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Illusion and Dream
By : djserani
Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male
Views: 1300 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I make no money off of this!
Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
They stared at each other across the table of the barbecue restaurant, discomfort and awkwardness filling the space between the two couples. That seemed to be all that had existed between the friends the last couple of weeks - the awkwardness being the most prominent.

Kotetsu and Genma understood that much more than Raidou and Izumo did. They had a better idea of why things were so strained among the four of them. At least, from their direction. Though they'd figured out that they had come to love each other, they had also figured out that the feelings for their best friends hadn't changed.

They'd even talked to each other about it. Kotetsu knew that the feelings that Gen had for Rai weren't going to go away anytime soon. Likewise, Genma understood very well what Tetsu was going through. And, if anything, it seemed to bring them a little closer.

Of course, the thing they hadn't discussed was the Big Fat Question. The What If. What If Raidou and Izumo broke up? What If one of them finally got their head out of their ass and recognized that they did, in fact, love them. Because the result was that one of them would be left alone and with a best friend with a broken heart.

No, they hadn't discussed that. But neither really thought it was a worry, anyway. Both Raidou and Izumo had been oblivious to the way their best friends felt for years, so why should it change now?

But the result of all of this was that all four of them had been very awkward and uncomfortable with each other. The only one they'd been fine with was their own boyfriends. Genma and Izumo, like Kotetsu and Raido, hadn't exchanged more than a few words outside of work since the fateful night that the Kunai reopened. Likewise, Raidou and Kotetsu, though that had been strained for a long time thanks to Tetsu�s jealousy, had stopped talking to each other altogether. They exchanged curt nods and nothing else. Raidou didn't even talk to him at the mission office, instead turning in his reports -- as usual -- to his boyfriend.

With all of this, Kotetsu had been spending more and more time - that is, pretty much every bit he wasn't working - with Genma or even just at Gen's apartment. The older man had gone on another overnight mission earlier in the week and Tetsu had slept at his boyfriend's over night, wanting to be in the bed they spent so much time in together.

Izumo, of course, had noticed just how much time his friend was at Genma's apartment. The not-so-little green monster had damned near taken over lately. He could finally admit it bothered him to see Genma and Kotetsu in love. And it was quite obvious that they were. Even the silly bets that the ninja corps had going had ended.

The touches and kisses, the looks and the smiles - it was all there. Kotetsu had even zoned out at work more than once over Genma and it had been up to Izumo to wake him up. And it was driving Izumo crazy.

He still wouldn't admit to himself why it bothered him so much that they were dating. He couldn't wrap his head around the problem he had with it, so, in the interest of his sanity, he gave up trying.

But Kotetsu and Genma were tired of being at odds with their best friends, tired of the strain of the tension. And so had decided to try to patch things up a little bit. They�d decided to ask the other two to go out together.

But now that they were here, it was a lot more uncomfortable even than they�d expected. It seemed like twenty plus years of friendship had just vanished like so much smoke, when none of them could say anything to each other.

Not that they needed to, at least when things were right between them. Genma and Raido, like Izumo and Kotetsu, had their own way of communicating. A look, a raised eyebrow, a frown or a hand gesture used to be all they needed to get a point across. Their own version of a language, really.

But they hadn�t been doing much of that lately, haven�t been talking at all lately, for that matter and both Kotetsu and Genma had had enough. They stared, now, at their best friends across the grill and Kotetsu sighed. Genma�s arm tightened around him briefly.

"Okay, this is ridiculous," Kotetsu started. He shook his head and looked from Izumo to Raidou.

"What is?" Izumo asked, swallowing, though the expression on his face said he knew exactly what Tetsu was talking about.

"What is? How about the fact that you and I haven�t talked for more than a good morning and good night for weeks now?" Tetsu glanced over at Raidou. "Or the fact that you and Gen are practically strangers lately?"

Raidou didn�t say anything, just looked down at the table. Genma sighed. "We�ve been friends for years. Regardless of what started it, we need to stop being grouchy with each other."

