Chapter 3

The two guys had fallen asleep each on their side of the bed. But in the morning they woke up all tangled up together. They actually woke up pretty much at the same time, and it was a bit awkward as they chuckled nervously and pulled away. They were both wearing only their underwear.

Sasuke sat up and hugged his legs, resting his forehead against his knees. Then he winced because his left knee hurt. His entire body seemed to hurt as he let himself fall back against the pillow the next instant.

Naruto was watching him worriedly. He looked kinda pale – even more so than usual.

"Sasuke?"

He received a grunt as a reply.

"You okay?"

"Head hurts," he muttered as he closed his eyes and curled up on his side.

Naruto lay down on his back, and he folded his arms under his head.

"Sasuke?"

"What?"

Naruto turned his head, looking at the pale, bruised up back and the messy raven hair.

"You don't like your life here do you?"

"…"

"You really wanna come to Tokyo with me?"

"…Yeah." It was a mere whisper.

"You don't mind living with me for a little while? I can be kinda messy…"

Hinata was the one who always cleaned up, cooked and did the laundry… Naruto was kind of helpless by himself.

"You can't be worst than my four roommates believe me. And I won't just come and let you do everything. I'll help with the chores."

"You're really serious about this?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd be the one to change your mind."

Sasuke turned around and curled up on his other side to face him. Naruto hated seeing the bruise on his cheek, and of course the others on his body… If he could punch the guy who had done this again, he would.

"What do you plan to do in Tokyo?"

"Mm I guess I'll start with getting a job so I can pay you back. Any job will do. And then… I don't know. I'll improvise."

"That sounds good," Naruto said half-teasing.

"We'll see," Sasuke shrugged, "this is kinda surreal to me right now."

"Well I'll buy your ticket online today. Won't be so surreal anymore."

"You think they still have some left for your flight?"

"Probably."

"When do you leave exactly?"

"Tomorrow."

"Holy shit," Sasuke made a little smile, "this is going fast huh."

"Yeah, you'll need to pack up your stuff real quick."

"It's cool, I don't have much."

"Is there any furniture you wanted to bring? Cause I think that'd cost extra." Naruto shifted, and turned on his side as well so they were face to face.

"Nope, nothing, not even a bed. You know how I said I was used to sleeping on the floor on Wednesday night?"

"You've gotta be kidding me," blue eyes widened in disbelief, "you actually sleep on the floor every night?"

"Well on some blankets but yeah. Yahiko has a bedroom, Sasori and Deidara have the other one, Nagato's on the couch. And I'm on the floor."

"Fuck… but doesn't your back hurt?"

"Yeah," he admitted, chuckling lightly. "All the time."

"You want me to give you a massage?" he asked without thinking. "I'm really good at it. Or Hinata used to say that, anyway."

"Sure," Sasuke shrugged slightly and rolled on his stomach. "Show me what you can do."

The sheet was up to his lower back so it wasn't so awkward when Naruto sat above his thighs, with his legs on each side of Sasuke. He leaned down and pressed his palms onto his upper back. The skin there wasn't bruised so he applied a lot of pressure as he rolled his palms and started massaging him.

Sasuke closed his eyes and rested his face in his arms. He let out a small moan when Naruto massaged the back of his neck, brushing the long black locks aside.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah keep doing that, feels really good."

Naruto continued massaging his neck for a while then moved to his shoulders. His pale skin was smooth and soft, and also very warm. Naruto was enjoying this a bit too much… maybe. Memories of last night, when they were dancing so sensually came back to mind. He blushed and was thankful for the fact that Sasuke couldn't see him right now.

He tried to just concentrate on giving him a nice massage, and undoing the knots as much as possible. Pressing his fingers against his spine he slid them down all the way to his lower back very slowly. Then he went back up with his palms flat this time. He did this several times.

"Feels so fucking good," Sasuke whispered.

"I'm not a professional or anything," Naruto chuckled, "but I think you really needed this."

"No shit."

He laughed softly as he moved to different spots on Sasuke's back, always applying pressure and rubbing circles. He tried not to come too close to the bruised skin though. At some point Sasuke told him to stop.

"My turn," he said.

"W-What?"

Naruto removed himself from the slightly smaller male and they locked eyes as Sasuke sat up, looking more relaxed now. He had a glint in his eyes.

