SasuNaru, yaoi, OOC and unbeta-read.
In collaboration with XKunoichiofthePaintbrushX.
The dark-haired man took note of the number tags artistically placed on each door he passed by then finally stopped in front of the door marked 620.
He pressed the buzzer and a moment later, the door opened. He scowled when his friend was still wearing tracksuits.
"You didn't get lost," he teased.
He rolled his eyes, "I'm not a directionless person. More importantly, why aren't you ready yet?"
The brunette moved to admit his friend into his new condominium he shared with his best friend. "Did a lot of stuffs. Group mates were bitching." He then smiled, "But I'm getting ready. Just treat this place as your second home while you wait."
The dark-haired man scowled and glared at the retreating back.
"I'm home," someone called out from the doorway fifteen minutes later. It must be Shigure's housemate, the dark-haired man thought. He turned around just as the man walked in.
The blonde paused in his whistling and looked surprised to find a stranger watching television on his living set. He looked at him owlishly, wondering what to think of in this situation.
The guest stood up and politely bowed then he heard him say, "Excuse me for the intrusion."
The blonde blinked once...twice... thrice then he smiled, "You must one of Shigure's friend in his university."
"Yes, I am.Uchiha Fugaku."
"Arashi. Kazama, Arashi." Then he gave him a cocky grin, "Pleased to meet your acquaintances." He walked into the kitchen just as Shigure joined them."
"Oh. You'd made introductions already?"
"Why? Were we meant to wait for you?" the blonde asked lightly.
"How about you come with us for drinking?" the brunette suggested.
"I have projects to work on."
"Their deadline are still two months away, right? C'mon. Just this night." The blonde ignored him but Shigure was ostentatious.
"I can't. You're both ready and we can't make Fugaku-san wait longer," he reasoned out.
"I don't mind waiting more," Fugaku said dismissively.
Shigure smiled victoriously. "Now, get dress and give this guy," he jerked his thumb to the Uchiha, "a run for his money."
When they entered the bar, females focused their eyes on the drop-dead gorgeous dark-haired male. Nobody paid attention to his companions. However, when some ladies who had the guts, joined them in their table and started engaging a talk with the blonde, they completely had forgotten about the Uchiha.
The ladies seemed to have fallen captive to Arashi's manner of talking- light, expressive and friendly. Not to mention that he had very alluring eyes and a radiant smile. The ladies he talked with got interested in him. The ladies he danced with were infatuated. And Fugaku who couldn't help but observed him realized he was falling in love.
Oh shit.
ABC tsuzukanai sonnanja dame janai
datte kokoro no oku wa chigaunjanai?
ORE no seishun sonna mon janai, atsuku oku de hatetai yo
kitto kimi janakya yada yo, ORE wa ikenai taiyou, na na na…
karamiau ito wa kimi to, ore wo musubu akai ito, na na na…
-"Ikenai Taiyou", Orange Range
Chapter 31: Closure
Gaara sat at one of benches along the port to let his body cool down after his daily jog. He momentarily closed his eyes while the sea breeze blew and caressed his face.
It had been two years since he got together with Naruto and he thought that it was logical for him to ask the blonde to move in with him. Would Naruto agree? Gaara was confident enough that the blonde would agree, but the problem was... It wasn't exactly a problem, but he felt like Sasuke's name was a taboo. Not only in their relationship, but in front of Naruto.
No one, not even Sakura mentioned Sasuke in front of his lover. Naruto never said anything about him either, and Gaara decided not to mention his name. He never heard Itachi talked with Naruto about Sasuke, but he couldn't believe that they never did. After all, he wasn't always with the blonde when he met up with Itachi. Perhaps the blond wasn't telling him? Maybe.
But why was it bothering him now? Why now? Simple. Because he was about to take a big step in making their relationship stronger. But in order for him to do that, he had to break that taboo.
-Sasunaru is love-
"You look serious, it's scaring me a little," Naruto said nervously after they returned to the redhead's place once they've had dinner.
Gaara led them to the veranda where the cool night air was perfect.
"We never talk about Sasuke," he stated casually while leaning against the railing. He could see confusion written all over the blonde's face and his eyes... the color of his eyes were that of deepest part of the sea, so dark and secretive.
"What's there to talk about him?" Naruto asked in reply. "He's..." He paused, searching for the correct act Sasuke committed.
He threw away everything... That's the truth.
"He threw everything away."
"He left, Naruto."
The blonde shrugged his shoulders, "Either way, he's gone. He no longer exists here, so there's no point of talking about him. He has forgotten us so why don't all of us do the same and forget him?" There was bitterness in his voice that only Gaara heard. Bitterness and desperation.
"Is that what you really think?"
The blonde nodded.
"If you say so," Gaara said a second later. "You're early tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. I have to go now." Naruto stood up, but before he left he asked, "Why did you want to talk about Sasuke all of sudden?"
This time, it was Gaara who was nonchalant. "No reason at all."
Naruto just nodded, not bothering to ask further.
When he heard the door clicked shut, Gaara sighed. Naruto was a liar. Despite what he said awhile ago, Sasuke was still in Naruto. The former had become a part of him that taking that part away was impossible. That was why even though Naruto had moved on, he could never give up on Sasuke. Besides, moving on didn't mean that one stopped loving the other.
Gaara sighed and stared at the horizon covered in darkness, thinking when there was nothing to think about at all.
