Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Piece by Piece, Back Together	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 8229 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor profit of it. Kishimoto owns it.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Author's note: Many apologies for the delay! Originally this chapter was meant to be posted on Friday, but I've been quite tired these past two weeks and life in general has been a bit shitty, so finishing this chapter was harder than I thought it would be. So I apologise for the delay, but here it is finally!
Thanks to the following reviewer: smint45
Warnings: a bit of drama; mature content; some fluff
I hope you'll like it!
9 Growing Part 2
… …
… …
… …
He only caught snatches. The ground vibrated underneath him when something large and quick hurried over to him. Something touched his cheek, patted it. He thought his head was tilted up, but he wasn't sure.
"-an you wake up for me?" a low voice demanded and he tried to, he really did. His eyelids trembled, he caught a sliver of something dark with above the blue sky.
"Naruto? You with me?"
He blinked slowly, parted his lips and –
Lost consciousness once more.
"You scared the hell out of us," Shikamaru said quietly, leaning forwards in the chair.
"Sorry," Naruto grimaced, touching the bandage around his head gingerly. He had woken up an hour ago to find himself in a small room with one bed. He thought it must be located somewhere on the ground floor, but he wasn't sure.
A doctor of the nearby village had come by to check up on him and had declared he had a light concussion, bruises on his legs and arms and his hands had got scraped up badly when he'd tried to stop his fall. They had been disinfected just in case and covered with thin gauze. A few days of rest would have him as good as new, the doctor had reassured him before leaving the room. Of course that meant he wouldn't be able to participate in any of the games they would play for the rest of their stay here.
He'd been told that Sasuke had found him and brought him inside, but he hadn't seen his boyfriend since he'd woken up and that made him curious. Considering his proclivity for being protective – sometimes a bit too – over Naruto, it was odd that the Alpha wasn't here with him.
"Where's Sasuke?" he asked, lowering his hand to his lap. His headache was starting to lessen thanks to the painkillers he'd been given.
"On a warpath most likely," Shikamaru replied blankly, dangling his hands between his legs.
"On a warpath? What for?" the Omega asked perplexed.
Shikamaru rubbed across his mouth. "He found out what the girls have been doing these past few weeks."
It felt like a bucket of ice water was dropped on top of him. "He knows? Who the hell told him?" Naruto snapped, panic and anger warring with each other as he clenched his hands around the edge of the thin blanket thrown over his legs.
"Nobody," the other boy told him, raising an eyebrow. "He found out on his own. Although given what happened, we should have told him sooner." His face darkened and his eyebrows drew together in a deep frown.
"How did he find out on his own?" Naruto frowned, confused now. If nobody had blabbed, then how could Sasuke possibly know what had happened these past few weeks?
"Because Ino was stupid enough to make a comment about you when he asked where you were," Shikamaru replied and sighed. "I don't think she'll be that stupid again after the way he reacted."
"Wait, how did he react?" Naruto inquired alarmed. A part of him wondered just what exactly the blonde girl had said that would have made Sasuke made, but a bigger part of him just didn't want to know. Especially not after having heard some of the things they'd been saying about him for a few weeks now.
The other boy scratched his nose and cleared his throat. "Not well, let's just keep it at that," he said and for the first time since Naruto knew him, he sounded uncomfortable.
"That doesn't tell me anything," the blond complained before he sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "Can you find him? I'd go looking for him, but when I tried to get out of bed earlier, Umino-sensei stopped me," he said sourly.
One would think he'd broken his legs with the way Umino had reacted to seeing him out of bed. It was just a headache and some bruises; he'd be fine in no time!
"Sure, I'll go." Shikamaru stood up and stretched his arms before leaving the room, leaving the door ajar.
There were people moving about in the hallway, but none of them entered the room and Naruto wondered what was happening now. Umino had been the one to ask him what had happened once he'd been completely conscious again, but the Omega hadn't been able to tell him much. He'd been looking for the ball and then someone had thrown a rock at him – because it had to have been a person; rocks didn't just fly through the air on their own – causing him to lose his balance and tumble down the hill.
He hadn't seen who had thrown the stone and he very much doubted that person would admit to being the one who'd done that. It probably had been a girl, considering how they had acted the last couple of weeks, but that wouldn't really help the teachers narrowing the list down – practically every girl, bar some exceptions like Tenten and Hinata, really disliked Naruto for being the one who could call himself Sasuke's mate.
