Warnings: MxM relationship, crossdressing
Disclaimer: Characters are property of a certain Masashi Kishimoto, I'm just borrowing them.
A/N: Most important things first, so... Thank you so much for all the reviews! I can't thank you enough, it made me so happy to read them Special thanks to Nikkapillar and Calamus for your amazing long comments. All you guys, you're amazing.
I really enjoy writing this fic although I shouldn't be doing it right now, my hands are getting worse all the time. But yeah... I can't really keep from writing so it can't be helped. I don't necessarily like this chapter at all, I don't like where it's going and blrgh, I have too much ideas for this piece of fanfiction. I'm just not sure which ones to use.
Oh, and what I forgot to mention in the first chapter's notes, English is not my native language so please bear with my mistakes in grammar u_u
For Didi
For a moment, Naruto's world stopped. The dark eyes held his gaze, the intensity and hatred almost startling him. He would've expected the woman to look defeated, maybe even scared, but there wasn't even a hint of either emotion. Her eyes were flaming and she look like she could barely hold herself from kicking the Snake off with her high-heel boots. There was shame, but it was so laced with anger it made Naruto shiver, and finally he blinked, his eyes drying.
It was like a spell had been broken. Rattlesnake lifted his head, turning to look at his most precious possession, his hair swaying gently as he moved.
"What is it?" he asked with his slimy voice, turning to follow Raven's gaze to the door.
The oddly-colored eyes met Naruto's for half a second and the blonde was suddenly scampering backwards, almost tripping over his own feet as he rushed away from the door. He didn't really care about the noise he was making, but even through the loud stomping of his steps he could clearly hear an amused hissing laugh. The sound echoed in the corridor even after Naruto had turned around the corner and slowed down, relieved that he wasn't being followed. Perhaps Rattlesnake had mistaken him to a curious fan of Raven's, a fan that had just been given a very good lesson.
The bounty hunter walked up the stairs, his chest still heaving in sync with his breathing, and it didn't start to calm down before he had reached his room and turned the key in the lock, shutting himself in.
Closing his eyes, Naruto leaned his back against the door and tried to get himself back together. There were so many emotions mixed up inside him at the moment, the strongest ones being anger and excitement. The latter was for finding his target, and the anger... He couldn't stand the way the man had treated Raven. It was almost as if she was just something he owned, not a real woman, and the way Rattlesnake had claimed his ownership...
It took Naruto a moment to notice that his hands were curled into fists and he slowly let them loosen up again, rubbing his stubble thoughtfully. The blue eyes were open again and slowly a determined look set into them. The man pushed himself away from the door and drew his gun from the holster, a concentrated wrinkle between his brows. He wouldn't wait for long now that he'd found Rattlesnake, and he was so much more determined now to save Raven as well. He'd take her with him.
Minutes passed and Naruto couldn't shake off the tension from his shoulders. Even as he started cleaning his revolver to get rid of the tension, he had the feeling that someone was there, watching him from the shadows of the room. He knew he was alone yet the the feeling refused to leave him. It was still there as he finally gave up and let out a sigh, putting away the revolver and starting to undress for bed. Naruto did, however, keep his boots on; he had learned the hard way to sleep with them.
He grumbled something to himself and blew out the candle that was his source of light. The sheets felt a bit rough against his skin but he didn't mind, not after having had no bed sheets for a long time. His eyelids slid down, the light lashes fluttering softly and Naruto sighed again, rolling over to his side. And then to his back. And then the other side. And then he gave up, feeling uncomfortably sweaty under the thin blanket he'd been given. The blonde pushed himself off the bed again, starting to walk a small circle -there wasn't room for a large one- in the middle of the room. His eyes were directed straight at the floor, hands behind his back and the wrinkle of concentration again being there between his eyebrows.
He set up a fast pace, trying to gather his thoughts. It was harder than he'd thought, walking around in the dark, and he almost stumbled over the weary chair there was in the room. The piece of furniture let out a nasty screech and then fell silent again, a muted curse playing on Naruto's lips. This wasn't going anywhere, Raven's eyes were still invading his mind like a pack of rats, and he couldn't concentrate on even Rattlesnake. It was getting too difficult.
