Disclaimer: I am Masashi and my partner is Kishimoto. We own Naruto. .
Warnings: SasuNaru, yaoi, OOC and unbetaread

Thanks to xXxAngel VxXx for the little correction.

They walked along the empty street that surrounded a park near the university where the Uchiha went. This would be the first night they met since they kissed as both of them had been busy and this was their first official date.

They stopped by an Oak tree and sat down beneath its leaves.

"Ne," the blonde started, hands a bit clammy. "You're the first male I'm dating so I have no idea how to handle this."

"Me neither," the Uchiha said. "Are you scared?"

"Nervous. However, I'm scared of my parents."

"Me too," he confessed. "But I'm not forcing you to be with me, am I?" His whole vision was filled by a handsome face the second his blonde brought their faces together. His heart tightened when he felt those tempting lips moving against his. He felt something coiled in his lower abdomen when he felt a warm appendage boldly running over his lips. When he was about to kiss back, his boyfriend pulled back a little bit.

With hot breath fanning against his face, he heard him whisper, "I'm staying because I want to."

Perhaps it was the intensity or sincerity of those beautiful blue eyes or the way he spoke it or the way he looked with the blush staining his cheeks, the Uchiha didn't know but his reaction was instant. His right hand none-too-gently gripped golden tresses and smashed their lips together.

And what started as a little kiss escalated into necking, petting then a full-blown make out, but it was safe because darkness had them against her bosom.

Chapter 27: Liar

Koko de machi tsuduketara kimi wa kanarazu
Kite kureru to shinjita
Sotto matteru boku ni nani mo kikazu ni dakishimesasete yo ne

Mata ashita to itte wakareta ne
Kimagure na kimi dakara
Ikura machi tsudukete itemo kitto
Konai koto kiduite itan da
-"I", Mika Nakashima

Fugaku stood up from his seat and moved towards the couch across from his until he stood in front of Arashi.

"Don't," he said. "Stop treating me like that." Ever since their argument, Arashi had been so distant towards him that it was frustrating especially when they were together doing business like at that moment. He didn't want to lose the blonde more than he already did.

At such a pleading tone, Arashi sighed and his look softened. "Sorry, I said too much the other day."

"Well, I didn't like what I said," the dark-haired man admitted.

Their gazes met and neither of them could break their eye contact. Then, slowly, oh-so-slowly, Fugaku moved a hand and cupped Arashi's left cheek. He rubbed his thumb against tanned skin in the same tenderness he had shown to this beautiful male during their halcyon days.

"Fugaku," Arashi murmured. He raised a hand and slowly wrapped it around his ex-lover's necktie. He pulled him slowly just as the other male leaned towards him.

There was just a hairsbreadth that stopped their kiss from happening. The kiss that would plunge them into their past.

Just one, they told and promised themselves but they knew it won't be one. They were too aware of their endless passion and insatiable hunger for each other.

When their lips brushed, flashing in front of their past flashed through half-open eyes - all the things that happened when they were together and when they were apart. Not just their wonderful days which their hearts wanted to remember, but also their pain-filled days which their jaded selves played over and over again. They realized that they couldn't go back to those days... could never go back. They could never be together again and the kiss that they wanted to share was just an act of foolishness. There were too many things at risk to continue.

They pulled away without the kiss happening. Arashi let go of Fugaku's necktie and watched as the man put a good distance between them. They both felt the weight of the tension of the opposites- of wanting and not wanting.

"Funny how we have the same want for ourselves, but not for our kids," Fugaku said sadly.

"I want them to be happy. I hope one day you'll allow them to be together."

"You'll only be disappointed." Fugaku told him. The weight of the responsibilities of being the Uchiha leader was too heavy for him to give what Arashi was proudly pleading from him.

Arashi smiled. "There's nothing wrong to hope, because to hope is to live."

Fugaku just grunted. If only he could erase that sadness tinting those breathtaking blue eyes… If only he could draw the blonde in his arms and hold him in comfort. If only…

When would this pain stop?