-SasuNaru is love-
Naruto stopped walking and gaped at Gaara. Did he hear Gaara right? Was this some kind of a nightmare?
Gaara grabbed a tanned hand that was supposed to pinch a tanned cheek. "This isn't a nightmare. I can't continue seeing you."
The whooshing sound of the leaves as the wind blew was soft compared to the buzzing of his ear and thudding of his heart that was about to shatter for the second time. "B-b-but..." What could he say? What must he say to convince Gaara who had a determined look on his face? "Gaara... I hope this isn't related to what we talked about three nights ago."
The redhead shrugged. "You know what's worse than a homosexual relationship?" he asked, completely catching Naruto off guard. "It's incest." When the meaning of his statement was lost on Naruto, he looked at the blond meaningfully, "Okaasan."
Gaara frowned before explaining what he saw on TV. "Because you're boys and wedding is only for a boy and a girl and they'll make babies."
Blue eyes brightened as he realized something. "You can be our baby, right Sasuke?"
The dark-haired boy pondered the suggestion for a few seconds before he nodded. "Yeah, why not? So what about it, Gaara?" With the redhead as a family member meant thrice the fun!
Few seconds later, understanding dawned on Naruto and he laughed because it was utterly absurd. "That was just a meaningless understanding... a stupid and impossible dream." He chuckled, but tears had started wetting his cheeks and falling to the ground. This was ridiculous. Gaara was ridiculous. Everything was completely… utterly insane and confusing. Why was everyone leaving him saying 'I can't continue seeing you anymore' or 'I don't want to stay with you'?
"But I want you to be happy."
"But I am… with you," the blonde argued.
"Happier," Gaara corrected. He ignored the blonde's cascading tears because he had to do what was needed to be done. What he thought he needed to do because he was stupid.
"Sasuke is gone, Gaara!" Naruto cried out in desperation. He wanted the redhead to understand that no matter how much they wished for Sasuke to come back, he wouldn't, because he was too stubborn and determined to back out from what he had decided.
Unable to stop himself, Gaara pulled him in a fierce embrace. "But it doesn't mean that you stopped loving him," he whispered while his hands soothed Naruto's back. Three nights ago, he came to understand three things: Naruto was Sasuke's forever, each people had his own love of their life and that loving never meant possessing. "You shouldn't underestimate the power of such feelings, Naruto." What was he saying? He mentally asked himself. He had no idea, but such words were flowing from his mouth so naturally. "And I don't want you to stop loving him because I know you'll die."
The moment Gaara said those words, Naruto didn't say anything because the former was right. Sasuke was always hovering above his consciousness and residing in his sub-consciousness. He hadn't stop loving Sasuke nor thinking about him and he couldn't stop because he was certain that when he do, as silly as it may sound, he was going to die.
Gaara glanced down at the blonde whom he had thought to be a fool when he learned he was going to let Sasuke go. It was a stupid move, but now he had come to understand why Naruto or some people could do it and he was glad he had the courage to do so.
"C'mon, I'll take you home," he offered.
When they reached Naruto's apartment, Gaara didn't bother to get inside. He was just outside waiting for Naruto to close the door. However, Naruto stood by the doorway, silently asking the redhead to take him back.
Gaara gave him a sad smile before he reached out and closed the door for the blonde. For almost thirty seconds, Gaara stood where he was, as if regretting his decision. With sheer efforts, he forced his feet to move.
Much to his surprise, as he walked farther and farther from Naruto's place, he didn't feel regret. Well, there was pain the breakup had caused, but there was no regret. He didn't regret his dating Naruto even though, in the end, he decided to let him go. He didn't regret asking him about Sasuke. He, certainly, didn't regret not reconsidering his decision.
A part of him wanted to look back but he knew there was nothing for him but friendship so he quashed that urge and willed himself to focus on what was ahead. He hoped that their sudden breakup won't cause too much damage on Naruto.
Contrary to what Gaara expected, their breakup hadn't upset the blonde's nightly routine on that night. Naruto took a bath, prepared his chef uniform for tomorrow, reviewed the menu, browsed through the cookbook then finally went to bed. However, in that moment of calmness and silence, the day's event flooded to him like an angry waterfall and he cried. He cried himself to sleep. Then when morning came, Naruto felt refreshed, because he had a new day to work on. For the next few days, being cheerful by morning then shedding tears enough to soak his pillow by night had become his routine.
-SasuNaru is love-
Because he was in Naruto's neighborhood, Itachi decided to drop by his place one particular night. The moment he saw Naruto's face, he knew something was up. Was it a good time for him to come by? He thought as the blond invited him in.
The first thing he noticed about the blonde's place was that something was different. He was thinking about new fixtures because there weren't. The place had something missing. A lot of things and he was able to figure it out when he approached the small carton box sitting on the middle of the blond's living room.
He arched an eyebrow when Naruto dropped another framed picture of him and Gaara into the box together with the rest of pictures and presents. "Break-up?" he stated, making Naruto wince at the bluntness of it.
"Gaara decided he had enough of me," came the bitter and almost angry reply.
Now that was something new. Itachi had known the redhead to be so besotted of the blonde that him being satiated was unthinkable.
"He said that I should wait for Sasuke when we both know he won't come back!" Naruto's voice was getting strained and somehow guilt was starting to claw its way into Itachi. "Sasuke had thrown me away together with everything else! Stupid Gaara! Stupid Sasuke! Stupid me!"
