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Memory Yields	By : sumarfishy Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1228 -:- 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
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Chapter 01 [Memory Yields]

Title: Memory Yields

Author: JaD

Email: jad@yondaime.net

Website: http://www.yondaime.net

Rating:

NC-17

Genre: Humor
and angst with small helpings of romance.

Pairings: SasuNaru

POV: third
person, all-knowing

Spoilers: Up
to manga chapter 234.

Warnings:

shounen-ai, explicit heterosexual and yaoi pairings, sexual themes, foul
language, crude jokes� and a (:gasp:)
plot.

Disclaimer:
Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Kudos, Kishimoto!

Feedback: Most appreciated. Email (jad@yondaime.net) and my LJ (http://livejournal.com/~sumarfishy) are the best ways to leave feedback.
Comments usually result in quicker updates, too ^^

Timeline:
�begins on March 28, which is Sakura�s birthday. Naruto is now fifteen, and all
of his fellow teammates are around the same age. Those a year above him (Lee,
Neji, etc) are currently 16.

Assumptions made for the sake of storyline: Itachi is still alive and Orochimaru is still at
large. Naruto and all of the other �Konoha rookies� have now become Chuunin,
and Tsunade is still the Fifth Hokage.

Fore notes:

*The title
is taken from a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche: �Memory says, �I did that.� Pride replies, �I could not have done that.�
Eventually, memory yields.�

*Italicized phrases are a character�s private thoughts; <�> is
�Inner-Sakura� speech; //�// is the nine-tails speaking inside of (and to)
Naruto. *Otooto means �little
brother,� or is a way of talking down to someone you consider below you (not
always necessarily in a bad way). *Yondaime

literally means �the Fourth� (Hokage), and he will be referred to as such until
we learn a name x_X

*Thank you for everyone who
gave me advice and characterization points, and special thanks to Gelfling for helping me choose a title,
and to my muses and only slightly obsessive
SasuNaru supporters, Saori- Hime and Saffy � I would have never have
finished any of this with out you!

And for all you Sasuke
supporters who�ve read 233� Naruto did not
loose. XP

* * * * *

Chapter One:
Sweet
Sixteen

You are so lame
You always disappoint me
It's kinda like our running joke
But it's really not funny.

- Ani DiFranco, Dilate

*

�Sasuke is the robot dressed
in green.�
- Googlism

- - - -

�SASU~KE~!�

The enraged roar
of the demon-toting blonde echoed throughout the house, piercing every nook and
cranny with its annoying tone. Several birds that had been perched in the tree
outside the building took flight, vocalizing their distress as they took refuge
on a nearby roof. Naruto, oblivious to the noise he was making, stormed from
room to room looking for his teammate.

Where the hell IS that bastard? I�m usually the one that sleeps in!

�Dammit,
Sasuke! If you don�t
show your stupid face right now I swear I�ll��

�Do what, exactly?�

Naruto cut
himself off in mid-yell and stared, looking much like a bewildered hedgehog in
a bright orange jumpsuit. Sasuke stared back, his gaze steady and challenging,
his eyes narrowed in annoyance. He might
have been intimidating if his hair wasn�t still suffering from severe bed-head.

Naruto had to
submerge the urge to burst out laughing.

�Oi! Sasuke!� he said through his muffled
snickering, �What the hell happened to your head?!�

Sasuke blinked,
his narrowed gaze lightening a little. �I beg your pardon?�

�Your
head, baka!� Naruto
snorted, �It looks like something was gnawing on the back of it! Go look for
yourself!�

Sasuke rolled his
eyes and left the hallway, walking back into his room. Naruto followed,
naturally, not caring that he hadn�t been invited. He took one glance at the
room and sighed. It hadn�t changed much since he�d last seen it.

�Don�t you ever
redecorate? I could have sworn that SAME sock was there back when you were a
Genin�� his eyes wandered over the walls and narrowed, �Don�t you have a mirror
in here? Or is it in the bathroo��

Naruto was saved
from investigating further by Sasuke turning his head so quickly he was
surprised it didn�t snap right off. The Uchiha�s eyes were as dark as ever, but
Naruto could tell even from across the room that they were burning with rage.

�No, I don�t have a mirror, you idiot.
Not one in the house. So do me a favor and quit sticking your obnoxious nose
into other people�s privacy, alright?�

It usually took a
lot more than him just being his generally annoying self to make Sasuke loose
his cool, and he�d learnt a long time ago that unless the situation called for
it, it was best not to push Sasuke over the edge. Doing so usually resulted in
a large fight, and regardless of who won, it ended in several months of silence
between the two boys. It often took the long, hard work of their fellow young
shinobi to get the two on speaking terms again.

Stupid
Sasuke. He always had
to go and ruin the mood.