-SasuNaru is love-

"Ah... Sa... Sasuke...ke! Please," came Naruto's cries that echoed in the culinary art laboratory. The blonde had his hands gripping on the end of the counter above his head while one leg draping over Sasuke's shoulder while the other was bent with the ball of his foot tightly pressed against the other end of the counter. His whole body thrust back and forth for every powerful thrust from the man above him.

Sasuke put more force into his thrust, prioritizing Naruto's needs and giving the mind-numbing pleasure he sought more out of guilt than anything else. He didn't bother covering Naruto's mouth with his own to drown out those sounds because there was something so erotic on those echoes. Not to mention that, to him, the sounds Naruto made while he writhed under his touches were forgiveness.

Muscles taut, their bodies stilled in a brief spasm before their orgasms conquered them without mercy.

A while later, Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the hovering Sasuke. He blinked when a bead of sweat fell from his lover's chin to somewhere near his left eye. He reached up and brushed away the hair strands that matted on pale forehead.

In a rare display of affection, Sasuke took that hand and gently kissed each fingertip.

"Why the suddenness?" Naruto asked, referring to the other lad's sudden appearance in the laboratory when he was doing last inspection before going home and then wordlessly, made wicked love to him.

Sasuke lowered himself slightly while he chose one among a few replies appearing in his mind. He could have said 'I missed you' or 'My body craves for yours', but he wanted something that was and wasn't indifferent at the same time so he settled for, "I've been busy." It wasn't a lie. Lately, his father had given him a lot of materials to read, study and work on that he had to juggle them together with school activities, classes and dating his idiot. He didn't know if the sudden increase of the tasks he had to do for his father was a good sign. After all, it was obvious that his father still held his brother on a pedestal. Nothing had changed between his father and brother. Speaking of his brother, he had to finish that document he asked from him, but to do that he had to finish his daily report for the council. Damn. What a busy day!

Planting a firm kiss on the still swollen lips of his partner, he extracted himself. "I have to get back to work," he explained as he hurriedly cleaned himself and put on his shirt and tie.

"See you tomorrow, bastard," Naruto drawled while tiredly waving a hand. When the door slid shut, he brought an arm over his eyes.

'Wasn't this what you wanted?' He silently asked himself. Obviously, the answer was an affirmative one. He had wanted for Sasuke to show him that he still wanted him and that what had happened two days ago wasn't because he was no longer important. Sasuke did show him and his doubt subsided. He was happy, but something was stopping him from being completely happy. Was it the disappointment he felt at that time? Maybe.

Like the other students in his culinary school, Naruto was dressed in pristine white clothes and a contrasting dark blue apron tied tightly around his waist. For once, he had a name tag pinned on his left chest.

Today was his school's culinary festival- an event that happened thrice a year and at the restaurant his cooking master owned. It was buffet style and the entrance fee was only two thousand yen. It was cheap, but understandable because this event was just an award to those students who lived up to his expectations and excelled... the same students who did come up with the menu - of course approved by the master, and did the cooking.

And Naruto? He was one of them. Although, this was his third time to be in the rooster, this was his first time to be one of those who were assigned to prepare the main dish, so he was nervous. Including the fact that Sasuke would be coming as he had fervently promised made him more jittery.

Sasuke had promised him that he'd ask for him when he would arrive so when somebody did, his heart leapt. However, to his disappointment, it was just Iruka and Kakashi who happened to receive a flyer.

During the whole event, he had waited and waited, fervently believing in Sasuke's words. The event ended and Sasuke was a no-show. Naruto checked for any emails and missed calls from Sasuke on his phone, but there were none. Trying to drown the hurt, disappointment and nasty feeling of being betrayed, he went with his chef-aspiring friends and celebrated till dawn. Even then, he didn't hear from Sasuke.

The next day which was a school day, Sasuke dragged him into an inconspicuous niche.

"My father," was what he said and took his mouth for a kiss that sent him reeling and left him disoriented. It was a kiss that the blonde wished to suck all the feelings his boyfriend's broken promise caused. However, more than anything else, he wished for an apology that never came.

-SasuNaru is love-

"You missed the deadline, Sasuke," Itachi pointed out blithely when his brother came home. "How do you expect me to work without that?"

