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Memory Yields	By : sumarfishy Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1229 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Title: Memory Yields

Author: JaD

Email: jad@yondaime.net

Website: http://baka.yondaime.net

Rating:
NC-17

Disclaimer:
Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Kudos, Kishimoto!

Fore notes: For full introduction, see Chapter One.

Is it me, or is every chapter
beginning with Naruto screaming at Sasuke? I need to fix that�

Thanks again to Sao-babe for her awesome editing
skills; because I�m too lazy to do it myself. <3 <3 <3

* * * * *
REVIEWERS:

ghostninja85
- There is a specific reason. I might actually reveal that in a prologue (if I
ever get around to writing it). Otherwise... well, you might be forever
wondering -.^

kurokioku - Soon enough. I like to keep it as canon as possible,
but I won't keep you waiting long.

Katie -
Sasuke's harsh. It's a fact of life. She put herself up for hurt and
disappointment for pursuing someone like him =P

Az-Strawberry - You can't believe Sasuke did that? Remember, this
is /Sasuke/. Don't feel sorry for
Naruto - feel sorry for Sasuke. Naruto does ^^;

xKaelynx - He DOES look like Hinata XDDD

stet -
No~ no bashing, ever. ^^; I actually don't hate Sakura, especially with her progress
in the recent manga chapters (if you read it). I was just being realistic.
Sasuke's the only one who really does any Sakura-bashing in this fic =P

Also, before anyone bites my head off or attempts to
flame, there is nice dose of NaruSaku in this chapter�
but yet the fic is still labeled SasuNaru. Huh. Think about it for a
while.

+ + + +

II :
asking too much
```
I want somebody who sees the pointlessness, and still keeps their purpose in mind;
```
```
I want somebody who has a tortured soul, some of the time;
```
```
I want somebody who will either put out for me, or put me out of misery;
```
```
Or maybe just put it all to words and make me go, you know,
```
```
I never heard it put that way;  make me go, what did you just say?
```
I
want someone who's not afraid of me, or anyone else;
In
other words, I want someone who's not afraid of themself.
Do you think I'm asking too much?
- Ani DiFranco, Asking Too Much

�Was I here before? Uh-oh,
I�m not still here, am I? Well anyone
can SEE that! Am I here anywhere else?�
- Bill Watterson,
Calvin and Hobbes

- - - -

�Sasuke,
you sonofabitch!�

Naruto�s shout
was lost to the darkness. By the time he had tore down the stairs, ignored the broken
window in the door as he dashed through it, and stumbled out onto the street,
Sasuke was no where in sight.

He was not
getting off that easy.

Naruto wasted no time in
taking off at a run, easily twice as fast as any normal human being due to
years of intense training as a shinobi; perhaps thrice as fast now, simply
because he was so angry. He could still see the look of frozen horror on
Sakura-chan�s face, the way her pretty features broke
into an emotional puddle of tears and hysteria at Sasuke�s uncalled-for
cruelty.

Sasuke was going to pay.

Sasuke, however, knew he was
going to be followed, and did not stop until he reached his home. Slamming (and
after a second thought, locking) his front door, he stormed across the main
threshold of the house, ignoring the echoes of angry shouts and the hammering
sounded from his porch. Assuming�no, knowing�that
Naruto would be too dense to find another way inside to assault him, Sasuke wandered into his room and flopped on the bed,
draping one forearm over his eyes as he had done earlier that day. He could
hardly hear the idiot from his safe haven� the insults and threats were nothing
but a dull vibration coming from the front of the house. Soon, Naruto would get
sick of yelling, turn from angry to upset, get depressed and leave.

Sasuke decided not to care.

CRASH!

Apparently, Naruto had other
plans.

The door managed to hang onto
its hinges, but only barely as it swung open, revealing a very ruffled teenager with baby blue eyes narrowed dangerously.
Sasuke groaned inwardly but did not move as the heavy footsteps drew nearer,
their owner oddly quiet as he stalked down his target. Outside his open bedroom
the footsteps stopped abruptly. Sasuke didn�t bother to remove his arm, and his
voice was mocking as he spoke.

�If I have to tell you to
fuck off once more today, dobe...�

Maybe if Sasuke had been
looking, he would have had time to block. As it was, Naruto moved so fast that
by the time the sound caught up for Sasuke to hear it, he�d already been
slammed into the nearest wall by his neck.

�Shut the fuck
up, you asshole, and listen to me,� Naruto�s eyes were unnaturally dark, Sasuke
noted with bored eyes, so much like� �Is it asking too much from you, the great
heir to the Uchiha, to be civil for a COUPLE of hours? Just once you needed to behave, just one night that you needed to stop being such
a dimwitted prick and act like a normal human being. Is that asking too much?!�

Despite being pinned
involuntarily to the wall, Sasuke looked rather relaxed. �Define normal.�

Naruto glared.

�Someone who can feel,� he snapped, his voice lowering
significantly but losing none of its malice. ��someone who is aware that other
people have feelings. Someone completely not like you.�

Sasuke smirked lazily at him.
�Then what did you expect?�

�An effort!�

�Then you were setting
yourself up for disappointment. I don�t put effort into socializing,� Sasuke
sneered back at him, grasping his wrist and pulling it free of his collar. �You
should be happy, anyway. Maybe now
she�ll realize once and for all I don�t want anything to do with her and she�ll
turn to you as runner-up.�

Naruto didn�t give Sasuke the
chance to block this time, either, because he hit him hard and on target right
in the jaw. The back of Sasuke�s head hit the wall behind him with a sharp thwack and his vision blurred for a
moment, going black around the edges and threatening to engulf him before
finally returning to normal. Vision rgained, he
noticed Naruto had abandoned holding him up against the wall and retreated to
the bed, sitting on it similarly to the way he had this morning, head down and
looking lost.

