Hi! I just wanted to apologize if there are any errors with punctuation, spelling, spacing, etc. When I copy a chapter it never does it perfectly so I try and go back to fix all the mistakes but I have a hard time spotting all of them. Anyways...
Enjoy!
The Long Way Home
Part 9
Frustrations
Chapter 3/3
Thankfully they found a town the next day. It was a small one so the choices of accommodation were pretty slim. The local Inn was packed with farmers bringing in their wares for the market the following morning and they were lucky to get a room at all.
When they opened the door it was to find that the room contained a bed, one bed in fact and no futons, a bathroom and that was about it.
"Ah, wanna flip for it?" Naruto asked hopefully as they stared at the bed from the doorway.
Sasuke dumped his bag by the door and went off towards the bathroom obviously eager for a hot bath.
"No," he said shortly as he disappeared.
Naruto sighed and dropped his bag next to Sasuke's, toed off his shoes and went and sat on the end of the bed. When he looked up at the wall opposite he was momentarily startled to see his own reflection looking back at him.
The mirror opposite the bed wasn't huge or anything so he supposed it hadn't been placed there for any other reason than it was a handy piece of wall to hang a mirror from but it was big enough to remind him a little too strongly of the last time he had seen himself reflected sitting on the edge of a bed like this.
The world wasn't fair sometimes. Lately it had seemed intent on reminding him about every little even slightly sexual moment from the last month. Even more unfair that all those moments had featured Sasuke.
At least the memories of that night hadn't really bothered him at all until now. At the time all he remembered was being really anxious and perhaps a tad scared too so it was hardly something he thought back on as a close moment between the pair. But in light of recent events and recent frustrations remembering it now made him flush and bite his lip.
He let himself fall backward after a few moments in aggravation at his own thoughts and stared at the ceiling instead before closing his eyes and willing himself to think of nothing for a while.
He woke up to the feeling of someone sitting on the bed far up above his head and blinked at the ceiling for a few moments before he realized he must have fallen asleep. He must have been a lot more tired than he'd thought.
He sat up and was again confronted by his mirror image only this time he could see Sasuke off to his left, sitting cross legged with his back up against the headboard and looking down at his maps. His hair still looked damp from the bath.
"How long was I asleep?" Naruto asked Sasuke's reflection.
Sasuke looked up at him, his head resting in his hand, his elbow propped up on a knee. Sasuke met his eyes in the mirror.
"Not long, " he replied. "Maybe an hour."
"Oh. I guess I didn't sleep so well last night. I got a headache and it kept me awake." Naruto stared at the mirror for a while longer. "This mirror is really creepy," Naruto decided.
Sasuke swept the maps aside and moved closer so he could peer at the offending item more directly.
He was on his knees a little ways behind Naruto, looking at the mirror over Naruto's right shoulder. It didn't help ease Naruto's memory at all.
"How is the mirror creepy?" Sasuke asked after a moment.
"It just is. It reminds me of Morio's." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that.
"Never mind, it isn't important," Naruto told him not liking the scrutiny or where the conversation was going.
That was when Sasuke seemed to catch up and his mouth tipped into an amused half smile. He slid closer with his legs folded beneath him and locked eyes with Naruto in the mirror.
"C'mon was your brain so damaged by that night?" Sasuke asked mockingly.
"By Morio, by the creepy guy watching, sure."
"But not me?"
"No. I told you why."
"Right, comfortable. I don't think you were so comfortable at the time though."
"Yeah but I wouldn't say it was totally uncomfortable either."
Sasuke stared into his eyes through the mirror, his smile slowly dissipating. Naruto suddenly realized what he'd said might be taken the wrong way, but Sasuke spoke up before he could reassure him otherwise.
"You have very interesting ways of not telling me the whole truth."
Okay, so not the response he had been fearing, but not much better either. Did Sasuke suspect? Well after the last few nights it wouldn't be surprising.
"Look who's talking," Naruto scoffed. "It's not like I'm trying to hide anything."
Sasuke changed positions slightly, crossing his legs beneath him. Naruto could feel Sasuke's bare legs press in against his sides then he leant forward till Naruto could feel his breath gust against the side of his neck.
"Liar."
Naruto could see one of Sasuke hands in the bed beside him sort of flexing against the bedclothes as though Sasuke was restraining himself from doing something physical. It made Naruto a little uneasy and that was because Sasuke was being a little weird. Well weirder than usual.
