt Sasuke's approach; he kicks at the couch and slides it another three inches to the left. This, somehow, is more important. It pulls at him, drives him, because to have it any other way is an irritation so strong he wants to peel off his skin.
But he doesn't care, even when Sasuke's measuring gaze is on his body and he can feel the way Sasuke's eyes say more about his intentions than his mouth or body—he doesn't care and wants to be insulted.
He should be insulted and isn't. Still, Naruto watches through narrow eyes as Sasuke disappears into the bedroom with a sack of clothes. A muffled thump tells him that Sasuke must have thrown it onto his bed and a moment later Sasuke reappears.
But why is he—Sasuke's still watching him and his eyes still have that funny gleam and Naruto doesn't know why but bares his teeth, aggravated, and Sasuke—who hasn't stopped staring since reappearing—walks closer. He slows when he gets near, stepping out to the side and around while Naruto scowls at him.
The silence seems to scream between them—
And then it explodes when Naruto drops low and kicks out—Sasuke is too close, now—he feels his foot connecting with Sasuke's elbow pushing his leg away almost immediately. Sasuke already has the upper hand; Naruto suspects that until he can actually train again, the bastard will have the upper hand for a long time. There's a kick to the back of the leg he's braced on and then he's struggling and twisting like an angry cat when Sasuke pins him belly-down over the back of the couch.
Stupid bastard, he thinks, just before Sasuke's mouth grazes his ear and his words drop free in the worst mocking way. "Is this better?"
Naruto exhales sharply, head tossing in an effort to squirm around and snaps out "What? What did you say!?"
"The couch, dobe. Is it better?"
"I—" Naruto's gaze drops to the ratty, dirty blue couch, faded to gray in spots and ripped and Sasuke wants to—is it better here? He wants to do it here?
Now?
His heart thumps. "No, I—" Naruto tries, confused and drowning in the quicksilver heat spreading through his body because of Sasuke—I don't—here? I'm not done yet, he thinks, wanting to say it and feeling Sasuke's teeth graze the skin at the back of his jaw. Hands steal around, painful tugging hands and the nipping and Sasuke's hips against his ass and he wants to do it here? goes through his head again. Now.
Right now.
"Is it?" Sasuke breathes and the blond can hear that funny, hard-edged anger between the words, hates the tainted way it sounds. "Answer me, dobe."
Naruto bristles, twisting briefly against Sasuke's hold, snarling "Dammit, Sasuke—"
"Answer me!"
Naruto tenses against his will, breath catching in his throat and he doesn't know if the flutter in his belly is a good thing. It startles him, this feeling, makes him sick because it's low and devious to feel glad that anyone—even Sasuke—would consider it—
…I can't do this I can't let it go this far—I shouldn't—I can't—Naruto thinks but doesn't fight, doesn't push or bite or scratch as Sasuke's teeth nip at the line of his neck. He doesn't flinch when hands pull at the waistband of his sweatpants—he doesn't even fight because he's half-hard already and there's a greedy noise in Sasuke's breathing that decides it for him. —better here, maybe but—but—
…I can, Naruto bites at his lip. I can—Sasuke wants it, he wants—we've already done it twice—this is what he wants, isn't it?
Sasuke's hips are fever-hot against his ass and he wordlessly kicksone foot free of his sweatpants when Sasuke pushes them down with the underwear, propping his knee on the arm of the couch so Sasuke can press closer. Shuddering, Naruto closes his eyes against the indignant thought the couch I'm bent over the fucking couch—
He barely gets a chance to breathe deeply before Sasuke's weight drops upon him and the warmest part is nudging up between his legs. He can hear Sasuke's exhale—no more words from him, yet—and Naruto doesn't know if there should be words for this sort of stupid, painful thing between them.
But Sasuke presses up closer, up against him and Naruto can feel the tip of his dick move and god it's gonna hurt again, hurt because Sasuke didn't seem to know how to wait on things and then—
He squeezes his eyes shut, gasping, fingers clenching in the torn fabric as Sasuke stretches in, taking him in until he just feels pain and full and raw and nothing else around him, nothing but the odd, soft skin against his ass. Nothing Sasuke's weight against his back, mouth on skin, bruising bites to counter the feather-brush of hair.
Nothing but the feeling of Sasuke inside him, again. Again. Oh god they were really—again—Naruto shudders, feeling white and paper-frail and full, pressing his parted mouth against his arm to keep any noises away. He can't stop the half-formed "a-ah!" when Sasuke's body shifts, moves—it fucking hurts—in and out and slow—
God how strange, it's slow and Naruto bites his lip at a brief flair of pain. Seconds tick away into a minute, into two, into something measured in breath and heartbeat. Until it's nothing but Sasuke, nothing but pressure and mild discomfort and weird, squicky way he slides in and out. His breathing. In-to and out-from and Naruto thinks I'm going to remember this couch for the rest of my life.
He finds it funny in a weird way, wants to whisper it over his shoulder and knows Sasuke'll laugh at him. Or stop. Or hit him and then stop—
He doesn't want to stop. Not now, not yet, not while the pleasure is easing up his spine, sliding around the pain and Sasuke's mouth is nipping along the back of his neck again. What was it with him and necks—but now Sasuke's hands are inside his shirt, warm and cruel as he draws lines with his nails and clutches at him.
