for: luleeta
From: fireun
Title: Expressive
Rating: PG13
Summary: The little things sometimes have the biggest impact.
Warnings: mild sexual content
A/N: I hope you enjoy!
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
Blood had an awkward way of getting under fingernails and clinging there despite all attempts with soap and water. Accusation and insinuation, the bits of dark, rusty red, kept catching Sasuke’s attention. It was strange, knowing he had been desperate enough to fight with the only weapon left to him, curling nails into claws in an attempt to cause enough damage for his opponent to pull away.
It was unsettling that they had come to this, bare fisted, eyes narrowed in some mix of attraction and hatred that only they could properly decipher.
Sasuke plunged his hands back into the water, ignoring the swirls of mud the movement kicked up. He didn’t want to remember the way Naruto’s eyes had glittered, the way lips pulled up to reveal just enough tooth to threaten. He didn’t want to think about it, but it filled his mind as he scrubbed at bloodstains and tried to remove all evidence of fingers curling into flesh, a feral parody of another action as he pressed up against Naruto.
The tightness of his pants, the way his stomach clenched and nostrils flared as he remembered the blood and sweat smell as Naruto pinned him.
This was not at all where he expected their rivalry to take them. It was illogical, to want something so skewed, so far from what he had imagined the first time he had glared at the youth who had the audacity to adopt him as if he were some sort of abandoned puppy. They both had had a bit of the kicked puppy edge to them, but where Sasuke clammed up and dared the world to notice, Naruto’s boundaries were limited to whim and a staunch ignorance of socially acceptable behavior.
Naruto had smiled through everything.
It was the smile Sasuke found himself missing as he rubbed hands dry on his pants, stayed crouching for a few minutes longer, staring down at the water with the intensity of a hunting heron. Somehow that smile had made everything seem just that much more manageable.
There hadn’t been a smile on that face earlier, nothing but danger in narrowed eyes.
Somewhere along the way, it had all gone terribly wrong. They didn’t know each other, not anymore. Sasuke was nothing more than a criminal in the ANBU records, and Naruto the hound set at his heels.
But there had to be something there, else Sasuke should be dead, and not washing the evidence of their brief tangle from sore limbs. There had been nothing soft in Naruto’s face- you could only kick a dog so many times.
A twig snapped, and Sasuke deepened his crouch, ignoring the way his pants soaked up the shallow water.
It was a scent in the slight breeze, the knowledge that Naruto would never have been so careless as to step on dry wood while hunting. It sent a surge of adrenaline and anticipation through Sasuke, curled his lips into the bastard cousin of a proper smile.
Naruto came from his right, and Sasuke shifted his weight to take the hit and roll with it. Water and mud splashed as Sasuke attacked Naruto’s knees, knocking him off balance and down. The change in positions brought Sasuke the advantage he had lacked in their most recent confrontation. He pinned Naruto’s arms down into the mucky shallow water, settling the bulk of his weight on Naruto’s hips lest the blond manage to buck him off.
It was familiar, the upper hand, but looking down on eyes glaring at him from behind an impassive mask was utterly alien. It had been more personal just before, when he had startled Naruto unmasked into assault, when he had lost the upper hand so unexpectedly and badly.
This wasn’t what he wanted, not quite.
“Showing mercy to an enemy?”
The rough edge to Naruto’s voice gave it away, all the strain and uncertainty that was lurking behind professional intensity.
That small hint that Naruto was experiencing at least a portion of the conflict plaguing Sasuke was all he needed. It humanized them both, but the situation back into perspective and let Sqsuke appreciate how much he had at stake. “You’re not my enemy.” But they weren’t exactly friends either, not anymore. A quick hit left Naruto limp, and Sasuke pulled him out of the water, and laid beside him on the shore until his heartbeat steadied and he had a firmer grasp of just what it was he was doing.
___________________________________
Naruto, when he woke, seemed far too unconcerned about being tied and immobile. His eyes tracked Sasuke as he moved about the camp site cleaning away the debris that marked his presence. Sasuke felt the eyes on his back, made a point of meeting them whenever he moved so as to face his prone captive.
It was a scenario that was, most likely, playing out rather differently in each of their heads.
There was a shadow to Naruto’s expression that suggested he was waiting for the hammer to fall. It was a reasonable expectation- after all, Sasuke had spent quite some time playing the villain. Sasuke was busy trying to come to terms with the conflict buzzing around his head like a particularly irate hornet. Shows of dominance always had been his safe way to navigate every situation, and having Naruto immobile more or less at his feet was a novel extension of the usual posturing.
