Author's note: Had to finish the chapter today still, but here I am with the next one! Also this turned out way longer than I expected, whoops.

Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; Iraheta 127; solitare1; Richon

Warnings: Slash finally; some drama; minor time skip

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 15

The silence following his confession was damning for one heartbeat, two heartbeats, three, four, five …

"You know, ignoring the whole general fuckery that the world has turned into, I have to be honest here: I never expected to get a confession while I'm only wearing a towel," Naruto stated in an undiscernible tone. His eyes didn't give anything away either, showing nothing but a blank look.

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his cheeks briskly. At least Naruto's response to his abrupt confession wasn't an immediate punch to his face; he would gladly take that. "Nothing has to change between us, all right? It's cool if you just want to ignore it and - " He had to rear back or risk a finger jabbing into his eye.

"Oh, fuck no! I'm not letting you back out like that, you bastard!" Naruto bristled; his eyes flashing up. "Can't a guy have some time to process the confession first, for fuck's sake?!"

"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable," Sasuke began, but once more Naruto cut him off.

"Really? You just fucking confessed to me while I'm basically buck naked; you don't get to say shit about not wanting to make me feel uncomfortable, dude!" Naruto exclaimed incredulously.

"You wouldn't have been naked if you had dressed yourself already!" Sasuke argued back, gesturing at the bundle of clothes still waiting right next to Naruto. He could have easily dressed himself already, how was this Sasuke's fault?

"When would I have been able to do that? You were the one hellbent on taking care of this shit!" Naruto waved wildly at his bandaged side.

"Oh, excuse me for being considerate and wanting to make sure you wouldn't bleed out!" Sasuke shot back sarcastically. "My mistake obviously, should have just let you bleed out on my bed."

"Okay, stop exaggerating, I wouldn't have bled out from a cut like that," Naruto scoffed, even while he was trying to surreptitiously wipe his bloodied hand off on the towel. "For your information, by the way, you wouldn't have needed to worry about getting blood on your bed if you hadn't insisted on pushing me down on it."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm sorry for putting you in this position, all right?" Sasuke said frustrated and went to get up.

Before he could even do so much as tense his legs, a hand snatched his wrist; it tightened around the tendons warningly, keeping him shackled to the bed unless he wanted to start some kind of wrestling match. He snapped his head around to stare at Naruto, who was scowling at the floor as if the floor had offended him greatly; his cheeks reddening slightly. Whether that flush was caused by anger or something else, Sasuke couldn't say.

"Just shut the fuck up for a minute and give a moment, okay?" Naruto snapped; his cheeks reddening even further.

He only released Sasuke's hand when the dark haired man nodded in acquiescence, remaining silent while relaxing his legs again. Silence hung between them as they sat there. Naruto stared at the floor, seemingly lost in thought, and Sasuke tried really hard not to think about how the blond man was essentially still naked, sitting very closely next to him. There was no way Naruto wasn't cold by now, especially with his hair still damp from the shower and the heating only having been running for a couple of hours at most. If he was feeling the lack of clothes, however, he didn't show it.

When Naruto finally stirred, raising his head, Sasuke peeked at him from the corner of his eye, wondering apprehensively whether this would be the moment when Naruto would tell him to fuck off. When he had blurted out his confession, he hadn't even considered whether Naruto would even be perceptible to the idea of a man confessing his feelings for him. Homophobia seemed like such a stupid thing to worry about when the dead were ready to take a bite out of you, decimating humanity one by one, but it wasn't as if the presence of the undead had suddenly turned everyone decent. Sure, Naruto had been rather … flirty several times before, but that didn't necessarily have to mean something. Deidara had his flirty moments as well, but he didn't bed everyone he flirted with. Sasuke would only have himself to blame if this entire situation went south and left him without Naruto in any capacity.

"You said you want me," Naruto started slowly; his flush gone and his face completely neutral again, "but what does that mean to you? Are you – is this just for sex or …"

"I want everything that you're willing to give," Sasuke replied promptly and cocked his head to the left. "I guess sex would be nice, not going to lie, but that's not all I'm after."

"You guess," Naruto repeated with a faint smile. He sobered up quickly. "Why?"

"Why not?" Sasuke asked in return.

Naruto jerked his head towards the window. "You can have anyone you want here, so why pick me?"