Izumo sighed. "You�re right." He pulled a tremulous smile from somewhere and aimed it at his best friend. Kotetsu returned it with one of his own and both seemed to strengthen even if just a little bit. "I think we�ve just been... preoccupied."

"No, it�s more than that," Raidou finally spoke. "I think..." Raidou stopped and glanced at Tetsu then to Gen. "I think we�ve been waiting for things to blow up between you two."

Genma�s eyebrows went up. "Blow up? You mean for us to break up?" Raidou gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Genma swallowed at that, holding on carefully to his emotions because he knew, as did Kotetsu, that their expectations weren�t completely unfounded. That didn�t mean he liked the assumption. He glanced at his lover.

Tetsu didn�t look any happier; the vein in his temple was jumping with suppressed anger. "Is that true, Zumo?"

Izumo nodded. "You... well..."

"No, I know," Kotetsu cut him off, saving him from having to spell it out. He looked back at Genma and his boyfriend�s gaze met his. He could have sworn he heard grinding teeth from the other side of the table, but he shrugged it off and considered Gen. "We�re not. Going anywhere, that is. Not any time soon." He took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself and turned back to the other two. "And I�m getting sick and fucking tired of the assumptions."

Izumo blinked at him, his mouth falling open. "Assumptions? Tetsu, you haven�t dated anyone more than twice in your life!"

"And? Has it occurred to you that there might be a reason for that?" He asked, his temper beginning to boil. He ground his teeth together to try to keep from exploding.

"Reason? What reason could it possibly be? You fucked around, Tetsu!" His mouth snapped closed when Raido tightened his arm around the smaller man. The tables around them had gone silent.

"Maybe he just hadn�t had the opportunity to date the right person," Genma offered and Izumo turned his attention to the assassin. Tetsu had a moment to wonder how his boyfriend could sound so calm.

"The right person? And you�re that one?" Izumo asked, his visible eyebrow going up.

"He hasn�t fucked around on me, has he?" Genma challenged and Izumo closed his mouth, having no reply for something like that. He swallowed, his lips pressing into a thin line while the silence at the table hung heavy over the four friends. "You are supposed to be our best friends! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Gen asked, eyes shifting from one to the other.

"Wrong with us? We didn�t fuck anything that moved, Gen," Raido replied, his own face twisted in barely suppressed emotion.

"Watch it," Kotetsu cut in, voice quiet and razor sharp. "I don�t give a fuck if you�re a jounin and twice my fucking size. You will not talk to him like that."

All three men stared at him for a long, tense moment. Tetsu swallowed the rage and when he had a slightly better hold on it, he uttered a single word. "Apologize."

Raidou blinked at him, then turned to Genma. He swallowed, then nearly whispered "Sorry, Gen."

Genma managed, with supreme effort, to keep from shouting something he knew he would regret later. Instead, after taking several breaths, he forced out, "accepted."

"Let me make this clear. We�re not going anywhere. I don�t give a shit what you expect, I don�t give a rat�s fuck what you think of us, at this point. Accept it. We�re dating, we�re together." He glanced at Genma and they exchanged another long look, then he turned back to the couple across the table. "We love each other. I don�t care if you like it, but goddammit, you can accept it." He clenched his teeth when neither man said anything, the muscles in his jaw twitching.

Finally, he sighed. "Twenty years of friendship? Is that worth nothing to you?" He shifted his gaze to his own best friend. "Zumo? We started the academy together! We played together before we could talk. Doesn�t that mean anything?"

Izumo dropped his gaze to the table and Kotetsu watched him work to get a hold of himself. "Sorry, Tetsu, you�re... you�re right." He looked up at Kotetsu and the emotion in the single brown eye slammed into the spiky-haired man. There were more things swirling in there than Tetsu could begin to untangle. He did see hurt, he found anger, he understood confusion, but beyond that, there were others. Some that made no sense to him. He could have sworn one of them was jealousy.

