Hey all, midterms are over with, thankfully. It took me a long while to get through this chapter though, I had very little inspiration for some reason... ah well, I seemed to have made it through alright and I think you'll like it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or Concrete Angel

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Chapter Twenty Seven:

It had been as though the water surrounding him had instantly frozen and he was stuck inside the icy mass... that was how motionless the blonde felt.

Had Sasuke... intentionally... ran... hair...? Naruto exhaled the long breath he'd been unconsciously been holding, following it with an inhale of steamy air... Okay so the water definitely hadn't frozen in such a highly heated room. He didn't even have to repeat the jumbled mess of a question in his mind to understand what he was trying to figure out.

Though, he probably shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. It was obvious Sasuke liked him and he obviously liked him back. The kiss was evidence of that... as short as it may have been. But to flirt with him like that, while he was naked in a tub, injured and in need of assistance seemed rather... un-Sasuke?

However, Sasuke was probably having troubles from refraining any feeling after everything the blonde had put him through. What with being so untrusting, then being badly injured, and then Gaara...

Naruto sighed and let his head fall forward. It was understandable. And it wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, he'd never had someone rub his hair like that before. It was a wondrous new sensation. It could have put him to sleep while simultaneously turning him on. How was such a combination even possible?

Although, to Naruto, the whole idea of affection was also new, it wasn't something he was even relatively familiar with. So dealing with something like this could... again Naruto sighed, he was going to have to learn to cope with this. They'd shown their feelings for each other and now it was time for him to experience something new... something he could look forward to. Sure he was a little afraid of it, because of possible results that could be linked to their progressing relationship, but he knew he needn't be afraid of Sasuke.

Naruto lifted his head up. Now the only thing left to do was dry off... an even bigger challenge.

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Sasuke was sitting on the largest couch directly across from the entertainment system when Naruto walked into the living room fully dressed in a pair of Sasuke's sweat pants and a t-shirt. The raven was casually picking at an abnormally large bowl of popcorn beside him and flicking through random channels that Naruto didn't have time to register.

Sasuke himself seemed so deep in thought that he wasn't registering what was flashing across the television screen either. In fact, he didn't even notice the blonde's presence until the blonde was well into the centre of the room.

"Hey," Sasuke greeted, lifting his eyes from the television screen and offering a genuine smile. That was much better than the solemn stare he was greeted with earlier in the day.

Naruto returned his smile and sat beside Sasuke, on the other side of the popcorn bowl, taking care not to knock it over. Now that Naruto actually saw and thought about popcorn, he realized he had never tasted it ever in his lifetime. Emi wasn't much one for snack-food, so there was never a chance for him to even sneak any old stale, leftover popcorn.

The more he eyed the pile of white puffs randomly covered in varying shades of yellow, the more he became afraid of what exactly it might taste light. What would the texture be? They seemed like they would be soft but by the sound they made from Sasuke's mild munching, they appeared crunchy.

Apparently Sasuke noticed the boy's complex situation because he leaned closer to him, "You know you can have some if you want."

Naruto nearly jumped at how near the voice was and rose his head to stare directly into black eyes. The blonde could barely see the distance between them, although he was consciously sure that there was in fact space there, if not their noses would be touching right now.

His heartbeat increased significantly and he swallowed the lump in his throat that developed when Sasuke's facial expression evened out and his eyes became so much more enticing than they had just seconds before.

Cleary, Sasuke had an opportune chance to follow through with a certain action if he just leaned a fraction closer, and for some reason this sent chills down the blonde's spine. So far his encounters with the other boy's lips had been short, quick and mostly aggressive.

But now they were aware of each other's feelings.

And they were alone.

And they weren't likely to be interrupted.

And Naruto wanted it to happen.

And Sasuke leaned in closer.

And Naruto's eyes fluttered shut as Sasuke's soft lips settled on Naruto's slightly more chapped ones. Soft, slow, sweet; this would have been the perfect first kiss, is what Naruto thought.

Sasuke seemed to be quick in moving the popcorn bowl to the coffee table as he ran his right hand down Naruto's left arm, caressing him gently. Naruto couldn't help but sigh into the long kiss, relaxing his entire body under Sasuke's touch.

With one enticingly slow movement, Sasuke closed the distance between them on the couch and pressed his body drastically close to the blonde's, leaning ever-so gently against him. Naruto, however, wouldn't have minded the weight, his mind and body were currently telling him to want contact, so that is what he craved.

Sasuke broke off from the gentle kiss just long enough to catch his breath, and allow the other to catch his, before forcing his lips against Naruto's once again in a much more needy and fast-paced kiss. Sasuke had either read Naruto's mind, or craved closeness as well because while he greedily fed upon Naruto's lips, he practically crawled on top of the smaller boy, easing him down onto his back.

They were still rather upright as Naruto found himself pressed against the armrest of the couch with Sasuke above him, pressing down into him and touching him with soft caresses that he could not get enough of. However, this was mostly because Naruto also found himself leaning upwards into the elder's body.

Shivers ran down the blonde's spine as Sasuke's hands ventured from his arms to his chest and stomach, roaming about just on the surface of his own shirt which Naruto conveniently wore. This notion seemed to amuse the raven because he smirked against trembling lips as he toyed with the bit of fabric. This in turn caused Naruto to smile, giving Sasuke prime opportunity to take advantage of the blonde's open mouth.