"Because I want you," Sasuke answered and heaved a sigh when blue eyes sparked with irritation for the first time since they started this conversation. "If you expect me to present you a whole essay with a damn analysis of why I want you, I'm sorry to disappoint but I won't be able to do that. I am drawn to you, I want to get to know you better, I want to be with you however long you want me around. Why do people even fall in love? I suppose there's that whole chemistry bullshit factor, but I've never been interested in that. All I know is that I feel drawn to you and I'd like to find out whether we can have more. If you aren't interested, just say so. We can forget this happened."

"Aren't you a blunt one?" Naruto mumbled and scratched the bridge of his nose.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "You don't really strike me as a person who'd appreciate subtlety."

That actually made Naruto chortle and his eyes turned a shade lighter again. "No, guess I'm not like that. Never did well with subtle clues and all that to be honest." He looked away, pursing his lips. "You don't really know me, though."

"That would be the whole point of dating, no?" Sasuke pointed out dryly. "You know, the whole getting to know each other better? Pretty sure that's how people used to do it before the dead refused to remain in their graves."

"I suppose so," Naruto chuckled and turned around to face Sasuke finally. "Just a head's up, though, I never dated anyone before."

Sasuke resolutely and definitely did not acknowledge the thrill that shot through him at hearing that. "Neither have I," he said instead.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow sceptically before giving him an obvious look from head to toe. "Right," he drawled and couldn't sound more sarcastic if he tried.

"Never had any interest in someone before," Sasuke explained and shrugged. Not for a lack of trying by other people.

"I have been told that I can be too much at times," Naruto went on to warn him.

"I think I can handle you even at your worst," Sasuke smiled and dared to stretch out his pinkie, letting it bump against the side of Naruto's hand. "So … Is that your subtle way of telling me you want to give us a try?" He didn't dare to hope just yet because Naruto might still be planning on shooting him down gently, but still this had to be some kind of good sign, no?

"I feel like I shouldn't because the world is just one giant fuck fest waiting to screw us over," Naruto mused aloud. His eyes darkened for a couple of seconds before he shook his head lightly. "But fuck it, when have I ever done anything sensible in my life? Gaara will agree with that, I'm sure. Screw it, yeah, I want to try this, us. Just don't go dying on me soon, okay? Kind of have filled my quote when it comes to that for now."

"You and your quotas," Sasuke muttered, but he kept smiling. "Can I kiss you now?"

"You can but if you may …" Naruto teased, laughing when Sasuke clucked his tongue in reproach.

"Don't be a smartass, it's not cute."

"Oh, it isn't? I'll have you know I've been told plenty of times before that I'm cute," Naruto riposted offended and jabbed his finger into Sasuke's chest. "Everyone always fucking adores me, all right? I'm adorable as hell!"

"Naruto." Sasuke snatched his finger, lowered it but kept a hold on it. He then bent closer to Naruto, so close their breaths mingled together and if he wanted to, he could count each separate blond eyelash. Now he wanted to do something else, though. "Going to kiss you," he whispered.

"Yeah," Naruto swallowed audibly; his blue eyes wide and a flush staining his cheeks once more, "all right."

Just one heartbeat. That was all it took before their mouths touched, light and sweet and hesitant; the pressure barely heavier than a butterfly's touch. A hand slipped over his shoulder, tapped his shoulder blade before coming to rest on the back of his neck briefly. Trembling fingers threaded through his hair, lax around some of the black strands. The touch emboldened Sasuke to surge forwards, putting just the slightest bit of pressure into their kiss. Naruto's lips moulded perfectly against his own, like two pieces of a puzzle slotting together.

All Sasuke could focus on was a firm mouth meeting his own, his blood rushing loudly in his ears; the sound subdued by Naruto's quiet hitch when Sasuke's hand landed on his uninjured side, cupping his hip, cool skin heating up underneath his touch. He stroked the smooth skin, feeling goosebumps rise up underneath his thumb.

Naruto pulled away and rested his forehead against Sasuke's shoulder. His soft chuckle had Sasuke blinking and looking down.

"I hope that laugh doesn't mean you think our kiss was funny," he mumbled, fascinated with the way blond strands stuck up unruly in every direction in spite of Naruto having just left the shower.

"Nah, was just thinking … Mum ended up being right in the end, I guess," Naruto replied ruefully.

Carefully Sasuke ran his fingers through the damp hair, attempting half-heartedly to style it a bit. "How so?"

"I got shit-faced drunk once, after this whole apocalyptic hellhole kicked off its bullshit," Naruto said casually. He turned his face slightly to the side so that his words wouldn't be muffled by Sasuke's sweater, but didn't look up just yet.

