[fic] Cat and Mouse

[transient_words]

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

Rating: M

Summary: In which Naruto is oblivious, Sasuke a bastard and both of them are inevitably foolish. NaruSasu.

Notes: I can't say that I'm incredibly pleased with this piece – it was supposed to be longer, but then my muses just came to a standstill (and a lot was cut off). I tried to make this less wordy, but one of the main characteristic of my writing just couldn't be killed off. The long, introductory parts remain which proves that I've read too much Dickens. Also, as I wrote this with the sheer intention of consoling myself, it's fluff (it's my birthday, if you care to know). All criticism accepted.

...

Life was supposed to get better and flow in more logical lines, once you hit the big ten plus eight – it was like a big lottery win. That was, if you weren't called Naruto Uzumaki and life, up to that point, had been nothing short of confusing, weird and other fancy adjectives dealing with the freakish. And right now, it wasn't only confusing, but dumbly and boringly repetitious. Namely, repetitious in the context that Sasuke was pissed off yet again ... and, honestly, how was this anything new?

“Sasuke, wait...damn.”

He didn't wait though and, again, Naruto was left standing in the dark or figuratively left dangling from a cliff with the eagles swirling above his head, all expectant towards his premature death. But he wasn't going to fall. He was furious.

Bloody holy fucking shit, Naruto cursed internally, cracking his knuckles and grinding his teeth furiously together, this was irritating.

This time, he hadn't even said anything offensive. He hadn't even called Sasuke a bitchy and whiny asshole, though to be fair, Sasuke was totally behaving like one – and as far as Naruto was concerned he really hadn't done anything bad. No, he was just being himself – namely, loud and impulsive and lively -- and Sasuke couldn't deal with that.

Oh yes, he'd really expected things to get easier once they were older, stronger and had hoped that the blood would come pumping faster into his brain – and make his neurones work faster, more efficiently. Actually, Naruto wasn't sure whether the part with the neurones was correct, but that's what Naruto had been hoping for.

Getting smart-assey at a certain age, amongst all, was the natural course of things: kids were dumb and adults were smart and that was that.

Apparently, however by divine measure or plain bad luck, shit happened and nothing was better – if anything it had only gotten proportionately worse. Of course, if he'd been a cynical man and a follower of the Freudian school, he shouldn't have been surprised, but Naruto wasn't any of those followers, so these pleasant facts of life came literally tumbling down on him like an avalanche. Needless to say, he was a teeny bit stupefied and mostly gaped like a fish at the astonishing developments or lack thereof. Being, however, a good sport, he managed to master most of the things with a smile – there was no point in running away. He wasn't Sasuke.

Naruto, though supposedly legal, was still a clumsy trickster, Sasuke hadn't outgrown his anti-social tendencies and Sakura – well, she being the exception – had changed; she was more violent and assertive than before. No longer scared, she put her fists to good to use; however, also made quite a name for herself for being one of the most – academically – intelligent ninja of her age group. She was one of the few who could deal with differentials and not feel like banging her head against the wall when confronted with them.

Had she been fawning over Sasuke and scared in the past, she was now stubborn, self-confident and had definitely gotten over the Uchiha – and that was fine, really.

Still, what did make him raise his eyebrows was that he no longer liked her in that way... or that he didn't feel the slightest bit of jealously when he saw and – which was definitely a surprising turn of events – with Lee. Then again, he assumed that every underdog had his day.

What didn't perturb him that much either was the fact that he had finally achieved the acknowledgement he deserved (hell, he'd earned it with fists, blood and sweat). Sure, there were still the idiots out there who couldn't bear being in the same room with him, but overall, he was respected and he was mightily fine with that – because he was awesome and there was no way around it. If some old, rheumatic retard with a scratchy chin couldn't deal with him being accepted, then it was his bad: Naruto wasn't going to appease people by acting like he was affected by the criticism. He would never gotten anywhere, if he had taken his time wondering how many people hated him and feared him.

Yet, what angered him not only a little, but made the blood come a-pumping faster to his limps was the fact that Sasuke, the damned and damnable fucktard, had recently taken it into his head that ignoring Naruto was the best he could do.

Well, somehow the – not necessarily sane – Uchiha had arrived at the conclusion that neither swears, threats of physical violence and demeaning insults worked with Naruto. So, he resorted to silence.

It had first happened a couple of weeks ago, after a pretty nasty fight over ramen and how it wasn't Sasuke's business to interfere with his eating habits -- he shouldn't have thrown his bowl out of the window!

"Why don't you just fucking shut up, bastard?" Naruto had roared in anger because ramen was good and he'd really been hungry.

Having always been a bit of a vicious prat, Sasuke had taken that literally and now, as already mentioned, he really kept his yap shut; the only thing Naruto could get out of him were grunts and frustrated sighs.

