Chapter 13: Duels.
Parings: Naru/Sasu...duh.
Rating: K-T (first) M-NC-17 (later)
Disclaimer: I do not own the sheer genius "Naruto"; Shippuden of other. The honours go to Masashi Kishimoto and his genius brain that created this masterpiece.
Summary: Remember the summer camp you went to; that quaint place out in the woods, by a lake, sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories and eating s'mores? Well this summer school, sure as hell, isn't that. Three months, Sasuke, teenage delinquents, illegal alcohol, prescription drugs, annoying shrinks, escape plans, a Shitzu from hell, and new relationships; welcome to camp. NaruSasuNaru.
A/N: I'm so touched that so many of you actually like my story. #COOKIES TO EVERYONE!
A/N2:And yeah, to address a question, there isn't going to be a straight Naruto P.O.V., yes there are going to be small titbits from his point-of-view but this is Sasuke –centric. I just love this crazy, paranoid, sexy, snarky, bastard.
A/N3: About the plot, it is intense but I promise to not get it so convoluted you can't follow. I hate stories like those so I won't subject you readers to that.
How it happened Sasuke had no idea. He just found himself over Naruto crouched over a splayed tab form and his thin lips connected with broad peach ones.
Naruto froze.
Sasuke did the same.
Their lips were still connected.
SHIT!
Time stopped. His heart shifted into overdrive.
Ba-thump.
Dimly Sasuke's sensory faculties noted that the firm, slightly chapped lips under his were surprisingly ... soft.
Ba-thump.
Natural instinct made him tilt his head and just as his tongue was about to breach his own lips was when his active conscious slapped him so strongly that he physically pushed off Naruto so hard that he fell on his ass about three feet away from the blond; hand clapped over his lower face, eyes wide.
Ba-thump.
Panic was crawling up his throat like acid, "I...I c...can't expl-... I have no i-idea ho..." he paused to breathe, "...what the fuck just happened?" he demanded.
After a second Naruto calmly pushed up off the ground and faced him, "You slipped, Uchiha." He said slowly and strongly, his words burying themselves into Sasuke mind as his blue eyes dug into Sasuke's ebony ones, "That's all...it happens...let it go and move on."
Sasuke stared for a moment then mentally shook himself. "I guess." He murmured, trying really hard to ignore the electric tingles that still played over his lips.
"Negativa... again." Naruto ordered, circling him, "This time try distributing your weight on your shoulders."
It seemed like Naruto was willing to erase the last twenty seconds of his life and if he was opting to do that, Sasuke was all for it; no questions asked.
He shook himself and concentrated, hands placed on the floor he pushed off relaxed and allowed the majority of his weight to shift to his upper body than contracting in his middle.
'Move on...move on...it was nothing...move the hell on...' he told himself stubbornly repeating the mantra to himself.
*** Psychiatric session, 10 am; Hatake Kakashi's office ***
"Sasuke," Kakashi asked genially while settling down beside him, "What are the theories behind pyromania?"
The raven paused for a second to judge if the man was serious or just messing with him. On the perception of Kakashi's serious face he snorted.
"Are you really trying to get me to go into Freud and his shit theory about bedwetting and control...or are you going the route of 'lack-of-strong-father-figure', because I have to tell both are marvellous examples of pyscho-babble bullshit." He paused staring Kakashi in the eyes, "... 'fess up Hatake... every goddamn thing comes back to a missing father."
The silver haired shrink had to admit, he was right; too many mental disorders were speculated to spring from a missing father figure.
"That's true." Kakashi admitted sighing. A beat; "...Sasuke...are you a virgin?"
He had set up the question just for the comical reaction he knew it was going to give, and he was dead right, the reaction was pure hilarity. After five seconds of a dropped jaw and widened eyes Sasuke regrouped and regained his composure and snapped, "Why the hell are you asking me this?"
"Just answer the question, gaki." Kakashi demanded.
Sasuke grunted, "No...I'm not... happy?"
Kakashi as he perched on the edge of his desk leaned over to his file drawer, took out a blue file and clicked a pen and asked, "From when?"
"I was eight."
Kakashi slipped off the desk edge in shock. Realizing he was succumbing to a load of simmering crap, he clambered back up on the table and offered a skin melting glare, "The truth Uchiha...now!"
"All right," Sasuke grumbled, "...don't get your panties in a twist... I lost it when I was fifteen."
"With whom?" he asked again.
Sasuke glared, "Don't play with me Kakashi...you damn well know with whom."
"I'm saying, aside from the Hyuuga...who else?" Hatake asked mischievously, "...any girls?"
