Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Torrid	By : KageKitsuneXXX Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 4665 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
A/N: First and foremost, I got fanart! Whooot! I just want to tell the world.
A few days ago I was whining to whomever would listen to me on 'Y! Gallery' that I never get fanart and wanted some to cuddle. In an act of wonderful kismet, a few hours later the divine 'lostkeyword' gifted me with a beauty. If you have a Y!Gallery account, please come check her out and see the loveliness she drew for me.
As for the chapter, as usual I hope you enjoy and I look forward to your comments. I am so grateful for all the feedback you've given so far.
Sasuke hated the cold. Once it got in, it seemed impossible to get out again. It crept into his bones as he walked home, head ducked down as he manoeuvred through the packed streets. He stopped for a moment, trying to remember if he was coming or going, and was promptly distracted by the loud laughter of a small boy, running full speed in his direction. The brown-haired child got within a few meters before tripping gracelessly over his own feet. Sasuke almost smiled, he had a soft spot for spastic klutzes, even though his favourite one had quickly grown out of that stage.
The small boy stood gingerly, peeking around self-consciously to see if anyone had noticed his fall. Sasuke appeared to be the only witness and for some reason, the child didn't take note of him. Satisfied he had been spared embarrassment; the boy brushed himself off and started looking about in earnest. That's when Sasuke felt himself freeze, arrested by the bright blue eyes of the small boy. He'd know those eyes anywhere.
'Jiraiya!'
Both the boy and Sasuke snapped to attention immediately, and the latter felt his breath stop. Naruto moved easily towards them, the crowd appearing to part naturally in order to let him through. His entire attention was held by the small child and he seemed to take no notice of Sasuke.
'Brat, how many times have I told you not to run off like that?" Naruto scooped up the child who was grinning at him with a smile as characteristic as the blue eyes, obviously trying to charm his way out of trouble. Clearly, the Namikaze genes were strong.
"I fell down, daddy. I don't hurt though. Mommy won't even have to put a band aid on it"
What the hell was this? Sasuke stared at the pair, and their striking resemblance was undeniable. This couldn't be happening, there was no way this was possible. Hadn't they just ended things? How much time could have passed? Sasuke stood dumbstruck, unable to believe this was now his reality. He had hoped- thought - that they would have worked things out eventually, and that Naruto would have come around with a reasonable compromise. But this? There was no way Sasuke could hope to compete against a wife, let alone a child.
"Naruto?" He swallowed convulsively before he could find his voice. Naruto did not turn around, as he was totally focussed on tickling his son. Sasuke tried calling to him again, only to be left confused as Naruto put the boy down and began walking away, listening to the small boy chatter nonsensically beside him.
"Are you serious, you're just going to ignore me? You have nothing to say? Naruto!"
Man and son continued heedless, slowly being swallowed by a crowd also oblivious to the Uchiha prince screaming his lungs out among them. Sasuke stood for a second, panting heavily as he decided what to do. He started moving forward, shoving against the endless sea of people pushing back at him. He kept shouting Naruto's name, hoping the man would finally turn and acknowledge him, but it never happened. At long last there was a break in the crowd and Sasuke sprinted forward, trying desperately to catch up to the man casually strolling ahead. He was close now, so very close. He stretched out his hand, fully intending to yank Naruto backwards. Instead, to Sasuke's intense surprise, his hand simply phased through Naruto's jacket, the blond becoming intangible. His forward momentum was too much for him to stop, and soon Sasuke found himself falling right through his closest friend. And once he started falling, he couldn't stop.
"Ah!" Sasuke sat bolt upright in his bed, heart thudding furiously as he blinked against the darkness of the room.
"Shh, Sasuke, it's only a bad dream." Sakura, who had been startled awake by her husband's strangled shout, quickly moved to soothe him. She was surprised by the clamminess of his skin, and the fine tremors she felt beneath it. "It was only a nightmare."
Sasuke stared about in confusion as he tried to slow his heart rate. He shifted, recoiling slightly from Sakura's touch as he tried to will away the residual negative feelings from the dream.
"What was it? What were you dreaming about?" She asked softly as she heard his breathing slow.
