Hi All,

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 5, "Boney bed"

Naruto woke up the next day feeling something soft yet somewhat boney beneath him. He looked down and noticed Sasuke looking up at him. "Where am I?"

"In my bed. You've been sleeping on top of me for two hours now. My hand is numb."

"I'm sorry. You could've just pushed me aside."

"Then you would've woken up."

"It's okay. I would've fallen asleep again. What time is it?" He sniffled and shook his head. "You're room is too bright!"

"It's four."

"So early."

"In the afternoon."

"Are you serious?! I'll miss my shift," Naruto jolted out of bed.

"You're on your honey moon. And your grand pa is the owner of the sex shop you work at."

"Why wouldn't you just say "the shop"? Why did you have to say "the sex shop you work at"?"

"Are you ashamed?"

"No, but your attitude conveys no support. You know, I was going to bring back a butt plug for you as a wedding gift, but not anymore. And, pervy grand pa is not the owner. Ebisu is, but he lets grand pa do whatever he wants to it."

"That's unwise."

"Grand pa is his god father and guru."

"Is he the same man I met?" The man spoke in disbelieve. The man he met was mess; he didn't even shave for his grandson's wedding.

"He used to be different. Before my parent's accident," Naruto said the last part quickly. "He got addicted to booze, gambling, and women…"

"What was he like?"

"I don't remember much. I was young. But from what his friends tell me, he used to be really brilliant writer He wrote a best seller called tales of a gusty ninja. Now he just writes erotic books."

"I think I read this book when I was younger," Sasuke narrowed his eyebrows. "It was one of my favorites. Now that I think of it-"

"The name character was called Naruto? Yes. I was named after him. The name was actually Naruko, a girl he used to love in high school who died while trying to get kids out of a burning building. He says that her name should be under the definition of hero."

"I see. I thought you were named after a fish-cake."

"He liked those too. I did look her up after wards and discovered she is actually a porn star."

"So you are named after a female porn star?"

"Yup. That will make a funny story for an interview when I'm famous."

"I see," Sasuke nodded. "Pack your bags."

"I have a shift. I run the shop. They wouldn't be able to tell the Economical cowhide whip from horse whip without me there."

"I never heard a more disturbing sentence in my life."

"Don't act as if you are all vanilla! I've seen the inside of your closet!"

"There is nothing in my closet-"

"The black box."

"I see…" Sasuke paused. "And what were you doing in my closet?"

"Like I'd marry you without knowing what weird shit you are into."

"And you are okay with the 'weird shit' you saw in my box."

"Yeah. Nothing extreme."

"Good, because if you violate my privacy again, I'll use them on you."

"I know you say that as a threat, but all I heard is sexual advances. It is not like I've never been tied up and gagged in my life. Who hasn't?! I'd probably like it."

"Hn."

"But I should've guessed you are somewhat sadistic."

"Enough with that-"

"And you love control." Naruto then chuckled, "I feel bad for you. I was the worse possible choice for someone who loves to control his or her other half. Sometimes I can be a handful, and a bit stubborn."

"Honestly, I don't understand how you can be so comfortable talking about sex and working around it, even though you got hard and flustered when you accidently saw a couple making out across the window," Sasuke smirked at Naruto.

The blond looked down at his feet, "I can be comfortable around it."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Fine! I might have exaggerated my sexual experiences a tiny bit. I just don't want you thinking you're the kinky expert and I'm the vanilla twink who has only tried two positions before."

"I thought you hated lying."

"You are a bad influence."

"And just two positions? Seriously?"

Naruto opened and closed his mouth like a fish, flustered. He put his hands up trying to show Sasuke a position with his fingers. "Does this count as the same position as this one?"

Sasuke ogled at the hands for a while, before pointing at a finger, "What is this finger supposed to be?"

"His leg."

"And this?"

"My arm."

"You are not even doing it in this position. It is physically impossible."

"No wait," Naruto looked back at his fingers trying to figure something out. "There was definitely something there."

"Did you leave the remote in bed that night by any chance?"

"No…" Naruto whispered before realizing what the other was insinuating, "I didn't sleep with my remote!"

"You are more or less a virgin."

"I'm not! There aren't even that many positions out there for gay guys."

"Really? What about this one?" Sasuke made a hand symbol.

"What? How is that possible?"

"Yoga. How about this one? This is one of my favorites."

