Enjoy!

The Long Way Home

Part 13

Breaking

Chapter 2/2

The hand gripping his tightly was a little distracting to say the least. He'd never walked down the street hand in hand with a girl before and he hated to admit it, but he was a little nervous about the experience. And because he was nervous it made him a little warm making him to be very aware of how much that was in turn causing him to sweat. Knowing how clammy his hand was becoming made him even more anxious that Amaya might notice it and get grossed out, pull away or laugh at him. That thought made him sweat even more.

Thankfully Amaya didn't seem to notice and was smiling, looking around at the stores and generally looking excited.

Behind them, a few paces back was Reizo, watching the pair like a hawk as they wandered through the town. He got the strong impression that Reizo was just being protective of Amaya, acting very much the bodyguard, but it still added to the tension.

Through all of this he figured his feelings were stupid. He didn't know why he should feel so nervous. After all, this might be his first time holding hands with a girl like this but he'd done a lot more intense things before and sure, that had been a little nerve-wracking but it had become oddly comfortable at the same time. Exciting too but still comfortable. He wasn't excited so much right now, just tense. And it wasn't a very pleasant sensation.

Besides Amaya seemed intent on stopping near every booth and shop window, checking out the wares and making the odd 'ooo' sounds. Naruto wasn't all that interested in shopping at all.

It was fun sometimes to roam around stalls when there were interesting and fun things to be seen, had or eaten like at festivals but these were the usual kind of town stores with clothes, herbs and other assorted items that he just couldn't get all that excited about. This disinterest had been the reason Sasuke had never sent him shopping for supplies.

He had said it was because Naruto could not be trusted shopping for mundane things like provisions when he got distracted by bright colors and silly toys. After Sasuke had sent him out for vegetables and matches and Naruto had come back with a one potato and a pinwheel, Sasuke had since forbade him from doing the shopping again.

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. He did not want to think about Sasuke right now. Here he was with Amaya, pretty, nice and they were... what? Naruto had to think about that, Amaya had said she wanted to catch up with him but so far all they'd been doing was roam around the town together and….. was this some kind of date? That was probably something he should be aware of, right?

"Uh, hey Amaya?"

"Yes?" She asked smiling, clutching his hand a little tighter and looking up at him.

"What are we doing?"

"It's strange," Amaya began with a wistful sort of smile. "I've been here almost two weeks already but I haven't wanted to walk around the town at all. I've been a little down," she admitted. "But then I saw you again and I immediately started to feel better. It was like I felt the same relief and happiness all over again as I did when you saved me from Sachio."

Naruto smiled at that. It was a nice sentiment that he could make somebody feel better with his very presence.

"Were you feeling bad about your dad?"

"Kind of. I must admit he put in a bit of a position when he left. I had no money and somewhat soiled family name. It has been... difficult. I must admit, I'm not used to relying on other people and traveling such vast distances without the proper means to do so."

He wondered if Amaya had as hard a time as he and Sasuke had in their travels. He somehow doubted that but then felt a little bad for thinking so. She obviously wasn't used to this sort of life so he couldn't be surprised that she had been a little depressed about it.

"So where are you headed?"

"I have what you might call a chance to restore my family name but it will require me to make even more concessions concerning my life so I'm not exactly looking forward to it. But no matter what I have to do, I know it will be worth it and I know I will be better off than I was before because this time I will get to make the choice about where my life leads me and not my father's gambling debts," she concluded firmly with a nod of her head as though to reinforce this.

"I'm happy you're positive about it and everything," Naruto told her with a confused sort of half smile, "but you know, you shouldn't have to do anything else you don't want to. I mean you don't have to have a good family name to lead a good life, ya know?"

Amaya gave him a fond though slightly condescending look, "I don't think you completely understand the situation."

Which was probably true, he'd never been in a situation like Amaya's before and he was monumentally glad about that but he still didn't appreciate the look much.

"Probably not, I've never been part of a rich family. But that doesn't mean I'm unhappy with my life."

"That's because you're a happy person I suspect," Amaya told him with a bigger smile. "I really adore that about you."

Naruto felt that somewhere his point hadn't really gotten across but he still felt good about her observation anyway.

"Thanks. I think."

"C'mon, I want to get back to the house before it gets too late. We can catch up properly there."

When Sasuke got into his room that night he threw his pack across the room and slammed the door closed behind him.

Somehow he had known that bitch would resurface to haunt him again. And just like before she had swept in and battered her eyelashes and Naruto had yet again been caught up in whatever little plot she had planned for him this time. Was he really that stupid that he would fall for her schemes all over again, knowing what had happened the last time he'd gotten mixed up with her?

And sure, Sasuke allowed that the situation wasn't exactly the same since she didn't seem like she needed saving this time but that didn't mean she wouldn't find some way of getting Naruto into trouble just because he is too soft hearted to tell the girl to take a hike. But then, that just wasn't Naruto's way was it? He hadn't learned his lesson the first time and Sasuke doubted he saw any danger here either.

Sasuke stared moodily at a lamp in the corner of the room and just knew that whatever happened he would yet again have to save Naruto from his own stupid self. And how dare she just butt in like that when he had something to say?