�You don�t deserve her
anymore then I do. Stop acting like you�re too good
for her; like you�re too good for me.�

Flexing
his sore jaw, Sasuke idly wondered if he deserved that. �I am too
good for you.�

Naruto�s next statement was
said viciously, injected with more venom then he thought he could merge with
his voice.

�I�m not too good for your
brother.�

Sasuke�s eyes turned red
without him even realizing it as he launched himself at Naruto, returning the
hit. Naruto blocked it and threw him sideways, rolling them both off the bed
and onto the floor. Sasuke managed to throw his weight in mid-fall, so that Naruto
ended up beneath him when they hit the ground. Eyes wide and blinded with rage,
he slammed an elbow down into the soft flesh of Naruto�s neck, making the
blonde gag dangerously as his insides took the enormous amount of pain and
swallowed it. Kicking up, Naruto managed to throw Sasuke off of him and
scramble to his knees. Sasuke flipped over as he landed, saving his head from
smacking into the ground, taking the blow to his shoulder instead.

Naruto sighed, closed his
eyes and sulked back to the floor, resting on his forelegs. Why did it always
come to this? Sometimes they got along fine; sometimes they seemed like
friends, almost like� brothers.

No matter what Naruto did, he
could never hold onto that feeling.

Sensing the slight ease in atmosphere,
Sasuke also relaxed and sat up, but kept his gaze fixed on Naruto.

�Leave.�

�Not until you tell me who
shoved that pole up your rear-end,� Naruto opened his
eyes and stared back in time to see Sasuke blink.

�What the hell are you
talking about?�

�You,� the blonde pulled his
legs out from under him, stretching them out. His feet went just past Sasuke�s
knees as he leaned back against the bed behind him. �You were improving�you
were in a better mood everyday. You were hanging out, you were smiling�you were acting like you did
when I first met you � arrogant and like a prick, but at least alive. Then you
just stopped. What the hell happened to you? You�re acting just like you did
back then. Before you��

Sasuke hissed before Naruto
could finish, cutting him off and putting his hands on his own knees. �That has
nothing to do with this.�

�Then
what�?�

�None of
your fucking business.�

�Do you really try this hard
to be a jerk, or does it just come naturally for you?�

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer,
but Naruto cut him off before he could.

�You�re a hard person to care
about, you really are.�

�Don�t you ever wonder if
it�s really worth it sometimes?�

�No.�

Sasuke blinked again.

�Why?�

�Because,� Naruto shrugged and
looked to the side, as if it were unimportant, �I don�t.�

Stubborn
idiot, as always.

�Your hands are bleeding,�
Sasuke noted dully.

�They had a disagreement with
your door.�

�It was locked for a reason.�

�To get
busted open, apparently.�

Sasuke didn�t respond
immediately. He glared at the floor, his eyes hidden in shadow, before pushing
up off the ground and standing over Naruto.

�You better be gone when I
get out.�

Naruto was about to ask out
of where when Sasuke answered him by going
into the bathroom and closing the door. Naruto could hear him start the shower
and after a moment, a solid �click� as Sasuke locked the door.

Asshole.

Naruto had only been patient
enough to stare at Sasuke�s bathroom door for about ten minutes before finally
getting angry, kicking the door once for good measure, and stomping out of the
house. To make matters worse, it started raining as he trotted home and
thoroughly soaking him by the time he came to his apartment.

Figured.

* * *

CRACK!

Sasuke awoke with a start as
the thunder cracked outside his window, followed by a long, low and yet
dauntingly loud rumble of noise. He sat upright quickly, muscles tense, his
eyes glowing red orbs in the darkness. His Sharingan, fully developed four years
ago, now displayed three marks rotating around his pupil.

Breathing heavily, he threw
himself out of bed and bolted from the room.

Somehow his subconscious
managed to avoid the broken glass on his way out, remnants of Naruto�s visit
earlier that evening. It was raining heavily outside, the storm clouds
obscuring the moon and making it pitch black in the abandoned Uchiha town.
Sasuke ran on from pure memory; he knew every corner, every curb, every stone
that made up these streets, and could have found his way if he had been blind.
He continued outside the walls of the Uchiha community, running down the
familiar, dimly-lit streets of his village, ignoring everything except the path
of his feet.

It did not take long to reach
his destination. He dashed up the stairs with such force he could feel his
knees strain from the pressure and the boards under his feet creaked
dangerously.

Almost
there�

SLAM!

Sasuke pounded both of his
fists against the door. The wood rattled under his attack, striking back at his
fists with stiff splinters, shoving them under his skin. Sasuke ignored the
pain and continued to bang on the door, shouting out incoherently. He hit the
door one last time with his left fist, throwing his whole body at the door, and
slowly slid down, coming to a huddle at the bottom of the door. Invisible tears
were streaming along the curve of his cheeks, mixing with the rain spilling
down his face from his soaked hair. He slammed his left hand, palm open, on the
door in a last desperate attempt to drive the pain away.

The door opened so suddenly
that Sasuke fell through it, hitting the matt inside with his upper body. Light
streamed out into the darkness from within the apartment, outlining a short,
spiky-haired figure.

�Sasuke?� said the confused
but familiar voice. �What the hell do you think you�re doing?�

Naruto stared in disbelief as
the frantic Sasuke fell unconscious without a word.

��Sasuke?�

Naruto shivered as the wind
blew in some of the rain, which was falling from the sky with the power of a
waterfall. What the fuck?

* * *

Sasuke woke up feeling more
exhausted then he had in years. His head ached, his chest ached, his legs
ached�hell, even his fingertips were pulsating. His body temperature seemed to be
on high, because even in the cold night air his face felt hot. He tried to push
himself up on his elbows, but the muscles in his arm wouldn�t have it. They
shuddered violently as he put weight on them and they collapsed, forcing him to
flop back onto the bed.

Wait. Bed?

