A/N: Warning: Yuri ahead! Just a bit. And I really like the pairing, but if you'd rather think of it as a crack pairing, go ahead.
Just read it. You'll see.
xxx
It's no use, mother dear,
I can't finish my weaving.
You may blame Aphrodite—
soft as she is, she has almost
killed me with love
for that boy.
- Sappho
Chapter 10 – Blame Aphrodite
Naruto clutched Sasuke's hand in excitement, making the Uchiha wince. "Rrraaammmeeennn . . ." he crowed, eyes lighting with a fanatical glow. The two had arrived in front of Ichiraku's Ramen Bar.
"Naruto. Let go of my hand. That hurts!" Sasuke growled. "Idiot."
"Sorry, bastard," the blonde ninja said with a pout, removing his hand and hugging his boyfriend consolingly.
"Hn. You don't need to apologize." The Uchiha smiled. No one could be angry with Naruto for long, and he was no exception.
The two ninja walked into Ichiraku's and ordered ramen. Just as they disappeared, Sakura and Lee came around the corner. They barely caught a glimpse of the two as they vanished.
Sakura did a double take. "Wait a minute. Was that Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun?" she asked incredulously, rubbing her eyes. "It couldn't have been. It looked like they . . . like they were hugging."
Lee squinted. "But I think it really was them . . . let's go see." He shared a puzzled glance with his girlfriend. Naruto and Sasuke . . . hugging? Those two are more likely to rip each other apart limb from limb . . .
They walked into Ichiraku's and glanced around, eyes finally finding the forms of two ninja. Naruto still had his arm around the Uchiha's shoulders. Sakura's mouth fell open as Sasuke turned and placed a gentle kiss on the blonde ninja's cheek.
"WHAT?"
Both boys spun around and glared at the interruption. "Sakura-chan? Bushy-brow? What are you doing here?" Naruto jabbed a finger at the pair.
"We were just following you because . . . we saw you hugging and . . . um . . ."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, holding up a hand for Sakura to stop. "Naruto is my boyfriend." He pulled the blonde ninja closer to him possessively. "That is all. You can stop staring now."
Lee elbowed Sakura. "You're not jealous, are you?" he muttered.
The female ninja looked affronted. "No, silly! Why do you keep thinking that? It's just a surprise that their . . . together. A really big surprise . . ."
Lee nodded. "It is a bit of a surprise, but if you think about it, it makes sense. I mean, what kind of ninja kisses his team-mate accidentally? Come on!"
Sakura smirked. "Yeah, that's true. And they were always worried about each other on missions, looking out for each other when they didn't even realize it. It really is very cute!" she squealed.
Naruto tipped his head to the side. "What are you two whispering about?"
Wide grins spread across the two ninja's faces. "Nothing . . . nothing at all . . ."
"Riiiiiiight." Naruto didn't believe it for a second.
"Well, do you mind if we eat with you?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke shrugged. "Go ahead. Maybe having more intelligent people around will make their intelligence rub off on Naruto." He smirked. "And you need it badly, my little idiot."
"If I'm so stupid then why do you like me, huh?" Naruto asked teasingly.
Sakura and Lee pulled up chairs as the two ninja continued to taunt each other. "Lee, do you think they're flirting or arguing? It seems like it's a bit of both."
Lee nodded. "They're a strange pair alright."
"Bastard!"
"Idiot!"
"I'm not an idiot, you bastard!"
"I'm not a bastard, but you are an—mmph!" The Uchiha was cut off with a kiss. Naruto smirked as the dark-haired ninja let out a sigh and moved closer, wrapping his arms around the blonde ninja's waist.
Sakura coughed loudly to get their attention. "Neji and Tenten are here, you know."
Sure enough, the two ninja had just entered Ichiraku's. They were holding hands and leaning against each other with contented smiles on their faces. Sakura clasped her hands. "Oh! Are they finally together?" She rushed over to Tenten. The two started whispering excitedly.
Neji sat down next to Lee and smirked. "I told you Tenten would be mine eventually."
The other ninja rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I was only saying it might be hard for you to get a girlfriend since you have long hair like that. It looks so girly! Whereas my haircut just emanates manliness and youth!"
