Chapter 23: Under Orders
Ten hours later, Sasuke leant against the railing on the elevator to keep from collapsing. They had been rushed outside under the order to begin "warming up" with a long series of stretches a five mile run.
A few of the men in Sasuke's platoon explained to him that they were all required to attend conditioning three times a week, but intelligence needed to attend only once. Intelligence spent most of their time working closely with the Sergeant and planning out every single detail of their filed missions and infiltrations. Frankly, Sasuke wanted to be placed in intelligence.
The weather outside had warmed up considerably, any trace of snow having melted away completely. The sun shone over their heads and a cool breeze whistled through the forest, welcoming spring with open arms. The men had also explained to him, around the occasional gag as they ran through the woods and the temptation to just keel over, that they would be put in teams based on their performance levels. The teams that he would occasionally hear being called to GU over the intercom were identified by SP-6, SP-9, SP-18… according to them, speed team six would report to work with a strength team like ST-2 and so on. With more complicated and risqué missions, an Speed-Strength-Intelligence squad would be formed beforehand to be deployed. Sasuke found the procedures stiff and distantly wondered why Temari would form such an intricate system.
He was both surprised and annoyed to find that Sai and Suigetsu had been placed with him. They hovered behind his back, only getting along due to both of their loves for snark and inappropriate comments. It was only three hours into training and Sai had questioned the size of his penis five (yes, he was ever so grudgingly counting) times. Suigetsu did his best to supply Sai's knowledge of his private areas, but was immediately shot down.
Sasuke actually attempted to seek Tenten's peaceful company. Really, he did, but she eventually slipped away to work with the women in the group because of the two dumbfucks following him. He wouldn't dare to bathe in Kakashi's company. For some reason, the older man was practically leading their platoon, and Sasuke didn't want to be within ten feet of him. He wished death upon Suigetsu, letting Sai's comments pass because Naruto had convinced him that Sai wasn't a bad guy. He trusted the other's words, but… it was immensely difficult to see where they were coming from.
After the five miles, they had been pushed by Kankurou to follow him in an overbearing amount of pushups, sit-ups, crunches, and an array of other odd cardio exercises that shielded Suigetsu's unconscious body from Kankurou's sight. Sasuke was sure that he'd lost half of his body weight in sweat, wondering if he'd ever gain the weight Karin said he'd needed at this point.
As some sick joke Kankurou didn't seem to find funny, their cool down was another five mile run that they were allowed to jog half of and another pressing sequence of stretches. Suigetsu made attempts to jump on his back during the one, and he would roughly shove the other face first on the ground before speeding up to get away from the dynamic duo.
Altogether, having Suigetsu's weight on him at random intervals and sprinting for nearly twenty minutes at a time led him to be nearly the first to finish, being bested by Kakashi. It left him with shaky legs and his hair plastered to his face, his jumpsuit sticking uncomfortably to him.
"Why do you have to be so stingy?" Suigetsu said in his ear, wrapping his arm around Sasuke's shoulders and pressing their sweaty necks and cheeks together.
Sasuke was nothing short of purely disgusted and shoved the other away, shrugging his shoulder to rub at his neck and rid of Suigetsu's disgusting sweat.
"Very good stamina," Sai noted, practically breathing down his neck.
"Both of you, get the hell away from me."
"That's no way to talk to your friends," Kakashi scolded, tilting his head.
Sasuke ignored him, leaning against a rough tree that shaded them all. He wished to take a shower and get rid of all the sweat he was drenched in. Kakashi adopted the same stance as him, crossing his arms and knocking his chin up quietly. A joke of an impersonation since the man still stood half of a head over him.
Sasuke sighed. "What."
"What?" Kakashi girlishly put a hand over his mouth. "Can't I spend time with my favorite?"
His skin crawled. "Get away from me."
"That's no way to talk to your elder."
