Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to the characters and the concept of Naruto. They belong to their rightful owner.

Warnings: This story contains YAOI , swearing, angst and other things which may be offensive to some readers. If this displeases you in any way, please avoid reading!

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I received a complaint from an anonymous reader when i posted the last chapter, and i intend to address it now.

For every chapter I write, I always put a note in the warnings informing readers that this is a story that contains Yaoi (i.e. male x male) relationships. And it also clearly states in the warning that this story revolves around the pairing of Sasuke x Naruto, and that it is Shounen ai. For a reader to accuse me of not putting such information in the summary and in the warnings is inaccurate and unjustified

I advise that all people who read this story read the warnings if you think there is something that might displease you.

And on a further note, not everyone thinks that male x male relationships are (and i quote) 'hideous, unnatural, wrong and just psychotic' so I suggest you take your pathetic and narrow minded opinions elsewhere, because no one here is interested. And if you're going to insult me, at least get the spelling right.

Now, on with the story! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 14: Analgesia

Two hours later the vet had left and Ani was lying on his uninjured side in his stall sedated peacefully. The vet had been able to stitch the wound closed successfully, and had also treated several other cuts and scratches that had gone unnoticed earlier in all the mayhem. The wound on Ani's hind leg would heal, given time and care, and although it might take awhile for him to get back on his feet, he would be able to resume his training in a few months,

Naruto was just glad that Ani was going to be alright. He'd lost a lot of blood, and he was rather weak, but the vet had announced that he was young and in good condition and health, so he would definitely live.

He stepped out of the stall to join Genma and Kakashi, who were talking quietly. Someone, he couldn't remember who, had given him a blanket to compensate for his sacrificed jumper, and he pulled it tighter around himself, trying to block out the chill.

"How're you doing, kitten?" Genma asked, pulling him close.

Naruto managed a small smile, but didn't reply.

"The vet said he'll need painkillers and anti-biotics for a few weeks," Kakashi told him. "It looks like he lost his footing while he was galloping and went through the fence."

"Someone will have to fix it tomorrow," Genma said, still holding Naruto close.

He leaned against the solid warmth of Genma, grateful for the support. His hands were still trembling, and he was still slightly nauseous with worry, but he was slowly calming down once more.

"...to send someone into town tomorrow," Kakashi was saying to Genma, but Naruto wasn't really paying attention. He shivered as a gust of cold wind swept through the stables. Genma looked down at him.

"Go and have a shower, kitten. Get into some dry clothes. I'll keep an eye on Ani for you."

Naruto gnawed on his lip uncertainly, reluctant to leave so soon.

"Go, Naruto. You won't be any help to him if you get sick," Kakashi said firmly.

Naruto nodded and pulled away from Genma.

"I won't take my eyes off of him," Genma called after him as he made him way down the dimly lit aisle.

As worried as he was, Naruto was looking forward to that hot shower and dry clothing.

At eight o'clock that night, Naruto was sitting in the stall with Ani, who was still sleeping peacefully. Naruto's was leaning against the wall wrapped in a scratchy but warm blanket, with the smell of clean hay and sweet horse strong in his nose. Rain was falling gently on the roof and the sound of it soothed Naruto so much that he was beginning to fall asleep. The other stable hands had gone up to the mansion for dinner, but Naruto had refused to because he wanted to watch over Ani to make sure that he was really okay. It wasn't uncommon that animals sometimes reacted badly to sedation and he was there to make sure it didn't happen.

Things had finally calmed down as evening fell, and Naruto couldn't remember feeling so worn out before. It paled in comparison to the relief he felt as he watched Ani's slow and steady breathing. All he needed was a little time to reassure himself that everything was alright again, and then he would turn in for the night and get some rest.

The sound of a car pulling up barely registered as he pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. It was probably Iruka, come to bring him some food and to check up on him.

He was wrong.

Sasuke opened the stable door, and Naruto made as if to get up, startled at his unexpected appearance, but Sasuke indicated that he stay where he was.

"How's he doing?" Sasuke asked as he approached Ani and crouched down next to the horse.