But that was ridiculous. That was impossible. There was nothing for Zumo to be jealous of! Izumo didn�t love him, didn�t think of him like that. So... why?

Kotetsu closed his eyes and spent some time simply breathing. He heard Genma take in a sharp breath, but the things he saw in Izumo�s eye had so thrown him off, he wasn�t capable of figuring anything else out in that moment. Finally, when he felt a little calmer, he opened his eyes to see Raidou�s gaze focused on Genma.

He thought he saw some of the same things there that had been in Zumo�s face. But again, he thought it didn�t make sense. If they were in love with each other, what would they have to be jealous of?

But that question answered itself. Maybe they weren�t really in love. Maybe it wasn�t what they thought it was.

That was something, though, that Tetsu knew he couldn�t figure out right then. If they weren�t really in love, if things between them fell apart, well, they�d deal with it when it happened. In the mean time, something else needed to happen. They had to find a way to be friends again, all of them. Because if it did fall apart, they needed to be able to go to their best friend.

Kotetsu took a deep breath, trying to find the words to end this ridiculous standoff. He met Zumo�s eyes, studied Raidou�s face and finally turned to his own boyfriend. Genma broke Rai�s gaze and turned to him. They stared at each other another minute, then he turned back to the table.

He needed to do something. As happy as he and Gen were with each other, they needed their friends, too. And it wasn�t good on a relationship to have the other person closest to them in the world avoiding their boyfriend. "Look, let�s... can�t we... just get past this? Be friends again?" Slanted eyes met chocolate ones and held for a very long moment.

Tetsu saw the other man fight with himself, the expressions on his face battling for supremacy. Yes, there was jealousy, fear, anger, sadness but finally, shame came out the victor. He blinked once, his frown deepened then he forced a tremulous smile onto his face. And Kotetsu knew that Izumo was going to do his damndest to try. He nodded once at his friend and he looked over at Raido.

"I owe you an apology," Kotetsu said, determined to be the bigger person.

Raidou blinked at him. "You do?"

Kotetsu nodded. "I haven�t exactly been the most...courteous to you. I�m sorry. Izumo�s... important to me and that means we need to get along."

Raidou nodded. "Well, um... accepted. And, I think we can."

Izumo and Genma considered each other for another tense moment, then Izumo cleared his throat. "I..."

Genma shook his head before Izumo could finish. "No, it�s okay. Let�s just let it go and start from here?"

Izumo nodded, the grateful expression on his face unmistakable. "O... okay. Thanks, Gen," he said and Genma nodded.

There was another tense silence as they absorbed what had just happened. Finally, Izumo spoke up. "Well, then. How about some dinner?" He asked, the brightness still a little false, but getting there and the collective sigh of relief was loud. Izumo smiled and glanced around the table.

"Sounds good," Genma agreed, his own smile more steady as he met Izumo�s gaze.

"I�m starved," Raidou added, his version working its way across his face.

"Where�s the waitress?" Kotetsu asked and managed to grin. It was still a little forced but better. Much better.

By the time the meat had cooked, the four of them had started to relax. They laughed about the bets and the other ninja�s reactions, talked about their missions, the mission office, their other friends and somewhere in there, managed to become friends again with each other.

About midway through the dinner, Genma was talking about his last mission, detailing the lovely way a kunai managed to catch him. "I swear, I dodged it, but when I checked later, there it was, a nice, nasty cut right through the vest and shirt and across my ribs." He shook his head.

"He tried to avoid the hospital," Kotetsu chuckled. "When he got home, he tried to play it off. I had to bribe him with sex to get him to go. I ended up having to promise him that he could do whatever he wanted to me before he finally agreed." He shook his head.

Genma chuckled and dropped a kiss on the shorter man. "I would have gone, eventually, you know, even without it." He laughed at Tetsu�s disgruntled expression and dropped another kiss on his lover, and that�s when they both noticed that the other couple had gone silent. Kotetsu looked away from Gen to Izumo and raised an eyebrow. After a tense moment, Izumo chuckled and Raidou shook his head.