Sasuke scrunched his nose. He had kind of set himself up for that one. He reveled in the cool breeze that passed and watched Suigetsu collapse to the ground on his hands and knees, wheezing and panting. "I'm very well aware that you're my elder."
Kakashi sniffed, inspecting his nails. It pissed Sasuke off. "I see you still have that superiority complex of yours. I honestly thought you grew out of it, but you've proved me wrong, Sasu."
He growled, turning away from the taller man. "First of all, I've never had one-"
"So help me-"
"Be quiet," he told Kakashi. Telling the man to shut up would have lead to a firm reprimanding and guilting.
But, of course, he set himself up, and Kakashi still saw a window to reprimand him firmly and guilt him. "My, my, Sasuke. All of this fuss? What happened to the cute little boy that would always ask for piggy back rides?"
Sasuke's ears scorched and he hunched away from Kakashi.
"All I want to do is help you," he said forlornly. "Getting over it is one part of the healing process, Sasuke. There's nothing wrong with accepting help every once in a while."
At that, his shoulders relaxed a bit, but not for Kakashi's sake. He'd already accepted help, but from another person that could do more than Kakashi ever hoped to.
"This is the last time I'm telling you," Sasuke said harshly. "I'm dealing with it."
"Are you? Can you really push through it?" Kakashi tilted his head towards the sky, watching thin clouds move quickly.
"Yes."
"Will this get in the way of your new duties? Will you be able to face it if we find Itachi moving through these woods? Would you be able to follow through under killing orders, or would you back down?"
Sasuke's nostrils flared and he glared at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye. "I can."
"Imagine you found Itachi's body somewhere on a mission. Imagine if you witnessed someone else shooting or stabbing him. Imagine if he tried to kill you-"
He angrily turned towards Kakashi, his lips in a tight line. "I can do it, dammit."
Kakashi's somber expression vanished within that same moment, being replaced by a friendly crinkling of his eyes. "I believe you."
"You better."
He marched back to the Center alone when Kakashi compared him to Gai.
—
He sat on an examination table in the infirmary, one of the doctors typing at a thick laptop and Temari by her side. It was an odd sight seeing the woman with thin-rimmed glasses and her pressed uniform, looking so fixated on the screen. He had gotten used to seeing her in an informal bath robe and a bit silly with only a few hours of sleep on her shoulders. There was a one-sided awkwardness when Sasuke recalled her walking in on an affectionate moment between he and Naruto, but she seemed to brush it off for the sake of business.
"I see," she murmured. The doctor waved a manila folder over both of their faces so Sasuke couldn't hear their conversation, but it was no help.
"Underweight? He looks just about healthy enough to me." Temari lowered the folder and gave him a quick once-over, then lifted it back up as if she weren't loud enough for Sasuke to clearly hear her.
"Still has a bit of growing left…" she shifted her weight to one foot as the doctor uttered something he couldn't hear.
"Okay… check out his muscle tissue there, please." Temari swatted the folder away again and turned to him. "Can you lift your left arm above your head?"
Sasuke did just so with ease, staring blankly at her. She pursed her lips and the doctor threw the folder back up.
"What! Why didn't you tell me this earlier!" she hissed at the doctor, leaning into the laptop again.
"It seems to have stabilized," the doctor said, her voice wavering slightly. "RBC is still slightly under what's considered normal, but it's not life-threatening."
"It won't go away?" Temari asked bluntly.
"No ma'am."
She snatched the folder from the doctor's hands and opened it, licking her finger to thumb through the pages. "You come with a lot of terms and conditions, Uchiha."
The doctor sighed and shut the laptop, rounding the examination table to inspect his left shoulder and the mobility of his arm.
"Am I supposed to be offended?"
Temari cast his scarred shoulder a scrutinizing look. "Maybe, maybe not. Does it work?"
"His arm seems just fine," the doctor replied, exasperated. "Tsunade reported using the experimental serum from One. There's not any significant damage."
Significant damage? Sasuke snorted aloud. If she didn't consider the thick and blaring scar on his shoulder from Ino's "slip of the hand" significant damage, then he loved the Sectors.
