Only a week ago Sasuke went through what might have been the oddest intervention imaginable. It began with Sasuke visiting his normal, seedy hangouts; which was promptly interrupted by a dubious blond and an aggravating Kazekage; but ended with him falling asleep in Naruto's arms. It confused and infuriated the Uchiha. Actually, the entire situation was driving him absolutely insane.
Every night for the last week Naruto trailed Sasuke during his off hours. The blond man was henged as the mousey brunette who had rescued him from the asshole at the bar. Because he was being tailed, any time Sasuke even approached his normal hangout, he would suddenly find himself running into Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, or even other members of the rookie nine. All of them seemed rather oblivious, but he knew that they were all more than capable of acting dumb if the situation called for it. Seeing how Naruto was the heading up this little operation dubbed "ruin Sasuke's sex-life," it was a given that 'dumb' would be a prerequisite.
"Ah, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called from a well-lit street corner outside a tavern. She was waving at him enthusiastically. Sasuke, being Sasuke, couldn't help but glare at her as he was beckoned over. "Come drink with us, Sasuke-kun," she said sickeningly sweet, almost like how Sakura had acted in the days when they were genin.
It was that moment which Sasuke knew it was an act. Sakura had been, at most, romantically indifferent to him over the years since his return. Both of them were aware of how her crush had dwindled away into nothing. That simply meant she knew. She knew about everything, and he knew she knew. He gave her a scathing look for her attempted deception.
"I need to go home," he growled out.
It was a lie. It wasn't even seven in the evening. Sasuke could spare some time to drink a beer or two with Sakura if he wanted, but Sasuke didn't want that. He wanted to go to his bar, order some whiskey, suck a cock or two, and then go home to sleep off his humiliation just to do it again tomorrow.
"Aw, that's too bad," Sakura pouted. She stuck her bottom lip out for dramatic effect, and tugged on his flak jacket. She tried to keep up the cutesy act, but it was very unnatural for her. It slipped away easily as Sakura continued.
"We all miss you, Sasuke," she said more seriously, the true worry and hurt showing on her face. "You can hang out with us if you'd like. Anytime. You're always welcome."
It was almost enough to make him sit and drink a beer with her…almost.
Sasuke walked away without another word. Naruto had an undeniable affect on him, but Sakura was also someone who could sway him if needed. He didn't want to feel guilt creeping up into his chest, and he certainly didn't want to become a social butterfly who spent his off hours cheerily drinking with buddies at some popular ninja hangout. Sasuke left Sakura standing on the corner, and started heading home.
Taking a slow route back to his house, Sasuke could feel as Naruto's chakra dissipated. It usually followed him all the way back to the Uchiha manor, but tonight it disappeared several blocks away from Sasuke's destination. Sasuke wanted to allow himself the devilish smirk which was tempting the corners of his mouth. Naruto should know better, Sasuke wasn't a person to be trusted.
Sasuke prepared to transport quickly back to his favorite masochistic bar, when he was presented with an even more troublesome person. In a sudden flicker, dark, dark eyes peered straight into Sasuke's as a person materialized in front of him. It was the same almost-black eyed and white-blond haired person who had accompanied the henged Naruto last week. The Uchiha cursed quietly under his breath, but said nothing to the striking man before him.
"Naruto has a mission. He told me to keep an eye on you," was the low, gravelly voice of the disguised Kazekage.
"Can't he just leave me the fuck alone?" Sasuke growled rhetorically, wanting no response from the fake-blond. To make his point, Sasuke turned on his heel and made haste toward the gate to his compound.
Gaara scoffed, not hiding the disrespectful sound in the least. Following behind Sasuke, he rebutted, "Naruto cares about you. You should respect that."
"I want to be left alone, he should respect that," Sasuke spat back quietly.
There were a few people who Sasuke wasn't able to hold his temper around. Naruto was the first person on that list. Then, there was Kabuto, who Sasuke had no tolerance for during all the time he was in Sound. Finally, there was Gaara. Sasuke could be more smooth, cold, and emotionally repressed than anyone else, but some people instantly tripped his trigger. Gaara was one of them. Gaara was a powerful person and formidable opponent. Sasuke never had the chance to fully prove himself against Gaara, and never would now that the tiny, redheaded man had standing as kage in Suna.