Itachi inwardly winced. Why did the blonde have to say what he- Itachi had said to him?
"Nobody wants to be with me."
Itachi gulped. He hadn't come here for a guilt-trip.
"I thought I handled relationships well. I thought I performed well in bed also."
Itachi clenched his fists. He could leave, he knew that, but he couldn't turn his back on Naruto. Also because he was drawn by his monologue of angst and self-pity.
"There must be something wrong with me."
Don't say anything. Don't, Itachi told himself.
"Am I lacking?"
Don't answer it. Don't say- he trailed off when big and watery blue eyes focused on him, waiting for his reply. Naruto had become his conscience personified and at that moment, Itachi was swept away by guilt.
"You and Sasuke were unknowingly my puppets to my purpose," he said with his voice loud and clear. The confession of a criminal.
Naruto looked at him in confusion.
"I convinced Sasuke that you're a burden to him, just as I convinced you that you were nothing but a cage." He looked at Naruto straight in the eye, "It was I who chose him to be my replacement. It was I who tore you apart."
It took a moment for his crimes to register on the blonde's brain and when they did, Naruto scowled, disappointment washing over him before anger followed. "You... you..." he couldn't even put his feelings into words. "Get out, Itachi."
"Naruto-kun, I-"
"Get. the. fuck. out." He wanted to hurt Itachi that moment, but his body couldn't move. It was as if, the heaviness of the truth rendered his body immobile. Everything was tainted now. Everything.
Itachi wanted to explain, but did he have the right? He knew the answer to his question when Naruto screamed for him to get out, his blue eyes glistening with murderous intent. He had ruined it. He had ruined two people's lives. He had ruined everything.
Naruto plopped himself on his couch, flashes of his past running like some very old movie. Who would have thought that Itachi could do it; that they were Itachi's puppets, perfectly moving in his tune? The pain of betrayal was great and more so when the person who committed such act was the person he trusted; the person who he saw as closest thing he could have for a brother. Because crying wasn't enough, Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs.
Itachi's hand was brought short from opening his car by that piercing scream that ripped through the silence. Certain that Naruto wasn't in his right mind, he wanted to stay and make sure he was safe. However, it wasn't him that Naruto needed. Unfortunately, Gaara was out of town so he was forced to call another person- Sakura.
"Why? Did something happen?" Sakura asked.
"Just go to his place. There's no time to explain." To make it more urgent, Itachi hung up immediately. The desired effect had been immediate, because soon enough Sakura was at Naruto's door pushing the doorbell with urgency.
When the blonde didn't answer, Sakura thought of the worst thing. She cursed herself when she remembered few seconds late, that she still had a duplicate of Naruto's apartment key. With that, she let herself in.
"Naruto? Naruto? Naru-" she paused when she saw her dear friend, unmoving on the couch. With no idea of what had happened to make Naruto so melancholic, she didn't know what to say. However, she flew forward and wrapped her arms around him like what a mother would do when comforting her child.
At that simple and sincere gesture, Naruto broke down. Between sobs, he told his pink-haired friend what happened.
"That... that asshole!" Sakura muttered while she tightened her embrace as if wanting to squeeze out the pain from the crying male.
"I want to kill him," he murmured. However, he knew that if he had the courage to commit such a crime, Itachi's death would never turn back time and besides, wishing for time to turn back was like saying he wasn't happy with the time he spent with Gaara.
"Come with me," Sakura offered. "Lee, Ino and I are going camping for three days."
"No, I can't. I have work-"
"Hey, hasn't Chouji been pestering you on taking a break? It will be good for you."
"But..." He couldn't forget his loss and betrayal, but the thought of blue skies and being close to nature was tempting. "I'll talk with Chouji."
Sakura slightly squeezed his shoulders, saying, "It will be a perfect break for you."
True to her word, camping did good on Naruto. Then again, the blonde wasn't only known for his loudness, but also resiliency. He might cry barrels and barrels of tears and sulk, but in time, he would get back on his feet and live life once again.
Having no boyfriend, Naruto dedicated his whole time to his work. Of course, he and Gaara still hung out together as friends and within four months, his romantic feelings for the redhead had disappeared. However, that same thing couldn't be said about Gaara's feelings towards Naruto.
There were moments when Naruto would think of trying to contact Sasuke and tell him everything Itachi told him. However, if he established contact, would his dark-haired ex-lover believed him or would he saw it as his way of his trying to win him back? The part of Naruto's heart which still bore the scar of his break-up with his first love answered that question for him and to convince him, it played Sasuke's words during their separation over and over again until the blonde had become deaf and blind to any glimmer of hope.
He bowed in defeat. He slumped in weariness. He kneeled in surrender. He wept in confusion.
-SasuNaru is love-
Despite how calm his face looked like, Sasuke couldn't stop the panic that rose up within him the moment his private plane made a smooth landing on one of the airstrips in Narita airport. He didn't want to be in Japan, even for just a week. He wanted to go back to London which had become his comfort zone for these past few years. However, he knew he had to be here because of his mother's birthday and the company's centennial anniversary. There was no reason for him to skip these two special days especially when it was his father who invited him.
He turned to the window and as unbidden as it was sudden, he said mentally,
I'm home, Naruto.