Sure, he shouldn't have cared because Sasuke had always been a bastard; he shouldn't have expected that to have changed. Still, too much was too much.

-------------

Naruto was really getting fed up with Sasuke's silent treatment: there was a certain dose of ignorance he could endure, but he had his limits. It was one thing being called a dumb ass at every turn, but it was a completely different thing to not be acknowledged at all, to be treated like a thin sheet of dust. Sasuke, to his dismay, happened to be very good at not noticing his presence. He'd just sit there on that rock and, holding his head between his hands stare out into horizon, like one transfixed or turned into stone by Medusa. Hell, he did look a statue when he just stared and on and on...

On that sunny, pleasant little morning, when birds chirruped prettily and all sorts of other poetically miraculous things happened, Naruto was, like usual, in the process, of training and contemplating how he'd prove everyone that he was the best. Under normal circumstances, he loved doing that, but not today. Not, when he saw that the bastard was rigidly quiet again and – obviously – pretending that Naruto wasn't alive.

“Sasuke...” he started, hoping that the mention of his name would stir some sort of emotion or rouse him to action, but the addressed feigned not to have heard a syllable. Of course, to be fair, Naruto hadn't said more than a syllable, but this wasn't relevant. He wanted that moron to finally open his mouth and start talking.

"Are you deaf? I'm talking to you, oi!"

Sasuke, of course, judging by the way he – not so very secretly – frowned and clenched his fists had heard him pretty well. Yet, he didn't respond, but pretended observe the sky; a habit, he had, no doubt picked from Shikamaru who enjoyed solitude a great deal.

Naruto, however, just loathed the silence. Silence was too much like death: only corpses didn't talk to each other and as far as he checked, he definitely wasn't rotting in his grave yet. Naruto was alive, bristling with energy and bursting with impressions – as dumb as they might be – he wanted to share them with Sasuke. He wanted to know that Sasuke was alive as well.

Being with someone meant communication and if that didn't work out, there was no relationship or anything for that matter. Of course, he and Sasuke weren't in a relationship, per se; however, this didn't mean that the other boy had to ignore him like that. He didn't deserve this jackass behaviour from Sasuke, not when he'd dragged him back all the way to Konoha, helped him defeat his psycho – genius brother and Naruto was fairly certain that the bastard had been spared because of him. Tsunade wasn't very fond of Sasuke and as it was, the Uchiha was lucky he hadn't been flamed alive. She could have stripped all off his belonging and left him in the wretched status of a genin forever. But that hadn't happened, thankfully.

Sometime, during his internal reflections, Sasuke had risen and was in the midst of walking away, when the action caught Naruto's attention. Of course, he wasn't pleased by that gesture of attentiveness either, and so, walked right after him.

-------

"Where the fuck are you going to?"

No answer: Sasuke was, for the hundredth time that day, silent.

“Hey, are you ever going to talk to me again?” he asked, staring at Sasuke's back, which mocked him anew with its taunting “I'm better than you”.

Sasuke, in his usual elegant and thus, frustrating manner didn't answer, feigning to be deaf, blind and dumb and continued to walk on. After all, no idiot could have missed the frantic gesticulation of Naruto nor the loudness in his voice, unless he had truly been in honoured of possessing these qualities.

“Sasuke, fuck! Answer me or I'll...I'll --”

“Shut up, Naruto. You're giving me a migraine.”

At last, Naruto thought, he'd finally managed to get some sort of reaction form Sasuke, other than the non-verbal signs of exasperation and theatrical "woe is me".

“Well, at least you're talkin' to me right now.”

Sasuke continued to walk, faster than before and was obviously intent on getting rid off the blond; however, Naruto wasn't going to allow that and just continued following him merrily, as if they were taking a pleasant stroll, side by side. Finally, after ten minutes of this, Sasuke turned around and looking more frustrated than ever, curtly said:

“Naruto, I just don't want to talk about-- forget it.”

“No, I won't forget! It's always about you, all the time. You're just an insufferable blockhead.”

“Your point being?”

“That you're being selfish and immature, Sasuke. ““

Sasuke looked at him as if he'd grown two heads or two horns – it seemed as if Naruto had professed the most outrageous words ever pronounced before.

“How am I being selfish, Naruto? You're the one who follows me around all the time...I've never asked for your attention!”

Naruto begged to counterfeit that: Sasuke, whenever he moped, challenged him with a smirk and a “holier than thou” attitude had constantly driven him to prove his worth. If Sasuke had really been that intent on being left alone, he would have never addressed him in the first place, would he?

“Oh damnit, Sasuke...you know just as well as I do that you like it,” Naruto answered fiercely, not bothering to hide the evil, not so innocent grinning appearing on his face; Sasuke ignored it and tried to walk away, knowing that the grin didn't imply anything good.

