Disclaimer: It's true, I don't own Naruto...I own Gaara, an I occasionally rent Kiba.
Since nobody reviewed on my last chapter, I'll just have to assume that you guys are all dead and I'm the only one left alive on the planet. 'Sigh' Well, that means I don't have anyone to thank this time around. SO THANKS FOR NOTHIN'...uh,...nobody?...
Anyway, on with the show...
Chapter_14: Everything You Never Knew
Walking into Ichiraku's was like walking into a Mother's open embrace for Naruto. It was exactly as he'd remembered. Nothing about it had changed, even in the two years he was away; every furnishing was in exactly the same place. The same old wooden bar, lovingly polished and painstakingly cleaned every night by the owner/barkeep, still held that temperate luster that spoke of many a drink poured and shared across its surface. The bar was still situated against the left side wall, which conveniently afforded a view of the rest of the room from behind it; not that there was much to see.
A lone, open grate brick hearth on the far wall was the source of the heat. Two couches, which had obviously seen better days, were positioned nearer to the exposed red coals; blocking most of the dull glow if not the radiating warmth. The remainder of limited floor space held one long pool table, the green felt threadbare, but no less lovingly maintenance. It was currently occupied by three men and one goodly underdressed woman.
Naruto smiled, seeing that pool table brought back so many pleasant memories. Many a long, lonely night was spent playing billiards at that very same table in those years before he'd ever met Iruka. He's gotten quite good at sneaking out of that orphanage over the years. Why he came to this third-rate bar/grill and not the gangs that were always on the prowl for new flesh was a minor miracle. But when he'd come in, shivering with cold and as hungry as a bear just waking up from hibernation, Teuchi treated him like royalty. He'd been sat down on one of those old couches, wrapped in a clean blanket and served the best meal he'd ever eaten in his life before or since then. He'd been addicted to Ichiraku ramen ever since.
Over the years, Naruto had played hundreds of games on that wooden relic. He knew the rules to eight ball, nine ball, straight pool, snooker, bank pool and cribbage pool and was good enough at them all to give even the best pools hustlers a run for their money.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" An astonished shout came from the bar. A rounded man with black hair and tanned skin was peering in disbelief at the pair who had just come in, more specifically, at Naruto. A slow smile spread across the man's leathery features as the blond crossed over to him, his own bright grin set firmly into place.
They clasped hands over the bar and for a moment, neither moved. They stood smiling warmly at each other, enjoying the sweetness of reunion.
"Hey, old man," Naruto answered easily, releasing the man's hand before taking a seat on one of the squeaky vinyl stools next to him. "It's nice to see you again."
The old man, apparently the owner and proprietor of this place, looked please. "I'm glad that you came back safe enough from your trip. I haven't sold half of the ramen that I did in the two years you were away than I did in one month when you were around. But now that you're back," Yes, Sasuke determined, the man was looking decidedly pleased with how this evening was turning out.
The old man's squinted brown eyes fixed on the raven. "And you've brought someone with you."
"Oh, yeah," Sasuke wondered how Naruto could forget about him so easily since the moron had brought him here in the first place.
"Uchiha Sasuke, this is one of the few great men left in the world and consequently the only one who can make ramen nirvana: Teuchi. Mr. Teuchi, this is Uchiha Sasuke, the cold heartedest jerk in all of Konoha, and my…" The blond paused. My what? Friend? After what he they had just done not an hour ago? He couldn't say friends with benefits; that would just beg for way too many questions, questions that he wasn't sure how to answer himself.
"He's a…an acquaintance of mine." The Uzumaki finished lamely. He saw the old man's already sharply narrowed gaze tighten even more; Teuchi was one sharp old geezer, but the man obviously understood that asking directly for information on this particular subject would get him nowhere. So instead he nodded his polite acceptance of the adjective and stuck his hand out for Sasuke to shake. When the raven accepted the proffered appendage his smile grew warm. Whatever was going on between these two, they had his approval. He'd been working this job for forty years; he could tell the bad eggs from the good eggs and this Uchiha Sasuke…well, he couldn't rightly decide if the man fell into either category. There was something in the way that the man held himself, something in his handshake that made Teuchi think that he was on the fence about something, even if he himself didn't know what that something was, but it was not his job to pry, just to get his customers drinks and offer a sympathetic ear if one was needed.
