Ok so I'm a bit torn about this story. When I first started it, I was really iffy whether it belonged in the "humor" section or "drama" and I finally decided "drama." Now, I'm wondering if I should incorporate some angst into this (for some reason I tend to be better at writing it…I'm weird like that). See, if I went with angst, I have more of a plotline in my head of what's going to happen and stuff, but there's a lot of humor in the first couple of chapters…I mean I know there's always plot changes and twists but I'm not so sure if I should just stick with the humor or start making this story more serious…
Thoughts anyone?
Oh and a special shout-out goes to VanityWantsYou! Seriously when I read your review, I started flipping out, mostly because your story was one of the first really good fanfics I read (for everyone who hasn't read "When Sounds Become Visual" by her, READ IT! There's no words to describe it) so thank you!
And to TheSlowestFormOfDeath, a beta would actually be really nice. I appreciate the offer and I'll get back to you on it…it all depends how fast I can update this thing.
Lastly, thank you to everyone who reviewed (and wished me luck during my lacrosse game :D)!!
Chapter 4: Practice Makes Perfect
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Sasuke ran a hand through his messy, black locks. Being a captain of the varsity soccer team for one of the best high school's in the league was not an easy task. The whole team was currently running two miles around the field as their warm-up. Sasuke, personally, would prefer they win every game as they had gone undefeated last year, but it was a lot of pressure for him to work his team into the dirt, yet not look like a total hardass doing it.
Not that Sasuke hadn't dealt with pressure situations before.
He had already mapped out his whole life in his head. Since the day he turned twelve, he knew exactly what he was going to do and where he was planning to go. With his grades and family name, he had colleges groveling at his feet. He wanted to go into law or maybe business of some sort. When, at such a young age, he was asked why his future was already thought out, he had simply shrugged. That was just the way he was.
His parents had obviously approved of his decisions, particularly his father who ran his own law firm. Sasuke had spent his whole life trying to make him proud. He wanted to follow in his footsteps and become rich and successful. It was one of the main factors toward why he tried so hard at school. Playing soccer was even a huge stretch. Sasuke was incredibly talented, in fact the coach had practically begged him to join the team. He had liked the sport so much that he decided that he would make his own decision about it and join the team, rather disheartened by the downcast gaze he received from his father once he heard the news.
Sports aren't going to get you anywhere in life Sasuke…don't waste your time.
Sasuke was usually very obedient, so it was a surprise to Fugaku when he refused to back down from his captain position. The two of them…hadn't been of speaking terms for a while after that. But Sasuke still loved and respected his father. It would take a whole lot to change that, not some stupid fight about a sport. He couldn't say it didn't bother him though when his father's seat was always empty at a game or banquet. But hey, Sasuke had gotten use to it by now.
Shouting for everyone to sprint the last lap, Sasuke picked up his own pace, lost in his own thoughts. Sure, he had had his whole life planned out. Nothing could've gone right?
Wrong indeed.
The one thing that had set Sasuke's future completely off-balance…
That idiot of a blonde.
Sasuke didn't know how a little crush based on attraction last year had made him have a full out grind-fest in the locker room.
Speaking of which, he had clearly freaked the dobe out since whenever he laid eyes on him, Naruto would go redder than a tomato and immediately glance the other way, seeming to think that by looking away, Sasuke would disappear.
Pfft.
Slowing down now, Sasuke neared the finishing mark. Coming to a complete halt, he turned around to see the mob behind him. Most were just stopping now, pausing to catch their breath although a few stragglers lolled around behind, not being too serious. Sasuke made a mental note to make them run double. He turned his head and raised an eye at Gaara, the other captain who had managed to keep the pace without breaking a sweat. The redhead gave a slight nod, thinking exactly what Sasuke was.
"Ok everyone," Sasuke began. "Get into your position lines and start shooting on goal."
The team began to split up, each person going to a spot on the field based on what they played. Sasuke and Gaara made their way close to goal. Both were strikers and very good ones at that. The two of them, together, had been the reason for their winning streak. Sasuke reared up and got ready, his hand-eye coordination perfect. Then, he aimed a powerful kick toward the goal.
Swoosh.
The ball went through the net clean. The goalie blinked, obviously not prepared at all. Not saying that, had he been prepared, he would've caught it. No, the goal would've happened all the same. The goalie had no time to think though as another ball came whizzing past him, at an even faster speed than the first. He reached for it, extending his arms as far as they would go. He almost had it too before…
It joined Sasuke's in the back of the goal.
Other members of the team took their shots, though about half of them were actually blocked. The procedure was repeated a few more times before it was time for a new drill.
