Naruto woke up feeling cranky. He only ever felt this groggy after waking up if he didn't get the full eight hours of sleep his body craved. He also felt a pounding tension in his head, and it made it hard for him to want to open his eyes.

He sleepily reached around for his phone, blindly hoping that he would grab hold of it within the darkness.

In his search he grabbed onto something both soft and hard. He managed to force his eyes open and immediately hissed when the sunlight hit him.

Naruto turned over and peered at the body beside him. Still disoriented, he looked around, gathering details of the faintly recognizable room. When his eyes landed on a figure standing by the door, they opened wide and he let out a loud shriek.

"AH! What the fuck!" He sat up quickly, ignoring how his head stung as he did so.

"What are you screaming about, moron?" The body lying beside him, still mostly buried underneath the comforter, spoke. It sounded like a muffled Sasuke.

Naruto's heart was beating fast, and his breaths were coming out sharp. He rubbed his eyes with his wrist to clear up his vision, and then focused back on the figure by the door that nearly gave him a heart attack. Finally getting his head on straight, he saw that it was only Sai standing there with freshly cleaned and folded towels in his arms.

"Uh…" Naruto looked over and Sasuke was glaring up at him. The sight nearly made Naruto smile. He looked like an angry cat that'd just been disturbed from his nap. "My bad…" he grinned shyly and scratched the back of his head.

"Were you looking for your cellular device?" Sai asked pleasantly, and Naruto had to force himself not to make a comment about his choice of words.

"Uh, yeah…"

Sai sat the towels on the edge of the bed and pulled the phone from his pocket. He approached and handed it over to Naruto. "I found it on the couch."

Naruto blushed as he accepted the device, unable to remember what had happened before he'd apparently passed out on Sasuke's bed. Sai smiled and left the room after that.

God, his head really hurt. What time was it?

He tapped on his phone, but nothing happened. It was dead. He looked back over at Sasuke and saw that he'd turned his back to him. He looked to the nightstand and saw that the time was only 11:30 in the morning.

"Urgh," Naruto closed his eyes and rubbed them with the heels of his hands, hoping to shed some clarity on the past few hours. "What the hell happened?" He was speaking more to himself, but Sasuke reacted to his words and sat up, the soft comforter pulling around his naked waist. As Naruto uncovered his eyes, the sight of his bed companion nearly made him drool.

Naruto shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and immediately groaned because the movements only made his aching head feel worse. He clenched his eyes shut and covered his face with his hands.

After Sasuke showed up at the club he knew they went back to Sasuke's place and then they'd had a couple drinks and…

Naruto gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke. "You drugged me didn't you?"

Sasuke's eye twitched at the statement. "Are you stupid?"

"Well!" Naruto got up from the bed, wearing only his bright orange boxers. He placed his hands firm on his hips, as he spoke, "Why can't I remember getting in bed with you? And why am I practically naked?"

"Think, moron. We came here, you had two shots and somehow you got wasted on your own. The end." Sasuke laid back down after that, turning over so that his back faced Naruto once again.

"Yeah! Because you slipped me something!"

"No," Sasuke turned his head to glare at him. "Because apparently you have a ten-year-old's tolerance for alcohol." He turned away again and Naruto blushed at his words.

"So… we didn't?"

"No. We didn't."

Naruto sighed. He was starting to feel a bit awkward. The fact that he was practically in a stranger's bed wasn't lost on him. Even though he'd been in this room, in this bed, before, it wasn't like he and Sasuke were friends, not even close.

"Then… why am I still here?" Naruto asked, again, more to himself. Sasuke didn't respond this time, presumably asleep. Naruto let out another heavy sigh. He didn't know what to do. Where were his clothes anyway?

Naruto took this opportunity to creep out of the bed and take a leak. The room in the far corner appeared to be the right place to go. He slowly opened the door and was almost amazed by the size of the room. There was a Clawfoot tub, a separate glass door shower, a long sink with two golden faucets, plush black and gold speckled bath mats and steel colored walls. He almost lost the urge to go.

Once he'd finished he snuck back out into the bedroom. Sasuke was still turned over, quietly sleeping. He grabbed his phone along with his wallet and cigarettes, which he found on the nightstand, and went out into the hallway that led to the living room. Sai was there, folding more linen and placing them in a large closet connected to the living room. When Naruto was close Sai turned to him and smiled. Naruto only felt a little awkward standing there in his boxers. He figured this guy must have seen him naked already anyway.

"I'm sorry to have woken you, Naruto-san," Sai spoke, a look of sympathy took over his passive face. It almost felt real.

