Chapter Six:

Sasuke Confesses; Naruto Finally Gets It:

 

He ran as fast as his legs could take him and when that wasn’t fast enough, he resorted to leaping from one place to the other. It was as if he wished to create even more of a distance between he and what he had just witnessed in that room.

 

Of all the people he would have thought of, the kyuubi had definitely not visualized Sasuke harboring feelings for a boy that they had once considered their enemy.

 

Baka! Baka! Sasuke no baka!

 

He finally stopped as he got to the edge of a rather dangerous drop off. He stared down into the black pits of the ravine, remembering with a pang that it was the very same spot where he had finally managed to summon Gamabunta, the frog, through the help of Jiraya. For a moment, he swayed like a weightless feather, the tempting invite of the deep valley beckoning him into its blackness.

 

Perhaps if he fell in there, the pain that he felt in his heart at this very moment would vanish completely. It seemed like the perfect plan. In fact…it looked more than inviting at this point.

 

He guessed he was overreacting a little bit, by trying to commit suicide, but he was a jumbled mass of confusion and there was no telling where his pain started and his anger ended.

 

Although, there really was no need for him to feel angry. It wasn’t as if Sasuke had said that he liked him in that way in the first place. And besides, the other shinobi had a right to do whatever he pleased, right?

 

But with Gaara…of all people?!

 

“Idiot!”

 

He sat down on the edge of the cliff and dangled his legs back and forth for a while. Closing his eyes, he allowed the cool evening breeze to caress his heated skin as he struggled to gather his frazzled thoughts together.

 

Since when had he found himself attracted to Sasuke? On the rooftop on that fateful day? No, it had be far longer than that. Maybe he hadn’t even realized that the feelings he had been having for his teammate went far deeper than just mere rivalry. Maybe it was something else. This something that was threatening to rip a hole right through his chest. A simple, innocuous plan to find out who Sasuke liked had turned out to be a heart-wrenching journey of discovery.

 

He liked Sasuke in that way.

 

He wanted to be with Sasuke…in whatever way they could possibly be together.

 

And most importantly…

 

He wanted Sasuke to feel the same way for him as well.

 

And as the damning image of the red-haired shinobi kissing Sasuke’s arm came to mind again, Naruto gave a low moan of dismay and fell back to the cold ground. He should probably just forget the whole thing and try to get his mind back on track. It would be hard to do, but it was for the best.

 

A shadow fell over him and he blinked in surprise at the toothy grin of his best friend above him.

 

“Kono…hamaru…” he muttered in slight surprise. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I saw you running and decided to follow you,” came the quick reply as the teen sat down beside his idol. “You looked distraught, nii-chan. Is there anything I can do for you?”

 

On any other day, the question would have seemed ridiculous to the blond, but somehow he needed to talk to someone. Someone who could perhaps make him understand why he was feeling this confused and…frustrated.

 

He wondered if choosing the younger boy as his counselor was such a good idea. Konohamaru looked like he had just won the jackpot. The boy was grinning from ear to ear and his face looked a bit…flushed.

 

“What happened to you?” Naruto asked in curiosity as he sat up to stare at the genin. “You look pretty…pleased.”

 

Konohamaru had the grace to blush as he suddenly found his palms extremely fascinating. “Uum…eh…this isn’t about me, is it? But since you asked so nicely…”

 

Naruto rolled his eyes.

 

“…it’s because…it’s because…” Konohamaru glanced around quickly as if to make sure no one was around before leaning closer to the older boy to whisper into his ear. “Hanabi-chan spoke to me today! Actually spoke to me!”

 

Naruto winced and covered his ears. “Kuso! I thought you said you were whispering! Do you want to make me deaf ?!”

 

“Heh, I’m sorry, nii-chan,” he apologized quickly although he sounded anything but sorry. “It’s just that…I mean that…she’s never really said anything besides giving me orders from our sensei.” He grinned and blushed even harder. “She said ‘hello’ to me and even allowed me to walk her to Izumi-san’s Sweet Shop.”

 

A searing heat settled in the pit of Naruto’s stomach and he knew it could only mean one thing.