Sakura, hearing this, looked over from where she was sitting with Tenten and coughed loudly. "Lee's haircut? Manly? If Lee's haircut is manly then I'm the Hokage!"
Lee ignored her, sticking his nose in the air. Sasuke and Naruto laughed at the expression on his face.
"Well, as I said, you're haircut is girly."
The Hyuuga lowered his eyebrows threateningly. "Don't you ever say that again. I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A GIRL! Ask Tenten, she thinks I'm really good-looking." Neji stuck his nose in the air and turned away, trying to ignore his team-mate.
Lee smiled. "Why would I trust her opinion? Since she likes you, she's obviously crazy and has no sense of taste."
Neji tapped Lee on the nose. "Enough."
Suddenly, Tenten appeared behind Lee with a bowl of ramen. "Yes, enough. You don't want to smell like ramen for the rest of the week like you will if I pour this down the back of your jumpsuit, do you?"
"N-no!"
Naruto's head snapped around. "What? Why not, Bushy-brow? I would LOVE to smell like ramen for a week!"
The other five ninja gaped at this for a moment, trying to keep their laughs under control. But eventually they all failed. Neji clutched his stomach as tears of laughter fell from his eyes. Tenten collapsed on the floor with Sakura, giggling hysterically. Lee pointed at Naruto and laughed without any regrets. But Sasuke was by far the worst—he couldn't stop laughing no matter how much Naruto shook him, which is saying a lot.
Finally, when the Uchiha's giggles had died down (for the most part, that is—the dark-haired ninja would still start to laugh now and then) the six of them rearranged themselves so they could all sit together. Neji and Tenten ordered some food (Tenten had remembered about her boyfriend's recent diet of nothing but ice-cream and decided to do something to end it) and Naruto ordered his twenty-seventh bowl of ramen.
"Um, Naruto, are you sure you should be eating this much?"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! No one can eat too much ramen. That's a fact of life!"
Sakura shook her head and made eye contact with Sasuke, raising her eyebrows as if to say "I pity you." The Uchiha smiled ruefully and nodded. Naruto certainly was a handful.
Unaware of the silent conversation going on over his head, Naruto pointed out the window of Ichiraku's and grinned. "Look! It's Hinata and Shikamaru. I wonder where they've been all day?"
Sasuke squinted at the two ninja in confusion. "What a minute. Why are they dripping wet?"
For some reason, Neji found this extremely funny and burst out laughing. He was soon joined by Sasuke. Naruto and Tenten shared amused glances as their boyfriends went on laughing hysterically. It seemed Sasuke, especially, was having more than his fair share of giggling today.
Hinata and Shikamaru had spotted the six of them and come over to Ichiraku's at that point. Shikamaru stood leaning in the doorway with one eyebrow raised. "Troublesome," he muttered. "Troublesome. Why are they all laughing? Did we miss something? I think we must have . . ."
"Y-yes, I think we did, Shikamaru-kun," Hinata murmured, smiling a bit at the scene in front of her. Naruto was shaking Sasuke and rolling his eyes at the hysterical Uchiha, trying to bring him back to his senses. Neji's shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. Tenten and Lee were ignoring them and trying to hold a sane conversation in the midst of all the madness.
Sakura jumped up and came over to welcome the two ninja. "Hinata! Shikamaru! I have so much to tell you two—did you know that Sasuke and Naruto are . . . you know . . . boyfriends now?! And that Neji and Tenten are together as well? I know! Isn't it amazing?"
Shikamaru's eyes widened. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything. Hinata merely blushed. She leaned forward and whispered something in Sakura's ear. The pink-haired ninja grinned and bounced up and down excitedly. "I know! I know! Isn't it great?"
Shikamaru tilted his head to the side. "What did you say to her, Hinata?"
Sakura's smile reached from ear to ear. "She just said that she thinks Naruto and Sasuke are really cute together. They really are! Wow!" She clasped her hands in front of her chest, eerily reminding Naruto of Kakashi's imitation of her the day before. Of course, he had no idea what she was saying to Shikamaru and Hinata since he was too far away to hear, and was still busy shaking Sasuke out of his fit of giggles.
