Crown & Anchor
by Nilladriel

Er, yes. Another chapter. You know, I never really have much to say in author notes, so I sometimes wonder why I bother putting them in. On the flip side, this chapter is kind of long. (6,000 words, ow.) I just couldn't seem to cut it.

Anyway! I've been wanting to write this chapter for a long time. You'll see why.

Chapter Four: Deal Again

His cell phone was ringing. Why was his cell phone ringing? And something was digging into his back, and it was vibrating--

Wait. Cell phone. Right. Naruto snaked a hand between his back and the coversheets, probably twisting his shoulder in the process but managing to grab his cell. He flipped it open. "Bhuh--oh holy shit."

It was eight. School started at eight. And he had class. Iruka was going to kill him--

Very quietly, someone said: "Um."

Naruto, halfway through kicking his covers to the floor, stopped. "Uh... Hinata? Good... good morning," he said, carefully. It was hard talking to Hinata on the phone. All the body language--the shifting, the blushing, the nervous fingers--was gone, and when all you had to go on was her voice, you started feeling like you were dealing with a mine-field... only you were the mines and Hinata was the victim.

"Good morning," Hinata said, near-silent. Naruto pressed the phone to his ear hard enough to leave marks. "It's, um, it's alright."

"It is?" Naruto said. His voice had dropped to match Hinata's. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I mean, it is? What is?"

"I c-can cover for you."

"Really? Wait--really? Wow, Hinata! Thanks! You're so great," Naruto enthused.

Hinata didn't reply. Fuck, how did Kiba deal with this? Naruto was starting to feel like an asshat, and he didn't think he'd even done anything, except maybe talk too loud.

"I... um... N-Naruto...."

She trailed off. Naruto forced himself to wait.

"Ijustwantedtosayh-happybirthday."

"What?" Naruto said, except Hinata had already hung up.

Slowly, he looked at his calendar. Not at the half-naked pin-up girl, but at the date.

"Whoah," he said. "It's the tenth."

The four of them--Iruka, Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata--stumbled up the stairs to Naruto's apartment laughing. It was five, the sun was shining, and Kiba had promised to come by with beer. Iruka, the tallest of them, was holding the cake up high and free from danger. A second later he stumbled over the packages by the door.

Luckily, Naruto's quick reflexes saved the day. "I keep telling them to wait until someone's actually home," he started, glaring down at the packages, and then realized: "Hey--presents! Those're presents, aren't they!"

This time, Sakura saved the cake when Naruto dived forward to inspect the treasure. Iruka, wincing and rubbing his shin, affected a grin.

Naruto expertly jiggled the door open, and then they stepped around the packages to walk into Naruto's cramped apartment.

"Wow, that smells good," Sakura said, looking at the crock pot. Naruto eyed her suspiciously. Sakura had the tendency to label anything vaguely edible good, since she had the culinary talent of a dead fish.

"It really does smell good," Hinata reassured him quietly, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to pick up the biggest box, and grunted. "Shit, it's heavy."

"Do you need help with that?"

Naruto looked up. He saw Kiba--with beer!--but the guy who'd actually said the words were--

"Neji!" he said, and dropped the box on Kiba's toe while greeting the older man.

While Kiba howled at him to be careful, you fuck, Neji and Naruto carried the boxes into the bedroom. He couldn't help grinning, so that Neji quirked an eyebrow.

"It's just, you know, great," he said. And it was. In the kitchen, Hinata and Sakura were laughing while they prepared the stuff Naruto had thrown into the crock pot. Iruka and Kiba were loudly debating when to cut the cake. Iruka was winning. It was just the--noise, and the smell of good food cooking, and the anticipation of too much cake and ice cream and beer.

Neji just smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and they went into the kitchen to join in the festivities.

The kitchen was tiny, but to Naruto, it just made the place seem cozier and even livelier. Kiba, having lost the argument to Iruka, was shamelessly seeking comfort from Hinata. She petted his arm like he was a larger-than-life dog, the corners of her lips twitched up. The two were dressed in matching blue jackets today.

Naruto bumped his hip against Sakura's, making her nearly spill the tea, and laughed when she scowled up at him.