"Uh, no it's okay. I was already awake." Naruto scratched the back of his head, coming closer to where Sai stood. "Uhm, you got my clothes? I think I should leave."

Sai stared at him for a moment, then smiled. "Oh yes, I do. They're washing right now."

Naruto nodded, then looked over towards the couch. He decided he might as well wait out here, so he walked over and plopped down on the oddly comfortable leather sofa. Sai continued his work, unbothered.

As Naruto sat there, he attempted to piece things together. He still couldn't wrap his head around what was happening between him and Sasuke, or, if anything was happening at all.

He turned his head towards something that caught his attention. On the side table there were two framed pictures. He leaned across the sofa until he was close enough to snag them both in one hand. He sat straight again and separated the frames to get a good look at them. The first was a picture of a young girl with short black hair, the same one he'd seen on the news days ago. She was sitting in a field wearing a light blue sundress. She wasn't smiling, but she looked happy.

The other was a family picture. A stoic looking older man stood beside a woman showing off a radiant smile. Sitting in front of them were two boys. One was a young teenager sitting with his back straight and a firm hand on the other boy who appeared much younger, maybe five or six. He looked the happiest out of all of them, sitting there with a large smile and his hand up, likely waving at the cameraman. It made Naruto smile.

Then, a hand came from up above and snatched both pictures out of his hands. Naruto jumped and turned to face the culprit.

Sasuke was standing there, looking unfazed as he went to place the pictures back.

"Hey, I was looking at... Whoa! Can you put some clothes on?" Naruto covered his eyes with one hand and looked away. Sasuke was standing there, completely naked.

"Why? This is my home, and it's not like you haven't seen me naked." Sasuke walked away into the kitchen. Naruto slowly removed his hand, revealing a bright red face.

"That's different," Naruto grumbled.

"How?" Sasuke asked and Naruto looked up. Sasuke had left the kitchen and was standing closer, drinking a glass of orange juice. Naruto looked away again.

Once Sasuke finished his orange juice, he sat the glass down on the counter and went over to the room Sai was doing laundry in. When he came out he was wearing a loose pair of joggers and holding a large tablet.

He came around the couch and sat beside Naruto, idly scrolling through the news as if it was just another day.

Naruto looked over and stared at the picture of that little girl. "How can you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Go behind your family's back."

Sasuke stopped his scrolling, his eyes narrowing at the statement. "You don't know anything about my family." Naruto could sense the venom laced in those words.

Naruto sighed before he spoke again, "You're right." Sasuke resumed his scrolling.

Sai came out a moment later holding folded clothes in one hand. He walked around the couch and held them in front of Naruto's face.

"Thanks," Naruto spoke and accepted them. Sai nodded and smiled before going back to what he was doing. Naruto stood up and began dressing. It bothered him that, once again, Sasuke was sitting there completely ignoring him.

Once he was fully dressed in the previous night's work outfit, he pocketed his phone, wallet and cigarettes, then stood there looking down at Sasuke.

"Do you need something?" Sasuke said sounding bored.

Naruto glared down at him, "Don't call me."

Sasuke paused and tilted his head back to face Naruto. "Did I call you? I don't remember doing that." Naruto paused when he realized Sasuke was right.

Naruto shook his head. "No! I mean, delete my number."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Do you think you have the right to tell me what to do?"

Naruto huffed. "Why are you such an asshole?"

"I'm the asshole?" Sasuke raised a brow, looking up as if he was in thought. "I suppose I'm the one who invited myself into your place, got disturbingly trashed then passed out in your bed, all the while insulting you for… what was it again? Oh yes, being a 'dirty, cheating, lying bastard just like…' What was his name? Neji, right? Yes. A 'dirty, cheating, lying bastard just like that dickhead, Neji'." Naruto's face flushed.

"I said that?" Naruto whispered to himself.

Sasuke gave him a pointed look then focused his attention back on his tablet.

"So to answer you," Sasuke continued. "I never saved your number and I don't plan to. You have successfully burned that bridge. Congratulations."

Naruto looked embarrassed. But, more upsettingly, he felt a bit hurt. It's true; Sasuke's married and Naruto really hated that about him. Even so, he'd be lying if he hadn't developed some sort of insane crush for the man over the days he'd spent thinking about their little fling.

Naruto looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets as he did so. He felt his chest tightening. "Well," he pouted. "Why didn't you just kick me out then?"

"Because, it was six in the morning and, as bastardly as you seem to think I am, I don't care to throw drunken idiots out on the street at odd hours."

Naruto nodded, "Okay I get it." Instead of leaving as he'd previously mentioned, to Sasuke's surprise, Naruto plopped down beside him on the couch.

