Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Soup's On	By : OfFansAndFlames Category: Naruto AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1793 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned. I make no money on this fiction.

Chapter List
- 58
- 59
- 60
This was the day. There was no avoiding it, the current carrying both of them onward, willingly or unwillingly. Sasuke groaned when he woke up, holding his hand to cover his eyes and rub at the bridge of his nose. It was about nine. They’d both had plenty of sleep, so Sasuke assumed that Naruto wouldn’t mind being roused. Sasuke found that Naruto’s arms were already wrapped around his abdomen.
“Hey…” Sasuke muttered, jerking Naruto by his arm.
“Mmnn…” Naruto answered crankily, burying his head deeper into Sasuke’s trunk.
Not to be dissuaded, Sasuke began to tug at Naruto’s arm a little more roughly.
“Wake up.”
“Five more minutes, S’suke…” came the programmed response.
Sasuke sighed, staying in his former position. Normally, he would have pried Naruto’s fingers apart and forced his way out of bed, but he decided to lie here a bit longer. Naruto’s hair hung over his eye, his mouth partially open as he snored quietly. His gashed lip and a swollen nose had improved somewhat from the night before. Naruto had already fallen back to sleep.
He stroked Naruto’s hair, petting him softly so as not to wake him. He stared at him now unabashedly, knowing that no one else was observing this moment. When would Naruto be in his bed next? The fact that in several hours they would part seemed unreal. He could hardly believe they’d only met in late August. It felt like ages had passed, when in reality, it had been barely more than four months.
He’d already had his internal crisis about what it meant to fall in love with someone so quickly and what that said about him. After everything that had happened, Sasuke supposed there was no getting around becoming attached; he didn’t even want to. He’d expected this to be painful, and he was right. However, he could never regret this.
He didn’t know whether this moment was a happy one or a sad one. He wasn’t even sure what he felt, but he did know that his chest felt hollow, and his throat was tight. He knew that there would be no more moments like this for quite some time. Sasuke allowed five minutes to become ten, and then ten became fifteen. Naruto was still asleep, and Sasuke held him as if he might be torn away at any moment.
“Naruto…” Sasuke repeated, nudging Naruto.
“Eh?” Naruto groaned.
“Wake up.”
“Five more minutes…” Naruto mumbled again.
“It’s been fifteen,” he responded, sounding irritated.
“Five more minutes…”
Sasuke now did pull himself out of bed, shaking Naruto roughly. Naruto whined as he was forced to open his eyes.
“The hell?” Naruto groused, still not completely conscious. “What’s the hurry?”
“It’s almost ten. We’re not sleeping the day away.”
Naruto squinted his eyes at Sasuke resentfully, pausing as he finally remembered exactly what today was.
“Right…” he answered, disheartened.
“Breakfast,” Sasuke informed Naruto, leaving for the restroom before Naruto could even answer.
He flicked on the bathroom lights and looked in the mirror with a cringe before washing his face. His eye was swollen, though not horribly so. His cheek had a nasty bruise on it, and his lip was still quite apparently broken. He looked better than Naruto did, but not by a great deal. Sasuke waited for the water to warm, splashing it on his face as he told himself that there was no way he could hide their altercation from Itachi.
Naruto joined Sasuke in the restroom to brush his teeth. They were done quickly. From the threshold of the opened bathroom door, the two of them could faintly hear Itachi’s movements from downstairs. It sounded like a newspaper page had been turned. Before Itachi’s illness, he had been an early riser. It looked like that predilection was returning to him.
The two boys descended the stairs, making their way into the kitchen for breakfast. They entered the room to find Itachi reading a newspaper over an omelet he had concocted for himself. Itachi glanced up with a soft smile on his face, but the corners of his lips quickly dropped.
“Good morning,” he told them, sounding just as casual ever.
If his brother wasn’t bringing this up, Sasuke sure as hell wouldn’t be the one to do it.
“Morning,” Sasuke answered, getting some cereal out of the cupboard. He wasn’t in the mood to cook anything substantial.
“Yeah, good morning,” Naruto pitched in, sounding a little nervous. Itachi wasn’t saying anything about their faces?
Both of the boys were aware that Itachi had noticed the damage they had taken in during the fight. How could he not? Sasuke knew that Itachi was bound to ask him what had happened eventually.
Naruto poured himself some orange juice and a bowl of generic Captain Crunch, while Sasuke went for the Wheaties. The top of the box was dented in rather dramatically, which was the reason they’d been able to afford the name brand version in the first place. Sasuke sat between Itachi and Naruto at the small table, eating quietly.