But beneath that fleeting sense of accomplishment and pleasure was a traitorous desire to have Naruto up and about, making fun of Sasuke’s perceived inability to even conceal a camp correctly.
Snorting derision at his own lack of clarity, Sasuke bent low, ignoring the flash of something close to fear on Naruto’s face. A quick flick of a kunai released Naruto as Sasuke stood back, trying desperately to ignore the part of him that was howling in fury at his stupidity. Fear shifted to confusion as Naruto lay perfectly still, assessing the situation.
“You might as well get up. I know there is a rock under your back.”
That restless feeling writhed around Sasuke’s stomach as he waited for Naruto to come to a conclusion, hoping it was the one he wanted. Sasuke wanted to offer a hand, to pull Naruto to his feet…
Naruto moved slowly, expression rare caution as he stood. “Some deadly criminal you turned out to be.” Testing the air with banter, getting a taste for the situation, Naruto stretched, never taking his eyes off of Sasuke.
Who held out a hand holding Naruto’s ANBU mask, the gesture a silent offering. “I would rather not kill you.”
“I would like to say the feeling isn’t mutual.” Naruto muttered as he took the mask, careful not to touch Sasuke even accidentally.
It was an unusual impasse as they both tried to figure out their next move. Naruto’s sense of duty held him in place- Sasuke hadn’t been easy to locate and he was not willing to give Sasuke the opportunity to slip away, not after all the years and all the events that had passed them by. It was in that sense of duty Sasuke perceived a way to alleviate the discomfort that seemed to have settled into every inch of his being. He didn’t know how to soothe over years of conflict and distrust, but he did know how to get Naruto to try and rethink the situation.
Sasuke smiled, the expression almost alien on features too schooled into not letting emotion slip free. It softened the lines that aged him, revealing someone almost familiar, and it almost caused Naruto to grin, a ghost of better times. “I’m not interested in fighting you, and you are equally disinterested in killing me presently. You might as well come with me, as I assume you don’t want to let me out of your sight.” Sasuke slung his pack over one shoulder and pointedly turned his back on Naruto before starting to walk.
Sasuke considered it progress when Naruto stowed his mask rather than wearing it as he gathered his things and hurried to follow.
________________________________________
Naruto had a compulsive, and convenient, habit of talking through awkward silences. As he fell into step beside Sasuke, he fell straight back into that activity, babbling as he always had and making the quiet seem less ominous and empty. The sound of his voice, weaving in and out of bird and insect calls, was soothing as only the very familiar can be. It was background noise, familiar cadences and complaints drifting in and out of Sasuke’s inner monologue.
“…though I have no idea what the hell you were thinking…”
Sasuke’s brain picked out the important bits of information, and filed them away for future reference, and latched onto the words that had impact on the more immediate situation.
“…seriously, do you ever actually know what you are doing?”
Sasuke was moving before Naruto had finished inhaling to launch into the next point of contention, pinning Naruto up against a tree. Knowing that Naruto could have dodged, could have put up any sort of fight, only managed to curl more anticipation through the instant before Sasuke’s lips, then teeth, touched the edge of Naruto’s collarbone through a hole in his ANBU uniform.
“Always.” Sasuke answered Naruto’s question, lips moving across skin and torn cloth, feeling Naruto tense, moving aside as he lashed out.
“The hell was that for?”
Sasuke cocked his head slightly, expression schooled into bland amusement. “I don’t think it needs explanation.”
Naruto sputtered, caught, for once, without words. “You impossible bastard. You chase me down, drive me to attack you- you aren’t even my primary target right now- and now you kiss me? What the hell? You never make sense, you contrary pain in the ass. What the hell is going through your head?”
Sasuke opened his mouth, but for once the flip response custom made to infuriate Naruto further failed to emerge. He closed his mouth a moment later, pursing his lips in somewhat stern contemplation.
“Man, you look stupid.” Naruto shook his head, and smiled. “We’re a mess, aren’t we?” And then he threw a punch.
It was the response Sasuke had been expecting, and he moved accordingly- the kiss that followed the punch was almost inconceivable. Sasuke was left trying to regain his sense of balance as Naruto wielded lip, tooth and tongue with furious inexperience, goading Sasuke on, daring him to react. As soon as Sasuke gathered enough of his scattered wits to react, Naruto pulled away with a slight frown creasing his forehead, eyes thoughtful.
