Sorry for the tardiness. (: Please enjoy. This is one of my personal favorites, this chapter is.

I disclaim, as I do not own Naruto's sexiness. :'c

oOo

Kiba strolled right in.

A girl a few inches shorter than him hugged lightly at his arm, while the other carried two bags of what seemed to be junk food. A wide grin graced his face the moment he set foot in the livingroom, hair soaked from the rain.

Gaara stood close by, a six-pack of Heinekens held firmly against his chest while he struggled to keep a phone balanced against his ear. Sasuke watched as the boy waddled clumsily towards the kitchen, a hellishly irritated look on his face.

Naruto began to approach Kiba rather casually, his previous surprise hidden strategically behind a smile that was worthy enough for a Trident commercial.

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably on the couch. He hardly knew these people, and what had happened seconds ago made his soul ache right down to the core.

His desire was profound. His desire for Naruto, an endless, perpetual storm. Why was it that every time Naruto showed him affection, he acted as though it never happened? As though it were some sort of joke?

"Brought your girl?" Naruto smirked, his blue eyes immediately falling towards the girl's heavy chest.

Kiba didn't fail to notice this, having nudged said girl closer to himself.

"Yeah. Problem?"

"Naw, man, 'course not."

As he relieved Kiba of the bags, however, Naruto shot his friend's girlfriend a stealthy wink. The results gave him a surge of confidence. The girl reddened, immediately looking away. Naruto knew fully well of Hinata's undying crush on him. Hell, he'd known since eighth grade.

"Fucking game was like sixty bucks, man," Kiba said, turning to give his girl a peck on the cheek. He wondered for a split second why she'd been blushing so hard, but he immediately shrugged it off, deeming it was just his irresistible manly charm that had caused it. He lead her towards the couch, his feline eyes careful on Naruto's every move. If he as much as tried anything with Hinata that night, he'd be a dead one. "We miss anything?"

Ripping a bag of chips open, Naruto threw himself on the couch opposite of Sasuke, grinning. "Nope," he popped, "Just the game. It sucked, though. I'm pissed."

Sasuke didn't miss the way Hinata kept stealing glances at him. He also didn't miss the looks Naruto would give her in return while Kiba was not looking.

Sasuke seethed, tempted to tackle the woman to the ground.

"You okay, Uchiha?" Kiba asked out of nowhere, one of his hands toying with a strand of Hinata's purple hair. "You look like you don't wanna be here. I could drive you home if you wan-"

"No..! I mean, no, thanks. I'm good. Just.." he glanced quickly towards Naruto, noticing the way he wasn't paying any attention at all. The beer and chips he was indulging on seemed to have been of far more importance. Eyes narrowed, Sasuke turned towards the ground. "I'm just bored, that's all."

Before Kiba could press on (since he did find it a little.. awkward for a thirteen year-old to be around a bunch of guys who were quite blatantly planning to get drunk for the night), Gaara emerged from the hallway, tossing Kiba back his phone.

"Your sister's pissed, ain't she?"

"Apparently."

"Sucks. Why?"

"Just shit. Wanna do a round?"

Without missing a beat, Kiba reached for the PS3, successfully turning it on. Gaara sank down to the ground next to the couch, placing the mic against his ear. Sasuke watched quietly from somewhere in the background, unsure of what to do with himself.

Naruto wouldn't even look at him.

Instead, he seemed to have been busy devouring that weird girl with his eyes. He'd lick his lips at her, stared at her until she squirmed, quite literally undressing her without even as much as moving a muscle.

Everything Naruto had done to Sasuke at the mall, he was doing to her, as well.

The same day. The same night.

Sasuke's heart sank. Sank right down into the pits of his stomach. He could feel it eroding and burning within the bile he felt like puking out at that moment. The only thing that stopped the tears from coming out was the meager amount of pride he had left somewhere in him.

Sasuke thought back to the kiss they shared, wondering if it had even meant anything at all.

Somewhere along the loud, grueling hours, he asked Kiba where the bathroom was, and was directed towards the hall.

oOo

Itachi's arm rested against his desk, the nearby window presenting him with the snow that fell softly from the outside.

It was quiet in his office. His desk lied cluttered with piles of old papers on one side and unfulfilled contracts on the other. He'd thought of Sasuke much earlier, having sent several texts to his phone, yet receiving no response. He'd called, as well, but the only outcome he'd gotten from his troubles had been a snarky voice message he had hardly been able to make out.

