Naruto peered down at the folded paper in his hand, a black and white map with directions guiding him to one 865 38th Street. Naruto's hands carried just the slightest sheen of sweat; he was excited, nervous, hardly able to believe that he was finally doing this.

"The Satin Grip."

Naruto folded his map, placing it in his back pocket before passing under the awning and opening the shop. Sleek black couches and two chairs were positioned around a knee-height table in the front room. Beyond it was a large aquarium, lit up and full of vibrantly hued fish of all colors of the rainbow. The Satin Grip had a large aquarium and "garage" sort of feel to it while still being chic and upscale. Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" played over the speakers.

This isn't what Naruto had expected a tattoo parlor to look like. The music fit, though.

The desk, just beyond the aquarium, was occupied by a hulk of a man with bright red hair and biceps the size of small tree trunks. He looked up from the magazine he was reading as Naruto approached the desk. Naruto could see how someone might find him intimidating.

"Hi, I'm Juugo. How can I help you?"

"I want a tattoo," Naruto said bluntly.

It sounded awkward, and he silently cursed himself. He'd done his research, dammit!

"Okay. Do you have any ideas as to what you'd like?"

Naruto nodded. He knew just what he wanted on his body. This was a large piece, a nine tailed fox which would take up almost his entire back, as well as some of his upper arm. He'd wanted this for years; it meant something to him. As impulsive as Naruto could be, he took pride in his body, and he'd make decisions regarding it seriously.

"Yes. A nine tailed fox. A big one, on my back."

Naruto turned around, awkwardly gesturing to his back.

"Do you have any designs?"

"No. I was hoping to work with someone here."

"Our hourly rate is $150. Sound good?"

Naruto had expected this. The parlor's prices were steep, but Naruto figured that for something that would be on his body for the rest of his life, he'd spare no expense. He took care of his body religiously, through rigorous fitness, so he wouldn't botch it up by choosing a shitty tattoo shop.

He'd heard rave reviews through friends, and the opinion was enforced by everything he'd found on the internet. Rave reviews by the thousands had piled up regarding the Satin Grip in dozens of pockets of the internet. Recently, the parlor had even worked on major celebrities. But what had really gotten Naruto was the gallery. All of the artists who worked at this place were truly amazing.

And Naruto would only have the best. Despite pulling an absurd number of all nighters, partying way too hard in his early twenties, and his unhealthy obsession towards hamburgers, ramen, and pizza, he took great pride in his body.

It was just out of luck that this place happened to only be a fifteen minute subway ride from his one bedroom apartment in Harlem.

"Yup."

"Okay," he smiled. "Suigetsu is free in the back."

A man with white hair, clearly unnatural for his age, waved him back, having listened to the conversation. He was sipping a water bottle through a straw at his station. As he approached Suigetsu's station, he couldn't help but notice a man on the other side of the room, being tattooed by a woman with long, fire engine red hair and glasses.

He looked to be in his late twenties. He had a feminine and decidedly alternative beauty to him, his black, somewhat long hair falling backwards to reveal a striking collarbone and a long neck. Blue highlights were woven through his bangs. If this guy had walked up to him in a club and asked for Naruto's number, he would've had it in a matter of seconds. The man was shirtless, his lean yet muscular body clearly no stranger to the world of body mods. His nipple was neatly pierced by a silver barbell. Ouch. Naruto tried not to wince out of sympathy pain.

His lips were thin and pale, with snakebites on his lower. The arm facing Naruto was completely covered in tattoos, a colorful, intricate sleeve focusing on a snake that wrapped around his arm. The workmanship was superb, the entire sleeve meshing into a harmonious, vibrantly colored design. His eyes were peacefully shut...

And he was lethally attractive.

"Hi, I'm Suigetsu," the man said, his voice just slightly tinged by a Russian accent.

Suigetsu stood for a moment and outreached his right hand for a quick shake. This was the first time since entering the shop that Naruto had felt distracted. He tried not to space out, because wouldn't that have been embarrassing.

"I'm Naruto," he answered.

Why was he beginning to feel nervous? It wasn't a bad nervousness though. It was...exciting.

"Take a seat," Suigetsu said, gesturing to a small, ordinary chair by Suigetsu's station. It was likely there for any guests his customer might have.