"Well let me show you my skills now. I used to work in a massage place, you know?"

"Really?" Naruto asked, genuinely interested.

"Well… it was a massage place just for men. Gay men. And we weren't doing just back massages but yeah. I'm sure you get the picture."

"How can you talk so casually about this?" Naruto's smile was gone.

"I needed the money," he said on a bored tone, "it was fine for a while, giving hand jobs, but then when they asked me to let the customers do full service with me I quit. It's as simple as that."

"I'm really sorry that you had such a harsh life, Sasuke…" he said sadly.

"It's fine Naruto don't worry your pretty self over it."

"…"

"Look at the bright side," he tilted his head, "now I'm really good at giving massages. Even more than you if I do say so myself."

Naruto couldn't help but smile again, "Okay, let's see about that then."

He lay face down and Sasuke sat on top of him – without any sheets. Naruto tried to relax nonetheless. It helped when Sasuke started massaging him. Damn, he really was good. His warm hands were so confident as they moved all over his back, pressing hard on his skin and tensed muscles to relax him as much as possible.

Just like Sasuke had done before, Naruto closed his eyes and rested his face in his folded arms. But then Sasuke instructed him otherwise.

"Put your arms so I can do them too…"

"All right…" he just rested his head against the pillow and placed his arms on both sides of his body instead. Sasuke massaged his arms completely, slowly and it felt so good. Every muscle was relaxed when he was done. Then he moved to his shoulders, his neck and his back again. It lasted a long time. Just when Naruto thought Sasuke was finished, he surprised him by lowering himself and massaging his legs.

When his skilled hands massaged his thigh Naruto tensed rather than relax.

"Sasuke, what are you…?"

"It doesn't feel good?" the raven sounded surprised.

"It's not that…"

"Oh," Sasuke stopped, "you're uncomfortable?"

Blue eyes opened slowly and he lifted himself up, turning his head to meet Sasuke's dark eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said simply, "is here fine then?"

He sat next to Naruto's body and proceeded to massage his calves.

"Yeah," Naruto chuckled. He just hadn't been very comfortable with Sasuke massaging so near his boxers… Maybe too comfortable would be a better term.

Naruto relaxed again as Sasuke used his skillful hands on his legs. The thing was, he hadn't gotten hard ever since Hinata had started being very sick. He hadn't had time, nor wanted to think about things like that. And even now, these past few weeks, not once had he thought of pleasuring himself. So the first time he had gotten hard, in weeks, no, months had been last night, when Sasuke was dancing with him. So yeah this whole thing was troubling… But maybe he shouldn't give it too much thought.

"Anyway, you want me to keep going or…?" Sasuke asked at some point.

"Mm no it's fine…" Naruto smiled as he slowly turned and sat up. "Thanks… you were right. You're very good at this. I feel sleepy now."

"Maybe we should sleep more," Sasuke glanced outside the window. The day was rather grayish.

"As tempting as that sounds," the blonde yawned, grabbing his cell from the bedside table and checking it, "we need to get your ticket today, I didn't bring my laptop, and you mentioned you didn't have a computer, so we need to go to a library or something, and also you need to pack your stuff."

"True… Hey Naruto you think you could come with me?"

Their eyes met, Sasuke was looking at him expectantly with big black eyes.

"It's just that, Deidara knows right? About Sasori fucking me. I have this blurry memory of that crazy jerk trying to punch me last night…"

"Yeah I stopped him though."

"I know, thank you," he said sincerely, "but you don't know Deidara… He's gonna try again. So I'm kinda freaked out about going there alone."

"Aw you want me to be your bodyguard?" Naruto smiled. He was a sucker for flattery so this friendship might just work.

"Well yeah sort of," Sasuke chuckled, "just for while I pack my stuff."

"No problem."

…

They took turns in the shower, and Naruto put on his dark blue jeans and white v-neck tee again. Sasuke ended up wearing the same clothes Naruto had lent him the day before as well; the gray jeans and long sleeve black tee.

So they headed to a nearby library first, Sasuke leading the way. They just used the computer and they were out of there in ten minutes. Then they grabbed breakfast on their way to the subway station. They were pretty much quiet the whole time. There was no need to talk. Naruto could tell that Sasuke was thankful, yet a little bit nervous. This was a big change in his life, happening fast. But they both knew it was for the best.

