Honesty
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. It looks like Itachi, the puppy, was popular. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: Itachi is still a puppy. His speech is far from perfect, but he gets his point across.
Chapter Seven
A few days later, Jugo and Sasuke are summoned to Tsunade's office. The Hokage gestures for them to take a seat. The two ninjas wisely do so.
"I want you to both go on a mission. It's a trade mission. All you have to do is take these scrolls with you and discuss them with the Leader of the Land of Tea. See if they are acceptable or not, to him. You are not to barter on our behalf, merely take notes about what he says. He has agreed to provide accommodations for both of you, while you conduct your mission. It's listed as a B rank mission." She explains.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. That sounded more like a C ranked mission to him. If all they were doing was taking notes, there seemed to be very little risk involved.
"How is that a B ranked mission? Do you expect us to be ambushed by bandits along the way?" He asks.
"It's a B Rank mission because of the political significance this task carries. The actual risk to your physical safety is very low. You can almost think of this as a vacation really." The busty blonde replies.
Jugo glances at Tsunade. A vacation? Sasuke had just been reinstated as a Leaf Ninja. He had just become one. Why would she give them a vacation? Was she in on Kakashi's ridiculous attempts to meddle in Sasuke's love life?
"Alright. We'll take it. Come on Jugo. Let's go home and get packed." Sasuke says as he heads out the door.
A short while later, they were back in the Uchiha District. Thankfully, Suigetsu had his own place now. So they didn't come back to him and Karin bickering like cats and dogs again.
"Suigetsu, we have a mission. Trade mission. We are going to the Land of Tea. B ranked. Low risk. Let Karin know." Sasuke says simply he walks into his house.
"Hey! I'm not your damn secretary!" The white haired man protests.
Jugo gives the sword lover a dirty look. Suigetsu rubs the back of his head sheepishly. Given the gentle giant's track record of losing it lately, he decides not to press his luck.
"Fine. Whatever. I'll tell her. Sheesh." He grumbles.
The orange haired man nods approvingly and follows Sasuke. He smiles when Itachi bounds over to him. His tail was wagging and he clearly wanted to play.
Hmm, I wonder if he has some more of those biscuits! Those were good! Oh maybe, I'll get some belly rubs. Well his scent smells like he's more interested in playing with Sasuke than me. Is it human mating season, Itachi wonders to himself.
"Good boy. You can have your biscuit. I'm afraid Sasuke and I will be gone for a few days. Don't worry, Suigetsu and Karin will take good care of you though." He says and kneels down to give him the treat.
"No go." He says and Jugo had to remind himself that this was a ninja dog.
Ninja dogs could actually talk sometimes. So could ninja cats for that matter, but he digressed. Still it would take some getting used to. It looked like Itachi was just starting to learn how to communicate verbally.
"I'm sorry, but we have to go. We'll be back soon. Don't worry, Karin and Suigetsu will take good care of you." Jugo says as he pats Itachi's ears.
Sasuke comes down the stairs a few minutes later with their stuff. It seemed that he had also packed for his traveling companion. He smiles when he sees Jugo with the puppy. He'd never say this out loud, but there was something very sweet about the image.
"Sasuke, Itachi can talk now. Well a little bit." He says.
"Great. Be a good boy for Suigetsu and Karin. You know how they are." Sasuke instructs Itachi and heads off with Jugo.
A few days later, they arrive in the Land of Tea. It was late enough at night, that the Tea Lord told them that they would begin conducting business in the morning. He shows them to their rooms and later on, one of the staff shows them to the hot springs.
Sasuke seemed quite content to bask in the hot water. It looked like he was completely oblivious to Jugo's internal struggle. Then again, the last Uchiha just had never really been that shy about his body or anyone else's.
Jugo chuckles as he remembers what Suigetsu told him about how he and Sasuke met. Suigetsu had been inside a tank. Sasuke had slashed it open and a naked Suigetsu came tumbling out. Sasuke hadn't baited an eyelash at Suigetsu's nudity or even the sword lover's threat to blow his brains out.
"You look like you are about to start laughing. What's on your mind?" Sasuke asks.
"Oh I was just thinking about how you and Suigetsu met." He replies honestly.
Sasuke smirks. Yes, that was an unconventional meeting. He knew exactly what the white haired man had been trying to do. He had been trying to fluster Sasuke with his nakedness or gun like gesture. It hadn't worked.
He knew that to this day, that still pissed Suigetsu off. Sasuke found that amusing. He would never actually say that though.
He had a reputation to protect. His reputation was the kind of reputation that would say he didn't give a fuck about Suigetsu's sulking. (He actually did, but he wasn't going to admit that.)
"I imagine that's always good for a laugh." He says and winces as he cracks his neck.
