Auther's Notes:
Thank you for reading. I really hope this chapter shows lol. I hope you're enjoying it ^_^.
Sasuke groaned in the middle of the night as he felt something smother him. He tried to ignore it but it reached to a stage where he was gasping for air. Having had enough of enduring, he removed the blanket off his face and was met with drooling tan skin. Blinking in the darkness of his room, he tried to get his fuzzy mind to sober up and recall what went down.
Naruto.
Naruto was what went down.
As if his mind was refreshed, the raven haired male flicked the nightstand's lampshade on. Dim, warm, orangish light brightened his vision. Sasuke turned around and saw Naruto's face inches away from his own. He stilled his thumping heart and returned the blond to a more humane position. The way he was lying – on top of Sasuke – wasn't comfortable for any of them.
The black eyed male watched as Naruto curled on the other side of the bed, giving Sasuke his back. Sasuke exhaled and turned off the light. Not a second later, he felt the blond return to his side. The Uchiha opened the light again. He returned Naruto to other side and closed the light again. When he felt the warm body return to his side for the third time, Sasuke gave up inwardly and decided not to do anything. An evil thought of waking Naruto and kicking him out flashed in his head, but he quickly discarded it. It wasn't because he felt sympathy towards Naruto, no, he simply didn't have enough energy for anything. Sasuke decided to fix his own sleeping position so that Naruto would sleep beside him not on top.
The close proximity made him blush slightly. As his heart continued thumping, he thought it was unnatural. Sasuke was trying to return back to sleep but now that he was aware, he couldn't. Opening his eyes, he unconsciously started tracing Naruto's features with his eyes. The three whiskers on each cheek ruined the lovely face. Yet somehow, they didn't go bad with Naruto. It was something special to him. Sasuke told himself to question the blond about them later on.
Naruto smiled in his sleep, startling Sasuke a little, then he mumbled incoherent words. Sasuke felt his body hair stand when he heard something alongside his name. Then his senses returned to normal when Neji's, Shino's and Kiba's names were pronounced after his. Apparently, the blond was dreaming of them playing football. Without Sasuke's consent, a tan leg was thrown to his midsection, pulling him close. Sasuke stiffened for the second time that night, he tried to remove Naruto's leg but to no avail.
He surrendered to his fate and tried to fall asleep like that. However, as each one of Naruto's moves made an impact on him, Sasuke found it very hard to achieve.
It was around eight in the morning when Naruto finally woke up. He stretched and felt very satisfied. His stretches were interrupted when a cushion was thrown on his face. Blinking, Naruto was met with a very exhausted looking Uchiha, Sasuke had a disheveled look and bags under his eyes. Tilting his head to the side, Naruto greeted.
"Morning, Sasuke, what happened to you?"
Sasuke growled at him. "You! You happened to me! Who told you to sleep with me!?"
Naruto had to run from the shower of stuff being thrown at him, before hiding behind the sofa and sheepishly apologizing. "Sorry, but you didn't tell me not to! Besides, your bed is sooo comfortable!"
His words seemed to be the wrong ones because another set of stuff was thrown.
"Next time, when someone invites you to their home, SLEEP. IN. THE. GUEST. !" Sasuke but spat.
"To tell you the truth," Naruto started sweat-dropping. "I don't have many friends who have guestrooms. But I take it there would be a second time?"
This time, Naruto had to leave the room because Sasuke was about to throw hard objects, he wasn't sure of his ability to recover from being hit by a lamp. Getting to his said guestroom, the blond was amazed at seeing another set of clothes prepared for him, he looked at the PJs he was wearing and decided to ask them where they got it from. It was very soft. Determining to take a shower and freshen up, Naruto went to do just that, finally wearing the clothes provided for him.
He felt like he was taking advantage of everything but then again, with the way Sasuke was acting, he probably won't have another chance to sleepover. So there was no harm in seeing this one to the end. Besides, Sasuke's mother was very nice. Naruto was sure he would be able to befriend her. A sudden knock on his door took his attention away from his thoughts, Naruto answered.
"Come in."
A butler walked inside, bowing slightly to him. "Young master Sasuke-sama says you're expected in the dining room."
Naruto nodded to the man who left after he delivered his message. Getting ready, he walked out. The blond remembered the way to the dining hall – he had a strong memory after all. However, the minute he entered, he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. The place that had comfort and ease the previous night was engulfed in an air of stress and restraint right now. Naruto looked and at the head of the table was an unknown face. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the strict looking man was.
Sasuke's father, Uchiha Fugaku, Naruto had read the name in a newspaper when he was searching about Sasuke – Sakura's advice. Sasuke was sitting quietly on the left side of his father, his mother on the right side. She signaled Naruto to come and sit next to her son, the blond obliged, bowing to all of them in respect. As he sat down, Sasuke's father looked him in the eyes and commented.
"Uzumaki Naruto-kun, I hope your stay with us was satisfactory." A polite yet strong tone echoed from the old man's mouth.
Naruto felt like he should be very respectful in dealing with Uchiha Fugaku, so he nodded and gave a small smile. "Yes, thank you for your hospitability."
"I'm sure you have guessed by now, but formal introductions are a must," Fugaku said. "I'm Sasuke's father, Uchiha Fugaku."
"Uzumaki Naruto, sir." Naruto returned the gesture even though the other already knew who he was.
After that, the food was served. The blond noticed how everyone waited for Fugaku to start eating before they did so. Everything was different with the presence of the head of the family, that much Naruto realized. The man wasn't as scary as seemed, but he was intimidating. Perhaps he was raised to be very strict, Naruto was sure, in the eyes of Uchiha Fugaku, life was either white or black, there was no grey and no games. Straight-laced and direct. Someone who he would have a hard time relaxing around.