Sasuke was irritated further when Gaara followed him into the compound, and even into the main manor. The Uchiha had enough of this babysitting routine. It was almost as bad as when he first returned to Konoha. Locking his jaw and compressing his teeth together to grind them, Sasuke gave the Kazekage a scathing glare. He made no effort to hide his disdain for his uninvited guest. Sasuke didn't care if this midget of a man was Naruto's friend, there was something so familiar and unsettling about the person standing before him that it instantly put Sasuke on alert.
It was even worse when Gaara unhenged himself. The kage might have been practically pint-sized, but bile tickled the back of the Uchiha's throat as he realized how utterly attracted he was to the little prick.
It was probably because he knew how talented Gaara was in handling other men, and Sasuke was desperately craving human contact. He hadn't indulged in his bad habit for almost a week. He hadn't gone that long without some kind of sexual encounter since he was in Sound pretending to be Orochimaru's puppet.
An uncomfortable silence crackled in the air. Sasuke watched as Gaara took a long breath in through his nose. No doubt it was meant to calm him, but the tiny pupils in Gaara's green eyes dilated into impossibly small pinpricks. They both could feel the tension, and Sasuke would put money on the fact that Gaara could smell the Uchiha's growing arousal.
Sasuke reveled in it, because it put fear in Gaara's eyes. There was only one thing that would make Naruto furious with the Kazekage, and that was if Gaara slipped up and took advantage of the person Naruto was trying to save. Sasuke wasn't exactly a nice person. If he couldn't take his grudge between himself and the Kazekage out with fists, then Sasuke had no qualms mindfucking with the redhead for a bit. A smirk grew on Sasuke's mouth, and he gave a knowing glance to Gaara as he dropped to his knees and licked his lips lewdly.
"Don't," Gaara warned, and broke eye contact with Sasuke.
"Don't what?" Sasuke asked innocently, though his voice was laced with dangerous venom. He allowed a large, gloved hand to roam downward, until he palmed his growing erection obviously for Gaara. Gaara winced. Sasuke took this as a very good sign and licked his lips once again. "I'm very good with my mouth, Kazekage-sama."
There was nothing but acid in the tempting offer Sasuke made. Gaara could hear it, and he knew it would burn him alive if he accepted. Unfortunately, Gaara was not only a creature of habit, but almost as detrimentally screwed up as Sasuke. This kind of subservient begging from the last Uchiha set him on edge. Gaara's watched with great interest as Sasuke swirled his tongue around his teeth.
"I made a promise to Naruto. I keep my promises." Gaara walked away, leaving Sasuke on his knees. Sasuke's performance had riled Gaara up, but he refused to allow himself to be tainted in Naruto's eyes. Naruto was a true friend and there were some things which outweighed opportunities to put Sasuke in his place. Gaara sneered and wandered into the same sitting room they'd had their conversation in last week.
After a few moments Sasuke rose to his feet and followed after Gaara. He didn't want to hear another chat about how Naruto cared about him, or how Sasuke should try to be a better person for Naruto, he wanted to screw with the Kazekage, literally. Gaara sunk down into a particularly plush couch, he looked utterly out of place as he sat there. Sasuke walked over and pressed his leg between Gaara's knees, intent on prying them apart so he could situate himself between them.
"Tough, isn't it?" Sasuke asked smugly. "Stay and I will do this. I will break you down. Leave and I will go to my bar and get it from one of those fucking assholes. Don't you think Naruto would rather I have your cock than one of those other men's?"
There was a quiet, sinister hiss as tendrils of sand crept into Sasuke's sitting room. Though the Uchiha had managed to wedge himself between Gaara's legs, the Kazekage's sand pushed him backwards almost immediately. Gaara was losing his patience, and despite the fact that he had lost the Shukaku when he was fifteen, sometimes his reactions to certain situations were still heavily influenced by the demon Gaara had once possessed. The Kazekage tried to keep his emotions in check, but Sasuke was infuriating. He cracked his knuckles one by one as a warning, a warning that Sasuke didn't heed in the slightest.
