Damn Roses
Author's note: Thank you guys for the reviews. Damn Roses continues to be the hardest to get posted for some reason. But let's give this a whirl. I also have a new story up called Our Bonds. It is a female Sasuke x Naruto for those interested. If you are just exclusively a yaoi reader or don't like that idea, feel free to ignore. ^^ Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Six
Sasuke had a problem. He was an addict. He was becoming addicted to the blonde's kisses. His plan had been to play hard to get. But he was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
The raven haired man, felt Naruto pull away from the kiss. He was about to protest, when the blonde started kissing and biting his neck. Fuck! That was not fighting fair, he arches into Naruto, and wraps his legs around his waist.
"So it's your neck that drives you crazy. Gotta remember that one," Naruto says.
Naruto was in Heaven. Finally, no one was going to interrupt them. He was surprised that Sasuke seemed content to let him take the lead for the moment. But he wasn't going to argue.
That and he'd make a wonderful discovery,. Sasuke's neck was very sensitive. It felt so fucking good when Sasuke wrapped his legs around him. He could get used to this.
"Whatever," Sasuke says and tries to flip them.
That's how they spent most of the night, engaged in a Kissing Battle Royale. At some point, both fell asleep. When Sasuke woke up, he heads to the bathroom to make sure that he was presentable for work.
The Uchiha makes the mistake of looking into the mirror. Fuck! God dammit Naruto! His neck was covered in love bites. His hair was completely messed up and his face was still flush. He looked more like he had just enjoyed a Hell of a lay, instead of a marathon makeout session.
There was no possible way he could go to work, looking like this! Someone was going to notice. Then he'd have to come up with an excuse. Sasuke was a genius, but he wasn't THAT good.
"NARUTO, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU," he thunders out.
Naruto had still been asleep. Then he heard the death threat. He yawns and stretches. He'd give the bastard a few minutes to calm down. If Sasuke came after him within the next 30 seconds, THEN Naruto would worry.
Shit! He stormed out of the bathroom in 15 seconds and was coming at Naruto fast. Oh yeah, Sasuke was pissed. Strike that, Sasuke was FURIOUS.
"Naruto, look at what you did to my neck," Sasuke says and twitches.
"Alright. So I might have gotten carried away," Naruto replies sheepishly.
"Might have gotten carried away?! It looks like a vampire got hold of me. How the Hell am I supposed to go into work like THIS," the raven haired man demanded.
"I think it looks hot really. But if you are that shy, just wear a high collared shirt," Naruto responds "helpfully."
"I guess I'll have to wear high collar," Sasuke scoffs and pulls off his current shirt, throwing on a high collared one.
"Loving the strip tease by the way," Naruto says.
"You are on thin ice," Sasuke says, flipping the blonde off.
"Oh come on. You practically shredded my back. My hickeys aren't a big deal compared to that," the blue eyed man says.
"I did not shred your back," Sasuke scoffs.
"Yes, you did. You like to dig your nails into my back, when I bite your neck. I don't care. I like it really, but the marks are there," Naruto responds.
"I don't believe you. I didn't dig in that hard," Sasuke mutters.
"Oh yeah," his boyfriend asks, slides off his shirt, and turns around so Sasuke could see some pretty deep marks on his back.
"Damn. I guess I did tear into you pretty good. Does it hurt," Sasuke asks.
"A little, but in a good way. You can always kiss it better later. I don't want to make you late for work. I know your boss is a tight ass about you being on time," Naruto says cheerfully.
"What time is it," Sasuke asks.
"Hmm about a quarter to nine," Naruto answers.
"I have to be at work at 9. Dammit," Sasuke scurries out the door.
Itachi and Gaara were enjoying breakfast at an outdoor café. Gaara blinks when he sees Sasuke race by. Itachi chuckles and sips his coffee, muttering about his foolish little brother.
"He's fast," Gaara says.
"He was captain of the track team in his year. Normally, he'd already be at work by now. It's not like him to cut it this close," Itachi observes.
"Wasn't he running from the same direction as where Naruto's place is," Itachi adds as an afterthought.
"Yes, actually. Do you think they spent the night together," Gaara wonders.
"More than likely. My brother is a slow starter. But once he gets going," Itachi says and shrugs.
"They'll be good for each other. Sasuke can handle Naruto's hyperness. And Naruto can handle Sasuke's," Gaara trails off, not knowing what would be the least offensive term to use.
"Bitchyness," Itachi offers.
Gaara almost chokes on his morning muffin, from laughter. The red head got along well with his new brother-in-law. But there was no denying that it took Sasuke a long time to warm up to well anyone.
"Yes, I suppose that's one way to put it. Track huh? It shows. Nice genes in your family. I can see why Naruto is chasing after his ass, it is a nice one," Gaara observes.
"… You are checking out my baby brother's ass," Itachi says.