"How'd you find us?"

"Well, word of mouth originally. Then I found the shop's online gallery and was totally hooked!"

"So you've done your research. What do you want to get?"

"A fox. On my back."

"Okay. How big are you thinking?"

"Ah…" Naruto answered, lifting his arm up to touch his back with this palm. "Shoulder to shoulder, and most of my lower back. Some on my upper arm too."

"Do you want color?"

Naruto nodded. At that moment, he heard a quiet snore escape the man on the opposite side of the room.

Despite Suigetsu's professional conduct, he smirked, and Juugo, still working up front, laughed. Naruto's jaw dropped. How could someone sleep through that?

"Wake up," Suigetsu snapped at him. Another long and modest snore. His tattoo artist nudged him sharply.

"Hey, Sasuke?" she prompted.

The man, who evidently went by Sasuke, roused, yawning and bringing his hand up to rub at the skin between his eyes as he sucked at one of his snakebite piercings. The name "Sasuke" sounded familiar to Naruto, but he couldn't place it. Had he heard it somewhere before? Sasuke squinted, and then glanced over at Suigetsu.

"Let me guess," the man groaned, his voice deep from just having woken up from slumber. His voice was still a little slurred as he entered consciousness, and it sounded, in some strange way, even sexual, "I fell asleep again."

The whole parlor laughed.

"Keep going, Karin," Sasuke mumbled, his tattooist again turning on her irons.

"You call yourself an insomniac?" Suigetsu asked, a chuckle still in his voice. "From what I've seen, you have no trouble falling asleep."

"I slept two hours last night," Sasuke growled. "I was busy doing things of actual importance instead of getting sloshed at parties like a certain person I know."

Suigetsu scrunched his brows, regarding Sasuke patronizingly.

"Yeah, that was some Keith Richards level shit."

Sasuke glared at the man.

"Hey, you should know I'd never go to work hungover," Suigetsu responded to Sasuke, looking a little offended at the silent implication that Suigetsu would go to work off his game.

"Apologies, Naruto," Suigetsu told Naruto. "That's Sasuke. He's a smartass."

An impish smile then invaded Suigetsu's face, "When's the last time you even went to a party?"

Clearly, Sasuke was a regular at this parlor if he had this sort of relationship with Suigetsu. Looking at Sasuke, it wasn't exactly surprising.

"Shut up and let Karin concentrate," Sasuke answered, sounding annoyed. "And talk to your customer."

This was actually the first time Naruto's presence had even indirectly been acknowledged by the man on the other side of the room. For the first time since Naruto had sat down, he caught Sasuke's eyes. Naruto…wasn't the type of guy to do something like this. He hadn't ever even gotten his ears pierced before, for Christ's sake, but this tattoo…it really meant something to him.

And Sasuke wasn't generally the type of guy he'd associate with, let alone desire. All of Naruto's friends were pretty straight-laced, but Sasuke was hellishly attractive. The modifications seemed to only enrich his natural good looks rather than detract from them. Naruto wondered how Sasuke's voice could be so low and full of sensuality while simultaneously sounding so bored.

"What style are you thinking?"

They held gazes for perhaps a couple seconds longer than was purely casual. Sasuke gave Naruto a quick nod before he glanced up at the ceiling, presumably trying not to fall back to sleep. How Sasuke could seem so perfectly comfortable in that chair, Naruto had no idea. Sasuke had obviously had many tattoos before this one, so maybe it was just something one got used to.

"Naruto?"

Right, that had been Suigetsu. And he had probably caught Naruto staring. What the hell was wrong with him? He was never like this. He tried not to sound flustered.

"Um… Feudal style."

His ideas drew from Japanese folklore, so it was only logical to him.

"Hmmm…"

Suigetsu stopped to think.

"I could do this for you. But…" Suigetsu leaned in, keeping his voice down so that only Naruto could hear. "Sasuke is known internationally for his feudal tattoos, just as I'm known for my watercolor style. They're unlike anything I've seen. So if I were to be truly honest, I'd suggest that you work with Sasuke. He is a genius."

"Wait, Sasuke works here?" Naruto found himself asking, only afterwards wishing he could have stopped himself.

Suigetsu chuckled under his breath.