"I don't know." He muttered the lie dazedly. "It's gone already. Please go back to sleep, I'm sorry to have woken you."
Reluctantly, Sakura lay back in the bed, and soon, she dozed off. He waited until he heard the steadiness of her breathing before stretching out next to her. He tried to go back to sleep, praying it was only just a nightmare and not a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It was always a marvel to Shikamaru how any person could go from zero to manic in the space of a few seconds. One moment Naruto was passed out in bed, sleeping the sleep of the innocent, and the next he was bouncing off the walls.
"Ack, I have an econ exam in two hours and I didn't study! Where are my textbooks?!"
Shikamaru sighed and flipped his magazine closed. "You don't have an econ exam; you haven't been inside a classroom in over two years. You were dreaming, you psycho."
Naruto paused in the act of yanking the sheets off the bed to squint at Shikamaru. He heaved a sigh and dropped back down. He really hated back to school nightmares. As he glanced back over at his friend, it occurred to him that everyone in his life had boundary issues. What the heck was Shikamaru doing in his bedroom at nine in the morning?
"And what's with the fruit?" Naruto asked out loud, staring at the basket next to the bed.
"Oh, here. Kiba told me you had a relapse. Fruit helps, I think. That's what my family does- we give fruit or deer horn salve." Shikamaru shrugged unapologetically. "I figured you'd appreciate the fruit more."
Naruto snorted as he picked an apple and rubbed it on his pyjamas. "I didn't have a 'relapse'. I just went to give Sasuke his stuff back."
"Indeed."
Naruto ignored the blatant scepticism and headed out to his kitchen, with Shikamaru slouching after him. Of course, Kiba was there, in the process of eating him out of house and home.
"Seriously, don't you guys have lives, homes and families; any interests outside my personal life?"
Kiba only munched his food in reply. Shikamaru, however, delved into his pockets and produced a piece of paper.
"Naruto, the Civil Service Exams are in a few months. Do you plan to take them again?"
Naruto sighed as he put on the kettle. "Hell yeah, although I've flunked them miserably two years running. Third time's the charm, right?"
"I don't get what it is with you and this exam." Kiba piped up. "Weirdly enough, you're one of the smartest persons I know, except where it concerns putting your dick…"
"Thank you, Kiba. That was beautiful."
Kiba ignored Naruto's dry comment and continued his thought. "And I mean you graduated with honours from Hitotsubashi. The civil service exam should be gravy for you."
It wasn't as simple as that, and Naruto wished he could figure it out himself. Both times he had attempted the exam and had frozen on the tests, the thoughts refusing to form coherently. Once he was outside the test, the answers were easy and obvious. He had been fortunate during college, where the bulk of his grade had come from coursework. By the time he walked into an exam, he had already passed and there was no pressure. The CSE, on the other hand, though far easier, was still on a totally different level.
"He suffers from Test Anxiety." Shikamaru added as he carefully unfolded the paper. "It's pretty common, and the reason Naruto keeps blanking out in the tests. Personally, I think they should have a variety of ways to test people. If Asuma-sensei hadn't figured out new ways to test me, everyone in the Academy would still think I'm some lazy-ass moron."
"As opposed to realizing what you really are: which is a lazy-ass genius." Kiba grinned as Shikamaru contemplated pelting him with grapefruit.
"Anyway, Naruto, right now the government is only using the CSE as an entrance exam to some of their posts, so you need to find a way around it, and fast, no pressure though." Shikamaru handed the missive to a curious Naruto. "A couple days before the exam, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is going to advertise for an Attaché. Usually, these posts are just for show, and the job is filled internally, but I'm figuring with your qualifications, connections and all the recommendations you can pull in, you can be a shoe-in for the job. You just need to figure out a way to pass this exam."
Naruto eyed the smuggled paper carefully, while Shikamaru watched him.
"This is the job you've been holding out for, Naruto. It practically has your name on it. All of your skills, talent and charisma will be used, and with the Ministry, you just need to get your foot in the door. Knowing you, you'll probably be the Foreign Affairs Minister in a couple of years."