"Your parents allowed you to get drunk?"

"My parents figured that silly laws like underage drinking meant jack shit anymore when the dead started having fun," Naruto answered lightly. He was no longer holding the towel in place; instead both his hands grasped Sasuke's sweater. "Anyways, turned out I got a bit maudlin back then and was bemoaning the fact that with zombies occupying the streets I'd never get my own happily ever after like mum and dad had."

"Happily ever after?" Sasuke couldn't help but repeat amused. He got rewarded for that with a quick pinch in his side, not sharp enough to be actually painful but tangible enough to serve as a warning.

"Don't come at me, all right. I was a fan of fairy tales as a kid, what's wrong with that?" Naruto huffed, pouting slightly.

"That's cute," Sasuke smiled.

"Oh, so now you agree I'm cute," Naruto mumbled darkly before continuing, "So I got shit-faced drunk and said more than I wanted to say with the only saving grace being that Gaara wasn't around to hear all that. Unfortunately the alcohol didn't wipe my memories, so I remember what mum said to me."

"What did she say?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"That it didn't matter what state the world was in, I would find someone for myself one day. I just had to keep holding on until that day," Naruto replied pensively. "Honestly had kind of forgotten about that conversation until I was reminded of it just now. I guess she turned out to be right in the end. She was always so annoying when she was right." He chuckled mirthlessly.

"Sounds like your mum was a smart woman," Sasuke murmured, watching goosebumps erupt all over Naruto's naked shoulders when he dragged his finger down his back.

"Yeah, she was," Naruto smiled.

They remained in that position for a while longer until Naruto pulled away and rolled his shoulders. He glanced at the towel, mostly dry by now with streaks of red smeared across it before lifting up his eyes to look at Sasuke.

"I think I'm going to get dressed now," he announced primly. "Your room is like a damn freezer, shit."

"Well, there are ways we could warm up," Sasuke said thoughtfully, entranced by the way Naruto was so quick to blush now that the flirting was aimed at him instead.

"Oh man," he laughed and swatted Sasuke's arm. "Look at you, didn't know you had it in you! Still waters run deep and all that crap, huh?"

"Depends on how deep you like it, I guess," Sasuke smirked.

"All right, time to get out of here so that I can get dressed!" Naruto exclaimed and shooed him off urgently. "I still have some decorum, unlike some here!"

"I don't know if you can claim to have decorum when you're chasing me out of my own room," Sasuke retorted but stood up regardless. "Come downstairs when you're ready. I'll make you something to eat."

"Dude, a shower and food? I struck the jackpot here!" Naruto laughed delighted. "I'm calling it now: I'm so going to be the envy of this compound. Every single girl is going to hate my guts now for sure!"

"Not everyone," Sasuke denied and walked to the door. "Maybe around sixty percent."

"Well, that's a number I can live with, I suppose," Naruto said humorously and rose up from the bed. "I never was that great at mathematics anyways, so it doesn't matter."

Sasuke placed his hand on the doorjamb and looked back. "Besides, none of the women here have got anything on your friend when it comes to being threatening."

Naruto's eyes positively glimmered. "He gave you the shovel talk already?" he asked gleefully.

"A very detailed one," Sasuke said unimpressed.

"And you still dared to confess?" Naruto laughed and clapped his hands. "That's having some balls! I like it!"

"Well, his threats were all centred around what he would do if I end up hurting you," Sasuke said and shrugged. "I'm not planning on hurting you, though, so I figured I'm in the clear."

"Smooth," Naruto snickered and grabbed the trousers.

Sasuke shrugged again and smiled before walking away. If Gaara hadn't wanted Sasuke to date his friend, he should have been more specific with his threats.

After Naruto had finished two bowls of vegetable soup topped off with some pieces of chicken, Sasuke walked him to his apartment where Shikamaru was in the middle of a discussion about the heating problem with two other men. Gaara was nowhere to be seen, which led Sasuke to believe that he was back in his apartment, done with glaring down people for the day.

"Did you manage to get the heating fixed?" Sasuke questioned curiously.

Shikamaru glanced at him, doing a doubletake at the way Naruto hovered closely behind Sasuke, but mercifully didn't make a big deal out of it. "Almost," he answered while the other two men went back into the basement. "I suspect it might take us another hour, maybe two if we turn out to be really unlucky. It should be finished by tonight at the latest, though. Sorry, but your apartment is probably like a freezer now," he directed his apology at Naruto. "Contrarily to what your friend thinks, giving us the stink eye won't exactly fix the equipment faster."

