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Parallels	By : Lazuli Category: Naruto > General Views: 1208 -:- 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
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter 7
"How should I repay you?"
Sasuke licked at Naruto's lips and the blond made a small face at the residual taste in Sasuke's mouth, but didn't comment.
"Hmmm..," Sasuke murmured thoughtfully. "I can think of a few ways."
Naruto cupped Sasuke's backside, fingers massaging the taut muscles. He couldn't help the warmth creeping up his neck as he thought about the things he could do with that firm ass.
I'm turning into a pervert, he thought with a grimace. Ero-sennin would be proud... then he'd smack me upside the head for taking so long and ask why I wasn't into girls. He gave a mental shake of his head, amused at the thought.
"Well, I'm not as into public displays as you are." He nipped at Sasuke�s lips. "We'd have to take this inside...." He couldn't help but tighten his grip, enjoying Sasuke's appreciative little gasp at that. "But didn't my father give us a mission?" he asked, his mind still digging through the haze of afterglow back to their meeting with his father.
Sasuke drew back and lifted a dark eyebrow. "Tomorrow... perimeter patrol. Was that too much for you to remember?"
Naruto opened his mouth to argue just as his stomach let out a loud rumble. He smiled sheepishly. "Er...ramen?" he asked.
Sasuke flattened his lips. "You're lucky I like to keep you happy. But since you mentioned it, I expect to be repaid later."
Naruto grinned and slung an arm around Sasuke, tugging the man back into the street.
Even despite Sasuke's 'display' only a moment ago, he was still surprised the Uchiha didn't pull away when they got into the view of people, that he allowed Naruto to keep his grip on him--to be near him. Naruto couldn't help it; after eighteen years of no one wanting to be near him, it was still surprising that someone did, someone wanted it and would practically screw him in public because they wanted to keep him near. That it was Sasuke... the last time Naruto remembered Sasuke allowing himself to be touched by Naruto like that was when they were training and had to be held up by the blond.
Maybe, he thought with a wistful smile, Sasuke only touched him when necessary because he really did like touching Naruto and was afraid of how he felt. Naruto closed his eyes as he held in a snort of laughter, his mind already falling over in mirth. Yeah, he thought, and I'm in love with Shikamaru, which, in his mind, had about the same probability.
"What are you grinning about?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh, just... comparing," Naruto said with a grin. "The possibility of the other you doing to me what you just did." He snorted again. "But...." He shrugged and gave Sasuke a look, thinking over his initial idea. Maybe he could discuss it with Sasuke. At least he didn't have to worry about losing Sasuke�s friendship because of him being disgusted or scared off. He related the idea to Sasuke. "What do you think?" he asked. "Is it probable? I mean... you are supposed to be the same person and all... and Sasuke was a prick even before he ran off to Orochimaru."
"We didn't always get along, you know," Sasuke said.
Naruto gave him a questioning look.
Sasuke sighed. "Well, you make it sound as if we're so different. And yeah, we are now. But he sounds like how I was before we...became more. All we ever did was fight back then. I thought I hated you, because you seemed so happy with your family and everything seemed to be perfect for you.�
Naruto cocked his head thoughtfully. "Okay...but you haven't answered me yet."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sure. Sounds plausible."
Naruto rolled his eyes as he poked at Sasuke. "You didn't even think about it!" he accused. "You just blindly answered." He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, oblivious of how adorable he looked just then. "C'mon... I need some serious advice here. You and Sasuke are the same age and you're the same person--yet you're nicer... and damnit, Sasuke..." Naruto stood in front of him, eyes narrowed. "Is it just because I'm the Yondaime's son?"
Sasuke came to a stop and pushed Naruto's arm off his shoulder. "Of everything you've said today, that might be the stupidest one. I used to put up with you because you were the Yondaime's son. I stay with you...because you're Naruto." He reached out and ruffled Naruto's hair before drawing back and smacking the blond's head. "Stop asking me stupid questions."
