Hi everyone,

This is sort of a filler chapter, but it shows a lot of interaction between Naruto and Sasuke.

Please enjoy.

Chapter 8, "On the run"

Naruto walked on the grainy sand, sandals dangling between his feet. He glared at the milky back of Sasuke's neck. He rested one hand on his waist, taking a deep breath of tiredness. "Sasuke."

The raven paused, turned around, and pursed his lips. "Just Sasuke?"

"If you suggest I call you sir or majesty, I will head-butt you," Naruto spoke with a straight face.

The removed king sighed and turned back into his road, "Stop lagging behind."

"My feet hurt."

"Suck it up."

"Hey!" He clouted at Sasuke's head with his swinging sandals.

"Have you lost your mind?!" He turned around and in one swift move pushed Naruto away.

"You've been walking non stop for the last three days. I'm not a solider, bastard! I was a raised a royal servant. In house. I have never walked this much in my life."

"Your life never laid in balance either."

Naruto glared at the other, "this is far enough. Lets separate here. You don't need any hostage any further. It would make sense you dropped me off here."

"You are an idiot."

"An idiot who saved your life?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, not knowing how to answer to that. He couldn't deny that Naruto saved his life. "What I said before we broke out; it wouldn't work."

"What do you mean?"

"Because Nara has to take one look at the room and he will realize their was no struggle. Would you have gone down without a struggle? Plus, the door does not look hacked. And even if he doesn't notice all those obvious facts, how many people have seen you walk around with me willingly in the streets since. How about the sailor that sailed us here."

"Those people don't know who we are."

"They will know when the soldiers start asking questions. They are probably on our trail right now."

Naruto frowned. It had been the plan to go to the city of Uruk all along. Sasuke was most hated there, but none of its people would recognize his face. He had deserted the part of the empire for so long, the people barely know they have a king unless taxes or blood was demanded.

"So you were lying to me?!"

"Was I supposed to leave you there imprisoned and paying for life with yours?"

"You suddenly sprouted a conscious, didn't you?!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, hissing. "We've been roasting in the sun all day without water to quench our thirst or a bit of bread to silence our stomachs. We are on edge. Can we have this discussion sometime else?"

"Fine!"

"But just do you know, if you lay hand-"

"My hand is not what you should worry about-"

"Or a sandal on me again, I'll have you lunch."

"You quake about threats, but all I hear is sexual insinuations. Do you want my cock between your lips so desperately-"

"Watch it!"

"Inn!"

Sasuke turned around to see what Naruto was pointing at. "We don't have enough money."

"We have to eat."

"That doesn't negate the fact that we don't have enough coins."

"Lets just go ask about the fair."

"We don't even have enough money for bread. Do you think we could ever afford a place to sleep?"

"Just come already," Naruto rolled his eyes before rushing into the inn. He waited by the door a few minutes eyeing the innkeeper. He was a man in his forties, with strands of grey in his beard, but with a brawny body. The second the man laid eyes on Naruto, the blond headed for him. "Wait here," he whispered to Sasuke.

The quenching raven watched for a few minutes as Naruto swayed around the man, touching his shoulder softly, whispering and giggling in his ear. Just when his lips were starting to get bloody from his teeth biting into them, he saw Naruto break from the man to come talk to him.

"He has a separate room for us."

"Does he want me there? Really?" Sasuke hissed. "I figure you can't pay him for the room if I was there, if you know what I mean."

"Stop grimacing and relax. I told him you were my cousin."

"Because we look so alike?" Sasuke mocked.

"Well, I got my looks from my dad's side of the family."

"Maybe your cousin might mind you fucking a man in the same room as him."

"I won't fuck him."

"Isn't that what your kind does?"

"What is that supposed to mean? I didn't risk it all for a bigot, so ease up. Plus, he's not gay."

"Yeah, sure," Sasuke snorted. "I could see his erection the minute you touched him."

"I look foreign, and I have a skin softer than his wife's. It doesn't matter if I'm a guy or girl. I'm a warm body, which, by the way, he is not going to get."

"It looked to me as if he could've gotten you right there and then."

"I'm not cheap. Shikamaru says I'm a tease though."

"God! You've gotten Nara too. Do any men still lay with women?"

"They used to then you killed all the women," Naruto joked. "By the way, Shikamaru doesn't like men."

"Who else? How about that boy who works in the bath? I've seen him look at me strangely before."

"They were probably looks of fear. I've seen him with a girl before."

"And the gardener?"

"Which one?"

"The one with the scar."

"You don't know any names? You really never bothered to know the names of the people who looked after you."

"I know Iruka's name. The only honorable man I know and cherish like a father."

"How about Kakashi?"

"I thought of him as a father too until he betrayed me. What brings Kakashi to your mind now?"

"Whenever I think of Iruka, I think of Kakashi."

"Why is that?"