If Gaara wouldn't allow Sasuke to touch him, then Sasuke would have to make the redhead want to touch him. Lazily, Sasuke palmed the front of his pants again, but then followed it by unzipping his trousers and letting his cock spring free. Sasuke peeled off his right glove, and gave his hard arousal a couple of long strokes. A drop of precum pooled at the tip, and using his thumb, Sasuke smeared it into the prominent slit of his cock's mushroomed hood.
Gaara couldn't deny that Sasuke had a beautiful cock. It was tempting, and even his intense anger was momentarily quelled by the sight of that long, thick manhood which was presented to him. It made Gaara salivate, and worse, it made his own pants absolutely intolerable as they stretched over his own swollen manhood.
"Touch yourself," Sasuke ordered. "I can't touch you, but what's wrong with you allowing a little self-pleasure?"
Sasuke was baiting Gaara, and after a couple of very indecisive moments, Gaara crossed his arms across his chest and looked away from the masturbating Uchiha.
"Naruto means more to me that this stupid game you are playing," Gaara growled.
Sasuke didn't know why, but hearing Gaara having any kind of emotional attachment to Naruto made him livid. It started in the pit of his belly, and it burned in a horrible, gut-wrenching way. Gaara wasn't allowed to have such a strong connection with Naruto. He was just some psychopath from a village whose only similarity with Naruto was how they both housed demons inside of themselves. They didn't even have that in common any more. Other than that, the two of them were as different as night and day. Naruto might have seen Gaara as a friend, but Sasuke was sure there was no way that the Kazekage had any place in Naruto's heart. He was going to make that painfully clear to Gaara. Sasuke refused to believe Gaara and Naruto's bond was even a fraction as strong as his own with Naruto. He wanted to throw this fact in Gaara's face. Sasuke wanted to hurt Gaara with words and wound his pride. It was a cheap shot, but no one said Sasuke played fair. If he could win a battle, Sasuke would use whatever means he had to accomplish that.
"Naruto doesn't want a freak like you," Sasuke taunted.
Gaara looked a little stunned, as if he hadn't expected Sasuke to breach this line. "I wouldn't want him to desire me," Gaara told Sasuke weakly. "He deserves better."
Gaara wasn't putting up the kind of fight Sasuke wanted, so Sasuke jabbed him with words again. "He would never choose you, not over me."
"You don't want him anyway," the dark hiss of Gaara's voice threatened Sasuke. "He cares about you deeply, but you choose to hurt yourself and him. Besides," Gaara continued, a smirk more than evident on his lips now, "You aren't good enough for him either. Not like this."
Sasuke was hit again with a bitter taste in his mouth and a churning stomach. Maybe it was because there was a lot of truth in Gaara's words. It confused Sasuke. Did he want to be good enough for Naruto? Did he secretly desire something more with the man who had always been his friend and rival? How dare Gaara make him consider such preposterous things!
The only thing Sasuke wanted at that moment was to ram his fist straight through Gaara's head, but instead he settled for electrically disabling the Kazekage's sand. He was able to counteract chakra at a microscopic level. Therefore, using the advanced form of the chidori—which Sasuke perfected right before fighting the Akatsuki—he was able to strike and leave the Kazekage defenseless.
The sand plinked to the floor, and Gaara's eyes flew open so wide that Sasuke was sure that they would pop right out of his head. Sasuke sauntered up to Gaara and straddled him. His ungloved hand grabbed for the zipper of Gaara's pants. Sasuke undid the fly, and Gaara's erection was promptly removed and placed in Sasuke's fingers. Sasuke made a grab for his own arousal. Both cocks fit snugly into Sasuke's hand, and without warning, Sasuke pumped them together slowly. It made Gaara's eyes roll into the back of his head, and it also pulled a very throaty, needy moan from the kage as well.