Naruto growled and stalked away, heading straight for the direction of the ramen stand that he frequented. And it better be here in this reality! He groused to himself. I'm not giving up my favorite meal or my favorite place to eat it.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and followed Naruto. He really was acting like an idiot--but.... He said things were very different. And when I spoke to the Naruto I know--even for those brief moments, he was astonished at the difference. Maybe his question isn't as stupid as it seems.
Naruto let out a whoop of joy as the ramen stand came into view. Sasuke's lips curled into the barest of pleasant smiles as he watched the blond's exuberance. His mouth turned down again as he returned to his thoughts.
If I had betrayed the village, he thought with a frown, and I came back...I would trust no one...because no one would trust me. When he thought about it that way, this other Sasuke's attitude made sense. But then again...
Sasuke was a prick even before he ran off to Orochimaru... Naruto's words rang through his head. Meaning he had never even tried to get close to Naruto before then.... and then betraying the village killed any chance of that. He was certain, though--if they were the same person, that this other Sasuke felt the same for Naruto.
Naruto looked back at him. "Why are you being so slow?" he demanded. "Get over here!" It seemed his earlier annoyance was completely gone.
Sasuke set aside his thoughts and joined Naruto at the stand, taking a seat next to the blond who had already ordered. "I'll have the same," he said to the old man behind the counter.
He rested his arms on the countertop, content to watch Naruto twiddle his thumbs in anticipation of his favorite food. He normally couldn't stand ramen but since he didn't eat it nearly as often the blond did, he could stomach it from time to time.
Naruto was giving him a wide grin, eyes squinched up at the corners. "Hehe... I don't have to worry about buying it this time," he said, but Sasuke knew that grin and it made him want to thump his head on the table. After all of what Sasuke had told the idiot... he was still pretending with that happy-go-lucky attitude. Lighten up, Sasuke... he tried to tell himself. You hid your feelings too. He just looks like a moron when he hides his.
"And why is that, Naruto?" He raised an eyebrow. "You don't think I'm paying for your meal, do you?"
Naruto bristled, as if insulted. "That's not what I meant." He clapped his hands together in excitement as a steaming bowl of miso ramen was set before him. He snapped his chopsticks apart and prepared to dig in when Sasuke whipped the thin wooden sticks out of his hand. "Hey!"
"Then what did you mean?" Sasuke asked, holding the chopsticks out of Naruto's reaching grasp.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't know about you, Mr. High and Mighty--but I had to worry about spending my money on other things." He reached for the chopsticks again. "Now give them back to me, damnit!"
Sasuke smirked and held them high above Naruto's head, the owners of the stand ignoring this display. Apparently they were used to it, or something like it.
"Like what?" Sasuke asked without thought. He mentally winced when Naruto glared at him.
"Like keeping my apartment!" Naruto snapped, finally snatching the chopsticks out of Sasuke's hand.
Sasuke moved his arm as another bowl was set in front of him, but he made no move to begin eating. He stared at Naruto as the blond practically breathed down the noodles. "Look....sorry."
Naruto shrugged it off. "You didn�t know. It's not like it was something the other me had to deal with before. It's not a big deal," he said in between bites. He lifted his head to give Sasuke a faint smile. "It seems that we still have to learn about each other, hmm?" he asked. "Even if we're the same people.... there are enough differences that cause a rift. I don't want to ruin anything while I'm here."
"Don't worry about it," Sasuke said, grabbing a pair of his own chopsticks. "Besides, I think we're getting along fine."
Naruto glanced over at him to see a small smirk on his lips. He rolled his eyes, realizing Sasuke was referring to what they'd just done in the alley. Maybe he needed to turn the other Sasuke into a pervert too...maybe that would loosen up the uptight Uchiha.
He stared at Sasuke, wanting to ask just how they got together, but was positive that it didn't need to be asked in a public setting.
"I don't care," he muttered. "We need to talk and we're going to do it." He slurped down the rest of his noodles, finishing his meal before Sasuke had the time to take a few bites. "Or else...." He smirked.
Sasuke gave him a curious look when he didn't finish.
"Or else you don't get payment for services rendered," Naruto said, sounding as businesslike as possible.
