Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way, shape, form, or fashion.
Author's Note: Enjoy!
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Sasuke was nearly glued to Naruto as they weaved their way through the crowded club. The blonde didn't say a word, but the gloom of the club hid the small smile that tugged at his lips. Sasuke was as close to him as he could get without actually clinging to him. Every time someone bumped into the raven, Sasuke flinched away from them. There were a lot of people in the club.
A laughing girl fell backwards, nearly toppling Sasuke over. The raven let out an undignified squeak and would have fallen if Naruto hadn't caught him by the arm. The girl was still laughing with her friends as they helped her up. She apologized with a giggle and was gone as fast as she had appeared.
Sasuke looked stricken and seemed to be unsure of what to do next. Naruto grinned at him, tossing an arm over the Uchiha's shoulders. Sasuke flinched and then relaxed against the blonde's side.
"You okay?" Naruto asked, steering them towards the table where his friends were sitting. He could hear Kiba even over all the talking and music. Sasuke nodded in response, but shrunk closer to the blonde. Naruto was caught somewhere between amused and intrigued. How could a guy he had only met this morning, who seemed to hate human contact, let him touch him like this? Sasuke was quite the intriguing person.
"Hey guys!" The blonde called out to his friends. Sasuke pressed closer and then seemed to get back his composure. He stepped out form the safety of Naruto's body but didn't move more than five inches away from the blonde. Kiba hopped up from his seat to clap the Uzumaki on the shoulder with a loud greeting. Sasuke took in the blonde's group of friends and found he wasn't all that sure about this situation.
Three kids he knew from his own planet were sitting at the table. One was Shikamaru Nara, whose father over saw all the agricultural and nature reserves, and the other two were brothers, Kankurou and Gaara Sabaku, two orphans who had been taken in by one of the nobles. All three were sporting fluffy appendages.
Shikamaru's, whom the Uchiha knew could hid his but never did, were a deep chocolate brown tipped in white. Gaara's were a red so close to his hair color that it was sometimes hard to tell the difference while his older brother's were a sandy color with flecks of deep brown throughout. Sasuke wanted to turn and run. He knew all three would know exactly who he was, even though he was hiding a few very important details. The raven closed his eyes and prayed as hard as he could that none of them would feel the need to rat him out. Not that they would know why he was on earth, he hopped anyway.
The raven tried to keep a broad smile on his face while Naruto introduced him to everyone. It was a large group of friends but he wasn't that surprised. The Uzumaki had always seemed like a social person, and it was glaringly obvious as Sasuke was introduced to each friend. There was Lee, Sakura, Sai, who Sasuke remembered as the quite kid who sat beside him in his art class last semester, Kiba, who Sasuke was sure he'd heard many times when he was on campus but had never seen the man's face, Shikamaru, who raised an eyebrow at the sight of him, Chouji, Neji, Hinata, and the brothers, neither of which seemed surprised to see.
Sasuke let himself be sat down and had to resist the urge to cling to Naruto's hand when the blonde went to get drinks. The raven glared daggers at Naruto's back, silently cursing him and hoping the blonde brought back something strong at the same time. Dark eyes glanced around the table and resisted the urge to blush fiercely. He hated being the center of attention and that was exactly what had happened when Naruto wondered off. A shiver of fear tingled down his spine, but Sasuke used all the Uchiha pride he could muster and kept a straight face.
"So, Sasuke, how did you meet Naruto?" Sasuke paled at Kiba's question and shrugged off the arm that the other man had tossed over his shoulder. There was no way in hell he was going to tell them the truth. He swallowed hard, wishing Naruto back at the table as hard as he could and that the blonde happened to have hard liquor in hand.
"On the way to school this morning," Sasuke replied, keeping as much emotion out of his voice as he could. Kiba raised an eyebrow and smirked like he knew something. Then the Inuzuka frowned, one hand coming up to trace the outline of Sasuke's eye. Sasuke started, jerking back from the other man's touch with a frown. He brought his own hand up to trace the same spot Kiba had.
"What happened?" Sasuke glanced around the table to find an inquiring look on everyone's face. This time the Uchiha did blush. His face felt like it was on fire. The raven tipped his head forward, hiding the blush and his bruises. He'd forgotten about those.
"Nothing," Sasuke muttered. He really wished they would all stop looking at him, especially Shikamaru. The Nara was smart and Sasuke was sure the brunette had already figured him out. Sasuke made a point of not acting like an Uchiha and in fact, had changed a lot in the time he'd been on Earth.