Personally Naruto was very happy about this. He was sure it would work out okay. He was a really nice guy, there was no need being modest about it. He easily got along with pretty much anyone, really. And with Sasuke it seemed they already had this sort of understanding, through art maybe, but also through their harsh lives. Even though they didn't know everything about the other yet, far from it, well there would be time for that and perhaps they could become very close friends.

Besides, he really needed company. Naruto got depressed when he lived alone. Especially after everything that happened… He couldn't be left alone. Through his depression there had been some pretty dark times. He had come close to having suicidal thoughts and it had scared him a lot. He was pretty sure having Sasuke around would help him out through all this.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked when they were in the train. It was pretty crowded so they were standing close to each other.

"Just that I'm glad we're gonna be roommies, even if it's just for a little while," Naruto smiled.

"I swear, you say the silliest things sometimes…"

Suddenly there was a sharp turn and since Naruto wasn't holding on to anything he fell into Sasuke's arms, who was himself leaning against the wall of the train. There was a brief moment during which he could smell the sweet scent of his hair… Why did it have to smell so good? He pulled away quickly.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay," Sasuke chuckled, glancing away.

Afterwards thankfully – or unfortunately, depending on the perspective, really – things went by without more incidents where they were forced to hug like that. Naruto decided to stop by the art exhibit center to get his jacket back. He thanked the person responsible of this building warmly for holding on to it. Turned out it wasn't that far from Sasuke's apartment. Well it was still a good thirty minutes walk but neither of them minded walking. It was actually pleasant.

Things stopped going smoothly when they got to the apartment. Only Yahiko was there. He was smoking weed as he sat on the messy sofa bed in front of the television. This apartment was indeed a disgusting mess. Clothes everywhere, but most importantly trash everywhere as well as empty bottles of beer and wine and several other alcohols.

"Where's my stuff?" Sasuke walked to the corner of the living room, panicked.

There was a piece of furniture that resembled a dresser, but as Sasuke opened the drawers frantically he saw that there was nothing in there.

"Sorry," Yahiko said, his red eyes betraying that he was high, "we tried to stop him…"

"Deidara did this? What did he do with my stuff?"

"It's outside in a box I think." The red-head answered as he kept his eyes on the television.

"Outside in a…" Sasuke was clearly starting to panic as he went to clench the window frame tightly, "We didn't see any box! What the hell…"

"Must have been stolen."

Naruto was getting angry now. He grabbed Yahiko by his collar and forced him to look at him, "Are you sure they put it in a box outside? Where outside exactly?"

"I don't know get the fuck off me, Deidara did this, not me!"

Naruto sighed as he let go of the drugged up guy. It seemed he wouldn't be very useful.

"Let's go outside, Sasuke. We can walk around the building a little and I'm sure we'll find…"

He interrupted himself when he saw that something wasn't quite right with Sasuke. His chest was heaving up and down extremely fast and he started tugging at his long black locks frantically. He looked like he was hyperventilating or something. Naruto walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, trying to lock eyes with him.

"Hey, calm down…"

"My…" he choked out, "My…" He couldn't say it.

Naruto's heart sank as he understood; Sasuke's violin. It was very precious to him, of course. What if it was lost? Naruto grabbed his wrists to stop him from tugging at his hair and hurting himself. This time he managed to make eye contact. Sasuke's dark gray eyes seemed so very desperate and confused.

"We'll find it. Let's go outside."

He blinked a few times and seemed to calm down a little, "Okay."

So they went outside in the slightly cold air. The sky was getting dark early today. They searched and searched around the apartment building but couldn't find anything. No box. Sasuke was starting to panic again and Naruto was worried. What the hell had happened to his things?

Naruto cursed loudly when he took a look at the small backyard area behind the building. There had been a fire here… and some… remnants. Like remnants of a burned violin case. As he got closer he saw that it had been opened and clearly the person who had done this had made sure to burn the instrument itself properly. It was completely ruined.

"Naruto?" Sasuke called and Naruto's heart clenched tightly in his chest. Damn it, why did this have to happen? What kind of sick fuck had done such a thing?

And of course Sasuke soon saw everything. He fell to his knees and pressed his hand to his lips as he frowned.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him," he whispered.