He could at least have had the opportunity to tell Naruto that he'd used the Sharingan which was important information for both of them. And she had just walked up and taken him away like Sasuke had been of no importance at all and Naruto had just... walked away.

Sasuke frowned at the lamp. Was that really his problem? Naruto had walked away from him, again. Like he didn't matter whatsoever and been dragged off by that little princess to gods knew where to do gods knew what.

Actually maybe it didn't take a god to realise what Amaya might have in store for Naruto. She might not have appeared to be the same slightly uptight little princess they had met in Adessa but Sasuke had gotten the impression that her little show of kissing Naruto in the street had been an uncontrollable impulse on her part.

She was obviously very happy to see her brave hero again and Sasuke hadn't missed the part in Adessa where she had told Naruto that she would thank him properly when the opportunity presented itself next time. Well that time had arrived and Naruto was going to be spending the night in the same house as her.

She was a beautiful girl, Sasuke supposed, and Naruto was a teenager with the normal teenage hormones. It probably wouldn't take all that much to tempt him into bed all things considered. And sure, Naruto might be chivalrous in lots of ways and it might not sit well with him to spend a night with Amaya only to travel away the next day but he was just human. Well mostly. And it probably didn't help that he'd spent all that time with Sasuke getting comfortable with things more intimate either.

His frown intensified at the thought that he might have greased the way for that girl to get what she wanted. And as far as Sasuke was concerned she didn't deserve it. She could have stood up to her father no matter the consequences if she had really wanted to save Naruto.

Hell, she had left him to rot in there for more than a day before she had even thought to drop the charges against him after her father had gone missing.

She had done next to nothing to really help Naruto at all and then ask him to risk his freedom yet again just to get out of a marriage contract. And now thanks to Naruto she was free, staying in a mansion and preparing for a night of love with her hero.

Bitch.

The flipside of this of course was that perhaps having her way with him was something Naruto actually wanted. She was beautiful and not a complete stranger to him. And maybe that's all the reason he would need to allow himself to be tempted into spending the night with her. Maybe he knew exactly what he was getting himself into and welcomed it eagerly.

And that made Sasuke feel even worse about what he was about to do to perhaps ruin Naruto's good feeling about that.

But only a little.

Naruto sat on his large four poster bed in his enormous room and wondered just what friends of Amaya's these were to own such a house. He hadn't been introduced to their hosts, Amaya hustling him through the house and showing him his room in quick order. It made him wonder if he would be welcome here by Amaya's hosts at all. But of course he wasn't exactly dressed like a man of means and Amaya was probably just saving him the embarrassment of their scrutiny. Or maybe it was just Amaya's embarrassment.

She wasn't a bad person, she was nice if a little self involved. She had all the time in the world for the poor stranger who had saved her from a life she hadn't wanted and seemed overjoyed to have run into him again.

They had sat at a little table in his room and chatted about all that had happened since they'd last seen each other. Amaya seemed to have had a rather easy time of it compared to him and Sasuke and as he told her of his own travels she seemed completely rapt.

Of course he left a few minor details out, the whole business with Lady Saito for one and quite a lot about how he and Sasuke had been getting on and well, getting off as was sometimes the case. But despite what he'd left out he hadn't realised just how much Sasuke must have figured into his stories until Amaya pointed it out.

"I thought you two weren't traveling together anymore."

"Oh well, we aren't. We had a fight," he admitted. "But we were traveling together for a while."

Amaya gave him an odd kind of confused smile. "I'm not surprised you fought, you seem like such different people. You're so nice and heroic and Sasuke is so... not. But then you way you describe your time with him he almost sounds like a completely different person."

"He does?"

"Well sure. You're always like, 'and then Sasuke figured it out,' or 'Lucky Sasuke was there.' Honestly sometimes I think he must just be rude to outsiders."

Naruto frowned as he thought about it. "No, he's a jerk to everyone, including me. I guess I just know how to take him."

"Well perhaps you can but I'd prefer to leave him if it's all the same. I think it's good that you're clear of such an influence if he's so nasty to you."

"I guess so."

Amaya smiled and placed her small warm hand over his. "Oh Naruto, you're just too nice for your own good."

Perhaps Amaya was right. Maybe it was just his never-give-up attitude that had made him persist with Sasuke for so long, but maybe it also had a lot to do with wanting to help, despite the obstacles, that had made him try so hard in the first place.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by the feel of Amaya's fingers gently stroking the back of his hand. She was giving him something of a calculating look like she was trying to decide about something. The look cleared when he smiled at her uncertainly.

"Naruto, I have to go for a little while. But get comfortable and I'll be back okay?"

Naruto nodded, not really understanding. Maybe it was just how well bred people said that they needed to go to the bathroom so he didn't let it bother him as she got up and left the room.

But the hours had dragged on and still Amaya had not yet returned. Thinking she'd been held up for the night and he probably wouldn't see her again until morning, he'd stripped off his shirt and pants and got ready for bed clad as usual in his shorts and sat on the edge of the bed still more than a little concerned about that last look Sasuke had given him.