Meanwhile, Hinata could see the gears turning in Shikamaru's mind. It was true that the Hyuuga didn't seem jealous of Sasuke, being Naruto's boyfriend and all. The Hyuuga smiled. She could tell Shikamaru was making a few connections in his mind.
Sakura put finger to her lips in thought. "Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but exactly why are you both sopping wet?" She heard another burst of laughter form behind her. Sasuke was laughing at the smallest things today! It wasn't that funny. The pink-haired ninja smiled. At least the Uchiha was in a good mood—it seemed Naruto cheered him up immensely.
"Hinata pushed me into a stream by accident," Shikamaru explained with a raised eyebrow. The way he said it suggested that he didn't really think it was an accident. Not at all.
Hinata blushed in embarrassment. "It was a mistake, Sh-shikamaru-kun! Please believe me!"
The other ninja smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Either way, it seems I got my revenge, didn't I?"
The Hyuuga smiled. "Y-you really didn't need to grab my hand as you started to fall. I wouldn't have fallen in with you otherwise."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes in mock-annoyance. "Listen to her, Sakura, she's insufferable, isn't she!"
Sakura smiled at the two ninja. "Well, why don't you and your insufferable friend come and hang out with us, Shikamaru?" she said teasingly, beckoning for them to come and join the rest of her friends. "We could do with some more sane people," she joked.
They wouldn't make such a bad couple . . . Sakura thought to herself, smirking. Not bad at all . . . hmm . . .
By this time, Naruto had managed to stop Sasuke from laughing, although it had taken a lot of cold water and threats of having ramen poured down his shirt. Neji was arguing with Lee over which of their girlfriends was more beautiful, and Tenten was trying to make them shut up and leave each other alone.
Sakura took a kunai and banged it on the table to get everyone's attention. "Listen up! I think we should all go and ask Tsunade-sama to extend our brief vacation. All teams were given Valentine's Day and the day before off, but I think we should get two more days. Who's with me?"
Everyone raised their hands and cheered.
"Alright! Follow me!" The pink-haired ninja turned around and immediately bumped into the tall, masked form of her sensei. "What the . . .?"
The copy-ninja sighed. "I'm afraid you can't talk to the Hokage at the moment, Sakura."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Why not?"
Kakashi shifted nervously. "Tsunade-sama is . . . busy."
The blonde ninja blushed. He moved closer to his sensei and whispered in his ear, "You mean, the same way Sakura was busy with Lee that other time?"
Kakashi nodded. Naruto's eyes widened. "Grandma Tsunade has a boyfriend?!" he gasped. "Who is it? Tell me, Kakashi-sensei!"
The masked ninja laughed. "Not a boyfriend, Naruto. A girlfriend." Naruto's eyebrows shot up. "Shizune."
"Too much information! Too much information!" Naruto shrieked, grabbing Sasuke's arm and fleeing from Ichiraku's Ramen Bar. Sakura laughed silently at her team-mate as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke with the Uchiha. She turned to her sensei when they were gone. "What was that about? What did you say to him? Oh never mind, don't answer that. What I really want to know is if we can talk to Tsunade-sama."
"I'm sorry, you can't talk to her right now, Sakura, but I'll give you guys two more days off if you really want it," Kakashi said lightly, eye curving into a half-moon as he smiled beneath his mask. The remaining ninja grinned and crowed with delight, thanking him happily before going off to their respective destinations.
Lee and Sakura decided just to lie in a meadow the rest of the day. Neji and Tenten agreed to go on a walk and relax, and Shikamaru and Hinata said goodbye to each other and went to their own houses to change out of their wet clothes.
Meanwhile, Naruto was still dragging a breathless Sasuke down the street.
"Naruto! Stop! Stop! Seriously, you idiot, what's your problem?"
The blonde ninja finally came to a halt, wiping sweat from his brow. "Sorry, Sasuke. What Kakashi-sensei said just kind of . . . took me by surprise."
"Well, what was it? You were whispering with him—none of us know what you said."