"I can�t say much, I�m the same way." Raidou said, picking up a piece of shrimp and putting it in his mouth.

"Yes, yes you are," Izumo agreed, glancing up at the taller man. "In fact, I had to do something similar, though I refused to promise him just anything, I knew better than that." Izumo blushed at the memory then and Kotetsu�s eyebrows went up.

"What did you promise him?" Kotetsu asked, staring.

Izumo�s blush got brighter, but his mouth stayed firmly closed. Raidou chuckled. "Let�s just say there�s a reason he kept his sleeves down in the middle of summer. Rope burn�s a bitch. I had no idea chakra rope could cause that," he said, shaking his head.

At that comment, Genma nearly choked on his food, spitting it out instead and Izumo elbowed his boyfriend hard, his face bright red. Kotetsu pounded Genma on the back and fought the urge to laugh.

"What? If you hadn�t tried so hard to get out of it..." Raidou started and Izumo groaned, dropping his face onto the table.

"You�re not getting sex for a month, I swear to God." Izumo�s muffled voice came out around the wood.

"Aww, baby, I�m sorry," Raidou said, rubbing his hand over Izumo�s back and looking genuinely sheepish.

Genma snorted. "Whipped much, Rai?"

Raidou looked up at him. "If he" Raido said, nodding toward Kotetsu, "Threatened to withhold sex for a month, what would you do?"

Chastised, Genma gulped and glanced at Kotetsu. "I wouldn�t do it," Tetsu whispered and Genma grinned.

"Don�t promise something you can�t deliver. I just haven�t managed to screw up like that yet," he said, and Tetsu laughed. They shared another kiss, this one heating quickly just as Izumo sat up. When they broke apart, Kotetsu glanced at his friend, who was staring at them with an unreadable expression. Tetsu watched Izumo work through something in his head and finally managed a smile.

"Do you two do anything but that?" He asked, shaking his head and picking up his chopsticks.

"What�s that? Sex?" Genma asked and Izumo nearly choked on the piece of chicken he�d mistakenly taken a bite of.

"Well, you asked," Kotetsu said. "And yes, we do." He waited until Izumo had started to sip at his tea before adding, "Now and again."

Izumo spit his tea out and the other three laughed. "Gotcha," Tetsu said, grinning.

"Fucking asshole," Zumo said without heat when he could breathe, and Tetsu laughed harder.

When he calmed down, he and Izumo stared at each other for a moment, silly grins still on their faces and Kotetsu realized he felt better. Things were still up in the air, there was still a lot of confusion and frustration in all of them, but his friendship was back. They could all laugh together, make jokes and even talk about being a couple together.

By mutual agreement, they headed to the Kunai after dinner. Saturday night meant crowds, depending on who was out and who was home and apparently, there were plenty home. They ended up squeezing together at the end of the bar and Raido, the tallest of them, managed to get Dai�s attention.

"Hey! How�s it going?" Dai shouted over the din.

Raidou raised an eyebrow as if to say, "do you really think we should try conversation here?" Dai laughed and waved a hand at him. Raidou held up four fingers and managed to make the bartender understand that he wanted sake for all of them.

Dai nodded and headed down the bar to fill their order. Raidou turned to Izumo and put his arm around the smaller man. He bent to Zumo�s ear, "It�s crazy in here. See if they still want to stay."

Izumo nodded and turned to Tetsu. He waved a hand, raised his eyebrow and tilted his head. Tetsu turned and spoke into Genma�s ear. "They want to know if we want to stay with as crowded as it is."

Genma blinked at him and leaned in to Tetsu�s ear. "You understood him from that?"

Kotetsu laughed and Izumo raised his eyebrow again. Tetsu have a short shake of his head and turned back to Genma. "We don�t need to actually talk most of the time. Our mothers say we�re creepy."

Genma snorted. "Yeah, I�d say so, too. Though, to be fair, I probably understand Rai just about as much, if we�re not quite as bad. Anyway, want to stay?"