-SasuNaru is love-
Perhaps many would have called him a fool for what he was about to do, but Itachi had never given a damn about what others thought. Besides, to him, it was a good thing to correct what he had committed and to be free of guilt because to be free of guilt meant utter freedom. So when he saw Sasuke loitering by the lawn, probably nursing a jet lag, Itachi approached him.
"Are you thinking about Naruto?" Itachi asked.
"What is it to you?" Sasuke asked back. If there was one thing that Sasuke had mastered well, it was maintaining a poker face showing or giving a clue on what he was feeling or thinking.
"It doesn't matter," Itachi answered in dismissal. "I hurt Naruto a lot."
There was a slight tensing of Sasuke's body which completely belied his face and voice. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because it involves you, him, me and father," Itachi told him. "Do you know why father let me go? Let me have what I wanted?"
"Because you had already reached your limit."
"Do you really believe that?"
No, Sasuke didn't completely believe it, but for years, it had answered his numerous questions and made his being the successor logical.
When he didn't answer, Itachi continued, "Because I gave him what he wanted. It was a bargain of some sort."
Sasuke looked at him, trying to guess what their father wanted from him that merited his brother's freedom. When nothing came to mind, he said, "What?"
"I could have suggested any cousin of ours to be his successor, but he wouldn't agree because the only name he wanted to hear was yours and do you know why?" Sasuke shook his head, but more to make sense of what his brother was saying. "Because he wanted you to break up with your beloved blonde."
His brother looked so startled of this revelation that it made Itachi sick at his naïveté and predictability. "Haven't I told you that it's dangerous to be predictable?" he said.
However it was lost to Sasuke whose stomach was churning, whose strength seemed to leave his body and who was trying to understand what role Itachi played in this conspiracy.
Itachi didn't stop. Everything was rumbling within, rising upward and waiting to be squeezed out from him. "Father knew you would be distracted if he gave you what you wanted to covet and so he gave it to you. I was left with the task of keeping your focus on your new title by taking advantage of this one-sided rivalry you had established between us. While doing it, I was also brainwashing Naruto-kun little by little." There was a glint of pride on Itachi's eyes as if smug of how he got them to dance to his tune well. Trust was such a double-edged sword.
At that moment, his foothold on the company, and his title didn't seem so great anymore, Sasuke realized. Itachi's provoking words at those times were even more loathsome. He realized that his father hadn't given up, that when he told the old man to mind his own business, he was thinking of a new game plan. He had been a fool. He had been nothing but a pawn. How pathetic. How disgusting.
The churning of his stomach stopped when anger dropped on him. Anger that was empowering and making him dangerous. Anger that he never felt before and he lashed out. He wanted to hurt Itachi the way he had hurt him and Naruto.
"ITACHI!"
Itachi saw it coming, but he didn't move. He let Sasuke punch him because he deserved it. However, the pain was different from what he had felt when he heard Naruto scream that night. It was a scream of pain. A scream of someone who trusted and was betrayed. A scream that haunted him day in and day out.
After three more punches, Itachi grabbed Sasuke's flying fist, twisted his arms, pushed him to the ground and straddled his back. He leaned forward and whispered in disgust and in a voice slightly tinged with bitterness. "You're just like everyone else, putting me on a pedestal and forgetting that I'm human too, fallible and vulnerable to temptation of my desires."
Having enough, Sasuke struggled and Itachi let him go. He rolled to his feet, glared with loathing and left.
-SasuNaru is love-
In a society where everything was stifling and too strict, it wasn't a strange to see a man drinking merrily while trying to drown himself with booze. However, this man that sat quietly in the corner, eyes empty while drinking alcohol in an almost automatic way was different. That was saying something, because the bar manager discretely observing him, had been working at this posh bar for six years now.
Something akin to a desperate moan slipped unbidden from Sasuke's lips when he remembered how he had thrown Naruto away in favor of something he thought he needed to define him as a person. God! He had been so naïve and blind and now… Naruto was gone and he had no idea if he could have him back. If he could, he had no idea how. He honestly didn't know. He was lost, confused and alone. That fact sent him to nadir of depression and to seek comfort provided by alcohol. During those times when he'd swirl his glass and stared at the liquid, he closed his eyes and mentally begged, Naruto, please find me.
Sasuke barely looked to his right when somebody sat beside him again. Although, this time, it was a different person and she had blond hair and pale blue eyes.
"Hi," she purred and smiled seductively.
Sasuke nodded, but his mind was somewhere else... walking on the sands of time and uncurling the threads of memory. He looked at the lady and smiled back. Wordlessly, he grabbed and kissed her. Because he was too inebriated, he didn't realize that she had just bleached her hair and was wearing contact lenses, but it was also because of this reason that he had this courage to kiss a random person while pretending that he was with Naruto.
The lady murmured against his neck, "Room?"
He shook his head.
"Motel?"
"Too far," he answered, his hands busy feeling her and his alcohol-intoxicated mind busy feeding images of a tanned body.
"Where then?" she asked while her mind was melting under his touches.
Sasuke looked at her and smirked, "My car."
She giggled and between kisses, they staggered towards the door.
Coincidentally, Hidan and Kakuzu were there and spotted Sasuke who was standing by the wall, kissing a blonde. They seemed to be so into the act that they were unaware of everything.
Kakuzu chuckled and took a picture of them using his mobile unit. "Let's send it to Itachi," he said.