Sasuke's eyebrow rose and he turned to face him as he spoke. "Weren't you leaving?"

Naruto ignored him. He didn't feel right just leaving. He also didn't necessarily owe Sasuke anything but… "I should make it up to you," Naruto decided and turned to Sasuke with a wide Cheshire grin.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "We're not having sex again. I was sure that I made that clear."

Naruto rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Jesus, is that all you think about?" Naruto realized Sasuke probably made that same assumption when Naruto first offered to "make it up to him" when he'd spilled that coffee on him. "I'm talking about lunch."

"Lunch?"

"Yeah, let me treat you." Naruto was still grinning like an idiot.

"Why?"

"Well, even though I still think you're sort of shitty for sleeping around behind your family's back, you did have the decency to let me crash here." Naruto shrugged. "Even if you are a scummy prick."

Sasuke tilted his head, his face emotionless as he spoke, "Wow…. I'm in tears."

Naruto chuckled and shook his head, before responding, "Is that a 'yes'?" He wiggled his eyebrows and shimmied his shoulders. He thought he saw something like a smile form of Sasuke's mouth, but whatever it was, it went away in a blink.

"Whatever," Sasuke got up. "Sai, bring me something to wear," Sasuke spoke as he got up and made his way back to his room.

Naruto sat there on the couch as he left. For some reason, he was still smiling.


"You really didn't need to dress so..." Naruto started to say as they headed out of the lavish building.

Sasuke looked over at him and asked, "'So' what?" Naruto turned his head to eye Sasuke's outfit. The man looked like royalty in his black Givenchy suit. Compared to Naruto, who was wearing his work clothes, Sasuke looked like some sort of prince.

As he continued to eye him, Sasuke was still waiting for him to explain himself with a quizzical look.

Naruto shook his head, thinking it was best to leave it alone, he said, "Never mind. The place is only a couple blocks from here so we can walk."

As soon as they stepped outside Naruto squinted at the sun. It reminded him that the day was just beginning. He was rarely out when the sun was directly above. He reached into his back pocket for his cigarettes and pulled out one. Sasuke watched him as he lit it and inhaled the nicotine, but didn't say anything.

Even though the walk was short, Naruto still didn't feel he knew Sasuke well enough to be comfortable in the silence, so he thought of something to say. "What's your daughter's name?" was the first thing that came to mind and he wished he'd thought about that question before asking it. Why in the hell would he ask a guy he's sleeping with about his family? Sasuke seemed to think the same thing by the way he narrowed his eyes at Naruto in response. Even though 'sleeping together' is a bit of a reach considering they'd only had one night of passion.

To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke simply answered, "Sarada."

Naruto thought about the name and nodded, "That's pretty." He felt like he had to roll with it after that. "Did you name her?"

Sasuke looked away, unsure of why they were having this sort of conversation. Even so, the questions seemed harmless, so he answered easily, "I did."

"She looks like you."

"She does."

"How often do you see her?"

"Often enough." They turned a corner and began walking across the street.

"Hm," Naruto thought to himself. He was getting distracted by his own musing, and for some reason, his mother came to mind. "She probably misses you when you're gone."

Sasuke looked at him, but didn't respond.

"It must be nice, having people like that in your life."

Sasuke stopped in the middle of the cross walk. The walk sign was still on. He turned to Naruto with his arms crossed, "I'll tell you this only because it seems to bother you so much. My wife knows that I sleep around."

Naruto was shocked to hear this, but more shocked that Sasuke had the audacity to stand in the middle of the road. "What? Wait… Can we move away from here?" Naruto tugged at Sasuke's arm, but he didn't budge.

Sasuke smirked, "Are you afraid?"

Naruto huffed. "Wow. You really are an asshole, Jesus." Naruto crossed his arms and defiantly stared up at him. Sasuke tilted his head in a cocky, challenging manor. Naruto continued, "I was just making conversation y'know? Ever heard of a thing called 'trying to be nice'? And I didn't ask. Besides, like you said, we're not even doing that again. Just friends, right?" Naruto leaned back and smiled cheekily.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Friends?"

A car horn blared from beside them. Naruto jumped and they both looked at the angry culprit fuming behind the wheel of his sedan. Sasuke lifted his middle finger up at him. Naruto chuckled, but grabbed Sasuke's vulgar had and pulled them both to safety before that man had half a mind to run them over.

Once again on the sidewalk Naruto laughed again. "You're actually the most arrogant person I've ever met."

Sasuke still wanted to know what exactly Naruto meant when he called them 'friends' but didn't get the chance when Naruto turned around and pointed out where they would be eating. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the bright sign that read in bold, tacky typography: ICHIRAKU RAMEN.