"Oh…"

"I need your hand for the next one-"

"Enough."

"This one is great if he is good with his mouth-"

"Sasuke! Stop!"

"Why? Are you turned on?"

"Shut up!" Naruto immediately got up and shot towards the bathroom.

"See you in two minutes," Sasuke chuckled, enjoying how uncomfortable the other was.

Two minutes later, Naruto sat on the closed toilet seat, wondering what he could do to pass the time before going out again. He didn't need Sasuke commenting on how fast he had finished again.

"Oh, bridal magazines," he smiled as he reached for the one on top of the stack. "Honeymoon articles. This might be good research."

"You are not in there trying to pass time, are you?" Sasuke spoke from across the room.

"Ahhhh," Naruto faked a loud moan, before looking back down at the magazine.

After fifteen minutes, Naruto called out, "Where are we going?"

"Some resort on the beach."

Naruto walked out, "Why do you have bridal magazines in your bathroom?"

Sasuke took the magazine from Naruto's hand before turning the pages to a spread that featured him, "I'm in the hot section for wedding desserts."

Ten days later

Naruto sat in front of Sasuke on the table, as the raven poured the batter into the mold. The blond had a chuckled at their honeymoon photos, as he flipped through the tablet.

"I like this one," he smiled, and showed it to an unconcerned Sasuke. The men were kissing in the photo on the beach. Naruto had kept the act going for the photos. They needed them after all. Plus, it was fun to act as a couple at a couple's resort after all. "How come I got so tanned and you didn't? I smothered myself in sunscreen."

"It's in my gene's, dummy. I'm from Suna." Sasuke smirked. "Why are you here?"

"Boss said I could have a couple more days off."

"I know that. Why are you here and not around your friends?"

"I love my hubby," Naruto poked his tongue out.

"This is my place of business."

"Then I'll be on my way. I just need fifty cookies wrapped individually."

"Are you planning on walking down the streets giving them out like an idiot?"

"Just to our neighbors. Plus it will be great promotion for when you open your own shop," Naruto suddenly slapped his hand over his mouth. "I shouldn't have said that here."

"You have a big mouth, but don't worry; I already gave my notice."

"Really? When will you leave?"

"The end of the month."

Naruto pouted, before suddenly smiling again at Sasuke. He bit his lip like a naughty child, "Itachi happened to be calling when I was on my way down."

"I trust you let it go to voicemail."

"Hmm," he hummed. "He is really fun you know."

"When is this going to get through your thick skull? I'm not interested in having a relationship with my brother."

"He told me you used to love the candy he made you. How come you hate candy now?"

"He remembers things the way he wants to, and not the way they are."

"Why?"

"In high school he used to bribe me with candy to keep me away from him and his friends. I used to think he is a nice brother then, until I heard him talking about it to his friends and I figured it all out; he didn't want his younger brother in his life," he began to ice a cake.

"I'm sure you heard him wrong."

Sasuke huffed, "Yeah right."

"Is this why you hate candy? You felt betrayed?"

"I guess."

"I don't want to underestimate your misery, but seriously?! You have been hating your brothers for years because he didn't want his young brother hanging with him when he was a teenager? Shika's older brother once clubbed him in the face, and they are best buds now. Grow up."

"Leave, now!"

Naruto pouted before reaching for the icing being whisked by Sasuke, before having his hand slapped away.

"Meanie!"

Sasuke frowned at the other. It was honestly hard to frown at Naruto, especially since he had the most irresistible puppy face ever. Yet, Sasuke was an expert at frowning and glaring.

"I'll go get you the cookies, and then you are out of here," Sasuke waved his finger at Naruto like an angry teacher, before walking away.

Naruto chuckled. All together, he got what he wanted. Maybe living with Sasuke wasn't going to be as hard as he expected. Suddenly, he saw a blond girl peeking at him from behind the shelves. She squeaked and hid once he realized he saw her.

In one move, he sprung of the table and walked towards her. "I can still see the top of your hat."

She walked back out, and reached her hand for him to shake, "I'm Ino. I'm the sous chef. Sorry, I couldn't be at your wedding," she examined him with her eyes as if measuring him up. "It was very surprising. Especially that he turned out gay," she whispered the last sentence to herself.

Naruto laughed, "It surprised us too. We were moving too fast."

