Enjoy!
The Long Way Home
Part 10
Quirks
Chapter 3/3
Naruto woke to a sharp pain in his leg where Sasuke had apparently pinched him to wake him up.
"Your turn," Sasuke told him after Naruto spluttered awake and then they spend a few confused moments trying to reverse their positions inside the little area. Finally he was sitting relatively comfortably and just a little while later he heard Sasuke's even breathing telling him that his friend had dropped off to sleep.
It was strange but those last few hours of sleep was the best sleep he had gotten in a while. He was still getting up in the middle of the night most nights to train and usually when he came back to camp his head hurt too much to allow him to sleep much anyway. But due to circumstance, training tonight wasn't an option and plus Sasuke's actions earlier did wonders to make his body too tired for his sore head to keep him awake for long. Well perhaps this frustration relief had even more going for it than he had initially thought. I mean it felt great sure but apparently it made his head hurt less too and his body so relaxed that sleep was a lot easier. Go figure.
Pity Sasuke had been such a jerk about it. He got the distinct impression that Sasuke had only done it because he wanted to feel all superior and it was annoying that the tables had been turned so easily. Not twenty minutes before that, Sasuke had been almost demanding Naruto touch him instead which had been the main reason Naruto was in such a state to be frustrated in the first place.
Oh he had been a little frustrated in this past week, eager enough to get to a repeat performance of that night in the hotel room but he had been beginning to think Sasuke wasn't interested until that moment. And the fact that he had suddenly become interested was enough to make all Naruto's past week frustrations come back in one big wave of feeling that seemed to overshadow the appearance of some unknown monster suddenly in their midst. And then Sasuke had just turned it all around somehow so that Naruto was the one left feeling like he'd lost the challenge of not being the first one to crack after he had told himself that he wouldn't do anything until Sasuke was the one to bring it up first.
Not that he supposed the results weren't sort of worth it though. Sasuke might have been a little too self-satisfied and he might have been a little rough about it but it had still felt good. Very good.
Actually it had been almost better than before. Sasuke hadn't wavered, had been confident in what he was doing and the effect had been kind of a turn on if he had to be honest with himself.
He did not however choose to dwell on the idea that being that rough and compelling had been part of what had aroused him so much. Especially because even though enjoying that was slightly disturbing in itself it also did great wonders reinforcing just who was doing those things to him because it was such a Sasuke way of doing anything.
Yeah, better to leave that one well alone.
He heard a soft snuffling sound in the corridor a little ways down from their little alcove and froze.
But not before clamping a hand down onto Sasuke's leg and squeezing roughly.
To his credit, Sasuke didn't wake up abusing him for the treatment but stayed silent and still instead.
The only reason Naruto knew he was awake at all was because he heard Sasuke's breathing become a little shallower and his leg muscles tensed under his hand.
The snuffling got closer till Naruto figured it was just outside their little space and remained just outside for what felt like the longest time before surprisingly moving on again. The good news was that the mud had seemed to work, which made being caked in the uncomfortable stuff a whole lot more worthwhile.
Naruto waited a good ten minutes before he dared speak again.
"Do you think it's looking for us?"
"Probably," Sasuke answered quietly. "But it could just be hunting in general, who knows."
"What do you think it eats?"
"And when did I suddenly become the cave monster expert?" Sasuke asked snidely. "I've never run into anything like this before. We don't even know what it looks like because of the darkness."
"I was just asking what you thought asshole, don't get so bent out of shape! It might not even realize we're people, it might not even like eating people."
"If it knows what people smell like it knew we were human the first time it found us," Sasuke pointed out. "Even if it doesn't want to eat us it may just want to kill us for being in its territory. Either way it acted aggressively towards us so we might have to consider killing it."
It didn't matter that the thing, whatever it was, was chasing them around and growling at them because it hadn't really occurred to Naruto to simply kill it otherwise he would have stood his ground the first time. He had thought that maybe they could attempt to discourage it from hunting them, with force if necessary, but it was clearly just an animal.
It was just doing what animals did so he hadn't really considered having to kill it. Not that he was entirely against the notion either. If the animal turned out to be as dangerous as it sounded he would rather have to kill it than letting it kill them but until it got to that point Naruto felt a little disturbed by the idea.
"We know how to avoid it, we don't need to kill it."
Sasuke was silent for a moment while he seemed to consider that idea. "I don't like having to look over my shoulder."
"Not that you could see anything anyway."