Sasuke had never noticed the particular way his pulse stammered when Naruto made that face, a bafflingly endearing mix of confusion and contemplation. He had never had a reason to consider why a slight sense of nausea accompanied Naruto’s decisions to back away. It made a bizarre sort of sense now, with his lips sore from Naruto’s attention, his pants tight with expectations that should seem unreasonable.
Naruto shook his head, coming to some sort of internal conclusion, straightened his hair with a self-conscious hand, and glared, daring Sasuke to comment.
Sasuke, too aware of how tenuous the situation had become, how fragile any sort of companionship between them remained, kept his mouth shut. He rolled his shoulders once, settling his clothing back into some semblance of order and working out a few high-strung jitters, and started walking.
__________________________
Sasuke wished Naruto would get back to babbling, letting inane comments and stupid observations flow from his mouth with mindless aplomb- anything to keep him from considering how good it felt to be walking together. Here was the missing piece, that little corner of contentment that he had been craving quietly. All it took was Naruto, back hunched and hands shoved in his pockets, walking beside him in companionable silence.
That was the change, the difference between then and now. Naruto didn’t feel the need to fill the silence. A bit of tension had dissolved somewhere between punches and kisses, and Sasuke was almost comfortable, almost happy.
Naruto still had a tension to him, visible in the way he jerked his head when Sasuke stepped on a branch, when he reached for a kunai when Sasuke had sneezed. They were not comfortable with each other, but at least they weren’t actively fighting. Sasuke was patient. He could wait.
______________________________
It was something in the way Naruto told stories, talking with his hands, his face flowing freely from one emotion to another. There was something utterly alien and attractive in how open he was, even now, after everything. It wasn’t trust, those hands were too quick to flick towards hidden weapons when Sasuke moved too fast or changed his expression. They were feeling each other out, though Sasuke was inclined to want to be a bit more tactile than theoretical.
It was in the companionable comfort that Naruto brought with him, a sense of home and happiness. Sasuke was relatively sure Naruto was unlikely to kill him, which put their relationship back on par to when they were far younger and less world-worn.
Naruto was less likely to kill him, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to come to blows when he startled Naruto. A casual kiss on the shoulder while preparing a campfire dinner earned him a punch in the chest, brushing a hand across Naruto’s back resulted in a quickly dodged kick. It almost gained the feel of a game, Sasuke testing boundaries, and Naruto trying desperately to define them.
It was a far cry from disinterest on Naruto’s part- just an understandable inability to trust the tactile messages he was receiving. History had a talent for getting in the way. It hovered on the edge of every word spoken, every bit of casual contact. It was a foe Sasuke was not skilled at fighting. It had always seemed to get the better of him in the past. But this time, Sasuke was unwilling to give without a fight.
There were the little victories; Naruto leaning his head against Sasuke’s knee as they waited for water to boil over the fire, the little goose bumps that trailed down Naruto’s arms in the wake of Sasuke’s wandering fingertips. Naruto’s continued presence itself was a sort of conquest. It would have been so easy for him to leave, to return to his mission or village and leave Sasuke to his travels.
But he stayed, against all reason and expectation.
______________________________
It was a quiet victory, the night Sasuke, in a fit of daring, laid down beside Naruto as they settled in for the evening, and Naruto didn’t protest. Naruto’s quiet chuckle and mock-resigned sigh sent something close to relief fluttering through Sasuke.
Naruto smelled like wood smoke and sweat as Sasuke rested his face against his back, spooning close for comfort as much as warmth. Naruto wiggled a bit, seeking a more comfortable position, his chuckle deepening with a mixture of arousal and embarrassment as he felt Sasuke’s arousal. But he didn’t pull away, didn’t try and roll back into their usual routine.
It was movement forward, Sasuke nipping lightly at the back of Naruto’s neck, soothing with lip and tongue, and he could hear the smile in Naruto’s involuntary exclamations, in the way Naruto reached a hand out and clasped his.
dug into flesh, just as frantic as before, but with far different intent. Sasuke soaked in the way Naruto arched his back, mouth open and eyes closed, at the way Naruto’s fingers scrabbled at his back and buttocks, scratching and grasping.
