Chapter 11

Naruto felt pretty worn out on Tuesday evening. He hadn't had much sleep the night before, and then he'd had a long day at work. On top of that Sai had been bothering him. He wanted to go on another friendly date, probably to bond over the fact that they had the same therapist now or something. Naruto had no idea. That guy was weird sometimes. But Sai was pretty insistent so before he knew it Naruto had agreed to go out for drinks Friday after work.

When he got back home his good mood came back all at once, because apparently Sasuke had some good news. Standing in the hall, Sasuke smiled, one foot lifted and placed flat on the wall behind him, as he watched Naruto take off his shoes.

"I got a phone call from the clinic," Sasuke shrugged and didn't prolong the suspense, "I'm fine."

Naruto's face broke into a grin and he just hugged him without thinking. But then he realized he could feel Sasuke's warmth under his thin black shirt, and his hair smelled really good. He started feeling a bit nervous, and he hated himself for it; he should just be happy for his friend. But apparently he couldn't even hug him without feeling weird.

"I guess I'm lucky," said Sasuke in a low voice. "Not everyone is."

Naruto was pulling away, but he was still smiling. "That's so great."

"So what's up?" Sasuke looked like he didn't want to talk about it anymore. So Naruto cleared his throat.

"Nothing much. Ready for the driving lessons?"

"I don't know," Sasuke admitted as he shoved his hands in his skinny jeans pockets, "I've been having a few nightmares."

"What?"

"Yeah that I like, crashed your car and stuff."

Naruto raised a brow. "Crashed my car and stuff? That's not really reassuring."

Sasuke considered this, then shrugged. "It'll be fine. They're just stupid dreams. As long as you teach me properly."

"Are you doubting my teaching abilities?" Naruto was offended. "I'm really good so don't worry. I taught a lot of people to drive with manual transmission. I'm like an expert. I taught Kiba, Sakura, and… Hinata."

He made his way across the hallway to the kitchen, Sasuke following quietly after him. Naruto opened the fridge to examine its content. He was surprised to see a lot of fresh food in there.

"I went grocery shopping earlier," Sasuke explained, leaning against one of the counters and glancing at Naruto sideways. He cleared his throat. "So none of them crashed your car, then?"

"No," Naruto answered, trying to keep the mood light.

He picked out some items from the fridge—mostly just snacks though. He was too hungry to actually cook something. While he ate Sasuke picked up Keiko, who had been trotting in the kitchen. He caressed the little animal before she apparently got mad for no reason and decided to attack Sasuke's hand.

"Ow," he laughed and dropped her. Naruto watched as he put the tip of his finger in his mouth briefly; maybe it had been bleeding a little.

"Stupid cat," Naruto said.

"It's okay I had it coming. I think cats in general don't really like being picked up like that."

When Naruto was done eating they got ready to go outside, for Sasuke's driving lesson. Naruto could tell Sasuke was nervous even though he tried to hide it, and it amused him. He remembered his first time learning to drive a manual, in his case Jiraiya had taught him. He'd been a really horrible teacher and it had taken Naruto forever to get the hang of it.

Naruto brought his orange eclipse to a quiet residential area. It was late so there weren't many cars in these streets. They switched places, and Sasuke checked if he had to adjust the mirrors first, but there wasn't a big difference in their height. He sighed as he touched the wheel kind of hesitantly. Naruto had turned off the engine so that Sasuke could do this from the start.

"Are you scared?" Naruto teased. "It won't bite, you know? It's just a car."

"I'm just preparing." Sasuke tilted his head, annoyed. He glanced at the rear view mirror but there was no car in sight. The night was cold and quiet. The apartment buildings lining the street all looked perfectly alike in the dark.

"You have to push the clutch to start it," he explained and Sasuke nodded.

"I know that much."

So he did just that without a problem. "You keep your foot there to shift too. You can put it in first gear, right there." He touched Sasuke's hand to guide his movements. They exchanged a quick glance but Sasuke averted his eyes quickly.

"All right, and then I've got to release it slowly or something, I think?"

"Yeah exactly. And you press on the gas pedal at the same time. Just give it a try. Take your time."

Sasuke gave way too much gas before releasing the clutch and the engine made a worrying noise. Startled, Sasuke just let go of everything and the engine died. He was freaking out a bit but Naruto just laughed.

"Shit, I'm sorry."

"No it's fine. Try again, just slower."