"Naruto, er, Uchiha will be here soon." Shikamaru popped his head back into the room. "He's talking with one of the teachers at the moment, but I told him you're waiting."
"Oh okay, thanks," Naruto said surprised. "What is he - "
But Shikamaru was already gone. "-talking about," Naruto finished and sighed, sliding down a bit so that he could rest his head against a propped up pillow. Hopefully he wouldn't have to spend the rest of the trip in this room; he was already feeling bored and he hadn't even been awake for more than an hour yet.
He wondered whether a teacher had called his parents to tell them about this and winced. He hoped not, because both mum and dad would become too worried while that wasn't even necessary. He could already imagine how pissed off mum would be if she found out that the girls had been harassing him and grimaced; an angry mum was never a pretty sight. Dad would be backing her up and god, what if they actually tried to place charges against the girls? He wasn't sure whether that was even possible nor did he know on which ground the charges could be placed, but his parents were both police and would actually go that far if they thought that was necessary.
He really hoped nobody had called his parents yet – or at the very least hadn't told them the complete truth.
When the door opened again, it was to reveal Sasuke standing there; his face utterly blank, but his fingers gripping the doorknob so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Hey there, stranger," Naruto teased, but his joke fell flat and he sighed, dropping his smile. "I'm okay."
"You fell down a hill, hit your head and lost consciousness," Sasuke stated flatly, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "You're not okay."
Pursing his lips, Naruto retorted petulantly, "I've just got some bruises and a headache - "
"A concussion."
"A light one," Naruto said dismissively and went on, "And that's it. Honestly it sounds worse than it is, I promise. The only reason why I'm still in bed is because Umino-sensei started almost yelling when I got out of it."
"You need to rest," Sasuke said instantly. He came to a halt right next to the bed and when the blond glanced down, he noticed the Alpha's clenched fists. "Why didn't you tell me what they were doing to you?" He sounded equally parts frustrated and hurt and Naruto looked away.
"I thought if I ignored them, they would give up," he muttered, squeezing the blanket.
"You should have told me about - "
"Just because I'm an Omega doesn't mean I can't take care of myself," Naruto said tersely, cutting off the dark haired man.
Sasuke reared back for a brief moment before he scowled. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he snapped, crossing his arms. "I had to hear they've been harassing you for weeks just because I'm together with you; how do you think that makes me feel? I didn't even realise something was wrong."
"I didn't …" Naruto scrubbed his face harshly in frustration. "I told them to keep quiet about it, okay? I didn't want to worry you and I thought they'd give up soon if I didn't react."
"Clearly you thought wrong," Sasuke said sharply; his whole body so tense it hurt Naruto's own muscles to look at him.
The urge to keep arguing, to defend his decision, was there, surging through him, but he pushed it down forcefully and took a deep breath. "Look, I don't want to fight with you about this, okay? They're not worth it. Can't we just – can you lie down next to me?"
Sasuke stared down at him for a while, emotions flitting through his eyes too quickly for Naruto to decipher them before he glanced away. "I should have realised something was wrong," he mumbled, his voice muffled so badly the blond almost didn't understand him.
When he realised what the other boy had said, his chest momentarily felt like someone was squeezing it. "Hey," he said softly, reaching out with his hand. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."
"You should have," was the Alpha's quick retort, but the fight had drained out of his voice and he grabbed Naruto's hand, climbing into the bed. They shuffled around a bit, until Naruto ended up with his head resting on Sasuke's shoulder, his leg thrown across firm thighs and Sasuke's cheek resting on top of his head.
"They went too far," he said quietly, his one hand resting on Naruto's side while the other was clasped around his shoulder, rubbing slow circles into it.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed quietly and closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling the Alpha's spicy, comforting scent. It was easier to not pay attention to his bruises or the lingering aches when lying flush against him. The Alpha's body heat seeped through their clothes and the blond relaxed. "What did you and the teacher talk about? All Shikamaru said was that you were talking with one of them before coming here."
Sasuke stirred and released his breath slowly, ruffling blond strands. "Oh that. I'm suspended for three days starting from the moment we're home again," he answered.
His tone was so casual, so bland, Naruto started nodding his head before he realised what Sasuke had actually said.
"YOU'RE WHAT?!"