Naruto didn't know what to say. Clearly all of Sasuke's stuff had been burned down in some large bonfire. There were barely any remnants of clothes and such things. Either Yahiko didn't know about this or he had lied. It didn't really matter at this point.

Before either of them could speak there was the sound of a car pulling in the parking lot of the apartment building. Sasuke immediately got up to his feet.

"Naruto I…" Sasuke glanced in the direction of the parking and started walking quickly, blank with rage, "I think I'm really gonna kill him."

And Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted to stop him at this point.

Indeed it was Sasori and Deidara that got out of the car. When they saw Sasuke, glaring intensely with murderous intent and trembling in anger they seemed to get a little scared. But it didn't last long. The blonde lashed out at Sasuke.

"You fucking deserved what I did and you know it! How could you make Sasori cheat on me when you know we're having relationship problems and…"

Naruto cut him angrily, "I don't understand what the fuck is going on here! If that guy is the one who cheated on you," he pointed at both Sasori and Deidara, "then why the hell did you do such a thing to Sasuke?"

"Naruto, let me handle this," Sasuke said in a calm voice. But his actions weren't so calm when he literally grabbed Deidara and pushed him to the concrete. He bent over and pinned him there, raising his fist only to punch him hard. Deidara screamed in pain and Sasori grabbed Sasuke's arm to stop him from punching him repeatedly. Sasuke was shaking with rage as he spoke.

"I don't know what he told you! But he forced me. I tried to stop him but I couldn't!" At this point Sasori stepped away, looking nervous, letting go of Sasuke's arm, but he didn't punch Deidara again. He just continued yelling, and Deidara could only listen, "Everyone was too fucking passed out drunk to care! You included!" Sasuke gripped his collar tight and a tear rolled down his pale cheek. He was frowning as he continued, "And you had to burn my stuff! Don't get me wrong I don't really care about the clothes; I could've forgiven that but my violin? You know how precious it was to me! My mother fucking gave me that before she died you fucking bastard!"

A few other tears rolled down Sasuke's cheeks as he just lifted Deidara by the collar before pushing him back down onto the concrete harshly. Then he removed himself from the blonde, and glared at Sasori as though daring him to say anything. Sasori stayed silent.

Deidara's cheek was bruising up where Sasuke had hit him. He slowly got up to his feet and remained a few meters away from both Sasuke and Sasori.

"Is it true?" he stared at the red-head, "What he just said, is it true?"

Sasori said nothing.

"Fuck," Deidara hissed, clenching his fists, "we're so over, for good this time… But I'll deal with you later. Sasuke," he looked at the raven, "I'm sorry. You know that's not what he told me… So okay, I'm an idiot for believing him…"

"Dei…" Sasori started but he was interrupted.

"Shut the fuck up, you." Deidara was fuming, "Anyway, you know how I am, Sasuke, I get crazy, okay? I'm sorry," he sniffed and searched through his jacket pocket frantically, "here." He took out his wallet and then proceeded to take out a couple bills – quite a good amount actually if Naruto saw correctly – which he handed to Sasuke. "That's the money that was left in your case. And the rest is cash I made from a drug deal today. I hope you can buy some stuff."

Sasuke hesitated. He looked like he was about to decline but then he looked over his shoulder at Naruto. Finally the raven sighed shakily and he took the money.

"I hope you two sick fucks end up killing each other one day," he tried to keep his voice from trembling as he walked past the blonde and red-head, Naruto following closely.

They walked away quickly. It started raining just when they hit the sidewalk. They didn't look behind but surely Deidara and Sasori were hurrying inside. Naruto hoped for Sasuke's sake that he would never have to deal with these people again.

As they walked toward the nearest train station Sasuke shoved the bills to Naruto.

"I don't want it," he said without looking at the blonde, "I accepted it so I could give it to you. For everything you're doing for me. I'm really glad I met you," he was crying but he probably hoped the rain was hiding it.

Naruto accepted the money without a word, putting it in his pocket before it could get soaked. As the rain got more intense he pulled his jacket hood over his head. Sasuke didn't have one though but he didn't seem to care as the cold rain soaked his hair and ran down his face along with the tears.

"I'm really glad I met you," he said again in a trembling voice, "because you're giving me a chance to… get away from all this… shit. Fucking shitty place, shitty friends, shitty life," he chuckled, and sniffed, "I mean, I guess, what I'm trying to say is thanks, yeah, I appreciate."

