Naruto 1. NOTICE

Ahahahahaha so sorry for being so long but recently I've taken a disliking to this story and the way I wrote it. Things moved way too fast and it was way too short in my opinion and I didn't like the way that Sasuke didn't have to work for him. So I will be re-doing this story and deleting the previous chapters. Maybe you'll keep reading just because you love me? XD


	2. Chapter 2

New chapter guys. Awesome.

Chapter one.

Naruto flicked on the radio in his car as he rode down the crowded and backed up high way. The driver side window was rolled down and his already tan skin was drinking in the sun that was blazing through his window and on him. He rolled his eyes as the most recent pop song blared through and he grinned despite his constant complaints that he hated pop, he had a soft spot for songs that made him wanna dance. He let his left arm hang limply out of his open window and now he looked down and examined the thick golden ring on his fourth finger, spinning it around with his thumb he smiled slightly. 3 years ago he had married the girl of his dreams at the young age of 18. Looking back it had been a stupid and rushed decision but he didn't regret it.

Her name was Sakura and Naruto swore that she was the prettiest damn thing on this earth. With jade green eyes that shone, no matter the situation or her mood and strawberry blonde hair (more strawberry than blonde) that reached the middle of her back. Her skin was fair and everything about her was colorful and that was one of the many ways that they were just alike. Naruto himself had brightly colored golden locks of hair that always stood up and stuck out, no matter what he did to it. His skin was a gorgeous golden brown that many spent their lives in tanning parlors trying to achieve, but he had gotten it from his father. His eyes that were slightly too big for a normal human were bluer than the sky on its best day, he considered his eyes abnormal and freakish but he had been told over and over again by previous girlfriends that they always got lost in them.

He thumped his hand against the door of his car in relief as traffic finally but slowly began to creep along and he looked to the passenger seat where a bouquet of red roses sat. He gotten off early from his job as a chef in a local restaurant and decided that tonight he wanted to be the guy that every girl dreamed about, come home with roses for no reason and maybe after he finished cooking her favorite dinner for her, he would gently and lovingly make love to her on their queen sized bed. He pressed the gas pedal gently as traffic sped up quickly and his eyes warmed, he felt happier than he had felt for years. He felt like he was finally getting things in his life in place.

Naruto pulled up into their driveway and looked up at their impressively sized house. They were a well to do family with Sakura and him and their two dogs and one cat. He shut the engine off and opened his car door quietly, grabbing the roses as he slid out of the car and shut it quietly, hoping to be able to surprise Sakura. He was about an hour early and that would give him the whole night just to make her happy, just to be there with her. He slid his key quietly into the lock and opened the front doors, ignoring Bruno and Olivia (his Doberman and Rottweiler) he rested the roses on the kitchen table, planning on making her come down and find them. He slid off his shoes and walked silently to the stairs and up to the next floor where their bedroom was located.

He heard the radio quietly playing what sounded to be love music and grinned, Sakura playing love music when she was in the mood. He got goose bumps as a pleasurable chill ran through him at the thought of making love to her. He reached forward and poked the door which was open a crack and it swung open effortlessly. He stepped in, already grinning and spread his arms wide,

"Honey, I'm home!"

It was only after he had spoken this clichéd phrase that they had made fun of several times that he actually saw what was happening. It wasn't like he thought would be at all, finding your wife in bed with another man is supposed to happen quickly, there's supposed to be sudden rage and you're supposed to rush in and rip her off of him or him off of her and scream; Lots of noise and very fast. He had never expected it to be so quiet and slow. Sakura swung her head around to look at him, a look of horrific surprise on her face and the man, Naruto didn't know him (thank god) He sat up on his elbows a similar look on his face. Naruto slowly lowered his arms. He swallowed hard and took shallow and slow breathes, his eyes were the only thing that moved fast as they frantically moved around the room, perhaps searching for the cameras and waiting for Sakura to jump off, revealing that she was wearing a nude colored leotard and scream, 'GOTCHA!'

But nothing of the sort happened. It was a deadly silence that filled the room and for the first time in their relationship, Naruto felt like a third wheel. His first real emotion had been shock, followed quickly by embarrassment and he had had the ridiculous urge to apologize and quickly walk out of the room and close the door. Then as Sakura scrambled out of the bed, frantically picking up the man's clothes and yelling at him to go Naruto held his hand up to stop the commotion. Everything in the room stilled as he moved and he looked at both of them and said the first thing that came to his shell shocked mind,

"So, I'm guessing you won't want the roses?"

Then things started to speed up; Sakura crying and making excuses and the mystery man gathering up his clothes and looking at him and the door behind him, wondering if he should risk it. Naruto zeroed in on a spot on the man's neck and then he finally felt rage. Raw, powerful rage, right below the man's jaw line there was a single and perfect cherry red lipstick mark. How many times in their three years of marriage had he gotten up after love making and looked at the kiss marks on his body, cherishing each one simply because she had given them to him!

He kicked his muscular leg back and the door slammed shut, he flung out his arm and pointed at the man so hard tendons stuck out on his wrist,

"Three fucking years, you realize how many years I've loved that woman? Do you realize how hard I've fucking worked and busted my ass just to provide to her everything that she wanted and for some reason,"

He wrapped his hand in a fist and took a step forward and was rewarded with a step back from both of them,

"You…think you have the FUCKING RIGHT TO COME ALONG AND DESTROY ALL MY HARD WORK!"

The man looked to be about 19 and he looked scared shitless, he shook his head quickly and watched Naruto and Naruto threw his head back and a hollow laugh escaped the painfully fake smile that his lips were twisted into. He stepped aside and pointed towards the door,

"Go."

The young man nodded his head gratefully and ran out of the room as if the devil himself were on his heels. Naruto then turned to Sakura, the fake smile still on his face but instead of anger, like she had been expecting, she was horrified when she saw tears threatening to overflow. While Naruto had yelled at her lover she had managed to at least put on her underwear and the way he was looking at her made her feel more naked than she had ever felt before,

"Why Sakura, what did I do!"

She felt a flare of anger in her chest and sighed. She threw her arms up, exasperated,

"There you go again, Naruto. Not blaming me but you. I invited him over here, I'm the one that kissed him, I'm the one that pushed him on this bed and stroked his penis until it was hard and I'm the fucking one who rode it till I was sore!"

Naruto winced and she crossed the room and over to him. Standing chest to chest with him she looked up with a begging in her eyes that he had never seen before,

"Blame me. Let me be the one that is at fault; don't take all the guilt off of me. Let me do something wrong for once! Hit me; slap me, yell, and curse. Do something!"

Naruto gaped down at her and his cautious hand sought hers and for a moment, when they connected with her skin, he saw in her face that she really had expected him to hit her.

"I could never."

Sakura searched his eyes for any lies or hidden anger but she could find none, only his unwavering love and confusion. She narrowed her eyebrows and snatched her hand out of his and slapped him cleanly across the face. He head turned sharply to the right and he didn't move, his hand fell limply from hers and she pushed past him,

"Good bye Naruto."

"Where are you going?"

Naruto said so quietly that at first when she didn't respond he thought she hadn't heard but then she said,

"I'm leaving you."

Her voice was thick, like she was holding back tears and then he heard Sakura walk out of the room and down the stairs. She paused for only a minute to put the rest of her clothes on and then the front door opened and slammed shut. Naruto opened his eyes finally after what seemed like an hour and looked out the window at the beautiful sunset. He tightened his hands into fists so that his nails were digging into his skin,

"Well….looks like I'm alone."

Naruto said to himself strangely calm and let that sink in for a few minutes. Finally Naruto staggered over to the bed, sat down and began to sob. Sakura had left him and for the first time in years, Naruto was truly alone,


	3. Chapter 3

New chapter guys. Awesome.

Chapter two.

His dark eyes darted around the hectic and crowded restaurant, his mind trying to process the news that had just been delivered to him by none of other than his best friend, Gaara. He leaned forward, the crisp suit that had been tailored just for him wrinkling elegantly. Gaara observed his friend of 10 years with a hint of jealousy, everything that Sasuke wore he always managed to look handsome and important. Everyone in the restaurant looked at them, two incredibly handsome men having a seemingly important discussion, the dark haired one looked elegant and haunted in the dim lighting and his tux and the red head looking wild and rough in his ripped jeans and button down shirt, His red hair sticking out like a sore thumb in the dark restaurant. Bringing the crystal clear wine glass to his lips he took a sip trying to work out the details in his head,

"Explain what happened again."

He spoke quietly, looked around at the staring people and gracing them with a somber nod. Gaara licked his lips and also leaned forward, the button down shirt's sleeves pushed carelessly up to his elbows,

"He's one of my dearest friends besides you and his bitch of a wife cheated on him then left. This will be a snap for you, just a couple of weeks and it'll be over, and you've won way tougher cases."

Sasuke rolled his dark eyes and played absent mindedly with the wine glass,

"It's not the matter of difficulty, I win everything that I want and I get anything I want,"

Gaara smirked at the usual cockiness in his voice,

"It's the matter of time. I'm very busy and I don't know if my schedule can be stretched that far to fit in a simple case that I have no emotional attachment to."

Gaara's mint green eyes narrowed and Sasuke observed the dark circles around his friend, who was a long time insomniac. Instead of making him look tired it kind of made him look wild.

"But I have emotional attachment to it and since I'm your best friend that means you do too."

Sasuke scoffed at the childish logic and once again brought the wine glass to his mouth. Gaara, obviously taking the silence as a good sign continued,

"He's a really great guy no one else in the world like him, a big heart and he deserves to win everything from the major cunt,"

Sasuke's eyes widened at the vulgarity but Gaara took no notice of it or the fact that they were in the most famous restaurant in New York with lots of people,

"I never liked her, not when they got married and not when they started dating."

Gaara reached across the table and grabbed Sasuke's hand, Sasuke didn't move away; hypnotized by the amount of emotion his usually stoic friend was showing,

"You should have heard him. It took up all of his nerve to call, to ask for help. You should have heard the way he sounded, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked down at their entwined hands uncomfortably, it wasn't that he was uncomfortable with the fact that they were both guys, he fucked guys all the time but it just because they had never really touched or at least for this long. Gaara sensed this and released his hands and brought them back over to his side of the table,

"Look you just got to meet him and you just have to do this for me. How many favors do I ask of you?"

Sasuke pursed his lips and thought and was surprised to come up with nothing, was this really the first favor Gaara had even asked of him? He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, he really had no choice then. He opened his eyes and looked at Gaara's face, he could see the anxiousness masked by an emotionless face and he nodded his head yes.

"Tell me about him I suppose."

The corners of Gaara's mouth turned up into a small smile and Sasuke inwardly felt good about making his best friend happy,

"He's 21 and his name is Naruto,"

The name was the first thing that piqued Sasuke's interest, '_what an unusual name.' _"He was married to Sakura for 3 years before he came home on Monday night and found her riding another man."

Sasuke winced at the thought,

"He's a chief to one of the most famous and well known restaurant in the country, can you guess?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Gaara, he didn't like games. Gaara raised his eyebrows and waved his hands,

"Ok, it's this one."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow,

"The Kyuubi?"

Gaara leaned forward and looked around the extravagant and busy place,

"Yep."

Sasuke folded his hands together in his lap, now he was extremely interested,

"Jesus Christ, he's only 21 and he owns one of the top 5 restaurants in the country!"

Gaara nodded slowly and pointed towards Sasuke lazily,

"Kind of like how you're 21 and own one of the top 5 law firms in the country."

Sasuke scowled, his cheeks turned red at the mention of his own success.

"So when do I get to meet Mr…"

"Uzumaki."

"Yes, so when do I get to meet Mr. Uzumaki."

Gaara smirked behind his drink, Sasuke was always rushed through things he was doing so he could get to something else. Sasuke looked again at the people in the restaurant and Gaara saw how handsome Sasuke had truly gotten since they were little. Of course Sasuke had been the heart throb at their school but he had truly "bloomed" if you wanted to be poetic about it. Everything about Sasuke was dark, his hair was ebony and neat, always staying in place and his skin was fair, his eyes were pitch black with perfect white teeth. It was like watching a black and white movie when you looked at him. Even when he wore colors other than dark blue, black and white (which was rare) he somehow seemed to darken the color.

Sasuke looked behind him to where you could see the kitchen with the little window, where only the tops of heads were visible. He saw different colors, brown, black, red, blonde, which one was he? He froze, why was he so curious? He would meet the damn guy when he met him. He looked back to Gaara and saw him watching him; Gaara was probably wondering why he seemed so curious.

"I must warn you..."

Gaara began, the tone in his voice sounded guarded and protective. Sasuke turned towards him, cautious,

"You can't have him."

This caught Sasuke extremely off guard and he almost choked on his own spit. He looked at Gaara sharply,

"What?"

Gaara sighed, as if tired of explaining this to people,

"He's easy to fall in love with quickly-"

Sasuke interjected,

"OK, you had me worried for a minute, Gaara you know I don't fall in love."

Gaara looked at him with tired eyes,

"Yes Sasuke, but he breaks the toughest shells with the simplest smiles. But I repeat you can not have him. He's straight and clueless."

The table's care free attitude had now changed to one of tension, Sasuke looked at him curiously, not being used to being told no and Gaara looked at him calmly. Finally Sasuke shrugged and crossed his arms, not giving any signs of giving in. The tension was broken as the lights dimmed and Gaara answered Sasuke's confused and slightly alarmed glare,

"It's a special occasion, one of the restaurant's loyal customer's children are getting married and so they're having the head chef to come out here and prepare something special for them live."

"Was this planned?"

"For you? Yes. The children don't know it though."

"Why do I need to see the kids eat their special food?"

"Because the head chief…is Naruto."

Sasuke twisted around in his seat, telling himself that he just wanted to see how good of a cook he was but the little talk Gaara had given had made him a little more than curious. The kitchen door opened and at first there was no sign of anyone but then the music started to play and by the looks of the famous couple sitting at the table, it was their song. The door opened farther and out walked Naruto.


	4. Chapter 4

New chapter guys. Awesome. So I've been gone a while and to make up for it this chapter is long :D

Chapter 3

Naruto's silky hair though normally golden was dirty brown in the dim lights, his tan skin had darkened. Everything in the restaurant had darkened except for Naruto's stunning blue eyes. With the rest of him dark except for his eyes it should and would have been creepy had it not been for the warmth that seemed to radiate from him and fill the room. Sasuke glanced around the restaurant and saw that everyone, like him, was watching…no, more like staring at Naruto and he smirked, had Naruto not been the head chef Sasuke had a hunch that all eyes would still have be on him. Naruto's eyes flickered around the room, obviously uncomfortable with the attention and Sasuke scoffed, judging by the looks of Naruto, he got attention all the time but this was just the first time he noticed it.

As Naruto continued to look around the room his eyes met Sasuke's and Sasuke was struck-almost violently, with the force of his beauty. Sasuke's eyes widened and so did Naruto's and Sasuke, oddly felt self-conscious, out of habit he twisted his mouth into a scowl and Naruto's beautiful eyes narrowed and he continued to look around the room. As more of the kitchen staff came out Naruto was forced to walk forward to the middle of restaurant and he flashed a nervous smile to everyone. Normally Sasuke preferred people to not smile, he found that it stretched their face and made it look unnatural but as the smile disappeared Sasuke had the mad urge to make him smile again. His chest filled with an extremely odd and pleasant feeling when Naruto smiled and he was curious to feel it again.

A small smile had begun to play on Sasuke's lips when Gaara's warning ran through his head and he felt an irrational stab of anger in his chest. Why couldn't he have Naruto? He was fucking **Sasuke Uchiha**, for god's sake. He could and would have anyone and thing that he wanted. Women and Men 13+ years of age touched themselves to his pictures in magazines and how dare Gaara think that he can't get one, normal…beautiful guy! Sasuke smirked, his big ego rearing it's head once again he would show Gaara. As soon as the cooking was over Sasuke would go up to him, working some of his Uchiha magic and the man would be putty in his hands.

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up, impressed as Naruto grabbed the rather intimidating knife and began skillfully chopping up the slices of raw meat and throwing them into the pan and also throwing in spices and oils seemingly at random on the rolling table and portable little stove that sat on top. Occasionally he would look up, catch someone watching him especially closely he would wink with a smile that Sasuke supposed he thought was innocent looking but it looked rather naughty. He leaned back in his chair, looking on this situation as he normally would, he would charm Naruto, get him in bed then break his heart. Nothing special.

The restaurant went back to it's relaxed but hectic mood as the kitchen staff began to pick up the special table and oven that had been set out for the special and traditional Japanese dinner that Naruto skillfully prepared for the blushing couple. Sasuke stood up, seeing his chance as Naruto handed off a handful of materials to a young kitchen staff and began to untie that knot of his apron. Sasuke shot a glance back at Gaara, who was sitting in the chair, watching him contentedly and little too smug for Sasuke's taste.

"I'm going to go meet my new client."

Gaara crossed his arms across his broad chest and nodded towards Naruto and looked up at him, smirking,

"Go ahead. I can already see that you think you're gonna get him. Go up and try your best approach. I guarantee he's not gonna give a shit."

Sasuke scowled down at him and turned to the front sharply, grapping the collar of his suit and pulling it smartly, smoothing out all the wrinkles. His dark eyes locked onto Naruto and he strutted forward to his newest target.

Naruto never considered himself an angry or violent man. When Naruto had stepped out the kitchen into the dark restaurant he had been embarrassed but not particularly bothered. When everyone had stared (he was still trying to figure out why) he had been even more embarrassed but it wasn't that big of a deal. But then there was the bastard. As Naruto looked around the crowd, interested and anxious, his eyes had met with some guys randomly, Naruto had been planning to look away but before he could the man scowled at him! Fucking scowled at him! At that moment Naruto had had the strongest urge to go over to whoever the fuck the guy was and wipe the damn scowl off of his face. _Oh I'm sorry, do you have a fucking problem being in __my__ damn restaurant? _

That's why when Naruto was done cooking the meal for the couple ( he had honestly no idea who they were but they didn't need to know that) Naruto had frozen and been shocked when the scowling bastard had walked up to him, a smug expression on his face and thrust his hand into Naruto's face. Naruto stared at it and looked at the man then back at the hand. This guy was kidding right? The man's face became impatient and he thrust the hand further towards Naruto, a confused expression on his face, as if he couldn't comprehend why Naruto wasn't shaking it. Naruto continued to just stare at the man until he sighed, shifted his weight to one foot and said in a deep and commanding voice,

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha; I've come to shake hands with you."

Naruto's jaw dropped, did the bastard think that he didn't know what he wanted? Naruto's eyes narrowed,

"No shit, dumb ass. I know what you want but I think it's obvious that I don't wanna touch you."

This time it was the bas-Sasuke's jaw that dropped. Naruto stifled a laugh; the handsome yet serious looking face in a shocked expression was mildly humorous. Naruto patted his hands against his thighs as Sasuke continued to look at him shocked, he turned to go but was stopped by Sasuke calling out to him,

"Wait, did you hear me?"  
Naruto cocked an eyebrow and looked around awkwardly,

"Yeah, I heard you. You're Sasuke something and you came to shake my hand but unfortunately I don't shake scowling bastard's hands."

"You...don't know me?"

Naruto quickly scanned Sasuke, going through the short list of celebrities that he knew and he wasn't in it. Naruto's anger dissolved and he began to feel bad about being so mean to Sasuke, who was genuinely confused at the fact that Naruto didn't know him. He took a step forward and sniffed, enjoying the smell of vanilla that wafted off of him,

"Look, I'm sorry I was such an ass earlier, I've been having a rough time this week and I guess I kinda took it out on you."

Sasuke swallowed hard as Naruto took a step towards him and put an apologetic hand on his shoulder. Sasuke's eyes frantically traced every feature on Naruto's face and body, trying to figure out how Naruto didn't know him. He was confused and while trying to listen to Naruto's apology he kept being thwarted by the smoldering heat that seemed to radiate off of his hand onto his shoulder. It was a pleasant warmth like a cool day in Louisiana. Naruto took a step back, his hand leaving but not the warmth and put out a hand,

"Sup, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke scoffed, beginning to feel slightly normal now. He clapped his hand into Naruto's and was once again surrounded by the maddening warmth,

"Make up your mind will you? One minute you're telling me off and the next you're shaking my hand. You an enemy or a friend?"

Sasuke lamely joked but as he said this he noticed the way Naruto was looking at him, blue eyes narrowed and lips in a pout of concentration. They released each others hands and Naruto stepped back,

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

There was an awkward silence and finally it occurred to Sasuke to explain to Naruto why he had come up and introduced himself. He pointed with his thumb behind him,

"I'm here with Gaara and he told me to talk to you."

Sasuke exhaled deeply, expecting a feeling of relief but he felt nothing. He had told Naruto that to explain to him that Sasuke wasn't interested in him. Because that's definitely not what it was, Sasuke didn't become interested in people; they became interested in him. Naruto's eyes widened and for the first time Sasuke noticed how big they were and suddenly he was in Naruto's surprisingly strong arms. Sasuke became stiff as the heat spread through his whole body and he shivered, his heart beat faster and it felt heavy. _What the fuck is wrong with me!_

Naruto pulled back, holding Sasuke firmly by the arms and looked him in the face, for the first time grinning at him and Sasuke felt a stupid, happy grin grow on his own face unintentionally,

"You should have said that from the beginning! Any friend of Gaara's is a friend of mine."

Naruto wrapped his arm around Sasuke and pulled him to his side, Sasuke having to lean down slightly so Naruto could hold him properly, this guy rough housing with him like he was Naruto's friend should have pissed him off but instead he felt the idiot grin on his face grow wider, _Maybe just this once. _Sasuke's neck was pressed tightly in the crook of Naruto's elbow and Naruto raised a cupped hand to his mouth and Sasuke had time to think just before he started to shout, '_Surely he wouldn't, we're all adults and this is a 5-star restaurant for god sakes! He'd be crazy to-'_ Then Naruto blasted out at full volume,

"GGGAAAARRRRAAAAAAAA, COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE."

He then proceeded to rest a hand on his stomach and throw his head back and laugh, as if that was the funniest thing he'd ever done. Sasuke, meanwhile, was busy looking up at Naruto's laughing face and thinking, '_My god he's crazy that was crazy. He's like a child. _Naruto looked down at his bent figure and flashed him a wild smile and Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. The whole restaurant was looking at them now and as Gaara walked up, cheeks pink and face reluctant they started to go back to their own lives. Gaara sped up as he approached and dealt Naruto a swift punch to the gut which Naruto took marvelously well, the tears in his eyes were fake and he looked at Gaara in a pout.

"Gaara why'd you hit me?"

He rubbed his stomach sullenly and Sasuke had the urge to rub it for him and he shook his head wildly, dispelling the ridiculous thoughts, what was wrong with him today? Gaara looked at Naruto in what appeared to be a cold expression but Sasuke could see the warmth in his eyes,

"You're acting like a child Naruto. Act your age for once Naruto."

Naruto released Sasuke from his iron grip and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. Sasuke straightened up, glaring at everyone around that still dared to gawk and leaned over to Gaara,

"I thought you said he was upset and not his usual self."

Gaara looked at him, his eyes were amused and a small smile played on his lips,

"This is him faking it. You can't tell now but give it a couple of weeks; you'll get close to him in no time."