It was almost like he was trying to goad Naruto into something and all Naruto could think of was that perhaps Sasuke wanted to take a swing at him. Maybe the reminder of Morio's hadn't been the best thing to bring up considering Sasuke's mood lately. Perhaps Sasuke was about ready to snap.
"I'm not lying. Look I'm sorry I bought it up, I know it's not the greatest memory for you. But I'm not actually trying to piss you off this time."
"You keep bringing up lots of memories. I'm not pissed off, but that might not last for much longer if it keeps happening."
Oh. Shit.
Sasuke wasn't just talking about Morio's apparently. Everything since then that had happened
between them was obviously on his mind and Naruto had the strong impression that Sasuke was getting sick of it. Perhaps not even his way of punishing Naruto for it was amusing for him anymore.
He wanted to promise Sasuke that nothing would happen again. He'd keep his hands to himself, therefore Sasuke wouldn't feel the need to one up him and get him back and all would be right with the world once more. But how could he promise that when it seemed as though his body wasn't listening to his brain anymore? He just wasn't sure if it was a promise he could keep.
"I want to promise that I won't do it anymore," Naruto began.
"But you can't " Sasuke finished for him. "Neither can I. And that's the problem."
At first Naruto didn't really hear the admission for what it was and it took a few moments for that small statement of 'neither can I' to register fully in his brain. But when it did his eyes widened dramatically and he stared at Sasuke's reflection in shock.
But then should he really be so shocked? That Sasuke had admitted to it sure, but that he was really thinking such a thing? Hrm, perhaps not. Naruto had to remind himself that Sasuke had been kissing him a lot lately. Apart from the drunken festival though Sasuke had always seemed to be either trying to prove a point or get back at him.
Or at least, that's what Naruto had thought. Was it even possible that Sasuke had kissed him because he'd just simply wanted to? I mean this was Sasuke after all, a month ago he'd been telling Naruto off for kissing his cheek but not once lately had Sasuke even paused for a moment at full on tongue molesting him.
Naruto suddenly felt very stupid.
It was also at this point that Naruto realized that Sasuke wasn't actually teasing him. That smirky little tone was absent and Sasuke looked completely serious.
"What are you thinking?" Naruto asked softly.
"I'm thinking that we're going to keep getting hung up on this same shit all the time. I'm deciding whether it will eventually fade with time or whether it is saner to give in and stop being frustrated."
"What does 'giving in' mean?"
However this question seemed to stump Sasuke and Naruto couldn't blame him. Of course that could have something do to with still not completely understanding what Sasuke was suggesting. Well perhaps that wasn't entirely true. He kinda knew even before he'd asked considering the direction of the conversation, but the details were still lost to him. And apparently he wasn't alone.
It wasn't the first time Sasuke had balked in this kind of situation. The same thing had happened when they'd practiced for their act at Morio's. Of course since Sasuke had gotten over that first kiss he hadn't really seemed to have had any uncertainty since. But now presented with something new he was yet again hesitating but this time Naruto wasn't in a better frame of mind to help him out like last time.
His eyes flicked down to watch Sasuke's hand stop clutching at the bed and ease toward his leg slightly, his thumb a hairs-breath away from actually touching him and shock of all shocks almost imperceptibly shaking. Was Sasuke actually nervous? The thought seemed pretty alien that Sasuke could get nervous about anything. Ever. But it sure looked like it right now.
"Sasuke?"
When Naruto looked back at his face, Sasuke had been looking randomly at the mirror as though somehow he would see the answer reflected back at him. In the end though it did seem to give him the answer he was searching for.
"The mirror reminds me of Morio's as well," he said almost to himself.
"Great," Naruto replied insincerely. "The mirror creeps you out too."
"It's not creeping me out, it's giving me ideas."
Naruto couldn't help but snort and laugh at that one. A moment ago he'd been so tense that if a fly had landed on him he probably would have tried to Rasengan it into oblivion in a second. Luckily he couldn't have done it if he tried and even luckier that Sasuke's general weird behaviour had eased his tension.
"What, you want a replay?" Naruto asked jokingly, still grinning.
"Do you?" Sasuke countered seriously.
So that pretty much wiped the smile off his face in quick order.
"Seriously?"
Sasuke nodded just as he felt Sasuke thumb make the slightest of touches against the side of his leg.
"Um, I don't think pretending to jerk me off is going to help much." He saw Sasuke roll his eyes. "Idiot. I didn't mean an exact repeat."
"Then what...?"