Naruto lets himself breath for a moment and waits amid the sensations, deciding that Sasuke's skin is almost girly-soft even with the hardness of muscle and bone; the contrast is oddly alluring. The couch squeaks, shifts with their weight.
No one else gets this, Naruto thinks in the darker part of his enjoyment, nearly cursing when Sasuke curls an arm, pulling fabric and forcing his shoulders up. Forcing him to stiffen his arms and bend his spine—gasping out when Sasuke makes that needy, low sound in his throat and goes deeper—oh god was it even possible to get that far in?—and a hand moves from skin to his hair and pulls it. Sharp teeth against his shoulder, drawing blood and moving on to do the same on the other unmarked shoulder.
No one else, Naruto thinks because it's alright, falling in the tide of possessiveness and let the pleasure sweep him over and shamefully doesn't care that he's left stains on the couch.
Then it's over and Naruto winces at the feel of the couch digging into his belly, at soreness and limping pride. After Sasuke's breathing slows away from the pleased sound that Naruto hears, after his lower half disengages, pulls away and Naruto finally hitches up his underwear, a thought strikes him.
It almost knocks him over.
It's his only chance.
"Take me outside," Naruto whispers hoarsely, flatly, shuddering at the concession he's about to admit. "…and maybe I'll let you do that whenever you want."
There is a pause so acid-clear that Naruto can't even turn his head to look when he lowers the leg propped on the arm of the couch, worries at the expression on Sasuke's face—if he lied about lies, could he lie about lies about lies—
"…maybe?" Sasuke echoes and Naruto gets a moment of eerie amusement that his voice is raspy. Sasuke's short little laugh is ugly and it fans the anger that Naruto always feels around him. "Maybe you don't have a say in this."
Naruto pushes himself straight, wincing at the sting, using his forearm to wipe over his face as he finally turns in Sasuke's direction. Like hell if he's gonna sit down and let the bastard think he's winning this; the Uchiha is adjusting his clothes with that particular unholy triumph in his eyes.
That stupid, hateful look—
"Maybe you don't know shit." Naruto mocks in a voice close to Sasuke's bitterness. "—are you going to, or not?"
Sasuke's face is half-hidden by his hair. Naruto can't see his eyes, but he can see the smirk drawing over the mouth. "No."
"Yeah, well," Naruto stretches arms up to lace fingers behind his head, gives Sasuke his own version of 'Go fuck yourself' expression and feels his underwear ride low on his hips. "Your loss, prick."
-::-
(day 18)
Naruto has fallen asleep on the couch by the time he arrives, but Sasuke doesn't care. He stands over the sleeping blond, examining the way one arm is curled around his middle and the other dangles. His feet are tucked together, his face slightly scrunched. He looks pale and breathes slow and shallow.
Sasuke notices this, takes it all in without expression.
He wants to do something, wonders if he should wake Naruto and enforce this new power, bend him over the couch again and hurt him, do something, this thing he is shaping. He needs more, it has to be more—it's not sharp enough. Not painful enough. He'd never understand—
But he doesn't. Something warns him off. Too much too soon—it could backfire. It could all go wrong. Naruto can make things unpredictable, and there would be time for that later. Maybe. So he leaves, stuffing the daily laundry under the kitchen sink on his way out.
-::-
Sasuke shows up on the doorstep of Tsunade's office and knocks twice. There is an indistinguishable murmur from beyond, then a raspy, "Yeah?" reaches him.
"Hokage-sama," Sasuke pushes the door open to see the woman rubbing at her face; there are dark smudges under her eyes, and paperwork strewn over the desk. Ignoring the disdain seeping up through his thoughts, he stands stiffly at attention in the forefront of the room.
"Ngh. It's you. What do you want?" she asks, voice dour with sleep and irritation.
"I can return later this evening with my report, if you wish," Sasuke pointing out without words that the sun was already high, that he didn't have to be here if sleeping was more important. He carefully shuts away all triumph, all of his knowledge over that, thinking only If you knew what I've already done—before he pushes it away. Hides it. Locks it.
"No, no. How's Naruto?"
"He's fine."
"Is his condition improving? How is his temper—his mood swings?" Tsunade yawns. "He hasn't shown strange behavior? Is he eating?"
Sasuke can't help the mild disrespect, the need to challenge, to fight limitations and push back—"I have no idea of his condition; I don't care. He's as stupid as usual and he eats whatever I put in front of him."
"Is that so," Tsunade drawls and props her chin on the back of her hand, eyeing him. "You don't know. Well, then you deserve some congratulations, you're doing a crappy job—"
Sasuke bristles before he can stop it. "Considering what I have to work with—"
"Considering all you need to do—" she snaps back "—is observe and report and make sure Naruto has everything he needs for the moment. " She pauses and Sasuke hates the fact he can't quite place the expression that flashes in her eyes. It might have been pity. Maybe disgust. She continues before he figures it out. "I don't see the problem for one of your status, Uchiha, and I'm too tired to play with you. Tell me or get out"
Sasuke narrows his eyes and decides after a moment of thought to concede the point to Tsunade. "His sleeping pattern hasn't changed; roughly seven hours each night and a day or two stretch every other week." Sasuke pauses, mind clicking through stored information and picks out as much as he dares. "He's eating as much as I've ever seen him eat, won't speak more than three words unless I insult him, and he's been restless enough to rearrange the furniture three times. Any questions?"