"Take it easy," he said. "It's my birthday, right?"

"Like you even remembered," Sakura scoffed, but she was grinning. "Oh, before I forget--"

She put the tray down and then rushed to the chair where she'd carelessly thrown down her coat. She dug fingers through the folds of cloth, and then--

"Right! Here!"

It was an uneven brown package--messily wrapped, since Sakura apparently lacked any domestic skills to speak of. Naruto blinked. "Wait, are we unwrapping presents now?"

"Why not?" Sakura said, obviously impatient. "Come on, open it!"

Naruto did. It was a towel--completely soft. And orange.

"Because yours are old, scraggly, and disgusting," Sakura said diplomatically. Naruto enveloped her in a crushing hug, and then pressed a kiss to her cheek when she tried to push him away, laughing.

He got a pen, sleek black and engraved, from Neji; a set of new brushes from Kiba; and a tie from Iruka. Hinata gave him cologne.

"Oh, finally," Sakura said. "This way no one can tell when you don't shower."

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "Then maybe you should have it, Saku--OW," he said.

Sakura withdrew her hand and beamed at him. Everyone else edged away from her. Kiba checked for a bruise, and winced.

"Okay, to the bedroom," Naruto said. "I want to see why the fuck that package was so heavy."

The rest of them agreed. Iruka artlessly tore the heaviest box open with the bread knife he'd grabbed from the kitchen.

Naruto grew starry-eyed.

"Bean bags," he said. "Gaara sent me bean bags."

"Isn't he still in trouble?" Sakura said. "Should he be sending anyone--"

"Sakura!" Naruto said sharply. "Bean bags, man. Bean. Bags."

Sakura and Neji shared a glance... and started laughing, Sakura pressing her hand to her mouth, Neji turning his head so only his shaking shoulders gave him away. Iruka just sighed.

"That is so cool," Kiba said.

"Yeah," Naruto said.

"There's more. Who're they from?"

"Maybe from those creepy siblings of his," Naruto said. There were only two others, really. Iruka, apparently still not willing to trust Naruto with the knife--or maybe he really liked using it--opened the bigger one first.

Inside was a package--carefully wrapped, the edges mechanically pointed. Naruto ran his fingers along the box until he felt an edge, and then carefully peeled the tape off. Except the damn thing wouldn't cooperate, and he was left scraping his stubby nails uselessly over the smooth surface. Naruto made a face. He didn't want to ruin the wrapping. It was so nice.

"Urgh, Neji," he said. "There's this magic bottle in my bedside table, it removes glue and sticky shit--could you get it?"

Neji nodded, pulling the drawer open. Something rattled.

Busy with his present, Naruto missed the way Neji stilled, his hand pausing on something unseen within the drawer, before he suddenly pressed the bottle of adhesive remover into Naruto's open hand.

"Thanks," Naruto muttered distractedly. He crowed delightedly when the stuff worked wonders.

The wrapping fell away to reveal another box. "Shit, it's like those matryoshka dolls," Kiba muttered.

"Damn, yeah," Naruto said, and then fell quiet when he undid the clasp and saw what lay inside the box.

Photo albums. Three of them, neatly stacked.

"Sarutobi," Naruto whispered. The name hissed through his teeth like a wayward prayer.

His eyes fell to his phone. He'd promised the old man a call. Right, so--

No. After everyone had left. Naruto shook his head, like it would stop his eyes from tearing up, and grinned. "Damn. Wow. Damn."

"One more, Naruto," Sakura said. "No card, though."

Another one from the old man? Naruto wondered, and took it. Iruka had already opened the side, so all Naruto had to do was tip it. A necklace fell out. Three crystals set on plain black string, and for some reason the sight of it made Naruto's breath catch.

He'd seen it before. He wasn't sure when, or where, but--

He picked it up, studying the way the crystals caught the light. The middle crystal was the biggest. It wasn't really white, and it wasn't really blue, and somehow, the weight of it in his palm was familiar.

"Here."