"Alright, now find a partner. You'll only need one ball between the two of you. I want you to dribble it back and forth, down the length of the field and back. I had better see some good ball control and a lot of running. And by running I mean sprinting your ass off!" Sasuke gave the soccer ball a hard kick toward Gaara and the two were off, the rest following after them.
Once they had made it seven times to and from, Sasuke announced a short water break. Everyone hustled over to their gym bags and got their drinks out. Sasuke took a few gulps of his own water, before deciding it was far too hot and splashed a good amount onto his head, soaking his hair and face, which he rubbed off a little with the front of his shirt. Seeing Gaara give him a look, he turned to face the other captain.
"What?"
"Uzumaki looks like he wants to have a word with you," Gaara pointed to the bleachers where Naruto indeed was. It appeared he was waiting...
For me?
"Take over, Gaara. I'll be right back," the redhead nodded slightly, as he seemed to understand Sasuke's situation. He was never one for words, but as he saw Sasuke jog over, shaking water out of his hair the whole way, he let out a small smile.
It almost reminded him of himself and Neji.
Naruto was dumbfounded. He had finally managed to successfully finish his week of detention, though his arms were quite sore now. Finally having some freedom, he was off to work when he saw the boys practicing on the field…and Sasuke looking sexy as ever.
Naruto watched quietly from the sidelines as he saw Sasuke run and give commands. He had never seen the Uchiha look so…dominating? Intimidating? He didn't know which it was, maybe both, but then again, he had never seen Sasuke look so happy either. Well, not including the locker room incident…
Of course Naruto was not avoiding Sasuke. Of course not! He just…didn't feel like talking to him. Every time he thought about going over to him and striking up a conversation (which really, really wasn't many times), he didn't know what to say. Everything just felt so awkward.
Naruto's stomach did a few flips as he saw the captain begin to come his way. It was then that he started to panic slightly. Shit, shit I should be going to work right now! Ah Sasuke's coming over! I'm going to be late! Man, after my first day back too! And not to mention Sasuke's shaking water out of his hair!! My god when I saw him spray water all over himself, I thought I about died! No, he shouldn't make me feel this way! I HAVE TO GET TO WORK!
His mind was clearly a shrieking jumble.
"Naruto?"
The blonde blinked at the sex-god standing before him. He looked almost as good as when he had stepped out of the shower. Though that time, he was all clean and now, Sasuke looked ready to get down and dirty…
"Hey…Sasuke," Naruto gave a slight nod in acknowledgment. He could already feel his cheeks heating up as they always did when the raven was in sight. Crap.
Sasuke noted the red tinge on his cheeks and heaved a sigh. He really hadn't meant to scare Naruto that much. But then again, it had just sort of…happened. It wasn't his fault that his willpower had temporarily left him at that moment.
"Look Naruto, I'm sorry about what happened last week."
Naruto did a double take. Sasuke was actually…apologizing? Not to mention he had stopped calling him 'dobe' and was now using his real name. Before, Naruto would've been thrilled he was no longer called the insulting term, but now, he almost wished Sasuke would call him that again.
"I just…sort of got carried away. I really don't want things to be weird or awkward between us, especially since we've got a project to work on. So, can we just forget about it and start fresh?" Sasuke had an almost pleading look in his eyes. Not that he would ever beg of course.
Naruto stared hard at him for a moment before slowly nodding his head. He knew he would have to forgive Sasuke eventually. It was hard to stay mad at someone who looked so damn good.
Sasuke let out a small sigh of relief. "Good. Now that that's all cleared up, I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight to work on our dialogue. After you're done with work and I'm through with practice, wanna come over?" He smirked when he saw the blonde nod his head in agreement. "Cool so, give me your cell phone number and I'll call you when I'm finished here."
Ripping a piece of paper from his bag, Naruto scribbled his number down hastily and handed it to Sasuke who tucked it away in the pocket of his shorts. Giving a small wave, Sasuke left to join the others on the field, while Naruto stood there watching Sasuke's ass in those shorts that seemed way too small all of a sudden.
Tearing his gaze away from the "view" and bright red, Naruto left to find Kiba in the parking lot waiting for him, with Shikamaru behind him. Noticing how Naruto seemed to have a sunburn on his face, Kiba and Shikamaru gave each other a knowing glance.
" …What?" The blonde climbed in the car and waited for his friends to explain what that "look" had meant.
"Oh nothing," Kiba began, while pulling out of the lot. "It's just that you just came back from a little talk with Sasuke and now you look like you have a 102 degree fever. There wouldn't happen to be something you're not telling us right dobe?"
If Naruto had had it his way, he would've strangled Kiba right on the spot. But since he was the one driving and since he was already slightly late and couldn't risk getting kicked out, he made no motion to say or do anything.
"Aw c'mon, I was just kidding! Lighten up man!"