Blood had a way of getting under fingernails, and Naruto had a fantastic way of blushing as he noticed it, and the damage his hands had done. And Sasuke felt a wholly unfamiliar sense of amused contentment as he laughed quietly and offered to help wash the more obvious remains of their most recent interpersonal development away.
“We really are a mess.” Sasuke echoed Naruto’s words from that night, amused and bemused in spite of himself.
Naruto looked at him sideways, slightly concerned, feeling particularly vulnerable in his nudity. “You aren’t going to punch me now, are you?”
“I didn’t intend on it. But if you ask very nicely…”
“You are impossible, you know that, right?”
Sasuke smiled. The whole situation was impossible, but there it was. Naruto nude and grinning, Sasuke sweaty and sore, but ever so pleased, found himself grinning back. The expression felt strange, but then again, most things involving Naruto were.
No morning after had ever gone easily, and as Sasuke got himself together to face the day, he wondered how this one was going to turn out.
“You should probably go check in sometime soon, before they send people to look for you.” It was a casual observation as Sasuke pulled on his pants, but there was nothing casual about his bearing as he uttered it. It was an easy out, offered in case Naruto was having second thoughts.
“They are probably happy to be rid of me.” Naruto spent some time shaking his shirt, removing dirt and leaves before slipping it on.
“I wasn’t.” The words slipped free before Sasuke could prevent them, and all he could do was wait for a reaction.
“And now you are stuck with me. I hope you learned your lesson.” Naruto, half dressed, and obviously as uncertain now that the sun was rising, threw an arm over Sasuke’s shoulder, blushing faintly as he caught sight of trails his eager fingers had cut into pale flesh.
“You know, I think I did.”
“You’re getting all sappy on me. It’s creepy.”
“Oh, I know. Now clean your stuff and let’s get moving.” Sasuke threw a sock at Naruto and grabbed his shirt from where he had hung it on a branch. “Honestly though, please contact Konoha. I don’t like the idea of waking to a pack of ANBU descending upon me for kidnapping their precious Naruto.”
“You wouldn’t wake. That’s the point of sending ANBU.” Naruto twirled his mask on a finger before slipping it back into his pack. “Don’t worry. I will explain everything.”
“I am sure you will.” Sasuke shook his head. Naruto could conquer entire nations with that smile, and the frightening fact was he knew it.
Title: Expressive
Rating: PG13
Summary: The little things sometimes have the biggest impact.
Warnings: mild sexual content
A/N: I hope you enjoy!
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
Blood had an awkward way of getting under fingernails and clinging there despite all attempts with soap and water. Accusation and insinuation, the bits of dark, rusty red, kept catching Sasuke’s attention. It was strange, knowing he had been desperate enough to fight with the only weapon left to him, curling nails into claws in an attempt to cause enough damage for his opponent to pull away.
It was unsettling that they had come to this, bare fisted, eyes narrowed in some mix of attraction and hatred that only they could properly decipher.
Sasuke plunged his hands back into the water, ignoring the swirls of mud the movement kicked up. He didn’t want to remember the way Naruto’s eyes had glittered, the way lips pulled up to reveal just enough tooth to threaten. He didn’t want to think about it, but it filled his mind as he scrubbed at bloodstains and tried to remove all evidence of fingers curling into flesh, a feral parody of another action as he pressed up against Naruto.
The tightness of his pants, the way his stomach clenched and nostrils flared as he remembered the blood and sweat smell as Naruto pinned him.
This was not at all where he expected their rivalry to take them. It was illogical, to want something so skewed, so far from what he had imagined the first time he had glared at the youth who had the audacity to adopt him as if he were some sort of abandoned puppy. They both had had a bit of the kicked puppy edge to them, but where Sasuke clammed up and dared the world to notice, Naruto’s boundaries were limited to whim and a staunch ignorance of socially acceptable behavior.
Naruto had smiled through everything.
It was the smile Sasuke found himself missing as he rubbed hands dry on his pants, stayed crouching for a few minutes longer, staring down at the water with the intensity of a hunting heron. Somehow that smile had made everything seem just that much more manageable.
There hadn’t been a smile on that face earlier, nothing but danger in narrowed eyes.
Somewhere along the way, it had all gone terribly wrong. They didn’t know each other, not anymore. Sasuke was nothing more than a criminal in the ANBU records, and Naruto the hound set at his heels.
But there had to be something there, else Sasuke should be dead, and not washing the evidence of their brief tangle from sore limbs. There had been nothing soft in Naruto’s face- you could only kick a dog so many times.