It was Sakura. Her fingers were warm as they brushed against his neck, drawing thin black around his neck and carefully doing up the clasp. Naruto grinned at her, tugging carefully at the necklace. He felt it slip with strange familiarity under the material of his shirt.

"Who sent that?" Iruka said, clearly curious.

Naruto opened his mouth. "Is it time for cake?" Kiba interrupted.

"Your priorities need work," Sakura complained, but she was already sliding off the bed. She hit Kiba again. He crumpled dramatically.

Hinata rose as well. "Dinner would be nice," she said agreeably. She and Sakura linked arms, and the the two girls went through the door and into the kitchen.

"Cake!" Kiba said, miraculously recovering from Sakura's blow.

"No, Kiba, wait, dinner first--"

Naruto laughed as Iruka rushed out after Kiba, worrying for the cake. "Come on, Neji," he started, and then froze when he saw what Neji was holding.

"When did Uchiha send you this?"

Naruto's lips parted. "You had no right to read--"

"I didn't," Neji said coolly.

"Shit, why are you so--"

Neji dropped the letter, untouched, into Naruto's hand. It was crumpled, and actually sort of smelled, probably because Naruto had just shoved it into the drawer, where unknown dangers lurked. He curled his fingers around it.

"Why are you so angry?" Neji asked, ineffably calm.

"Why are you such an ass?" Naruto shot back, but quietly.

"I saw a bus ticket in the drawer, as well," Neji said, just as softly.

Their gazes locked. Neji was the first to look away, but it was Naruto who gave in, saying, "I thought he was just going to, shit, I don't know, ask me to run away with him, some bullshit like that, but instead he apologized."

Neji waited patiently.

"He didn't ask for forgiveness. I would have hated that. But, you know, it was--shit, just read it."

Neji hesitated, but Naruto waved a hand in permission. The older man raised and lowered one shoulder and then carefully unfolded the letter. He read it quickly. Neji was the sort of guy who went through life speed-reading everything, including people.

"I see," he said, after a while.

"Yeah. Kind of short. And awkward. And Iruka would've attacked the grammar with that red pen he always has," Naruto added thoughtfully. "But it's kind of... I don't know, for the first time, he really seems like a person."

Neji's eyes were still on the letter. He was frowning faintly. "Does it?" he said, and then shook his head. "No. I won't question it. You've always been able to see more clearly than me."

He looked up, pinning Naruto with eyes eerily pale. "What are you going to do?"

"What?"

"Will you go with him?" Neji pressed.

"What? Fuck no. Do I look like an idio--no, don't answer that, you bastard." Naruto huffed. "Honestly? I don't know."

"What do you want to do?" Neji asked. He folded the letter and let it drop back into the drawer, into the mess of pencils, receipts, and stubby, scented candles.

"I don't know," Naruto said again. "But I want to do something. I will do something," he decided. "I think... yeah. I think I'm going to give him a chance."

Neji had that look in his eyes, the one that said he was going to do something too, and Naruto probably didn't want to know.

"Just be careful," he cautioned.

"Yeah, I told you, I'm not--"

"OI! GET IN HERE!"

They both jumped.

"I HAVE NEIGHBORS, KIBA!" Naruto yelled back.

"He's going to eat all the cake!" Sakura said, and then suddenly she was shrieking in laughter. "No--don't--Kiba, you spilled it all over my dress--!"

Naruto's eyes lit up. Sakura was wearing white today, and if it got wet, that meant--

"Yeah!" he whooped, and dashed into the kitchen.

The week passed, crawling slowly towards the weekend. Now it was Friday, and he had reports due the next week, so obviously Naruto was lounging on his bed and contemplating the bus ticket Uchiha had sent him.

His cell phone was ringing. Naruto frowned.

The ringing stopped... and then began again a bare second later. Naruto let it ring.

The letter was still in his drawer.

Like he'd told Neji, it'd been a pretty good apology. Even if it really had been awkward, and Iruka really would have had a fit over the grammar. Uchiha had fucked the gerunds over like a madman. Naruto might have liked more grovelling, too.

Naruto thought about what he'd told Neji. He sighed. The awful thing about heart-to-heart conversations was, you couldn't back down from anything you said in them. Especially promises. Promises made people.