"Hey, you're singing to the choir- I definitely want the job. Icha Icha is a hobby after all, not a career- I've got much bigger plans and this is definitely a great way to get them started."
Shikamaru gave a small smile of satisfaction as he saw the look of determination on his friend's face. That job was as good as his.
"Just need to pass that exam." At Kiba's dose of cold water, they all slumped dramatically.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Shikamaru."
"No problem, just securing my spot in the new world order."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Ino's gotten to you too?"
"She's gotten to everybody." Kiba informed him gleefully. "All of Konoha will soon be rushing to get on your good side. If you don't pull this off, people might actually be pissed. My sister now thinks you're a benevolent reincarnation of Hitler."
"What?!"
"It kind of makes sense, if you think about it." Shikamaru nodded sagely as he thought the concept through. "Hitler would want to look like you the second time around. You do have the whole tall, blond, blue-eyed, master race thing going on. Plus, you're all nice and charming-like. Obviously, he would have figured out that people don't really go for the screaming, cranky dictator shtick. If you're really nice about it, people won't mind so much when you annex their countries."
It was clear to Naruto that he was surrounded by idiots. "Please don't do around telling people you think I'm Hitler-reborn."
"Heil, Mein Fuhrer." The two morons replied in unison as Naruto threw fruit at them. He looked on as Kiba took his food into the living room, and Shikamaru opened up the balcony and lay down outside in the sun. It was clear that he would be saddled with two babysitters today. He smiled to himself as the thought came that he should consider charging them rent. He was lucky though and he knew it, because he might not have been able to cope without them. Now he couldn't help but wonder how a certain person was managing on his end.
While his friends were distracted, Naruto slipped into his bedroom and picked up the phone.
"Uchiha-sama, there's a call on line one for you and you also have a visitor here, he's, excuse me what was your name again? Sir, sir! You can't just barge in there like that-"
Sasuke raised a cool eyebrow as Kakashi appeared in his office with one of Uchiha Corps' harried secretaries close behind.
"I'm sorry, Uchiha-sama, he just walked in, I tried to stop him. Should I alert security?"
"That's quite alright, Nana. I can get rid of him myself."
Kakashi plopped down into the nearest chair, smiling widely at the apathetic Sasuke. In his tenure as an Academy teacher, he had never come across a group like the one Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura made, and wondered if he ever would again. That aside, Sasuke was always a special case. It used to be eerily uncanny to him just how much of himself he always saw in the younger man. He had tried to counsel him numerous times about the dangers of getting swallowed up by the duties and expectations of his clan; and the importance of the friends around him. Honestly, he doubted much of anything he had said had gotten through; but luckily, there had always been Naruto, and that had been enough… up to a point.
"Is there something you need, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked mildly as he ended the call with a client.
"I just thought I'd drop in and have my favourite student treat me to lunch."
"I haven't been your student in close to a decade and it's two in the afternoon."
Kakashi glanced over at the clock and shrugged. "Well that doesn't mean that you're not still my favourite, and I meant to get here sooner, but there was this little old lady-"
"I'm not particularly interested and I'm very busy right now. Another time, maybe."
Kakashi remained silent as the young man turned his full attention to his work. He was sure that as far as Sasuke was concerned, he had already gotten up and left the office. Sasuke had an excellent skill of closing people out. The older man drummed his fingers thoughtfully on his knees and went about recapturing Sasuke's notice.
"So I received an interesting phone call from Naruto a few days ago." Kakashi was not the least bit surprised when Sasuke's pen scratched to an abrupt halt. Sasuke was still frozen, staring down at the reports before him, but the teacher knew he now had his former pupil's complete attention. "So about lunch?"
Sasuke shifted impatiently as Kakashi downed another serving of miso soup. He felt his irritation rising and tried to control it because he knew the man was stalling on purpose, trying to make him sweat. He glared as his former teacher gleefully downed his canned coffee, and knew he was fighting a losing battle.
"Before anything else, Sasuke, my congratulations on your marriage. I should really make the time to see Sakura as well and pass on my well-wishes to her personally. I need to get you both a gift."