"Uchiha Sasuke," He repeated, shaking the man's hand firmly. "Well, any 'acquaintance' of this wonderful young man is certainly welcome in my establishment any time."
"Thanks, old man." Naruto grinned his appreciation to the elderly bartender who returned the gesture with practiced ease.
"What can I get for you kids tonight; I doubt that you came all the way here just to reminisce."
"Well I'm showing Sasuke what good times there are to be had here in the very heart of Konoha, so we'll have to Rasen…wait, no! We'll have two curse seals and then two Rasengan chasers. Oh, and of course…"
"Two bowls of Miso Pork Ramen."
"One," Sasuke corrected, with steely resolution. Teuchi shrugged and moved away to get their drinks.
Naruto glared at the man seated silently beside himself. "Would it kill you to try something before you decide that you absolutely hate it?"
"Hn,"
The blond grit his teeth in annoyance. He had to find himself a magic word that let him not answer questions when he didn't want to. It worked for the jerk, so why not him too? Because he wasn't a bastard, like the bastard was, that's why.
"Whatever, you're going to try what I put in front of you tonight and you're going to like it!"
"Idiot," Sasuke's eyebrow arched, but still the man refused to look at the man seated beside him. "You can't just say something like that and make it happen."
"Tonight I can."
"I didn't agree to."
Naruto's rude response was interrupted when two shot glasses were placed firmly in front of his crossed arms. He thanked the old man and slid a few bills over the smooth wood to him before pushing one of the shot glasses towards Sasuke.
The raven glanced at the dark liquid, swirling with wisps of electric blue.
"It's called a curse seal." Naruto was staring at him again, measuring him with those vulnerable cobalt blue eyes, trying to gauge his reaction to the strange drink placed in front of him. He was trying to figure him out.
"Just try it, I promise that…that you've never tasted anything like this before."
Well that sounded ominous.
"Hn,"
"That's not a word, Teme!" Naruto growled, picking up his drink with two fingers and a thumb, swirling the viscous liquid inside slowly. He huffed, sending the raven a solid glare that had absolutely no effect on the other man whatsoever. Okay, so superhuman glare was not among his impressive arsenal of superpowers, like he needed another one, but it would've been helpful right now. He realized that he was getting nowhere very fast and it would be well into the next month before he had the raven anywhere near convinced to try a sip of his drink.
The blond growled unconsciously. He didn't like it when people were stubborn about stupid things. It wasn't like the drink was going to kill Sasuke…probably not, so why was the jerk being so inflexible? Naruto's mind flashed back to the restaurant. The raven sat in the exact same place every single time, always with his back against the wall, in the one seat in the entire place that could see everything at once. At 'Sound', Sasuke's private booth was open and exposed, but once again, his back was against the wall and situated so he could see everything going one around him. He like to control things, which Naruto was beginning to understand the more he was around the raven. He'd controlled every aspect of this weird relationship, he'd started it, pursued the blond and had even chosen when Naruto was pushing things 'too far' physically. He couldn't believe that he was using that recent ordeal as an example, but he always did have a quick recovery time; for better or worse.
Uchiha Sasuke liked to be in control. Okay, so that particular character trait wasn't exactly hidden, but for the Uzumaki, it was a little piece of Sasuke that he'd figured out on his own. A little factoid that the raven hadn't shared with him, not that the bastard was prone to sharing things…
He grinned again. That was number two that he'd figured out on his own! Man he was on a roll! But the question of how to get Sasuke to try his shot was still prevalent. How could he convince a control happy jerk to take a leap? How had Iruka always managed to convince him that vegetables weren't of the devil? Oh, yeah! He'd offered to take him out for ice cream afterwards. So maybe if he offered Sasuke some 'dessert' if he tried the drink, it might persuade the raven to relent. But what would Sasuke want? The blond found that he had no answer. He had no idea what the brunette liked and didn't like. Another brilliant epiphany widened the grin that was already threatening to overtake his entire face. If he offered Sasuke a 'blank check' for anything he wanted later on, he'd be able to find out something that the man liked when he cashed the card in! It was a genius idea. Naruto couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it sooner!
