If it makes up for anything, this chapter was supposed to be out a LOT earlier than now. And then…life got in the way. So I decided that since the update length was so long, I'd make this chapter more on the humorous side (until the end anyways) and allow it to show more of Sasuke and Naruto's relationship.

Enjoy the chapter.

EDIT: Thanks to roar303 who pointed out an error...in chapter 8 I said that Naruto had his car back and in this, I said it was still in the shop. Boy...I am really dumb sometimes. I can't even keep track of what's happening in my own story. Anyways, I edited that part out and it's all fixed now, sorry for any confusion!

Chapter 10: First Date

--

'Throw it away

Forget yesterday'

…Huh.

'We'll make the great escape

We won't hear a word they say

They don't know us anyway'

…The fuck?

'Watch it burn

Let it die'

…Too…loud…too…early…

'Cause we are finally free tonight'

Naruto groaned, groggily, trying to form coherent thoughts in his head. He was subconsciously awake, though his eyes refused to open in an attempt to draw in an extra ten minutes of sleep.

'Throw it away

Forget yesterday'

No such luck.

Throwing the covers over his head, he buried his face into his pillow. His brain wasn't exactly functioning yet, but he tried as best he could to figure out what was making that irritating sound and how he could fix the problem.

Ah! Simple. Obviously, he had forgotten to shut off his alarm clock last night. Usually, it was programmed to start playing the radio (instead of the incessant buzzing sound that increased with every second it wasn't shut off), which signaled it was time for him to get up for school.

A tan arm shot out from underneath the covers and pushed the 'off' button on the clock on his bedside drawer.

'We'll make the great escape'

The hand began a series of smacks and punches on the electronic device.

'We won't hear a word they say'

Finally, he ended up just yanking the black cord out of its socket. There was a 'beep' followed by silence.

Ah, peace at last.

--

'Throw it away

Forget yesterday'

Hadn't he already taken care of this?

'We'll make the great escape

We won't hear a word they say'

"ARGHHHHH!"

Wrenching the covers from his head, Naruto blinked around, trying to will his sense of hearing and sense of sight to locate whatever the hell was making that damn noise!

'They don't know us anyway

Watch it burn, let it die'

Blue eyes snapped to his desk.

Oh. Of course.

His phone.

Nice going, Naruto.

Half of him had a strong urge to simply ignore the call. But, he somehow had a pretty sure feeling that whoever it was wouldn't leave him alone. With a sinking feeling, he got out of bed, with a murderous aura around him.

Someone's gonna die for this…

Flipping his phone open with such great force, it was a surprise the phone didn't snap back in half.

"What the hell?!" He snapped out.

"Tsk. Dobe. Is this how you greet everyone on the phone?"

"Well, teme, not everyone has the decency to wake me up at this ungodly hour!"

"Ungodly? You're kidding right? I wonder what you would've sounded like had you picked up my earlier call.

Huh? Sasuke called earlier?

"What exactly do you want, Sasuke?" The blonde sighed out. The faster he could get off the phone, the faster he could cuddle back into the warmth of his blankets.

"I'm calling to let you know that we're going out tonight."

"Out? Where?" Naruto asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"You'll find out later."

"Teme, I have a right being your boyfriend to know where."

"And I, dobe, have a right as your boyfriend to surprise you."

"That's not fair, you know."

"Life's not fair. Deal with it. I'll pick you up after work."

"Fine, fine," Naruto let out, exasperated, "pick me up after wo—"

Oh. Shit.

"Dobe, are you alright?"

"…Sasuke…what time is it?"

"Ten to eleven."

Ten to eleven. Ten to eleven…

"I'm actually rather surprised—"

No. It can't be ten to eleven. I set my alarm to 10:45 on the weekends. I NEVER forget to set it...

"You're not up earlier—"

Frantic eyes dashed toward his alarm clock. There was no time on it.

Did we have a fucking power outage?! I swear, I'm gonna kill Iruka if he forgot to pay the electric bill—Then, his eyes fell to the cord on the floor.

"You do have work at noon, don't you—"

Vague memories of earlier filled his head.

The cord.

He had pulled the cord.

He had pulled the cord to his alarm clock that he thought…

"Sasuke…you said you called me earlier, right?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago."

Naruto was sure he was about to start shooting flames from his eyes.

"Sasuke?"

"Mmm?"

"Fuck you."

Naruto smashed his phone against the wall, clearly signifying the end of the conversation.

--

Sasuke chuckled lightly after hanging up. Naruto was just so clueless sometimes…lovably clueless of course. He set his phone down and leaned back against his chair, drumming his fingers lightly on the armrest. He smiled softly. He had something special planned for tonight and everything had to be perfect.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even hear the door to his room open or see the object being tossed to him until it hit him squarely in the face.

