CHAPTER TWO

Three years later

This was beyond frustrating.

Sasuke was so upset. He hadn't been able to sleep at all. His brain had been running on anger, and he had twisted and turned all night long, grumbling incoherent sentences, waking up every three fucking minutes to make sure his boyfriend hadn't run away from him.

He had been scared to wake up in an empty bed, or worse even, an empty house. He knew, deep inside, it wouldn't happen, and he knew it was stupid to even think there a possibility Naruto might want to leave, but he got insecure whenever they fought. Naruto was his worst weakness and his biggest strength. Yet he wanted to hold his grudge until his lover apologized to him. There was no fucking way he'd go ahead and do it first.

Earlier in the morning, Naruto had gotten up slowly, trying not to crack the bed, thinking he'd been sleeping still. He had showered, brushed his teeth and dressed quietly. Sasuke had heard him, though; he'd been very aware of the precautions Naruto had taken to let him sleep. Usually Naruto woke up and turned into a tornado; Sasuke was woken up by the blond's singing and didn't really care. Even after three years, waking up to the sound of Naruto made him happy.

Yet, earlier this morning, his lover had kissed him on the temple softly, and he'd felt his lips linger here for a while, before retreating. He'd heard Naruto sigh sadly and leave the room.

Sasuke had been lying there since.

He didn't know what to feel. His mixed emotions made him feel sick and tired. He wanted to be mad, he wanted to be furious. Was that really irrational? Yet he couldn't bring himself to really be mad at Naruto. And he knew Naruto wasn't really mad at him either. They didn't know how to hate each other; their relationship was too strong. But they were both too stubborn to admit there was an unresolved issue going on here, so they had just stopped talking about it. It had caused tension, which had, in turn, set them on edge. And this tension had built and built, until it had finally exploded, last night.

They had gone to bed still mad, and Sasuke hated it. They had slept each on their side of the bed, and somehow, during the night, Naruto had found his way in Sasuke's space. The moment Naruto's arms had wrapped around him, his hands had automatically shot up to grab them tightly, bringing him closer. He'd held back a sob, knowing it would wake Naruto and make him worry. He didn't want the blond to be worried, even though he was mad at him. Sasuke had pushed against Naruto, making himself the little spoon. He still hadn't been able to sleep, but at least he had been able to relax a little bit. When his partner had woken up at 6:15am, he'd shut the alarm quickly and cuddled Sasuke a little bit longer, thinking his boyfriend hadn't been awake.

Just these small actions should've been enough for them both to realize they didn't want to fight. Neither had the will to be angry at the other, yet here he was, alone in bed, having heard Naruto shut the door a few minutes ago, still not "okay" with what had happened.

Naruto was gone, he was alone, and sad as hell. He had long since rolled onto his boyfriend's side of the bed, which smelled like him. He didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing, because it reminded Sasuke of him, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He groaned unhappily and lifted his head from the pillow, checking the alarm. 7 am.

He probably had to get up and ready to work. CBS had asked him to fly to Battambang for the day, and his flight took off at 11am. He got up unwillingly and headed to the shower, thinking about his schedule. He'd have to leave the house at 8:30, so it left him a little while to prepare. He was spending just one night in the city and he took the plane back home at 6am the morning after. Some news he had to cover about some woman who'd created a house that relied only on itself to function. It required no electricity, no nothing. Everything functioned by some weird processes he had to ask her about. He sure as hell didn't care about that at all, but he knew Naruto would love it, reason why he had taken that subject in the first place. He'd had the choice between that or some conflict in the North of Vietnam. Naruto had refused to let him go there, since already two reporters had been killed in a crossfire. He would've chosen the latter, but Naruto's sanity was more important than his job, hence why he had accepted to write the stupid article about the stupid house. Knowing Naruto, he'd probably try to convince him to invest into a new house like that.