Yeah, he must have slept on it wrong. Sasuke hated when that happened. Well that's what he got for using a rock as a pillow. They had made camp the night before on their way to the Land of Tea in a meadow. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
That way he wouldn't get any grass or bugs in his hair. Good news, he didn't get any insects or vegetation on him. Bad news? His neck was sore as Hell.
"Sasuke, what's wrong with your neck?" He asks.
"Oh nothing. I just slept on it wrong. Not a big deal. That's the last time I use a rock as a pillow." He mutters.
"Let me try to fix it for you. I used to be pretty good at such things." He offers.
Sasuke tilts his head to the side. When exactly would Jugo had had the opportunity to get good at neck rubs? Then it hit him. Kimimaro.
He tries to squash down the irrational jealousy he felt at that knowledge. It was none of his business. It didn't matter what Jugo had done with the ill prodigy. They hadn't even known each other back then. He was dead. It wasn't like Kimimaro was going to steal the gentle giant from him.
"Alright. It's not that bad though." Sasuke insists and Jugo wades over until he was behind Sasuke.
"Then it shouldn't take long to fix." His comrade murmurs and places his hands on Sasuke's shoulders.
It was ridiculous. He couldn't be jealous of Jugo's relationship with Kimimaro. He couldn't be jealous over a dead man. They weren't even together now. Sasuke knew that he had no right to begrudge Jugo whatever brief happiness he had achieved with the other man.
He knew that logically. Unfortunately, he was an Uchiha. No matter how much people may have gushed over his Clan's intelligence in battle, they had an Achilles' Heel. Their emotions.
Their heart would always end up winning in the end. So Sasuke knew that he was waging a losing battle. He was jealous over a dead man. Great. Just fucking great.
"Hopefully not." Sasuke agrees.
He leans back against Jugo's broad, powerful chest. Nice and warm. Cozy, even. He resisted the urge to cuddle into him. Uchihas were not supposed to cuddle!
"Tell me if this feels better." He whispers and begins the shoulder rub.
Jugo knew that this was actually a really big deal. He doubted there were very many people that Sasuke let touch him. Let alone that he willingly let touch a place that was near a majority artery and expose his back to. It warmed his heart that the last Uchiha had such faith in him.
It was also a way to test the waters. It was a platonic neck rub, but still this was more intimate than most of their other touches. Sasuke might cuddle up to him when he was asleep, but that was different. This time the other man was actually awake.
"Okay." Sasuke says and allows Jugo to continue his administrations.
He closes his eyes and sighs in contentment. That didn't feel better. That felt fucking amazing. Sasuke had never realized this before, but apparently he carried all his tension in his neck and shoulders.
At the moment, he was damn grateful that he wasn't a cat. He would have been purring, if he was. That would have been embarrassing.
"I don't want to start a fight, but I think you have the right to know. Tsunade and Kakashi have been evaluating your mental health exam results." He begins.
"Mhm?" Sasuke asks, enjoying the rub down too much to be overly concerned at the moment.
Jugo bites his lower lip. This would likely provoke Sasuke. Well at least he had learned that the other man enjoyed his touch. Sasuke was in a good mood at the moment. That was likely the best time to drop this little gem on him.
"I'm not really sure how they figured it out, but they know that you prefer men. Kakashi thinks that you would benefit greatly from a lover. He wanted me to find out what you thought was appealing and help him with his matchmaking attempts." He continues.
Sasuke twitches. Alright. Good mood destroyed. It wasn't Jugo's fault though. In a way, he was relieved to find out that Jugo would tell him what was going on behind his back. Still when he got back to the Leaf, he was going to give Tsunade and Kakashi a piece of his mind. How fucking dare they try to meddle in his love life?!
"I see. Thank you for telling me. They are going to regret their meddling. It's none of their damn business. Surprised that they weren't upset that I was gay. It makes having children a bit more complicated. I would have thought they'd be more worried about the Sharingan bloodline than trying to set me up." He seethes.
"Sasuke, they were trying to help. Granted they did it in a rather idiotic fashion, but still." He tries to reason with him.
Sasuke nods. Oh he knew that. They were just trying to help him. The Leaf was fond of doing that. Maybe their intentions were actually pure, but it still came down to them trying to get him to do whatever they wanted. Control. The Leaf was always trying to control him, even when it came to his sex life.
"I know that. It's just fucking infuriating. The Leaf has always wanted to control every aspect of my life. Now they want to encourage me to take a lover. They have no respect for free will or privacy." He growls.
"Sasuke, perhaps you should get some sleep. It's late. You might feel less angry about this in the morning. They were wrong to try to manipulate you like this, but they did it because they want to help you find happiness." Jugo argues.
The last Uchiha nods again. He knew that Jugo was right. Maybe some sleep would help.
"You're right. And Jugo?" He asks as he gets out of the water.
"Yes, Sasuke?" Jugo asks as he gets up, deciding that he might as well head to bed as well.
