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The Blessed Realm	By : susanna Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1746 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Naruto, his friends and the world he lives in don't belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto. I write this story only for my pleasure and I don't make any money with it.

Chapter List
- 34
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Chapter
Thirty-Two: Dancing – not having sex

So
this is how the locals live, Naruto thought when Sasuke, Juugo and
himself arrived at the house of Juugo's future fostermothers. It
looked quite normal, a simple house just the right size for a single
family (though perhaps a bit small given the number of children
running around), with a large garden behind the house where the women
had put up benches and tables for their guests.

He
got aware that in all the time he had spent at Music Town he had
never been invited to the home of anyone who lived here, and how
strange it was that it was just the silent superpower kid of Sasuke's
team who had gained him his first invitation. He wondered about the
other members of Sasuke's team, Karin and Suigetsu, whether they had
already found friends in Music Town. They had been invited to Juugo's
welcome party too, but neither of them had time: Suigetsu had a gig
somewhere, and Karin was giving a seminar.

So
it was only Sasuke and himself among a bunch of middle-aged lesbian
women. It was as if Juugo's future foster mothers were only friends
with lesbians, and as if their kids were all friends with each other,
having almost no contact to kids from normal families. Naruto watched
the women embracing and kissing each other on the cheeks (no making
out in public, which he was rather glad about after the shock in the
onsen), giving small presents to Juugo and patting him on the head.
Again Naruto felt left out, even though he was genuinely happy for
Sasuke's little friend, who was beaming and looking very embarrassed
at the same time, not used to being in the focus of attention.

Soon
he withdrew with the other boys to play football, and Naruto followed
their invitation to join them. He had never played before, only
watched, and the boys put him to shame with their skills at handling
the ball with their feet.

Sasuke
did not join though the boys had asked him too. He was curious about
these lesbians: Contrary to what Naruto thought he did not hate
females in general, he just felt uncomfortable when they were trying
to flirt with him. He hoped that here he might meet some who stayed
rational while talking to him, yet to his disappointment they were
not interested in talking to him at all, and none of them cared to
draw him into a conversation. So he felt rather lost on his bench,
listening to the women's talk, which was mostly about their jobs and
their kids and also some gossip about other lesbians who weren't
present at the party. It was friendly gossip, however, friendly,
caring people telling other friendly people about common friends.
This one had found a new partner, that one had finally broken up with
her girl-friend, this one had got a new job, that one had fallen ill.
All in all, their conversation was not much different from that of
other women, with the exception that hardly any men were mentioned.
They lived in a world of women.

One
of the smaller kids tugged at his sleeve, wanting to sit on his lap
so that he could reach the cookies on the table. Sasuke ended up
reading a picture book to him, and then some other books to a couple
of slightly older children. It was not what he had expected when he
had accepted the invitation, and it also made him sad, as he had to
think of Itachi and how he read books to him when he, Sasuke, had
been very small. Later a man appeared, the brother of one of the
lesbians and father of some of the kids (apparently some of them were
from conventional families). Feeling as much out of place as Sasuke
he sat down next to him and made some smalltalk, so that all in all
the day ended nicely for Sasuke.

It
was a weird feeling that evening when they went to bed, knowing that
Juugo had left them and that it was only Naruto and himself now.
Anything might happen, Sasuke thought, but then both of them were
tired and fell asleep rather quickly after going to bed.

What
really happened was the next dance lesson. Sasuke looked forward to
it, Naruto had mixed feelings, though he did not dread it as much as
he had dreaded the first one. When he was honest with himself he had
to admit that he had enjoyed the actual dancing with Sasuke and was
looking forward to it, but that he still felt uncomfortable about the
other teenagers' looks and Sasuke's oblivion to the general
disapproval of their dancing together, leading to completely
inappropriate behaviour. Normally Naruto would laugh when Sasuke made
a fool of himself, but being his friend and dance partner meant that
the situation was embarrassing for him, Naruto, as well.

Maybe
this time Sasuke would behave in a way that did not earn him any
awkward questions – questions that he, Naruto, not Sasuke would
have to answer, Naruto thought while he watched Sasuke's preparations
before they left. They consisted mainly in applying generous amounts
of gel to his hair. (Naruto did not prepare, he just went as he was.
Most boys did.)