"Oh, so how long have you known Sasu- Chef Sasuke for?" She rested her hand over her hip.

'What's wrong with that girl's attitude?' Naruto thought. "A couple of months."

"So what do you do? Are you rich or something?"

"No, no, I work in retail."

"Not fashion retail I guess," she eyed his outfit.

"Wow, you really don't hold back," Naruto raised his eyebrows. If she had been a guy, he would have handled the situation in some other manner, but those… those were boobs.

Sasuke walked back in with two large arraignments of wrapped cookies, muffins, and other sweets. "I didn't find fifty cookies, so you'll have to make due with-" Sasuke paused when he noticed the girl. He wasn't very talkative around his subordinates. "Do you need something Ino?"

"I was just meeting Naruto," she smiled sweetly at him.

"More like cross examining Naruto," the blond muttered under his breath.

"I'll go check on the… something," she left quickly as she noticed Sasuke's glare.

"For once, I'm glad you glared at someone," Naruto stated.

"I hate working with girls."

"Don't be sexist. IT's not their fault she belongs to their gender."

"They just can't separate between their job and their emotions."

"So, you think she has a crush on you."

"I'm sure of it," Sasuke tapped Naruto on the head with a chocolate at the end of a stick. "Leave."

"Did you know she had a crush on you when you started working here?"

"She can't keep it subtle as you might have already noticed."

"And why didn't you tell her you were gay then?"

"It was none of her business."

"But she liked you," Naruto stated as if it should make sense to the other. "Not telling her would be leading her on."

"If I told her I was gay, it meant I noticed her crush, and if she knew I noticed it and didn't return the feelings, it would have made the work environment very awkward for the both of us and the others around us. Plus, it will be over soon. I didn't offer her a job to come with work at my shop." Sasuke then added, "But this is the topic we shouldn't talk about here."

"You asked some?"

"A few."

"Who?"

"The best."

"Like who?"

"What do you want to ask really?" Sasuke stared at the blond.

"You look like you know what I want to ask. Don't be a tease."

"I didn't invite Chouji, no."

"Fuck you, he's the best."

"He's also your friend. So I will write him the best recommendation letter that could exist, but-"

"What's wrong with him being my friend?! He vouched for you, you ungrateful bastard. He's the only one who didn't call you Hitler."

"If a problem arises between us, he'll be stuck-"

"A problem has arised between us!" Naruto flipped Sasuke before stomping out of the kitchen.

"It's 'arisen', you idiot."

Naruto walked back into the kitchen and raised his other finger.

"Oh no, you gave me the finger; now I have to hire him," Sasuke snickered.

"I only have two middle fingers, but if I had more, I'd give them to you!" The blond began to stomp out of the kitchen again, and then the shop. Then walked back in, "I'm never sleeping in the same bed as you again, by the way."

"The best thing I got from you in that bed, is your leg in my stomach during my sleep. I'll be glad if you never sleep in the same bed as me again."

"Well then I'll never never sleep in the same bed as you again," Naruto hesitated for a second trying to decipher what he had just said. "I'll even sleep on top of you. I'll hug you and spoon you and- and- and-"

"Do you want to sneeze?"

Naruto nodded, trying to hold it back, before Sasuke handed him a tissue. He sneezed cutely, before looking at Sasuke again. "And I'll call Itachi and invite him over for dinner, baby."

"You do that, and rip you a new one."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?!"

When the clock struck four that night, Sasuke tiptoed into his apartment, with two shoes dangling off his fingers. He bent down onto the floor, and looked for any light coming from beneath his bedroom door, or their bedroom now.

"Good, he's sleeping."

"He's not," a rough voice growled, rousing a commonly composed man, and forcing him to jump.

"You're awake!"

"Seems so," Naruto spoke deeply again, in contrast with the high pitch Sasuke's voice carried.

"Hmm," Sasuke gulped. He would later describe the feeling he felt at that moment as a child who was about to be spanked by a parent. He had to think up some excuse for he was late. No. No. He didn't owe Naruto shit, he thought, before the words exited his mouth involuntarily, "After you left, some friends called and they were in Konoha just for the night. I didn't see your missed calls until later, but I thought you would probably be sleeping… so…"

Naruto got up and headed for the bedroom, "good night, Sasuke."