Itachi let out a stifled sigh of some sorts, tapping softly with his fingers into the emptiness of the room.

It was lonely. The mountains of work he had yet to fill out only piled on to his gloom.

He thought of Naruto, but a frown immediately creased against his brows, dismissing the thought almost instantly. Naruto had a talent for making an empty room feel even emptier by simply setting foot in it. Though, it hadn't always been so..

Lost in thought, Itachi's gaze shifted briefly towards the soft knock at the door, his fingers ceasing casually in their tapping. He took a practiced sip of his coffee, staring blankly towards his desk.

"Come in."

A woman with royal-blue hair stepped in. A paper flower adorned the loose bun on her head, a nice touch to the longer strands that lied free to frame elegantly against her face. She wore a dress skirt, and a dark, button-up blouse. She carried a tray in her hands, a bottle of wine and two glasses strategically placed on its surface.

The clicking of her heels caused Itachi to glance towards her just once before turning away towards the window again just as quickly.

"I made coffee earlier. I'm alright for now."

The woman's heels halted to a pause, the sound of the tray being placed elsewhere disrupting the silence that Itachi would have otherwise preferred.

"I see. The contract with the designer," she began, "Have you completed it?"

Itachi sat motionless, the blank paper beneath his hand speaking for itself. The woman's lip tugged downwards for just a moment before looking back up towards her superior.

"You'll lose the line," she tried again, "You should attempt to keep it, at least to a reasonable extent. You've already let so many go-"

"You're wearing red," Itachi said to the window, dismissing the woman's concern. "You often wear black."

There was a brief silence. "It hurts the company when you're like this-"

"I've never seen snow until today. I wonder what Sasuke would think of it.."

Konan shut her eyes, biting her lip as a way to stop herself from snapping at the older man. She approached the desk, taking a seat on the sole chair resting before it. Itachi paid no mind when she reached into her hair, tugging off the flower that had previously adorned her bun. Her amber eyes looked at it for just a moment before gracefully setting it next to Itachi's unmoving hand.

She waited, but there was no response.

"That boy you're with.."

Now there was, a graceless one at that.

Konan watched quietly as Itachi's piercing eyes turned to rest towards hers, a light furrow of his brow telling her that she had completely caught him off guard. Her stare never wavered in its resolve, her face void of all expression.

"I could never understand your reasoning behind it."

She could almost taste Itachi's confusion. The subject of Naruto had always been a sort of enigma. One that absolutely no one dared to bring up, yet nearly everyone knew everything of.

"Why so?" Itachi uttered a long minute later, finally taking note of the origami flower Konan had previously placed next to his hand.

"Itachi," she chuckled, "He's an infant who'd do anything for attention. I know you feel.. responsible, but you should realize even now that he is affecting who you are."

Itachi's eyes widened in a way that would be entirely unnoticeable to most, yet more than blatantly clear to his secretary of seven years. He opened his mouth, but could think of nothing to say in return.

"Just look. Notice what is obvious. Surely those eyes of yours can see through his kiddish deceit."

"What..?"

"You deserve more than a dawdling, worthless child, Itachi. What of a family? Do you not desire your lineage to fair on?"

Before he could catch his composure from Konan's dreadfully bold statements, a thin hand with an array of cerise-painted nails reached out to rest against his cheek, the discrete smell of flowers immediately brimming at his nostrils. He froze, the expression on Konan's face exceedingly monotonous as it always was.

An unreadable individual. A woman with art and beauty written all over her, yet Itachi swore that he could see a slithering serpent lingering underneath.

Itachi's eyes fell towards the diamond scintillating brightly around her ring finger. It looked ridiculously expensive, worthy of someone who was deeply adored beyond all measure. The jewel was cut into the shape of a rose. Only Pein would go as far as to please that woman to such a tremendous volume.

The invitation to their coming wedding rested in Itachi's drawer still. He'd been invited to be best man just last week.

He turned to the side, catching hold of her hand as he gently pulled it away from him.

"Don't toy with me, Konan," he whispered, discretely sliding the flower she'd given him towards her direction. "I'm sure Pein is ecstatic for the upcoming month. I have yet to give him my best wishes."

There was a long, stifling silence before the angry clicking of heels resounded loudly into the dimly-lit room. The loud quake of the door slamming closed was presented as Itachi's only response.

He looked towards his desk, noticing the flower was now gone. He stared at where it had been for a few more seconds before finally turning back towards the window, carmine eyes intent on the white ice falling from the sky.

