Title: Cold Hands
Series: Naruto
Author: Coyen (Xiao)
Pairing: Sasuke x Naruto, Kakashi x Iruka
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, this writing is merely for entertainment purposes.
Author's Notes: This might be slightly AU, or OOC, I think. Please forgive me, I have limited knowledge of the actual plotline and characters. I just wanted to write this pairing for pleasure. Please enjoy and PLEASE PLEASE review! (---just a little desperate)
Chapter Three: Your Paradise, My Wasteland: part 1
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Kakashi sighed deeply, wearily, as he studied his two most promising pupils. He had absolutely no idea what was going on between the young shinobi, but it simply couldn't be good for future missions and teamwork. Naruto and Sasuke stood stock still before him, clutching their bags tightly, waiting for the Jonin to take them to wherever he willed. Sasuke had a deeply solemn, almost sad expression, and was staring hard at the wall directly behind his sensei. Naruto looked very nearly queasy, eyes fluttering closed from sleepiness, energy drained from what appeared to be many restless nights and a few tears for good measure. Kakashi continued to stand there, surveying them silently, and after a tense moment, Naruto promptly drifted off to sleep and tipped sideways in Sasuke's direction. Instantly, before Naruto could fall very far, the Uchiha boy caught his shoulders and propped him back up, the faintest trace of a blush coloring his pale skin and throwing off the stoic demeanor. Naruto woke with a jolt, and after realizing who had just touched him, even in a seemingly platonic gesture, jumped as if burned further away from his rival. Sasuke's expression, lighter for just a moment there, quickly fell, and he turned back towards the wall, hiding his shame behind lowered lids. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and calmed down his breathing, then blinked sleepily back up at his sensei, unaware of the confused expression blossoming across his young face.
Having watched this entire exchange of wordless emotion, Kakashi brought a slim-fingered hand to his chin, and stroked it in amusement. Could it be? There were so many, many things that Sasuke's blush and Naruto's guilty expression could say to him right now. But the question was… dare he believe it?
Tsk, tsk. He was such a bad sensei. Prying into his student's love lives, sharing his own vulgar one with them. His eyes strayed to Sasuke's, but didn't make contact. He knew they boy had seen. Had watched, for almost three hours. Had gone home and pumped himself dry all over the mundane white sheets in a cold, lonely house.
But, really- he was in no position to think such things. Iruka would be jealous.
"I trust you two are ready for your own retreat?" His voice was smooth and low like silk in the river, and Naruto managed to open one eye completely, while the other stayed fixedly droopy with lack of sleep.
"Yeah.."
Kakashi looked at Sasuke. "And I'm sure I don't even have to ask with you." He smiled and clapped his hands together. "Let's go!"
Sakura watched from the shadows of a doorway as the three all turned and clipped briskly down the hall, but for a few moments here and there when Naruto would drag his weary feet. Her grip on the side of the doorframe was so tight that the knuckles were white-tipped, but her face held no emotion. In her mind, however, thoughts were running wild- clashing, merging, painfully fighting for dominance. Where were those two going? What would happen when they were alone? If Sasuke really… really l-love… really l-loved Naruto, would he t-tell him? What then? What would Naruto do? Surely Naruto would freak out- after all, Naruto loved HER! Naruto wasn't sick like that. As much as she was loathe to admit it, he wasn't wrong like that, he liked girls, he liked her.
Sakura flushed. Naruto liked her. He liked her.
-----
So many sounds gathered around him, grating on his nerves, lulling him to sleep. The horse's whinny as it clipped across the rocky dirt road. The sound of birds as they passed overhead. The rasping snore of Kakashi-sensei as the man lay sprawled somewhere nearby.
Naruto's ears were perked to an extreme, since his vision was completely obscured by the hitae-ae headband draped around his eyes. This time around, he and Sasuke were being transported to their location in a buggy or cart of some sort, horse-driven. The animal's footsteps became more and more labored as the feel of the wheels on the ground told the young man that they had passed from solid earth to sand, and the dunes were growing higher with each hour that passed.