"G-good night," Sasuke's mouth opened, trying to figure out the right words for the situation. Naruto was obviously angry, and a silent Naruto was somewhat more intimidating than a screaming one. Sasuke shook his head again; why was guilt drawing itself in his words? He shouldn't feel guilty. Why was he lying to Naruto? The man wasn't really his husband. "About our argument today, I thought it over. I think I'll ask Chouji if he'd accept working with me. He's one of the most talented people I've ever worked with. It would be a loss if- Naruto, are you listening?"

"I'm sleeping," the boy turned around in bed, ignoring the other man.

"You're obviously not sleeping."

"Because you keep talking to me."

"Is this supposed to be the silent treatment?"

"I'm not silent."

"Because it is not going to work. I was late. So what? It's not like you are really my husband."

"I'm not. Be late as much as you want. I won't worry for you again, even if you don't answer my twenty-two missed calls. I won't worry."

"They were twenty-two…"

"Good night, Sasuke."

Sasuke took a deep breath, starting at Naruto's body in bed. "I can visit you tomorrow at the store."

"By the way, did you drink with you friends? You don't look like you have," Naruto asked, other meanings obvious in his tone of voice.

"Ah, yeah, my friend is sober so-"

"So you don't need to keep making up lies and excuses. You don't owe me any."

That ended the conversation. Later when Sasuke crawled into bed, he waited for Naruto climb on top of him as usual. He waited for the blond to smell him and comment on how good he smelled, and as every night he would ask Naruto to stop being creepy. Yet, the blond stayed on his side. It was lonely all alone like that. Sasuke was starting to get dependent on the soft body as a sleeping aid.

He gathered up his courage, and reached his hand out only to rest it on Naruto's arm. Naruto cringed away.

"I heard-"

"Please don't say anything if it's going to only be lies."

"I heard Kisame was cheating on Itachi, so I followed him tonight," he admitted, readying him to get chastised.

"Heard?" Naruto spoke, his tone someone harsh.

"I had done a little investigating earlier."

"And you are not doing this to protect Itachi, right?"

"He is not cheating. He just likes to role play with Itachi, I guess."

"And if he had been cheating?"

"Nothing."

"You would use it to hurt your brother right. Show him that he failed at something."

"I hadn't planned that far."

"I see…"

"I don't appreciate your tone."

"Why the fuck would I care what you think of my tone?" Naruto suddenly rose in bed. "You hate your brother over something he said-"

"That's not just it!"

"Maybe you'll start hating me over something I say too. Maybe you'll try to hurt me too!"

"Everyday! Everyday we have to have this fucking conversation! It is no wonder you can't stay in a relationship. No one would stand you nitpicking and disapproving of everything they do. If I didn't have to stay married to you, I would have dumped you."

Naruto froze for a second before whispering, "I thought you were a decent guy, you know, regardless of how I always called you a bastard. I thought you were just using this brother thing to motivate yourself to get further in your career… I was wrong. You are a bastard. To think I would have let you sleep with me."

"You would have?"

"Not anymore."

"Naruto," he sat on bed, poking the tanned back. "You have a birthmark on your back. I like it."

"Get away, seriously, get away. You want to have sex with me after what you have just said?!"

"I'm not after your pants. I just; you shouldn't cry."

"I'm not crying. I don't even care anymore. I told you; I've given up on you."

"I doubt that; you are relentless. You should, but I doubt you would."

"I already did."

"No you didn't."

"I did. And in fact, I won't care if you go down and have sex with any random guy who would take you."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"I just want to show you that I think of this marriage as nothing more than a business deal, and of you as nothing more than a business partner I'm stuck with. You've lost the privilege of me caring about you."

"Whatever! Even if I wanted, I can't have sex with anyone else. The contract we signed-"

"I give you permission."

"Well, if you are only saying that because you expect the same favor in return, you are dead wrong. I have a family name to uphold."

"You know what I think of you family name?"

"What-" Sasuke paused ogling at the finger Naruto held up at him. "This is the third time today.

"It's after midnight so technically it's only the first of many today. This is the second!"

The raven glared at Naruto for what had been a whole minute before walking away.

The floor in the kitchen was slightly stony, and he had taken his shoes off earlier. He poked his tongue against the inside of his cheeks, trying to shake off the heavy unreadable feeling down at the pit of his stomach. He only knew one solution for this feeling. Cooking. Cooking calmed him down. Suddenly, he turned around, stomped into the bedroom, snatched the media player, and jolted back to the kitchen.