“So, does noon sound good?”
“Noon’s fine for me,” Naruto answered.
Sasuke nodded as well. They got through one bowl of cereal. Naruto went back for seconds.
“So…” Itachi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked up from his paper, from Naruto to Sasuke. “What happened to your faces?”
Naruto gave one of his typical nervous laughs, but Sasuke spoke up quickly. He’d been expecting this question.
“Some shit happened, and I lost my temper,” Sasuke told him. “But everything’s fine now.”
While Itachi wasn’t looking, Naruto shot Sasuke a quick glance, his face dominated by both shock and gratitude. Sasuke didn’t want Itachi getting the wrong idea about Naruto, especially given that Naruto was reliant upon Itachi’s help now. So he’d accept responsibility. He wouldn’t let Itachi know why Sasuke had punched him.
Itachi shook his head, but Sasuke wasn’t sure if Itachi was buying his excuse or not. Itachi did know that Sasuke had demonstrated a tendency to lose his temper and get into fights since the fire. It wasn’t implausible, yet Sasuke hadn’t done this for months now.
“Sasuke, seriously? Just before we’re taking Naruto in? What were you thinking?”
This would explain why Sasuke had come into his bedroom at the crack of dawn last morning, Itachi realized. They’d had some sort of fight and wanted time to iron matters out. Itachi gave Naruto a sympathetic glance. Naruto understood what Sasuke was doing, but he couldn’t handle watching his Sasuke get scolded by his brother over Naruto’s transgression.
“It’s my fault,” Naruto volunteered. “I provoked him until he punched me, and then I overreacted.”
The older of the lot groaned, seeming rather fed up with this nonsense. Whatever the case, his brother and his lover had clearly reached a breaking point. Itachi supposed it was at least somewhat understandable.
“Yeah, well whoever’s fault it was, we need to get that swelling down. Grab a couple ice packs, Sasuke.”
Fortunately, they’d remembered to place the melted ice packs back in the fridge after they’d used them late last morning. They’d refrozen completely. Sasuke grabbed two dish towels, giving Naruto a pack and a towel.
“Ice it for a few minutes. We can’t have you two looking like that when we drop Naruto off.”
Naruto nodded. They all realized how strange it would look if Sasuke and Naruto both entered the station beat up. However, after a full day’s rest and about fifteen minutes of ice, both boys looked substantially better than they had the morning previous. Most of the swelling had gone down.
“You both remember the procedure, right?” Itachi asked.
“I go in with Naruto, right? We say I met him at the soup kitchen and ask to be updated on the case.”
Naruto’s body posture was beginning to look increasingly rigid, however. Itachi glanced over at Naruto but said nothing. One hand held the icepack to his face, while the other rested in his lap.
“Right. And nothing about him staying with us.”
Naruto began to fidget in his seat.
“Well, of course not,” Sasuke answered, finding it rather obvious.
Naruto balled the fabric of his pajama pants in his hand hard as he swallowed dry.
“I’m going to the bedroom,” Naruto said, sounding winded.
His chair screeching slightly as he stood up, Naruto gracelessly left the kitchen. Itachi gave Sasuke a quick, concerned look. Sasuke frowned and looked away.
“Me too,” Sasuke added, following Naruto.
Naruto’s footsteps pattered quickly up the stairs. He entered Sasuke’s bedroom and didn’t bother to close the door, collapsing onto Sasuke’s bed. His breathing was coming to him quickly now, too quickly. His throat was beginning to rasp, and he felt dizzy. His hands were going numb. His chest was tight.
When Itachi spoke, he imagined the police station. He imagined the things they would say. And he very vividly imagined the way he would feel the moment Sasuke had to leave behind, turning and walking out of the station. He hadn’t wanted to look like this in front of Itachi, so he’d run.
Sasuke ran to Naruto now, closing the bedroom door behind him and sitting down with Naruto on the bed. Naruto could hardly speak for all of his hyperventilating. Naruto clawed at his forearms, leaving parallel red lines behind. Naruto just now noticed that his cheeks were wet, but it was more a fleeting observation. He was in a world of thoughts, not matter.
“Stop, Naruto,” Sasuke told him, firmly but gently. “You’ll bleed.”
Naruto stilled his arms. Sasuke had only seen Naruto have a panic attack one other time. He recalled that Naruto had not wanted to be touched, but that made a great deal of sense, considering what sorts of memories were racing through Naruto’s head. Sasuke wasn’t certain of what thoughts had been triggered this time, but he assumed that much of it was centered around abandonment and loneliness.
