Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

ZOMG Sasuke turned on Orochimaru XD Run! Run and go back to your darling Naruto!

Chapter 11- Bittersweet

Ah, damn, I lost that lovely humor I had last chapter. But isn't their relationship cute? Sasuke and Naruto's, I mean. They can say these dirty things to each other, even though they don't mean it XD

It was a beautiful morning.

The sun was up in the sky, melting the snow that had blanketed the city the day before, birds were chirping from their perches on the telephone wires outside, and the sound of the neighbors' kids reached the tan ears of our favorite loud-mouthed blond as he tried to sleep the morning away.

Key word: Tried.

Kicking the covers off of his himself, Naruto sat up, a scowl in place. He glared out the open window and mentally wished for the children to somehow get picked up by a giant hawk and taken away so they could be fed to ugly hawk babies. But no, the kids remained in their yard, squeeling and laughing in delight as melting snowballs were flung at each other.

He scratched the back of his neck and glanced tiredly at the clock by his bedside. It was almost nine in the morning and he should've been at work an hour ago, huh... Wait, what?

"Shit!" he cursed, leaping out of bed and practically flying into the bathroom. He squirted a big glob of orange mint toothpaste on his electric toothbrush and began brushing away, minty foam dripping from his lips and falling into the round sink. He brushed his tongue, gagged, then finished up, immediately running over to turn the shower on, "I'm late! I'm late!" he yelled in frustration.

Downstairs, Silo was happily pouring himself a bowl of cereal. It was Peanut Butter Crunch, a cereal he'd never tasted before. Hinata had brought it over the night before, saying that her little sister didn't like it. Putting the box away and pouring in some milk, he sat down, spoon in hand.

Just before he could take a bite, the doorbell rang and he pouted, staring down at the little puffs of peanut butter that just called for him, beckoning for him to eat them and savor their supposedly real peanut buttery taste. He huffed and left his seat to open the door.

But then he remembered number 3 of the early morning rules that Naruto had established a good two months ago.

Rule #3: If someone comes to the door any earlier than ten, it's probably a salesman. If you are ever in a situation such as this, speak spanish. Salesman get annoyed with people who can't speak english.

Nodding to himself, Silo pretended to be yelling at someone.

"¡Por qué puede no usted hace nada derecho, el mocoso! ¡Sacaré rápidamente el cinturón!"(1)

He blinked when the door opened, Sasuke stepping in. The raven raised a brow and they both stood there in an akwards silence. Sasuke was the first to speak, since Silo was sort of tripping over his own words, a huge blush on his face.

"So... you're going to whip me with a belt?" he chuckled, shutting the door behind him.

"S-sorry, Uchiha-san," he giggled nervously, taking his place back at the table, staring down at his soggy peanut butter puffs in embarrassment. He suddenly remembered something and he turned toward the raven, "Um, Uchiha-san, do you think you could... drive me and Jack somewhere tomorrow...?" he blushed.

Taking off his coat and tossing it onto the couch, Sasuke smirked, "Are you planning a date behind your father's back?"

Shaking his head furiously, Silo stuttered, "N-not at all! I was going to ask him to take us, but... he has work that day..." he gave the older man a smile that held the ol' Uzumaki charm. He may have been cute, sweet, and slightly naive, but he did know how to work people over and get exactly what he wanted. It ran in the family, that's for sure.

Frowning, Sasuke was reminded of how a few days before, Naruto had tossed him that same sweet smile. With that seemingly common gesture, he was able to get two smoothies, four yaoi mangas (... he was straight, wasn't he?), and a back massage from Sasuke... Hell, Sasuke didn't even know how to give a massage.

But at that moment, that same blond's son was tossing him a brilliant smile that made him want to go out and buy him whatever he wanted... just because he was so damn cute. God, he hated liking kids so much. Groaning in frustration, he agreed.

"Ah, arigato!" Silo chirped, finally taking a large bite of his cereal, his eyes lighting up, "mmm sho gugh," he mumbled around the spoon and mouthful of soggy peanut butter puffs.

"Tell me, where do you two want to go?" Sasuke asked and took a seat next to Silo at the table, crossing his arms over the mohagany top. Surely the kids wanted to go see a movie? Get icecream? Or maybe even go out to play a game of laser tag?

"Camping!" the crow said between mouthfuls of brown cereal. When he didn't hear anything from the actor, he looked up, watching in amusement as Sasuke gaped.

Telling himself that Uchiha's didn't gape, Sasuke snapped his jaw shut and cleared his throat, "Camping?"