"I meant figuratively, moron. I don't want the threat hanging over our heads. I'd rather prepare now than be taken by surprise later."
It was a good point, but not good enough as far as Naruto was concerned.
"It's gotta be morning soon, maybe it sleeps through the day. C'mon Sasuke there's no point wasting all that time when we could be looking for a way out."
"I agree we should still search for a way out. But in the meantime, if we find somewhere defensible where we might ambush it, we will use the opportunity to take it out."
Naruto didn't agree but then Sasuke's dream location might never show up down here so he didn't feel the need to argue right now.
They waited a while longer before emerging from their hidey hole this time with a lit torch. Sasuke had told him that it would be better to see right now than worry about the risk and Naruto was too glad to be able to see again to dispute the logic.
Naruto kept mostly quiet as they walked along, he didn't need Sasuke to snap at him and tell him to be silent knowing that something was down here with them. But as they walked along for what could have been for hours they'd already lit their last torch and so far nothing had presented itself in the way of easy escapes. Actually they found no more rooms at all for a good long while.
With the help of the torch, they kept following the rails along the tunnels for what felt like hours. More annoyingly, the rails didn't seem to go in a straight line and seemed to meander around the tunnels instead of leading them on the most direct route.
Actually Naruto was getting the distinct impression that it was almost but not quite leading them in circles. Sasuke didn't seem to either notice or care being too fixated on their biggest hope of a way out. But before he could voice his opinion about their direction they came across a collapsed wall of rocks, blocking them off from following any longer.
Sasuke glared at the jumble of rocks blocking their path as though he could clear the masses of debris with the power of his anger alone.
"C'mon, we'll find another way out," Naruto suggested.
Sasuke then turned his glare toward Naruto and for some odd reason, Naruto felt the almost overwhelming urge to comfort him somehow. Oh sure, Sasuke easily got angry about a lot of things but this was obviously bothering him a lot. The longer they stayed down here the more agitated Sasuke seemed to become. Which was to be expected he supposed, it wasn't a fun place to be trapped, but Sasuke's cool was slipping where usually it wouldn't be and Naruto had started to become concerned.
When he had mentioned to Sasuke about him being claustrophobic while crossing the border he had later assumed that he had been wrong. Sasuke had sort of admitted that he just hadn't liked being trapped in such close proximity to Naruto, not because of any other reason and Naruto wasn't entirely certain that he had been wrong.
He didn't think Sasuke was claustrophobic exactly but he sure did seem to have some sort of issue about enclosed spaces. Knowing Sasuke though, it probably had more to do with having his precious control taken off him. Sasuke didn't seem to like being in a position of having to rely on other people or just simply hope things would work out. He liked plans and strategy and did not like relying on luck at all.
But how exactly did you reassure an enraged Sasuke? Well, you didn't, not if you wanted to keep all your teeth.
"Could be worse."
"Sure," Sasuke allowed darkly, "We could have been eaten by now."
"See, there is a bright side!" Naruto replied with a smile, choosing to ignore Sasuke's tone completely.
But to his absolute surprise, Sasuke's expression lightened a little and he almost smiled.
"Moron."
So they retraced their steps and chose a new path pretty much at random and continued on. Their torch was just beginning to burn down entirely, devouring the last traces of Sasuke's shirt when they stepped into a room and into sunlight.
Above their heads the roof of this cavern was half demolished allowing a decent amount of sunlight to stream through. And what was better was that the wall looked entirely climbable. On the side of the collapse was a rock outcropping with water streaming down from the outside and collecting in a moderately deep pool below. It was almost too good to be true.
Naruto grinned and looked over to Sasuke who looked a little disbelieving which was hardly a surprise. Sasuke wasn't optimistic at the best of times and Naruto wondered if he had started to think the pair of them might be trapped down here forever.
"Want me to pinch you so you know it's real?" Naruto asked helpfully.
Sasuke just rolled his eyes but at least his expression had remained light since they'd found the cave in over the rails. The pair of them wandered over toward the pool of water and Naruto looked up at the rocks, gauging the climb while Sasuke seemed more interested looking into the pool.
The rocks looked slippery and the climb would be tough but it wasn't too far and he felt confident that even without their chakra they'd be able to do it.
"There's something shining down there," Sasuke muttered almost to himself.
Naruto looked down into the clear pool that thanks to the sunlight he was able to see all the way down to the bottom of and saw that there was indeed something long and shiny resting on the rocks below.