For the only other panic attack Sasuke had witnessed, Naruto hadn’t wanted him to touch him. Yet Naruto was a very tactile person, and the cause of this panic attack was different. Sasuke supposed there was only one way to know for sure.
“Would you like me to hold you?” Sasuke asked.
Sasuke knew all too well how badly an unwelcomed touch could feel in the midst of a panic attack, how much more deeply the overwhelming sensation might plunge the sufferer into hysteria.
Naruto nodded quickly, and Sasuke reached forward, holding him tightly into his body. Naruto was facing away. He burrowed up, making himself as small as possibly, hoping to disappear into his slightly larger lover.
“You’re safe.”
He wanted to say that Naruto was safe now, but he knew that from that, Naruto would jump to the conclusion that he would no longer be such in a very short period of time. He wanted to tell Naruto that there was no threat to him, but that would have also been a lie.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Sasuke told him, and he wasn’t lying.
Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s hand so tightly that his knuckles were smashed together uncomfortably, but he allowed Naruto to hold his hand nonetheless. As Naruto panicked, his eyes darted around the room aimlessly.
“Naruto, do you feel me breathing?”
Naruto nodded. Yes, he felt Sasuke’s chest rise and fall against his back.
“Try to match me. Count to five, slowly, in.”
Naruto grasped Sasuke’s hand even harder as he forced his chest to move in harmony with Sasuke’s.
“One. Two. Three,” Sasuke counted, his voice low and calm, completely unperturbed. It soothed Naruto. “Four. Five.”
Naruto wondered how Sasuke could be so good at this. But his entire body was still tense, even if the numbness was subsiding. His body parts were getting oxygenated now, but his mind was running rampant. The color around him seemed to blur, and he felt like he was sinking away, losing his surroundings. He inhaled and exhaled with Sasuke, trying to focus on Sasuke’s steady voice. Still, his heart was firing off, his chest aching painfully.
“Naru, look at the wall. How many posters are on it?”
What the hell was Sasuke talking about? Naruto managed to gain just enough control of himself to cast Sasuke a questioning look.
“Just count them. Trust me.”
Who the fuck cared about posters on a wall? Why was Sasuke asking him to do something so pointless when all of this shit was happening? His tears were falling back to back, and Sasuke wanted him to count posters? But Sasuke had asked him for trust, and Naruto supposed that Sasuke had at the very least earned that.
There was a Mother Mother poster. A Led Zeppelin by the window. That was two. There was a small Boondock Saints printout. It looked like it could have been from a DVD. He counted several more, eventually coming out with about seven posters, of varying sizes.
“Seven.”
It was only now that Naruto realized that this was the first word he’d been able to speak. So, Sasuke had been trying to distract Naruto, to ground him in his surroundings. Naruto had never seen Sasuke have a panic attack, but he certainly believed Sasuke’s claim. He’d never had any reason to doubt Sasuke to begin with, but the way he handled this situation made the fact even more obvious. Sasuke wasn’t generally what he’d consider the empathetic sort; it was much likelier that he’d learned through experience.
Sasuke’s distraction didn’t last for long, however. No, in just an hour, he had to leave. Sasuke and Itachi were going to leave him at the police station. He was going back to foster care. One hour. There was no escaping it.
“What color is my shirt?”
Naruto clamped his eyes shut, trying to concentrate on Sasuke’s question. He was surprised that he couldn’t remember this, glancing back to see that Sasuke’s snug sleep shirt was a dark maroon.
“Red.”
Sasuke gently stroked Naruto’s hair.
“Mötley Crüe or AC/DC?”
“What?” Naruto asked in temporary disbelief and confusion. What was Sasuke talking about? Oh, he wanted him to choose. “Mötley.”
Sasuke tsk’d.
“AC/DC. You can’t tell me their Back in Black album wasn’t gold.”
A tear fell down Naruto’s face as he laughed at the situation. He wondered if anyone else but Sasuke could’ve gotten him on so casual of a subject at such a time.
“Sasuke… Nikki Six. Tommy Lee,” Naruto sounded a little winded still, but he was recovering, his tone slightly challenging. “Come on.”
“Good,” Sasuke sighed, “But overrated.”
Naruto took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, composing himself as he continued to speak.
“You call Nikki Six and Tommy Lee overrated…” Naruto took a deep breath. It felt like his body was just a little short on oxygen, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. “Yet you’re talking about Back in Black?”
“That album was iconic for a reason,” Sasuke mumbled in a low voice, with just a hint of teasing.