"Okay…" When it came to releasing the clutch, and pushing on the gas he seemed to already understand how it worked a little better.

He got it perfectly right on the third try, and Naruto praised him, impressed. Sasuke advanced in the street, wheels crunching the pavement at a slow pace while the headlights washed over the neighborhood.

"You can shift again… don't forget to push the clutch… Oh and don't touch the gas pedal when you shift…"

He tried to explain as best as he could things that came so naturally to him now—which wasn't that easy. But Sasuke was good at this. He caught up very quickly, which made things easier for Naruto. After a few minutes Sasuke was already getting better at driving the manual transmission car.

Sasuke was a confident guy when he wanted to be. Tonight was one of those times, apparently. It could be infuriating, the way he was good at something on the first try and just knew it. But Naruto didn't mind. At least he wouldn't be too worried about his car on Thursday night. Sasuke smirked when he stopped at a sign, and then started advancing again completely smoothly. Naruto was smiling too; it was endearing really. It was slightly less endearing when Sasuke killed the engine at another stop sign further on the street and cursed loudly.

"Hey it's normal!" Naruto insisted. "You need some time to get used to it. I was starting to think that you'd lied to me about this being your first time."

"But I don't wanna fuck up your car!"

"You won't, not just with that. Just keep going."

It started raining but they kept at it.

"You're learning like, so much faster than I did," he admitted.

Sasuke just gave a slight shrug. But Naruto could tell he was enjoying this. At some point he parked on the side of the street, and they stepped out to switch seats again. Naruto nudged him playfully when he walked past him. They drove back home. Sasuke put on some music on the radio.

"A remix of this song played at the bar yesterday," he said, "I really like their music selection it's pretty great…"

"You're really determined to work there aren't you?" Naruto sighed.

"Well yeah I feel like it's my only option right now," he looked out the window at the buildings lining the street, "are you coming this weekend? Suigetsu said he'd be there Friday night."

"When did you talk to Suigetsu?"

"Well we've been texting."

"Oh… um, I guess I could come." He remembered Friday night he was supposed to go to the restaurant with Sai. Oh well, maybe he could use this as an excuse to cancel. It wasn't that he hated Sai, but he found him kind of awkward.

"Cool," Sasuke said simply. There was something underneath his casual tone. Eagerness, maybe. But Naruto wasn't always good at discerning these things.

Then later, as they got back inside the house, shaking off their soaked jackets, Sasuke informed, "I'm also going to Suigetsu's sparring club thing eventually. Like, not tomorrow cause I need to practice again, right? And Saturday I'll probably be working… But maybe Wednesday next week."

"That's great." Naruto smiled but deep inside he was a bit worried that Sasuke would be spending so much time with Suigetsu.

…

The next day, Naruto got back from work a little bit earlier so they had more time to go practice. This time Sasuke drove in busier streets, and he pulled it off all right. Naruto was really proud of him. Sasuke was way more relaxed already as he drove, and they even listened to music and talked a bit. Mostly Naruto just told him about some interesting projects he was working on right now.

"Since Christmas is coming up next month there's so much work to do," he was saying, "some new manga magazines coming up, it's gonna be crazy. I've been assigned to help with some manga authors for their backgrounds too. They always need extra help to meet the deadlines…"

Thoughtful, Sasuke said, "I wish I had a passion that allowed me to have a steady job too."

"But maybe you can find something, when you get your violin, right?"

"I don't think so," he said calmly, "I'm not good enough."

"That's not true! You're really good!"

"I told you this before… I stopped taking lessons at twelve. For the rest I'm self taught. But that's not enough. The music industry isn't an easy one."

"You shouldn't say that. And nothing's stopping you from taking lessons now. When's your violin supposed to arrive anyway?"

"Next week…" He said in a low voice and they stopped talking after that.

At around 11 pm they were watching some drama on TV. Actually their movie was finished and they were just too lazy to move from the couch. They didn't really notice at first, but after a while they ended up sitting rather close. Naruto was actually slouched on one side, leaning his back into a pillow tucked in the corner, and Sasuke was in the middle with his legs folded to the side, so that he was kind of leaning toward Naruto a little.

Naruto found Sasuke's profile and black hair more interesting to watch than the drama show actually. Also, as his blue gaze drifted downward, he noticed how low Sasuke's skinny jeans were on his hips, and he found the smooth pale skin of his lower back to be quite an interesting sight as well.