It took Naruto
another moment to realize that, despite his intrusion and loud wake-up call,
Sasuke was not rushing to get ready. He was sitting on the edge of his bed,
eyes closed, bare feet braced apart, elbows balanced on his knees, and hands
hanging listlessly. He was dressed in what Naruto could only assume he used for
nightclothes: a white t-shirt and pair of navy shorts so dark they could have
passed for black. The white shirt made his skin look paler than it normally
did, which in turn made his hair stark and sharp-edged against his skin. It
made him look� dangerous.

�Uh� Sasuke?�

Sasuke�s lids
lifted slightly, exposing a slit for his eyes to peer through. But he wasn�t
looking at Naruto; he was looking at the wall beside him.

�What?�

Naruto actually
took a moment to wonder briefly what had gotten into the Uchiha teen.

Then he got angry
because the idiot had obviously forgotten what today was.

�It�s
Sakura-chan�s birthday, idiot! Ino�s been raving on an on about her surprise
party all month! How could you possibly forget?! And you already said you�d go,
so don�t you say you�re not coming, Ino sent me all the way over here to get
your ass out of bed, and� and�� Naruto couldn�t even make himself finish. How
could Sasuke be so stupid?
Sakura-chan�s party wouldn�t do anything
for her if her stupid �Sasuke-kun� didn�t show up! As much as he liked her, and
as much as he hated Sasuke for stealing her attention, he still did not approve
of anyone making her cry, especially
this stupid, rat-faced, wanna-be�

�Ch, I said I�d
think about it. I never promised anything.�

Sasuke, seemingly
satisfied with his answer, flopped backwards onto the bed, feet still on the
floor. His left arm was now thrown over his eyes, hiding Naruto from his
vision.

Naruto felt like
his head was going to explode.

�THINK about
it?!� Naruto was beyond angry now, �You idiot! You know how horrible she�ll
feel if you don�t show up! And don�t you dare pull that �I-don�t-care-crap� on
me, you bastard, because I know you do! You are going and that�s the end of it
and you better be an angel or I�ll make every day as annoying as possible for you!
And if you don�t get your ass off that bed and get ready to go I�ll dress you
MYSELF and drag you kicking and screaming all the way to��

�Naruto, I swear
on all the past Hokages that if you don�t lower your voice, I�m going to rip
your vocal cords out with my bare hands and strangle you with them.�

Ah, sarcasm.
Well, Sasuke couldn�t be too
depressed if he retained that much of his usual attitude.

Naruto did stop yelling,
but was not about to let Sasuke lie in bed all day feeling sorry for himself
when Sakura would be worrying about him all bloody night. Walking over to the
bed, he folded his arms over his chest and glared down at the dark-haired boy.

�What the hell
has gotten into you these past few weeks?� he demanded, but a bit gentler than
usual, �The girls have been going psycho because you�ve been avoiding everyone,
and here I thought it was just you being you trying to avoid us for your
training, or to harass Kakashi-sensei or something, and here I find you, damn
near noon, still in your bloody pajamas, lying in bed!�

There was a short
silence before Sasuke responded to this accusation.

�Would it be too
much to ask you to go away?� Sasuke said, eyes still covered by his forearm.

�Yes,� came the defiant answer.

�Alright, I tried
being polite. How about this: fuck off,
Naruto.�

�You know what��
Naruto had had it up to his ears with Sasuke brushing him off. He was trying to be a friend, trying to understand, but no�fucking
Sasuke was too good for that. Well,
then he�d get what was coming to him!

Naruto had
attempted to slam his fist down into Sasuke�s jaw, but the hand covering the
Uchiha�s eyes shot up in a reflex motion. It seized Naruto�s wrist, stopping it
just an inch from his face. His eyes were calm, cool and without emotion, which
just enraged Naruto more as he stared down at his teammate, his arm shaking
from the force he�d driven it downward with.

�Once was enough,
Naruto,� Sasuke said quietly, and let his wrist go.

Naruto pulled it
back without even thinking about it and stood up straight, rubbing his wrist.
What the hell was Sasuke talking about? He hadn�t hit him yet, not even once!
But Sasuke gave Naruto no further reason to argue with him, for the boy had
already stripped off his white t-shirt and appeared to be rooting for his usual
navy top, the one with the his clan symbol embroidered on the back. Naruto
glared at the boy�s bare back indignantly, as if it insulted him for somehow
looking more muscular than his. Naruto sighed and looked away, cursing his
stupidity. He knew he was strong,
even if he did not look it, and that was all that mattered. Fat lot of good it
did for him when he was working to impress, though, and it wasn�t that he was particularly
bad-looking, either. The truth was, near sixteen he was the splitting image of
the Yondaime (though he seemed to be one of the few
in Konoha to not have realized it), save the whisker-marks adoring his cheeks
and, of course, his height. In four years he�d not gained more than a few
measly inches, while even Hinata had managed to grow enough to stay taller than
he was. In fact, Konohamaru was nearly his height now, even though he about two
generations younger than the blonde.