"He's okay now. Just sleeping," Naruto replied from his position as he watched Sasuke inspect the bandaging.

Sasuke put a hand on Ani's shoulder for a moment before he looked over his shoulder at Naruto, his eyes piercing and calculative. At any other time Naruto would have been uncertain and slightly intimidated, but he was too tired and distressed to feel those emotions. Before he knew it, Sasuke had moved over to him and was sitting shoulder to shoulder beside him

"Sasuke?"

"I'll sit with you for awhile."

Naruto nodded, grateful to have the company, and the unspoken support, even if it was from such an unexpected source as Sasuke.

"Here." Sasuke deposited a brown paper bag in his lap. Naruto hadn't even noticed he'd been carrying it and he looked at it, confused.

"Iruka sent it."

Curiously, he open the bag to find a homemade hamburger.

"Thanks," he said quietly as he pulled it out. Iruka had cut it in half, and he tentatively offered half to Sasuke, who frowned and shook his head.

"You should eat it."

"I'm not really that hungry," he shrugged. "I won't be able to eat it all anyway."

Somewhat reluctantly, Sasuke accepted half and they began to eat in silence for awhile.

"So what happened?"

Naruto looked down at the burger in his hands, suddenly losing what little appetite he'd had.

"He lost his footing. Fell through the fence." he said quietly, feeling the tinge of fear and pain. "He'll be out of action for awhile."

"He'll recover. Horses have accidents all the time."

"I know that. It's just..."

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke interrupted. "It's not like you put him out with the intent to cause him harm. It was an accident and nothing more. Don't blame yourself. It could have happened to any horse."

Unhappily, Naruto nodded. "But what will happen to him now? You're father won't want a scarred horse in his stables."

Sasuke scowled darkly. "He won't get sold if that's what you mean. Ani's mother's horse now, and she won't care if he has scars. I won't let him get sold."

Naruto sighed, and rubbed his forehead, relieved and amazed that Sasuke would do such a thing to make him feel better.

"Long day?" Sasuke asked unexpectedly, obviously hearing his quiet sigh.

Surprised, Naruto smiled shyly at the Uchiha.

"Yeah. And then this..." he stopped for a moment. "You?"

Sasuke finished off his half of the burger and wiped his hands carelessly on his black business trousers.

"You could say that. I was lucky I had Neji there."

"Why?"

"Itachi." was the only answer he got, and Naruto pondered on the cryptic answer for a moment, before gathering up his courage to ask his next question.

"What happened?"

"Just little things. The way he works people until they play right into his hands, the way he tries to provokes me. It was a business lunch and he still wouldn't cut me a break."

Sasuke's tempere seemed to be worsening as he responded to his question, and Naruto watched, slightly fascinated by the small frown marring his face, and the way his eyes turned flinty and cold. Clearing his throat slightly, Naruto decided that it was probably best to redirect Sasuke's attention for the object of his irritation.

"Why were you at a business lunch?"

Sasuke glanced at him momentarily. "It's complicated."

Naruto smiled. "We've got time."

The corner of Sasuke's mouth quirked slightly and his eyes seemed to soften minutely.

"When father retires, Itachi and I each inherit half of his assets, and the companies he owns will become ours. Everything gets divided equally in half."

"Isn't that...a bit unusual?" Naruto frowned. Not that he had an intricate understanding of the way businesses were run, or the laws of inheritance, but he did have a dim understanding of the way things worked.

"Yes it is. Father is the type who likes to...do things differently from the rest." Sasuke's distaste was evident not only from his tone, but from his body language as well. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Sasuke disliked anything to do with his father or his brother. And it didn't seem like he was adverse to the idea of doing things differently from the rest, because it seemed to Naruto that it was exactly the kind of thing that Sasuke did all of the time.

"So how does it work?"

"When he retired, Itachi looks after my side of the inheritance until I have enough experience to handle them by myself."

"Won't that be hard if you're still in University?"

"I'm in my last year now. And besides, its not like father is going to retire soon. His work is his life."

Naruto had forgotten that Sasuke was older than him.

"Right. So when you finish..."

"Father gets me a place on the board of directors until he retires."