“You're not going to walk away on him me again. Just admit that you like it and we're quit.”

Eager to continue the discussion, Naruto scooted closer to Sasuke and grabbed him by the wrist. He wasn't going to let him go that easily. Of course, Sasuke wasn't pleased.

“I don't like it. And let me go... Right now.”

Naruto blissfully ignored the threatening note in Sasuke's voice and in the same jolly way, answered:

“Your screams tell me otherwise.”

Of course, considering how absorbed they were in their heated discussion, neither Sasuke nor Naruto noticed the crowd of on-lookers they attracted: people of all ages gathered round them and observed – what they termed a lover's spat – with ardent interest.

“Sasuke, I just...” Naruto started, but abruptly came to a halt when he, for the first time, inspected his surroundings and realised that about forty eyes were fixed on him, staring at him like at a clown in a circus. Sasuke, following Naruto's gaze, noticed the crowd as well and paling, cursed, threw Naruto a dirty look, pushed his hands in his pockets and quit – Sasuke would never flee – the scene.

“Great... and he keeps telling me I'm the scaredy-cat,” Naruto muttered sarcastically, feeling not only foolish, but like some underpaid actor in a badly written satire, where irony was used to an exaggerated extent and horses ran rampant without any specific reason. Oh, yeah life was mocking him to the fullest extent now and Sasuke was still the same prissy bastard he'd been at twelve.

“What the hell are you staring at?” he asked the merchants, housewives and old farmers who still hadn't left; they glared at him with their mouths wide open. Under different circumstances, he wouldn't have minded the attention that much, but feeling a wee bit put off and slightly frustrated, Naruto didn't want to have people gaping at him – damn, this wasn't a soap opera!

Then, he ran after Sasuke, anyway; he was that whipped.

“I should have fallen for Hinata or hell Neji... they'd at least not driven me insane.”

Then again, he thought that the Hyuugas were one weird family and the more he envisioned kissing either Hinata or Neji, he felt himself turning green – they just weren't his type, no sir. Sure, Neji had looks and, to be fair, was probably prettier than Sasuke himself, but he didn't like the thought of getting comfortable with that guy. He was even more stoic than Sasuke and the latter wasn't that dead-panned, if one knew how to push his buttons.

-----------

It shouldn't have been surprising that they resumed their argument in front of Sasuke's doorway: it was still warm outside, even though it was already dark. Sasuke, who'd been tired out by the day's event, had even changed.

“You know, I don't usually care about the shit you're going through...because you're always in some turmoil or the other.”

Naruto, though not in the habit of keeping lists, had in the deepest abyss of his mind, a vague idea of how often Sasuke had “angsted” over the one thing or the other.

“Then just leave me alone, Naruto.”

“That's the thing, I can't. Not when we've... “

“Nothing happened, Naruto. It was a mistake.”

“Fine; keep telling yourself that and we'll never get out of this vicious cycle. “

Naruto didn't leave Sasuke an an opportunity to answer, but kissed him insistently on the lips; he'd been tormented enough for a day and for the time being, he just wanted to feel. Sasuke, surprisingly or not, didn't offer much resistance, returning the kiss with a passionate and roughness that wasn't unlike his own. Oh yes, he knew what what would happen after this: he'd push Sasuke into the doorway, slam the door shut and then, ripping his clothes, screw him against a wall, table or even the floor – it was mostly dirty, violent and most of all, damned good. Sasuke happened to like it rough and Naruto didn't mind at all.

Subsequently, however, once they'd sated their desires and fucked each other's brains out, Sasuke would be bitchy and irrational again; he'd claim that it was wrong, insane and so on without pausing to think that he could have stopped. By now, it had become a fairly predictable pattern, so that even Naruto, who wasn't supposed to be the sharpest tool in the shed, had figured it all out.

Sasuke's kisses were growing more demanding and his hands, which had been clutching his shoulders, were now hastily working on his jacket, trying to furiously unzip the garment he was wearing.

“Yeah, it certainly was a mistake...a mistake that we've been carrying out for a couple of months now,” Naruto said, pushing Sasuke's hands away from him with a force and vehemence, not unlike the once he used in battles.

“I can't really take this anymore, Sasuke. Either we do this without all this crap or you can forget me,” he said coldly, trying to keep his level, though he really felt like cracking, screaming and what the hell did he know what. This was frustrating; Sasuke was all kinds of frustrating and driving him the wall.

“You wouldn't dare--” Sasuke snorted, not bothering to finish the sentence because the idea seemed so outrageous to him. He was evidently having fun, pulling the strings and keeping Naruto close at bay.

What a blasted moron, Naruto thought.

“You want to test me? Fine. I'll dare it right now.”

With that Naruto, grim-faced though determined, turned around and leaving a startled Sasuke behind, headed home – and the sounds of his footsteps slowly died away into the night.