In
the entrance hall of the dance school Naruto felt even worse than the
week before: Now people knew that Sasuke and himself were not friends
who had come together to get hooked up with some of the girls. He
looked boldly at the other teenagers, smiling and challenging them,
while Sasuke had again turned into his normal arrogant mood where he
ignored everyone around him. Naruto was crazy: Why did he not support
him in returning the stares they got?

Looking
around, Naruto discovered that last week's assistant dance teacher
was missing and that instead there was a woman on high heels in a
tight short dress with short hair and perfect make-up. Obviously she
was not a student but a teacher. She was surrounded by a bunch of
girls (not the ones who had had ice-cream with them the week before)
and as soon as she saw the two boys she approached them, the girls
following her.

“I
wanted to ask whether you couldn't reconsider whether it's not
possible for you to split up”, she said. “These girls'
boy-friends broke up with them so that they're now without partner
and we have a large surplus of girls. Won't you help us out?”

Sasuke
stared at them blankly. “It's them who got deserted by their
partners, not me.”

He
took Naruto's hand.

“Still
you might help us out. As it's now, there'll always be some five or
six girls sitting around, waiting to be asked to dance. They have
paid to learn to dance and for this you actually have to dance, not
just to watch. We need you to split up.”

“I
have not paid for dancing with a girl”, Sasuke said.

“You
have paid to learn to dance, not for being allowed to dance with your
own partner all the time. The others have to swap too.”

(It
was true, Naruto remembered. They had been asked to swap partners,
and the two of them had been the only ones to be exempted from it, as
no other boy could be expected to dance with Sasuke.)

The
male dance teacher had joined them by now. “Come on”, he
said. “They're girls, not some slimy green monsters, and you
don't even have to have sex with them, just dance.”

Everyone
looked at Sasuke, waiting for him to give in. As if they knew that he
was the principal problem, Naruto thought.

“Come
on”, he said now too. “We'll be separated for two hours.
We'll survive it.”

He
regretted immediately what he had said: Sasuke's face went blank, and
his position changed as if her were a puppet whose threads had been
cut or entangled. Naruto wished that he could take his word back, but
it was impossible now.

“Now
take one of these ladies and practise the rumba with them”, the
female dance teacher said.

Naruto
took the hand of the girl next to him and led her to the dance floor.
From the corner of his eye he saw that Sasuke offered his hand to
another girl and that she accepted. She must think herself lucky,
Naruto thought, dancing with the prettiest boy in the room, but in a
few minutes she'll realize that dancing with someone who thinks of
you as a slimy green monster is not enjoyable at all.

He
kept turning aorund to see how Sasuke was doing with the girl, not
noticing that his own partner found this behaviour rather irritating.
Sasuke did unexpectedly well to Naruto's disappointment, smiling and
being as gentle as well as he could, even though her light touch on
his shoulders made him feel uncomfortable. When the music had faded
he led her back to her chair, thanking her as a man was supposed to.
She blushed and thanked him in her turn, and he felt annoyed and
decided not to ask her again. He considered sitting down next to
Naruto while they were waiting for the next dance to be explained,
but seeing Naruto next to his partner he decided against it. They'd
survive being separated for two hours, Naruto had said – now
let him see how he'd bear it. He, Sasuke, would manage, he'd not
cause any drama with his female partners and show Naruto that he
could do without his protection.

They
learnt English Waltz, and practised the steps for quite some time
without partner, which came as a relief to Sasuke even though he got
bored rather quickly. The girl he ended up with (he had randomly
asked one, not caring whether she was pretty or not) turned out to
hold him a bit too close to his taste, but he put up with it. He put
up with the dance altogether – again it was merely moving in a
rectangle while embracing each other. It was what most of the boys
were after, he realized – not him, however: even though he
enjoyed holding Naruto in his arms, he really wanted to learn to
dance and longed for the other version of English Waltz, the one that
actually looked like dancing. It got a bit better when they learnt to
turn, only that his partner always moved before he gave a signal and
that she insisted on moving backwards instead of sideways when she
had to make room for him. After some time the dance teacher came to
help them, trying to persuade her to relax and allow herself to be
led. Naruto had not been that stubborn, Sasuke thought. The dance
teacher made him lead him to show the girl how she should move - it
felt weird, dancing with a man who was not Naruto, yet also
fascinating. It did not help, however: When Sasuke tried again to
dance with the girl, she again moved backwards. The dance teacher
left them as he had to help other couples too, and Sasuke was glad
when the music was over and he could leave the girl.

When
the break began he sought the dance teacher as he wanted to ask him
some questions.