With the music thunderously flowing out of his headphones, he began to move on rhythm. He ducked down pulling a pan, and then tossed it on the stove. He dropped the butter in and rolled his hips first towards the fridge. The onions and greens were smacked across the cutting before he began to chop them on rhythm, and then into the pan. He turned to the kitchen machine, and dropped in the next set of ingredients, and turned on.

He really liked that song.

"Sasuke!"

The raven froze suddenly, looking at Naruto standing in front of him.

"I've been calling your name for an hour! It's six in the morning and you're demolishing the kitchen. The neighbors called!"

"Fuck them," Sasuke pushed him to the side, and continued to brisk the chickens.

Naruto looked apologetically at the window, forcing Sasuke to turn around. Iruka was standing with a frown on his face, next to Kakashi who was looking apologetically back at Naruto.

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked. "I thought you were the composed one out of the two of us. Psychotic but composed. And what's with all the food?"

"For you," Sasuke stated. "Sit down."

"You want me to eat stuffed chicken for breakfast?"

"It's heavenly."

"I thought you were angry at me."

"Does it make you feel bad that someone who is angry at you is bribing you with food just to calm you down and stop you from irritating the fuck out of them?"

"No," Naruto stated.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Eat," he dropped a plate in front of Naruto.

"Is it poisoned?" Naruto laughed nervously, but it wasn't past Sasuke, was it? The man wanted to ruin his brother's marriage.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would choose stabbing."

"Ooookay," Naruto gulped. "I guess this means it is not poisoned."

He began to poke the food with his fork, before taking a bite. "Tasty!"

Sasuke sat beside him, glaring at him. "You make me so angry."

"You make me angry too."

"You make me so angry," Sasuke repeated.

The blond swallowed, before reaching of the knife in front of Sasuke and pulling it away. "They always suspect the husband first. Remember that."

"Why are you so intent on making me hate myself?"

"I don't want you to hate yourself."

"Yes, you keep trying to make me feel like the bad guy."

"You are not a bad guy. You just do bad things constantly and try to justify it to yourself by ridicules reasons. And you know what? Even if your reasons were valid and your brother is the devil incarnated, harming him would still make you just like him."

Sasuke glared at the other man, almost wanting to shove his face into the chicken. "I hate you."

"Because I'm saying something you don't want to hear. I bet you hate your conscious too."

"He hurt me."

"Then work on healing yourself, not hurting him back."

"What if I need to hurt him to heal?"

"What if you need to forgive him to heal?"

"That's is not possible," Sasuke fell silent, before feeling Naruto's warm hand cupping his cheek.

"Teme, you know…"

"Know what?" Sasuke whispered.

"If your goal at opening your shop was something good like chasing after your dream-"

"It is."

"If it was something good like trying to be everything you can, I would give everything to support you; fake husband or real. I'd be behind you one hundred percent," he smiled at Sasuke. "And just know that, if what you say is true and Itachi tries to hurt you again, he has me to deal with. And I might look all talk, but I never let anyone hurt my friends or the ones I care about."

"Like Jiraiya…" Sasuke looked down at the table. It was true; Naruto did seem to go the extra mile for his friends and loved ones. "Do you consider me someone you care about it?"

"You're my husband. Even three years from now, after a bitter divorce, I'll still care about you. Most people grow up tied to the ones they love with blood, but I didn't have that. So I had to find something greater and deeper than blood. I might be an orphan but somehow I have a bigger family than anyone who is not. You are a part of this family whether you like it or not, and regardless of how many times I shout at you that I'll stop caring."

The raven stared back at Naruto, right in his eyes. He leaned his face against the hand cupping it, and kissing it softly, before Naruto pulled it away in shook. He griped the hand, still staring at Naruto, and leaned forward.

"You said we can't-" Naruto's voice shook, but it was quickly and sweetly interrupted by a soft peck on the lips. "W-what was that?"

"Can't I kiss my husband?"

"You said-"

Sasuke rested his forehead against Naruto's silencing him. "I'd like it if you'd helped me with my store."

"Does this mean…" Naruto's words faded. Saying it out loud would trouble someone with Sasuke's ego. "Kiss me again."

- To be continued-

Pssst... I heard Sasuke is visiting Naruto in Icha Icha soon and things might get steamy. Sh! Don't tell anyone. Just review.