Chapter 21:

“Can’t believe you went all gay on us, man,” Chouji grumbled while digging through his bag of snacks for something to fit the occasion. “And with Sasuke of all people.” He pulled out a Mars chocolate bar and unwrapped it with an expertise that never failed to marvel his friends. He took a huge bite, chewed, and then swallowed. “Want some?”

“No, man,” Shikamaru drawled, flicking away some of the ash from his cigarette. “You finished the damn thing in one bite.”

“You should have asked on time then,” came the quick response as he polished off the chocolate and dug through his bag again, this time pulling out a pack of onion-flavored potato chips. He leaned against the wall and sighed in bliss, before sliding a glance at the quiet blond who was lying on the ground, hands beneath his head, eyes closed and that heavy medal still draped around his neck.

“Seriously though,” Chouji finally said after a while. “That whole tournament thing was hella cool. Right, Shika?”

The dark-haired boy nodded with a small smile, turning his head a little to look at Naruto, who hadn’t said much since the award ceremonies held earlier in the school auditorium. The whole school had turned out to give the fighters a hero’s welcome, awarding them gold medals in addition to the ones they had earned at the tournament. The school was closed yesterday since the students were still either returning back to the city or recovering from the party Jiraiya had hosted for the winners, their friends and family in his hotel suite on Sunday. So today, Tuesday, was a day to celebrate their school’s achievement. The martial arts tournament had been a much bigger deal than they thought. The team had their pictures taken and made the news, both on T.V and the local newspapers, even going as far as giving interviews to curious reporters. Who would have thought their once slacker leader would be talk of the town? It almost seemed too surreal to comprehend.

“…the way he punched that guy…whoo baby! It was like KA-POW! Dude went flying man…flying! Never seen anything like it. And remember that time…”

As Chouji rattled on, recounting all the best moments of the tournament, Naruto found himself drifting back to the events of the past two days…especially what had happened after the fight with Kisame.

I love you, Sasuke.

It seemed like eons since he said that to the dark-haired boy, and to be honest, the enormity of the moment had overwhelmed Naruto so much, he couldn’t even remember dashing up to the ring to hug him. All he could remember was the inexplicable need to let Sasuke know at that very moment – to let the boy know just how much being his (or more than) friend over the past few months really meant to him. It seemed way too cliché and melodramatic, but Naruto couldn’t really see any other time to have done such a thing. Besides, neither boy was given a chance to really savor the moment after his confession as pandemonium soon broke out. Karin had run up to the stage to push Naruto aside, grabbing Sasuke in a hug of her own. He was soon surrounded by not only Suigetsu and Juugo, but by friends who were now able to move into the ring, all eager to congratulate the team.

There was the award ceremony…pictures and interviews from the media that had showed up…more pictures with family members, friends and fans…and then Jiraiya inviting them to the hotel suite and the rest of the evening spent partying like it was going out of style. They eventually crashed in exhaustion sometime in the wee hours of the morning, with none of the fighters making it back to their hotel, but choosing to sleep anywhere there was room in the penthouse.

By noon the next day, Naruto eventually forced himself out of bed to escort his friend Omoi (and the rest of Team Cloud) home. It was a bittersweet farewell for he knew it would be a long time before he got to see his childhood friend again. However, both boys promised to make time to catch up, and as they had each other’s email addresses and phone numbers now, there would be no problem communicating as often as possible. Team Sand and Akatsuki had left the day before (with Akatsuki leaving as soon as they could extricate the comatose Kisame from the seats), not that Naruto was complaining, but he would have at least liked to see the Sand members again. At least with Shika and Temari now dating, it was likely he’d see the blonde girl soon.

In the midst of the chaos though, Naruto had found the time to have that ‘talk’ with Amaru. It was sometime during the party at the penthouse, and Naruto was…

__

…eyeing the large tray filled with expensive sushi rolls. The thumping bass from the music blasting in the living room area filtered through the kitchen door, which kept opening and closing as guests came in to get something to eat or drink to refresh themselves.