Naruto snickered, "You are really out of the loop. They are like my parents."

"I see."

"Plus, they have been partners for years."

Sasuke froze, lips twitching, "P-partners? You don't mean-"

"They both like each other, and they both like men."

"I don't believe you. They are not feminine."

"Am I?"

"Sort of. You keep complaining about walking too much. Suck it up. Bear with it."

"That is not what feminine is. That is just a slur against both women and gay men. And I was just stabbed like a week ago. I have the right to complain."

"I'm new to this."

"Why do you have such a grudge against women?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"The way I see it; they should have a grudge against you. Anyway, not all men are feminine."

"But they do take the women's role in sex."

"Not all, and that is a completely different thing. I can't understand how you see things."

"I can't understand you either. Men have roles and women have roles. As simple as that."

"Lets just agree on something. You're gay, sexist, and bigoted."

"Are you sure you want to be insulting me?"

"Are you going to stab me again?"

"Hn. What does sexist mean?"

"It means prejudiced against women. I'm trying to coin the term."

"I don't think it will catch on. But you prove my point; you are feminine."

"Prove your point? How exactly?"

"You take their side."

"It is not about sides. I stand up for whatever I believe in."

"Lets go to the room, and don't flirty with men in front of me again. Its appalling. It's like watching someone dry heave."

"I can't believe I have to share a room with you!"

The two men walked towards their room. The inn was shabby, and ragged. The unpainted mud walls were cracking, and flicks of un-swept crumbles laid the corners of the ground. When they reached they marked room, Naruto pushed the door to reveal one tiny mattress.

"I guess he doesn't want me here after all," Sasuke snarled.

"If you are going to be a child about it, you can have the bed."

"So you could go and sleep in his. Hell no. Get in bed."

"You mistaken yourself for the king of me. You don't give me orders, fellow commoner."

"As stubborn as a woman."

"Again with that," Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well, since you are the man, go out and get us some food without getting arrested. I'm in the mood for cheese."

"Fine," Sasuke hissed before walking out.

"My ass if he can get even a loaf of bread without his servants waiting on him. I guess it's up to me now."

XXXXXXX

Naruto ogled at the raven standing in front of him, and sighed. "What is this?"

"Food," the raven stated, glaring at the blond sitting on bed.

"That's not food. That's grass."

"It's edible."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Maybe if I was a donkey-"

"Maybe you are."

The blond puffed his cheeks, "That was unnecessary, psycho."

"You're sassing me. You asked for food, I got you food."

"How about some bread?!"

"I'm not your servant."

"Well, have fun eating your greens. I'll go get some real food," Naruto stood up, and headed for the door.

"How was I supposed to get anything else?! We don't have any more money."

"Work! Beg! How do men feed their families?! You gave me crap about gender roles. Back it up."

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out where. Are you going to flirt with him for more money?!"

"Do you prefer we starve?"

Sasuke snarled, "You're a whore just like them."

"You better watch your mouth, fallen king. I didn't take your insults when you sat on your throne, and I'm not going to begin taking them now."

"I don't want his hand on you."

"Why? Am I yours?"

Sasuke pursed his lips, "No, but you're my responsibility."

"Well, since you can't look after me, I've got to look after my own ass," Naruto walked out of the room, followed by a dashing Sasuke.

"I'm going to break his hand if he touches you!"

"Do you understand that being on the run means you should go around attracting unneeded attention?"

"Well that doesn't fucking work when I'm on the run with a blond, does it?!"

"Shut up," Naruto turned around, and pressed his hand against Sasuke's mouth. He looked down the corridor to make sure no one else heard the other.

Sasuke smacked the other's hands away, "If you want me silent, go back into our room."

"Do you have hate the thought of having men touch this much or are you just possessive?"

An hour later, Naruto laid in bed next to Sasuke. Since the bed was narrow and the raven wasn't willing to touch the blond, the men were awkwardly positioned like Tetris pieces.

The blonde's stomach growled. "Foooood."

"Is this bed made out of concrete?"

"Well, I'm sorry your highness if the bed is not comfortable enough for you."

Sasuke shifted painfully, "Seriously, what is this bed made of?"

"Wood, Hay, and cotton cloth."

"Hay?" He frowned. "I'm reduced to sleeping next to hay like cattle."

"You're too picky for someone who was just in the worse prison of the empire getting tortured."

"I assumed my life would be better once I was out."

"Well, now you have to live like the rest of us."

Sasuke suddenly grabbed Naruto's hands into his and rubbed in hardly, "Are you trying to convince me your hands have seen hardship. They are softer than a woman's."

Naruto snatched his hands away from the other's grip, "And yours are full of calluses. I know what that means."

"I fence. They're from my swords."

"They're from your sword all right," Naruto mocked, jerking his hand up and down.

"I'd never do such a thing."

-To be continued-

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