Sasuke wordlessly handed to him. "At least I finished it."

"Way past deadline."

"I was just a minute late," the younger Uchiha snapped.

Itachi shrugged and handed him another folder. "I expect that before you leave for school tomorrow." That was the end of their conversation, as Itachi retreated back to his room.

Sasuke disdainfully looked at the folder before making his way to the kitchen to have his dinner delivered to his room.

-SasuNaru is love-

Naruto spent his lunch break absentmindedly staring outside the nearest window while Shikamaru was playing chess against Shino as Gaara looked on. Behind him, Chouji and Kiba were discussing a computer game. To his right, Hinata, Ino and Sakura were talking about the universities they planned to go to together.

'Together', he thought.

"Hey blondie! Didn't you hear me?" someone shouted from the doorway. Naruto slowly turned his head. It was Karin and judging by her scowl, she didn't like the errand Sasuke sent her. "Sasuke-kun wants you to go to the rooftop."

"What does the bastard want from me?" he asked while taking out a plastic file folder from his bag. Karin glared at him before walking away.

Sasuke looked up when a shadow cast on him.

"Sending for me like I'm your slave," Naruto muttered while he settled beside him.

"What's that in your hand?" Sasuke asked.

"Seeing that we both found the schools we want to go to, I took the liberty of looking for an apartment... unless you want to spend three hours commuting."

Sasuke smirked. "That's very initiative of you." He was excited to live together with the blonde, mainly because it had so many perks.

"Aren't you going to look at it?"

"I will... later."

Naruto scowled then pouted. "Why did you call for me?" He waited for the other male to answer... to tell him. He waited and waited. Unable to stand Sasuke's silence, he whipped his head to his left, ready to bark at the other who had fallen asleep and was slightly leaning towards him. The blonde clicked his tongue before he relaxed. Slowly and gently, he maneuvered Sasuke's body so his head was on his lap. He then brushed the hair strands away from that handsome face and a small smile graced his lips.

Deciding that Sasuke's face was better than the infinite and blue sky, Naruto stared at the former. He looked at the face void of scowl or frown; the face of the person he loved so much that it hurt; the face of the lad who was asked to mature quickly and the face of the youth who had too many pressures from the adult figures around him.

His heart wrenched at such thoughts. He wished he could protect him. He wished that he could obtain the strength and power to protect his most precious person.

With his arms loosely cradling Sasuke's head, he lowered his until their faces were a mere hairsbreadth away. Smoothly and unbidden, the words that always stuck in his throat slipped from his lips, unheard by the person whom it was intended for. However, it was okay. It wasn't meant to be heard by Sasuke... for now.

-SasuNaru is love-

Naruto's eyes fluttered open the moment Sasuke shot up from his prone position.

"What time is it?" Sasuke asked, all traces of sleep gone.

"A minute before one," Naruto answered.

Sasuke glared before standing up. "Why didn't you wake me up? I have no plans to skip class!"

"But-"

"Hurry up!" he ordered.

"Bastard!" Naruto muttered before he followed his boyfriend.

It's in moments like this when I wish to hold you tight...

-SasuNaru is love-

His lungs were burning and his leg muscles were aching, but he continued running. The thought of stopping, resting or giving up never came to him. He knew he couldn't stop. He didn't want to stop. Every second counted so he had to continue... running.

Just a little more, he told himself in an assuring voice that was hollow and desperate.' A little more,' he repeated, but it was a lie. He didn't know how long he had to run before he'd find Sasuke.

He continued running with the sultry wind caressing his heated skin. He continued running down the long winding and narrow road. He continued running until Sasuke's figure was ahead of him.

With his throat aching from shouting the name over and over again, he called out, "Sasuke!"

Sasuke continued walking forward, as if he didn't hear anything.

"Sa-su-ke," Naruto tried once more, his voice echoing, at least to his ears.

His back remained facing towards Naruto as if what he saw ahead of him completely captivated him.