Now cleaned up and dressed in his casual clothes, Naruto had been the center of attention for most of the evening, and seeking a means to get some ‘air’ from all the hugs and congratulations and ‘talk-to-us-about-what-happened-when’ moments, he had sought refuge in here. It didn’t help that he was feeling a little light-headed from all the drinks he had been guzzling for the better part of the evening. He was sure some of them were alcoholic even though Jiraiya had insisted otherwise.

“There’s the elusive hero!” came the gush from a familiar voice just as Naruto was about to pop a juicy tuna roll into his mouth. “I was looking all over for you, handsome.”

She plucked the roll from his fingers and offered to feed it to him. Smiling, he decided to play along, opening his mouth with a loud ‘aaaaah’ and accepting the treat with an exaggerated groan of pleasure. Amaru giggled, her pretty features flushed as she leaned against the counter to pull out a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her pants. Dressed in a pair of skinny black jeans with silver belts and chains, a white tank-top and matching sequin-like black jacket, she definitely stood out amongst the other girls. And with that flaming red hair, she was no doubt the object of every hot-blooded male’s fantasy tonight.

“So what are you doing here?” she asked after taking a long drag and releasing the smoke into the air. She would have offered him one, but she already knew he no longer indulged in such habits.

Naruto leaned against the counter beside her. “Trying to relax and I am fucking tired. I just want to sleep.”

“I hear you,” she replied with a soft chuckle. She reached up to caress his cheek gently, fingertips dancing over the cuts and bruises from his fight. “You were magnificent though. Now I can understand what Sasuke meant when he said it was amazing to watch you fight.”

Naruto’s cheeks flushed with color and he tried to find the seemingly thousands of bottles of drinks on another section of the counter, fascinating.

“Too cute,” Amaru said, smiling as she pinched his cheek gently. However, the smile wavered and she fell silent, concentrating more on her cigarette, her gaze fixed on the door which opened again to reveal a grinning Kiba and his girl. The couple barely acknowledged the other as they simply reached for several bottles of beer before dashing out again, giggling and laughing about some joke.

Feeling nervous all of a sudden, Naruto took a deep breath and figured it was time he tried to explain to Amaru about wanting to be just…

“Before you say anything else,” she began, much to his surprise. “I already know you don’t feel that way about me. It was more than obvious that night at the movies, Naruto.”

The smile returned and she nudged him playfully. “It could have been easy for me to continue living in denial, but I’m not delusional, Naruto and I know when I’m only just a ‘friend’ to anyone. If anything, I’m just glad that one of my best friends is happy again. I’ve never seen him smile so much in my life.”

“Yeah well…” Naruto eyed his hands. “It’s probably because he won and…”

“Uh huh and I’m actually Anko Ai.”

“Really?! No fucking way!” His eyes widened and he gave a gasp of shock, which made the girl laugh at his comical expression. Naruto grinned at the sight, knowing now that Amaru was a little more relaxed, for even though she had sounded flippant with her comments, he had sensed that she was still tense about the whole situation. To see her laugh made him feel so much better inside.

“Anyway,” she said, pushing herself away from the counter to stretch her arms above her head. “Just because you’re with Sasuke now, doesn’t mean we can’t still hang out. Besides, you still owe me another date night.”

“It’s not like I’m completely gay,” Naruto mumbled with slight embarrassment. “I still find girls attractive and you’re still hot, Amaru. I swear I had the biggest crush on you…”

“Why thank you, Uzumaki Naruto.” She gave a curtsey. “And it’s easy for me to have a crush on you too. Maybe if Sasuke wasn’t in the picture, I could really make some moves on you and claim you for myself. He’s such a lucky bastard. Argh. That just pisses me off.”

They both laughed at this though, and before he could control himself, he wrapped his arms around her waist to give her a heartfelt hug, closing his eyes as he inhaled the sweet scent of whatever shampoo she used for her hair. He opened them again, as she pulled back to place a hard but quick kiss on his lips before staring deeply into his eyes.