Surely Sasuke would enjoy the falling of snow.

oOo

He wouldn't answer.

The piece of shit wouldn't fucking answer.

Naruto had called him at least twenty different times now, not counting the innumerable amount of texts he'd sent all throughout the day in hopes of a fucking response of some bloody kind.

He deemed Itachi would respond sooner or later, hell, he always did, that perhaps the bastard was in one of his shitty meetings or something. But even until now, somewhere in the fucking AMs, he still wouldn't respond.

Pissed, Naruto successfully wore down the bathroom's tiled floor with his frenetic pacing, an infernally ticked expression marking against his face. He'd left about ten different voice messages now, each expressing his seething anger to accurate extents.

The noise of Kiba's loud cheering only managed to piss him off even more. Did that guy ever shut the fuck up? Or that fucking slag of a girlfriend, did she ever stop giggling like some sort of retard?

Violently dialing Itachi's number one more time, Naruto clutched unto the sink, attempting to control his temper at least by a little bit. He took deep breaths. He'd kill shit at this point, and even he knew that wouldn't be good. He was known as the dude who kept his cool, who was chill under any given circumstance no matter how much the world freaked from around him.

He definitely wasn't about to let some grandiloquent, overblown idiot destroy that. Hell no.

Before Naruto could rip the phone away from his ear to once again re-dial, the sound of the ringing suddenly ceased. Meaning, Itachi had finally answered.

Naruto's heart took a pause, a knot of sheer wrath clenching hard inside his throat. He glared fiercely into the mirror, taking a deep breath before prompting himself to speak.

"Why the fuck haven't you been answering?" he hissed, clenching hard onto the marble of the sink.

Silence.

"Hello? Hello?"

Nothing.

"I know you're there! Quit fucking around with me, Itachi! What's going on? Where are you? What are you doing?"

A decade later, "Thinking."

Naruto swore he could see the expanse of hell reflecting from his eyes. His head throbbed in choler, his biceps flexing with the temptation to shatter the bathroom's sole mirror. His skin stretched painfully against his body, his yellow brows clasped against each other in a cluster of ire. If only he could.. if only.. FUCKFUCKFUCK!

"About WHAT?"

"Things."

"Where are you?"

"Here."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Silence.

"Fuck man, fucking answer me! Are you-"

"I have to go."

"Why?"

"Business. Important matters."

"What? What the fuck? Aren't I impor-"

"Naruto.."

"WHAT?"

There was a dreary pause, one that left Naruto's brain pulsing from within his skull.

"Goodnight."

"W-wait!"

Click.

Fuming from every cavum in his body, Naruto knocked his cellphone against the wall, instantly tearing the battery from it. He threw a punch at the wall immediately after, denting it. The door wasn't spared as he threw several kicks at it, his flailing tantrum all but causing several hundred dollars in damages that he knew he wouldn't be able to afford once the landlord found out.

Cursing several obscenities, he slammed the door to the bathroom open, causing the entire house to shake as a result. There was a silence coming from the livingroom, even Kiba had stopped egging Gaara on all of a sudden. Naruto stampeded his way upstairs regardless, which meant having to pass by where everyone else was.

Having been blinded by fury, Naruto almost tripped over Akamaru in the process, causing the puppy to yelp out in pain from having had his paw stepped on. Kiba, of course, didn't fail to notice. He immediately stood from the couch, fearlessly approaching his infuriated friend.

Naruto could have all the childish tantrums his little heart desired, but once Akamaru got hurt in the process, that was on a WHOLE 'nother level.

"The fuck's your problem, man? You stepped on him!" He shoved Naruto's shoulder, effectively swirling the shorter boy on his heels.

Kiba was met with a hellishly distorted expression. Damn, Naruto looked pissed.

Ignoring his friend's genuine concern, Naruto instead looked towards the direction of the livingroom. Three pairs of eyes stared in utter silence. Even Gaara seemed shocked by the sudden violence. Sasuke sat somewhere close to him, his eyes immediately shying away the moment Naruto looked towards his direction.

Naruto glared. "What the FUCK are you all looking at?"

"Calm the fuck down, bro, the fuck's wrong with you?" Kiba pressed, shoving his body closer to the other so that Naruto was forced to look away from the livingroom.

Kiba was taller. Much taller.

"Get the fuck away from me, man, I ain't shittin' with you right now," Naruto hissed, making the lethal mistake of pushing Kiba hard enough so that he almost hit the wall.

Kiba didn't take this lightly. He shoved the shorter boy right back, effectively knocking Naruto on the ground without much effort.