Temari waved away another doctor giving a physical to another man in speed. She pursed her lips at the medical language inside of the folder, opting to look straight at Sasuke. "Well… welcome to speed, Uchiha. Doc here is gonna keep an eye on you, but whenever you feel bad during conditioning, remember Tenten's one of my medics."
"Hn," Sasuke regarded her with indifferent eyes. He knew that he was going to make it into speed. Though he'd much rather prefer Karin tending to him than a girl he'd barely knew, he would have to remember that. Something throbbed inside of him when he remembered all of the medical books Karin had left behind at their camp.
"-is that kid gonna heal, anyway?" Temari was talking to someone across the whole room, through at least ten people.
"In time," Tsunade's voice answered vaguely.
The woman in front of him grunted. "Eh, you're good to go, Uchiha." She flipped through his file once again, skimming over information.
He sighed and stood, stretching out his back. Sasuke was thankful for the chance to finally shower, his skin feeling grimy and his face feeling like he had a few layers of dirt on it.
Just as he turned to leave, Temari spoke up. "Would you look at that. You have a mole on your butt cheek."
Sasuke ignored her, pushing off of the table and weaning his way out. Some man with bandages wrapped around his whole head groaned for him to end his pain. He ducked out of the room, the glass door sifting shut behind him and a light on its card reader clicking green to signify its locking. He was glad to finally escape the stale and sterile scent of cleaning supplies with a faint trace of sweat and blood.
Sasuke entered the lobby and stopped for a few moments to watch some men unfold their tables and set them down. He walked towards the elevator and glanced at the clock above his head, waiting for it to come up. He'd have about twenty minutes until dinner was served. Perfect.
He stood on the elevator with a couple of other men who chattered about their upcoming missions with power. Sasuke strolled to his room and knocked the light on with his elbow, quickly grabbing for his pajamas and a clean pair of boxers.
Never had he seen the shower room in his wing so packed. Sasuke could barely breathe with all of the steam that had accumulated, accompanied by the all-too-manly scent of sweat. Two stocky men wrestled nearby him, both of them wearing only a towel and still dripping with sweat that had come from conditioning. Sasuke did his best to ignore them and grabbed for a clean towel, ducking into a stall that was still sudsy from a previous user.
He hoped he didn't catch athlete's foot. Or an STD. He scrubbed his body down with the generic body wash that was regularly brought in supplies by mission-goers, thanking Kami that he'd finally had the chance to be clean.
Sasuke tilted his head back in the stream to let the water wash over his face and drip out of his hair, jumping when his shower curtain hissed open.
He swatted at the culprit, his neck flushing deeply. "Fuck off, Sai!"
"Maybe you are not so dickless!"
Sasuke opened his mouth, but was quickly cut off by a few other angered men in the room. "This little guy's been peekin' at everyone!"
"I'm only doing you all a favor. After all, some of your egos simply don't add up to your dick size."
Someone wheezed in disbelief, and Sasuke angrily shut the water off and dried himself quickly. Would he ever be able to escape Sai? Would he be placed on missions with Sai, and did Sai even live in this wing?
The room door slammed open and another familiar voice filled the room.
He jammed his limbs into his clothes and shoes and threw the shower curtain open, revealing Sai looking as if he honestly believed he hadn't done anything wrong. Naruto had an arm wrapped around the other's neck, defending him from a burly man who had been particularly offended by the comment on his penis.
"I-I swear! He's just weird! Sai here has always been weird, it's just the way he is," Naruto nervously rubbed Sai on the head, disheveling his hair. "Right, man? C'mon-"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sasuke cut him off. "What are both of you doing here?"
Naruto turned to him, his frightened expression brightening into a grin. "Hey! I was lookin' for you, asshole!"
"Yes," Sasuke deadpanned, sending the other a disapproving look. "But what is-"
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't beat the shit out of you!" Another man yelled over his voice, pushing through the small crowd and attempting to tackle Sai. A few of the other men held him back by the arms.