Sasuke, of
course, was easily half a foot taller than he was.

Stupid
Sasuke.

Sasuke had
apparently found his shirt and managed to do something to his hair to make it
fall into place while Naruto had been lost in his thoughts. The next time the blonde
bothered to look Sasuke was standing about four feet in front of him, fully
dressed and ready. Naruto bleakly noted that he had not bothered to change his
shorts.

�Are you going to
move, idiot? Or did you wake me up and force me to get dressed so we could
stand here and stare at each other all day?�

It was only then
that Naruto noticed he was blocking the door. He flushed slightly and jumped
out of the way, mumbling about how it was the idiot�s own fault for taking so
long and that he�d nearly fallen asleep waiting for him. Leave it to Sasuke to
make him uncomfortable over absolutely nothing.

Thankfully,
Sasuke didn�t seem to notice and, rolling his eyes again, stepped out of the
room. Naruto followed behind him.

�Eh� Sasuke?� Naruto
asked tentatively as Sasuke closed the front door, then fell in step with him
down the deserted street.

�What?�

�Why don�t you
have any mirrors in your house?�

It was an
innocent enough question, but Sasuke seemed quite reluctant to answer. Naruto
nearly asked again when Sasuke finally replied, �Some of us don�t worry
ourselves with vanity, Naruto.�

Naruto blinked,
and then scowled. �Don�t be an idiot, Sasuke! How can you treat your own wounds
if you don�t even have a mirror lying around!� he yelled at him, �How do you
remember what your own face looks like, if you can�t even see yourself when you
brush your teeth in the morning?�

Sasuke grit his
teeth but didn�t say anything for a moment.

�It�s none of
your fucking business, what I do and what I don�t do, so stop acting like it
is.�

Naruto was about
to protest this presumption when he was distracted by someone else calling his
name.

�Oi, Naruto! Did
you fin�Sasuke-kun!� Ino�s high-pitched voice pierced his ears as she screeched
the Uchiha�s name, �We were hoping you would make it!� she added, giving him
that million-dollar smile Shikamaru secretly adored. But even Naruto, in all of
his naivety, could tell the smiling and enthusiasm was fake.

They had passed
through the gates separating the old Uchiha community from the rest of the
village and ended up on the main street. Shikamaru was with Ino already, as was
Hinata, Neji and Tenten. Neji nodded, acknowledging their presence, but seemed
about as thrilled as Sasuke to be there. Naruto had the suspicion that Tenten
had dragged Neji out his home similarly to the way he had done to Sasuke. Ino
jogged down the street towards Naruto and Sasuke, leaving the other Chuunin
behind her.

�Where�s Lee?�
Naruto asked curiously as she approached. Surely he would be at Sakura-chan�s
birthday�

�He�s keeping
Sakura busy, Kiba too,� Ino answered quickly, dismissing the subject. �Come on,
hurry up you two�� she scowled briefly at the two of them, plodding along, ��she�ll
know they�re up to something sooner or later, we need to get there before she
does!�

�Get where,
exactly?� Sasuke asked suddenly.

�Shikamaru�s
house,� the girl replied, getting behind both of the boys and beginning to push
them up the street, one hand on each of their backs, �We were going to use my
place, but my dad�s gone and changed his vacation dates. But Shikamaru�s
parents will be gone all week on a mission, so we�ve setup there. Hurry UP,
will you?�

�Oi! Don�t push!� Naruto complained, speeding
up. �And why didn�t you ask to use my place? I don�t have to worry about
parents!�

Ino looked
surprised, as if she didn�t expect Naruto to be so obvious about his lack of
parents.

�Naruto, your
place is barely big enough for you, much less a dozen or more of us,� Sasuke
pointed out, snapping Ino out of her daze. She nodded in agreement, but didn�t
add anything.

Naruto rolled his
eyes, �Yeah, whatever. Let�s just get this on and over with.�

* * *

�So� why are we
going into the middle of the woods?� Sakura asked with just a little doubt. Her
relationship with Lee had done nothing but improve over the years, and she both
respected and trusted him as a friend and a fellow shinobi, but she still could
not deny Lee was one of the oddest people she knew. The fact that he�d showed
up at precisely noon to drag her into the forest on her birthday just confirmed her
observation.

�Surprise!� Lee responded for the fourth time,
turning to wink at her.

Sakura sighed and
gave in to him tugging at her wrist, dragging her further into the trees.

Inwardly, the
young Chuunin was slightly unsettled. She didn�t expect anything super-special
for her birthday, but it�d seemed like the majority of her friends had
forgotten it. Ino had left a note card and a small bouquet of flowers on her
doorstep that morning wishing her a happy sixteenth, and Lee had appeared half
an hour ago to collect her and give her a surprise of some sort, but outside
those two, no one had made any effort to recognize her big day. And it wasn�t
like it was just any old birthday� it was her sweet sixteenth.