"I'm just making an observation. Your entire family is…inhumanly attractive," Gaara responds.
"Do I need to remind you, who you belong too," Itachi says darkly.
Gaara enjoyed making Itachi jealous. His husband was always in perfect control of himself in most social situations. It was a remarkable gift really. While Sasuke's passions ran hot, Itachi was generally a smooth operator. The one exception was when it came to jealousy. Itachi got jealous very easily.
"I'm just teasing, Itachi," Gaara smiles and sips his coffee.
"And that's what I'm going to say when I cuff you to the bed for the entire night," Itachi mutters and pays for their meal.
Sasuke makes it into his office with five minutes to spare. That's when he noticed someone sitting in his desk. Oh hell no. No one, sits at his desk and lives!
"Who are you and what are you doing in my office," Sasuke says.
"I'm Sai. Danzo said I should speak with you. I'm the public relations specialist," he says with a cheerful fake smile.
This was Naruto's ex. Yeah, that just made the Uchiha want to kill him even more. Sasuke takes a moment to examine him. Dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin, with the exception of Kiba (who was a bit debatable with brown hair and dark eyes, but very much tan), Naruto definitely had a type.
It was catty, Sasuke knew, but he was pleased to see that Sai looked wayyy too skinny. He wasn't so lean enough that it looked like a health emergency, but he was walking a very thin line. Bitch needed a cheeseburger, was his final assessment.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. You'd think a public relations specialist would know not to steal someone's desk. Get out of my chair," Sasuke says.
"My, my for a lawyer, you certainly are a rather impolite individual," Sai responds.
"I can show you rude if you like," Sasuke threatens.
"Hmm well you look a lot like me. So I can see why Naruto might find you physically appealing, but you're so abrasive. I can't see what he sees in you other than a nice ass," Sai says.
"What'd you say to me," Sasuke growls at his doppleganger.
"That you have a nice ass. You must work out a lot," Sai says conversationally.
"Let's get one thing straight. You are the EX. He dropped your psychotic ass for a reason. He's with me now," Sasuke says.
"You are just a cheap imitation. Naruto's never been one to like violence. You seem like such a violent individual. I imagine he'll tire of your lashing out and forgive my… oversight," Sai says.
"Oversight? You were going to display a naked picture of him in an art gallery, without his permission," Sasuke yells.
"It was a beautiful painting. Art imitates life," Sai responds, completely calm.
"There is something seriously wrong with you," Sasuke snaps.
"While you are a jerk, you do have a beautiful body. Perhaps you'd pose for a painting," Sai gives that creepy fake smile again.
"Are you brain damaged? Were you dropped on the head a lot as a baby or something," Sasuke wonders out loud.
"No. My IQ is 138 actually. I do not believe I was dropped on the head as a baby. But if I was, I wouldn't remember it," he responds.
"Oh that's it," Sasuke growls and marches out of his office.
He quickly goes to find Danzo. How dare Danzo allow this pervert into his office. Sasuke decided he had to get Sai out of his office, before he engaged in a little workplace violence. He wasn't going to throw away a promising legal career, for Naruto's stupid ex!
"There's a public relations specialist who has stolen my office from me," Sasuke says to Danzo.
"That's just Sai. I told him to get a feel for our employees. I know that he can rub people the wrong way personally at first, but he is very good at psychology," Danzo assures him.
"Rub people the wrong way? I don't want that freak near me," Sasuke says.
"Let me guess, he wanted you to pose for a painting," Danzo asks.
"Amongst other outrageous statements and requests, yes," Sasuke answers.
"I will speak with him. I promise that he'll reign himself in. If he doesn't, I"ll just get someone else," the older lawyer says.
"Can't you get someone else now," Sasuke asks.
"No. We paid quite a bit of money to get his services. I'd rather not toss him out immediately," was his reply.
"He's so damn unprofessional," the raven haired man exclaims.
"I've never seen you lose your composure so quickly," Danzo observes.
"You never put a creep like that in my office before. Just reassign him. I'm not working with him," Sasuke folds his arms and says.
"Is this because he used to date your boyfriend," he asks.
"… How'd you know about Naruto and the freak," Sasuke says and raises an eyebrow.
"I make it my business to closely monitor the affairs of my employees. You are one of our brightest stars, Sasuke. I have a vested interest in making certain that your personal life, doesn't harm your professional one. You have such potential. You could be a partner in a year or two with ease. It wouldn't due for you to get distracted. I understand that as a young man you have certain needs, but I wouldn't get too attached to anyone person. You have all the time in the world to settle down later," Danzo advises.
"Monitor my affairs? How closely are you "monitoring" me," Sasuke scoffs.
"I assure you that any private moments, I did not see. But closely enough to realize you've entered a relationship with another young man," he answers.
"Is that your issue? You have a problem with the fact I'm involved with a man," Sasuke asks and twitches.