When recovered from the pleasure Sasuke had cause him, the Kazekage realized the true nature of the situation. He wanted out of it, immediately. Gaara's hands pressed against Sasuke's chest, roughly trying to shove him away. "Stop this now!" Gaara ordered frantically.
Sasuke countered with shutting Gaara up by forcing his mouth over the Kazekage's. He didn't normally kiss, but he sought to mentally dominate Gaara in every way possible. Sasuke wanted Gaara to stop struggling and kiss back. When he did that, Sasuke would win. Unfortunately for Sasuke, not once did Gaara's mouth respond as his licked and nipped the kage's lips, or even when he thrust his tongue inside when Gaara tried to protest again. Perhaps the Kazekage wasn't a kisser either, Sasuke thought to himself.
However, there was no hiding the how hard Gaara was panting, or how hard he was as Sasuke pumped them together. Sasuke knew Gaara was denying the truth—Gaara desired him. He was about to smirk into the forced kiss when Gaara pushed weakly against his chest one more time, giving him just enough space to whisper the word, "Please…"
Sasuke, wrapped up in his sadistic little world, thought it was going to be pleading from Gaara to suck his cock, or to ride him thoroughly, both of which he was more than willing to do if Gaara admitted defeat by begging Sasuke for such things. The dark haired man backed off in order to allow Gaara to speak.
"Please, I know you don't want to hurt Naruto, and neither do I, so stop this, Sasuke," Gaara murmured quietly. His hand traveled from Sasuke's chest to his shirt sleeve. Giving Sasuke's arm a gentle squeeze, Gaara once again reiterated his, "Please," before looking up at Sasuke again.
Gaara was still putting up resistance in the name of some friend who he desperately didn't want to hurt. And if Sasuke were honest with himself, he didn't want to hurt Naruto either. Sasuke's conquest of Gaara, which had consumed him only moments earlier, now felt empty and bitter. He didn't even feel aroused any longer. Sasuke just felt sick. He tried to say something hurtful to Gaara, but couldn't. More than anything, Sasuke wanted to toss his own hatred in Gaara's face, but when he tried he was frozen. There was an impossibly horrible feeling eating at him, and he couldn't help being overwhelmed by it.
Sasuke shuffled off of Gaara and sat on the couch beside him. For the longest time neither of them moved nor said a word; both men just sat and stared off into nowhere.
"What was Naruto's mission?" Sasuke finally asked.
"An enemy rogue-nin was spotted on the village's perimeter. He was sent to take care of it. I doubt he'll be gone long." Gaara replied.
"Are you staying here till he gets back?" Sasuke asked. His eyes narrowed into annoyed slits as he waited for Gaara's response.
Gaara's brow rose slightly, and then the kage sighed, "That is what I promised Naruto, though you make it very difficult."
"You don't have to stay."
Gaara seemed to actually consider this, but in the end shook his head. "You know I can't leave." Gaara eyed the other man carefully, taking in the mess that was Sasuke. "What Naruto sees in you, I'll never know. I suppose we are both lucky that he doesn't give up easily on people."
Sasuke could feel his annoyance with Gaara growing again, and he wished he had his katana, or could at the very least wring the kage's neck. "Do you always talk so much?"
Gaara flexed his fingers into a fist, but then relaxed them again. "No," he replied. He was also practicing great restraint with Sasuke. It was almost a game to see which of the broken men would snap first.
A few more moments of silence, and then the Kazekage decided to insert his undesired observations into the unwanted conversation. "I watched you for a long time in that establishment. I almost didn't do anything about it. I almost took you for myself. In the end, I thought Naruto deserved to know, because he was very worried about you"
It bothered Sasuke that Gaara had been the person to inform Naruto about his screwed up little gay bar. He knew it was Gaara from the start, but hearing the admission from the Kazekage himself infuriated Sasuke.
"What right did you have to spy?" Sasuke's question was heated and he tried not to yell. He was tired of repressing himself, of pretending to be the good little Uchiha, of being a quiet and cold creature. Sasuke was raw, and if you got too near, he burned you alive. He was not the emotionless bastard most people thought him to be. He hid his idiosyncrasies well.