It wasn't a particularly chilly night, rather hot and stuffy in its heat and the grasshoppers harped loudly that night.

He didn't make it very, however, because to his shock and amazement, he soon found himself cornered against a tree – the very tree he'd been passing.

“Sasuke, what's the meaning of--”

Sasuke's lips were descending on his again, more violent and desperate than he'd ever known him to be before and along with his surprise, his resolution died away as well. Sooner than expected, his hands were pulling that idiot closer to him, caressing his face, his messy, but soft hair and the world consisted of nothing but Sasuke: his smell, his menacing, low moans and the furious, brutal slamming of his lips.

Well, to hell with it all, Sasuke felt way too good to just be pushed away and he didn't get much of a chance to have sex, anyway. Sure, he could have gone off into a brothel, drowned himself in cheap alcohol and screwed around with some whore, but that wasn't his thing, really: Naruto wasn't going to something that pathetic and emotionless.

With that in mind, Naruto nearly embraced Sasuke tightly and turned them around, so that Sasuke was now the one with his back against the harsh bark of the tree. Sasuke didn't seem to mind, for his eyes were squinted, his forehead sweating profusely and his body shuddering – Sasuke was anticipating something and only Naruto could give it to him. As cliché as it sounded, Naruto knew that no one else would or could ever make that boy whine, moan or tremble as much as he did.

“Naruto, fuck...hurry up,” Sasuke commanded, sounding threatening and positively defeated at the same time; it was hot.

Naruto kissed him hard, enjoying that taste that belonged to Sasuke and no one else – something he wouldn't ever be able to put into words, but still lingered in his nostrils, haunted him in his sleep and rendered him powerless.

“I'll do anything you want me to do, Sasuke.”

It wasn't hard to that, not very hard at all because Sasuke's clothing – which was nothing but a loose-fitting robe -- was so very easy to remove that if he hadn't known better, Naruto would have thought it was all part of a seducing strategy.

“Hold it. Good things come to those who wait,” he muttered angrily before he started to attack Sasuke's neck with kisses, making sure to leave marks all over the sensitive skin.

“Damn you- I want – noo,”

The prolonged “no” sounded like a hiss and Naruto, admittedly turned on, couldn't help kissing Sasuke nearly savagely again, attacking the other's tongue with a determinedness and force that he usually reserved for sparring and fighting. Perhaps, this was another form of battle, as well.

Sasuke fingernails were scratching against his still clothed back and Naruto was grateful for that because it would have been rather painful, otherwise. He didn't mind pain, but being scratched all over wasn't something he indulged in. No, he wasn't a baby for thinking that because scratches had a tendency to burn and sting on the other day and Kyuubi, who had become rather spiteful and sardonic, didn't heal everything, especially when he felt it wasn't worth his time.

When he entered Sasuke – harshly, without the lube (because he didn't care a damn supply without him around), he heard Sasuke breathing heavily and instantly knew what was the matter; the bastard was obviously in pain, but didn't give him any indication whatsoever to stop.

“If you hadn't been such a jerk earlier, we'd have done this at your house and it wouldn't hurt like this.”

“Naruto...”

“I'll stop... I don't want to hurt you,” he whispered gently into Sasuke's ear, who shuddered slightly at that: ears were his weak spot.

He meant it, too. Naruto didn't want Sasuke, as masochistic and annoying he was, to feel any unnecessary discomfort because they were team mates and hell, friends, or to be more precise, friends with benefits. Friends didn't hurt one another.

“Naruto, just move and don't mind this,” Sasuke growled in reply, sounding more like an animal than the stubborn and annoying human-being he was. He started, without giving Naruto any indication, to move his hips. Thus, he managed to push Naruto deeper into him and making the blond moan, practically forced him to start thrusting.

“You – fuck, this feels good,” Naruto groaned, not being able to stop and the sensation of moving in and out of that hot tightness – Sasuke felt way, too inhumanely good. He shouldn't have enjoyed this half as much, but he did; fucking Sasuke, even if it outside, against some rickety tree was better than than anything – it was even better than ramen.

Unfortunately, it was over too quickly and feeling Sasuke hold on him even more despairingly Naruto came – hearing all the while Sasuke's panting, repressed breathing. He didn't scream this time.

“You just like the pain, right?” Naruto asked, once he could speak without sounding hoarse and his brain had somehow gained halfway intelligible thoughts again. Fuck, having Sasuke curled around him like that made Naruto ready for another round, but he knew that the other wouldn't be able to handle it.

“Mmmh...” Sasuke, who had sunken to the ground, gave him to understand. His legs were still wrapped around Naruto's hips and he didn't make any motion to shift from the position.