All his life, he was in the company of free spirited people, true Iruka was a little firm when it came to manners, but he was laid back about everything else. That's why when he was met with this type of adult, Naruto felt he should be extra careful and not give a bad first impression. He didn't want Sasuke to be forbidden from seeing him.
The breakfast soon came to an end and Fugaku excused himself from their company. Mikoto stayed for a while then followed after him. When finally, they were alone, Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Sasuke smirked at him.
"You held yourself well." He praised. "Most people get too scared they mess up."
Naruto looked at him with horrid eyes. "Your father is INTEMEDATING like hell!"
"I know."
"I ran everything in my head a million time before I said it! I kept on thinking what if he doesn't like me? What if he told you to stay away from me? Or –"
"My father can't force me to stay away from you." Sasuke found himself commenting, interrupting the blond.
Naruto was startled with the odd comment. "Umm… your father is a powerful man, Sasuke, if he decides I'm not a good friend to you, he might not allow us to play together."
The blond used the noun 'friend' even though he wasn't sure that was their relationship. However, since Sasuke didn't seem to mind it much, he relaxed.
"Naruto, I am the one who decides my own relationships, not my father. Please, never think otherwise."
"So… I shouldn't care if he doesn't like me?"
Sasuke sneered. "No, it's better that he does. Besides, seeing you fidgeting like that was fun."
The blond playfully shoved Sasuke away from him. "Shut up."
Sasuke looked at his watch and stood up from the dining table. "Anyhow, let's get going."
Following his movement, Naruto tilted his head. "Get going where?"
"I'm driving you home."
Naruto felt a little sad at being forced to part right then, he shook his head and asked instead. "Wait, this is your day off, right? So is mine so let's go out!"
"No." Sasuke rejected without a second thought. "You might not realize this, but I haven't slept well because of a certain someone."
Awkwardly, Naruto expressed his regret. "Sorry, Sasuke, I know you want to sleep, but please… let's go watch a movie."
The blond pleaded to him and the Uchiha honestly didn't want to, he just wanted to drive Naruto to his house, get back to the comfort of his soft bed and sleep the day away. Yet, like being hexed, he complied to the blond's wishes. Sasuke didn't know why but when he looked into Naruto's eyes, he wasn't able to refuse him anything. Besides, his heart was making that weird thumping sound for a while now. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but he hoped it wasn't something that would have him quit football.
"Alright, one movie then you're going home."
Naruto cheered from his right. "Sasuke, you're' the best!"
The Uchiha's heart did three thumps, causing him to clutch his chest and put a mind note to make an appointment with his family's doctor later on.
To their worst luck, they didn't find any available seats in the movies they wanted to watch. Sasuke was about to leave when Naruto bought two tickets to a random movie. With lots of persuasion, the black haired male was forced inside. They sat down with popcorn in hand. Sasuke looked all around and the hall was filled with couples, he scowled at the scene. However, when the movie started playing and they passed fifteen minutes, Sasuke cringed. It was a romantic movie, judging by the sex scene that ended with the heroine leaving dramatically.
"Naruto," Sasuke growled and the blond sweat-dropped.
"Hush, Sasuke, you shouldn't talk in cinema." The blond whispered, hoping the other won't blow up on his face.
"I will kill you." It was spoken in a low, hushed tone for his ears only.
Naruto started munching on the popcorn, ignoring Sasuke's killing intent and the chill on his back. Judging from Sasuke's reaction, he was probably not a fan of romantic movies. Naruto also wasn't, yet, since he was already present, he should enjoy his stay. He was one to roll with the dice. The cinema was filled with couples giving them the stare. The blond player laughed inwardly, they probably thought they were a couple as well, or why would two grown up men attend a romantic movie together?
The movie continued and the actors played their pieces. Naruto was pulled to the acting and was engrossed in it, suddenly, he felt something on his shoulder. Looking, he saw Sasuke's head lying on said shoulder. Naruto blinked but didn't move. The raven haired male was probably saying the truth when he told him he hadn't slept well. The blue eyed player tried to think of what he did but nothing came to mind. All he could remember was that he slept like a log, it was the best sleep he had in years. Yet apparently, it wasn't the same for his companion.
As he watched Sasuke sleep, he felt more guilt build up inside of him. Maybe he shouldn't have slept with him. Naruto made a little promise to himself, 'the next time he sleeps over, he'd obediently sleep in the guestroom'. He then scooched closer to Sasuke to give him more support for his head, the people who had doubts about their relationship probably had confirmation now. Naruto coughed slightly and pretended that his cheeks weren't burning. Maybe coming here and watching a romantic movie with a sleepy Sasuke wasn't the best of ideas, the blond pondered as the movie continued.
Sasuke pulled in front of Naruto's apartment complex and gestured the blond to step out. Naruto scowled, he didn't want the day to end just yet, but at the same time, he knew how tired his 'friend' was. After Sasuke's little nap in the movies, the blond player realized the reality of Sasuke's situation. That's why he didn't pester him about having lunch or getting something to drink together. However, he wanted to be with the black haired male a little bit longer. Taking a deep breath, he honestly expressed him feelings.
"Sasuke, the last time I invited you to my apartment, you refused me. I hope you won't do it again," When Sasuke's mouth opened for him to speak, Naruto continued hurriedly. "I know you're tired, but I want you to humor me for half an hour maybe…?"
The Uchiha took a minute to think then nodded. "Half an hour."
"Half an hour!" Naruto confirmed, eyes glowing, he didn't think his pathetic plea would be appeased.