"I couldn't care less whether you prefer to chase skirts or suits. It is the fact that such things are distraction. That and I don't want you to get hurt. You are the closest thing that I have to a son," he says.
"Cut the crap. We both know that you aren't doing this because you are fondness of me. Don't' try to sell me that garbage. I'm fully capable of doing my job and dating," Sasuke scoffs off the praise.
"This is why I like you. You see through lies for what they are. But still the observation remains the same. Relationships have a way of causing havoc with a lawyer's career. We work long hours Sasuke. To make most people happy, you either have to cut your hours or they cut you," he answers.
"Stay out of my personal life and get that creep out of my office," Sasuke demands.
"You are the only man suicidal enough to make demands of me," Danzo replies.
"I'm not suicidal. My case record speaks for itself. I can walk out of here today and find another job. I'd rather not do that, as I have put in a lot of hours here and for the most part, everyone leaves me to my own devices. But I will do it, if I have to," Sasuke says.
"You'd really leave one of the most prestigious law firms in the world, for this boyfriend of yours," Danzo asks.
"I'd leave, if it became clear that I was intended to sign away my rights to privacy. The fact that I have a hot blonde to go home to, makes it easier. But I'd leave even if I wasn't with him, if you pulled this shit on me," Sasuke answers.
"I like your fire. Very well, I'll reassign Sai," Danzo murmurs and heads into Sasuke's office.
"Good," Sasuke says, feeling rather triumphant.
Later that day, Sasuke heads back to Naruto's place. What were the odds that Sai just happened to show up in his office? Something major was up. That and while Sasuke would never admit it, he was feeling a bit unsettled about meeting Naruto's old flame.
Naruto opens the door. He'd never seen Sasuke look like that before. It took a lot to really shake his wildcat. Sure, he'd get pissed easily. But this was different. This was definitely shaken.
"You okay," Naruto blinks as he looks at his boyfriend.
"I will be. Something happened at work. Can I come in," Sasuke asks.
"Yeah, of course. You hurt," Naruto asks and looks at Sasuke from head to toy, as if looking for injuries.
"Not physically. It's a really long story," Sasuke says as he walks inside Naruto's home.
"Come on bastard, you are starting to freak me out," Naruto says.
"Sai was at my workplace. He was in MY office. He said some stuff to me. It pissed me off. So I went to Danzo. Danzo's apparently been "monitoring" my personal life," Sasuke says.
"Wait, your boss has been stalking you," Naruto asks and blinks.
"Something like that. It's not that he wants me romantically. The guy is as straight as they come. Thankfully, I don't need another Orochimaru on my hands. He seems to think that if I'm in a relationship, it will hurt my career. Your ex by the way, needs to eat a fucking cheeseburger now and then," Sasuke says.
"That's some creepy shit. Maybe you should find another job. Yeah, one Orochimaru is bad enough. Sai's always been skinny. Doesn't matter how much he eats," Naruto responds.
"Kiba, I can understand. I mean he's got the whole Discovery Channel thing going on. At least he's mostly normal, other than his obsession with dogs. But this guy Naruto, really," Sasuke questions.
"He was hot and the artistic thing was pretty neat. But you are right, he's on the weird side. The fact that he showed up in your office specifically though, that makes think that Kakashi's got a point," the blonde states.
"We'll have to notify him of this. This whole thing is fishy. I'm going to ask for some time off work. I'm do for some vacation time anyway," the Uchiha said.
"Yeah! A vacation. You can stay here. Your boss is probably watching your place," Naruto said.
"He knows we are together. My guess is he is probably watching your place as much as mine," was his reply.
"You are right. Damn Sasuke, you really attract the nuts," Naruto says.
"I know. I attracted you as well," Sasuke says dryly.
"Ouch. Good one bastard. Maybe we should go somewhere. You know I can just cancel some appointments and we could go on a vacation together," Naruto suggests.
"A vacation to where," Sasuke asks.
"Wherever you want to go," Naruto smiles.
"Well I've always wanted to see Rome," Sasuke says and thinks, Plus maybe I can con him into wearing a gladiator outfit.
Sasuke ponders this possibility. Naruto in leather. Now that would be fun. They could get away from his creepy boss and Naruto's even creepier ex. Yes, that is exactly what they needed to do.
"Great I'll get us some plane tickets and a hotel room," Naruto says.
"And I'll call my boss and politely tell him to go fuck himself," Sasuke states, grabs his cell, and heads into the next room to call Danzo.
"Danzo, I'm taking my vacation time. I'll see you in two weeks," Sasuke says.
"Sasuke, what did we just discuss earlier today," he asks.
"The fact that you are intruding on my personal life and if you continue to do it, I will just find a new employer," Sasuke says sweetly.