Of course it was entirely possible that it was just Sasuke's general dislike of Amaya that could account for the look. But Sasuke had seemed almost worried about him. Sasuke didn't even give him that look when they were in mortal peril let alone just because some girl was dragging him off somewhere. And besides Sasuke really only disliked Amaya because he didn't like to be dismissed and Amaya seemed to have no interest in him at all.

Which was a real novelty. Girls and guys alike stopped to stare and admire Sasuke yet Amaya couldn't even get his name right. You'd think this would endear her to Sasuke considering what he said about being sick of fangirls mooning over him but perhaps Sasuke didn't understand himself as well as he thought after all and secretly liked the attention he was normally shown. He certainly didn't like Amaya's dismissive attitude any.

Naruto let himself flop back on the bed and sighed deeply. He here was in the lap of luxury and instead of enjoying it he was thinking about his jerk friend and trying to decipher the mystery that was Uchiha Sasuke. He really needed to get some decent sleep.

He heard the door open and sat up to see Amaya slip into his room and close the door softly behind her. Then she turned around and Naruto stopped breathing just for a moment. She was wearing... well he didn't know the name for what she was wearing but the material was really thin and pretty sheer and moved around her like smoke and just about the same color. He felt his cheeks redden immediately.

"Amaya?"

Amaya seemed to be having a similar reaction. She had stopped abruptly upon looking at him and was biting her lip but not as a sign of uncertainty. It took Naruto a little while to realise he was practically only in his underwear and then a few more moments still to register the fact that she seemed to like what she saw.

"Sorry I took so long."

"Sure," he said watching her walk slowly towards him. "Do you want a robe or something? I mean I don't think you realise that I can uh... see... uh..."

She stopped in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder before sliding onto the bed next to him and leaning in against him. He could feel the push of her breasts up against his arm through the filmy nightgown as though there was nothing separating them at all. She drew in a shaky breath and then leant down and kissed him.

It was strange. Good but strange. He wasn't used to this. Well correction; he wasn't used to this with anyone except Sasuke. And Sasuke wasn't like this. He wasn't soft or supple, he didn't taste like mint, he certainly didn't have breasts like these and he wasn't light or yielding when kissed. With Sasuke it was all rough, aggressive, hard muscle and hard... other parts.

Damnit, stop thinking of him! For once you actually have a girl in your arms, just fucking enjoy it!

Naruto deepened the kiss, his arms going around her and she managed to maneuver herself, putting one leg over him and sliding into his lap.

Without proper thought he pulled forward her a little but gently up against him. He felt her long dark hair brush up against the backs of his hands and he reached up and caught a few strands between his fingers. Her dark black hair felt soft and silky in between his fingers... just like Sasuke's did.

He drew away from her then, breathing heavily and trying to focus.

"What's wrong?" she asked concerned.

"Nothing's wrong, I just wasn't really expecting this."

She smiled. "I've wanted to um, do this ever since you saved me in Adessa," Amaya confessed. "You were so brave. You would have sacrificed yourself for me. You're a good person Naruto, you should have good things to happen to you."

Naruto closed his eyes at that. Sasuke had said something to him along those lines. Of course Sasuke had been so out of it he probably didn't realise what he was saying but the reminder was there all the same.

He was meant to be traveling home. Far away from here and far away from Amaya. Did he really want to do this with a girl he hardly knew when he would just be leaving her the next morning? It wouldn't be fair to her and it wouldn't be fair to him either.

He wanted to at least feel something for the person he lost his virginity to. And sure maybe love was a lot to ask for but he wanted something a little more than a grateful girl he hardly knew anything about.

After all, she only wanted this with him because she thought he was some kind of hero. And sure, she'd said nice things about him too and seemed to appreciate him being a good person, but she didn't know him either, not really.

"Amaya, I can't do this, I'm traveling really far away. You probably won't see me again."

"I know. Why do you think I'm here with you now? I want to do this because I might never see you again. Not because I don't care about you, but because we have to take whatever chances life throws at us and cherish what we can. You told me that, remember?"

"I didn't really have this is mind," Naruto told her with a nervous half smile.

"It's something else, isn't it?"

Naruto had to think about that. "Uh kind of. But not like you're thinking, it's not like that. I'm just really distracted right now and you deserve better than that."

Amaya didn't look real pleased but she offered him a weak smile. "I meant what I said, you deserve good things in life and even though you say you never expected this to happen tonight you're not stupid Naruto, you must have known how I felt about you. I can't help but feel that if everything was okay with you right now and you really were as happy as you said you were that you wouldn't have ended up here in the first place." She sighed. "Just promise me that whatever is holding you back is worth it."

Naruto watched her for a moment, her beautiful green eyes so open and warm and then imagined dark angry ones glittering in malice.

"I wish I could," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke wondered how many times he would break into someone's mansion on account of Amaya. Well after tonight he reverently hoped it would stop at two. The first time it had been her husband to be's house and this time it was just a local rich family who had been kind enough to set up Amaya for her stay in town. And just like last time it wasn't just a matter of breaking in, he'd had to go on a fact finding mission first.