"Hey, you know," The blond started swirling his drink around again, trying to sound as innocent as he could. "If you really don't want to drink it, you don't have to."
Sasuke glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Oh, yeah, Naruto did a mental fist pump. He totally had this in the basket.
"But if you did, it would be really cool of you. In fact…" He raised the glass to his nose and took a quick sniff, shuddering as the alcohol's cloying scent punched into him. "…I might be willing to offer you a…" Was prize the right word? He's had one in mind, but now he couldn't think of it.
"A boon?"
Why was it that Sasuke was always the one with the answers? Oh, well, it didn't matter since he'd gotten his message across.
"Yup,"
.XX.
It was one shot. Why did it matter so much to Naruto? It obviously did, since the blond was quick to promise him anything that he wanted just so he would drink the stupid thing.
The raven glanced at the churning black fluid. It was one shot. In exchange for a boon, whatever he wanted...once. Chikushou, Naruto had absolutely no idea how he was tempting him.
"One shot,"
"Yup," The blond wouldn't have been grinning if he'd known what exactly the raven wanted as his 'boon' to be. If fact, Sasuke had a very good idea that the blond would run away screaming if he had any idea of what Uchiha Sasuke wanted to do to and with him…once…
The Uchiha's mind worked quickly. This might work to his advantage as well. Naruto was obviously not thinking in sexual terms; otherwise he would never have offered the other man anything that he wanted in exchange for this little drink. But that didn't mean that the man couldn't be coerced into changing his train of thought, when the appropriate time came of course. For now, he would have to make sure that the blond man's hands were as tied as they possibly could be.
Sasuke shoved that errant mental picture aside for the moment. As delicious as it was; he needed to focus on the task at hand, chikushou.
"Anything that I want, anytime that I want it, no complaints, excuses, substitutions or alterations of the request and any of it subsequent details can be made once the request has been formally stated."
"Jeez, you're picky."
"I'm specific about the agreements that I make, there's a difference."
The blond huffed. His head tilted to one side as if considering the man's terms and then nodded. "Yeah, fine, that sounds reasonable and all that I guess. Just drink the stupid shot, Teme."
Sasuke picked up the tiny glass with two fingers, inspecting the still churning blackness inside. What alcohol roiled and twisted like that and did he seriously want to put something like that into his system? He took one final glance to the blond next to him. The idiot was watching with rapped attention, his face excited and eager.
Oh, yeah…
"On the count of three," Naruto instructed, altogether too cheerfully. "One…two…t- oh hey, one more thing!"
Sasuke tried to look as dignified as he could; jerking the glass away from his parted lips. He wasn't sure how successful he was and glared his blame directly into the blonds' soul. Said blond only chuckled and began rubbing the back of his neck. Idiot.
"I was just going to say, don't let it touch your tongue."
What?
"One, two, three!"
Putting aside his better judgment, the raven tossed back the drink and immediately regretted it. His entire world erupted into liquid energy, pulsing, sweating, and painful. The shot burned down his throat with the finesse and subtly of tiger's claws tearing out his larynx.
He swore that he could actually feel the roiling liquid pool into the very pit of his stomach, creating a slow unpleasant burn that was making it very difficult for the Uchiha not to purge his system.
His jaw began to ache and Sasuke realized that he was gritting his teeth. But try as he might, the muscles refused to respond to his commands to loosen.
A droplet of sweat trickled hotly down his forehead, another side affect, the raven supposed, of the nauseous burn in his stomach and the revolting drink.
With a heavy rush, Sasuke opened his eyes and took a slow steady breath. To his satisfaction, he had remained upright and the only indication of the alcohol's unpleasant affects was the slight sheen of sweat which coated his forehead. He quickly and calmly wiped any remaining traces away with the back of one hand. He was curious as to how Naruto had faired against that poisoned beverage.
The blond was literally sprawled across the bar top, the now empty shot glass in one hand. He wasn't moving. Sasuke didn't even see the man's shoulder blades rise and fall for breath. And then suddenly the blond straightened, forcing his body upright with a hulking gasp.
"T-that…wa-s…ah…awesome!" Naruto panted, that stupid grin plastered to his face as he wiped the heavy sweat off of his forehead with the back of one hand.