Sasuke only shrugged. "It's not a big deal."
"How can you say a thing like that? If marriage is nothing else, it's a big deal. I have to admit, I was very surprised to hear about the nuptials." Dark eyes snapped to his so fast, it almost made Kakashi a little nervous.
"Why? What was so strange about it?"
"Nothing really, it's just that you never seemed to have much of an attraction to Sakura, though your friendship was strong. Besides, you always seemed more interested in… other things." Kakashi smiled pleasantly. "But then, what would I know?"
"Exactly. I'll pass on your congratulations to my wife."
"And If was such a remarkable thing for Haruno Tsuchi to do, passing on the business as a gift like that." Kakashi continued mildly. "Such an old fashioned thing to do in this day and age. Still, family traditions eh?"
"What did he say?" Sasuke gritted out, finally at the end of his patience and causing Kakashi to look curiously at him. He could almost see Kakashi wondering whether or not he should feign ignorance, and Sasuke was having none of it. "What did Naruto say to bring you out here?"
"He didn't say much actually. It's very unlike Naruto to be so vague; but I got that the two of you appear to have had a little falling out. He seemed to be a bit concerned as to how you were coping."
A rude snort cut off any further explanation. "Naruto seems to be of the opinion that people shrivel up and die without the blessing of his company. When you report back to him, Kakashi, try and convince him otherwise."
Kakashi leaned back in his seat and contemplated the belligerent man before him. "So it's really serious then, this falling out? Usually the two of you work through your rough patches without any input from anyone else. Perhaps I phrased it wrong before. He was just concerned about you not having a support system in case you needed one."
"So he recruited you to be my shoulder to cry on?" Sasuke stood abruptly. "Then he's wasted both your time and mine. He's the one who needs 'support systems', I'm fine without them. Feel free to tell him as such."
"You haven't forgotten what we once talked about, have you, Sasuke? About breaking and keeping bonds?"
Sasuke had already started walking away, when the poignant question stopped him. "I am in no mood for a lecture."
"I told you then, the importance of your friends and maintaining and strengthening your ties to them…"
"And what about the bonds to your family? What do you do with those?"
"There are limits, Sasuke." He trailed off as the young man turned to face him.
"You have no idea what is going on, so you have no right to come here in some vain attempt to lecture me on how everything I do is wrong."
"That isn't what I'm implying; but you're right, I don't know exactly what's going on and I hoped you would tell me. I do know that you and Naruto need each other, and to simply walk away- Sasuke!"
But it was no use, Sasuke had already turned heel and walked away. Kakashi sighed; that boy could be so stubborn.
"So what do you think?"
Naruto tilted his head and squinted at the swirls of colours in the painting. Beside him, Sai was waiting expectantly for an opinion as the many guests perused the artist's collection, filling the gallery with appreciative murmurs.
"It doesn't look like anything you've done before." Naruto offered hesitantly.
"I know, I decided to try abstract art for some of my pieces. I read that it allows people to draw their own conclusions and project their own feelings about the art better. What do you think I was trying to represent. What do you see?"
Naruto stared at the painting for a while. "I see man's futile attempt to continue living dark lies while the world crumbles around him."
Sai scratched his cheek thoughtfully and squinted at the painting. "Really? I was actually trying to draw a puppy."
"Oh, well that was going to be my second answer."
The painter wasn't so sure he believed his friend and continued squinting at the work of art. People certainly came to some weird conclusions.
"Farming, plant cultivation and now art appreciation- you seem to be a man of eclectic tastes, Naruto."
Neji turned his attention to Sai and bowed politely before Naruto could respond. "Sai-san, it's an honour to finally meet you and be present for one of your exhibitions. Many members of my clan are fans of your work."
The man should come with his own oil slick. Naruto eyed Neji dubiously, wondering if he was genuinely interested in Sai's artwork or if this was just another business requirement. Sai immediately quizzed Neji about his thoughts on the abstract piece.
"A caged bird perhaps?" Neji responded at length.
"It's a puppy!" Sai fumed as Naruto stifled a laugh.
