Sasuke woke the next morning on the couch when he heard the front door shut, even though whoever had come in was attempting to be quiet. He sat up and saw Naruto in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and taking out a bottle of water. It must've been early still, at least before 8 a.m. Through the windows, he could see that there was a fog rolling low across the field.

"You're up early," he said to Naruto, his voice coming out scratchy and rough.

Naruto entered the living room, sweaty and shirtless. He'd obviously gone out for a run. "I would've asked you to go, but it looked like you were sleepin' pretty deeply. Why'd you get a cottage with one bed anyway?"

"It was all that was available. I don't mind the couch. It's comfortable."

Naruto put one of his knees up on the arm of the sofa, on the end where Sasuke's feet stuck out from under the blanket. "You could've just shared the bed with me. It's not as if we haven't shared a bed before."

Sasuke sat up straighter and rubbed at his chin, where he felt a hint of stubble. "You kick in your sleep."

"I do not," said Naruto defensively. "I haven't done that in years."

"Did you have a good run?" he asked.

"Ah, yeah. It was... really peaceful and nice. Want me to make you breakfast after I shower?"

"You? Make breakfast?" Sasuke flung the blanket onto the floor and stood, stretching his arms above his head until his shirt began to ride up. He thought he caught Naruto looking down briefly, but it was probably his imagination. "Why don't you order something from the main house? They'll deliver it to the door."

"I don't want room service though," Naruto argued. "I can make breakfast without burnin' the place down. Let me take a shower, and I'll make you somethin'."

"Fine," he agreed finally. "I think I'll take a walk around outside."

Naruto headed toward his bedroom and shut the door. Sasuke stared down the length of the dark hallway after him, hearing the shower turn on minutes later. He walked over to the French doors, opened them, and stepped out onto the deck. It definitely was a brisk morning. The wood under his bare feet was slightly damp. He went down the steps and into the grass, dew lingering on the recently-mowed lawn. Grass stuck to the soles of his feet. The air was remarkably fresh to a point it was almost disturbing for him. He went around to the front of the cottage, where the Lotus was parked in the driveway, looking rather out of place. Eventually, he found himself searching around the a higher patch of grass and ended up finding the pack of cigarettes Naruto had thrown out last night. If he'd brought a lighter out with him, he would've had one, but, instead, he tucked it into the pocket of his lounge pants. At some point, Naruto would be preoccupied with work conferences or calls or something, so maybe he could sneak away.

Sasuke wandered around a while longer, maybe another 15 minutes, before he went back inside and found Naruto already out of the shower and at work in the kitchen, making them ham and egg sandwiches on a hard roll. There was a breakfast bar, so Sasuke took a seat on one of the stools and, quietly, watched his friend cook, finding everything that he wanted to say to start a conversation wasn't worth talking about. For some reason, he didn't have much energy this morning. His hand found its way into his pocket, and he stroked two of his fingers over one of the edges of the small box.

"You're awfully quiet today," Naruto remarked, his back to Sasuke as he stood in front of the stove. "Everything alright?" He looked over his shoulder, and Sasuke met his gaze.

"Everything's fine," he said.

"Well, even if it's not, it will be after you have one of these sandwiches. I make the friggin' best egg sandwiches ever if I do say so myself."

"They smell good," Sasuke complimented, because they really did. The ham sizzled in a second pan, and Naruto was adding some sliced cheese over top of the fried eggs. "So what's the agenda for today?"

"I have a conference call in an hour with Tsunade and then Sakura, and then the director of the play, so after that, I thought we'd go over a few more of the scenes this afternoon. If that's okay with you."

"It's what I'm here for."

"I wouldn't say that," said Naruto, grabbing for one of the spatulas he'd set out on the granite counter.

"What scenes do you want to do?"

"I was thinking all of the Second Act. Sam isn't even in the first part of the First Act, right? So, might as well make good use of you for the ones he's actually in. I'd ask you if you're okay with practicing the kissing scenes and all that, but I'm guessin' from last night that you won't have a problem with it..." He smirked at Sasuke, "Assuming I get you in the right mood, yeah?" He gave a laugh and looked away as he turned the ham over one more time before shutting off the burner the eggs were cooking on.

Sasuke got up, suddenly unable to sit still on the stool any longer, and went into the living room. He rummaged around in his small suitcase until he found what he was looking for. He opened one of the French doors again.

"Where are you goin'?" Naruto called to him. "Breakfast is almost ready!"

Without turning around, he answered, "I'll be back in five minutes."

When he'd returned inside smelling like smoke, Naruto practically threw the plate at him and refused to speak to him the entire time they ate, even though they were sitting next to one another on the stools. The silence was fine with Sasuke. He couldn't think of anything to say, and he also didn't want to hear anything Naruto might've had to say either. When he was finished eating, he went to the sink and washed his dishes and then all the pans Naruto had used. Naruto simply watched him without uttering a word. After he was done, Sasuke flung the towel onto the counter and said he was going to take a shower. Naruto gave him an odd, curious look and seemed as if he had something to say, but Sasuke was already walking around the corner and going down the hallway to the second full bath.

The shower felt good. When he'd woken up on the couch, it seemed as if he'd perspired a lot during the night. He hadn't slept all that well, despite what Naruto had said about him sleeping deeply. The water felt good against his skin, and maybe he'd turned the temperature up too high because after about 10 minutes, he started to feel dizzy. The shower stall was large, two shower heads and all that, with expensive looking tile and even a bench on the opposite side of the sliding glass door. He sat down on it for a moment, resting his head in his hands.