Sasuke parked his car in the parking lot and followed behind the skipping blond. They took the elevator to the tenth floor. Sasuke looked at the apartment complex with keen eyes. Unintentionally he was studying the old building, he'd seen apartment complexes before – Neji owned a condo in an apartment complex. But, Neji's condo and this place were totally different. Sasuke looked at the ray of sunshine leading his way and suddenly, the shabby apartments he was walking past looked like rosy houses out of a fairytale book.
The black eyed male shook his head at the weird analogy and watched as they stopped beside a door. Naruto quickly got the keys from the pocket of his sport's bag and let them in. unlike the outside, the apartment had a tidy and a very nice style. Sasuke felt relaxed the minute he stepped in. Taking his shoes off and slipping on the slippers Naruto provided, Sasuke excused himself to intrude.
Naruto smiled as he led the way to his room, he blabbered about how Sasuke should make himself comfortable, in which the other simply nodded to. Yet the minute they were about to enter the room, Naruto stopped Sasuke and asked him to wait five minutes before entering. The black eyed player raised a brow but did as told. He heard ruckus come from the inside and quickly guessed what the other was doing – cleaning up. After exactly five minute, he barged in, startled azure orbs looked at him.
Sasuke caught him holding a worn-out football in one hand and a broom in the other. He rolled his eyes when Naruto quickly hid them behind his form.
"S-Sasuke! Wait until I tell you to come in!" Naruto but squealed in embarrassment.
"You said five minutes, I gave you five minutes."
"Don't take everything I say so literally!"
Shrugging, the Uchiha sat on the soft mattress. "You don't need to clean up for me, I don't mind your messiness."
Naruto could see the smirk at the end of those words and his embarrassment doubled. He quickly hid his broom and put the football on his desk. Feeling like the best thing to do was run away, he excused himself and went to the kitchen – with the notion that he's bringing some refreshment. Ten minutes later, he was serving the raven haired male a soft drink. Sasuke took it with a nod of thanks. Naruto sat on the chair of his desk and said.
"Sasuke, so what do you think of my home?"
"It's small." Sasuke didn't even hesitate.
The quick answer caused Naruto to cringe. "Yes, it's smaller than your house, our fricking field is smaller than your house! So what else? Do you dislike it?"
The raven haired male sipped his coke calmly, unfazed with Naruto's sarcasm. "I didn't say that, it's… comfortable."
Naruto felt like that was how Sasuke's complement went. You would never know if it was meant to make you happy or cause you to lash out. Sighing inwardly, he nodded and smiled a thanks. They stayed in silence afterwards, main reason; Naruto inability to entertain his guest. It had been ages since the blond last had someone visit to hang out. Even now, it was something out of the spur of the moment, he didn't plan this. Yet, looking at Sasuke in his bed, he couldn't stop the butterflies from playing in his stomach.
The young Uchiha's profile was really handsome, Naruto thought. His eyes weren't big, but they were sharp and attractive. His complexion was ungodly pale, however, it fit perfectly with his dark hair and eyes. The sharp, well demarcated chin alongside his straight, pointy nose, made the perfect profile for Sasuke.
"Stop staring."
Naruto was startled when black orbs caught his own, he looked away, a blush visible on his face. "D-Don't flatter yourself!"
Sasuke smirked as he stretched his arms on Naruto's bed. "Well I don't blame you, I'm a handsome guy. I've had people confessing their undying love to me since I was in kindergarten, but let me tell you something… I don't go for blonds."
Naruto felt his blush deepen, but his head was warming up with a little bit irritation mixed with his embarrassment. Still he refused to yield to the strange personality of Uchiha Sasuke.
"You really have a huge ego, Uchiha. Who said anything about confessing to you? FYI, I don't think you're that handsome – I've seen better. Besides, the idea of dating you isn't appealing one bit!"
"That blush could have fooled me."
Naruto felt the butterflies in his stomach fly erratically in all directions with Sasuke's words, he quickly thought an excuse. "It's hot in here, I flush easily in the heat."
"I'm paler than you and I'm just fine." The Uchiha closed that route for him. "Admit it, you have the hots for me, Uzumaki."
Now, Naruto was simply getting annoyed. The person before him was very sure he had feelings for him, as if it was only natural that Naruto does, needless to say, that idea didn't sit well with the blond. With annoyed blue eyes, Naruto enquired.
"What makes you so sure?"
Sasuke crossed his legs and started counting on his hands. "You asked me to your house, there is no one here, we came directly to your room – in which you insisted on cleaning it – and your constant staring at me. If that doesn't scream 'I LIKE YOU', I don't know what does."
The blond walked to his bed, held his pillow and smacked the Uchiha right on the face – Sasuke gracefully was able to avoid a tragic accident with ruffled locks.
"Sasuke, you're really arrogant! I invited you home because it's what FIRNEDS do! I had you stay in my room because it's comfortable in here, we can get loud and no one will bother us! We're alone because Iruka's on a business trip, but he's coming tomorrow! And I WASN'T STARING!" Naruto spat every sentence loud and clear for Sasuke's ears to hear, trying to mask his embarrassment.
Sasuke stuck his tongue out and replied with a teasing smile. "What do you mean get loud? Your guardian is coming tomorrow and you want us to get loud, oh Naruto, dirty, dirty, dirty~!"
Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore and jumped on the teasing male. He wanted to smother Sasuke to oblivion and stop him from sniggering like that. It was obvious he was being played, Naruto's heated nerves couldn't accept it. However, sadly, his plan backfired; because when he made contact with Sasuke, the blond was easily flipped onto his back, he could only wrestle weakly. Sasuke was very strong, his grip was toxic! Naruto changed tactics and started tickling Sasuke's sides, to his delight though, the sound of laughter reached his ears. He perked up and his eyes brightened, Sasuke's laugh was magical~!