Gaara grabbed his arm and pulled him closer while Naruto watched them sullenly,

"Remember my warning."

Sasuke could feel Gaara's breathe on his ear and he looked at Naruto, who was looking around, disinterested. Sasuke had to admit, he was a strange one and he had a feeling that this was on the only one that he probably couldn't get into bed. _Well that means you have no point in trying anymore, right? _Sasuke blinked, surprised at that train of thought. It was true he supposed, he never tried for anything more than a one night stand so why was he still thinking of trying? He narrowed his eyes, not liking the reluctance he felt about quitting on him but he decided it would be best. _From now on, he is only your client. Nothing else._

Naruto put his hands in his dark wash jeans pockets and smiled at them both suspiciously,

"So what are you guys doing here and how do you know Sasuke, Gaara?" 

Gaara rolled his eyes and crossed his arms,

"Sasuke's doing us both a favor."

Naruto's eyes widened at this and he looked at Sasuke with excited curiousity and Sasuke narrowed his eyes, _leave him alone like that._ Naruto took a step forward, hands clasped in front of him,

"What is he doing?"

"He's going to be your lawyer. Your lucky ass, he's one of the best lawyers in America, in magazines and all that jazz. You'll definitely win the case and get what you deserve from the bi-"

Sasuke watched surprised as Naruto silenced him with a deadly look, one that Sasuke hoped to never see aimed at him and Gaara rolled his eyes, undeterred,

"You know it's true and one of these days I'm gonna get you to fucking say it but until then, met Sasuke Uchiha, your best friend for the next couple of weeks or months."

Naruto's eyes flickered over to Sasuke's and Sasuke was horrified to see Naruto's cheeks reddening. Naruto grinned sheepishly at him, reaching his arm up to scratch the back of his head nervously,

"So you know all about it huh?"

Naruto avoided Sasuke's gaze as his cheeks grew even redder and Sasuke (to his horror) was struck with sudden adoration and protectiveness of the man in front of him that he had known for 30 mins. He stepped forward and Naruto looked at him, embarrassed,

"You'll get everything you deserve and more with me."

Sasuke said suddenly and as soon as he said it he wanted to hit himself. He began to stammer his hands whirling around in the air nervously,

"Oh uh...I meant lawyer wise like money and stuff."

Sasuke choked out a laugh as Naruto cocked an eyebrow and then grinned,

"Cool it bro, I know you're not gay."

Sasuke stopped talking, his mouth open and only a dismal sound escaping it,

"Aah.."

Naruto grinned at them both and looked down at the watch that rested on his right hand, his face turned into one shock and he looked up at them sharply,

"I'm sorry, I have to go back to the kitchen but I'll call you both later."

He looked at Sasuke, obviously thinking about something then reached into his pants pockets and pulled out a pen, he held out his free hand,

"Give me your arm."  
Sasuke stared at him blankly and held out his arm and Naruto grabbed it quickly but gently and wrote down his name and number on his hand. Sasuke felt his cheeks warm as Naruto looked at him out of the corner of his eye and gave him that wink that he thought was innocent and then capped the pen. He gave a curt wave to both of them and then jogged back to the kitchen, the big door swinging behind him. Sasuke stared after him and looked at Gaara as he cleared his throat.

Gaara was observing him quietly and Sasuke narrowed his eyes, looking away,

"Hope he didn't get you too hard."

Gaara said quietly,

"He didn't get me at all…"

Sasuke replied, his voice at full volume but lacking confidence. Gaara looked at him again and patted him on the shoulder and walked away. Sasuke looked at the kitchen doors again and then walked out of the restaurant, hands in his pockets as he approached his Cadillac and slid in. He leaned his head back against the leather interior and began to laugh, the man wasn't even gay, didn't know _he_ was gay and Sasuke felt that he felt something for him? His laughter trailed off and he was left staring at the ceiling of the car. He leaned forward and pressed his head against the hot steering wheel,

"Oh, what a mess…"

He muttered to himself as he sat up and pulled out of the crowded parking lot.


	5. Chapter 5

New chapter guys. Awesome

Chapter 4

Maddening. Naruto gasped, hitting the base of his fist into his right cupped hand's palm as he finally thought of the word, the light slapping sound caused Bruno, the Rottweiler, to perk his ears up and stare at his master faithfully, waiting for instruction but when none came he went back to dozing lazily. Naruto smiled sheepishly at the disturbed Bruno and leaned back on the sofa; one foot propped up on the coffee table and looked around the house distastefully. That was it; the silence in his home was maddening. He realized, ashamed, that he had taken to leaving the TV on at night and he scowled, it was like what people did when they left their dogs at home but didn't want them to feel lonely. He welcomed any noise at all, the dogs started barking? He let them continue on for a while longer than usual just so that for once in weeks, the house was full of noise.

He leaned his head back, resting it on the back of the couch and sighed, exasperated. He was growing tired of feeling lonely and betrayed, it was exhausting and he was truly beginning to feel that now, just two weeks since Sakura had left him and not even an inch into the proper divorce procedure. He sighed again, reaching up with his left hand and rubbing the bridge of his nose, tired of the whole thing. The TV blared at him, the radios that he had periodically placed throughout the house were all turned on and quietly playing different assortments of music and all at once it was too much, it could have been called a mild panic attack with his stressed and shallow breathing and the way he was beginning to sweat. Naruto snatched the TV remote from the sofa cushion to his right and muted the TV and got up and stalked to the radios, flicking them all off with growing irritability. He savagely turned off the last radio and stood in the front hallway, the house completely quiet now except for the occasional content sigh from his dogs and he breathed deeply and relaxed.

He stumbled over to the wall to his right, panting and leaned his back against it and slid down all the way until the seat of his jeans touched the cold floor and closed his eyes. He concentrated on breathing deeply, determined to not think of anything for at least a couple of seconds. Naruto opened his eyes slowly, his tense shoulders relaxed and his knees fell, his legs splayed wide open and he smiled contentedly, his whole body felt like jelly. He was jerked out of his Zen like relaxation as the phone rang and he eagerly snatched at it, hungry to actually to talk to someone,

"Whatsup?" He said into the phone, casually examining the finger nails on his left hand, trying to act normal.

"This is the Uzumaki residence correct?" A voice on the other line cautiously said and Naruto rolled his eyes, disappointed. What type of telemarketer called at, his eyes flickered over to the clock on his wall and raised his eye brows, at 11:00 P.M?

"Yes it is but let me tell you right now, I have no intention of buying whatever you're se-" The person on the other line chuckled and Naruto furrowed his eye brows, what was with this bastard?

"You find something funny, bastard?" Naruto questioned angrily and heard the chuckle again and fumed.

"Yes actually, because I do believe that's the second time you've called me a bastard." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the husky voice then gasped and sat up, gripping the phone tighter.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly and Sasuke went quiet and cleared his throat.

"Why are you so excited?" Sasuke asked and Naruto thought his voice sounded slightly flustered. Naruto chuckled and leaned back against the wall.

"I wasn't excited, I was surprised. I mean, it is 11:00 after all." He said coolly and shook his head, why had he gotten so excited? He felt slightly guilty about acting so coldly and bit his lip, "What can I do for you?" He was legitimately curious as to why Sasuke had called so late. He had been expecting him to call for days now since they last saw each other at the restaurant.

"Is it really 11:00?" Naruto could hear genuine surprised in Sasuke's voice and shrugged,

"Yeah but don't sweat it. So what can I do for you?" Naruto asked again patiently.

"Plenty of things." Sasuke immediately shot back huskily and Naruto frowned, his cheeks warming as he thought of all the sexual innuendoes that could come with that statement.

"Like ah...signing papers and all that." Sasuke stammered quickly and Naruto held the phone from his ear and stared at it distrustfully and then shrugged and brought it back to his ear just in time to hear,

"-I can call tomorrow and we can do it at a later time if it's ok with you. I'm sorry I called so late I had no idea and I must be leav-"

Naruto stared behind him at the despairingly empty house and clutched the phone to his ear, "I'm lonely." And slapped his hand over his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut, _idiot idiot, why in the world do you expect him to care if you're lonely? Why did I even say that!_ Naruto gripped his free hand into a fist and shook his head, "Sorry Sasuke. Ignore that, I don't even know why I-"

"I'll be coming over now then, if that's ok." Sasuke said and Naruto could hear the sound of keys jingling in the background. He narrowed his eyes as he detected something 'off' with Sasuke's voice but couldn't quite figure it out and he nodded, forgetting he couldn't see him.

"I mean…sure. But Sasuke you really don't have to. I apologize for what I said, it was truly unprofessional." Naruto said, his fingers tapping against his thigh, embarrassed. Here was this man that he didn't know anything about except for his name and job and Naruto had succeeded in guilt tripping him into coming over, how awkward must this be for Sasuke!

"It's fine Naruto. I'll be there shortly." Naruto could hear and engine start and felt guilty then curious.

"Wait, how do you know where I live?" Naruto asked.

"Gaara gave me all your information. Now I really must go Naruto, I don't like talking on the cell phone and driving." Sasuke hung up and the dial tone began to blare into Naruto's ear and he hung it up and looked at it, shocked.

"What the hell just happened?" He murmured.

Sasuke gripped the leather steering wheel and thought over the mistakes he had made in the last 15 minutes:

He had called someone. That in itself was a completely odd and rare occasion but he had called **Naruto** for Christ's sake. The guy he had sworn off of.

He had called out of loneliness and what happens! He ends up letting out a flirty reply to Naruto's innocent comment of, "What can I do for you?"

For some reason that he wasn't sure if it was his fault or not, when Naruto had accidently said, "I'm lonely." As Sasuke prepared to go, flustered and feeling stupid, Sasuke's heart had ached and he immediately felt the urge to go and comfort the idiot.

Which he was going to do right now and Sasuke hit the steering wheel harshly with both of his hands, frustrated. He was going over to Naruto's house, a gorgeous man who was able to make Sasuke feel things that he had never felt and he was still going. God he was stupid.

Naruto stood up and stupidly looked around the house, needing something to do to pass the time before Sasuke arrived. The house was clean so he couldn't do that and he certainly wasn't going to watch TV again that night because of his little freak out earlier so what else was there to do? Naruto remembered the way Sasuke had walked up to him at the restaurant, narrowed obsidian eyes looking at him confidently and curiously, a look that Naruto guessed made all the girl's hearts beat faster. His was beating faster however because of totally reason though, he curled his lip and ignored the disturbing thought and looked down, he was wearing a white cotton tee shirt and plaid pajama pants and he jogged down the hallway towards his bedroom, _I can't let the bastard see me all..._ He stopped in mid step, why in the world did he care what he was wearing when Sasuke came over?

Naruto stepped away from the bedroom defiantly and walked over to his living room and sat on the sofa. He wasn't going to change just because Sasuke was coming over and if the bastard didn't like it he could get the fuck. He stayed like that for about ten more minutes until a knock sounded throughout the house, immediately Bruno and Olivia were on their feet and Naruto stood up, quieting them and speed walked down the hallway and opened the door, a grin spreading on his face. He froze and stared up at the slightly taller man, suddenly wishing that he had changed his clothing. The door had opened and Sasuke had looked up at him, his dark eyes immediately meeting Naruto's and his lips in a smirk, his neat hair blew softly in the breeze and Naruto gulped, struck by the force of Sasuke's beauty. Sasuke's long torso was covered by a black tee shirt on top of dark wash boot cut jeans.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably and smiled nervously at Sasuke and stepped aside letting him in.

"Hey Sasuke. Sorry about…all that over the phone." Naruto said, his mind slowly getting back up to speed and his eyes widened in shock, had he really been thinking about Sasuke's...beauty? _What the fuck? _

Sasuke glanced at him that irritating smirk still on his face and waved it off, his eyes studying Naruto's surprisingly clean house, "So it's clean?" Sasuke murmured and froze and looked at Naruto who was looking at him, clearly confused.

"What?" Naruto asked, his bright dancing blue eyes widened curiously and Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked down the hall, his cheeks turning a light pink.

"I don't know…I just kinda expected your house to be…messy?" Seeing the still confused look on Naruto's face Sasuke sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "It's just that your personality was so…carefree that I didn't expect you to do tedious things like cleaning." He looked sideways at Naruto and saw with relief that now he was smiling.

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled cheerfully at Sasuke, "No one ever does!" Sasuke rolled his eyes and slipped off his shoes and began to stroll down the hallway as if he owned the place and looked over his shoulder at Naruto,

"Come on, we have work to do."

He turned around and smirked confidently until he heard Naruto call out, amused,

"Sasuke? Living room's the other way."

Sasuke closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek, his cheeks heating up, _Fuck…_

"Why is that there?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth as the tan hand pushed his own hand aside and pointed at a line in which it was necessary for both parties to sign. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand, after spending an hour with the idiot he felt surprisingly comfortable with him with the usual awkwardness of hanging out with someone you didn't really known but he was absolutely sure that he didn't like him now. Naruto was gorgeous but he was curious and loud and dominant and usually the people that were around Sasuke submitted to him and it was a new and annoying experience for Sasuke. Why did he insist on being so challenging?

"I don't know Naruto, it just is. But you need to sign it anyways." He heard Naruto sigh and he clenched his teeth waiting for the comeback.

"But that doesn't explain why I need to sign it. What if you're wrong and I don't need to sign it and it does something horrible." Naruto smiled widely at him as Sasuke glared at him.

"You don't need to worry about that Naruto because I'm never wrong." Sasuke said while absentmindedly sorting through the vast pile of papers spread out on the coffee table and he rolled his eyes as Naruto scoffed.

"No you're not." Sasuke turned back to him; his eyes were brimming with irritation.

"Yes, I am." He watched as Naruto's eyebrows rose and disappeared beneath the messy bangs that hung in his face.

"No you're not. You were wrong before." Naruto stated simply and Sasuke raised his eyebrows in disbelief and leaned back against his designated corner of the couch.

"Oh really? When was I wrong Naruto?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously as Naruto smiled innocently at him.

"You were going the wrong way to a totally different room when you first got here." Naruto sat back and watched him, his eyes daring him to continue and Sasuke rolled his eyes, scoffing.

"I meant to go that way all along." Naruto's eyes widened and the corners of his lips turned up slightly and then Sasuke watched, extremely curious as his expression and demeanor changed from innocent to sexy. His blue eyes narrowed sensually and one eye brow was cocked, his pouty lips pulled into a daring smirk and he leaned forward and looked up at Sasuke from underneath golden bangs and Sasuke gulped wondering how in the world he had thought that he didn't like the challenging, gorgeous man before and he felt his cheeks turn red and his heart race.

"So Sasuke, what were you planning to do once you got to my bedroom?" Naruto's voice lowered huskily and Sasuke stared at him shocked and slightly turned on. Naruto looked at his surprised red face and smiled, going back to normal and laughed.

"Just playing!" Naruto grabbed the pen off the table and twirled it in his fingers and Sasuke choked out a laugh, hooking his collar in the crook of his index finger and pulled it, resisting the urge to fan himself. Naruto leaned forward, pointed to the blank line.

"I sign here right?" He asked and Sasuke nodded. As Naruto leaned forward and signed Sasuke looked at him softly, his loudness and curiosity interested and challenged Sasuke and he (in a sort of masochistic way) liked it and he rested his chin on the palm of

his hand and watched Naruto. A weird sort of fluttery sensation filled his stomach and he scowled and Naruto glanced up and smiled and took in Sasuke's scowl.

"Hey now don't pout. I agree, you totally are Mr. Right." Sasuke rolled his eyes and smiled softly, trying in vain to ignore the light feeling in his quickly beating heart.

"Yeah yeah, just sign the paper." He murmured as he looked around the brightly colored living room and glared and Naruto looked him curiously and also looked around and then looked back to him, grinning.

"What wrong, you not like bright colors?" Naruto asked, half teasing and half legitimately curious and Sasuke observed him amused, bright golden hair and blue eyes, bright tan and sparkling white teeth covered by pink full lips. He leaned back and scratched the back of his head and smiled at Naruto, watching amused as Naruto's eyes widened and he looked away quickly.

"Nah...but I actually think I'm starting to like them though." Sasuke smirked at the double meaning and looked at the clock on the bottom of the TV and jumped,

"Holy crap, is it really one in the morning?" The smile faded off of Naruto's face as he looked at the clock and then back at Sasuke.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I didn't mean to keep you so long." Naruto stood up and began to tidy up the coffee table, stacking the papers on top of one another and Sasuke smiled thankfully at him and packed them in his briefcase. Naruto put his arms over his head and stretched, arching his back and sighing contentedly and then tapped Sasuke on the elbow and took a step forward,

"Come on, I'll walk you to the door." Naruto grinned as Sasuke murmured something along the lines of, 'what a gentleman.' And thumped him lightly on the shoulder,

"Don't be a smart ass." Sasuke glared at him with no real heat and Naruto smiled back and they walked down the hallway, Naruto opened the front door as Sasuke slipped his shoes back on. They both stepped outside on the porch and Sasuke glared at Naruto suspiciously,

"Why are you out here? I'm a grown man and I think I can make it to my car." Naruto shrugged, rubbing his eyes groggily.

"Just makin sure." Sasuke scoffed and gave him a curt goodbye wave and walked to his car and threw in his briefcase and put one foot in when something stopped him. He looked at the porch and saw Naruto standing there still watching him curiously. Sasuke bit his lip nervously and leaned against the car door, one hand cupped around his mouth.

"Naruto." He watched amused as Naruto startled from his position against the door and began to walk towards the car but thought better of it and yelled back.

"Yeah?" Sasuke swallowed nervously and his heart began to beat faster and the butterflies in his stomach fluttered around so much that he began to feel nauseous and he was aware of his hands beginning to sweat, what was a way to phrase this but not sound desperate?

"Since this divorce process is going to continue for a while and we have a lot of work I think it might be good for us to plan to…meet every day. It doesn't have to be at your house, it could be at mine or at a restaurant or something like that." He gripped the car door as he trailed off from his nervous rambling. Now that he had asked he felt better but for the first time in his life, Sasuke Uchiha was scared of being rejected and now he suddenly felt bad for every person that he had turned down in his lifetime, _if this is how they felt…_ He watched cautiously as Naruto smiled and he hoped to god that was a good sign. Naruto stepped forward and Sasuke took a small step back.

"Yeah, that'd be cool." Naruto nodded and then waved again before turning back and walking back to his house. Sasuke felt an ecstatic and relieved sensation in his chest. He frowned as he thought over what he had just done, he was…attracted to Naruto, he definitely knew this now but there was the question of how to get Naruto to be attracted to him. Sasuke scowled as he remembered Gaara's warning and revved his engine angrily, _Fuck it. Just watch Gaara, I'm gonna get him to fall for me in no time. After all I __am__ Sasuke Uchiha._

Naruto shut the door behind him and leaned against it, looking sideways out the window as Sasuke got in his car and drove off and he rolled his eyes, a smile making its way onto his face. He pushed off the door and walked down the hallway, the house suddenly didn't seem so lonely and brought a hand to his smiling lips, he actually wouldn't mind seeing Sasuke everyday.


	6. Chapter 6

New chapter guys. Awesome. Sorry for being late with this one. I uploaded a story of (Our Promise) Which I personally like for you guys last week since I didn't update this story. XD

Chapter 5.

There was something missing, he was sure of it. Sasuke had woken up feeling unusually discontent with the empty house and he had had the strangest feeling that something was missing! He had searched his house and found all his belongings in tact and went out to his garage and found his 5 cars still there, the tools he used to fix them up all in their right places and he had walked back to the house, still in his house robe and slippers scowling. The feeling was unsettling him and Sasuke didn't care for the silence of the house particularly this morning so he got dressed quickly, grabbed his leather wallet and cell phone and keys and jogged out of the house not bothering to lock it behind him. If anything was stolen he would just buy it again. Sasuke walked back into his garage and as he was choosing which car he would drive for he was surrounded by the urgent feeling of loneliness and he walked briskly towards his convertible and decided to drive with the top down, maybe the fresh air would help clear his head.

As he pulled out of the driveway and rode down the streets of his neighborhood he worried his lip, he had basically been alone all of his life except for his mother and brother. His father, Fugaku, had worked most days and nights, leaving his family to fend for themselves. The pressure to take over the family company had been set upon his brother and him at a very early age and it had been Itachi who showed the most promise of fulfilling the expectancy until at the age of fifteen he had come out to his family and been disinherited by his father which in return forced his mother to divorce Fugaku and take Sasuke. His father had not tried to get him back but on his eighteenth birthday his father had called him and lamely tried to propose a deal for him to take over the company in place of his shunned brother. Sasuke had curtly refused and told him that instead, he planned to move to New York and become the best lawyer so that he could help people get what they deserve from cheap bastards like his father and had hung up.

Sasuke had moved to New York by himself ignoring his mother's protest, got a scholarship all by himself (though there was no need, they had had a fantastic lawyer and he and his mother had gotten 15 billion dollars) gotten a job by himself, went to his first court case by himself and risen to the top by himself. He had done this all alone and of course he felt lonely which is why (at least he believed) he behaved so promiscuously, it was perfectly reasonable for a person to feel lonely and not want to go home alone. But over the past month in which he had spent everyday with Naruto the physical wanting had began to wane away and the needing began. Not physical either which puzzled Sasuke, if he didn't need someone to sleep with for the night then what did he need?

He pulled onto the highway and sighed, still troubled but relaxing now and he looked at the signs and chuckled, he had begun to drive to Naruto's house subconsciously and without even calling the idiot first. Sasuke pulled off at an exit and dug in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and dialed Naruto's number. It rung three times before Naruto answered cheerfully,

"What's up?" Sasuke smiled as he pulled back onto the highway and glared at the cars around him, daring them to judge him for using a cell phone while driving.

"I'm coming to your house. Have the door unlocked, I don't feel like waiting forever for you to get out of the kitchen to come answer it." Sasuke rolled his eyes; he had waited at the door from more than ten minutes before while Naruto had tried to quickly finish a new recipe.

"Yeah yeah, such a bossy bastard aren't you?" Sasuke felt his cheeks warm,

"Yeah but I'm your bossy bastard." He winced at the silence regretting having said such a bold thing and then Naruto began to laugh,

"Oh my! What an honor! I am the proud owner of the world's favorite bossy bastard! By the way where the hell are you? It sounds like you're in a fucking tornado." Sasuke let himself laugh heartily at the comment and he shook his head, still grinning. That idiot…

"Yes Naruto. I'm in a tornado and I'm calling you somehow. I'm in the convertible with the top down." He could practically hear the pout on Naruto's face.

"Shut up! So what lawyer stuff are we doing this time?" _shit._ Sasuke looked quickly to the passenger seat of the car and swore. In his hurry to escape his house he had left his briefcase at home. Sasuke shrugged.

"I think today we might just actually hang out." He glared towards the empty passenger seat and pulled off into the exit.

"But to make it up to you since I know how much you love doing work, I'm bringing something to drink." He was mostly buying the drink for himself. Sasuke had never been to Naruto's house and not done at least a small amount of work this would be the first time where they be hanging out like…friends. His cheeks warmed at the thought.

"Ooohh, I see how it is. You're gonna get me drunk huh?" Sasuke's eyes widened then narrowed as his cheeks turned bright red.