"Well, I'll be with him and his family..." he blushed a little, "I just need you to take us to the park... um, well, they didn't have room for me in their car, so I told them I'd get a ride from Chichiue... and Jack said he wanted to ride with me," his blush got so red that it looked like it his face was about to burst into flames. That's wasn't a good thing. Naruto'd probably blame Sasuke, "but Chichiue has work, so... I asked you if you could take us."

"Do you plan on telling the dobe?" Sasuke asked, a smirk in place. Ah, the ever famous Uchiha smirk.

Silo nodded, "I'm going to tell him as soon as he comes down," he blinked and scrunched up his nose in though, "which should've been an hour ago."

"Fuck!.!" Naruto ran downstairs, a fishnet shirt on, his loose boxers hanging dangerously low on perfect, smooth hips, and his pants down around his ankles. He stumbled down the steps and hopped into the kitchen, trying to tug his vest on, "I ask for a raise, then I go in late?.! Ero-Sennin's going to kill me!" he groaned loudly and yanked a granola bar out of the cabinet, "Silo, you dressed?.!"

Silo took another bite of his yummy cereal, "Mmm!" he replied while chewing. Beside him, Sasuke stood there with a smirk on his face. Naruto was like a walking, talking, comedy show.

Grabbing his car keys, Naruto came out of the kitchen, bending down to pull his pants up, giving the raven a very good view of his delicious behind.

"Nice ass, Dobe, I suppose you work out?" Sasuke remarked with a smart tone. He chuckled when the tall blond gave an indignified squawk and turned quickly, tumbling backwards, his back hitting the wall. The blue-eyed male sent him a small glare.

"Why is it that gay men are always standing behind me when I'm half naked? Do I give off a gay vibe or something?" he asked, coming back from his state of shock. He tugged up his pants and zipped them up, the top hugging his legs. Not hips, legs. Yes, it seemed Naruto was going for a gangsta style that particular day.

"I'm not gay."

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Teme."

Silo watched their interection with interest, leaping off of his chair and carrying his bowl to the sink, his eyes never leaving. After realizing he needed to get his packed lunch out of the fridge, he tore his gaze away from them.

His life had become a lot more interesting since Sasuke had showed up, Armani suits, lacy thongs and all. It was amazing, how could men wear those? He took his lunchbox out of the fridge and picked up his school bag off the cold tiled floor of his new kitchen. Walking out of the kitchen, he caught a drift of Sasuke and Naruto's conversation, and he blinked, a small blush staining his baby cheeks.

"Sooo," the blond was behind the raven, arms around his shoulders, "you think I have a nice ass?"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and gave his friend a smirk. Dear lord, they were starting their day like that? Sometimes, Silo would get utterly confused when around them. They were schizophrenic or something, because they could go from ripping each other's throats out to flirting like a high school couple. But he knew that his Chichiue had no feelings for the raven-haired actor, and that Sasuke had no feelings for his father... so why?

"Sometimes, you'll gain a friend that you become very close to. You can joke with them, cry with them, and just do some crazy shit with them," Naruto had laughed, "Sasuke's one of those friends, you know? He's just one of those guys you're comfortable with, no matter what the situation. We joke around and pretend to be a couple in public, just for the hell of it..." he'd smiled then, "it's very rare to find someone like that. Someone who will just toss their dignity into the wind for your happiness," he'd then looked up in thought and tapped his chin, "you know what? If I were gay, I'd totally date him."

Silo suddenly smiled and listened to their perverted discussion as he slipped on his shoes. Since it was still very icy outside, schools had been cancelled and he was going straight to the center. Straight to Jack.

"I work out every day," Naruto whispered into Sasuke's ear, "so I can work up the strength to fuck you into the mattress," his breath was hot against his friend's ear and he grinned, loving the game they played. It was strange... wasn't Sai his best friend? He should've been whispering dirty little things into the other man's ear, not Sasuke's... but he couldn't help it, "or up against the wall, into the carpet, on the table, in the backseat of my car, in the--"

"Chichiue!" Silo flushed. He hadn't thought his father would take it that far, "my virgin ears!" he whined.

Sasuke pulled himself from his friend's grasp, "You can talk dirty with me later," he smirked, "but right now, let's go."

Suddenly, Naruto blinked, "Wait... why are you even here?"

Both ravens raised their brows.

Sasuke sighed, "There's a foot of snow out there in the parking lot, and you told me once that your car won't drive through snow. That's why I'm here, to give you a ride," he suddenly found himself being shoved out of the house, "what the fu--"

"Then let's go! I'm already late!" Naruto screeched, Silo following behind him. The blond tossed his car keys on the table before he walked out, and let his son go in front of him, shutting the door once they were all outside.

xXxXx

"Where the hell were you, brat?.!" Jiraiya growled as he approached his blond employee. God, he just wanted to punch the kid in the jaw, but his unwanted fatherly love for him prevented him from doing so. Damn him for being such a kind man!

