Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto.

I wake up with a raging headache and I don't have to try hard to recall what happened last night. Sasuke is lying beside me, eyes closed and looking peaceful. Clearly he's still asleep.

I get up and go to the bathroom, dry swallowing a painkiller before turning on the sink tap and lowering my head to take a sip of water. Hopefully that'll at least help ease my hang over. Fortunately, I'm not puking.

I'm still reeling over last night's happenings, but I'm trying to stay calm. It was surreal, in a way. Sasuke is all kinds of fucked – I can hardly keep up. I ought to make a list to remind myself. Then I won't keep making mistakes. If Sasuke's fucking fan club knew about the night I had with him, they'd be livid. It's weird to even think about it. It doesn't feel like it even happened. It was like a weird dream.

When I go back to my room, Sasuke is sitting up in my bed, looking mildly confused. When he spots me, I can tell the fragments piece together in his mind because he looks surprised. "Hey," I say to him, not swayed by his expression.

Gingerly, he gets out of my bed. "Why…" he stops himself, pausing and biting on his bottom lip. "What the fuck happened?"

"I think you know," I say, "but we don't have to talk about it." Yet, at least.

"Okay," he shrugs, relenting without another word.

"How's your head?" I ask.

"Hurts," he says simply.

"Let's go eat," I suggest. He's still elated and there's something airy about him. He seems lighter somehow. He doesn't seem angry at me or anything, either. My mom has a funny little smile on her face as we enter the kitchen. My dad looks like he's suppressing a snicker as well. "What is it?" I ask with a sigh.

"Oh, nothing," she says, shrugging. "You two just… seemed awfully close last night. We got home from our date night to see you two looking like you had a date night of your own."

Sasuke flushes, rubbing his temples and I tartly mutter, "Oh, right… that…" We were probably spooning or something. Ugh.

"We won't ask," Dad says, holding up his hands innocently. They're probably both assuming the worst and they're right.

"There's nothing to tell," I lie. There's no way in hell I want to tell my parents I slept with Sasuke, the one person I've never been able to get along with.

"If you say so!" Clearly, he's not convinced. He shares a look with Mom and they both laugh.

Me and Sasuke both get bowls of cereal, eating quietly. It's suddenly tense, thanks to my parents. They leave the room a little while later, leaving me and Sasuke alone with the silence.

"We should talk about it soon…" I suddenly say. I don't want things to be awkward.

"Yeah, I know," he murmurs. "Let's just get it over with."

"I don't really know what to say," I admit. "I don't know how it happened… or why…"

He shrugs. "Who cares? It happened. It just happened. The end. There isn't much else to it."

"Do you regret it much?" I ask.

He shrugs again, taking a spoonful of cereal and chewing slowly. "I do shit like that a lot," he says after swallowing. "You're not special. You were just convenient."

I frown at that. "Why do you do it?"

"Because I want to," he says. "I like it. Simple as that."

"Have you ever done it with someone who cared about you?" I ask.

"Have you?" he retorts.

"No…" I mumble.

He smirks. "So, who cares? It doesn't matter. Sex doesn't have to mean something. It's different for everyone."

"Apparently sex is nicer with someone you care about," I tell him. "That's what I hear, anyway."

"I wouldn't know," he says carelessly.

"Me neither," I sigh. I wish I did, though.

"I guess this ruined your abstinence," he looks humoured.

I force a chuckle. "Yeah, we both knew that wasn't going to last…"

"But I bet you didn't think it'd be me," he says.

"True enough," I admit. "I never thought I'd fuck a guy, 'specially not you… but it wasn't so bad. Hinata always tells me sexuality can be fluid. Maybe I was too busy denying it to actually consider it. Not that I'm gay or nothin'..."

"Hm," Sasuke muses. "If you say so, straight boy."

We both finish eating, discarding empty bowls in the sink. "Does your head still hurt?" I ask. He nods slowly and I fish a bottle of Tylenol out of the cupboard, giving it to him. He takes two and hands it back, getting himself a glass of water.

"I'm going home on Monday," he says suddenly, "but I might have to come back here… It depends how things go."

"That's fine," I tell him. I'm not really sure what's going on, I just know it has something to do with Itachi.

The rest of the day is quiet since we're both hung over. I'm lying alone in my dark room while he's lying alone in his. I've got nature sounds playing on my stereo – wind, rain, storm, thunder… blah. I feel a little hippie-dippy but it's relaxing.