Sasuke took a moment to
gather his surroundings. This was not his bed. No, it smelled different� not a
bad smell, and not alien�but not his, either. His hands, which he could feel
now were considerably more sore than the rest of him, were bandaged neatly.
There was also a cool rag draped over his forehead. The material was soft and
the cold felt good against his throbbing head; but there was one more thing
Sasuke noticed that was different about him.

His clothes were missing.

He wasn�t exactly exposed (he
did have a couple layers of sheets covering him) but he was in fact, very nude�
and dry and soft and actually quite comfortable when he stopped to think about
it. He tried to remember what had happened before he ended up here, what he had
been doing before he passed out� where the hell was he?

�So, you�re finally awake.�

Oh.

Sasuke�s eyes drifted to his
right, where Naruto was propped up on the windowsill, slurping noodles from a
cup of instant ramen. He was dressed in red shorts and a black t-shirt with an
orange spiral on the front, tawny hair ruffled messily and droopy blues only
half-awake.

Naruto, perfectly alive and
well� and eating ramen like nothing had happened.

Sasuke just stared.

�Sorry about your clothes,
but,� Naruto paused to swallow, �You were soaked to the skin and shivering like
mad, and you had a fever. I wanted to leave you there, outside my door to die,
but Sakura-chan would have had my head.�

Sasuke felt his head throb
again and winced. A fever� well, that made sense; that was why he felt so hot.

�Your clothes are drying by
the heater,� Naruto went on, shoving more ramen in his mouth, �And then I had
to dry you before throwing you in my
bed. I hope you take great pride in the fact that you�ve denied me any decent
sleep tonight.�

�What happened to my hands?�

Naruto looked at him. It was
dark, but he could have sworn the blonde was gawking. �Don�t you remember?�

Sasuke thought on that. �Not�
quite��

Naruto sighed and sat back against
the window frame. �Then let me refresh your memory. It was 1 a.m. I was in my bed, having a nice, peaceful sleep when WHAM!� Naruto moved his arms in a waving
motion to give his speech a theatrical touch. �Some crazed bastard starts
screaming and banging on my door like a lunatic! By the time I roll out of bed
and get to the door to open it, the said bastard is lying in a crumpled heap on
my doorstep, and full on faints halfway into my apartment!�

Sasuke said nothing to this,
but his memories slowly began to return. Waking up in a panic� running through
the dark and the rain� charging up the stairs�

�And in banging on my poor
old mistreated door, the said bastard managed to impale his hands with about
fifty large splinters, all of which were lodged deep into his skin!� Naruto
stopped yelling and took a breath, giving him what he assumed in the darkness
was a glare. �So I decided that, after undressing and drying you, putting you
in my bed and taking care of your stupid fever, that I should probably pull
them out before you woke up and had a chance to complain about them. That is why your hands are bandaged, you
stupid, stupid, crazed�did I mention stupid?�lunatic bastard!�

It grew quiet in the room
while Sasuke took in all of this information, save for Naruto�s heavy
breathing. He did remember all of it now, and even why he�d come� It had seemed
so realistic. So very, very real, like many of his nightmares were. Real enough
to make him believe it and to have him come running all the way to Naruto�s apartment�just
to prove that it was real.

But it wasn�t.

Naruto was alive. In fact,
Naruto was doing better then he was. Just sitting there, eating ramen, and
yelling at him for being a stupid bastard.

Then Sasuke did the last
thing Naruto could have expected him to do. He started laughing.

Naruto stared at him for a
moment, unsure of what to do. He�d never heard Sasuke laugh before. He�d seen
him smirk (how that fucking smirk annoyed him), he�d seen him give Sakura-chan
false smiles of reassurance, then there was that creepy-evil ku-ku-ku laugh
he�d adopted from the snake bastard on a temporary lapse�but that really didn�t
count, and he�d even heard him snicker on the rare occasion. But he�d never
heard the boy really laugh before.

�What the hell is so funny?!�
Naruto demanded, throwing his empty ramen cup to the side, chopsticks and all. �Unappreciative jerk! I should have let you sit out there
and die!�

Sasuke stopped laughing when
Naruto yelled out, but he was still smiling. �You really are an idiot, aren�t
you, Naruto?�

That was the last straw.

Naruto launched himself at
Sasuke, landing on the unprepared Uchiha with full force, fists aimed at his
head. �Don�t call me an idiot, you fucking selfish bastard! How dare you! I
should have left you out there for Sakura-chan to find and cry over! Fuck you
and your stupid laughing! I hope that fever kills you!�

Sasuke didn�t move when
Naruto leaped at him, but he did bring one arm up to block Naruto�s punch, stopping
it just inches from his face. Naruto, crouched over him, stared down at him in
rage.

Sasuke was still smiling.

�Don�t worry,� the
dark-haired boy said lightly. �Thanks to you, it won�t.�

�ARG!� Naruto pushed himself off Sasuke, falling off to his
side and sitting back on his heels. He glared at the Uchiha teen, half angry
and half confused. Why the fuck was that bastard smiling at him?!

Sasuke studied his injured
hand for a moment and then held it out to Naruto, his bandaged palm open and
asking for assistance.

�I hate you sometimes,�
Naruto mumbled, �I really do.�

Naruto took his hand gently
and helped hoist Sasuke into a sitting position, the sheets falling away from
his chest as he sat up, exposing the bare flesh. It was cold in the room, but
Sasuke did not shiver, for the fever was still keeping him warm. Sasuke propped
himself up with two pillows, and then leant his weight back against the
headboard. The cloth on his head slowly peeled off and fell into his lap,
sinking the sheet between his crossed legs. Sasuke picked it up and looked at
it, then eyed Naruto critically.

�When did you become such a
good mother?�

�Fuck you, and fuck your
stupid smile.�

Naruto�s anger, at least,
seemed to be calming down, though his attitude remained. �Remember that time I
got sick last year? I got some stupid bug on a mission while in Earth country.
Sakura-chan was over here everyday for a week nursing me back to health. I just
remembered some of the things she did, and you�re damn lucky I did, too.�

�I thought Shikamaru was the
one taking care of you,� Sasuke asked with a smirk.