"Hn," Sasuke really wasn't in the mood to contradict the blond bonehead. He had his boon, and he was satisfied with that, despite the unpleasantness of the drink he had just imbibed. He consoled his revolting stomach with ideas of what he might use his gained privilege to force Uzumaki Naruto into.
He was pondering the advantages of ropes and gags when the blond man's hand clapped him on the shoulder. Sasuke turned his head. Naruto's grin had diminished somewhat and the blond rolled his eyes dramatically at his companions' noncommittal response. But Naruto's expression brightened immediately when old man Teuchi came over. The man set down two mugs for mugs of beer and left against to attend to his other guests.
"Okay," Naruto's hand left Sasuke's shoulder to reach for the second drink. Once he had it gripped firmly in his fingers He turned expectantly to Sasuke and found that the raven was still watching him, completely ignoring the proffered beverage.
"What?"
The Uchiha said nothing, simply…watching.
Naruto felt the beginnings of a flush spreading across the bridge of his nose. That always seemed to happen when he and Sasuke made direct eye contact. There was just something about the way that that guy would look at him, like he knew everything that was going through his head just as he was thinking or feeling it. It was odd. Naruto felt exposed, but not in a threatening, naked way, but in the liberating confidences sort of way; if that made any sense whatsoever.
Naruto peered back into those twin pools of utter darkness and for a second, it seemed that the link, that weird empathic connection went both ways. He could read every emotion that the man was feeling; every hidden nuance in his face and for that instant, the Uchiha's bland expression suddenly wasn't so mild. He was being cautious. He hadn't enjoyed the first shot, and now he was going to wait and watch and see how Naruto reacted to this newly introduced beverage before he drank any of it.
And then the raven was blinking, fixing his obsidian gaze on the pint of Rasengan beer. Naruto followed suit, blinking at the sudden loss of the intimate connection. What the heck had brought on that unexpected onslaught of mindreading capabilities? Was it some weird new ability of Kyuubi's that's waited until now to reveal itself? Or had he simply imagined it?
"It's called a Rasengan." Naruto said finally. Sasuke made no indication that he had heard the blond at all, but he had. He was still waiting.
"It's better than the last one."
Nothing.
"Just try one sip."
Not even an involuntary facial twitch. He wouldn't have something so imperfect in his genetic code. Naruto thought sarcastically. He'd probably invent some sort of laser technology and delete it from his DNA as soon as he found out about the flaw.
Another idea popped into the blonds' head. What if he offered another…poon…? Another, whatever-the-heck-he-wants, to the raven? That might convince him to try and Naruto would get another idea about what the unreadable guy liked.
"If you take a sip, you can have another of those: whatever you want things."
There, Naruto saw it, the slightest twitch on one ear. It was faint, but the blond knew that he had Sasuke's attention. It wasn't enough to convince him though.
"How about two more?"
"Hn,"
The Uzumaki's grin was triumphant. He was sure that anyone who was or had been eavesdropping on the exchange wouldn't have understood the magnitude of that small sound the raven-haired male had just emitted. But Naruto understood what breaking through the ice really implied: he had piqued the man's interest.
"And I'll even take a drink first, just 'cause I'm a nice guy like that."
Sasuke leaned back, his eyes flicking slowly between Naruto and the drink on the bar top, which was slowly gathering moisture at its base.
"Same terms as before, two more, separate, boons; anything that I want, anytime that I want it."
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto rolled his eyes and reached for the mugs' thick handle. "It's a good thing I'm such a nice person, or else I might get annoyed with all of your negotiating terms and crap."
"Hn,"
The blond sighed heavily and closed his eyes, drawing the mug to his lips. Lids slid shut and lips parted; Naruto tilted the glass to take in that first sweet sip. The smooth slide of the cool glass pressed against his bottom lip and then he was taking his in the beautiful taste of Rasengan for the first time in two years. It was heavenly. As bitter and awful as the shot before it had been, this beer was light and smooth and strong. The first time he'd tasted it, almost three years ago, he'd described it as drinking liquid gold. The description still fit.
Naruto swallowed and eased the mug almost mournfully away from his mouth. He'd have plenty of time to savor later; for now he was just proving that the drink was palatable.