"Ramen?" Sasuke spat out the word as if the idea itself was taboo. Naruto looked at him and grinned.

"Yeah, I love this place."

"I'm not surprised."

Naruto frowned, "Hey! What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Sasuke sighed, "I shouldn't have to explain." They approached the small ramen shop after that and went through the sliding doors towards the bar.

"Naruto!" A cute girl wearing a white hakama walked around the bar to greet them as soon as they entered. There was only one customer there besides them and he was busy sucking down his third bowl of noodles in one of the booths. Sasuke did his best not grimace. Even if he wanted to, he was quickly distracted when the previously mentioned girl brushed past him to give Naruto a hug. "It's been so long since you've come in. I usually only see you if I'm on the delivery shift." Naruto chuckled and she giggled in return. "Oh!" The girl jumped when she noticed Sasuke's presence and backed away into a comfortable distance. "My apologies, I didn't see you there." Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes.

"Ayame," Naruto gestured between them. "This is my friend, Sasuke." There goes that word again. "Sasuke, this is Ayame. I've known her for what?" He tilted his head as he thought of the number. "Fifteen years now?"

Ayame nodded cutely. "Yep, I was just volunteering here for my grandpa when this little fox baby first came in with his chubby cheeks." She reached over and pinched one of Naruto's whiskered cheeks for show.

Naruto chuckled but also pulled Ayame's hand from his face. "C'mon Aya, I'm not a kid anymore." Naruto pouted jokingly and she smiled at him with warm eyes.

"Yeah, I know…" She let her eyes take in Naruto's figure. Sasuke was simply staring at the exchange. Naruto seemed as oblivious as ever.

Naruto looked to Sasuke. "This place is great. I usually get the house style Ichiraku ramen."

"I'll just have tea."

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched at the statement. "You're not hungry?"

"Not exactly," Sasuke shrugged. Naruto opened his mouth and pointed.

"Oh I get it! You don't think the food will be good 'cause we're not at some five-star European restaurant."

Sasuke shrugged again, not denying the statement. Naruto glared at him, then turned back to Ayame, who seemed lost in her own thoughts.

"Let's get two house style bowls and two green teas. I want mine iced."

"Wait…" Sasuke started to say.

"Coming right up!" Ayame beamed and bounced back behind the counter to start preparing their teas.

Sasuke sighed and turned to Naruto with a weak expression. "You don't seriously expect me to eat this, do you?"

Naruto grinned, "I do."

Ayame came back with the teas. She smiled and nodded at them as she slid them over, then went back to begin drawing the noodles.

Sasuke spoke once she was out of earshot. "Doesn't she know that you like being fucked by men?" Naruto nearly spat out his tea.

Naruto turned to him with wide eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Sasuke took a calm sip of his tea, mentally noted that it wasn't terrible, and pointed towards Ichiraku's kitchen where Ayame was. "She wants to have sex with you."

Naruto's face scrunched up. "No, ew, she's like a big sister to me."

"Yeah," Sasuke scoffed. "You're an idiot."

"What? How does that make me an idiot?"

Sasuke took another sip of his tea, then rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb. "She looked at you like you were a steak and… she hadn't eaten in days."

Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "No, I think I would know if she wanted to sleep with me. And, for the record, I'm sure she doesn't." Naruto grabbed his iced drink and sucked down a good amount. He didn't feel too confident in his conclusion about Ayame, and it made him feel a bit awkward to think that she saw him that way. But, he didn't want to lose to Sasuke.

"You didn't know before."

"Before what?" Naruto turned to look at him and Sasuke was staring back with intense eyes. Naruto blushed.

Sasuke spoke low enough for only them to hear. "You didn't know that I wanted to fuck you the moment I saw you." Naruto choked and leaned away.

"Two house style bowls!" Ayame's voice cut between the building tension. She placed the bowls in front of them, along with some chopsticks, and then bowed her head. "Enjoy." She smiled and walked off to a woman who'd just taken another seat at the bar.

Naruto still felt a bit lightheaded from Sasuke's comment, so he immediately dug into his dish. After a couple bites he peeked over at Sasuke who hadn't even broke apart his chopsticks yet. His face was still red, but he tried to act like what Sasuke said didn't affect him nearly as much as it did. He spoke to him through a mouth full of half-chewed ramen, "You're seriously not going to eat?"

Sasuke took another sip of his tea and peered over at Naruto with a look of disgust as he watched him shove another bunch of noodles into his mouth. He looked down at the steaming bowl in front of him and felt his stomach move. He let out a small sigh in defeat, put down his tea and broke open his chopsticks. Naruto stopped eating to stare at him. Sasuke looked back at Naruto. "Are you planning on monitoring?"