�Shikamaru might be able to
cook, be he couldn�t care for a rock without killing it. He was here, but
Sakura was the one taking care of me.�

�Did she strip your clothes
off and pat you dry as well?�

�I think this is the fourth
time I�m going to tell you that I should have left you out there to freeze to
death.�

�Well, you didn�t. And, ah ��
Sasuke paused, looking and sounding very much like Kakashi and his smirk
quirking into something that was not quite a frown. ��I appreciate it.�

Naruto just looked at him,
then shrugged and turned away. �Whatever. Like I said, Sakura-chan would have
murdered me and Kakashi-sensei would have brought me back to life just to kill me
again for letting his favorite pupil die from hypothermia.�

Sasuke looked at the window
Naruto had been sitting by. It was too dark to see out, and he couldn�t tell if
the noise outside was just wind or rain.

�Is it still raining?�

�Yeah,� said Naruto. �Like crazy. It�s been like that all night.�

They were both quiet for a
moment. Then Naruto looked back at Sasuke.

�Now that you�re awake and
obviously going to live� what were
you doing banging on my door and shouting my name in the middle of the night?�

��

Shit.

Sasuke wasn�t sure what to
tell him. How would Naruto react to the truth?

Sasuke sighed as Naruto
stared at him persistently, waiting for an answer. The idiot probably wouldn�t
even believe him if he told him.

�It�s� complicated. Just
forget it for now, okay?�

Sasuke was both surprised and
relieved when Naruto, after staring at him for a few extra moments, shrugged
and nodded.

�Yeah,
whatever.�

Somewhat relieved, Sasuke
took to studying Naruto. The usually energetic blonde was still sitting beside
him, drooping slightly in what Sasuke could only guess was exhaustion. He
shouldn�t have been surprised that Naruto would take care of him like he did,
but it still felt so weird to have it happen.

�I should probably go,� Sasuke
finally said, and began to move.

�Are you insane?� Naruto
looked bewildered. �Your clothes are still wet!�

�I�ll borrow some of yours.�

�It�s pouring outside!�

�You have an umbrella, don�t
you?�

�You�ve already got a fever!�

�I thought you didn�t care?�

�I don�t!�

Sasuke couldn�t help but look
a little bemused. �You could just ask me to stay, you know.�

Naruto opened his mouth and
stopped, closed it and glared at him before speaking again. �You could just
stay, you bastard.�

It was his own way of saying
he wanted company, and lucky for Naruto, Sasuke caught it. �Yeah, alright, but
I get the bed.�

�What?! It�s MY bed!�

�I thought I was the sick one
here?�

�But�but�it�s still MY bed!�

�You can sleep on the couch.�

�I don�t have a couch!�

�Then take the floor.�

�The hell I will!�

�You have a better idea?�

Naruto glared at him, fully
roused and irritated once more, �Yeah. Scoot over.�

�I beg your pardon?�

�I said scoot,� Naruto made hand motions for emphasis, �If you�re going to
use my bed, you�re at least going to share.�

* * *

Upon awakening, Naruto had not wanted to leave Sasuke alone. Not that he was
worried, or anything � he was more concerned about Sasuke breaking something or
stealing his ramen then dying from a cold. He had almost woken the boy up at noon, but Sasuke had seemed to have a rough night�not that
he cared, or anything�so Naruto had decided to let him sleep in. He would
probably be gone when Naruto got home anyway� he honestly would have stayed,
but he had important matters left unattended from the night before.

Grabbing the small box off
the counter, Naruto shoved it in his pocket and trotted outside.

Sakura�s home wasn�t too far
from his apartment, but it was still a fair walk. Naruto had plenty of time to
fiddle with ideas: whether he should stay and knock, hand it to her personally,
or perhaps knock and run away, leaving it at her doorstep. The latter was
beginning to look more and more appeasing as he approached her block and the
knot in his stomach wove tighter.

Knock knock
knock.

A grown woman in her late
forties opened the door, looking aged but still attractive. Bright green eyes,
he thought, just like�

�What do you want?� she snapped.

Naruto blinked and cleared
his throat. �Is Sakura-chan home?�

�Yes, but she doesn�t want to
speak with anyone. Some friends you are, making her cry on her birthday. It was
you, wasn�t it? What did you do this
time?�

Naruto looked startled. �I��

�Naruto!�

Naruto almost fell over with
relief as Sakura�s familiar face appeared from behind her mother.

�Mother, it�s alright, Naruto
didn�t do anything� really��

Naruto filed away the memory
of Sakura defending him for later as her mother �hmphed�
and moved from the doorway, allowing Sakura to step outside and close the door
behind her.

�Hi,� he said uneasily.

When Sakura looked up at him,
his heart immediately sunk. She was smiling, but just barely and her eyes were
still tinted red.

Had she been crying all day?

�Naruto� thank you for coming
last night� I�� she faltered slightly, looking at the ground before finishing,
�I don�t blame you for what happened.�

Naruto, now at a complete
loss for words, stared and fumbled idly with the box in his pocket.

Sakura took a moment to
recover before she noticed the awkward silence, �So� um� yes, thank you for
coming last night.�

She reached for the door
handle behind her but Naruto caught her wrist, gently, �Wait�Sakura, I need
to�I mean, last night, I totally forgot�oh, just take it.�

Naruto shoved the box in her
hand and let her wrist go quickly, not sure if he should be expecting a rebound
for it.