"You better calm your shit, bro. Don't fucking touch me like that. Get the fuck outta here."

Turning on his heels, Kiba prepped himself to go back towards the livingroom.

"Kiba!" Hinata shouted. Kiba turned, but it was too late. Naruto had taken a blow at him, and the impact of his fist against bone was more than sickeningly clear throughout the house.

Sasuke pressed his back against the wall as Hinata covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide with shock.

Gaara stared, his scandalous display of emotion being expressed as his mouth slowly fell open.

Kiba was bleeding from his nose.

Within the flash of a second Kiba recovered from the blow, drops of blood staining against his shirt as he struck his fist against Naruto's jawline. The impact was louder than the one before it. Naruto flew to the ground, the back of his skull hitting against a frame.

That didn't faze him, however, His blue eyes shot open in cindering wrath, spearing his weight and using the staggering use of impact he'd gotten from his time in football to tackle Kiba down onto the ground. He threw several blows with his fists, some that effectively landed on their target, but it wasn't long until Kiba was the one dominating on top again.

There was another nauseating crackle of stricken bone seconds later.

Kiba got up, relieving Naruto of his weight. Naruto's nose immediately began to spill rivers of fresh blood as he struggled to get up, his blue eyes dull with pain as he touched gingerly against his jaw.

He hissed an obscenity beneath his breath, but Kiba stood his ground.

"Don't make me break your face, moron. Just be chill and get the fuck out until you calm your shit down."

"F-Fuck you.."

"I didn't want to have to do that, but you need to get your act together."

Having had enough of being talked down to in front everyone, Naruto threw himself at his friend again. Though, this time, Kiba caught him just in time, locking him in an effective neck-hold from behind.

"Don't fuck with me," he breathed quietly into Naruto's ear, strengthening the hold around his neck. Kiba's leather jacket let out a noise at the action. Naruto squirmed. "In a fair match, you know I'd break both your legs."

Letting go of him, Kiba watched Naruto cautiously. To his surprise, however, Naruto had gotten the hint and stumbled up towards the stairs. Kiba didn't miss the death glare he'd been given beforehand, however.

Hinata was already rushing towards his side, cupping Kiba's bloody face into her hands. Her pale eyes exuded profound worry. She was crying. Kiba smiled.

"I'm alright, babe."

Sasuke's eyes fell towards the bloody trail Naruto had left behind from somewhere in the livingroom, and then turned towards Kiba.

His eyes slowly narrowed into a glare.

oOo

It was somewhere around five in the morning.

Sasuke had been offered the couch to sleep in, and had taken it without thanks.

While the others thought he had been sleeping, he could both hear and see Kiba and that girl making-out somewhere on the other couch before they finally (and thankfully) decided to migrate to a room somewhere in the hallway.

Gaara, having had a completely blank expression on his face as this was all going on, gamed away until he, too, passed out with the screen on pause. He sat against the couch Sasuke had been lying on, his red hair somewhere next to the area of where Sasuke's knees were.

Sasuke stared absently at the batch of fiery tresses for a few minutes before quietly getting up from underneath the covers, wondering somewhere within his mind if that was the creep's natural hair color. Freed from the snares of the livingroom, Sasuke tiptoed his way towards the stairs. He made sure not to step on any of the dry blood.

The upper partition of the house was messier than the bottom. Sasuke deemed the second floor belonged to only Naruto, as there was only one door and one bathroom in the small corridor. A lone frame decorated the wall next to the room's door.

It was of a woman with a long, cherry mane carrying a baby with a full head of hair against her chest. She had a smile that resembled Naruto's in more ways than one. Sasuke stared for a long moment, taking note of the blond man standing somewhere in the background.

If it weren't for a few glitches here and there, he could've passed for Naruto's identical twin.

Taking a breath, Sasuke reached towards the knob of the door, his heart pulsing at his throat. He didn't quite know when the urge had birthed, but he knew he had to see Naruto again that night. The way Kiba had hurt him had caused Sasuke to bubble in his own share of anger. If he weren't trapped in that puny body of his, he sure as hell would've smashed Kiba's face in.

The door clicked quietly as it slowly began to part open. The distinct smell of marijuana wafted from out of its crevice, and Sasuke was forced to hold back a gag from within his throat. He cautiously stepped inside, carefully pushing the door closed.