 

He was jealous.

 

Perhaps he had only derived pleasure from knowing that Konohamaru was no good at relationships like himself in the past, but now…now things were changing. The younger shinobi had found his perfect mate (hopefully) while he was still here nursing an aching heart.

 

“Nii-chan?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I asked you what the matter was,” Konohamaru asked with obvious concern now. He peered closely at the older boy’s face. “You don’t look so good.”

 

Suddenly feeling resentful, Naruto huffed and closed his eyes in dismissal. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. So just go and have fun with your new girlfriend. You shouldn’t be hanging around me anymore, right?”

 

Konohamaru looked hurt. “But why would I want to do that, nii-chan? And she’s not really my girlfriend.” He mumbled this to himself. With a sigh, he raised his knees and rested his chin upon it. “I saw Neji-san earlier. He looked…sad, nii-chan.” He shrugged lightly. “I don’t know why though.”

 

Naruto had no clue either, but compared to the Neji that had been smiling and laughing with him at the noodle shop, this was news to him. He wondered what had happened. But he stubbornly remained silent. That, however, did not deter the genin.

 

“Say…did you hear that the Sand members were here in the village?”

 

And as he began a long speech on how exciting it was to have the visitors in town, Naruto squeezed his eyes even tighter as he struggled to suppress the scream that was slowing building up within him.

 

 

--

 

 

It was an astonished and thick silence that fell in the room as both boys stared at the door as if hoping the shinobi that had just disappeared would reappear.

 

Sasuke was the first to recover as he released his arm from Gaara’s grasp to glare coldly at him.

 

“This is all your damn fault,” he growled as he began to throw off the sheets to make his way out of the room. His innards still churned with disbelief and worry. Naruto had seen something that shouldn’t have happened at all. What had he been thinking by offering his arm to Gaara? And just what…

 

“…kind of a stupid healing method is that?” he asked angrily as he searched around the room for his shirt.

 

Gaara, who seemed more worried about Naruto than the petulant teen beside him, began to make his way out of the room. “I wasn’t kissing you on purpose, you fool,” he retorted icily. He stopped as he got to the door. “And besides, Tsunade had suggested I try the method on you to see if it would ease the pain a little. Guess it didn’t work.” He smiled coldly. “And another thing. I suggest you stay back in there. I’ll find Naruto and talk to him.”

 

And before Sasuke could gather his bearings long enough to understand what the shinobi was up to, Gaara had already left the room, leaving a lingering waft of sand in his wake.

 

 

--

 

 

“And then Shinji says ‘You can’t do that. It’s going to get us in trouble!’ And then I say…”

 

“Konohamaru…”

 

“…’what’s the use of us not doing it? I mean we are here already, so we might as well just go ahead and take it!’ And then he says…”

 

“Konohamaru.”

 

“…No, no, let’s go home and then I say…”

 

“Just shut up already!”

 

A low gasp of shock at the vehement words had the genin flushing with indignation. “What’s wrong with you today, nii-chan? You are no fun.”

 

The kyuubi was getting into more of a foul mood by the second. “I don’t have to be fun every single day now, do I?”

 

“Well, no…but…”

 

He was saved from saying anything else that could potentially have his idol flaring up in anger again as the sudden appearance of another shinobi had them both spinning around quickly.

 

Both teens’ hands reached for their kunai but slowly withdrew as they noticed who it was.

 

“Ooh,” came the soft gasp of awe from Konohamaru. “Gaara-san from the Sand! I saw you coming into the village today.”

 

“So you did,” Gaara replied absently. His gaze was fixed on the glaring blond below him as he slowly stepped closer towards them. “Naruto. I don’t believe we got a chance to greet each other properly the last time.”

 

Konohamaru noticed his ‘big brother’ flinch and suddenly feeling protective, his fingers tightened around the knife as he watched them carefully. If Gaara tried anything funny, he was going to attack without hesitation.

 

“Go. Konohamaru.”

 

The genin blinked in surprise. “Nii…nii-chan? Are you sure?”