Then he realized Sasuke was staring right back. As they were both caught they quickly glanced away. Naruto realized his heart was beating a little faster than normal. Why did this keep happening?

"Hey, are you okay?" Sasuke asked him calmly.

Well he indeed looked calm, but as Naruto locked eyes with him he wasn't so sure. Maybe there was something troubling Sasuke as well. This was so confusing… And they still hadn't talked about what had happened at the party.

"Naruto…" he spoke softly, glancing away, "I'm sorry to say this but… you're so easy to read sometimes. When you give me that look… I know you're freaking out." He sighed. "I know my being here is freaking you out."

"No, of course not." He tried to deny it, but Sasuke wasn't buying it.

"It's okay. But… maybe it'll pass? Right? Or if it doesn't… I can hurry up and find a place of my own. The apartments around the bar looked small and cheap—well, as cheap as they get in the city. Something a bartender could afford, you know."

"Okay, but you can stay here for as long as you need."

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?"

"…Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Naruto didn't push it. He preferred not to, anyway.

…

On Thursday evening there wasn't much time to just hang out or talk for the two roommates. When Naruto got back from work, Sasuke had to leave almost right away.

"Text me when you get there okay?" Naruto insisted. "I wanna make sure you make it there in one piece."

"I will," Sasuke replied with a glint in his eyes. "And just admit it already you're just worried about your car. You love that thing way too much, Naruto. You should talk to your therapist about it, really."

"All right, you caught me."

He was granted a small smile from Sasuke, which was always fun. He had his hand on the door knob. Tonight he was wearing low rise jeans that hugged his hips really tightly.

"My eyes are up here Naruto."

He tried to brush it off, but his face was heating up a bit. "I just, um, I was just thinking that you're kind of lucky you can pull off clothes like that. Most guys couldn't." "You could. You'd look hot with pants like these."

"I don't think so."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke was amused. "Look at you. You're a tall skinny guy with a nice ass. How could you possibly not look good in tight black pants?"

Naruto couldn't help being a little flustered at that. He scratched his hair and looked away. "Aren't you late for work?"

"Yeah, see ya later. Or not I guess. You'll be sleeping."

"No I'll wait."

"What are you my dad? You don't have to wait up."

"All right. Just go, don't be late."

Naruto held the door open for him and watched as Sasuke walked over to the car and disappeared inside it. Cold air crept inside the house making Naruto shiver, so he closed the door. He heard the car drive away smoothly, which reassured him.

Tonight, again, he worked for a while downstairs. Then he went to his bedroom and fell on his bed with his laptop and a cup of instant ramen. He watched some streams of League of Legends players who were much better than he'd ever be at the game. He just couldn't sleep.

How was Sasuke's night going? Was that bar crowded on Thursday nights or not? Naruto wondered how it would be the next day. He had yet to tell Sai he couldn't go to the restaurant with him. Well, truth be told, he could always go to the restaurant and then head over to the bar. But he wasn't sure he wanted to spend some alone time with his awkward colleague.

Aside from that, he had received a text from Sakura today. She invited him to go see a movie some time. He hadn't replied yet. He supposed he could go see a movie with her—as friends. After all, he liked Sakura. Kind of. As a friend. He just really needed to make sure she understood that important detail.

Life used to be so much simpler for Naruto, when Hinata was still here with him. They would spend all of their evenings together, no questions asked. They didn't really bother to go on dates anymore—or rarely anyway. But that was perfectly fine. Naruto was a pretty social guy, although maybe less now than he used to be when he was a teenager, but he also just liked staying home with the person he loved. Now that that person was gone, he supposed he might as well try to spend some time with his friends.

He'd rather chill with Kiba and Shikamaru, like they used to do, though. Because with Sakura he was afraid it would lead to her developing feelings for him which he couldn't return. On a whim, Naruto actually texted Kiba and Shikamaru to ask them if they were doing anything that weekend, or if they wanted to hang out. Now he just had to wait for their reply.

Watching streams was actually a time consuming activity, and hours went by rather quickly, until Sasuke got back home. He probably assumed Naruto was asleep because he was clearly trying to make as little noise as possible.

Naruto stepped out of his bedroom and glanced down the stairs at Sasuke. He seemed surprised.

"You're still up?" He said, a hand in his messy black hair. "It's four in the morning…" His voice had that husky edge it often had after long tiring nights.