Like an answer to a prayer, a low knock suddenly interrupted his thinking. Naruto jolted, fumbling around in the darkness. Why oh why had he taken off his gun holster and where the hell had he put it? He bit down to his lower lip, dropping down to all fours in his search for the gun, and finally his fingers met the familiar cold metal and curled around it. How on earth had it ended up under the chair?
He didn't have time to think about that. The knock came again, this time a lot faster and somehow impatient. Naruto crawled his way to the door and stayed on that level as he carefully cleared his throat, attempting to sound as if he'd just woken up.
"Yeah? Who's there?"
The voice that answered him was unfamiliar, a low and raspy from use, and very male. But the words were what really surprised him.
"Let me in, mud-sill, and hurry up! Orochimaru's men are after me!"
Naruto blinked, his mind quickly connecting Orochimaru and Rattlesnake, both being names of the same man, and even while knowing it could be a trick he reached for the lock. Somehow he had the feeling that if it had been a trick, the person behind the door might not have been calling him a mud-sill. And besides, if he was going to make a die, he could at least blast balls off from whoever was behind the door.
And when the door opened, Naruto found himself staring up at a very familiar boot leg. His gaze immediately shot up, briefly adoring the creamy thigh and then meeting the dark stare from above.
Neither of them moved for a passing second, an incredulous look crossing Raven's face as if she couldn't understand what Naruto was doing on the floor. That said, she didn't need much time to recover from the shock, and without a warning the gaping blonde was pushed -or practically saying, kicked- out of the way as she strode in. The door was shut and the lock clicked faintly before the key disappeared into a fine-fitting glove she was wearing. And when Naruto still hadn't moved, Raven leaned closer, glaring at him.
"Get up, you fool", she hissed, and Naruto's mouth fell open.
Okay, he should've understood by now that the person speaking from behind the door had been Raven, but his mind had refused to connect the voice to the fair woman from the stage. Now the voice was here again, coming directly from her and he couldn't believe his ears.
"Get up, I said, you're wasting our..." She let out a low grumble before striding to the window and glancing down. Satisfied with what she saw, Raven glanced backwards, just to see Naruto still staring at her like a dead fish.
"Fine. Don't come, then. I'm taking your horse anyway." Her voice was firm and with that, she kicked off her boots and threw them out of the window, her legs following right after.
Naruto gasped.
"...h-hey! Wait!" He made an attempt to get back to his feet, his eyes glued to the woman that was apparently out of her mind, sitting on the windowsill like that and looking like she was going to jump.
"Are you off your rocker, lady? Get down right n-"
And that was exactly what she did. Raven pushed herself off the window and in flash she was gone, a gentle wind swaying the ragged curtains after her. Naruto didn't realized he had been the one that had let out a muffled shout, but as soon as Raven was nowhere to be seen his legs decided to start working again. He pushed himself up and rushed to the window, his heart beating like crazy. The blonde couldn't understand what was going on, why was the woman here, why was she jumping out of windows and why did she sound like a man.
He was almost afraid to look out, half expecting the woman being dead on the ground or at least having her both legs broken or something, but the sight that greeted him was totally different. Naruto had no idea why, but right under his window there was a rather large pile of dried hay. As he glanced around he decided it had to be because of the saloon's small stable was right there as well. But from the middle of all the hay was climbing off a certain woman, very much unharmed but still in a hurry. It was dark down there, the first floor didn't have windows on this side of the building and any light from the second floor where Naruto was couldn't reach the ground. Even still he could tell that the woman wasn't even limping as she grabbed her boots from the ground and headed off to the stables.
Around that time loud noise from the stairs caught Naruto's attention. Someone, or actually many someones, were coming up, talking with low overwrought voices. They clearly weren't happy, and as they got closer and closer the blonde could catch a few separate words. The name 'Rattlesnake' was repeated a few times and then a loud 'bitch' made him glance at his door. But what finally made the window look actually pretty inviting was the way someone started to talk about 'death'. Holy Bible, what had happened out there?
The voices were almost at his door when Naruto had managed to gather most of his stuff, leaving just things he knew he wouldn't need such as clothing; he could always buy new ones. He had a gut feeling that those men knew exactly to which room they were headed, and he wasn't going to be here when they reached it.