Hidan nodded. "He'll probably be thrilled," he uttered sarcastically. He watched until the two stumbled out from the door and into the cool night.
Few minutes later, Itachi was calling Kakuzu demanding where they had taken that picture.
The lady moaned when Sasuke brushed his hands against her cleavage, going downwards. She gasped and begged while her hands worked on his shirt.
Sasuke laid her down, her flushed skin against the coolness of the leather seat. His left hand slipped under her almost flimsy mini skirt while he moved between her knees. "You're beautiful," he whispered, making her blush, but he wasn't seeing her. He was seeing him when desire and affection had made prints on his lovely face.
Whatever reply she had was mangled with a deep moan when Sasuke aligned their groins and his hard-on made her damper and she ached with the hollowness of the lust that engulfed her body.
"Ple-" she trailed off when the door by their feet was yanked open.
Sasuke looked at Itachi who was commanding him to get out.
"Playing devil's advocate again?" Sasuke slurred, eyes unfocused.
Itachi looked at the lady, "Get out."
"Don't listen to the prick," Sasuke said before diving down for another wet kiss, but Itachi mercilessly yanked him backward and out into the open.
Hidan and Kakuzu were with Itachi and were wondering why he was stopping the show.
Itachi looked at the slightly scared lady. "Go home. My brother is messed up."
She nodded because he was looking at her with an eerie calmness that shook her up.
Having gotten rid of the girl, Itachi looked at his brother staggering to his feet. Having no patience to wait for Sasuke to stand up, he pulled him to his feet.
Sasuke slapped his hands away. "What are you doing?" he demanded. His gaze was so blurry that he didn't even realized that he was pointing to the tree behind Itachi instead of at him.
"Stopping you from committing a mistake."
"You asshole! He cried," Sasuke said so suddenly. The vivid images he was seeing couldn't be dulled by the alcohol in his body. "On that day of my departure. He cried. He cried when we made love. He cried when I was within him. He cried when he came. He cried, wanting me to stay, but never saying anything. He cried! I made him cry! You made him cry, you manipulative prick!"
"Sasuke," Itachi began softly but firmly. However, his brother wasn't done.
"He cried when he told me that he loved me. He-"
"That's enough."
"Enough?" Sasuke echoed. "I can never have enough of him. I FUCKING LOVE HIM! DAMN YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!" Sasuke slumped against his car, suddenly exhausted with his emotional outburst… with everything that had gone wrong in his life and the silly mistakes he committed. He was tired from everything. He was a mess. Everything was a mess. God! He no longer wanted to live.
Itachi took that moment to render him unconscious. Carrying Sasuke's body, he looked at his two coworkers who were lost on what to make out from what they had heard. He tossed Sasuke's car key to Hidan, "Drive it back home." Then he left.
"What am I," Hidan grumbled to himself, "a fucking chauffeur?"
Pale fingers then turned the keys in the ignition and drove off to the said destination.
-SasuNaru is love-
He cried when he told me he loved me. I fucking love him.
They were sentences that floated to his mind while looking at Sasuke now tucked into his bed.
"Is there anything else you need from me, Itachi-sama?" their butler asked after he placed a tray containing a glass of water and aspirin on Sasuke's bedside table.
"That will be all." He was now certain that Sasuke and Naruto were broken and the only way he could bring the pieces together was... He grabbed a pen and a paper and wrote down an address that was very familiar to him, and left it on the tray.
-SasuNaru is love-
When Sasuke woke up around ten in the morning, he found himself having a very nasty headache. He downed one tablet and was about to go back to sleep when he remembered what he had almost done and he was disgusted. With sheer effort, he staggered to his bathroom and took a one long bath. After which, he took two more aspirins. It was only when his head felt lighter that he noticed the piece of paper. He recognized Itachi's handwriting, but couldn't recognize the address. He crumbled the paper and tossed it to the trash bin before going down to take a light meal. However, snippets of the address came back to him. The crumbled paper was popping up in his mind when he played golf and when he had a teleconference with his subordinates. It was beckoning to him tenaciously and his heart begged for him to just go to that address. It was evening when he consented to his heart's plea.
He took the longest route and even walked past a pedestrian lane in favor of a pedestrian overpass. He was dilly-dallying, he knew that, but he didn't give a damn. A part of him was scared of what could await him in that address. What would he find?
Then his heart leapt seeing a man with shocking golden hair and tanned skin. He felt something inside him, rushing upwards and tumbled together in one word, "Naruto?"
For a second, Naruto's heart stopped beating and he lifted his eyes, hands gripping on the grocery bags he was carrying. His heart tightened... every muscles seemed to twitch seeing Sasuke standing few meters in front of him... a grown Sasuke... a mature version of his Sasuke. He was falling in love again, not that he had fallen out of love, but he was remembering of that time when Sasuke stood at the upper landing of the stairs while he- Naruto realized he liked his best friend. "Sasuke?"
Sasuke let out the breath he was unconsciously holding and he was aching all over again. There were a lot of words dying to get out from his mouth and feelings were rising up like waves. He was hot and cold. He was happy and scared while staring at the face of Naruto... of his love... of his Naruto.
Are you still mine? was the question that was running through both of their minds.
The grocery bags slipped through Naruto's hands, but it didn't matter, because Naruto was moving towards Sasuke and so was the latter and they were stumbling into each other's arms, grabbing each other for balance while their mouths hungrily pressed against each other.