"You couldn't have handled me," Sasuke added to the list of insults he had given Gaara in the short time they had been in his home.
Gaara shook his head, realizing only now how childish Sasuke was acting. It might have been the result of a stunted childhood, but as someone who never even had a childhood at all, Gaara held very little sympathy for these tantrums. Still, there was something about how Sasuke didn't hide them from Gaara. Looking over at the fuming Uchiha, Gaara realized that Sasuke wore none of his normal masks. This was Sasuke. This was the wrecked man who Naruto was in love with, even if the blond refused to admit to those feelings to anyone, even himself.
Gaara rose to his feet and paced the floor quietly. The sand Sasuke had disabled was beginning to regain access and connectivity to Gaara's chakra network, so it slinked along behind the kage in broken, fluttering waves. Sasuke probably should have been furious at how it was depositing dirt everywhere, but he honestly could care less. He took comfort in Gaara's semi-absence. Sasuke tired of having the Kazekage near him, baiting him and trying to gain some kind of insight on all the ways Sasuke was emotionally scarred.
The minutes dragged on, and nothing was accomplished other than long bouts of pacing to and fro, and furtive glances from Sasuke to Gaara as the Uchiha contemplated how to kill his watchdog without Naruto knowing. Ten-o-clock rolled around, and now Sasuke was stuck in his home. The grandfather clock in his study chimed the reminder that Sasuke's house was now his prison until six in the morning. Surely, Gaara would leave now, right?
Sasuke was wrong. Gaara left the sitting room and went on the prowl, checking windows and locks. He glanced out of the windows and crossed his arms impatiently.
"Naruto's mission will probably last all night. We've had plenty security scares lately." Sasuke said. He was tired and actually wanted to get some sleep. He didn't feel comfortable going to bed with the Kazekage still lurking around his house.
That didn't dissuade Gaara from his post. "A couple of your regular visitors mentioned coming here tonight when I was at the bar earlier."
Sasuke was breaching a point beyond pissed. "Ah, so I can't even have relations in my own home? How comforting."
"I promised Naruto."
"Get your own boyfriend," Sasuke immediately snapped back.
This actually stalled Gaara in his tracks when Sasuke told him that. He knew Sasuke didn't do boyfriends, just like himself, and he was positive if he did, it wouldn't be someone as sexually tame as Naruto. Most of all, Gaara hated the way Sasuke said it. It clearly spoke of how little he thought of the Kazekage. Sasuke assumed Naruto was in the stratosphere, and Gaara could never approach being worthy of him.
"Naruto is my friend…"
The reiteration of this point was driving Sasuke batty, so he promptly interrupted, "Bullshit, you want him. You cling to him and hope someday he'll look your way. He never will. Never."
Gaara remained calm and began again quietly and as calmly as he could. "Naruto is my friend. I know my role in this, but you, Sasuke, do not." The cold black irises of Sasuke's eyes took offense to Gaara's observations, even more when Gaara asked, "Why are you still taunting me? I refuse to quarrel with you."
Sasuke hooked his fingers in the left glove that he had never removed and pulled it off slowly. "I am not taunting."
Gaara's brows rose skeptically as he tried to discern whether or not Sasuke actually believed that of himself. "You are. Where is the proud, solemn man you show the rest of this village?"
Sasuke took that to heart. Biting his lip, he glowered darkly at the other man before saying, "He is a farce. Can't you get that?"
Sasuke finally admitted his greatest fault aloud, and it was painful. The person he pretended to be was a fake, because the true Sasuke was shakable and fallible and weak, so very weak.
Gaara knew all of this before Sasuke ever admitted it aloud. He could see through the masks and walls Sasuke erected around himself. They were there for self-preservation, and were as real as the sand that protected the Kazekage. Gaara would never admit to Sasuke how he could see through all his bullshit. It was so familiar to the Kazekage. He and Sasuke traversed such similar roads. Telling the Uchiha that would only serve to infuriate him; instead, Gaara went in for the softer, yet far more fatal blow.