"What would I possibly gain from that! Go unlock your door, I'll be there soon." He hit the 'end call' button and threw the passenger seat and clenched his jaw as images of Naruto drunk, eyes hazy cheeks red, asking him to his room, Sasuke touching him…Naruto telling him that he'd never done anything like this before. Sasuke gritted his teeth and gripped the steering wheel tightly, his right food pressed down on the gas pedal and he lurched forward suddenly, snapping him out of his day dream and he took a few deep breathe to calm himself as he pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot. _No more of that._

Sasuke leaned back as Naruto poured them both another glass. The feeling that something was missing was gone, at least temporarily as it always was when he was with Naruto. Naruto handed him the glass and they toasted to nothing in particular. As Sasuke down his drink he watched Naruto silently. Naruto's eyes were closed, his cheeks pink from the alcohol and his eyelashes had never looked as long as they did now, his full lips were glistening, alcohol still resting on them and Sasuke had the urge to kiss it off. Naruto's eyes fluttered open slowly as he downed the rest of his drink and Sasuke looked at the impressively sized bottle and was shocked to see it almost empty. The images from his day dream in the car came flooding back and he began to fidget nervously, surely nothing of the sort would happen but that didn't stop his heart from thudding and his cheeks from blushing.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously as Naruto leaned forwards, his eyes lowered to half mast and suddenly Naruto collapsed on his lap and Sasuke barely stifled a yelp.

"N-naruto! What are you d-doing!" Sasuke cursed the embarrassing stutter but he would think of that later, right now the ever gorgeous Naruto, the one he was after was on his lap, looking up at him sorrowfully, his silky blonde hair splayed all over Sasuke's lap and Sasuke fought the urge to touch it.

"It;s sooo lonely S'suke. But I'm glad tah spend everyday wit you; it helps me… be not so lonely." Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly at the incorrect sentence but chose not to mention. His heart beat began to race,

"So…I make you feel not lonely?" Naruto looked up at him, his blue eyes opened wide and then they narrowed happily as a hundred kilowatt smile graced his face.

"Defin'tly, I'm glad I got tah know you, even doh you're a bastard." Sasuke's breathe hitched as Naruto's expression became one of drunken interest and he reached up one hand towards Sasuke's face. Sasuke stopped breathing all together,

"What are you doing?" He murmured as he stared down at the beautiful man on his lap. Naruto held eye contact with him as one of his hands reached up and tentatively grabbed one of his bangs and began to rub his hand through it. Naruto turned his attention to his hand, looking at it like it was a foreign object then smiled back at Sasuke,

"I knew it! Your hair is soft." He exclaimed innocently and Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. Naruto's intentions weren't to drunkenly seduce him but to touch his hair. He could live with that…for now. Naruto sat up suddenly, coming deliciously close to Sasuke's face and Sasuke's stared wide eyed into the depths of the azure eyes and Naruto gripped one of Sasuke hands, still on his lap.

"Sasuke…do you wanna come tah mah room?" Sasuke looked at him startled as the remnants of his earlier day dream drifted through his head against and he clenched his teeth and scooted backwards, shaking his head no. Naruto pouted at him and grabbed his wrists and stood up, hoisting Sasuke up with him with surprising strength and dragged him down the hallway. Sasuke leaned back on his heels, trying to resist but was surprised at the insane amount of strength that Naruto showed and he made a mental note not to piss him off. Ever.

Naruto looked at him over his shoulder and Sasuke immediately stopped resisting. Naruto's blue eyes were narrowed sexily and his smile was so inviting. Maybe it could work this way, maybe he could fuck first and then make Naruto fall for him. Naruto slammed the door open and they both walked in and just stood. The room was brightly colored which didn't surprise Sasuke in the least and finally Naruto spoke.

"This is where I found her. This is where I found her riding that guy. If I could go back in time I would beat the shit out of that little fuck." He spoke surprisingly sober and Sasuke looked at him interested then back at the bed. His eyebrows furrowed if his plan ever worked and if he ever got the opportunity to sleep in here with Naruto, he wouldn't want to do it on this mattress where someone else had pleasured him and vise versa. Sasuke's mouth dropped open and the words slipped out almost immediately,

"Let's burn it." Naruto looked at him sharply, his eyes very wide.

"What?" Sasuke bit his lip, he hadn't meant to say that but he had so now he had to roll with it.

"I said let's burn it. Why should you sleep on a mattress that someone betrayed you on! I don't know how you've done it for this long but by god it's time for it to go. Let's burn the mother fucker!" Sasuke's energy had picked up with every word and at the end of his speech his blood was pumping. Naruto looked at him hesitantly for a minute and then smiled wildly at him,

"You crazy son of a bitch." Sasuke grinned back at him, pushing his sleeves up past his elbows,

"Yeah yeah, but I'm your crazy son of a bitch." They grinned at each other and in a flash they were at both sides of the bed, hauling the mattress up and down the stairs to the spacious backyard. Naruto poured gasoline on it and Sasuke poured the rest of the scotch on it and they each took a match from the pack that Naruto had produced from the kitchen and dropped it on the queen size mattress, shouting in delight as it immediately caught and began to burn rapidly. The smell was horrible but neither paid attention to it. Naruto began to dance around it, singing at the top of his lungs and on his second way around he grabbed Sasuke's wrists forcing him to dance as well.

The dogs were lured out by the noise and joined their master in running around the massive fire, barking. Sasuke grinned, all the noise and movement it was beautifully chaotic and as the flames reached higher to the sky Naruto followed suit, raising his arms and tilting his head back and grinning and suddenly time slowed for Sasuke. There were no dogs and there was no fire, there was only Naruto. His light blonde hair painted orange from the fire and the fire reflected in his eyes, his lips glistened and Sasuke breathed out a laugh, this was what he was missing. This is what he'd been craving for, for many years. He felt complete as Naruto looked at him sideways, grinning Sasuke grinned back and raised his arms before drunkenly falling back on his ass.

Naruto fell over laughing and Sasuke laid back completely, hands behind his head. So this is what being truly happy felt like.

Sasuke closed the door behind him quietly, striding over to his car parked out front he slid in and closed the door and breathed deeply, relaxing. Tonight was the first night that he had felt truly happy and there was no way in hell he was going to let anything get in the way of feeling that again…not even his pride. He looked back to the house where Naruto was safely laying on the couch, he had been surprisingly light when Sasuke had picked up his collapsed form and brought him inside, the dogs trying to trip him the entire way. He grabbed the phone off the passenger seat and went down his contacts and pressed 'call'. This was hurting his pride but he would take it. The groggy voice answered irritably and for a second Sasuke could say nothing and then all at once he began to talk rapidly.

"Woah…calm down. Sasuke what do you need? I just woke up, phrase it simply." Sasuke swallowed nervously and closed his eyes, gripping the steering wheel tightly with his left hand.

"I need your help…getting Naruto to return my…affection." The other line went silent and Sasuke started the car.

"Please I need you to help me. I feel so good around him and I've never felt this way before and I cant pass it up. Please help me…Gaara."


	7. Chapter 7

New chapter guys. Awesome. R&R please. If you have any tips please do share them like if I put too much detail, etc.

Chapter 6

Sasuke knocked hesitantly on the door of the high class apartment, looking around the empty hallway biting his lip, hoping he wasn't waking any one else up. The clock stationed at the end of the hallway caught his attention and he swore quietly, it was a quarter to one and what was he doing? Waking up his best friend because of an impulsive and stupid decision he had made in the car. Sure he had felt great, fantastic even, but did he really need Gaara's help? He took a half step back shuffling his feet nervously as he clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to make a decision; to run or not to run. A coil of nervousness wound tightly in the base of Sasuke's stomach and he glared at the door, why was he getting so nervous? He was just here to talk to his best friend about a problem. _A problem he warned you about before you even met the idiot. _

That did it, he felt foolish. That's right, Gaara had warned him about this, he cant let Gaara know that he had actually fell for it! He took another step back and turned around, preparing to walk away when the door opened and an irritable Gaara stood, leaning against the sturdy door frame observing him with calculating eyes. Sasuke froze, his back still turned to Gaara, the coil in his stomach tightened and he swore inwardly. After a few moments of silence Gaara sighed.

"Well Sasuke, as much as I like looking at your back do you think you could come in so my neighbors don't come out and see me half dressed looking at a seemingly escaping man's back?" Gaara's tone was cold but Sasuke could hear the softness in it and that relaxed the coil somewhat. He swiveled on his feet and walked up to Gaara, normally their meetings consisted of a handshake and rough hug but Sasuke could feel that this time there wouldn't be any hugging. Gaara shut the door behind him and Sasuke shrugged off the sweater he had on and laid it and his keys on the front hall table. He slid off his shoes and followed Gaara silently to the living room. Gaara took a seat on the leather couch and Sasuke took a seat in the armchair opposite to the couch, the coffee table acting as a border between them and for a few minutes the air was tense as they stared at each other, as if sizing the other up.

"Let's talk Sasuke." Gaara once again was the one to break the silence and for this Sasuke was grateful. He sighed and smiled at his friend, the smile faltered slightly as Gaara stared back at him, emotionless.

"You called me asking me to help you…gain Naruto's affection as you put it? Is that correct?" Sasuke nodded mutely, the cold tone in Gaara's voice stunned him. Gaara's mint green eyes flashed ominously.

"Why can't you say you want his love?" Gaara's accusing tone snapped Sasuke back to normal and he retorted immediately.

"Because I can't fall in love, you know that." Gaara's face darkened and small, sad smile spread on his face. He leaned forward and looked at Sasuke apprehensively.

"Then why in the world do you think you deserve Naruto?" Sasuke's eyebrows disappeared underneath his bangs and he looked at Gaara shocked and finally began to stutter.

"Wh-wha-" Gaara leaned back and looked at Sasuke coolly.

"Why do you believe you're worthy of my Naruto?" This was the first time that Sasuke could remember feeling such raw and powerful possessiveness over a person and the primal feeling drew him up on his feet. He leaned down, hands on the coffee table and hissed.

"He's not yours, don't you ever call him that again." Gaara looked at him, face still emotionless.

"Nor is he yours so you really don't have any right to get possessive." Gaara stood up slowly and both men stood parallel to each other, puffing out their chest subconsciously and holding back their arms, making their appearance more intimidating. This was getting out of hand too quickly but neither of them tried to stop it.

"Why are you being such a dick about this? All I asked was that you help me get him." Sasuke questioned, unbelieving. Why was this a huge thing? Gaara's eyes flashed angrily and he took a step forward.

"Then what Uchiha? Let's say I help you get him, then what? What're you going to do then? If you can't fall in love then why in the world do you want him to love you! Naruto falls in love, hard and while he would be in love you just wouldn't give a fuck, you'd just be happy with your new little toy! You only want him cause he's there, he's just a piece of ass to you that you pound into a couple of times and then discard." Sasuke bared his teeth and in a flash the two pairs of hands shot across the table, groping for the other viciously. Sasuke grunted as he grabbed Gaara's collar and pulled back, sending Gaara tumbling over the coffee table and onto the floor, Gaara wrapped an arm around Sasuke's knees and pulled, making them give out and Sasuke too fell to the floor. Gaara wasted no time in getting up and straddling Sasuke.

"I don't care if you are my best friend! I'm not letting you fuck over my other most precious person!" Sasuke snarled and jerked his torso up so he and Gaara touched chest's and head butted. Gaara slid off stunned and Sasuke stood up, trying to ignore the splitting pain in his head and grabbed the front of Gaara's shirt and pulled him up again, giving Gaara no time to find his footing. Gaara growled and slugged Sasuke in the stomach and Sasuke stumbled back but kept his grip on Gaara.

"I won't fuck him over!" Sasuke yelled over the noise of their fight, dodging and dealing blows quickly. Gaara stopped his barrage and looked at Sasuke incredulously.

"Then what do you plan on doing if you're not going to love him!" Sasuke's eyes widened then narrowed and he threw a punch that Gaara dodged easily, ducking Gaara punched Sasuke in the diaphragm. Sasuke gasped and bared his teeth at Gaara; it angered and frustrated him endlessly that he had no answer.

"What do you even want with his love? What's the point if you can't love back!" Sasuke stepped back and wiped his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand and glared fiercely at Gaara.

"I want it because…I don't know! When I'm at home I feel lonely and it feels like something's missing but when I go over to his house it goes away! When I make him laugh my heart feels weird and when he smiles or looks at me my heart beats like crazy! I wake up every damn morning thinking about him, I dream about him and he brings me this weird feeling," Sasuke raised his sore right hand to his chest and lightly massaged it, "and it's such an exhilarating feeling that I couldn't bear to lose it and I don't know what I would do if I did. I just need for him to love me so no one else finds him; I'm the only one I'll ever allow him to bring that feeling to!" By the end of his speech Sasuke was feeling foolish and vulnerable. He looked at his best friend's battered and bruised body and felt a twinge of guilt. The guilt diminished when Gaara began to laugh, at first it was just a chuckle and then it evolved into a full out guffaw. Gaara bent over, clutching his stomach laughing so hard his pale face turned pink and Sasuke, despite the factthat they had literally just fought, found himself smiling and beginning to chuckle. He tried to school his face but failed miserably and Gaara opened his eyes and looked up at Sasuke from his crouched position and grinned and Sasuke returned it.

"What are you laughing at?" The smile slowly faded off Gaara's face and the giggles trailed off and Gaara straightened up, an amused and surprised look in his eyes. He reached up a hand and wiped the blood off of his face absentmindedly.

"You really don't realize it?" He murmured so quietly that Sasuke almost didn't hear him. Sasuke's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Don't realize what?" Gaara looked at him and his eyes softened and he smiled. He reached forward and clapped Sasuke's shoulder and shook his head, his eyes brimming with pride and sorrow and Sasuke looked at him, confused.

"Nothing," Gaara's hand rested on Sasuke's for a moment and he looked Sasuke over a couple of times and then took a deep breathe.

"I guess I'll help you but if you hurt him in any way I'll personally come kick your ass." Sasuke felt the coil release and he was grinned and pulled his best friend in to a hug and thumped his back appreciatively. Gaara chuckled and the pulled away, punching Sasuke lightly on the arm.

"Why are you so happy about this?" Sasuke looked at him surprised.

_"Hey! Don't get pouty! I agree you totally are !"_

_ "I'm so glad I got tah know you, even doh you're a bastard."_

His heart warmed but he couldn't pin point a specific emotion and finally he looked at Gaara happy and content.

"I don't know but it's like I just accomplished something important, it's like that feeling of 'finally!'." Gaara looked at him with a small and 'all knowing' smile and looked at Sasuke so softly that Sasuke felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah…I agree. Finally."

Authors note: I've decided to start doing these… normally I reply to all reviews but it recently hasn't been letting me so thank you and please continue reading to everyone that reviews :D NOW THE REAL CHALLENE BEGINS.


	8. Getting Wet

New chapter guys. Awesome. R&R please. This one's long for not updating last week.

Chapter 8

Sasuke leaned back, basking in the pleasantly hot sunshine and unbuttoned his plaid shirt at the top, exposing the pale base of his neck and the top of his collar bone. He closed his eyes and sighed, it was a wonderful day. A wonderful day to relax, a wonderful day to kick his feet up, and a wonderful day to-

"Fuck me!" Naruto groaned out in frustration as a piece of hamburger meat dropped to the ground from his grill. Sasuke's eyes snapped open before narrowing deviously. Doing that would make any day a wonderful day. He closed his eyes again,

"An offer?" He called out and smirked as he heard Naruto give a surprised squawk.

"No! Sasuke, fuck you." Naruto called back viciously. Sasuke raised his eyes brows and opened one eye, looking at Naruto amused,

"Another offer? Stop making offers you'll refuse." Naruto crossed his arms and pouted, silently fuming but not daring to say another word in fear of Sasuke twisting his words around even further.

"Tch." Sasuke closed his eyes again and smiled softly. He was still tired from having gone to bed late last night after coming home from Gaara's house after making the plan. He had yet to put it into action. Right now he was just content to lounge on the hammock in Naruto's backyard while Naruto cooked on the grill.

"By the way bastard, you're buying me a new mattress." Sasuke scrunched up his nose and glared at Naruto through squinted eyes.

"Why the hell would I do that?" He asked coldly but Naruto ignored the icy tone and kept on flipping burgers.

"Because you made me do it by taking advantage of my intoxicated state." Naruto reasoned. Sasuke flushed, memories of Naruto lying on his lap and stroking his hair came flooding back and he clenched his jaw, cheeks burning.

"If anything _you're_ the one that took advantage of me." Sasuke stated. Naruto whipped around, his expression one of shock.

"What?" He asked. Sasuke rolled his eyes and rolled off the hammock, landing on his feet and he strolled past the charred remains of the mattress and up the steps of the patio. He walked to Naruto, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Tell me Naruto, how long have you been dreaming of touching my hair? Was it as soft as you expected?" The way that Naruto's eyes widened and the way his face turned tomato red told Sasuke that he had been thinking about it for a while and that it was, indeed, as soft as he had imagined.

Naruto took a step back and began to stammer out an apology.

"Sasuke…I...I'm…sorry…we..." Sasuke chuckled. Naruto was so cute when he was flustered. Sasuke stepped forward.

"Naruto..." Naruto immediately shut up at the sound of Sasuke's voice and looked up at Sasuke, entranced as he watched Sasuke reach up a hand and grip a tuft of golden hair and give it a gentle tug.

"Don't worry it was cute." Sasuke said softly, his eyes smoldering. Naruto's eyes widened slightly and his face, if possible, turned an even deeper shade of red. Naruto swatted Sasuke's hand away and stepped back.

"What are you doing? Don't touch me like that and don't call me cute!" Naruto shouted, gripping his hair furiously and looked up at Sasuke embarrassed and defiant. Sasuke looked down at him with emotionless eyes before shrugging and trudging back to the hammock.

"Don't be such a pussy. It was only a joke." Sasuke called back over his shoulder. Naruto watched incredulously as Sasuke flopped back onto the hammock; picking his book off of it and going right back to reading as if nothing had happened. His heart pounded in his chest and he bent down and picked the spatula that he had dropped with a shaky hand and turned back to the grill, trying to ignore the way he kept replaying that scene in his mind and trying to ignore the way that every time he thought back to it, his heart began to race all over again.

"Stupid Sasuke…" he muttered to himself as he added more spices to the hamburgers before flicking off the impressively large grill and turned back to Sasuke, hand cupped to his mouth ready to yell that dinner was ready. The yell caught in his throat, almost violently and he slowly lowered his hand, looking at the scene before him, not blinking. Sasuke was lounging on the hammock, one hand behind his head while the other rested on his chest, the book lay on the ground. His eyes were closed and from the slowly rising movements of his chest Naruto could tell he was asleep. Not speaking Naruto reaching behind himself and untied the apron, discarding it on the patio floor he slowly walked towards the hammock. It was now that he could admit to himself that Sasuke beautiful, his pale skin seemed to glow in the bright sunlight and his long dark eyelashes lay on his cheeks while his soft, pink lips were set into a relaxed position much different than his usual scowl.

Naruto scolded himself, telling himself that should Sasuke happen to wake up now what would he say to explain this? _Hahaha I decided to be Edward and watch you sleep._ He rolled his eyes, _no, I wouldn't be that desperate. Never will I be desperate enough to reference Twilight._ He shivered at the disturbing thought and went back to his previous actions. He looked down fascinated with Sasuke's expressions, the occasional flicker behind the eyelids, the upwards twitch of the corners of his mouth. His bangs were spread across his forehead messily and without thinking Naruto reached forward and brushed them away, then snatched his hand away as if it had been burned, gasping, horrified at his actions. What the fuck was he doing! He held his hand to his chest and backed away, what to do what to do? _Pretend like nothing ever happened._

He nodded, deciding that would be the best option and ran back to the patio and resumed his previous position, mouth cupped over his mouth and before he yelled he had time to feel regret about having to wake the beautiful sleeping man but he shoved the disturbing feeling away and did it anyway.

"BASTARD, IT'S TIME TO EAT!" Naruto watched delighted as Sasuke shot up, causing the hammock to twist and swing and dump the ever graceful Uchiha flat on his ass. Naruto leaned back clutching his stomach and laughing heartily.

Naruto watched amused as for the fiftieth time this evening, the Uchiha sent him a death glare, one he was becoming more used to by the second. He rolled his eyes and lifted his hamburger taking a huge bite out of it, not breaking eye contact with Sasuke.

"I didn't mean to make you fall." He said between bites and watched as Sasuke rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Close your mouth when you chew, idiot. Didn't anyone teach you manners?" Naruto felt a flash a cold stab his heart and he froze.

"No." He watched Sasuke's face twist into an expression of curiosity and surprise. Naruto swore inwardly as he realized his mistake and quickly covered it up.

"Well I guess they tried but I didn't listen!" He grinned a huge and fake grin and rubbed the back of his head in mock embarrassment. He frantically began to think of who 'they' could possibly be should Sasuke press the subject. There were a few tense seconds before Sasuke slowly shrugged and took a bite of his burger, Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief before scolding himself ferociously. Why had he let that slip out? He never talked about his past with anyone, except for Gaara. Hell, Sakura didn't even know the full story. He was jerked out of his thoughts as Sasuke's chair screeched back, signaling that the meal was over. Naruto smiled up at Sasuke while clearing off the table and throwing a napkin at his back as he tried to walk away, Sasuke turned back, an eye brow cocked and eyes sparking dangerously in a way that would have made any one else piss themselves and run for cover.

Naruto, however, just raised an eye brow right back, completely unaffected and Sasuke swore, that was one of the deadliest glares he had. Naruto reached a hand back and pointed to kitchen,

"In the kitchen. You ate it so you're helping me clean it up." Naruto commanded and Sasuke tried once more to glare but Naruto just looked at him passively until Sasuke finally sighed and trudged into the kitchen after Naruto. He leaned against the kitchen island and watched as Naruto begin to work on the dishes. Sasuke's eyes trailed down Naruto's body, taking in the muscular and broad back before finally making their way down to the small, but round and firm (and in Sasuke's opinion) perfect ass. He flushed as he imagined the lean and muscular man writhing and squirming underneath him. Sasuke smirked lecherously before pushing himself off the counter of the island and sauntered over the short distance to Naruto until he stood right behind him, his chest mere inches away from the back he had been checking out and he licked his lips, his fingers itched to touch him but Sasuke restrained himself, knowing it was too soon.

He watched as Naruto stiffened and turned his head slightly to the side, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"What is it bastard?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling slightly and Sasuke gave the sinful smirk again before stepping forward so that now if he took a deep breathe, his chest would brush Naruto's back. He hummed, pretending to think.

"I just thought you wanted me to help." Sasuke murmured, reveling in the heat that always seemed to radiate off of Naruto and he looked Naruto over once again and his fingers twitched, a desperate yearning for contact had Sasuke slightly shaking. He hadn't had sex or done anything close to it ever since he had met Naruto and that had been the longest he had gone with out anything since he was eighteen and here he was, close to the star of all his naughty dreams and he ached to touch him.