A snort, "You read my file...according to the other shrinks I'm a misogynist... so why would I find the mutations of fat and flesh girls call breasts, appealing?"
Silver brows furrowed, "About that... I really don't think you're that misogynistic, Sasuke...why would you rescue Moegi if you were?"
So he found out about that, huh. He shrugged. "Simple...she was going to be assaulted by those creeps and it was painfully obvious that she couldn't defend herself. I wasn't going to let a problem I could prevent rest on my conscience."
'A delinquent with a conscience...' Kakashi thought, '...rarer than hen's teeth.'
"So..." Kakashi paused glancing up at the clock, to check the time; they lad three minutes left, "... so you were compassionate... sensitive...that's surprising...Sasuke do you even have a sensitive side? According to Morino you...'assassinated' your human half a while ago."
A smirk crossed Sasuke's face, "Morino is full of s-" Kakashi glared, Sasuke huffed, "...I'm sensitive all right...sensitive to some idiots who don't even know how mind-numbingly stupid they are."
Typical Uchiha; unrelenting to their bone marrow. "Is that all you wanted me for?" the raven asked.
Kakashi sighed and with an indulgent hand waved Sasuke out of his office, "Yes... I've got what I wanted. You should go gaki...your math class is starting now...and hey, congrats...you made it to calculus."
Sasuke got up and stretched, and frowned slightly at pull of his skin over taught muscles. "All right...later."
After leaving the room Sasuke slipped into the nearest bathroom and pulled up the hem of his shirt. The mirror relayed a reflection to him that made him pause. His normally smooth flat abdomen was sporting hints of a six pack. Silently he traced a finger down his abdominals to his pelvic bone. It was tightly compacted, tense...muscled.
Looks like all those physical activities were working after all. He smiled tightly and left to his class.
(*)(*)(*)
Stepping up to the silently reading redhead he put down his bottle of water on the stone table and silently placed a sheet of paper beside the open pages of the book Gaara was skimming over. A red eyebrow rose up.
"What's that?" the Sabaku asked eyes flitting down to the paper. On the sheet was a carefully drawn chart; a family tree. Sasuke sighed sitting beside him, "I figured I should tell you before you hear any more bullshit about me."
"That is my immediate family." He said, placing his forefinger on the top name, "Five generations up. My great grandfather, Sestuna Uchiha and his brothers, Baru, Obito and Madara..." Sasuke's finger slipped down the line to the four names under it; "...His heir, Hikaku Uchiha and his grandson Fugaku... my father."
"Oh. Setsuna..." Gaara recognized, "...He was the one that did the..."
"Genocide," Sasuke filled in for him with a grimace, "I don't know why...the archives just recorded that on the day of a family reunion Setsuna poisoned Baru the eldest with hemlock, strangled Obito the second with a rope and stabbed Madara who was barely nine years old by that time. He then proceeded to exterminate his older brothers' children... boys and girls alike." Sasuke sighed, "His aim was to have just his children be the heirs of the Uchiha name."
"Why would he do that?" Gaara murmured, jade eyes dimming. "Why would he deprive you of a solid family?"
He scoffed; what a poor innocent soul. "...Gaara, one thing you should know about us...Uchiha...we don't like competition...even if it's coming from our own family. We have... territory issues. I can tell you straight up, the last kid that played with my building block ended up with skull damage but I regress... aside from the fact that I believe he did it because he just wanted complete control of the clan's future...an aggressive superiority complex...he was crazy; after fighting for fifteen years in all the inter-province wars he was power hungry and certifiably mad."
Gaara's lips twitched, "That's...very unfortunate."
Sasuke snorted, "Oh no Gaara...what was unfortunate was he died of syphilis and Opium addiction seven months after he killed them."
Gaara remained quiet, soft aquamarine eyes searching Sasuke's hard ones. The look he was receiving made Sasuke severely tempted to smile, "So... you don't mind being in close contact with the descendant of a narcissist megalomaniac?"
"Not if you're skittish about being in the proximity of a bipolar murderer and reputedly drug dealer." Gaara replied softly a hint of a teasing smile flitting around his lips.
"Not on your life." Sasuke replied.
It happened seventeen hours ago...seventeen.
Night was falling and he couldn't stop thinking about the kiss; accidentally or not. If he even had a minimum of five seconds where his mind was actively thinking about something pivotal, the kiss pushed itself to the forefront of his conscious.
Never.
He had never felt that kind of... spellbinding voltage while kissing somebody. Never mind that fact that it wasn't a 'kiss' per se; their lips had met... it counted.