<Selfish bastards! How could they
forget such an important day in a girl�s life?!>

�Almost there!�
Lee shouted back to her, flashing a smile.

True to his word,
Lee came to a halt just a few minutes later. They were in the center of a small
field that Sakura had never seen before. And it was full of�

�Stumps?�

�Yup!� Lee said enthusiastically, prancing from
one to the other. Each stump had some degree of injury, ranging from missing
the bark to having been reduced to three times their original thickness.

�This is my
private, personal training ground!� Lee went on, leaping on top of one of the
tallest logs, �This is where I, Rock Lee, have practiced and practiced my
taijutsu since I was enrolled in the Academy!�

�That�s� nice,
Lee,� Sakura said, slightly taken aback. Was this the surprise he�d dragged her
all the way out here for?

<Better not
be!>

�You,
Sakura-chan, are the only person besides Gai-sensei to ever step foot on these
sacred grounds of dedicated hard work!� he declared proudly, somersaulting down
and landing on one knee in front of her with one hand behind his back. Taking
her hand with his, he smiled up at her, �Happy Birthday!�

Lee produced the hand
behind his back, which was holding a small, bottle-sized piece of wood that
looked like it�d been beaten to a pulp�literally. Sakura starred at it for a
moment, a bit unsure of what to do. Lee continued to smile, but his gaze
faltered slightly. Sakura quickly accepted the piece of wood and his gaze
regained its confidence. Leaping to his feet, Lee did his best pose.

�That was my
first stump!� he told her proudly. �After years and years of long, hard work
and much practice�and sore limbs�I turned the five-foot thick log into this! It
is very special to me, for it symbolizes how hard I�ve worked to become the
ninja I am today and I, I� I want you to have it.�

The last part of
Lee�s sentence sounded choked, and looking at him again, Sakura noticed he looked
close to tears. Was he serious?

�You don�t� like
it?� Lee asked cautiously, his face falling.

Apparently, he was serious.

�No! I mean, yes,
yes! Of course I like it!� Sakura said quickly, smiling and giving a nervous
laugh. �It�s� very sweet of you, Lee-san. Thank you.�

Lee�s face lit up
again. �You really like it?�

�It�s the best
birthday present I�ve gotten all day,� she answered truthfully.

This seemed to
reinstall Lee�s confidence as he did an enthusiastic jump. �Yatta!
I�m glad you like it, Sakura-chan!�

<Idiot! Girls want flowers and jewelry,
not splintery pieces of wood!!>

Sakura sighed as
Lee did a small happy dance. Her birthday was not going so well. She was
imagining this day ever since her last birthday, when she had turned fifteen.
She had the clear image of how everything was going to go for her perfect sweet
sixteen: She would wake up to find a large bouquet of flowers on her doorstep
with a note card giving her the location to her surprise party; all of her friends
would be there to wish her a happy birthday; even Naruto would be quieter and
kind to her; and Sasuke would be there, smiling, waiting for her, ready to
confess the feelings they had for one another after all this time�

Sakura sighed as
Lee began to reminisce about �old times� as he led her by her free hand back
out of the clearing, going at a much slower pace then before. It felt like
hours as they trudged along, Sakura muttering phrases like �Really?� and �Then
what happened?� just to make it appear she really was listening to everything Lee was telling her. Her Inner Self was
beginning to get angry, but she subdued the urge to scream � it was not Lee�s
fault, after all, that everyone had forgotten her birthday. He had at least remembered and had spent some time
planning on what to give her, even if it wasn�t what she was exactly hoping
for.

�Hey,
Sakura!�

The new voice
finally pulled Sakura from her thoughts, and she realized with a jolt that they
had entered the village again already. The person calling her name was jogging
towards the pair, his four-legged companion bounding along his side.

Kiba stopped a
few feet in front of them and panted. How long had he been running?

�Oi, Kiba!� Lee
greeted him happily, �Are you here to say �Happy Birthday� to Sakura-chan,
too?�

Kiba blinked at
Lee, and Akamaru made a funny growling noise that sounded confused. He looked
at Sakura, �It�s your birthday?�

Sakura sighed.
Well, she didn�t really expect Kiba, of all people, to remember, but it was not
improving her day much. �Yes.�

�Huh. Uh, happy
birthday, then,� he said, �But why I was looking for you � Hinata-chan said you
mentioned going to the theatres last week and she said she has the time today,
so she sent me off to find and you tell you that she is with Ino, and Ino is at
Shikamaru�s house, and that you should belt their pronto before we leave.�

Sakura blinked. �We?�

�Yeah,� Kiba
grinned at her, and on the ground Akamaru mimicked him. �We�re all going;
Hinata, Ino, Shika and me� you�re welcome to come too, Lee,� he added after a
moment.

Sakura stared at
him. This sounded awfully like a setup of some sort�

�You mean, like
on a triple date?�

Sakura nearly
dropped the piece of wood Lee had given her.