"Probably just a miners tool or something."
"Maybe. I'm going to have a look. You should start climbing."
Naruto shrugged and crossed over the where he could begin the climb while Sasuke discarded the torch and dove gracefully into the water.
Naruto was about halfway up the wall when he heard something he really had wished he was imagining. It was difficult to hear over the running water, especially when he was trying to concentrate on the tricky climb but there was that growl, louder than before.
He looked around down below to see the monster standing by the water's edge, face turned up towards him and sniffing the air. It was certainly the oddest looking creature Naruto had ever seen. It didn't appear to have eyes at all but had a long snout bristling in whiskers. The skin was a dull grey color and mottled like a lizard with huge ears on the sides of its head.
It reared up onto his hind legs as though trying to get closer to him and sniffed at the air again as though unsure exactly where he was but it was still a good few feet off being able to sink those long claws into him.
Naruto looked at his skin and realized that the water flowing around him had managed to clean some of the mud off which was why the thing could probably smell him at all.
Further below he heard a splash in the pool and his heart almost leaped into his throat when he realized that Sasuke had resurfaced from his little forage and would probably be clean of the mud almost entirely and completely unaware of the new arrival.
"Sasuke, watch out!"
At the sound of his voice the thing let out a loud bellow but Naruto hardly cared. It couldn't reach him here and while it was focused on him it might pay no attention to Sasuke who Naruto could see was gently trying to ease himself out of the pool without making too much noise.
"Climb up the wall, I'll try to distract it!"
Sasuke didn't answer, it would be stupid to try, but he didn't move either. He stood there dripping and gripped his sword in front of him not taking his eyes off the creature. Naruto realized right then that Sasuke might be thinking of killing it. Which was stupid. The thing must have been three times Sasuke's size and had better reach even taking Sasuke's sword into account. But Sasuke was pissed about being trapped and when he was pissed he took it out on whatever he could.
"Sasuke, if you even try it I'm jumping back down there and dragging you up this wall myself! Just get your ass moving before the thing smells you."
But still, Sasuke didn't move, he didn't even look at him at all not daring to take his eyes of the creature. It was also about this time that Naruto really took in Sasuke's predicament. On the side of the pool he had gotten out of, he really didn't have access to the part of the wall Naruto had climbed.
In fact, that part of the wall had a large outcropping just above it which was perhaps still climbable but very risky. And the only clear path he had... well, had a snarling monster in his way.
He could have gone around and hoped to stay soundless and unnoticed, but apparently, Sasuke had decided that he would rather go through the creature than around it.
Naruto wracked his brain for some way he could help. He could do as threatened and climb back down but while the creature was focused on him he was more of a help staying where he was anyway.
He felt the wall around him and managed to pry a few stones loose not entirely sure whether he wanted to throw them at the creature or at Sasuke at the moment.
"Sasuke I mean it! If you fall I fall, remember? If you attack it, I'm coming down. Just go around, I'll keep it distracted."
Sasuke finally did look up at him and he didn't look pleased. He was basically glaring but hopefully he got Naruto's point. And while he didn't put his sword away, he did thankfully start edging around and looking like he was going to try and go around it after all.
Naruto got ready with the stones, thinking that the moment the creature became aware of Sasuke he'd start pelting it and try and distract it. But he did also lower himself a little, keeping himself just out of reach of the creature just in case he either needed to come to Sasuke's aid or distract it.
Sasuke's movements were agonizingly slow though. He tested every step before he took it and never took his eyes off the beast in front of him. As careful as he was being though and as soundless as he made his footsteps his easy progress couldn't last. The creature sniffed the air again and growled low, turning and rounding on Sasuke who was by this point directly behind it.
Naruto hollered and threw the rocks and for a few seconds he thought he might have distracted it but ultimately it turned to Sasuke completely, raking a claw through the air that Sasuke only just managed to dodge. He had rolled beneath the outstretched arm and came up running fast, towards the section of wall Naruto was clinging to. Meanwhile Naruto had started down in the hopes of helping but Sasuke was already at the wall before the thing had been able to turn and run after him.
But Sasuke wasn't high enough up and Naruto descended the last few steps he needed and hung perilously by his hands to kick the creature savagely in the face before it could take a bite out of Sasuke.
"Move!" Sasuke ordered as the creature howled at the pain and stumbled backwards.
Naruto didn't need any prompting and starting climbing again as quickly as possible and not stopping again till he was well out of reach.