The bounty hunter let out a quiet 'oomph' as he was suddenly covered with hay. Had he had a bit more time, Naruto might've bothered with brushing some of the horse food off his clothes and hair, but judging by the noise upstairs he barely had time to grab his fallen hat from the ground and run to the silent stables. The hay that had gotten underneath his clothes felt extremely uncomfortable, even his loyal orange union suit hadn't been able to protect him, and the night air was colder than he'd expected. It hugged him from every side as he ran, staying as close to the wall as possible, his eyes searching for the mysterious woman.
Afterwards Naruto wasn't able to recall how they actually made it out of the town. When he had arrived at the stables, Raven had already had Whirl saddled and almost ready to go, the horse looking rather nervous until Naruto popped into the building. Neither of them had spoken a word as he had helped Raven up to the saddle, an outraged look crossing his face as she sat up there just like any man, her skirt riding up almost obscenely much. Naruto had had to turn his head away to reject all the inappropriate thoughts and to just focus on getting them out of Soundsville without getting caught. In the current situation he was sure neither of them would be treated very well here anymore.
It had felt eternally long to Naruto, but finally they had managed to sneak out, not even a single pair of eyes following them as they took off a dark road to the north. He had hopped on to the saddle and moved the woman to sit behind him, secretly enjoying the fact that she'd have to hold her arms around him. Yet when she did, it was such a light touch that Naruto couldn't get any joy out of it, oh no. It was almost the opposite.
A new night was already falling when they had arrived at a wrecked one-horse town. It was a bit off road and had definitely seen its best days way in the past, but judging by the looks of it the small hotel in the town was obviously in frequent use. Naruto had checked them in as a couple, ignoring a scowl from Raven, and when they had gotten the key and locked themselves into the room, the man decided it was time to break the silence. He was dead-tired and he knew the same went for Raven, there was only one although twin-sized bed in the room and he was curious enough to choke.
"So... What in the name of the Devil happened?" Naruto demanded, sitting on the edge of the bed as he pulled off his boots. He felt dirty for some reason and he longed for bath, the pieces of hay still abusing his poor skin under the union suit. The man was determined to clean up his clothes and then maybe get a bath if it was possible here. Or at least he'd wash his face.
The woman stayed silent and Naruto glanced up, his mouth already open to scold her for ignoring him like that. However, as soon as he recognized the shiny object in front of his nose he snapped his mouth shut, instinctively pulling back. The knife jerked forward a little but not to hurt him.
"Take it."
The deep voice still managed to shock Naruto and he slowly moved his gaze from the knife to Raven's face. The paint had worn out almost completely and he was starting to make out her features, the roughness of them being almost startling. How had he...
"Too slow." Raven pulled the knife back and turned her back to Naruto, flicking her hair over her shoulder to fall all over to his chest. Under the observing stare of the blue eyes she brought the blade up and started cutting off her hair, one midnight black curl at a time. They fell to the ground and Naruto could only watch, his mouth again hanging open, but he didn't feel like he should try to interfere. This had nothing to do with him, after all, even though it made something inside him sting to watch those beautiful strands of hair on the floor, looking suddenly so dead.
She didn't stop until she only had only a bit of bangs framing her face on the sides, the back of her head covered with dark hair sticking up, and Naruto couldn't stop himself from thinking ducks and how their tails stood up just like that. She ruffled her hair, letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction, and as she turned back to Naruto he was startled to realize how much more she suddenly looked like a man instead of a woman she was... right?
She took a step forward, starting to yank off her dress and for a fleeting moment Naruto thought of pulling her to the bed with him and taking her, just like he'd wanted to do right from the start. But then the thought passed with her dress ending up grumbled on the floor and "she" stood up in front of him with only a dark corset, drawers, fishnet tights and her boots on. Any other moment Naruto would've shamelessly admitted getting aroused, but right now there was something very distracting in his supposedly perfect view.
A slight bulge in the front of Raven's drawers made the blonde suddenly flush scarlet.
Naruto might've not been the brightest man on the earth but he wasn't dull as dishwater either, and his brain quickly registered a problem here. He was in a bedroom with a woman more beautiful he'd ever seen, a woman he'd been lusting after ever since he'd seen her first time, but for some reason he didn't feel the slightest urge to jump her. Or maybe a a little bit, but definitely not enough considering the situation.