Sakura stared at the box,
then back up at him. �What is it?�

Naruto blinked. �Um� birthday
present?�

Sakura�s eyes bulged slightly,
as if everything had just now finally registered. �Oh! Oh�� her fingers fumbled
as she opened it, �Thank y�oh my god, Naruto, is this�?!�

Naruto had to smile a little.
He wasn�t sure what her reaction was going to be, or if she�d even accept the
gift. It had taken all of the past three months to find it. Every mission he�d
gone on outside of Konoha he�d searched merchant shops and trinket places for
the damn thing. The gem itself was actually a merge of two�a ruby and a
diamond�cut and crafted together to create the illusion of clear, tear-dropped
shaped gem with a small, pink flower petal inside of it (the ruby had to be cut
small and precise, so the gift hadn�t been very easy on his wallet). Expensive
as it was, Naruto worked full time now and hardly spent money on anything other
than ramen and rent, so it wasn�t like he couldn�t afford it�

�Naruto�� Sakura stared at
jewel, then back at him in turn, �I� I don�t know what to say.�

Naruto shrugged. �Don�t have
to. Just don�t try to give it back; you�ll have better luck selling it.�

Sakura�s eyes snapped back to
him just in time to see the trademark grin, one Naruto gave when he was either
being a smartass or stubborn (or both). Before she could reprimand him for
spending so much on her, he had turned and trotted off her doorstep.

Sakura looked at the necklace
in her hand as Naruto walked away. Squeezing her fists shut around the trinket,
she closed her eyes and spoke hurriedly while looking at the ground.

�Hey, Naruto, wait� did you
still� wanttogoseethatmovie?�

Naruto stopped in his tracks
but didn�t turn around. Turning around might end the fantasy world he just
walked into. Did Sakura just ask him out?

�I mean, if you don�t, I�d
understand-d-�

Naruto whirled around before
Sakura could finish her sentence. Sakura had never seen him look so hopeful.

�Really? You� you want to go?�

�Well,� she said.

Naruto beamed. Positively beamed.
This was possibly the happiest moment of his life.

��sure.� She finished, smiling
sheepishly up at him. �I mean, if you still want t-�

Naruto resisted the urge to
run around in circles in a mock-tribal dance of joy. �Yesyesyes! I mean, of course I do! I�d� I�d love
to.�

Sakura�s smile turned into
something slightly more genuine.

�Tonight?� Naruto prodded tentatively.

�Um� sure,� Sakura looked
slightly taken aback, but recovered quickly. �Yeah, tonight�s great.�

Bright whites flashed a huge
grin. �So� see you around, um, eight?�

�Yeah, okay.�

Sakura smiled at him one more
time, and then disappeared into her house.

Naruto waited until he was
around the corner before doing a leap of triumph accompanied by an enthusiastic
�Yatta!�

�Keep it down!� some old lady
yelled out a nearby window.

* * *

When Sasuke woke in the morning, Naruto was gone.

Correction: it was no longer
morning. The bedside clock shown the numbers 2:35 and the sun glared harshly through the open window.

Sasuke groaned and rolled
over.

He wasn�t sure if it had been
due to the fever, or the stress from the nightmare, or if it had been the
simple fact that he hadn�t been alone that made him sleep so well. He would
normally lie awake for hours thinking (usually about his brother) and toss and
turn during the night, sometimes sleeping but always neglecting to get any
rest. Last night he had knocked out so fast he couldn�t even remember falling
asleep, nor did Naruto wake him when he got out of bed � something Sasuke was
almost positive would have awoken him.

Whatever the reason, decent
sleep did nothing to drive his desire to get out of bed. In fact, if he had
been in his own home, Sasuke would have probably just laid there all afternoon.

The persistent sunshine and
fading smell of ramen, however, eventually convinced him to toss off the sheets
and search for his clothes. Right where Naruto had said they were, his clothes
were on the heater. They were also stiff, smelly and baked like chips. Sasuke
grimaced as he shook each item out. This would not do�

Sighing, the brunette
abandoned his clothes and searched a few of Naruto�s drawers. Finding a pair of
jeans and sweatshirt he guessed would fit, Sasuke sat back on the bed and
gently began to pull the articles on, being wary of the delicate state of his
body. The headache and extra heat was gone, but his muscles still ached with
every flex and his hands throbbed gently underneath the bandages Naruto had
dressed them in.

Sasuke spent the next ten
minutes wondering if he should stay and wait for Naruto to get back or not. The
idiot had helped him out last night, but unless he wanted him to stick around,
why had Naruto left him there? Sasuke stood up and began to pace, half-stalling
and half looking for his shoes. When the said objects were discovered, he made
a quick decision. Shoving his shoes on his feet and his baked clothes in a
plastic bag, Sasuke hasted his way out of the apartment.

* * *

Naruto had hardly been able
to keep quiet about the date he had with Sakura. In fact, by six-thirty,
Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, Neji, Ten-ten, Chouji Lee and Hinata knew about it and were all currently crammed into his
apartment. Sasuke probably would have known too, but he had seemed to have
disappeared (again) and Naruto had a hunch he was stalking around Kakashi�s
place. Lee was trying to be happy for Naruto, but it didn�t seem to be working.
He kept smiling when Naruto looked his way, then sobbing in the corner when he
thought no one was paying him attention. Hinata was doing a much better job at
hiding her upset, but her efforts may have been helped slightly by the fact
that Kiba had now grown bold enough to throw an arm affectionately around her
shoulders. Neji seemed to be arguing with Ten-ten about the derivative of
something or another, and Shikamaru told Naruto he could really care less about
his stupid date and was content on playing chess with Chouji, who was losing
terribly.

Ino, it seemed, was the only
person who was openly disgusted with the arrangement. She spent a good half
hour stomping around waving her finger threatening at Naruto, telling him if he
tried anything she�d castrate him and feed the leftovers to Akamaru, who yipped
as if to solidify her statement.