I don't know how long I'm just lying here, but Sasuke walks in with a poker face.

"Hey, S'ke," I murmur groggily.

Without saying a word, he gets in bed with my and lies down.

"What are –" I start, but he cuts me off.

"Shut up," he whispers. I don't ask any more questions, weird as all this is. Maybe he just doesn't want to be alone. Then again, neither do I. So we just lie here, side by side in complete silent and it's not so bad.

On Sunday morning, I wake up with Sasuke in my bed for the second night in a row. I decide not to mention it because I know he'd just get pissy at me and I'd rather avoid conflict since things are finally becoming normal between us… Well, civil at least. I guess normal isn't quite the right word.

"Sasuke?" I say his name.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing," I admit. "I just wanted to see if you were awake."

"Loser," he murmurs.

"Yeah, yeah," I say.

"I'm going home tomorrow," he says, almost as if he's reminding himself.

"Are you scared?" I ask.

"No…" he pauses. "Maybe… but I should be."

"Why are you here?" I pry. "I mean… what's happening at home? Why did Itachi try to kill you?"

"Itachi… he's a paranoid schizophrenic," Sasuke murmurs. "He's a really bad case… Some people can manage easily, but he couldn't. He tried to kill me when I was fourteen, too."

"What?" I whisper. "He did it more than once?"

Sasuke closes his eyes briefly. "Yeah, he tried to kill me a couple times."

"Shit," I say.

Sasuke nods his head lightly. "I've done a lot of research on it since finding out. I mean... there were so many signs but we didn't notice any of them. He wasn't motivated. That bothered my dad to an unexplainable extent. He was usually completely emotionless, he kept to himself, he stopped caring about the way he looked, he was apathetic... He often spoke about life and death as if they were trivial matters and he often said strange things that didn't make sense. Everything he once was began to deteriorate. He grew hostile and there were times he'd start laughing or crying out of nowhere. I found that strange because they were two things he never did... but still, I never imagined something might've been wrong. One time he wouldn't stop laughing and my father told him to calm down… Itachi started screaming at him. He kept getting worse and worse, but my parents finally made an appointment for him to get a psych evaluation. Unfortunately, the soonest time was a month away. They didn't think it was serious enough because he never tried to hurt himself or anyone else at that point."

"Damn," I mutter, taking it all in.

"Two weeks after the incident where he screamed at my dad, he tried to kill me," Sasuke continues numbly. His voice sounds distant, but I don't blame him. It's probably a memory he'd like to escape from. "I just got home from school. As soon as I opened the door, Itachi knocked me out. When I came to, I was tied up in the basement. My mom was also tied up, but my dad was at work… Fortunately, he returned home before Itachi succeeded."

I frown. "What did Itachi do to you, Sasuke?" I ask gently, immediately noticing how he skirted past the details of what happened before his father returned.

He closes his eyes briefly. "It's hard to talk about," he admits, voice breaking.

"It's okay," I say softly. "I'll be patient."

He clears his throat and in that same numb tone he starts, "I wasn't wearing any clothes… Itachi had drawn these symbols all over my skin… he said there was something bad inside of me and he had to get it out. It was like he was performing some sort of ritual… He said he was going to try and get it out of me, whatever it was. He had a knife and he started cutting my back, like he thought the badness was going to escape from my bloodstream… I don't know, but he ended up getting angry because it wasn't working. I was crying pretty hard by then. So was my mom. I didn't even have it in me to feel humiliated. I didn't care, I just wanted it to be over – whether it meant dying or getting saved… So, he told me he was sorry and then he tried to strangle me but that's when my father came home. He flew down the basement stairs so fast. I never saw him move like that before. He punched Itachi in the face and knocked him out… He untied me and my mom and then he hugged me for the first time in my life. My mom called 911 and my dad took me upstairs. He cleaned my cuts and I got dressed… a loose attempt to try and retain what little dignity I felt I had left. I didn't want to look pathetic in front of even more people… It was bad enough my family saw me like that."

"I'm really sorry that happened to you," I say sincerely. I guess that explains the scars on his back.

"It's funny..." he continues flatly. "It's like he knew something was wrong with me, too. Maybe, in his own strange way, he thought he was helping me... because if he couldn't change me, then to die, in his eyes, would be better than living like this. I mean, he knows what's wrong with me now... but back then nobody told him."