Naruto shook his head laughingly: he should have known that the Uchiha would be in no coherent state after sex. Noticing their awkward position and the fact that anyone might walk in on them, took care of their dress and untangling the other's arms and shoulders as gently as he could, decided to do the sappiest thing possible on earth – he carried Sasuke home.

Of course, Sasuke didn't realise any of this because he had dozed off. His breathing, no longer harsh or reminiscent of any gurgling, was slow, relaxed and his weight felt light on Naruto's back.

Thankfully, to all purposes, the door was open and Naruto had no difficulty finding Sasuke's bedroom in the large, dim and largely neglected building. He cringed at the thought of living there, imagining what it must have felt like for Sasuke to be haunted, day after day, by the memories of the past.

Sasuke's bedroom was neat and unlike the other rooms, looked livelier and decently pleasant: it was simply furnished, the bed was of a modest shape and the few things that Sasuke owned didn't lie scattered about, but were all hidden in a cupboard and drawers. He was rather tidy and well-organised for a ninja.

Naruto, having observed all that with a peculiar intensity, placed Sasuke gently on the bed and covered him with the bedsheets, remembering that he liked warmth. He didn't know why he knew – it was more like instinct. Besides, Sasuke always seemed to freeze when it was cold outside and tended to be even moodier than usual.

Taking a last look at the boy in the bed, Naruto couldn't suppress the emotions he felt ; he cared too much for that idiot. Therefore, in a moment of sentimental madness, he leaned down and kissed the sleeping Sasuke on the forehead; the contact was short, fleeting and yet, he was sure that the coolness of Sasuke's skin would linger on his lips for quite a while.

“I wish I could hate you, Sasuke. It would be so much easier, if I did.”

Then again, Naruto knew that even if he had really hated Sasuke's guts, he would have been still obsessed with him.

------------------

Of course, it wasn't enough for Naruto to have problems with Sasuke. As usual, a mishap didn't come on it own, but was followed by another, much uglier one. He'd been looking forward to doing some spectacular, bad-ass mission, where kick ass and prove his worth, but, it wasn't his lucky day.

Unfortunately, Tsunade seemed to have something else in mind.

“So, you're sending me to the Wave Country?” he asked groggily, already knowing where this would lead to. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, but damn it, his whole being was itching for action and not the opposite.

“They'd wanted you to come...because you're special.”

Naruto smiled at that; the memories of that adventure coming crashing back to him in an instant. He'd learnt what it really meant to be a ninja back then.

“Fine. So who's to come along?”

“I think you and Sasuke are good enough.”

Naruto rolled his eyes at that. “Why can't Sakura come along?“

He prayed that Tsunade could somehow coerce the medic nin to come along; he always felt safer and less prone to angst about Sasuke when she was present. Somehow, she kept everything in check and made sure that neither of them died a premature death.

“Why would I send her along with two of you? You're bad enough to make the best of us insane,” Tsunade remarked. “She deserves to have a break too, once in a while.”

Naruto had no idea what the old bat was referring to – he'd never driven anyone insane yet. Sure, he and Sasuke fought and yelled at each other a lot, or better said, he yelled a lot and the bastard just stared at him nonchalantly, but that didn't mean...All right, she had a point there.

“Maybe you'll use this mission as an opportunity to resolve your issues with Sasuke. You shouldn't only have him acknowledge you when you're having sex.”

“Hey, wait a second. How did you know that I and Sasuke are – whatever.”

Tsunade eyed him with a look that told him everything he needed to know; it was moments like these that made him grasp how intimidating that woman was. So, she knew and if that wasn't disturbing enough, Tsunade was actively playing the role of a matchmaker. He would have been touched, if it hadn't been that ... well, disturbing, for lack of better word.

Naruto didn't wait for an answer; he was pretty certain that, by now, the entire village knew of his and Sasuke's – whatever it was. They hadn't always been very careful in their choice of place when they ... Naruto prayed that Sasuke would never find out about that.

--------------

As expected, Sasuke was in a lousy disposition when he got up; apparently, he and haemorrhoids weren't a good combination and that was an understatement. It wasn't Naruto's fault though and he wasn't willing to pay the price for Sasuke's idiocy.

“You shouldn't walk that slowly, dumb ass or we'll never make it there.”

For the fifth time or sixth-- Naruto had lost count – Sasuke was reprimanding him for being a little tardy. Well, it wasn't that easy to be swift-footed when he was carrying a back bag with all their belongings stuffed in; Sasuke couldn't be trusted to carry anything in his “delicate condition” and Naruto wouldn't have trusted him with it, either. Sasuke was precariously and annoyingly anal when it came to packing and ordering things.

“Will you just stop criticising me, Sasuke?” Naruto spat out, feeling another headache coming on. “Besides, you're the one who's slow. I'm doing you a favour by not running.”