�I don�t know what�s gotten into her, but I�m telling
you, Naruto, you better make sure she has a good time and if you so much as
make the ends of her hair split I SWEAR I�ll kick your ass so hard your dead
ancestors will feel it!�

�Oi, Ino,� Shikamaru, it
seemed, was beginning to feel sorry for Naruto. After all, he knew how tiring
Ino�s speeches were. He got them every
day. �Give Naruto a break, eh? He might be annoying, but at least he
doesn�t go around making Sakura cry all over the place. If you want someone to
bitch at, you should be screaming at Sasuke, don�t you think?�

That, it seemed, was enough
logic to make Ino relent her attack on Naruto and huff to the other end of the
room.

Pulling away from Hinata,
Kiba walked over to the now unoccupied Naruto and studied him critically.
Naruto, who was slumped in a chair against the wall and still recovering from
the verbal beating, stared back at him in confusion.

�You�re not planning on going
like that, are you?� Kiba asked.

Naruto looked down at
himself; orange jumpsuit, black t-shirt, and his navy zori�
He looked back up at Kiba, even more confused. �What do you mean, �like this?��

Kiba rolled his eyes,
muttering, �Thought so,� as he hauled Naruto off his ass and into the boy�s
bedroom. Naruto yipped at the sudden jerk and complained loudly as the room watched
Kiba drag him away and close the door. Inside, much loud shouting could be
heard and Shikamaru sighed.

�So noisy,� he muttered.

Hanging out at Naruto�s
wasn�t so bad anymore; he was hardly home, so the place was much cleaner simply
by lack of use. It was also convenient since he didn�t have any parents to
worry about, but without Naruto himself there to keep the place alive and
noisy, it could quickly get very boring. It was nearly seven-thirty when Ino,
who had been mumbling �What are they doing
in there?� for the past thirty minutes, finally lost patience and banged on the
shut bedroom door. No answer. In fact, there had been hardly any noise since
the first fifteen minutes of arguing that had commenced when Kiba first dragged
Naruto in there.

�Hello~? What the hell are you two doing in there, making
out?! (Shikamaru promptly spit out his soda, and Hinata blushed) Open up
already!�

�In a minute!� came the
muffled reply.

Five minutes later, the door
finally opened, and Ino had stood up again to berate the two of them for taking
so long and what the hell had they been doing that whole time and god damn Naruto looked�

�Wow,� Ten-ten muttered. It
was so quiet in the room, however, that everyone heard her. Nobody seemed
coherent enough to argue.

Naruto looked like a deer
caught in headlights.

�What?� he asked, accusingly.

Ino finally noticed her mouth
was open, and closed it. �Kiba, what did you do?�

Kiba grinned toothily. �Attacked him with a hairbrush.�

If Hinata�s
eyes got any bigger, they were going to fall out of her heard. Even Neji was staring.

Kiba had done something, that
was for sure. Naruto looked� well. Hot.
Hot in the hey-baby-lets-go-shag-in-the-alley kind of way. Ino couldn�t believe
her eyes. Naruto wasn�t supposed to be hot.
Sure, after four years he�d gotten kind
of cute (Did she just think that?
Ugh.) , maybe kind of attractive to
some people (like Hinata), but he was NOT
hot.

Ever.

His spiky blonde hair was still
tussled and messy-looking, but it seemed to have been done on purpose rather
then just by lack of caring, which somehow made it more appealing. It appeared
Kiba had forced him to take a bath, because his skin was clean and bright and
his tan stuck out boldly against the sun-lighted hair, which in turn made his
eyes appear bluer then ever. His clothes were different, too. Naruto was
wearing something he�d never worn (not out in public, anyway); a pair of dark
red cargos hung loosely around his waist, not excessively baggy but not tight
enough to cling anywhere, black boots and a dark, ashy-colored vest that was
zipped halfway up his chest, partially revealing a well-toned chest beneath and
displaying strong arms that were usually hidden beneath the long sleeves of his
jumper. Kiba had taken off his red headband and tied it around Naruto�s
forehead where his hiate-ete would normally be displayed. And finally, around
Naruto�s neck hung the pendant he�d won from the Godaime
four years ago.

Akamaru barked and abruptly
broke the silence.

�Wow,� Ten-ten said again,
�Naruto, you look-�

�Like you�re going to a rock
concert,� Shikamaru finished for her from the other side of the room. Naruto
made a face at him.

�Stuff it, Shika, you know
it�s an improvement,� Kiba chided, eyeing the watch around his wrist and
blinked. �Wow, we were in there
forever. You better get going, Naruto. It�s already seven thirty.�

�Eh�� Naruto looked
uncomfortably down at his new image, �I dunno, Kiba��

�Oh, go,� Ino said, sounding exaspherated.
�You look�� making a pained, struggling face, Ino forced the words out her
mouth, ��really good, Naruto.�

Naruto stared at her. �Really?�

�Uh, yeah,� Ino said,
�Sakura-chan�ll be thrilled. Now go or you�ll be late and I�ll have to kick your ass!�

Naruto, staring at her
briefly and then trusting they could all let themselves out, grinned and ran
out of the apartment.

* * *

Knock-knock.

Sakura�s mother answered the
door again. Naruto smiled at her angelically and asked if Sakura was around.
The woman eyed him dangerously before disappearing behind the door. He could
hear her calling Sakura�s name inside the house.

�Sakura! What is that boy doing here?!�

�He�s on my team mom, you know
that!�

�That doesn�t give you permission to go running around
with him!�

�Just leave it alone!�

�He�s bad news, how many times do I have to tell you?
Come back here, young lady!�

Naruto sighed. It was always
the same.

Sakura appeared several
minutes later, looking slightly ruffled and irritated (not at Naruto, it
appeared, which cheered him up slightly). She slammed the door behind her and
immediately composed herself, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling up
at him. Her gaze faltered slightly when it looked him over, but quickly righted
itself.

�Sorry,� she said quickly.

Naruto almost swallowed his
tongue.