"Uh . . . basically, Grandma Tsunade and Shizune . . . are . . . together. Like how we're together. They're girlfriend and girlfriend, I guess."
Sasuke's mouth fell open. "Oh . . ."
Naruto nodded, closing his eyes. "Say something to get these mental images out of my head. Please!"
The Uchiha thought for a minute. Suddenly he held up a hand and smirked. "Wait a second, Naruto. I composed a poem for you. Will that do?"
Naruto jumped. "WHAT?! You . . . composed a poem . . . for me?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes and nodded. "You composed one for me, so I guess this is just getting even."
The blonde ninja waved his hand impatiently, having gotten over his initial shock. "Yeah, whatever, I guess that'll do fine then."
The Uchiha smirked even wider. "Alright, here goes." He pulled Naruto into an alley and pushed him against the wall of a building, holding his wrists in a tight grip. Naruto briefly wondered why Sasuke liked pinning him to things, but was unable to finish the thought since the dark-haired ninja had started talking.
"Foxes are cute . . ." Sasuke muttered, making Naruto blush and grin. "Ramen's okay . . ." Naruto's smile slid off his face and he looked hurt. "Okay" was way too much of an understatement for the glorious deliciousness that was ramen! But the Uchiha continued.
"You and me are both . . . undeniably gay."
Naruto had to agree with that.
I mean, seriously, what ninja in his right mind wouldn't be gay with Sasuke around?
Naruto moved closer to the Uchiha and their lips met in a soft kiss. When they pulled apart, the blonde ninja was smirking.
"You're even worse at writing poetry than I am."
"Am not." Sasuke glared down at Naruto and gripped his wrists even tighter.
"Are too!"
"No, I'm not, damn it!"
"Shut up, will you?"
"Why should I?"
Naruto growled as he wrenched his hands out of the Uchiha's grasp. "Because you're making it really hard for me to kiss you! That's why."
Sasuke blinked as Naruto leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Oh . . . uh . . ."
Naruto grinned as a faint pink tinge rose in the dark-haired ninja's cheeks. "Aw, is Sasuke the ever-aloof bastard blushing?"
"No . . ." the other boy said through his teeth.
"Hn." Naruto moved closer so that their noses were almost touching. "This still embarrasses you, doesn't it, you bastard . . ."
"Maybe a little . . ."
Naruto grinned and wrapped his arms around Sasuke, pulling him closer. He could feel the other boy's heart beating faster against his chest, which made his knees feel weak. But the Uchiha had the nerve to stand there with his hands in his pockets, as if nothing was going on. Naruto rested his head on the dark-haired ninja's shoulder and turned his head so that his lips were pressed against Sasuke's neck.
"Hn, teme, what's with your attitude? It's impossible for you to show any emotion, isn't it," he murmured.
The Uchiha shivered and took a step backward. "I can show emotion, stupid! It isn't fair to make that judgment."
Naruto lowered his eyebrows in annoyance. "Then what's with how you always push me away?"
The Uchiha turned his back on the blonde ninja and sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruto." He scuffed his feet nervously. "It's just that I'm not used to this . . ."
Naruto took a step forward, resting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Relax, teme." He took both of the Uchiha's shoulders and made the other boy turn around to face him. "Relax." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Sasuke's, reaching a hand up to hold the back of his head.
When Naruto pulled away, he still stayed close to Sasuke, holding the other ninja's black eyes in his steady gaze. The Uchiha let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been keeping.
He really does love me . . .
Of course, the Uchiha had known that before, but not with such intensity . . . but now, staring into Naruto's blue eyes, he knew it more than he ever had. "I still can't believe I fell in love with a dumb blonde," he murmured, running his fingers through Naruto's yellow hair.
The blonde ninja jumped. "What? WHO?!"
Sasuke sighed. "Maybe 'dumb' was an understatement," he muttered to himself. "You are the dumb blonde, idiot," he said with a grin.
"Oh."
"Don't look so surprised."
Naruto smiled brilliantly and snuggled farther into Sasuke's embrace. "Hn, you know, I still can't believe I fell in love with a stuck-up, snobbish excuse-for-a-human-being."
Sasuke lowered his eyebrows. "If you love snobbish people like me, doesn't it make you pretty stupid?"