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged, "so how was it?"

"Fine," he sighed, "but that bartender—I swear… I'm gonna have to set things straight. Since he helped me get in, he probably thinks I'm gonna let him fuck me or something."

He yawned as he walked past the stairs and toward the living room. Naruto rapidly made his way downstairs and followed him. Sasuke had flicked on the light and plopped down on the sofa bed, his small leather jacket still hugging his lithe frame. He leaned back onto his hands as he looked up at Naruto tiredly, tilting his head. Some of his hair was tucked behind his ear and Naruto caught a glimpse of his silver piercings.

"Why do you always attract those kinds of people?" Naruto stepped further inside the room, kicking aside a controller that had been left on the floor.

"Whoa, what's your problem? Those kinds of people?" Sasuke shook his head. "Are you homophobic now? I guess I'm going to move out sooner than I thought."

Naruto froze. Had he really said that? That wasn't what he meant. "I just—"

"Forget it Naruto. I'm tired." He shrugged off his jacket and threw it across the coffee table. The cat was already on the sofa bed, ready to sleep next to Sasuke.

Naruto noticed he was wearing the tight black t-shirt with fishnet sleeves; the one he had been wearing that night they went out in a club and danced together back in Kyoto. Images of that night—Sasuke being tipsy and dancing with him—flashed through Naruto's mind for a moment and he stepped forward without thinking.

"That's not what I meant, okay? I just worry about you. I meant… why do you always attract people that want to hurt you?"

"I don't know." Sasuke's voice was soft now. But his expression was unreadable. "I guess I have… a certain attitude. They probably think I'm just playing hard to get, when really I'm not interested. Maybe it turns them on."

"Well if you need a bodyguard I'll be there tomorrow," Naruto offered.

"Thanks, but I don't think I need a bodyguard. It's a bar not jail; no one's gonna rape me don't be paranoid." He petted the little ball of black fur and she started purring.

"I don't know how that cat loves you so much. She hates me. You know earlier she came in my bedroom just to try and chew my laptop charger. Real nice."

Sasuke stared. "You're aware she doesn't know it's a laptop charger, right?"

"I still think she hates me."

"Whatever. You should go to sleep. You look exhausted. Wouldn't want you to pass out at work tomorrow."

"That's my line," Naruto replied.

…

Sai kind of invited himself to the bar on Friday afternoon. It sort of just happened.

"So where should we go for drinks later?" Sai had asked as he stood in the doorframe to Naruto's small office.

Naruto leaned back in his seat, glancing sideways at the view from the eleventh floor window. The day was sunny but cold. Not a cloud in sight. "I can't really go… I'm sorry… My roommate needs my car to get to his new job tonight…" He had been working on his excuse and he personally thought it was fair.

But Sai was unfazed. "Oh? Where does he work?"

"Some gay… bar…"

"What's the name?"

Naruto looked down at his sketches in progress on his desk. "I think he said it's Aquarius…"

"Oh I know that place! It's pretty great. I haven't been there in forever though. I wonder if it's the same dj on Friday nights…"

Blue eyes looked up at his colleague worriedly. Maybe he shouldn't have revealed Sasuke's work place.

His fears were confirmed. "I kinda feel like checking it out now. Are you down to go with me, even if you're not gay, I know… But you're really open-minded right? You could keep me company, be my wingman or something. And I'm sure your roommate would like having you there."

"Um… yeah… I guess…" he laughed nervously as he glanced away, scratching his hair. He was already going so…

"Awesome. I'll pick you up at eleven, how does that sound?"

Naruto had been planning to ride with Sasuke… But he supposed this could work too. After all, Sasuke needed to get to the bar a little early to set things up with the rest of the staff.

"All right…"

And that was how it happened. Sai seemed really enthusiastic about this, in his strange, expressionless kind of way. Naruto had no choice but to smile back and give him his address.

He tried not to give it much thought, and focus on work. His thoughts actually drifted to Sasuke after a while, as they often did. He wondered how things would go tonight, at Sasuke's new work place. Naruto would be there to protect him if some customer or the flirty bartender tried anything, at least.

It would be a crazy weekend. Not only was he going out tonight, but it had been decided with Kiba and Shikamaru that they would go out for a beer together on Saturday, and then they'd just improvise and hang out—probably smoke weed. It would be an all guys night, just like old times. Naruto was looking forward to it. He'd probably be exhausted on Sunday though. Deep down, he knew he liked to party when given the occasion. He scolded Sasuke for drinking too much but he wasn't much better.