It hadn't been difficult to find out where Amaya was staying just like before and thankfully this time the locals weren't so uptight about gossiping about it like they had been before. After all in Arrei you could still bitch about your landlord without fear of being impaled on a spike like in Adessa, so that probably helped.

But it still took Sasuke a lot longer that night to find the place, far longer than he would have liked. Not that it probably mattered much, no doubt Amaya wouldn't try to seduce Naruto with the whole household still awake. No she would probably wait until well into the night before making her move.

The town was home to a few rich families all with big impressive houses slightly to the west of the town proper all nicely spaced apart to afford commanding views of the town and the countryside. Apparently they made most of their money through their holdings, some buildings in town and a few farms out of town.

And as far as Sasuke could ascertain they weren't evil landlords as such just not particularly generous, getting a grand income but paying very little to their workers. The class separation in Arrei hadn't been lost on Sasuke since seeing their first few towns. The gap between the two main classes, rich and poor, was vast with few people managing to earn a decent living and live a life above near poverty.

But unlike places like Adessa, the poorer class didn't seem quite as run down and cheerless. People here for the most part seemed content enough so long as they could at least keep their families fed and housed which most seemed to be able to do well enough.

The gap was still pretty disgusting though especially when it seemed as though the only real way to gain fortune in this place was to be born into it whether you deserved it or not. And so long as you were born into the right family you wouldn't have to do much work yourself except sit back and reap the benefits of being born with a head start.

And because Amaya had been born into the same breed of noble type family she automatically got a free ride too. No doubt Amaya's travels through Arrei had consisted of her traveling from town to town, being housed and fed by the well-to-do and probably not having to worry about money or cave monsters or any of the crap he and Naruto had suffered through.

The main problem with his search had been finding out just where Naruto was being kept. Unlike last time though he didn't need to scale any great walls or sneak around in dark rooms. However this time he did have to make nice with people. He would have preferred the wall climbing.

What he did end up doing was walk right in through the gates and find the kitchens where the servants could readily be found. This was probably his best chance to gather the information he needed so he steeled himself, put on his best fake smile and walked up to some maids who were chatting by the doors. He pretended like he was back doing the 'nice' bet.

He hated to admit it but being nice to people sometimes was more effective than threatening them. If he threatened anyone here there would be guards and alarms, none of which would be helpful. But flash a smile and appear charming and things tended to go a lot smoother. Especially with girls.

So that's what he did, he made nice with the maids pretended to be intrigued and curious about the strange blond man that had been bought onto the estate by the landlord's guest and the women filled in the rest. Once he had the information he required he bade them a good day and left the kitchen behind feeling slightly dirty for the effort but pleased by the results.

After some quick figuring Sasuke found himself crouched on a windowsill, watching the figure in the bed breathe deeply for a few moments. The lone figure, Sasuke noted. Not that that meant anything really.

So Naruto was alone now, didn't mean he had been such all night or would continue this way for the remainder of the night. He also appeared to be near if not completely naked which wasn't helping Sasuke's resolve all that much. He could have his shorts on under that sheet carelessly flung over his midsection as he lay on his back sleeping but Sasuke couldn't be sure.

Sasuke shifted carefully off the window letting the moonlight fill up the room a little more and listened to the deep resonating snore echo around the room. Despite himself, Sasuke felt a small rueful smile tug at the corner of his mouth. When he realised what he was doing he made his face carefully blank and wondered what he was going to do now that he was here.

Not that he didn't have a plan. He had a plan, he just wasn't entirely sure whether to go through with it or not.

When Sasuke had seen Naruto before he had looked good. He looked like he'd been staying well fed and rested which was more than Sasuke could say about himself. He knew he himself looked tired still and although he'd made sure to eat properly earlier knew he'd lost a tiny amount weight over the past week due to lack of food.

So apparently for the moment at least, Sasuke had been wrong. Well, half right. He'd told Naruto that they didn't need each other but it was pretty obvious which of the two of them had fared better recently. Of course he would hardly have starved without Naruto, he would have ate the hopping mice if he'd gotten that desperate so perhaps 'need' was a little strong.

But never the less, Naruto had proved his usefulness in more ways than one which Sasuke knew was something Naruto had wanted for a long time. The fact that Sasuke had almost missed this town entirely was further proof of this.

Admitting this to himself was one thing, admitting it to Naruto was another matter entirely. But if he didn't admit to at least something soon he could pretty much kiss that usefulness goodbye.

And the company.

Not to mention the... friendship.

But even though he had a plan and even though he knew what he would be losing if he continued to do nothing, Sasuke had a hard time willing himself to move. Despite his resolve earlier, he didn't want to risk waking Naruto up and having a confrontation in what Sasuke deemed as enemy territory.

Naruto was at a clear emotional advantage here with Amaya at his back ready to comfort him if things went wrong. No, he needed to get Naruto out of this house and away from that conniving girl before he was going say anything.

So knowing that the longer he stood here, the bigger the chance that he might wake Naruto up, he crossed over to the bedside table and carefully laid a neatly folded map down for Naruto to find when he woke up. Or when Amaya did if she hadn't already made her move. Naruto had made him think about things he would rather not think about a lot lately.