Naruto stuttered. Sai placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding calmly and turning to address most of the men in the room. "Because," he said pleasantly. "You are dickless."
Naruto squawked, immediately being shoved out of the way by the men beside him. They all lunged for Sai, attempting to grab at the towel around his waist or land a good punch.
Sasuke stared, ducking when someone mistook him for Sai and giving the man who did a cold stare. Now he couldn't see the other boy amongst the grand circle of the men trying to get a hold of him.
"Aren't you gonna help him?" Naruto shook him by the shoulders roughly and glanced behind them to check on Sai.
"That's your job."
"Sasuke."
"What? He'll get out on his own," he said, irritated. "We're going to be late for dinner."
"What the hell! That's what you're thinking about?" Naruto buried his hands in his own hair and tugged. "What if they kill-"
"I very much doubt that," Sasuke dismissed. "He can handle this on his own. You're not his guard."
"Yeah, but I'm his friend," Naruto argued. "I can't let him down like that."
"He got himself into this mess, and I doubt he'll die. Now, let's go e-"
The other removed his hands from his head, lowering them to cross his arms and narrow his eyes. "Is it me, or am I seriously getting a jealousy vibe from you? Is that what this-"
"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped. "No! Let him get beaten because it's the ramification of his own decision. What normal person just comes in here and talks-"
The blond stared at the other, at his intense dark eyes ablaze with irritation and the subtle flush on his cheeks from the humidity in the room. Naruto had no idea what the words Sasuke used meant, but he guessed it meant something along the lines of, "Yes, Naruto, I'm jealous. I am insatiably and helplessly in love with you. Please show me how much I mean to you and protect me, not Sai. I need y-"
"Dumbass!" Naruto blinked to find Sasuke shaking him roughly by the shoulder, angry.
"Huh?"
Sasuke glared at the other, relieved to finally see his blue eyes unglazed and focused. He clucked his tongue and turned to leave the room, filled with taunting shouts from the men and Sai's monotone excuses. Naruto was stupid, delusional, loud, annoying, and… did he forget to say stupid?
He tossed his towel in the large pile of dirty ones, slipping out the door with Naruto hot on his heels.
"You're mean," the blond chided behind him.
Sasuke ignored him. He jingled his room key in his pocket and quickly made his way down the halls, past a rowdy group of boys in just their underwear, heading for the showers. They had slowed to eye them both, recognizing them as newbies, their gazes lingering on Sasuke for just a bit too long.
"I'm tired," Naruto tried again. "Will you carry me?"
"No."
Naruto made it a point to get into Sasuke's close quarters, crossing his arms when the boys stared at Sasuke for a few seconds longer than necessary, most likely in awe. They couldn't have been older than thirteen. He'd make it a point to mention them to Konohamaru, but the boy seemed hooked on being spoilt by the girls in their group and listening in on all their damn gossip. Naruto would have to get Sakura reigned down for more than a few moments to confront her… the door to the shower room slammed closed far behind them.
He shook his head, fixing his eyes on the back of Sasuke's pale neck and thin, slouchy shoulders. He pouted, quickly bored of being ignored and the lack of conversation. When Sasuke ignored Naruto, there was only one thing to do to gain his social interest again: Provoke him. And provoking was one of the few things Naruto was good at.
Naruto reached for Sasuke's arm, grabbing him by the elbow and whirling him around. Sasuke shoved his face away before their kiss could be named anything other than a peck, growling.
"No," he said firmly.
"But there's nobody around," Naruto whined, diving ahead of Sasuke to press the button for their elevator.
"Hn. Somebody could have opened their door."
"And then the world would end," Naruto sighed, leaning on the metal railing of the elevator.
"I-"
"You're seriously not gonna tell anyone about us?" he asked, slightly disappointed.
Sasuke glared at him, obviously not amused by the fact that they were discussing this in a potentially high-traffic area for the other people in the building.