Kiba seemed nearly
as mortified, and Lee went on to explain his assumption.

�Well, I just
thought� since you and Hinata-chan are going, and Ino-chan and Shikamaru are
also going, then� you mean I could go with��

Sensing the
impending doom, Sakura cut in, laughing a bit too hysterically, �Oh Kiba didn�t
mean that, he meant as a group of
friends, didn�t you, Kiba-kun?�

Kiba thought that
if looks could kill, he�d have died the moment Sakura locked eyes with him.

�Uh, yeah, more
or less�� looking a lot less confident now, Kiba rubbed the back of his head
and stole a look at his watch. �So� yeah. I better get
going back there. Hope to see you guys soon.� and he was gone without so much
as a backward glance.

After Kiba was
gone, Lee chanced a glance at Sakura. �Are you sure you wouldn�t want to�� and
trailed off at the look of death she had given him in return. �Right, so, are
you going to come?�

Sakura shrugged.
�I guess so. I did tell Hinata-chan I would, and if Ino is coming�� she looked
down at her current outfit; red overdress, green shorts, tank underneath� what
was she thinking? Today was her Sweet Sixteenth!

�I need to go
change, though, so�uh� meet you there?� she asked him hopefully.

To her complete
surprise, Lee smiled and nodded. �Sure thing! I�ll
tell them to wait for you!�

Then, very
suddenly, Sakura found herself standing alone in the street. Her shoulders
slumped with another big sigh as she turned around and trudged towards her
home.

* * *

�Ow! Move over!�

�Why the hell is it so dark?�

�Whose foot is that?�

�Mine, get off!�

�I thought we
were going to the movies?�

�Shhh!�

Pat pat pat.

�Is someone knocking?�

�Is that her?�

�Shut up and answer it! Shikamaru!�

�Why
me?�

Pat pat pat.

�Shikamaru--!�

�Hai, hai, I�m
coming!� Shikamaru shouted and scrambled out from behind the counter and away
from the wooden utensil Ino was waving at him. Wandering down the stairs to the
door, he opened it. Sakura beamed up at him from the other side.

�Hey, Shikamaru�
Kiba told me that--�

�Yeah, yeah,
they�re upstairs. Come in.�

So like
Shikamaru. Too lazy to even listen politely while someone finished a sentence.

Sakura followed
him into the entryway, which led up a thin staircase up to the second and third
levels of the building (otherwise known as the flat his parents owned). It was
a really nice house, actually, with huge windows panning the large den area and
looking over a wooded block inside the village. It was something more she would
have expected from Sasuke�s home, which on the other hand was a rather old,
traditional home inside the empty gated community that used to be the home of
his Clan.

She had changed
clothes before coming over, and was now clad in light blue dress that came to a
clean stop just above her knees. Spaghetti straps held it up over her
shoulders, and showed just enough skin to make her look pretty but not
advertising. Her hair, which was still cut at shoulder length, fell freely
around her shoulders without the hiate-ete around her head to hold it in place.
White, small-heeled shoes adorned her feet and clicked softly as she made her
way up the stairs.

Shikamaru had
already reached the top and disappeared down the hall.

Picking up her
pace, Sakura clicked up the stairs�she hadn�t been inside of Shikamaru�s house
more then once or twice, and getting lost was a good possibility. Reaching the
top, Sakura wandered into the first room down the hall and was met with an
empty den. It was lit with an orange glow because of the setting sun shining
through the windows, but otherwise deserted.

�Shikamaru?�

Several things
happened next in very short succession; a large assortment of her friends
leaped out from behind various obstacles and furniture, Naruto, Lee and Ino
shouted �HAPPY BIRTHDAY!� at the top of their lungs, and Lee nearly tackled her
with a hug. Sakura�s hair stood up at the jolt of surprise and she nearly fell
over as Lee righted himself and told her how happy he was for her now that she
was sixteen and hoped she had the best day ever and if there was ANYTHING he
could do for her then to just let hi�

�Lee, LEE!
Please! Let her breathe!�

Thank you, Sakura�s eyes said to Ino, who shooed Lee
away with her wooden spoon. Ino beamed at her. �Surprise!�

�I� wow,� Sakura
looked happily surprised, and just smiled because she wasn�t sure how to
properly react. Just an hour ago she had been moping about how no one loved her
enough to remember her birthday, and now she was standing in a room full of
them for an apparent surprise party. Ino, Lee and Naruto had made themselves
obvious enough, and looking around she was able to spot Hinata, Kiba, Ten-ten,
Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, and� Sakura�s eyes grew wide as she spotted a familiar
dark figure hiding the back of the room.

�Sasuke-kun!�

Sasuke braced
himself for what he knew was coming. Sure enough, not five seconds after the
squeal, thin arms laced around his neck and Sakura attached herself to him with
a secure squeeze.