Sasuke swallowed his mouthful of ramen before he could spew it all across the countertop. "Did you just...?" Sasuke snorted and shook his head. "Never mind."
Naruto smirked at him, handing his bowl back to the owner, a satisfied look on his face as he dug out his wallet and handed over enough money for two bowls of ramen. The look he gave Sasuke said everything. Hah.... maybe he'll see that's payment enough if he doesn't get his act together and answer some of my questions, damnit.
With the look Sasuke gave him, he knew his message had been received. "Naruto..." Sasuke growled.
Naruto gave him an innocent grin before purposely changing the subject. "I was wondering. Is Iruka still teaching at the academy? I want to look around, see if things are the same."
Sasuke didn't reply, just continued eating his ramen in silence.
"How about Kakashi? Is he still a pervert? And...and the Hyuugas! Has the Yondaime done anything about the way the clan is run?"
Sasuke thunked him lightly on the head. "We'll talk in private," he muttered. "Or else you're going to have people giving you stranger looks than normal." He sighed at Naruto's confused look. "You're expected to know these things already, Naruto." The same hand that smacked him rested gently on his head. "I promise I'll answer your questions... as long as you answer some of mine."
Naruto pushed away Sasuke's hand and shrugged. "I'm nothing if not reasonable."
Sasuke snorted at that, ignoring Naruto's broad grin. He finished up his noodles and stood from his stool, wiping his mouth on a napkin. "So...let's talk then." He pushed past the flaps that hung over the entrance to the stand, he and Naruto walking side by side down the street, away from the crowd of the market place.
Naruto looked around and he meandered along the pathways until his feet took him to the old training grounds--the memorial where Sasuke had committed his first act of human kindness in Naruto's book.
"Heh.... this place should do." He leaned against one of the logs.
Sasuke sank to the ground, leaning against another of the logs and propping his arms on his raised knees. "So?" he said. "Talk."
Naruto angled him an irritated look. He turned to look at a crop of trees that shielded the monument from view. He would have walked over and looked at it if not for fear of the names he might find there.
"Why aren't you as much of an asshole to me as the Sasuke I know?" he asked bluntly. He didn't quite mean for it to come out that way, but it just did. "And this is before the Orochimaru shit that he went through." Naruto's lips were pressed into a thin line as that memory surfaced in his mind. "You had to become friends with me somehow."
Sasuke stared at some distant spot and asked, "Do you remember our first major mission?"
Did Naruto remember? He would never forget. "Of course. Water country."
"Yeah," Sasuke said softly. "I guess that's when it began." He turned his face to look at Naruto. "Would you agree?"
Naruto couldn't deny that that was when he had come to terms with the strength of his feelings for Sasuke, even if they hadn't been romantic feelings at the time. Naruto hunched his knees up to his chest.
"That was the first time that kyuubi really broke free, too," he said softly. "I... " He made a face and looked over at Sasuke. "Even if you didn't act like it towards me--you were a friend... or at least someone I didn't want to lose to. I didn't have anyone at all--" He made a face. "I don't know how different it was for you when it happened, but..."
Sasuke returned to staring off into the distance. "It couldn't have been that different. Haku--" Sasuke noted how Naruto looked down at his lap, expression torn between sadness and anger. "--was a strong opponent. I still can't quite say what made me do it..."
"That doesn't really matter anymore. Your body understood what we were to each other even if your mind hadn't yet accepted it."
Sasuke gave a faint smile. "Kakashi said the same thing to you, too?" he asked. He shook his head. "But we trained together... we were always trying to beat the crap out of each other and we still do. But ... I realized at one point that you were my friend." He tilted his head and looked at Naruto. "When did the other Sasuke tell you that he was your friend?"
Naruto's laugh was humorless. "Not too long before he tried to kill me."
Sasuke frowned at the thread of pain quivering behind Naruto's words. He doubted even the blond realized it was there. "Why did he try to kill you?"
Naruto paused a long moment before turning to Sasuke. "What did your brother tell you the night your clan...?" He didn't finish the question, knowing Sasuke would catch on. And the moment he did, his dark eyes widened just a fraction.