Sasuke remained vague about the reasons why he'd got suspended. Apparently after Ino's remark – whatever that had been – he'd lashed out and his reaction had been bad enough to warrant three days suspension. According to the gossip between the teachers – and which Naruto had overheard when he'd been about to leave the bathroom when the teachers had been passing by – Sasuke's reaction normally resulted in at least a week suspension, if not longer.
Due to the circumstances, however, - meaning Naruto being harassed by the girls – they had decided that Sasuke's reaction was to be excused as he'd been concerned about his boyfriend.
"He didn't tell you what exactly he did?" Gaara raised an eyebrow, his green eyes flickering briefly towards the Alpha who had just finished throwing his opponent over his shoulder for the fifth time in less than twenty minutes.
"No, he's vague about it," Naruto grimaced, kicking his legs out and leaning back into the chair.
It was the first day of Sasuke's suspension and yet another day of Naruto's forced rest. He felt fine, just some lingering bruises that he forgot about until he saw them, but his parents had insisted he remained home for a few more days to rest. Granted, Naruto would accept any excuse not to have to go to classes, but he didn't like all the fussing he had to endure. He'd thought it would be better once mum and dad went back to work, but it seemed that Sasuke was determined to make up for their absence by fussing twice as hard.
Like now: Sasuke had been too restless to stay at home, so he and Naruto had gone to Gaara's dojo, but the blond had been forbidden from actually training. He'd hoped that the red haired Alpha would be more lenient, but once Sasuke had explained – or more like grunted – that Naruto was supposed to rest, Gaara had simply dragged out a chair from the back office and had plunked it down in front of the blond, pointing at it.
So here Naruto sat now: watching Sasuke work out his frustrations from his seat on the chair.
"Well, whatever he did, that girl deserved it," Gaara said flatly, crossing his arms. "This is why I'm glad I don't have to deal with petty school feuds anymore."
"It's weird, though," Naruto commented, frowning. "The other guys keep vague about it as well. It must have been something serious if they actually went as far as giving him suspension."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Gaara said dismissively. "Those girls should have known better than to harass you."
"I know," the Omega sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just hate how on edge he is now, you know? I didn't tell him precisely because I didn't want to worry him."
Gaara snorted and shook his head. "You're one of the very few people he cares about; it's normal that he's so on edge now. Give him some time," he murmured. "And don't keep things like this from him anymore. That will only makes things worse."
"I know," Naruto muttered, a bit petulantly. "Not like that's the first time I've been told that. I just didn't want to worry him, is that so bad?"
"It's not bad, but it's also not what Sasuke needs," Gaara said knowingly before making his way to a girl who'd just entered the dojo.
Pursing his lips, Naruto watched Sasuke square off against his opponent again. Mulling over Gaara's words, he wondered whether the red haired man knew more about Sasuke's past than he'd let on. His comment was clearly a veiled reference to Sasuke having felt helpless during his family's murder. Had Naruto unknowingly made Sasuke feel that way again by keeping quiet about the harassment? That hadn't been his intention at all; he just hadn't wanted the Alpha to worry about him like he was doing now.
Well, nothing much he could do about it anymore. What had happened, had happened, and considering how the girls had avoided both Naruto and Sasuke during the last couple of days of their trip, he'd wager a guess and say he wouldn't have to worry about being bothered by them anymore. Whatever Sasuke had done, it clearly had left an impression behind.
Black eyes met his for a brief moment and Sasuke's features softened before he turned back and blocked the other guy's attack, smacking him down to the matt hard.
Naruto winced and crossed his legs. It looked like they were going to be here for a while.
"I know you're feeling better, but a bit more rest won't hurt you," Mum clucked her tongue and kissed his forehead.
"Mum, I've literally been resting since last Friday and it's Wednesday now," Naruto protested, rubbing his forehead. "I'm fine!"
"The doctor said you needed to rest for a week," she reminded him, pursing her lips before whirling around to Sasuke and pointing her finger at him. "Sasuke-kun, make sure he rests, all right? Tie him down in his bed if you have to."
Naruto choked and Sasuke hid his smirk behind his cup of coffee. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, still dressed in his sleepwear. Since coming back from the trip, he'd only stopped by his own home to pick up some fresh clothes before crashing at Naruto's place. Naruto didn't mind that at all, but Sasuke was annoyingly good at listening to his parents' orders.