"He owns the place."

Jeeeesus. Just looking at Sasuke was difficult enough. It did things to him that he couldn't really explain. But having Sasuke tattoo him?

But clearly, Sasuke was the best for the job. Naruto was frustrated with himself. What was wrong with him?

"Okay. But why are we whispering?"

The sound of the tattoo irons on Sasuke skin concealed their voices.

"Because Sasuke is an arrogant twat."

"Heard that," Sasuke pitched in boredly.

"If you think that's bad, you should hear all the insults you slept through."

Sasuke only yawned in response.

"Anyhow…" Sasuke began again, his tone slightly sleepy. "Naruto, is it?"

Sasuke saying his name did funny things to his stomach.

"Yeah… Hey, I know you're not working right now or anything. I don't want to bother you when you're..."

"My schedule can be tight, but I'm sure I can fit you in."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"I apologize, but you'll have to walk me through what you want again." Sasuke's tone of voice had shifted so quickly. Even though Sasuke had only just started speaking, it already felt a bit strange hearing him sound so polite. "I was asleep for some of it."

The sound of the machine marking Sasuke's skin continued. Sasuke wasn't the slightest bit fazed.

"Oh, no problem!" Naruto answered, shaking his head. Sasuke was looking over at him now, though it was clearly important for him to stay still.

"So yeah… A large fox on my back, taking up the shoulders area, a lot of the small of my lower back, and my shoulder. I want feudal style with color."

"Do you have any references?" Sasuke asked.

"No. I was wondering if you could design it."

"Sure. Have you ever designed one with someone before?"

"Um…" It was stupid to be embarrassed, Naruto told himself. "I haven't."

"Here's how it usually works. We exchange e-mails; you'll find mine on my card. You write me what you want, with any details you want to incorporate. If you see anything you like elsewhere, even if you only want to use a couple details from it, send that to me too. I'll send you an overall quote, and if you accept, I'll send you my design."

"Got it," Naruto answered with a grin.

"Then, obviously the next step is to come in."

Walking into the parlor, this had all seemed much more real to him. Before, it was just an idea, something he'd love to do one of these days. But now it was striking him that yes, this was actually going to happen.

"We'll work from there. It will take a few sessions, depending on how well you tolerate it and what design we decide on."

"Okay."

"Have you had any tattoos before?"

"No, this is my first one," Naruto said, feeling a little sheepish considering that he was probably the only person in the room with any less than five tattoos.

"Hm…" Sasuke answered thoughtfully. "I'm almost jealous. The first one is a rush."

"Yeah!" Naruto answered, excited now. He was glad that this was distracting him from how he felt when he looked at Sasuke. "I've been wanting this for years! I've always known exactly what I wanted, ever since I was a kid. But I just didn't have the cash! I've saved up for the past year and…"

Naruto stopped a moment.

"I'm sorry, I'm rambling! I do that a lot."

When he was nervous or excited particularly. He'd leave that part out.

"It seems like this means a lot to you."

"Yeah," Naruto answered with nervous laughter. "I guess it does."

"Then you've come to the right place."

"Yeah," Suigetsu intercepted. "Even if Sasuke can be a pill, you're in good hands with him."

"Thanks, guys."

Naruto took this as his cue to leave. He stood.

"Have any questions for me?" Sasuke asked.

"Ah… I'm bad at thinking of them on the spot. I'll probably think up a few more and put them in the e-mail."

"Alright. Nice meeting you, Naruto."

"Nice meeting you too!"

With a big grin on his face, Naruto left the shop with Sasuke's business card in hand.

"It's like some horrible joke," Naruto lamented, toying with his straw wrapper as he sat with Sakura after he'd gotten off of work. This was the coffee shop he'd made his living at, along with the stipend he received from the military for being on call.

Sakura had stopped by the shop briefly, wearing a white sundress with pink flowers and a wide-brimmed straw hat. Her bold designer sunglasses complemented her delicate face nicely.

"He is so attractive that it's almost physically painful."

Naruto took a bite of his croissant, adding with a full mouth, "Scratch almost. It is painful. He's like…this sexy, buff, super confident, god of the ink. His tattoos are like…nnnf. You know he did most of them himself? I am so lucky that he's going to be the one working on me. And if that's not bad enough, he's insanely successful, intelligent, witty…"

Sakura tilted her head slightly.