The room was dark, barely lit by the window that lied next to Naruto's bedside. There was a mess all around. Sasuke gulped, gliding on his tiptoes towards Naruto's sleeping figure. He found Naruto's soft snoring to be endearing, and a small smile tugged lightly onto Sasuke's lips.

Naruto was so beautiful.

Ebony eyes stared in sheer fascination as Naruto's chest rose and sunk in patterned intervals. He wore a thin t-shirt, one that was thin enough to mark against the gallant body build that Naruto so shamelessly sported. Sasuke's gaze lowered into that of profound admiration, his heart pounding in all of its heated enamourment.

Naruto's arms were smooth, strong and taut with solid muscle. His legs lied messily splayed and tangled within the sheets, one of them having freed itself in all of its nakedness for Sasuke to see. From the smooth dexterity of it, Sasuke could instantly tell that Naruto shaved. Shaved everything. There wouldn't be a trace of hair anywhere on his body if it weren't for that batch of yellow-wheat hair that adorned his head.

Sasuke blushed, his hand shakily reaching out to trace along Naruto's forearm.

He was so soft, so strong, and so perfect.

Before he could find the will to pull away, however, Sasuke immediately caught sight of an indented array of scars overwhelming the expanse of Naruto's bicep. The cicatrices looked deep and pronounced, likely caused by a very sharp object. Sasuke's brows furrowed lightly against each other, noticing that the marks were far too strategically placed to have been made by accident.

There were so many of them, too. He lifted Naruto's sleeve by just a little, careful not to rouse him, noticing that the scars didn't end there at all. Sasuke winced, noticing three that were still red and crisp with warm blood. They looked painful. The torn flesh surrounding the slits was a raw shade of purple.

Sasuke gingerly traced his finger against one of the open cuts, his eyes tender towards Naruto's closed ones.

Did he.. do this to himself? These inflictions?

His heart warming, Sasuke brought his hand to Naruto's larger one, taking a loving hold on it.

Was Naruto in pain? Did he hurt..? Was he lonely? Could Sasuke help?

Lost in his own train of thought, and certainly not thinking in his right mind, Sasuke brought Naruto's hand to rest on his cheek, the warmth of it causing him to close his eyes in silent worship. He made believe somewhere in his mind that Naruto was awake, that Naruto had willingly caressed his hand upon him, smiling at him, looking into his eyes..

Sasuke took in a shaky breath, his knees growing weak as he stood.

Using his other hand, Sasuke began to ghost his thin fingers against Naruto's neck, lightly fondling the contours of it. Then his collarbone, his chest, his gauges, the piercing on his left brow..

Sasuke's unconditional, never-ending love for the Adonis of what was Naruto seethed and bubbled from within him. How he so wished to kiss him just one more time.. To lie next to him, to cuddle against his chest.

Taken and delirious, Sasuke slowly began to sink himself onto the bed next to Naruto's sleeping figure, absently careful that he wouldn't make too much noise.

The heat was overwhelming.

Sasuke soon found his way inside the covers, and wasted no time to press his body flush against Naruto's own larger one. He could feel the other's soft snoring against his hair, and he felt as though he could now officially die a happy person.

Sasuke snuggled close, as close as humanely possible, draping Naruto's strong arm against himself so that he could hug it against his chest for comfort. His legs curled from beneath the covers, effectively molding himself into Naruto so that they were spooning rather intimately from within the warm secrecy of the blankets.

Sasuke blushed at the feeling of Naruto's private area pressing firmly against his ass. It felt so good. If only this would happen every night.. In this very room, looking into each other's eyes while a movie played silently in the background..

Sighing quietly to himself, and gradually losing consciousness to an unpremeditated slumber, Sasuke hugged harder against Naruto's arm. Before he could finally lose himself to a dangerous sleep, however, the rousing of Naruto's figure caused his eyes to immediately snap open.

Sasuke froze on the spot, feeling as Naruto pulled his arm away from his grasp.

"Huh...?" he mumbled, blue eyes struggling to open from the clasp of deep sleep. "The fuck..?"

Naruto was up at that point, and Sasuke's heart seemed to have completely stopped working. He slid off the bed in the flash of a millisecond, messily taking the covers down with him.

Black eyes lied wide open in fright, expression completely glazed over.

Sasuke quivered on the ground.

Naruto was looking at him now, eyes narrowed from sleep from within the dark room.

"You.."

oOo

Oh, I just love Sasuke to pieces in this..

Sweet little thing. Wanna hug him. (x Konan's a sly one. Hehe

COMMENTS MAKE MAH FINGAHS MOVE. xx