“Be good to each other,” she said softly. “You’re both explosive and stubborn in your own ways, and there’s bound to be clashes every once in a while, but just remember why you love him and hopefully your relationship will last long after the infatuation wears off.”

Infatuation, huh?

Infatuations were the feelings he received when he saw a hot babe and wanted nothing more than to see her naked. Infatuations involved quick flings or make out sessions that fizzled out by the time you realized you couldn’t get a boner no matter how hard you tried. What he had with Sasuke was definitely not an infatuation. Naruto, honestly, thought the excitement of being with a guy especially after that night of sex, would have worn out the next day, but his need for Sasuke had worsened since then. Oddly enough, he had expected himself to be more aware of guys, sexually at least, but besides the brief attraction to Haku…Naruto still couldn’t get himself to appreciate males in the same way he did for Sasuke. He wondered if it was actually possible to be gay for only one person or if the conversion took some time. Either way, this was no time to be concerned about something he couldn’t control.

He blushed at the curious look he was receiving from the girl and muttered a hasty, “Thanks, Amaru.”

“Great! Now tell me all about the sex,” she said, with a grin on her face. “I want details, buddy. Details!”

Naruto groaned in disbelief and embarrassment. “Oh, come on….does every fucking person on the planet know this?”

Amaru blinked. “So… it really did happen?”

“…oh, shit.”

“Eeek!” She squealed in delight and rushed towards him again. “I wanna know now! Tell me!”

“No!”

“Pretty please? I’ll strip for you!”

“…well…let me consider it…”

“I’ll show you my lace bra…this one is zebra print…”

“Really?!”

“Oh, my God! You’re still a pervert!”

“Ouch! Did you have to hit me?”

“I can’t believe you’d actually want to see my bra…”

“You offered, goddamn it!”

“So? If I said I’d show you my Victoria Secret’s thong underwear, what would you say?”

“Easy. Hurry up and take it off…ouch!”

__

“Now he’s smiling to himself.” Chouji’s voice broke through his thoughts and Naruto opened his eyes to notice his plump friend was leaning over him.

“Your breath stinks, man,” Naruto drawled, reaching up to push Chouji’s face away gently. He sat up and stretched stiff muscles but was soon distracted as they heard the running steps of someone approaching. It was Kiba, holding a piece of paper in his hand as he dashed towards them as fast as he could. He came to a halt, trying to catch his breath while grinning in pleasure at his expectant friends.

“I got it,” he said, shaking the paper at them. “I can’t believe it! I got the soccer scholarship!”

“Whoa! That’s great!” Naruto rose to his feet to give his friend a brief but hard hug. He took the paper from Kiba’s hand and read through it carefully as Shika and Chouji joined in the congratulations. The paper was a letter from one of the more prominent universities in the country. Apparently a scout had been at the last soccer game and they had liked the way Kiba played. They were willing to offer him a full scholarship to their school, as long as he joined their soccer team. Naruto glanced at his happy friend, who was suffering through Chouji’s chokehold. Shikamaru had walked up to the blond to read the document and both boys shared a brief but poignant look. This was definitely a huge step for Kiba, and they couldn’t be any happier for him. He definitely deserved the opportunity to become the best at what he loved to do.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Naruto finally asked with a smirk.

Kiba looked up. “What’s that?”

“You’re buying us lunch for the rest of the week, douche bag.”

“Aww man!”

They laughed and kidded with each other for the next few minutes, talking and sharing tales of how university life would be when they eventually graduated high school. However, the realization that they were indeed going to graduate soon and would no longer be together, put a damper on their conversation. They fell silent for a while, each lost in their thoughts. Chouji was doodling on the ground. Shika was lying down with his eyes closed. Kiba was rolling up the document gently, while Naruto watched his friends with a tightening lump in his throat.

They had been together since grade school and the knowledge that they’d be going their separate ways in just a few months, was hard to swallow. He just couldn’t picture them not hanging out as often as they did.