They'd been talking about moving into a new house for the past year, and couldn't agree on where or what. Sasuke wanted it into the city and modern, and Naruto was all for further inland, in the mountains, a wooden house. And since neither of them wanted to back down on their idea, they just stayed in Naruto's house for now. Sasuke had rented his own house six months ago to save money. Not that they were poor or anything, but they both felt like buying a house in Sidney, Australia, and that project required a lot of saving. Naruto had brought him there after five months of dating, so that Sasuke could meet his family. The man had immediately loved the people, the weather (dry and sunny, completely different from Cambodian's rain season 6 months a year), the activities, and Naruto's family, who had accepted him and treated him like a part of their family.

He had felt at home, which rarely happened, even in his own house, with his own family. When he'd told Naruto how he felt, the man had hugged him and kissed him so long and so lovingly that Sasuke had thought he could die right there and then of happiness.

He'd eaten some of the best meat ever and had felt sorry for Naruto, who didn't eat meat, saving the planet and all that. Naruto's mother had been more than enchanted to see that Sasuke loved barbeque, and had made it a tradition to have a barbeque night every two days, which tend to make Naruto grumble in annoyance.

They had gone back to Australia six times since, for Christmas holidays and such, and Naruto had thrown the idea that, maybe, they should buy a house instead of crashing at his parent's house. He was 28 at the time, and sleeping in his bedroom (that was still decorated like he had done it when he was 15) with a queen-sized bed made him feel awkward every time. No one had to know what had happened in this bed in his teen years.

Surprisingly, Sasuke had said that they'd thought about it, and, a few months after, had put his house to rent.

He brushed his teeth and picked one of Naruto's suits, which he always did whenever he had to go away for a while. They were about the same size, and even if his boyfriend had the worst taste in Tee shirts, he had a good one when it came to suits. Not to mention it smelled like him, bathed him in his scent, making him feel close to Naruto when he was far away. He closed his suitcase and made sure all the doors and windows were closed, then grabbed a small water bottle from the fridge (Naruto had left a post-it on the table to remind him to do so, added to his note saying he hoped Sasuke would have a safe trip) and headed out. Remembering something, he walked back into the living room and bent over the table, grabbing the pen Naruto had used and turned the post-it over, scribbling something quickly.

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto didn't know what to do. He couldn't get himself to work on his project, throwing scrambles of design after scrambles. He couldn't draw, couldn't concentrate on anything but his issue at home. Said issue was probably at the airport at this time, headed to Battambang. He wanted to run there, to keep him from leaving, to tell him he was sorry. He was willing to throw him in a box and lock it to prevent him from going away. This was how far he'd go to keep Sasuke all to himself. Well, maybe not a box. But a nice house somewhere in the jungle, surrounded by tigers that'd attack anyone who tried to get in or out, why not?

Bah, he probably shouldn't be so damn selfish. He tended to get possessive when they fought. Not that they did very often.

Their fight was so stupid though! He wasn't even mad at all, he had been confused and had gotten angry when Sasuke had snapped and tried to hit him; but he wasn't mad. He'd tried to talk Sasuke out of his insecurity, which had only increased it.

This whole situation had completely blown out of proportion. He had had the great idea to go and get drunk with Sasuke, Kiba and Ino. They had had a few drinks, and somehow, at some point, in the middle of the night, Sasuke had fallen asleep when Naruto had wanted to dance, Ino was already having fun with some girl she's met at the table aside them, so he had asked Kiba to join him on the dancefloor.

A Cambodian club was singularly different from an occidental club, he could say that much. It was completely open, made with wood and coloured light hanging from the ceiling that hung up by trunks of palm tree. The bar was situated in the middle and some weird song with a good beat invaded the place. It may not look like it, but Cambodian people were not closed-minded, nor were they party poopers. This bar was their favourite and was always packed. Foreigners mixed with autochthones and it all seemed perfectly normal, which should be that way all across the country… and which wasn't. Why foreigners (like himself) always seemed to feel so superior, Naruto would never know.