"Yeah but not right up on my ass, back the fuck up." Naruto's hands disappeared underneath the water, hiding them from Sasuke's view but they were gripping the washcloth tightly. His heart thudding and he briefly wondered why he was letting Sasuke stand this close, if it had been anyone else he would have kicked their asses by now but for some reason he was just standing here and blushing. Sasuke chuckled and reached underwater, ignoring the gasp from Naruto and ran his hands over Naruto's, pretending to look for the washcloth and he pulled it from Naruto's iron grip and stepped back and to the side.

"If you'll dry I'll wash." He said his voice completely even and his face passive. Naruto looked at him incredulously and then schooled his face. _That's right, he just wanted to help. Stop being stupid, he doesn't have any other motives. _

"Y-yeah. That's fine." Naruto tilted his head to the side and grinned. Sasuke returned the favor but with a slightly smaller smile. They worked in silence, Sasuke scrubbing the plates and making the water slop around messily and plop on the floor, ignoring Naruto's complaints to be me neat he would pass them to Naruto, never forgetting to make his fingers brush against Naruto's. Delighting in the tingly and warm feeling that shot through his body when they touched, Sasuke watched Naruto's expression crumple into a terribly confused one every time they touched and he could only guess that maybe Naruto was feeling the same warmth.

**Remember, with Naruto it's all about the subtle seduction. Act like you don't know that you're doing anything sexy, seductive or wrong. **

Sasuke clenched his jaw as he remembered Gaara's words and he felt his blood race up to his face. He looked down at the sink, his hands gripping a plate so tightly his knuckles turned white; he wasn't supposed to be the one doing this. Naruto should be the one trying for him. Sasuke sighed and looked at Naruto from the corner of his eyes, Naruto was drying the plate thoroughly his red tongue peeked out from between two equally red lips. Sasuke sighed; finally mustering all the courage he had and sighed again, this time obnoxiously loud. He saw Naruto jerk out of his trance and look at him expectantly but Sasuke ignored him and began to fan lazily at his face.

"God it's really hot in here." Sasuke said, looking around the house. (The song "Sexy Chick" totally just started playing from my music library as I started to write this. Awesome.) He could feel Naruto's curious gaze on him and he knew that if he waited a moment longer he would lose his nerve, he gulped nervously and brought his hands up to the top of his shirt and began to unbutton it, deliberately slow all the while making sure to make a show of panting and fanning himself with one hand. As his longer fingers finished unbuttoning the last buttons he gripped the sides of the shirt and took it off and threw it at kitchen table. Stretching his arms and sighing in pleasure loudly.

Naruto scrubbed at a particular spot on the plate in his hands, it wouldn't fucking come off. As his concentration increased he was suddenly jerked out of his trance by Sasuke's voice saying…or rather moaning about the heat. He looked up at Sasuke and his jaw dropped as the Uchiha fanned himself, looking around the kitchen, his cheeks pink from the heat. Naruto himself hadn't been feeling particularly warm before but now that Sasuke mentioned it- Naruto's eyes trailed unknowingly down Sasuke's chest, watching with rapt attention as Sasuke's nimble fingers undid the last button and banished the shirt to the table. His eyes roamed shamelessly over the tight muscles that rippled in Sasuke's arms as he stretched, the white wife beater he was wearing showing off a muscular torso and Naruto gulped, feeling his lips part as his breathing became heavy.

It _was _really hot.

Naruto's eyes widened; the temperature! He was talking about the temperature of course. He cleared his throat, tugging at the collar of his blue polo and his heart ached in dismay as Sasuke looked over at him, startled. As if he had forgotten Naruto was there. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and looked at Naruto.

"Are you ok, idiot?" Sasuke's voice sounder husky and Naruto gulped. What was wrong with him? It felt like his skin was burning. Sasuke eyed him.

"You hot too?" Helplessly and hopelessly confused by his reactions and emotions Naruto nodded sloppily.

"Yeah, I'm hot." He rasped out and his fingers danced subtly at the edge of his shirt, wanting badly to take it off. Sasuke smirked and rested one elbow on the counter; he eyed the thick polo and slowly trailed his eyes up Naruto's chest and to his face.

"Then maybe you should take that off. It looks…hot." Naruto worried his bottom lip before grasping the bottom of his shirt and slowly raising it, watching as Sasuke's eyes watched with such intensity that it made him blush. He had just raised it an inch when Sasuke stepped forward, that same anxious and intense look on his face and Naruto, suddenly self conscious, took a step back, placing all of his weight of the heel of his right foot. He felt cold liquid encircle his foot and he had a second to remember Sasuke splashing the dish water everywhere and then he was falling. His left foot shot out from underneath him, making an obnoxious squeaking sound, his right one still in mid-step. His legs flailed and kicked Sasuke in the shins, forcing Sasuke's feet out from underneath him and sending the Uchiha on a face first free fall to the floor.

Naruto landed hard on his tail bone and gave a shout of pain, his eyes stinging with tears as he slid further down the floor and fully into the puddle. His whole back was now soaking wet and he looked up just in time to see Sasuke complete his fall and slam onto his legs, a moan of pain escaped both of them and Sasuke gasped for air, he had knocked the wind out of himself.

The kitchen was silent except for Sasuke's gasps and Naruto's quiet moans of pain and finally when the pain subsided and Sasuke could breathe again Naruto splashed the water beneath them and chuckled hoarsely.

"At least the water cooled us off." Sasuke raised his head from its position on the floor and glared at Naruto.

"Shut up."

Author's Note: Hey 8D so I'm currently trying to add this but either Fanfic or my computer is being a bitch. Also, I would like to thank all the people that review because though I usually reply to the reviewers, it's not letting me as of late. So if you haven't gotten a thank you reply back, then here it is XD Also, please please please review. It's vital for every writer to feel good about their story and want to continue it. It's just common courtesy and though we know what favorite story and story alerts mean, it's always the best to see a lot of reviews


	9. Notification, dont panic

NOTIFICATION:

Ok, I didn't give up on this fan fic and I still love it and have every intention of finishing it but right now I'm busy so until July 8th I don't think I'll be writing anything. I apologize for the unexplained wait so far but hopefully you'll wait for the fanfiction to start up again and continue to review and be as supportive as ever. See you guys soon!


	10. Chapter 10

I'm back and I apologize for the extreme lateness of this chapter but my computer started to eff up just as soon as I was able to start writing again. I'm trying guys D: and good lord this one is long, 12 pages on Microsoft word. Sorry, hope this makes up for the lateness. Please R&R cause I'll love you.

Chapter 9

Naruto woke up on the large couch and for a few minutes just laid there on his stomach, head turned to the left and stared at the coffee table. There was a large picture frame turned down there, the stand still sticking up, as if it expected to be turned up right at any moment. He scoffed, his heart growing heavy as he stared at the picture frame, he would never look at that again. The picture frame held a photo that had, at one point in his life, been one of his favorites. The picture was of him and Sakura, it was winter time and they were both huddled together, his hand where he had always put it, her waist. He was looking away in the photo, staring at something in the distance but Sakura was looking up at him. At one point Naruto had thought that she was looking up at him lovingly but now when he looked at the photo he saw her contemplating, he saw the hesitation in her eyes and he saw the way she leaned slightly away. She herself probably hadn't known that she was leaning away but she was.

That picture had been taken months ago, had been taken in a time when the word divorce hadn't even crossed his mind but the way she looked in it had him thinking, how long had she been planning to leave him? That question made him angry but the next question made him furious, how long had she been sleeping with the fucking kid? How many nights had he come home after working hard for her and she had kissed him knowing earlier that she had fucked someone else? How many times did she spontaneously tell him she loved him while she was cheating? He gripped the sofa cushion below him and clenched his jaw and was filled with a surprising hate for both of them. Though he knew it was awful he found himself wishing that the kid she was fucking had some disease and that she had gotten it. Naruto hoped that the kid fell in love with her and that they got together and she fucked him over like she was fucking him over right now.

When Naruto thought these uncharacteristic things he was filled with an immeasurable amount of guilt but he wished them just the same. He sat up and looked around the brightly colored house glumly and though the house was large and spacious he could feel himself on the brink of another freak out. It just felt like he was eternally surrounded by what could have been and what had been. He felt that everywhere he turned he saw another memory, another chance to see something about the way she was talking to him, looking at him, acting with him. Naruto would forever curse his blindness, why couldn't he have seen it earlier? Why couldn't he have been the one to leave and leave her in this house surrounded by the memories?

Naruto sat up slowly and looked dismally around him. This was the only way that they would have ever gotten a divorce, he would have tried for her, would have worked even harder for her, bought her more things. He would never have just simply left her. Naruto didn't give up on people.

"Get over it Uzumaki, don't dwell on it. So she cheated on you, that's her loss." He commanded, standing out and puffing out his chest. He crossed the room to the mirror that hung in the corner and stood in front of it, brushing the hair out of his face he looked at himself. His hair had gotten longer and wilder, if that was even possible and maybe it was just him but he thought his eyes no longer held the innocent happiness that they once had, the whisker like scars on his cheeks as prominent as ever. He thought that now they looked like the eyes of someone who had been betrayed and knew better than to think that everything's fine, though they were happy they were looking at the world experienced. Naruto rested one arm on the table that sat below the mirror and pointed with his other hand at his reflection and began his self motivation speech.

"Now you listen to me, you're a nice, handsome guy and if she wants to go fuck some no- experience kid then let her. Let's not forget who turned her out. You're nice, smart, rich, talented, sexy and a fucking beast in bed. So suck it up and go do something today!" The words sounded hollow to even him and he slouched slightly but straightened quickly, determined not to be defeated by his bad mood.

"….Ok well let's see what the body's doin..." He muttered, determined to find something to make himself feel better. His hands brushed the bottom shirt and he was suddenly swarmed with memories of last night, the three strange occurrences with Sasuke. Naruto studied his own stunned expression, his tan cheeks red and grinned, lifting up his shirt, extremely pleased with what he saw. His torso hadn't lost an ounce of gorgeous bronze tan and was rippled with rock hard muscles, the dark tattoo that swirled around his belly button like a whirlpool stood out on his tan skin. Naruto dropped the shirt and pulled up his sleeve and flexed quickly, smirking at the bulging muscles and dropped his arm. He stood there looking at his reflection and once again grinned and rubbed the back of his head,

"Poor bastard really missed out."

Gaara blinked in surprise as right in the middle of ranting, Sasuke stopped yelling and pacing and sneezed. Gaara resisted the urge to laugh and looked up at the now silent man.

"Bless you?" He tried hesitantly, thanking god that his voice didn't tremble with suppressed laughter. Sasuke glared down at him and flipped him the bird; Gaara threw his head back in laughter.

"Gaara this isn't funny. I was so fucking close to getting him to take his shirt off when the idiot had to step in the stupid puddle."

"That you made. So you cock blocked yourself…" Gaara stated, taking a sudden interest in his fingernails to avoid Sasuke's intense death glare.

"Fuck you Gaara." Sasuke replied. Gaara smirked and threw his hands up.

"Hey now, don't threaten me with a good time." Gaara said. Sasuke's cheeks flamed and once again Gaara was shot the bird. Gaara chuckled and tossed his hands up, exasperated.

"Instead of threatening to fuck me and flipping me the bird, why don't we think about your next move? Have you got anything planned with him today?" Gaara asked, watching as Sasuke sauntered to the chair opposite of the couch and sat in it, crossing his arms and looking out the window, the morning light hitting his face and he radiated elegance in his simple white shirt and dark wash jeans. Once again he was hit with a small bit of jealousy; _leave it to Sasuke to look like a king at nine in the morning. _

"Well I have to buy him a mattress sometime this week. I guess we could do it today." Sasuke mused. Gaara nodded silently then looked at Sasuke sharply.

"Wait, Sasuke. What have you been doing for a month!" Sasuke stared at him blankly.

"Unfortunately not Naruto." Sasuke stated and Gaara glared at him. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Well what do you mean what have I been doing for a month?"

"I mean like in the office. Is it really ok for you to just not show up for a month?" Gaara watched as Sasuke's face lit up with realization and then Sasuke waved his hand, dispelling the thought.

"No no it's fine. I've just gotten one of my interns to handle all of it. I oversee it of course but then I don't have to be there all the time." Gaara's jaw dropped and suddenly he was filled with pity for the intern stuck with that job.

"But…don't you alphabetize your papers in chronological order and make copies of every single paper and store them in your file cabinets in a complicated and precise order?" Gaara's question was once again met with a blank stare.

"And the problem is?" Gaara gawked at Sasuke.

"Don't you receive more than three hundred papers a day?"

"And the problem is?" This time Gaara was prepared for the blank stare and snatched a pillow off the sofa and chucked it at Sasuke's face.

"Don't be so cruel!" Gaara reprimanded. The pillow slid down and popped into the bemused Sasuke's lap. He grabbed it and began to play with one of the tassels that hung from the corner.

"That's why they call me a demon. Now please tell me, oh so wise one. What's my plan with mattress shopping with Naruto?" Gaara rolled his eyes at the nickname newspapers all over the country had 'affectionately' given to his friend. Gaara sat back and looked out the window, tapping his fingers against his chin thinking.

"Well…I could go along with you and make sure everything goes according to plan." Gaara muttered, mostly to himself. Sasuke heard it and looked at his friend suspiciously.

"What?" Sasuke asked, startling Gaara out of his thoughts. Gaara smiled a big and false smile and shook his head.

"Nothing, I was just saying that I could go along and help you guys get lots of alone time." Sasuke nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off of Gaara. He chose not to question the fact that they would be getting nothing but alone time if Gaara didn't go.

"I guess you should call him now, we'll probably wake him up but oh well." Gaara shrugged and turned back to the window. Sasuke slowly took out his phone and flipped it open, studying Gaara. He didn't like the way that Gaara's eyes looked, they looked stressed and worried.

"Gaara…you ok?" He asked, reaching towards the table to put his phone down. Gaara tilted his head slightly and looked at Sasuke gratefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said softly and nodded towards the phone. Sasuke got the message and picked it up and dialed the number that by now he could probably recite in his sleep. On the third ring Naruto picked up.

"Hello?" He answered and Sasuke felt guilty. Naruto always answered the phone with such gusto that Sasuke guessed he was almost always lonely and therefore excited when the phone rang.

"Hey, it's Sasuke." Sasuke smirked at the snort on the other line.

"Well duh, I knew that. I'd know your cocky, arrogant bastard voice anywhere." Sasuke's lips turned into a scowl and he promised to give Naruto hell for that comment.

"Oh, if that's the way you wanna be I guess we won't be buying your mattress today." Sasuke huffed out a laugh at the gasp that Naruto gave.

"Nooo shut the fuck up. You know I was kidding, please take me shopping for a mattress. I've been sleeping on the couch since we burned mine and my back is killing me!" At the end of his speech Naruto gave a pained groan to make his point and Sasuke snorted.

"Fucking drama queen. Fine, we'll go mattress shopping;" He ignored the excited yell from Naruto, "Is it ok if Gaara comes?"

Again Naruto gave a gasp but at this one Sasuke frowned slightly. Why did the idea of going somewhere with Gaara excite him?

"Why are you getting so excited? It's just Gaara." He muttered, eye brows furrowed an unpleasant feeling in his heart.

"Dude are you kidding? It's not just Gaara, Gaara is my bro. You don't even know, man." Sasuke nodded his slowly, becoming slightly angered.

"Well why don't I let you talk to your bro." He said the word bro like you would say 'whore' and then thrust the phone at Gaara, who took it. Looking at Sasuke with that stressed look again. Sasuke pushed himself off the chair with a grunt and walked to the bathroom, Gaara's voice fading with every step. He found the bathroom in Gaara's red themed bedroom. Sasuke stepped over the clutter that was strewn on the floor and went into the bathroom. He leaned over the sink and splashed some cool water over his face. Trying to calm himself down and get rid of what he thought was irrational anger.

"I have no reason to get angry. Of course he's going to want to see Gaara who he's known much longer than me. It shouldn't bother me."

But it did. It bothered him so much, he kept thinking over the month that he had known Naruto and kept thinking _not enough_. He had wasted all that time doing work with Naruto instead of talking to him and getting to know him. In reality he knew nothing about Naruto. Sasuke wiped his already dry mouth with the back of his hand, this new thought disturbing him. He knew Naruto's profession, his love life situation and his name. He ran his hands threw his hair and breathed out an incredulous laugh. How in the world he had decided to gain the affection of someone who he knew nothing about was beyond Sasuke. It had just happened. There was a knock on the door and in walked Gaara.

"Hey, just finished talking to Naruto. We should go pick him up; he doesn't like driving in the morning." Sasuke took this new piece of information and memorized it, his anger flaring. _Fucking bastard knows everything about Naruto. _Sasuke took a deep breathe and nodded stepping out of the bathroom and flicking off the light and followed Gaara out of the house. They chose to take Sasuke's car and as they pulled out of Gaara's apartment building parking lot there was a particular question that had been frying his brain since he started to get angry. He looked left and right checking for cars and then asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant voice.

"Hey Gaara, how long have you and Naruto known each other?" Gaara didn't even look at him.

"Fifteen years." Sasuke blinked, surprised and then nodded. Switching lanes, he glanced at Gaara and then turned his attention back to the road.

"You seem to know a lot about him." He stated, still not looking at Gaara. He saw Gaara look at him momentarily from the corner of his eye.

"I had to." Finally Sasuke looked at Gaara.

"What? What do you mean you had to?" He asked, bewildered. Gaara's mint green eyes looked at him and then went back to looking out the window.

"That's for Naruto to tell you, if he ever does." Sasuke continued to stare at Gaara until it was time to get off at the exit. He knew that tone of voice, it meant that he would be getting no more from Gaara and that interested and confused him maddeningly.

He pulled up to Naruto's house and parked on the street. They got out of the car and walked up the paved walkway to the front porch. Sasuke pressed on the doorbell and Gaara shook his head slightly.

"He hates the doorbell, you should knock." As he said this Gaara gave three hardy knocks on the door and stepped back. Sasuke stared at Gaara incredulously and clenched his jaw, bitter jealously nipping at his heart. Sasuke forced himself to look forward, tightening his hands into fists. The door opened in a matter of seconds and Naruto stepped out, smiling at them both, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Gaara held out his hand and Naruto rolled his eyes and groaned, exasperated. He took Gaara's hand and pulled him forward, wrapping his arms around Gaara's chest and thumping him on the back. Sasuke watched this scene, gripping his pants in order to prevent himself from doing anything stupid. Gaara's hands stayed by his side (for that Sasuke was grateful, he had no idea what he would have done had Gaara wrapped his arms around Naruto) and he tightened his jaw, his eyes observing the way that Naruto's lean and warm form was pressed against Gaara's, the way that his eyes were closed and he somehow managed to look cute even with that stupid tooth brush hanging out of his mouth.

Sasuke's fingers itched to pull Naruto away from the red head and into his arms and although it was smoldering outside he would have graciously accepted Naruto's insane warmth, even in the prime of summer. He wanted to be the one that Naruto hugged, he wanted to be the one that Naruto got excited over, _and he wanted to be the one to know Naruto. _His jealousy was insane and he tried to suppress it but with every second that Naruto's body was kept against Gaara's his jealousy rose.

Finally Gaara pushed him away and reached up a hand and set it on Naruto's head, starting to ruffle and Sasuke lost a bit of self control. He lashed out his hand and gripped Gaara's hand tightly, tightly enough to leave a bruise. Naruto jerked back at the quick movement but Gaara didn't even flinch. Sasuke scrambled for an excuse other than he couldn't stand to see Naruto touched anymore.

"His hair is already messed up enough. No need to make him look more idiotic than usual." He seethed out, counting to ten and back in his head, pleading to not lose anymore control. Gaara looked at him, seeming to ponder this and then nodded. Sasuke let go of Gaara's wrist and Naruto stared at the tense pair and then let out a laugh, reaching forward he patted Sasuke on the shoulder and shook his head.

"Bro you gotta chill out. Wait here for a second so I can put away this." Naruto gestured to the toothbrush and then jogged back inside. Sasuke bit the inside of his cheeks, trying to use pain to avert his growing jealousy. So Gaara knew everything about him and got hugs too? _All I get is a fucking pat on the shoulder. God dammit, fuck the both of them. _Naruto came sliding down the hall, paused for a second to get his coat and the bounded out the door, not bothering to close it behind him and in an almost maternal gesture Gaara walked forward and turned out the lights in the front hall and turned on the porch lights and closed the door, locking it with a key that he pulled out of his pocket.

"You have a key?" Sasuke's tone was accusing and short. Gaara froze and looked at him over his shoulder and looked very tired. He stood up and brushed past Sasuke.

"Don't you?"

The ride to the mattress store was tense and short. Naruto sat in the backseat, his sweatshirt sat on his lap and now he looked at it distastefully. He had grabbed it out of habit, it was close to ninety degrees out, and there would be no need for a coat today. He played momentarily with the strings on the sweatshirt that always drove him crazy by getting long and/or uneven. Naruto glanced for the millionth time up at Gaara and Sasuke. The two loners were unusually quiet today and it seemed like they were in a bad mood, especially Sasuke. Naruto's eyes trailed down Sasuke's long arms to his hands that gripped the steering wheel fiercely, knuckles white. His strong jaw seemed tense and in the rearview mirror his dark eyes (what some people would have called Spanish eyes) were cold.

Naruto sighed in relief as they pulled into the parking lot of "Sleep Well" the best known mattress store in their city. Sasuke got out of the car and slammed the door with more force than necessary, making Naruto glare at his back wearily. He stepped closer to Gaara as they walked behind Sasuke and he leaned in.

"Jeez Gaara, what's got a pole up his ass?" Gaara snorted and looked down at him momentarily before shaking his head and looking back at Sasuke.

"That's just normal Sasuke, angry and jealous when someone knows more than him and gets more from what he wants." Naruto stared up at Gaara, eyes narrowed and lip curled slightly.

"God dammit, you guys are both fucked up today! This is gonna be a fun shopping trip." Gaara looked at Naruto, bemused.

"Me? What did I do?" Naruto shot him a dirty look.

"What do you mean? You're the one speaking in fucking riddles." He muttered and walked off, his long legs carrying him faster than Gaara felt like going at the moment. Gaara briefly looked up at the sky.

"Lord help me, after this is done I'm gonna need it."

The stores air conditioned air was a pleasant change to the hot air outside and they all welcomed it gratefully. Sasuke looked around the huge store, becoming filled with dread. The store was humungous and with the mood that he was in, this day was going to suck.

"Naruto what type of bed do you want?" Naruto opened his mouth but was interrupted by Gaara.

"He likes firm foam mattresses. King sized. You guys go look for new bed sheets." Gaara noticed the look Naruto sent him and shrugged.

"Might as well go all the way and get a new everything." Naruto smiled and nodded happily and looked back at Sasuke, smile dying away instantly. Sasuke was staring ahead, scowling fiercely and a line in between his eyebrows that Naruto had the insane urge to smooth out with his thumb. He scrunched up his face in momentary confusion at the weird thought and then sighed, putting up a happy front.

"Come on Sasuke let's go see what type of sheets they have!" He exclaimed and grabbed Sasuke's arm and hooking it with his. He dragged Sasuke off, turning around to give a quick wave to Gaara, who stood at the front of the store and watched as Gaara held up his hand and waved back before taking off in direction of the mattresses.

"So Sasuke I want really bright and thick covers." Naruto stated, looking around in wonder at the different selection of comforters. They were walking at a normal pace now, arms no longer connected. Sasuke nodded gloomily, the same look on his face.