The azure eyed player felt his heart thump a little bit louder than usual. His tan hands stopped momentarily when Sasuke was asking for a break for him to catch his breath. The pale complexion was now tinged bright pink, the color matched Sasuke perfectly, Naruto unconsciously got closer. His face was near Sasuke's, his hand removed a stray lock off Sasuke's sweaty forehead. The raven haired male looked up at this and saw Naruto looking at him with an unusual gaze. Their positions were switched for the second time.
Sasuke felt his own heart start beating faster, Naruto got closer and put both of his hands on each side of Sasuke, supporting his weight on his forearms. Sasuke felt the other's body cradle his, his legs were on either side of Naruto, there was a hidden fire in those cerulean orbs… a fire that lit something in him. Without much thought, he circled his legs around Naruto, hooking them and drawing him closer, his arms found their way to Naruto's neck and pulled him down.
In an instant, their lips met. They didn't know who initiated it exactly, both had an equal part in the equation. At first, it was simply a tender touching of lips, then Sasuke's tongue licked Naruto's lips and asked for permission to intrude inside, Naruto opened his mouth and the two tongues met. In an instant, passion broke free. They lost themselves in the heated feeling. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's face in both hands and kissed the life out of him. Sasuke wasn't one to take anything lying down, so he immersed his hands in Naruto's hair with an agenda to satisfy him.
The pale, long fingers rubbing his scalp made little tingles of happiness spark in Naruto's head. He closed his eyes already losing his self-control. Kissing wasn't enough, he wanted more, he wanted to feel more, to touch more, his hungry hands started roaming Sasuke's chest and when he was about to uncover hidden desires, the door was suddenly slammed shut on his face.
Sasuke abruptly stopped their kiss and pushed the blond off of him. Straightening his hair, he said in a voice that made everything in Naruto buzz.
"Hold your horses, champ. This is as far as you will go."
Naruto felt his senses return with the wakeup call. His face flushed bright red when he replayed what they just did, quickly stumbling off his bed, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, not knowing what emotions he should show.
"Umm… I… don't really know what to say."
Sasuke on the other hand laid back and got comfortable. "You don't need to say anything; I will borrow your bed for a few hours. Wake me up when the clock hits six."
With that, the raven haired male closed his eyes and surrendered to the tiredness of the flesh. Naruto looked at him and blinked. They had just made out, right? How could Sasuke simply sleep like nothing had happened? Was he too uptight or was Sasuke too causal about affection?
Naruto blinked a few more times and questioned himself further, when nothing but the cool breathing of Sasuke reached his ears, he exhaled. Deciding to not overthink and simply go with the flow, he pulled Sasuke's slippers off and covered him with a light blanket. Tiptoeing out of the room, Naruto closed the door quietly as not to disturb him and bid him a sleep with happy dreams.
Naruto put down the dishes he prepared – instant noodles with salad – and waited for the raven haired male to take his seat. Sasuke had just woken up and Naruto directed him to the bathroom. Whilst the Uchiha slept, the blond went and got him a toothbrush. Naruto watched as Sasuke took a seat before him, the white shirt he wore had three buttons loose, exposing pale skin, Naruto blushed lightly and looked away.
"How did you sleep?"
"…You need to get a new bed. It's too hard." Sasuke commented, remembering the bad sleeping experience.
"Shut up, your bed is just too soft. This is how we commoners sleep."
"Hn."
They started eating, Naruto had thought Sasuke would object to the instant noodles, but unexpectedly, he gulped the carbohydrates down without a complaint. The blond didn't know how to open up the topic of their earlier rendezvous, but he was sure he needed to talk about it. After all, he wasn't someone who went around kissing anyone.
"Umm… Sasuke –"
"We don't need to talk about it. It was something we did in the heat of the moment. I teased you a little and we ended up making out, don't stress it."
Naruto frowned, the way the other was going on about this wasn't right. "No, I disagree, I won't kiss you just because you teased me."
"Then what?" Sasuke pointed the chopsticks at him and asked with a raised brow. "Are you saying you like me now?"
The blond contemplated and gave an honest opinion. "I don't know, but I don't want you to shut it down like that. What's wrong with overthinking it a little?"
Sasuke continued eating. "A: we don't have time. B: even if you like me, I don't like you. We can't date. End of story."
"So you kiss back anyone who kisses you?" Naruto questioned.
Sasuke took a little bit more time answering this than the previous question. "…No."
"Then what? What's your reason for kissing me back?"
"I have no reason; I went with the flow."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sasuke, you're contradicting yourself. You say you don't kiss anybody but you're willing to go with the flow? This is insane, at least admit you have some sort of attraction towards me."
The black eyed male commented. "What would you do with my attraction? Naruto, the reason why I want to shut this down is because I don't want to date right now. In this life, you can come across people whom you like or have a little crush on, but that doesn't mean you should start a relationship with all of 'em."
"I didn't tell you to start one with me, I'm perfectly happy with where we are, I just don't want you to pretend there's no attraction between us. I know you feel what I feel."
Sasuke put down his chopstick and stood up. "Thanks for the meal."
Naruto stood up and followed him. "Hey, we're not done talking!"
"I am. I already made my opinion clear."
"Sasuke, you can't run from this."
The raven haired male looked at him and put on his shoes and headed to the door. "Watch me."
As Sasuke was about to walk out the apartment, the door was opened, he moved at the right time as not to be hit in the face. Naruto looked at the intruder and his eyes smiled before his lips.
"Iruka! You're home!"
Sasuke had to move away from Naruto's way as he jumped on the older man and hugged him to death. The Uchiha was startled at the bold show of affection. He looked at the burnet male up and down and made a profile note of him. Iruka was probably in his forties, he was a little bit taller than Naruto and had brown hair and eyes. His attire was causal, which told Sasuke that whatever the other did for work wasn't a desk job. His wandering eyes were caught by Iruka's and the older man gave him a tender smile, Sasuke looked away.