Naruto snorted. "Don't mind Gaara. He's innocent, really."

Sasuke had his own thoughts about that.

"Besides, I doubt our apartment is much worse than Sasuke's bedroom is," Naruto continued cheerfully and ascended the staircase, digging around in his bag for his key.

"He's visited your bedroom?" Shikamaru asked neutrally, but the corners of his mouth were visibly trembling as if he was trying to suppress a smile.

Sasuke rolled his eyes up to the ceiling where Naruto was no doubt smirking all the way up to his apartment. "He looked like he had rolled around in zombie guts, so I told him he could use the shower at my house to clean up. I lent him some of my clothes because his own were a mess."

"Right, he must have been quite the sight then," Shikamaru said and yeah, he was definitely smirking now, the dick. "Considering you normally can't be bothered to offer your shower to anyone."

"He was a foul, stinking mess." Sasuke glared.

"Worse than that one time Deidara-san caused an entire pit of zombies to explode and got showered in their guts?" Shikamaru asked faux innocently.

Sasuke's glare deepened, but it did nothing to dampen Shikamaru's gleeful amusement. "Just fix the heating," he growled and stormed upstairs before the other one could respond.

"You're a pure menace and I have no idea why I like you," Sasuke announced annoyed as he walked into the apartment; Naruto having been so kind to leave the door open.

"That's funny; it's a question everyone starts to ask themselves after a while of hanging out with Naruto," Gaara droned from his place at the table. He was reading a book, not even looking up when Sasuke closed the door.

"You're very rude, but also correct," Naruto told Gaara before he snickered and stretched out on the couch. His bag was against the wall; its fixed place when its owner wasn't carrying it around with him. "Hereby your invitation to join the club of everyone who has even known me," he grinned and made grabby hands at Sasuke.

The dark haired man quirked an eyebrow but remained in front of the door.

"It's cold in here, Gaara is being a meanie, you're warm and you wouldn't want me to catch a cold after I just had a shower, right?" Naruto simpered, intensifying his grabbing motions.

Sasuke snorted and glanced at Gaara, but the red haired man just kept reading his book. He had to know that Sasuke had confessed to Naruto, but he seemed disinclined to say anything about it, so Sasuke walked to the couch.

"That shower was at least three hours ago and your hair was already dry by the time we left my house," he said unimpressed.

"You know, Sasuke, I'm a big fan of cuddling and this isn't going to work between us if you're an ice king," Naruto pouted. "Would you really be so cruel as to deny your boyfriend some tender cuddling?"

"For some reason I thought you would be less annoying once you two got your shit together, but somehow you're actually worse," Gaara sighed and turned the page. "At least give me a warning if you're planning on fucking here."

"I'll hang a sock at the doorknob," Naruto grinned widely.

Sasuke ignored the way his cheeks felt warm and sat down on the couch. "You went from 'I don't need anyone' to 'you're my boyfriend' rather quickly, huh," he commented. He considered removing his jacket, but decided to keep it on, because goddamn, Shikamaru hadn't been lying when he had warned about the apartment being a freezer. Couldn't the heating break down during the spring instead?

Naruto shrugged and easily slotted himself underneath Sasuke's arm and against his side when the other man extended his arm. "In the world we live in now, nothing is guaranteed anymore," he said quietly and curled his legs underneath him. "Might as well enjoy every day I got left here."

Sasuke said nothing, simply turning his head and kissing Naruto's forehead. The cold, icy as it felt, was easily ignored when Naruto curled up closer against him. New as everything was between them still, he thought he could become used to this soon, having Naruto close to him, basking quietly in his company as they listened to the pages being turned behind them.

Naruto was right: they might as well enjoy every day they got.

"So the expansion is happening after all, huh?" Sasuke remarked, watching how father unfolded the map.

"Yes, but the plan's been adjusted a bit," Father said and placed a book on each end of the map so that the corners wouldn't curl up again. "It comes down to this essentially: we won't tear down the eastern wall until the expansion is completed."

"So the expansion will be built around the compound in a way, un?" Deidara frowned, crossing his arms loosely. He braced his arse against the back of the couch, eyeing the map doubtfully. "That's still going to attract zombies. It'll be noisy either way."