"Shit," I deadpan, unsure of what else I can offer. It's a pretty eerie thought. "Either way... you're both sick, not evil."

"Itachi doesn't do much now," Sasuke murmurs, changing the subject away from himself. "He gets headaches sometimes and sleeps a lot. He's on a high dose of an antipsychotic called ziprasidone. Apparently there are a lot of side effects. He still has psychotic breaks, they just happen a lot less."

"Yeah," I mumble.

"He's my brother," Sasuke says with finality, "and I love him… but he scares me sometimes, too."

"That's understandable," I tell him.

"It's partially genetic…" he adds, "and I'm so fucking worried it'll happen to me, too."

"Shit," I mutter. Sasuke has more than enough on his plate. He really doesn't need another thing to worry about.

"I need to stop thinking," he murmurs, sitting up.

"What do you wanna do, then?" I ask.

He hops over me and gets out of my bed. "I'm going to wash up," he says. "Then we'll see."

I'm not even going to bother with a shower today. I don't feel too gross, so I can do without. While Sasuke is bathing, I go downstairs and get something to eat.

An hour later or so, Sasuke is in my room again. He's fresh-faced while I'm soaking in my own filth. Just kidding, but I am a little ripe. We're sitting side by side against my pillow. He's playing with his cellphone and I'm playing with mine, but a moment later I set mine aside and take his.

"Hey…" he protests weakly.

I open his photos and scroll through them. "Are they all the same guy?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Some."

"It's really weird," I murmur. "Why would you want them to take pictures like this on your own phone?"

"It's a memory," he says. A second later, his hand makes its way into my pants.

"What about your so-called boyfriend?" I ask with a smirk.

He smirks back. "It's not exclusive and neither is this."

"So, what? We're friends with benefits?"

"We're not friends," he insists.

"Aren't my parents here?" I ask, choosing to dismiss his harsh rejection.

"No," he informs me. "I saw them both leave when I went to eat a half an hour ago. I think they said grocery shopping."

"Oh," I murmur. Once I'm hard, he gets up and leaves the room. "What the fuck, man?" I shout. "You forgot about your cellphone and my dick!"

He returns a minute later, looking thoroughly humoured. "Don't worry," he assures me. "I'm going to finish what I started, but we'll do it right this time."

"Huh?" I question and in response he throws me a condom. "Oh," I say, catching it.

In his other hand is a bottle of something I assume is lubricant. He sets it on the nightstand and begins to undress, pulling his shirt off and then dropping his pants. I take my dick out and roll the condom on before grabbing the bottle.

"Hey…" I murmur, positioning myself as he sits on my lap.

"What is it?" he asks, narrow-eyed. He probably has a feeling I'm about to say something annoying.

"Who else are you sleeping with?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "None of your business, Naruto. Fuck."

"Come on…" I urge.

"Do you really want to know?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say.

"A few older men. One of them is our old bio teacher," he reveals and I nearly choke on my own spit.

"What?" I shout. "Why?"

"Because I want to fucking feel something!" he shouts back, as if it's a simple concept I should understand.

"But if it's something bad, then it's not really worth it…" I reason.

"Then help me feel something good," he bites, finally beginning to move his hips. He bounces up and down on my lap like an energized porn star and I can't help but wonder how many other dicks he's hopped on.

I stare up at him for a few minutes. His eyes are closed, so he doesn't notice me watching him. He looks good, kind of pretty and soft. Soon, I close my eyes as well and just get lost in the sensation of it all.

I don't really know why or where the feeling came from, but I kind of like seeing this side of him. I don't know why. I can't really picture me wanting to rail any other guy. Kiba? Ew, hell no. But I guess, to an extent, Hinata was right after all. Maybe I'm not Mister Hetero.

"Mm…" Sasuke pants, quickening his pace.

"I'm close," I murmur, feeling the familiar heat pool in my groin. I come with a hiss and Sasuke continues riding me until I'm dry. He lifts himself off of my lap with slow and shuddery movements. A second later he sits on my chest with his knees locking my arms to my side.

"Are you going to come in my face?" I ask in disbelief as he starts touching himself.

"Mhm," he murmurs. His lips part and he lets out a quiet moan. I close my eyes, feeling his stuff shoot onto my cheek and lips. I open my eyes a second later and he's staring down at me.

"Hah…" he lets out a tired laugh before leaning down and licking the corner of my mouth.

"Kinky fucker," I say.