"I have to leave now; your dad's waiting in the car," she muttered distracted, clicking her belt around her waist. "All right, sweethearts, I'll be back tonight! Naruto, rest!"
She was gone before Naruto could offer another storm of protest and he huffed, standing up and shoving his chair back against the table.
"You want to start on that homework Kiba brought?" he asked, draining his cup of milk. "Or watch a movie or so?"
When he looked up, he was just in time to see the Alpha sporting a strange look before he shook his head. "Dishes first, then homework," he decided, placing his own mug down on the counter in order to collect the dirty plates. "We can watch a movie afterwards. Although, you heard your mum – you should be resting." He was definitely smirking now, the smile deepening when he walked past Naruto to peck his lips and got his arse smacked in response.
"I've rested enough," Naruto grumbled, stretching his arms. "You're going to help me with mathematics?"
"You're going to accept no for an answer?" Sasuke asked lightly, turning the tap and letting the water gush into the sink.
Grinning Naruto stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "I'll make it worth your while," he said in a sing song voice, pressing himself up against his back.
"Yeah?" Sasuke briefly turned around to kiss him, his dark eyes glistening. "I'm looking forward to that."
Heat flared up in his lower stomach and Naruto bit his lip, failing to supress a smile when he turned around to clean the table. Maybe another day of rest wouldn't be that bad.
"I'm done!" Naruto declared, throwing his pencil down and throwing his hands up in the air, stretching his back with a low groan.
"You worked fast," Sasuke noted absentmindedly; his own pencil scratching on the paper as he wrote down the answers to the biology question sheet.
"Well, yeah," Naruto wrinkled his nose and shoved his homework in his bag, "I did have some incentive."
"Oh yeah?" Sasuke definitely sounded amused now, even as he continued diligently writing down his answers. "And what kind of incentive is that?"
Dumping his bag on the floor, Naruto rose up from the bed and drew closer to the dark haired boy seated at his desk. Leaning down he slipped his arms around broad shoulders, linking his hands together across the Alpha's chest. "We've still got several hours before my parents are back," he murmured in Sasuke's ear. "I remember promising making it worth your while if you helped me out with mathematics."
"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Sasuke asked innocently, but his pencil hovered above the paper, evidence that the blond had his complete attention.
Nipping playfully at Sasuke's ear, Naruto replied lightly, "How about I show you how well rested I am?" He swiftly turned the swivel chair around, grinning down at Sasuke.
"I'm still busy with homework," Sasuke remarked, but his hands were straying underneath Naruto's shirt, palming his sides.
Casting a quick look at the question sheet on the desk, the blond raised an eyebrow and countered, "You're working on the questions assigned for next week; you can take a break."
"You're rather bossy today," Sasuke commented but let himself be pulled up.
"We've got the house to ourselves, might as well make use of it," Naruto hummed, dragging the other boy to his bed. He pushed the Alpha down on it before crawling into his lap. He wiggled slightly when hands settled onto his hips, lust flaring up when he felt Sasuke slowly hardening underneath him.
"You got anything in mind?" Sasuke murmured, eyes half lidded, and he let his body recline against the mattress; his hands now rubbing up and down across the Omega's thighs.
"You'll see," Naruto hummed and set about getting both their clothes off. There was some wrestling with the buttons of jeans involved, but it didn't take long before they both ended up naked, the blond still on top.
Leaning down, bracing his arms against the mattress, he caught Sasuke's mouth in a deep kiss; a thrill shooting through him when warm hands settled on his arse cheeks and squeezed firmly. Rolling his hips against Sasuke's, their cocks brushed against each other, sending sparks of pleasure through Naruto; their groans swallowed up by their lips.
As his lips and tongue mapped out a path from Sasuke's neck, the Alpha's fingers of his right hand slipped between Naruto's cheeks, brushing against his entrance, while his other hand went back up, caressing his hip and side before flicking his thumb across one of Naruto's nipples, making him hiss softly. It was ridiculous how sensitive his nipples were and of course Sasuke had taken notice of that particular fact. The dark haired boy delighted in the reactions he could pull from his mate by doing something as simple as just brushing against his nipples.
If he paid attention to them long enough, he could easily turn the younger boy into nothing but a quivering pile of mess. That wasn't even an exaggeration; one afternoon Sasuke had been determined to see just how crazy he could drive Naruto by only touching his nipples. To this day Naruto still refused to admit he'd been practically mewling by the time Sasuke had finally stopped torturing him and let him come.