“Why are we all morose?” Kiba suddenly spoke up with a wave of his hands. “Geez. We’ve still got time before graduation and besides, we’ll still see each other during vacations and what not. It’s not as if we’re completely disappearing from each other’s lives, eh?”

“It’s not gonna be the same though,” Chouji muttered. He looked up and his friends were surprised to see his eyes filling with tears. “You guys are the bestest friends I’ve ever had. Everyone else laughs and doesn’t take me seriously, but you guys have stuck with me all these years and I’ll…I’ll…”

Shikamaru sat up to pull his friend within his arms in an awkward but heartfelt embrace. “What are you talking about?” he said quietly. “Anyone who’s dumb enough not to see how great you are, doesn’t deserve to be your friend, man. Right, guys?”

Kiba joined in to wrap his arms around both of them. “That’s right! And if anyone gives you a tough time, we’ll come to rescue you. Eh, Naruto?”

The blond smiled and joined the circle they had formed. He looked at his best friends and felt his heart swell with the love and admiration he had for each of them. “No matter what,” he finally said in a voice thick with barely controlled emotion. “We’ll always be best friends. Even when we get gray hairs and wrinkly dicks…”

Collective cries of ‘eeeew!” or ‘dude! That’s gross!” punctuated with laughter and giggles, had Naruto grinning. “Whatever, man. You know your dick is gonna fall off before you get to seventy,” he teased, but sobered up to finish quietly but firmly. “Seriously though…no matter what….we’re always going to be friends, all right? I love you guys…”

“Not like you luuurve Sasuke, I hope,” Chouji snickered, earning a blush from his friend. It wasn’t as if he had said those words loud enough for anyone else to hear, neither had he told them about his feelings for Sasuke.

“Shut the fuck up,” he said reaching out to ruffle Chouji’s hair.

They began to tease each other again, when a light cough had them turning around to see the very subject of their conversation. Sasuke was standing a few feet away, hands in the pockets of his pants and an impassive expression on his features. One couldn’t tell if he was irritated by the display or didn’t really give a shit. Either way, he nodded at the other boys in acknowledgement before focusing his piercing gaze on the blond.

“Ready to go, Naruto?”

“Oooh, the boyfriend is here,” Kiba teased. “Better run off now before he gets all bitchy.”

“Kiba,” Naruto hissed, blushing even harder at the knowing looks on his friends’ faces. He stepped away with a light wave. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“You got it,” Shikamaru replied, smiling to himself as he watched Naruto run up to catch the already striding Sasuke.

“Who would have thought,” Chouji said quietly as the duo disappeared from sight with a slam of the door leading into the school behind them. “Just a few months ago, Naruto couldn’t stand the guy.”

“Love is a strange thing, I guess,” Shikamaru replied as he reached for another cigarette to light up. “Let’s just hope their relationship is a good one. It’s all we can hope for, right?”

“Right!”

Shikamaru squeezed Kiba’s shoulder gently, winking at the boy who had been staring after the other couple with a slight wistful expression on his visage. “Let’s go, Kiba. Miho’s waiting for you, remember?”

“Yeah…I guess…” He perked up and then grinned at the other boys. “So…although I really don’t want to do this, I guess I do owe you guys dinner, since lunch time is way past.”

“Ichiraku’s!” Chouji bellowed, reaching for his bag of snacks to catch up to his friends. “I heard he has a special today…soba and…”

Their voices trailed off as they made their way back into the school, leaving behind the lingering smell of cigarette smoke, a dying sunset and the promises of a brighter and hopeful future for all of them.

__

They had opted to leave their modes of transportation today, choosing to walk all the way to Naruto’s house instead.

At the moment, however, Sasuke was trying not to groan as Naruto was again in the middle of the river, pants and sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his knees and forearms, with his brows furrowed in concentration. Sasuke was leaning over the wood railing of the pedestrian bridge, looking down at the blond who was attracting a few curious glances as he tried to catch that elusive fish.

“Give it up, Naruto,” Sasuke yelled in growing annoyance (still a part of him was curious to know if he would catch the damn thing). “I’m hungry, goddamn it!”