"Taste it," he smiles slightly, panting as he stares at me.

So I do. It's not awful, but it's not great either. "Does everyone taste the same?" I ask.

"Trust me, no," he insists firmly. Before I can respond, the door swings open and my parents are standing in the doorway. There is shock written on every inch of them. After a split second, we all start screaming. "AAHHH!" Sasuke joins in, looking as stunned as the rest of us. The door slams shut a moment later.

"No…!" Sasuke pants, covering his mouth with his hands. "No, no, no…"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…!" I hiss, quickly wiping the rest of his jizz of my face with my hand. "Please tell me that did not just happen…"

"Shit…" he groans, getting off of me and standing up.

"N-Naruto," my mom stutters on the other side of the door.

"Yeah?" I weakly answer her, staring down at my jizz-covered fingers. I grab a tissue from my desk and wipe away the evidence. Not that it fucking matters because my fucking parents just witnessed it… Fuck!

"Um…" she pauses. She probably doesn't know what the fuck to say. "I just… um…"

"I'm sorry!" Sasuke suddenly shouts. "It's my fault…!"

"We're, um, not blaming anyone," Mom says meekly. "It takes two to tango… We're just surprised… We didn't actually think…"

I'm internally screaming. This is way too awkward. Sasuke gets redressed and I hike my pants back up. After we've given each other a once-over, we open the door. Sasuke looks uncomfortable and I feel sheepish and embarrassed. My Dad's cheeks are red and I'm not sure if he's angry or just as embarrassed as I am.

Mom takes a breath. "Were you being safe?" she asks first and foremost.

"Yes…" I say while Sasuke simply nods.

"Then that's all I ask." She lets out a breath, closing her eyes. "You're not together…" she adds knowingly.

"Right…" I confirm.

She nods and walks back down the hallway with my dad, leaving me and Sasuke to stew in the awkwardness. "She'll have about a hundred questions as soon as you're not around," I say. I know she won't be able to fake carelessness for too long. My business is always her business.

"Lovely," he says cynically, letting out a breath. "You should tell her to stop being so damn meddlesome."

"She's my mom," I reason.

"Still," Sasuke shrugs. "Anyway, I'm going to take a nap."

"It's noon…"

He shrugs. "Sex makes me tired."

He's probably lying. He probably just wants to fuck off. Nonetheless, I say, "All right."

I may as well go downstairs and prepare for the inevitable questionnaire that is sure to come. I let out a loud groan, walking down the hall after Sasuke. He retreats to the guest room and I go downstairs.

"Ma?" I call.

"In the kitchen!" she calls back.

I saunter in, giving her a meek smile. My dad is sitting at the kitchen table with her. It looks like they're still in shock. I'm going to have to try incredibly hard to recover from the fact that they saw me with another dude's jizz on my face.

"Naruto…" she says my name in a soft and weary tone. "We thought you were fighting… that's why we opened the door. I thought I was going to see you trying to choke each other to death!"

"Yeah, well, what you saw was basically the opposite," I mutter.

She sighs. "What are you doing with Sasuke?"

"What do you mean?" I ask. "You saw…"

"Not that," she whispers. "I mean…" She trails off and groans. "I don't know how to talk about this with you!"

"Well, it's pretty awkward," I agree. "But I'm not playing with him… That's what you think I'm doing, right? I'm not… We've both agreed on no-strings-attached."

"Okay…" she murmurs. "Just… be sensitive."

"I will," I say.

"Is Sasuke…?" she trails off yet again.

"Gay?" I snort. "Hella."

"Um… no…" she mumbles, squeezing her eyes shut. "Does he have a history?"

"A history?" I question before slowly understanding what she means by that. "Jeez, Ma! He's not a prostitute if that's what you're wondering… but he's been around."

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm just surprised."

"Me, too," I mutter. "Anyway, can you guys keep it a secret for now?" I glance at my dad, who hasn't said a word.

"Don't worry," he assures me. "We'll keep silent. It's your business who you do the do with, not ours."

I give a firm nod, glad it wasn't anger I saw. "So, uh… anything else?"

They both shake their heads and I give one more nod before turning around and retreating.

I'm not sure if Sasuke actually did fall asleep, but a couple hours later he's back with questions. "You spoke with your parents?" he assumes.

I nod. "Yeah… Well, my mom. My dad just kind of listened."

"Do they think I'm a total hooker now?" he asks, arms crossed as he covers in my doorway.