Sasuke leaned his head on the shower wall as the water fell over him as he closed his eyes for a second, replaying the scene in the gym for the n'th time. He had slipped when doing the move, yes he knew that, but how the hell could Naruto had been in the way of his fall...was he...maybe he was trying to save him from hurting himself like before.
Whatever it was, however it happened, it happened. The kiss, that lasted for less than five seconds felt ... electrocuted... alive... dangerous. He shivered again.
Damn.
****Iwagakure Town Centre****
"Keep it close guys," Kakashi said smiling as the strong coastal wind ruffled his silver hair, "Don't get into any fights, don't make a mess, and don't even try to run off, I can promise you those ankle monitors will fry you like chicken in hot oil."
Small noises of agreement rose up from the six of them as Kakashi said, "Get back here by five-thirty."
"Get your maps." He added, "I don't want to have to initiate a police search, complete with hunting dogs, if you get lost."
He snickered internally. Just as he was about to get the map he overheard Kakashi asking Shikamaru what he was going to do with seven hours of free time; the Nara just snorted and said, 'find myself a shady spot and sleep...duhhh.'
Sasuke turned to see Kin massaging her temples trying to rub away a migraine from the incessantly chatting and posturing Ino. His lips twisted in sympathy just as Kakashi called him over. Just as he reached him the silver haired man slapped two pieces of paper in his hands; turned out to be a map of the town and a brochure. "Go check this out."
He lifted the slip of paper up to his face, "...An Military Museum?" he asked incredulously. "What the hell?"
"Trust me," Kakashi said, "Go see it."
Eyebrows furrowed he went back over to Naruto and slapped the brochure on his chest. "I've been...advised... to go see that."
With a confused look the blond pulled off the slip of paper and after a second he grinned, "Awesome!" he said, "This should be fun."
"To you...the ABC's should be fun." Sasuke said snidely.
That earned him a cuff on the arm, "Stop being an ass...let's go."
(*)(*)(*)
"I can't believe it." Naruto whispered staring up at the huge arched ceiling of the museum that was looming above them about fifty feet behind an old awe inspiring World War II Tank that was parked in the meticulous groomed courtyard. He reached out a hand to the corrugated metal of the tank; "The last time I saw something like this was in Arabia..." he grimaced, "...it was still in use."
Meanwhile Sasuke was peering up at the mural edged into the stone of the roof's entrance arch, "Si Vi Pacem, Para Vellum." He murmured wonderingly.
"Latin..." Naruto said behind him, "... it means, 'If you want peace, prepare for war,'."
"You know Latin?" Sasuke inquired, pushing in the door to be met with frigid air conditioner.
"Some... mostly military commands." He replied, "That one I learned after a battle in Spain after some militant rebel groups were causing problems in a Zaragoza ghetto."
They shifted from display to display, monument to monument. There was a cabinet that displayed old, outdated machine guns; Naruto murmured the name of every one. On the display on the war between Japan's provinces, the half- fragmented stone mural depicted the clan insignia of the samurai who had fought and survived. Sasuke stared blankly at the faded red and white fan symbol in the right corner. The kanji under it was faded but Sasuke could have bet his left arm that the name of the leader under it read 'Uchiha Setsuna'.
He exhaled slowly and turned away to see Naruto, standing stiffly, gazing up at a hanging banner depicting a rugged desert scene, his hand shoved into his camouflage pants pockets. He approached him softly and asked, "Something wrong?"
"See that?" Naruto said softly nodding to an Arabic symbol in the dead centre of the banner. "That's the symbol for the Sunni sect of Muslims." He murmured.
"Why is it bothering you then?" Sasuke asked quietly.
Peach lips twisted, "I had a girlfriend in Arabia... her name was Aaliyah...she was Sunni. When her father found out she was in a relationship with an 'American-devil' he threatened to kill her for treason."
"That's...harsh."
The laugh that came from the blond then was severely grated. "What was harsh was when he found us together. According to tradition fornicators should be put to death..."
Sasuke tensed, "...after the military lawyers intervened we were both sentenced to be whipped, but I offered to take her share for her. Eighty lashes, a barbed cat-o'-nine whip, in the hot Arabian sun." He said, eyelids lowering over summer blue irises.
"So that's why you have those scars on your ba-" Sasuke slammed a hand over his mouth astonished that he had slipped up so massively.
The second of silence that then came was loaded with rippling murderous tension. Naruto's eyes had narrowed to slits. Sasuke then found his back on the wall with a muscled forearm pressing down on his neck.
"What did you just say?" the words were uttered lowly with an undertone of severely controlled wrath.
"I said 'that's why you have those scars on your back'." He admitted slowly, each word slipping out of his mouth pronounced as best as possible with the pressure on his windpipe.