Anyway, Kiba and himself had started to dance and, being drunk, they had started to talk –yell over the music- about their respective lives, which had lead them to talk about the past, which had lead to their 3-months relationship a few years back.

Kiba was a happy drunk.

Naruto was a sloppy drunk.

They had had decided, for fun, to make out, just like the old times. Now, it didn't occur to either of them that it was a really bad idea, or that they were both accompanied. They didn't think anyone would care, or notice, and frankly, they had no fucking idea what was going on in their heads, they were so drunk. That's just the thing: they did not think. So they had kissed (a terrible kiss, might they agree on), then had slapped each other on the back laughing like baboons, as if congratulating each other for being an idiot.

What they had not been aware of, however, was that Sasuke had woken up, and that Ino's friend had left the bar.

That's exactly the reason why they were both really, really, really surprised when Kiba had pointed behind Naruto's shoulder, mouth open like a Cheerios, towards Sasuke, who was fuming anger. Naruto had looked over his shoulder to notice Ino's stare from afar as she gaped at him, and then his attention had been relocated on the furious man a few meters away.

It had not been pretty.

Sasuke had punched Kiba in the face, then Naruto, and had grabbed him by the collar and out of the bar. Naruto had known better than to argue or protest; when Sasuke was like that, he had to shut up and go with the flow. Sasuke had thrown Naruto in the passenger seat and had barely missed cutting off his pinkie toe (that had been out of the car at the time) when he'd shut the door closed. The ride back home had been full of tension and anger, and Naruto had sincerely wished he could've just crawled in a hole and hide. But he couldn't, so he had decided to make himself silent and wait for the explosion. He had pretty much sobered up by then, and the stupidity of his action had dawned on him.

He had known, he knew Sasuke was jealous of Kiba whenever they were too close, given the state of their relationship a while back. And even though Naruto had tried to explain that this relationship had been a bad idea and was in the past, Sasuke wouldn't have any of it. He was a pretty possessive man, Naruto had discovered, and kissing Kiba had done the one thing Sasuke hated: making him insecure.

It was already difficult to know Naruto worked with him all week long, that he was his best friend and that they'd known each other for a long time, so adding to that Naruto had just cheated on him (maybe not purposely, sure, but still) with the only man he could see as a threat had not sat well with him.

The moment they'd come home, Sasuke had snapped, and Naruto had realized just how hurt he had been. The man had swept off anything he could find, breaking stuff and causing a mess. Naruto had not move. He hadn't been scared (Sasuke wouldn't kill him), but he had been ashamed. He should not have had so much to drink. He had done something completely careless and could only blame himself for putting Sasuke in such a state.

He had waited, patiently, while Sasuke tossed objects around, cringing when Sasuke approached a particularly expensive glass statue.

A few minutes later, Sasuke had been done, so he had taken a seat on the couch, his head in his hands. Naruto had decided it was a good time to clean about, and he had done so for 20 minutes before he'd felt Sasuke's hand press him backwards and against him. They had stood there for a while, arms linked on Naruto's front and fingers brushing lightly against skin. Then Sasuke's voice and rang in his left ear. The taller man had bitten down on his ear harshly and had whispered, warning him:

"Never again. I don't want you to get drunk, or kiss him, ever again. If you do, I think I might really get mad."

Naruto had nodded.

"Say it."

"I promise. I won't. I'm sorry", he'd said quietly. Then Sasuke's arms had left him then, leaving him cold and alone, and he'd gone to bed. Naruto had cleaned the last bit and joined him, climbing on his side of the bed.

He'd woken up to the sound of his alarm, tangled in Sasuke's body.

Well Sasuke hadn't run away, which was a positive thing.

He'd got up and prepared for his workday, wondering what it's be like to meet Kiba at the office.

Still scared Sasuke might be mad at him, he'd written a few words on a post-it, hoping it'd calm things a little bit more.