She was wearing a dress
similar to the one she�d worm to her birthday party, only now it was white and
the skirt was much shorter, coming to stop at about mid-thigh. It was tight
around her upper body, and tapered off into a loose, flowing swirl of fabric
around her legs, and navy-colored jean jacket covered her bare shoulders. Her
feet were clad in small-heeled white sandals and her hair had been brought up
into a partial ponytail, the remaining half of her hair whisking around her
slender shoulders. He noted with a glow that she was wearing the necklace, and
it glinted at him as her chest moved up and down with each breath. Over her
shoulder was a small purse, and, Naruto was surprised to notice, she�d even
bothered to put on makeup.

Sakura didn�t need makeup. Even
still, she was beautiful.

�You look, um, really
pretty,� he said stupidly.

To his silent delight, Sakura
blushed anyway. �Thanks. You look� really good, too.�

Sakura was surprised to
realize she actually meant that. He did
look good. Huh.

Neither of them said another
word until they reached the theatre. It was a stupid movie, but it made Sakura
giggle in the cutest possible ways at steady intervals, which always managed to
make Naruto grin. He spent more of the flick watching her then watching the
movie. Sakura actually seemed to be having a good time, which was so� odd for
him to feel. She usually acted irritated and unhappy when he was anywhere in
the vicinity. Tonight� tonight it was just them,
just the two of them, and she was smiling and laughing at the movie, and kept
stealing popcorn out of his lap and smiling at him and god it was like a dream come true.

It was almost too good to
last.

Sakura was still giggling
about the last scene as they filed out of the theatre amongst the crowd of other
young couples. Naruto was grinning, not because of the movie but because he was
in a great mood even if he hadn�t been brave enough to chance putting his arm
around her during the movie. Sakura
repeated the last few lines and Naruto mocked it, making Sakura laugh more and
throw an old piece of popcorn at him. He opened his mouth and caught it, making
her purse her lips and stick her tongue out at him.

It was colder outside now
that it was dark, but Naruto could hardly feel it. He was too happy to care, to
warm from seeing Sakura smile so many times at him in one night to even care if
he died at that very moment because at least he would be happy.

Sakura shivered slightly. She
was wearing a jacket, but she only had a tank top under it and it was getting
chilly. Though, it would be really hard to ruin her mood even if it was cold �
she was having a good time, as weird as it seemed. The movie had been
predictable but still enjoyable, and Naruto had been an angel and hadn�t so
much as forgotten to hold open a door or say anything to piss her off. All in
all, tonight had been a lot of fun.

�I�ll walk you home,� Naruto
offered.

He looked happy but slightly
disappointed that the night was about over at the same time. Sakura smiled at
him weakly, �Okay.�

Knowing Naruto wouldn�t dare
offer, they had started walking before Sakura put the words together for the
rest of her sentence, �I mean, we could hang out for a
bit longer, if you wanted.�

Naruto was glad he wasn�t
looking at her when she said that, because he blanched slightly. �I�d like that
a lot.�

So instead, they turned left
and wandered further from the direction of her house. They lapsed in and out of
small talk as they went, no set destination in mind and both making enormous
attempts to be pleasant company. For once, Sakura was able to enjoy Naruto�s
light heartedness without glaring at him over Sasuke�s shoulder, or pretending
she hated being around him just out of spite. She wanted to ask Naruto about
Sasuke, and what had gone on between the two of them the night before, but she
was afraid that doing so would break the spell of enjoyment that seemed to have
been cast on the two.

They stopped at a collection
of small shops that were closing for the night, and Naruto managed to charm the
store tender into selling him two more ice-creams before putting the freezer
away. Sakura blushed as the man behind the counter eyed her and then winked at
Naruto, wishing them a good night.

When they reached the park,
Sakura knew they had to have walked halfway across town. Her house was at least
a thirty minute walk from here. Naruto slowed and mingled around the trees
while Sakura found a comfy rock by the fishpond and poked the surface with the
tip of her shoe. The water rippled softly and blurs of white and orange shot
back and forth under the disturbance, looking for any possible scraps.

�Do you know what time it
is?�

Naruto, who had leant back
against a tree to her left, looked up. �Um� actually, no.�
Glancing at the sky, he shrugged. �Probably close to eleven. Do you want to
go?�

�In a little bit. Not yet.�

Naruto grinned at her from
under the cherry tree (it was late March so they were in bloom, and Naruto
almost looked pretty with petals fluttering around him). A gust of wind swept by, causing even more
petals to fall and Sakura shivered slightly.

�Are you cold?�

�Not really��

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

�Okay, maybe a little chilly. Nothing I can�t handle,�
she said stiffly, retaining a little of her old defiance.

�I�m a bit cold, too, actually,�
he said, shuddering a little - stupid Kiba for dressing him in a sleeveless
shirt.

Sakura sat there for a
minute, watching the surface of the water slowly settle and the ripples
disappear as they grew wider and wider. Getting up, she walked over to Naruto
and stood in front of him and poked the bare flesh showing where the vest was
only half-zipped up. �You should have brought a jacket.�

�I didn�t plan on standing in
the woods after dark,� he admitted cheekily.

Sakura glared at him. �You
can leave if you want.�

Naruto grinned at her. �Nah�
I think I can put up with it,� his finger flicked the gem dangling below her
collarbone gently as he spoke.

Sakura looked down at the
necklace, then back up at him with a small smile. �Is that so?�

�Yeah. Just for you, though.�

It was perfect. Right there
in front of him. All he had to do was move. He just had to�

Sakura smiled at him, and did
something that made him go rigid-backed against the tree: she leant forward and
laid her head on his chest, sighing and using him for support.

Naruto was torn between shock
and complete bliss. Closing his eyes and tilting his head so it rested against
hers, he kissed her forehead through her hair. He hadn�t even realized what
he�d done until it was too late.

But Sakura didn�t run away,
or worse scold him for being bold or perverted or an idiot. Instead, she tilted
her face up slowly, pulling her head back but not relinquishing her weight off
him. She was wondering why she felt so comfortable, so at ease, so� safe, just standing here in the park in
the middle of the night, and leaning against Naruto of all people.