"What the hell, aniki?"

The elder of the two smirked. "Don't get all pissy at me, otouto. If you weren't too busy daydreaming about your boyfriend and staring off into space with that stupid smile on your face, you could've been more aware of your surroundings."

It was amazing to Sasuke that just a few seconds with Itachi in his presence could send him on the verge of a migraine.

"Can I help you?" Sasuke bit out.

Itachi motioned to what he had thrown at him. When Sasuke looked down, he saw a black, silk tie on his lap. He raised an eyebrow.

"What's this for?"

It was now Itachi's turn to raise an eyebrow at him. "Father's business dinner. We have the pleasure of going to the Urasaki's house of hell so he can make some deal. It's all he's been talking about for weeks—please don't tell me you forgot."

There was dead silence.

"…And here I thought you were actually intelligent."

Sasuke would've conjured some witty comeback to Itachi's remark, but the only thing running through his head at the moment was SHIT. How could he possibly have forgotten? This dinner meant a lot to his father and somehow it had been pushed into the deepest, darkest corners of his mind to be forgotten among other non-important things.

"Damn it, aniki. I have plans tonight." Sasuke tried his hardest to maintain his composure, but even he couldn't help but let his concern flicker across his eyes for a moment.

"And what do you propose I do about that?" Itachi scoffed.

"Make something up. I don't know…you're good at convincing people. Just—just tell them I'm not feeling well."

"You really think father will fall for that? He knows how much you hate his dinners. He'd make you go even if you had a 103 fever and felt like you were going to pass out."

"Well, what am I supposed to tell him?!" Sasuke let out, exasperated.

"I don't know, nor do I care," was Itachi's short response before he left.

Fuck!

Sasuke pounded his fist against his desk roughly, the sound resonating throughout the whole room. He couldn't just bail on Naruto after telling him they were going to go out tonight. But he couldn't think of a way to get out of dinner…

Minutes and minutes passed by and still, Sasuke could think of no solution to his situation. His hand fiddled with his phone. With a sigh, he began to dial Naruto's number to tell him the bad news.

"I'll tell him you need to finish your research project."

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, his eyes flickered to the door. Itachi stood there, expressionless as ever. Immediately, he understood the meaning of his brother's words.

"You think that'll work?"

"Otouto, sometimes, I wonder if father cares more about your grades than your life itself." Itachi said in a voice that Sasuke could tell he was only…half-joking.

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke asked lightly. Hell, he had wanted his brother to come through for him, but he never really believed that he would. And in fact he had.

Itachi seemed to be asking himself the same thing in his mind. He didn't know how exactly to respond. "Don't ask questions, otouto. Just go with it."

Sasuke was confused at his brother's behavior, but didn't make any further comments. He acted indifferent and like he didn't care…but, somewhere, inside that microscopic thing he called his heart, Sasuke knew he did. Or maybe the elder was bipolar. That could explain it too.

"Well…thanks then. I owe you." And he meant that.

Itachi shut the door closed, but not before mumbling something that sounded distinctly to Sasuke like 'hell yeah you do.' Sasuke shifted his gaze to his table where pieces of paper were scattered all around and where his laptop sat.

He really did need to finish that paper.

But of course, everything could wait until after tonight.

--

Naruto made his way out of the café to see Sasuke's beamer pulled out front. He opened the side door to the front seat and got in. Instantly, the car was flooded with a scent of warm coffee and chocolate mixed together, and while Sasuke wasn't one to like sweets, he didn't mind the smell Naruto carried with him.

"Hey, how was work?" Sasuke asked smoothly, his free hand that wasn't on the steering wheel sneaking its way to lace with the blonde's.

"Good," Naruto blushed lightly as he felt fingers around his. "If I'm lucky, I should be able to finally get my car next week."

"Hn, and now I was actually beginning to like driving you places," said Sasuke, while Naruto laughed lightly. There was a moment of comfortable silence before Naruto wanted to change the radio station. He moved his hand to the dial before it was smacked away.

"Hey! What was that for," he whined.

"No one touches my music, dobe, I thought I made that clear the last time you were in here," was the response.

"Psh, you call this music? This is crap, teme."

"Well excuse me if I happen to like better music than whatever the hell you listen to."

"At least my music doesn't make me wanna fall asleep."

"And at least mine doesn't make my ears bleed."

Naruto let out a pout, and a slight 'hmph' before turning to face the window. Eventually, he asked, "So where're we going anyways?"

"You'll see."

"Aw, come on teme, don't you think you've kept this a secret for long enough? It's killing me to find out." Naruto made his voice sound as desperate and pleading as he could.

