To Become Part 3 Uncut Sections
Warning: A big fat citrus fruit.
To Become
Part 3 Uncut Sections
-By Om0cha-
This was not the way he imagined things going, he thought as he raised his knuckles and rapped firmly on the door of the main Uchiha residence. Sasuke was supposed to come and grovel at him, not the other way around. And Naruto knew that there would be grovelling. There was no way Sasuke was going to do anything less than live up to his bastard title.
"About time," he growled when the door finally opened, but cut himself off when instead of meeting Sasuke's eyes at roughly the same height, he had to look several inches higher into another pair of black pupils.
"Itachi," he greeted, smiling and feigning ignorance even though he could sense Sasuke clearly within the house, "is Sasuke home by any chance?"
"It is nice to see you looking well Naruto. I have to admit, I was a bit concerned." Naruto was astonished at the genuine smile that flitted across Itachi's face and hurriedly stepped into the house when Itachi stood aside for him. The man was dressed in a casual black jumper and pants, indicating that he was having a free day at home. "Sasuke is upstairs in his room. It seems that he is up to his dramatics again." A rather nice way of saying, I know you two are currently in the midst of another foolish cold war.
Foolish little brother. Foolish little brother's foolish friend. The implied words poked like a finger at the side of Naruto's head.
Naruto laughed out loud, surprised despite himself. "Yeah. Sorry about that. He's probably been a complete ass for the past few weeks. Worse than normal anyway." He took vindictive pleasure in knowing that Sasuke was probably listening to their every word.
"No, not at all," Itachi replied. "I've barely seen any of him."
Yes, Naruto thought. With their combined missions and Sasuke's liking for sleeping anywhere but the Uchiha manor, he didn't doubt that.
He bowed respectfully and Itachi dismissed him, leaving into one of the many rooms on the ground floor. Naruto had been over a fair few times so he knew where Sasuke's room was. If he hadn't, he had no doubts that he would get lost in the maze that the Uchihas seemed to enjoy turning their homes into. They were an especially secretive clan and it was reflected in their methods of guarding their residences.
He slid open Sasuke's plain door without bothering to knock. Sasuke looked up from his low table and Naruto grinned as he closed the door behind him.
"Message for one arrogant, Uchiha jerk," he said, all business-tone and reciting. Insulting Sasuke with Itachi had done good for his spirits. "Hokage-sama would like to see his pompousness in his office, preferably early in the day so that they can both catch-up on much needed beauty sleep later tonight." And indeed, Sasuke was bearing similar evidence of insomnia on his pale skin.
"You change sides rather easily, don't you," Sasuke said calmly, putting down his brush on the rest and examining his calligraphy. "Is my siding with your father enough to drive you to Itachi? That's unexpectedly petty of you."
"Say what you want," Naruto shot back. "At least Itachi had the decency to answer me."
"Only because he's psychotic and knows that you won't be barking back at him over stupid things."
Naruto clenched his teeth but relaxed his jaw quickly again. He took a deep, calming breath.
"Whatever," he said in forced boredom. "Just show up so dad stops making a big deal over it and thinks we're good."
"Have you finished your tantrum yet?" Sasuke asked when he put his hand on the door and made to open it again. "I'm surprised at how long you've held on this time."
Naruto sighed loudly. "Just about," he admitted ruefully. "It's too tiring being mad at you two." Really, he just needed some acknowledgement by Sasuke that he had been an ass and he'd be ready to forgive him for anything right now. It had been reduced to a matter of pride, now that his promotion was no longer in serious jeopardy.
"I don't suppose letting you punch me is going to fix things?"
Naruto swung around, taken aback at the humility of the offer and wary of it. "Are you worried about Itachi again?" he asked wearily. "You shouldn't be. It's not like I'm going to become best buds with him just because we have a misunderstanding. You don't have to go that far."
"So you'll stop with the theatrics?"
"For god's - yes, fine! Is it so hard for you to say sorry? You always have to blindside me into forgiving you," Naruto said, exasperated.
"Works like a charm," Sasuke replied, picking up his brush again, "so why not?"
"Getting pissed again."
"Sit down." Sasuke patted the cushion beside him without looking.
"Not a dog, you ass. And you're supposed to be going to see the Hokage right now so no, I won't sit down."
Sasuke put his brush down again. He leaned over the cushion, took a firm grip on Naruto's wrist and pulled him down with minimal effort, only pivoting his arm around his elbow. Off balance, Naruto landed on his knees on the soft, plush mound, a twisted glower on his face.
"What if I say that I do want to kiss and makeup?" Sasuke said. His hand was still on Naruto's wrist and chakra seeped through the connection enticingly. His face was in Naruto's and Naruto looked unabashedly at his lips.
"You're insane if you think I'm going to make the first move," he said coolly.
Sasuke leaned in and Naruto briefly played with the impulse idea of pulling back and running off, a mini-Naruto waving its ass tauntingly at mini-Sasuke in his mind. But this game of denial had dragged on for years, and the touching always was a hard earned precipice that was rewarded only every now and again. So he sat still and let Sasuke tilt their heads to meet their lips softly. The touch was simple and uncomplicated by further suggestions, only the brushing of slightly dry lips for a few seconds.
Sunlight draped in from Sasuke's open window, painting the room in gold and thrumming, summer heat. Cicadas sang loudly and Naruto wondered what Itachi was hearing. It was the both of them that pulled apart simultaneously - because Naruto never wanted to look like he craved it more than the other - and then they were both standing up and wordlessly leaving the room. Naruto waited in the hallway for Sasuke to throw on a clean shirt before joining him.
On their way to the Hokage Tower, Naruto thought, he had most definitely won this time.
Sasuke was inducted into ANBU and Naruto knew rather than suspected that Kakashi would be assigned as his mentor for his first few missions. He had his first close, social contact with the silver haired man in years, bringing forth a little contempt that his initial teacher had refrained from maintaining a closer relationship with all of his students.
Blatantly speaking, he was a bit jealous of Sasuke.