"The only problem is that he's sort of an asshole."

"Are you done rambling yet?" Sakura asked, but her smile was no less warm.

"For now," Naruto grumbled, looking down at his lap.

"I haven't seen you like this since middle school."

Sakura had been a childhood friend of his, when he'd lived in Texas. He'd had a painfully conspicuous crush on her. Middle school was a time that Naruto would have preferred to have forgotten. His social skills were in dire need of improvement, and he was told that he was far too loud. He misbehaved wantonly, perhaps even driven by the harsh strictness of his foster family.

They'd lost touch when Naruto left Texas, only for them to serendipitously meet in the most unexpected of places: boot camp for the U.S. Marines. And it turned out that Sakura had moved to Manhattan as well, working as a fashion designer. Given that Manhattan is the most populated city in the country, Naruto figured that that second part wasn't as astounding of a coincidence.

Naruto groaned, holding his face in his hands.

"Urrrgh, Sakura, what do I do?"

"In any other situation, I'd just tell you to put a move on him. But if things get weird between you guys, then getting the rest of your tattoo would be really awkward. And then your tattoo could tie to bad memories."

Naruto nodded. He knew he was the sort to be affected by that. If Sasuke and he connected, and things went awry, he knew that the ink Sasuke had etched into his skin would remind him of that.

But he was getting way, way ahead of himself. Most of the population, after all, identifies as heterosexual. There was a small chance that Sasuke liked men, and even a smaller chance still that he would like Naruto in particular.

"But he's hooooot," Naruto whined.

That wasn't everything. If it was, Naruto could have passed Sasuke by easily enough. But this was what Naruto felt comfortable talking about.

"Look…" Naruto slipped his slider phone out of his pocket, putting the keywords "satin grip" and "Uchiha Sasuke" in Google. He was greeted with plenty of pictures. Pictures of Sasuke being interviewed, pictures of him with celebrities… He settled on a picture of Sasuke shirtless. It looked almost like a modeling shoot, Sasuke tattooing the stomach of a young blond woman, intent on his work.

Naruto saw Sakura's viridian eyes widen behind her brown-tinted shades. She whistled.

"I see what you mean," Sakura remarked. "Even our studio's models don't look that good. I'd hire him in a heartbeat."

Naruto groaned. Yet again.

"If he's interested, you could always keep it casual, right? It doesn't have to be a full-blown relationship."

"Hm, this is true," Naruto answered. He could settle for that, at least. He wouldn't need that many sessions. Afterward, he could do as he liked. He could at least handle that, he thought.

He was glad to be done with work for the day. It wasn't like he minded going in the next day, though. Every day, he competed with his performance yesterday, tried to get more tips, more satisfied customers, learn a few more names…

"Anyhow, enough about me. How've you been?"

Sakura smiled.

"Great, actually. I got the promotion, which means I'll take a large part in designing next year's spring collection. Which means more exposure. And more money."

"But less time out on the town with me," Naruto whined playfully.

"Get off it," Sakura answered, rolling her eyes with a smile on her face.

"No, but seriously… I'm really happy for you. You worked so hard for this. I can't think of anyone who would deserve it more."

Sakura looked down at the table now, her smile milder yet warmer. She'd been talking about this for years. She'd spent so long in administrative support functions, just trying to learn, trying to see what fashion design really meant and how it was done. No work was beneath her. After years of patience, finally, she was being rewarded.

"I haven't even told my parents yet."

"I wanna be there when you tell!" Naruto practically shouted.

Sakura's parents and Naruto clicked, naturally it seemed. Only rarely did they fly up north to visit, but whenever they met, there was laughter and inevitably some humiliation on Sakura's part as Naruto extracted the juicy but excruciating details of Sakura's childhood from his accomplices.

"No."

"But…"

"No."

Naruto sighed, crossing his arms and huffing.

"Fine. When are you going to tell them?"

"I don't know…" Sakura answered. "Maybe tomorrow?"

Naruto grinned.

"We're still looking for models," Sakura trailed off.

"Well you don't have to beg," Naruto answered with a grin, playfully pushing her shoulder.

Sakura growled at Naruto, causing him to retreat just a bit.