Or actually the problems could be counted as two. One, the woman had a voice of a young man between hay and grass, maybe a bit raspy from a lack of use but definitely manly one. It was not the sensual feminine voice Naruto had imagined, definitely not, and it made him shiver for all the wrong reasons.
And two, the lovely lady in front of him apparently had a dick in her panties, and unfortunately not the way Naruto dreamed about.
The blonde gulped as his mind started to slowly process those two problems. In a way he still didn't want to believe the obvious, especially his lower half protesting rather loudly, refusing to accept that he'd been craving a man for all these days. A man would never... It just wasn't possible and didn't make sense. Naruto didn't even notice how intensely he was staring at Raven crotch, his eyes squinted as if he was trying to see right through the drawers to check if the bulge was real. There was still the tiniest glint of hope of it being for example a pair of socks stored there during the traveling.
It was only when Raven cleared his throat that Naruto turned his face up, suddenly almost afraid to look into the obsidian eyes. Much to his surprise, his eyes were met by an amused, mocking smirk and a deeper shade of red covered his face, his hand flying to rub his neck.
"Uh, I..."
"Done with the staring?" Raven asked, his voice laced with dry humor.
"Help me with the corset." He turned around without giving Naruto a chance to answer and bent forward just a little, offering Naruto a good view at his lean thighs and firm curve of his ass. Apparently some of the more feminine habits had stuck to him.
For a moment the blonde swore it didn't matter whether this 'woman' had a dick or not, but then he gave it a better look, just to notice that when Raven wasn't wearing a bustle of any kind, his backside wasn't all the feminine at all. It was still nice and stuff, Naruto didn't want to hurt the other's feelings, but there was not the same softness women had around their hips. Feeling stupid Naruto stood up, his face still awkwardly red as he started to untie the knot on the corset laces. His eyes dropped to the curve on the other male's side and he immediately winced, trying to make his fingers move faster. It had to be so uncomfortable to wear something like that, men's bodies just weren't meant for that. Raven didn't seem to mind, though, or at least he wasn't complaining, and Naruto decided to be sensitive and not ask anything about it just yet.
His hands worked on the lace for a moment, the knot finally coming off. Biting his lower lip in concentration the bounty hunter yanked at the lace until the corset was loose enough. His ears caught a sigh as it escaped Raven's lips and the brunette shook off the piece of clothing, taking a few deep breaths.
Naruto stepped back, running his gaze over the pale body. In only the underpants, pantyhose and boots Raven was still quite an arousing sight, a man or not, especially now when Naruto couldn't see his flat chest or... Whatever there was in his panties. Feeling his face heat up again the blonde turned to look away, the sound of the heels clacking telling him that the other mas was moving again.
Praising the silence that took over the room, Raven sat down in a chair next to the window and took off his boots, rolling his ankles if relief as soon as they were free. No matter how used to wearing heels he was, it was still always a relief to get them off, especially after such a long night. Next up were the pantyhose which he cut off with the knife, throwing them to the corner in shreds after removing them. It felt so relieving, being in just his drawers, not having to wear a corset or dress or whatever Orochimaru told him to wear during the nights. The man on the bed had kept quiet for quite a long time and Sasuke was surprised that he hadn't started demanding explanations already. That would've fit the image the he had of the blonde.
Sighing exasperatedly, 'Raven' lifted his head and glared to other side of the room, just to find the blonde asleep on the bed. He was still sitting on the edge of it, but his head had lolled forward, chin pressing to his chest, and he was snoring quietly. His hair was tousled and he looked like a bath would be welcome, but what had caught Sasuke's eyes was the scarf still covering the blonde's face. He understood that it was useful when riding, but right now they were inside and there was no dust in the air.
His curiosity stirring, Sasuke tiptoed to the bed, making sure not to wake up the man as he pressed his fingertips to the scarf, starting to slowly pull it down over the other's nose. It was tied tight but the raven was sure he would be able to get it off without opening the knot.
After lots of patient fiddling Sasuke had finally managed to pull the scarf low enough to reveal the blonde's nose. He spent a moment smirking at the splash of freckles that had invaded the bridge of the blonde's nose. Wondering if there was more on the cheekbones, he hooked a fingertip behind the scarf to pull it lower. The raven was curious, almost too much so, and he couldn't help himself. This man had caught his eye earlier, he'd noticed the blonde even from the middle of his audience, and now something was urging him forward, telling him to get rid of the offensive scarf that was hiding something from him.