A shuddering breath escaped him when, at the same time Sasuke pinched his nipple, a finger slipped inside the Omega, aided by the liberal amount of slick that was already coating his inner walls and rim. It didn't take long before a second finger was added and Naruto would feel embarrassed about the slick sounds that could be occasionally heard as Sasuke pumped his fingers in and out, spreading them occasionally, but one look at burning, dark eyes made it quite clear that Sasuke didn't mind the sounds at all.
Sasuke barely had time to add a third finger before Naruto pulled back, panting slightly. "I'm ready, come on," he said breathlessly, rising up on his knees and pushing Sasuke's hand away.
Hovering above Sasuke's hips, Naruto reached backwards with his hand to grab Sasuke's cock, imagining he could feel it throb when he wrapped his fingers around it. Steadying himself, he slowly lowered himself on Sasuke's dick, breathing through his mouth as his muscles were forced to stretch around the thick girth. The sensation of being full was almost overwhelming and he paused when his arse came to rest on Sasuke's thighs, adjusting to the new intrusion, bigger than those two fingers had been.
Sasuke's hands were clamped down around his waist and his chest was heaving up and down. "You okay?" he asked, jaw visibly clenched.
"Yeah, I am," Naruto breathed out and tentatively started rocking back and forth, keeping one hand on Sasuke's thigh to balance himself.
Sasuke surged up, catching Naruto by surprise who faltered and almost toppled off, and kissed him, hard enough to bruise as one hand slid into blond hair, fingers tightening around the strands. Naruto moaned, kissing Sasuke eagerly back as he started moving up and down, his muscles squeezing around Sasuke's cock every time he lifted up, as if his body was reluctant to let go.
Clasping his arms around Sasuke's shoulders, Naruto tried to move faster, but the hand still clamped around his hip prevented him from moving quicker and he opened his eyes, rolling his head to the side when Sasuke started sucking the spot right underneath his left ear.
"Hngh, I want to go – go faster," Naruto panted, groaning loudly when Sasuke shifted underneath him, the new angle causing the tip of his cock to press against the Omega's sweet spot every time he lowered himself down.
"This is fine," Sasuke muttered. His cheeks were flushed and his lips were swollen when he pulled back briefly.
When Naruto studied him more intently, ignoring the pleasure simmering in his lower belly for the moment, he caught the cautious look flashing through black eyes before Sasuke adjusted his grip on Naruto's hip. As if he was trying to be careful with the blond.
Any other time and Naruto would have appreciated the sentiment, but now he just wanted to be fucked by his boyfriend and not handled like some delicate china. He wasn't going to break, damn it!
Bending down to Sasuke's ear, he demanded, "I want you to fuck me! Are you up for that or do I have to do it on my own?"
Like a switch had been flicked on, his question had Sasuke snarling and he was left gasping for air when the Alpha suddenly twisted their bodies around. His legs were thrown over Sasuke's shoulders and a choked moan flitted through his lips when Sasuke pushed roughly inside again, going deeper than he'd been before. Naruto could do nothing but clutch Sasuke's shoulders tightly, gasping and whimpering as the Alpha set a rough pace; his hips slamming against his arse.
"S-S-Sasuke," he stammered, digging his nails deeper into slick skin as pleasure pooled in his stomach, the heat spreading quickly throughout his body, making him shudder and quiver every time Sasuke hit his prostate just right. The position they were in should be uncomfortable, him being bent nearly in two, but all he could focus on was Sasuke filling him over and over again, his dick trapped between their bellies, and Sasuke's hand clutching his hip.
"This fast enough for you?" Sasuke growled, eyes flashing, before he captured Naruto's mouth in a rough kiss, his tongue slipping past parted lips.
Naruto tried to answer, but his head was swimming, their combined scents driving him crazy, and when Sasuke thrusted inside next, his climax was ripped out of him and he threw his head back with a choked scream, squeezing his eyes shut as he came, spraying both their stomachs.
His muscles clamped down harshly around Sasuke's cock and the boy cursed, before burying his face in Naruto's shoulder, muffling his moans when he came too, coating the Omega's inner walls.