Having started out in the early morning, it was now noon, and the sun was a glaring demon in the sky, burning down upon the travelers. Naruto knew, without looking, that Sasuke was sweating like he was from the intense heat- the fox boy could smell his rival's thick, heady scent, a masculine musk, nearly dripping off his skin and filling the air with some kind of lethal pheromones. Naruto was also sure that since Sasuke, like him, was unable to see, the Uchiha boy's ears must also be finely tuned into the sounds around them. Kakashi's snores were the only real downside of this, grating on the nerves more and more as the trip went on.
Well, nobody could see him, Naruto mused, and reached down to scratch at his crotch indiscriminately. While he was at it, he also had an itch on his back, and another high up on his shoulder. He didn't have to worry about anyone seeing, either, as Sasuke, who (unfortunately) sat opposite him in the jolting cart was blinded like him, and Kakashi was sleeping. The driver was up in the front, completely unaware of their actions.
Naruto twisted slightly on the bench, sweat rolling down his spine and between his shoulder blades, and shoved a lithe hand up the back of his orange jacket, scratching furiously. He breathed a deep-throated sigh of relief, then, after readjusting the garment, began to immediately notice how itchy and hot the fur lining of the collar made it. The sun didn't seem to be letting up any, so Naruto shrugged mentally and unzipped the thing, shrugging it off his shoulders and sighing happily. Leaning back in the cart, he promptly fell asleep, weariness overcoming him at last.
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Sasuke clenched his fists, popping the knuckles, where they were hidden in the straw. The cart jolted violently as the horse stumbled, the sand dunes climbing above the hooves to the beast's knees. He could tell from the sound of the wheels crunching on the terrain like coarse snow, but above that noise was the insufferable din of his sensei's snores. Sasuke continued to clench his fists. He had never heard a more wretched sleep-sound. How could Iruka stand it?
But he had more important problems immediately at hand. The intense heat of the noonday sun was beating down like cocoon of fire, and sweat was quickly and efficiently soaking his shirt through. Naruto, he could tell, was sweating profusely as well across from him in the rickety old cart. He inhaled silently through his nose, and deeply, filling his lungs with the scent. It was wild, it was… feral. It made something in his blood sing, as if the darkness in his veins was responding to that call, awakening, drawing him closer to the open flower and the sting that followed. Naruto had no idea, naturally, that his skin's own scent was powerful this way. It was inhuman, it was… wicked. Sasuke wanted it to fill the air so much that he'd never rid his lungs of it. It was as if he was burying his face into that chest, being wrapped in those tan arms, completely enveloped in a thick heady cloud of nothing but Naruto. Something to diffuse through the air like venom. Drown him in death.
He jumped, startled like a rabbit out of the brush, when the coarse metallic sound of a zipper being lowered shot through the hot air. He knew instantly it was Naruto, unzipping his jacket, taking it off, off, off, baring his glistening wild skin to the world. And suddenly the headband over his eyes was like a damned curse, a veil from something he had never wanted to see so much in his life. Even if he'd wanted to, his Sharingan eye could not have penetrated this, not outside of the heat of battle. Even if he yearned, with every fiber of his being, to see that lithe, toned expanse of flesh, smothered in beads of sweat, giving off heat into the desert air like a sunburn over asphalt.
Squirming uncomfortably and in shame as his pants grew too tight too quickly, Sasuke desperately tried to force the vivid thoughts from his mind. Naruto was now asleep, he could tell quite easily when the soft slumber-sounds echoed across to him. He shouldn't have to worry, but he did anyway. This was his innermost secret, his hidden lie, his unwanted sin. If anyone knew, if anyone… he mustn't let it show. No matter how much it hurt to force what bubbled to the surface back down, like swallowing his own bile and feeling the bitter burn eat away at him from the inside as it retreated to the pit of his stomach- he couldn't let it show.
Curling into a hunched-over ball, the Uchiha boy tried anxiously to will his mind to sleep like the others, but the darkness wouldn't come. He couldn't find rest with Naruto so close to him, and yet, so far away.
-----
The dunes were becoming treacherously high now. The poor horse stumbled with each step as the hot sand consumed his legs, again and again, gradually filling the air with the stench of burning hair. The driver kept the beast moving, however, because the longer the cart stayed still on the sand, the further the wheels would sink, and if their brisk pace stopped for more than a few brief moments, the vehicle could become entirely entrenched.