As they passed a store Naruto sighed and grabbed Sasuke's arm. He pulled him closer so they could both be standing under the rooftop protecting them from the rain. Some people were walking fast in the streets with umbrellas, some cars were driving by. But Naruto didn't pay much attention to that. He let go of Sasuke's arm and sighed again.

"Some of that money was yours, you know? The tips from your work..."

"I don't want it I'd rather give it to you," he whispered, looking down, wet black hair hiding his eyes.

"But you're gonna need to buy some stuff…"

Sasuke suddenly fell to the floor and laughed, clutching his head in his hand. Naruto was worried he was going mad or something. He sat next to him. Poor guy was laughing and crying at the same time.

"I'm such a fucking idiot… I didn't even go in the bathroom to grab like, my toothbrush, deo, that kinda crap. Or maybe he burned it too anyway. Can they even burn stuff like that? Who does that, right?"

Naruto didn't know what to say. He just placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and squeezed gently.

"It's okay… we can…"

"I'm not going back there," he hissed.

"No I was gonna say we can go buy you some stuff right now, stores are still open."

"I guess," he sniffed and rubbed his eyes, sighing shakily. "I'm such a fucking idiot… I should've known… Deidara might do something like that. I should've brought my violin to your hotel room… I usually always keep it on me. But I wasn't sure if I'd sleep over… Fuck… I can't believe he fucking burned it."

The rain didn't seem like it was gonna stop pouring any time soon. Naruto shifted closer to Sasuke and kept his hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"I'll buy you another one. It'll be your early Christmas gift okay? Besides I need you to be able to play. It's my new found inspiration." Naruto was trying to make him laugh at this point – or smile at least. "I didn't tell you but I secretly just want you to come with me so you can play for me all the time."

It took some time, it seemed, for what Naruto had said to register in Sasuke's troubled mind. But it did. And Sasuke did smile. A beautiful smile actually, and Naruto was glad.

"You're so fucking nice to me," Sasuke whispered and suddenly he pressed himself close. Naruto took the hint and wrapped his arm around his thin shoulders. The raven buried his face in his neck and wrapped his own arm across Naruto's waist. "Is that even possible? To randomly meet someone so fucking nice like that?"

"Apparently," Naruto chuckled, glad to know he was 'fucking nice' and he almost kissed his soft, damp black hair but he caught himself. Damn, what was wrong with him? He needed to be careful. Holding him comfortingly like this was okay, but nothing more, it would be weird. Maybe being suddenly close to someone was messing with his mind. For five years he had been in a relationship, done small gestures like this with Hinata… so maybe that was it. He'd have to talk with his therapist about this.

"No it's not possible," Sasuke was rambling, "I'm probably crazy, and you don't even exist. Like, you're in my head, like in that movie when the guy hangs out the whole time with his friends but at the end you find out they're not even real. Yeah, like that. And right now these people walking are looking at me weird cause I'm hugging the freaking empty air."

"I think they're looking at us weird cause we're hugging each other in front of some random store in the pouring rain."

"No you're definitely not real," Sasuke's tone was half-teasing as he pulled away. But his smile was gone and his black eyes were sad again. He let himself fall back across the dirty porch, his arm flying over his head as he closed his eyes. "Fuck," he whispered, "what am I gonna do? I got nothing. Except leather pants, and a stupid shirt with fucking fishnet sleeves. And a hot ass blonde imaginary friend. Oh well, I guess it's not so bad huh?"

Naruto didn't even know if he was kidding at this point. He rolled his eyes and grabbed Sasuke's arm, pulling him up. Sasuke was caught by surprise and almost lost his balance. Naruto steadied him.

"Could an imaginary friend do that? Me thinks not."

"I guess you're real then huh?"

"Quite." He chuckled.

Sasuke sighed, all traces of smile or amusement disappearing from his face. He just looked emotionally drained now, and his dark eyes were empty.

"Let's go."

"But, the rain…"

"I don't care. It's not that far to the station."

Naruto nodded and they started walking quickly again. He was worried about Sasuke catching a cold but there was nothing he could do about it right now.

Later, on the way to the hotel room they stopped at a small convenience store and Sasuke got a toothbrush, deo and underwear. They also got some food and drinks.

"They lost your luggage at the airport huh?" The guy said in understanding. Well, they weren't far from the hotel after all.