"When?" Blue eyes tripped to homicidal. "Answer me," Naruto said tightly pressing down, "...when did you see them?"
Damn it, a question he couldn't answer without messing himself further up. "It was an accident, I swear," well that part was absolutely true. "You were in the bathroom about to bathe, I pushed the door open for less than five seconds and that's when I saw your back." he said, his black hair shadowing his eyes for a moment.
A fist slammed into the wall behind him, Naruto leaned in and hot air breathed into Sasuke's ear, "Tell anybody about it and I promise you...I will make your life a living hell."
Fuming, Naruto then immediately turned through the door.
(*)(*)(*)
Shit...shit...shit!
Sasuke cursed running through the streets. It was four fifty. He needed to find Naruto fast.
"Where the hell are you, baka." He paused, gripping the nearby wall for support as he breathed hard. His fist clenched as he punched the wall, "I was stupid." He whispered.
Glancing up he saw a glimmer or blue...the sea front. The only place he hadn't searched. Making his way to the sound of rushing water he sighed with relief after seeing the tall, blond form leaning on the pier's retaining wall.
He slowly made his way up to him, stopping three feet away from him.
Silence pervaded.
"What the hell do you want?" Naruto asked stonily.
"I shouldn't have spied on you." He said simply, "it was stupid and thoughtless. I know how privacy is precious to you."
A small laugh rumbled through the air. The flat stone Naruto threw skidded off the water, jumping thrice. "The word 'sorry' just cuts you up, doesn't it?" Naruto asked.
"Like ground glass." He admitted glad he didn't have to word it; the word 'sorry' of any of its synonyms had been completely obliterated from the Uchiha dictionary for centuries. "You know," Sasuke said leaning on the iron rail beside him, "...if it's any consolation...I have scars too."
The rock Naruto had plunked into the water, "Yeah...where?"
Sighing, Sasuke rolled up a sleeve to bare the triple bands of blue ink and said, "Look closely."
After a second a low whistle emanated the blonde; "...those are..."
"Burns... yes." Sasuke said grimly, "...courtesy of my father and five sessions of electro-shock therapy. But still...how... can... I make it up... to you?" Sasuke asked slowly wincing at every word that came out of his mouth.
"Ummm," Naruto said pushing off the rail, "...how about a spar?"
"Where?" Sasuke asked curiously turning to walk to the meeting place.
"I know the perfect place at the camp." Naruto said smirking. "Trust me."
"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked eyebrow almost at his hairline, scanning the empty, half lit basketball court, "Here?"
Naruto kicked off his boots and walked onto the court. "Yes, teme...right here."
Sasuke glanced up at the darkening sky; if he squinted he could see the beginnings of some stars peeking out. He shrugged and followed suit, kicking off his boots and walked onto the court his feet socks clad while appreciating the comforting cold that wrapped around him.
Four feet away from each other they silently stared at the other then almost instantly started to slowly circle. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, he was watching for the ticks that preceded a move. Nartuo was so proficient that there were none.
Damn.
"First to ten palm strikes wins." The blond said and in that split second Naruto lunged forward, Sasuke had a microsecond to shift and avoid the crushing blow that he might have gotten. Naruto pivoted and his left leg shot out, Sasuke threw himself backward over on his hands and flipped over to instantly crouch.
Adrenaline pumped into his system like a flash flood, he grinned; exhilarated; time to do some damage.
(*)(*)(*)
"I'm saying," Kakashi was slowly explaining to the gathering, "The first thing to do when apprehending a conv-"
The staff room door flung open.
"K...K...Kakashi-sensei!" Himura shouted as he panted doubled over, hands braced on his knees, "Homie...Y..You need to come see this; I think team 7 is trying to straight up kill each other!"
Kakashi shot up immediately and forgetting his jacket he blazed out of the room, Iruka on his tail. "Where?"
"The basketball court!" was shouted after him.
(*)(*)(*)
Sasuke dimly realised they had drawn an audience but didn't really give damn. He was having too much fun. Ducking to avoid another one of Naruto's bone crushing kicks, Sasuke slipped down and swept a low kick to Naruto's grounded foot.
He earned a light palm strike to his chest for that one. Shit, Naruto was pushing ahead, that hit made it five strikes to his three. Falling back with the momentum he flipped over again and landed one all fours.
He took a split second to regain balance and the lashed out with a series of kicks. Each one was deftly dodged by Naruto doing a series of backflips to land felinely on his feet. Naruto then lashed out with a midriff kick and Sasuke eyes flew open as he realised that while dodging that kick he had just unconsciously performed a perfect ponté.