Naruto got home early enough to see Sasuke get ready that evening. He wore his army print skinny jeans with the sleeveless black top—the same outfit, Naruto realized with amusement, Sasuke had lent him when they'd gone out partying together for the first time.

Sasuke really looked good as he leaned closer to the mirror, flipping his bangs right before applying his eyeliner. Instead of teasing him for being girly like he sometimes did, Naruto chose to compliment him.

"I remember you saying that those looked better on me but I think you were wrong." He smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"What is this, bromance?" Sasuke teased. "Nah bro your butt looks much better than mine in those jeans, I swear. No homo."

Naruto cracked up a bit at that. Sasuke finished applying his eyeliner and ran his fingers through his hair briefly before flicking off the light and exiting the bathroom. "What about you what are you gonna wear?"

"I don't know. This." He looked down at his dark blue jeans and white button down shirt.

"Not bad," Sasuke admitted, "but you should try my leather pants."

"No way…"

"I washed them this morning."

"That's not the problem. Those are way too tight."

"Don't be ridiculous. We're practically the same size. If you don't want to it's fine, though. I wish I had more of my old clothes I could lend you."

Naruto said nothing. They both knew what had happened to Sasuke's old stuff.

"Anyway," Sasuke said, "just wear whatever you want. Tell me when you're ready but don't take too long I don't wanna be late and get fired from this place too…"

"Sasuke," Naruto interrupted him, "actually I'm not going with you. You can take my car…"

"But…" Sasuke frowned, tilting his head and again Naruto cut him.

"I'm taking a friend with me, he's gonna pick me up in like two hours. He kind of invited himself… you know that guy Sai I told you about?"

"That weirdo who's so obsessed with you that he's seeing the same therapist?"

"To be fair that was my suggestion," Naruto shrugged, "and he's not so bad. Besides it's a gay bar so maybe he'll meet someone and I'll get rid of him."

"Heh. Maybe. Okay I guess I'll get going then."

"See you later!"

"Yeah…"

After Sasuke had left, Naruto stepped closer to his pile of stuff in the living room, next to the sofa bed. Sasuke was so neat. He folded it back into a couch every day. He also folded all of his clean clothes, and Naruto knew for a fact that he dusted the furniture and floor regularly. The books he was currently checking out were neatly placed at one end of the coffee table. If Naruto were to compare with his bedroom, he'd feel ashamed. His clothes were thrown everywhere along with his towel and random other stuff. Even sheets of papers and magazines. There were food leftovers on his desk. It was a mess. Naruto sighed as he looked through Sasuke's clothes and found the black leather pants.

He took off his jeans and tried them on, then went to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. They were tight but they fit—Sasuke was right. They were extremely uncomfortable but he kind of wanted to wear them anyway. Maybe he just wanted to see Sasuke's reaction.

Naruto bit his lip, thoughtful, and went back downstairs to pick up his cell, which was still in the jeans tossed on the floor. He sat on the couch as he texted Sai. He had never done something like that in his life, and he felt incredibly gay actually, but he asked Sai for advice as to what shoes he should wear with pants like that.

Sai ended up asking for his shoe size, which Naruto gave, and then Sai replied that he was going to bring something for him. Naruto was a little bit wary, but he shrugged it off and wandered to the kitchen; wouldn't want to go out on an empty stomach.

After a few bites of spicy rice—leftover Sasuke had made—Naruto decided to chug it down with a beer. Hey, he wasn't driving, so he didn't see the harm in drinking a little.

When Sai showed up Naruto was watching some television and he was already downing his third beer. His cell indicated 11 pm. Naruto switched to some music channel where they played the greatest hits or top forty or whatever it was called. The pop music filled the house as Naruto let Sai in.

"Beer?" Naruto offered, already on his way to the kitchen. He didn't really like drinking alone.

"Don't bother, I'm driving," Sai replied.

"Oh, right…" He spun on his heels.

"I brought this for you." Sai put down a plastic bag in the hall. Naruto leaned against the wall next to the floor to ceiling mirror, feeling slightly tipsy already. He drank the rest of his beer and put it down on the counter next to his keys. Sai was taking out some black combat boots from the bag. They had leather straps and metallic buckles on the sides. Naruto couldn't help but smile. Those were perfect.