'I missed you' or 'I never thought I'd see you again' were only of the hundreds things they wanted to say if their hearts weren't bursting and if there mouths weren't busy. Soon, significant words slipped past their lips but they became gibberish between kisses, nips and licks.
Naruto deepened the kiss and Sasuke let him, because he was busy pulling the body that perfectly fitted against his. He was drowning. He was wet and so was Naruto. This exquisite feeling caused by their meeting, together with love, was wetting them as surely as the showering curtain of the rain did. It was beautiful beyond words.
It was by coincidence also that a black car carrying Fugaku was passing by. The man ignored the silhouettes above the overpass until a streak of lightning cut through the sky and revealed the identity of a couple locked in fierce embrace and passionate kiss. His mind went blank at the cool anger and annoyance that steamed within him. Had Sasuke forgotten who he was? Where he was? As his car went past, he twisted his neck to look back, but the two were once more embraced by darkness. If his driver saw the scene, he didn't give any indication and for that Fugaku was grateful.
Both males parted for air but the tip of their noses were touching and breaths mingling.
"Come with me," Naruto whispered and he grasped a pale hand, picked the grocery bags and together, they ran in the rain, feeling like kids and feeling complete.
Naruto moaned while stepping into his apartment. He tilted his head to give more access to Sasuke whose mouth was hungrily roving the skin exposed to him. He kicked the door close and at the same time dropped Naruto's purchases. They were too intoxicated to be grateful that they didn't need to lock the door because it automatically bolts itself, nor paid heed that anything circular in the bags were rolling on the floor or that they were leaving wet trails.
Naruto moaned in protest when he stepped on something. He pulled from the bone-melting kiss, looked down, crunched his nose up at the flattened tomato. He looked at Sasuke who raised an eyebrow as if saying, So? and the laughter that rumbled in his chest, rising up past his throat, past his lips was swallowed by Sasuke's hot and possessive mouth. Losing his footing while pulling the dark-haired man deeper into the hall, he grabbed Sasuke's shirt and accidentally caused a small rip on the clothes' left shoulder. He gave Sasuke a sexy sheepish smile and the latter grabbed Naruto's shirt and created a rip on the same place.
Sasuke smirked and Naruto laughed. He laughed too. They were laughing between dark kisses until their laughter became moans. When they reached Naruto's room, they were clad with jeans only. Before they reached the blonde's bed, they were completely naked and they fell on the mattress like infants who were still practicing to stand and walk.
Sasuke sucked in a deep breath at the contact and his cock pulsated. He was throbbing. No, not throbbing. That was Naruto. He was exploding already with just the feel of Naruto's body beneath his and just by hearing him moan and pant. He glided his hands, letting it wander over the planes that were both familiar and new. He didn't say anything because he couldn't. He could only stare, be mesmerized and feel Naruto.
He touched the blonde like the way he always did during their late teens except that there were no other distractions, no bitterness with every touch, just pleasure and growing passion. He successfully touched him like he always wanted, awakening the ties that had bound them... that had always been there, inerasable. He touched him like he dreamt of, until he, as well as Naruto, were lost in the oceans of time… in the delta of past, present and future. In the flurry of flesh and movement, he kissed down the blonde's stomach and took Naruto's rod into his mouth.
When he tongued the slit it was, Ah! Sasuke!
When he sucked it was, God! Sasuke!
When he deep throated him, it was Fuck, Sasuke!
When Naruto came, it was just Sasuke! but it hummed through him like a sweet melody of a past and a promise of the future.
Naruto pulled Sasuke for a kiss and he could taste himself, but it disappeared to give way to Sasuke's. He moaned appreciatively after the kiss. Still in bliss, he wasn't aware what Sasuke was doing until the latter touched his perineum. Sasuke rubbed it until his leg muscles tingled.
However, there was more, Sasuke slipped his pre-cum-coated fingers into him, feeling that hot velvety surface that made Sasuke ache. He continued rubbing both spots then he dipped his head forward so his mouth could play with the head of Naruto's manhood.
It wasn't long before Naruto came too quickly. Sasuke noted this and stated it out, "You're quick."
Naruto blushed because he noticed it too and he had a perfect reason as to why. "Because you're the one who's doing it, bastard." Gaara had touched him and his body reacted, but it was different with how his body reacted to Sasuke's touches. It was as if his body picked a partner to react to in a very primitive manner.
He raised tanned arms, looped them around Sasuke and pulled him down so he could whisper, "I want to feel you inside me."
Sasuke's heart slammed against his chest, but he wasn't given time to savor it, because Naruto was pushing them to a sitting position. He watched when Naruto put a liberal amount of lubricant mixed it with his pre-cum before applying it on his dick. He expelled a breath and grabbed the sheet beneath his hands while tanned hands moved up and down.
Mesmerized by the stiffness and how it glinted with the mixture of his and Sasuke's pre-cum and lotion, under what little light that was in the room, Naruto couldn't stop his hands. He suddenly wanted to do a lot of things with Sasuke's erection, all wicked things he could think off but pale hands stilled his. Sasuke looked at him and whispered huskily, "I want to come inside you."
Naruto nodded and he laid down on his back. Sasuke pushed his legs to his chest, his pale arms keeping them there. He moved closer, made a brief eye contact with his blonde and he slowly slid in.
And there was one word being drawn out by his overheating mind: Fuuuuuuuuuuck...