“Just hold your tongue,” Sasuke snarled at him, folding his hands in front of his chest and looking as petulant as he could muster. Naruto just rolled his eyes and continued to march, even though his spirits were very low, indeed.

“Hey, I wasn't the one who wanted to be fucked without lube.”

Naruto didn't deny that it had been hot; however, Sasuke was to blamed for it because he had been the one who had pushed that argument that far.

“Just shut up. And don't mention that again.”

“Yeah, yeah. Act offended, that's all you can do.”

Naruto found himself asking why he'd hadn't been born an asexual. Life would be much easier, then. Stupid hormones, fucking emotions.

“What are you saying?” Sasuke asked, peevishly, still trailing behind him with that limp in his walking.

Naruto restrained from cursing: he'd nearly spoken that aloud! Fuck Sasuke for provoking him in such a way.

“Nothing. Wash your ears; you might be going deaf and that's a bad thing at your age.”

---------

After twenty more of such endearing and loving exchanges Naruto and Sasuke finally made it to Wave Country, which neither of them had seen in ages. Both of them were sweaty, worn out and ready to drop dead on the ground; Sasuke, especially, looked like he'd rather hit the bed than do anything on that day. Naruto felt sorry for him, but didn't voice his concern because he knew it would fall on deaf ears.

“Hmm, looks infinitely better than the last time we saw it, right?”

“Whatever...I saw it three years ago. Looks the same.”

Sasuke's tone as well as look implied that it was more interesting to watch paint dry than seeing the progress of a once dismal, sodden country evolving into something better.

“You could at least sound enthusiastic, you know?” Naruto said, restraining himself from grapping the other boy and beating him black and blue for being such an unfriendly, cranky companion; he was worse than Sakura during her menstruation (and she was downright scary). Also, he was being unfair and callous which was something Naruto had enough of --

“Naruto, not everyone gets excited by dumb--” Sasuke started, no doubt wanting to share his input on his never-wavering enthusiasm before Naruto interrupted him.

“It's not dumb, okay. The people here fought hard to achieve and that's only admirable.”

Naruto felt strongly about this, perhaps more than he should have: he couldn't help it. He knew what it was like to fight for one's rights and understood better than most how hard the way to getting on top was – there was definitely no short path to achieving one's goals, but it was possible. Everything was possible, if one was only willing to face the odds.

Sasuke didn't answer, but Naruto heard him sigh as if he'd been forced to succumb to doing something he didn't like.

“Besides, that's something you should understand as well as I do, Sasuke.”

-------------

Inari, to Naruto's immediate relief and overwhelming joy, had grown up quite nicely. The years had been good to him and along with some of the baby fat disappearing, he'd grown taller and such happiness was evident on Inari's features that Naruto felt the weight of the journey immediately lifted from his shoulders. He wasn't the type to be angry for long and he couldn't be fussy when he was surrounded by smiling faces.

“You look like less of a crybaby, now,” Naruto uttered, slapping the boy on the shoulder. He couldn't keep his thoughts to himself and, thankfully, there was no Sakura around to reprimand him for being tactless.

“I'm no longer a crybaby,” Inari answered, equally pleased and obviously thrilled to see Naruto again, before he continued,” It's thanks to you, Naruto-niichan.”

Naruto flushed a bit at the unfamiliar address and surveyed the ground with a peculiar interest. Damn, he hadn't expected to be treated like this. The people on the streets had waved to him – some even saluted – and not a single word of disgust or annoyance had come over anyone's lips. Least of all, Tazuna, who only slightly altered, had greeted him with respect and amiability that was quite a change to his former treating of him.

“Yeah, I know I'm awesome,” Naruto responded, though he was red in the ears and his cheeks were pink: he couldn't stomach compliments that well and the attention was making him feel a bit weird.

Inari and his family still lived in the same cottage as before, which though repaired and cleaner than the last time, had retained the cosiness over the years. In fact, Naruto was amazed at how little had changed; as it was, all he'd experienced had happened yesterday.

“It's freaky, don't you think how little has changed here and yet... how far we've come,” Naruto said that night, unable to keep his thoughts to himself. Hell, as long as Sasuke was there, he should at least have the decency to listen. He'd been remarkably quiet that night and hadn't even protested when he and Naruto had been assigned the same room to sleep – not that he had much of a choice.

“What are you talking about Naruto?” Sasuke asked, his voice rising slightly and Naruto nearly had to bite his tongue from not laughing out loud. The bastard was seriously thinking that he'd been referring to their questionable relationship habits.

“I mean, back then...no one ever believed I'd make as far as I did. “

“Well, you never stopped saying how you'd prove everyone, one day,” Sasuke said without a hint of malice in his voice. He was simply stating the truth and Naruto laughed slightly at that – Sasuke was at least honest. That was more than most people had to offer.