 

The blond gave a curt nod, not tearing his own gaze from the pale green ones before him. “Yes, I am sure. I just need to talk to this badger for a while.”

 

Still not completely convinced, Konohamaru gave a small nod of agreement before leaping out of sight. A tense silence fell between the two shinobi as they eyed each other warily. Naruto wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to knock that impassive look off the redhead’s face or if to just walk away.

 

“Is everything alright, Naruto?” Gaara asked quietly. Although, his voice was still a bit rough around the edges, the blond could see that the chuunin was doing his best to be as polite as possible. “Why do you keep staring at me like that?”

 

And not one to mince words, Naruto went straight to the point. “What were you doing to Sasuke?”

 

Gaara shrugged lightly. “I was just performing a method that Tsunade had suggested to me. She said I was the only one who could use the ‘breathing’ method on Sasuke. I didn’t understand what she meant by that, but I am in no position to argue with your Hokage.”

 

The blond blinked in confusion. “Breathing…method? What is that?”

 

The shinobi gave a soft sigh and fell to his knees beside the kyuubi. “It’s quite simple really. All I have to do is blow softly against a part of your body that’s hurt. My chakra transmits through my breath and helps in soothing the ache.” He eyed Naruto warily. “Would you like me to show you?”

 

And why in the hell am I blushing? Naruto thought wildly as he tore his gaze away from the earnest green ones before him. “Uum…eh…well…my stomach was kind of hurting…”

 

“Then your stomach it is,” Gaara interrupted quickly as he pushed the surprised teen back to the ground none-too-gently.

 

“Wha…sto…stop! What are you doing?!” Naruto cried out in growing shock and helpless embarrassment as he felt his shirt being pushed up to reveal his heaving torso to the solemn gaze. He tried to cover his exposed flesh with his hands, his face burning now. “There really is no need to do this. I think I understand just how it works now.”

 

Oh, sweet Kami, if anyone was to come here and notice, then he was really going to be in trouble!

 

“Ooh…Gaara…” The warm breath of the shinobi against his heated skin had Naruto’s lashes fluttering closed with dull pleasure. All thoughts of being caught by anyone flew out of the window as the soothing chakra had him flushing all over in growing excitement. He moaned again and almost whined in protest as Gaara lifted his head to stare at him with a small smirk.

 

“Do you like that, Naruto?”

 

The kyuubi could only nod in response, too far gone to notice much around him. “That…that feels…so…good…”

 

“Then I have permission to continue?”

 

“Yes…”

 

“No, you do not.”

 

Naruto’s lashes flew open in shock as the firm and quite annoyed voice of a familiar teammate had him sitting upright and struggling to pull his shirt back down.

 

“Sas…Sasuke! We…I mean…I…”

 

But the genius was hardly giving him a glance as his blood-red gaze was pinned firmly on the still smug-looking teen beside him.

 

“Glad you could join us, Sasuke,” Gaara drawled lazily as he got to his feet. “I was just showing Naruto a few tricks of mine. He seemed to…enjoy it.”

 

The blond, still flustered, spoke up quickly. “I didn’t!”

 

Sasuke, who had not found his shirt after all and hadn’t bothered to look for one, stood dressed in only a dark pair of pants with his chest bared to everyone’s gaze and his arm still encased in bandages. His wild dark hair fluttered in the evening breeze, his eyes still burning with anger, irritation but most importantly jealousy.

 

“If you dare touch him again,” he began in a dangerously low voice that sent chills of (shameless) delight down Naruto’s spine. “I swear I’ll kill you.”

 

Gaara smirked and cocked his head to the side. Somehow the entire situation was much too amusing. “And how do you plan to do that, Sasuke? If I remember correctly, you couldn’t defeat me before. What has changed now?”

 

Naruto hissed in a sharp breath at the taunt, noticing the flinch from Sasuke as he too remembered his quite embarrassing defeat in the hands of the badger five years ago. But that was then, this is now. He was much stronger, his sharingan was now complete and he had absolutely no hesitation in kicking Gaara’s ass this time around.

 

His lips curled in a cold smile. “Things have changed, Gaara. Perhaps we should find out, hmm?”