Naruto and Kakashi were still sleeping as the journey wore on, even though the jolting of the cart grew more and more violent. "Move! Keep moving!" Sasuke heard the driver yell. The horse whinnied in pain, but persisted, and the young shinobi felt the smallest twinge of empathy for the creature. Since when did he pity anyone, and animals, no less? Since when had he started to notice these things, to care about anything other than his own goals, and those practical to the present situation? The Uchiha boy lowered his head and hunched his shoulders as the rocking of the unsteady cart made his lithe body sway back and forth. He wasn't sure, but he knew that it had something to do with Naruto. It was when he got to know the boy. When some disgustingly comforting kind of warmth first slipped into his cold life.
Sasuke was caught completely off guard when the wooden vehicle pitched suddenly to the side, the horse yelping in panic. The blinded boy flew off his bench across the bed of the cart, and slammed brutally into Naruto, who was startled out of sleep. For a few precious moments they lay entangled, frozen in breathless shock- then the driver cried out in warning as the cart tipped completely over, spilling the two boys into the burning dustbowl that was the desert.
Naruto screamed, having been the one to land on his back with Sasuke atop him, and ripped off the headband that obscured his vision as searing pain blossomed up his spine, having stripped his now bare torso earlier that day. Sasuke, recovering quickly, was instantly off his rival and on his feet, hissing at the waves of heat that engulfed them both. He grabbed Naruto and with a gut-wrenching burst of strength, heaved him to his feet and out of the dunes, relocating them with slight difficulty to the top of the over-turned cart. Kakashi was busy trying to help the driver control the horse, who was still ensnared in the twisted reins and harness that bound the beast to the wooden structure. Its panicked whinnies echoed across a vast expanse of mirages and golden slopes, shimmering in the sun.
Naruto rubbed at his sore back in self-pity, making little mewling sounds of discomfort. "W-what happened?" His previous awkwardness about his rival was temporarily forgotten at the new turn of events.
Sasuke jumped, then stiffened. "The cart… capsized."
Naruto hissed as his fingers encountered a blister. It was already beginning to heal over, though, and he breathed a matching sigh of relief when the pain subsided. He looked around, and at Sasuke, who had also removed his own headband.
"Where… are we? Is this Sand Country?"
Sasuke looked stoically out at the hazy horizon. He had no clue. "I'm not sure."
Naruto looked worried. "Jeeze… Kakashi-sensei wasn't kidding. It's burning up out here… and think… a whole two weeks in this damned place…" He tensed when he realized what he'd been saying, and the rush of awkwardness came hurdling back. Oh yeah. Two weeks, alone with Sasuke. Just him… and… well, and Sasuke. His rival. His tentative friend. His often times enemy. A cold, emotionless boy who… who loved him?
He still didn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. As much as he admired and respected (and drooled after) Sakura, this time, he couldn't believe her.
Then why did he feel so nervous? Why was his heart speeding up at this very moment? Why was he wanting Sasuke to look at him, and at the same time, ashamed to be seen?
"Naruto, Sasuke… are you alright?" Kakashi had approached them almost soundlessly from behind, and Naruto, lost in thought, jumped at his name. Sasuke had already turned to acknowledge his sensei.
"We're fine. We were both thrown, and Naruto was burned, but he's healed already." Sasuke's smooth clip was flawless, never once betraying the emotion raging inside him.
Naruto stared at Sasuke, then twisted an arm behind his back to touch the blister tentatively. It was gone. When had Sasuke looked at him? At his bare back, to make sure he was okay? Even noticing that he'd healed as they waited? The vulpine boy blushed faintly at the notion, and he wasn't entirely sure why.
"Good, good." Kakashi breathed. "Well, we've certainly had a turn of foul luck. It seems as though we'll have to walk the rest of the way." Even the relatively easy-going Jonin appeared a bit discouraged about this.
"WHAAAAT?!!" Naruto couldn't stop himself, even with his heart still hammering around inside his ribcage. "W-wait a minute, you want to walk? On those dunes? To WHERE?!" He bit out, squinting half-heartedly at the distant horizon.