A twig snapped, and Sasuke deepened his crouch, ignoring the way his pants soaked up the shallow water.
It was a scent in the slight breeze, the knowledge that Naruto would never have been so careless as to step on dry wood while hunting. It sent a surge of adrenaline and anticipation through Sasuke, curled his lips into the bastard cousin of a proper smile.
Naruto came from his right, and Sasuke shifted his weight to take the hit and roll with it. Water and mud splashed as Sasuke attacked Naruto’s knees, knocking him off balance and down. The change in positions brought Sasuke the advantage he had lacked in their most recent confrontation. He pinned Naruto’s arms down into the mucky shallow water, settling the bulk of his weight on Naruto’s hips lest the blond manage to buck him off.
It was familiar, the upper hand, but looking down on eyes glaring at him from behind an impassive mask was utterly alien. It had been more personal just before, when he had startled Naruto unmasked into assault, when he had lost the upper hand so unexpectedly and badly.
This wasn’t what he wanted, not quite.
“Showing mercy to an enemy?”
The rough edge to Naruto’s voice gave it away, all the strain and uncertainty that was lurking behind professional intensity.
That small hint that Naruto was experiencing at least a portion of the conflict plaguing Sasuke was all he needed. It humanized them both, but the situation back into perspective and let Sqsuke appreciate how much he had at stake. “You’re not my enemy.” But they weren’t exactly friends either, not anymore. A quick hit left Naruto limp, and Sasuke pulled him out of the water, and laid beside him on the shore until his heartbeat steadied and he had a firmer grasp of just what it was he was doing.
___________________________________
Naruto, when he woke, seemed far too unconcerned about being tied and immobile. His eyes tracked Sasuke as he moved about the camp site cleaning away the debris that marked his presence. Sasuke felt the eyes on his back, made a point of meeting them whenever he moved so as to face his prone captive.
It was a scenario that was, most likely, playing out rather differently in each of their heads.
There was a shadow to Naruto’s expression that suggested he was waiting for the hammer to fall. It was a reasonable expectation- after all, Sasuke had spent quite some time playing the villain. Sasuke was busy trying to come to terms with the conflict buzzing around his head like a particularly irate hornet. Shows of dominance always had been his safe way to navigate every situation, and having Naruto immobile more or less at his feet was a novel extension of the usual posturing.
But beneath that fleeting sense of accomplishment and pleasure was a traitorous desire to have Naruto up and about, making fun of Sasuke’s perceived inability to even conceal a camp correctly.
Snorting derision at his own lack of clarity, Sasuke bent low, ignoring the flash of something close to fear on Naruto’s face. A quick flick of a kunai released Naruto as Sasuke stood back, trying desperately to ignore the part of him that was howling in fury at his stupidity. Fear shifted to confusion as Naruto lay perfectly still, assessing the situation.
“You might as well get up. I know there is a rock under your back.”
That restless feeling writhed around Sasuke’s stomach as he waited for Naruto to come to a conclusion, hoping it was the one he wanted. Sasuke wanted to offer a hand, to pull Naruto to his feet…
Naruto moved slowly, expression rare caution as he stood. “Some deadly criminal you turned out to be.” Testing the air with banter, getting a taste for the situation, Naruto stretched, never taking his eyes off of Sasuke.
Who held out a hand holding Naruto’s ANBU mask, the gesture a silent offering. “I would rather not kill you.”
“I would like to say the feeling isn’t mutual.” Naruto muttered as he took the mask, careful not to touch Sasuke even accidentally.
It was an unusual impasse as they both tried to figure out their next move. Naruto’s sense of duty held him in place- Sasuke hadn’t been easy to locate and he was not willing to give Sasuke the opportunity to slip away, not after all the years and all the events that had passed them by. It was in that sense of duty Sasuke perceived a way to alleviate the discomfort that seemed to have settled into every inch of his being. He didn’t know how to soothe over years of conflict and distrust, but he did know how to get Naruto to try and rethink the situation.
Sasuke smiled, the expression almost alien on features too schooled into not letting emotion slip free. It softened the lines that aged him, revealing someone almost familiar, and it almost caused Naruto to grin, a ghost of better times. “I’m not interested in fighting you, and you are equally disinterested in killing me presently. You might as well come with me, as I assume you don’t want to let me out of your sight.” Sasuke slung his pack over one shoulder and pointedly turned his back on Naruto before starting to walk.