"Rearranging?" Tsunade muses, absently moving aside paperwork. "Hmm. Interesting…how are his chakra levels? Have you checked?"
"Still low. Not as…" Sasuke paused to find the right word. "Not as drained as before, but still not a 'normal' level for the idiot."
A moment passes as Sasuke waits for a dismissal that usually happens around this time, watches when Tsunade leans back in her chair, gaze distant and a hand curled by her mouth in thought.
What did I say? Sasuke thinks with secret keenness at the thought. What did I say to make her think so hard? What am I missing?
"Alright," Tsunade murmurs. "You can go—"
Sasuke turns on his heel without a second thought and strides away, repeating the conversation and slipping what seemed important into his growing information—then stops, cold and furious and thrilled, all at once.
"—wait, I almost forgot," the Hokage is calling from her office. Sasuke pauses in the doorway, doesn't turn because this is almost as if she's giving him permission, giving in to something she doesn't know is happening—
"He said he's bored and wants outside. Take him out, or he'll never shut up about it."
It still pisses him off, though, when her dislike oozes through and he lets himself think of what it means, being commanded to do something that Naruto will likely rub in his face, later...
Sasuke hates the idea that Naruto has precedence, hates it, and he's going to make him pay for that. He spends the evening in the yard of his family home, training and sorting information that was still useless and frustrating—training until he's so angry he's broken down five narrow sapling-logs and his hands are bleeding. Then he stops, hoping he hadn't broken the bones in his hand.
In the morning, he's still angry.
-::-
(day 19)
It's different the fourth time they have sex, and Naruto knows he doesn't like it, decides it will be the only time he'll allow it. So he suffers it, gritting his teeth from the pain of being slammed against the wall almost immediately upon Sasuke's arrival—
Something must have pissed him off—really pissed him off—Naruto remembers thinking, even as his clothes are torn and Sasuke's arm is over his throat. He has to brace himself both on Sasuke and the wall, even as it cramps the muscles in his legs and hips when Sasuke takes him right there—god, it hurts almost worse than anything, worse than before—it's rough and angry and Sasuke's squeezing the breath from him by arm and weight and pain alone.
Gravity doesn't help Naruto avoid the ripping, moving pain from where Sasuke's buried in him. Whatever remnants of arousal are gone and now it's just a fuck, Sasuke's fuck; Naruto has no part in this except for helping along Sasuke's release.
But god it hurts and Naruto's close to screaming Get off it's too much get off you bastardbut he doesn't—
The need to be outside is stronger. If he does this—
He can't finish the thought. It hurts. He suffers through it even when it feels like Sasuke's ripping him in two, even as the raw tension in Sasuke's body suddenly shifts aggressively through climax. Sasuke sags, hardly breathing and shaking in a way that still promises violence. Waits momentarily and pulls away enough to disengage, and the sting of Sasuke's semen is minor but somehow insanely irritating.
Sasuke's eyes are wild, mouth bruised and bloody; Naruto feels his shoulder sting and ribs creak in protest, he can't move his legs fast enough to catch himself when Sasuke stumbles back and lets him drop. Naruto curls up against the agony of sex and falling, of cramping muscles and inflicted wounds.
He doesn't look when Sasuke reaches for the clasp of his shorts and fixes the state of his clothing, doesn't watch when Sasuke walks into the bathroom. By the time he hears the faucet running, Naruto has adjusted his sweatpants and removed the rest of his torn shirt. It hurts to sit and examine the wide yellowing bruises on his skin.
If Sasuke sees them disappear, he'll have questions. He gets up despite the pain and makes it to where the couch is, doubled over and groping for the shirt on the floor from yesterday. Three tries before he slides it over his head.
By the time Sasuke reappears from the bathroom, Naruto is waiting right outside the door and catches him off guard with a rabbit-quick punch to the chest because fuck that asshole, thinking he could do whatever he fucking wanted. Bares his teeth at Sasuke when the bastard staggers back in surprise, face white with pain.
His eyes are a furious black edged with red, one hand white-knuckled on the jamb of the door, the other clutching at his chest and Sasuke stares at him when Naruto hisses between his teeth viciously.
"If you ever try that kind of shit again, and I will twist off your dick and choke you with it." The blond doesn't say anything else because he knows that Sasuke is aware of what he wants, doesn't bother because Sasuke isn't looking at him and that's probably the best thing.
After a moment, Sasuke slips around him and heads for the door, already leaving, and speaks for the first time. "I'm going to the market tomorrow. Be downstairs at eleven."
Then he's gone.
And then Naruto realizes that Sasuke's hands had been bleeding, eyes tracking to the difference on the wall he had been fucked against. Dark, smeared right-hand prints in the area just above where his head had been.
Serves the fucker right, Naruto thinks even as he wonders what had made him angry enough to hurt his hands so badly.