"I don�t much care. It�s kind of nice to be on speaking terms with them again, but if we have too much time to talk..." he trailed off and shrugged.

Gen nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Let�s stay, then."

"Okay." Kotetsu turned back to Izumo, raised his hand and nodded and Izumo turned back to Raidou.

"They�re fine with staying." Raidou raised an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to obviously ask how Zumo understood, but the smaller man stopped him. "I�ll explain later. I�m fine, either way."

"Okay, doesn�t matter to me." Raidou nodded to Tetsu and Genma then turned back as Dai delivered their drinks. Raidou paid and handed bottles around.

They leaned in together, holding up their bottles and Izumo grinned, happier in that moment than he�d been in a while. "To friendship!" The other three echoed him, tapped their drinks together and then took swallows of their sake.

As they sipped their drinks, the two couples moved a little closer and each man wrapped their arms around their boyfriends. Kotetsu looked up at Genma and their lips met in what started as something soft and slow, but deepened and heated fast and it took a supreme effort on both of their parts to break the kiss. When they pulled back, Tetsu looked over to see Raidou and Zumo similarly lip-locked and the now-familiar stab still hit him. But as Genma�s arms tightened around him, it faded more and he found he could smile about it, if only a little.

A few minutes later, music could be heard rising over the din of talk and Kiba�s voice blasted through the huge speakers. "Hello fellow shinobi!" There was a chorus of cheers in response and Kiba laughed. "I want to start out by saying that I owe all of you a big thank you. I am proud to say that I made out like a bandit on the bet a couple of weeks ago. And all because you guys managed to hold off the first bar fight for a full twenty five hours!"

A round of laughter greeted this, as well as a few boos and Naruto piped up from a corner booth shouting, "THEN SHARE IT!"

"Pu-lease," Kiba replied, pointing in the blond�s general direction. "You�ve got plenty of your own money, Mr. Icha Icha Heir." There was more laughter when Naruto blushed. "Okay, guys, it�s time to turn up the tunes and heat the place up! I�m DJ Kiba,"

"WE KNOW!" Naruto had to get in, earning another round of laughs.

Kiba ignored him and continued, "I�ll be here �till two. Try not to destroy the bar until after I�m gone. And don�t forget, kiddies, if you�re gonna play in the back halls, clean up after yourselves." More snickers and laughs erupted at that and was drowned out by the heavy beats as they came thumping through the speakers.

Kotetsu looked up at Genma, tilted his head toward the dance floor and Genma grinned in response. Tetsu started to head out, but paused and motioned to Zumo. Want to dance, too? Izumo glanced up, Raidou bent to him and he said something in the taller man�s ear. Raidou nodded and the four of them made their way out onto the floor.

They spent the better part of the night out there, dancing together - all four of them. They switched partners often, Tetsu even dancing with Raidou at one point until somewhere along the way it became unclear who was really dancing with who. The later it got, the drunker the crowd got and people started bumping into other people, knocking the friends into each other, causing grins and ribbing, given in each others ears about not holding their liquor.

At one point, a couple of Akamichis acted as impromptu bouncers when two of the younger chuunin didn�t like the fact that Dai cut them off. The four friends watched as Chouji and a cousin picked them up bodily and, quite literally, tossed them out the door. Kiba made some comment about never threatening to withhold food from Chouji again, which drew guffaws from the Akamichi booth. Then the music turned back up and everyone went back to dancing, quickly putting the chuunin out of their minds.

As the night wound down and two o�clock approached, they made their way out to the street. They walked together toward the apartment building section of the new village and stopped on the street corner for a few more minutes, still laughing and talking. As the couples waved good-bye to each other, Kotetsu was struck again by the fact that their friendship was back on much more even footing and he was starting to feel better. He sent up a quick prayer that it would stay that way.

He should have known it was too good to be true.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Illusion and Dream	By : djserani Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1300 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I make no money off of this!

Illusion and Dream