"Hardy har har. You're so fucking hilarious." Naruto noted sarcastically.
"Hey! Shikamaru thinks I'm funny!" At this, the blonde turned to see his lazy friend in the backseat.
"Don't listen to Kiba, Shikamaru. He's just being a dumbass as usual." Shikamaru turned to stare at Naruto with a small grin on his face.
"I don't have to listen to Kiba. Even someone as stupid as him noticed what's going on," he paused at the dirty glare he received from the driver. "Listen Naruto, I really don't care what's going on in your private love life and I don't care to know. The only thing I'm going to say is that I do hope you're going to use protection later on."
Kiba laughed while Naruto glowed in embarrassment and fury.
"Assholes," he mumbled, turning his attention to the sky.
---
The blonde stood awestruck at the front gate of the Uchiha complex. It was fucking huge! He was tired and had just gotten out of work. It was late outside and Naruto had been hesitant on coming. But Sasuke had called him and insisted he did. So here he was. Of course, Iruka had dropped him off, rather happy that Naruto had made friends with someone as notable as Sasuke. Naruto was glad Iruka was happy to drive him. There was no way he was going to tell Kiba and risked getting that goddamn "look" again.
Opening the gate and walking up to the large mansion, he barely knocked before the door opened for him. There stood Sasuke in a faded t-shirt, along with loose, baggy sweatpants that looked as though they might fall off any second. The blonde gulped.
"Welcome dobe, come in." Naruto followed Sasuke into the house, taking in his surroundings. If it looked good on the outside, it looked even better on the inside. The floors were freshly polished and the paint on the walls had no chips whatsoever. There were numerous rooms, all leading to different places. Naruto simply stared, rooted to the floor in amazement.
"Wow Sasuke…your house is…amazing." The raven simply shrugged, not caring too much. He was use to people thinking his house was the coolest place on earth. It really wasn't all that, not to him anyways.
"Want anything to eat or drink?" Sasuke asked in a rather bored tone. He wasn't in the mood to do anything right now except take Naruto upstairs and…well, yeah. But he wasn't going to rush the blonde into anything he didn't want to do. He had just earned his forgiveness today and he wasn't going to jeopardize it. So right now, he would have to play it out as the polite host.
Naruto shook his head. He was rather interested in seeing what Sasuke's room looked like…
"Well, in that case, let's go upstairs and get started." Naruto followed Sasuke's lead up the tall, spiral staircase. He saw an open door that connected to the master bedroom, obviously Sasuke's parents. He then saw another door, which was closed though, so he couldn't tell to whom it belonged to.
He saw Sasuke open the door to his own room and went inside. It was…rather boring. The whole room was black, white, or gray. It was large, yet it seemed small to Naruto. He made a face at Sasuke.
"Why is your room so bland?"
Sasuke blinked. No one had dared to make a comment on what his "interior preferences" were.
"They're not bland, idiot. They're classic."
The blonde stuck his tongue out at him. "No, they're boring."
"And which color would you recommend then?"
"Orange!"
"Orange has got to be the most hideous color ever."
"It is not! It's my favorite color!"
"Well then clearly we're going to have to get you some more fashion sense." Naruto let out a small huff, falling backwards on Sasuke's bed.
"Ooh Sasuke, you're bed's comfy!" And truly it was. It was the type of bed someone would sink into. One that was really fluffy and soft. The raven looked at Naruto snuggling himself into his bed. Oh god…
"Care to come to bed with me then?" Sasuke smirked. He couldn't help himself. Naruto just made is so…easy.
The blonde immediately jumped off the bed as if he'd been burned. He was blushing hotly.
"Shut up teme!"
Sasuke chuckled lightly. "So, where do you wanna go with this dialogue dobe?"
Naruto looked as though he were in deep thought for a couple of minutes. Then…
"I have no idea."
Sasuke sighed. He didn't really have a clue either. Thinking of topics like this were indeed harder than it looked.
"Well, I could be a lawyer and you could be my defendant and I could try to get you off both literally and figuratively…"
"Teme!"
"Or, we could be going out to eat at a restaurant together, maybe ramen or something so then you could see my tongue doing rather…impressive things."
"I'm warning you—"
"Or, we could steal Inuzuka and Haruno's idea and I could be a doctor and you could be my patient and I could shove my stethoscope up your ass and have you screaming 'harder, hard—"
"GOD WILL YOU SHUT UP?!"
Sasuke began to laugh then and Naruto couldn't help but notice Sasuke laughing was extremely sexy. Well, Sasuke doing just about anything was extremely sexy.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just easy to get under your skin," the raven teased.
"Psh. Does everything coming out of your mouth have to be a sexual innuendo?"
Sasuke pondered it for a few minutes before giving a nod of affirmation to the blonde who simply groaned.
