Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 6: Preparing

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Watching Naruto stick his tongue out, my throat constricts. That damn blond doesn't realize how attractive he is. We decide to take a break for the night and go to a restaurant. After some arguing with Naruto about why ramen is not a choice, we end up going to a barbeque joint.

When we walk in, my stomach grumbles at the smell of the meat. Kakashi talks to the hostess and we're led to a booth. Sakura slides in to one side by the wall and Naruto slides in opposite her. Before Sakura could pull me into her side, I sit down next to Naruto. Kakashi smiles as he sits down with us. "I'm paying so order whatever you want."

Naruto cheers and excitedly looks through the menu. When a waitress walks over to our table, she glances at me and giggles. "Hello, sir. May I have your order?"

"I'd like a number 4, please," I answer, bored.

She giggles again. "Will that be all? We have several really good desserts available."

I shake my head no. Naruto tries to get her attention by waving her hands and chanting, "Miss. Miss!"

The waitress touches my arm. "The blueberry pie is to die for. And it comes with plenty of cream. Whipped that is," she flirts, winking at me.

I just sigh and look up at her. "Miss, my friends here would like to order as well."

She pouts and waves it off as she gets the rest of the team's order then walks away. Sakura scoffs. "Can you believe that girl? She was completely shameless and the nerve she had to ignore the rest of us! I just, I can't believe her."

Ignoring her, I glance over at Naruto and am surprised to see him glaring at the table. I lean closer to him and whisper, "Hey Dobe. What's your problem?"

He jumps and smiles. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. So that girl was pretty, huh?"

I frown. "I guess. Not my type though," I admit, feeling as if his question meant more than it sounded like. Could he be jealous?

"You sure you don't like her? She seemed to like you a lot," he mumbles, sounding bitter.

He is jealous. Sakura chuckles and leans across the table. "Are you jealous, Naruto?"

"N-no!" He exclaims, pouting at Sakura.

She laughs. "Oh, Naruto! It's so obvious that you're jealous! I mean, of course it's only natural for you to be jealous of Sasuke!"

Naruto slaps the table. "Why won't you shut up!"

Sakura freezes and stares at the blond. I turn away to hide my smile. Finally, he stands up for himself. Then the smile slips away. Since when did Naruto snap at Sakura? Maybe he really isn't feeling well.

The waitress comes by and brings us our food at that time. The girl flirts with me a few more times, but I'm not paying attention to her. I keep glancing over at Naruto, seeing him stare at his plate, barely eating. That's definitely not like him. He must still be sick and trying to act tough. It wouldn't be the first time.

We finish eating and go back to the inn. Sakura has started avoiding Naruto, keeping either me or Kakashi between them. Naruto goes to sleep immediately and Sakura follows soon after. I lie down and listen to the breathing of my two teammates. It helps to lull me to sleep.

Kakashi watches the three sleep and hums in thought. He knew Naruto liked Sakura and Sakura liked Sasuke and it took a little longer, but eventually he knew that Sasuke liked Naruto. Now the dynamic between them is changing and it's starting to pull them apart. After this mission, he thinks, he's going to have to set up another teamwork session.

Naruto's P.O.V.

When I wake up the next morning, everyone else is already awake. Kakashi-sensei is gone, probably getting breakfast. I rub the back of my neck. Last night, seeing that girl flirt with Sasuke made me angry and not in the way I was expecting. I was jealous. Of the waitress. He was patient with her and polite. It was all so confusing and I took it out on Sakura. I glance at her. She notices and turns away, walking over to Sasuke to talk to him. I need to apologize.

I walk up to Sakura and nervously clear my throat, overly conscious of Sasuke's presence. "I'm sorry for yelling at you last night, Sakura."

She sighs. "It's okay, Naruto, but you need to learn not to take your frustrations out on the people that don't deserve it."

I nod. "I won't again. Will you forgive me?"

Sakura smiles and hugs me. "I'll forgive you, just this once."

I smile and gently hug her back. Nothing. After so long wanting Sakura to notice me, to hug me, and I feel nothing special. My eyes glance over her shoulder and land on Sasuke, messing with his gear. My stomach erupts in funny fluttery feelings and my face heats up. I try to focus on the hug again, but I can't because Sakura pulls away. She smiles up at me and goes back over to Sasuke to continue talking to him.