"But they have to be soft. I'll accept nothing on my body except soft stuff." Sasuke looked at Naruto who had stopped walking and was pouting hands on hips and snorted, making a mental note to buy lotion. He thought his skin was soft but just in case.

"Ok Naruto." Sasuke began walking and stopped, pulling out a corner of a comforter that had caught his eye.

"What about this?" Naruto looked over at him expectantly and then gave Sasuke a scrunched up face.

"Hell no!" Naruto exclaimed loudly and Sasuke looked back at the comforter and then back at Naruto.

"Why the hell not?" Naruto gaped at him and gestured to the comforter.

"Are you kidding? That looks like something that you could wrap me up in for my funeral." Naruto, Sasuke had concluded, had little to no idea that his voice could reach volumes not normal to humans and at this point Sasuke figured that Gaara could probably hear him across the store. He glanced around at the people looking at them angrily.

"Unless you shut up we will be using it to wrap you up!" He hissed out, shoving it back in the plastic covering. "For your information I love navy blue."

Naruto snorted and then pulled out a comforter.

"This one?" Sasuke took one look at it and felt like gagging.

"Hell no!" He muttered.

Naruto looked back to the blanket in his hand and then back to Sasuke pouting.

"Why not!"

Sasuke looked at him, resting all his weight on one foot.

"Really, Naruto? It looks like a family of clowns took a huge and bright orange shit on that blanket."

Naruto threw his head back and laughed, stuffing the comforter back in the package and shoved it back in the holding compartment that had been set up in the store; it was kind of like a metal cubby hole (1) station.

"Well for your information I love orange!" He said back in a challenging tone of voice and Sasuke was once again reminded why he wanted this man's affection. Other people would have bought anything that Sasuke had suggested the moment he suggested it. But Naruto rejected it flat, he wasn't afraid to tell Sasuke no and that's what enthralled and scared Sasuke at the same time. They continued this pattern of pulling out blankets and rejecting it and eventually it turned into a kind of game. They would each try to pull out the most horrible looking comforter they could find and would try and suggest it to the other without laughing. It was Sasuke's turn and he looked quickly, he saw orange and immediately it pulled on the plastic cover, unzipping it and pulling out the comforter.

"Naruto! What about this?" He called out, his bad mood lifting as it always did with Naruto.

Naruto looked at him expectantly and Sasuke was expecting him to laugh but instead his face grew serious, his blue eyes widening and jaw dropping. Sasuke raised and eye brow and quickly looked at the blanket that he had chosen and was surprised. Sasuke was holding a thick cotton comforter covered in crazy, thick zig zag stripes, the two main colors of the blanket were orange and navy blue and it was lined with a white silk. Naruto ran up to him and put and arm on his shoulder, feeling the soft comforter with his other hand.

"Sasuke holy shit, this is the best comforter I've ever seen in my life." Naruto said, genuinely happy and Sasuke looked down at him and was filled with a warm and strong emotion that he had no name for. He snorted.

"So we're getting this one then?"

Naruto looked up at him.

"You like it too?" He asked.

Sasuke initially thought that Naruto was kidding but he looked and saw that Naruto was serious. Naruto needed his opinion to be fully happy with this comforter and he suddenly saw that if he said he didn't like it, Naruto probably wouldn't get it. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah I like it, it's cool and it's got our favorite colors."

Naruto looked down and his eyes widened his realization.

"Holy shit it does! Well then this works out perfectly. We can be both be happy with it. Zip it up bastard."

Sasuke pulled the comforter fully out of the little cubby hole and zipped it up. Naruto's cell phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket, happy with their find.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I think I found your mattress."

Naruto did a triumphant fist pump earning him a disapproving glare from Sasuke.

"Fuck yes! Alright we'll come find you."

He hung up the phone and turned to Sasuke.

"That was Gaara?"

The smile slid off of Naruto's face and was replaced with a confused frown, the look that Sasuke had had when they first got to the store was now back.

"Yeah he said he found the mattress. Let's go find him." Naruto said quietly, waiting as Sasuke got a good hold on the comforter and matching pillows and then they walked to the mattress side, taking no time at all to find the red head in the side of the stored filled with white things. Naruto skipped up to Gaara as Sasuke trailed behind him.

"So let me see!"

Gaara pointed to the mattress that he stood in front of and Naruto wasted no time in jumping on it. Sasuke walked up and was setting down the luggage carefully as Naruto moaned out in ecstasy and he lost his grip on it. The comforter package fell to the ground with a thud but Sasuke went on unloading as if nothing happened, cheeks warm from that noise that he had imagined forcing out of Naruto for many many nights.

"Oh! Gaara it's perfect! Isn't it great Sasuke?" Naruto asked, sitting up on his elbows.

Had they been alone Sasuke would have agreed whole heartily just from seeing and hearing the glee from the blonde but since they were not alone Sasuke gave nothing but a solemn nod. He felt guilty as the smile fell off of Naruto's face and then the face grew serious. Gaara, seemingly not aware of the tension began talking.

"It has a great price so Sasuke won't have to spend a fortune." Gaara trailed off as Naruto sighed loudly and slid off the bed. He looked at Naruto expectantly. Naruto shot him a sickly sweet smile and held up his pointer finger in the international symbol of 'just a second'. Gaara nodded at him and Naruto whirled around, his right hand shooting out and taking hold of Sasuke's wrist and began to drag him. Stopping as he dragged Sasuke in front of Gaara Naruto paused and rolled his eyes like a mother having to deal with a notoriously troublesome child.

"Just a second."

Gaara nodded wearily once more and watched as Naruto dragged the protesting Sasuke to a door marked 'Restrooms'. Naruto opened the door and pulled Sasuke into the dimly lit, small hallway. The floors were a brown carpet and the wallpaper was a weird cinnamon color. The men's room sat at the end of the hallway and the women's hallways sat across from them, on the other side of the hallway. Naruto released Sasuke's wrist and before Sasuke could even think he was pushed onto the wall, Naruto's warm hands pinning him there by his shoulders.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Sasuke hissed out, glancing at the restrooms, praying to god that no one chose to come out or to go pee right now. Naruto cocked an eyebrow and gave Sasuke a disbelieving look.

"What am I doing?" His grip on Sasuke's shoulders tightened, it wasn't unpleasant…yet. "The question is what are you doing?" Naruto said calmly but Sasuke could hear the potential anger that boiled underneath the melodic voice.

"What am I doing?" Sasuke repeated dumbly. He had never seen Naruto pissed off so this was a completely new situation, he had no idea how to handle a mad Naruto.

"Yes! What are you doing Sasuke! From the moment you got to my house you were pissed off and in a bad mood. What do you expect me to do? Sit there and wonder what's wrong with you and not bother you? Hell no, tell me what's wrong so that we can fix it and go back and buy me a fucking mattress because my back really fucking hurts from the damn couch." The words flowed out of Naruto and shocked the hell out of Sasuke. Whenever he was in a bad mood people had learned to avoid him, even Gaara left him alone in a bad mood. He had no idea how to handle someone confronting him; it had been years since someone had had big enough balls to even try.

"Sounds…like you need a new couch?" Sasuke stuttered out. Naruto sent him a look and suddenly Sasuke's anger was back. Finally his patience broke and before he could even think he was yelling in the small hallway, his voice booming off the walls.

"I'm not pissed at anything! I called this morning to ask you if you wanted to hang out and all you could talk about was how great Gaara is and how he's your 'bro' and when I picked you up you ran right into his fucking arms and after giving him such a gracious welcome all I got was a fucking pat on the shoulder. Please excuse me for being jealous of him because he's getting more attention from my best friend, because he knows you and I don't! Even though I've known you for a month and I should know more and it frustrates me that I don't because he knows more than me and that pisses me off!" Sasuke brushed Naruto's hands off his shoulders his face red and his heart hammering in his chest.

Naruto stumbled back, stunned.

_**"That's just normal Sasuke, angry and jealous when someone knows more than him and gets more from what he wants." **_

The words rang in his head like a bell.

**"-**_**because he knows more than me and that pisses me off!"**_

_ So he knows more about me and that's making him angry and jealous so that one checks out but…Gaara get's more from what he wants? _Naruto's mind was racing a mile a minute._ What does he want? _

_**"-getting more attention from my best friend-"**_

Naruto gasped and Sasuke looked sharply at the stunned form in front of him, Naruto's eyes were wide and looking at him frantically and he looked like he was thinking about something that didn't quite make sense. Sasuke felt his cheeks heat and he swore, filling up with despair. _I did it. I yelled at Naruto and now he's looking at me like I've killed someone._

"Just forget it idiot." He muttered.

Sasuke turned away from Naruto trying to resist the urge to punch the wall until his knuckles bled; he was so pissed at himself. He had been trying not to blow up and he finally had, in Naruto's face.

Sasuke reached for the door handle and felt hands on his shirt collar and he was jerked back. He stumbled back and the hands fixed on his shoulders, spinning him around until he was facing Naruto again. Naruto looked like a man on a mission, his cheeks were red, from embarrassment or the temperature of the hallway Sasuke couldn't tell, his lips were set into a concentrated frown and Sasuke wanted to kiss them back to smiling.

"Naruto wha-"

Sasuke grunted as Naruto threw himself at him, his arms wrapping securely around Sasuke's neck and Sasuke stumbled back, hitting his back on the wall with a painful slap. But he couldn't feel the pain of the slap on his back or the pain in his neck from being jerked back, all he could feel was the insane warmth from Naruto's body that was pressed against his. Sasuke could feel the thin and lean torso against his broad and muscular one and Sasuke now knew for sure that Naruto was fit and well muscled. Naruto's hair was against his cheek and he could smell the pleasant musky fragrance that wafted off of him. Sasuke's hands fluttered around Naruto's waist for a few seconds, unsure of what to do.

"…Naruto?" He rasped out. His whole body was hot and his heart was racing.

"If you wanted a hug so badly all you had to do was ask. I'll be happy to give you one anytime." Naruto's voice was muffled against Sasuke's neck and having Naruto pressed up against him felt close to euphoric.

"Now hug me back you fucking bastard since you threw a bitch fit to get one."

Sasuke chuckled and unlike Gaara, he immediately wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist possessively. He closed his eyes and breathed in the intoxicating musky smell, his whole body buzzing with happiness and excitement. Sasuke's heart was racing and he was sure that Naruto could feel it, it was probably just his own heart beat but Sasuke swore he could feel Naruto's thudding right back. He heard Naruto sigh and grinned.

"I don't think this is what normal straight guys do Naruto." He chuckled, inwardly disappointed as Naruto shot backwards and out of his arms.

"Shut up bastard! Straight guys hug all the time!" Naruto shouted, his voice reverberating in the tiny hallway but Sasuke didn't mind at all. Instead he leaned back and crossed his arms, looking at Naruto smugly.

"Not like that they don't."

At this Naruto's cheeks flamed a tomato red and he flipped him the bird.

"Shut the fuck up Sasuke, how else am I supposed to hug the guy who just called me his best friend?" Naruto's asked teasingly, waggling his eyebrows and fluttering his eye lashes.

It was Sasuke's turn to blush.

"Shut up idiot! Of course I didn't mean that! How could I? I don't know anything about you!" He yelled back watching as Naruto's face turned serious.

Naruto shrugged and looked at Sasuke pleasantly.

"So? I don't know anything about you but I still feel like you're one of my best friends." Sasuke stared surprised and Naruto turned to go. Sasuke reached out and caught his wrist. Naruto turned around, confused.

"Sasuke?"

"How?" Sasuke demanded. Naruto blinked, surprised.

"What?"

"How can you so confidently feel that I'm one of your best friends, but know that you know nothing about me?" Sasuke looked at Naruto eagerly. Naruto's eyes softened and he gently released his wrist from Sasuke's grip.

"Cause…uhh I don't know. It's just like, I don't know anything about you now but I know that I will. And I guess that's enough for me, knowing that I eventually will and then I won't have to worry about that anymore." Naruto smiled and opened the door, letting in a gust of cool air.

"Now can we go get the mattress or are you gonna PMS some more?" Naruto swung out the door and Sasuke walked out after him.

"Oh Naruto!" He called out. Naruto turned around, somewhat exasperated but still patient.

"Yeah?" Naruto didn't even have to raise his voice to be heard from their distance.

"I'm not one of your best friends!" Sasuke called back at him and watched as Naruto's expression turned to one of hurt, "I am your best friend. Get that shit straight fuck head!"

Naruto stared back at him in awe and then threw his head back, blonde hair flying back and laughed out loud, a hearty and hard one that lasted long enough for Sasuke to close the distance between them and clap the now choking-from-laughing-too-hard Naruto on the back.

"Fuck you Uchiha." Naruto stated weakly between coughs and Sasuke smirked down at his bent figure and shrugged, throwing his hands up.

"Everyone loves me, it's a curse."

This threw Naruto into another laughing fit.

"Oh Sasuke! I think I forgot the pillows in the car. Can you go get them for me?" Naruto asked as he fixed the sheets in the way that he liked. Gaara stood in the corner silently observing everything, as always. Sasuke gave Naruto and exasperated and Naruto smiled at him guiltily.

"Sorry sorry, I just need to finish up here and then I'll come down and help you carry them." Naruto said, busying himself with the sheets and smiled as Sasuke scoffed, taking the bait.

"I don't need any help carrying pillows, idiot. I'll be back." Sasuke said and sauntered out of the room and down the hallway, towards the stairs.

Naruto spread the comforter on the bed and straightened it out, getting rid of most of the wrinkles and stood up and looked at his work approvingly. He stretched and then walked out of the room, going to the rail of the stairs and looking down, watching Sasuke through the open front door. Gaara walked up beside him and followed with his eyes to where Naruto was looking and then leaned against the rail, turning his back to the door.

"He's an funny guy huh?" Gaara said.

Naruto rested his forearms against the rails and continued to look down.

_**"That's just normal Sasuke, angry and jealous when someone knows more than him and gets more from what he wants." **_

_**"-getting more attention from my best friend-"**_

__Naruto narrowed his eyes and brought his thumb up to his mouth, biting on it lightly. He felt Gaara looking at him and he glanced at Gaara.

"Yeah…pretty funny."

A/N: Oh my goodness you guys. I tried so many different approaches to this chapter and I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with this one :D I hope you guys like it too. Please R&R! I love you! 8D

Come on guys, you remember cubby holes! You have to.


	11. Chapter 11

**Uwaahahah here I am! With chapter ten! You guys still love me. **

…**right? D8**

**So sorry for the wait but sometimes I just lose the ability to be creative but it has come back to me! So be expecting updates. **

**Please R&R**

** I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THE LENGTH BUT I WANTED TO GET SOMETHING OUT THERE FOR YOU GUYS SO YOU CAN STILL KNOW I WANT TO FINISH THIS STORY!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Naruto. Naruto belongs to its respective owners.**

** Chapter Ten**

Sasuke held his cell phone above him and stared at the screen; he clicked to his messages and stared at his last text to Naruto.

'**Why aren't you responding?'**

He didn't bother with scrolling up to the ten other similar messages he had sent to Naruto. He sighed, frustrated and rested his phone on his chest and rubbed his face with his hands. He hadn't spoken to or even seen Naruto since he had bought him the mattress, three days ago. Sasuke let out a frustrated groan and rubbed his face fiercely.

"Why the fuck are you ignoring me!" He demanded, thrusting his hands down by his sides suddenly and glaring at the ceiling. He swung up into a sitting position and stood up and paced the floor.

"Well fuck this, I'm done waiting. I can find someone else, you had your chance." Sasuke said, throwing his hands up and shrugging his shoulders.

Sasuke crossed his arms and glared at the floor but soon his glare softened and he sat heavily back down on the bed.

"God, I didn't mean that." He muttered, covering his face with his hands and slowly slid them up and through his hair.

He jerked them violently from his hair and intertwined them.

"But I just don't…..I don't understand why I like him…." He whispered to the darkness, "Why all the sudden am I like a….hopeless romantic?"

He bowed his head and closed his eyes, reaching his hands up to cross them over the nape of his neck and he breathed deeply, trying to get rid of the unpleasant feeling in his chest. He wouldn't deny it; he kind of missed his old life style.

* * *

Naruto sat on the couch, knees cradled to his chest, staring at his cell phone on the coffee table anxiously. He was just beginning to relax, his arms, which held his knees to his chest so closely, were beginning to unwind and the minute that his legs were more than a centimeter away, his cell phone vibrated.

Naruto gave a shriek and grabbed the pillow to the right of him and threw it on the cell phone, successfully quieting it. The pillow started to shake slightly with the force of the vibration from the cell phone and Naruto groaned, unwinding his arms from around his legs and slapping his hands onto his face.

"I feel stupid!" He exclaimed, his voice muffled, "I feel so fucking stupid!"

He kept his hands on his face, ignoring as the anxious energy inside him grew. Finally he threw his hands down to his sides and let out a frustrated groan.

"I'm being retarded! I'm not gay and Sasuke's not gay." Naruto said decisively, bring his left hand up and swinging it down in karate chop motions onto the palm of his right. "Gaara's just being a freaking mysterious asshole, again, and of course, he managed to freak me out!"

Naruto stood up and swung his arms out, trying to dispel the thoughts that had been plaguing him for days.

"Everything is fine. Sasuke is one of my best friends and also my lawyer. Once we finalize the divorce we'll just be best friends because he's not gay and neither am I." Naruto said once more.

He stood in the living room, still full of the unpleasant anxious energy. It ran up his veins and just when Naruto thought that he would explode, his cell phone vibrated once more. This time, more out of frustration and extra energy, Naruto gave a loud swear and shrieked. He dove forward and tore the pillow of off the phone and slammed it back down onto it. The phone was sent flying to the floor along with the pillow and Naruto stood above the fallen items panting.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and then threw his hands up.

"Fuck it! I'm leaving! I'm leaving this fucking house!" Naruto said loudly.

Ignoring his dog's stares of confusion, Naruto stormed to the front hall and grabbed his house keys and was out the door in only a few seconds.

* * *

The phone lay abandoned by the despairing raven's side and said raven gave a frustrated growl and swept his hand out, knocking the phone to the floor. Sasuke leaned over, placing his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He wished with all of his might that he hadn't thought of what he did, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted it.

Sasuke missed staying out all night, having his phone vibrate with irate and worried lovers. He missed picking up random people, the passionate, exciting feeling you get from fucking someone you don't know, he missed not giving one fuck! But one of the things that Sasuke missed the most was the power. When Sasuke was New York's most famous playboy, he had all the power in the world and although he was still insanely rich and powerful, he didn't feel like it! All these emotions were weighing him down, waiting by his phone at night for a hopelessly cute straight guy that Sasuke was sure didn't even know guys could like each other!

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, strands of hair making their way from his hand's grip and into his face as he stared down at the floor, hopelessly confused.

"Jesus Christ…..do I really like him?" Sasuke murmured.

As soon as the words left his lips, Sasuke's eyes widened as the phrase hit a certain chord with him. He raised a slightly trembling hand to his mouth as he stared at nothing.

"My god….I don't know…." Sasuke whispered, his hot breathe hitting the palm of his own hand.

* * *

Naruto took a deep breathe, trying to get the air back into his lungs. Shortly after leaving his house he had once more been overwhelmed with the unpleasant energy and as a last attempt to get rid of it, he had sprinted like a mad man down the road for god knows how long. He shot brief glances over his shoulders, praying to god that no one had seen him. When he detected no sign of movement he turned back around at the moonlit street and huffed out a laugh.

He stopped immediately, his eyes wide like the first laugh had startled him but soon he was set off into a never ending burst of giggles. He tried in vain to stop himself, warning himself that had anyone been watching him he would have looked insane. Randomly bursting into sprints and then stopping, looking over his shoulders and then bursting into laughter?

"I look like a crazy person…" Naruto giggled out and promptly fell into another fit of laughter.

Slowly but surely his giggles trailed off into little huffs and finally into nothing. He walked down the street in a suddenly sober attitude as he stared at the ground. He knew that back at the house he had decided that Gaara was being an asshole but….

"But why can't I stop thinking about it?" He whispered, no longer bothered by it but now genuinely curious.

Now that he had decided to distance himself from the situation he could look over the last month with Sasuke and he only saw a few weird incidents; two of them being at his house and the other two in public places. That was completely normal; every friendship had its weird moments. This revelation set extreme warmth in Naruto's chest as he smiled, satisfied as he felt a huge weight be lifted off of his chest. He gave a contented sigh and continued down the street, noticing that he was close to the end of his neighborhood and he would soon be close to the highway.

Outside of his neighbor hood there was a little dead-end street that had a laundry mat and a convenience store. Naruto decided that he would walk down there, maybe get a beer and then go back to the house and get some well needed sleep.

Naruto turned right and walked towards the convenience store, the promise of sleep urging him to move faster. He momentarily was hit with a feeling of hesitation and nervousness at coming here so late in the night but it quickly passed. He was now bathed in the yellow light of the convenience store and as he walked towards the door he heard a strange sound in the ally way.

Naruto slowed down, still taking small steps as he stared at the ally way in-between the store and the laundry mat. For a minute all was silent until he heard more shuffling, this time Naruto could definitely hear the sounds of a fight. He stood staring at the ally way, indecisive about whether or not he should jump in and help when he heard a pained grunt. That did it.

Naruto turned on his heel and ran the short distance to the ally way. He turned the sharp corner, immediately facing the front and he saw that there were two men fighting. With the help of the moonlight he could see that one had long, raven locks of hair and from the way that he was hunched over, Naruto guessed that he was the one being attacked. Naruto ran in, giving himself a moment to think, 'oh Jesus Christ, what the fuck am I doing' before jumping into the fight.

Naruto reached out a hand and ripped the raven from the heavier man's grip. He ignored both the men's cries of surprise and turned to the attacker. Something glinted in the moonlight and Naruto quickly deduced that the man had a weapon. Despite himself Naruto felt a smirk coming on; it had been a while since he had been in a good fight.

For the sake of the sport, Naruto let the man get in a good hit, right on the jaw. Naruto snapped his head to the right and before the man could even begin to feel triumphant Naruto had knocked the knife out of his hand and punched the guy ruthlessly in the stomach. With a surprised grunt the attacker knelt down, only to have his face smashed in by Naruto's upcoming knee.

The attacker fell quietly to the ground and Naruto smirked at him before turning to the victim. Despite himself Naruto backed up as the man stood up, even while he was hunched over Naruto could see that he was tall.

'_Taller than Sasuke…'_ Something inside him mentioned, simply observing and Naruto felt a tiny bit of annoyance at the mention of his friend's name.

Naruto looked up as the man stood up fully and stepped forward. When the moonlight hit the strangers face Naruto gasped and looked at the stranger, helplessly confused.

"….Sasuke?" Naruto asked incredulously.


	12. Chapter 12

** I was proud of myself for updating but then I took a long time between chapters, Again. Curses. **

** But, after updating I made a little time line for things that I want to happen and I now know where I'm taking this! Please continue to read and review my wonderful readers.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Naruto. Naruto belongs to its respective owners.**

** Chapter Eleven. **

* * *

The Sasuke-doppelganger smirked at him before taking a few wobbly steps, forcing Naruto to back up.

"Not Sasuke," the man murmured, his voice rough, "even better."