And if Naruto hadn't been feeling the same sort of turmoil as he had, Sasuke figured it was about time he shared the feeling. The plan was to leave the peace offering, be the one to make the first move but ultimately leave Naruto to decide whether it was enough for him or not.

Then Sasuke left.

Naruto woke up with the sun streaming in and the breeze wafting against his naked chest. It took him a few moments to realise that his window was open. He sat up and watched bleary eyed as a few birds flew past thinking that he had closed that window last night, hadn't he?

He winced a little as he realised he'd done a lot of things last night that didn't make a lot of sense and the open window should be the least of his confusion.

He'd brushed off a beautiful girl that had wanted to sleep with him and he still wasn't completely sure why. Well he knew why, she wasn't exactly what he wanted. Which was pretty crazy all things considered. She was pretty and awesome and kinda sweet too but everything had just felt a little 'off' about it.

As he had previously thought, she was still basically a stranger and he was still stunned and overwhelmed that a girl like her could be that interested in him but he had hoped that the person he would first be with he would feel some deeper connection with.

Apparently beautiful plus sweet didn't exactly equal deep connection in his mind which was actually a little surprising to him. Maybe Sasuke was right, maybe he was just too eager to feel deeper emotions that just might never be there.

While thinking about Sasuke his eyes settled onto his bedside table. Confused about what it could be he picked it up and unfolded it to reveal a map. Not just any map, Naruto recognized it as one of Sasuke's maps he'd gotten in Adessa. To Sasuke these maps were precious but here one was, left behind and drawn over no less.

Well that explained his open window at least. Apparently he'd had a late night visitor. A visitor that had taken the trouble to break into his room in the middle of the night, leave him one of his prized maps and left again without waking him up.

Typical fucking Sasuke.

Uh, sort of.

Typical in the way that he did weird things and avoided emotional confrontation. Not so typical that he might bother to go through such an elaborate break in just to leave some scrawled message that Naruto would find the moment he woke up

It was about this time that Naruto really started looking at the message Sasuke had left. Or as it turned out a big message Sasuke had crossed out and what little still remained readable. It seemed as though Sasuke had taken great pains in deciding what he wanted to say so much that he had written several things only to cross them out beyond all legibility to leave little more than three little words to suffice.

He had also gone to the trouble of circling two places on the map. One he had carefully marked an otherwise bare section of map with the name Saolin. Obviously this incomplete map hadn't marked the place down after all. Just to the north was another handwritten marker and next to it was the crossed out scribble that eventually ended in the words, 'I care, okay.'

It was probably the most Sasuke way such a thing could be written. Even seeing it written down with no context Naruto knew it had been written in irritation, annoyance and just a little defeat. It actually made him smile.

And then the words really sank in and Naruto's eyes widened dramatically.

"Oh."

Naruto found Amaya in her room, out of bed, fully dressed and talking to Reizo about something Naruto didn't quite catch because the conversation halted immediately when he knocked and entered the room.

"Morning," he greeted with forced cheer.

He had expected Amaya to seem embarrassed or annoyed about last night but she smiled at him warmly and said "Good morning," right back.

"I wanted to thank you for giving me somewhere to stay last night before I left."

"You're leaving so soon?" she asked with a disappointed frown.

"Uh yeah. There's someone I've gotta see."

"Oh, Sasuke? You two have some catching up to do I remember."

Amaya seemed even less pleased with that bit of news than she had been when he'd rebuffed her advances last night. Just what was up between her and Sasuke? He was starting to think he was missing something here.

"Yeah. He sort of invited me somewhere today. But I really appreciate everything Amaya. I wish we'd had more time to get to know each other."

He'd had to say something, after all she had been really nice to him and he felt guilty enough about rushing off especially after her hospitality and their talk last night.

Apparently his words had the right effect though and she crossed over to him, gave him a hug and a quick chaste kiss before stepping back and smiling once more.

"You never know, perhaps this isn't goodbye forever."

"Hey that's true. Thanks again Amaya!"

Reizo watched Amaya's face as Naruto left and felt terrible seeing her saddened expression once Naruto was out of sight. He'd never seen his young charge so interested in someone before and had hoped that her seeing this Naruto again might lighten her spirits a little more. And it had for a time. But now she seemed low again.

He had thought that Amaya had intended for Naruto to travel along with them for a time and had welcomed the idea that Amaya could be happy for as long as he was around. But apparently that was not to be.

"He said no," Reizo guessed. "I am sorry, my lady."

"I didn't get a chance to ask him to come with us. He said he couldn't be with me because he was traveling home but I think this has more to do with his friend Sasuke than he was letting on."

"The dark haired one traveling with Naruto?" Reizo asked with interest.

"Yes. Sasuke seems to have a great influence over Naruto. Such a pity."

"That one is dangerous, " Reizo told her.

Amaya looked up at him in confusion. "He is a little mean I guess but-"

"My lady, I have kept some information from you because I felt at the time that your own well being depended on you not knowing. But in light of recent events I think you should know about the type of person Naruto has been traveling with. Naruto may not even know the danger he is placing himself in by being friends with such a person."