"No doubt about that," Father sighed in agreement. "But this way they won't be able to breach the place unlike before when the plan had been to tear down the wall first and build around the gap."

"We could station more guards on the wall; they can take care of any zombie that gets near the construction site then," Itachi suggested. The frown marring his forehead, however, spoke volumes of how much he disliked this plan. "It's going to take at least three months if not longer than that even to finish everything, though."

"And that's if things don't get fucked in the meantime," Kisame added flatly. "I don't like this at all, boss."

"I can't say I'm a fan either, but it's not like we have much choice," Father said bluntly. "We need to expand eventually. We might as well take advantage of the few winter months we have left when the undead aren't that active."

"So what's the plan exactly?" Sasuke questioned and stepped closer to the table. "We're going to need material for this and I don't think we got enough left here."

"We don't," Karin confirmed his suspicion, gnawing on her lower lip. "Shikamaru is going to check the large storage shed, but at best we might be able to build a wooden shed with what we have – a small one at that."

"So we need material," Deidara piped up. "And I guess you and the rest of the council have a place in mind where we can get that material, un?"

Father inclined his head and pointed at a town to the west, just two hours away from their compound. Sasuke recognised the place, having visited it three times before to scavenge for food. It was a rather modest town, not that much bigger than their compound frankly, but he could remember the abandoned building materials – brick, wood, metal – all ready to be used for what should have been the first large supermarket in that town. He had barely looked at that material those times, more focused on finding food and medicine for their people instead.

"For now this place is our best bet," Father stated. "With a bit of luck the material is still there and more importantly: in good shape still. The first group will scout the place and try to take back what they can. Once we know what the situation is, we can send in the second group in one of the bigger vans. It's definitely going to drain our gas, but it's better than the alternative, which is driving around aimlessly in the hopes of finding something."

"So who's going first then?" Karin inquired curiously.

"Sasuke, Deidara, Anko and Yamato," Father replied. "Yamato knows which material we'll need and you two have visited that place before so you know where possible traps might be. Anko has kindly informed us that she's more than ready for a trip outside the walls again," he added; his eyes gleaming amused.

Sasuke was certain Anko had been a lot more direct about than merely kindly. She was even less subtle than Deidara was.

Three consecutive raps on the door had Itachi disappearing into the hallway to greet their new visitor.

"Are we working with a certain time limit here, un?" Deidara questioned and leant forwards, showing more interest now. "If we're scouting we can't take one of the big vans."

"A day at most," Father said as he pondered the map. "The town isn't that far away from here, but an overnight stay isn't necessary. Personally I prefer you all to be back before evening just to be on the safe side."

Kisame looked at him sharply. "A herd forming?" he asked warily.

"Not yet, but the group last week had to get rid of several smaller groups," Father replied grimly. "If those end up banding together … We might need this expansion, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to risk your lives for it."

"Sorry for the interruption," Naruto said and walked into the room, carrying his crossbow. "But Sasuke, you said to come here when I was done, so here I am. We can leave whenever you're ready."

"Sure, we going to the same place like last time?" Sasuke asked distractedly and automatically twisted his head to meet Naruto's lips in a kiss.

Only when a hushed silence fell over the room did he realise that even two weeks into their relationship, Sasuke hadn't mentioned it to the others yet. He felt his cheeks heat up at Itachi's amused face, Kisame's unsubtle snickering, Karin's gaping, father's slow blinking and Deidara crowing like an idiot about having won the bet.

"Told him you'd be banging each other before spring arrived!" he cheered excitedly before realising who else was present and he looked apologetically at father. "Sorry about that, pretend you didn't hear me say that, un."

"You actually bet on us?" Naruto looked torn as if he couldn't decide between being mad or impressed with the other blond man.

"Told you otouto was looking a lot happier lately," Itachi told father, who merely rolled his eyes.

"He could just have been in a good mood," Father argued, almost petulantly.

"Yeah, in a good mood because he's finally getting some," Kisame chortled and ducked when Sasuke threw a pillow at him.

"Can we go back to the plan, please?" Sasuke demanded exasperatedly.

"They didn't know about us yet?" Instead of being angry, Naruto merely looked befuddled.

"No, it slipped my mind," Sasuke grumbled, pursing his lips.

"Oh, I bet it slipped your mind, all right," Karin said airily and twirled a lock of her red hair around her finger. "Suigetsu's going to have a field day with this, I hope you realise that."