And now there he was, wondering how on Earth he could possibly concentrate on his work when Sasuke occupied all his thoughts. He decided to grumble some more, dropping his shin on his folded arms, watching his cactus, observing it as though it would give him all the answers. He didn't know how much more time passed before his door opened and Kiba's head popped in.

"Hey".

"Hn", he grumbled again.

Kiba closed the door behind him and took a seat on the client's seat, turning from side to side.

"Well, you look like shit", Kiba offered helpfully.

"I also feel like that. Thanks to who?" he muttered, glaring at Kiba, who sighed awkwardly.

"Yeah, Ino told me about last night. I didn't remember. If it can make you feel better, I spent the whole night puking all over the place", he said slowly.

"Yeah? Sasuke decided to redecorate the entire ground floor. He decided it was better if all the furniture was bare."

"Ah."

Naruto chose to ignore Kiba's weird injunction. He dropped his forehead into his arms.

"I fucked up so bad", he murmured to himself. He heard Kiba's chair creak and a few seconds later he felt a hand on his back.

"I know. I'm sorry; it's also my fault. Ino wasn't so angry when she realized how drunk I was. She knows I had no fucking clue what I was doing", Kiba explained.

"Sasuke was really mad."

"He was jealous. " Naruto uncrossed his arms and sat back in his chair, rolling his eyes.

"Gosh, I wonder why?" he said sarcastically.

"Stop mourning and get to work. You can't do shit about it right now. You'll talk to him tonight"

"Tomorrow." The blond corrected.

"Huh?"

"He's in Battambang".

"Ah."

"I feel so bad!"

That's when Kiba decided to take action. He slapped Naruto's head and pinched his neck. Hard.

And he didn't let go.

"Snap out of it! It's not like you at all!"

"Let me go!" Naruto yelped, twisting and turning. "I'm not your dog! Not the neck!" Kiba kept the hold for five more seconds and let go. The man crashed back in his seat and rubbed his neck painfully.

"You sadistic idiot", he muttered under his breath, not wanting Kiba to hear.

"Stop whining. Find a solution. You don't cry, you fix stuff. That's what you're supposed to do. So do it", Kiba exclaimed before shutting the door and leaving him alone.

Well that went well.

But his friend had been right. It had not meant a thing, and Kiba didn't seem all that bothered by what had taken place. Why? Because it had been done under drunken circumstances that always lead to weird situation that made no sense. And drunken actions did not count.

He could fix it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

His heart trumpeted in his ribcage as soon as he heard the front door open. Jumping up from his chair he nearly ran to the front door, barely giving Sasuke enough time to put down his luggage before he hugged him tight.

"I missed you", he murmured in the crook of Sasuke's neck, breathing in the scent on his boyfriend.

"Me, too."

He felt a hand softly pat his hair and his sighed, all the tension and stress leaving his body. He was exhausted. He felt a kiss on his hair and he lifted his head slowly, meeting Sasuke's soft gaze. They stayed like that for a while, Sasuke's hand still stroking his hair. Naruto waited for a second before moving forward, resting his forehead on his boyfriend's.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea what was going on. It's not an excuse, but I can assure you I would never, ever do that intently."

"You already did it, though", murmured Sasuke calmly, moving his hand to Naruto's cheek. The tan man automatically moved into the gesture, closing his eyes. He sighed in contentment and opened his eyes again.

"It was seven years ago. How long an Uchiha will hold a grudge against someone?"

"Forever."

"Well get over it. I understand I completely went out of line, but it meant nothing. He could've been a monkey, a bird, an ass-"

"An ass?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows and Naruto pushed him backwards playfully.

"You know what I mean, dammit! I donkey, or whatever you Spanish people call it."

"Burro", Sasuke offered, smirking wider and wider every passing second.

"Right. Well. I don't know why it always turns me on when you roll that 'r'".

"I turn you on?" Sasuke amusedly pulled Naruto toward him, holding his right hand in his, pressing his other hand at the small of the blond's back, pulling him flush against him. It felt good to have this proximity again.