"You've witnessed Sasuke doing something nefarious?" Amaya asked with a trace of interest.

"Yes my lady. I don't think he saw me but it was on the night your father went missing..."

Naruto found evidence of a campsite by the river, just where Sasuke had marked it out for him, but no owner. He wasn't surprised. A month of traveling with the jerk had given Naruto a clear picture of Sasuke's routine.

He got up early, took breaks seldom but almost always camped just before sunset. After setting up camp he would go down to take a bath and spend most of the evening by the river. It was probably a sign of being on his own for so long that Sasuke developed such routines easily.

He was used to doing whatever he wanted, when he wanted and nothing really disturbed that often. Naruto who lived in a village and went off on missions regularly had no such tendencies being used to living a sort of random lifestyle. But he'd easily fallen into Sasuke's routine like it was comfortable, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

He dropped his stuff next to Sasuke's blankets and crept down to the river. Sasuke was sitting on a large rock in the middle of the shallow river arms behind him bracing him up, one leg bent, the other stretched out over the grey surface of the stone.

In the darkness his hair looked like a fluttering shadow being moved gently by the warm breeze, his skin, despite two months of near constant sun exposure still looked pale underneath the moonlight. Toned muscles looked stretched and taut in the position he held himself in and he looked absolutely and undeniably beautiful.

It really wasn't fair.

"You destroyed one of your maps just to leave me a message?"

"It was useless anyway, didn't even have one fucking town on it. I need new ones." Sasuke said without turning around. "Did you enjoy yourself last night?"

"No," Naruto replied truthfully.

It seemed to take Sasuke a long time to respond to that.

"Well either she wasn't all that good or you're still a virgin," Sasuke deducted.

So apparently Sasuke had worked out what Amaya had wanted before he had. That didn't surprise Naruto but it did give him insight into why Sasuke had looked uneasy at the time.

"Would you care if I wasn't?" Naruto challenged.

"No," Sasuke replied. "Why would I?"

And this was why it wasn't fair. Sasuke's whole personality seemed geared toward driving him nuts, making him question himself even when nothing else could. Yet he still cared about him because earning compliments, getting Sasuke to say the slightest nice thing was like a moment of pure overwhelming amazement.

Anyone else could praise him for days on end but he'd never feel so good as when Sasuke would say, 'not bad, dobe,' or 'at least you're not a complete moron.'

He really wondered whether there was something permanently wrong with his brain.

But then the flipside of that insanity was that he knew he had a weird crazy effect on Sasuke too. Sasuke wasn't competitive with anyone else that Naruto knew of. He might strive to win, but he went out of his way to outdo Naruto personally, which meant somewhere there was some deep grudging respect.

If Naruto challenged him, he answered. If Naruto pushed him, Sasuke pushed back. Sasuke craved challenge, craved being challenged because there was really no one else that challenged him anymore not verbally, not physically and it was a power over the Uchiha of sorts that Naruto hadn't realised having before now.

"No reason I guess. Well if you don't care either way I think I'd rather not kiss and tell ya know?"

Sasuke finally looked around at him properly.

"You look...different," Sasuke told him.

Naruto smiled. "I feel different."

Sasuke frowned and pushed himself off the rock. He found his feet on the bottom of the river and walked a few paces towards Naruto.

"Why?"

"I thought you didn't want to know."

"I don't," Sasuke said changing direction slightly and going to walk past Naruto. He stopped when he was only a pace behind him though. But he didn't say anything.

Naruto took pity on him. But not too much pity.

"Admit you're dying to know and I'll tell you."

"I'm not," Sasuke persisted.

"You know this is what friends do right, they talk about stuff like this. Oh wait," Naruto said turning towards him, "you said we were friends when you were all drugged up didn't you? I remember you told me a lot of things you said weren't true."

"Why are you pushing this?" Sasuke asked sharply. "You always have to push."

"If someone doesn't push you in the right direction occasionally you'd only ever keep walking backwards. Admit you want to know."

Sasuke watched him for a few moments, his jaw working as he clenched and unclenched his teeth.

"Will you shut up about it if I do?"

And this was Sasuke trying to offer himself an out. It would hurt his pride if Naruto didn't allow him to take it. But right now hurting Sasuke's pride would probably be good for him. Though it might put him in a really crappy mood. He supposed it would entirely depend on just how badly Sasuke wanted to know, how important it was and how relieved he might be if he heard what he wanted to hear.

"No."

Sasuke looked really angry. "Would you just fucking tell me already?"

Naruto grinned in the face of Sasuke's malevolence. "I'm surprised you can't tell. Isn't it written in big bright colors on my forehead still?"

Sasuke seemed to deflate a little. "You didn't?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Why the fuck not?"

Naruto shrugged. "It's what she wanted, but not what I wanted I guess. There's gotta be a better reason for me than 'why not?' Wasn't worth it in the end."

"Then what is?" Sasuke asked with a trace of interest.

"I'll let you know if and when I find out myself."