Naruto cursed when Sasuke's pace increased. He increased his as well, then cried out in protest when he stumbled and fell disgracefully on the ground. He pushed himself, but his legs no longer responded. They had become numb with exhaustion and no matter how hard he forced them to obey, he remained prone on the ground. Tearfully, he could only watch Sasuke getting farther away.

"Sasuke!" he shouted as the other male disappeared into the light he could never reach.

When did my voice stop reaching out to you?

Naruto opened his eyes to the dimness of his bedroom. He was lying at the edge of his bed with his blanket twisted around his legs. There was a moment of pause before he untangled himself and rolled to the center of his bed. With arms and legs spread wide, he stared at the ceiling, emotions too unstable for him to bring under control.

Finally having decided, he called Sasuke's phone.

Without looking from the graph he was making, Sasuke reached for his vibrating mobile unit.

"Dobe."

"Still awake?"

"Still have to do something," he answered. He let the blonde decide whether his call was a disturbance, but knowing the blonde, Naruto won't entertain such possibility about his calls. He frowned when he heard a shaky breath being drawn. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're crying."

A sniff before he heard a defensive reply, "I'm not."

There was silence as both parties waited for the other to continue.

Still waiting, Sasuke pulled a particular folder and looked at the brief profile of the apartments Naruto took from different websites. He wanted an apartment with a kitchen, a living room, a dining room and two rooms. Of course, there would only be one bedroom and the other room would be made into their study room.

Not liking the empty silence in the other line, Naruto called his lover's name, each time getting more urgent.

"What?" Sasuke growled at the panicking voice which he mistook as whining.

"Why were you so silent?"

"I'm waiting for you to tell me the purpose of your call." He heard a rustling noise and could imagine Naruto getting into a comfortable position in his bed. Damn. It made him want to go to bed, more preferably with the blonde snuggling close to him.

"I missed you," came the almost shy reply. Sasuke focused more on the sincerity of those words rather than its cryptic tone. He feigned a growl before saying, "I'll see you tomorrow anyway."

"Yeah. Good night, bastard."

"You too, dobe."

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"Staywithme," he heard Naruto say before the latter hung up. What did Naruto mean by that? Of course he'd stay with him! Absolutely. Unquestionably.

-SasuNaru is love-

"C'mon, let's go inside," Naruto said almost defeatedly.

Promises broken.

"Eh? But Sasuke-kun isn't here yet," Ino pointed out the obvious. "Although we've waited for ten minutes now."

"Since we haven't received any calls or emails from him, we should take it that he's coming," Chouji said.

"After all, he did say he was coming," Shino added.

He said the same thing during that time too, and yet he didn't come, Naruto answered mentally. He grinned. "This the Uchiha we're talking about! He's probably busy coming up plans for world domination and he couldn't contact us or answer our calls," he said lightly. "Let's go!" Having said that, he started walking to his right.

Unsaid excuses.

"Hey, Naruto!" he heard Kiba called.

"C'mon dogbreath!" he replied without looking back nor stopping.

"Idiot! The mall entrance is in the opposite direction!"

He halted and gave them a goofy grin. Stupid bastard.

Noticing the worried looks his friends were throwing at each other, he assured them once more. "It's fine. I don't mind. Besides, I have more fun without the bastard." There was a general disbelief coming from his peers that was so tangible, that Naruto turned around, arms crossed behind his head and started walking backwards. "Really. With him around..." here he paused to imitate his boyfriend's annoyed face and tone, "Dobe, stop doing that! Usuratonkachi, you're making a fool out of yourself! Naruto, walk, not strut! Dobe, I told you not to wear tight jeans! Wear another provocative shirt and I'll kill you!"

Unmade apologies.

Now that their blonde did mention it, Sasuke, most of the time, was the party-pooper. Not because he was conservative- he was far from it, but because most of the time, they assumed that he was just trying to keep his libido in control. Perhaps, it was good that he wasn't here?

How long am I going to endure this? How long am I going to wait?

Seeing the agreement in their eyes, Naruto grinned, turned around and wham! He slammed into a pillar.

How long are you planning to make me wait and suffer in silence?