They stayed like that for a little while until they had calmed down and when Sasuke carefully lowered Naruto's legs, the blond couldn't help but groan slightly; the burn in his muscles impossible to ignore now that he no longer was distracted. He felt like he'd ran a marathon, his heart still beating quickly, and he turned onto his side with some difficulty, slapping his hand down on Sasuke's chest when the dark haired boy dropped down next to him.
"Don't blame me if your mum comments on the smell," Sasuke muttered, sounding a bit drowsy. He was still alert enough to pull them both out of the wet spot, his arm remaining wrapped around the Omega's shoulders.
Throwing his leg across Sasuke's, Naruto snorted. "We'll take a shower and air out the room," he mumbled sleepily, his eyes threatening to close.
Sasuke uttered a non-committal sound, turning his head to press a soft kiss on Naruto's forehead.
"I don't break, you know," Naruto said quietly after a moment of hesitation. He felt Sasuke stiffen underneath him and he lifted his head. "I get that you want to protect me, I do," he went on, capturing Sasuke's gaze and holding it. The other boy looked ready to bolt and Naruto tightened his arm around Sasuke's chest.
"And I shouldn't have kept quiet about it, but I'm fine, I promise. I don't want you to treat me like I'm going to break any moment now, because I'm not," he said forcefully. "All I've got left are some bruises and those will heal too. I don't want you to keep beating yourself up over this, okay? It's not your fault."
For a couple of seconds it looked like Sasuke was on the verge of protesting, his eyes narrowing slightly and his lips thinning, before his breath escaped him rather explosively and he jerked his head down in a nod. "Yeah, okay."
"I mean it, Sasuke." This time blue eyes narrowed. "This whole bullshit is not your fault and I'm not weak, okay?"
"I know you're not weak," Sasuke retorted, smiling faintly and he relaxed slowly. "Just – promise me you'll tell me if someone still bothers you, okay? This has nothing to do with you being weak or strong – I just want to help out my mate, is that so wrong? You'd do the same for me."
"I guess so," Naruto grumbled, laying his head down on Sasuke's shoulder. "Just stop feeling guilty about it, all right? Because that's stupid."
"If you say so," Sasuke paused and added, smirking now, "Your pillow talk can use some improvement, though. Seriously, talking about that right after we've had sex?"
"Just shut up, all right?" Naruto laughed and smacked Sasuke's arm. When he glanced up, dark eyes were noticeably lighter, the tense lines across those eyes smoothed out.
Snuggling up against Sasuke, paying no attention to the way they were both still sticky and sweaty, Naruto smiled and kissed Sasuke's shoulder.
Things would go back to normal, he knew.
Sasuke was allowed to go back to school on Friday and even though officially Naruto was still supposed to stay home and rest, he insisted on going to school as well. It wasn't like he was looking forward to sitting through several boring classes, but the alternative was sitting alone and bored at home – which wasn't much of an improvement. At least at school he had his friends and Sasuke to talk to.
Contrarily to the past couple of weeks, most girls now avoided him, not daring to look him right in the eye. When he did catch their gazes, they were quick to look away, embarrassment colouring their faces. If they happened to catch Sasuke's eyes, they flinched and turned away, making themselves smaller as if wanting to hide from his glare.
A dark part in Naruto was satisfied to see that, enjoying the fact that they were clearly ashamed of their behaviour during the past few weeks. It was the least they deserved for the bullshit they had pulled.
"Where's Haruno?" he questioned during lunch, when he still hadn't seen the pink haired girl. Not that he was particularly interested in her, but he thought it was odd that he hadn't seen her in class so far. She and Yamanaka were practically joined at the hip, but now Yamanaka was sitting alone at a table, a frown marring her forehead as she stabbed her chopsticks in her bowl of rice.
"Is she sick or so?"
Kiba and Shikamaru shared a look. "You didn't hear it yet?" Kiba asked cautiously and Chouji paused, his chopsticks hovering in the air as he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Hear what?" Naruto blinked, absently dumping the cherry tomatoes in his lunch on Sasuke's plate.
"They discovered that she's the one who threw the rock at you," Shikamaru answered, a contemplative look on his face. "It's been classified as assault and until the police have decided what they're going to do, the school has suspended her for the time being."
"She's suspended?" Naruto repeated surprised. It didn't really surprise him that she'd been the one who had thrown the rock; it had to have been one of the girls in their class and she'd been particularly vicious with her poisonous remarks.
Next to him Sasuke kept eating, clearly not interested in the conversation.