“Sorry, I just forget how much you know about classic rock,” Naruto responded, his voice becoming stronger. “I forget that you know all the lyrics to Wannabe.”
“What?” Sasuke asked, distancing from Naruto a slight bit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t worry about it, Sasuke. If I had a Spice Girls phase, I’d block it out too.”
Antagonizing Sasuke was quite the welcome diversion. His reactions were always priceless.
“What? Who told you that?” Sasuke demanded. Naruto was grinning now. Sasuke quickly cursed his choice of wording, as it was virtually an admission of guilt. Besides, who else was there other than Itachi to spread this sort of gossip? Damned traitor…
“So you admit it?” Naruto asked as his grin crept farther across his face.
“Hell no.”
“No, you just admitted it.”
“I did not.”
“Which was your favorite Spice Girl?” Naruto asked, baiting Sasuke.
“I don’t know anything about the Spice Girls.”
Naruto glanced back at Sasuke, his eyes still puffy from crying. He stuck out his lips in a pout, giving his best puppy eyes.
“You look like a duck when you do that,” Sasuke told him dryly.
“C’mon,” Naruto pressed. “Give me a reason to burst into random and inappropriate laughter tonight and get strange looks.”
Sasuke sighed. Naruto’s body had relaxed somewhat, and he’d stopped crying. Whatever he’d sought to do had worked. And though he would have never given Naruto’s request any consideration under normal circumstances, he supposed that Naruto needed to get a break at some point. After all of this bullshit… He just wanted to see Naruto happy.
“I liked Posh Spice.”
Naruto burst into laughter. God, he could see the Spice Girls posters in his mind’s eye so clearly. Sasuke smiled as well, despite the embarrassment.
“Posh…” Naruto choked out, his voice lost to laughter this time rather than panic. “Posh Spice. I should’ve known!”
“I was a little kid,” Sasuke added defensively. “I didn’t know what good music even was.”
“Yooo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!” Naruto imitated, lost to laughter.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” Sasuke grumbled, ruffling Naruto’s hair.
“Did you watch Spice World?”
There were a few seconds of silence before Sasuke made his decision.
“Maybe,” Sasuke admitted.
Naruto began to churckle again, and for once, it was actually worth all of the humiliation.
“But wait, didn’t Posh end up marrying that soccer player?”
“Yeah. David Beckham.”
Sasuke remembered this clearly. Itachi had waited until Sasuke had lost Itachi’s Smash Brothers’ game to brutally and spitefully break the news to him that Posh Spice hadn’t been available since 1999.
“Sorry, buddy. I guess your ship’s sailed out on that one,” Naruto told Sasuke, patting his knee. “But at least you have me?”
“Naruto, her son is as old as I am. Like I said, I don’t like the Spice Girls anymore. It was just a tiny phase I went through before I knew what real music actually was.”
“Yeah, you’re not about that life anymore, are you?” Naruto teased, flipping over so that he could look Sasuke in the face.
“Oh my God, Naruto. It probably lasted a month. I was barely in grade school.”
“It’s okay, Sasuke,” Naruto told him in mock reassurance. “I love you, no matter what you’ve done in your past.”
Sasuke would not allow himself to blush. He knew that Naruto was joking, but the words still sounded oddly sincere after they left his lips.
“Like you didn’t like any embarrassing bands, ever, at any point in your life?”
“Nope,” Naruto insisted.
“Bullshit.”
“I only like cool music,” he explained, rolling a little closer to Sasuke on the bed. “Even uncool music becomes cool when I like it.”
They heard the sound of Itachi’s shower starting, water making its way through the pipes in the wall. Sasuke glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. It was time to start getting ready, but he didn’t want to bring it up. Naruto, noting the motion of Sasuke’s eyes, frowned. He glanced at the clock as well.
“Yeah, I know,” Naruto mumbled dejectedly. “I guess it’s time t-”
Sasuke kissed Naruto roughly, passionately. Naruto, at first stunned, responded with like passion, now pushed onto his back as their tongues lashed together.
“One last time,” Sasuke panted, his forehead pressed against Naruto’s as his eyes silently asked for permission. “Let me suck you off. We’ll be done before Itachi’s out of the shower.”
Even through Sasuke’s heated movements, he minded the split on Naruto’s lip, taking care not to agitate it. He kissed down Naruto’s neck, his hands feeling Naruto’s abs, his chest…
“What if…” Naruto said with breathy uncertainty.
“Eight minutes,” Sasuke responded confidently.
Naruto was already getting hard, aroused by the spontaneity of the situation. He didn’t know if he even had the willpower to turn Sasuke down.