He figured by now Naruto was already starting his conference call on his laptop, so that would take a while. He'd brought his own computer, so maybe he could check in with work or maybe he should go over the Second Act. It's not as if he hadn't been aware of the content of the script - two men who enter a homosexual relationship. He just thought he could put it out of his head more and hold it together, but it wasn't quite working out how he'd anticipated.

Slowly, he got up from the bench and went to stand under the spray, letting it hit his face. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out how to tell Naruto that this would be the last time he'd be helping him with this sort of stuff. Sasuke had a life of his own anyway, and he couldn't always just take off from work at Naruto's whim. He, surely, had plenty of other people, plenty of other friends who'd be willing to help him out. It's not like it had to be him. Really, Naruto would've been fine with anybody.

Sasuke was on the couch, reading through the script again when Naruto emerged from his room, looking upset. He sat on the other end of the couch, next to Sasuke's feet.

"Some people are just so..." Naruto shook his head and hunched over, putting his head in his hands, "Stupid. And, and... ignorant!"

"I take it the conference didn't go well."

Naruto turned enough to glare at him. "You didn't go smoke again while I was in there, did you?"

"No."

Naruto sighed. Sasuke let the script fall to the floor.

"Do you... want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Not really. Let's just...start. I want to work."

"Okay."

Naruto stayed put on that end of the couch except he drew his legs onto the cushions and laid them out in front of him until he was nearly touching Sasuke's feet with his own. He let his eyes close, obviously concentrating, but Sasuke had no idea which scene they'd be doing, although he supposed he'd be able to recognize it from Naruto's first line. Naruto had one hand on his stomach, his thumb moving back and forth, shirking up his shirt. He had on a pair of jeans. There was hole on his right knee. It occurred to him how tan Naruto looked. He wondered if he'd got a lot of sun when he'd gone to Tahoe.

"Say Sam..." Naruto's hand moved to his chest, rubbing it. The corners of his mouth were drawn down into a thoughtful frown.

"Hm?" Sasuke asked. Act 2, Scene 2.

"Why do you think we ended up meeting again after all this time?"

Sasuke let his head fall back against the pillow, intently observing Naruto. "I... honestly don't know, Alex. It must've been meant to be though, that we both responded to the same ad without knowing it."

"Maybe," replied Naruto and, slowly he sat up, watching Sasuke. He got onto his knees and crawled over until he was kneeling between Sasuke's spread legs. "This isn't weird for you is it, us being like this?"

Sasuke shook his head. He reached out and put a hand on Naruto's side, holding onto his shirt. "No. It's not weird."

"You've," Naruto licked his lips and inched closer, "Been with men before?"

Sasuke gazed into his eyes. "Does it matter?"

"It matters to me," Naruto replied in a firm voice and took Sasuke's hand in his, joining their fingers. "You understand I'm...heh, damaged goods, right? If we... you know, I have a tendency to run. I don't want to run from you, Sam." He let go of Sasuke's hand and got onto all fours above him. He moved his hands to the couch arm, placing them on either side of Sasuke's head as if trapping him. Sasuke let his hands go to Naruto's waist, jerking up his shirt, and touching skin. He sighed out. Naruto's skin felt so warm and smooth.

"I don't want you to run away from me," he said in a husky whisper, and anxiously searched Naruto's face.

Naruto smiled and touched his cheek. Sasuke's lips parted in anticipation. He moved his hand to Naruto's back and let it drag upward, tugging his shirt along in the process. He pressed Naruto down on top of him and closed his eyes. Something wet fell on his cheeks, and he opened his eyes in surprise, wondering why Naruto was crying because that wasn't part of the scene. But what he saw was Naruto giving him a strange, concerned look. Sasuke touched the sides of his face and realized it was him who had been crying.

Startled, Naruto started to get off of him, apparently thinking he'd hurt him somehow.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?"

Sasuke wiped his eyes. "It's... nothing."

Naruto didn't appear to believe him. "Was it the scene?"

Sasuke covered his eyes with his forearm. Naruto grabbed for his wrist and tried to move it, but Sasuke turned his face away from him.

"Hey," Naruto called to him softly. "What's up with you?"

Sasuke thought if he answered, his voice might crack or something else that would've been equally embarrassing. What the hell was this feeling? He needed Naruto to get off of him, too. Or at least stop staring at him. Stop talking to him like he was a total mess who couldn't even control his own feelings anymore.

Naruto tried to touch his face again, but this time Sasuke slapped his hand away. "I'm fine, Naruto! Stop... smothering me! I'm...," he felt like he couldn't catch his breath anymore. "Fine. I'm fine."

"I don't understand. What can I do?"

Sasuke covered his face again, and this time Naruto didn't try to stop him. Time went by, with the two of them remaining on the couch, neither saying anything, which was unsettling because in all situations, Naruto could rarely keep his mouth shut. Sasuke was beginning to feel guilty and ashamed for showing this side of himself... and to Naruto of all people. It's not like he wantedto make his friend worry. After a while longer, Naruto lay down, curled up against Sasuke's side and rested his head on Sasuke's chest. He threw an arm across Sasuke's stomach and held onto his shirt, bunching the side of it as he hugged him tightly.

"I love you," Naruto said quietly into his shirt.

Sasuke bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling, his vision turning blurry as, once again, the tears started to come, sliding down his cheeks like he'd been holding them in for years. Naruto's body moved on top of his with every breath he took. Warm and heavy. He put his hand on Naruto's head, combing through the blond hair with his fingers, unable to say anything at all in return.