"Shut up". Naruto tried to hide his face but Sasuke let go of his hand and lifted his shin up, kissing the pouting mouth. Naruto instantly melted, pushing Sasuke even more into the door, his hand reaching for the nape of his lover's neck, practically squishing their faces together hungrily. Their tongues met and it caused fireworks in Naruto's head. His other hand went down to grab Sasuke's ass pulling it closer, making their groins touch. They both inhaled loudly and Sasuke asked again, against Naruto's lips:

"Digame. Do I turn you on?"

"Cocky bastard. You know you do."

"I do?" he smirked and Naruto decided he'd whip this stupid smile off of Sasuke's face. And he had a pretty good idea how.

His hand slowly descended Sasuke's chest, unbuttoning the white shirt, one by one, slowly. He took his sweet time, knowing taking it slow usually made Sasuke eager to speed things up. And Naruto liked when Sasuke took control of the situation. Not that he'd ever tell him.

While he undressed Sasuke's upper body, he kept his eyes of Sasuke, observing the changes on his features. Sasuke's face was absolutely incredible to watch. He always looked at Naruto with tenderness, as though he wanted to take care of him and love him slowly, but as soon as Naruto's hands were on him, his eyes went from tenderness to lust and hunger. Naruto loved the moment the change took place. It looked like Sasuke was holding a fight with himself he never managed to win. Naruto knew Sasuke wanted to be slow and tender, yet it barely ever happened that way. Naruto made him insane.

In no time, Sasuke had reversed their position, holding Naruto against the door. He quickly got rid of his shirt and helped Naruto get rid of his. Naruto had no idea how it happened, all that he knew was that Sasuke's hands had made magic on his skin, once again. He grabbed Sasuke's neck and lifted his legs, wrapping them around Sasuke's waist, creating a quick rhythm of friction. Sasuke's hands went under Naruto's ass, squeezing them periodically, feeling like a teenager again. They didn't take the time to undo their pants. They just humped each other dry against the front door, kissing the other's lips, neck, ear, temple, any surface they could possibly reach given their precarious position.

Naruto opened his glazed eyes a second, only to be absorbed into Sasuke's intense stare. He was looking at him like he wanted to eat him alive, and Naruto could help but groan loudly, dropping his head against the door in pleasure, then violently bite Sasuke's neck in an instinct to mark him as his. Apparently that was all Sasuke could take.

Two seconds later he had his back on the nearest couch. He was stripped from his pants and boxers and, for some reason, it excited him more than it should have. The moan that escaped his mouth when he felt Sasuke's shaft on his surprised them both, but Sasuke seemed to like it.

"Me has echado de menos?" he murmured sensually, slowly dragging his fingers on Naruto's chest, pinching his nipples and sucking on them. He moved up to his neck and ear, then kissed Naruto's lips thoroughly, and the blond forgot what was reality.

"Oh God", he moaned quietly. Sasuke knew Naruto had a soft spot for Spanish words, especially during sex. For some reason, it seemed to turn him on twice as much if he spoke Spanish instead of English. Sasuke had absolutely no idea why, but Naruto had tried to explain it had something to do with the fact that every Spanish word sounded like sex. Sasuke hadn't tried to understand much more. Australian people and their habits…

"Quiero joderte. Ahora", he said urgently, dropping his hand to Naruto's erection, pumping it slowly, staring into blue eyes. Naruto grumbled something incoherent and pressed up against Sasuke, hands reaching for Sasuke ass, pulling him down on top of him.

"Impaciente, si, Naruto? Espera".

Naruto barely felt Sasuke's fingers preparing him. He did feel, however, when Sasuke entered him slowly. He opened his mouth and breathed in. There was no fucking way he'd ever get bored of his. This was everything. He lifted his hips and encouraged Sasuke to move in him further, wrapping his legs once again around Sasuke's waist. Naruto's cock brushed against Sasuke's lower stomach and he felt himself cry out Sasuke's name in broken sounds.