Naruto reached for the phone. "I'm not going with you," he said, hesitating only slightly before speaking. "It's going to take, what, eight weeks for you to heal, anyway. If you travel around with a bad leg, you're a fucking idiot. Did you ever accept Sakura's apology?"

"... No," Uchiha said.

"Okay." Naruto closed his eyes. "You're the most confusing fucking person I've ever met. You show up on my door and ask me for a date. And then it turns out that you knew me. And you--send me pictures." Naruto crumpled the bus ticket in one hand. It fell to the floor, joining his boxers and last month's newspaper. "How many times were you dropped on your head as a kid?"

"I--" Uchiha started.

"But, you know, you're lucky. I should probably file charges against you and make it impossible for you to, I don't know, be in the same city as me or something, but instead, I'm going to do something really stupid." Naruto paused. "Where are you right now?"

"In my hotel room," Uchiha said. Even over the phone, he sounded completely bewildered.

Rich bastard, Naruto thought viciously. "Let me guess," he said slowly, "you're staying at the Millennium."

"... Yes," Uchiha said. "What--"

"What room?"

Uchiha told him. Naruto hung up before he could say anything else.

He took a shower. And then he decided, hell, he'd cook dinner, just because the thought of Uchiha getting more and more pissed off while he waited was, well, kind of nice. He made pizza--the kind that wasn't pizza at all, just sauce and meat and pineapples on generic dough--and then carefully put the irregular slices in containers. By the time he was out of the house, the cool air chilling his skull through his damp hair, it was nearly eight.

All he was doing was heading off to Uchiha's hotel room, but he felt vaguely dizzy, even high. Like he was about to jump into a river where swimming wouldn't help because the current was too strong.

It would be easy, probably, to just ignore the poor bastard. Block his number, ignore him every time they met, pretend he didn't fucking exist. Because, really, Naruto's life had been rolling along just fine. He didn't have to entertain Uchiha and his issues.

But that would be running away. And he wouldn't be running away from just Uchiha, either. He'd be running away from...

From Sarutobi. From the memory of his Dad, held in worn pictures in a well-loved album kept under his bed. From his own damn curiosity.

Anyway, as long as Uchiha wasn't as creepy as Gaara had been, Naruto was going to be fine.

Naruto reached his car. The keys bit his hands when he fished them out of his pocket, almost like a warning.

The Millennium was a rounded, glass structure spreading up into the sky; Naruto had never been there before, but he didn't need to stop to ask for directions. All he had to do was keep it in his eyesight, and he reached it eventually.

Traffic was bad, but Naruto knew all the little--and illegal--tricks to cut down his drive time. He took the roads without the tolls, ducked through the more urban streets, and then finally he was guiding his car into a car park filled with luxury cars. There were more trees here than Naruto had seen anywhere else in the city, like a mini, concentrated forest. Feeling distinctly out of place, Naruto eased out of his car, feeling silly when he locked it. Like any carjacks would go for his piece of shit when there was a BMW to the left and a Mercedes convertible to the right.

Inside, the floor was all smoky marble tile, and a sign outside the restaurant announced that breakfast was free for guests before nine o' clock. A lounging bell-boy, dressed in black too somber for even funerals, gave him a suspicious look, and Naruto grinned at him. "Where're the elevators?"

After a moment, the guy straightened. "Right over there, sir," he said.

Naruto raised one hand in a half-wave, and then walked off, trying not to stare. He wondered if even Kiba or Neji could afford to stay in a place like this.

The elevator seemed to be made entirely of mirrors, which made Naruto wonder how the uglier guests felt, being confronted with reflections of themselves on all sides. He made faces at himself while he waited for the car to go all the way up to the top floor. The elevator dinged at him politely, and the door slid smoothly open.

He stepped out onto carpet that made him want to throw his shoes off and run down the hallway. Uchiha's room was at the very end, far away from any noise. Naruto knocked, loudly.

After a few moments, Uchiha opened the door. He was on crutches, and if Naruto hadn't already met and grown immune to Gaara's murderous glares, Uchiha's expression would have sent him packing. As it was, Naruto just raised the bag in his hand and said, "I cooked dinner, so you better be appreciative, asshole."