Bracing himself on his bent arms he kicked over with his legs and landed on his feet for a second before he dropped into a crouch.
(*)(*)(*)
"I thought Sasuke had more sense than that!" Kakashi swore as he raced to the court. "I'm gonna kill that damn brat myse-"
Immediately his pounding footsteps screeched to a halt as he held out an arm to stop Iruka from tumbling into him.
"Kakashi," Iruka snapped, "What is i-" then he looked, every questions he had died on his lips at the sight before him; "...it that...?"
A mad, insanely pleased, smirk crossed Kakashi's face.
"...They look like..." Iruka tailed off again just taking in the sight of Sasuke and Naruto, on the court under golden stadium light, flowing with each other seamlessly. "...wind and water." he whispered. "...flawless."
(*)(*)(*)
'Six to nine. Damn.' Sasuke thought after landing palm strike to Naruto's sternum. A toothy grin was flashed over to him as Naruto regrouped.
'He uses his feet more.' Sasuke realized; after dodging another spinning kick. Corralling himself he flipped out of Naruto's way again, 'Time to shift this up.'
He shifted his stance and slipped into an offense Wing Chun position. Confusion crossed Naruto's face for a second then he straightened up and shifted into the Ginga(1) position.
The rest seemed to happen in slow-motion. He was aiming for Naruto's knees but didn't calculate the Macaco(2); the huge jump Naruto made to avoid the blow. Sasuke slid on the gritted turf, earning himself a tap on his shoulder and some lightly skinned knees but after the skid stopped he just lay there, sprawled out on the court staring up into the dark sky.
He lost. Damn.
His heart was beating pumping all kind of emotions to his brain. Even though he had lost the match he felt...euphoric; totally energized. He knew his brain was full of serotonin, endorphins and a fuck load of adrenaline. His lips twitched, and then a full bellied laugh erupted from him like a volcanic explosion.
He couldn't help it. Clutching his lower belly he laughed harder than he could ever remember; even that one time when he was twelve and he had tried marijuana and was high for days.
"Dude?" Naruto asked inching up to him, holding out a hand, "...are you...okay?"
Sasuke snickered as he held out a hand to grasp the tan one before him and heaved himself up. Hands clasped between their chests he grinned, "Better than ever."
Naruto released a breath, "Good, I thought you had hit your head or something."
"No baka...I'm good." Sasuke breathed; focusing on the warmth of the blonde's hand.
"Great," Naruto replied nodding over his head, "... because I think we're gonna have to explain ourselves to Kakashi-sensei."
Sasuke spun around to see Kakashi, Iruka, TenTen, Kin, Kiba, Gaara, Shikamaru, Chouji and Renjii at the edges of the court, all of them gaping. He had another insane urge to laugh at the dumbstruck faces; he just grinned instead.
"Don't worry about it," he assured shaking his head. He paused for a second, eyes flitted up to Naruto and asked hesitatingly, "...so have you forgiven me yet?"
Peach lips twisted into small smile, as Naruto leaned in and gave him a very feline grin, "Yeah sure... just keep my secret teme and I'll keep yours." He sauntered off.
'Wait...' Sasuke thought after a second as he spun around, 'what secret?'
"Have you gotten it?" Sasuke asked the second he stepped into the room where Orochimaru was standing.
In answer the man held out a hollow looking blue tube. "It wasn't hard to acquire it...I don't need to tell you to conceal it as much as possible..." The man said softly, "...if found it will be disastrous for us both."
Sasuke carefully took the tube and smiled slightly, "Perfect...thank you. This will help a lot."
A small wave of a pale hand cut him off, "No need young one... I'm doing what I can; you do yours and just get him out."
A tight smile cemented into Sasuke's face and he weighed the tube, "I'll do my best."
(*)(*)(*)
Settling the container on the basement floor he traced both his eyes and finger tips over the tube; cylindrical, dark blue plastic, with an end with a screw opening. Safe enough; right. The tube popped open and Sasuke plucked out the roll of thin light blue paper and spread it out on the floor and studied the floor plans.
He looked for faults in everything possible; the foundations, the perimeter, the walls, the windows, the – He sneezed, hard. His brows furrowed; after a moment he shrugged, dust, obviously.
Now back to what mattered...getting Pein out.
A/N: Aww Sasuke you slipped up...big time.
Ginga: capoeira...the basic movement in capoeira.
Macaco: capoeira a.k.a. 'monkey'...basically a huge ass leap.
*****Peace****
Black Prodigy.
And ONE MORE THING
REVIEW DAMNIT!
XD.