Tanned fingers wrapped around his wrist before he could do anything else, yanking his hand away from the scarf. Sasuke let out a low yelp of surprise, pulling backwards and covering his face with his other arm out of reflex.
But the hit never came. He didn't feel the stinging pain in any part of his body, and there wasn't the all too familiar feeling of slimy lips pressing to his necks ready to claim him. The hold of his wrist didn't loosen up but neither happened anything else, and slowly the young man let his hand down, glancing warily at the other.
The blue eyes that were looking back at him had a hint of sadness in them as well as pity, and the emotion made the raven snarl. He yanked his hand free, taking a step backwards to get away from the uncomfortable situation.
"Don't look at me like that!" Sasuke snapped sharply, the pity making him angry. He didn't need anyone's pity, especially not some stranger's whom he'd seen just a few days ago for the first time.
"Did he really treat you that bad?"
Sasuke blinked at the question, surprised to hear the anger bubbling under the calm surface.
"What?" he asked in return, sitting down on the bed while keeping his distance. His fingers still itched to go and yank down that damned scarf, but the other had been fast and tugged it back over his nose already.
"Did you think I was going to hit you?"
"Uh, no." Now Sasuke felt just stupid. He should've known that this guy was way too soft for things like that, by the time he'd spent with the blonde he could already tell that the blonde was the type to avoid violence if possible.
"Then why did you dodge like that?" Now that bounty hunter sounded almost offended as if Sasuke had hurt his pride by doing so.
The raven let out an irritated sigh, tugging at his now shorter hair. It felt weird, so light, but he was starting to get used to it already. He had always hated the long silky locks that had been swaying around his waist.
"Out of habit."
An almost triumphant look crossed the other's face and he smiled, looking suddenly not so tired at all.
"I told you! He treated you so bad that you learned to protect yourself like that!" Then the look in the blue eyes darkened as the man realized it probably wasn't something to shout so joyously about.
"Or, I mean... Yeah."
Sasuke waited for a moment, giving him a chance to continue but when nothing came he shook his head and stood up.
"Whatever, idiot. Let's go to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow."
Naruto frowned, apparently finding something dissatisfying.
"We? Are we... I mean, are you coming with me?"
The look he got in return would've made even Rattlesnake feel himself stupid.
"I don't have a horse or anything with me. I need you to take me to the next larger town."
"But I... I can't! I need to go back, I have unfinished business with Rattlesnake!"
The dark-haired man flashed a smirk, walking over to the small wash stand they had.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about him. He's on the snakes' level where he belongs already. I took care of him."
Naruto blinked, watching the other man in confusion. Took care of him...? Snakes' level, but that was...
"Did you kill him?" he uttered incredulously, his voice sounding weird, somehow strained. But it wasn't... He'd seen Raven with the Snake, and there was no way the woman could've just killed him. Rattlesnake wasn't that weak, dammit!
The dark-haired man didn't turn around but started to wash his face, ignoring Naruto's stunned voice.
"Yes, I did", he answered matter-of-factly as if he was talking about the weather.
"I stuck a knife to his chest. That's why I had to run away like that."
Still gaping at Raven, Naruto closed his mouth that had fallen open from shock. It was still hard for him to understand that this weird almost-naked man had been the beautiful woman of his dreams just half an hour ago, and to hear him talking about killing Rattlesnake... It was just so absurd.
"You're joking, right?"
"Of course I'm not, why would I joke about something like that?" Raven turned to give him a weird look, water dripping from his bangs, and then turned back, splashing more water to his face.
Naruto let his brain process the information for a moment, and when it finally kicked in he jumped up, storming over to the other man.
"What do you mean you killed him? You can't kill him, it was my job! How can it... I would've needed that reward!" He was suddenly full of righteous anger, his face heating up. If Rattlesnake was really gone, there was no way he could get the reward offered for that one, and it meant he'd need to start a new hunt from the scratch... He didn't have enough money for that!
"Reward?" Raven had turned around, studying Naruto's face intensely.
"You were there for a reward?" His hand came up faster than an attacking snake, yanking down Naruto's scarf and revealing the identical whisker-like scars on his cheeks. The dark eyes widened just a tad, maybe from surprise or triumph, the tiniest of smirks crossing his face although there was an element of shock in his expression.