“Sasuke, you…a-asshole…” Naruto cursed him, a slight chuckle to his voice.
Sasuke merely smirked back at him. He hoped that this would relieve some of Naruto’s tension, and what could he say? The situation had presented itself. There was no way Itachi could hear them over his shower.
He quickly slid down Naruto’s pants, Naruto’s cock bounding free. Wasting no time, Sasuke licked it from base to tip. He knew Itachi took quick showers, so there wasn’t much time to waste. Sasuke took Naruto’s quickly swelling head in his mouth, sucking on it gently. Naruto latched onto the hair on the back of Sasuke’s head. When he’d first seen Sasuke, he had expected his hair to be hard, but it was soft and downy.
Sasuke was already beginning to taste Naruto, precum budding at the tip of Naruto’s growing erection. Sasuke sucked on Naruto’s tip a little harder, causing Naruto to gasp. It astounded Naruto how quickly Sasuke could change his thoughts. Just several minutes ago, he was having a panic attack. Then there was laughter, and now there was something even better than that. Thoughts about foster care and the police station were no longer on his mind. All he could think about was the feeling of Sasuke’s mouth on his cock as Sasuke began to deep throat him so suddenly.
“Oh God, Sasu…”
Naruto’s cock hammered against the back of Sasuke’s throat, but Sasuke didn’t allow that to deter him, breathing out of his nose when he could. He kept pace, encouraged by Naruto’s writhing and moaning. He was growing hard himself, but he’d ignore it. There wasn’t time. Naruto was fully erect now, his balls going hard. Sasuke supported them in his hand, moving his fingers up and down gingerly.
“S’suke, I’m almost…”
Sasuke moaned against Naruto’s cock, sucking as his head moved back and forth. His eyes had been cast down, but now he flicked his gaze upward to view Naruto’s face, their stares locking. For what seemed like a while, Naruto held Sasuke’s stare as Sasuke sucked him. All of his consciousness, every single thought in his mind was centered in this exact instant in time. The intimacy and ecstasy he was experiencing was all because of Sasuke.
Suddenly, he couldn’t hold back anymore. Naruto clenched his teeth a loud moan ripped through him, unleashing into Sasuke’s mouth. Sasuke continued to suck as Naruto had several diminishing spurts, his body charged with adrenaline and dopamine.
Sasuke waited until Naruto’s body slumped, completely limp now. Sasuke scaled up Naruto’s body and kissed him again. Naruto could taste his own seed in Sasuke’s mouth, moving his palm up Sasuke’s bicep. Sasuke had cleared his mind in every sense of the word. He knew what awaited him, but now he felt like he could actually handle it.
“Six minutes,” Sasuke muttered snarkily, glancing at the clock.
“Get over yourself,” Naruto grumbled, though he was smiling.
They lie there together wordlessly for only a minute or two when Itachi’s water cut off. Sasuke stood up, straightening his clothes out.
“I’m going to brush my teeth,” he announced before leaving for the bathroom.
It was well past eleven, so Naruto decided that it was time to get dressed. But what would he wear? Naruto knew. Something nostalgic. He searched Sasuke’s closet for the outfit in question and, after a mere several seconds of rummaging, found it: the outfit Sasuke had bought him for his sixteenth birthday.
Naruto removed his T-shirt and slipped his arms into the rust orange button down. It was a little tight around his biceps. Buttoning it was also no simple task, but he managed somehow, sucking in and tugging the fabric roughly over his ribcage. A sliver of skin showed between a few of the buttons, which were under quite the strain. And now, it was time for the pants. He dropped his pajama pants to the floor, stepping into his old blue jeans. They went on decently enough until he got to his ass. He began to jump up and down, hoping this would somehow help. He had to wear it. It was the principle of it!
The door creaked slightly as Sasuke walked in, staring at Naruto abruptly.
“The hell are you doing?”
“I…thought it would be fitting to wear this?”
“Of all the things that outfit is doing for and to you, ‘fitting’ is certainly not one of them.”
Naruto groaned, kicking off the miniature light blue jeans in discouragement. There really was no way he could fit into this. Even though it had even been a little bit baggy at the time, he’d just grown too much. Out of Naruto’s sight, Sasuke smiled, giving Naruto a pair of light blue jeans and a dark red T-shirt with a crown on it, heavy white stitching on the hems. Naruto and Sasuke had very different body types, but Sasuke recalled that these were his pieces of clothing that fit Naruto best. Sasuke was really just glad that Naruto had gained so much body mass.