"Or, and hear me out, you could just not say anything about it because it's none of his business," Sasuke suggested sourly. "Neither is it yours, by the way, just so we're clear."

"But it's the most entertainment I've had in weeks! How could you take that away from me?"

Fortunately father took pity on his youngest son and knocked his fist on the table once to quiet everyone down. "All right, let's go back to the plan. We can discuss Sasuke's relationship later."

Or he didn't take any pity at all apparently. "Or we could just not," Sasuke said irritated. "I'm good with not to be honest."

He nudged Naruto's side when the other man started to chuckle.

"Are you two good with going on this run?" Father asked, returning to the matter at hand as he glanced between Sasuke and Deidara.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I last went further than the direct perimeter around the walls," Deidara replied and rolled his shoulders. "Going to be a nice change of scenery, un."

"I don't mind," Sasuke said when father's gaze landed on him. "When should we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." Father looked at them apologetically. "I realise it's short notice, but there's a group leaving south in three days and we need to know if we have to search for the material elsewhere before they go."

"I better get packing then," Deidara said and left with a cheerful wave and a wink aimed at Sasuke, who ignored it.

"Naruto and I are going to train with the crossbow in the woods nearby," Sasuke told father, who nodded and began folding up the map.

"So they're calling it crossbow training nowadays, huh?" Itachi mused aloud; the picture of perfect innocence save for that glint in his eyes. "Truly a wonder how language evolves even in these times."

"Shut it, Itachi," Sasuke said annoyed and grabbed Naruto by his hand, dragging him outside before someone could stop them.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Naruto apologised as they walked to the gates. "Force of habit already, I suppose. I had no idea they didn't know yet."

"It's not your fault," Sasuke sighed and signed at Iruka to open the gate for them. "I should have told them earlier, but I hadn't thought about it."

"You think your father will hassle you about it?" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean, your brother seems okay with it, but …"

"I doubt father will mind," Sasuke replied and shrugged. "He wasn't angry. Even if he was, it's not like he still has a say over me. He can't ground me for dating a guy."

"Well, the door of my apartment is open just in case you need some time away. I'm sure Gaara won't mind," Naruto offered, neatly sidestepping a zombified man who had been dragging himself across the road by the stumps of his arms. A quick jab of the dagger and he ceased moving entirely. "What was that about leaving tomorrow by the way? Another supply run?"

"Kind of," Sasuke confirmed and ducked underneath a low hanging branch.

Last night's bout of rain had left the dead leaves slick and slippery and he was cautious where he placed his foot down, not fancying slipping and landing on his back.

"They decided to go through with the expansion, so my group will visit a town two hours north from here. See what material is still left and if it's in good shape to use," he went on to explain. "We'll take whatever we can with us and the next group will pick up the rest once we give the okay."

"Sounds like that will take a while," Naruto commented. He appeared entirely unbothered by the wet terrain and not for the first time Sasuke felt somewhat envious of his ability to remain completely silent.

He wasn't stampeding around like an elephant himself, but Naruto and Gaara were definitely as silent as ghosts in these woods. He was a bit surprised that Gaara wasn't joining them now until he remembered that he had an assignment somewhere in the compound.

"No, we're just going to be there for a day," Sasuke said. "We'll be back before evening, I promise."

Naruto turned his head and squinted at him. "Weren't you the one who told me such promises couldn't be made?" he teased.

"I'm not about to drive through a herd," Sasuke retorted, snorting. His katana flashed up briefly in the daylight when he brought it down onto a zombie woman's head, cleaving the skull in two and ending her gurgling immediately. Her rotting brains splattered onto the ground with a disgusting wet sound.

"That you know of," Naruto shot back. "For all you know, you could end up driving straight into one of them. Again, weren't you the one who said the woods are safer than the roads?"

"Sure, but again, we're not knowingly going to drive straight through a herd unlike a particular somebody," Sasuke said, arching an eyebrow.

"Man, you're not going to let go of that one any time soon, huh?" Naruto huffed. "Like I told you, at least I knew what it was getting myself into. You and your group have no idea."

Concealing a sigh, Sasuke stopped walking and grabbed Naruto's wrist, tugging him to a stop as well. As soon as Naruto paused, he used his grip to twist him around and was met by Naruto's heavy frown; his lips pursed together.

"It's not my first time in that town and I know what I'm doing," Sasuke said softly, ducking his head to meet Naruto's eyes. "We'll be careful, I swear. It's more scouting than anything else, really."