"I knew there was something odd in you..."
Naruto immediately reached up to tug the scarf back, but the pale fingers refused to let him do that. They wrapped around his wrist and held his hand down as the dark-haired male ran his fingers on the tanned cheeks, almost as if caressing the scars.
"I wouldn't have guessed...", Raven murmured, shaking his head slowly. A drop of water flew from his hair to Naruto's hand, making his fingers twitch.
"Foxface..."
Naruto kept quiet, waiting for the other to continue. Now that his identity had been revealed he had nothing to hide, and the only thing he could do was to wait for Raven's decision. He knew that the other might freak out, having just confessed a cold-blooded murder to a bounty-hunter, and Raven had after all been a subordinate of Rattlesnake's. The man might decide that it was the best for him to knock Naruto out and run for his life, escape from the blonde and hide somewhere so the hunter would not find him.
Or he might decide to stay, although Naruto didn't really dare to hope for that option. Raven had poked his curiosity and he wasn't ready to let the man go just yet.
After a moment the ex-woman let out a deep sigh and the tension vanished, the slender fingers letting go of the stronger hand.
"I see..." The pale lips suddenly stretched into a twisted smirk and a dry, humorless laugh escaped them, sending shivers down Naruto's spine.
"Of all the times I imagined someone to come and put an end to his business, I never believed it would truly be you... Of course I know who you are, don't look so surprised. He kept some sort of track of you, after all, there aren't many bounty hunters as successful as you. He was worried of you coming after him... And now that you finally were there, I ended it before you could..." The man laughed bitterly again, shaking his head, and then took a step back.
Naruto didn't know what to say as he watched Raven to walk around the bed and lay down on it, the dark eyes directed at the roof as he was still. That babbling hadn't made much sense to him but he didn't feel like asking about it, the topic feeling still too sore and just plain odd to be poked at too much.
"Eh... Sorry?"
The dark eyes turned to look at him, the graceful brows arching in question.
"For what?"
"For being late?"
Raven scoffed and rolled over to his side, his back towards the bounty hunter. He said nothing more, but Naruto could tell he wasn't even attempting to sleep just yet.
Shrugging to himself the blonde got up and quickly stripped down to his union suit. He gave the wash stand a quick look before dismissing the thought and making his way to the bed. He stayed as far away from Raven as he could, lying on the other side of the bed.
"Good night", he found himself murmuring as his eyes slid shut. Not that he had expected any, but Naruto received no answer and he chewed on his lower lip, wondering if it would be safe for him to fall asleep. Raven hadn't looked like he was going to murmured the blonde in his sleep, but he still didn't feel too safe for the time being.
He kept silent, listening to the other's breathing. Neither of them were sleeping as the moon climbed higher, the sound of two breaths heavy in the room. It was only when the sky started to lighten that Naruto finally felt his lids become heavy and fall shut, the warm sleep taking him in without a question.
It felt like just a couple of minutes had passed when Naruto woke up to the feeling of someone staring at him. He was immediately stirred from the land of dreams and his hand went to look for a weapon of any kind, just in case.
A quiet scoff not so far away from him caught Naruto's attention and he turned his sleep-hazed eyes to the direction of the noise, seeing only a black mess. Focusing his eyes he finally managed to make out a pale face from the middle of the mess that was midnight black hair. And from that face two dark eyes were staring right back, unblinking and free of any emotion.
"Uh, good morning?" Naruto tried, feeling suddenly abnormally bashful. It took him a moment to realize that while the eyes he was looking into were most definitely Raven's, the practically naked figure in their bed didn't belong to a woman of any kind. It wasn't all that odd to share a bed with a guy in a situation like this and- Hey, why on earth did his face feel this warm? Was he... was he really blushing? What was going on?
"Move your legs", came the sharp answer with voice clear of sleep, and Naruto finally understood why his face was heating up like that.
He was lying practically on the top of the dark-haired man, his legs entangled with the other's so that Raven couldn't have moved away even if he'd wanted. Sputtering something incomprehensible Naruto pulled away, but at the same time he couldn't help wondering why Raven hadn't just kicked his legs away and gotten up if that was what he'd wanted. The other couldn't be either that weak or polite.