Scratching the back of his neck, Naruto laughed nervously, "You see... I was almost gang raped," he lied easily.

Out of all the damn excuses... The Wal-mart owner grumbled inwardly, "Gang raped?" he looked behind the young worker to see Sasuke standing there (not in one of Kiba's ugly outfits!), but in his normal expensive suit. That day it was Friday, so he wore a dark brown... Yes, Sasuke had his days color coordinated. The raven was holding back a massive eye twitch and he gave his little idiot of a son a grin, "that's a damn lie."

Naruto huffed, "It is not! Why would I lie about something like that? It was horrible, Ero-Sennin," he placed his hands on the older man's shoulders and let out a fake sob, "they backed me into a corner and... and-- god! I thought I could take them all on, but there were too many! They held me down and touched me, and licked me... but Sasuke rescued me!" he turned and gave his companion a huge smile.

Sasuke glared, Now is not the right time to use your acting skills, Dobe.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke and his grin changed into a heart warming smile, "You know what? I never properly thanked you," he said, now speaking to Sasuke, the actor trying his best not to punch Naruto in the stomach. The blue-eyed man grabbed onto Sasuke's tie and pulled him forward a bit, "my place, tonight," he whispered, "I'll have you screaming my name," then he licked the poor victim's ear.

"He was gone before you tugged on my tie," Sasuke growled, pulling away and fixing his crumbled tie, "and please don't lick my ear again, I'm starting to feel sick."

"Awww, don't be like that, you know you loved it. You just want me to shove you against a wall and have my dirty way with you," Naruto laughed, the sound lifting the raven's mood. The worker's laughter could do that, as strange as it sounded.

"You're so annoying," he snorted, crossing his arms and making his way over to Naruto's awaiting register.

Naruto smiled widely and followed him behind me, "Yet you haven't left me! I wonder why? Admit it, Uchiha, you're madly in love with me. Ah, but how tragic, I'm straight."

Sasuke smirked, "I don't know how anyone could fall in love with you. You're loud, obnoxious, not very good looking, and you're poor."

Well, that killed Naruto's happy mood. Stabbed, killed, and buried it.

xXxXx

"You know..." Naruto began, taking a seat behind his friend on one of the many benches outside of Wal-mart, "about my new career... Um, are we going to be filming the movie here? Or--"

Sasuke looked over at him, his breath coming out in thick huffs. His usually pale cheeks were a rosy red and he sighed, leaning further back on the bench, "I didn't tell you, did I?"

"Tell me what?"

"We're going to be filming in my brother's studio in Tokyo. I suppose I forgot to mention it."

"Forgot?.! How can you forget something like that?.!" Naruto growled, "do you know how sudden that is?.! What about the place you just moved me into? What about... Shit, what about Silo?.! He has a boy friend, Teme, a boyfriend!"

"I'm sorry, but the filming will be taking place in Japan. If you don't like it, then you can just say so and I'll get a different actor."

"So... I'm that easy to replace, huh? You don't think I'm some spectacular actor... just somewhat better than the others?" Naruto ran his fingers through blond hair, "listen, I don't want to move all the way over there and not be liked."

"You're one of the best actors I've seen," Sasuke interrupted, "and no, you can't be replaced easily. But it's better to have a bad actor than have you unhappy while you're filming, right?"

Naruto looked at him in surprise, then grinned, "See, this is why I like you so much," he stood up, noticing that his break was almost up, "you care. You might act like a complete teme sometimes, but somewhere deep, deep, deep, deep down, you truly care," he chuckled.

"Yes, well, I am human," Sasuke stood and ran his hands over his suit, flattening the annoying wrinkles, "so, are you willing to move or are you going to stay?"

Naruto sighed, "Well, I'd have to talk with Silo about it."

Sasuke nodded.

"Ah, Naruto-san," Sai greeted as he crossed the parking lot. He nodded to Sasuke and smiled a bit, "what are you doing here, Uchiha-san?"

"I haven't nothing better to do, so I'm just wasting my time here," the raven shrugged, but inwardly smirked, knowing what the blond's reaction would be.

"Wasting your time?.!" Naruto yelled.

xXxXx

Silo stared at his father in disbelief as he continued to ramble on in the passenger's side seat in the front of Sasuke's (Kiba's) car. His babbling was nothing new, but somewhere in that string of mindless drabble was something about moving back to Japan. When the car came to a stop at a red light, he yanked himself forward.

"Chichiue!"