"Hey, I'm keeping myself in check. You're lucky I'm not pouncing on you right now and…" Sasuke allowed himself to trail off, leaving a lot to Naruto's imagination.
Naruto couldn't help but have a shiver run through his body. He couldn't deny that Sasuke was hot and it was blatantly obvious the raven wanted him. But he didn't know whether the other was truly in love with him or if it was just lust. He paused to see Sasuke staring at him.
"What is it?"
"You know I was only kidding right? Sorry if I keep making you uncomfortable. I guess I'm just good at that…" Naruto was, once again, in awe. That was twice in one day that Sasuke had apologized to him. Maybe…he really did have true feelings for him…
"So anyways, let's get started…" After bouncing more ideas for the next hour or so off each other for their dialogue scene, they finally agreed on acting out two friends playing hooky to spend the whole day out. They came up with a small portion of their script as well.
"Ah, that was tiring!" Naruto collapsed on Sasuke's bed again and almost felt like going to sleep right then and there. Who knew it had been so tough? Sasuke eyed the blonde on the bed. He looked so…cute? After a second, when Naruto's eyes closed, it suddenly hit Sasuke that Naruto had actually fallen asleep.
That idiot…Sasuke was actually glad Naruto had decided to sleep in his bed, but he knew it wouldn't be pretty tomorrow morning when he woke up and saw himself in the Uchiha's bed. He groaned at the thought of having to deal with the annoying loudness that early in the morning.
Walking over to the bed, he noticed the blonde's almost angelic sleeping features. His whole face was completely relaxed. Sasuke absentmindedly brushed a few blonde spikes from the boy's face. He slowly and stealthily climbed over Naruto, almost straddling him.
"Dobe…what are you doing to me?" Sasuke sighed. He moved his fingers from Naruto's hair to his face. He traced the closed lids, the whiskered cheeks and the smooth lips. Feeling himself lean in closer, he went to kiss him…he was so close…
Blue eyes snapped open.
Yet Sasuke paid them no mind. He brought himself and closer, finally sealing off the space between them.
Naruto's mind was in a frenzy again. He felt Sasuke's lips on his own…but he couldn't seem to pull away. Instead, he closed his eyes again and leaned into the touch.
The raven was first to pull away. He looked into Naruto's hazy eyes. "Dobe…I—"
The door was suddenly yanked open, causing both Sasuke and Naruto to look up.
Sasuke's eyes were met with cool, dark ones.
"Itachi…"
The elder Uchiha made no move. He only stared at the two on the bed, in a rather compromising position. It was about then that Naruto decided it was a good time to bail. He couldn't focus with the intense stare he was receiving from the person at the door.
"Um. Hey Sasuke, I'll j-just be…l-leaving now." Stuttering slightly, the blonde practically dashed out of the room. Once outside, he dialed Iruka's number to come pick him up. He had run away…once again. Sighing, he looked up to the sky.
Sasuke, what did that kiss mean?
Back in the house, Sasuke rolled over onto his back and let out a loud curse, well aware Itachi was still there. He glared at him, getting nothing in return. It wasn't that he hated his brother It was just the two of them didn't really talk much at all. It was weird, when they were kids, Sasuke had practically clung to Itachi as a lifeline. Now though, things were different.
"Well. You have the shittiest timing." Itachi merely gave him a cryptic look.
"Hmm otouto…tell me something. If I hadn't cut in, you wouldn't have raped the poor boy now would you?" Sasuke's glare darkened.
"Shut the hell up! It wouldn't have been 'rape' in the first place and no, things wouldn't have gone further. What's it to you anyways?" Sasuke couldn't help the slight blush that arose on his cheeks. His brother had never caught him in something like this before.
"Nothing. I just didn't know you swung that way…" Itachi let out a small smirk as he saw Sasuke turn away from him, not wanting to talk to him anymore. The conversation was obviously over.
"You know…father won't approve of him at all." Itachi turned his back as well, starting to head out the door before Sasuke called him back. Itachi stopped moving, but didn't turn back around.
"Aniki…you don't…you don't care do you?"
Sasuke let out a small gasp as he saw the smoldering look in Itachi's gaze as he faced him once again. It was rare that his brother ever let any emotion come out. He stared at his brother gaze, not backing down.
Finally, Itachi looked away.
"I'm your brother," was all he said before walking away and shutting the door.
Sasuke threw his head back against the pillow angry and confused at Itachi's words.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
---
Alright with the way things are going, I'm pretty sure this is going to turn anguishy, though not yet. Itachi isn't that important of a character so don't worry about him too much. I'm glad I got this update out of the way but I can't guarantee another one soon. 'That's Raunchy' is in dire need of an update… -.-
Reviews would be appreciated.