Behaviour wise, not much had changed in Kakashi. The man still lounged about with an air of careless confidence and was much more interested in remaining immersed in his books than entertaining Naruto's small attempts at prolonged conversation. Physically, Naruto thought he looked older -this he could tell even with the mask - but the same could be said of everyone nowadays.
There was no grand ceremony; it was suicide to announce such a promotion to the world. Instead, only Sasuke's jounin team and other regular mission partners were invited to a small 'goodbye' dinner, as was tradition. It didn't mean that they would never have another mission together. It just wouldn't be as common anymore, and they were respectfully acknowledging that Sasuke would now be hanging his life out on a much thinner, more fragile line than before.
Naruto sat beside him on the bench and surreptitiously sipped sake. Sasuke's dinner was an unusually small gathering at a homely, family run restaurant. What was more, the Hokage's family itself was present, surrounded by admiring shinobi eager to speak. Hence, Naruto surreptitiously sipped sake whenever his parents turned the other way.
"Congratulations," he said eventually when they were relatively isolated, lifting his small cup and tilting his head to his now ex-partner. Sasuke, who had refused to join in the drinking games that some of the more rowdy guys had set up, clinked his full cup against Naruto's and they drank.
"Where's Itachi?" Naruto asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. Picking up a bottle at random from the selection on the long table, he inspected the label briefly before shrugging and beginning to refill Sasuke's cup for him. "Or maybe I should be asking, how did you manage to bribe him to stay away?" he teased slyly.
Sasuke snorted and shook his head, a malignant glint reflecting in his eyes and on the sake surface. "He's been pulled off duty indefinitely as of yesterday. He was moping in his room when I left."
"What?" Naruto paused incredulously.
Sasuke grunted affirmatively.
"How?" Naruto's voice dropped to a whisper and after looking around, he set down the bottle and leaned in close to Sasuke's ear. "Did you finally get evidence…?"
"I didn't know until it happened," Sasuke refuted, facing him head on. "Your father made the decision."
"He hasn't mentioned anything," Naruto said thoughtfully, curious as a cat over what might have been the catalyst for the suspension.
"It's hardly something to talk about over dinner."
"I guess." Naruto smirked and Sasuke's nose wrinkled at the pungent blast of alcohol. Sasuke's hand slathered itself to his forehead and indignantly, Naruto felt his head pushed back.
"What was that for?" he protested.
"You stink."
"I do not." And for emphasis, he shoved one elbow onto the table in front of Sasuke and pushed his face in front of him again, breathing out loudly. Sasuke made an extremely uncharacteristic spluttering noise.
"Idiot!"
"Boys…"
Naruto twisted, still grinning, on his elbow. The rest of the group, his parents included, were staring at them over the dish and bottle littered table-top with a combination of shocked and embarrassed expressions.
Oh.
"It's not what it looks like!" Naruto said, flushing red without even needing to pretend. Nope, it was not a kiss, not this time anyway.
"Naruto! Are you drinking?" Kushina asked in a rising voice, threat clinging in terror to every word she uttered. Naruto, realising the more imminent danger he was in, shoved the cup he held into Sasuke's hand instead and closed the fingers around it. He straightened.
"Nope! Definitely not!"
"Don't lie to me, young man!"
"Kushina, not now," Minato said, restraining her with a nervous chuckle that went some ways towards mollifying their surrounding shinobi. Over her half-hearted attempts to stand up and throttle their son, he cast a serious, analytical look at the two sitting stiffly behind the alcohol bottles.
To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke downed the cup that he had forced on him and got up, inadvertently bringing Naruto along with him because the blonde had practically been flailing in his lap in fear of the scolding he had anticipated. Everyone else was trying to settle back into the celebratory mood and were pointedly ignoring them - there was too much danger of invoking Kushina's wrath once more - and so with a sigh, Naruto followed Sasuke without hesitation when the Uchiha pushed open the restaurant doors and entered the quiet street.
"Well this is not suspicious at all," he said musingly, walking behind the other as the sounds of laughter faded. "Leaving together after that. Nope, definitely not about to have a totally obvious rendezvous in your house while Itachi listens with his ear to the door."
"I get the feeling that you are hinting at something," Sasuke noted. They weren't going down the street that led to the Uchiha district.
"Where are we going? Hey, are you walking me home?" Naruto exclaimed, unsure whether to be horrified. What was with people and insisting on seeing him to his house? He wasn't defenceless. At least Neji had gotten the point, eventually. It had taken a good beating, but Naruto felt justified.
"You even think like a woman."
Naruto growled, displeased. "Yes," he said with an eye roll, "I am waiting for you to sweep me off my feet and deflower me in my room," he said dramatically, swaggering with emphasis. "Who cares if my parents might arrive home at any moment. Imagine how kinky it would be."
Sasuke stopped in front of him and Naruto walked right into his back with a solid impact and 'oof!'
"Naruto." Naruto stared questioningly at the shoulder blades in front of him. "If you don't cut that out, I'm going to take you seriously."
He snorted. "You've already fucked me, idiot. You can't deflower me a second time." He walked around the human obstacle, the words rolling off his curiously numb tongue without much thought.
"Are you just playing dumb or are you that thick-headed?" Sasuke gripped him by the shoulder and forced him to turn around. He was frowning. "What do you want?"
"Hey, jeez, I know you're not drunk," Naruto joked, tugging weakly. "Tipsy maybe, but that's no excuse for getting all touchy feely."
Sasuke observed him quietly. Then, "Come on." His grip tightened on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto clung to his forearm as the world span. He glanced around at their new surroundings as the light was switched on, blindingly bright after the relative dullness of the street.
"My room? Seriously?" he asked in disbelief, but trickles of heat at what this was hinting at were already running down the length of his spine, curling at his stomach and lower down with traitorous want.
"Your suggestion did sound like a much better way to celebrate," Sasuke remarked offhandedly, and he pushed him with the hand still on his shoulder so that the back of his knees hit the bed frame and he sprawled onto his back on his sheets. The Uchiha climbed over his body, heated eyes meeting Naruto's undecided ones challengingly.
