Chapter 16: Conflicts and Intermissions
The bed made an unpleasant sound as Sasuke flopped gracelessly down on his stomach. He reached out for his cordless phone, hitting the 'talk' button and dialing Naruto's phone number. He rolled onto his back as the other line rang, and it rang many times before Sasuke was greeted by his answering machine. He hung up, defeated and not bothering to leave a message.
Hopping up from the bed, Sasuke pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a tee that read "Kindness is Contagious, Get the Fuck Away from Me" which he knew that Naruto would frown at as soon as he saw. Sasuke figured if he wasn't home he'd be at Ichiraku's, so he combed his hair and started down the stairs.
He didn't make it down two steps when he heard a knock at the door. Sliding down the banister the rest of the way, he made his way to the door and slid it open.
"Well, speak of the devil. I was just about to go find you." He said cheekily at the blonde hunk before him.
"Hey, Sasuke." A pause. "Nice shirt, you retard."
Sasuke was inwardly laughing so hard he thought he might actually let it out. Stepping to the side, he allowed Naruto to enter and closed the door.
"That's almost as retarded as the 'The Only Time I Don't Want Head is When I'm Pouring a Beer' shirt you had on yesterday." Naruto rolled his eyes.
Sasuke on the other hand, smirked.
"Yeah, and it was funny, because it was the truth." The brunette said heartily, slapping his partner's ass with force, then pinching it.
Naruto jumped, rubbing his butt after he let go. "That hurt, you asshole."
They both chuckled, and dark eyes moved to a neatly folded item in Naruto's hand. Naruto followed his eye movements, deciding to explain himself before Sasuke asked any questions.
"It's Sakura's. I... washed and folded it, so I could give it back."
"I don't understand why you care so much about it." Sasuke said, crossing his arms. "You thought it was funny when you were drunk, and so did I, so just let it go."
"It wasn't fair to Sakura and Hinata. Especially Sakura... we shouldn't have done that to her."
"We were HAMMERED, you idiot! How were we supposed to know what was the right thing to do?! Besides, knowing how infatuated she was with me she probably doesn't accept the fact that we're together. Just let it drop."
"No!!"
Sasuke's eyes widened at the sudden outburst, looking at Naruto's eyes gloss over with tears.
"What's wrong with you, dobe?"
"I... I don't want Sakura to hate me."
"Naruto, we're faggots. She's not going to like it, okay? This is just something she's going to have to deal with, whether you apologize for what we did or not."
"She doesn't have to know."
"What are you talking about? She knows you were here, and she saw what I looked like. She already knows about it."
"I can tell her it was just my fault. I can tell her... that we didn't do anything." Naruto rubbed at his eyes with his free hand, thinking idly about all the good times him and Sakura had when they were little.
The Uchiha was getting pissed. "You want to lie about our relationship?"
"I still want to be her friend, okay?!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to defend himself.
"And I'm saying, Uzumaki, that she's not going to except our sexuality because of her feelings towards me, besides the fact that she's always found you annoying!"
Naruto tried hard to hide how much that last remark stung.
"Then I'll LIE! I'll fucking hide it even if I have to distance myself from you in front of her!"
The blonde was grabbed by his collar and hoisted up, only to be thrown to the ground.
"Who the fuck is more important to you, Naruto?! Sakura or me?!"
"Sasuke, I-"
"Are you sure you're gay? Are you fucking sure? Because you're definitely acting like that stupid bitch is way more important to you than me!"
"Don't call Sakura a stupid bitch!"
Naruto let the captive tears fall from his eyes. He looked up, seeing that Sasuke was holding back some himself. He watched as his boyfriend went to the door and slid it open.
"Then fucking leave, go visit your girlfriend and confess your undying LOVE for her-"
"Sasuke!"
"-Go fucking tell her that she's so important to you and I don't mean a God damned thing to you at all-"
"Sasuke, please..." Naruto covered his ears, Sasuke was now screaming so hard his voice was hoarse.
"-Tell Sakura that you're so fucking straight you're a God damned arrow and it certainly wasn't your asking that got us into this relationship in the first place!"
"Just STOP!"
Naruto stumbled to his feet, walking slowly over to Sasuke, who was so livid his stare was burning holes in the wall. He took in a shaky breath and tried to speak.
"Listen... I-"
"Get out."
"You don't understand..."
"Oh no, every word was crystal clear. I said, get out."
Naruto winced, both recalling the harsh words he had said to Sasuke, and the sharp pain mixed with tenacity in Sasuke's voice. When he stood there for too long, the Uchiha shoved him roughly out the door, whispering something before slamming it closed behind him. The blonde banged on the door, shouting the name of the one he loved over and over again, 'till his voice and his fist could take no more. He rested his forehead on the cool, finished wood.
...You make me wish I never left my shell.
There was no answer.
The walk to Sakura's house felt painstakingly long, the road seemingly narrowing forever. Naruto's eyes were glued to the gravel he was treading on, not wanting anybody around him to see his eyes as swollen and bloodshot as they were. Even now, droplets hit the pebbles like sparse raindrops with every step.
But he was soon brought back into reality when he bumped right into something hard, muscled even... a chest, a very naked chest. Before stumbling back, a pair of strong hands caught his shoulders.
"Whoa there! What's the matter with you, canary hair?"
He looked up into a pair of lively brown eyes.
"...Kiba?" He quickly lowered his head to its original position when he remembered the state he was in.
"Hey, hey... what's wrong?"
Naruto shyly glanced up once more, only to settle for studying the way the other boy's tan torso matched with the black of his un-zipped leather jacket. Isn't he... cold? He could not feel Kiba's eyes looking at the object in his hands.
"Does it have something to do with Sakura?"