"Look, I know you could use some pocket money…"

"You couldn't afford these pearly whites!" Naruto stopped her, flashing her a brilliant smile.

"Naruto, knock it off."

He tilted his head. It wasn't like Sakura to be so serious. Was she in a bad mood or something? What was wrong with cracking a few jokes?

"I showed your picture to some of the designers. They…"

Naruto almost dropped his coffee.

"Wait, what?!"

He'd been joking. This didn't mean what he thought it did, did it?

"Look, this would not be a large gig. It would just be a couple photos…"

"Are you… Are you asking me to model for your company?"

"Yes, Naruto," she answered impatiently.

Sakura was asking him to model for their clothing line? Model?!

Now that he thought of it, he always knew that he was attractive. It wasn't like he was one to advertise it, but he took care of himself. Maybe it was all of that work he'd put in recently. Even he had to admit his body looked damn sexy with all of those muscles.

"It wouldn't be a lot of money…"

But modeling? This was new. Yet he was in New York City. It might only just be the beginning. He could make model friends. Model friends who knew other modeling agencies. He'd always wanted to go to Milan. Granted...

"I'd just need to take a few photos and…"

Yes, granted that was looking pretty far into the future. But a guy can dream, right? What if that happened? Walking down the runway, blowing a kiss and making everyone practically foam at the bit. Plus, Italian food? All of the food! He could go everywhere and…

"Nothing is decided at this point. We…"

He wondered how the pizza in Manhattan would hold up to the pizza in Italy. What if he went to London? And it was unlikely, but what if, through all his modeling work, somehow Sasuke saw him? Then he'd totally be hot enough for someone like Sasuke! If Sasuke even had so much of a particle of gay in him, he'd be at his front door begging.

Even if that didn't happen, he could still slip it in while Sasuke worked on him. "Oh yeah, just doing a little modeling work on the side." Then that killer smile of his...

A hand snapped in front of his face.

"Naruto!"

It was Sakura, looking at him so sternly.

"Pay attention."

Naruto rustled, broken out of his thoughts. He grinned and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was spacing out."

"I noticed."

Sakura sighed again, taking a slow sip of coffee before shaking her head.

"If you get a big head about this, god help me…"

A nervous laugh from Naruto.

"Okay, okay. So… So what do I do now?"

"Since you don't have an agent, I'll just take some pictures of you. We'll need a full body shot as well."

"Are the guns coming out?" Naruto asked, flexing his bicep.

"We'd probably put you in a tank top and some shorts."

"Aw yeeeah, guns out!" Naruto shouted, now turning a few heads. Sakura cringed in embarrassment. "But I'm in the middle of getting a tattoo. Would that be a problem?"

"No, you're good. Besides, it's just going to be some pocket change, like I said. 200 bucks max for everything, tops."

"That's a lot of cash!"

Naruto supposed he needed to start thinking more realistically now. But even if it was just something that lasted a week at most, it would be cool to be able to say for the rest of his life that he'd made money just by letting people look at his hot bod.

"Good. Then you can stop mooching off of me for beer money."

"I paid you back," Naruto pouted.

"Whatever. See, aren't you glad? Now maybe you can nut up and talk to that guy you like so much."

"I don't like him!" Naruto fumbled, blushing slightly. "I don't even know him. He's just attractive."

It was true. He knew nothing about Sasuke. It was infatuation. Even Naruto had to admit that much to himself. And really, who knew. Even if Sasuke was smart, talented, and totally sexy, if his personality was off, it wouldn't matter.

"Fine, then fuck him."

"I uh… Too soon."

"Okay. Then how about focusing on not popping a boner in the chair."

Now it was Sakura's turn to laugh.

"Oh my god, I hate you."

"Some eye candy you've got there."

He couldn't deny that she was right about that.

Author's Note:

New concept, and my second multi-chaptered fic. My post Soup's On hiatus is over!

I know it sounds a little like a pwp. It's not. I'm foreseeing it to be roughly 20 chapters long. It's plot heavy but does NOT neglect the smut.

The Satin Grip is loosely based off of my favorite place to get work done: Velvet Grip in West Hollywood. If you're ever in southern California, they do great work.

Anyhow, please let me know what you think!