"Sai, you said the whole point of trying your hand at abstract painting was to give people the chance to make their own interpretations." Naruto reminded him.
"Well, a puppy would have been my second choice. You have to forgive me, Sai-san; I have a tendency to see caged birds everywhere."
Neji took a cursory glance around the gallery and was immediately struck by a painting in a far corner.
"Naruto is that… you?"
Naruto and Sai turned to spot the painting in question. "Oh, yeah, Sai likes to draw me. How the heck did you see that? It's almost fifty meters away!"
"I told you, I have good eyes. I also can't help but notice that you're a bit…nude." Actually, he was extremely 'a bit nude', but Naruto seemed fine with it.
"I am nude; the pervert likes to draw me naked. When we met in college, he used to draw me fully clothed, and the longer I knew him, the fewer clothes I got to keep."
Sai smiled genially and promptly cuddled him. Naruto shrugged at Neji's raised eyebrow. "He has boundary issues; who doesn't in this town?"
Neji took another surreptitious look back at the painting. "So, how much is that going for?"
"It's already sold. Naruto's paintings tend to go fast."
Naruto sighed. "Konoha is filled with perverts with nude paintings of me. I feel so dirty sometimes."
"It's a handful of people and it's art!" Sai reminded him mildly.
Neji would have no arguments from him on that point. "So anymore left?"
"You have got to be kidding." Naruto's eyes narrowed as Neji regarded Sai with blatant hope.
"Maybe one, though I doubt it. If you're really interested, maybe I could let you have one from my private collection."
"NO! No private collection pieces. It's bad enough you have them." Naruto stood firmly in between the two negotiating men and wagged a finger at Sai.
Sai's private collection included paintings that Naruto refused to let him show, calling them pornography at best. He remained unmoved even as Sai reminded him that he was supposed to encourage creativity instead of stifling it.
"Private collection pieces?" Neji peeked the tall blond, hopelessly intrigued by the promise of this new revelation.
Naruto decided that it was time for him to go, having been at Sai's side all afternoon, and said his goodbyes to the artist. Neji bid Naruto a cheerful adieu as well, and turned to talk with Sai about a private viewing, only to feel himself being yanked out of the gallery.
"You're coming with me, Neji."
Neji smiled and bowed his apologies to a slightly befuddled Sai. The artist shrugged and returned to his exhibition. No matter how much he learnt, people still remained a mystery.
"So you dragged me away from an exhibition I have been looking forward to for weeks, interrupted my riveting conversation with the artist, and then sabotaged my attempts to procure some new art pieces. However will you make it up to me?"
Naruto contemplated the smug man before him, and began to realize that he'd inadvertently gotten himself into some trouble. Then again, inadvertently was the way he'd always gotten into trouble. He chewed his bottom lip and thought for a moment.
"Want some curry?"
"Again, you're so cold."
Naruto bit back a smile and started ambling towards the park, Neji falling into step with him.
"So you're friends with Sai-san. Your connections are very impressive. I'm surprised you were able to have a friend like that at all. Didn't that cause some problems?"
"You mean with Sasuke? Heh yeah, you could say that."
Naruto had actually hoped for a short time that Sai and Sasuke would have become fast friends. Besides Sai's preference for belly-shirts, he and Sasuke had had so much in common, seeing as how they were both prodigies with all the social skills of a crazed bull. As it turned out, what had happened was the exact opposite of what Naruto had been envisioning. Sasuke hated Sai with a loathing Naruto hadn't seen since he'd introduced his best friend to Gaara. Sai, for his part, had regarded Sasuke with his trademark placidity until Naruto began to detect that he wasn't exactly fond of Sasuke either. The penis jokes certainly hadn't helped, nor had the 'artistic nudes' Sai was fond of drawing. Soon, Sasuke would simply go into 'mine' mode whenever Sai was about, who only aggravated matters by either completely ignoring Sasuke, or making sweetly venomous remarks about various aspects of Sasuke's personal life and appearance. Frankly, Naruto was relieved they had made it through college without bloodshed.