"Yeah, indefinitely," Kiba nodded, drinking from his water bottle. "They might even suspend her for the rest of the year, which means she won't graduate with us."
"What a pity that would be," Sasuke muttered underneath his breath, just loud enough for the blond to hear him.
Naruto wrinkled his nose, but if he had to be honest, he couldn't say he felt sorry for the girl. She'd been the one who had taunted him, spread nasty rumours around and who had thrown a rock at him; whatever the consequences, she got what was coming to her.
"Excuse me! Can I have everyone's attention, please?"
Yamanaka's voice suddenly rang out through the room and abruptly everyone felt silent. Curious, Naruto turned his head and saw her standing on her chair. She had her arms crossed in front of her stomach and her cheeks were quite red for some reason, flushing even more when all eyes landed on her.
What was she planning?
"I just …" she faltered for a moment, biting her lip before continuing with a wavering voice, "I'm the one who started those rumours about Uzumaki. None of those are true. I only said those things because – because I was j-jealous and – and I wanted to hurt him. So I lied and said those things about him and tried to set up everyone against him. I'm really sorry."
Her voice was small near the end, nearly inaudible, and she fled out of the cafeteria before anyone could react, leaving the student body stunned behind. That didn't last long, though, and soon whispers filled the air, people questioning just what the hell had just happened. Some of them were chancing looks at Naruto, but none of them dared to approach him.
"Shit, I didn't think she would actually have the balls to do that in front of all these people," Kiba said perplexed. "Hell, I didn't even expect her to apologise!"
"Neither did I," Shikamaru murmured, but Naruto saw him looking speculatively at Sasuke and at once the blond realised just who was behind Ino's sudden change of heart.
The person in question just kept eating the rest of his lunch; albeit with a faint smirk lingering around his lips.
Later, when they were back home, Naruto crawled into Sasuke's lap, his knees digging into the couch cushion, and he linked his arms around his shoulders. He pecked his lips once, twice, thrice, before pulling back and cocking his head to the right.
"You were the one who convinced Yamanaka to apologise, aren't you?" he inquired knowingly.
Sasuke shrugged, looping his own arms around Naruto's waist. "And what if I am?"
"Did you tell her it had to be publicly?"
"She's the one who spread those nasty rumours about you around – the least she could do was apologise in public for those," Sasuke said coolly; his eyes hard.
Naruto worried his lip between his teeth. "She might get ridiculed by the others now," he remarked. Already people had started laughing behind her back, calling her pathetic for being jealous – even when they themselves had been eager to spread her rumours around just one week ago.
"Does it look like I care about that?" Sasuke said disinterestedly. "She made her bed, now she has to lay in it."
They looked at each other, the television behind them nothing more than background noise by now. Then Naruto nodded and kissed Sasuke again.
"Thanks," he muttered against soft lips, feeling his cheeks warm when Sasuke smiled back.
"You're welcome." Arms tightened around his waist, hugging him closer.
It seemed Sasuke had still found a way to protect Naruto after all. It made warmth bloom open in his chest and before he could think twice, before he could consider his words, his mouth opened and "I love you," rolled over his tongue and left his lips.
The confession hung suspended between them and Naruto stared at Sasuke, the shock in black eyes mirroring his own. Oh, that was … He hadn't really … He had said those words without realising it, but now that they were out, he was strangely okay with it. Sure, when he had thought about saying those words, he had thought it would have been in another context, like maybe right after they had had made love or just during a random night right before they would have fallen asleep.
The words were out now, though, his true feelings revealed, and he couldn't take them back. Didn't want to take them back.
The moment was broken when the front door opened and mum's voice drifted through the open door, "Hey, can you give me a hand? I went to pick up some stuff for dinner, but I bought a bit more than I planned."
"Er, sure, we'll help!" Naruto called back and they both made their way into the hallway, where mum pointed them towards the car, showing several bags in the trunk. They set about hauling the rest of the grocery bags inside and helped her with putting everything away while mum chattered about her day.
It was only when they lied in bed and the room was plunged in darkness, Sasuke spooning him from behind, that Naruto realised Sasuke had never said "I love you," back.
AN2: Still managed to crank out around 6K, which is honestly a miracle, because I didn't think I'd get this much written *sweatdrops*
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter and I wish you all Happy Holidays!
Cuddles
Melissa
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Piece by Piece, Back Together