"Wait. This is crazy. My parents might already be on their way back."
"But that's what makes it better. Isn't that what you said?" Sasuke's breath tickled his skin as hands held him down by his arms. He whined and made a weak attempt at resisting and pulling away, unintentionally yielding his neck in the process.
"I said kinky," Naruto denied, but really not feeling that that was helping his own case. "Cut it out, you said my breath stinks."
"We have so many secrets that your parents don't know about," Sasuke was continuing to say, licking occasionally at the offered canvas. Naruto shuddered. Yes. There was so much that they had that Minato and Kushina could not even imagine. "Just imagine how much trouble we would be in if they ever found out." Sasuke bit down and Naruto yelped loudly. He slapped at the back of Sasuke's head.
"You, stop that!"
"I like you." Naruto froze comically, raised hand and all, and peered up at Sasuke's defined features through locks of blonde hair that had scattered across his eyes. Sasuke leaned closer and Naruto felt weight settle - whether coincidentally or deliberately -against his nether regions. "I want this. Do you?"
With the combined touch and thrilling threat of being found, he was getting hard through the thin shorts that he was wearing. Sasuke could definitely feel it and a returning bulge was pressing against his bare thigh, making his face flame red. But Sasuke didn't tease him about it, or even use it against him. He had even stopped his assault on his neck and was waiting for a response.
Like hell that made thinking any easier anyway!
"You're just saying that," he mumbled.
"If sex was all I wanted then I'd have no trouble getting it," Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto's shy hesitance evaporated.
"Are you saying I'm easy?" he snarled.
Sasuke moved off and sat on the edge of the bed. Naruto sat up, wishing he had kept his mouth shut.
"It's obvious that you're at least physically attracted to me," Sasuke said simply, impatiently, but he didn't sound completely sure.
"And you're just physically attracted to me, too," Naruto snapped.
He wasn't sure why he was pushing this so hard. Maybe he really did want to know. However, he hadn't denied that Sasuke was one good looking bastard and perhaps if he had, he might have been able to hold out a bit more.
Instead, he abruptly found himself on his back again, arms splayed on either side of him as he blinked up at the ceiling and that weak light bulb that he ought to replace sometime soon. Sasuke entered his field of vision and was tugging loose the buttons of his own shirt, taking his acknowledgement of their mutual physical attraction as sufficient permissions.
"I've already said what I wanted to say. It's up to you whether you believe it or not. Either way, I think you're fine with this." He pulled his shirt off, exposing his well-muscled upper body, touched with the occasional scar. He surged forwards and Naruto accepted the pressure and heat that met against the length of his body. This was definitely worth the risk. A hungry mouth complete with sharp fangs latched itself to his neck once more.
"I might be fine with a bit more than this," he responded challengingly, locking away the slight reservations.
Lifting them from their previously docile nest, his hands snuck around the body atop him and down to the back of the Uchiha's pants, slipping beneath the waistband. His fingers felt smooth skin, massaged a cheek tauntingly then urged the material away in a delirious, one-track ambition. To his horror, he could feel a growing heat above his own arousal and squirming, he squeezed his legs together in an attempt to defer it. Sasuke had moved to marking his collarbone.
"Eugh. Just - hurry up!"
His wasn't sure if his words displeased Sasuke but the Uchiha took the remainder of their clothes off with little patience. Despite his demand for speed, Naruto shouted and kicked him off when a long, dry finger forced itself inside him, remembering the pain. Batting away insistent hands, he leaned over to reach into his cupboard and pulled out a half empty bottle of aromatherapy oil that he used when he had trouble sleeping. He tossed it to Sasuke, who threw the lid carelessly to the side and coated his fingers in the oil. The scent of lavender instantly melded into the room.
"You are such a woman," Sasuke said mockingly again, laying on his back and pulling Naruto by his wrists onto his thighs. Reaching around, he pushed two, slickened fingers in at once as retaliation for the interruption.
Naruto groaned and let his head drop forward, blonde hair trailing and clashing with ebony black. "Are you stupid? If I was a woman, do you think we'd be having this problem?" he demanded, even as his heart beat in furious anticipation. "Maybe next time we should see if your ass -"
A third finger worked its angled way in and he clamped his palms over the cry that threatened to spill out, eyes wide at the combined shock and sudden euphoric sensation that he could not recall having felt the last time. Without support he fell forward and Sasuke grunted once as his elbow met him in the ribs.
"Shit." Naruto looked up past his jawbone and into amused eyes, bewildered and a little nervous. The expression Sasuke had was not comforting. "What -"
Sasuke smirked and then his fingers were jabbing cruelly at that same spot, drawing a scream from the blonde that had carelessly removed his hands from his mouth. He continued abusing that same place, memorising it and the way it could make Naruto writhe and struggle uncertainly between getting away and wanting more.
"Stop," Naruto panted, head bowed as he gripped the duvet on either side of Sasuke's head, "Too soon." Sasuke scowled and he bucked the blonde off, catching him again and putting him on his back.
The fingers were removed and the next second, Naruto's body jerked and arched with the powerful thrust that Sasuke used to sheath himself. Air completely knocked out of him, he gaped wordlessly and winced as Sasuke hitched his knees over his shoulders and leaned over, bending him nearly double. There were a few initial shallow thrusts, which Naruto moved his hips to meet cautiously, before Sasuke seemed to determine he was in no discomfort and began driving into him at a more brutal pace.
"Oh, fuck!" he managed, gripping onto Sasuke's arms and thumping his head back onto his pillow. The bed-frame knocked against the wall and cupboards on either side of his bed and he could hear things falling off and cluttering to the floor. Thankfully he didn't live in an apartment building. A chorus of unidentifiable mewls and moans followed, punctuated by the occasional curse as his innards were abused. His high was building to some never before reached point and Sasuke egged it along, his hand moving to join his own limp one on his arousal to stroke him towards completion.