"Still, Sai's a great guy. He's had a pretty tough start, which will have him trying to figure out social skills and emotions for the rest of his life. It's a good thing he had his art. I'm guessing it was one of the few outlets he had that kept him from going nuts growing up in Root. Since you don't want curry, I guess you'll get takoyaki."
Naruto bought the snacks from one of the park vendors and headed for a seat. They ate in silence for awhile as Neji decided whether or not he should broach the sensitive subject.
"So," He began hesitantly. "How has life been post-breakup?"
"Well, I've been obsessively cleaning my apartment and all who enter it, my friends think I'm going off the deep end, and I've come up with a brilliant theory shedding light on the fact that some of us may already be living in a post-apocalyptic world. Other than that, it's been all gravy."
Neji blinked for a moment before slowly nodding. "So I'm guessing you didn't see the puppy in the painting either?"
In spite of himself, Naruto burst out laughing. "No, I certainly did not see said puppy."
It was Naruto who finally broke the ensuing stretch of silence. "You know I'm not going to sleep with you right?"
Neji almost choked. "I have to tell you, this relationship is just one first after another for me. I don't think I've ever had someone spontaneously declare his intentions to not have sex with me. I thought I was just sitting here, eating my food. Did I unconsciously proposition you?"
Naruto smile sheepishly at Neji's stunned face. "I'm sorry, that came out kind of wrong. I just meant that, I know you wanted to, I mean before you said…Okay, I'm feeling a little embarrassed now."
"Don't be, I'd still love to do very sexually graphic things to you and have every intention of doing so." Neji smiled easily as Naruto's jaw slackened. "But if I was simply interested in sex, I'd have taken advantage of you the night you broke up with Sasuke. I didn't though, and you know why?"
"Because I was the human equivalent of a train wreck and taking advantage of me at that time would have been disgraceful. So you couldn't, because you still have your scruples?"
Naruto blinked in surprise as Neji actually started laughing. It wasn't a bad look on the man at all.
"Listen to how cute you are- scruples. You might be able to get through your first business degree with them intact, but no halfway decent MBA programme is going to let you in with your scruples still attached."
"Ah, I see. Well, is it because there's something horribly unsexy about a grown man crying like a five year old?"
"Normally, that would have been a turn off, yes; but I found you brought something new and oddly appealing to the table."
Naruto couldn't help grinning and shaking his head. How to solve a problem like Neji? The man seemed impossible.
"I'm not a rebound guy, Naruto. There is no way I'd be stupid enough to step in right after the breakup you just went through. I'm not an impatient man either, and even though you believe you'll never be able to get involved with anyone again, you'll get there. You'll get there even sooner than you may think. There is life after Sasuke you know?"
Naruto smiled cheekily. "And let me guess, it's an even better one?"
"I'd say yes, but you know I don't like to toot my own horn. Oh what the hell? Beep!"
The insane confidence was both maddening and a little irresistible. Naruto could only shake his head incredulously. What was he getting into?
"So what happens until then?"
"Until then we're friends. I can do the friendship thing. But out of fear of being trapped in the 'friend-zone', I implore you to always be cognizant of my desire to do sexually graphic things to you."
"I'm not likely to forget, Neji."
"Good," Neji nodded his satisfaction as he leaned back on the bench and smiled sweetly at an exasperated Naruto. "That's great to know, oh pal of mine."
Neji soon found himself on the receiving end of a 'Naruto's friendship' crash course. It simply involved tolerating a lot of people he'd otherwise have no interest in dealing with, and at one point, even finding himself empathising with Sasuke's frustration over sharing. Having been seated in Naruto's kitchen for most of the afternoon, Neji counted no less than ten people simply dropping in at random intervals. Every time he thought they'd be able to leave a go out, someone else would show up and eat into his time. It was getting annoying. Neji sat fuming at the kitchen counter when Naruto's latest visitor barged in, without even knocking.
"Oi Naruto, do you have an- Aaaah!"
Neji closed his eyes against Kiba's grating scream and opened them once again when the interloper had gotten a hold of himself.
"Neji?!" Kiba cleared his throat and tried to bring his voice down to within a reasonably masculine vocal range. "You're here, in my friend's house. Why?"