Yet when his eyes caught the first good look of Raven, Naruto admitted that he couldn't be so sure about the first option. In the dark it had been impossible to tell, but now that the other man was bent over the wash stand it was clear that he was way too thin. What Naruto had thought was feminine grace were actually just arms of a man that hadn't been fed enough, both his legs and arms were too thin obviously because of malnutrition. His bones were sticking out like horse's that had been kept in hunger for too long and he was pale like someone that hadn't been out of the house in a long time. It was obvious however that Raven hadn't been forced to wear corsets too long periods at once because there was hardly any curve in his waist, no more than a normal man had. Somehow Naruto found that being a relief.
The observing gaze of the blue eyes slid up to the slim shoulders and to the graceful neck. The tanned hands clenched into fists as their owner noticed the couple of bruises on the pale skin, their cause being almost painfully clear. Rattlesnake had been one sick bastard, that was all Naruto could think right now. And then it struck him again, the realization that his hunt had been all for nothing. He would have to go and find a sheriff's office somewhere to go through the wanted posters again... But he knew he wouldn't have gone after Orochimaru if there had been anyone with better reward around.
Almost as if he had felt the stare of the angered, disappointed eyes, Raven to look at Naruto over his shoulder, the dark eyes staring calmly at him.
"What?" He didn't seem the slightest bit faced about Naruto's staring, the pale hands reaching for a rough towel and rubbing his face dry.
"Still thinking about the reward?"
Naruto couldn't lie and so he nodded, his eyes still drifting down to the bruises. He couldn't stop staring at them, couldn't stop thinking about the scene he had witnessed at the saloon. It was bothering him more than he wanted to admit.
"...huh? Yeah", he murmured in return, rubbing his neck as he got up, starting to pull on his clothes. He'd have to go pee soon.
Much to his surprise Raven flashed him a quick smirk.
"Don't worry about that. I have another reward for you if you help me catch him."
Naruto blinked, surprised.
"What?"
"I'll explain later. There's a certain man I need to kill and his head is rather valuable. You can have the reward."
Feeling righteously suspicious Naruto spent the next fifteen minutes trying to drag any kind of details out of his new companion, but it was all in vain. Raven remained silent, giving him just murderous glared as if he was the man the other was after, and finally Naruto gave up, his attention shifting to other things.
"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" He gaped at the pale man still in his drawers and rubbed the wrinkle between his brows, trying to understand the odd behavior. They wouldn't be able to go anywhere if Raven was unclothed!
"I obviously don't have besides the dress, idiot."
"Huh? Hey, don't call me an idiot! How could I-"
"For a famous bounty hunter you're awfully stupid. Now go buy me some used clothes, and hurry up. We don't have time to waste. And bring something we can pack the dress to."
Naruto stood somewhat stricken as he was given orders by the man that had been woman just yesterday, a hint of anger pinching his insides.
"Don't boss me around like that! Why don't you just dress up in that corset and we could go..." The words died on his lips as Raven was suddenly there, standing right in front of him, the slender hands pressed to his chest. The brunette leaned closer, his face just a couple of inches away from Naruto's as he spoke, the blonde's gaze immediately dropping to the delicate lips.
"Because I'm not a woman. Now get out or I'll take your clothes and leave alone. Hurry up." He didn't step back after he was done, but his hands slid lower to Naruto's belt, tugging it demandingly.
The blonde gulped and his hands twitched, his memory stirring immediately. From this distance he couldn't see Raven's flat chest or the... the tell-tale thing in his drawers, he could almost imagine that the other was a woman again, and oh boy didn't this remind him of the dreams he had had of 'her' earlier. Feeling the hands working on his belt Naruto licked his lips and leaned a bit closer, his arms snaking around the thin waist and pulling the other man closer. He tilted his head, catching the startled look in the dark eyes before his eyes fluttered shut, Raven's breath ghosting on his lips already.
And of course, Raven was faster. Before he realized what was happening, Naruto found himself sitting on the floor, his chest aching from the punch it had taken. He blinked, trying to catch his breath, his eyes searching for Raven. They didn't have to search for long as the man was sitting on the floor, right in front of him, and the way he was gripping Naruto's collar explained why the blonde couldn't breath all that well.
"Don't ever try that again", the low voice hissed at him , the obsidian eyes flaming with anger as they remained staring at Naruto as if attempting to burn the blonde right there.