“You're right. But if I hadn't believed in myself...then I wouldn't have ever made it that far in the first place.”

What he left unsaid, lingering in the air, was the fact that his egomaniac talk had served as a fuel to prove himself; he hadn't had anyone, but his own conscience, the belief that things would be better, one day. Still, Naruto wondered what would have happened if Iruka hadn't acknowledged him on that fateful day; sooner or later, the breath must have come out and he might have never made it that far... or he'd have

Naruto was suddenly overcome by the realisation that he wasn't in the mood to talk anymore; the warmth of the room and the desire to fall asleep were larger than his wish to prattle on about his childhood. Otherwise, he might have mentioned other things: things such as Sasuke willing to die and all that, but he didn't. Melodrama and sentimentality was overrated.

“Naruto...” Sasuke started, breaking him from his light doze and searching him in the darkness, he turned around. Other than his silhouette, he couldn't discern Sasuke's features in the dark.

“What?” Naruto snapped; he'd been falling asleep and now Sasuke was having the nerve to wake him?

“That other night...Thank you.”

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and nearly choked in his own breath – Sasuke was a fucking bundle of contradictions. Was this what the Uchiha had been trying to tell him all the time? If so, Sasuke was even more of a dim-wit than he'd ever assumed to be, but Naruto wasn't going to tell him that. There was no need to start another argument that night.

“There's no reason to --- I mean, you're welcome.”
----------------

On the next morning, Naruto knew the exact reason for their mission, which in all fairness wasn't one at all. Yes, he'd been expected, but other than enjoying the friendliness of Inari's family, it was really more like a vacation than anything. Sasuke, unfortunately, wasn't pleased by that and, in the course of the morning, he walked back and forth from the bed to the door, obviously in the excruciating mental process of plotting a few messy deaths.

“If all we're supposed to do here is sit and eat, then I could have done just as well at home.”

Naruto's eyes widened at that and he looked at Sasuke's body, which was lean and didn't have an ounce of fat on it: he doubted that Sasuke ate that much. So, he didn't understand Sasuke's unhappiness either.

“Oh shut up, Sasuke. Can't you just enjoy yourself for once?”

“I'm not you-- this is a waste of my time,” he muttered angrily, plopping next to Naruto and grabbed something to eat, nonetheless. Of course, Naruto had the grace not to comment on that nor be astounded by the fact that Sasuke was eating from his plate. Some things just didn't surprise him anymore.

“Then go train or something. Just don't poison my good mood with your grumpiness. Not everyone is that ungrateful like you.”

“Where are you going?”

“Out; I'm not going to sit here all day.”

With that he rose ever so swiftly and left the tray of food and the displeased, frowning Sasuke behind. On his way out, he encountered Inari and seeing that the boy was going shopping, decided to accompany him.

----------

“Is Sasuke-san your ... uh... boyfriend?”

Naruto swore that he was just as red as Inari: this had to be a curse. Were he and Sasuke really that obvious?

“What? Why would you think that?”

“I don't know. He's always by your side and doesn't talk to anyone besides you.”

“Ah, he only talks to me because I force him to. He's always like that.”

“I understand. But you should know...I wouldn't respect you any less if you were ... into men. Love is love.”

Naruto had never really considered himself to be exclusively into men, even though his sexual habits suggested otherwise. Admittedly, other than Sasuke he'd never bothered to sleep with anyone else. He had no idea how the sex between him and Sasuke had first come into being; like all of the things that happened between him and that bastard, it had just happened as a matter of course. He'd never – consciously, at least – thought of him and Sasuke as being lovers; he was fairly certain that he felt something for him, but whether it was “gone with the wind, you're mine forever baby” type of love, Naruto wasn't sure about that.

The fact that Sasuke wasn't making things necessarily simple didn't help one bit.

“Inari, you know a place where I can get drunk?”

---------

He'd stayed out longer than he expected to. Of course, it didn't ease matters that he was about to drink himself silly. If there was one thing, Jiraiya had taught him, then it was that there was nothing better out there than good sake and pretty girls to ogle at.

So, as listless and uninterested as he actually was, he'd been ready to approach one girl or the other when he suddenly came face to face with a very angry-looking Sasuke. In all his years of dealing with the boy, he'd never seen him look that downright furious before: his eyes were sparkling with contempt, his lips drawn together to a tight line and his entire stance spelled danger.

“Sasuke...? What are you doing here?” he asked dumbly, wondering whether this was a spectre or the real thing. Then again, he knew it couldn't be a ghost: the smell of piss, alcohol and tobacco in the surroundings was too strong, too real and Naruto just knew that he was awake. The Sasuke in his dreams never looked that grim.

“I could ask the same of you.”

Naruto rolled his eyes: Why couldn't Sasuke just let him be? He'd had enough drama for that week.