Sasuke dressed himself in some dark blue jeans and a long-sleeved button down which was mostly black. He grabbed the backpack Naruto had worn to run away with last night, stuffing a couple of his shirts into it and another pair of pants. He gave Naruto his warmest jacket. He didn’t want him being cold.
“What… You can’t give me your clothes, Sasuke…”
Sasuke didn’t even have too many outfits himself. Naruto assumed that he’d lost them in the fire.
“Quid pro quo.”
After pushing his head through the shirt that Sasuke gave him, Naruto cocked his head at Sasuke curiously.
“I’m giving you these clothes,” Sasuke clarified. “But you have to wear them.”
Naruto smiled as Sasuke busied himself with preparing the backpack. Naruto did need clothes, but more specifically, he wanted Sasuke’s clothes. He wanted to be reminded of Sasuke when he wore them. He wanted Sasuke’s scent to stay with him when he slept in an unfamiliar bed tonight. Naruto changed into the outfit Sasuke selected for him, and Sasuke threw Naruto’s pajama pants in the backpack as well.
Sasuke liked the idea of Naruto wearing his clothes, even if he couldn’t be around to see it. He didn’t want to admit it, but a part of him still feared that he might be forgotten. He wouldn’t be able to touch Naruto wherever he was going. Sometimes he might not even be able to speak to him. But at least he’d be there with him in this small way.
Sasuke was quickly dressed as well. They sat on Sasuke’s bed now, holding hands and leaning against each other. There was a quick rap on the door.
“Come in,” Sasuke said bluntly.
It was Itachi. The boys didn’t move when he came in, still holding hands.
“How are you two?”
Sasuke shrugged, but Naruto managed a smile.
“We’ll survive somehow,” Naruto jested.
“May I borrow Sasuke for a moment, Naruto?” Itachi asked. “Sasuke, I’m going to see if I can’t do something about your face.”
“Sure,” Naruto told him, standing up. Sasuke stood up and followed Itachi into his bedroom.
“You can come with if you like, Naruto,” Itachi said casually. Of course, Naruto followed. He was assuming that Itachi realized just how badly he wanted to avoid being alone.
Itachi sat Sasuke down on his toilet, a concealer stick, some liquid foundation, and powder foundation all out on the sink. They were almost perfectly Sasuke’s tone, but they certainly couldn’t do anything for Naruto. His skin was far too dark.
“I thought it would raise questions if you two came in there looking injured,” Itachi explained. “The swelling went down pretty well. I think I can have Sasuke looking pretty close to normal.”
Naruto was momentarily surprised that Itachi had such an impressive collection of makeup at his disposal, glancing at the different vials, sticks, and compacts with disbelief.
“I didn’t know you were into this kinda stuff, Itachi,” Naruto remarked.
“Neither did I,” Sasuke mused idly.
“You can’t always be the one keeping secrets, Sasuke,” Itachi teased him.
Itachi placed some of the concealer on his finger, dabbing it on Sasuke’s cheek. He moved quickly and expertly, the redness quickly giving way to the standard color of Sasuke’s face. Naruto was truly surprised that Itachi was so good at this.
“I never pegged you to be the sort,” Sasuke said casually.
Itachi shrugged.
“Well, you don’t want the whole world to know when you’re not feeling well.”
Sasuke felt his stomach sink momentarily, and his face very quickly shifted into a frown. This was all the more obvious to Itachi, who was currently no more than a few inches from Sasuke’s face, rubbing concealer around Sasuke’s lip.
No wonder Itachi knew so much about using concealer. Sasuke could see the lines and dark bags so clearly on Itachi’s face when he had become ill. He’d always assumed that it was just stress, that he was working himself too hard. But as the tumor grew, he began to look sicker. This must’ve been what Itachi did to avoid questions at school and work. No wonder he was covering up. Maybe Itachi even used it to hide his appearance from Sasuke.
Itachi sighed as he finished with the concealer stick, standing up again and placing it on his bathroom counter.
“No need to get so morose, brother. I’m on the mend.”
Naruto approached from behind, grasping Itachi in a snug but gentle hug. He’d break this gloomy atmosphere.
“You live, Itachi! Thank heavens, you liiiiive!”
Itachi slumped his body against Naruto, lying his head back and dramatically placing the back of his hand against his forehead.
“Oh, just barely,” he sighed histrionically, causing Naruto to laugh. Why couldn’t Sasuke be such a good sport?
“I definitely don’t know either one of you right now,” Sasuke grumbled.
“Oh, don’t be such a little prick, Sasuke,” Naruto teased him.