Kiba realised belatedly that it sounded a little like a complaint. Neji didn't answer, instead deciding to take a deliberate drink from his canned tea and stare Kiba down. He was doing the alpha dog thing, because he knew Kiba hated it. Kiba was well aware that Neji knew he hated it, but what was he to do? The Hyuuga Clan had him by the short and curlies. Naruto walked in from his bedroom, completely oblivious to the weird tension in the room, and Kiba's doomed attempt to beat a Hyuuga in a staring contest.
"Kiba, when did you get here? Have you met Neji yet?" He quickly began the introductions. "Kiba, Neji-"
"We've met." The two men answered in unison, and Naruto was left looking from one to the other. Mercifully for Kiba, Neji's phone went off, heralding a summons from Hyuuga Hiashi.
"Damn it." Neji muttered darkly as he read the terse text. He sighed and turned to Naruto. "I'm going to have to take a rain-check."
"Oh really? I'm sorry about today. My apartment gets a little crazy sometimes."
"I can see that. I'll call you later." Neji sent Kiba one last glare before heading out. "Inuzuka."
Kiba didn't exhale until the door was closed firmly behind Neji, and Naruto eyed him curiously.
"What's with you?"
"Me?! What the hell is the giant, cock-blocking, wrecking ball of dreams doing here?" Kiba flailed about as Naruto took a seat at his kitchen table.
"The 'who' now?"
"Neji, you sock puppet! Neji! What's he doing here?"
"Oh new friend- met him when I was doing the proxy thing for baa-chan. Very cool guy who's also trying to get into my pants. As it turns out, he's not a bad kisser."
Kiba stared at Naruto as if the man was sprouting a second head. "Why the hell don't you tell me these things? Why am I only hearing all this now?!"
"There was nothing to tell. Plus I was kind of focused on managing things with Sasuke at the time. What's the deal with the two of you anyway?"
"That's Hinata's hell-spawn cousin, who thinks I'm not good enough for her."
"Oh," Naruto recognised the problem immediately. All of Hinata's relatives made Kiba extremely nervous. "He actually said that?"
Kiba sniffed haughtily. "Well of course not. But you know he's thinking it. He's always around… judging me."
"The only person who thinks you're not good enough for Hinata is you. Neji's a nice guy; he just smells your fear."
Kiba only sniffed some more and took a seat. "So is he the rebound guy?"
"No he is not. I am not going to use anyone as some desperate attempt to get over Sasuke. Besides, Neji's fine with being just friends."
Kiba snorted rudely. "Yeah, 'friends'; I saw the way he looked at you just now. Neji wants to tap you like an oil rig. You know I'm usually willing to indulge your self-delusions, but I don't want him taking out his frustration on me when he's mad at you."
"Your concern touches me deeply." Naruto yawned as he moved to rifle through his fridge.
"I bet not as deeply as Neji wants to touch you." Kiba muttered impishly and quickly ducked to avoid a spoon thrown at his head. "Nee-chan is bringing down the whip on me."
"I'm not surprised. You've been dumping all the work for the veterinary clinic and kennel on her, to babysit me. A completely unnecessary thing, as I keep reminding you."
"Yeah well…"
"Kiba, I'm fine. I'm getting my shit together, so please stop worrying and get back to your life."
Naruto's friend eyed him dubiously. "Is this the 'false bravado, bullshit' stage? It's kind of hard to keep track without Shikamaru."
The blond rolled his eyes. "It's the 'I'll kick your ass if you keep up the mother hen act' stage. I promise you, I'm good. Fuck Uchiha Sasuke- I'm moving on."
While sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at nothing, Naruto was seriously regretting returning Sasuke's stuff. The contents of Sasuke's bottle of cologne were considerably less now, and Naruto wondered how pathetic it would be to get another when he'd finally finished emptying that one. He had counted it a small blessing when his phone rang, breaking into his thoughts. He was wrong.
"Naruto?"
Naruto felt his chest constrict at the husky voice that came across the line. They hadn't spoken since he'd left Sasuke's condo that day, and it felt like ages had passed. How long would it take before the sound of his name from Sasuke's lips no longer affected him like this?