"Naruto has always seen the true you, Sasuke—the good and the bad."
Sasuke remained silent.
xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
Several hours later, there was a quiet knock on Sasuke's door. Gaara had already turned away two men who had every intention of using Sasuke as their personal fucktoy for the night, but this knock was different. Gaara knew it wasn't one of those people.
Sasuke was still fuming in his sitting room, waiting for Gaara to leave when the young kage went to confirm who was at the door. Even before opening it, there was a familiar wave of warm chakra which became noticeable. Gaara would have to talk to Naruto about suppressing his chakra more thoroughly. It was dangerous, and he had no doubt that if he hadn't been there, Sasuke would have boarded up the manor in an attempt to avoid the conversation he was about to have with his long time friend.
The door creaked open, clicking and clacking as it groaned in protest. This house definitely took after its owner. It was as cranky and angry as Sasuke. When the door was finally open, Gaara was greeted with a big, cheesy smile. Naruto, in turn, was greeted with a curt goodbye.
"Whaaa? Where are you going, Gaara?" Naruto asked, his hands full of takeout ramen, and even a couple of movies.
The Kazekage shrugged and rehenged himself into his platinum-blond counterpart. "He is your charity project, Naruto, not mine."
Gaara left very hastily. It was obvious something had happened between Sasuke and Gaara. When Naruto entered the sitting room where Sasuke was, he could do nothing but stare disapprovingly at the Uchiha. "Want to explain that?"
"No." Sasuke didn't acknowledge Naruto's presence other than that one word. Nudging a takeout carton into Sasuke's hand, Naruto plopped down beside the Uchiha and began eating his ramen.
Sasuke picked at the food for a minute. When he finally looked over at Naruto, he very nearly had a conniption. "Get off my couch, idiot! You are covered in filth!"
It was true. Besides being matted with mud and sticks, there were splatterings of blood on Naruto's cheek and a shallow gash on his shoulder. "Thanks, bastard, you're so kind. You didn't even say thank you for the food." Naruto muttered to himself under his breath for a couple of seconds before adding, "Can I use your shower?"
Sasuke's cheeks flushed hotly. Whether it was out of anger or embarrassment, he wasn't sure. "Use your own damned shower, moron."
"Can't, I'm stuck here," Naruto told Sasuke before slurping up a long string of noodles out of his ramen.
Sasuke was exhausted, livid at Naruto, horny as hell, but in the end, all he could do was murmur, "Just don't make a mess in there, okay?"
"Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto told his friend with a big smile. He quickly sauntered to main bath area and stripped, not even caring enough to shut the door. Naruto's manners were crass at best, worse here since he treated Sasuke's home as his home.
Naruto pulled the shower curtain shut and turned on the water full blast at an outrageously hot temperature. Sasuke's hallway was quickly engulfed in steam. Even worse, Naruto was singing some tune completely out of key at the top of his lungs. Sasuke promised himself that he would serve his friend the rest of his ramen with a side of knuckles for being so blasted irritating.
Making his way to the closest linen closet, Sasuke grabbed a towel and his first aid kit so the idiot wouldn't bleed all over his furniture. Naruto had, of course, completely forgotten to get a towel before hopping in the shower. The last thing Sasuke needed was the blond running around his house naked. Sasuke wasn't sure he could handle seeing that right now. Sasuke might have been in complete denial about his feelings for Naruto, but he didn't dispute that he was physically attracted to his friend.
As horny as Sasuke was, any man with a halfway decent body and a big cock would do. Naruto had a better than average body. The blond was toned and lithe, well proportioned, blessed with sexily defined dips outlining his hips, and even sported an attractively groomed patch of curled yellow hairs which framed an above average dick. Sasuke groaned. He was getting turned on just thinking about Naruto.
Sasuke stood tentatively outside the bathroom, clutching the towel to his chest. Naruto…damn that idiot, damn him to hell, Sasuke thought. Even when the water shut off and he could hear Naruto looking for a towel, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to go in and toss him the stupid thing. He couldn't bear to see Naruto now, not this way.