Naruto grinned and nodded, feeling less awkward and more amused at Sasuke's sudden discomfort.

Sasuke shook his head and looked back down at the noodles. He rolled the chopsticks into the dish and came out with the noodles spun neatly around the two sticks. Slowly, he took the noodles into his mouth, slurped them up as neatly as he could and began chewing.

"Well?" Naruto spoke.

Sasuke continued to chew as his dark eyes shifted to look at Naruto. He swallowed and answered with a shrug.

Naruto scoffed, "Wha- oh come on!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's not the worst thing I've ever tasted."

Naruto grinned, "You like it, don't you?"

Sasuke glared, but there was no menace behind it.

"Oh admit it already," Naruto chuckled. He didn't notice the sound of bells chiming behind him, as the door to Ichiraku was swung open.

"Shut up." Sasuke spoke and went for another bite. He also didn't notice the footsteps approaching.

"Naruto…" A voice broke the mood. Sasuke looked at Naruto first, his usually tan face had turned incredibly pale. Naruto was suddenly gripping his chopsticks tight enough for his knuckles to turn white. Both Sasuke and Naruto looked back at the same time. Two men were standing there: one with shaggy brown hair and gaudy red tattoos on his cheeks, and the other a creepy looking guy with short, spiky black hair wearing dark sunglasses.

"Kiba…" Naruto seethed.

"Hey Naruto, I just want to talk…" Kiba spoke quickly.

"What the fuck. Are you two stalking me now?" He was referring to Neji. Naruto got up from his stool, looking like he was ready to swing at him.

"Wait, what? I don't know what you're…" Kiba stammered.

"You stay away from me, and tell your boyfriend to do the same," Naruto spat out the word 'boyfriend' like it was poison.

"Naruto, come on, I just want to talk." Kiba said again, trying to be as cautious as possible.

"Talk about what? What does everyone want to talk about it? I've got nothing to say, Kiba."

Kiba looked put out, unable to counter that. He looked at Sasuke for the first time and Sasuke almost rolled his eyes when Kiba predictably said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"Yes, I'm sure." Sasuke spoke and Naruto cooled down a bit at the sound of his voice. He remembered where he was.

"Shit," Naruto put a hand on his forehead, feeling embarrassed. He turned to Sasuke, "I'm really sorry."

"I didn't mean to interrupt." Kiba said. Naruto glared at him, but didn't respond. "I'm Kiba."

"Hn," Sasuke responded with a short nod.

"You two are…?" Kiba began.

"None of your business." Naruto interjected and Kiba retreated from the subject entirely. "I'm not even hungry anymore," Naruto grumbled.

"Look, I saw you come in here from across the street… I just… Can we please talk sometime, when you're ready?" Kiba finally managed to say. When Naruto responded to him with another glare, he took that as his cue to go. "Just think about it. Sorry again for interrupting." Kiba waved at them both and then finally left.

Naruto plopped down in his stool once they were gone. He put both hands over his face and sighed. When he moved his hands he chuckled and looked towards Sasuke who appeared unfazed.

"That was totally awkward." Naruto said through his embarrassed chuckle.

"I'm guessing that's the ex-best friend who your dirty, cheating ex-boyfriend slept with behind your back?" Sasuke said easily as he finished off his tea.

Naruto's eyes widened. "What? How do you know that? I didn't…"

"You did."

Naruto groaned.

After that, they finished eating as much as they could. Naruto was happy to see that Sasuke had consumed over half of his ramen before resting his chopsticks. As promised, he paid for the two of them and they left the shop with a warm send off from Ayame.

As they left, Naruto spotted something in a store window across the street. On the corner, there was a retro looking shop with the word "JoyStick" mounted in large red letters over the roof of the building. Naruto's mouth hung open for a moment as he pointed at the poster plastered over all of the building's windows. It was of two ninjas, one in red and the other in black. They were clashing swords and staring at each other with fire in their eyes through they're intricate masks. It was the advertisement for the new Ninja Tournament game. It must have just been released. He hadn't even realized the launch date was so soon.

Naruto looked to Sasuke, expecting some sort of reaction. When he received a lack luster response filled with complete disinterest, he deflated and asked, "What am I thinking? Of course you don't play video games."

"Oh?" Sasuke gave a Sasuke-version of a shocked face and said, "Did I give myself away?"

"Ha. Ha." Naruto rolled his eyes. Then, he unexpectedly grabbed Sasuke's wrist and gave it a light tug. "Come on, you still have time right?"