He swung his head over to the Uchiha. "It's your turn."
With less reluctance than one might have expected; the raven took up his own glass.
Lids, as pale as the man's eyes were dark, slid shut, hiding those mesmerizing spheres of flawless ebony from view. In slow motion lips parted, they were colored a soft rose, not white, like the rest of Sasuke's skin. They were slender, but, as the clear glass pressed down onto them, anyone with eyes could see that they were comfortable as pillows. The tip of a light pink tongue was visible through the glass as it crept up unconsciously touch the rim of the glass. Sasuke's slim throat worked when the man swallowed, the Adam's apple dipping down and then up once and then once more.
Naruto jerked in surprise when he realized that he had been watching. The blond mentally smacked his forehead and tried his best to school his features back into their previous, eager, expression. Only Uchiha Sasuke could make something as simple as taking a drink 'sexy'. It just wasn't fair.
When the raven's eyelids slipped open there was a split second that Naruto would've sworn the look in his eyes was…appreciative. But when Sauske turned his attention fully on the blond, any trace of 'appreciation' or any other emotion was wiped completely from his countenance. But that wasn't going to convince the Uzumaki that he hadn't seen what he'd seen. Sasuke liked Rasengan and that was that.
"Well, its good isn't it?" The blond taunted. "Good enough for a second drink?"
The brunette arched an eyebrow and Naruto knew that the man's pride had been challenged. Sasuke knew that he knew that he had enjoyed the drink, but the man had more pride than was good for him. For the next three hours, Sasuke's drink remained untouched.
.XX.
"So your family has lived in Konoha for forever?"
Sasuke nodded.
Naruto took a long pull, finishing the dregs of his third pint of the evening. Although, Rasengan really didn't have dregs; it was good to the last drop. "That's so cool. You're part of a…legocy."
"Legacy,"
The blond furrowed his brows. He rarely drank Curse Seal's; he figured out quickly enough after his twenty-first birthday that the stupid shot had way more alcohol packed into those four fluid ounces then most beer did in two pints. And as far as that went, the Rasengan wasn't exactly 'light drinking' either. Thankfully, he could hold his liquor, lost of practice had given him a strong s-s-stomach.
He ignored the Uchiha's rude and incorrect correction of his pronunciation; anyway, he was pretty sure that the raven was just jealous because he hadn't thought of the word himself.
"Hey, old man Teuchi; another Rasengan, over here!"
The owner gave his boisterous customer a warm smile and headed over to mix the blonds' next drink.
"Now then," Naruto whipped around to face the still placid faced Uchiha. They had actually been talking for the better part of a half hour, nicely enough, the blond supposed. It wasn't like Sasuke was the best conversationalist in the world…city…this bar…oaky, between him and Naruto, the Uzumaki was sure that he would've won, hands down.
"You're parents and, their parents and their parents and whatever, were all around forever ago. Did you guys have 'Sound' forever ago too?"
Sasuke was silent a moment and when he answered, his voice was careful, measured, although, wasn't it always?
"I inherited the family business when my parents died, yes."
Oh, crap, Sasuke's parents were dead. Naruto felt like ten kinds of slime with his unconscious poking and prodding of the tender subject. But now that he knew, it did explain a few things, like why the raven didn't have any family pictures or anything like that hanging around in his apartment. Although, that piece of information was a little less satisfying than the others had been. "Sorry, I didn't know."
"Don't punish yourself." The Uchiha's eyes showed no pain as he dismissed the blonds' implied concern. "I've had years to acclimate myself with their death. It no longer troubles me."
"But…" Naruto bit his lip. He'd been about to say that his parents had died and he cared, but stopped. He didn't really have room to contradict Sasuke's statement of apathy. After all, he had never met his parents, never known them, heard their voices, felt the touch of his mother's hand on his cheek; never seen his father's glowing look of pride. How could you miss something that you didn't remember?
"How long?" He heard himself ask.
Sasuke's eyes peered almost inquisitively at him and Naruto's voice emerged again, as if of its own volition. "How long has it been? How old were you, when…" He trailed off and the blond averted his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was still on this awkward subject; he was going to get punched. All because he'd had just a little too much and he was curious about the self-contained jerk and maybe, just maybe because Sasuke could understand a little of what he was struggling with. But asking things so bluntly was a bad idea. He didn't like being so brazenly obtrusive about things that people didn't like talking about. He was going to get decked for sure!