Naruto was tight and scorching, Sasuke thought as he pushed deeper. Sasuke got bigger, was what Naruto thought while being held captive by the sheer pleasure of Sasuke's engorged staff pressing in, stretching and filling him.
Naruto raised a hand and combed through damp sable hair strands. He pushed on his elbow and dragged his lips on the most sensitive spot on Sasuke's neck.
"Naruto," Sasuke half-moaned. He looked down and saw Naruto, relaxed, vulnerable, open and needy. He flexed his muscles then, moved. Slowly. Deeply. Inexorably. A heartbeat then he slid in. Another heartbeat then he slid out. He repeated this over and over again until their tempo increased...until their bodies craved for more and for that fleeting white hot moment where wild desire reigned supreme. Their bodies moved in a never-forgotten rhythm and strained towards each other in a way that they never did.
Naruto had his arms over Sasuke's neck, legs tightly wrapped around pale hips in an effort to forge their bodies together into one entity.
Sasuke pulled Naruto's right hand, entwined their fingers and pressed their palms together. The blonde pressed their lips, finally completing the last link. Plundering Sasuke's mouth in a way that drove him wild...made him heady and desperate.
Sasuke's control broke and he rode his blonde harder, faster and deeper than he did back at those times.
Naruto shattered. He screamed. He moaned wantonly. He clung unto Sasuke while returning the latter's passion and fire. He matched his raw need with his own.
They continued moving mindlessly, urgently and hungrily. They glorified at the wild instinct that kept their bodies rocking; that burned them and that made their bodies silkily and slickly glide away and come together in a furious beat until the currents... their current swept them far, far away.
Naruto tore his mouth from Sasuke's and let out a deep husky moan. On the other hand, Sasuke grunted and moaned a mangled version of the blonde's name while emptying himself. They rode their orgasms before the pale male slumped on his partner, boneless. It took a long moment before they returned to reality and before Sasuke settled beside Naruto who scooted close.
They fell asleep without talking, because their hearts seemed to perfectly understand each other without words.
-SasuNaru is love-
When Sasuke woke up, it was already mid-morning and his mobile unit was flashing. He flipped it open and an indicator read that he had twenty-one voice mails. Upon checking it, he learned it came from his father.
Now that he thought about the older Uchiha, he had a matter to settle with his father. He turned to his side and leaned towards Naruto to rouse him.
"Too early, bastard," he complained while snuggling closer. Neither of them paid to the familiarity Naruto showed to their situation as if they had been sleeping together and waking up next to each other for a long time.
"I'm going to take a shower. Lend me some clothes then I have to talk with my father."
"Do whatever you want," the blonde murmured before pressing a sleepy kiss on a pale cheek.
Usuratonkachi, Sasuke mentally called him with an affection that he never showed to anyone.
-SasuNaru is love-
Sasuke was inwardly gleeful at the scowl Fugaku was wearing the moment the latter saw the clothes he borrowed from Naruto- a bright orange shirt and a faded ragged pair of jeans.
It was clear to Fugaku that his child was making a statement, but even without such flashy clothes, he would still know where Sasuke had spent the night and with who. He knew it because Sasuke was easy to read. Not to mention that his clothes were screaming the name of its owner.
"What are you doing? Have you forgotten who you are?" Fugaku demanded.
Sasuke wanted to hurl those questions back at him, but he wasn't here to continue this fight. He was here for closure.
"What if some press saw you on that bridge? What-"
"Let them think what they want," Sasuke interrupted after concluding that he had seen them that night.
Fugaku became furious. "SASUKE!"
"There's nothing to be ashamed about what I'm doing."
"You foolish child!" Fugaku hissed. "Aren't you aware that a lot of our partners are very traditional? If they know about... about this, they'll withdraw."
"Then let them. With or without them, I'll still bring the company up because there's no way but up."
Fugaku snorted. "Without their help? Don't be ridiculous!" He looked like he was about to burst a vein. "Stop thinking for yourself and that blond!"
"I am certain there are others who'll be better for the company." He held his father's eyes that were now shooting fire. "Before you say that you'll make Itachi your successor again, let me make it clear: I won't allow it. Let Itachi have what he wants."
"Can you say that after you'll know what he did?"
"I already know about the conspiracy you played against me," Sasuke said, making Fugaku's smirk disappear. "But I won't ask why you desperately want to break us apart because that is no longer important to me, but I won't dance to your tune again. Ever."
The determination and stubbornness in those eyes were so evident, heavy and thick that it suffocated and annoyed Fugaku. "Obligations and responsibilities, Sasuke. As an Uchiha heir, those things rest on you. You can't serve two masters at the same time. You can't serve the Uchiha name at the same time, Naruto."
"I'm serving only one master- myself. I'll stay with Naruto." Having said that, Sasuke left, never letting his father say anything. However, there was nothing for Fugaku to say.
I'm serving one master- myself.
That statement showed Sasuke well for what he was. He had served one master even when he had danced to his tune. And now that the boy was rising in their company, he was fulfilling what his heart wanted- Naruto. One master, indeed.
He and Sasuke were the same, but the latter's courage and undying insolence made the difference. He, Fugaku, had defied his father, but such rebellion ended with him as the loser and he didn't fight again. However, with Sasuke's case...