Sasuke watched his happy expression for a moment without understanding. It was rare that Naruto could stump him like this and he obviously didn't like the feeling. But underneath all that there seemed to be a certain lightness, perhaps relief, in his eyes.

"I really hate you sometimes. But I hate her more. You're right, she wasn't worth it."

Naruto darted forward quickly and gave him one of those quick kisses he pretended to hate so much. Sasuke blinked at him in surprise before his eyebrows furrowed.

"Was that an apology?"

"No. Unlike you I mean what I say."

"I'm not apologising."

"I never expected you to."

"Then why do you look so fucking happy?"

"Because my best friend cares about me."

"Probably not as much as you think."

Naruto grinned. "But you did just admit you're my best friend."

Sasuke looked caught out for a moment before his expression dissolved into annoyed acceptance.

"So? Doesn't mean the feeling is mutual just because you think of me that way."

"Yes it does," Naruto replied taking off his shirt and kicking off his shoes. Sasuke hadn't told him it was okay to spend to night here, but Naruto assumed he was welcome.

So with that in mind and his little victory giving him the biggest grin he took off the rest of his clothes and waded into the river leaving an angry Sasuke on the shoreline.

"I'm going to fucking drown you," Sasuke decided following him back in.

Naruto rounded on him but kept walking backwards into the slightly deeper water, grinning and not at all believing Sasuke's threat. He stopped soon enough and let Sasuke catch up to him.

"You can try after you tell me whatever you were going to tell me in the market before Amaya turned up."

Suddenly Sasuke looked a little more interested in the conversation.

"I'd rather show you."

Confused though intrigued by Sasuke's manner Naruto watched carefully as Sasuke got this very concentrated look on his face. For just a split second Sasuke's eyes flashed red before he grunted in pain and put a hand to his head reflexively.

"Sasuke!"

He stepped forward and put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder as the latter continued to hold his head and wince in pain.

"I'm fine," Sasuke eventually grated out lifting his head and blinking rapidly at Naruto. "That wasn't exactly what I wanted to show you."

"Yeah, I'm getting that. I've uh seen you fail at that plenty of times, it's not exactly new. Were you trying to hurt yourself?"

"No!" Sasuke snapped. "It worked last time."

"Really?" Naruto asked with excitement. "Wow, Sasuke that's great! Maybe that means it's just taking a really long time for our chakra to regenerate."

"Yeah, maybe," Sasuke replied eyeing him a little strangely.

"Do your eyes hurt?"

Sasuke didn't look happy and didn't reply. It occurred to him that Sasuke had been really excited to show him this before it had failed. And Naruto found himself far more pleased about this than the news that their chakra might be coming back.

"I hope it does, 'cause you know you lied, right?"

"What?"

"You lied. Yeah sure I get you were excited to tell me about your Sharingan. But that wasn't what you were going to say in the market. You didn't look half as excited then."

It was true apparently because Sasuke didn't seem happy about the observation.

"I told you that part already. I wrote it down remember."

"So you don't want to come clean about anything else?" Naruto prodded.

"Like what?"

"Like what you said to me. About the only reason we stayed with each other."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I told you this already as well. You're just very picky about what you remember."

"That's rich coming from you. And yeah, I remember you telling me that the reason we stuck together was because of the frustration stuff."

"I never actually said that. I didn't actually say anything after you assumed that's what I meant. What I did say before that was that staying together made things easier for both of us. We might not need each other but it's... better this way."

"So it's not because of the other stuff?"

"I think it would have been easier without the other stuff," Sasuke muttered bitterly. "It would cause less fighting."

"Yeah right, cause adding more tension is gonna be really helpful to the friendship," Naruto stated rolling his eyes.

He stepped in closer, his hand trailing up from Sasuke's shoulder to tangle his fingers through Sasuke's hair at the base of his skull. At first Sasuke had been watching him intently, closely, but now he closed his eyes and sighed very softly.

"Why can't things go back to the way they were?" Sasuke asked in a strange voice. The tone, even the question took Naruto by surprise. It was a little out of character for him. He didn't sound annoyed, actually he sounded a little disappointed.

"Because you were being an asshole," Naruto replied honestly. "But you being a jerk I can take. So long as you can be an honest jerk and stop denying things just so you can keep your distance or whatever you think you need to do to stop yourself being close to people."

"I'm not denying myself anything!" Sasuke argued.

"But it's not true. Okay fine, you don't like people, you don't trust strangers I can understand why. But we're friends and that means you don't treat me the same way at least."

"You want me to become someone I'm not?"

"No. I'm not even saying you have to be nice to me. I just don't want you to say things you don't mean just because you can't face the truth. You said you can't act certain ways or say certain things because you want to keep your distance and that you can't have one person close and still be the same person. But I think that's bullshit. Since when can't you say anything you want to? You always do whatever you want until it becomes too personal. All I'm saying is it's okay to say anything you want to me. If you wanna be a mean prick be one, but if you wanna share something do that as well. You keep saying you don't care what I think about you, prove it. Tell me what you really want."