Naruto eyed him wearily, had he saved the lesser of two evils? This guy was acting drunk with his weird walk and slurred speech. Plus he had just said that he was better than Sasuke. Who the hell was this guy? Naruto was broken out of his thoughts as the man took a few more stumbling steps towards him, forcing Naruto to back up against the brick alleyway wall. Naruto held out his hands to the approaching man.

"Hey, you alright? You're walking kind-"

Naruto stopped talking abruptly as his outstretched hands were grabbed and he was pulled to the man's chest, his own chest hitting it with a slap at the force. Naruto stood there for a few seconds, dazed with shock before snapping back into reality and looking up at the man furiously. He reached his hands up and pressed them against the man's stomach in an attempt to escape and recoiled as he felt something wet and warm through the shirt.

"Hey, you're-..."

"Itachi." The man interrupted.

Naruto blinked at him, surprised and then confused.

"What?"

A hand snuck around his waist and pulled him closer.

"I'm Itachi."

Naruto looked down at the arm around his waist and then up at the man pointedly. The man stared back blankly, a faint smirk on his lips and Naruto glared.

"That's great, _Itachi_, but you do know that you're-"

"Terribly attracted to you?"

Naruto gave a loud, frustrated groan and glared into the raven's now startled face. He reached up his hands and struck them against Itachi's chest in anger.

"No, fucking dammit! Just listen to me and stop fucking interrupting me! You're bleeding, that's what I've been trying to tell you and you won't stop…you…" Naruto trailed off as his mind caught up with him and he looked up at Itachi alarmed, "Did you…did you say that you were…attracted to me?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow and clucked his tongue and shook his head.

'_I should be kicking this guy's ass right now, not blushing at him!' _Naruto thought and began to struggle again.

Naruto froze as he felt Itachi lean down, he could feel his breathe against his cheek and he looked up at Itachi's face, which was a lot closer now than he had remembered it being before.

"You missed 'terribly'." Itachi whispered and smashed their lips together.

Naruto tensed up as his heart gave that obligatory seize that it does whenever you kiss, _really_ kiss, anybody. The heart seize was normal, what came next however, was not. One second he was inwardly wailing about getting raped in the ally way and the next his mind was flooded with thoughts of Sasuke.

'_The fuck?' _ Naruto thought as his mind was filled with snapshots of Sasuke. Sasuke smiling at him, Sasuke looking at him shocked, Sasuke looking at him angrily, Sasuke looking annoyed.

Naruto felt his skin break out in goosebumps as his mind continued to be filled with everything Sasuke while a tongue probed sensually at his own.

….A tongue!

Naruto's jerked back with a gasp that turned into a strangled cry of pain as he hit his head on the brick wall behind him. His hands flew to the back of his head and he rubbed at it, whimpering pitifully before he realized that he was free from Itachi's grip.

Itachi stood back, watching him appraisingly and smirking.

"You ok?"

"You kissed me!" Naruto shrieked, feeling quite violated…OK not really but that was the problem! He just got kissed by a guy and he didn't feel upset about it at all; The thing that he was most upset about was hitting his head.

"You're welcome."

Naruto gaped at Itachi in shock before letting out another frustrated, furious groan.

"You're even worse than the bastard!"

Itachi blinked at him before narrowing his eyebrows angrily, his mouth turning down into a scowl.

"Sasuke's touched you better?"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and his cheeks burned furiously at the idea, _why aren't I feeling disgusted?_

"What? No! He hasn't…hasn't touched me at all…" Naruto protested awkwardly.

Itachi looked at him, processing this information and then gave him a lecherous smirk.

"How unfortunate for him! You're quite the catch!"

Naruto averted his eyes awkwardly and shrugged, _why me._

"Thanks?"

For a few seconds they were silent before Itachi snapped his fingers in realization, startling Naruto. Naruto looked at him expectantly and Itachi looked back impassively.

"You're also going to have to take me to the hospital." He said calmly.

Naruto's eyes widened,

"Wait what?"

Itachi gave him a small smile and a wave before promptly collapsing.

* * *

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as a curious hand slid down his back and towards his jeaned ass.

"Itachi…" He growled out warningly.

Said raven gave a put off 'humph' and the hand settled on his waist.

'_Not better.'_ Naruto thought dryly, gripping the pen in his hand so tightly he thought it would burst as he filled out the registration papers.

"Now, how did you stumble upon Mr…" the nurse trailed off, flipping through the papers she had been given.

"Uchiha." Itachi filled in casually and Naruto gaped at him.

"You're related to Sasuke?"

"I'm his brother actually."

"Excuse me!" the nurse called out loudly, interrupting them, "how did you stumble upon Mr. Uchiha, then."

Naruto glared at her slightly, he didn't like her; she had an attitude.

"I went out to get a drink at the corner store right outside of my neighborhood and heard a fight in an ally way right next to it so I went and stopped it and found him."

The nurse receptionist gave him a disbelieving look and popped her gum.

"You went out to get a drink at…" she checked the time on her wrist, "three in the morning."

Naruto full out glared at her now, '_fuck you too, fucking four-pig tails.'_

"I couldn't sleep. Look, are you gonna help him or not? He's bleeding."

At this information the nurse turned professional and started sifting through the papers seriously now. She checked various boxes and filled in blanks, checking her watch numerous times.

"Do you need a nurse to roll him back or can you manage to get him back to the ER by yourself?" She asked.

Naruto's first reaction was to get the nurse but Itachi's hand on his waist slowly started to lower itself down to his ass again, Naruto growled and it stopped.

"If I get you a nurse are you going to molest them too?" he asked quietly.

At this the hand slid immediately back up to his waist and held onto him tightly.

"I won't go with anyone but you, Na-ru-to." Itachi said firmly.

Naruto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't give Itachi to someone else and sacrifice their innocence. He would have to take him himself.

"Wait…" Naruto said, slowly realizing something, "how did you…?"

He looked at Itachi and felt his eyebrow twitch as he watched the raven wave his driver's license that he had given to the nurse for registration. Naruto growled at him and snatched it out of Itachi's hand and shoved it into his pant's pocket.

"No I'll take him." Naruto sighed, resignedly, "to the back and then left, right?"

The nurse gave him a surprised, impressed look as she handed him the papers to give to the receptionist back there. Naruto saw her look and understood; he folded the papers and got a better hold on Itachi.

"My-.." Naruto started and stopped immediately.

'_My wife works here_' is what he had almost said, out of habit.

'_Fuck!'_ Naruto thought, frantically. He was in the hospital where Sakura worked! Of course he had driven here 'out of habit' too! He didn't want to see Sakura yet! Or at least not now with Mr. Wandering-hands all over him! He straightened out the papers on the front desk and then turned tensely and walked around the desk, heading towards the back. Naruto's mind raced and he was barely aware of holding on to Itachi or the people that passed him. He forced himself to move quickly for Itachi's sake but his body screamed for him to run out of there. He wasn't ready to see her at all.

They rounded the corner and got to the row of curtained work stations where the ER doctors worked and the ER receptionist there motioned for him to give her the papers. Naruto's heart pounded and he was beginning to feel light headed, he shuffled sluggishly over to her, feeling like he was walking in jelly, and silently handed her the papers.

She looked at him cautiously and then at the papers, shuffling through them and she nodded; the two buns on her head wobbling with the movement.

"I've got a stab wound patient out here for whoever's free!" She yelled out.

Naruto bristled as he heard the metallic scraping sound of a curtain being pulled back suddenly. He knew that he was supposed to turn around but he couldn't, he was so scared that it was going to be her.

"I'm free." An all too familiar voice called out hesitantly and Naruto swore that time froze for a minute.

He swallowed and tightened his hold on Itachi's waist and grimaced as he realized he was sweating. He could see the receptionist and Itachi watching him carefully but he ignored them and forced himself to turn around and face her; she looked shocked but not terribly so.

Seeing this, a spark of anger ignited in his chest.

_'You bitch!'_ Naruto screamed inwardly, '_I bet you don't even care right now, do you?'_

They stared at each and the nurse broke the tense silence.

"The patient is Itachi Uchiha. This gentleman rescued him from a mugging and reports a stab wound on his stomach." The receptionist informed Sakura and that seemed to snap her back into work mode.

She nodded towards the brunette and Naruto automatically recoiled as she stepped forward to get Itachi. Sakura froze, realizing her mistake and slowly reached for Itachi's wrist and pulled him over to her. Naruto sighed when her back turned and he followed her as she led Itachi towards her work station. She sat Itachi down on the chair and turned around closed the curtain around them and Naruto's stomach coiled into a ball.

She wasted no time in getting Itachi's shirt off and Naruto felt another flare of anger.

_'You've gotten real good at getting rid of guy's clothes. How many did you have over to practice?'_

She inspected Itachi's wound, pressing down to check for internal bleeding and asking him questions. Naruto watched as a lock of pink hair fell from her ponytail and Naruto was hit with the memories of her cooking in the kitchen, wearing nothing but his shirt, hair tied up loosely with locks hanging down messily. She'd smile at him and always manage to get him to either: take over and cook it or to take _her_. Naruto blinked as his eyes stung with the threat of tears and he crossed his arms.

"You saved him, huh?" Sakura called out to him without taking her eyes from Itachi's wound.

Naruto blinked in surprise and then nodded slightly,

"Yeah."

He watched as her red mouth turned up into a rueful smile.

"There you go, being Mr. wonderful again."

His hands tightened around his biceps, his nails digging into his skin. She had called him that teasingly in their three years of marriage, whenever he was being too nice. It hurt terribly to hear her call him that again, knowing that she had been fucking some kid while he had worked for her, had _loved_ her.

She peeked at him from over her shoulder, looking hopeful but Naruto stared her down until she finally looked away.

She continued to exam the stab wound (it wasn't deep she said) and she straightened up and pulled at her latex gloves. She crossed over to her metal tray that carried all her medical utensils and grabbed a needle.

"You'll need a few stitches. No scar, I promise. Think you can manage without pain medicine?"

Itachi looked at her appraisingly and then nodded silently. Sakura gave him a smile and grabbed a stool and brought it over to Itachi and sat on it.

"Wait." Itachi commanded and Sakura looked up at him expectantly, "Naruto, come hold my hand."

Sakura deadpanned at him and then looked curiously over her shoulder at Naruto. Naruto looked back at her before sighing and shoving his hands into his pockets. He crossed over to Itachi and reluctantly pulled out a hand and clapped it into Itachi's. Itachi nodded at Sakura to start and she smiled at him curiously.

She leaned back in and prepared the needle,

"Won't hurt at all." She said.

"There you go, lying again." Naruto said and this time he didn't bother to meet her hurt and stunned gaze. He felt Itachi give his hand a squeeze and he smiled ruefully and squeezed it back.

* * *

They drove back in silence; Naruto was looking forward in an emotionless way that Itachi didn't like and Itachi was sitting awkwardly in the passenger seat, one hand on his stomach.

"Who was-"

"My ex-wife."

Itachi grimaced and nodded, looking out the window. So that's why the blonde had gone from 'fuck me, I'm adorable and happy' to 'fuck me, I'm angry and tense'.

"Well I guess she's still my wife technically but…" Naruto trailed off with a shrug and Itachi nodded in understanding.

"How do you know my foolish little brother?" He asked finally after moments of tense silence.

Naruto gave him a curious look at the name and smiled.

"He's my lawyer AND best friend."

Itachi raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"Is that right?"

Naruto nodded, another car passed them, their headlights flooding their own car momentarily with light and Itachi gasped. The blonde was looking forward, pink lips turned up in a smile as ice blue eyes slowly melted into just gorgeous pools of blue; all from just talking about his little brother. The wheels in his head began to turn.

"And you say….that you haven't done anything with him?" Itachi asked carefully as his mind started to race.

A look of irritation flickered across Naruto's face and he shot him a glance.

"No, Itachi, we haven't done anything. Why are you so obsessed with that?"

Suddenly everything clicked in his head and Itachi gave a sinister grin before schooling his face and turning towards the window and observing the night with disinterest.

"Oh, only because of my little brother's….history…."

Itachi was met with silence and he tensed, waiting to see if Naruto would take the bait.

"….history?"

Itachi grinned at the window, _hook line and sinker._ He turned back towards Naruto who was looking from the road and back to him continuously, he was curious.

"You mean you don't know?" He asked in mock shock, "I'm surprised; I thought you would have done research on your own lawyer."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed as he processed what he was hearing.

"What don't I know?" He asked, his voice sounding accusing.

"Oh, only that my little brother has been called repeatedly, 'New York's Playboy'. He gets what he wants easily and then throws it away. What he wants usually is a one night stand….but, you're sure you haven't done anything with him?"

Naruto's hands were gripping the steering wheel and he looked rather panicked.

"Yes! I'm sure!"

Itachi gave a deliberately slow whistle.

"I'm impressed, for you to look like you do and have him not try to make a pass at you….that's a little odd, don't you think?"

"No, we're both guys!" Naruto said unsteadily, his voice shaking slightly.

Itachi gave a loud scoff.

"That means nothing to my brother, boys and girls alike, he's had them all."

Itachi watched as Naruto processed this information, his blue eyes becoming wide and panicked. Itachi could almost see his mind racing.

"You're lying…" Naruto whispered out and Itachi gave a chuckle.

"No no, I don't lie. I'm not implying anything; I just merely find it rare for my brother to not bed someone of your looks." Itachi said in mock-thought, "you say you've been working with him for a couple of months?"

Naruto nodded mutely, his eyes locked on the road before him as he twisted into the neighborhood and Itachi watched the corner store fly by from the car.

"Sounds to me like you're a special case." He said slowly.

Naruto looked at him sharply.

"What? What does that mean?"

Itachi gave him a look and shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't know of my brother's history so you don't know how impossible it is to believe he hasn't tried anything with you which leads me to believe that you're…special to him." Itachi watched blonde and when he got no response he took it a bit further, "like maybe…he doesn't want only your body but-"

"But what?" Naruto barked out, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he sped past houses recklessly. "What else could he want; if he even did want anything?"

Itachi could see that this was hitting a chord with the blonde and he thought carefully about how to phrase what he was going to say next; the next thing he said would be the starting piece of his game and he had to start it off right. After a moment's thought Itachi looked forwards and pressed a fist to his mouth thoughtfully.

"Maybe he just wants….you?"


	13. Chapter 13

** Here is the next chapter! I took longer to update than I expected but not too long! But, after updating I made a little time line for things that I want to happen and I now know where I'm taking this! Please continue to read and review my wonderful readers.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Naruto. Naruto belongs to its respective owners.**

* * *

** Chapter Twelve **

Dim early morning light slowly crept into the living room and on the couch, Itachi sat, awake and scheming. Papers, notebooks, and planners that he had 'found' while snooping around were scattered about him; all were Naruto's and all had been…'temporarily borrowed' for the sake of his research. He stared down at the open day planner in his lap and gave the stairs a perplexed look. Everyday had a "meeting with Sasuke!" written under it and gradually Naruto had begun to draw smiley's next to it and on the most recent entry a heart had been drawn only to be furiously scratched out.

Itachi flipped back through the pages, growing more confused. Why on earth were they meeting everyday? That hardly was necessary, didn't Naruto find it strange? Itachi shook his head immediately at the thought, thinking back to last night when, even after the kiss and several flirty advances, Naruto had thought he was being silly. Of course the blonde wouldn't realize anything was weird, he would just be impossibly excited to have a lawyer so dedicated to his 'work'.

"Yeah, his work…" Itachi scoffed, exchanging the planner for a calendar, "that's exactly what he was working so hard for…"

That was the part that had Itachi stuck. He was almost ninety percent sure that his brother liked the blonde but was he working for sex or his love? Itachi shot the second-story railing a glance and smirked, if his brother was smart he would be working for both. Hair like a surfer's, dancing blue eyes, a toned body and a happy personality...if Sasuke wasn't working for the love part, Itachi would be.

At that thought Itachi smirked and leaned back from his work momentarily. How to find out what his brother was after was the problem; Itachi didn't know where Sasuke lived, didn't know his phone number, didn't know where he worked and didn't know any of his friends (unless he was still hanging out with that weird red-head) so he was pretty much at a dead end in his research.

He sighed and pushed the calendar off his lap, pinching the bridge of his nose. He would probably end up having to ask Naruto since his brother's number wasn't listed in the-…

_Bing!_

Itachi froze, his hands immediately flying to the papers around him; how was he going to conceal them? He gathered them up messily, biting his cheek at the noise the papers made, planning to lay on top of them and feign sleep when Naruto came down. After a few seconds of stacking, Itachi shot the second story a cautious glance, slowing his efforts down. He couldn't hear any movement so hopefully that meant Naruto was still asleep.

_Bing!_

"Fuck!" Itachi exclaimed quietly, shooting up from the couch. He needed to find that noise and stop it before it actually _did _wake Naruto up. Slowly he followed the 'bings' (each one causing him to wince and look at the bedroom anxiously) and began to climb the stairs.

Itachi neared the top of the steps; the noises were insanely close now. He stood, crouched down, waiting for a bing.

_Bing!_

Itachi spun around and on the floor before him (and precariously close to falling to the first floor) was a cell phone. Itachi suppressed a triumphant yell and snatched it off the floor.

Itachi saw that the 'bings' were text message alerts and exited Naruto's messages, hitting the sound-off button on the phone. He stared, confused, as the spastic touch-screen redirected him to Naruto's contacts.

"Dumb phone…" he mumbled quietly, scrolling down the list and reading the names with disinterest.

**'_Sasuke-bastard!'_**

The name popped out at him and Itachi froze and clicked it, watching as the screen slid into his little brother's contacts. He slowly looked up, a sinister smile creeping onto his face and looked at the closed bedroom door approvingly. He had just gotten the perfect start for his plan.

* * *

"Wait…he's ignoring you?" Gaara interrupted, disbelieving. He couldn't remember Naruto having ever ignored someone.

Sasuke nodded at him miserably, sliding a hand through his messy locks. Gaara looked back at him, stunned.

"Jesus Christ, what did you _do_?" Gaara asked incredulously.

Sasuke glared at him and slid down further on the couch, his feet resting on top of Gaara's coffee table and cradling a pillow in his arms.

"I didn't do anything!" He mumbled, "It was after we bought the mattress. _That_ day he started ignoring me."

Gaara raised his eyebrows and leaned back on the arm of the sofa, thinking. What had happened when they had bought the mattress? Naruto and Sasuke had gotten in a fight but they had both come back happy. They had brought the mattress in, fixed everything up and then left. He slowly shook his head, his chin resting in the palm of his hand thoughtfully.

"No…" he said finally, "I can't think of an-.."

_**"That's just normal Sasuke, angry and jealous when someone knows more than him and gets more from what he wants."**_

The memory came ringing into his head like a bell and he gasped involuntarily, hand clapping to his mouth and he stared at Sasuke, panicked.

"Oh _shit."_ He breathed out finally.

Sasuke stared back at him, suspicious and alarmed. He sat up, curling his feet underneath himself gracefully and faced Gaara.

"What?"

Gaara ignored him, mind racing. He had never in a million years expected Naruto to catch on so impossibly quickly.

"Gaara, what?" Sasuke called out, now sounding angry.

Gaara raised his hands and continued to stare off, panicked.

"I think…our friend might have figured it out." He said slowly.

Sasuke stared at him blankly before his black eyes swelled with panic and confusion.

"What?" He yelled, "how!"

Gaara rubbed his lips together and swallowed, mind still racing.

"I think I may have given him a hint… accidentally."

Sasuke's face darkened and he delivered an angry, frustrated punch to Gaara's knee. Gaara cried out, hands cupping his throbbing knee and he looked at Sasuke guiltily.

"What the fuck!" Sasuke yelled, hands flying to his hair and chest tightening in stress.

Gaara released his knee and raised his hands defensively.

"Sorry! He's never been good at riddles!"

Sasuke stopped stressing for a minute, deadpanning at Gaara.

"What?"

"Well I guess it kinda was like a riddle and he's never been good at them so I-"

"Why the fuck did you get the urge to tell him a riddle!" Sasuke seethed, "Who the fuck just tells riddles?"

The snort escaped Gaara before he could stop it and he smiled guiltily at Sasuke, choking down the laughter bubbling up inside him. Sasuke gave him a withering glare and slid back down on the couch again, hands covering his face.

"Fuck." Sasuke groaned out, hands covering his eyes as he leaned his head back. "He finally figures it out and it's when I don't even know if I like him."

As soon as he said it out loud his chest filled with an unpleasant, squirmy feeling; it felt totally wrong to say. Sasuke could see Gaara roll his eyes and he resisted the urge to flip him off; he _was _helping him out at six-something in the morning.

"You wouldn't be over here freaking out if you didn't."

Sasuke sneered and rolled his eyes.

"I am _not _freaking out."

Gaara looked at him, one eyebrow cocked in an, 'oh really?" expression. Sasuke stared back at him and finally gave in.

"Ok, I'm stressing about it. Not freaking out."

Gaara huffed out a laugh.

"Ok, fine. You wouldn't be 'stressing' if you didn't. Why do you think you don't like him?"

Sasuke looked down at the pillow in his hands, the weird feeling returning to his chest at that question. Even hearing it felt totally wrong.

"I don't know…I feel like I like him but I guess I just don't have any…concrete proof…" Sasuke explained awkwardly, feeling ridiculous while saying it.

There were a few moments of silence as Gaara mulled over the information and Sasuke's mind was filled with thoughts of Naruto, the weird feeling in his chest going away and warmth replacing it.

"So what you're saying is that…you need physical evidence to be sure of your feelings?"

Sasuke looked over to Gaara, face impassive but he was inwardly shocked. He looked away from Gaara's mint green eyes, hand going to rub the back of his neck and he stopped, smirking; looks like he had picked up a habit from his blonde.

"Don't word it like that," he said quietly, "It makes me sound like a whore or something."

"But isn't that what you're saying?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke tugged at the tassel on the pillow as he mulled it over, trying to fight his pride.

"I guess, sort of." He finally relented, cheeks burning.

"So just kiss him." Gaara suggested casually, checking the clock behind him.

Sasuke looked at him sharply.

"What?" He asked, "I can't just kiss him!"

Gaara looked back to him, surprised, like he hadn't been expecting for that to be a problem.

"What? Why not?" Gaara asked, "Since he's aware of it now you can be bolder."

Sasuke widened his eyes at him, annoyed.

"But he's been ignoring me, that's not exactly a good sign."

Gaara smirked at him, shaking his head.

"For Naruto, that IS a good sign. If he wasn't confused about his own feelings, he wouldn't be ignoring you at all. He wouldn't make a huge scene like this is he didn't feel anything." Gaara explained and Sasuke felt a flicker of jealousy that Gaara knew the blonde so well, "so kiss him to find out if you really like him."

For some reason the thought of actually kissing Naruto flustered him badly and his mind seemed to stutter.

"But I like anyone I kiss." Sasuke said.

Gaara gave him a confused look.

"Why are you fighting this so hard? Don't you want to kiss him?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I'm not, I'm just sayi-"

"Kiss him then." Gaara challenged, his voice cold.

Sasuke gave him a pointed, annoyed look and leaned forward.

"I told you, I like everyone I kiss."

"Ok, but that was when you were a man-whore. I bet you don't now."

Sasuke gaped at Gaara angrily.