"Six,"
Naruto's eyes went wide.
"I was six when they were killed."
"Do you…'member them?" Naruto didn't trust himself to look at the Uchiha. He was a little afraid that this was just a figment of his imagination and as soon as he checked, he would find the other man staring coldly at him. A small part of him, the only piece of his mind that wasn't afraid of breaking the illusion was amazed that Sasuke was willingly sharing all this about his intimate past.
The pause was long. Finally Sasuke took a deep breath. "Enough,"
"Enough fer wha...?"
"Here's your Rasengan!" Teuchi came up and plunked down the blonds' third drink that hour.
"Thanks," Naruto mumbled, pushing his money across the bar. The old man smiled as he picked up the crisp bills and moved off once more, but it was too late now, the mood, whatever weird zone the pair of them had been in during that whole odd exchange was completely and effectively gone. And Naruto had absolutely no idea how to get it back.
Dejectedly, the blond sipped his liquor.
"You seem to know each other very well."
"Hm?" Blue eyes rolled to the raven seated at this right. Sasuke was watching Teuchi as the older man stood talking to one of the few other customers at the other side of the bar.
"Old man Teuchi? Yeah, we've known each other since I was…like twe've or somethin'. He taugh' me how to play pool, poker, fed me ramen."
"The essentials of life,"
"Shut up, bastard!" Naruto growled, half serious; wondering when the Uchiha had ever been sarcastic with him verbally. It was always in an arched eyebrow, or a snort, never words or out loud. Maybe it was a sign that the man was getting comfortable around him enough to express his sarcasm verbally, or it might be a sign that he was just getting drunk.
"He was nice to me. And when you grow up in a place where no one gives a crap about you, an adult that gives...h'a crap if you come back around is pretty cool."
"I can't imagine the proctors at the orphanage were thrilled about your trips here."
"They never found out." Naruto admitted, a rogue glint shining in his eye. "I was too good at sneaking out to get caught by thoose guys; they were always half-asleep anyway."
His smile diminished some. "But it wasn't their fault. They were just really overworked and they never got any sleep. The younger kids were always crying, having nightmares and wanting their parents, so the peh...ple never slept all the way through the night."
Sasuke didn't comment on how much it sounded like Naruto hadn't done a lot of sleeping at nights either. Of course if the Uchiha asked, Naruto hadn't been the child that was up crying for his parents either. Naruto would never admit that, not even to himself.
"No one's blaming them. You're still alive after all."
"Yeah," Naruto sighed, taking a large pull from his mug. He didn't stop until half of the glass's contents were gone. "I guess that I'm lucky aren't I?"
Sasuke could feel his eyebrows furrowing. The blond wore an expression he had never seen on his face before: sadness, mixed with sober pondering. The blond was thinking, but about something that he had thought about many times before and which brought him little joy.
"You know, I've always wondered." Naruto's voice was quiet, somber, if not a bit halted because of the alcohol. "Why did they leave me alive? Was it to punish me? Was it to send a message? Was it just because they ran out of time before the cops showed up? Was it so they could watch me grow up alone, just for their own, sick pleasure?"
The blond didn't allow for any words when he paused to breathe. He shook his head and drank again.
"I wish that I knew; I w-wish tha…I had a clue. I wish that I had somethin... I wish sometimes...that they had kill-t me too, so I wouldn't be here, wishing that I had something of theirs to hold onto, any sh-w-red of memory that would hold me to them, that would help me know them at all. And you know, at least if I were dead, I'd be in the same place as they were. I'd know."
Somewhere in the middle, they had stopped talking about the gang. It was the blonds' parents which held the forefront of conversation.
Sasuke watched as the blond emptied his fifth pint and set it unsteadily down on the wood. When Naruto started talking again, his voice was shaking, not crying, but certainly a good deal away from controlled.
"But ev-w-ry time I try, I can't come up with anythin'. I don't have anythin...g, not even little happ...happ...e feelin, or kin...ness; no warm'h, no voices. I get nothing…"
The blonds' eyes had closed and he was growling.