Uchiha closed the door with more force than was polite, and then limped all the way to the couch.

He wasn't staying in a hotel room; he was staying in a fucking suite. Naruto could have fit his entire apartment inside twice, maybe even three times over. The entire wall of the living room was pure glass. It was, Naruto thought, a pretty damn good view. This high up, the city looked amazing, like someone had stolen all the stars from the sky and given them to the Earth.

There was even a small kitchen. Naruto carefully dampened the pizza with water and then shoved the container into the microwave, since the kitchen seemed to be missing actual pans to properly heat them up with. When he stepped out, Uchiha was seated on the couch with the kind of expression that clearly said he wasn't in pain, not at all, so stop looking, dumbass.

Naruto sat down, not on the couch but on the table. "I meant what I said on the phone," he said. "You're pretty damn confusing."

Uchiha grunted. "So are you, idiot," he said.

The way he said idiot made Naruto pause. It didn't sound like an insult. It sounded like a well-worn nickname, if a pretty damn stupid one. "You know," he said, "what I don't get is--why a date? Okay, so you want to reconnect with a childhood friend. Fine. But why the hell did you ask me out on a date that Monday?"

Uchiha didn't reply. But--and this made Naruto stare--his cheeks did get slightly pink.

"You know what?" Naruto said. "I don't want to know. I'm just going to pretend it's because you're clearly..." He paused. "What would Iruka call it? Right. Socially inept."

Naruto didn't actually know what inept even meant, but it wasn't like Uchiha had to know that, and the way Iruka always said the word he knew it wasn't anything good.

The microwave beeped. Naruto got up to get it, and then he had to stop, because Uchiha had reached forward and grabbed his wrist.

"You know, the last time you did this, I pun--"

"Sit down," Uchiha interrupted, apparently tired of Naruto leading the conversation.

The microwave beeped again. Naruto sat down. Uchiha didn't let go.

Uchiha was looking at him--no, studying him. Naruto thought of those pictures he'd sent, of Uchiha-as-a-child glaring at the camera. He wasn't glaring now, but it was the same deadly intensity, and Naruto squirmed. Uchiha really did have pretty eyes, but he seemed to think they were lasers.

Naruto reached forward and softly knocked on Uchiha's eyebrows. "Stop it," he said. Uchiha blinked, and Naruto grinned when his eyebrows unfurled. In fact he looked vaguely stupefied, but it was better than his default, pissed-off expression.

"There, see?" Naruto said. "You look better like that."

Uchiha's grip tightened. His expression changed, from stupid to something else, something that made Naruto's stomach drop and burn. And then he said: "I missed you."

Naruto stared.

"You haven't changed," Uchiha was saying. "You're still smaller than me--"

"Hey--"

"And you still need to eat more. You're too damn thin. You... you're still the same. I was scared you wouldn't be."

"Change is good, you know," Naruto said. He was hypnotized; Uchiha's eyes were pinning him down. Uchiha might be the one with the lame leg, but it was like Naruto was the one at a disadvantage. He couldn't move. He didn't want to move.

"No, I..." Uchiha wasn't looking away. If only Uchiha looked away, Naruto would be able to just--go. "I know. But some things shouldn't change."

"Um," Naruto said. "You can let go now."

Uchiha obviously wasn't listening, because the next thing Naruto knew, the world tilted--and then he was on the couch, sitting on cushions softer than heaven, and Uchiha was--laying his head on Naruto's shoulder, Naruto's wrist still captive in one hand, the other arm around his waist. He was taller, but the way he curled around Naruto made him seem like he wasn't.

It was the way a near-drowned man might act, like Uchiha just needed a reminder of--something. Which was why Naruto didn't punch him, just sat still and quietly wondered. His hand moved. He put it on Uchiha's thigh.

It was like a signal, somehow. Uchiha twitched, and his grip slackened.

"I'm getting the pizza," Naruto said. He stood. "Call down for wine, would you?"

Uchiha frowned up at him.