When Naruto watched this, he quickly introduced cheerfully. "Iruka, this is my friend, Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Iruka, my father."
"Oh, so you're the infamous Sasuke. Nice to meet you, I have heard a lot about you."
Iruka extended his hand to shake the younger male's, Sasuke accepted it with a nod. His eyes wandered over to Naruto who argued that he wasn't talking about Sasuke as much as Iruka had implied. Iruka ignored him and refuted about the amount of stories he'd shower him about Sasuke's awesomeness in playing football.
"You know," Iruka started pointing to his son. "He's one of your fans."
Naruto crossed his arms and buffed his cheeks. "Hey! Who are you calling a fan!?"
Iruka smiled and ruffled his son's hair. "Sasuke-kun, I hope you continue being good friends with Naruto. Unfortunately, he doesn't have many friends who can tolerate him."
Sasuke was silent throughout this whole conversation, yet now he looked the blond with a puzzled look. Naruto avoided his eyes.
"A-Anyway, Iruka, go in, I'm sure you're tired. Sasuke was about to leave."
Iruka blinked. "Eh? So soon? How about dinner?"
"We already ate!" Naruto objected, afraid his father would expose more of his embarrassing side to Sasuke.
"Oh I hope it's not cup noodles again? Naruto those things hurt your health, you need to eat healthy food."
"Yeah, yeah, just go in for now!"
Having been pushed away so obviously, Iruka rolled his eyes and walked inside, leaving the two males together. He shouted for Sasuke to come again, before he disappeared inside his room. Naruto looked the black haired male in the face then clarified with a little blush.
"Just so you know, Iruka is exaggerating things. I like your play, but I'm not your fan or anything like that."
Sasuke was about to tease him but when a little recap happed in his head of the result of his previous teasing, he stopped and simply nodded. "Don't sweat it. I need to leave now."
Naruto allowed him out, however, he walked beside him. Sasuke blinked, Naruto quickly explained. "I'll walk you to the car."
"No need. I'm not a girl."
"Consider me not wanting to part with you just yet." Naruto ginned with those words.
Sasuke wanted to stop him but somehow, it was getting exhausting trying to push the blond away, so he just allowed him his comfort. The way to his car wasn't that far anyways.
"Your father is young."
Naruto mused. "Yeah, unfortunately, he didn't marry. When I was young, I thought it was because of me, you know I was a little devil, so I ran away from home. I thought if I wasn't there, then Iruka could build his own family and be happy. You know what he did when he found me?"
Sasuke was all ears. "What?"
"He beat the hell out of me!" Naruto laughed. "I have never seen Iruka get that angry. I cried the whole night to sleep, the next day, my neighbor told me how scared Iruka was when I was gone. That's when I realized how precious I am to him. You know, Iruka honestly thinks of me as his son, what was I thinking about when I ran away? Would a son run away from his father? From that day onward, I made sure not to hurt him like that ever again."
The raven haired male felt like he was being shared a little bit too much information. He stopped walking and looked the blond straight in the eyes. "Naruto, you should stop telling me intimate things."
"No, I won't." Naruto instantly answered. He walked closer to him and maintained their locked eyes. "I want you to know more about me, and I want to know more about you, Sasuke. So whatever walls you're trying to build, make sure I will break them down."
Sasuke felt a strange feeling well up inside of him at those words, he smirked. "Uzumaki, for someone who hasn't even confessed, you're really bold."
Naruto blushed when Sasuke got a little bit closer than his comfort. He felt his personal space get invaded. A part of him wanted to take a step backwards, but how would it look if he – the one pursuing – acted like that? So Naruto stayed put. Right now, Sasuke's breath was brushing his cheeks.
"You should know," the soft whisper sent tingles down Naruto's spine. "It won't be easy, I'm a very hard catch."
Naruto leaned in and was about to kiss Sasuke but his lips met thin ear. He opened his eyes and blinked at the sound of engine starting. He saw Sasuke wave at him from the driver's seat. Naruto rolled his eyes at the tease and waved back. He watched the car move away from his apartment complex, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was given the green light on his hunt.
Neji swallowed the cold ice-tea as a yawn escaped his mouth. His lilac orbs were highlighted by the black circles around them, he was pulling a lot of all-nighters lately that his bones hurt. When he tried to rest, he'd recall the exams that were nearing and he'd get back to studying. The mid-semester exams were very hard to pass; most of his colleagues were shutting themselves in the library studying like there was no tomorrow, the long haired player sighed and flipped the paper in front of him. Aside from his exams, he was responsible for making the practice schedule ready for his players. Actually, if Gaara wasn't with him taking care of him, Neji would have broken down a long time ago. From the corner of his eyes he gave a warm smile to the redhead. Gaara was beside him quietly sipping on his coffee and playing on his tablet.
Neji looked at his relaxed form and sighed another time. "Some people have it so easy."
Gaara's ears perked up at this and he looked at him. "I told you to split the workload with me, you refused."
"It's my job as captain to do it, not yours." Neji stated calmly, "Besides, we are studying different majors, so you can't help me with my studies."
"Then how about I come over today and give you a relaxing massage?" Gaara's face was as stoic as ever, however, Neji was able to distinguish the little changes in his tone of voice.
Smiling at the gentle gesture, he brushed their hands together. Gaara's massages were always soothing to his muscles, he first discovered their effect after a game in which Gaara offered him a massage, Neji took him on his offer and for the next hour, he was flying in heaven. The redhead had magical fingers, if Neji didn't know any better, he would have told him to change majors. In all truth, Neji just wanted to take Gaara and leave all those responsibilities behind, to disappear in a relaxing vacation – then it hit him.