Naruto stopped his rambling and sighed in relief, Thank god he listens to me even when I babble. I didn't have to say it directly, he turned in his seat and gave his son a nervous smile, "Um, could you think about it?"

Silo looked away from the blue eyes of his father and he frowned, "B-but, why?" he whispered.

"We're going to be filming in Tokyo," Sasuke answered in Naruto's place, "so you two need to move back. If you'd rather stay here and have the dobe give up a once in a lifetime opportunity, then that's your choice."

The blond glared over at his friend, "Nice way to phrase it, asshole."

Silo looked down and pouted, his eyes watering, "But Jack... I wanted to go camping with him..."

Naruto blinked, "What?"

Sasuke spoke, "This morning, he wanted to ask you if he could go camping with Jack this weekend," he looked up in the rear view mirrow at the sulking child, "Silo, if you agree to moving, you'll still be able to go camping with him. I'm sure Naruto would let you, so you can say good-bye to him."

The crow's shoulders began to shake a bit and sniffled, his eyes burning, "How am I going say bye...?" he wiped his eyes, "I just told him I liked him a few days ago..."

Naruto turned in his seat, despite the constricting seatbelt, and placed a warm hand on his son's knee, "If you really want to stay, we'll stay, ok? I don't want you to be miserable the entire time we're there," he gave Silo a sweet smile, which only made the small boy's huff.

"No, we can go... just let me go camping with Jack so I can tell him..."

Naruto smiled, "Thank you. Now, I promise I'll make it up to you, ok? Christmas, remember? I'm buying you a bunch of stuff! Even though we won't be able to celebrate it here with everyone..."

Silo looked up at Naruto with wide, crystal blue eyes, "B-but it's only a week away!"

Sasuke cut in, "You two need to have your personal items packed up within two days. We're going to leave Monday morning."

Naruto sighed, "I want to make you happy, Silo, I really do... and going back to Japan so I can have this job is what's going to do that. I'll be able to buy you whatever you want and It'll be a job where I can spend time with you a lot... you always wanted to come with me to work, haven't you?"

Silo nodded, still looking down at his lap.

"Now you can! Come on, Silo, cheer up! Sasuke'll be there and I know how much you like him!" the blond grinned when his little boy smiled a bit, "and I promise we'll go out together all the time! Just you, me, and him, ok?"

Silo nodded once again and looked up at the rear view mirror, catching a glimpse of Sasuke's small smile before they came to a stop in the parking lot.

xXxXx

-Sunday-

Sai looked around the room, various people sitting around, chatting, watching the football game on Kiba's flat screen television as beers were passed out. He left his jacket on and walked further into the house, groaning when he saw Itachi sitting at the kitchen table with Tobi, sipping away at a bottle of sake. The raven-haired Uchiha looked his way, but made no attempt of a greeting, making Sai scowl at him.

"Ro-chan!" Silo jumped on him and giggled, "guess what?"

Sai smiled, "What?"

"Jack said that he'd try a long distance relationship!" the crow smiled brightly and hopped off of his god-father, "and I got my first kiss," he blushed at the memory of the camping trip. How Jack held his hand and kissed him softly while they were out by the creek.

Ruffling up the boy's hair, Sai said, "It'll be hard to keep in touch with him. There's a huge time difference from here and Japan. The best you could do is send e-mails."

Silo suddenly pouted, "I know, but..."

"I'm sure it'll work out, though," Sai reassured him, "who wouldn't want to stay in touch with a handsome boy like you?" he gave him a pat on the head before watching the child scurry off to get some chips. He walked into the living room and found Naruto and Sasuke sitting on the couch with Sakura. The pink-haired girl kept sneaking glances at the raven, but Naruto sat between them, not wanting another problem like the other night.

Sai smiled bitterly. Naruto had told everyone the news of him moving back yesterday morning and no one was hurt more than Sai. His best friend was going to leave and who knew when they would see each other again? Well, at the most, it'd be two years since he had to finish college and keep his job until the transfer program was over...

He stepped towards the couch and saw that even though Sakura continued to peek over at Sasuke, she also snuck sad looks at Naruto. Sai knew the girl was upset about her friend leaving. They'd been good friends ever since they were little and they'd never been seperated before.

"Naruto-san, I bought you a parting gift," he spoke and pulled something out of his jacket pocket.

The blond turned away from the television and looked down at Sai's hand, "That's how you greet me? By telling me you have gifts?" he grinned, "not that I'm complaining!" he crawled over the couch and wrapped his arms around Sai's shoulders, giving him a soft but deep kiss on the lips.

The room went quiet.