Sasuke looked into the blonde's mischievous blue eyes and wasn't sure if he'd like whatever Naruto had planned.


Inside the gaming store across the street from Ichiraku revealed a world for everything nerdy. On the walls there were posters ranging from overtly sexual shoujo anime to 80s samurai movies. There was a section for vinyl records, DVDs and VHS tapes as well as old to new video games and systems. In the far corner of the store there was a large TV mounted on the wall and hooked up to it was a system with the new Ninja Tournament game Naruto had mention loaded up and ready to go.

When they got inside, Naruto dragged Sasuke to the back, as if he already knew what would be waiting for them.

They stopped in front of the TV that was displaying the intro to the newest, hottest fighting game on the market. Fighters were transforming into animals, disappearing into puffs of smoke, shooting throwing knives and ninja stars at each other. The high-energy preview showed each character in tandem, revealing their killer techniques and new improvements from, what Sasuke could tell, was the previous installment of the video game series. How cheesy could it get? And yet, Naruto was staring at it like a salivating pre-teen.

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets, watching as Naruto eagerly reached for the dangling controller. What he wasn't expecting was for Naruto to grab the other controller and hand it to him.

Naruto grinned at Sasuke when instead of accepting the controller; he looked at it with pure distaste. Naruto lightly shook the controller, urging for Sasuke to take it, but he let it hang in Naruto's hand with no intension of obliging him.

"What do you expect me to do with that?" Sasuke asked, turning his nose up to further accentuate his reluctance.

"What do you think? I don't want to play alone."

Sasuke shrugged and looked away. "Then drag some other idiot here to play with you."

Naruto pouted for a moment, nudging Sasuke's side with the controller. He could see Sasuke's growing irritation, but he still wasn't budging.

"Oh come on," Naruto whined, "Just one game."

"I don't think so." Sasuke slapped Naruto's hand away when the nudging became too much for his nerves. He wondered briefly why he was even hanging around this twenty-year-old who was clearly obsessed with things beyond his spectrum.

Naruto grinned; this time looking like a devious idea had crossed his mind. He leaned closer to Sasuke and whispered, "You're afraid you'll lose, aren't ya?"

Sasuke grit his teeth and leaned back, looking absolutely offended. "Get real."

"You are!" Naruto poked him for good measure then crossed his arms in a show of haughtiness. "You're definitely the type of guy who hates doing things he doesn't think he'll be good at." Naruto decided and nodded his head at the conclusion.

"Idiot." Sasuke said through his gritted teeth. He was getting fed up.

Naruto shrugged and let out an exasperated sigh, "Well, it can't be helped. You can't be good at everything. There's bound to be something even the mighty Uchiha-sama sucks at."

After that Naruto felt the spare controller get snatched from his hand. He quickly looked to Sasuke who was glaring at the TV screen.

"One game." Sasuke confirmed.

Naruto nodded, happy that his tactics had worked, but also surprised that Sasuke had such a childish side to him. It definitely beat his know-it-all, obnoxious, arrogant side. He wouldn't admit to himself that he thought it was cute. Sasuke was anything but cute.

Naruto started up the game. He spent a moment of their time showing Sasuke the basics to the fighting structure and telling him about the origins of the game. He talked about how it started out as a platformer and evolved into the fighting game that it was now. Naruto was surprised that Sasuke nodded in some interest to what he was saying. Even if he did feel like he was talking a bit much, Sasuke just listened quietly as they picked out their characters.

Two minutes of battling later, Naruto stared at the screen with his mouth open and his eyes wide.

Sasuke was smirking down at him.

"You…" Naruto pointed at the screen. "You beat me…" He watched as his character's head was brutally decapitated by Sasuke's. He grabbed at the screen, as if it would help him comprehend what had just happened. He turned to Sasuke with his wide, hopeless eyes and proclaimed, "You liar!"

Both of Sasuke's eyebrows went up at this accusation.

Naruto went on, "You've totally played this game before! You're a total undercover geek aren't you?"

Sasuke scoffed and looked away. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Then how?" Naruto whined and Sasuke shrugged again.

"It's easy. All you're doing is pressing buttons."

"It's so much more than that! You landed an eighteen hit combo! Eight-teen hits, Sasuke! That's like… I can't even do that." Naruto was still amazed. Sasuke didn't get what the big deal was. But, he could admit that beating Naruto so thoroughly gave him a great feeling of empowerment.

When Naruto turned to him with determined eyes, Sasuke knew what he was about to say and immediate shook his head. "No."

"Come on," Naruto whined, and again Sasuke was reminded of their age difference.

"I said one game."