"My parents are gone and I have nothing left of them to even feel sorrow for."
"Don't do that to yourself." The Uchiha's voice was stern, final. "Don't manufacture guilt for something you had no control over, that will only compound your problems."
It was Naruto's turn to open his eyes. He stared at the raven's untouched mug of Rasengan, ignoring the Uchiha. "What do you know?"
Neither man said anything after that. Neither could force their pride down enough to admit that he knew better than a lot of people would, or that he other might be right.
"Listen, I..um, I've got to go." Naruto murmured, pretending to look at his watch. "I've, go…t work tomor…tomor…row…"
"Then I'll walk you home." Sasuke stood and reached for his jacket.
Naruto waved for him to sit back down. "I can get hom…all by myselv…"
"Because you're so sober at the moment."
"I'm juss…tired is all." The blond insisted, pushing unsteadily to his feet. He pointed to the raven's now warm beer still sitting undisturbed on the bar. "Are you gonna finishhh that?"
Before Sasuke could say either way, Naruto had grabbed the mug and was chugging the whole thing. And then the blond was gone, bumbling outside with a misdirected wave goodbye and a mumbled 'Abiyo' to Teuchi. Of course the man also forgot his borrowed jacket, but it mattered little to the Uzumaki in his current state.
Nothing really mattered to Naruto at the moment, besides getting away; he wasn't even sure what it was he was trying to get away from. But when he stumbled and a hand clasped around his bicep to keep him from falling flat on his face, Naruto knew that whatever it was had caught up to him.
"Idiot," He heard the voice from somewhere far off in the haze surrounding his muddled brain. "Don't keep running around in the cold without a coat." It was a silky, sexy voice. Even as it threw out the insult, Naruto could hear the underlying concern.
Something warm wrapped around his shoulder and distantly the blond realized that he had been shivering. What a nice thing for the voice to do.
"Th…hanks," Naruto wished that he could remember who that nice voice belonged to. Such a nice person to bring him a coat and be concerned that he didn't run around without it. Such a nice voice…
"Idiot," The nice voice repeated and the hand around his bicep tightened. "I'm taking you home."
"For yer infoo-mation; I am going home all by myself. I'm a grew up…"
The voice made a snorting sound, like it didn't believe that he could do any such thing. Maybe the voice wasn't so nice after all.
"Fine, then which way is home?"
"Thisss way…" Naruto started off, surprisingly enough in the correct direction. Of course after years of navigating the city by night while under the guise of Kyuubi and with nothing to guide him but his acute sense of smell, Naruto, even dead drunk could find his way home. The current problem was trying to get his feet to take him there. He stumbled once, staggered gamely on for about a half a city block and then tripped on his own feet.
The same hand reached out and gripped under his armpit before he could face plant…again. Maybe the voice was nice after all…
"Just tell me where to go."
.XX.
They had made it. Sasuke had to admit that he had agreed to lead the blond with some skepticism. He was almost certain that they were going to wind up spending the night at his apartment again. But the blond had somehow, through that thick mist floating around his already questionably lucid brain, found his way to his apartment.
It had been one of the few details that Sasuke had decided not to look into. The location of an apartment was something learned through the course of a relationship, not something gleaned from intelligence reports. And now, he knew exactly where Uzumaki Naruto lived. There was little doubt in the Uchiha's mind that this wasn't where the blond hung his hat. One, because it was a mess, clothing was strewn almost literally everywhere. Two, the smell of stale ramen was coming from the kitchen, a food that he now associated completely to the blond man for...obvious and intimate reasons. Three, as soon as they had approached the door, the blond he had been supporting knew exactly where the key was hidden, under a fake potted plant set next to the door. This was the bachelor pad of one Uzumaki Naruto; and what a sad sight it was.
Sasuke had to kick piles of rumpled clothing out of the badly buzzed blonds' path three separate times before he could actually deposited his burden onto the wrinkled sheets of his bed.
Naruto snuggled into the mess of covers, still fully clothed and wrapped in the coat he'd borrowed earlier that night.
The raven took a deep, bracing breath and knelt on the blonds' too firm mattress. He tugged off the man's shoes before heading upwards to retrieve his coat.