-::-
(day 20)
"Hurry up," Sasuke snaps impatiently. Naruto's sitting on the last step and slipping on a battered pair of sneakers and Sasuke can't help the unreal feel of the way Naruto looks. No shinobi gear but a faded t-shirt and pants, nothing to let slip his abilities or skills—just faded bruises and a weary, peaceful look.
"Yeah, yeah, shut up already." Naruto spares him a dirty glance, rising, tapping his feet one after the other.
Sasuke is already striding off, sullen and irritable at the fact that he has to carry through his side of the uneven bargain—although, he's getting far more out of this than Naruto realizes.
So he doesn't care, really, even when Naruto bounds out in front of him and he catches a glimpse of the expression and wants to wipe it from his face in the most violent way possible.
It bothers him that Naruto looks so happy just to walk outside.
-::-
"Oiy—Kakashi, where have you been—"
"Why, nowhere, Hokage-sama," the gray-haired man answers with his baffled smile. "It's a beautiful day, yes?"
Tsunade refrains from tweaking and accidentally striking him as hard as possible. "Have you checked on Naruto?"
"You know, I knew I had forgotten something," the man muses languidly. "Thanks for reminding me! Now, now, don't get angry," he holds up his hands to ward her off when she sighs, fingers to her forehead. "I'll stop by today if I can, okay?"
"Please do, Kakashi, and stop forgetting."
-::-
"Hey, why do I have to carry all this?" Naruto asks. He swings the bags in his hands for emphasis. "They're heavy. You're a bastard."
"You wanted outside," Sasuke replies. His eyes are on the market stalls they walk by and not on the blond beside him. Naruto is somewhat glad for that; with Sasuke's attention elsewhere, he doesn't notice the way the people around are watching them.
Which is good, Naruto thinks. He won't ask stupid questions later. He waits as Sasuke bickers over pricing with a man selling vegetable, listens with half-an-ear and tilts his face to the sun just for warmth. He almost smiles, but he can still hear Sasuke and stops. It doesn't matter, he's outside and who cares if Sasuke has to babysit him, who cares if people still give him dirty looks and words.
His stomach rumbles as Sasuke finishes up his business by paying the man more than he should have for a sack of onions and potatoes, but less than the man wanted. Naruto scowls and sticks out his tongue when Sasuke shoves the bag to him.
"Asshole," he says when his first attempt at refusing it is ignored. "I'm hungry, by the way."
"So?"
Naruto glares at him but Sasuke doesn't bother to look at him for more than a brief split-second. "So feed me, prick! I want ramen—I haven't had ramen in forever!"
"No."
"Ramen!" Naruto demands, swinging the bags. "Ramen-ramen-ramen—right now, Sasuke-bastard, or I'm dropping this shit in the dirt and you can carry them!"
"Fine!" Sasuke snaps, unexpectedly, already walking. "Shut up already, stupid."
Naruto smirks, vulpine and whistling. The bags crinkle as he saunters after Sasuke. People on the way still stare as they walk by, at Sasuke's brooding black-crackle presence and Naruto's smugness, at them because Naruto hasn't been seen on these streets in months—
The man behind the counter greets Naruto with a smile, though, when they make it to the ramen stand. Naruto lets himself smile back, dropping bags of food and stuff to the floor, slinging himself into the chair. "Hi!" he says, hooking feet onto the rungs.
"Why, Naruto-kun!" the man laughs softly. "I've heard you were sick. You must be feeling better, then, if you're here today. Will you have the usual?"
"Yeah, that sounds great! and I was sick—" Naruto says, already snapping his chopsticks.
"Still is," Sasuke mutters beside him, sliding into a seat. "You're getting only one bowl. One."
"Shut up," Naruto scowls. "You're paying."
-::-
When Kakashi stops by the apartment…there's no one there. He blinks in amusement, wonders if Naruto had convinced Sasuke to sneak out to the training grounds or not, yet—and almost forgets to go from the apartment to the streets, just in case.
Almost forgets, but then a stray curl of chakra catches his attention and he knows they aren't very far away at all. Laughs a little, because when he extends his senses he becomes aware of the tangle of Sasuke, too, and good lord that boy was peeved.
-::-
"Sasuke!" comes the first voice—
"Hi, Sasuke-kun—Naruto, you must be feeling better!" comes the second, more familiar. Sakura's voice. Naruto looks up from slurping noodles and blinks, smiles briefly in response. The first is Ino—somehow he's not surprised and Sasuke sure as hell looks annoyed—so he smirks.
"Hey, Sakura, Ino," Naruto greets after swallowing. Sasuke makes a disgruntled noise that he knows means 'fuck off' even though Ino in particular takes it as 'Hello.' Stupid girls. They look like they're passing through; each carries their own bag of items and since Naruto can see pinks and pale blues and girly-stuff in the bags, he doesn't ask what they've been doing.
"Are you sure you're not too sick to be outside?" Sakura asks, even as Naruto beams and disagrees.
"Tsunade-hag said I could. I'm not all the way better, yet—but I can go outside now!"
Ino ignores them and all but throws her arms around Sasuke. "—anyway, Sasuke. So what are you doing, today? Babysitting?"
"Ino-pig!" Sakura says, offended.
"What? Isn't that what he's doing?"
