A/N: Thank you so much for the generous reviews ^^ I had no idea this thing would be as well-received as it appears to be. *sweats*


Chapter 3

Sai waited until well after the village was asleep that night to enter Sakura's bedroom through the window she left open for him. He climbed up and over as silently as a shadow and found her sitting up in bed waiting for him. This was a nightly routine.

They listened to the faint creak of her parents bedsprings. Sakura, disgusted, turned her mind from thoughts of her parents having sex to Sai. "Well?"

"They ate ramen at that joint Naruto likes, then walked back to Naruto's place. They talked." Sai sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed.

"Did you hear what they said?"

"Nope. But Sasuke seemed interested in what Naruto had to say."

Sakura waved a hand dismissively. "And after?"

"He watched Naruto in his apartment, same as every night."

Sakura nodded, picking at the lace hem of her pajama top. She and Sai took turns stalking Sasuke every night, but they always met back here to go over what they'd learned. Which was never much.

They had a bet going to see which of them would get Sasuke. Sai insisted that the Uchiha's animosity toward him was sexual tension in disguise. Sakura felt that being the only girl on the team and the object of both Naruto and Lee's affections meant her charms would win Sasuke over in time. Curiously, this rivalry for Sasuke did not stain Sai and Sakura's friendship with jealousy. They were good-natured about it, if intent on their separate goals. Separate, but the same goal.

Tonight's meeting was flavored with added spice, though. Sai came to the point. "You really fucked up, declaring Sasuke's feelings like that. Did you see the way Naruto looked at him afterwards?"

Sakura swelled indignantly. "How was I supposed to know it was true? Just because he stalks him, and stares at him, and has that secret tattoo of the Uzumaki swirl on his ass doesn't mean he's in love with Naruto."

Sai nearly choked. "When did he get a tattoo? And what the hell do you think all that means if not love?"

Sakura looked aside, unwilling to admit her guilt. "He got it during that stupid meeting of Root you went to last month."

"So you've taken to spying on him in the bathhouses? You girls are sick."

"Nevermind that. Naruto, he's the focus of this meeting. Do you think he has feelings for Sasuke?"

Sai resisted giving her another black eye to match the one she already had. "It would seem so. He's certainly nothing like you described before he left the village."

Sakura was forced to agree. Naruto had come back a different person. Harder. Distant somehow. A little cold, if that was possible. He was still a friendly person, quick to laugh, but there were silences to him now that made it clear that he had weighty thoughts on his mind.

"Well until I see him stalking Sasuke too, I'm going to assume he doesn't," Sakura said. "Besides, he loves me."

Sai refrained from pointing out evidence to the contrary. Sakura was incredibly blind when she wanted to be.


Sasuke woke early the next day and was meticulous about his morning ablutions. He cleaned under his nails, brushed his hair until it gleamed and made sure his clothes were freshly pressed. He checked his weapons, making sure he was prepared for whatever this awesome jutsu would require. Naruto hadn't said he'd teach him, but why else would he have invited Sasuke over?

-oOo-

When he knocked on Naruto's door, it was pulled open before he could even lower his hand. Naruto stood there in a black shirt and his signature track pants. He too looked freshly scrubbed. "You came!" he said happily. Then he sniggered, as if that comment was funny.

Sasuke entered when bade to do so and stood in the middle of the room. Naruto stood behind him, watching Sasuke look around.

The place was clean, Sasuke saw. He quickly lost interest and turned to stare at Naruto instead.

Naruto stared back. He took a step closer to Sasuke, saw that he didn't back down, and lunged. His arms came around Sasuke as his lips pursed and sought to make contact with the gaping mouth in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke cried. He got his arms up and shoved Naruto away from him. He was breathing heavily, backing away from Naruto's eager expression.

"You know what I'm doing," Naruto chided. "You wouldn't have come here otherwise." He advanced, making Sasuke's hands twitch to form a hand seal.

"I came here to learn the Jack-Off no Jutsu…you looked like you were…like you were about to kiss me." There was the hint of a question and a world of complex emotions in that statement, Naruto saw. He stopped advancing.

"Get real," he snorted. "You know what I was really talking about when I said that. You wanted to pretend you didn't and I let you. I thought you knew that Sai was following us and didn't want to let on about what we were really discussing."

Sasuke's brows drew together. A lot of new information was being thrown his way and he didn't necessarily understand all of it. "Sai? And what we were really discussing was that move…what were you discussing?" Had it all been some sort of secret code?

Naruto took a step back, rubbing his chin in thought. What he'd been trying to tell Sasuke, when he came up with that ridiculous name for what every red-blooded male did, was that he was interested in him. He hadn't been sure if Sasuke felt the same, but after Sakura's announcement, he'd figured he had a shot. He knew the guy watched him every night. What he didn't know was how Sasuke could be fifteen and not know what masturbation was. It was unheard of. What had he been doing in the village all this time? He decided to come right out and ask.

"Sasuke…you know what sex is, right?"

Sasuke had been in the process of peevishly straightening his clothes. "What men and women do together? What about it?"