"…hey, Sasuke?" Naruto tried again. "Is that for me?" He had been trying to break Sasuke out of his daydream for a bit. Naruto called Sasuke's name over and over again, getting progressively more annoyed each time. This last time he'd finally broken through.
One of Naruto's tanned hands laid claim to the fluffy, white towel, and was trying to tug it out of Sasuke's grip. Sasuke held it securely, still momentarily lost in his own head. When his mind finally returned to the situation at hand, he realized that a naked, dripping wet Naruto was trying to pry the towel from his fingers.
"Come on, bastard, I'm cold here. If it isn't for me, then I'll go get one of my own."
Sasuke let go, "No, it's for you," he whispered. Without realizing, and unable to stop himself, Sasuke drank in the image of the naked Naruto. He was so beautiful. The skin over Naruto's hard, lithe muscles was smooth and tanned. Even in the ill-lit hallway he could see the definition from all the hard work and training his friend did. Sasuke ached, he hurt and ached and wanted in so many ways, and each of them overwhelmed him.
Naruto was patting himself dry until he realized that Sasuke had followed him back into the bathroom. He stood far enough away, and held a first aid kit in his hands that it didn't seem completely inappropriate. It could have been innocent enough, just Sasuke coming to patch him up so he didn't get blood all over. Naruto might have even cracked a joke about him being a prissy bastard, if Sasuke's eyes weren't flickering over his body. Naruto winced, because catching Sasuke looking at him should have made him uncomfortable or pissed off. But he wasn't. He liked the way Sasuke's tongue absently licked his lower lips, and how the normally dark, vacant eyes shown with a spark of life. Lust, desire, whatever it was, it was encouraging, it was human.
Naruto could feel a familiar stir. A long time ago he never had this kind of reaction to Sasuke, but as they grew older it seemed more and more commonplace. As quickly as Naruto could, the towel was slung around his midsection, hiding his quickly swelling cock from Sasuke's peeping eyes.
"Do you want me to suck you off?"
This time Sasuke's voice wasn't laced in venom or sarcasm. It was straightforward and Naruto quickly realized that unlike the week before, Sasuke was completely serious about his offer.
"No," Naruto answered, turning away from Sasuke quickly. He wanted to ignore his own body's reactions, but he couldn't do that while looking into those smoldering, dark eyes. Naruto wasn't ready to make that leap yet. Whether he denied Sasuke because of his personal insecurities about being attracted to another man, or because Naruto knew this was harmful for Sasuke to engage in, wasn't clear. Naruto only knew that it wasn't something they should do…yet.
Sasuke walked up behind him. Naruto half expected the Uchiha to grope him or rip the towel away. Instead, there was only the familiar sting of a disinfectant on his wound.
"This was pretty bad, wasn't it?" Sasuke asked, wrapping gauze carefully around the small injury. He was privy to knowledge that Tsunade had added a few more seals, including one which prevented Naruto's automatic healing. It had to be a conscious effort now, complete with hand seals, to release the ability.
The fox leaked through everywhere and in every way it could. Naruto wasn't to heal himself unless it was really bad. His shoulder looked partially healed, therefore it worried Sasuke. The injury had probably been quite serious. Soon it would be nothing more than a long, thin scar. Naruto's once flawless skin was now littered with small scars, similar to most shinobi his age and rank.
It worried Sasuke that the fox was always right beneath the surface. He knew it would be impossibly difficult for him if he lost Naruto to that demon. Sasuke's hands mindlessly lingered on Naruto's skin as he considered this. Sasuke couldn't help himself when he flitted his fingers across a taught, white scar directly above Naruto's shoulder blade. It made the skin beneath Sasuke's fingers ripple and flutter in an involuntary shudder.
Naruto didn't respond at all to Sasuke, he was too busy gritting his teeth and practicing his best self-control. Sasuke wasn't doing anything wrong, so Naruto couldn't get mad. He couldn't yell at Sasuke to stop, because it might push his friend further away. Naruto didn't want that, not at all.