Yeah but that's not all—okay, no more on that thought. Sakura stands there with a hand hovering near her mouth; she doesn't try to defend him and she probably thinks the same thing—Naruto bristles slowly and slurps loudly, lifts the bowl to drain the last of the fluid. Even if it was true, he didn't want other people pointing it out—Damn, already gone—His eyes narrow. "Buy me another bowl, asshole—"
"Naruto!" Ino says, immediately scornful, reaching over to push his head aside. She stands over him with a nasty little look. "Buy your own food!"
"If I had money, I would!" Naruto snaps back, scowling, tapping his chopsticks on the rim of the bowl. Sasuke glances at him but Naruto can't read his face; he's gone into 'Anti-Girl' mode.
Stupid girls.
"You're such a mooch, Naruto—Maybe you should get off your ass and try being a better person—" Ino is saying and Naruto tries hard to ignore her. Her tone. Her words. Her goddamn irritating presence that goes high into squeals and stupid 'Sasuke-I-love-you-Sasuke-look-at-me!' voice.
Tries and tries, even going as far as asking again. "Come on, you jerk—"
"No."
"Bastard," Naruto growls. "One more—"
"Here, Naruto-kun," the owner sets a bowl of miso in front of him. "On the house," he says at Sasuke's narrow glance. The man smiles blandly when Ino sniffs.
"Anyway, just ignore Naruto, Sasuke! Do you have plans for later, then? I thought we—"
"I'm busy," Sasuke's voice is distant, bland and all Naruto can seem to do is fume silently to the side, free ramen or not.
"What makes you think Sasuke'd want to go out with you," Sakura teases. "He has more important things to do—"
Naruto schools his face into annoyance as Ino and Sakura jostle closer and sets himself to the second bowl of ramen. Sets himself to ignore how upset he's starting to feel, how angry and hurt and sick—
"Ino!" Sakura laughs and even that familiar noise is grating.
He gets half-way through, unable to stop himself from watching the way Sakura and Ino still manage to grab onto some part of Sasuke, even though Naruto can tell Sasuke would rather drop them off somewhere on fire than let them touch him—thinks to himself he touches me—
To the side, in the corner of his vision, two men duck under the curtain. They pause and Naruto looks a little more clearly; they're chuunin, but older and their eyes go cold at the sight of him.
"Let's go somewhere else," he hears one say to his companion. "This place is full of shit." The other one spits and a moment later, they're gone—
But it doesn't help Naruto feel any better about indirectly chasing off business. He swallows the bitter fluid in his mouth before he glances to see if the owner's face has gone as cold and hateful—
"That's alright, don't you worry," the man says, mellow. His eyes are kind and somehow a little sad and that doesn't make Naruto feel any better, either. "I get enough quality business."
Ino's voice rises, almost yelling, and she jostles Naruto, elbow in the side. It could have been an accident, but Naruto doesn't care. He shoves back, suddenly, with a strangled little sound and pivots enough on the stool to kick at her.
"The hell!" Ino half-shrieks. "Naruto, you stupid punk—"
Sasuke's eyes go from startled to amused and then they're back to that mocking flatness and Naruto clenches fingers around his chopsticks.
"Wow, okay, as insanely nauseating your voice is, Ino," he spits. "I'd rather go shit tacks than listen to it. I'm out of here. Have fun with your groupies, bastard—" he flings the chopsticks at Sasuke and half-raises his white-knuckled fist when Ino leans aggressively, dropping from the stool. If she said one more word, he's sure he'd go for her throat.
She's silent, though, face twisted in her disgust as Naruto pushes past and stomps off.
-::-
Sasuke can't believe this. He reaches for his wallet and fishes out enough money to pay for the food and a generous tip, noticing how the old man behind the counter has a distasteful frown for Ino. He reaches for the bags that the idiot had left under the counter.
"Now that he's gone," Ino latches onto his arm and he yanks it back, glaring.
"Don't touch me," Sasuke snaps, grimacing when she tries again, pulls away and lets himself scowl.
"It's just Naruto," she drawls, rolling her eyes. "Who cares about him—he's just a pest. So, Sasuke—"
"Ino!" Sakura speaks up for the first time; she actually sounds upset. "He's been ill, seriously ill—"
"He's faking, then—"
"—and you shouldn't antagonize him! What if you make it worse? Some illness stem from the mental health, you know—"
Ino scoffs as Sasuke grabs the rest of the bags. "He's never been sick a day in his life…"
"—you're such a—"
Voices thankfully gone, as Sasuke leaves the stall and the bickering behind him. He doesn't know if he should be annoyed or amused as hell that Naruto had gotten so pissed…he pushes it aside and locks his awareness on the pulse of chakra weaving angrily down the road.
He was fine until they showed up, Sasuke muses in the back of his mind. Until those men…
That was strange, too. Not uncommon, but it hadn't happened in so long that Sasuke nearly forgot sometimes how people looked at him. The rest of the village…Sasuke switches all the bags to one hand, pushing back his hair. The rest of the village hated Naruto. Naruto had said so himself. Another piece of the stupid, irritating puzzle, or coincidence?
It doesn't matter; something to be gnawed at later, turned over and examined when no one else could interfere.