"No really, do you know the specifics? Because you seemed not to know what Kakashi reads about."

"I don't care what Kakashi reads about."

"So what do you think sex is?"

Sasuke was still holding out hope of learning this elusive jutsu. He had to think a moment before he answered since he only had the vaguest notions about sex. He couldn't have cared less since he spent most of his time training or stalking Naruto. When he gave his account of what he thought sex was, Naruto put a hand over his mouth and slowly shook his head from side to side. "What," Sasuke said. "Did I leave something out? This is stupid, why are we even talking about this?"

"Don't you listen to guys talk or…or talk about it with Sai?"

"Don't make me hurt you, Naruto. You know I can't stand to look at Sai much less talk to him. And I pretty much avoid people."

Sasuke was a walking miracle, Naruto concluded. Probably the only teen in the world who was so clueless. Which left him with a dilemma.

"So…you really came here to learn a strengthening move?" He did not bring up his attempt to kiss Sasuke.

Sasuke was alert instantly. "Yes. You'll show me?"

Naruto wracked his brains but could think of no alternative to the actual act. It could be said he didn't try very hard to think of one. "If you want…but I mean it, it's secret."

"Got it." Sasuke spread his legs as if readying for combat.

Naruto sauntered to his bed and sat down. "The thing is, it's not talked about for a reason."

"And that is…?"

"It involves touching certain body parts." Naruto gave him a look from beneath his lashes. "You comfortable with your body, Sasuke?"

Sasuke ran a hand down his stomach. "I guess. Yes."

"I mean private areas of your body."

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a while. He didn't answer.

Naruto went on, undoing his pants and pulling them down to the blistering shock of Sasuke. "This is how you do it. Watch."

Sasuke watched, face burning, as Naruto worked himself in one hand. He kept his eyes trained on Sasuke the entire time. This intensified Sasuke's sense of shame, but he couldn't look away, or stop his involuntary flinch when Naruto spilled his liquid on the floor between his feet a few minutes later. His eyes stung in their sockets as he tried to swallow.

"You've got to be kidding," Sasuke rasped out. "That's the jutsu? That's gross!"

"I told you it wasn't spoken about. That it was forbidden."

Sasuke ventured closer, inspecting the small pool of creamy white on the floor. "I fail to see how that would make you stronger." He looked at Naruto's dick. It was half erect in his hand.

"That's because you haven't tried it. I understand if you're too chicken. It's not for the faint-hearted."

Sasuke sat beside him on the bed and hesitated. His hands gripped the coverlet by his hips before he hastily opened his own pants and took out his package. He saw Naruto staring down at it. "You sure this makes you stronger?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes lazy.

"What do I do?"

"You need to be hard. What excites you?"

"Fighting."

"No, I mean…well is there someone you like?"

"Like who?"

"Someone you love. A crush?"

Sasuke had loved Naruto since the hospital room. It was a sick, slavish sort of love, a worship of someone stronger, someone unreachable, who'd always managed to have the power that he so desperately longed for. It wasn't the slightest bit sexual (a term that never entered his mind) or satisfying in any way. His new-found opinion that Naruto was hot was merely a recognition of how the blonde was pleasing to the eyes. He was too disconnected from society to make connections between love, sex (his inadequate and erroneous understanding of it) and his feelings for Naruto.

But he thought of the boy next to him and gave a jerky nod.

Naruto caught the tiny sideways flick of Sasuke's eyes in his direction and suppressed a smirk. I love you too, Sasuke. "Good. Think about that person. What would you like to do with them? Something you think about when you're alone?"

Sasuke thought about nothing more than talking and spending time with Naruto when he was alone. Receiving his recognition. That was enough.

Naruto saw that this was getting them nowhere and advised Sasuke to just start rubbing. "Nature will take over," he muttered.

-oOo-

It did, too. Sasuke gasped in surprise at the way sensation seemed to pool in the length of flesh in his hand, concentrated there and in his balls until he bit his lip and emptied his own liquid in a series of embarrassing spurts. He couldn't breathe. When he could, his eyes flew to Naruto.

Naruto grinned. "See how drained you feel? I timed you, you lasted 12 seconds buddy. You definitely need to practice."

"Wow," was all Sasuke could say. Now he understood how weak he truly was. His whole body tingled with newly awakened nerves. "I want to try again."


He did. He did it all that day, until the afternoon when he looked up from his aching dick and pinned Naruto with a desperate glare. "Nothing's coming out anymore," he lamented.

Naruto was sprawled on his bed, watching Sasuke torture himself. "I'm surprised you're not coming in blood, man. I told you to stop three hours ago."

Sasuke tiredly began rubbing once more. "I have to get stronger. How long did I go that last time?"

"Eight minutes," Naruto said. It had been exciting, still was, but he was beat. He didn't know how Sasuke could even stand anymore.

"I'm getting stronger," Sasuke exulted fanatically. "I'm not stopping today until I can go ten minutes!"

Naruto, resigned to his apartment smelling like cum for the rest of eternity, got up to get a cup of ramen. Sasuke would need fuel and he was ravenous.