"Thank you. Thank you for telling me that. You could have easily done what Kakashi wanted you to, but you didn't. You were honest with me. I appreciate it." He says.
Jugo smiles. Sasuke was hardly one for gushy declarations of friendship. So by his standards, that was quite the declaration
"You don't have to thank me for that. Friends should be honest with each other." He offers with a smile.
Friends? Maybe they were from Jugo's perspective, but part of Sasuek wanted more than that. Sasuke mentally frowns at this knowledge.
He had been jealous of the other man's previous lover. No, he knew that he should be honest with at least himself. His feelings for Jugo went beyond friendship.
Was he in love with him? No. Well maybe. Actually, he had no idea. Sasuke had never been in love before, so how would he know if he was in love now?
He just knew that he felt safe around the other man. Sasuke felt that he could let his guard down around Jugo. He also was attracted to the gentle giant and enjoyed his shoulder rubs. That was something right?
"Yeah. They should. Night, Jugo." Sasuke says.
Sasuke was heading off when his foot missed a step. He starts to fall, but Jugo catches him. Somehow their lips touched.
It was somewhat of a familiar occurrence for Sasuke. He had accidentally kissed Naruto twice in this way, but there was one key difference. Sasuke and Naruto had quickly broken apart and started gagging. Jugo was doing…well the opposite of that.
"Nhh." Sasuke soon finds himself moaning into the kiss.
It might have started out as an accident, but Jugo was clearly quite happy with this development. Sasuke had never been kissed like this before. This was on purpose and felt so fucking good.
Somehow he was able to kiss in a gentle, reverent way. But there was no mistaking Jugo's kiss for being submissive. Sasuke couldn't quite put his finger on how, but somehow his comrade was exerting complete control.
"Easier this way." Jugo breaks the kiss long enough to murmur before pushing Sasuke against a nearby tree.
Jugo knew that it had been an accident. He should haven't kissed him back. Still it had been an instinct. Sasuke had kissed him BACK. Maybe it had just been an instinctive reaction, but Jugo planned to take full advantage of it.
Sasuke's kisses were surprisingly shy at first. Then again, maybe he should have expected that. As far as he knew, the only person that Sasuke had kissed before was Naruto. That didn't matter to him though. He'd get more bold with practice. Besides, he tasted so fucking good. Like dark chocolate and red wine.
It didn't take long for the last Uchiha to start to kiss back with more ferocity though. Jugo moans into the kiss when he felt Sasuke's tongue challenge his for supremacy. Of course he lost that battle.
It wasn't a fair fight. Jugo had experience that Sasuke just didn't have. He breaks the kiss and places a trail of kisses along his jaw line and then over his collarbone.
"That feels better." Sasuke murmurs seductively.
The last Uchiha felt his eyes bleed red. He didn't know why the kisses felt so good. It didn't seem to matter if they were on his mouth or his neck. He felt his toes curl in pleasure and suddenly was rather grateful for the loose towel wrapped around his waist.
He didn't know it was possible to get this turned on from kissing. Had he knew that it could feel this good, he probably would have found a lover earlier. Lover. Well Jugo wasn't his lover. He was just a friend who he was making out with at the moment. A friend who was really good at making out and necking, but still.
"Good." Jugo says as he lightly bites down on the other man's neck.
That's when Sasuke lost it. He let out a wanton moan. The raven haired ninja didn't even know he was capable of making that sound. There was just something incredibly erotic about feeling Jugo's teeth against him like that. Primal really.
"Would you like some more towels?" A staff member asks and then her eyes widen.
She blushes deeply. It was apparent that she had just realized what she walked in on. The poor girl was mortified.
"I'm so sorry. Um I'll just leave them right here. I didn't see anything. I swear!" She squeaks and races off.
That broke the spell. Sasuke blinks. He didn't know what to do or say. That had started off an accident, but it definitely hadn't ended up that way. There was really no denying what had just happened.
Jugo lets go of Sasuke's neck. Damn the towel girl. For a few moments, Sasuke had kissed him back. Sasuke had even let him mark up his neck. It had been pure bliss. Naturally, someone had to come along and accidentally ruin it.
"It's alright. Would you prefer to talk about this in the morning? After we've both had a chance to think about it and gotten some sleep?" He says.
Sasuke just nods his head. Jugo could see the relief in his body posture. Sasuke might not say it, but he had been close to panicking.
He had a good reason to panic. Jugo knew that the other man had only a handful of friends. It was likely that he wouldn't want to risk their friendship over a physical attraction. That and Sasuke had a very hard time trusting people. The older ninja couldn't imagine entering a romantic relationship would be easy for him.
"That's probably a good idea. Good night, Jugo." Sasuke says again and heads off to his room.