They fell quiet for a few moments until Naruto decided on his next question, and one that probably wasn't the best question to be asked. But it was something that he'd been wondering about for a while now, and he thought that it might help him to understand better why Sasuke acted the way he did.

"You don't like Itachi-sama much, do you? Or your father."

Sasuke didn't answer, and he thought that maybe he had overstepped his boundaries, so he was surprised when Sasuke started to speak again.

"Itachi and I...used to be...close when we were younger. I suppose I looked up to him, because it wasn't like there was anyone else around that I could spend time with. So it was always him and me, and we did practically everything together. But then he went away to University, and he changed. I don't know why. First we stopped talking, and then we started fighting. We've had a few spectacular rows. I think it upset mother more than she let on." Sasuke replied distantly.

"And my father... He's rigid in his beliefs of proper behaviour, and he thinks that image is the most important thing. We must maintain the Uchiha image even if it means sacrificing everything we hold dear. In his case, it was his family."

It was strange, listening to Sasuke talk about his family. Although he had said that he hated the way his father thought image the most important thing, it was evident that Sasuke had unconsciously adopted a little of what he hated about his father. The cold indifference that he'd seen when he first met Sasuke, was probably exactly what Uchiha's were expected to act like.

Perhaps it was the fierce indoctrination that his father had subjected him to throughout his childhood that had made it happen, or perhaps it was because secretly, every person wants some sort of recognition from their father figure. Maybe that was why he kept people at an arms length; because he didn't want to have to live up to others' expectations of him, only to have them be disappointed in him when he didn't.

Now that Naruto have a faint understanding of what Sasuke's childhood had been like, Sasuke seemed more human to him. More fallible than he had been. And certainly more vulnerable.

It can't all have been bad though, because Sasuke's mother was wonderful, and seemed to be the epitome of kindness and warmth. Still, it can't have been easy, being torn between the two. Naruto also suspected that Sasuke was so bitter towards his father because he felt like he could never be anything more than his father's greatest disappointment, and it made his ache with sadness for Sasuke. It must have taken a lot of courage and strength for Sasuke to live in the face of such expectations, and still be who he was. Determined, stubborn and fiercely independent, and Naruto couldn't help but believe that it had made Sasuke a better person. It had taught him that he had to fight for what he believed in. But also, it may have made him bitter and cynical towards the world, and the people who lived in it.

"Maybe your father is the reason Itachi changed." Naruto ventured carefully.

"That's what I thought to begin with too. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe as I was growing up I was blinded to who he really was by my admiration of him. Maybe we're just too different."

"I can't imagine what it's like," Naruto said quietly.

"It's not something i would wish on anyone." Sasuke replied, somewhat grimly. "Lets talk about something else."

Naruto nodded and tried to think of something to say but his mind was swirling with what he'd learnt about Sasuke's family. He couldn't quite wrap his head around it. For as long as he could remember, he'd been part of a family of two, and he'd grown up knowing that he was loved very much by the one person in the world who was his home. It just went to show that no family is alike. And no family was perfect.

"How was Taira today?"

Naruto smiled. "A bit of a handful at first, but he settled down eventually."

Sasuke sighed. "I'm afraid he's always like that with new riders. I usually keep him at a local boarding stables near where I live off campus, and he causes quite a bit of trouble there. He seems to have settled down nicely here though."

"It probably helps that you ride him every day."

"Mmmm. And the fact that it's you who looks after him."

"What do you mean?"

"Horses respond well to you, Naruto. Sometimes it seems to me almost as if you speak to them without saying anything. Anyone can see that they love you." Sasuke replied, matter-of-factly.

"I...I'm no different from any of the others..." Naruto flushed hotly at the tremendous compliment that had just been handed out to him.

"They love horses, true, and they love working with them. They'll probably dedicate their lives to them just as you have. But you have that special touch that they don't, and they respond to it."

"But that's..." Naruto stumbled on his words in his shock.

"Naruto." Sasuke turned to him suddenly. "It was a compliment. Don't try and find reasons to doubt it. Just accept it."

Sasuke turned away, his eyes once more resting on Ani, and Naruto sat dumbfounded for a moment before looking at his hands and thinking.