“Where's
the other dance teacher?” he began with the easiest one. “The
man who taught us a week ago? Will he be back next week?”

“Probably
not”, the dance teacher answered. “He's no professional
dance teacher. She is. He's just my boy-friend and likes to dance
too, so he stood in for her when last week she did not have time. You
don't like her?”

“No.”

“Because
she's a woman?”

“Because
she made us split up.”

“I
see.”

There
was a pause of several seconds, then Sasuke continued with a question
that was even more important to him.

“Why
do you dance with a woman if you are gay?”

“She's
been my dance partner for more than twenty years. I've known her far
longer than my boy-friend, longer actually than I've known that I am
gay.”

This
explained something, Sasuke thought, though it raised new questions.

“We've
been quite successful at tournaments, and now we've founded this
dance school. It's practical: Knowing that we'll never be lovers. If
you fall in love with your business partner, or found a business with
your lover, there's always the danger of breaking up, and then you
lose both your love and your occupation.”

Breaking
up had never been part of Sasuke's idea of love. He had heard stories
of people who had broken up when he had listened to the lesbians at
Juugo's welcome party, but as far as Sasuke had understood this
happened only to people who had chosen extremely badly. He could not
see why the fear of breaking up might hinder a person from making
their lover also their partner in business.

“Don't
you prefer to dance with your friend?” he asked.

The
dance teacher hesitated before he answered. “Sure I enjoy
dancing with him. But I enjoy dancing with my colleague too. It's
just different.”

Sasuke
understood that he did not want to go further into detail.

“You're
not from here, are you?” the dance teacher asked now in his
turn.

“No.”

“How
long have you been living here?”

“For
a few weeks.”

“I
understand.”

“What
do you understand?”

The
dance teacher took some time to think before he began to explain:
“I've heard there exist a bunch of weird rumours in the ninja
countries, that we are some kind of fairy-tale place where gays swim
like fish in water, showing their affection as freely as anyone else,
but in fact it's not that easy. Sure a lot of things have changed
during the last twenty years, but there are still a lot of prejudices
and reservations when it comes to gays, and a dance class with a
bunch of teenagers who are still busy figuring out whether they are
men or a new species of apes is one of the worst places that you
could have chosen for your coming-out. So you must understand my
colleague: She means well and she does not want you to run into
problems with the other boys.”

“It's
considerate of her to think of protecting me, but I don't need that
kind of protection”, Sasuke said haughtily. “Anyway,
what's a coming-out?”

“It
means to admit openly both to other people and to yourself that
you're gay.”

Sasuke
pondered the man's words. There had been some silent understanding
between the two of them, yet it still felt weird to hear it
explicitely: You're gay. Silently he tried it for himself: I'm gay.
It didn't feel right yet, even though he knew that it was true.

“So
what is a good place?” he asked.

“Somewhere
where you can meet other gay men”:

It
made sense, Sasuke thought. “The men's section of the onsen?”

“That's
where you go if you are looking for a one-night stand.”

“What's
that?” “Sex for one night without any attachment.
You leave after breakfast, at the latest, and never see each other
again.”

It
took Sasuke some seconds in the process in the information.

“You
do that in the onsen?”

“Oh,
no, they don't serve breakfast there. That's just where you find a
partner for the night. There are other places too. But I don't
suppose that this is what you're looking for.”

“No.”
Sasuke felt revolted by the idea. “I thought you did not do
this here. I thought you were truly in love.”

“Well,
that's what everyone longs for”, the dance teacher said
cautiously. “But it doesn't always work out.”

Again
Sasuke understood that the man did not want to expand further on the
subject.

“You
should look for a place where you can hang out with other gay men,
make friends with them and, maybe, find your true love. That's good
first step for coming out. There you will also find support for the
further steps. And, also, if you want some advice, I think you should
talk to your friend as soon as there is a good opportunity.”

They
looked at Naruto, who was standing in queue to buy drinks, talking to
some other boys.

“I
can make you an offer”, the dance teacher said. “You are
talented and ambitious. This is not the best dance class for you. You
may change to another class, only with same-sex couples, a training
group for tournaments, where you are not slowed down by people who
are not interested in dancing and only want to find a partner.”

“A
tournament group?” Sasuke asked. “We've just started.”

“There's
a beginners' class at tournaments. You've good chances at succeeding
there. It's what you want, isn't it”

“Sure.”

“Try
to persuade your friend to remain your partner. He's got talent too.
Tell him it's just dancing, not having sex.”
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