“I'm just hanging out. Go back where you came from.”

If Sasuke was going to be silent and rude, he could be – for all eternity and beyond, but Naruto wasn't going to be part of it.

“Don't tell me you're going to drink all of this shit,” Sasuke stated, not paying heed to what Naruto had told him at all.

“So? What if I am...? You're not my mother, idiot.”

Sasuke didn't answer, but instead with his usual quiet elegance, grabbed him by the arm and ignoring everything and everyone, pulled him out of the room. With that, they were soon out of the bar and Sasuke, who was fast, was pulling him out into some unknown direction.

“You fucking moron ... just let me go!” Naruto hollered. He was indignant and disappointed because all his intentions had been for nought. At this rate, he'd never be able to find some peace.

“Naruto, you're not going to do anything stupid.”

The cold and unrelenting tone in Sasuke's voice alarmed Naruto. Hell, he wasn't only angry, but was fuming and sounded offended, as if Naruto had consciously hurt his feelings.

“Like what? Get drunk, find myself a whore-- I'm eighteen, Sasuke. Not a baby. I know what I'm doing.”

Naruto knew that he couldn't stay hung up on Sasuke forever, that sooner or later, if things didn't change, one of them would crack. And right now, he wasn't feeling very "solid" in his resolutions; this was becoming way too messy and complicated.

“That is stupid, dumbass.”

Oh please, this was getting ridiculous. What was going on here?

“Everything is stupid according to you, Sasuke,” Naruto managed to say, not knowing what else he could offer as a retort.

“Besides, why are you so concerned about me screwing around? It's not like you--”

Sasuke kissed him, all of a sudden and Naruto, who'd expected everything other than that, nearly tripped over some pebble which would have sent both of them falling to the dirty, squish ground. Luckily, it didn't happen.

“It is important to me,” Sasuke said quietly – nearly whispering -- not looking at anything or anyone. He kept his face to the ground, as if he were ashamed.

Naruto, who didn't miss that weird reaction, felt his anger fading away and replaced by something like giddiness. No, he still didn't get it entirely, but he was pretty damn sure that Sasuke wasn't a statue, after all.

“Sasuke... you idiot.”

To his surprise, there was a blush on Sasuke's face and he looked like he had something important to tell Naruto, but had no idea how or where to start. Naruto couldn't hide a smile nor stop himself from ruffling Sasuke's hair. He'd really expected anything from Sasuke, but not this: Sasuke was being cute.

“Damn you, Sasuke. I really do hate you.”

Of course, Sasuke knew as well as he did that he didn't mean these words at all; Naruto merely felt annoyed by Sasuke's antics, yet he was certain that Sasuke didn't like all of his habits either.

“I hate you as well.”

Had anyone paid attention to their discourse, the person would have wondered what the hell Naruto was being jubilant for or why he was laughing like a madman. But, in all honesty, no sane being could have gotten hold of the situation, unless they were either Sasuke or Naruto.

---------------

It was tough luck for Naruto that they didn't get to have sex, afterwards. As much as he'd wanted to, there were people in the house and he didn't have the guts to start another quarrel with Sasuke, who wasn't exhibitionist. So, he avoided all displays of public affection and later, in the night, they settled for talking. Or Naruto talked and Sasuke replied with a monosyllabic answer from time to time. And, to be honest, that was better than anything. He'd missed Sasuke's insults, belittlements and lovable pet-names – no one called him a moron better tha Sasuke did.

Being close to him like that, Naruto was happier than he'd been when he made it as a chunin. And that feeling of euphoria hadn't been inconsiderable: he'd felt like jumping for joy, embracing every living being and proclaiming world peace on that day.

“I actually wonder... if you like me that much, why weren't you more obvious?”

“I've been dropping you hints the whole time.”

“Hints? You were either silent or bitchy. How does that count as a hint?” Naruto demanded, honestly confused: he didn't recall anything of the sort, but he wasn't necessarily talented in that department.

“It's your own fault for being oblivious. That's why I refused to talk to you for a while.. you just didn't get it. ”

Then, it finally dawned upon Naruto that Sasuke, when he had thrown the ramen out of the window, had been trying to show up him that he cared; he had apparently thought this way a good way to imply that he loved. Really, what kind of fool was Sasuke?

No normal being on earth showed his feelings in such a way, unless they were aliens or had never confided in someone. The more Naruto pondered over it, the more he understood : Sasuke hadn't known better. He shouldn't have expected him to have known, what with Itachi occupying half of his life and the rest spent in trying to better his skills.

“Sasuke, I don't get things unless you explicitly tell me about 'em. I'm not a detective.”

"No you're just an oblivious simpleton."

“Sasuke, you've been saying this twice or thrice now. It's getting boring.”

"Shu-"

And they lived happily ever after.