"The fact that relationships never end well for lawyers with promising careers. If this is about the blonde," Danzo begins.
"How'd the Hell you know his hair color," Sasuke demands.
"Sai is rather open about his personal life. He told me," was Danzo's surprisingly honest answer.
"I swear if I see that freak in the office again, I'm going to quit," Sasuke growls.
"Noted. As I said, he is going to be reassigned. Can I not talk you out of this vacation time, at least for another month. We have some very big cases coming up," the lawyer says.
"No. You can't talk me out of this vacation. Don't even try to figure out where I'm going. If you do and I find out, again I'm walking and I will go to the press. I'm sure they'd have a field day about your monitoring of employees," Sasuke threatens.
"You always did play hardball. I imagine that. I shall see you in two weeks," he says.
"You might see me in two weeks. That's if you stop this stalking. I mean it, I will go to the press. You wouldn't want your reputation ruined now. Let's face it, you don't have enough years left in you to repair it this time," he warns.
"I hope you enjoy your vacation," he ignores that threat.
"I know I will. Good night, Danzo," Sasuke hangs up.
Sasuke goes back into the other room. He sees Naruto looking for tickets on the computer. The raven haired man shakes his head. Naruto was hopeless at this type of thing it seemed.
"Naruto, move. I'll do it. You are only looking at one site. There are sites where you can check several sites at once. You are such a novice," Sasuke says and rolls his eyes, fondly.
"Hey! Not everyone is major traveler. Most of the places I've been are in the U.S. I did go to Mexico once with Jirayia. I don't remember much of it. I know there was a lot of alcohol involved though," Naruto says thoughtfully.
"I don't even want to know what happened on that trip," Sasuke steals Naruto's seat and books them the tickets.
"Better start packing. We leave tomorrow," Sasuke says.
"This is going to be awesome! Hey, bastard. I'm curious, why'd you pick Rome," Naruto asks.
"I've always been a history lover and it's filled with history," Sasuke answers.
It was the truth. It was one of his interests. But mostly, he just wanted to see if he could talk Naruto into that costume. That and they'd be far away from his crazy boss and Orochimaru.
Yes, this was going to be great. Just two weeks of nothing but him and Naruto, far away from this crazy shit. Sasuke feels himself smiling.
"You might wanna call Itachi. If he doesn't hear from you for two weeks, he'll probably flip," Naruto advises.
"Yeah, you're right," Sasuke says and he dials Itachi's number.
"Itachi Uchiha speaking," Sasuke hears his older brother say.
"Hey, Itachi. It's me," the younger Uchiha says.
"Sasuke, ah good to hear from you. Gaara and I saw your mad dash to work this morning. Did you have a late night," he asks slyly.
"Kinda. Anyway, I'm going on a vacation. Two weeks. Gonna to Rome. So don't like send the SWAT team after me or anything," he says.
"You are taking two weeks off of work? Who are you and what have you done to my brother," Itachi asks in amusement.
"It was Naruto's idea," was his response.
"Ah. He is a good influence on you. But knowing Naruto, you might as well have stayed home. I doubt he's going to let you leave the hotel room, more specifically the bed," Itachi chuckles.
"ITACHI," Sasuke says, twitching.
"You are delightfully ease to tease, my foolish little brother. I hope you and your blonde have fun. I myself have always been more partial to red heads. But to each their own," he says merrily.
"Uh huh. Right well I let you know. So talk to you later," Sasuke says, rolling his eyes.
"I love you too, foolish little brother. Remember to be SAFE," Itachi advises in his best doctor voice. (Which given his occupation was saying something. Itachi had a damn good doctor voice. Just ask Gaara.)
"Itachi, I'm going to kill you," Sasuke growls.
"Nonsense. You've said that at least a million times before. Yet, I am still breathing. I hope you and Naruto have fun on this trip. I'll stop by your place and make sure everything is in order," Itachi says.
"Thanks. Talk to you later," Sasuke says, hanging up.
Naruto by this point, was also on his phone. He figured it was best to let Kakashi know what happened to Sasuke at work. That was some weird shit.
"Hey, Kakashi. Sai showed up at Sasuke's workplace. But Sasuke talked his boss out of having him in the same department," Naruto says.
"That can't be a coincidence," Kakashi responds.
"No, we don't think so either. That's why we are going to get out of here for awhile," the blonde says.
"That might be a good idea. These people could be dangerous," Kakashi replies.
"Yeah. So see you soon," Naruto says.
"Of course," Kakashi says.
Naruto hangs up and smiles at Sasuke. Ah that vein in Sasuke's forehead was twitching. Yep, he'd definitely talked to Itachi.
"You and Itachi really make me happy I'm an only child," Naruto teases.
"You have no idea, how lucky you are," Sasuke growls out.
"Well speaking about getting lucky," Naruto says.
"…," Sasuke wisely decides to ignore that pun.