"Really? I can wear them?"

"Uh, yes really. Why d'you think I brought them? We have the same shoe size and I don't wear those anymore anyway. I was gonna give them to a second hand store; I have way too much stuff."

"Hey, thanks so much Sai. You're a really good friend."

"Are you drunk?" He tilted his head, stepping closer to Naruto. His big black eyes were even darker than Sasuke's. Sai was a bit scary when he wanted to be.

"No, nope. Not drunk. I'm just… This is great. Sasuke's gonna love them. Here let me take your coat." He cleared his throat.

"Uh-huh." Sai still sounded skeptical. But as always he wasn't showing very many facial expressions. He gave his coat to Naruto, who hung it and led Sai further inside the house.

"You sure you don't want just one beer?"

"No, I'm good."

"Suit yourself. Hey, you're really going to wear this?"

He stopped in the middle of the hallway and Sai shrugged, looking down at his outfit—tight jeans and a black crop top.

"Yeah. I like standing out of the crowd. I brought one for you too if you want."

"Um, no thanks." They weren't twelve year old girls. He didn't want to have a matching outfit with Sai.

"Why not?" Sai suddenly reached out and grabbed Naruto's white button down shirt, lifting it up to look at his stomach, apparently.

"What are you doing?" He pulled away, arching an eyebrow at Sai.

"You have really nice abs," he explained, "you could pull it off."

"Well, thanks. I work out. But anyway that's not the point. I'm not wearing that."

"Oh come on. You'll be way too warm like that, with your long sleeves…"

Naruto stalked to the kitchen and helped himself to a fourth beer. He wasn't drunk enough yet for dealing with this. A crop top? Seriously? Sai was worst than Sasuke. He still had to get used to the leather pants.

"I'll convince you," Sai insisted, as though reading his mind. He was stepping in the kitchen, the floor creaking slightly. "Hey look at you!" Sai exclaimed and he picked up Keiko in his arms. "So cute."

"Oh, careful she—"

"Ow!"

"Bites," Naruto finished.

"I noticed. Hey maybe I'll have that beer after all if you're drinking another one."

"Sure," Naruto took one more from the fridge and handed it to Sai. They drank in silence together for a moment.

"So your roommate, what's he like? I'm guessing he's gay considering his job."

"Yup. I don't know, he's pretty great… You'll see." Naruto smiled. "I'll introduce you later."

"All right."

They talked about work a little, well Sai did most of the talking, and Naruto was a little bored. He couldn't wait to get to the club. So he drank his fourth beer pretty quickly. He was getting restless. He realized with a start that he was really excited to see Sasuke. He wanted to be with him right now, needed him to be physically close. He felt short of breath just thinking about him. Shit.

"Hey so, can we go now?"

Sai stared at him from across the room. "You're awfully impatient."

"Well I told my roommate I'd be there so he's probably waiting for me."

Sai took a last sip of his beer and came to put it down in the sink. He gave a long glance toward Naruto as he leaned his hip against the counter. "You talk about him a lot."

"Talk about who?" Naruto blinked.

"Your roommate."

"Oh." He swallowed, scratched his hair, looked away. Couldn't they just go now?

"Why's that?" Sai asked. "Just curious."

"No reason."

"You said he was pretty great."

"Not that great," Naruto said too quickly. He remembered what Sasuke had said earlier. The bromance thing. "I mean, um. We're bros, you know?"

"Bros?" Sai looked amused behind his unreadable facade. He was standing a bit too close.

"Yeah. Bros. BFFs. You know." Oh God, what the hell was he saying?

Sai laughed. He actually laughed and Naruto was kind of startled. Sai's laugh was strange and sounded kind of fake. Their eyes met. Naruto realized he was kind of trapped between the fridge and Sai, who seemed to be looming over him even though he was shorter than Naruto.

"You are such a bad liar. You have a crush on him."

"I do not." Naruto swallowed. He suddenly felt thirsty. Not for beer, though. He needed water.

"Huh. You're not that straight, are you?"

He felt really uncomfortable. He closed his eyes, trying to shake off the effect alcohol had on him.

"Sai, please stop. Why are you doing this? I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, I promise I'll stop talking about it. On one condition."

"Fine," Naruto said, relieved. "What is it?"

"You wear that crop top."

Son of a bitch.