With sparkling eyes, he chirped to his companion. "Gaara, let's go on a vacation! Let's go to Hawaii!"
"…Hawaii?"
"Yes!"
"We have different days off." Gaara sadly rained on his parade.
Neji shook his head as he pleaded. "Not now, on our annual break. The football season would have ended by then and God knows I need a breather."
"You're talking about five months from now, Neji. Kind of an early plan, don't you think?"
Shaking his brunet locks again, the captain explained. "No, it's never too early to plan a vacation. So, what do you say? Will you come with me?"
Gaara returned to the tap he was tapping and nodded. "Without a second thought."
A big, warm smile plastered onto Neji's face, he secretly thanked God for giving him the redhead. Yet before he could voice his sentiments, a blur of yellow and orange flashed in front of him. On the empty seat to his right sat none other than Uzumaki Naruto. The blond player had a panicked look on his face, he was sweating vigorously and acted as if it was doomsday. Neji blinked at the freaked blond and quirked a brow. They were sitting on the cafeteria of his medical faculty, if memory served him right, Naruto's faculty was on the other side of the university. So what would make the blond come all the way here?
"Naruto-kun?" Neji started, tone soothing with a little bit of worry. "Is everything alright?"
"Senpai! I need your help!" Naruto spoke in between gasps. "I did something to Sasuke and he's coming to get me! Please, tell me what to do to calm him down!"
The worry on the tired brunet's tone intensified a degree, and he questioned. "Oh my, what did you do?"
Naruto looked right and left before he took something out of his pocket, the broken screen of Sasuke's cell phone was presented to the two of them, Gaara and Neji 'oh'ed at the view.
"How did this happen?" Gaara was the first to ask.
"It was an accident; I was talking to him but he was tapping on his phone, ignoring me… I got a little bit annoyed and –" he gestured to the smashed screen. "accidently hit his hand, the phone fell down and the screen broke. I tried to apologize but he was furious, so I unconsciously took off, help me, senpai!"
Neji inspected the phone and couldn't stop a laugh from breaking out. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke is probably more pissed now that you've bolted off with his phone."
"I knoooow!" Naruto whined, "I panicked and didn't know what to do. He was about to hit me so I just ran, please, senpai, tell me how to handle this!"
Putting a hand under his chin, Neji tried to think of a way to get Naruto out of his little pickle. "Hmm… for starters, find him and return his phone. Say you'll pay for the repairs and apologize again. Sasuke is a reasonable person, he'd forgive you. Besides, it's not that big of a deal if the phone's not damaged."
Naruto sweat dropped, fidgeting and not meeting the other's eye. "I'm not too sure about that…"
"Naruto-kun, tell me the whole truth, what did you really do?" The brunet asked seriously upon Naruto's change of attitude.
"Umm…"
Twitching, Naruto wasn't too sure of what to say. A part of him wanted to tell the whole truth, but the other part was afraid of the embarrassment he'd feel.
As he saw the blond struggle, Neji encouraged. "I can only help if I know."
"There was a little strap hung on the phone, in the shape of a red pearl to be exact," The blond decided to talk. "When the phone fell, I accidently stepped on it and it cracked in the middle," To demonstrate this, Naruto took out the cracked pearl from his other pocket. "I told him I would pay for it, but Sasuke was really pissed, I don't know what's wrong, it's just a phone strap."
Neji eyed the red jewel and sighed, everything made sense now. He smiled kindly to Naruto and tried to explain in a clear manner. "It was a birthday gift from Itachi, his big brother. It holds a precious memory to Sasuke, he always used it with different phones. I'm not familiar with the whole story, but Sasuke once said that it was won for him in a festival they both attended. So, Naruto-kun, it's not 'just a phone strap', it's 'an unreplaceable gift'."
Naruto's face fell at that moment and he quickly stood up, excused himself and ran off. The two were made to look at his disappearing back. Gaara returned back to his game and questioned.
"where do you think he went?"
"Probably to make peace with Sasuke."
"Hmm, how nice."
Neji simply nodded and returned to his own stresses before the ball of sunshine named Naruto barged in, oh how much did he wish to trade places with someone else right now, the brunet sighed and started reading.
Naruto's brain was a mess. He felt really bad about what he did, he was inwardly loathing himself. Never would he have guessed the pearl had such meaning. The thing was, when Sasuke was pissed at him, he said some things that he wished he'd be able to take back now. But truth was he couldn't, Naruto fidgeted as he looked at the broken pearl that he tried to fix and sighed. His attempt was poor, he did his best, but it still didn't look as it used to. With a heavy heart, Naruto made his way into the locker-room area. He couldn't see anyone, but he was told – when he asked his teammates about Sasuke's whereabouts – that he was inside. His heart beat loudly as Sasuke's silhouette came into his viewfinder. The blond stilled his anxiety and with all his might, bowed in front of the male.
"Sasuke, I'm very sorry!"
The black haired male turned with cold eyes at the direction of the voice. He looked at Naruto's bowed form and simply closed his locker. When Naruto felt there was no reply, he raised his head and stood straight. Walking with soft steps, he continued singing his piece.
"I know now why you were mad, like I said I will fix your phone for you… and for the red pearl…" Naruto ruffled his pocket and got out the broken jewelry. It had been wrapped protectively with some kind of transparent paper. The shimmering of it was still present, alongside the crack that extended to all sides. The covering wasn't all that pretty but you could see how hard it was done. Naruto extended the broken pearl to Sasuke then commented.
"I tried my best to fix it, I know it's something dear to you, so I hope you can forgive me."