Sasuke considered it progress when Naruto stowed his mask rather than wearing it as he gathered his things and hurried to follow.
________________________________________
Naruto had a compulsive, and convenient, habit of talking through awkward silences. As he fell into step beside Sasuke, he fell straight back into that activity, babbling as he always had and making the quiet seem less ominous and empty. The sound of his voice, weaving in and out of bird and insect calls, was soothing as only the very familiar can be. It was background noise, familiar cadences and complaints drifting in and out of Sasuke’s inner monologue.
“…though I have no idea what the hell you were thinking…”
Sasuke’s brain picked out the important bits of information, and filed them away for future reference, and latched onto the words that had impact on the more immediate situation.
“…seriously, do you ever actually know what you are doing?”
Sasuke was moving before Naruto had finished inhaling to launch into the next point of contention, pinning Naruto up against a tree. Knowing that Naruto could have dodged, could have put up any sort of fight, only managed to curl more anticipation through the instant before Sasuke’s lips, then teeth, touched the edge of Naruto’s collarbone through a hole in his ANBU uniform.
“Always.” Sasuke answered Naruto’s question, lips moving across skin and torn cloth, feeling Naruto tense, moving aside as he lashed out.
“The hell was that for?”
Sasuke cocked his head slightly, expression schooled into bland amusement. “I don’t think it needs explanation.”
Naruto sputtered, caught, for once, without words. “You impossible bastard. You chase me down, drive me to attack you- you aren’t even my primary target right now- and now you kiss me? What the hell? You never make sense, you contrary pain in the ass. What the hell is going through your head?”
Sasuke opened his mouth, but for once the flip response custom made to infuriate Naruto further failed to emerge. He closed his mouth a moment later, pursing his lips in somewhat stern contemplation.
“Man, you look stupid.” Naruto shook his head, and smiled. “We’re a mess, aren’t we?” And then he threw a punch.
It was the response Sasuke had been expecting, and he moved accordingly- the kiss that followed the punch was almost inconceivable. Sasuke was left trying to regain his sense of balance as Naruto wielded lip, tooth and tongue with furious inexperience, goading Sasuke on, daring him to react. As soon as Sasuke gathered enough of his scattered wits to react, Naruto pulled away with a slight frown creasing his forehead, eyes thoughtful.
Sasuke had never noticed the particular way his pulse stammered when Naruto made that face, a bafflingly endearing mix of confusion and contemplation. He had never had a reason to consider why a slight sense of nausea accompanied Naruto’s decisions to back away. It made a bizarre sort of sense now, with his lips sore from Naruto’s attention, his pants tight with expectations that should seem unreasonable.
Naruto shook his head, coming to some sort of internal conclusion, straightened his hair with a self-conscious hand, and glared, daring Sasuke to comment.
Sasuke, too aware of how tenuous the situation had become, how fragile any sort of companionship between them remained, kept his mouth shut. He rolled his shoulders once, settling his clothing back into some semblance of order and working out a few high-strung jitters, and started walking.
__________________________
Sasuke wished Naruto would get back to babbling, letting inane comments and stupid observations flow from his mouth with mindless aplomb- anything to keep him from considering how good it felt to be walking together. Here was the missing piece, that little corner of contentment that he had been craving quietly. All it took was Naruto, back hunched and hands shoved in his pockets, walking beside him in companionable silence.
That was the change, the difference between then and now. Naruto didn’t feel the need to fill the silence. A bit of tension had dissolved somewhere between punches and kisses, and Sasuke was almost comfortable, almost happy.
Naruto still had a tension to him, visible in the way he jerked his head when Sasuke stepped on a branch, when he reached for a kunai when Sasuke had sneezed. They were not comfortable with each other, but at least they weren’t actively fighting. Sasuke was patient. He could wait.
______________________________
It was something in the way Naruto told stories, talking with his hands, his face flowing freely from one emotion to another. There was something utterly alien and attractive in how open he was, even now, after everything. It wasn’t trust, those hands were too quick to flick towards hidden weapons when Sasuke moved too fast or changed his expression. They were feeling each other out, though Sasuke was inclined to want to be a bit more tactile than theoretical.
It was in the companionable comfort that Naruto brought with him, a sense of home and happiness. Sasuke was relatively sure Naruto was unlikely to kill him, which put their relationship back on par to when they were far younger and less world-worn.