Sasuke groaned and paused for a second to lean forward and seize his lips, meshing their tongues together with a comparably indulgent slowness. Naruto had closed his eyes against the pleasure but they snapped open and he ripped his mouth away when Sasuke suddenly threw more weight behind his thrusts. Screaming, his hands dropped from Sasuke and clawed at his sheets, twisting the orange patterned material mercilessly as dry sobs heaved in his chest.
"Almost," Sasuke murmured gently, feeling that Naruto was already going to have a crippling finish as it was, without drawing it out anymore. "Just a bit more…"
He wasn't disappointed and when Naruto came, it was with a breathless cry as his entire body seemed to convulse uncontrollably. Hot liquid filled the blonde generously and splattered heavily across their fronts. Naruto felt as if his tendons and joints were all about to twist out of place and he grit his teeth against it, not even complaining when Sasuke shifted their positions so that he could gather him in his arms and support his body through his release.
Naruto opened his eyes blearily. Sasuke's voice came from behind his shoulder but there was no way he was moving anything right now, even to see the Uchiha's no doubt dishevelled appearance. "You alive?"
"That - was completely different to the first time," he said accusingly. Sasuke chuckled and Naruto closed his eyes again as hands pulled his sweaty bangs away from his face. It was nice, Naruto thought. Even if they were rougher around the edges than lovers, at times there were still moments of lowered guards and lazy tenderness.
"I think," he mumbled contemplatively as he began to doze off, post-coital bliss no doubt making him less prudent, "I might be more than physically attracted to you." Fingers stroked his arms and he fell asleep to Sasuke's warm chakra encasing his body.
A world of pain and an ear-splitting headache welcomed him to the world the next morning. He slapped a hand over his forehead and whined out loud piteously with each second of cursed worldly awareness that he endured.
"This is why you shouldn't drink."
Naruto tensed. His hand that was under the covers edged, finger by finger to test whether his sheets were covering him, reacting with surprise when it found a cottony shirt adorning his chest. Pulling away his hand, he squinted sideways with as little movement as possible at Minato, who was standing with arms crossed next to his bedroom door.
"Can I have something for my headache please?" he begged, deciding to continue playing the drunk card.
Minato tutted but turned to get the requested, holy antidote. When he returned with two capsules and a glass of water, Naruto pulled himself up against the bed-frame, cursing the world and Sasuke -the latter in his head only -all the way.
"Thanks." He gulped them down with half the water, putting the cup on the top of his beside cupboards. All the things that might have fallen off the previous night -his clock, photo frames - were unmoved or at least placed back meticulously by someone who had memorised their positions. Gratefully, he also noticed that his covers were not the same, orange embroidered ones from last night.
"You should thank Sasuke when he gets back," Minato said as he moved to open Naruto's window and let in some fresh air. "He had to bring you home and clean up after your mess, too."
"I threw up?" Naruto guessed at the cover up. He frowned. "When Sasuke gets back?"
"His left for his first ANBU mission this morning," Minato informed him.
"Oh. What kind of mission is it?"
"Undercover recon. That's all you're getting," his father pre-empted.
"Heh." Naruto perked as he spotted something beside him, regretting the action when his ass protested with a twinge. Hiding the source of his pain as best as he could, he picked up the forgotten red pocket diary off his table and tossed it to a surprised Minato.
"I'll take whatever mission is available tomorrow," he said clearly, blue eyes glittering in a way that Minato attempted but failed to grasp.
Perched at the top of a tree barely covered by a scant dressing of leaves, Naruto waited for his target to materialise. He sat with his legs and tail of his cloak hanging from the bough, leaning his body and head against the trunk while he battled the desire for a fluffy, desirous bed that waited for him back home.
Lazily, his eyes flickered to a shadow on the path down below, wary of another false alarm. He sat up when it was impossible to confirm the person's identity, due to the obscuring white mask on their face. However, the hair certainly matched the description and with a twist of his lips, Naruto stood up and dared to release a wave of chakra into the air.
The figure down below took another step forward and disappeared. Neck prickling, Naruto twisted around to dodge the swipe but was not quite fast enough. He was caught by an arm midair around his torso. The white mask bore down upon him and his assailant pushed him off the bough completely, the two of them plummeting towards earth with Naruto being promised the brunt of the impact.
The arm around him pulled against his back suddenly and helped him to turn. The two of them met the ground on their feet, although Naruto certainly had had a brief moment of doubt.
"Were you waiting for me?" A voice whispered in his ear from behind. He heard the burning of fast moving twine as the ties of the mask were undone.
"As if. For your corpse, more like," he jibed defensively. "What idiot gave you a solitary recon as your first ANBU mission?"
"So you wanted the first claim to my body," Sasuke said in amusement. Naruto smiled mischievously and ran his fingers across the slivers of Sasuke's arms that weren't covered by protectors.
"Nah. I lie." Blue sparks danced at his fingertips and Sasuke twitched. "I really like your breathing body better," he said, ears turning pink even though what he said hardly counted as an admission to anything.
"That's an improvement."
Sasuke released him. The loss of contact made Naruto think that maybe he had said something wrong and he turned around to see what damage might require rectification.
What he found instead was a waiting serpent as the back of his head was grabbed. He was pushed forward against a ravenous mouth and he blinked into Sasuke's sharingan, eyelids lowering on the brilliant flecks that he found there. Sasuke's tongue flicked out to lick against the seam of his lips and he poked his own out in childish retaliation.
"We good?" he asked with a grin, unintentionally ambiguous.
"Mmh." Sasuke pulled back. "I don't think finishing my mission tomorrow morning rather than now would cause any problems," he suggested slyly.
"The rest of my team thinks I'm still making my way back."
"You've grown cunning. You deserve that Captain title."
"Somehow, that sounds so much better coming from you."
Sasuke led them away from the village outskirts. Naruto pondered when he might be able to attack and initiate a much needed spar. His mission, despite being an A-rank, had been sadly deprived of action.
"I refuse to acknowledge that as some weird kink of yours."
He laughed loudly.
"It was worth a try."
END OF PART THREE
Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter, I do hope that this one was worth the wait.