He couldn't control the tears after hearing her name again, and he dipped his forehead to rest on Kiba's upper body as his cries escaped. Naruto could hear the leather gloves on Kiba's hands faintly squeaking as he started to rub his hands down the blonde's back, in an attempt to soothe him. He felt the boy's claws barely raking his skin.
"Where's... Akamaru?"
"He's at home not feeling too well. Don't change the subject, Naruto. Here... let's sit."
He was guided to sit on the ledge of a fountain he had passed only a few feet ago. Instinctively, the mutt pulled on Naruto's shoulder to let the boy's head lay in his lap. Naruto sighed, perhaps in comfort, turning his head to rest his ear on Kiba's leg. As he looked down the road that went back towards his house, his gaze drifted back to his friend's pant leg and he wondered why he always chose to dress himself in animal hide.
"Naruto? Are you listening to me?"
Oh, right. The crisis and stuff. "What?"
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
"It's... complicated."
"I know all about complicated!"
Naruto looked up, and he didn't know why, but seeing his good friend bear his fangs in a bright smile just made him feel all warm inside. Like he could actually trust someone. That was something that he really needed at the moment, because he felt like he definitely wasn't ready to face Sakura yet.
"Kiba... have you ever had any relationships?"
"Mhm." A hand started stroking blonde hair.
"What was it like?"
The Inuzuka raised an eyebrow, thinking that someone with Naruto's looks must have had some kind of relationship by this time in his life.
"Well, both people have to work hard to stay together. A relationship is about compromise and trust, and definitely fidelity."
Naruto studied Kiba's eyes. "Did someone cheat on you?"
There was a long pause before he could answer, "Shikamaru."
"What?! With who!?"
"...My older sister."
Ouch. "I'm sorry."
"Are you in a bad relationship, Naruto?"
Naruto's hands involuntarily clutched the sweater in his hands. He closed his eyes and situated himself more comfortably about Kiba's lap.
"No, I just don't think I know what my priorities are." He drew in a deep breath, reassuring himself that he could trust this man, but still only being able to speak in a very small voice. "...Sasuke and I just got together, but I made the mistake of telling him that I'd lie about our relationship to keep my friendship with Sakura."
Dog-boy smiled. "There is an old saying, Naruto. It says that 'If you love something, let it go – and if it comes back to you, then you know it was worth loving in the first place.'"
The blonde abruptly sat up and clutched Kiba's shoulder with his free hand.
"Are you saying I should break up with Sasuke?!"
"No, stupid! I'm saying that I know Sakura means a lot to you. So just tell her the truth, and knowing her, she'll stay quiet for a few days to cook. Then, if she decides she wants nothing to do with you, you'll know that she was false to begin with and it's not worth the trouble of trying to save the friendship."
Blue eyes looked to the ground, letting all of the advice sink in. He contemplated his next move, torn on what to do next. He felt that powerful hand on his shoulder once more, and turned to see a very serious stare in the mutt's brown eyes.
"Just to tell you, Naruto; nobody really looks up to her anymore. She's been sleeping around ever since Sasuke refused her years and years ago. When she heard Shikamaru cheated on me, she went out of her way to tell me that she'd had a one night stand with him by drugging his dinner. I wouldn't put it past her to drop you without batting an eye."
There was hurt quickly rising in Naruto's eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but the other boy quieted him with a gloved finger to his lips.
"Just think about Sasuke. He's the one who loves you, right?"
As Kiba removed his finger, Naruto opened his mouth to speak once more but stopped when he saw that his friend's nose twitch. After a few seconds, he too also smelled something very familiar.
The profound scent of cigarette smoke - coming from a certain Nara Shikamaru. What perfect timing.
"Well, that's my queue to get out of here. Remember what I said, canary hair." He turned to leave, but then turned back, snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah, before I forget... watch Sasuke closely, Naruto. I'm serious. Sakura is obsessed with him. Now that she has an idea of what's going on, she might try something drastic. I'm warning you ahead of time."
With a friendly punch to the shoulder, Kiba got up and bolted away as fast as he could, leaving 'canary hair' to scowl inwardly at the Nara who passed by. He always thought Shikamaru hadn't changed over the years besides the smoking, hell; Naruto still saw him playing Shogi on a normal basis. But if Sakura had pulled it off, maybe Hana had drugged him too.
"...How could I not hear those things about Sakura?" He whispered to himself, confused.
Naruto shrugged off those thoughts, furrowing his eyebrows and letting determination cross his features. He tried not to let any more uncertainties enter his brain, even though what Kiba had said was kind of deterring him from speaking to Sakura about the situation. He walked, almost marching to Sakura's house.
He rang the doorbell, shaking a little. He absentmindedly noted that she seemed to be the only one in this neighborhood to have a doorbell.
No answer.
After ten minutes, Naruto realized that she wasn't home. Sighing, he leaned his back against the door.
Shit, what now... wait, what's that smell?
He sniffed around; it seemed to be coming from inside the house. Whatever it was it smelled chocolatey.
Mmm, brownies! I wonder if she'll share with-
When he realized that Sakura had make food and is currently not home, he thought back to Kiba's story. He reconsidered it; it was just a coincidence that Kiba had told him that right before he came to her house. She wouldn't do that to Sasuke.
Would she?
Author's Note: Oh no, DRAMA! And... Kiba! Told you there would be a complete surprise! I hope you liked this chapter; I brought in a brand new totally made up Kiba (considering this is technically AU and I wanted to make them my own original older characters). Call it practice for the next one. Mmmmm... leather.
And, my Lord, I'm making Sakura such an evil whore in this story. (I never really liked her. Go ahead, bash me. ;)
(Sasuke's shirt sayings © T-Shirt Hell)