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

He grinned and the girl got annoyed. Why must he force himself?

I'm such a fool.

"I was asking the pillar, Naruto, not you."

The blonde's smile faltered. "Sakura-chan, such cruelty!"

"Gaara-kun," Hinata said. "What should we do?"

The redhead looked at the blonde who was now bravely arguing with the scary Sakura. "Leave him alone," was his reply before he left her to contemplate on his callousness.

"Gaara is doing the right thing," Shino said from her left.

"Shino..."

"The more we show our concern, the more he pretends. He's the type of the guy who doesn't want to bother anyone with his feelings, but ends up doing so anyway."

"But still-"

"Ignore him, Hinata," Shikamaru said.

Eh? Even Shikamaru? she thought. "I- I'll try to." she said while wishing for the blonde to show rather than hide what he felt, after all they were friends, right?

-SasuNaru is love-

At the end of their gimmick, Sakura had asked Naruto to walk her home and seeing the danger glinting in her emerald eyes, refusal meant pain and perhaps death?

The two ended up loitering outside a convenient store a block before Sakura's place.

Sakura stretched her arms upwards and her legs forward before looking at her companion meaningfully.

"W-what?" Naruto asked warily.

"And? What about you and Sasuke?"

Perhaps it was the full-moon and the star-encrusted evening sky or perhaps the way Sakura regarded him with subtle gentleness or perhaps he was near his limit. Whatever it was, it made him talk.

"He's a bastard who developed a penchant of breaking his promise while I... I'm such a fucking fool! I hate it but..."

"You don't hate him at all?" Sakura asked in understanding.

He nodded. "But I wanted to!" God! He wanted to and desperately so just to lessen this hurt. "I wish I know how much he values me, assuming he does."

"He does," Sakura assured him. "I don't know him much, but my female instincts told me so." She wondered if her friend was aware of the tears streaming gently on his tanned cheeks.

It must be painful, ne Naruto? For those feeling that couldn't be put into words...

Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around her friend, surprising the latter. "Don't get me wrong, idiot! I'm not doing this for a romantic reason."

"Then why?"

"You won't understand," she lied. But the truth was, she couldn't explain why she was doing it. As she pulled away, Naruto's mobile unit rang.

"It's Sasuke!" Naruto muttered upon hearing that polyphonic tone solely assigned to his boyfriend. Not wanting to let Sasuke know that he was crying, he told Sakura to answer the call. The moment the girl did, she could sense the sudden drop of temperature from the other line.

"Sakura."

She gulped inaudibly.

"Where's dobe?"

"I asked him to walk me home so he's at my place," she answered, receiving a nod of approval from Naruto while Sasuke... was it just her or did the temperature drop even lower?

"Give him his phone."

She mouthed Sasuke's instruction and the blonde mouthed his back.

"He was on his way to the toilet when you called..."

"I'll wait for him."

"Eh? Why don't I ask him to call you back? Or you can call-"

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Sasuke snapped.

"S-sorry."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Sakura sighed. "Since we're both waiting for the same person, why don't you tell me why you didn't show up."

"It's none of your business," came the curt reply.

Her grip on the slim device tightened while a vein ticked on her left temple. "You made a fool out of Na-" She didn't get to finish because Naruto snatched his unit from her.

"Sasuke-teme," Naruto said.

"How long were you planning to make me wait, dobe?" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto frowned then exploded. "You talk as if you didn't make me, I mean, us wait or stood us up!"

"Naruto." Sasuke, realizing that he had said the wrong words, tried to interrupt, but the blonde wouldn't let him.

"You didn't even call!"

"Dobe!"

"From now on, we're not going to wait for you!"

"Hey!"

"You can go to hell!" With that said, a fuming Naruto hung up while Sakura gave him a look of incredulity.

"It's ringing again," she said.

Stupid bastard. "What?!" he barked.

"I want to meet with you," Sasuke quickly said afraid the blonde would hang up on him again.

"I'm not in the mood to do that tonight."

"Tomorrow afternoon then? Around one?"

Naruto fell silent for a few seconds before he agreed. "By the giant dog statue?"