"I mean, you barely told me."
His glare softened and he gave it a bit of thought. The first person that came to mind was Juugo, Shikamaru following closely behind. Of course, Sasuke thought of telling Karin, but she wasn't exactly the most tight-lipped person on the planet. Suigetsu was completely off the grid and the idea of telling him was tossed just as soon as the thought came into Sasuke's mind.
"Okay," he agreed, stepping onto the ledge with Naruto. The other pressed their arms together, leaning into him. "I'll tell Juugo and Shika-"
"I wanna tell Shikamaru!" Naruto interrupted, nearly making him jump. He realized his slight blowup and chuckled nervously. "Sorry. Uh, I'll tell Sakura and Shikamaru, and you have to tell two people."
He rolled his eyes. "We don't have to tell anyone," Sasuke deadpanned just as they reached the lobby.
"I think telling is better than someone randomly finding out," Naruto said stubbornly, stepping off of the platform before Sasuke. He refrained from saying that he was basically Sasuke's only friend, as the other steadily refused to open his mouth much around anyone other than Naruto and Itachi. Now that his brother wasn't around to balance his reclusive personality out, it was left to Naruto to get Sasuke talking.
"Fine."
They sat at their table, in which a concerning amount of their group was asleep on the table. Suigetsu was dead to the world next to him, and Shikamaru was especially drowsy alongside Kiba. Naruto whined for all of them to wake up, wanting their unofficial team of "bad-joke-makers" as he called them to come together again.
Nearing the end of their meal, Naruto nudged him all too roughly in the ribs. It snapped him out of his languid pushing around of the little food left on his plate. "What?"
"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto taunted, leaning on his elbow to get in Sasuke's face. "I'm in strength, and you're not. I'm stronger than you!"
He nearly laughed aloud at how ridiculous that comment was, but he settled for a scoff. "That doesn't mean anything, idiot."
"Even Ino's in strength," Naruto lowered his voice and Sasuke doubted the courage behind his words, knowing that he was terrified of the girl in question overhearing. "So is Sakura and Karin-"
"Strength is the largest of the platoons," Sasuke said smugly, though he felt slightly offended on Karin's behalf. She had been put in strength because of her truest abilities. "It's the first thing Sergeant looks at. If you don't fit anywhere else, you get placed there. Nothing special."
Naruto scowled. "You-"
"Hn," Sasuke kicked away the foot that had ventured to his. "Wouldn't you wish to be in speed."
The other scrunched his nose, stumped for any sort of comeback. "Yeah, whatever." He grumbled a few more incoherent insults and jabs under his breath, angrily stuffing a carrot in his mouth.
Sasuke snorted, content that he had driven Naruto into silence. He was also content that Karin would now have the strength to beat Suigetsu into silence. It would certainly be useful, not to mention that it would be amusing to watch.
Moments later, he watched as Shino stood to deliver their empty platter back to the kitchen. Some of their teammates stood tiredly and trudged away, voicing their exhaustion and offering small waves of goodnights. Sasuke noted that Juugo hadn't joined them for dinner that night, and distantly wondered where he could have been. He observed Karin jabbing insults at one semi-conscious Suigetsu for a few moments before briefly fixing his eyes on the girl next to her. Sakura and Ino put out banters and arguments more often than conversing. He toyed with the idea of what Naruto saw in her to declare Sakura his best friend, second to himself, of course. Perhaps it was how often she found it her job to correct Naruto in his stupid, absentminded, perverted, useless, slow, and loud antics. But, like anyone else, Naruto rarely listened to Sakura's insults and threats to stitch his mouth shut.
So he turned to the boy beside him, nudged him on the thigh, and mumbled, "I'm going to go talk to Juugo."
Naruto turned to him, a grin already consuming his features. "G'luck, asshole!" He rubbed harshly at his knee.
Sasuke hummed and let the warmth Naruto's touch brought roll throughout him. Before leaving, he asked Karin if she had seen Juugo.