Comments and feedback are always welcomed and appreciated.
Until next time!
To Become
Part 3 Uncut Sections
-By Om0cha-
This was not the way he imagined things going, he thought as he raised his knuckles and rapped firmly on the door of the main Uchiha residence. Sasuke was supposed to come and grovel at him, not the other way around. And Naruto knew that there would be grovelling. There was no way Sasuke was going to do anything less than live up to his bastard title.
"About time," he growled when the door finally opened, but cut himself off when instead of meeting Sasuke's eyes at roughly the same height, he had to look several inches higher into another pair of black pupils.
"Itachi," he greeted, smiling and feigning ignorance even though he could sense Sasuke clearly within the house, "is Sasuke home by any chance?"
"It is nice to see you looking well Naruto. I have to admit, I was a bit concerned." Naruto was astonished at the genuine smile that flitted across Itachi's face and hurriedly stepped into the house when Itachi stood aside for him. The man was dressed in a casual black jumper and pants, indicating that he was having a free day at home. "Sasuke is upstairs in his room. It seems that he is up to his dramatics again." A rather nice way of saying, I know you two are currently in the midst of another foolish cold war.
Foolish little brother. Foolish little brother's foolish friend. The implied words poked like a finger at the side of Naruto's head.
Naruto laughed out loud, surprised despite himself. "Yeah. Sorry about that. He's probably been a complete ass for the past few weeks. Worse than normal anyway." He took vindictive pleasure in knowing that Sasuke was probably listening to their every word.
"No, not at all," Itachi replied. "I've barely seen any of him."
Yes, Naruto thought. With their combined missions and Sasuke's liking for sleeping anywhere but the Uchiha manor, he didn't doubt that.
He bowed respectfully and Itachi dismissed him, leaving into one of the many rooms on the ground floor. Naruto had been over a fair few times so he knew where Sasuke's room was. If he hadn't, he had no doubts that he would get lost in the maze that the Uchihas seemed to enjoy turning their homes into. They were an especially secretive clan and it was reflected in their methods of guarding their residences.
He slid open Sasuke's plain door without bothering to knock. Sasuke looked up from his low table and Naruto grinned as he closed the door behind him.
"Message for one arrogant, Uchiha jerk," he said, all business-tone and reciting. Insulting Sasuke with Itachi had done good for his spirits. "Hokage-sama would like to see his pompousness in his office, preferably early in the day so that they can both catch-up on much needed beauty sleep later tonight." And indeed, Sasuke was bearing similar evidence of insomnia on his pale skin.
"You change sides rather easily, don't you," Sasuke said calmly, putting down his brush on the rest and examining his calligraphy. "Is my siding with your father enough to drive you to Itachi? That's unexpectedly petty of you."
"Say what you want," Naruto shot back. "At least Itachi had the decency to answer me."
"Only because he's psychotic and knows that you won't be barking back at him over stupid things."
Naruto clenched his teeth but relaxed his jaw quickly again. He took a deep, calming breath.
"Whatever," he said in forced boredom. "Just show up so dad stops making a big deal over it and thinks we're good."
"Have you finished your tantrum yet?" Sasuke asked when he put his hand on the door and made to open it again. "I'm surprised at how long you've held on this time."
Naruto sighed loudly. "Just about," he admitted ruefully. "It's too tiring being mad at you two." Really, he just needed some acknowledgement by Sasuke that he had been an ass and he'd be ready to forgive him for anything right now. It had been reduced to a matter of pride, now that his promotion was no longer in serious jeopardy.
"I don't suppose letting you punch me is going to fix things?"
Naruto swung around, taken aback at the humility of the offer and wary of it. "Are you worried about Itachi again?" he asked wearily. "You shouldn't be. It's not like I'm going to become best buds with him just because we have a misunderstanding. You don't have to go that far."
"So you'll stop with the theatrics?"
"For god's - yes, fine! Is it so hard for you to say sorry? You always have to blindside me into forgiving you," Naruto said, exasperated.
"Works like a charm," Sasuke replied, picking up his brush again, "so why not?"
"Getting pissed again."
"Sit down." Sasuke patted the cushion beside him without looking.
"Not a dog, you ass. And you're supposed to be going to see the Hokage right now so no, I won't sit down."
Sasuke put his brush down again. He leaned over the cushion, took a firm grip on Naruto's wrist and pulled him down with minimal effort, only pivoting his arm around his elbow. Off balance, Naruto landed on his knees on the soft, plush mound, a twisted glower on his face.
"What if I say that I do want to kiss and makeup?" Sasuke said. His hand was still on Naruto's wrist and chakra seeped through the connection enticingly. His face was in Naruto's and Naruto looked unabashedly at his lips.
"You're insane if you think I'm going to make the first move," he said coolly.
Sasuke leaned in and Naruto briefly played with the impulse idea of pulling back and running off, a mini-Naruto waving its ass tauntingly at mini-Sasuke in his mind. But this game of denial had dragged on for years, and the touching always was a hard earned precipice that was rewarded only every now and again. So he sat still and let Sasuke tilt their heads to meet their lips softly. The touch was simple and uncomplicated by further suggestions, only the brushing of slightly dry lips for a few seconds.
Sunlight draped in from Sasuke's open window, painting the room in gold and thrumming, summer heat. Cicadas sang loudly and Naruto wondered what Itachi was hearing. It was the both of them that pulled apart simultaneously - because Naruto never wanted to look like he craved it more than the other - and then they were both standing up and wordlessly leaving the room. Naruto waited in the hallway for Sasuke to throw on a clean shirt before joining him.
On their way to the Hokage Tower, Naruto thought, he had most definitely won this time.
Sasuke was inducted into ANBU and Naruto knew rather than suspected that Kakashi would be assigned as his mentor for his first few missions. He had his first close, social contact with the silver haired man in years, bringing forth a little contempt that his initial teacher had refrained from maintaining a closer relationship with all of his students.
Blatantly speaking, he was a bit jealous of Sasuke.