"To get the power I needed to kill him... I had to kill my best friend." His eyes closed and he shook his head. "Jeez, what an idiot," he muttered. "I told the other you that, too�that I needed to kill the person closest to me�" His eyes were sad as he turned to Naruto. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Naruto. Your Sasuke... the one that you grew up with--must have gone through a great more than I ever did, if what you�re saying is true. I never had the chance to run off to Orochimaru. And...I wish I could reassure you, but had it happened to me, I don�t know if I wouldn�t have taken the power he offered.�
Naruto shook his head to disavow Sasuke of the notion; Naruto was not expecting reassurance from Sasuke, just a semblance of understanding. "In the end, he couldn't kill me�and not just because of kyuubi. He could have killed me after I was knocked out, but when I opened my eyes, the other you was nowhere in sight. We tore each other up pretty bad with rasengan and chidori... but he just left after that."
"But...he came back," Sasuke said, unable to believe that he would abandon Naruto forever. Eventually, the crushing wave of rage and revenge would pass and give way to reason...wasn't that the way of things? His ultimate goal was to defeat his brother...but the biting hatred and sharp edges of his bitterness had faded enough for him to be reasonable in his approach to fulfilling that goal. He had Naruto to thank for a great deal of that. What is so different with the other me? Would I have been so different if Orochimaru had still been alive? Would the other me have had the chance to heal if he had never left?
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "It hasn't been that long since he came back... and... " Naruto clenched his fist. "He's still hurting, and I can't do a damn thing about it. Even if he didn't trust anybody---he trusted me a little. Now he hardly even deals with me and it pisses me off!" Naruto shouted.
"So make him look at you. You've done it before," Sasuke said evenly, giving Naruto a small smile. "You...the other part of you, that is...forced me to face how I felt about you. It started out as a fight. Everything between us starts with a fight." He grunted softly, almost fondly at the thought.
"You mean you didn't just fall for my charms right away?" Naruto asked, his lips forming into a half-smile.
Sasuke snorted. "A loudmouth like you?" he asked incredulously. "I thought you were a waste of air at first." He smirked and ran a hand through Naruto's hair. "Besides, I was too busy pummeling you into the ground, because you acted like an idiot, complaining about how you were sick of your father being looked at with pity because he kept you around."
Naruto snorted. "I used to have arguments with you... inside my head--while I was beating the crap out of you. Every time you'd sneer at me, or call me names... I knew you really saw me. Or Sasuke saw me." He gave a small laugh at how he was getting confused between the two of them. "Then Sasuke came back and he looked at me with the same eyes as the villagers. That...cold, assessing look, as if he was trying to see the kyuubi beneath the surface."
"I never pitied your father because you had the kyuubi. I pitied him because you were such a dunce." Sasuke ducked his head, dodging Naruto's open palm. "I kicked some sense into you eventually though. I had to learn early to ignore the looks people gave me. My goals were all I had. That you cared so much about what other people thought of you irritated me, and if you hadn�t been in my face all the time, if I hadn�t noticed how other people looked at you�� He shrugged it off. �The way you acted held you back from focusing on your skills. That's why you were such a dead last."
Naruto's eyes narrowed at him. "You're telling me that caring about people is something that would hold me back?" he demanded. "I'm going to be the Hokage one day, Sasuke, and that means noticing what other people say and being able to put it behind me." He shook his head. "I stopped being angry about what other people thought of me at a young age. It's not healthy to harbor animosity toward an entire village simply because they thought you took away their hero. It hurt but...I dealt with it." He raised an eyebrow. "So how did I make you admit your feelings to me?"
Sasuke smiled at the memory. "You heard some villagers talking about how I was going to have to pick a bride to carry on the Uchiha name and you went berserk."
Naruto arched a dubious eyebrow. "Berserk? Oh really?"
Sasuke's smile grew. "Yeah, and you came straight to me, demanding to know who I was going to marry."
Naruto glared at him. "You're lying."