Maybe it was because out of all
of her friends, she�d treated him the worst and yet, out of all of them� he had
always been the one there for her. To help her, to make sure she was happy, and
on more than one occasion, to risk his life to save her own.

How could she have been so stupid?

Sakura froze when he kissed
her; not in disgust, but in shock� she had been so busy with her own thoughts
she hadn�t noticed him move closer until his lips had brushed her own.

�Naru��
Sakura�s words died in her throat as her lips melted on his and she tilted her
head to allow him better access.

This had to be one of those
�shit happens� situations Ino had always been telling her about.

His lips were a little dry
but undeniable soft, and�Sakura realized with a jolt�they felt really good
against her skin. He kissed her lightly at first, nudging her lips
apprehensively with his own until she remembered to breathe, at which point he
licked the small opening between her lips. Sakura�s eyes fluttered closed with
the feeling that caused and opened her mouth to allow him inside.

What she expected was a
clumsy, slobbery mess of tongue and saliva that would end awkwardly, mostly due
to the inexperience of both parties. She had never kissed anyone before (she
had been saving herself for Sasuke�so much for that) and Naruto� well, she had
been positive that Naruto hadn�t kissed anyone yet. He was too much of an idiot
still for most girls� tastes, and he was still oblivious to Hinata and the
small collection of girls that found him endearing.

�or at least, that�s what she
had thought until he started to kiss her. Naruto wasn�t a natural at anything,
except perhaps being loud, so unless he�d done this before� Sakura lost track
of her thoughts as his tongue grazed her own for the first time.

The kiss started out gentle,
and stayed that way as they rearranged themselves, and soon Sakura found
herself with her mouth being invaded by the strange tongue and her back being
pushed up against the trunk of the tree. What was even weirder was that none of
this made her angry or irritated; when Naruto cupped one side of her face with
his left hand and pulled her waist closer with his right, she responded without
any complaints, tilting her hips up and her head to the side to better
accommodate the kiss.

His tongue wrapped around her
own, massaging the sides of it with slow, fluid strokes, each rendering her
knees more and more useless. When his tongue suddenly changed course and ran
its tip along the roof of her mouth she lost her balance completely, and would
have probably fallen if she hadn�t been leaning against the tree.

A well-placed knee somehow
snaked itself between her legs, and before she knew what was happening, her
left leg was arched over his hip and she was standing on her tiptoe with her
right as Naruto pushed her into the tree (whose bark was thankfully soft) and
continued to assault her mouth. She gasped as he released her lips and he moved
his attention to the side of her neck, kissing and nibbling in the most
sensitive places between her shoulder and earlobe.

God, this can�t be happening�

His right hand traveled
further down, following the curve below her waist and cupping the soft flesh of
her upper thigh, pulling her almost completely onto his lap as he brought both
of his legs in-between hers. Her skirt had ridden up almost all of the way, and
his hand cupping her underside snuck under it without him even thinking about
it as Sakura gasped again at the touch. His left hand trailed down her neck and
slid over her chest, growing more and more daring as she continued to fail to
reprimand him about it.

Not like this�

Swollen lips traveled up her
chin and covered her own once again and Sakura found herself kissing back, her tongue moving against her conscious
as it collided with Naruto�s and begged him to keep up the delicious things he
was doing to the rest of her body. Her jacket had somehow found itself on the
ground in the mess and Naruto had his hips between her legs and was pressing
her into the tree so hard it should have hurt - but all Sakura could feel was
sweet, sweet ecstasy between her thighs and she wanted to cry out and tell him
not to stop. She couldn�t believe the sensations, the insane prickling feelings
flowing from her abdomen down to her toes and up to the highest point of her
spine, making her vision blur with white pleasure.

It�s too good�

His hands were both under her
thighs now, completely underneath her skirt and gripping her with a pressure
hard enough to be firm but not bruise. Pinning her against the tree with his
hip and deep-throating her with his tongue, Naruto�s right hand let go of her
backside and ghosted along her skin until it found her inner thigh. Sakura
shuddered against him with the new sensation, and yelped inside his mouth as
his hand continued up to the top of her inner leg. He released her mouth and
nibbled gently on her earlobe as his fingers pried between the annoying layer
of clothing protecting her hidden skin, not knowing exactly what they were
doing but determined just the same.

�God�damn�� was all Sakura
managed to gasp out as Naruto maneuvered his way inside, burying her head in
his shoulder with a pleasurable shiver. Her hands were grasping his shoulders,
fingernails raking against the bare flesh, leaving red marks in their wake.

Sakura briefly wondered how
it could feel so much better when someone else
was doing it. When someone like Naruto was�

She could hear his heavy
breathing in her ear�and it had to be the sexiest thing she had ever heard�but when
she closed her eyes, Sakura didn�t see Naruto. She saw dark, ebony hair and
deep, heavy-lidded eyes� eyes that never gave her warmth and never let her
sleep. Eyes that she wanted to look into while she felt like this, eyes that
would never look at her like Naruto was looking at her right now.

The body against her shifted
slightly, his heat pressing forcefully against her left thigh while agile
fingers continued to explore the place that Sakura had put aside a long time
ago for someone else, someone she had been in love with since a young girl,
someone who wasn�t Naruto�

Fingers moved deeper still,
and Sakura cried out softly.

�Sasuke��

Sakura felt the body against
her go rigid, and the next moment she was falling, and her legs barely caught
her, stumbling in an effort to keep her from hitting the ground.

Naruto was standing several
feet back from her, staring.

Sakura had never seen him
look that hurt before. Her heart fell
into her stomach as she tried to reach out for him. �I� I didn�t me-mean-n��

Naruto stepped out of her
reach, same look of utter disbelief strewn across his face.

Sakura just stared. �Naruto��

Naruto
didn�t say anything, turned, and fled.

* * *

A/N: I have only one thing to say: Ouch.

* * *
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