Sasuke took the red pearl and looked at it. He could remember the time when Itachi bought it for him, he was still in middle school, a lot of time had passed since then. Sasuke hadn't meant to hold onto the piece of jewelry as much as he did, but before he knew it, it was a permanent item in his life. Maybe the idiot child in him thought it was connecting him to Itachi, a beautiful memory of when they were happily acting like loving brothers. But the truth was that it was his wishful thinking. Itachi was nowhere to be found, his family was already broken and the pearl meant nothing. He should already learn to wake up and throw away useless connections. Sasuke returned the pearl to Naruto's hands.
"Keep it or throw it, it doesn't matter anymore."
Naruto knotted his brows and held Sasuke's elbow, stopping him from leaving. "Now, wait a minute, what is that supposed to mean? Neji-senpai said you held onto this for a long time, why are you acting like it's worthless?"
"Because it is. I was a fool to keep it, Itachi probably has forgotten all about it. Maybe you breaking it was a blessing in disguise."
The blond remained quiet and let go of Sasuke's hand, Sasuke walked out of the locker room, not even sparing a look behind him. Naruto looked at the peal and returned it to his pocket. It was something precious to Sasuke, whatever reason he conjured up for dismissing that, Naruto wouldn't accept it. With that notion in mind, he decided to hold on to the gem and treat it with as much care as Sasuke did.
Naruto needed to get back to class, so quickly he returned to his faculty. As he approached the door to his hall, a hand stopped his advancement. He blinked and was met with sparkling jade eyes. Naruto tried to offer a small smile to his senpai, even though inside he wasn't feel all that jolly.
"Senpai, what are you doing here?" He enquired, a little startled with her presence.
The girl was obviously excited, she brought out her cell phone and showed Naruto a photo. The blond sweat dropped when he saw it. It was a photo of him and Sasuke eating ramen together, taken from a nearby table. He knew exactly well what the girl wanted to talk about.
"Naruto!" Sakura started already breathing heavily. "How did you become friends with Sasuke-kun?!"
Taking a step back, he held his hands trying to ease her. "Sakura-senpai, please calm down. It just happened, one thing led to another and we clicked. Besides, it's illegal to take pictures of people without their knowledge."
"All's well in love and war~" She shrugged his warning.
"I don't think that's right –"
"Nonsense, anyhow, tell me how is Sasuke-kun up close? I bet he's awesome! Oh my God, Naruto! I can't believe you went out with him to eat! You know what I'd do to have that happen!?"
The blond sweat-dropped more, thinking of what Sakura would do if she knew they'd already kissed. A faint blush showed on his face with the distant memory and he shook his head. When he saw a couple other students enter the big hall, he returned to reality.
"Senpai, I need to go in now, the lecture is about to start."
At his remark, she glanced at the door behind her and contemplated. "No, you're ditching~!"
"Huh? Why?"
"I need all the information you got from dinning with Sasuke-kun, I can't wait until you're done with class!"
Without his agreement, Naruto was dragged by the beautiful – and strangely enough strong – female to the outside of their faculty. He sighed and hoped his attendance record could withstand missing one lecture.
"Okay, everyone, take a look at the new training schedule," Kakashi spoke through tired eyes. "I have been observing your development lately and I'm afraid it's not satisfactory. We were barely able to win our last game. So…" He looked at his players and his eyes got serious. "If you can't handle this new training schedule, you'll be dismissed from the team."
In less than a second, the atmosphere turned eerie. Kakashi was a laid back manger, but when he got serious, he was very hard to appease. All of them knew he wasn't joking; he'd drop any player he redeems useless in the blink of an eye. Amongst the stressed players, Naruto stood with excited eyes. He examined the new training regime and was momentarily astonished that he was paired with Sasuke. His heart moved a little but still he had to ask.
Raising a hand to question, "Are we training in a set of two?"
"Yes, Naruto," Neji was the one to answer him. "Each of you was placed with the best match in mind, manger Kakashi thinks it's best to train like that. For example, Naruto, you and Sasuke are polar opposite in your playing style, the way you control the ball, the way you attack, the time you need to pass the ball and the dribbling style, everything is different. Of course, you have your similarities, but the difference is vast; that's why by matching you together, you'd be able to learn from one another and possibility strengthen your weak points."
"I disagree." Sasuke's voice came from the shadows, he was in the background leaning on a wall. "If our styles are different, it'd be too hard to learn anything. His way of thinking and mine won't collide, we might do each other more harm than good."
"That's where you're wrong, Sasuke." Kakashi stepped in, defending his training schedule. "Let me put it this way, when you face a foreign team, what do you do first?"
"Study their play." The raven haired player answered without hesitation.
"Why?"
"Because I need to know their weakness."
The manager nodded, "Yes, you need to know their weakness and use it to win. They would have different styles than yours, and you will study it so you can top it, which will add to the things you don't know. In football, you need to improve all the time, you need to encounter new teams, beat stronger players and gain experience. When you learn of other teams' weakness, you will be more careful not to fall for them. There are two ways in this life to get knowledge, either by trial and error or by observing others. That's why I placed you all in teams of two. I want you to learn from your counterparts. Naruto-kun," Kakashi looked at the blond. "When you play, you tend to focus on maneuvering a lot, you play mind games and confuse your opponent, that in itself is fine, but you lack enough concentration in the defense area. You're a good attacker, however, when the ball is with you, you have a hard time defending it."
The blond sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. He was well aware of that and was trying his hardest not to show it, yet his manager's eyes were extremely sharp, he couldn't let anything pass him by. Kakashi looked back at the Uchiha and continued.