Thou shall not kill, thou shall not
kill�good god, she�s heavy.

He wanted to tell
her to get off. He wanted to push her away and tell her to grow up. Looks of
certain death from Ino, Lee and Naruto met him over her shoulder as she
continued to molest him. He decided just to glower at Naruto instead, who
smiled back at him in return.

Finally, the
pressure decreased and Sakura�s arms slipped down and rested on his shoulders
as she beamed up at him. �I�m so happy you came.�

Sasuke tried to
smile. He really did. All he managed to do, though, was remove his scowl. �I�ll
alert the media.�

She apparently
took his sarcasm as a good thing, because she smiled even wider than before
and�what the HELL was that?

Sakura had stood
up on her tiptoes so she could reach, and kissed him lightly on the cheek which
involuntarily made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, then quickly
turned away and wove her way over between Ino and Hinata, leaving Sasuke
standing there, staring, and quite unsure of just how to react to that. Grimacing, he wiped his cheek with the back
of his hand and noticed Naruto glaring at him from across the room. The grimace
vanished and was replaced with an intended smirk, to which Naruto scowled.
Sasuke withheld the extremely immature urge to stick his tongue out at Naruto.

�I�m surprised
you came.�

Sasuke turned
around. Kiba was standing there, apparently abandoned by Hinata for the time
being. �So am I.�

Grinning at him
with teeth that could rival Naruto�s, Kiba tossed Sasuke something, which
Sasuke caught on reflex. Eyes studied the bottle critically; Sasuke looked back
at Kiba questioningly.

Kiba just
continued to grin at him. �Loosen up a bit for once, okay?�

Sasuke was
beginning to feel like this was less a surprise party for Sakura and more of a
setup for him. The bottle of sake in his
palm was cool, not refrigerator-cold but still below room temperature. He
watched as the dog-tamer slowly but surely distributed the rest of the bottles
around the room to whoever would take them. Sasuke was just setting his bottle
down on a nondescript table to ignore when a familiar voice assaulted his
senses.

�Oi,
oi! If he doesn�t want
it, I�ll take it!�

Naruto, it
seemed, was making good use of Neji�s generosity.

Gripping the
bottle tightly in his hand, his wrist changed its mind and offhandedly decided
not to abandon its hostage quite yet.

* * *

Sasuke hadn�t
tasted alcohol in a few months, and that was enough to convince his taste buds
that it was nothing but acidy piss-water that was best to be avoided. It was
hard to get his pride to agree when the other males in the room, especially a
certain blonde, all seemed quite guiltless in their spoiling.

By the end of the
first hour, the cake had been divided and digested, the cola was all but gone, and
Neji, Sakura and Lee were the only souls in the room to have yet touched the
sake (Kiba had actually gotten Hinata to try some, and she was still taking
slow, shy sips out of her bottle in the corner of the room). In the events,
Naruto had gotten himself in a slightly-stupider-then-usual state, Ino was
giggling even more then usual, and Kiba had misplaced Hinata when he had gotten
lost under the coffee table.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and focused on Sasuke, slowly raising an accusing
finger in the Uchiha�s direction. �Oi,� he said slowly, his voice tinged with a
slight slur, �When did you kage-bunshin?�

�Hey!� Ino
yelped, her voice slightly higher than usual, �Leave Sasuke*hic*kun alone.�

�You two are
pathetic,� Shikamaru mumbled, rolling his eyes. Shikamaru, it appeared, was
unusually immune to the effects of alcohol. He�d drunk twice as much as Naruto
without so much as a twitch, and his voice lacked both the smell of sake and
the accompanied slur.

Ino raised and eyebrow at him before sauntering over and sitting
on his lap; Shikamaru had the dignity to look completely horrified at this
development.

�Come on,
Shikamaru~� she purred, waving the wooden spoon dangerously close to his face,
then poked him in the nose with it. �Where�s your party-face, hm?�

Now even the
esteemed Uchiha had a slight grin on his face.

�What the hell
are you smiling at?� Kiba demanded, upside-down on the floor looking up at
Sasuke. �You still have half a bottle to go, you know.�

Sasuke grimaced
and looked at the offending bottle, which was sitting right where he left it on
the table, starring back at him mockingly. He already felt dazed. Finishing off
the bottle, even if it was only his first, did not seem like a good idea.

But then again,
Naruto had already finished his third.

�Naruto, what are
you doing? Put that back!�

Sakura had caught
Naruto trying to steal another bottle of sake out of the cupboard and promptly
shooed him away. �Its enough to have the normally loud, obnoxious Naruto at my
party, I don�t need a drunken, loud,
obnoxious Naruto at my party! Shoo!�

�But that last
bottle was lookin� at me funny!� Naruto protested. �I need to drink it before
it tries something!�

Sasuke grabbed
his bottle off the table and took the rest of the contents in one swing. Damned Naruto.