Behaviour wise, not much had changed in Kakashi. The man still lounged about with an air of careless confidence and was much more interested in remaining immersed in his books than entertaining Naruto's small attempts at prolonged conversation. Physically, Naruto thought he looked older -this he could tell even with the mask - but the same could be said of everyone nowadays.
There was no grand ceremony; it was suicide to announce such a promotion to the world. Instead, only Sasuke's jounin team and other regular mission partners were invited to a small 'goodbye' dinner, as was tradition. It didn't mean that they would never have another mission together. It just wouldn't be as common anymore, and they were respectfully acknowledging that Sasuke would now be hanging his life out on a much thinner, more fragile line than before.
Naruto sat beside him on the bench and surreptitiously sipped sake. Sasuke's dinner was an unusually small gathering at a homely, family run restaurant. What was more, the Hokage's family itself was present, surrounded by admiring shinobi eager to speak. Hence, Naruto surreptitiously sipped sake whenever his parents turned the other way.
"Congratulations," he said eventually when they were relatively isolated, lifting his small cup and tilting his head to his now ex-partner. Sasuke, who had refused to join in the drinking games that some of the more rowdy guys had set up, clinked his full cup against Naruto's and they drank.
"Where's Itachi?" Naruto asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. Picking up a bottle at random from the selection on the long table, he inspected the label briefly before shrugging and beginning to refill Sasuke's cup for him. "Or maybe I should be asking, how did you manage to bribe him to stay away?" he teased slyly.
Sasuke snorted and shook his head, a malignant glint reflecting in his eyes and on the sake surface. "He's been pulled off duty indefinitely as of yesterday. He was moping in his room when I left."
"What?" Naruto paused incredulously.
Sasuke grunted affirmatively.
"How?" Naruto's voice dropped to a whisper and after looking around, he set down the bottle and leaned in close to Sasuke's ear. "Did you finally get evidence…?"
"I didn't know until it happened," Sasuke refuted, facing him head on. "Your father made the decision."
"He hasn't mentioned anything," Naruto said thoughtfully, curious as a cat over what might have been the catalyst for the suspension.
"It's hardly something to talk about over dinner."
"I guess." Naruto smirked and Sasuke's nose wrinkled at the pungent blast of alcohol. Sasuke's hand slathered itself to his forehead and indignantly, Naruto felt his head pushed back.
"What was that for?" he protested.
"You stink."
"I do not." And for emphasis, he shoved one elbow onto the table in front of Sasuke and pushed his face in front of him again, breathing out loudly. Sasuke made an extremely uncharacteristic spluttering noise.
"Idiot!"
"Boys…"
Naruto twisted, still grinning, on his elbow. The rest of the group, his parents included, were staring at them over the dish and bottle littered table-top with a combination of shocked and embarrassed expressions.
Oh.
"It's not what it looks like!" Naruto said, flushing red without even needing to pretend. Nope, it was not a kiss, not this time anyway.
"Naruto! Are you drinking?" Kushina asked in a rising voice, threat clinging in terror to every word she uttered. Naruto, realising the more imminent danger he was in, shoved the cup he held into Sasuke's hand instead and closed the fingers around it. He straightened.
"Nope! Definitely not!"
"Don't lie to me, young man!"
"Kushina, not now," Minato said, restraining her with a nervous chuckle that went some ways towards mollifying their surrounding shinobi. Over her half-hearted attempts to stand up and throttle their son, he cast a serious, analytical look at the two sitting stiffly behind the alcohol bottles.
To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke downed the cup that he had forced on him and got up, inadvertently bringing Naruto along with him because the blonde had practically been flailing in his lap in fear of the scolding he had anticipated. Everyone else was trying to settle back into the celebratory mood and were pointedly ignoring them - there was too much danger of invoking Kushina's wrath once more - and so with a sigh, Naruto followed Sasuke without hesitation when the Uchiha pushed open the restaurant doors and entered the quiet street.
"Well this is not suspicious at all," he said musingly, walking behind the other as the sounds of laughter faded. "Leaving together after that. Nope, definitely not about to have a totally obvious rendezvous in your house while Itachi listens with his ear to the door."
"I get the feeling that you are hinting at something," Sasuke noted. They weren't going down the street that led to the Uchiha district.
"Where are we going? Hey, are you walking me home?" Naruto exclaimed, unsure whether to be horrified. What was with people and insisting on seeing him to his house? He wasn't defenceless. At least Neji had gotten the point, eventually. It had taken a good beating, but Naruto felt justified.
"You even think like a woman."
Naruto growled, displeased. "Yes," he said with an eye roll, "I am waiting for you to sweep me off my feet and deflower me in my room," he said dramatically, swaggering with emphasis. "Who cares if my parents might arrive home at any moment. Imagine how kinky it would be."
Sasuke stopped in front of him and Naruto walked right into his back with a solid impact and 'oof!'
"Naruto." Naruto stared questioningly at the shoulder blades in front of him. "If you don't cut that out, I'm going to take you seriously."
He snorted. "You've already fucked me, idiot. You can't deflower me a second time." He walked around the human obstacle, the words rolling off his curiously numb tongue without much thought.
"Are you just playing dumb or are you that thick-headed?" Sasuke gripped him by the shoulder and forced him to turn around. He was frowning. "What do you want?"
"Hey, jeez, I know you're not drunk," Naruto joked, tugging weakly. "Tipsy maybe, but that's no excuse for getting all touchy feely."
Sasuke observed him quietly. Then, "Come on." His grip tightened on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto clung to his forearm as the world span. He glanced around at their new surroundings as the light was switched on, blindingly bright after the relative dullness of the street.
"My room? Seriously?" he asked in disbelief, but trickles of heat at what this was hinting at were already running down the length of his spine, curling at his stomach and lower down with traitorous want.
"Your suggestion did sound like a much better way to celebrate," Sasuke remarked offhandedly, and he pushed him with the hand still on his shoulder so that the back of his knees hit the bed frame and he sprawled onto his back on his sheets. The Uchiha climbed over his body, heated eyes meeting Naruto's undecided ones challengingly.