"Yeah," Sasuke lied.

Before Sasuke could take out his wallet Naruto paid with the money Deidara had given them. Sasuke didn't protest. They grabbed the plastic bags and finally made their way to the hotel.

In Naruto's room, Sasuke announced he was going to take a shower. While he was doing this Naruto took out the food and drinks from the bags. He was starving. It was just sandwiches and soda but it was just fine.

Naruto also changed his clothes, placing the wet ones across the chair and desk in hope that they would dry. Instead he put on comfy black sweat pants and a white undershirt.

Soon Sasuke got out of the bathroom with the white towel wrapped low on his hips. Without a word he picked up his new toothbrush and deo and returned inside. Naruto sighed; Sasuke looked extremely depressed. Well of course he would… what had happened to him really sucked. Naruto had no idea what to say or what to do to cheer him up.

So they just ate in silence for a few moments. The rain was still pouring outside, and the sky was dark. Naruto sat on the bed while Sasuke sat across the room still wearing just the towel.

"I can't believe your roommate did that," Naruto said at some point, unable to handle the silence any longer, "I'm sorry, I had to say it. That guy is fucking sick in the head."

"Deidara? Yeah. He's a fucking nutcase."

They exchanged a small smile and then there was another moment of silence. Eventually Sasuke put his half eaten sandwich away and just lay down on the floor, folding one arm above his head. Naruto's eyes widened when he realized that, with all the movement, the towel had loosened and now it was threatening to fall completely. In other words, one end of the towel rested on the floor, while the other barely covered his junk.

"Um, Sasuke…"

He folded his leg lazily to hide his dick, "Sorry about that. I guess," he chuckled, "if you want to draw me naked here's your chance. I'm too fucking lazy to get dressed right now. That and I don't have any fucking clothes."

"I'll pass…"

Sasuke turned his head and sent him an intense glance. Those eyes, they were just entrancing sometimes, Naruto thought.

Quietly he said, "You were drawing me in my underwear the other day, weren't you?"

Naruto felt a light blush covering his cheeks and he bit his lip, "Yeah I guess I was… that's because you were playing."

"So you're only inspired when I play then? Huh," he sighed, "not like I can do anything about that right now. Would've loved to make a little experiment."

"What experiment?"

"Me," he smirked, still looking straight at Naruto, "naked, playing. You, drawing."

Naruto was blushing madly at this point. He also put away the wrappings for the sandwich and sat cross-legged as he leaned against the pillow.

"Another time I guess," Sasuke looked at the ceiling. "I should tell you… I find it really flattering that I inspire you."

He lazily ran his fingers through his hair. He was so gorgeous right now, even with the bruises on his pale, skinny body. His profile was so perfect, his parted lips so beautiful. How could any artist not be inspired? That combined with the music had indeed been simply too much.

The raven continued, "I wish I had my violin right now. Whenever I feel shitty I just play to get my mind off things but… yeah."

"I know what you mean. I draw but… lately when I was depressed and I lost my inspiration it was tough. Like, I didn't know what to do with myself."

"Yeah… when you have one passion in life, and you lose it, what are you supposed to do right?"

"Find another one," Naruto whispered. "I guess…"

"I guess."

"What about you what would you do if you couldn't play music?"

"No idea," Sasuke was still looking at the ceiling, his hand in his hair. Naruto could see his piercings right now. It looked good on him. He felt like drawing his profile. Damn, he really felt like drawing him right now after all.

So he picked up his sketch book.

"Don't move," he said, "stay like this."

Sasuke laughed, "You serious?"

"Yeah…" Naruto blushed but he didn't care. "We can continue talking while I do this."

"I'd probably try to go back to school," Sasuke eventually said quietly.

Naruto was concentrated, the pencil running across the sheet as he looked constantly up and down. Sasuke was being obedient and laying still, his leg folded, the towel carelessly unwrapped, his hand in his hair. He looked… sinfully good. Naruto wondered what the hell his strange obsession with drawing him was but he liked it. He liked trying to reproduce Sasuke's beauty on paper, even though he knew it could never come close. But perhaps the challenge was what attracted him the most.

"Maybe do what my brother does… if he still does it I don't even know."

"And what's that?" Naruto asked softly.

"Computer engineering, I think. So maybe something like that."