Sasuke looks up and sees that Naruto is on the bridge, legs over the edge and hands white-knuckled on the posts. Angry. Still angry.
"Are you done acting like a baby?" Sasuke can't resist, even though he's not really annoyed. It was the best amusement he's had in months.
"Shut the fuck up, asshole," Naruto snaps, furious, unable to look in his direction.
The ferocity surprises him. Sasuke tilts his head and almost smiles, drops half the bags at Naruto's side. "Get up and carry some of this."
Naruto doesn't seem to hear; his face has gone shuttered. Eyes dark and mouth drawn, Sasuke wants to know what the dobe is thinking to make his face go that…different. He isn't sure if he's seen that expression before. Sasuke nudges him with a foot. "Dobe—"
Naruto leans a forehead against the post. "Why do you let them hang all over you?"
Okay, that's sudden…but he shouldn't be surprised, even if he had expected insults. The shift in thought-process surprises him into surly honesty, speaking as if it's obvious. "It's more effort to keep them away."
Naruto doesn't reply at first. "…I don't understand you. You're such an ice-dick princess—it's a wonder anyone would—it's so stupid to…to even…" he pauses and his voice trails into silence, on the verge of something so peculiar that Sasuke waits, silent, unmoving, anticipation sweetly burning through his throat.
To what? he wants to ask.
Then he hears footsteps echoing on the bridge, looks up to see Kakashi wandering past with a nose buried in his book. "Yo, Sasuke. Naruto. Nice day to be outside…been shopping?"
Sasuke drops his gaze before he can see the frustration. "Yes," he answers flatly, one hand swinging the bags.
Naruto pulls his legs onto the bridge and rises. After a moment he reaches for the cluster of plastic and hefts it. Turns under the eyes of both Sasuke and Kakashi and walks off without saying a word. Without eye contact. Without any reaction whatsoever—
Sasuke narrows his eyes and starts to follow—
"Ah, Sasuke—you should get those bruises looked at."
Pausing and hating the ice that skitters through his middle, Sasuke wets his lips, turns his head before he can make his voice level. Does he know? He wants to laugh. He must—he has to—but does he know? He is never sure with Kakashi; the man hides his thoughts entirely too well.
"Sure," Sasuke replies and Kakashi smiles in some unidentifiable way and saunters away.
-::-
By the time Naruto reaches his house, he's angry again, even as he sets the bags of food on the counter, then kicks at the table. One leg cracks as it skids across the small kitchen and into the wall; he doesn't care.
He stalks from the kitchen, hands flexing, furious, and shoves the couch to the wall where blood had dried into intangible black smears, hears the plaster crack under the momentum.
Sasuke's coming up the stairs and the couch rips under his hands; he tears at the fabric, then exhales hard, the door opening, and grabs an empty bowl that had been underneath the couch and flings it at the bastard's head.
Ducking, Sasuke gives him a dirty glance and the bowl shatters in the hall.
Naruto wants to kill him. Instead, he grabs a hold on the couch again and starts to pull it into a different area. God-damn that stupid bitch Ino—
"What the fuck is wrong with you, dobe?" Sasuke calls from the kitchen. Apparently he's noticed the table.
"Shut the hell up, Uchiha!" Naruto yells back. He heaves at the couch, pivoting it until the end swings around and that's somewhat okay, not right yet—
Sasuke's watching from the kitchen and always watching and Naruto throws a cushion at him, uses the other one, then heaves at the couch again until it cracks that wall, too—
Sasuke disappears into the bedroom, eyes rolling, uncaring and disdainful and Naruto is aware of how angry he is and just as aware of how he doesn't even care that he wants to break things into little pieces. That stupid bitch—
By the time Sasuke reappears, stuffing clothes from several days into the laundry bag, Naruto feels his anger coiling into heat in his belly, recognizes it and knows what he wants without warning and tackles Sasuke, avoiding the automatic swing at his head. Somehow, he doesn't know how, he pins Sasuke to the floor and straddles him, furious, teeth bared, hands wrapped in the bastard's shirt and lifting, slamming him to the floor and snarling.
Sasuke's eyes are wary for the first time in months and Naruto starts a breathless laugh he never finishes.
"Hurry up," he snarls or laughs or something and Sasuke's shirt rips under his hands. "Hurry up and do it so I can kick you out, you stupid bastard—"
Some expression flashes over the pale face and Naruto is only glad that's not hateful, even as it changes to nothing again and Sasuke doesn't speak. Doesn't move, at first, even though Naruto can feel the way his body tenses slowly, the way his dick hardens against him—Sasuke hits the inside of his elbow to knock loose his grip and Naruto lifts his hips, one hand curling into a fist and leaving one stinging punch on the bared muscle of Sasuke's chest.
Sasuke pulls down his pants until they bunch at mid-thigh and force his legs closer together, one hand quick underneath and then Sasuke himself is bared, pressed against Naruto and it's different. It's weird, Naruto's still on top and before he realizes it he's pushing downonto Sasuke, down with a stuttering exhale, and he doesn't even care about the pain.