"Actually…" Karin shoved Suigetsu away. "He might be in the infirmary or his room. He got kind of… frustrated… in conditioning."
Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "Just how-"
"Not too much," she snorted nervously. "But I think he scared the captain. We both live in wing five, if he's not in the infirmary. He must live somewhere in the thirties."
"Thanks," Sasuke grumbled, though he knew he wouldn't go knocking on nine different doors in a trial and error sequence just to find the larger boy.
He stood from the table with a lighter mood than what he had sat down with before. Naruto attempted to trip him as he lifted his leg from the other table, but with a quick jab to the back of the neck, Naruto whined and relented.
Nobody stared at him or spared him a second glance as he left the table and headed towards the opposite side of the lobby. Sasuke peered into the hallway that contained the infirmary and a lift outside. He stared at the criss cross design on the infirmary door's window, a sign that it was bulletproof. Glancing past the window, he saw the rows of occupied beds and closed curtains. On an examination table stood a large man that Sasuke almost mistook for Juugo, save for the fact that he was missing an arm. He sighed in relief when he saw that Juugo's back was turned to him, sitting on a bed and talking to a patient.
His eyes dropped to the card reader by the handle of the door and he sighed. It blinked bright blue periodically, the moving image of a sliding card flickering on the screen mocking him. Sasuke wondered if he'd be allowed to knock on the door and enter, or if he would simply have to wait to talk to Juugo until tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't have the patience to tell Juugo tomorrow, and he was in the right mindset to tell him right now. A woman's voice bled through the metal and he backed away into the shadows. Her hand pressed against the door and Sasuke could see her ID card in the other one. He recognized her as one of the doctors that had been inspecting them when they first arrived.
Sasuke listened as she said goodbye to another doctor inside and tensed as he heard the slick of her card in the reader on the other side of the door. She opened the door in a moderate arc, quickly exiting. Once her back was turned, Sasuke quickly used his hand to stop the door from closing and slid inside of the infirmary, the door quietly sifting shut behind him.
It was hard to think that he'd been inside of this room not too long ago. Sasuke paused as a doctor passed by him but spared him no second glance. His shoulders sagged in relief and he made the sharp turn to where Juugo was seated, staring at him curiously. Sasuke sat down on the bed next to him, a modest amount of space between their bodies. He was surprised to see that the patient Juugo was visiting happened to be Konohamaru, unconscious on his bed.
"Sasuke," Juugo said calmly. A greeting. He peered down at him in a friendly manner.
Sasuke grunted. "Juugo." He almost started sliding into the crater that Juugo created in the bed, though it did bring them a few inches closer.
The other offered him a small smile, resting his hands in his lap. He glanced back at Konohamaru's peaceful face, gesturing towards the boy. "I'm visiting him because he was upset that he couldn't join us to train."
Sasuke prevented himself from bouncing his leg up and down, instead taking a deep breath. It still smelled relentlessly sterile in the room. "That makes sense. His arm will take a while to heal."
Juugo winced. "I was there when he broke it like that. It wasn't pretty."
"It mustn't have been," he replied, casting his eyes down to a wrinkle in Konohamaru's blankets. Juugo didn't reply, and he let a moment of comfortable silence pass between them.
"Karin saved you a plate from dinner," Sasuke said, pressing his lips together.
"Did she? I'll make sure to thank her later," Juugo grinned appreciatively.
Another moment of silence, though an ounce of awkwardness dripped into it. Or maybe it was just Sasuke. Was Juugo noticing his stiffness? He usually wasn't one for small talk. He took in a another deep breath through his nose. It burned slightly. Sasuke didn't waste another moment thinking about how strongly it smelled of bleach or paper or baby powder.
"Juugo."
The other straightened slightly, almost as if he had been waiting for Sasuke to address him. He simply turned to Sasuke, his face clear.
Sasuke stared at a wall across the room. "I'm in a relationship with Naruto."