“Shut up! You’re making them run away!”

“You suck at catching fish, asshole! You really think they’re going to…!”

“GOT IT!” Naruto suddenly bellowed and much to Sasuke’s shock, the blond held up both hands above his head, holding a wiggling medium-sized fish, whose scales seemed to glow in different colors beneath the sunset. “Take a picture, Sasuke! Hurry!”

Too dumbfounded to argue, Sasuke tried to pull out his cell phone to capture the moment, when Naruto cursed as the fish gave one final struggle before leaping out of his hands and swimming away for its dear life.

“Ah, man!” Naruto tried to chase it, but gave up after a few fruitless minutes. He turned to glare at his snickering companion. “I thought you were holding your cell already?! How long does it fucking take to snap a picture?!”

“Don’t get pissed off at me,” Sasuke grumbled as Naruto began to wade out of the water. “It’s not my fault that you’re…”

“Aaaargh!”

Naruto’s scream sent a stab of fear down Sasuke’s spine, and he spun around quickly to see what had caused the blond to do that. His eyes widened as he noticed Naruto flailing in the water, and hardly thinking twice about what he was doing, Sasuke dashed down the bridge and flung off his bag from across his chest. He began to wade into the river, not bothering to roll up his pants or concerned about how wet he was becoming.

“Naruto?! Are you all right?!” He reached for the blond, hands moving to pull Naruto out when he suddenly found himself being dunked into the cold river. He sputtered and lifted his head, shaking it and running a hand down his face in disbelief as Naruto nearly busted a gut in laughter.

Sasuke wasn’t sure if to yell or laugh, but eventually settled for growling and smirking in mischief. “You son-of-a-bitch…take that!”

Naruto’s almost girlish squeal of surprise as Sasuke tried to dunk him as well, was overshadowed with laughter as they began to splash each other with water, wondering who could get the wettest. However, a sharp piercing shrill of a whistle had the boys looking up and into the stern features of a policeman, who was definitely not finding the situation funny.

“You boys got a home to go to?”

“Yes, sir,” Sasuke replied, trying to look contrite even as Naruto was busy trying to tickle him from behind. “We’ll be leaving now, sir.”

“Hurry it up then.”

He kept his eyes on them as the boys waded back to land, reached for their school bags and tried to look as presentable as possible…which was hard to achieve considering they were both soaking wet. To their chagrin, the policeman seemed insistent on escorting them for a while, and it wasn’t until they reached the main streets again, did he finally go away.

“Geez. I thought he’d never leave,” Sasuke grumbled. He eyed Naruto and snickered. “You’re a mess.”

“Look who’s talking,” the blond teased, nudging him gently. “Let’s grab something to eat.”

They stopped at a street vendor and bought some yakitori, takoyaki and beverages to wash it down, deciding to sit on a bench in the public park to eat with no distractions. They were content to eat in silence for a while, watching couples share private moments, or families pushing their babies in strollers or dealing with stubborn kids who ran off to investigate one thing or another. Night was falling fast and a few stars were beginning to peek through the darkening sky. It brought with it a much cooler breeze, a welcome reprieve from the heat of the afternoon.

Naruto belched as he finished a can of soda, deftly pitching it into a trashcan that was a few feet away.

“You should consider playing for a basketball team in whatever college you decide to go to,” Sasuke said in appreciation.

Naruto shrugged. “I don’t know…I’ll be lucky if I even get into a good enough college. I bet Todai’s been knocking on your door, eh?”

Sasuke wasn’t even going to bother denying it. He had definitely been courted by the prestigious university as well as many other prominent ones in the country. Hell, even letters from Oxford and Harvard had been received, but he was yet to decide where to go.

“They have,” he replied, a thoughtful look on his visage. “However…you shouldn’t sell yourself so short, Naruto. See how well you did in the Math test with just a little studying. If you really worked hard, I bet your grades will be high enough to get you into a good enough school.”

A place where we won’t be too far apart.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Naruto scoffed. “It was brutal just studying for the Math test, how the fuck am I supposed to do all that for the rest of my classes?”