"Ha, you could never do that."

"Why not?" Sasuke frowned slightly but he didn't move.

"Cause you're an artist. Just like me."

"Idiot. There's more to a person than just one hobby."

"It's not just a hobby. When you're so talented and you do it all the time, it kinda defines you. And you need to use that creativity you can't just let it sleep it will make you miserable. You certainly can't just decide you're gonna be a computer person all of a sudden."

"I don't know…"

"Let me put it this way; you'd be bored out of your mind."

"I guess that does make sense," Sasuke chuckled.

"Now stop moving."

"I'm not even moving. And my arm hurts. What about when I was playing? I was moving and you drew me anyway." Suddenly Sasuke tensed and he sat up with a start.

"What's wrong?" Naruto was alarmed. Sasuke had paled considerably.

"The drawing, fuck." He didn't seem to care that Naruto could now see him in all his glory. Naruto couldn't help but look, because that's what guys do, they compare. Sasuke was big, not too much, kind of just perfect. Damn did everything have to be so perfect about this guy?

The blonde glanced away, blushing. He still found him beautiful, of course. Even more so perhaps. What the hell was wrong with him? Was he really having a bi-curious phase now? Because of one sexy as hell nineteen year old guy? He was so troubled that he didn't even understand what Sasuke was talking about.

"I fucking loved that drawing!" He got up and clutched his damp black hair.

"Sasuke could you, like…" Naruto grabbed the pack of black boxer briefs that Sasuke had bought earlier and he tore it open, before throwing one at him.

Without a word Sasuke grabbed it and put them on. But then he leaned against the wall and let himself crawl to the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Are you deaf? The drawing! The one you gave me. It was in the fucking case, which is fucking burned!" He hid his face in his hands, sighing shakily.

Naruto smiled sadly, "Don't worry, I'll draw you a thousand more times to make up for it 'kay? And I'll give them all to you if you want."

"I liked that one. The first one," he said stubbornly, almost childishly. "It was perfect. I thought that…" his voice became shy as he hid his face, "if I ever made a… an album, then I'd use that picture."

"Aw Sasuke. I'll make you another one. I promise."

"It won't be the same," he looked up, dark eyes staring at Naruto through raven bangs.

"No, but it will be even better, kay?"

"Why are you always so nice?" Sasuke shook his head slightly, "I mean… that's just… I've never met anyone like you before. I mean can you possibly get any nicer?"

He had meant it as a joke for sure, but Naruto answered anyway. He knew it would make him react.

"Well let's see… every time I get a paycheck I donate some of it to an orphanage…"

"You're kidding," Sasuke's eyes widened.

"It's true," he laughed. The raven was too funny. "I went there as a kid so… Then my godfather decided to move back to Japan so he could raise me."

"So you lost your parents too huh? You didn't tell me that. What happened?"

Naruto tilted his head, some blonde bangs falling into his face, "You have to tell me about your scar first."

Sasuke touched the pale line across his chest and sighed, glancing away, "After my parents died I went to live with my uncle. He's the one I practiced sparring with. And this happened."

"How? An accident? Why the hell were you using real swords?"

"He was kind of extreme." Sasuke locked eyes with him again, "But it wasn't an accident. There's a way to practice, even with real swords, without risking your life. I mean you've got to be careful. My uncle... he actually tried to kill me."

Naruto swallowed hard, then licked his lips, frowning, "But… why? Why would he do that?"

"Long story."

"Why the hell would he want to kill you I don't understand… That's fucked up."

"Yeah well he was a fucked up guy. I'll tell you another time 'kay? I'm sleepy."

And he just let himself fall to the floor. Naruto was still frowning, but for a different reason.

"What the hell are you doing bring your ass over here."

"Or what?" he said sleepily, "You'll carry me again?"

"So you were awake!" Naruto pointed accusingly.

"Ha! No. I always fall asleep like, really quickly… But yeah in the morning I woke up in the bed so I figured…"

"Oh. How come you fall asleep so quickly? I wish I had that… ability." He didn't know how else to call it.

No answer.

"Sasuke? Oh you've got to be kidding."

Naruto got up and went to sit next to him, shaking his shoulder.

"I'm not carrying you. Oh come on you can't fall asleep that fast!"