"Yeah." As if subtly and indirectly apologizing, Sasuke added, "It's a date then."

Slightly blushing, the blonde retorted, "I won't call it a date until you're with me tomorrow."

Sasuke snorted. "Whatever." With that he hung up.

He looked at the papers scattered on the table and sighed. More work stopped him from going out...But despite that fact, he didn't hate it. Annoyed? Yes, but not hate. He liked what he was doing. As for tomorrow? His father requested him to observe the proceedings of a meeting. Of course, he was confident it would end before noon. He'd see his blonde this time.

-SasuNaru is love-

Itachi subtly glanced at his brother who kept on stealing a glance on his watch while clenching and unclenching his fists. In a quiet murmur and with his lips barely moving, he said, "Stop fidgeting!"

Sasuke paused then retorted discretely, "I'm not." He looked at his watch again. Damn! It's almost thirty minutes past noon and the meeting didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon. He glared at the man talking too much causing Itachi to accidentally hit his left ankle.

He looked at his watch once more. Naruto or this? His father would be mad at him... would be disappointed in him, but when was he not? Naruto, on the other hand...

Sasuke shot to his feet causing all occupants to look at him. Bowing to his father then to the rest, he left hurriedly.

Fool, Itachi thought while glancing at his brother's mobile unit on the carpeted floor.

A slew of expletive words streamed through Sasuke's head the second he reached for his mobile unit in his pocket and found it gone. It must have fallen, he thought. Without it, he couldn't even make a call nor send an email. He looked at his watch. More or less the train he was on would arrive sixteen or seventeen minutes later and that would mean he was going to be twenty minutes late. Fuck!

We're not going to wait for you!

Sasuke closed his eyes. Naruto, this time... wait for me. I'm coming.

Naruto sighed as he heard the recorded message from the other line. God! He was such a fool. He should have known... he should have turned Sasuke down, but being swayed by those words... I'm such a fool. In the end, he realized how unimportant he was to him.

Even now, I'm still fighting the essence of your being Uchiha ne, Sasuke?

But he wouldn't cry. Not this time. Crying was for the brokenhearted and he wasn't. In fact, he seemed to be amused by it in a masochistic way. He had a little twisted smile on his face which became a full grin at the sudden shower. He watched as the people scurried about, looking for shelter from the rain.

One elder female walked towards where he was waiting, which had gotten crowded. Seeing that there was no room for her, he offered his place, surprising her. He just smiled and jogged under the rain to buy an umbrella.

Are you watching this war that knows no end from the sidelines?

He, Sasuke now realized was having a bad day. First, the meeting, then his phone and now a sudden shower. The gods must be having the time of their lives looking at him as he ran in the rain, wet and late. He reached their meeting place and scanned the sea of people for a familiar face. His heart plummeted. Naruto was nowhere. He turned side to side then paused. Naruto...

Naruto squawked the second his left wrist was grabbed and was whirled around. He gaped.

"Better late than never, right?" Sasuke said between pants. He watched as those blue eyes widened in happiness and relieved.

"You came," the blonde mumbled. Sasuke was here, standing in front of him, wet and wearing suits. He felt pale hand slide from his wrist to give his fingers a light squeeze. When his boyfriend combed a hand through his wet and sable hair, his heart skipped a beat.

"Well, dobe," Sasuke said. "I'm here with you."

"Yeah." Looking away from those intense eyes, the blonde murmured, "it's a date."

Somehow their initial plan to watch a movie and eat somewhere morphed into going to the motel they usually frequented. In one of the rooms, they gave and took pleasure. While one lad sought forgiveness, the other asked for reassurance over and over again as they tumbled into the heavens.

Sasuke was alternating between rough and gentle while Naruto couldn't decide which he liked more. However, that didn't matter. Sasuke was all over him... around him... inside him and that was enough. More than enough. For now.

TBC

Am I allowed to pimp? Assuming that I am, I have short SasuNaru stories posted in my livejournal fanfiction archive. If you have some free time, check them out. Links are provided in my profile. Enjoy. Oh by the way, they'll be f-locked a week from now.