"Naruto, are you there?"
The voice was low and the words were slurred, but it didn't lessen their impact whatsoever.
"Yeah, I'm here, Sasuke. You sound like you've been drinking."
"Heh, a little."
"You hate alcohol and you know you can't hold your liquor."
"I hate the cold more." Sasuke replied cryptically. "You sent Kakashi to nag me, he's annoying."
Naruto shifted uncomfortably, feeling the territory grow more dangerous as the conversation lengthened. "I needed to know you were okay."
He heard Sasuke scoff gently before there was a rattle of movement. "Hey, what just happened?"
"The stupid room is spinning." Sasuke grumbled as he made his way to the couch in his study and flopped into it. "And no, I'm not okay. Nothing is okay. If you wanted to find that out, there are a hell of a lot better and more direct ways of doing it than siccing Kakashi on me."
There was an awkward silence as for a moment, neither knew what to say; but finally Sasuke spoke again, his voice deceptively soft and cajoling.
"I've been thinking about what you said the last time, about salvaging our friendship. I think I want to do that, Naruto. I want us to be friends again."
Naruto closed his eyes as he lay back in bed, trying to fight the temptation of the snake and his apple. "No you don't, Sasuke. Neither do I. We haven't wanted to be just friends since we were seniors in the academy, and you know that."
"But that's all that can happen for now, right?"

In his condo across town, locked in the privacy of his study, Sasuke licked his suddenly parched lips and tried to manoeuvre logic through the fuzziness of his brain. Although he had been desperate for some escape from reality, he was already regretting the drinking. He didn't want Naruto to disregard his offer simply because his synapses may not be firing at their usual rate. He needed this to work; he needed Naruto to say yes to some form of contact before he was slowly driven insane.
He had no way of anticipating how hard it would have been to be apart like this, feeling as if his soul was torn in two. Listening to the sound of Naruto's voice and his breathing was the closest Sasuke had come to feeling human in weeks and he was getting desperate enough to acquiesce to a strictly platonic relationship- for awhile. He just needed his friend back, and the rest would come later, once he and Naruto had fallen back into some kind of rapport. Still, it only took a moment for his mind to flood with images of tanned skin moving against his and warm hands touching his body. He tried to block them out and focus on the task at hand, but over the phone, Naruto's breaths came short and unevenly and the voice was like silk. He raked his nails over the leather of the couch and buried his face in the softness of the seat as unbidden, erotic memories continued flooding him, causing his body to react and tighten almost painfully. Friends, they could be friends again. Just for a little while- just until Sasuke could make Naruto his again.
"Don't do this, Sasuke."
Oh God, he couldn't help himself anymore. Still, he tried to concentrate and struggled to surface from his torrid thoughts. "Don't do what?"
"The drunken phone call to the ex. You're too cool for a cliché like that."
"I'm not drunk, not really. And you aren't my 'ex', you're my best friend." He reminded softly as he heard Naruto sigh.
"Plus when you're drunk, you say things you don't mean, or at least, won't own up to when you're sober. You know we've gone too far down this road, Sasuke."
"Fine, we'll just have to start over then." Sasuke hated when the desperation got hold and threatened to swallow him. He hated that everything seemed to have spiralled entirely out of his control and he was simply left grasping. But he could forget the rest; he just needed this one thing. "Let's meet somewhere."
"Sasuke…"
"It's just to talk; we won't have to do anything else, if you don't want to." Sasuke mumbled as he added on the last part. He heard Naruto's hesitant sigh and he felt hope blossom in his chest just a little.
"Naruto…" He paused for a moment. "Please."
He was suspended, breathless as he waited for Naruto's answer, feeling hopeful anticipation thrum through his body as he listened to Naruto shift in his apartment.
"Sasuke…"
His heart squeezed painfully at the wounded brokenness and resignation of Naruto's voice, but it would only be for a little while. Soon, he'd be in a position to make it right again. This time, he would make it work. "Yeah?"
"Please don't call me again."
Sasuke could only listen helplessly as the line went dead.
TBC

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. I crave your thoughts.
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