 

“With one arm?”

 

“I can beat you with one arm.”

 

“Is that right?”

 

“Yeah, that’s right…”

 

Naruto watched the two boys bicker back and forth in disbelief and dismay. They were obviously acting like two fighting lovers. It was too damn painful to watch. He ought to just leave and let them get at it. And closing his eyes, he screamed out in frustration.

 

“Stop it! Both of you!”

 

The two chuunin stopped long enough to notice the flushed boy beside them. Sasuke moved towards him with a look of concern on his handsome features. “Naruto? Are you…?”

 

“Don’t touch me!” came the desperate cry as the blond stepped away in agitation….and straight down into the pitch-darkness of the ravine.

 

A scream of pure terror escaped the shinobi’s lips as he struggled to find enough chakra to steady himself. But his mind was so filled with confused thoughts of what he had just witnessed between Sasuke and Gaara that he was too distraught to do much.

 

I’m going to die here, he thought in resignation as he closed his eyes and allowed the almost heady weightlessness wash over him. Thanks to baka Sasuke and Gaara I am going to…huh?

 

He opened up his eyes quickly as he felt the arm around his waist. They widened in amazement as he noticed the grimacing face before him.

 

“Sasuke?”

 

“You fool.” The insult had no ounce of venom in it. “Trust you to fall off the cliff at a time like this.” He gave another grunt as he forced his chakra to steady their rapid descent. Only problem was…

 

“Damn it! I forgot this ravine had no smooth surface!

 

“What?! You didn’t know?!” Naruto yelled back in surprise. “Then what…?!”

 

“Could you stop talking for a minute or so?!” Sasuke yelled back in frustration. “We are about to die here!”

 

“It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t been arguing with Gaara, none of this would have happened!”

 

“What are you talking about?!”

 

“You were trying to touch me!”

 

“So?!”

 

“So, why?! I thought you liked Gaara?!”

 

“Why would I like him?!”

 

“You…don’t?!”

 

Man, did this ravine never end? It seemed as if they had been falling for hours.

 

However, “Of course I don’t! Why would I like someone like him?!”

 

The blond thought this through for a second before mumbling softly. “Oh.”

 

“Is that all you can say? Oh?!”

 

“What then do you want me to say?! I thought you liked him better than…” His words faltered.

 

“Better than what, Naruto?” Sasuke insisted almost anxiously.

 

And just like that, their never ending fall came to a sudden halt as they felt something strong, grainy and itchy wrap around their bodies tightly. Gasping in surprise, they were slowly pulled back up and into the welcome fresh air and clear night sky. The hand formed out of sand released them slowly to the ground causing them to fall in a tangled heap of limbs. Sasuke stifled a low cry of pain as he felt Naruto’s leg crush his already injured arm again.

 

“That was very rash of you, Sasuke,” Gaara observed calmly as he folded his arms across his chest, still staring at the two shinobi before him. “You didn’t even think twice about jumping after him, did you?”

 

Naruto turned his head in surprise to catch the faint blush that now dusted Sasuke’s cheeks. He felt something hard lurch in his chest at the selfless sacrifice. With an injured arm and no hope of survival, Sasuke had willingly tried to rescue him.

 

“That was quite foolish of you,” Gaara continued as he began to walk away. He stopped and smiled a bit wistfully. “But also quite brave, Uchiha. I will see you both later. See you around.”

 

And with a light wave, the Sand shinobi vanished from sight. He would let the two boys have the time to themselves…for now…

 

 

--

 

 

Naruto tied the last knot on the bandage and sat back with a rather pleased look on his features.

 

“Is that good enough?”

Sasuke tested its strength by moving his arm up and down for a moment before giving a light nod. “Yeah, it should do for now. Thanks for sitting on it, by the way.”

 

“Idiot.”

 

“Moron.”

 

They smiled at each other and then promptly turned their gazes towards anything else but themselves.

 

They remained silent for a long while, as Naruto began to pluck the grass beside him, growing even more nervous by the second. Every now and then he would try to steal a glance at Sasuke, but would have to tear it away again as he noticed the other shinobi staring at him as well.