"No," I tell him, "but my mom did question it."

"Naturally," he murmurs cynically. "That's me… Sasuke the prostitute."

I snicker. "I told her not to tell your mom because I didn't think you'd want your parents learning that you're gay from anyone other than you."

"You told your mom?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say. "Sorry."

He shrugs. "It's fine, I suppose… I'm sure my parents know… Anyway, we really should have locked your bedroom door."

I wrinkle my nose. "I'll fucking say. I'm going to try and block that entire ordeal from my memory."

"Same," he says dryly.

A second later, his cellphone beeps. I pick it up off my nightstand and read the text.

2: Come over?

"What the fuck?" I raise an eyebrow. "Why do you have a contact named as the number two in your phone? Who is it?"

He approaches my bedside, snatching his phone out of my hand and reading the message. "I'm going out… your parents probably won't ask where I am, but if they do you can make something up."

"Where are you going?" I pry.

"Out," he reiterates flatly.

"Where?" I urge. "Come on, I know most of your secrets now, don't I? I'm not going to tell."

He smiles bitterly, taking a few steps away. "Maybe another time," he says as he leaves.

I roll my eyes. Fucking weirdo. I wonder if he'll have more perverse photos in his phone once he returns.

Sasuke returns in time for dinner, which proves to be an incredibly tense event. No one speaks apart from my mom, who probably feels the need to do it in a weak attempt to keep things from getting too awkward. I wonder how long things will be like this.

After dinner, me and Sasuke do the dishes and then disappear upstairs. I follow him to his room, once again prying for answers. "What was the number all about?" I ask again. "Who is it?"

He rolls his eyes, tossing his phone on the mattress. "It doesn't matter who it is, Naruto. I have a bunch of numbers in my phone."

"How many?" I question.

He shoves me. "Just fucking forget about it!" he snaps.

"I can't!" I snap back.

He goes to shove me again, but I grab both of his wrists. He stares at me for a moment before leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine. We share a few open-mouthed kisses and then he draws back.

"It's weird," I murmur a second later. "That's the third time we kissed."

"So?" he asks.

"First time was when we were kids," I start. "The second time was before we slept together. We didn't kiss at all the next time we slept together."

Again, he asks, "So?"

"Do you kiss other people?" I wonder.

He looks thoughtful for a moment. "I kissed the bio teacher and someone I met at a bar," he says. "But other than that, just you…"

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know," he admits.

"You must attract the worst guys…" I murmur. "They screw you and they won't even kiss you?"

He gives me a strange look. "What is this all about? Why are you analysing it?"

"Kissing is comforting," I shrug. "If they're not kissing you, they definitely don't care."

He lets out a bitter laugh. "We've been through this already. I know they don't care, Naruto… but you do?"

"Yeah," I say. "I do."

"Hm," he muses aloud.

"So, how many guys are there?" I ask.

"Holy shit," he hisses, grabbing his phone from his pocket and slapping it into my hand. "Check for your fucking self. My password is my birthdate."

"Obvious much?" I snort, typing it in and opening his contact list. "Dude…" I trail off before counting, "One, two, three, four… Four!" I glance up at him. "Four!"

"Four," he repeats, lying down on the bed. "Not too bad. There used to be more, but I don't see them anymore."

"Seriously?" I look at him in disbelief. "It makes me wonder what your kill count is."

"What's yours?" he asks.

I think for a moment, mentally counting the amount of girls I've slept with. "Eight girls… plus you," I tell him.

"I win," he says, "and that's all that matters."

I roll my eyes. "Come on…"

"Okay," he sits up. "Seventeen."

My Jaw drops. "What?"

"Seventeen," he repeats evenly.

"How?" I gape.

"I like sex!" he shouts. "Is that so hard to believe? It's fun! It's distracting! It feels good! I'm allowed to keep my options open, you know."

I wrinkle my nose. I don't know why, but it bothers me. Nonetheless, I don't let it show. "Fine," I say carelessly.

"Fine," he echoes me. I hand him back his phone and he pockets it. "I have a headache," he declares. "Let's not argue anymore."

"Okay," I murmur, leaving the room.

Tomorrow is a Monday. After school, Sasuke packs his things and goes home. My parents assure him he's welcome back. He politely thanks them and then apologizes. My parents don't ask why he's saying sorry, because we all know it's obvious that there's been a lot of drama these past few days.

I wonder if he'll be back.