No, not right now—not while he's so angry and above Sasuke but damn, again, deeper, as Sasuke bends his knees and arches up—Naruto gasps or chokes or something and lets his body bend, dropping forward until he can't see Sasuke's face with his headpressed against the shoulder. Until his hands are flat on the floor and digging against it. Sasuke's hands are bruising his hips. Sasuke's body is quick and flexes in a way that Naruto likes and recoils from and hears the noise that Sasuke makes in his middle.
Yes. This is better. Sasuke feels deep and it only takes dozen quick, vicious little thrusts for Naruto to come between their bodies. He knows because he counts, even as Sasuke continues on for a minute and finds his own. Even when Naruto tries to breathe with his mouth against the ridge of collerbone and feels the funny rhythmic little twitch from his dick, he doesn't care.
His legs are going numb. He mumbles this in a breathless voice, absent and dizzy and closes his eyes. Sasuke's stomach quivers, but Naruto doesn't hear him laugh, if he does.
He doesn't care when Sasuke pushes him up to slide out and twists away. Naruto hits the floor on his back, still breathing hard and almost not at all, and drags at the waist of his pants. He pulls them up, arching until they slide over the sticky mess on his stomach and fastens them. From the corner of his vision, Sasuke's doing the same. Sasuke standing, reaching for the laundry bag again, watching with that wary, cunning gaze.
Then, grunting, Naruto manages to get to his feet. "Get out," he mutters over his shoulder, kicks the door to the bathroom shut behind him.
-::-
(day 23)
Naruto wakes early to the sense of someone else in his apartment. Not Sasuke, someone else—
Who the fuck do they think they are is the closest translation of the emotion ringing through his skull; Naruto slides from the bed and stalks to the door, flings it open—
It's only Kakashi, surprise visible on his face. "…Yo."
"Oh. It's you; what do you want?" Naruto scowls, annoyed and still tired. He pushes away the strange emotion that tightens over his spine—get out—and asks. "Are you back to take care of me now?"
"Nah. Tsunade-sama said you're improving enough without me. Seems she got past the Sasuke thing."
Naruto shrugs and scratches at his head, stretching briefly. "Doubt it. You should see the faces she makes at him when he's not looking."
"Oh, well. I guess wasn't giving you enough attention, anyway—" Kakashi seems sheepish; his voice gives it away. Naruto waits, knowing something else is coming. "So, how are things? You and Sasuke aren't fighting too much, are you"
"Not really," Naruto wants to giggle and scream at the thoughts that flicker through his mind and holds it down by biting the inside of his cheek. "Am I getting better? Tsunade-hag told you I'm getting better, right?"
better maybe I'm better and then Sasuke won't—
"Hai, hai—she did mention your levels have decreased in fluctuation—But that's not important; Naruto, do you mind if I talk to you a moment?"
"Uh, okay?"
"So, do you like having sex with Sasuke?" Kakashi says, surprising him.
Naruto stiffens, unavoidably. "I don't know what you're talking about—" he manages to mutter.
Kakashi crouches to meet his eyes. "Naruto. I'm serious. Do you want this? You can tell me—I won't laugh or mock you."
And oh god the need to tell, the want and the hopeless lonely feeling and Naruto hesitates so long he feels like choking. He wants to tell, wants to know if it's good or not; wants to see if someone else knows what he should do—
"I don't know," he whispers, a moment later. "I don't know what's going on."
"With Sasuke?"
"With me," Naruto clenches his fists to contain it. "I thought that—I mean, because Sasuke said he lied and he really does want to—so I thought that, okay, maybe it's okay but I don't know—"
Kakashi wraps his hands around Naruto's wrists and pulls his arms down. Naruto shudders, hears him say, "Is he hurting you, Naruto?"
"N-Not really," Naruto mumbles. "I mean, we sort've fight before—" and he blushes horrible warm in the face of Kakashi's concern, his interest, of actually having to say it. "We usually fight and end up, um, you know." He fidgets and pulls at his arms. "Let go."
Kakashi does, and Naruto rubs at his wrists. "Do you want to, Naruto? You don't have to do anything—"
"I know that," Naruto replies, upset and uncomfortable. "I can't help it sometimes."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Because of the thing that's wrong me," he explains. "Sometimes, it's…I can't stop it."
"Have you told the Hokage any of this?"
"What! Hell no, she'd get so pissed, Kakashi-sensei and then I'd have to live in that stupid tower—"
Kakashi laughs. "True, true—even though you'll have to live there if you get to be Hokage."
"That's different."
"Well, we'll see, won't we? You'll have to let me know how things are going. Don't think you need to tell Tsunade-sama yet, but if Sasuke tries to really hurt you, or you feel worse about it all, I'll tell her myself. Is that okay?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, then, it's settled. Have fun with Sasuke; I've gotta go help some old ladies away from the sake-stands. Ja, Naruto."
"…bye…" Naruto trails off, smoke drifting away and Kakashi's already gone by the time his voice stops echoing.
-::-
"We need to talk," Kakashi announces without warning. He leans against her desk, the door still swinging shut as she looks up to notice him.
"...Oh?" Tsunade looks puzzled. Her face clears into trepidation. "Is it about Naruto?"