You could almost see Sasuke trying that one out in his mind. Naruto knew Sasuke would see the appeal in saying and doing whatever he wanted no matter what anyone thought of him good or bad.

But he wasn't real used to anyone thinking good things about him anymore. And unfortunately for both of them Sasuke seemed to like things that way. As he said, it made things easier for him, but Naruto didn't agree. It should always be easier when you could just be yourself no matter what.

But there was still a long wait for Sasuke to say anything and really it was a big ask for Sasuke to go against everything his normal defenses were telling him not to do. And when he finally did answer he didn't make eye contact, instead preferring to look at Naruto's shoulder instead.

"I'm still thinking about staying behind. But traveling onwards right now is better than anything else we've come across so far. So I want to keep going, with you, because it's easier when we're together like already said. I want things to be like they were before but I want you to stop questioning my every motive and assuming things about me just because I'm not as open as you'd like me to be. And for fucks sake stop being so unsure about things, it's not like you and it's annoying. If you were as useless as you seem to think you are I would have been the one to leave first."

Naruto let a large smile slowly form at the words. Not that it had been incredibly touching all things considered, but for Sasuke it was quite a speech.

And it was tough not to poke fun at him for his uncharacteristic share but since he was only doing what Naruto wanted him to do he couldn't undo it all now just when he'd finally gotten through to him.

"Okay."

Sasuke frowned. 'Okay'? That's it?"

"What did you expect?"

Sasuke continued to frown but didn't say anything else. So instead of speaking, Naruto leant forward and kissed him instead. But it didn't last very long before Sasuke drew back quickly.

"What are you doing?"

"You wanted things to go back to the way they were, right?"

"I expected more... resistance."

"Well if you don't wanna -"

This time it was Sasuke who kissed him.

Apparently being angry at each other for two weeks hadn't diminished their urges much. In fact Sasuke was being a little more forceful than usual with the kiss pushing him back a step as he stepped in closer to push himself up against warm bare skin.

But no matter the force or the occasional pain of teeth against his lower lip, this was far more comfortable than it had been with Amaya. He felt that surge of excitement as expected but didn't have that little niggle of doubt or nervousness either.

Naruto put his hands around Sasuke, grabbed two handfuls of firm ass and lifted. Asses where great to grab for leverage but Sasuke jerked in his arms probably in an attempt to get out of the compromising position and his hand slipped a little and his fingers brushed into the crack lightly making Sasuke stop trying to escape and gasp into his mouth instead.

Naruto didn't really understand what he'd done but the reaction was well worth trying to replicate so he brushed his fingers across the same area with a little more pressure and was rewarded with a moan this time when his fingers swept over a tight warm ring of muscle.

So he did it again, massaging that spot as they grinned against one another, devoured each other's mouths and pushed each other to the edge.

He could feel Sasuke's legs against his sides as he used them and one hand on the back of Naruto's neck to hold himself up. He seemed to have gotten over the struggling and now seemed to want to join in on the pleasure part. Sasuke reached in between their bodies, holding them both tightly and Naruto groaned heartily into Sasuke's mouth before moving his head down to attack Sasuke's neck instead.

He sucked on the skin beneath his mouth trying to distract himself from well, everything. But he couldn't hold out for much longer when Sasuke began making more sounds right into his ear while his firm grip bought him closer to climax.

When he did come it took all his strength not to let his legs buckle beneath him and gently eased Sasuke down off him so they didn't end up in a collapsed heap in the river.

It wasn't until later when they were both left panting and exhausted against each other that Naruto thought about what he'd done.

Okay, so he'd willingly rubbed his fingers over another guy's asshole but he refused to feel strange about it. It hadn't felt gross actually it had felt kinda nice to explore intimate territory he hadn't erm, delved into before which by this point was a bit of a novelty. And the sounds Sasuke had made were reason enough to do it all again as soon as possible.

"Ne, Sasuke-"

"Don't talk," Sasuke ordered tersely.

"Um, okay."

So they stayed silent for a while. Eventually, Sasuke pushed him away roughly and scowled at him.

"How is it that you not asking a question you really want to ask is actually louder than you asking it?"

Sasuke asked him tersely.

"That sentence made no sense."

"It's a loud silence."

"It still doesn't make sense."

Sasuke stopped scowling and knelt down in the water to wash himself off. "Fine, ask."

Naruto chewed on his lip for a moment. Now that it had been built up to, he felt suddenly a little more jittery.

"Spit it out already!"

"So you uh," Naruto began scratching the back of his head out of nervousness, "liked that, I guess."

"Gee which part gave it away, the moaning or the coming?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

Naruto frowned, "You know what I mean."

"It's sensitive," Sasuke replied shortly.

"Oh, sorry."

Sasuke straightened up and raised a further eyebrow at him. "Moron, the physical area, not the subject."

"Oh!"

"I'm sure you'll feel the same."

"I will?" The Naruto's eyes widened with realization. "I will?"

"Next chance I get," Sasuke told him with an inappropriately evil half smile. "Just remember that you started it this time."

Naruto watched Sasuke walk out of the river with a slightly open mouth.

"Fuck."

TBC in Part 14