Kakashi shrugged. "It's not too far now. Only a couple of hours of walking, I'd guess." He smiled cryptically and turned to apologize to the driver, who had finally managed to calm his frightened horse. Sasuke, watching him, tensed as his sensei bowed, the black cloth on his face slipping a bit at the neck, revealing a few colorful bite marks.
A hundred images ghosted through his mind, unbidden. Iruka, clinging to Kakashi as they moved, fingers digging into the pale skin of that broad back, covered in a sheen of sweat… a pink tongue trailing down the bumps of a long, tapering spine, a tortured moan… Kakashi's nimble hands cupping that heart-shaped face and brushing strands of damp black hair from wide, adoring eyes, lips meeting, colliding, merging… the trembles of orgasms passing through thin bodies, sealing everything away and awakening even more…
Then it was gone, that strip of exposed flesh. His sensei straightened up, and Sasuke quickly averted his eyes, looking away to conceal his blood-red blush. Naruto, still fuming about having to walk, never noticed a thing- but Kakashi smiled. He didn't need to see his pupil to know what had just happened; he could feel it.
"Well, shall we get going, then?" The silver-haired man started clomping over the dunes, using his chakra to keep from sinking into the fine sand. After watching for a moment or two, the boys did the same thing, imitating their leader and quickly catching up.
-----
Nearly two hours later, all three ninja were still moving, albeit at an incredibly slower pace than before. Naruto, who had been forced to put his jacket back on because it wouldn't fit into his already crammed bag, pulled at it languidly. It stuck wetly and with a squelching sound to his skin. They'd all been sweating profusely, even Kakashi, who had implemented a cooling technique on himself earlier. It seemed nature was pugnacious enough to even weaken the Jonin's chakra out here, in the desert.
"Are we… almost… there?" Naruto panted, unconsciously trying to keep his pace matched with Sasuke's brisk one, a old habit forged from their rivalry that he'd probably never break.
"Mm…" Kakashi muttered. It was only seconds later that the man stopped in his tracks, and the two boys, following close behind, almost ran into him. "Well, look at that, Naruto. Just as you asked… we're here."
All three ninja stared ahead at the massive building that seemed to float above the rolling dunes, like a ship at sea on the frothing ocean waves. It was indeed a temple, and it was indeed not a hallucination, as two sets of sharingan eyes quickly and silently confirmed. It had to have been hundreds upon hundreds of square feet, all white marble, every last bit of it, gleaming in the sun. There was hardly any roof left over it, supported by towering columns, the rest of it completely crumbled; It was also fairly open-aired, and you could see the vast landscape on the other side of it through the same forest of columns. It had obviously been abandoned for centuries, and Sasuke heavily doubted if any human had set foot upon it in even the last hundred. It looked, simply, like a forgotten palace. A place of the gods, untouched, decrepit, holy.
"Wow…" Naruto breathed beside him, enraptured. Sasuke looked sideways at the boy, and felt his own breath stolen, but not by the crumbling temple. Naruto looked gorgeous. His child-like fascination glowed all around him, and the sun made his hair look as if on fire, just like in Sasuke's dreams, the ones he'd since stopped having, when Sakura caught him before. No, he looked better than in those- with his skin gleaming with sweat, and his face pink with the beginnings of a sunburn… the brilliant blue of his eyes as they reflected a white desert temple that he probably saw, in his endearing, naïve way, as a kingdom- his own kingdom. Like something… out of a dream.
Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away.
It happened slowly. Naruto moved slightly, his hip turning inward, and with it eventually came the rest of his body, shifting around to meet Sasuke's, and align perfectly; his cerulean eyes fell upon Sasuke's obsidian ones, and there they lingered. Each caught, they both gazed in frozen captivation. Even as he seemed pinned to a wall, unable to look away, Sasuke felt a hot flutter erupt in his stomach- then a cold dread turn all the sweat on his skin to frost. Naruto could see it now. He had captured Sasuke in an unguarded moment, when the Uchiha boy's eyes, wide and open, had everything he felt laid out for all to see. His deepest emotions, feelings, thoughts- they were all there, swimming in his eyes, in his expression, his pale face. He had forgotten to turn away, and now Naruto had him trapped. Like a butterfly in the net.