"Thank you." he said quietly once he'd gotten over his embarrassment and thought about what Sasuke had said. "That means a lot to me."

"Good."

"It was my father you know. My father taught me everything he knew about horses. I learnt everything I knew off of him."

He could feel Sasuke looking at him, but he didn't meet his eyes, afraid that Sasuke would see how much the sadness and guilt still tore at him. That Sasuke would see how jaded and worn out he was on the inside. As if there was no substance left of him on the inside.

"I would have liked to meet him," Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto smiled at his hands, and was surprised that for once he didn't feel like crying.

"He would have liked you."

A yawn escaped Naruto unexpectedly, and Sasuke looked at him.

"You should get some rest. It's been hard day for you."

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I think I'll sit here for awhile longer. I don't think I could sleep with him like this anyway."

"He'll be fine without you here."

Naruto looked down and bit his lip. "I'll only worry about him if I leave."

Before he even knew it was happening, Sasuke had pulled him into his arms and was holding him loosely. For a few moments, he sat there stiffly, unable to believe that it was Sasuke who was holding him, offering him comfort. If it was a dream, then it was the best dream that he'd ever had. Before he could stop himself, he was relaxing slowly into the embrace and shyly gripped Sasuke's shirt at his sides. He rested his head on the broad shoulder, closed his eyes and inhaled the wonderful scent of Sasuke, a sharp tantalizing scent of coffee, sandalwood, aftershave and a faint scent of masculine sweat. He was so warm and Naruto hadn't felt so protected and safe within the circle of another's arms for years.

Sasuke rested his cheek on the top of his head and he exhaled in a way that spoke of a deep seated tiredness.

"Everything will be fine Naruto," Sasuke said in a low voice and Naruto wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure him or himself, but it hardly mattered in the surreal moment that they shared. Reluctantly, Naruto pulled away a little and looked up at Sasuke.

"Thank you. For staying with me. I appreciate it."

Sasuke raised a hand and cupped Naruto's cheek. His stomach did a violent back flip at the action, and his heart sped up almost painfully and as if in slow motion, Sasuke lowered his head until their mouths brushed ever so softly, and his breath hitched in his throat.

Sasuke was kissing him.

Sasuke was...

Silken lips pressed more firmly over his own and Narutos eyes slid closed of their own accord, unable to think or move. All reason and logic escaped him as Sasuke's lips moved over his, teasing gently and carefully. Naruto's body was on fire, and he gasped at the sensations Sasuke was eliciting within him, unwittingly giving his sweet tormentor access.

He jumped when Sasuke's tongue traced over his lower lip and he knew instantly (if the heat in his stomach was anything to go by) that he wanted more, so he hesitantly gave Sasuke full access. Within moments, Sasuke had deepened the kiss as he explored Naruto's mouth slowly and thoroughly, gently. Naruto found he could do little more than respond . Sasuke was everywhere, his scent, his taste and Naruto was in sensory overload.

Eventually though, Sasuke withdrew, leaving Naruto breathless and disorientated with swollen lips and flushed cheeks. Sasuke ran a thumb over Naruto's bottom lip as he smiled slowly, like a wolf that knew it had it's prey.

"Have you ever been kissed before?" he asked, still smiling.

Naruto shook his head wordlessly, still feeling as if his body was overheated and melting.

"We'll have to work on it then, won't we?" Sasuke smirked, as he pulled Naruto close once more.

Grateful for the support, Naruto slumped boneless against him, his thoughts like mist in his head.

Sasuke had kissed him. And he'd all but announced that he intended to do it again. What did that mean? What did any of it mean?

Naruto only knew one thing for sure. Sasuke was a damn good kisser.

There, my loyal readers! Are you satisfied? Or was it crap? Good, bad, or horrible, let me know your thoughts!

By the way, Analgesia means an absence of pain. And i will be working on the soundtrack to this pretty soon. I'll post in on my profile page for those interested. Or i can email it to you, whichever suits.

Shorter one I know, but the next will hopefully be following soon, so you won't be feeling unfulfilled for too long. Have a good one folks!