"Yes. I checked in. Saw them the other day outside at the Ichiraku. All in all, Naruto's healing at a slower rate, Sasuke's bruised to hell, and Naruto had a violent moodswing when one of Sakura's friends, Ino-or-something, threw her arms around Sasuke—but I don't think he was aware of just how hostile he was. His chakra fluctuated during that moment, and…well, that was odd too." he pauses as a thought passes through his face and he looks away.
Tsunade doesn't hear the murmur as she sits back, thinking and adding it to her list of symptoms. "Not if he's fighting off instincts, and...I wonder if that's why—wait, bruises on Sasuke—Naruto said they haven't been fighting."
Kakashi, smiling sheepishly, steps backward out of reach. "Ah, about that...It wasn't from fighting, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade curses softly, viciously, painfully and drops her face against her palm. Takes a deep breath and goes "God-dammit—already? It hasn't even been three weeks—"
"Don't worry, I've already asked Naruto about that—you're not supposed to know, by the way, because he's still deciding if he likes it or not."
"Doesn't—still deciding—Kakashi, how can I just sit here? What if Sasuke hurts him?"
"Oh, about Sasuke… I don't think you should confront him forcefully, just yet." Kakashi reached up and scratched at his hair, eye wandering until he found the words he wanted. "He might react badly if you're...over-protective. I don't think he was ever instructed, um, about sex...and that seems to be the only problem at the moment. These boys—"
"What do you mean, never instructed?"
"I don't think Naruto or Sasuke know the finer details of how sex works ," Kakashi said blandly. "In fact, it might help the situation if someone were, well, explain to him..."
She stares up at him, blank and surprised.
"So, have fun with that!" He waves jauntily and gone in the next moment and she's too late to stop him.
"Hatake Kakashi—!"
-::-
Sasuke stands before the door to the Hokage's more private rooms and knows. He thinks he does, anyway—afterall, Kakashi likely knows and thus, the stupid Hokage-woman would know.
He wonders if this is going to be the end of it.
"Get in here, Uchiha!" she finally calls and sounds…thoughtful. Amused.
Okay, maybe she doesn't…Sasuke pushes open the door and enters to see the woman behind her desk with a deck of cards in her hands. The desk is clear and she shuffles, glancing at him once.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" he asks, automatically.
"You're a stupid, uneducated brat," she says unceremoniously and Sasuke scowls before he can stop it. "Sit down."
Sasuke complies to sit in the small chair. Her hands flick and five cards slid neatly in front of him.
What the hell? he thinks, suspiciously. He raises his eyes to her face, again, waiting—what the hell was this? She holds her own set of cards in the left hand and with the right, reaches into the space of her kimono—
—kunai or shuriken or needles?!, Sasuke thinks, briefly, ready to react—
—and pulls out a small, round container the size of a plum. She sets it on the desk forcefully. It sounds like porcelain. Then she leans back, impassive, and fans her cards. "Well? You know what poker is, right?"
…poker? Sasuke thinks. She brought me here to play poker? "Why are we playing poker?" he mutters sullenly, confused, and sure as hell not going to show it. "For that?" He glances to the small thing again.
"Yes. One hand, one deal. Best cards win."
Sasuke reaches for the cards and picks them up. He examines them. "But why—"
"Because I say so. And," she emphasizes, words cold and angry and thoughtful, all at once. "If you want to continue to fuck him, you need to do it right and not like the stupid brat you are."
Cold and blinking, legs tense, Sasuke flicks his gaze to her face—it could be a trap she could be attacking any second—
She peers at him from over her cards, still impassive. "That's why we're playing for lube," and she smiles, suddenly, sweetly. "And believe me or not, I hate to admit that your...presence...has been helpful."
Sasuke blushes, embarrassed and angry and…uncertain. He doesn't like this feeling. He shifts, uncomfortably and eyes the woman suspiciously again—god she knew she knew she knew and part of him is sure she'll try to kill him in his sleep—
But…lube?
Wait, was this…permission?
Shaken, vague, Sasuke chokes down whatever hideous laughter-thing that's clawing up his middle—permission this was fucking permission—and fans out his cards, displays them. He doesn't know if they're good cards or not.
"…shit," she mutters after a moment. The cards are tossed to the table. "Damn. I assume you know how to use this?" she replies with that veiled look again. She pushes the vial towards him. "Or should I draw you a picture?"
Sasuke doesn't speak, instead he stares at the little black object, the blood in his veins pounding just under his ears. "I know enough," he manages after a moment, because that stuff was…she was trying to embarrass him, trying—damn her!
"I doubt it. Let's get one thing straight. This will not deter you from your duties, Uchiha. I expect you to continue to report to me if anything changes…and if you break him, I'll break off your dick, you understand?"
"Yes," Sasuke breathes and stops; anything else will come out as hysterical laughter and he knows that she isn't at all happy with this—she still wants to hit him. It's in her face, the tapping of her fingernails.
He doesn't doubt that she will do exactly as she says.
This throws it all onto a whole different level.
"I expect you to return if you need more," the Hokage lets a small, horrible mocking smile pass over her face and Sasuke wants to spit in her face, wants to hit her—
Sasuke reaches for the lube, finally. It's cold in his fingers. The stopper is a bit of wood. This changes everything, he thinks, grudgingly ready to admit respect for her, even though she knows she can't stop him, now, because she still scares him. But now…
Now, it's a challenge.