Naruto pulled away with an audible "smack" and grinned, plucking the gift from Sai's hands. The raven was too stunned to do anything, his cheeks a dull pink. He licked his lips and looked down, watching Naruto open the small gift.

"... Sai, I love you!.!" the blond hollered, latching himself back onto the dazed male. He held up a set of keys that, Naruto knew, belonged to a motorcycle.

Hinata smiled shyly from her spot on the second sofa, knowing very well that Sai was in love with the blond worker. She'd known since she had met them a few years back, "H-How sweet of you S-Sai-kun," he whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"How the fuck did you get the money?.!" Naruto asked, still fairly ecxited and happy.

Sai smiled, still a bit dazed from the kiss. They would kiss all the time. Pecks here, some tongue there... it was just the way their friendship worked... but this time, the kiss made him hurt. Naruto was going to leave him and he was too afraid to tell the blond his feelings...

"I'd already been saving up money from work so I could get it for your birthday, but when you told me you were leaving... I used the rest of my paycheck to buy it," Sai replied, catching the look Sasuke sent him. He knew what those eyes were saying.

Tell him.

"Um, Naruto-san? Do you think I could talk to you alone for a second?" he asked hesitently. It would be better to tell him now than not to and never know the results...

Naruto nodded dumbly, still staring at the motorcycle keys with sparkling eyes, "Anything for you, Sai," he said with an overly happy voice as he followed his best friend down the hall.

Sasuke watched them leave, but quickly turned back when Sakura poked his knee.

He groaned in frustration.

xXxXx

Sai looked around as they began going up the creaky steps, family pictures and such hanging on the walls, and a table covered with various old war relics sitting in front of them as they reached the second floor. He turned to Naruto, smiling a bit as the worker fiddled around with the keys, mumbling to himself about how great it would feel to have the wind blowing through his hair.

"Naruto-san, I..." he licked his dry lips when blue eyes settled on him. He'd always been so cocky and brave... but when it came to Naruto, he turned in a frightened child, "I never wanted to tell you this because I knew it wouldn't do me any good... but you're leaving tomorrow, so I think it would be good for me to just say it... It's better to know how you feel now than to not know at all."

"How I... feel?"

Sai swallowed thickly and the sweet voice of rejection whispered in his ear, "Naruto-san, I-- I really like you. No, I love you... I have ever since your 14th birthday," he laughed bitterly, "ever since we began fooling around, began testing our sexuality..."

Cerulean eyes widened and the only sound around them was Sai's beating heart and the motorcycle keys falling from Naruto's tan hands. The blond opened his mouth to speak.

"Sai... you..."

"I never wanted to fall for you. A few months after we started experimenting, you told me you were straight... so right then, I knew I never had a chance. There would be no chasing after you and expressing my hopeless love... and there was no chance of me converting you. I had known then that that would be impossible, so I just kept quiet, thinking that someday I'd be brave enough to tell you, brave enough to take your rejection..."

Naruto kept quiet, honestly confused about how to reply to his best friend.

"But even though I'm scared right now, even though I know that you'll hate me and will never welcome me back into your life once I come back to Japan... I have to tell you my feelings," he placed his palm on his chest, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, "or else I might fall apart while you're gone."

Naruto took a step forward and Sai flinched.

"I love you so much," the blond whispered as he pulled Sai into a hug.

Black eyes closed as they began to burn. Sai knew that tone of voice wasn't a good sign... "But not the way I want you to," he gripped onto the back of his taller friend's shirt and pressed his forehead against form shoulder.

"I don't... I don't like guys. I'm so sorry if I led you on with the kisses... I just thought--I just thought that was how we were," Naruto whispered, feeling terrible, "and fuck, how could you think I wouldn't welcome you back into my life? Hell Sai, you don't plan on leaving me, do you?"

Sai laughed a bit, despite the painful ache in his chest, "Never."

"Good, because I wouldn't let you leave anyway," the blond gave him a small grin and bent down to pick up the fallen keys. He put them in his pocket and pet an arm around the raven's shoulder, "But you know what? I'm glad you told me you felt that way. Now I know not to give you anymore kisses. Che, they probably make your horny," he teased, the mood become lighter.

Sai gave him a fake and very girly pout, "That's not fair. At least one more before you leave?" his pout changed into a pained smile.

Naruto sighed, knowing he couldn't say no. After all... he broke his best friend's heart. Placing his hand under Sai's chin, he bent down, planting his lips on waiting ones. The kiss was deep and Sai let his eyes slide shut. He could at least pretend Naruto loved him, just once.

Sorry, I'm going to make Itachi leave with them... and god, I couldn't type up a full out party :Groans: cuz my head hurts sooooo bad right now.