He laughed in sincere amusement and deep within him, from the bottom of his heart, he was proud of Sasuke... of his younger child who had lost, but fought again and this time, to win. He leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes. He respected Sasuke as his son, as his heir, but more than anything else, he respected Sasuke as a man who knew when to fight and win a battle.
You win, Sasuke.
Fugaku knew, without a doubt, that Arashi would be pleased. He would be more than pleased. He'd be happy and Fugaku was secretly looking forward for the blonde's most beautiful smile when he would hear the sudden turn of events.
He and Arashi could never be lovers again but with their sons' relationship, it was okay.
They're ending what we had started, Arashi.
He won't apologize for what he did but in return, he decided to let Sasuke what he truly wanted. That was the only thing he could do to atone for the cruel things he did to him and Naruto.
Be happy now.
-SasuNaru is love-
"Sasuke?" a surprised Mikoto called seeing her younger son in the hallway and in those clothes. "You didn't come home last night."
"No, I didn't."
"Won't you stay for lunch?" she asked while wondered why the male was wearing such flashy clothes. So unbecoming of him.
"I don't want to make Naruto wait too long."
Then it dawned on Mikoto and she grinned, her eyes twinkling with happiness for him. "Sasuke, I expect you to bring Naruto to my party tomorrow night."
Sasuke gave her a boyish smile. "Roger that." Then he slipped out from the house to go where he knew was his place.
-SasuNaru is love-
Naruto smiled at the pork fried rice he had just finished cooking. He was usually the coffee-and-bread-for-brunch person, but this morning, when he walked out from his room and after he picked up their now-damped clothes and his purchases, he felt like eating fried rice.
He was happy and not wanting to burst his bubble, he stopped himself from thinking if Sasuke would come back, if it was just a one-night stand and of what he would do with Sasuke's clothes if he won't see him anymore.
Naruto heard the sound of jingling keys and the sound of said keys landing on his coffee table. Then, wisps of Sasuke's perfume filled his kitchen, embraced him slowly just like how a pale arm snaked around his waist to pull him against a hard and lean body.
"Sasuke," he breathed, relieved and happy.
Sasuke dropped a kiss on one side of his nape. "You sound like you weren't expecting me to come back."
"I didn't," he replied before turning around to look at Sasuke. "But you did and I want to tell you something." Every time, he'd think of this realization, he wished that he had been wiser during that time when his relationship with Sasuke had been spiraling out of control. If he had been, they wouldn't have to go through such sadness and pain. However, at that time, they were so young and so in love that when their relationship started showing cracks, they had panicked and started saving their own asses instead of taking advantage of their friendship so they could sit down and talk to see the bigger picture. Ah they had been fools back then. "I never meant to hold you back from your dreams. I realized that right after Itachi left that night."
Sasuke knew without asking that Naruto was referring to the night when Itachi confessed. "I just didn't like the way your eyes glint when you think of your dreams. It was like it was consuming you, making you insane. You were living in the future that didn't exist rather than the present and it hurt. I wanted you to savor the present with or without me. I still do because you're very important to me. I don't want you to feel disappointed when one day, you'd look back into the past and realized you always live in the future."
"It's okay," Sasuke assured him. "I had a realization too. What really held me back that time wasn't you, but my fears and insecurities. You always comforted me so these two got tied with you so bad that I couldn't distinguish them from you. But it's okay now. It's okay because I have understood things… because I'm wiser now."
Naruto nodded then frowned. "But I can never forgive Itachi."
"I can," Sasuke said, surprising the blonde. "It was him who gave me your address."
A moment later, Naruto sighed and said, "Well, now that you mentioned that... let's go and see him."
"Tomorrow, you'll meet him at my mother's party."
"I'm invited?"
Sasuke nodded affirmatively. "However, today," he said, his voice husky, "I want to hear you cry out my name."
Naruto looped his tanned arms around his lover and murmured seductively, "Only if you touch me like that."
"Like what?
"Like you can't get enough of me."
Sasuke smirked, his heart bursting with the vibrant colors of love and happiness. He gazed down into Naruto's blue eyes and let himself be lost in them. He cupped a cheek, caressing it. Beautiful, he thought and possessiveness flared in him, and mine. He smiled proudly and pressed closer to that intoxicating body. He loved Naruto... passionately. Utterly.
Naruto blushed at the emotions flaring on those smoky obsidian eyes. Sasuke loved him and the way he was looking at him, told him that Sasuke would confess any second now. His heart jumped and his breathing became shallow and short. Sasuke leaned down and his knees buckled. Sasuke brushed his lips against a tanned temple and Naruto let out a soft gasp. Sasuke moved farther until his hot breath was fanning against sensitive right ear and Naruto shivered.
"Naruto," Sasuke started.
Naruto gulped audibly. This was it, his mind told him with breathless anticipation. Oh God! He gripped Sasuke's shoulders to prevent himself from crumbling completely. "Hmmm?" His eyelids fluttered close because he couldn't help it anymore. Sasuke was going to say it... put his feelings into words.
Sasuke opened his mouth and Naruto's grip on his shoulders tightened.
"Bend over, please."
END
Can you hear Naruto's loud voice booming, "You bastard!"? Well, we do too, that's why we didn't include his reaction.
This is the end, but, we will post two extra chapters in the near future. For now, I'll change the status of this fic to complete because technically, it is. Thank you, guys.
Pimping time: I posted two more one-shots on my livejournal. Go and check them out, please.