Fear spread through his limbs like wildfire in the forest. Naruto was going to know the truth. Naruto was going to hate him. His rival, his enemy, his friend, his first love… was…
…going to smile at him?
Sasuke's mouth went dry and his lips parted like a fish thrown up to shore, unable to breathe. Naruto was smiling, just slightly, shyly, an expression Sasuke thought he'd grow old and die before seeing on the fox-boy's face. Those feline-marked cheeks were a faint pink- not from sunburn, but flushed of their own accord. Then, like Kakashi's sliver of sinful flesh, it was gone. Naruto was looking away, moving away, as if nothing had happened, shuffling toward the temple after his sensei's retreating back.
Swallowing hard, Sasuke followed, stumbling like a lamb to the slaughter.
-----
Naruto didn't know why he'd smiled. He didn't know. He didn't know, he didn't know, and he didn't want to think about it. It had just happened, in only an instant, anyway- he turned to see Sasuke looking at him with the most… the most confusing expression on his face, something warm and yet… sad- and he'd smiled. It was just an unconscious reaction. He'd never been looked at with something that stirred his heart so profoundly. No one had ever looked at him with those eyes before. Never.
He hadn't known what to do. So he turned away.
He was scared. As much as he hated to admit it, (as the proud Uzumaki Naruto!) he was incredibly scared. Sasuke was acting weird, and he was responding in just as weird a way. And yet he'd never felt so alive before, so sensitive to everything, so conscious of the person walking just behind him.
No, Naruto shook his head violently clear of the bothersome thoughts that persisted. Don't think like that. It's wrong, like Sakura said. It's wrong, and you feel nothing. Nothing's changed. Things'll be right back to normal soon, and it'll be as if nothing ever happened. You'll see. This thing you feel now, it isn't real. It isn't real, it isn't real, it isn't real.
Naruto focused his gaze intensely on the temple ahead, looming ever closer. He pretended to not notice when Sasuke came up beside him, matching their paces perfectly. Kakashi, falling back from the two, watched with the smallest of lingering frowns.
-----
"Ah!" Naruto dove for the first patch of shade the minute the three ninja reached the top of the marble stairs. The white stone gleamed as if burnished no matter which way you looked at it, and this high up off the ground (the temple was extraordinarily tall) a warm breeze meandered through the hot air. It was a wonderful change from the burning sand-storms they'd encountered before, where the breeze did nothing but fling stinging handfuls of sand into your face and onto any exposed skin, like hundreds of needles bitterly seeking an open wound.
"No more sun… no more sun…" Naruto panted as he let his whole body fall forward and crumple in exhaustion, just under one towering, thick column that blotted out the light from above. Kakashi chuckled as he joined the boy, Sasuke on his heels.
"Don't get used to it, Naruto. When the sun moves across the sky, so will these shadows." He stretched and sighed, as if the journey had been his test of strength, and not the two boys. "Well, now that you two are here safe and sound, I'll be off." His one visible eye swung around to pin Sasuke in a curious gaze. "Two weeks. And I must tell you, this will be the most difficult of the trials you lot have already undergone. I worked it out this way on purpose." He looked at Naruto, who was sitting now and listening. "So." Kakashi smiled, although his students couldn't have been entirely sure if it was menacing or genuine. "Don't die on me."
With that the Jonin was gone. Disappeared, almost- and what lay on the marble floor where his feet had been was a miniature scarecrow, crudely made from twigs and a piece of black cloth.
The shinobi stared at it.
"W-wait!" Naruto jumped up, face pink. "If we could have gotten here using some kind of technique, why didn't we?! We wouldn't have had to walk all those miles!!" He looked desperately at Sasuke, as if wanting support for his argument.
Sasuke shrugged, and turned away. Naruto couldn't see the expression on his face. "It was probably another aspect of the trial. You should know that, Naruto- Kakashi-sensei wouldn't make anything easy on us." The dark-haired boy began to casually walk away, but there was a noticeable hitch in his step, a little unsteadiness that gave away his anxiety and confusion, which had now magnified ten-fold at Kakashi's departure.
Naruto scowled at Sasuke's quip, feeling relief at the familiarity of what had just happened, how typical it was, just like old times. But he also felt a little sad- something in his chest, like a diluted form of panic, made him want to call out to Sasuke, stop the boy from walking away, and come back to the shade.