"Naruto…" Sasuke's voice trailed off as he closed the lid to the first aid kit. Naruto thought Sasuke would leave whatever he was going to say hanging there, but after a moment, he continued.
"Naruto, would you kiss me?"
Sasuke didn't kiss. They both knew Sasuke didn't kiss. He hated romance and detested flowery shows of affection. He didn't like love and if it didn't involve mimicking fucking with his tongue, licking, biting, or sucking cock, Sasuke didn't want to partake in anything with his mouth; but Sasuke's question was quiet and honest, perhaps even hopeful.
Naruto couldn't turn his friend down. There was no way Naruto could deny Sasuke this. The black-haired man looked directly at Naruto. There was a quiet and elusive calm in those coveted eyes of Sasuke's. It was the closest thing to whole Sasuke had seemed in a long, long time.
Moving toward Sasuke slowly and awkwardly, Naruto cupped a pale cheek and pressed his lips against Sasuke's forehead first. Then the two of them slowly moved until their lips brushed. Sasuke waited for Naruto to solidify the kiss. It was slow and methodical at first—too light and too gentle for Sasuke's preferences—until Naruto's hands fingers found purchase on Sasuke's neck and jaw, drawing his partner into his mouth and closer to his body.
For the first time, it was electrifying and real. Most of all, the feelings they shared were indescribable and new. The emotions the kiss drudged out of Sasuke and Naruto were heated and raw, needy and passionate, confusing but satisfying. It was them, just like them. It was their rivalry, hatred, and love; the unspoken and spoken wrapped up in a physical motion which was so often overlooked, and Sasuke thought he hated.
Sasuke did hate kissing, except when it was with Naruto, and then it was about the furthest thing from hate Sasuke could get. But along with all this pent up passion and need, there was a heavy guilt which was on Sasuke's heart.
You aren't good enough for him either. Not like this.
Gaara's words rang out in his mind, and Sasuke wanted to pull away. It was true. He wasn't good enough for Naruto. He wanted this so badly, but at the same time Sasuke desired nothing more than to push Naruto away for good. Naruto deserved better than him. Sasuke wanted to hurt himself, he was unstable, he hated this village and its damned children and academy students, and he was weak. Sasuke was weak in all the ways Naruto was strong. These days, Naruto was very strong.
"Stop it, bastard," Naruto warned as he laid gentle kisses on Sasuke's cheek. He was holding back for Sasuke's sake, because he wanted to be anything but gentle. Naruto could sense Sasuke's indecisiveness and fear. "Stop it and just kiss me."
When Sasuke tried to move beyond kissing, Naruto hindered the attempt. Anything overtly sexual was detrimental to helping Sasuke. When Sasuke tried to stop kissing, Naruto coaxed him back into the intimate motion. They stood and kissed for a long while, until Sasuke growled into Naruto's mouth and demanded a bit of alone time in his bathroom. It was fine, because Naruto understood and needed it too.
xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
Sasuke laid in his bed staring up at the ceiling. Naruto was in the bathroom, taking care of a little personal business. If ever Sasuke Uchiha felt mentally overloaded by his own actions, now would be that time. He had always been able to distance himself from everything else. The questions and fears that flew in and out of his own head astounded Sasuke. Honestly, he couldn't even get a full thought completed before a new one rushed in. Naruto had him frazzled, but it was such a good frazzled. Even Sasuke couldn't deny that.
"Hey," Naruto announced himself as he entered the room, wearing a pair of Sasuke's boxers and a t-shirt. "Sleepover time again?"
Sasuke scoffed, his normal sarcastic walls resurrected now after the night's tumultuous events. "Does my bedroom look like a hotel to you, idiot?"
Naruto didn't miss a beat. "Maybe the dumpy one down on the outskirts of Konoha, but even then, I think this place is shadier." Naruto plopped down on the mattress and drew Sasuke into his arms again. Sasuke didn't struggle like he had last time. He blamed it on exhaustion.
"Goodnight," Naruto whispered into Sasuke's ear.
Naruto was surprised when he received a quiet, "Goodnight, Naruto," in reply.