Naruto's heart didn't start beating normally again until Sasuke pulled himself up beside him on the wall still blinking water out of his eyes and scowling.
"I could have taken it," Sasuke told him.
"Yeah but we didn't have to."
Sasuke gave him an unimpressed look and kept climbing while the thing below starting wailing about its lost lunch.
Once they got to the surface Naruto took in a big lungful of air, crawled and little ways away from the cave in and let himself collapse on his back on the grass. Sasuke followed him and sat beside him, face to the sun and breathing deeply.
"Sticking up for the poor cave monsters of the world now?" Sasuke asked annoyed.
"More like not wanting you to get eaten."
"I told you-" Sasuke began looking down at him.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto interrupted. "You're big bad Uchiha Sasuke. But you're the one reminding me about not overdoing things when I don't have chakra. You should stop bitching so much and actually listen to yourself once in a while."
Sasuke made a noncommittal sound at the observation and started pulling at the makeshift wrap around Naruto's middle. Naruto didn't want to look. The cut he had gotten hadn't hurt him much since it had happened, but he'd just spent the night with cave mud plastered to his skin. No doubt he had probably gotten it infected.
He felt Sasuke's finger trace around the wound while he made an odd, "Mm," sound.
"It's bad isn't it?" Naruto asked pensively.
"Actually no. It needs cleaning but it isn't as bad as I had initially thought it was."
Naruto smiled. "Lots of things look better in the bright light of day huh?"
"Except maybe your arm," he commented offhandedly.
Naruto moved to get a good look at what Sasuke was talking about and saw four deep dark bruises dotting his arm. They looked for all the world like fingermarks.
"What the...?"
It took a few moments before Naruto realized that they were actually fingermarks.
Naruto scowled up at Sasuke's smirking face.
"Asshole."
Uncaring, Sasuke reached around and pulled something out of the waistband of his pants nestled next to where he had hurriedly stashed his sword before climbing. He held it up in the light and Naruto was surprised to see a silver flute about the length of his forearm in Sasuke's hand.
"That's what almost caused you to get killed?" Naruto asked in disbelief.
Sasuke shrugged. "It's an odd thing to find in a mine."
"It's kinda an odd thing to find lying around anywhere. Why the hell did you bother?"
"I was curious."
"Great, so you're attracted to shiny things," Naruto replied unamused. "Can you even play the flute?"
Sasuke twirled the flute around in his fingers a few times, making the sun glint off the metal.
"No. But I haven't tried either."
"Don't be so confident! You can't be great at everything."
Sasuke didn't answer and simply got to his feet, waiting for Naruto to do the same.
With a groan, Naruto pushed himself up.
He had known he was competitive with Sasuke. A great deal of his life spent training to be a ninja had to some extent been a one-sided challenge to prove to Sasuke that Naruto could be just as good as he was. But had it really been that one-sided in the end? If Sasuke hadn't become just as competitive with him why would be push back when being pushed? Why would he try to one-up Naruto in the caves if he really just didn't give a shit?
He wouldn't.
Of course Sasuke always liked to say he didn't care about this and that but sometimes his actions could betray him and ruin that uncaring cool visage of his. And sure, it was entirely possible Sasuke had jerked him off just to make himself seem superior in a moment when Naruto had admitted to what Sasuke saw as a weakness but that didn't quite explain now that they were back above ground why Sasuke was giving him these odd sort of furtive looks as though he was expecting Naruto to do something at any moment.
Was it possible that mere hours after being free of the mine, Sasuke's mind had gone back to the promise that Naruto would get him back? Naruto honestly wouldn't have thought so had it not been for the looks. And he might have been annoyed that Sasuke was keeping an eye on him but for the pure fact that Sasuke looked almost expectant. Like he was willing him to do something but not, as Naruto might have first suspected, to have the pleasure of hitting him or telling him off. If that had been the case it would have just been easier to let the whole thing go.
After all, even though the treatment had been a little on the harsh side, Naruto had liked it. He'd still gotten off in the end so he wasn't as frustrated as he might have been otherwise. But these looks gave Naruto the strong impression that Sasuke wanted him to do something for reasons other than the pleasure of denying him.
If he were more devious he would have decided to string him along. He hadn't told Sasuke when exactly he'd get him back, just that he would. He could have left Sasuke hanging for days just to prove a point. But Naruto wasn't devious and the notion never actually crossed his mind. He was far more interested in Sasuke's anticipation to think much about torture.