It was a struggle. Sasuke didn't want to run off, but he didn't feel like walking. He had no idea what he was going to say in the morning.
He couldn't deny the attraction with a straight face, pun intended. Sasuke felt a bit embarrassed at his behavior. All that from a little kissing and necking!
"What the hell am I supposed to say to him?" He whispers and touches his lips.
They still tingled from the feeling of Jugo's lips against his. He never knew that kissing could elicit reactions like this. Fuck. He had gotten an erection from making out!
"Thank God that he didn't see that." He grumbles to himself and decides a cold shower would be a good start towards solving his problems.
Meanwhile Jugo was having a similar problem. He couldn't believe that had just happened. He had practically jumped Sasuke against a tree.
He should have had more self-control than that. Jugo blamed animal instinct. He had just wanted the other man for so long, that his body had reacted before his mind had caught up.
"I might have ruined everything for a few minutes of pleasure." He mutters to himself.
It had been absolute bliss. But where a few heated kisses and love bites really worth it? What if Sasuke didn't want anything to do with him after that?
He knew that his comrade was gay. That wasn't the issue. Sasuke couldn't be disgusted at him being attracted to men. That would be hypocritical. But that didn't mean that Sasuke wanted to be with HIM specifically.
He sighs. Well one way or another, it was likely he would get his answer in the morning. Jugo curls up in his bed and tries to get some sleep.
Back in the Leaf, Itachi was watching Suigetsu play with his swords. They were shiny. Itachi liked shiny things. So he had decided to come investigate the white haired man's home.
Sasuke and Jugo had said that the other two members of Taka would take care of him. He had never known his owners to lie. So here he was, watching Suigetsu play with his swords. It was highly entertaining.
"Suigetsu, did you remember to feed the dog?" Karin asks him as she walks into his house.
"Hey! You didn't even knock or anything. This is my place. You are breaking and entering. You can't just barge in like that!" He protests.
Karin rolls her eyes. It seemed that Suigetsu was in need of his daily beating. The red head was beginning to wonder if he couldn't function without it. Maybe he actually liked getting beaten up. It would certainly explain a lot.
"Pft. Please. We all live in the Uchiha District. We are members of the same team. I don't have to knock to visit your place. Besides, you are an idiot. You'd probably forget to feed Itachi, if I didn't remind you. Really, you should be grateful." She lectures him.
Suigetsu raises an eyebrow. He should be grateful that the woman came into his home without knocking? What kind of fucked up logic was that? Sometimes he wondered if maybe Karin was suffering from brain damage. She hardly ever made any sense and today was no exception.
"Thank you?!" He demands incredulously.
"You're welcome. That's better. See you can learn some manners. You are just a very slow learner. But that's okay. You'll get there eventually." She says smugly.
Itachi watches them curiously. Humans were so strange sometimes. He wondered how they ever managed to Mate. First, Sasuke and Jugo were covered in the scent of desire for each other, but wouldn't act on it. Now these two were play fighting.
He was pretty sure it was play fighting. They would have actually hurt each other by now, if it wasn't. Right? Karin and Suigetsu simply had to be play pouncing.
"You are crazy! What the Hell should I be thanking you for?!" Suigetsu yells at her.
"You should be thanking me for reminding you to feed Itachi. That's what. What do you think that Sasuke and Jugo would have done to you, if you forgot to feed the puppy? I probably just saved your life. You should learn to express your gratitude better." She says and places her hands on her hips.
Suigetsu just shakes his head. Women were nuts. That was the only logical explanation.
"Itachi, women are crazy. Absolutely crazy. Maybe female dogs make more sense than human women. I hope so for your sake." He mutters.
"Suigetsu, duck." Itachi warns him.
It was too late though. The frying pan had already gone flying. The sword lover takes a blow to the head.
"OWE! YOU FUCKING CRAZY BITCH!" He hisses.
"Uh oh. You no say that about women. They get mad." Itachi chides him gently.
The sword lover blinks. Oh for Godsakes! Now he was getting etiquette lessons from a dog! Could this day get any weirder?
"The dog is smarter than you!" Karin snaps at Suigetsu.
Suigetsu groans. He rubs the rapidly forming bruise on the back of his head. Karin was crazy, but she had very good aim. Unfortunately.
"You wish. You are just psychotic. You're so lucky that you have the ability to heal people. I doubt he would have kept you around otherwise. Hell, it's a miracle that Jugo hasn't attacked you in a rage yet." He tells her.
"Why would Jugo attack me in a rage? I don't go out of my way to provoke him, like you do. You are an idiot by the way. It's a damn good thing that Sasuke was there to save your sorry ass." She scolds him.
"Um forget I said that. That just kind slipped out." The white haired man says sheepishly.
"No. I'm not going to forget it. What the Hell did you mean by that?! If Jugo might attack me, I have a right to know why." She demands.