"What?" Naruto said. "You wanted a date, didn't you?"

And just like that, the atmosphere in the room turned--sharper, harder. Naruto went to the kitchen, where he put the slices on a single, lonely plate he found in one of the cupboards. When he returned, Uchiha had just put the phone down.

"What'd you get?"

Uchiha just smirked. "Pizza with wine," he said. "Is this usual for your dates?"

Naruto, about to put the plate down, stopped at Uchiha's tone. Even if he was just sitting on the couch, crutches nearby as a heavy reminder of his wound, Uchiha seemed--bigger, somehow, more sure. As if he hadn't just been clutching Naruto like a lifeline. There was a certain set to his shoulders; his eyes dropped to half-mast, looking steadily back at Naruto.

Naruto had never seen anyone pull themselves together so fast. Not Gaara, or even Neji. He put the plate down. Uchiha helped himself to a slice, and then looked surprised when he took a bite.

"It's not bad," he said.

"For fake pizza? Yeah. I'm not really up to actual cooking, most of the time," Naruto said. This time, when he sat down, he seated himself next to Uchiha.

"You know, we should probably be at the movies, or some restaurant," Naruto said. "I don't usually go to hotel rooms on the first date."

It was the wrong thing to say, because Uchiha looked at him, and Naruto blushed and looked away.

"Really?" And, shit, Uchiha's voice was a near-purr.

Naruto was starting to figure out why Sakura had been so damn enthusiastic about Uchiha.

He stuffed another slice into his mouth to forestall conversation. Uchiha didn't seem to mind, eating steadily. The guy had an appetite. That was fine, though; Naruto always made a lot when he cooked.

"So, um, what do you do? You know, for work."

"I write novels," Uchiha said.

"Yeah? Cool. But I don't remember seeing any of your books anywhere."

And Naruto knew instinctively that Uchiha was the kind of guy who was successful at whatever he chose to do. Hell, Naruto sitting on the couch next to him was proof of that.

Sure enough, Uchiha nodded easily, saying. "I use a pen-name."

"What is it?"

Uchiha didn't answer. He just raised his head and said, "That would be the wine."

Exactly a second later, the bell rang. Naruto twitched.

A moment later, having been stared at by room-service like he was some kind of hustler, Naruto was returning to the couch with an unfamiliar bottle in his hand. Something from Germany, and impossible to pronounce.

"It's white wine, but medium-heavy," Uchiha told him, and Naruto nodded like he understood. "There are glasses in the kitchen."

"Don't tell me what to do," Naruto said, frowning.

Deliberately, Uchiha turned to look at his crutches.

Naruto deflated. "Right," he said, and went to get the glasses.

The amazing thing about a good glass of wine was, it had a way of making Naruto comfortable and relaxed, no matter the situation. And this was good wine. It left a pleasant aftertaste in the back of his throat.

"I'm actually a teacher," he said, like he was confessing.
"What do you teach?" Uchiha said, in a tone that suggested he was just going along, but the way he leaned back, chin tilted slightly, revealed his interest.

"Oh, art," Naruto said. "It's great, coming up with projects for the kids."

Uchiha snorted. "I feel sorry for the students."

Naruto studied him. Uchiha's shoulders were broad. His features were strong, and if he'd stop putting a tonnage of gel in it, his hair would've looked damn hot. Except he looked plenty good already. Naruto studied the subtle planes of muscle suggested by the way Uchiha's clothes contorted around him, and then thought: Wait, I'm supposed to be talking. Right.

He grasped at the last thread of conversation and said, "I feel sorry for 'em, too. I promised Konohamaru I wouldn't mess with him this week, but next week...." He grinned, raised the glass like a salute, and drained it.

Uchiha raised an eyebrow, straightening slightly. His shirt was a dusty brown. It fit him. "Konohamaru?" he said.

"Huh? You know him?"

"...No," Uchiha said. "It's just a strange name. Let me refill that."

Except when he reached for Naruto's glass, he put it on the table and then went for Naruto's hand instead. He didn't do anything, just turned the palm up, running his fingers over the skin. Naruto felt his eyelids drop.