�That�s the
spirit,� Kiba praised from under the table. �Hey, Hinata!�

�I am not Hinata,� Neji said, trying to sound
somewhat dignified.

�Na?� Kiba sounded confused and came out from under
the table, sat up on the floor and stared at the offending teenager. Sure
enough, it was Neji who was propped up against the wall, looking quite
disgusted with Kiba�s drunken state. �Shit, you�re right. All you damn Hyuuga
look that same. OI, HINATA!�

Sasuke tossed the
empty bottle into the nearest bin, turning his attention back to the other side
of the couch, where Shikamaru had managed to get rid of Ino somehow while he
wasn�t paying attention. �Aren�t your parents going to wonder where their stash
of sake went?�

Shikamaru
shrugged. �Hopefully Naruto will be able to con Jiraiya into replacing it.
That�s the �plan� anyway.�

�And if he
can�t?�

Shikamaru gave
him a look. �I�ll improvise. I�m the genius, remember?�

Sasuke raised an
eyebrow. �So is that how you got rid of Ino, then? With your
genius?�

Shikamaru gave
him a grin that could be described as nothing less than predatory. �When did I
say I wanted to get rid of her? She went to the bathroom.�

Sasuke raised the
other eyebrow and almost inquired further� then decided he didn�t want to know
and let the subject drop.

Leaning back,
Sasuke let his eyelids droop slightly. Though he wasn�t drunk�yet�he still had
a warm, fuzzy feeling in the back of his throat and he was getting tired. He
watched as Naruto ran past, chasing after Sakura, and wondered where the hell
the blonde packed away all of his energy. It was like dealing with a large
five-year old; he kept going and going and going�

�Ahhh! Sakura-chan! Give it BACK!�

�No! Naruto, get
lost! You�ve had enough!�

�It�s not for me,
it�s for Kiba!�

�He�s had more
than you!�

�Then it�s for
Lee!�

�Lee can�t
d�dammit, Naruto, I said NO!�

�and
going and going. Just
listening to Naruto was making him more tired.

Great, now I sound like Shikamaru.

Ino had
reappeared from the bathroom and hit Naruto on the back of his head with her
spoon, telling him that if he drank anything other than water for the rest of
the night she�d shove it somewhere very uncomfortable. Grumbling, Naruto
finally surrendered the last bottle of sake to Sakura and came plodding over to
the couch, flopping down between Shikamaru and Sasuke.

�Women,� he
muttered.

�Thinking of
changing lanes?� Shikamaru asked, grinning at him.

Naruto rolled his
eyes, �Why can�t they just mind their own business? I can drink sake if I want
to drink sake!�

�Even if you�re
still under aged and therefore illegal,� Sasuke added mockingly.

�Not to mention
already drunk to the point that you�re seeing multiple Sasukes,� Shikamaru put
in.

�Damn right,�
said Naruto.

Shikamaru
laughed. �It�s got to be getting cold in Hell when a man can be bullied by a
woman.�

�Well, remember
he is still a fair few inches shorter then her�� Sasuke went on.

��more like half
a foot�� Shikamaru corrected him.

�And now the men
are picking on me,� Naruto said gloomily, �Story of my life.�

�What do you
expect? Even Konohamaru is going to be taller than you,� Sasuke said, wearing a
wicked grin. �Face it, Naruto: you�re going to be looking up to people all your
life.�

�Except when I
knock your sorry ass on the ground, you mean,� Naruto shot back childishly.

�I�d like to see
you try.�

Naruto started to
get up, but Shikamaru dragged him back down by the sleeve.

�I really don�t
care if you two turn this party into another one of your �I hate you!� - �But I hate
you more!� explosions, but you are NOT doing it in my house.�

Naruto and Sasuke
both stared at him.

Shikamaru
scowled. �You�re both still acting like you�re twelve,
for pete�s sake.�

Naruto looked
back at Sasuke, whose eyes met his and Naruto grinned at him. It was a natural
smile, nothing sarcastic or nasty about it. Then something strange happened;
Sasuke felt himself smile slightly back.

The moment ended,
however, when Sakura decided she could fit in the small space between Naruto
and Sasuke. She scooted closer to Sasuke muttering, �Not too close to Naruto,�
and turned her head away from him, completely blocking out herself and Sasuke
from Naruto�s view.

Sakura didn�t
notice Naruto get up and leave. Sasuke did, and he stopped smiling.

�Are you having a
good time, Sasuke-kun?�

Sasuke shrugged.
He had been having a good time a minute ago, but she had effectively ruined
that. It might have been her birthday
party, but he wasn�t here for her.

Sakura translated
his answer as an affirmative and smiled lovingly at him. �I�ve hardly seen you
lately. I mean, the last few years were understandable, but the past couple of
months you�ve seemed so distant. Is everything okay?�

Sasuke sighed and
closed his eyes. Why, of all people, did Sakura try to pry these things out of
him? If he didn�t feel like socializing, she automatically assumed something
was wrong, and even when you told her you were fine she still didn�t believe
you and would go poke and stab and pry until it made you bleed.