About that time, Naruto finally came back, drinks in hand. Sasuke downed half the glass of vodka on the rocks in one go. The drink burned his throat but Sasuke enjoyed it. Since he'd come to Earth, he'd picked up the slight habit of drinking. Alcohol didn't have as big an effect on their species as it did on humans. It took a whole lot more of the stuff to get them drunk than it did for humans. So when they'd made it through four rounds of drinks, Sasuke was just starting to feel a buzz.
Kiba was way past the point of no return, but, according to Naruto, the Inuzuka was only louder when he was drunk and that was about it. Gaara didn't drink, but Kankurou, on the other hand, sure as hell did. The brunette Sabaku had drunk nearly three times what Sasuke had, but was no drunker than the raven. So Sasuke came to the conclusion that Kankurou either drank on a regular bases or it was something to do with the Sabaku's body. Sasuke suspected both.
Naruto was tipsy and Shikamaru, well, Shikamaru was Shikamaru. The Nara didn't seem to change when he drank. The slight blush across his cheeks was the only indication that he was drinking at all. Hinata seemed to be drunk and was leaning heavily against Chouji. Neji was the only other person who wasn't drinking. Sasuke silently wondered who was going to be driving tonight.
Sasuke was actually managing to have a decent conversation with Sai when the slighter raven was swept out onto the dance floor by a grinning Kiba. The artist laughed loudly and followed happily, getting lost in the crowd with the other man. Shikamaru was the next to disappear with a smirking Kankurou. Hinata, who Sasuke had quickly found out was quite shy, was soon tugging Chouji out on the floor much to the raven's surprise. Neji shrugged.
"She's quite outgoing when drunk," the Hyuuga told him. Sasuke nodded. Apparently she was. Before Sasuke could try a conversation with the Hyuuga, Naruto grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the dance floor. Sasuke blinked in confusion at the blonde but he didn't get the chance to snatch his hand back.
Before he knew it, Naruto had pulled them all the way into the middle of the dance floor. The press of people had panic rising in the raven, but strong hands settled on his hips, pulling him close. Sasuke stared up at the smiling face he was coming to know pretty well. Once you had officially met the Uzumaki, you couldn't forget him easily.
Blue eyes sparkled at him even in the glume of the club. Sasuke gripped the larger man's biceps, stepping closer when someone bumped into him from behind. Naruto's chuckle echoed in his ear and warm arms wrapped around the raven.
"I got ya." The Uzumaki's voice was strong and deep, comforting in a way Sasuke couldn't remember anything ever being. Images of what had transpired the morning before flashed through the Uchiha's mind. He remembered the relief he had felt when Naruto had showed up. It had been sudden and completely. He'd gone nearly boneless against the sidewalk as he had watched the blonde beat the living crap out of the other men. And, even though it had been embarrassing to have Naruto carry him, he'd felt safe in those arms, safe in the knowledge that this person was capable of protecting him.
As early into Sasuke's memory, knowing a person at a certain level wasn't something that had inspired trust with in him. His first friend he had met because they man had been assigned to him. He'd been strong, and more than capable of protecting the icy Uchiha child. As the years moved on and the man protected the small raven, risking life and limb for him, Sasuke had come to trust the man before he'd even known the man's background. The biggest inspiration of trust for Sasuke was protection and Naruto had already shown the Uchiha how well he was at protecting someone.
So when Naruto started moving against him, Sasuke moved back. The raven let himself be led into a dance, let the blonde take complete control of the situation. Sasuke thrived in the feeling of letting go and letting someone else take control of a situation. He felt the music pulse around him, joy and excitement surging through his blood.
Sasuke grinned up at the blonde and Naruto smiled back. They moved with the music, occasionally bumping to someone else in the crowd. But the press of the crowd no longer inspired fear in the raven. Naruto had him. And that was enough.
The Uchiha had no clue how long he spent out on that dance floor with Naruto. He enjoyed himself, letting go for the first time in what felt like forever. The next firm and real memory Sasuke had after being dragged out onto the dance floor with the Uzumaki, was the press of warm lips against his own.
Author's Notes: Please forgive the short chapter. I wanted it out because I'm feeling a bit behind with everything and this felt like a decent stopping point. Hope you enjoyed it despite the short length. Thank you for reading, folks, and remember, reviews make me a very happy writer.