Naruto was less likely to kill him, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to come to blows when he startled Naruto. A casual kiss on the shoulder while preparing a campfire dinner earned him a punch in the chest, brushing a hand across Naruto’s back resulted in a quickly dodged kick. It almost gained the feel of a game, Sasuke testing boundaries, and Naruto trying desperately to define them.
It was a far cry from disinterest on Naruto’s part- just an understandable inability to trust the tactile messages he was receiving. History had a talent for getting in the way. It hovered on the edge of every word spoken, every bit of casual contact. It was a foe Sasuke was not skilled at fighting. It had always seemed to get the better of him in the past. But this time, Sasuke was unwilling to give without a fight.
There were the little victories; Naruto leaning his head against Sasuke’s knee as they waited for water to boil over the fire, the little goose bumps that trailed down Naruto’s arms in the wake of Sasuke’s wandering fingertips. Naruto’s continued presence itself was a sort of conquest. It would have been so easy for him to leave, to return to his mission or village and leave Sasuke to his travels.
But he stayed, against all reason and expectation.
______________________________
It was a quiet victory, the night Sasuke, in a fit of daring, laid down beside Naruto as they settled in for the evening, and Naruto didn’t protest. Naruto’s quiet chuckle and mock-resigned sigh sent something close to relief fluttering through Sasuke.
Naruto smelled like wood smoke and sweat as Sasuke rested his face against his back, spooning close for comfort as much as warmth. Naruto wiggled a bit, seeking a more comfortable position, his chuckle deepening with a mixture of arousal and embarrassment as he felt Sasuke’s arousal. But he didn’t pull away, didn’t try and roll back into their usual routine.
It was movement forward, Sasuke nipping lightly at the back of Naruto’s neck, soothing with lip and tongue, and he could hear the smile in Naruto’s involuntary exclamations, in the way Naruto reached a hand out and clasped his.
dug into flesh, just as frantic as before, but with far different intent. Sasuke soaked in the way Naruto arched his back, mouth open and eyes closed, at the way Naruto’s fingers scrabbled at his back and buttocks, scratching and grasping.
Blood had a way of getting under fingernails, and Naruto had a fantastic way of blushing as he noticed it, and the damage his hands had done. And Sasuke felt a wholly unfamiliar sense of amused contentment as he laughed quietly and offered to help wash the more obvious remains of their most recent interpersonal development away.
“We really are a mess.” Sasuke echoed Naruto’s words from that night, amused and bemused in spite of himself.
Naruto looked at him sideways, slightly concerned, feeling particularly vulnerable in his nudity. “You aren’t going to punch me now, are you?”
“I didn’t intend on it. But if you ask very nicely…”
“You are impossible, you know that, right?”
Sasuke smiled. The whole situation was impossible, but there it was. Naruto nude and grinning, Sasuke sweaty and sore, but ever so pleased, found himself grinning back. The expression felt strange, but then again, most things involving Naruto were.
No morning after had ever gone easily, and as Sasuke got himself together to face the day, he wondered how this one was going to turn out.
“You should probably go check in sometime soon, before they send people to look for you.” It was a casual observation as Sasuke pulled on his pants, but there was nothing casual about his bearing as he uttered it. It was an easy out, offered in case Naruto was having second thoughts.
“They are probably happy to be rid of me.” Naruto spent some time shaking his shirt, removing dirt and leaves before slipping it on.
“I wasn’t.” The words slipped free before Sasuke could prevent them, and all he could do was wait for a reaction.
“And now you are stuck with me. I hope you learned your lesson.” Naruto, half dressed, and obviously as uncertain now that the sun was rising, threw an arm over Sasuke’s shoulder, blushing faintly as he caught sight of trails his eager fingers had cut into pale flesh.
“You know, I think I did.”
“You’re getting all sappy on me. It’s creepy.”
“Oh, I know. Now clean your stuff and let’s get moving.” Sasuke threw a sock at Naruto and grabbed his shirt from where he had hung it on a branch. “Honestly though, please contact Konoha. I don’t like the idea of waking to a pack of ANBU descending upon me for kidnapping their precious Naruto.”
“You wouldn’t wake. That’s the point of sending ANBU.” Naruto twirled his mask on a finger before slipping it back into his pack. “Don’t worry. I will explain everything.”
“I am sure you will.” Sasuke shook his head. Naruto could conquer entire nations with that smile, and the frightening fact was he knew it.