"I was not a man whore!"

Gaara raised his eyebrows and gave Sasuke another, 'really?' look.

"Not anymore, no. You _used_ to like everyone you kissed but I'm willing to bet that you don't now."

"I bet I do!" Sasuke shot back and swore inwardly. Why _was_ he fighting so hard? Why did the thought of kissing Naruto excite him and fill him with fright?

Gaara gave him a final glare, his whole body tense, eyes sparking angrily.

"You're pissing me off." He stated slowly between clenched teeth.

Sasuke inwardly screamed at himself to stop, that he shouldn't provoke Gaara early in the morning; when tired, Gaara was rash and unpredictable.

"I just still think I do." The words escaped him and he had to fight off the urge to clap his hands to his mouth.

Gaara gave a loud growl and Sasuke had time to think, '_he's gonna kill me', _before Gaara was on him. Sasuke flinched back from Gaara's groping hands, preparing for a blow, but as Gaara moved closer Sasuke suddenly realized that Gaara was going for his lips. Sasuke could barely even register Gaara's hands on his leg through his shock and he was too stunned to do anything but sit there as Gaara brought his face to his and then hastily pushed their lips together.

Sasuke sat back; eyes wide open as Gaara pressed against his lips roughly. He recoiled but Gaara followed suit, his mouth felt grossly hot against Sasuke's, his mind was totally blank. He couldn't think of anything to do except to sit there and wait for Gaara to stop.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Gaara pulled back and looked at Sasuke expectantly. Sasuke was surprised to find that Gaara was nearly straddling him now and the thought popped in his head immediately, '_I wish that had been Naruto'. _

"Well?" Gaara asked finally, his voice tired.

Sasuke looked at him, blankly.

"What?" He asked dumbly through his stupor.

Gaara gave him a furious look and he punched Sasuke in the side.

"Do you like me, asshole?" He asked roughly.

Sasuke blinked at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about and then it hit him like a ton of bricks; Gaara had been proving a point, not just randomly kissing him. Sasuke thought back to how perplexed and panicked he had been and surprised the both of them by busting out laughing. He at first tried to stop himself for Gaara's sake, but trying to stop made him laugh harder so he eventually just let go, throwing his head back and clutching his stomach.

Gaara stared down at him, still nearly straddling him, his cheeks pink and ruining his attempts to appear impassive. This only made Sasuke laugh harder and Gaara's cheeks redder.

"Oh my god," Sasuke gasped, "I had no idea what the fuck you were doing."

Gaara gave him an outraged look and smacked him roughly on the shoulder.

"Why the hell else would I have kissed you!"

Sasuke stopped laughing and wrapped his arms around Gaara's hips, looking up at him playfully.

"Because you're madly in lust with me?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Gaara gave him a withering stare and then pushed himself off of Sasuke's lap and back over to his side of the sofa, glaring at Sasuke the whole way.

"Piss off…"

Sasuke grinned at that and then sobered, trying hard to think. After a few moments of thought he turned slightly to Gaara, still staring off into space,

"I really didn't feel anything though…" He mused, ignoring Gaara's comments of, 'I told you so!'

"Now all you have to do is kiss him!" Gaara said pleasantly and Sasuke nodded.

"Oh, just that? That should be easy!"

Gaara winced at the sarcasm.

"You can do it."

Sasuke shot him an unsure face and scratched absentmindedly at his head.

"But how do I get him to start talking to me again?" he asked, turning to Gaara.

Gaara's answer was interrupted by a vibrating sound, they both looked to Sasuke's phone on the coffee table and then to one another.

'Answer it!' Sasuke mouthed to Gaara.

Gaara gave him a perplexed look before grabbing it and checking.

"It's a text." He whispered and was hit with amusement; why were they trying to be quiet? There was no one here but them.

Sasuke waved his hands in an, 'go on' motion and Gaara rolled his eyes, smiling. Gaara flipped the phone open, opened the message and froze.

He looked closely at the phone, then to Sasuke and pointed.

"Why…is Naruto sending you pictures?" he asked, taken aback.

Sasuke shot him a disbelieving look and grabbed the phone, tilting it towards him. The picture was of Naruto, eyes closed like he was asleep.

"The fuck?" Sasuke murmured as they huddled over the phone, watching as it vibrated again.

Gaara opened the message and this time the picture was of a semi-conscious Naruto.

The next was one of him, groggily surprised.

The next was him smiling slightly, bemused.

"Something's not right." Gaara said suddenly, hand over his mouth.

Sasuke glanced at him; Gaara continued to look at the pictures.

"I don't think he took these."

Sasuke froze, looking at Gaara sharply.

"What? Then who fuck took them?" He asked, hushed.

Instantly the mood was tense. He and Gaara shared a look and simultaneously got up, grabbing a few things; Sasuke pocketed his cell phone and keys, Gaara did the same.

"Let's get over there." Gaara said quietly as they ran to the door.

Sasuke nodded at him, and then looked straight ahead, jaw clenched.

'_Who the fuck is in bed with you, Naruto?' _

* * *

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, shielding his face as Itachi took another photo.

"Just sending out for some friends." Itachi explained pleasantly, smiling at Naruto from behind the phone.

"What friends." Naruto asked suspiciously, considerably more awake now.

"You know them, don't worry." Itachi reassured, throwing the phone across the bed.

"I know who?" Naruto asked, watching wearily as Itachi crawled over to him, smirking and ignoring his question.

When Itachi reached Naruto, he swung one long leg over Naruto's side, straddling him and leaned down, staring at Naruto heatedly while Naruto stared back, wide-eyed.

"Naruto." Itachi said huskily.

"What?" Naruto squeaked.

"What do you think of Sasuke?"

Naruto blinked and felt like laughing; Itachi freaked him out for that?

"Didn't we have that conversation last night?" Naruto asked, sobering as he remembered what Itachi had told him about Sasuke. He felt strangely upset about Sasuke's 'history'.

Itachi watched him carefully, smirking and rested his chin on Naruto's chest.

"No, you just told me that he was your lawyer and best friend. You didn't tell me how you feel about him."

This gave Naruto's heart a jolt and he stared down at Itachi, unreasonably panicked.

"What do you mean? I feel like he's a nice guy." He stammered out, looking down at the raven incredulously.

"A nice guy you could love?"

Naruto breathe caught in his throat and he stared at Itachi, bewildered.

"Wha-?"

"Could you love my brother?" Itachi asked patiently, eyes skimming over Naruto's face.

"I don't- what are you even…why are you…?" Naruto stuttered out, his face impossibly red.

Itachi gave him a pointed, disbelieving look.

"What!" Naruto asked defensively, sitting up on his elbows.

"Are you really so clueless as to-…" Itachi stopped talking, cocking his head to the left and they both listened to an engine revving down the street, coming closer.

"Are those the frien-"

Itachi shoved a hand in Naruto's face, pressing his pointer finger to the blonde's plump lips. Naruto cocked an eyebrow and looked up at Itachi, annoyed. After a few seconds of listening to the engine come closer, the tires screamed and it sounded like they had just pulled into the driveway.

"Ok we don't have much time now." The car engine shut off and doors slammed shut, "how about I phrase it a different way?"

The sounds of a key being jiggled in the lock echoed up to Naruto's room and he sent Itachi an alarmed look.

"Itachi what the fu-"

"Would you just listen to my question?" Itachi asked, the door-lock clicked and it was swung open hurriedly.

Naruto nodded at him silently, eyes wide and heart pounding. Who the fuck had Itachi invited over?

"Good. Who could you love, me or my brother?" Itachi asked his voice hardening as footsteps ran up the stairs.

"Good Lord! What the fuck are you asking me?" Naruto exclaimed, "Why is that important at all?"

Itachi gave him a desperate, pleading look as the footsteps sprinted towards them.

"Because you're going to have to decide, right now..."

Naruto gave him a bewildered look. The bedroom door swung open, banging against the wall and Itachi hurriedly cupped Naruto's face, turned it away from the door. There was a quick moment, no more than a second, where he and Itachi made eye contact; Naruto wide-eyed and startled, Itachi determined and nervous looking.

Immediately Naruto understood perfectly. He knew who was in the doorway, watching, and he knew just what Itachi was getting him into. If he jerked away now, he could avoid the kiss, stop any more drama from starting. But some defiant, wild part of him forced him to stay put, he felt extremely terrified and doubtful but he stayed there, let Itachi more firmly cup his face and swoop down, and kiss him.

'_Here we go!'_ something inside him crowed wildly.

'_Here we go indeed.'_ Naruto answered ruefully.


	14. Chapter 14

**I owe you guys such a big apology it isn't even funny. I'm so so so terribly sorry I was gone for so long. It's not fair to you guys to leave you hanging and I'm actually really scared to upload this because I'm terrified of the amount of people that have probably abandoned the story :c I promise to be better. I've already started working on the next chapter. It'll be up in a few days. I swear I'm gonna be the best author to you guys if you will just stay with me, please :C. **

** Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! **

** Warning: Language and violence.**

* * *

The feeling was indescribable. He felt strangely detached, like he was merely watching a movie. Through his veins a curious numbness crept, blocking off any emotions or thoughts.

"What the hell?" Sasuke heard Gaara mutter; he sounded like he was miles away.

Sasuke felt like he had plunged into an ice cold river- he felt completely numb. He could feel something bubbling in his chest, but in his disoriented state, he couldn't decipher what emotion it was. As he stared, Sasuke realized- in mute horror- that he could see everything; every single, little detail. He could see the way the man's jeans wrinkled as he straddled Naruto, the stark contrast between Naruto's and the man's skin color as the stranger's pale hands cupped Naruto's tan face. Sasuke's eyes-as if they had their own wills- devoured the sight; the way Naruto's tan hands gripped the sheets, the way Naruto was completely frozen, the sounds of Naruto's and the man's breathing; they traced over the man's jawline as he titled his head, deepening the kiss.

'_Kiss._' Sasuke echoed, trying to get himself to feel angry, to feel anything, '_Someone is kissing Naruto. My Naruto.'_

_ '__**But he isn't yours, is he**__?' _ A cruel voice whispered to Sasuke. '_**You know that now. There's nothing you can do.' **_

The thought made Sasuke's stomach twist painfully. He took a deep, shuddering breath and swallowed. Looking down, he was stuck with the desperate thought that- for the first time in a long time, since he was kid maybe- Sasuke had absolutely no idea what to do. But just as he began to grow frenzied, Gaara- as usual- stepped forward and saved the day.

"Get off of him." Gaara commanded dangerously and instantly Sasuke could feel everything, like someone had doused him suddenly with water and he registered that what he had been feeling bubbling in his chest wasn't desperation. It wasn't sadness. It wasn't confusion.

It was rage.

The emotions came rushing in so quickly it made Sasuke's head swim. It's possible that it was because of Sasuke's competitive/ jealous feelings towards Gaara and Naruto's relationship , but suddenly all Sasuke could think about was how it was so ridiculous that Gaara was the first to step forward, that Gaara was acting like more a boyfriend than Sasuke ever had. The anger blazed through his chest, adrenaline flooded his veins, and his heart was pounding in his ears.

'_Why is he the one to step forward? Why is it always him to come to Naruto's aid?' _Sasuke thought, clenching his jaw.

'**You don't deserve him. He deserves a guy that acts like a boyfriend…like Gaara**.' The same internal, sneaky voice whispered and Sasuke's anger rose.

'_No, I don't deserve him, but that doesn't mean I won't have him.' _ Sasuke spat back, staring in anger at the scene before him, using it to rev himself up more.

'**Oh? And how do you intend to 'have him'? Won't this man be a problem?**' The coy voice replied; Sasuke could almost see the cruel grin on its face.

'_Not for long.' _ Sasuke spat back, his skin sizzling with anger. He pushed past Gaara, realizing that his fists were shaking-badly. '_Good._' He thought, satisfied. If he was angry enough to shake, he was angry enough to win a fight.

His energy grew with every step and when Sasuke finally reached the bed, he was beyond ready to fight. Reaching out with his right hand, Sasuke grunted, giving the man a fierce shove- the contact sending electricity zapping up his arm. Sasuke was surprised, happy, and satisfied at the result.

The man went _flying._

The way that the man landed- on his side on the hardwood floor- seemed stunningly violent and Sasuke was astounded that he had done it. Once landing on the floor it seemed the man's path wasn't over with and he began sliding towards the wall. Sasuke's eyes remained glued on the scene before him, not daring to look at Naruto- wary of what the blonde's expression would be. But, he _could_- just in his peripheral vision- see Naruto looking at him and he swelled with smugness; Naruto was looking at _him_.

Sasuke had no plan. He hadn't had a plan to begin with, but one thing he _had_ intended to do was to beat the absolute crap out of the man on the floor before him; but, as he stepped forwards, Sasuke was flabbergasted to find himself turning to confront Naruto instead. Then he remembered that-just as he hadn't had a plan from the beginning- Sasuke also had had no control over anything.

Naruto was sitting up on his knees, arms puffed out the way guy's arms have a tendency to do when there's a fight; he looked poised, as if ready to jump at the slightest inclination that Sasuke was going to pursue the man. Naruto met Sasuke's eyes with a level of seriousness that Sasuke didn't know was possible for the happy blonde. Sasuke maintained eye contact, panting. He was curious about what had become of the man behind him, but he didn't dare look away and lose whatever contest they were having. After what felt like hours, Naruto let down his guard, staring up at Sasuke like he was a wild stranger.

"What the hell, man?" Naruto called, "what is wrong with you!"

Bristling at the tone in Naruto's voice, Sasuke straightened himself out and looked down at Naruto with his usual cold countenance.

"What do you mean what's wrong with _me_? What's wrong with _you_, idiot?"

Naruto's bright eyes widened with incredulity, head jerking back in disbelief. He slid off the bed, coming face to face with Sasuke.

Being this close to the blonde brought on an unexpected wave of jealousy and possessiveness for Sasuke. All he wanted to do was to grab Naruto, kiss him into a stupor, kiss any trace of that man off of his lips, and make him forget that anyone else even existed. His hands burned to touch Naruto, but he resisted, clenching his jaw as his eyes traced over the outline of Naruto's full lips.

"Me? You're asking about me?" Naruto's voice was once again reaching levels in volume that no human should ever be able to reach, "Don't try to pretend like you didn't just go fucking hulk for no reason."

Sasuke's brows furrowed and he ripped his stare away from Naruto's lips, raising one eyebrow in disbelief.

"'Go Hulk'?" he quoted, unimpressed, "I didn't realize you were twelve."

"And I didn't realize you were my fucking boyfriend!" Naruto shouted back, stepping forwards.

Sasuke's retort caught in his throat as Naruto's comeback caught him off guard. He schooled his face, staring at Naruto coldly with an unpleasant feeling twisting in his chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snarled, stepping towards Naruto.

Their chests bumped, throwing Naruto momentarily off balance. After a few seconds of wind-milling his arms Naruto steadied himself and then- giving Sasuke a loathing glare- leaped forward and shoved him.

"That means that the only reason it would have made sense for you to come in here like a crazy person, would be if you were my boyfriend." Naruto called out, his blue eyes looked sharp as glass.

Sasuke allowed himself to step back a few paces to humor Naruto. He sent a frustrated glance to Gaara who stared back at him unhelpfully.

"Naruto, it's not like I'm the only one that was unhappy with the situation; didn't you hear Gaara tell him to 'get off'?" Sasuke reasoned, "You can't expect us to see you kissing a stranger and act like it's no big deal."

"God dammit!" Naruto yelled, fisting his hands in his hair then throwing them out towards Sasuke, "why on earth would that be a big deal though?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto in disbelief,

"Because, no matter how annoying you are, you're actually one of my best friends."

Naruto's eyebrows flew up and he gestured at Sasuke then to Gaara, frustrated.

"Gaara's just as big a friend as you are to me and he didn't race in here about to fight everyone! You don't have that right just because you're my friend!"

Then, suddenly, Sasuke was sick of everything. He was sick of dealing with Naruto's obliviousness, and he was sick of feeling like this.

"Well fuck, Naruto. Now that we're talking about 'rights', what right do _you_ have to ignore me for a week just because you think you've figured something out?" Sasuke combatted sarcastically.

The effect was instantaneous. The fight went out of Naruto like someone had flicked a switch. Naruto stared at him, frozen, mind almost visibly racing; trying to find something to say back.

Sasuke waited, all too willing to let Naruto try to think of a way to get out of this. After a few seconds, Naruto straightened out from his hunched position and swallowed audibly. Naruto wet his lips, then brought a hand up to wipe them dry again.

"I'm sorry, what?" He finally asked, sounding dazed.

Sasuke looked at Naruto unsympathetically,

"You know what I said."

Naruto looked at him, a hint of desperation in his blue eyes and shook his head.

"I do, but I don't know what you mean."

Sasuke smirked inwardly, amused that Naruto was still managing to turn his questions back around on him.

"I believe you know what I meant as well, but I'll humor you." Sasuke started, feeling particularly nasty. "I mean that at some point after we brought your mattress home, you 'figured' something out and completely cut me off. It had to have been you because I went home that day thinking we were fine, in fact, that _day_, you reassured me that we were best friends. So what the fuck happened?"

Sasuke's question was met with silence, Naruto staring at him- looking very conflicted.

"Do you have any idea what that's like?" Sasuke asked, wanting to shake the blonde, to make him realize how worried and anxious he had made Sasuke, "do you know how terrible it is to suddenly be cut off from somebody for no reason!"

Naruto watched him, looking miserable.

"I do." He finally said.

Then Sasuke realized that Naruto did in fact know what that feeling was like. He had learned it months ago when he had come home to find his wife cheating on him with a stranger. The guilt alone was enough to force Sasuke to step back. He searched his mind for something to say, for something that would acknowledge Naruto's pain and be an apology at the same time.

"I…I know you do." He said lamely, looking down.

Naruto said nothing and nodded his head, also looking down at the ground

"If you know that feeling…. then why on earth would you do it to Sasuke?" Gaara called out.

Sasuke's head snapped up, he had almost forgotten about the stoic red-head. He was ecstatic for the break and was more than willing to let Gaara take control of the conversation for a bit. Naruto, for a few seconds, looked at Sasuke with a 'do you believe this guy?' expression on his face before realizing that Sasuke probably wasn't going to take his side. With an annoyed sigh Naruto turned to confront Gaara.

"Ok yes, but the feelings aren't the same. Mine was with someone that I was in love with and his was with his best friend!" Naruto defended, gesturing to Sasuke with one hand with the other pointing to his own chest.

Gaara furrowed his non-existent eyebrows, shaking his head. He walked closer to Sasuke and stood by his side, observing Naruto.

"That's not any better of an explanation; When you started ignoring him, it was because you thought he was in love with you, therefor you were subjecting him to the same level of feeling that you felt with Sakura."

Naruto flinched, looking pointedly from Gaara to Sasuke then back to Gaara. Sasuke, on the other hand, suppressed a snort and the urge to roll his eyes.

'_Good old Gaara, Good old blunt, filter-less Gaara.'_

"That's not- Gaara!" Naruto cried out, flustered.

Gaara glanced towards Naruto briefly, and then rolled his eyes, actually looking exasperated.

"Naruto, don't be a jerk. Tell us the truth, why did you start ignoring him? If it _was_ because you thought he was in love with you, then you're a shit person for being a hypocrite." Gaara explained so coldly that even Sasuke flinched- mentally of course.

"I'm not a hypocrite!" Naruto exploded, face going red. "I'm just straight!"

Sasuke's breathe caught in his throat; a stabbing feeling pierced his chest. Could words cause this much pain? This dying, sinking pain?

'_He's straight.'_ Sasuke thought despairingly, '_The first person I actually like and I don't have a chance in the world.' _

The irony was torturous. He had once walked around thinking he could get anyone he wanted. That no one would be able to withstand his looks and his charm. But now, this simple, beautiful fool was toying with his feelings without even knowing that he was doing it,

"I don't believe you for a second." Gaara shot back, sounding amused.

Naruto jerked back, sending Sasuke a panicked glance.

"What?" He asked, his voice escalating a few octaves.

Sasuke watched, fascinated, as Gaara worked at tearing the truth out of Naruto.

"I said, I don't believe you," Gaara repeated slowly, walking towards the blonde, "Come on, how long are you gonna play this game? With as long as I've known you, you surely can't expect to fool me."

Naruto stumbled back, attempting to escape from Gaara. He turned to face Sasuke and for one wild second Sasuke thought that Naruto was about to jump into his arms. Then Naruto came to his senses and turned back to face Gaara- backing up until he bumped against the nightstand.

"What are you talking about! I'm straight!" Naruto protested wildly.

Gaara immediately let up, raising his hands- signaling surrender.

"Fine, I believe you. You're straight. But, if you're the decent person that I know you are, you'll give Sasuke a proper rejection." Gaara reached out and grabbed Naruto's shoulders, turning him to face Sasuke, "just look him in the eyes and say, 'Sasuke, I'm straight and there's no chance of me ever loving you'."

Sasuke sent Gaara a disbelieving glare. Gaara held a finger to his lips, nodding towards Naruto- signaling Sasuke to watch the blonde.

Naruto had never looked smaller than he did as he stared at Sasuke, eyes wide and seemingly staring through him. Even now, after hearing that confession, Sasuke found that when he looked at Naruto, all of the feelings were still there; he still wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to love him. Feeling these emotions brought on the stabbing pain again- Sasuke grunted, slapping his hand to his chest reflexively.

It hurt to look at Naruto.

Sasuke looked away, refusing to meet Naruto's eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes, Sasuke could see Naruto's hand clenching and unclenching. He was disgusted with himself, that he still felt feelings towards Naruto even after hearing his rejection.

Finally the curiosity got to be too much and Sasuke glanced at him briefly, finding Naruto looking heartbreakingly confused and torn. Sasuke immediately wanted to draw him closer and comfort him. Once again disgusted, he looked away. But this was apparently too much for the blonde.

"Why do you keep looking away?" He asked voice shaky.

Sasuke stiffened, glancing at Gaara then Naruto.

"Me?" He asked, surprised.

Naruto nodded, tan hands gripping each other tightly.

"Why do you think? He's waiting for you to reject him." Gaara explained quietly, hands gripping Naruto's shoulders.

Naruto's eyes flashed to Sasuke's- trying to make eye contact- but Sasuke avoided them; if he was going to get rejected, he needed to start hardening himself now.

"So I was right," Naruto said, surprisingly steady sounding, "you do like me."

Sasuke said nothing and Naruto didn't press for an answer. Sasuke waited with baited breathe for Naruto to say something- anything- but when nothing came, Sasuke peeked up at Naruto. Naruto was staring at him, with an expression like no other Sasuke had ever seen. It was strange enough, that despite his best interest, Sasuke had to say or do something to snap the blonde out of it.

Unsure of how to start, Sasuke shuffled forward and then decided against it and went back to his original position. He struggled for words, stuck in an awkward moment of wanting to say something but not being able to articulate anything.

"….Naruto?" Sasuke offered cautiously.

Naruto stiffened, looking at Sasuke with wide eyes. His odd expression slowly melted into one of tortured confliction. Slowly, as if it was painful, Naruto raised his hands and covered his eyes, rubbing slowly as if to get rid of a headache.

"Oh god, what is this." He moaned.