 

And just when Sasuke thought he would go insane with the silence, he asked roughly.

 

“So what were you going to say in the ravine?”

 

The blond blinked. His palm was getting sweaty. His breathing shallow. “What…what do you mean?”

 

“You said that you thought I liked Gaara better than something. What was it?”

 

“Oh…oh…eh…that.”

 

The genius raised a brow. “Uh huh…and?”

 

“And what?”

 

“Kami, Naruto!” Sasuke finally cried out in exasperation. “Don’t you get it by now?”

 

The kyuubi tried not to look too panicked at the wild and desperate look that was now in his teammate’s eyes, but there was no doubting the palpable heat that had risen between them again as he noticed Sasuke move closer to him.

 

“Get…get what?” he asked breathlessly as his gaze flew to the full, tempting and inviting lips before him. His heart now pounding so hard that he would have sworn that anyone in the village could have heard it.

 

Sasuke leaned even closer, the usual scowl on his visage now non-existent as he gave a small and tentative smile. He lifted a hand to caress the blushing cheeks before him. Light almost featherlike in his touches, it had Naruto closing his eyes and moaning softly in pleasure. His entire body seemed to hum with need as he swayed closer to Sasuke, his own hands, trembling with self-discovery. He closed his eyes and parted his lips, waiting, begging for Sasuke’s approval.

 

“It’s been you all along, Naruto,” came the husky and breathless whisper against his lips as Sasuke slowly traced the outline of the kyuubi’s lips with a hot tongue. “Didn’t you know? It…was…you…all along…”

 

Naruto’s giddy happiness at the news was lost in the feel of Sasuke’s lips against his. His hands fell to hold on to the genius’s shoulder more to steady himself as he felt Sasuke’s tongue brush against his sensuously. Whimpering and mewling in delight at the new and strange sensation of being kissed (and by a boy no less) had Naruto doing his utmost best to respond as best he could. He felt Sasuke’s hands cup his face as their kiss deepened. Their bodies strained towards each other, pressing tightly, knowing that something different was about to happen to them this time.

 

Oh, this was too good to be true. Never had he thought that kissing Sasuke would feel this good.

 

He almost cried out as the dark-haired shinobi released him reluctantly to whisper thickly against his lips.

”Let’s go to my house, Naruto.”

 

The blond opened up lust-filled eyes. “Huh?”

 

With pure hunger in his eyes, Sasuke tried to get Naruto to his feet. He wasn’t sure he would last another minute out here. “Let’s go to my house and…finish this.”

 

“But…why…? I like it here…”

 

Sasuke gaped at the boy who was now trying to curl up in a fetal position on the ground. He slapped a hand against his forehead and groaned in disbelief.

 

“We can finish doing it at my house, Naruto.”

 

Pouting and getting irritated that Sasuke had decided to stop kissing him for some dumb reason had the blond petulant. “But I don’t want to go to your house, Sasuke. Why can’t we just finish it here.”

 

“Because we are outside, baka!”

 

“So? It didn’t stop you before.”

 

“We can’t…can’t…do it outside here.” His face was burning now in embarrassment. Why in Kami’s name was Naruto so dense sometimes? And with a low groan of frustration he began to stomp away.

 

“Forget it, Naruto. I am going home.”

 

“Eh?!” The kyuubi looked panicked as he got to his feet and began to run after the striding boy. “You can’t leave me like this! Why can’t we do it out here?!”

 

Sasuke refused to answer although there was a smug look of mischief on his features. All he had to do was keep walking towards his home and Naruto was bound to follow.

 

As for the confused and quite naïve blond, all he could do was chase after his arrogant teammate and hope that their new game of kissing promised to be so much better once they got to Sasuke’s place.

 

Heh, all in all he could get used to this new relationship with Sasuke, he thought with a pleased grin as he finally caught up to seize the other boy’s good arm within his.

 

Things were bound to get even better between them now.

 

After all, he had finally gotten the answer he had been waiting for.

 

 

 

 

 

~The End~