"Like leaving out the 'pretending' part."
His eyes flew down to watch Sasuke's hand as it swept over his leg and up to press his palm flat low against Naruto's belly. His fingers teased at the buttons at his waist as though still just that little bit unsteady. Finally Sasuke got a few of the top buttons of his pants undone and then that hand started to slide ever so slowly downwards.
In a rush of nerves Naruto grabbed his hand almost exactly as he'd done at Morio's, his fingers jammed between each of Sasuke's up near the latter's knuckles stopping his movement immediately.
Sasuke's slightly annoyed face came back into his view in the mirror.
"If you tell me you want me to stop, I might actually laugh."
"If you do stop I'll probably hit you," Naruto promised right back. "Just tell me why you want this."
"I don't want this. I need it," Sasuke replied simply but surprisingly firmly.
Naruto stopped restraining him immediately, mostly due to shock, and all he could do was grip Sasuke's wrist as his hand delved down further. At the first light and somewhat tentative touch against him he felt his back stiffen and his jaw drop open causing a puff of air to escape.
He felt Sasuke's lips against the back of his shoulder but Naruto could still see his eyes poking over, watching him apparently pleased with himself. Then he felt those lips curve up into a mocking smile.
"Asshole," Naruto ground out.
That's pretty much when being tentative stopped and Sasuke got bolder. Firm fingers wrapped around him and Naruto's eyes promptly dropped closed and he groaned.
Nobody had ever touched him like this before and he was surprised at how amazing it felt to have another person's hand on you. It also felt a little dream-like too. No matter what had happened between them he never even considered that something like this would be the result.
He was more than ready to believe that Sasuke's social skills were a little on the strange side but his reactions, decisions and wants seemed to fluctuate so randomly it made his head spin to even try and see a pattern to it all. Sasuke usually dealt with people by getting angry, being rude, despondent or in some cases violent. He had no middle ground, he wasn't used to even having a middle ground which is why Naruto figured Sasuke could go from detached indifference to groping horniness in the space of about two minutes.
But Naruto wasn't really in a position to be complaining right now. Whatever weird mood flux Sasuke was currently enjoying meant he had the deft fingers of a skilled ninja slowly and teasingly jerking him off and he was hardly about to call a time out to try and figure out the motivation behind it.
But something did float to the surface in the part of his brain that was still working and that was the memory of Sasuke admitting that he was frustrated as well. Surely this alone wasn't doing anything for him personally. He'd probably only done it to have a place to start.
It was awkward, but he managed to snake his free hand around behind him, in between them, to be reminded in his hazy and already aroused state that oh yeah, Sasuke only slept in his shirt most nights. He knuckles brushed against solid skin allowing him to locate what he was after and wrap his own hand around Sasuke.
He heard a hiss of indrawn breath in his ear and Sasuke's hand stilled on him for a horrible moment making Naruto think perhaps he'd done the wrong thing. But then it resumed and Naruto let out a shuddering breath.
The flesh wrapped in his hand felt hot and strangely bizarre. Not that he didn't know what a hard dick felt like in his hand of course. But this wasn't him, this was someone else. Someone else who was making soft but incredibly exciting sounds almost directly in his ear. He flexed his hand experimentally and was rewarded when Sasuke reflexively clamped down on him even more tightly.
Holy crap this was amazing. To feel someone touching him, to touch someone else and to know how turned on they were was indescribable to him in that moment. All he was aware of was the sensation of touch and the soft sounds in his ear as they drew each other closer to the edge with each passing moment hands pumping in an imperfect and uncoordinated rhythm with each other.
Not that Naruto noticed how unsteady either of them were being, it felt almost too good and that was all he could really think about as they seemed to unconsciously egg each on to go even faster through touch alone.
The act of reciprocating had worked to distract him in some sense but not for too much longer before felt close to finishing. It was just too much and so overwhelming that he couldn't have held back had he tried. He came hard, crying out and barely managing to keep the momentum up to drive Sasuke over as well. Thankfully Sasuke had been close too and almost buried his face against Naruto's shoulder muffling his own sounds.
Afterwards they continued to sit propped up by each other, breathing heavily, hands still loosely clasping each other.
It was at some point a few minutes later when normal thought returned to Naruto. Then his brain kind of freaked out. His head came up sharply and he opened his eyes to see Sasuke watching him, flushed and if not panicked himself then as close to Sasuke ever got to the emotion.
"That um...just happened didn't it?" Naruto asked carefully.