"You are so lucky I'm easy when I'm drunk."

Uchiha looked amused. "You'll be glad to know I don't--"

The phone rang.

Naruto recognized the ring tone. Neji.

"Sorry," Naruto said. This was good, right. It was too hot. He clutched the phone to his ear with both hands and turned the volume down so Uchiha couldn't hear Neji's voice.

"Um, Neji! Hey!" he said. "What's up?"

"Naruto? Am I interrupting something?"

Damn, damn, damn, the way Neji could judge Naruto's moods so easily was disconcerting. "Kind of," Naruto allowed.

"I apologize. I'll be brief," Neji murmured. "It concerns Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto uncurled his right hand, ran it through tousled hair. "Uh, okay?" he said.

"His family doesn't deal directly in anything underground," Neji said. "But two decades ago they...." Neji made a frustrated sound. "It's difficult to explain, but it resulted in the deaths of three prominent underground leaders and their protege, Namikaze Minato. I doubt Uchiha Sasuke is still connected, but--be careful."

Namikaze Minato. It took a while for the words to connect. When they did, Naruto felt ice creep over his fingers, shooting through his stomach and rooting him. "What?" he said. His voice was hoarse.

"Naruto?" Neji was instantly alert. "Shit, was it something I--where are you?"

"Oh. Um, the Millennium," Naruto said, carefully.

"Naruto," Neji said slowly, "are you with--"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Listen. I'll call you later."

Naruto shut the phone.

"--underground leaders and their protege, Namikaze Minato--"

Naruto closed his eyes. What was it that Sarutobi had said?

"There are some people you should never meet, Naruto, and many of them will be at your father's funeral."

"Naruto?"

Naruto's entire body jerked. He turned wide eyes to Uchiha.

The pictures. Uchiha and Naruto and Naruto's Dad. "Did you know?" he whispered.

"Know what?" Uchiha said, frowning.

"Who my Dad was," Naruto said, a bit louder, but his voice was still hoarse. He dropped his phone. It clattered onto the table; the screen cracked.

"Naruto, what--" Uchiha started, and then Naruto saw his eyes widen in realization.

"Was that why he died? Because he was a--"

Naruto stopped. Uchiha's entire countenance had stiffened, and his expression was--not closed, only Neji could do that, but something rough and wary surfaced, hardening the line of his lips and tightening the muscles in his jaw.

Naruto grabbed his phone. And he thought: What the fuck am I doing? Why am I drinking wine with a guy I don't even know? Fuck, all he did was write me a letter and suddenly I just--just--

Why does it matter so much that Dad was a--

"I--sorry, I'm going," he said. "What the hell is wrong with me? I shoudn't even be here!"

Uchiha's expression turned panicked at those words. "Naruto, wait--"

Uchiha tried to stand up, and then immediately crumpled. Good. Naruto stood up, turned--

--and crashed under the full force of Uchiha's weight, what the fuck--

"Get off me!" Naruto snarled.

Uchiha was bleeding--he'd torn his wound open. His lips were pulled apart, teeth clenched together, and he was holding Naruto down with pathetic ease, hands on Naruto's wrists, full weight keeping him down, and it was--

"Get off!"

"Shut the fuck up," Uchiha snapped. "He was a criminal, okay! They named him the next leader, he was going to take over the whole miserable business--"

"Shut up!" Naruto said. "I don't want to hear--"

"--but he was a good father! He was a good father," Uchiha repeated, and Naruto stared up, eyes wide, muscles straining, feeling Uchiha's blood against his own leg.

"W-what?" he said.

"No one--no one knows who you are," Uchiha said. "They don't even realize you exist. Do you realize how amazing--"

Naruto stilled.

"He kept you safe. He kept us safe. You were the most important--his most important--"

Uchiha was struggling, no longer with Naruto, but with words. His skin was stained red, maybe with anger, maybe not, and his gaze was sharp.

"You were his most precious person," Uchiha said at last. The words came quiet, cautious.

The moment stretched thin, snapped. Naruto closed his eyes. "Get off," he repeated, tiredly.

"No," Uchiha said.

"The fuck?"