Naruto poked his side – not where he was bruised, he wasn't that evil – repeatedly and eventually Sasuke's eyes cracked open and he smiled, holding his side and begging him to stop. He curled up on himself and crawled away from Naruto.

"Okay, I'm awake," he chuckled, still holding his waist.

"You're that ticklish huh?"

"No," Sasuke said pleadingly, "I'm not."

"You so are. Anyway, I'm too tired so just get your ass in the bed I'm not carrying you."

"I know you idiot," Sasuke got up, "I was just messing with you."

"Nah you secretly wanted me to carry you."

"What the hell, you're so stupid," he went to his side of the bed and crawled under the sheets.

"You wanted your hot ass blonde imaginary friend to carry you," Naruto teased as he flicked off the light.

"Shut up I was emotionally vulnerable when I said shit like that. Don't use it against me or I'll stop thinking that you're nice."

"You'll never stop thinking that. I bought the plane ticket for you."

Each was on his side, and their backs were facing one another. Naruto was smiling throughout the entire exchange.

"I gave you Deidara's drug deal money to pay for that."

"No but I used it to buy the food and your undies and shit."

"Moron, that wasn't expensive there's a bunch of money left and you know it."

"But I'll have to use it to buy you some new clothes though."

"I can get a job and buy clothes for myself."

"And what you're gonna go to your interview wearing only boxers?"

"Yes."

Naruto laughed. He didn't want the argument to be over just yet. He wanted to continue talking to him. He didn't know what it was about Sasuke… he made him smile and laugh constantly. That hadn't happened to him in a long while. Even his friends back home, no matter how they had tried to cheer him up, nothing had done it.

"What's your last name?"

"Uchiha, you?"

"Uzumaki."

"What's your godfather's name?"

"Jiraiya, why?"

"Just curious… is he gonna find it weird when he finds out I'm living with you for a little while?"

"Probably," Naruto admitted, "but it's no big deal."

"What about your friends? You seem like a cool, social guy. You must have infinite of friends."

"Maybe not infinite – not even a lot actually. Quality over quantity right?"

"Tell me about them."

"One of my best friend's Kiba," Naruto shifted more comfortably as he placed his arm under his pillow, taking a deep breath, "he's a veterinarian. He's obsessed with his dogs, totally crazy about them."

"I hate dogs."

"Me too," Naruto admitted, chuckling, "I like cats better."

"Yeah they're cute. And they're antisocial just like me so I always thought I'd get along well with a cat. We can ignore each other all day and be happy about it."

"You're kinda weird you know that?"

"We should get a cat."

"Um…"

"I'm sorry. I don't even know why I said that. I'm really tired right now. It's been a rough day… this, being here with you, kinda feels surreal; I know I told you already but… yeah. I'm probably not making much sense."

"It's okay," Naruto said sincerely, "I understand."

"How could you? I don't even understand myself. This is all new to me. The whole, talking to a stranger thing. Well we're not really strangers anymore I guess. The whole talking to someone thing is new, to be honest. I never usually talk to anyone, about anything. So yeah I know I'm being weird."

"Well I think it's pretty cool that you found someone you're comfortable to talk with."

"And that someone happens to be you."

"Well I'm okay with that."

"Maybe it's a weirdo phase and it'll pass. Well if it does feel free to not recognize me and kick me out of your house. Cause I swear if it passes and I become my normal self you'll probably hate me."

"Why would I hate you?"

"Cause I'm a jerk. You'll understand if it happens."

"I hope it won't then… but even if it does… I don't think I'll hate you."

"Mm… I'd hate myself."

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true."

Naruto decided to change the subject, "We can get a cat by the way. I don't mind. And then when you find a job and a place of your own we can decide who keeps it."

"Yeah. Maybe we can share it. One week at your place, one week at my place, you know."

"Sure," he chuckled.

There was a moment of silence. A few minutes passed. Naruto didn't feel sleepy. Well, they did have a flight early in the morning so he probably should try to get some sleep. But he wanted to continue talking.

"Sasuke…?"

No answer. Naruto smiled fondly before turning around. Sasuke's breathing was even. He was sleeping for real this time. Without thinking Naruto lifted tan fingers and lightly touched the silk-soft black hair. Then he pulled his hand back and shifted more comfortably into the mattress, closing his eyes.

Hey guys so thanks so much for reading and thanks so much for the reviews, keep them coming please! Lots of love