"I thought we had already established that."
"I'm sorry, I forgot."
Naruto grinned and squeezed Sasuke tighter. Falling in love with the bastard was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Of that he was sure.
xxx
Tsunade shook herself. She had dozed off for a second with her head on a pile of papers. How can a Hokage's work be THIS boring . . . I wish-
The Sennin's thoughts were cut off as the door to her office opened. She groaned. "Shizune . . . what time is it?"
"Time to go to bed, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said with a smile. "Come on, you've done enough work for the day."
The blonde ninja smiled gratefully. "Good." She stood up and stretched, yawning as she walked over to the door. "Well, let's go then. I'm feeling really sleepy." The Hokage put an arm around Shizune's shoulders and kissed her cheek. "Hn, you know, I wouldn't be able to stand being Hokage if I didn't have you around . . ."
Shizune blushed and pulled Tsunade down the hallway. The Fifth Hokage's eyelids were already starting to droop. "And I wouldn't be able to stand serving you if you didn't return my feelings . . ." she murmured quietly, more to herself than to her mistress.
Tsunade smiled slightly, hearing Shizune's words. "'Night, Shizune . . ." she mumbled.
The dark-haired ninja sighed. Trust Tsunade-sama to fall asleep half-way to her room . . . Shizune wrapped her other arm around the Hokage and barely managed to get her to the bed. She climbed in beside the blonde ninja and snuggled closer. "'Night, Tsunade-sama . . ." she whispered into the Hokage's blonde hair.
xxx
Night had fallen on Konoha. The streets were silent and the lights in the windows of stores were flickering off. Darkness enveloped the trees and alleyways. Lee and Sakura had fallen asleep in the meadow where they went to spend the rest of they day, curled up in each others arms.
Meanwhile, Hinata sat up in bed and pushed the covers off her feet. She stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the moon as it rose above the treetops. Little did she know, but Shikamaru was gazing at the same moon from where he stood in his doorway.
Hinata smiled slightly, eyes filling with the moonlight falling through her window. I wish I could thank Shikamaru-kun for everything he's done . . .
I don't feel invisible anymore . . .
Shikamaru sighed in contentment. The dark-haired ninja turned from his doorway and walked up the dark stairs to his room. His heart felt a little lighter.
Neji trudged up one of the streets in Konoha, a sleeping Tenten cradled in his arms. She had fallen asleep after their walk earlier that day. The Hyuuga looked down at her peaceful face, his heart skipping a beat.
Naruto and Sasuke lay in each others arms on the grassy hill outside the village, looking up at the stars.
"Hn, those stars look like they could make a bowl of ramen . . ."
"That's called the Big Dipper, not The Great Bowl of Ramen, dobe. Is food all you ever think about?"
"Yes. Besides you, of course, Sasuke . . ."
The Uchiha blushed and turned over to lie on his back. Naruto moved closer, reaching out a hand to touch the ninja's hair—it looked black in this light, darker than the shadows of the trees that were crawling up the sides of the hill as the moon rose higher. And as the moon rose higher, more moonlight fell on Sasuke's skin, making him glow faintly. He looked too perfect to be anything but an illusion, and Naruto still couldn't believe that the Uchiha was real, and that he was actually there in his arms.
"Stop playing with my hair, dobe . . ." Sasuke mumble half-heartedly. Naruto ignored the comment altogether. He knew the Uchiha secretly enjoyed it.
"Shut up, teme," Naruto whispered with the utmost tenderness.
"I love you too, dobe," the Uchiha whispered back.
xxx
A/N: I used the word dobe instead of idiot in the last scene because I just thought it sounded better. And the part where Sasuke says "I can't believe I fell in love with a dumb blonde" and Naruto answers "WHO?" was my sister's idea. Brilliant! Trust Naruto to be that thick. Haha!
For all you KakaIru fans, I wrote a sequel to this fic called 'Coincidences' so go check it out.
Thanks to all of you for reading, and I'd love it if you reviewed! I'm always up for criticism, because I know I need it. Short reviews are good too. Anything you have to say will be appreciated. Thanks again!