Juugo made a small, approving noise. It could have been interpreted as a chuckle. "Blunt as ever, Sasuke."
He said nothing, though he was relieved at least one of his childhood friends had been accepting. If he admitted it, then it took a lot for him just to sit next to Juugo. Sasuke couldn't imagine what he would do if Juugo had gasped in surprise or backed away from him in disgust.
"I am happy for you," Juugo whispered, setting a large hand on his shoulder. Sasuke turned to him, watching as a close-mouthed smile grew on his lips.
"I'm happy that you're not upset," Sasuke replied. He fed off of the comforting aura Juugo emitted, reveling in it that he had one person besides Naruto on his side.
The other paused and tilted his head. "I don't think anyone would be upset, Sasuke."
He carefully inspected the sincerity in Juugo's eyes before nodding. The hand on his shoulder squeezed and returned to Juugo's side.
"Though Karin might be a bit… excited," Juugo's eyes narrowed at the wall in front of them. "You are telling her, right?"
Sasuke allowed a smirk to slip onto his face, shaking his head. "I guess I have no choice now."
Juugo laughed quietly. He adopted a more serious expression and turned his body towards Sasuke, holding a hand out. "Do you need me to have a word with Naruto…?"
Sasuke blanched. "No, d—it's fine, you don't need to-"
Juugo chuckled beside him, slightly bouncing them both on the bed. Thankfully, he changed the subject for him, bouncing back to the subject they'd been discussing beforehand. "Good luck with that," he said. He glanced to the ceiling. "With both telling Karin and your relationship, Sasuke. I think you've made a good choice."
Sasuke squeezed his own knee. He'd heard that once before, though it had come from Naruto himself. "Thank you, Juugo."
The other looked at complete peace, a soft smile on his features. "It's never been a problem, Sasuke."
Had it really never been?
After a few moments of comfortable silence, Sasuke stood quietly. He stepped over the wires of Konohamaru's monitors and nodded Juugo a goodbye. The door was heavy as he opened it, and it shut with a loud hiss behind him as he stepped into the darkness of the hallway. The chatter from the lobby had died down considerably, and he wondered if even Karin would still be around.
Sasuke thought back to that morning, to when Kakashi had given him some sort of… pep talk. As if Kakashi needed to know what kind of mental state he was in. But now that he'd spoken with Juugo, he realized exactly what Kakashi had been doing - it was another one of his reverse psychology sessions. What had been disguised as an interrogation had proven to be some ego-boost towards Sasuke. Kakashi had managed to make Sasuke convince himself that he could push through and past the loss of his brother. The man seemed to have the assumption that Sasuke was insecure about it - it nearly made him laugh out loud.
It pissed him off.
Sasuke exited the corridor and glanced towards their dinner table, of which the only occupants were Tenten and Karin. Good, now he wouldn't have to hunt for Karin in her room. He squared his shoulders and headed towards the table, prepared to ask for a few minutes alone with Karin.
Naruto sat on a soft lounge couch with Shikamaru, tensed beyond the point of recognition and with a light sheen of sweat developing on the back of his neck.
Shikamaru grunted beside him, leaning back into the cushions. "Are you constipated?"
Naruto scowled, crossing his legs in a natural and easygoing manner. He clamped his hands together on top of his thighs. "No."
The other hummed, apparently in deep thought. He glanced towards a crooked painting hanging on the wall. Naruto stared as Shikamaru became dead to the world, barely able to keep his eyes open.
"Uh…" Naruto tugged at his earlobe. "Shika, I actually came to tell you something-"
"What is it," Shikamaru sighed. "I'm especially tired today, so make it quick before I fall asleep."
He barely held in a startled squawk, turning towards Shikamaru on the couch.