"While you, Sasuke, have a solid form in defending the ball, it's rare that it gets stolen from you. You pass in the right time and you don't overthink your decisions. However, you rely too much on the tactics and techniques you mastered in training. It works, but once the other team gets used to it, it becomes predictable. You need to use mind games and update your maneuvers a little. To put it simply, you need to learn from Naruto new tricks and Naruto needs to learn how to defend from you. There are also other aspects I highlighted in both your schedules, so Sasuke, there's no such thing as you won't benefit. I made this decision to benefit all of you. Make sure to get the best out of this experience, because if not, you're out."
Everyone was quiet this time around, Kakashi's words silenced any further objections any had in their minds. Kakashi asked if there were any other questions, when no one answered, he walked out and ordered his players to follow. The field was divided into parts – they had twenty-two players, eleven regular and eleven substitutes – eleven parts to be exact. Each team had a part where they were told to practice in. Naruto looked at the green grass and the schedule at hand. Then his eyes wandered to the stoic looking Uchiha who was twirling a ball on his finger. Naruto walked to him and said.
"Sasuke, did you mean it in there? You think it's pointless that we are matched together?" He didn't want to show hurt, but his feelings were a little bit affected. When he saw his name alongside Sasuke's, he was happy as to train together, yet knowing the other didn't feel the same put a sour taste on his happiness.
Sasuke stopped playing with the ball and answered. "I don't think we will benefit from one another. Our styles are too different. Kakashi's words might be true for people who have a similar or somewhat closer style to each other, but not us, Naruto, we're polar opposites."
"But that doesn't mean we won't play well together."
"I didn't say we can't play, I said we won't learn."
Naruto scowled. "It's the same thing, Sasuke, what manager wants us to do in the end of the day is to improve our play. If we can play perfectly well together, then it means we learned enough from each other to co-play."
"Naruto, what I'm saying and what you're saying are two totally different topics."
"No, they're not, they're the same. The conclusion is what matters. Anyway, let's start practicing, I'm sure you will see what I mean when we play."
Sasuke looked at the schedule keenly and sighed. He wasn't one hundred percent convinced, however, there was nothing he could do. After all, he didn't want to be kicked out.
"Sasuke, Naruto, it's time to go!" Neji called from above the field, however it fell on deaf ears.
The two players were too engrossed in their training to pay him any mind. Rolling his eyes at them, he yawned and started walking away. Gaara on his side, toed.
"You're not going to stop them?"
"No use, they will continue like this… let them play until lights out."
The redhead nodded and followed Neji. On the other side of the court, Naruto panted as he tried to take the ball from Sasuke's hard grip. It's been around four hours since they started training. From the get go he was able to see how hard it would be to beat Sasuke. They were following the schedule for a while, but then each wanted to score against the other. Naruto couldn't forget the defeat he had at Sasuke's house, so instead of learning from him, he was doing all his best to beat him… defeating the goal of combining them together.
Sasuke on the other hand, wasn't too fond of Naruto's excessive attacks. It was like the blond was a hungry hyena and he was holding his meat. Naruto was too fierce, yet he didn't dislike this quality. Because it lit a fire within him and he was defending like crazy and attacking to shoot. They panted as sweat drenched them. Sasuke felt the felid around them get empty and quiet. He was sure that he and Naruto were probably the only two left. Yet still, he didn't want to leave. Strangely enough, he was enjoying himself… a little too much actually.
Within a second of distraction, Naruto was able to steal the ball from his feet. Quickly running to the opposite goal, the blond was successful in avoiding Sasuke's tackle. The raven haired Uchiha returned to his pace and chased Naruto again, he was faster than the blond, yet Naruto had more stamina than he did; causing him to be able to evade Sasuke's other failed attempt to get his ball back. Finally, Naruto was free to score, he kicked the ball and fortunately, it entered the wide net.
Jumping in victory, the blond grinned bearing his teeth. "Yes! There, Sasuke! It's 3-4! My win!"
Sasuke frowned as he walked towards the blond. "No so soon, we have another match –"
Before he finished his sentence, the lights went off and the field got dark. They looked at each other then Naruto laughed aloud.
"I guess we'll take a raincheck on that."
"Hn."
They headed to the locker room to freshen up and get their things to leave. Naruto checked the time after they finished showering and it read eleven at night, he whistled. They were really out of this world, not paying attention to anything. He tied his shoelace and hung his bag on his shoulder. The blond yawned as he waited for Sasuke to come out. The cold night's air hit his body and he shivered.
"You should have just gone home."
Smiling at the cold tone, Naruto shook his head. "I wanted to walk together."
"How are you going home?"
Naruto contemplated the answer and shrugged. "I might call Iruka to come get me. No train is running so late, you know."
"I can drive you." Sasuke offered absentmindedly.
The blond smiled warmly but shook his head. "I'm dead tired so I know you are too. If you drove me, you'd be too exhausted to drive back home."
Sasuke looked at the starry skies then softly mumbled. "…I can just spend the night."
Naruto felt his eyes bulge out of their sockets. He gulped then stopped his horses. "DRIVE ME! Please, DRIVE ME! I want you to DRIVE ME!"
Sasuke looked away and continued walking. "But I don't want to be a bother, besides, your bed is small and hard."
Catching up to him, Naruto grinned. "Don't worry, I'll sleep on the futon, you can take the bed!" He didn't know what to say to his hard bed comment so he ignored it.
"Hmm… I don't know."
Naruto held Sasuke's pale hand and stopped his movement. With eyes that matched the raging seas, he softly invited. "Sasuke, please stay the night."
A small smile tugged on Sasuke's lips and he turned around. "Let's go."
Like a dog being asked on a walk, Naruto skipped behind the raven haired Uchiha.
LOL we are nearing the end. This was supposed to be more on the fluffy side, I hope it came across. Thanks for reading, do review if you want to.