"Wait. This is crazy. My parents might already be on their way back."
"But that's what makes it better. Isn't that what you said?" Sasuke's breath tickled his skin as hands held him down by his arms. He whined and made a weak attempt at resisting and pulling away, unintentionally yielding his neck in the process.
"I said kinky," Naruto denied, but really not feeling that that was helping his own case. "Cut it out, you said my breath stinks."
"We have so many secrets that your parents don't know about," Sasuke was continuing to say, licking occasionally at the offered canvas. Naruto shuddered. Yes. There was so much that they had that Minato and Kushina could not even imagine. "Just imagine how much trouble we would be in if they ever found out." Sasuke bit down and Naruto yelped loudly. He slapped at the back of Sasuke's head.
"You, stop that!"
"I like you." Naruto froze comically, raised hand and all, and peered up at Sasuke's defined features through locks of blonde hair that had scattered across his eyes. Sasuke leaned closer and Naruto felt weight settle - whether coincidentally or deliberately -against his nether regions. "I want this. Do you?"
With the combined touch and thrilling threat of being found, he was getting hard through the thin shorts that he was wearing. Sasuke could definitely feel it and a returning bulge was pressing against his bare thigh, making his face flame red. But Sasuke didn't tease him about it, or even use it against him. He had even stopped his assault on his neck and was waiting for a response.
Like hell that made thinking any easier anyway!
"You're just saying that," he mumbled.
"If sex was all I wanted then I'd have no trouble getting it," Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto's shy hesitance evaporated.
"Are you saying I'm easy?" he snarled.
Sasuke moved off and sat on the edge of the bed. Naruto sat up, wishing he had kept his mouth shut.
"It's obvious that you're at least physically attracted to me," Sasuke said simply, impatiently, but he didn't sound completely sure.
"And you're just physically attracted to me, too," Naruto snapped.
He wasn't sure why he was pushing this so hard. Maybe he really did want to know. However, he hadn't denied that Sasuke was one good looking bastard and perhaps if he had, he might have been able to hold out a bit more.
Instead, he abruptly found himself on his back again, arms splayed on either side of him as he blinked up at the ceiling and that weak light bulb that he ought to replace sometime soon. Sasuke entered his field of vision and was tugging loose the buttons of his own shirt, taking his acknowledgement of their mutual physical attraction as sufficient permissions.
"I've already said what I wanted to say. It's up to you whether you believe it or not. Either way, I think you're fine with this." He pulled his shirt off, exposing his well-muscled upper body, touched with the occasional scar. He surged forwards and Naruto accepted the pressure and heat that met against the length of his body. This was definitely worth the risk. A hungry mouth complete with sharp fangs latched itself to his neck once more.
"I might be fine with a bit more than this," he responded challengingly, locking away the slight reservations.
Lifting them from their previously docile nest, his hands snuck around the body atop him and down to the back of the Uchiha's pants, slipping beneath the waistband. His fingers felt smooth skin, massaged a cheek tauntingly then urged the material away in a delirious, one-track ambition. To his horror, he could feel a growing heat above his own arousal and squirming, he squeezed his legs together in an attempt to defer it. Sasuke had moved to marking his collarbone.
"Eugh. Just - hurry up!"
His wasn't sure if his words displeased Sasuke but the Uchiha took the remainder of their clothes off with little patience. Despite his demand for speed, Naruto shouted and kicked him off when a long, dry finger forced itself inside him, remembering the pain. Batting away insistent hands, he leaned over to reach into his cupboard and pulled out a half empty bottle of aromatherapy oil that he used when he had trouble sleeping. He tossed it to Sasuke, who threw the lid carelessly to the side and coated his fingers in the oil. The scent of lavender instantly melded into the room.
"You are such a woman," Sasuke said mockingly again, laying on his back and pulling Naruto by his wrists onto his thighs. Reaching around, he pushed two, slickened fingers in at once as retaliation for the interruption.
Naruto groaned and let his head drop forward, blonde hair trailing and clashing with ebony black. "Are you stupid? If I was a woman, do you think we'd be having this problem?" he demanded, even as his heart beat in furious anticipation. "Maybe next time we should see if your ass -"
A third finger worked its angled way in and he clamped his palms over the cry that threatened to spill out, eyes wide at the combined shock and sudden euphoric sensation that he could not recall having felt the last time. Without support he fell forward and Sasuke grunted once as his elbow met him in the ribs.
"Shit." Naruto looked up past his jawbone and into amused eyes, bewildered and a little nervous. The expression Sasuke had was not comforting. "What -"
Sasuke smirked and then his fingers were jabbing cruelly at that same spot, drawing a scream from the blonde that had carelessly removed his hands from his mouth. He continued abusing that same place, memorising it and the way it could make Naruto writhe and struggle uncertainly between getting away and wanting more.
"Stop," Naruto panted, head bowed as he gripped the duvet on either side of Sasuke's head, "Too soon." Sasuke scowled and he bucked the blonde off, catching him again and putting him on his back.
The fingers were removed and the next second, Naruto's body jerked and arched with the powerful thrust that Sasuke used to sheath himself. Air completely knocked out of him, he gaped wordlessly and winced as Sasuke hitched his knees over his shoulders and leaned over, bending him nearly double. There were a few initial shallow thrusts, which Naruto moved his hips to meet cautiously, before Sasuke seemed to determine he was in no discomfort and began driving into him at a more brutal pace.
"Oh, fuck!" he managed, gripping onto Sasuke's arms and thumping his head back onto his pillow. The bed-frame knocked against the wall and cupboards on either side of his bed and he could hear things falling off and cluttering to the floor. Thankfully he didn't live in an apartment building. A chorus of unidentifiable mewls and moans followed, punctuated by the occasional curse as his innards were abused. His high was building to some never before reached point and Sasuke egged it along, his hand moving to join his own limp one on his arousal to stroke him towards completion.