"I know that you know what you're doing," Naruto grumbled and hesitated then; his eyes landing somewhere near Sasuke's boots. "I just … worry," he said finally and scowled. "I'd forgotten how much I hated worrying about someone else than Gaara. You're a dick."

Despite the insult and the biting words, Sasuke smiled and drew him into an embrace. "I worry about you too if you're outside the walls without me," he admitted.

He knew he could trust Gaara to keep Naruto safe, but that didn't mean he didn't worry at all.

Above them some birds tweeted their song; some leaves rustling when they flew away into the open air.

"It's just one day. The town is only two hours from here; we'll be back before evening falls, I promise," he went on, running his hands down Naruto's back.

"Fine," Naruto muttered, but he was clearly not fine with it, judging by the fact that he refused to look up, only tightening his grip around Sasuke's waist but that was all right. At least this proved that he cared as much about Sasuke as Sasuke had started to care about him.

They remained wrapped up in each other's embrace until two wandering zombies forced them to part so that they could each take care of one.

Rubbing the back of his hand over his forehead, Naruto's gaze drifted from the dead zombie man to Sasuke. He tugged at the strap of his crossbow and gave a clipped smile. "Come on, might as well get a couple of hours of practice in before you have to pack."

Having kissed Naruto goodbye at the gates, Sasuke started making his way home so that he could start packing for tomorrow. It wasn't as if he needed to carry a lot with him seeing as they were only going to be there for a day, but being prepared with weapons never hurt.

Right before he turned the corner, he picked up Gaara's voice.

"You must have a really boring life if this is what you choose to do with it," he spoke coldly.

It had Sasuke frowning and quickening his pace, because during the whole time he had been here, he hadn't actually heard Gaara being this rude before. Who was he talking to?

"Aw, did I hit a nerve?" That was Ritsu if Sasuke wasn't mistaken. He barely had knew the guy. The younger man was usually seen trying to repair electronics or working the fields.

"Whatever, I'm not talking with you," Gaara said annoyed.

Right as Sasuke saw them, Ritsu smirked and said, "Hey man, it's not my fault if your limp couldn't keep him satisfied any longer."

Who was he talking about?

"You shut your trap before I shut it for you," Gaara threatened, taking a step forwards.

That was Sasuke's cue to step in before Gaara actually made good on his threat. "Gaara, Naruto's on his way to your apartment. He's finished for today," he said, alerting them to his presence.

"Man, it must sting to see him, huh?" Ritsu said gleefully.

Sasuke frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"He doesn't know what he's talking about obviously," Gaara said irritated and turned to walk away. "Nothing but bullshit that comes out of his mouth. He's as useless with his talk as he is outside the walls."

That seemed to rub Ritsu the wrong way because he glared at Gaara. "That's rich coming from the guy who got dumped for our leader's son here."

"Seriously, what the hell are you on about?" Sasuke demanded. Who did Gaara get dumped by? He wasn't close to anybody in this compound, barely even on speaking terms with most of them.

"Don't listen to him, it's just bullshit," Gaara snapped and went to walk away.

Having Gaara turn his back on him must have hit a nerve with Ritsu because he said maliciously, "I'm talking about how your little lover was quick to jump ship once he realised he could do better than a guy with a busted leg."

"Don't talk about Naruto like that; you don't fucking know him!" Sasuke snapped heatedly as soon as he realised who Ritsu was referring to. What the fuck was this guy's problem?

"Told you he's full of shit," Gaara sneered. "And you, shut the fuck up before I make you shut up."

"Yeah, as if you can do much with that leg," Ritsu snorted.

"What's your problem with Gaara?" Sasuke asked irritated. "Neither he nor Naruto ever did anything to you, Ritsu."

Gaara shook his head and grabbed Sasuke by his arm when he made a move to go over to Ritsu. "Don't bother with him; guess it must sting to be so useless that you never get selected for a run," he scoffed.

"Keep your comments to yourself," Sasuke advised Ritsu coolly, whose face was steadily growing redder with anger. Sasuke turned around as well, figuring he would choose another way to get home, one that wouldn't involve listening to Ritsu spout even more crap.

"Why gang up on me? Not my fault you're dating a guy who's more than happy to jump from one guy to the other at the first pretty face he sees! You're sure he doesn't have any diseas-"

He caught two fists into his face at the exact same time.

AN2: For the ones who have read The Long Run, you know what's coming next ...

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

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