Well for more than half a day anyway.
They had been trapped down in the mine for what felt like days but had in fact only turned out to be just under twenty-four hours. Surprisingly though, it only took them about five hours to orientate themselves and make their way back to their camp from the previous day. Thankfully all of their things seemed undisturbed but they both decided to pack up and leave anyway not liking the idea that they might have been camping on top of the mine.
So the afternoon was spent trudging along the river till Sasuke found a spot he deemed far enough away from the mine site to rest comfortably for the night, which he hadn't seemed to find yet.
But now that they were back on the road as it were, Naruto decided to get to the bottom of these furtive looks of Sasuke's. And it wouldn't be giving in again, it would be upholding a promise as far as Naruto was concerned. Besides he was too interested to see how Sasuke might react.
So, one moment they were walking along in silence, the next Naruto grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back up into a tree, following him and targeting his lips with near bruising force. Fevered hands roamed up Sasuke's sides till he could hook his arms up under Sasuke's own and grab his shoulders roughly.
His mind had a sudden moment of hurrah when Sasuke didn't push him away or hit him, bite him, or anything else that might show his displeasure. He took the abuse for a few moments before his whole body pushed up against Naruto's and he kissed him back.
It was a frenzied few moments up against the tree until breath was needed and Naruto drew back slightly to see that little half-smirk and amused dark eyes.
"Does this mean I won again?" Sasuke asked casually.
"You're the one that's pinned," Naruto reminded him smugly. "I think that means I win. I told you I'd get you back."
Sasuke didn't seem to believe him about the winning though and Naruto found out why a moment later when he felt Sasuke's foot reach behind him and trip him up sending the both of them down but most noticeably with Sasuke on top. Naruto was about to roll them over but that was when Sasuke ground their lower halves together and Naruto groaned.
Sasuke leant down and nipped at the skin of his exposed throat which hurt, but snapped Naruto out of it long enough to go ahead and roll them...
...right off the bank and into the river.
The move dropped them down three feet into waist-high water where they spent a few moments grappling with each other before they broke the surface and Naruto managed to pin his prey up against the bank.
He forcefully grabbed Sasuke's legs and stepped in between them, using them as leverage to keep his captive not only still but up against the side. Sasuke had to grab the edge of the embankment with both hands to help keep himself up so Naruto took the opportunity to repay the favor from before to push up against him, reclaiming lips and resolutely not giving Sasuke a chance or even a want to escape.
Even so Naruto could feel Sasuke push back against him causing the most delicious friction but not allowing him to free himself. But he kissed back with force before heavy ragged breathing bought on by sensation caused them to do little else but groan and grind against each other.
It was embarrassing to admit it, but even just this felt really good, too good. If this kept up his beyond horny and frustrated body was going to make him come in his pants with no assisted touch except for the feel of Sasuke's hardness pushing up against his through a couple of thin layers of wet clothing.
But stopping was too much to ask for at this point. Sasuke was practically writhing up against him now, legs hooked behind him to drag their bodies closer and Naruto could not have gotten a hand in between them if he wanted to. Not that he needed to, the heat of Sasuke's bare skin pressed up against his chest, the ragged breathing and almost silent moaning plus the friction created between their bodies as they aggressively rubbed up against each other was bliss.
Soon he felt a tell tale flutter that told him he was about to embarrass himself. But apparently not before Sasuke was. Moments before he would have come anyway, Sasuke bit his shoulder cover up a moan as his body went rigid and his hands clenched against the bank so hard he almost tore a chunk of dirt free.
Seeing that, hearing that, did Naruto over completely and he let himself go with a long drawn out groan.
He remained upstanding long enough to reclaim the use of his voice and say, "Well that was embarrassing,"
"Shut up."
"Oh well, at least I won."
Sasuke made a scoffing sound and forced his legs out of a now unresisting grip and pushed Naruto back into the river.
Naruto managed to stop his head from going under and watched as Sasuke leant back against the bank, cheeks a dusky shade of pink.
"Dream on, I had you just where I wanted you."
Naruto rolled his eyes and felt the skin of his shoulder where it had just begun to sting in earnest. He wasn't bleeding but it felt really tender.
"Ow," he told Sasuke meaningfully.
Sasuke gave him a tired shrug. "See, I win. Again."
The ensuing argument latest longer than it took their clothes to dry out.
TBC in Part 11