Itachi had already begun to use the liquid foundation on Sasuke. Naruto leaned back against the counter as Itachi worked, finishing the liquid foundation and now placing a light layer of powder over Sasuke’s face. He had to admit that Sasuke looked beautiful, almost feminine as Itachi covered up his wounds with makeup.
“Sasuke, you’re so pretty now,” Naruto teased.
“Got a death wish?” Sasuke snarled.
It now appeared as if nothing had happened to Sasuke at all, other than his lip. They’d just have to hope that no one would notice that. It seemed soon, almost too soon, when Itachi was done. Itachi stood back, giving a “phew” of relief as he’d finally finished covering up Sasuke’s scuffs. The makeup looked oddly natural on Sasuke; Naruto couldn’t even tell he was wearing it.
Even if they had makeup for Naruto’s skin tone, Naruto wouldn’t have been able to pull it off. It would have faded at some point after he’d been taken in, and Sasuke’s only needed to last for, at the longest, about an hour. If only one out of the two of them looked injured, and even then only slightly, it probably wouldn’t cause much issue. After all, given that they were claiming that Naruto lived on the streets, a few lacerations were probably to be expected.
“Well…” Itachi stated somewhat absently. “Should ten minutes be enough time?”
Sasuke swallowed, surprised by how quickly time was moving.
“Yeah…” Naruto answered. “That should do.”
Itachi placed his hand on Naruto’s shoulder, smiling at him that way he used to always smile at Sasuke when he was upset. Sasuke recognized that expression well.
“Everything’s going to be okay, alright, Naruto? We’re looking out for you, and I’m not an easy person to circumvent.”
Despite the fact that Naruto didn’t know what the word “circumvent” meant, Itachi’s gesture did reassure him. He assumed that Itachi just meant that when it came to keeping Naruto safe, Itachi would be attentive and thorough. Naruto felt a little foolish that he would need such talk to begin with.
“I know, I know,” Naruto answered, smiling back at Itachi. “You guys don’t gotta keep reassuring me. I get it.”
Itachi nodded, approaching the stairway and walking down to the bottom floor. Itachi was clearly ready to leave whenever they were. Naruto and Sasuke were ready too, actually. Itachi was just giving the two of them a few moments to themselves. They returned to Sasuke’s bed, taking in the time. 11:53. They would take their ten minutes.
They leaned their bodies together, Naruto’s head resting on Sasuke’s shoulder. It was similar to the positions they had assumed when they first looked at the stars together, Naruto’s body innocently pressed to Sasuke’s.
“I can’t believe it,” Naruto mumbled. “It felt like it’d never end sometimes.”
Sasuke frowned, resting against Naruto.
“Like what would never end?”
“You know what I mean,” Naruto said somewhat bitterly, fiddling with Sasuke’s belt loop.
“Naruto…” Sasuke said, his voice trembling slightly. “Even if this setup is ending… We don’t have to end.”
“What are you saying?” Naruto asked nervously.
Sasuke bit his bottom lip and subconsciously licked where the gash marked the inside of it. He didn’t know what his next words would be.
“Whatever we have is stronger than the miles. I’m just saying that this can’t pull us apart if we don’t let it.”
Naruto swallowed. He knew what Sasuke was getting at. Sasuke wasn’t the sort to use the word “forever.” They were too young, and Sasuke was too rational. He was not as sentimental and romantic as Naruto was. Still, Naruto knew what Sasuke meant. Perhaps Sasuke couldn’t think in terms of “forever,” but Naruto certainly could.
“I won’t let it.”
“Yeah,” Sasuke said silently through his tight throat, staring at the ground, “Neither will I.”
They rested together silently, reveling in that knowledge until 12:03 came around. At that point, they gave each other a reluctant glance and walked downstairs. Itachi was reading in the family room. Upon spotting them, he closed his book.
“Ready?” Itachi asked.
“Heh. Ready as I’ll ever be,” Naruto answered.
Itachi smiled at Naruto and walked towards the car. Naruto’s backpack was slung over one shoulder, and the cold air met them abruptly as they walked outside. Still, it was nothing like the cold Sasuke had found Naruto in the night before last. The noon sun had heated up their environment a good deal.
“I won’t be offended if you two take the back seat together,” Itachi told them.
“Thanks,” Sasuke said with a nod.
Naruto opened the car door and sat directly behind Itachi, swinging his backpack down onto the area around his feet. Sasuke sat behind the passenger seat, both of them buckling up as Itachi started up the car. The radio began automatically, an alternative rock station playing at a soft volume. Sasuke and Naruto shut their doors behind them. Itachi backed out of the driveway, and some small part of Naruto felt like jumping right out of the car and running towards the house. Naruto’s chest hurt when they turned the corner, the Uchiha household now out of sight.