"Well, um…" Naruto made a few hand gestures, attempting to gather his thoughts. "You know, growing up, you were the only one that really tried to talk to me in daycare. Uh, I don't know if you remember, but you were actually my first friend," he grinned lopsidedly and scratched the back of his head, watching as Shikamaru returned the same amused grin. "And then everyone else kinda warmed up to me. But, anyway, I-well…"
Naruto cleared his throat, cursing himself for not being able to find any words. He knew he should have practiced this! "Since, you're one of my closest friends besides Sakura, I just…" he gestured uselessly again. "Want you to know that, uh, I'm kind of dating Sasuke… I mean, I'm not with him!"
Shikamaru tilted his head slightly, opening his mouth.
"No! I am! I'm d—Sasuke's my boyfriend!" He blurted, immediately freezing at his choice of words. Damn it! His brain had gotten all frozen up. Kami was gonna kill him! Sasuke was gonna kill him! And meanwhile, Shikamaru would fall asleep! Naruto wanted nothing more than to bury his face in his hands and roll away from the other.
After few more moments of fighting with himself, Naruto turned back to Shikamaru, flushed in embarrassment. "Huh?"
Shikamaru stared at the ceiling, just at ease as he'd been before Naruto had dogged him. His chin rested in his hand. The sleepy boy turned to him, slightly confused. "Eh? Should I be more surprised?"
Naruto's jaw dropped, quickly putting the pieces together. "Shika! How'd you-"
"Shush!" He dug a pinky finger in his ear to block out Naruto's voice, a scowl washing over his face. "Naruto, I just don't care who you're with."
He grinned, grabbing Shika by the shoulder and jostling him a bit. "Thanks! You know, I was actually really worried that it would bother you-"
"It doesn't," Shikamaru waved a dismissive hand. "Congratulations, I guess. Tell Uchiha I send him my condolences."
Naruto opened his mouth to laugh, but quickly jammed it shut. "Hey!"
Shikamaru snickered, leaning back into the couch cushions. "Take it easy, Naruto," he waved at him again, a signal for him to leave. Naruto lingered for a few moments, his lips curled in a grin.
"G'night," he waved back as he left, swinging out of the doorway. Naruto jammed his hands in his pockets, heading towards a lift at the end of the hall.
As soon as he jammed the button for it to come back down, he grinned to himself. "Shika's such a good friend," he murmured.
Happily, he took to the halls of the dorms with a slight bounce in his step. He wondered where Sasuke was, but quickly imagined out a scenario in which he'd knock on Sasuke's door and the other would tell him to go to sleep and shut the door in his face. Besides, he was probably still talking to Juugo or something…
Naruto hummed a senseless tune as he missed the keyhole a few times, finally jabbing it in the right way and turning the lock. He swung the door open and stuffed the key back in his pocket before swatting at the lights, rising them just enough so that he could move around.
Naruto yawned and headed towards his dresser, rubbing his eye as he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste so that he could finally go to bed. Turning so that he could run to the showers, he squeaked and dropped his items.
"What the fuck! How'd you-"
"A girl knows her ways," Karin said, narrowing her eyes. She had dragged the chair from Naruto's desk and into the direct center of his room. She sat with her arms and legs crossed, sending him a condescending look.
"Uh…" Naruto swallowed roughly. "Why are you here? And how-"
"I'll ask the questions!" Karin yelled, jumping out of her seat so that the chair flew back a bit.
Naruto screamed, shielding himself from her. "Kami, help me!" He wrapped both of his arms around his midsection as Karin closed in on him, protecting himself from any punches. He'd seen just a fraction of her strength in conditioning this morning… she seemed to be no weaker than Sakura, but maybe just a tad bit more scary.
"Now," Karin slowly raised her hand to poke her glasses higher up on her nose. "I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you're going to answer them all. You ready?"
Naruto wondered if she would treat him the same way she treated Suigetsu if he didn't. "Yes…" he said weakly.
A/N: Shit gets real when the girls are involved. This is a pretty calm point in the story, wouldn't you say? By the way, I really am truly thankful for each and every sort of feedback you guys leave me, so let me know what you think and until next time. :)