Kakashi-sensei walks in with bags of food and hands one to each of us. "Once we finish eating, Naruto, we will need to make sure you are ready to go undercover."

I nod and eat quickly. Let's just get this over with. Kakashi-sensei sits across from me and looks into my eyes. I'm starting to get nervous. "What's that look for?"

"You're going to have to learn a handful of sex positions in order to be considered."

"Oh, you mean like the Butter Churner and the Spider and the Standing Wheel Barrow and the Swiss Ball Blitz and the Waterfall and-"

Kakashi-sensei holds up his hand. "Naruto, as much as I'm impressed you know those, that's not what I'm talking about. You need to learn GAY sex positions."

"I don't wanna."

"You have no choice. Some of these places don't want plain workers."

"Okay. So teach me."

He actually looks embarrassed. "I don't know any, actually, but I got this book while I was out and I'm sure it will help you," he says as he pulls out a thick book from a pocket on his vest.

"I have to read? Man!"

Kakashi-sensei pulls out his smut novel and walks to a corner of the room. "No complaining. It's for the mission."

"Your book isn't for the mission," I mutter as I take the book he gave me and sit down with a long sigh.

"Come on, Naruto. It could be worse," Sakura says, trying to be helpful.

I just give her a look. "Yeah. I could be pretending to be a gay prostitute and give the impression that I will do any of these positions for money. Wait."

She shrugs her shoulders in a "I tried" and continues to do whatever she was doing. I sigh again and open the book to the first page. The index shows four categories: Anal Positions, Oral Positions, Group Positions, and Sexual Behaviors. I turn the page with another heavy sigh. As I read and study the tutorial picture, my stomach starts to feel weird and my face heats up quickly when I realize that I'm actually getting turned on. I shake my head and glare at the page. No! I am straight and I will finish this book without it bothering me! The funny feeling won't go away though so I turn the page. Maybe it's just that certain position... It's not just that position. I swallow roughly. Maybe I'm not as straight as I thought.

After reading about a few more positions, I stand up and go to an empty corner of the room, feeling exposed sitting in the middle of the room, especially with a semi-hard on. Without realizing it, I actually become interested in reading the rest of the book and memorizing the positions become easy.

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Every now and then I glance up from my card game with Sakura and watch Naruto. Was he so embarrassed reading that book that he hid in the corner? Maybe I really am just wasting my time pining after him. He did know a long list of straight sex positions I never even knew existed. Sakura says my name and I pay attention to my cards again. We lay down our cards and I blink, bored out of my mind. I win, again.

I stand up to stretch and glance over at Naruto again. I'm surprised to see that he's almost finished the book. That's the fastest I've ever seen him read. "He should be ready by the time the Neon Sun opens," Kakashi says from behind me, making me flinch.

"Hn," is all I say, trying to cover my surprise. He just chuckles and pats my shoulder before calling to Sakura. They pull on their jackets and leave to get lunch. I swallow as I stand in the almost empty room. I walk over to Naruto's corner and fidget my fingers. "Read anything interesting?" I ask, nervous. Then I mentally kick myself. He's a straight man reading a gay sex book. What would he find interesting?

The blond's head snaps up and his face is blood red, his eyes wide. "Wh-why would you ask that?"

I try to act cool. "You just seem very absorbed in it."

His face gets redder and huffs. "Whatever. I'm done anyway. Why don't you try reading it? Then you'll see if there's anything interesting about it!"

He shoves the book into my chest and stands up, stretching his arms in the air as high as possible, his shirt rising. I stare at his tan stomach. I quickly look away and stare at the book in my hands. He yawns and says something about going to the bathroom, leaving me alone. I'll just peek in the book. Just one position.

I flip open the book to a random page and immediately, I'm aroused. Sitting down, I flip to the front of the book and start from the beginning. I'm so into the book, I don't hear Naruto reenter the room. "Read anything interesting?" he asks, mocking me.

Hoping my face isn't red, I glance at him and ignore the comment as I keep flipping through each page. I try my best to pretend Naruto isn't staring at me. I feel him walk over to the table and soon I hear him shuffling the cards. I finish the book, knowing my dreams now have plenty more ammo to give me hell. Setting it down on the ground, I take a deep breath and imagine Sakura. My arousal diminishes like I hoped and I go over to the table. We don't say anything as Naruto deals and we start playing cards. The air is tense with something I can't describe. I wish this mission would just end so we can go back to normal.