The sounds of turn signals, the radio, other cars, and a random ambulance filled the car, but none of the occupants spoke. Other than those insignificant disturbances, there was total silence. Sasuke stared out of the window, his sweaty hands fiddling with each other. The station was only about five minutes away. They were close. Far too close.
If I told you things I did before, told you how I used to be, would you go along with someone like me?
Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, who was facing away from him. He swore he saw his lips moving to the lyrics. Naruto stopped breathing for a moment, listening as closely as he could. Was Sasuke singing?
“If you knew my story word for word, had all of my history, would you go along with someone like me?”
Naruto could barely make out Sasuke’s voice, low and smooth, singing along with whatever unnamed singer was gracing their radio frequency. He’d known all along. He was right.
He remembered the conversation so clearly, though perhaps this wasn’t odd, considering that it had happened only a couple months ago. “So, do you think I sing in the car?” Sasuke had asked him, his voice clouded with sleepiness the night Naruto had overheard his fight with Itachi, the night Naruto had finally discovered what happened to Sasuke’s parents. Naruto’s answer: “Only rarely. When you’re trying to think about something else, and you know no one can tell.” Sasuke’s voice was soothing, as difficult as it was to decipher. He hoped that one day, Sasuke would sing for him.
Sasuke glanced back, evidently made aware that Naruto was staring at him with his mouth ajar. Sasuke jerked straight as he noticed that he’d been discovered, his singing ceasing immediately. He felt himself blush as he shot Naruto what was some mixture between a pout and a glare. But Naruto reached forward, grabbing Sasuke’s hand and giving it a squeeze as he smiled at him. Naruto was surprised to find that Sasuke’s hand was every bit as cold and sweaty as his own. Sasuke opened his mouth as if he were about to complain. Naruto was right about him; Sasuke remembered his theory as well. He exhaled quietly and smiled at Naruto, squeezing his hand back.
They clasped each other’s hands as the minutes passed, and it seemed as if they conversed now in a manner too intimate for spoken language. They squeezed each other tightly, casting each other pained smiles from time to time. Naruto forced his lips a little higher each time, because he couldn’t stand the look of that smile on Sasuke’s face. He knew that Sasuke was only smiling for him, despite the fact that he hand was sweating so badly, and his jaw was clenched so tightly. They never let go of each other’s hands. Unable to watch Sasuke try to look strong for him, Naruto leaned against Sasuke, and Sasuke leaned back, enjoying every bit of proximity they still could before they were separated.
There was plenty of parking by the police’s station, which was a very modern looking building. The architectural style was rather strange, clean white square columns on each corner of the building with tall blue windows. There was plenty of natural lighting. Itachi parked the car and turned it off.
“I’ll be waiting out here, Sasuke.”
Sasuke nodded. Itachi leaned backwards, placing his hand on Naruto’s shoulder.
“See you soon, okay, Naruto?” Itachi said with a smile. Naruto appreciated that Itachi didn’t make this sound so gravely final. It put him at ease.
But nonetheless, Naruto leaned forward, giving Itachi tight hug over the expanse of the car. Sasuke found it ironic that Naruto and his brother could hug more gracefully from the front and back seat of a car than Itachi and Sasuke could in their own kitchen.
“Thank you, Itachi,” Naruto said sincerely, getting out of the car and shutting the door behind him.
Sasuke and Naruto walked forward, along the sidewalk up to the front of the police’s station. They were now out of Itachi’s view, facing a short stairway. They stood now, still, not wanting to continue moving but knowing that they had to. Naruto could hear his heartbeat in his ears. He felt like he was about to vomit. Suddenly, everything came to the surface, but Sasuke’s hand gripped his tightly. He kissed Naruto, not even caring that they were out in public, that he could be seen. Their chests pressed together as Sasuke’s tongue quickly brushed against Naruto’s.
“C’mon, Naruto. Let’s do this.”
It was all Sasuke could think to say, really, but it appeared to have reassured Naruto. They took one step after the next, keeping their minds clear. They reached the large, strongly enforced glass doors, which Sasuke pried open for them. They gave each other one last look before walking over the threshold together, preparing themselves for whatever might come.

Author's Note: Ah, moment of truth...
I may be a few days late posting the next chapter due to family issues (one family member is having a lobectomy for lung cancer, and another's dying). I can't predict how much free time/energy I'll have this next week, but I'll try to be on time.
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