Sasuke groaned and paused for a second to lean forward and seize his lips, meshing their tongues together with a comparably indulgent slowness. Naruto had closed his eyes against the pleasure but they snapped open and he ripped his mouth away when Sasuke suddenly threw more weight behind his thrusts. Screaming, his hands dropped from Sasuke and clawed at his sheets, twisting the orange patterned material mercilessly as dry sobs heaved in his chest.
"Almost," Sasuke murmured gently, feeling that Naruto was already going to have a crippling finish as it was, without drawing it out anymore. "Just a bit more…"
He wasn't disappointed and when Naruto came, it was with a breathless cry as his entire body seemed to convulse uncontrollably. Hot liquid filled the blonde generously and splattered heavily across their fronts. Naruto felt as if his tendons and joints were all about to twist out of place and he grit his teeth against it, not even complaining when Sasuke shifted their positions so that he could gather him in his arms and support his body through his release.
Naruto opened his eyes blearily. Sasuke's voice came from behind his shoulder but there was no way he was moving anything right now, even to see the Uchiha's no doubt dishevelled appearance. "You alive?"
"That - was completely different to the first time," he said accusingly. Sasuke chuckled and Naruto closed his eyes again as hands pulled his sweaty bangs away from his face. It was nice, Naruto thought. Even if they were rougher around the edges than lovers, at times there were still moments of lowered guards and lazy tenderness.
"I think," he mumbled contemplatively as he began to doze off, post-coital bliss no doubt making him less prudent, "I might be more than physically attracted to you." Fingers stroked his arms and he fell asleep to Sasuke's warm chakra encasing his body.
A world of pain and an ear-splitting headache welcomed him to the world the next morning. He slapped a hand over his forehead and whined out loud piteously with each second of cursed worldly awareness that he endured.
"This is why you shouldn't drink."
Naruto tensed. His hand that was under the covers edged, finger by finger to test whether his sheets were covering him, reacting with surprise when it found a cottony shirt adorning his chest. Pulling away his hand, he squinted sideways with as little movement as possible at Minato, who was standing with arms crossed next to his bedroom door.
"Can I have something for my headache please?" he begged, deciding to continue playing the drunk card.
Minato tutted but turned to get the requested, holy antidote. When he returned with two capsules and a glass of water, Naruto pulled himself up against the bed-frame, cursing the world and Sasuke -the latter in his head only -all the way.
"Thanks." He gulped them down with half the water, putting the cup on the top of his beside cupboards. All the things that might have fallen off the previous night -his clock, photo frames - were unmoved or at least placed back meticulously by someone who had memorised their positions. Gratefully, he also noticed that his covers were not the same, orange embroidered ones from last night.
"You should thank Sasuke when he gets back," Minato said as he moved to open Naruto's window and let in some fresh air. "He had to bring you home and clean up after your mess, too."
"I threw up?" Naruto guessed at the cover up. He frowned. "When Sasuke gets back?"
"His left for his first ANBU mission this morning," Minato informed him.
"Oh. What kind of mission is it?"
"Undercover recon. That's all you're getting," his father pre-empted.
"Heh." Naruto perked as he spotted something beside him, regretting the action when his ass protested with a twinge. Hiding the source of his pain as best as he could, he picked up the forgotten red pocket diary off his table and tossed it to a surprised Minato.
"I'll take whatever mission is available tomorrow," he said clearly, blue eyes glittering in a way that Minato attempted but failed to grasp.
Perched at the top of a tree barely covered by a scant dressing of leaves, Naruto waited for his target to materialise. He sat with his legs and tail of his cloak hanging from the bough, leaning his body and head against the trunk while he battled the desire for a fluffy, desirous bed that waited for him back home.
Lazily, his eyes flickered to a shadow on the path down below, wary of another false alarm. He sat up when it was impossible to confirm the person's identity, due to the obscuring white mask on their face. However, the hair certainly matched the description and with a twist of his lips, Naruto stood up and dared to release a wave of chakra into the air.
The figure down below took another step forward and disappeared. Neck prickling, Naruto twisted around to dodge the swipe but was not quite fast enough. He was caught by an arm midair around his torso. The white mask bore down upon him and his assailant pushed him off the bough completely, the two of them plummeting towards earth with Naruto being promised the brunt of the impact.
The arm around him pulled against his back suddenly and helped him to turn. The two of them met the ground on their feet, although Naruto certainly had had a brief moment of doubt.
"Were you waiting for me?" A voice whispered in his ear from behind. He heard the burning of fast moving twine as the ties of the mask were undone.
"As if. For your corpse, more like," he jibed defensively. "What idiot gave you a solitary recon as your first ANBU mission?"
"So you wanted the first claim to my body," Sasuke said in amusement. Naruto smiled mischievously and ran his fingers across the slivers of Sasuke's arms that weren't covered by protectors.
"Nah. I lie." Blue sparks danced at his fingertips and Sasuke twitched. "I really like your breathing body better," he said, ears turning pink even though what he said hardly counted as an admission to anything.
"That's an improvement."
Sasuke released him. The loss of contact made Naruto think that maybe he had said something wrong and he turned around to see what damage might require rectification.
What he found instead was a waiting serpent as the back of his head was grabbed. He was pushed forward against a ravenous mouth and he blinked into Sasuke's sharingan, eyelids lowering on the brilliant flecks that he found there. Sasuke's tongue flicked out to lick against the seam of his lips and he poked his own out in childish retaliation.
"We good?" he asked with a grin, unintentionally ambiguous.
"Mmh." Sasuke pulled back. "I don't think finishing my mission tomorrow morning rather than now would cause any problems," he suggested slyly.
"The rest of my team thinks I'm still making my way back."
"You've grown cunning. You deserve that Captain title."
"Somehow, that sounds so much better coming from you."
Sasuke led them away from the village outskirts. Naruto pondered when he might be able to attack and initiate a much needed spar. His mission, despite being an A-rank, had been sadly deprived of action.
"I refuse to acknowledge that as some weird kink of yours."
He laughed loudly.
"It was worth a try."
END OF PART THREE
Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter, I do hope that this one was worth the wait.
Comments and feedback are always welcomed and appreciated.
Until next time!