"No, you idiot. I'm not letting you go again. I'm never letting you go again."

Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes, meeting Uchiha's. They weren't really black at all--just an impossibly dark shade of brown. Up close, the color was rich. Naruto was drowning in them.

The kiss was unsteady and unsure. Uchiha's hands were trembling, maybe from pain. Naruto trembled, too, under him. He felt like he was struggling to breathe, like someone had dropped a weight onto his heart, his lungs.

Uchiha kissed clumsily, like he hadn't quite worked out what to do with his lips, his tongue. Naruto opened his mouth, let Uchiha lead, feeling too emotionally drained to do anything else. Maybe later--

Naruto jerked away. There wouldn't be a later, if what Neji said was right, Uchiha might be involved in some damn shady business--

No. No. He wouldn't judge Uchiha on his family. He hadn't judged Neji, or Kiba, or Sakura, or Gaara, and if he started now he was going to shoot himself.

And if Uchiha was right--if Neji was right--then his father had been a--a--

What, some kind of mafia gang leader? Some kind of villain straight from the movie screen? Naruto didn't remember any of that, just blond hair, blue eyes like his, a kind smile.

Uchiha rolled off him.

"You okay?" Naruto said.

Uchiha just made a face. And, yeah, his leg was bleeding.

Impossibly enough, his practical side chose that moment to assert itself. "Uh," Naruto said. "If there's first aid around, I could probably help with that. I'm pretty good at, you know...."

Uchiha didn't answer, so Naruto got up to find the bathroom.

Dealing with Uchiha's wound felt--good. Vaguely sane. Even when Uchiha had to take off his pants.

He has nice legs, Naruto thought, and then: Well, I must be okay, if my libido's still working.

Feeling as if the world had blurred, Naruto said, "You should probably get it checked over by someone who's actually competent. And, uh, by the way, could we pretend that just now never happened? Because that was embarrassing. Shit."

He packed the first aid away.

"You can stay here, if you want," Uchiha said.

Naruto looked up. Met his gaze.

Thought: I'm glad he stopped me from running away.

Thought: It wouldn't have kept me away, anyway.

Thought: Aw, hell, why not, I'll probably crash the car if I drive right now.

"Okay," he said. "I'll take the couch."

Slowly, Uchiha nodded. He didn't smile, but he looked like he might.

It was the most comfortable couch that Naruto had ever slept on. More comfortable than Neji's saggy old thing, anyway.

Naruto couldn't sleep, so he didn't try to.

Instead he grabbed is phone, running a finger over the crack in the screen. He'd fix it with tape. No way his phone was dying on him anytime soon.

He flipped it open and hit speed-dial one.

"Urgh, Naruto, what is it this time?"

"Sakura," Naruto said, quietly. "Sakura, I--"

"Naruto? What's wrong?"

Naruto closed his eyes. "Nothing," he said. "How was your day?"

"What? Um." For a long time, Sakura didn't say anything, and then: "Well, the conversation with Sasuke didn't go over so well, but, ah...." She laughed uneasily. "Anyway, after that I obviously had to go shopping, so today I finally met up with Ino. I bought a lot of stuff."

Naruto made a noise at the back of his throat. "Yeah?"

"A lot," Sakura confirmed. "A skirt--really short, you'd probably like me in it, you pervert--and two new scarves. And I bought one for you, too, obviously. It's orange. You'll love it."

"I can't wait to see it," Naruto said.

"Obviously. I'm your best friend, you should be excited. You do know that, right? That you're my best friend ever."

"... Yeah," Naruto said. "Yeah. Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"You're precious to me," Naruto said, remembering Uciha's words.

"I love you too, Naruto." A pause, and then: "So after we bought the scarves, we headed down to the coffee shop. You know, that one by the river, where you told me to go on Monday? And you wouldn't believe...."

Naruto closed his eyes. Sakura's voice was soft and musical when she wasn't pissed off. It was nice. His chest still felt tight, like it'd been twisted twice over, but the heavy tonnage in his stomach was gone and his limbs didn't feel quite so cold.

He fell asleep listening to Sakura quietly talk, and he didn't dream.