For some reason, having Sasuke in him felt very different that when he was the one making love to Sasuke, apart from the obvious reason. They switched up from time to time, and the dynamic was always different. When he made love to Sasuke, it was slow, long and tender. When Sasuke was fucking him, it was raw, rough and quick, but still amazing. He loved both ways.

Sasuke panted against his neck, picking up speed as he thrust in Naruto again and again, making his lover moan and writhe underneath him.

"Sas'ke, I'm… close", he whispered between breaths, reaching in between their stomachs for his erection.

"Vienes, Naruto", Sasuke murmured in his ear, feeling close to completion as well. He nipped at it and Naruto heard the shallow breaths Sasuke was desperately trying to suck in his lungs. It all was too much to take for any human being. He held is orgasm for a second, wanting Sasuke's words to pull him in.

"Say it", he pleaded against the other man's lips.

"I love you, Na-" he exploded and felt Sasuke follow.

It felt like an eternity before the ceiling reappeared. He focused on Sasuke's weight on him and smiled.

Well, it make up sex was always that good, maybe they should fight more.

"What are you thinking?" he heard the muffled question from his neck and his hand went around Sasuke, hugging him. He approached his lips to the older man's ear and whispered.

"I was thinking you should get mad at me more often if it leads to that sort of sex".

"Imbécil. I hate fighting with you."

"Hm."

"We could always role-play?" Sasuke suggested, slowly rolling off Naruto, on his side.

Naruto laughed and held the pale man against his chest to prevent him from falling off the couch.

"What, you'd be the Spanish thief and I'd be the scared Australian? I'd throw my tarantula pet on your face. Or my python. We have dangerous animals in our country. Be careful." He said jokingly.

"I'll take note of that."

"So does that means you forgave me?"

"Hn."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I think we should keep it, you know."

"You want to keep a piece of paper?" Sasuke asked incredulously, holding it over the paper bin. Yep, Naruto had three different bins. One for paper, one for plastic and one for glass.

"Well, yeah."

"Naruto, you keep everything. Stop being so sentimental." He made the attempt to drop the post-it and Naruto jumped on him to grab it from his hand.

"No! We're keeping it! It's proof of our love!"

"You're such a goof", muttered Sasuke as Naruto held the precious yellow paper over his heart.

"You love the goofy me", Naruto sing-songed, jumping around for a second, before dragging the taller man in a crushing hug.

"Give me a break", Sasuke said, picking up the paper that had fallen on the floor when Naruto had jumped on him to hug him. He went over to the fridge, picked a (ramen looking like) magnet and dropped it on the post-it, holding it still on the freezer door.

"There, happy?" he asked, turning around, only to have Naruto pressing his lips urgently against him. He instantly responded to the kiss, letting himself being pushed against the counter as he ran his hand under the blond's purple tee-shirt. He broke the kiss and pushed Naruto off of him, heading toward the fridge, retrieving a can of Arizona green tea.

"Maybe you should strop trying to jump me every occasion you have. I barely got back home that you seduced me, and now you're trying again. You need to calm you hormones", he said matter-of-factly.

"Well, you're hot."

"And you're an idiot. Want some?" he lifted the can and Naruto nodded.

He took a seat on the armchair near the kitchen, and Naruto followed shortly after, holding too glass of cold tea. He sat on Sasuke's lap (for lack of other place to seat) and threw his long legs over the arm of the chair. Sasuke rested his hand on Naruto's thigh and patted them.

"It's good to be home", he said.

They both knew he wasn't talking about the house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I really wish you could stay.

I know I acted like an idiot

and I deserve your anger,

but remember I love you

so much. I'm sorry.

Have a safe trip. I'll miss you.

Your moron.

I shouldn't have gotten so mad.

Wish you'd forgive me. Don't ever

Get drunk again. I'll see you soon,

Which I could stay. Don't kiss Kiba

next time. Kiss me instead. Always.

Love, your bastard.