"I'm going to check out the area." Sasuke murmured. Naruto flinched- maybe he'd been half-hoping Sasuke would call out to him, after all. But then again, as he shook his head clear of such troublesome thoughts, he remembered that his rival was merely keeping him informed, as if they were on a mission. You should always keep track of your comrades… watch my back, and I'll watch yours. Naruto sighed. That's what Iruka always used to tell them, before they became full-fledged ninja.
-----
It had been… how long? Naruto exhaled noisily, grimacing at the uncomfortable feel of rivulets of sweat sliding down his back and between his shoulder blades, disappearing into the waistband of his pants, soaking them too. He'd been walking around this god-awful place for what seemed like two, three hours, looking for the best place to set up 'camp,' as one could call it. So far, everything had been a little bit too open to be safe, and still susceptible to weather and sand. He needed somewhere that would remain in the cool shadows, and was protected from the sky and the wind…
There!
Naruto scrambled forward, weariness forgotten. It was a set of crumbling stairs, smack in the middle of a long stretch of marble floor, leading down… down! That could only mean one thing- another room, perhaps, and permanent shade from the glaring sun.
"It's perfect…" The vulpine boy breathed as he slowly descended the stairs to emerge in an underground room, much like the tombs of a pyramid in Egypt. He saw one chamber, rather open with a clear space in the middle, and another archway (a door?) leading into a second room.
"Hey." Sasuke emerged from the second chamber, a guarded expression on his face. "So you finally found this place, huh?"
Naruto quickly wiped the surprise from his young, fair features. "Er… yeah. What's in that room?"
Sasuke moved aside. "Come look."
It was magnificent. Naruto's eyes widened like saucers as he stepped through the doorway. This room was twice as big as the previous one, but there was no space to sleep- a huge marble pool filled the floor, made by ancient hands but having a natural source- the sides sloped down deep towards the bottom, where an underground spring was still, after all these years, welling up clean, cool water.
"Wow…" Naruto gasped, forgetting, for a moment, who was standing beside him, practically eating him up with obsidian eyes. "Is… is the water cold?"
"No." Sasuke reluctantly tore his eyes away and looked at the bathing pool before them, probably used by ancient peoples as a place of religious ceremonies, back in the time when the temple thrived. "The stone and air are still too hot- they heat the water, make it warm."
"Well, at least it's not boiling!" Naruto laughed happily, moving forward, and sliding his bags off his back. He squatted down and dipped his hand into the water. Sasuke had been right, it was pleasantly warm.
"Maybe we can go swimming in this later, if it gets really bad out." Naruto said innocently. Sasuke blushed faintly at the suggestion and backed into the doorway, then turned and walked into the smaller room before Naruto could see. The dark-haired boy frowned slightly at himself- why was he running away more and more these days? Just giving up and retreating? What was he scared of? Naruto already knew, didn't he?
And maybe that was the problem. If Naruto knew, why wasn't he treating Sasuke like shit? Why wasn't he disgusted, or flat-out ignoring him?
The possibilities scared him. He didn't want to think about it.
"Well, this place looks good, so I'm going to set up my stuff here." Naruto startled Sasuke from his thoughts, breezing into the room and dropping his bags unceremoniously onto the warm marble. He untied one and yanked out the same blankets that he'd used in the cabin with Sakura. Arranging them into another makeshift bed, he glanced to the side, slightly surprised, when Sasuke joined him on the floor. His rival had already put his stuff down against the wall, probably before Naruto had even discovered the place, and was now unfolding a stack of blankets that would be his own bed.
"Uh… is this alright?" Naruto asked haltingly. Sasuke glanced up, the faintest hint of a blush coloring his porcelain cheeks.
"What?"
"Sleeping in the… uh, the same room?" When Sasuke just stared at him, expression unreadable, Naruto scrambled verbally to correct himself. "I mean, when I was with Sakura, she refused to sleep near me, so uh, I, I guess I just thought you'd be the same…" He trailed off.
Sasuke continued to look at him in silence for some time, then turned back to his own bed. "I'm not like her."
This blunt statement made Naruto whip his head back around. It was his turn to stare at the Uchiha boy.