Naruto continued to stare up at him with his unwavering eyes. Sasuke glared back at him. The two stared at each other this way for a full minute before Sasuke finally gave in.


Ten games later Naruto and Sasuke were walking back. Naruto's shoulders were slumped after his devastating defeat while Sasuke walked uncaringly beside him, but secretly reveling in his victory.

Sasuke silently agreed to walk Naruto to his apartment since it wasn't too far from where they were. When they got there they stood outside of Naruto's door.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and spoke; "I can't believe you beat me eleven times in a row." He sounded a bit more lighthearted when he said it this time, which had been the hundredth time since they left the nerd-store.

Sasuke smirked, finding Naruto's disheartened expression a bit endearing. Even though there were a million things he could've said back, he simply shrugged his shoulders at Naruto's admission.

A moment of silence passed. For the first time that day, Naruto realized this situation was a bit awkward. This was the same guy whom he was sure he'd never want to meet again, right? He was the arrogant, scumbag who was cheating on his wife to sleep around with men, wasn't he? The same guy who carelessly slept with him, the same guy who disregarded him up until then, the same guy who Naruto was sickeningly obsessed with, but was so wrong for him in so many ways…

He'd never imaged that underneath all of his bastardly tendencies, Sasuke was sort of… normal.

Without giving it much thought, Naruto asked, "Should I invite you in?"

Sasuke shook his head without hesitation and explained, "I actually have a meeting to get to." Naruto nodded. He did his best to hide his disappointment. He wasn't ready to admit that he actually enjoyed Sasuke's company.

Naruto wondered if they'd been the same age at the same school if they'd be friends. If circumstances were different, would they have dated like normal people?

It didn't help that everything about this moment felt like the ending of a date, and it made Naruto feel jittery and uneasy. What made it even worse was in the next moment Sasuke's hand was on his cheek, lifting his head up so that he could give him a kiss. It was short, but slow enough to feel sensual. Sasuke's lips gripped onto Naruto's bottom lip and slowly tugged on it as they separated.

Naruto's eyes were closed when they pulled apart. He was taken by the soft kiss. It felt nothing like what they shared before. When he opened his eyes seconds later, he gave Sasuke a small smile.

Trying not to sound effected by the moment they had just shared, Naruto said in a lighthearted manor, "I guess I won't ever see you again." Sasuke raised his eyebrow at this before Naruto continued, "Since, you know, you didn't save my number." He realized Naruto was referring to his earlier comments.

Sasuke shrugged, looking cocky. "You still have my number. I won't tell you what to do with it."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Arrogant bastard."

A voice cut in before Sasuke could respond to the insult. "Whoa, I am so sorry." They both turned their heads towards the intrusion.

Sakura was standing there looking shocked, holding a bag of groceries in one hand and the strap of her purse with the other.

"Uh…" was all Naruto could think to say

She pointed behind her, "Should I come by later, Naruto?"

Naruto blushed, scratching the back of his head shyly. "Uh, no it's fine." He looked up at Sasuke for a moment, "He was just leaving."

Sasuke nodded and backed away from Naruto after realizing how incredibly close they were. He didn't say anything else and simply walked past Sakura with a short nod of acknowledgement before he rounded the corner and was gone.

Sakura watched him go then turned to Naruto with her mouth wide open. She walked towards him and pointed in the direction Sasuke went. "Okay, he is so much hotter in person. Jesus." She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "Now I totally get why you'd ignore my fucking calls," she slapped his arm as she said the last part and Naruto realized he hadn't checked his phone yet that day.

"Ow!" He rubbed the sore spot where Sakura hit. "Sorry, my phone's dead." Naruto turned and unlocked his door. They walked in and Sakura set the bag of groceries down on the counter. They looked at each other after that and Sakura motioned for him to talk. Naruto cocked his head to the side, unsure of what she was asking of him.

Sakura rolled her eyes and said, "Sooo..."

"So?" Naruto countered.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What happened to never seeing him again?"

Naruto walked over and plopped down on the couch. "I wouldn't say I'm 'seeing him'."

Sakura tilted her head, "Really?" She tapped her chin, looking mockingly intrigued. "Because that looked a lot like two people seeing each other out there."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know." He sat up straight, "I don't get him at all. He's a total asshole, believe it, but he's also… I don't know."

Sakura sat beside Naruto with her purse and a bottle of water that she likely grabbed from the bag she'd brought over. She took a gulp before she offered a sip to Naruto as he thought to himself. He declined the offer and she shrugged.

After a moment she spoke again, "You like him, don't you?"

Naruto laughed incredulously. "No! I don't like him. That's crazy. I barely know him." He realized he sounded a bit frantic when he said this, and willed himself to calm down.