He did not, however, take advantage of the vulnerable one beneath him. Instead, he traced his own tongue cautiously along Naruto's lower lip, silently asking for entrance.

Naruto, having no experience in his before in his life, wasn't quite sure what Sasuke was getting at but went along with it nonetheless. Whatever Sasuke was offering him right now, he was fairly confident he would want it. And the fact that Naruto mainly opened his mouth wider because it had tickled his lip might have had something to do with the progress as well.

Soon Naruto found that his mouth had an invader. It felt peculiar and out of the ordinary but also pleasant and alluring. He found himself sighing into the raven's heavy kisses and pulling himself up higher towards the other when his hands began to explore without the restraint of fabric.

Sasuke's hands had mischievously slipped under Naruto's shirt and edged up over his abdomen. The contact tickled his sensitive skin, only ever before touched in abuse, and his muscles instinctively contracted.

The movement of Sasuke's fingertips was slow, steady, light, teasing, as they crept across his bare skin in a feather-like motion. Naruto laughed into the deep kiss as the touch ran over a highly ticklish spot on his stomach.

Sasuke broke off the kiss and looked down at the blonde with a humored, questioning expression. When all Naruto offered him nothing but a full-tilt blush, he smirked mischievously and ran his fingertips over the same area in a light-scratching motion.

Trying to resist the horrible tickling sensation, Naruto bit on his lower lips but fidgeted nonetheless. It was such an odd, persistent sensation that just wouldn't stop... it was just too... confusing. He wasn't sure if it were pleasurable or discomforting. Whichever it was, it was provoking laughter as Naruto tried to squirm away from Sasuke's relentless hands.

"No...! Sa...Suke...! St...stop!" Naruto managed to spit out between laughs as he wriggled beneath the older boy.

Of course, Sasuke did not cease to attack. He was enjoying himself, even if they were being rather immature. His mind was too busy thinking of how adorable Naruto looked at the moment anyway.

"...uke!" (1) Naruto's attempt at crying out Sasuke's name was a failure due to how much he was laughing. It was seriously started to hurt his ribcage and jaw, it had gotten that bad. But he couldn't deny how much fun he was having at the moment. He never would have guessed Sasuke would be so... playful.

"St...sto... ah!" This time Naruto wasn't laughing as he cried out in sudden pain.

Sasuke stopped instantly, worry and concern and confusion flashing across his face instinctively. "Naruto, what happened?" He had pulled back off from the boy, but didn't move too far back in case the blonde needed assistance.

Naruto's face had scrunched up in pain and his left hand had automatically moved to his right arm, cradling it. Obviously it was the source of his hurt. What else could it have been?

Sasuke sighed aloud and shook his head at himself. How could he have been so reckless? He should have realized that by tickling him, Naruto would struggle and the possibility of him pulling his arm or shoulder in the hustle was rather high. "I'm sorry Naruto, this is all my fault."

The blonde squinted through his pain, biting his bottom lip. "It's... alright... doesn't hurt that much... pain killers are dumbing down the pain."

Sasuke thought about this, it had been only two hours since he had taken his medication. But his prescription wasn't strong, since he only needed to take one pill every six hours. The average strong prescription was two pills every four hours, so it would be natural for him to still experience pain if he had been straining himself more than he should.

"No, it's my fault. You're not supposed to be over-exerting yourself. I should have been more careful." As he said this, Sasuke brushed Naruto's hair and cheek comfortingly. He couldn't exactly do anything about the pain. There was no other medication he could mix with what he was taking, nor could he give him another pill, especially with it only being two hours ago since the last one.

Naruto smiled at the gesture as best he could, though it was evident in his face that his pain was slowly starting to subside.

Well, he could do something to ease the pain... A thought suddenly struck the Uchiha. Leaning down over the blonde again, careful not to put any pressure on him, he placed a chaste kiss on Naruto's forehead. Not pausing to wait for the boy's response he placed another near his eyebrow, then another on his temple, and then another on his cheekbone. He continued to pattern down his cheek and around his chin, back up to the other side of his face.

Naruto's soft sighs assured him that he was being sufficiently distracted from the pain and Sasuke continued to place two more kisses on the boy's eyelids. Then he moved the kiss down the bridge of his nose, to the tip, and then laid the last one on his lips.

It was intended to be just short kisses of distraction at first, but now they both wanted more from each other. Simultaneously they both pressed into the kiss, pushing towards the other, quickly deepening the kiss.

Soon their tongues were mingling, eager to taste each other and keep close contact. Naruto was grasping onto Sasuke's back with his left arm, pulling him closer as he let out soft moans. This urged Sasuke on, making him tilt Naruto's head back with a hand behind his neck in order to get further access to his mouth.

He was soon pushed back, however, as Naruto was having trouble breathing. They broke apart, gasping for air but smiling nonetheless.

"What about the movie?" Naruto asked with a giggle once he regained his breath.

Sasuke took a moment to contemplate this and seemed to come up with a good answer because he smirked widely. Before Naruto had a chance to ask what was so entertaining, Sasuke reached for the remote and turned off the television which had been successfully ignored until then. "We can watch it tomorrow night."

Naruto just laughed as Sasuke edged himself back over him, forcing their lips together even though they were both laughing into the kiss.

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(1) I just love the ending of Sasuke's name, makes for a good little giggle