Sasuke nodded slowly but then for some odd reason said, "That depends."
"Oh what?" Naruto asked mystified.
"On whether we have to talk about it or not anymore."
Naruto thought about that. "Um, I vote no."
"Seconded. Then yes, that happened."
Sasuke backed up and got off the bed, heading for the bathroom. He came back out after a moment and gestured that the bathroom was free and Naruto went in, shutting the door behind him and leaning up against it as though his legs were incapable of keeping him upright on their own for any longer.
He took his time bathing and this time resolutely tried not to think about what had just happened.
But it was difficult. This was a first time of sorts for him, the second of which he ruefully realized had happened with Sasuke. Sasuke had been his first kiss. Sort of. Now this.
In his mind he had imagined that if he ever found himself in this sort of situation it would be less confusing. Not to mention his imagination had never factored a guy into this situation not even after the other night when he'd come with the picture of Sasuke in his head.
He felt bewildered and strange and wondered stupidly if he was trapped in some bizarre dream where Sasuke, ex-rogue, killer, turned playful tease with amazing hands was all his imagination after all. It certainly seemed more likely that the idea that Sasuke would just feel him up almost out of nowhere and give him his first orgasm bought on by someone other than himself for a change.
Did Sasuke even like him? Sure they seemed more friends than not these days but the Sasuke from his past seemed so stand-offish, so emotionally retarded and physically restrained with this sort of stuff that it was hard to think he'd initiate something like that.
But it had happened, it was real and Sasuke wanted to deal with it like he always did by resolutely not dealing with it. But that was okay, because Naruto didn't really want to have that deep and meaningful conversation with Sasuke anyway because he had the strongest feeling he wouldn't like the results.
He could allow himself to believe they were friends now, it wasn't such a long shot even if Sasuke sometimes told him they weren't. But in all honesty he had to also admit that what had just happened was a weird side effect of their bonding over the past couple of weeks. It was a strange way to bond sure, but they'd had a decidedly strange few weeks. Naruto had admitted to being frustrated and Sasuke was too to judge by what had just happened so Naruto decided to chalk it up to experience and let it go at that.
So their friendship had some strange quirks to it, weird but it wasn't like it was a bad thing. He could almost still feel Sasuke's hand moving against him and it felt good, weird or not. So quirks weren't bad, they were a bonus.
He just wondered if and when their friendship might quirk again.
He got out of the tub and put his shorts on to re-enter the room to find the lights off and Sasuke curled up under the bedclothes and wondered if this meant he was sleeping on the floor or not.
Screw it, Naruto thought after a moment.
He slipped into the opposite side of the bed but made sure not to inadvertently invade personal space just in case Sasuke got the wrong idea or had reverted back to his usual self.
"I don't want to sleep on the floor," he told Sasuke to ward against being told off.
Sasuke sighed. "I didn't say you had to dobe. This bed is big enough to sleep five people I think we can both deal with it."
Naruto rolled to face Sasuke's back. "Ne, Sasuke?"
"I thought we voted on this, " Sasuke said forestalling him.
"Don't assume you know what I'm going to say," Naruto challenged. "I was only going to say that I feel really relaxed. It's nice, you know, giving in."
Sasuke was quiet for a moment. "That was the point. Getting your frustrations out of your system will mean you are going to be less distracted by them in the future."
"But you said that just once wasn't going to cure me."
Sasuke was quiet for a few moments. Apparently Sasuke had been unprepared for that reaction.
"It's not like we had sex."
Naruto was pretty stunned by the whole idea of that. But then he remembered that Sasuke was just referring to the conversation they'd had about meeting a girl and 'private time'. Besides, sex was on some kind of whole other level. It was not something you did just to ease tension with your friends.
Right?
Besides, Sasuke was... Sasuke was... well, Sasuke. Naruto was still trying to make his brain believe what had just happened between them wasn't just some weird dream.
"Yeah I know that, but-"
"So I suppose you wish that you could feel relaxed like this more often huh?"
Well apparently he wasn't as subtle as all that. It appeared as though Sasuke already knew what he was thinking which didn't irritate him as much as it normally might. So Naruto grinned at the probing, though still vaguely ass-covering question.
"Well yeah. I mean, it beats being frustrated, right?"
Again Sasuke took his time to respond but Naruto imagined that Sasuke was also smirking just a little when he replied.
"Yes, it does."
TBC in Part 10.
Have a great weekend! see you Monday! :)