Sakura nodded, taking note of how skittish he'd gotten with his answer, before she continued, "Yeah, but you've slept with him on two different occasions and you were looking at him like high school Naruto on his first date out there."

"Well, for you information, we didn't sleep together last night we just…" Naruto looked away. For a moment, he wasn't sure how to put it. "Well," he continued, "We just... slept together..."

Sakura narrowed her eyes in thought. "Wait so, you met up with him and you just slept… beside him?"

"Yeah, and then we went to Ichiraku…"

"You went to Ichiraku? Your favorite food place!"

"No! It was just…"

"So wait!" Sakura hopped up, enthusiastic as ever. She started pacing as she spoke, "You sleep with this guy, who's apparently an asshole, but obviously is a very, very hot asshole. You find out that he's married and has a kid, let's not forget that little bit of info. Then, you meet up with him again and DON'T have sex, and instead sleep together, in the same bed no doubt. THEN, you take him on a date to your favorite food place. He walks you home, kisses you, yeah I totally saw that by the way, and you're telling me that you don't like him?" She stopped, crossed her arms and stared down at him. He didn't think it would help his case if he told her about going to JoyStick, so he omitted that.

"No." Naruto huffed and looked away. "I'm telling you that I don't know what the fuck I'm doing with this guy."

Sakura's eyes went from amused to sympathetic. She sat down beside him and rubbed his shoulder with a soothing hand. "Oh, Naruto," she cooed sweetly.

"He told me today that his wife knew he was sleeping around."

Sakura scoffed and shook her head. "That's probably a lie."

Naruto looked at her then, unwilling to admit that her words struck a cord, "You think so?"

Sakura nodded, "Totally. If that Sasuke guy looks half as hot naked as I think he does, no woman would ever be okay with sharing that man."

Naruto sighed, partially amused by Sakura's words but also disturbingly upset at the idea of Sasuke lying to him. "Maybe you're right," he said softly. Why was his heart sinking as he thought about it? He tried not to look too hard for the answer.

"But wait!" Sakura perked up as a thought came to mind. "You never told me what happened with Neji." Naruto had completely forgotten about that little interaction.

"Right," Naruto grumbled. "He came up to me after you and Hinata dropped me off. Kiba sniffed me out too."

"Wait, what? It was both of them?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, It was just Neji and then today Kiba came up to us while we were at Ichiraku."

"What the fuck..."

"Yeah, I know. I wish they would just let me wash my hands of this." Sakura nodded, unsure of what to say. Naruto leaned back and fished around the couch for the remote. Sakura found it first and handed it to him.

"You think your boyfriend is on TV again?" She joked and Naruto slapped her leg playfully. Sakura laughed at Naruto's red face.

"Shut up! Don't say that."

"I'm kidding!"

Naruto pouted, "He's not my boyfriend. Not even close."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

They sat in front of the TV just flipping through channels. Naruto couldn't help but let his mind drift. Sasuke really was a mysterious guy. He just couldn't make sense of him. He was unmistakably the most disrespectful, arrogant, uptight, prick Naruto had ever met. And yet, there was a side to him that was undoubtedly charming and hard to dismiss. It was hard to comprehend the way Naruto felt about him, especially since they'd only met a few times. It was completely messed up that, even so, he couldn't seem to get the bastard off of his mind.

All that considered, there was one thing that was certain: this whole mess he was getting into was a bad idea. Experiencing a day like this where he felt like he could actually like Sasuke; like there was any type of connection between them that wasn't sexual was an enormous red flag in his eyes. Sasuke was married. He was married and he had a kid, a whole separate life to what he revealed to Naruto. And what if Sakura was right? Did he lie to him about his wife knowing just to get Naruto to stop talking about his family? Did he feel guilty at all for what he was doing? Was Sasuke really the type of coward to lie like that? Naruto was starting to find it hard to believe.

And yet, whether or not that was a lie, it didn't change the fact that Sasuke just wasn't "boyfriend material". He was far from it. And knowing that, for some odd reason, irritated Naruto more than ever.

"I think I've changed my mind." Naruto said, taking himself away from his train of thought.

"About what?" Sakura spoke, sounding distracted, her eyes still focused on the television.

Naruto turned his body to fully face Sakura. "The trip. I want to go with you guys."

Sakura turned to him and smiled, "The onsen trip that you totally shat on?"

Naruto chuckled, "Yeah, that one."

"Great!" Sakura bounced around in her seat, reaching in her bag for her phone. "Yay, I'm so excited! I'll let Ino know."

"Wait." Naruto stopped her and she paused to look at him, "I want to do something first."