Sasuke shook his head, clearly enjoying Naruto's discomfort. "No, you blindly assumed that I was going to marry some brainless, fawning fangirl that I'd never even looked at in my entire life---and you tried to throttle me, asking who and why and then there was the �You won't be happy with any of them� speech.
Naruto looked at him. "No way...." he stuttered. He could almost see himself doing that, though--and it disturbed him. "So..." Naruto almost didn't want to know. "What did you do?"
Sasuke shrugged. "I asked why you cared."
Naruto's shoulders drooped a little at that, imagining what his response had been. "I didn't make a fool of myself by declaring my love for you, did I?" he asked. He wasn't that big of a lovesick idiot, was he?
Sasuke smirked and debated telling him that he did, but he decided that if they were trying to be truthful with each other... "No, you didn't." He smirked. "You said that I was an ass as it was, and no one deserved to put up with my crap."
Naruto waited when he paused. After several moments, Naruto grew impatient. "Well? Then what happened?"
"I asked why you put up with me...and you said probably the same reason why I put up with you."
Naruto tugged a hand through his hair. "And the reason was?"
Sasuke pushed his bangs back and blinked up at the sky. "I didn't know. That's why I had to really think about why..."
Naruto snorted. "The other Sasuke and I ... we related on a lot of levels." He propped his chin up in his hands. "We were both alone, both looked at like we weren't 'us' but something everyone pictured us to be. I didn't realize how lonely Sasuke was... I mean..." His eyes lit up briefly at the memory. "I thought we could be friends because of that... I wanted to be like Sasuke when I was younger..." He made a face. "Then Sasuke started acting like a prick."
"Maybe he realized how he felt about you too."
Naruto turned to look at him, lips pursed in thought. "Huh?"
Sasuke shook his head at the blond's expression. "I figured out why I put up with you...and I didn't like it. So I treated you worse, to push you away. But you're so damn clingy and eventually...well, one thing led to another..."
Naruto grinned at the smile tugging on Sasuke's lips and reached over to nudge the man in the shoulder. "I was clingy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "I wasn't the one trying to shove me into a wall while my father walked by." He smirked, and neglected to leave off the other Sasuke's comment about "Naruto" doing the same thing to him.
Sasuke snorted and poked him in the side. "You always clung to me, always shouting and making faces... jeez, I thought you were annoying... but then I realized you were the only one who could make me react."
"Yeah," Naruto said with a smile. "Same to you."
"And after a little too much contact, I decided not all reactions were bad," he said, a tinge of color rising in his neck.
Naruto laughed and nudged him again. "You just sucked me off in an alley, and you're blushing about this?"
Sasuke turned to glare at him, although the look was lacking in anger. "I'm not blushing, moron."
Naruto smirked and leaned closer to Sasuke. "You are blushing!" he said, chuckling. "Will wonders never cease..."
Sasuke growled and swatted at him. "What else about this other Sasuke?" he asked instead, diverting Naruto's attention.
Naruto sighed, reluctant to let the opportunity pass but holding onto the memory for possible blackmail later on. "Sasuke...he had a major superiority complex."
Sasuke snorted to let the blond know what he thought of the comment.
"Ero-sennin explained to me once that Sasuke felt I was surpassing him in strength and that that was why he was always so pissy. He had always been top of the class, and then suddenly the 'dobe' was as strong, or even stronger, than him...and also I was advancing faster than he was advancing�and catching up to him really quick." Naruto rolled his eyes. "What did you make of our rivalry?"
Sasuke pondered that for a few moments. "Well, I was rather pissed that you were doing so well, but I thought it was about time that you were trying instead of complaining that you'd never be stronger than your father."
Naruto thought about that. "Well, at least I didn't have rasengan to throw in your face..." His voice trailed off as he silently asked if there was something else that would have annoyed Sasuke.
"I didn't like that you were getting so strong, but I think I forgave you because you were the Yondaime's son. I mean...you had to have inherited some of his strength. And don't look at me like that; you know I still thought of you as you and not as 'the son of the fourth'. We were on the same team, remember? I could see perfectly well how different you were from your father."