"But if it makes you uncomfortable, I will leave."
"N-no! No, no, I meant…" Naruto searched for the right words, but failed miserably. Sasuke regarded him coolly, but underneath that placid exterior, his heart was raging against his ribcage. So, nothing happened between them… they didn't even sleep in the same room… and why is he so nervous? I should be the nervous one, not him…
Naruto blushed when he realized, moments later, what he'd said. He'd just admitted to Sasuke that he hadn't even slept in the same room as Sakura during their retreat, and not only that, but the fact that she had been adamant about staying away from him. The realization angered him. He wasn't sure why, but maybe… maybe he'd wanted Sasuke to think something had happened between him and the girl, and… and… get jealous, or something, anything… but he'd just screwed up. He'd let everything slip, and now the dark-haired boy would surely laugh because Naruto was probably never going to get any. Hell, for all the boy knew, Sasuke might have already fooled around with Sakura, and now he'd look at Naruto with even more gloating!
But… how would that explain what Sakura said? That night, in the cabin, as she cried into her pillow…
"It's wrong… I don't understand… oh, God, Sasuke…" The girl clenched her fists in the sheets, till her knuckles were white. "I tried everything… I did everything… nothing worked on you, and now I know why… but… I don't understand… I just don't understand… it's sick… how can you be doing that… and thinking about him… how can you…" Sakura's whole body trembled with the sobs. "How can you love Naruto? How can you, Sasuke?"
No. Naruto shook his head as color flooded his face. No, no, no, no. It wasn't true. Sasuke… wasn't like that. He… he wasn't…
Naruto risked a glance at Sasuke. The boy wasn't looking at him anymore, but was finishing his task, unrolling the blankets and arranging his bed. It was a mere two or so feet from Naruto's. The vulpine boy swallowed, but made no move to distance the beds any farther.
Maybe it was him. Maybe he was the one that was sick, and wrong. After all, Sasuke wasn't even looking at him, but here he was, staring at the boy and feeling heat, different from the hot sun above, washing through his body, tingling throughout the nerves and making him so sensitive to everything, making him feel alive, so sensuous, making his face flush in color and his groin ache…
…making Sasuke look… beautiful.
Here, in the shadows of the underground chamber, Sasuke's hair was gleaming like the marble above, a midnight blue streaking through the black with every movement. His shirt, soaked through with sweat, clung to his back, and every time Sasuke's body shifted, muscles rippled just under the skin- he was still lithe, like a cat, but so fine-toned that Naruto could almost smell the power coursing through the boy. It was unfathomable, and it made Naruto's blood boil, made his heart speed up and mouth go dry.
Sasuke turned just as Naruto was licking his lips, pink tongue sweeping out to wet the dry flesh. Obsidian eyes widened. Naruto froze the minute he realized Sasuke had caught him. He looked quickly away, confusing and fear gripping him like cold hands around his throat, making it hard for him to swallow. He pretended to be busy unpacking the rest of his bag, but his slender, tanned fingers stumbled clumsily over everything, betraying him.
Sasuke, however, couldn't look away. He was stunned by what he'd just seen, as fleeting as it had been. Naruto, looking at him and licking his lips, with a wild, aroused, almost feral look in his eyes, something akin to hunger etched across his vulpine face.
As frightening as it was, Sasuke's breath came hard just thinking about that brief moment, and his grip on his bag tightened, the knuckles popping, as he stoically fought to keep himself from either lunging at the boy in his lust, or running off to find a place where he could peacefully rid himself of the painfully tight erection that was forming in his shorts.
This was dangerous. And they both knew it, whether they understood it or not.
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End part one
Comments: Well, so, so sorry that it took so long to get that damned chapter out! I kind of wandered off course, you know, after discovering GetBackers. ^_^U And of course, TeniPuri doujinshi… *eyes huge collection* But after all of your nice, encouraging comments (and death threats.. _;) I realized how lazy I was being and how I was neglecting this poor story and these poor horny boys! But this is not the end, no way- I expect another four or five updates, this last chapter will probably end up with about five parts to it. It's a long, tedious road, wish me luck!! *blows all of her reviewers big kisses*
Please, please review! (So I don't wander away again… ^^;;;)