Naruto drew in a breath and shook his head, trying to pry the fingers off his collar.
"But I wasn't..."
The eyes in front of him narrowed and Raven was suddenly shaking him, yanking him even closer.
"I don't care what you saw at the saloon. What happened between me and Orochimaru doesn't matter, I am not a whore." He threw Naruto to the floor and stood up.
Naruto gasped for air, watching Raven as he walked over to the window, the pale fists pressed to his sides. His throat ached but air felt amazing in his lungs and he inhaled again, attempting to get up but finding his legs too weak. He shook his head, trying to clear it but accomplishing nothing, and with a frown on his face he moved to stare at Raven's back.
He felt so stupid. Naruto sincerely hadn't meant anything bad by it, he had just acted on an instinct and desire, it wasn't like he'd tried to take advantage of the other man. Yes, Raven was weak and he hadn't believed the brunet could push him off like that, but it didn't matter. He knew that Raven wasn't a woman and he hadn't meant to treat him like one, let alone like a whore. What he had seen Orochimaru, or Rattlesnake, do to him had nothing to do with this!
Naruto cleared his throat awkwardly, pushing himself off the floor.
"I'm... I'll go get you the clothes now. Don't go anywhere." He didn't expect to get an answer and therefore he just backed off to the door, locking it after himself. He was sure Raven wouldn't go anywhere anyway, but he wanted to make sure. The blonde had irritated the other a bit more than he had meant to, and there was no way he'd let the brunette run away because of that. And besides, that reward Raven had talked about had made him curious.
For such a small town, the place was surprisingly difficult when it came to finding clothes. The sun was already high when Naruto finally made his way back to the small hotel, carrying a bunch of clothes, shoes and an old sack for the dress. He wasn't exactly sure how big a sack the dress would need so he'd just gotten the biggest he'd found, silently thinking that if necessary he could stuff Raven into it if he started being too much of a nuisance. The idea had made him grin and he almost seriously contemplated it, just to get to see the look on the other's face when he'd be let out of the sack. Naruto was sure he'd have to be afraid for his balls for a while after that.
He unlocked the door, feeling slightly nervous as he stepped had spent only a day with Raven and he could already tell that the other could be somewhat... unpredictable. But as soon as he was in the room he saw that that the brunette hadn't moved an inch. He was still standing at the window, watching he small town outside, but his hands were now relaxed. Naruto let out a quiet sigh of relief and then dropped the clothes to the bed, feeling suddenly a bit fidgety. Would Raven still be mad at him?
"Raven?" he tried carefully, hating how helpless he felt around the other man, like he could do nothing right.
"Sasuke."
"What?"
"My name. Sasuke."
"Oh." Again, Naruto felt stupid. For all this time it had never occurred to him that Raven might have another name, that Raven was probably just his stage name. He hadn't thought of it so he hadn't asked, and now he felt like he should have.
"Sasuke, then." He tasted the name on his tongue, liking the way it sounded in his ears. It was also easy to believe that Rattlesnake had liked it, he could clearly imagine the man pronouncing the name with his hissing voice, practically licking the air as he did. A raw shudder ran down Naruto's spine and he shook his head, raising his gaze to Raven- no, Sasuke, again.
"I brought you clothes. And the sack for the dress. May I ask, what are you going to do with it? It's kind of big to drag along and it looks quite valuable, so I think we could sell it in the next bigger town. OR do you-"
"Shut up, idiot, you talk too much." The dark command shut Naruto up immediately, and the raven strolled forward, starting to go through the clothes. They were a bit weary and clearly used, but at least they were somewhat clean and intact. Maybe a tad too big but they would do for now, at least he wouldn't stand out in the crowd. And that idiot Foxface had even brought him a hat, how clever of him. Under the stare of the blue eyes Sasuke started to dress up, the clothes feeling odd and rough on his skin. He hadn't worn men's clothing in years and the materials used for his fancy dresses had been something entirely different. He bit his lip, refusing to complain, and forced himself to start adjusting to his new life. No matter how hard this would prove to be, it would always be better than staying with Orochimaru and working as his own private slave, because that was what he'd practically been. It was over now.
TBC
A/N: (el) hombre is Spanish for 'man'. I'm looking forward to your reactions to this chapter!