Rolling the blond onto his side, he found, was easier said than done. When asleep, the blond was dead to the world and was about as easy to pick up as a napping cat(1). It took Sasuke a good four tries before he got the moron to ease up on one side enough so he could slide the arm of the heavy jacket off of the man's arm.
The next side was harder because he's already moved Naruto slightly to one side, so he had farther to move the dead weight before he could try slipping the garment off.
He was about ready to leave the coat with the blond and come back for it later when the blond took a deep steady breath, stretched and opened his eyes.
Sasuke stopped, realizing what a precarious position he was in, on one knee, leaning over the blonds' body, trying to pull the man towards himself and onto his side. But Naruto's bleary eyes held no accusation as they looked up and into the raven's deep, mesmerizing eyes.
"Hey," The man's speech was less slurred than it had been only an hour before, odd. But Sasuke had no time to analyze details. He'd been caught off guard, not something that he enjoyed, but thankfully something that the blond man under him wouldn't remember come morning.
"Hello,"
"I think…" Naruto took another deep breath and stretched. Sasuke documented the taut play of musculature against the cloth stretched over the blonds' toned chest and firm belly.
"I think that I must've said something to you tonight that I didn't mean to."
At first the raven thought he was talking about the incident in his apartment. But as the blond continued his ramblings, he grew less sure.
"I never told anyone 'bout that. Not even m' f'ster dad. Not really sure why I tol' you." Bronzed fingers grazed one pale cheek, tracing the smooth planes of the Uchiha's flawless skin. They coasted upwards, trailing the very edge of Sasuke's temple before the hand turned to cradle the side of the raven's face, his thumb brushing gently at the outside corner of the other man's almond-shaped eye.
"Maybe it..s 'cuss…you have the same eyes as me…"
Naruto's hand continued to stroke the skin of Sasuke's cheek, with something akin to tenderness in both action and expression. The raven reminded himself that the man was buzzed and out of his mind, saying things that he didn't mean, or didn't mean for anyone to hear.
'Maybe it..s 'cuss…you have the same eyes as me…'
"You have n-nice feeling face…" The blonds' new mumblings brought Sasuke out from the land of reverie. The man's hand other hand had joined its mate, stroking the raven's white face with gentle sweeps. "You're…be-ootiful, but you n-know that. You can be nice too…if you don…t let your big h-head get in the way."
Sasuke tried to stop the flow of words, "Naruto," But the blond was still too far into his own hazy world to take notice of the raven's words.
"Like too-night…you didn…do 'nything, I would hah-ve, but you didn't. And you made s-sure that I made it home okay…tha' I was warm an' safe an'…" Naruto's hands were pulling him closer, strangely strong for how inebriated the man was. Sasuke leaned down, finding that he lacked the desire to pull away to break the surrealism this man had cast upon him quite by accident, until he could feel the hot puff of the Uzumaki's breath against his jaw and a pair of cloudy azure skies were inches from his own.
"I th-think that I might…be able…t-oo fall in l-love with you." The man's eyes went wide at his own admission.
"Naruto," But the blond was lost to the world once more. His hands slipped away from the pale man's face, flopping against his chest as he squirmed in lazy unconscious in an effort to find a more comfortable position on his hard bed.
He never heard the Uchiha's soft whispered "usuratonkachi," that was breathed against his lips. He never felt the soft rose colored pillows which he had studied so intently that night brush softly against his own. He never heard the pad of feet moving to his door, or the soft click of it shutting. He never heard his cell phone vibrate atop his dresser, or the worried message left by an anxious foster father.
"Naruto, its Iruka. I know that it's late, but I need to talk to you about something. It's important. Hello? ...Well as soon as you get this message call me back...but...if you can't...I'll be waiting for you at Konagakure Park tomorrow at three o'clock at out old park bench. Be well and…be safe. Goodnight."
Author's Note: I actually have one this time!
1. Have you ever tried to pick up a sleeping cat? It's like they've become hot rubber or something. They just don't stay in your arms, they sort of...ooze out and back onto he floor. It's weird.
Anyway, Two more test and I am finished with college this semester! Woot! But I will by no means neglect you all over the Break, on the condition of course that you REVIEW!
Hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Until next time...