Naruto gave a faint smile. "I wonder how Sasuke would have treated me if he knew that I was the Yondaime's son... or if Sakura-chan knew." He tilted his head. "I don't think he would have treated me any different--he was blind to everything but his revenge..." He trailed off for a moment, remembering that it was this Sasuke's revenge, too. "Maybe I wouldn't have been so... bitter... if more than a few people treated me like I had feelings."
He had never admitted out loud--not to anybody--that it had hurt him so bad over the years. And saying he was bitter about it was the closest he'd ever get.
"And maybe you wouldn't have been so pompous if people had done the same for you," he added. "We were both just boys...trying to move on in the shadow of our family's actions." Naruto shook his head free of the dismal thoughts and smiled. "I've lived with this for too long to let it keep me down."
Sasuke plucked at a few blades of grass beside him. He had always marveled at how easily they could speak to each other of such things.
Naruto gave a faint laugh and unwittingly echoed Sasuke's thoughts. "You know, you're the only one I could trust to talk about with stuff like this?" he asked. "Even after... well... even after we went to retrieve Sasuke and, to the shock of us all, he returned almost willingly--" He shrugged. "It wasn't the same. They saw me, more or less--but...." Naruto looked uncomfortable. "Do either of us have friends besides each other? Actual friends?"
Sasuke frowned at him, hiding a sheepish look. "We have...friends. The rookie nine...we hang out from time to time. But we're always so busy with missions, it's not that often. You and Hinata spent a lot of time together a couple years back," he said with a tilt of his eyebrow.
"Hinata....?" Naruto blinked at that, recalling the pale-eyed Hyuuga girl who reminded Naruto of himself, in the way she was determined to fight her own way, make her own path. "Huh...." He smirked slightly at the look on Sasuke's face. "Jealous?"
"Hardly," he snorted indifferently. "You knew that if you hurt her, Neji would have your head. And eventually she figured out you weren't interested that way. But geez, just because you were the Yondaime's son, the girls flocked to you." He shook his head in disgust. "That's why I can't stand them...all they see is the name."
Naruto stared at him for a few minutes, not being able to comprehend that type of attention directed towards him, before laughing hysterically. Sasuke gave him an annoyed stare, not grasping what was so funny.
"Care to explain what is so amusing?" he asked.
Naruto snorted and wiped his eyes. "That's how all the girls acted about you!" he said with a grin. "The dark, brooding Uchiha." He gave a snort of disgust. "Because you were an Uchiha and I was a nobody, everyone flocked to you. They adored your good looks and your family name... and they couldn't stand my scars or that nobody knew where I came from."
Sasuke grunted. "That must have been a pain. Between the two of us, I could hardly believe the girls at the academy were supposed to be ninjas in training. Whenever we went somewhere, there was a flock of girls trailing the both of us."
Naruto laughed. "Yeah, it's hard to imagine that Sakura and Ino, who used to fawn and fight over you," he said with disgust, "are now seasoned ninjas. A little scary, really."
Sasuke nodded his agreement to that, but he looked a little uncomfortable for a moment. "Ino died a few years ago," he said softly, not sure exactly how to break it, or how Naruto would take it.
Naruto looked considerably startled. Not that he ever really liked Ino--she was just one more harpy vying for Sasuke's attention and had also knocked him down quite a few times--but it was still shocking to hear that one of his comrades was dead.
Naruto clenched his fist in the dirt at his side. "I'll have to drop by and say hi to her next time I switch back," he said softly. "Sometimes I just kind of expect that those around me will always be there. After you left, I learned my lesson. But then you came back and it was you I focused on keeping beside me...and everyone else I just kind of...took for granted." He pulled in a deep breath through his nostrils and shook his head.
Sasuke reached for his hand, unclenching the tight fist and interlacing their fingers. "I'm sorry you had to have such a harsh lesson," he said softly. "But just realize that even if this other Sasuke doesn't act like it... I'm sure that he appreciates you still being there for him. You are the one constant in my life, Naruto."
Naruto smiled and squeezed Sasuke's hand.
***
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Parallels