�You are going and that�s the end of it and
you better be an angel or I�ll make every day as annoying as possible for you!�

Naruto�s voice
reverberated silently in his head as he remembered the blonde�s threats from the
morning. Cursing his teammate mentally, Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at
Sakura, who was beaming worriedly at him.

�I�m fine,
Sakura. I just needed a couple of weeks to myself. I�ll be around more often
now, okay?�

Sakura looked
shocked and thrilled. Sasuke had never
said that much to her in one sentence that wasn�t chiding or reprimanding.

Sasuke instantly
regretted his choice of words when Sakura, confidence renewed, repositioned
herself directly next to him on the couch (Sasuke liked his personal space and
being squished by anyone � girls, boys, whoever � was enough to make him want
to explode) and tilted her head sideways so it dropped on his shoulder. His
body twisted, going slightly rigid as it tried to maneuver itself away from
her, but he was trapped between her and the arm of the couch. His eyes searched
the room for something � anything to
use as an excuse to leave, but everyone else was well occupied and Naruto was
nowhere to be seen.

�I�m glad you�re
feeling better,� Sakura was saying. �We all worry so much about you,
Sasuke-kun. You have a lot of people who care about you, we don�t want to annoy
you, we just want to make sure that you�re okay, and that you know we�re here
for you if you need us. Even Naruto cares about you, even if he�d never admit
it and says he hates you all the time. He�d do anything for you� and� so would
I.�

Fuck, she�s nuts. If I ever needed help, now is the time�

�You know that,
right, Sasuke-kun? You know we�re all here for you. That I�m here for you��

I am going to kill you, Naruto�

��Sasuke-kun?�

Sasuke forced a
normal expression and looked over at her with disinterest. She was still
smiling hopefully, awaiting some sort of reply.

�Yeah,� was all
he said.

It must have been
enough, because Sakura cuddled even closer

to him and�she better not dare put
her hand near his, or he�d cut it off�he couldn�t believe she was holding his hand!

�I really missed
you, Sasuke-kun,� she said and squeezed his hand and buried her face in his
shoulder.

Sasuke couldn�t take
it anymore.

He stood up
abruptly, pulling his hand away forcefully.

�Sasuke-ku��

Sasuke glared at
her. His words spat out like acid, and he didn�t bother to tone himself down
any. �Will you cut it out?�

Sakura was beginning
to look panicky. �Sasuke-kun� what�s��

�Wrong?� Sasuke
finished for her, his voice rising slightly as he stood over her. �Do you
really want to know?�

�Well, yes, of cours��

She asked for it.

�You are. You're what�s
wrong,� he snapped immediately, cutting her off once more. �That�s all this is
about, you this, you that, Sasuke-kun this,
Sasuke-kun that. I really wish you
would fucking stop calling me that! Or have you purposely ignored that fact
that I never give you cute little nicknames? I don�t like you, Sakura-chan, I never have, I never will, and I
wouldn�t have spent so much as one minute in your company if I hadn�t been
forced into a fucking squad with you, and the only reason I�m at your stupid birthday party is because
that fucking moron who you ignore and
insult and hate so much cared enough about you

to force me out of my house!�

Sakura looked
like she was about to cry. �But Sasuke-kun��

�I told you to STOP calling me that!� By now, Sasuke
had drawn the attention of everyone in the house, even Kiba, who was watching
from the safety of the looming coffee table. �You don�t get it, do you? Take a
clue from the Ino pig and leave me the fuck alone, alright? All you do is
whine, panic, fawn and squeak, and it�s fucking annoying! You have no talent, no ambition, no clue about anything and you think that just because I�ve had to put up with you
all these years that you�re going to get your way and you�re fucking wrong! I
can�t even stand you anymore! I�d
rather be forced to endure Naruto then you!�

Normally, Naruto
would have been happy to hear those words.

Save for when
they were directed at Sakura.

�Sasuke, what the
hel�� he began, but Sasuke cut him off with a glare.

�Don�t even try
it,� he snarled, looking at Naruto like he was ready to kill him. �I wouldn�t
even be here if it weren�t for you.
Don�t kid yourself, Naruto, you�re only a fraction more useful then she is, and
that�s not saying much.�

Naruto was
stunned speechless. He wasn�t even aware his mouth was hanging open. Nobody else
dared say a word.

�You�re all
fucking useless,� Sasuke spat, glaring at the lot of them, �And you can all go
to hell.�

The door Sasuke
slammed on his way out closed so hard the window broke.

�Asshole,�
Shikamaru muttered.

* * * * *

A/N: Ooooh, so
mean. So mean. You know it was bound to happen eventually,
don�t look so surprised. *cheers for Sasuke*

* * * * *
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