"You're wasting too much time, go on, reject him!" Gaara pressed, speaking in low tones, "look in his eyes and tell him that you'll never love him!"

From behind his eyes Naruto shook his head,

"I can't..." He said quietly, sounding like a child.

"Why not, Naruto?" Gaara asked, though Sasuke had a feeling that Gaara already knew.

"We started out as acquaintances. The very first day I met you, I thought you were a complete asshole cause you glared at me in my restaurant." Sasuke snorted at the memory. "Then you introduced yourself as my lawyer. Then that night you called me and for some reason I blurted out that I was lonely and for some reason….." Naruto took his hands from his eyes to look at Sasuke, "you came over."

"The visits were never a chore, even when we were just acquaintances, but soon I found myself looking forward to them. I found myself looking at things and thinking, 'that'd make Sasuke laugh'. Or doing things and knowing that- had you been there- you would have called me a complete idiot. Just all the sudden you were in my head, 24/7."

Unexpectedly, a clapping sound emerged over the tense silence. Sasuke and Gaara turned around, searching for the source, and found the man, standing and looking impossibly elegant even though he had been thrown off a bed earlier. Sasuke willed himself to feel angry, but he was so emotionally invested in what was happening, he didn't have the energy to care; so he stood there and let the raven-haired man finish clapping.

"Oh, Naruto. Simple, simple Naruto." The man started, flashing everyone a charming smile.

Sasuke regarded him suspiciously as he began to walk towards the bed but didn't move out of his way. The man glanced at Sasuke approvingly, nodding to himself, and then settled into place right beside Sasuke.

"That would have been a wonderful speech; if Sasuke's poor heart wasn't hanging in the balance."

Then, before Sasuke could react, the man reached over and wrapped a long arm around his shoulders, pulling Sasuke towards his torso. Sasuke recoiled violently, twisting out of his grip and stumbling away-giving the man his most dangerous glare. The man leaned back, observing Sasuke regretfully.

"Too soon?" He asked, not sounding at all sorry.

Sasuke wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, feeling disgusted at the contact.

"Any time will be too soon. Don't you ever touch me again."

Sasuke's warning was met with a blank stare and after a minute the man turned away, nodding at Naruto confidently.

"It's too soon." He whispered to the blonde from behind his hand, like Sasuke wasn't three inches away and couldn't hear him.

Naruto groaned, throwing his head in his hands. Sasuke scowled, stepping forwards and pointing at the man.

"Didn't you hear me? I said don't ever touch me. There will never be a time where it's not too soo-…"

"What answer did that heartfelt speech give us? No answer." The man moved on, completely cutting Sasuke off and ignoring him, "so let me at least ask you this. What is your response to my question that I asked before we were so rudely interrupted?"

Sasuke watched in disbelief as the raven peeked over his shoulder at him and glared-actually glared at him! Sasuke glared back; the way that this man was immune to the infamous 'Uchiha- death glare' was unnerving.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked finally, sounding totally fascinated by this new, odd specimen that had appeared. "What question?"

The man threw a confused look over his shoulder which gave way to a look of recognition once his eyes locked on Gaara.

"Well hey there, Elmo! Long time, no see! You can call me….Weasel."

* * *

They sat on the floor, the entire bedroom in disarray. The bed, which they had made up so nicely earlier that week, was completely bare- the sheets stripped off and thrown about the room. The four men sat in different corners of the room- coupled together; Sasuke crouched over Gaara, a protective hand draped over the red-heads thigh as he stared at the men on the opposite corner. Naruto sat with the stra-…weasel; a restraining arm held across his chest and he looked back at Sasuke. Everyone was breathing heavily.

As soon as Sasuke heard the word 'elmo' come out of Weasel's mouth, he knew that it wasn't going to end well for any of them. He had already started to turn, to hold Gaara back, when he was pushed out of the way by the furious Gaara. Gaara had delivered a brutal punch to the man's temple, causing Weasel to fall back onto the bedside table. Naruto had cried out, diving for Gaara at the same time Sasuke did; they both noticed each other and stopped, not wanting to make contact, and Gaara took the opportunity to continue wailing on Weasel.

"Gaara!" Sasuke had yelled, forgoing all hesitations about touching Naruto and dove forwards, dipping his arms around Gaara's torso from under his arms.

He pulled, but Gaara had grabbed hold of the man's jacket, dragging Weasel with them.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, flashing a desperate look at the stunned blonde.

Naruto immediately went into action, jumping in-between Weasel and Gaara and went to work on unlacing Gaara's fingers from Weasel's shirt.

"Gaara! Let him go!" Naruto ordered.

"Fuck you!" Gaara retorted, letting go of Weasel only to push Naruto out of the way.

"Hey!" Sasuke shouted, managing to save Naruto from falling by grabbing his arm.

Naruto caught his balance with one hand on the floor and then used Sasuke as an anchor to pull himself up. They didn't even look at each other; once Naruto was steady they continued to struggle to tear the fighting men apart.

"Why are you mad?" Weasel shrieked, grabbing at Naruto, trying to pull himself away.

Gaara hadn't answered, but continued his barrage of punches and kicks.

Finally after a few more minutes of struggle, Naruto had wrapped his arms around Weasel's waist and yelled,

"Pull!"

He and Sasuke had managed to pull the men apart. Sasuke immediately released Gaara, swiveling around him so that he and Gaara were face to face and pushed the red-head back against the far opposite side of the room. When they reached the wall Sasuke forced Gaara to sit down, and then kneeled over him. He looked over his shoulder and found Naruto doing the same thing.

So here they were, looking at each other. What now?

"So," Weasel started, still thoroughly out of breathe. His clothes were torn and wrinkled, his face scratched and already bruising and his hair messed up beyond belief and he still managed to look like a beat up movie star. "What about that question?"

"Oh my god, I-Weasel!" Naruto deadpanned, "Are you serious?"

"What question?" Sasuke called out, eyes narrowing. Naruto had almost said something…

"I asked him who he could love: me or you." Weasel explained to Sasuke.

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat and he looked at Naruto, hoping his face didn't look too pleading or hopeful or anxious. Naruto dropped his head in his hands, obviously fed-up and tired of all this,

"So?" Weasel egged Naruto on.

"Fine. Fine Weasel." He looked at Weasel briefly, "who could I love out of you and Sasuke?"

Weasel nodded, black eyes narrowed deviously- like everything had gone according to plan. Naruto was silent for a few seconds; Sasuke thought he'd never been so nervous in his entire life. Then Naruto looked Sasuke dead in the face, no shyness, no nothing and Sasuke instantly knew what the answer would be.

"Sasuke."


	15. The Date: Part 1

**AU: Hey guys! Sorry this is so terribly late, but you know school. I haven't given up any story, just been incredibly, ridiculously busy. Also I split this into two parts cause it would've been too long xD**

* * *

Naruto did up the last button, leaving one undone at the top, and ran his hands around the collar- making sure it was all folded down. He looked up into the mirror expectantly and instantly hated it. He stared at his reflection, hands still wrapped around the collar, while he was filled to the brim with frustration and anger.

He sucked in his cheeks, taking a deep breathe, and began the tedious of process of unbuttoning the red cotton shirt. He stared blankly into the mirror as his movements became more vicious-he was now ripping at the buttons, pulling the fabric apart so roughly a voice in the back of his head worried him about ripping the shirt.

Reaching the last button, Naruto quickly tore the shirt off, not able to get out of it fast enough. He balled it up in his hands and threw it down on the ground. Then, without missing a beat, he grabbed the back of his white undershirt and pulled it forward and over his head. He threw it down on top of the red shirt and stood there for a few seconds, panting.

The anger was now beginning to fade, leaving him exhausted and feeling foolish, but still just as frustrated as before. He tightened his jaw, eyebrows furrowing, as he stared down at the shirts by his feet.

"What the fuck am I doing?" He asked quietly; bring a hand up to rub his forehead. After giving his forehead a quick rub, his hand slid down, and Naruto rested his cheek into the palm of his hand- eyes closed.

"Yes, what **are** you doing?" A curious voice floated in, taking Naruto completely by surprise.

Naruto looked up, eyes going to the mirror. Itachi's reflection stared back at him curiously then quietly surveyed the room. He looked back to Naruto, inquisitively, then his eyes traveled down Naruto's exposed torso and sharpened with lust. Naruto averted his eyes, wrapping his arms around his torso defensively.

Naruto turned slightly towards Itachi, "Nothing."

Itachi cocked an eyebrow at Naruto in disbelief, then looked back to the piles of clothes scattered all over the room. He gestured to the mess, looking at Naruto pointedly,

"Playing dress-up?"

Naruto's eyes flickered to where Itachi was gesturing, his mouth thinning into a defensive line. He turned around, aware of Itachi's eyes on his naked back and stared into the mirror- disgruntled eyes trailing over his features with disappointment.

He finally shrugged, swallowing, "They weren't working."

Naruto could tell that Itachi wasn't pleased by this answer. Stepping into the room, Itachi stared at Naruto, unabashed, with calculating eyes. Naruto avoided Itachi's gaze, instead focusing on his reflection in the mirror. He could tell that Itachi was growing concerned and he didn't blame him, but Naruto couldn't deal with that right now. Not when he himself was feeling so conflicted and frustrated.

"Well you're being quiet." Itachi pointed out, sticking his hands in his pockets as he sauntered confidently across the room. Naruto didn't know what to say to that, what could he say? So he kept quiet.

Greeting Naruto's silence with another nod, Itachi turned around, meeting Naruto's eyes with his in the mirror and sat on the bed. Itachi looked away, rubbing his hands idly together.

"The date?" He guessed casually, eyes skimming over the messy room then to Naruto.

Itachi watched as Naruto froze and his usually happy form seemed to wilt even more- if that was possible. He furrowed his eyebrows, his level of concern growing with every silent second.

He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his thighs, "So are you gonna tell me what's wrong or do I have to put you on suicide watch?"

Naruto looked over at him, surprised, his eyebrows raised, blue eyes bright for the first time in the whole conversation- he looked like Naruto, which put Itachi somewhat at ease. Then Naruto's eyes narrowed to half-mast and he huffed out a laugh. He looked back to Itachi- eyes searching, trying to figure him out, to see if he could be trusted- and then Naruto slowly began to unwind his arms from around his torso, running a hand through his hair.

Naruto shrugged, eyes glued to the mirror, "I don't…I don't know. It's just…."

Itachi watched him intently, waiting for Naruto to continue.

A tan hand fisted in golden hair, "What if I'm making a huge mistake."

Naruto finally spit it out; he looked at Itachi as he said this, taking his hand from his hair.

"What if I am _completely _making a huge mistake? What if I'm not gay? I don't- I don't feel gay! I just feel….nauseous, full of dread, and more nervous than I've ever been in my life. What if this goes horribly and our relationship is ruined!?" The flood gates had burst and now Naruto was spewing all of his worries with no way to stop, "And not only do I feel like I'm going to vomit up everything that I've ever eaten in my life, I can't find anything to wear to the dumb thing! And that sounds so girly, I know, but it's true! I can't find anything to wear and it…it's just making just everything worse."

Itachi leaned back on his hands, looking at Naruto, the corner of his mouth twisted up in the famous Uchiha smirk,

"Well if you go like that," Itachi nodded his head towards Naruto, "I guarantee Sasuke will love it."

Whatever Naruto was about to say was stopped in its tracks at that comment. Naruto looked at Itachi for a few seconds, confused, before understanding. Naruto's hand began to caress his naked stomach, fingers subconsciously tracing the tattoo that swirled around his belly button as he laughed. His laughter trailed off quickly and soon the silence was back. Itachi, who hadn't taken his eyes off from the floor the entire time, now looked up at Naruto seriously.

"You're terrified." He said decidedly.

Naruto nodded back, looking relieved, "Yeah I a-"

"But not of what you think," Itachi interrupted, holding up a hand and standing up, "You're not scared the date will go awfully. You're terrified that it'll go great." Itachi stopped for a few seconds, letting that sink in, "You're scared to feel the love that you're scared that Sasuke feels for you. But you're also hesitant because of how your last relationship ended. But you can't go in there like this or it'll act like a contagious disease and these unsure feelings will spread to Sasuke."

Naruto had begun to withdraw back into his defensive pose from earlier- arms wrapping around his torso, back hunched. Then, Itachi, without missing a beat, bent over and grabbed the red button-down shirt off the floor by Naruto's feet. He stood up, holding the shirt out in front of him, checking it for wrinkles. After deeming it satisfactory Itachi nodded, stepping over to Naruto and began the process of dressing the blonde.

Naruto shook his head, confused, mouth opening and closing as he searched for something to say.

"What- are you dressing me?" He asked his voice incredulous.

"As much as Sasuke would like the outfit that **you've** picked out, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for a first date." Itachi answered without so much as a glance up at Naruto.

Naruto stepped backwards, in a feeble attempt to escape Itachi. Itachi simply followed him, stepping forward. Naruto sighed, resigned to standing still.

"But my undershirt." Naruto protested, gesturing to the white shirt that Itachi was standing on.

Itachi gave the fabric beneath his feet an unimpressed look, then kicked it away.

"Showing a little skin goes a long way. Trust me, what glimpses of your skin Sasuke can get, he'll savor them." Itachi said quietly, fingers tapping Naruto's exposed collarbone.

They fell silent-Itachi busy with his work, Naruto with his thoughts. At the mere mention of the name, his head was flooded with images of Sasuke- much like it had been when Itachi had first kissed him. There had been a time where this would have made him uncomfortable and confused, but for some reason right now, he didn't mind them so much.

He lifted his arms, helping Itachi with the job of getting his arms in the sleeves. Itachi was standing so close that the fabric of his shirt brushed Naruto's stomach. The silence between them was comfortable and in it, Naruto found himself not only thinking of Sasuke, but of his failed marriage. He had often been kept awake by a certain question and right now he was bursting to ask Itachi.

'_Wait, don't ask it. It's weird and personal and he'll think you're craz-'_

"Where do you think I went wrong?" The words came ripping out of him.

He blinked, looking at Itachi, mirroring his expression of shock. He struggled for an apology, his mouth hanging open uselessly. Then Itachi was looking at him with such a look of sadness that Naruto's heart hurt.

"I can't tell you that." Itachi said and Naruto was amazed that the raven even knew he was talking about his marriage, "but I can tell you one thing."

Itachi pulled the shirt up over Naruto's shoulder, biting his cheek; he had never expected the blonde to feel this small in his arms. It was difficult to not touch him more. He went to work on the buttons, deciding whether or not to leave some at the top undone. He stepped back to look at Naruto.

"Tell me, what was the last thing you learned about Sakura while you guys were happy and married? It can be anything; a scar you never noticed or a particular way she ate something."

Itachi stepped forward, buttoning the top button with ease, and then stepping back again.

Naruto looked down, brows furrowing with concentration. After a few minutes, his chest went cold, his mind frantic and confused.

He couldn't think of anything. Not a damned thing.

Itachi stepped back, undoing the top button, then ran his hands down the front of the shirt, smoothing out any wrinkles (and come on, when was the next time he was going to be able to touch the blonde like this without a huge fight?).

"I can't tell you what went wrong in your marriage, but, I do know that you stop learning things about people when you lose interest in them." Itachi said straightening up, looking Naruto clearly in the face.

Naruto's face was the epitome of bewilderment and disbelief. Itachi looked at him for a few seconds before smirking.

"Go put on some cologne, that blue necklace you wear, and a nice watch- if you have one." Itachi instructed, stepping around the frozen blonde and walking to the door.

Itachi shot a glance over his shoulder as he neared the door and upon seeing Naruto still frozen in place, Itachi dove forwards, giving Naruto's ass a hard smack- drawing a startled, indignant shriek from said blonde.

"Chop chop, Uzumaki. You've got a boy to impress."

* * *

Naruto sat on the couch, elbows resting on his knees. His chest felt so tight that he could barely breathe. Somewhere in the house, a clock was loudly ticking-each individual tick echoed down the quiet hallways, adding to Naruto's anxiety.

'_Holy fuck, what the fuck!?_' Naruto thought, frantically, '_What the actual fuck was I thinking? I can't fucking do this!" _

The entire house seemed to be holding it's breathe_;_ there were none of the usual settling noises of the house nor were there any clicking of the dogs nails on the floor. Really, the only thing Naruto could hear was this:

_"__**Who could you love, me or Sasuke?" **_

Itachi's voice echoed in his head. By the third time it repeated, Naruto was on the verge of hyperventilation.

'_Jesus Christ, I am an idiot!' _ He thought, squeezing his eyes shut and giving himself a hard smack on the forehead, '_I definitely couldn't love Itachi- but what the hell?! I can't love Sasuke!' _

He opened his eyes, resting his chin on his fist- disgruntled. '_I mean…..could I?'_

Slowly- unlike before where the memories had seemingly popped into his head- images of Sasuke began to slowly seep into his mind. Also, little details about the stoic man, like how he hated grapes and only liked to write in pen. Suddenly, a hazy memory from the night he and Sasuke had gotten drunk appeared. Naruto could just vaguely see himself lying in Sasuke's lap, Sasuke looking down at him- cheeks and the tip of his white nose pink- eyes wide with surprise.

Naruto bit the inside of his cheeks softly, his heart growing strangely warm, '_Could I?'_

He gave a loud sigh, falling back onto the sofa, arms crossed over his eyes.

"I don't know." He moaned.

Then, suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Naruto's anxiety sky rocketed from a seven to an eleven in about a millisecond. He shot up and off the couch, racing over to the archway that connected the living room to the front hallway and peaked out into the hallway cautiously. All he could see was the smudged silhouette of Sasuke in the front door's glass but the sight alone was enough to send him spiraling into a full nervous breakdown.

Naruto spun around, back facing the archway, and for a few minutes did a panicked dance- twisting around, hands groping the air.

'_Oh my fuck, holy shit, what the fuck do I do!?' _He thought frantically, hopping in place, bursting with anxious energy, '_Do I pretend like I'm not here or…!?'_

But that could never be an option; that would be cruel to Sasuke. Sasuke was his friend and though Naruto might not know what his feelings were about this situation- Sasuke sure did. Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, '_I can do this'. _

The front door opened, Naruto heard Sasuke step in, closing the door behind him. Naruto furrowed his brows, he was so nervous he was actually shaking. He clenched his hands into fists, took one last, deep breathe and then without giving himself time to think- he stepped out into the hallway.

Naruto stood, fists clenched, eyes closed, as if bracing himself against an invisible impact. His heart was thundering in his ears, his stomach in his throat.

"…Naruto?" Sasuke's voice called out, sounding confused.

Just hearing Sasuke's voice, for some reason, took away some of Naruto's fright. Slowly, he opened his eyes, staring down at the floor for a few seconds before travelling up Sasuke's long body. Sasuke was wearing a casual sneaker, his long legs emphasized in his dark jeans. Naruto swallowed shallowly as he looked up Sasuke's long torso, then he looked at Sasuke's face.

And, for some reason, he was instantly breathless.

Just from the body, Naruto could tell that Sasuke looked good, but seeing his face just completed the picture. Sasuke's normally neat hair was styled the same, only now it had more of a rough, tussled look. Naruto had never noticed how narrowed and feline Sasuke's eyes were; immediately the phrase "bedroom eyes" popped into his head and he licked his lips subconsciously. White teeth glinted underneath Sasuke's growing smirk and Naruto found himself looking, captivated, at the sight of the pink tongue that darted out to wet Sasuke's lips.

A sudden, possessive, smug feeling took over as he looked at Sasuke. Right now Sasuke was his. He was dressed up for him, here for him, and, for at least this moment, Sasuke was _his._

Sasuke smirked at him, raising his head, looking down at Naruto appraisingly.

"You see something you like?" He asked, teasingly, subconsciously biting his lip.

Naruto snapped back to reality, bristling at the cocky question. He turned away, crossing his arms, glaring at Sasuke out of the corner of his eyes.

"Nope."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, "Might wanna put your eyes back in your head before saying that."

"Well you might wanna get all the dick out of your personality."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any dick in my personality, but I **do** have plenty in my pants if you would like to see."

Naruto grimaced, shooting Sasuke a disgusted look, "No! Why the fuck would I wanna see your dick?"

Sasuke shrugged, smirk growing bigger, "I don't know, you tell me, I came here to be a gentleman and take you on a date but you just started talking about my dick."

Naruto's eyes widened then narrowed to a glare, he stepped forward, pointing at Sasuke, "I did NOT start talking about your dick, I was talking about your personality and how much of a dick you are!"

Sasuke stepped forward, sending Naruto a gust of his cologne. The smell made his mouth water.

"You know, I never expected you to be the first one in this relationship to bring up my dick being in something."

Naruto's jaw dropped, face burning. He stepped forward, giving Sasuke a hard punch on the chest, "In your personality! You're a dick! That's what I'm saying!"

Then Naruto realized how close they were. There was maybe six inches between them. Then, as his brain began to panic, he realized that they'd been _flirting! _ Actually flirting! He looked up, shocked, at Sasuke, who seemed to know what he was thinking and had backed up a step. Naruto looked back down, clearing his throat. After a few seconds, he looked sideways at Sasuke.

"So?"

Sasuke's head snapped towards him, "So what?"

Naruto grinned, placing his hands behind his head, "Where are you taking me?"

Sasuke's smirk returned, he reached into his pocket, took out his keys and tossed them up in the air, catching them in one smooth movement.

"That's for you to decide."

* * *

Naruto didn't know anything about being gay or dating a guy but he _did_ know that in no way, shape, or form, did he want to be treated like a girl. He realized this as they walked to Sasuke's car. The passenger's car door caught his eye,

'_If he opens the door for me…'_ Naruto thought, glancing stiffly at Sasuke who was walking beside him, keys clutched in his hand.

When they came to the car Sasuke stopped beside Naruto, raising his hand with the keys in it. Naruto looked on in horror, '_Don't you do it, don't you da-'_

Sasuke pressed a button, unlocking the car, then walked over to the driver's side and swung open the door. As he placed one foot in the car, Sasuke stopped, looking over to Naruto who hadn't made a move towards the door.

"Oh…" Sasuke said, a look of realization dawning on his face. He quickly took his leg out of the car, "Did you want me to open the door for you?"

Naruto blanched, shaking his head, "No, nooo."

Sasuke stared at him, one hand resting on the roof of the car, "then what?"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, and then closed it again, suddenly embarrassed. He glanced at the car door and contemplated just getting in, but with Sasuke staring at him, Naruto found he couldn't move a single muscle.

"It wasn't that I wanted you to, I was just…scared that you would." Naruto said, twisting his hands, looking at Sasuke, hoping that made sense.

Sasuke huffed out a laugh, looking at Naruto puzzled. Naruto's face flamed, he looked down at his shoes then back up again.

"I don't know anything about…..this," Naruto said, gesturing to him and Sasuke, "But I just didn't-don't- want to be treated like a girl."

Sasuke stared at him, and for a few seconds Naruto was actually petrified that he was gonna laugh. He was hit with another thought; Sasuke was so experienced- with men _and_ women. Naruto had been with women before, knew how to act, what to say, how to please them. But with Sasuke….Naruto was a virgin. A clueless virgin. The thought was terrifying.

Then Sasuke smirked, pointedly checking Naruto out.

"Don't worry, Uzumaki," he said, stepping into the car once again, "I know you're all man."


End file.