When it was clear Sasuke wasn't going to crack, Naruto looked slightly miffed before resuming his position looking out the window. Suddenly, a bright idea came to mind. He turned around slowly with a grin on his face. Leaning close to Sasuke, he whispered lightly into his ear.

"Please Sasuke…I hate surprises." Naruto allowed his hand to rest on Sasuke's kneecap, before dragging it down, slowly, the length of the paler teen's leg. Instantly, Sasuke's grip on the steering wheel tightened and his breath hitched.

Ha! Take THAT bastard! Now you can see how it feels!

"Dobe…get your hand off me."

"Mmm, I don't think I want to, teme. It feels rather comfortable there."

"I'm about ready to kick you out of my car."

"But you wouldn't do that, now would you?" The warm, tempting breath against his ear was back.

"Don't test me." He shuddered when Naruto blew lightly.

Over in Sasuke's mind, he was scolding himself. He was an Uchiha, damn it! He should have more self-control than this. Though he had to admit, Naruto's hand was feeling awfully nice on thigh…

Sasuke let his senses relax a little too much though, because next thing he knew, Naruto was screaming bloody murder and he didn't know what reflex he had within him that allowed him to swerve his car over and just barely avoid that truck.

Both Sasuke and Naruto were breathing slightly harder than before.

He reaaaally needed to stop almost smashing his car into other vehicles whenever the blonde was in his presence (or running rampant in his thoughts).

"Naruto…kindly remove your hand before we both die."

The hand moved rather quickly after that.

--

"Sasuke, why are we at the park?" Naruto asked, confused. Sasuke had just parked the car and both had just gotten out.

"Follow me," Sasuke tugged the blonde's hand, urging him to follow. The two walked for a little bit until they reached a small, grassy clearing that appeared to be glowing. Naruto squinted a little, but as they walked closer, he began to make out what was on the grass.

Set up, there was a picnic blanket laid out. On it was a simple meal for two (including ramen of course) and a bottle of champagne with two glasses. Another, thicker blanket was waiting nearby and the glow that Naruto had seen from afar had been candles that had been lit up around the area.

Naruto's jaw dropped at all of it. Never before had anyone put so much effort into pleasing him. He felt a tug at his heartstrings and warmth spread throughout his body. He looked over to Sasuke, where the other was shifting a bit from side to side, looking a little uncomfortable. His fingers tightened unconsciously around Sasuke's.

Sasuke smiled to himself, knowing by the way Naruto responded that he liked what he had done. It hadn't taken too long to get the meal prepared and get everything set up, but like he said, everything had to be perfect.

"So, this is what you had planned all along?" Naruto asked, his voice more calm and quiet than earlier.

"Well, I figure I could have taken you out to some boring, expensive restaurant you would've had no interest in going to…or I could make a meal, bring it here, watch you eat, wrap you up in that blanket, and afterwards, watch the stars in the sky," Sasuke answered, in a voice just as soft and sincere.

Again, Naruto felt that tug. "I never thought you'd be the romantic type, Uchiha."

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "Neither did I."

The two of them sat down and began to eat. Both snuck glances at the other when they thought they weren't looking. No words were exchanged. None were needed.

When they were finished and about half the bottle of champagne was drained, Sasuke wrapped the blanket around himself and Naruto, the blonde's head resting lightly on his shoulder. The first of the night's stars were beginning to show themselves in the dark sky.

Neither moved for a few minutes. Idly, Sasuke began to trail his hand through Naruto's locks. Never in his life had he felt like this before. It truly was weird to him that one person could make him feel like this. Like he was in a place where troubles didn't exist, where he didn't have to think of school, his brother, or his parents. No, the only thing that was running through his head right now was Naruto Uzumaki.

"God, Naruto," Sasuke whispered. "How'd I get so lucky to have you?"

At those words, Naruto felt a sting in his eyes. He bit his lip hard to force them to go away. He was such a girl, he couldn't believe he was this close to crying. He barely cried, ever. But with Sasuke, it was so much easier to provoke emotion from him. He couldn't believe that right now, the Uchiha Sasuke was saying all those things to him. The most attractive and one of the most sought-after guys in the whole school, hell maybe even the whole city, was happy to have him.

He had never felt so important and needed in his whole life.

Burrowing his face into the crook of Sasuke's neck, he let out a shaky sigh. "I'm the one who should be saying that bastard."

The silence was thick.

The stars were bright as they littered the vast sky.

And it was only a matter of moments before the two fell asleep.

--

It was never a good sign when Sasuke awoke to something burning.

Naruto stirred beside him before he blinked his eyes open. "S'uke, what's…tha smell?"

Indeed, the burning scent was increasing each moment and Sasuke still couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was. His eyes widened and he sprang up quickly, or as quickly as he could, being tangled in a blanket. It took a minute for Sasuke to dislodge himself completely, stepping on Naruto in the process and earning a yelp from the blonde.

"Shit! The candles!"

--

Sasuke drove Naruto back to his house safely and walked him to his doorstep. He felt like such an idiot for forgetting to put out those candles. Not that he planned on sleeping for that long, nor had he expected the wind to be so strong that it knocked them over but still…he should've been a bit more cautious. Now, he smelled like burnt grass.

"So…"

"Well…"

Both paused after speaking at the same time. Naruto grinned sheepishly, while Sasuke let out a small smile.

"Go ahead, teme."

"No, you first."

"Ok, well…I just wanted you to know I had a really, really great time tonight. Minus nearly starting a forest fire." Blue eyes sparkled in amusement. "Thank you for doing all of this, Sasuke. Didn't know you had it in you to be such a good boyfriend. It…it really meant a lot."

Sasuke stared at the boy in front of him. Naruto still had the blanket around him. His bright, blonde hair was sticking up in random places from sleeping, which only added to his adorableness. His clear, cerulean eyes twinkled like the stars had, and held such a light in them, that Sasuke felt as though he was being sucked in. Standing here, on Naruto's front porch, the blonde truly looked like an angel.

"I'm glad you had a good time. That means a lot to me too."

Naruto's grin never faded. "Well…good night then. See you in school tomorrow." Quickly, he tilted his head up and pressed a kiss on the side of Sasuke's cheek before moving to open his front door. His hand was suddenly grabbed and he was spun around to find a pair of lips pressed firmly against his own.

Sasuke wasn't about to allow Naruto to leave with just a kiss on the cheek. His tongue traced the blonde's bottom lip, silently asking for permission. With a small moan, Naruto parted his mouth, allowing his tongue to slide in and explore. Sasuke placed one of his hands on the back of Naruto's head, pulling him in closer, while the other went to cup the blonde's cheek.

After a while, both parted for air. Naruto's cheeks now had a light dusting of pink on them and Sasuke looked slightly breathless.

"Good night, Naruto," said Sasuke, leaning down to peck him softly on the lips once more before retreating to his car.

Naruto gathered whatever he had left in him to let himself in. Once inside, he let his head rest back against the door. God, that kiss…it had been amazing. He smiled as he pulled the blanket around himself tighter. Oh! The blanket…he supposed Sasuke wouldn't mind if he held onto it for a bit longer. He'd give it back to him…eventually.

He traced his lips lightly with his fingers.

He could still feel Sasuke's warmth.

Naruto made his way up to his room in the best mood he'd been in a while.

It was about time he let himself be happy.

--

Sasuke paused by Itachi's room as he made his way to bed. His older brother was typing away at his own laptop, hair hanging loosely around his shoulders.

"How was dinner?"

"Sucked," Itachi responded, without even a glance upward. "You're lucky father and mother chose to retire to bed without checking on you."

"Yeah…I kind of lost track of time." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair again. He had been doing that a lot recently.

"What, had too much of a good time with your boyfriend?"

"You could say that…"

"I don't even want to know," Itachi cut in, before Sasuke could finish. "But I would recommend you to shower. You do smell like someone who stuck his head and clothes in a furnace.

The younger glared. "Yeah. That's where I was headed. Good night then."

"Sasuke."

Sasuke paused before leaving. His brother rarely called him by his actual name. It was usually just 'otouto' or even better, 'foolish otouto.'

"Father wasn't too happy."

The teen swallowed thickly. "What'd he say?"

"Nothing." Click. Click. Click. Itachi's hands typed away on his document. "Though I believe he suspects something."

"Well…what do I do?" Sasuke bit his lip. He seemed to be making a habit of that too.

"You could start by telling him you have a boyfriend."

There was an uneasy pause.

"I…I can't do that. You know I can't even consider that. It's—it's…too soon." Sasuke seemed to be having trouble forming sentences.

Click. Click. Click.

"And how long do you plan on keeping this relationship a secret?"

"I…I don't know. I mean, I'll tell him. It's just…too soon."

Click. Click. Click.

"I see. Goodnight otouto."

The door to his room closed and Itachi paused in his typing and stared at the spot where Sasuke had stood just a moment before.

He kept his gaze, staring there, at the door, for a long, long time.

--

Yeah, I told you guys Itachi will be a bit more important later on in the story. Sasuke's relationship with Naruto might have gotten a lot better but the one with his father…well that's another story.

Please review! More reviews faster updates! (seriously, this time guys).