“I’ll help you,” Sasuke said firmly, pinning a hard gaze on Naruto. “I want you to succeed, dip shit and maybe we can go to the same school…”

His voice trailed off, a light flush coming to his cheeks at what he was trying to imply. He knew his parents would definitely not appreciate Sasuke deciding to go to whatever school Naruto ended up in, and if it was decided that he would end up attending University of Tokyo, it would mean finding a school nearby that Naruto could be accepted into. So even if it meant staying up till three in the morning, he was determined to make sure Naruto had the best grades in the upcoming entrance exams.

“Let’s get real, Sasuke. We’ll never be in the same school,” Naruto muttered.

“Yeah, but we could still be close…”

“Hn.”

A tense silence fell as both boys remained lost in their thoughts. Naruto captured his lower lip between his teeth and tried to squash down the feeling of disappointment at this. It was bad enough that he might end up losing his friends, but Sasuke too…

“Sai got accepted into that Art University he wanted to get into. He doesn’t even need to take the entrance exam,” Sasuke said with a soft chuckle. “Lucky bastard.”

Naruto smiled at Sai’s good fortune. “That and the fact that it seems he doesn’t hate Haku that much now.” The last he had seen of the effeminate Iwata student was he waving good bye to them in the hotel parking lot, but not before stealing a quick kiss from Sai’s lips that had left the artist blushing at the intimate gesture. There was no doubt those two were going to be friends again, and Naruto was genuinely happy for the couple.

“So…what about Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo?” he asked, curious to know what would become of the other fighters now that the dojo was unofficially ‘closed’ so the seniors could concentrate on the upcoming exams.

“Suigetsu said he’s taking a year off, but his grades are good enough to get him into any university he wants. Karin’s the same…I think they’re going to travel together or something… no definite plans yet. Juugo…still needs a little work, but he says if he doesn’t pass, he’ll just join his cousin’s steel business. They could use a guy with his strength.”

Naruto nodded. It felt weird talking about something like this, but it was an inescapable reality. They were not going to remain in high school forever. The real world awaited them with sharpened claws. Naruto wasn’t sure if he was ready yet.

“What about those friends of yours?” Sasuke asked.

“Kiba got a soccer scholarship to Edogawa…Shikamaru might get into Gakushuin and Chouji…I don’t even know. He said he might apply to Fuji…but if he doesn’t make it, he’ll join his father’s business.”

Sasuke chewed the end of the yakitori stick thoughtfully. “So they’re not total losses after all.”

“Hey, watch it now,” Naruto said with an attempt to scowl. “They are pretty smart guys. Speaking of which, is your brother still in town?”

Sasuke nodded. “Yeah…he’s not leaving until Friday. What?” he asked noticing Naruto watching him with a raised brow.

“Hehe, I thought you’d be saying something like…’damn bastard won’t stop bugging me and I wish he’d just go already.’ Seems like you two are becoming pretty chummy.”

“He’s all right,” Sasuke agreed with a light blush. “We played some games last night…and talked a bit more. His business is doing well and he’s proud of how much he’s accomplished in such a short time. He hopes it will pick up in the States and wants me to follow him if I want to. Besides, he says he wants to hang out with you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…just don’t listen to whatever story he tells you about me. He likes to embellish things a lot. Especially if he starts saying I peed on my bed a lot as a kid or something dumb like that.”

Naruto cracked up and suffered a light cuff on the head for doing so. He managed to control his laughter to chuckles and leaned back on the bench with a sigh of pleasure. How he wished things could be like this forever…

“So…what about Amaru?”

Naruto smiled softly. “She’s traveling abroad. She’s going to take that swimming thing a little more seriously and is going to the States to train as well as attend school. I can’t even remember the name of the place now, but she sounded excited when we talked about it yesterday.” He paused and said genuinely. “I’ll miss her.”

Sasuke’s lips quirked. “I’ll miss her too. But at least…she won’t be a distraction anymore. I’m going to have to find a way to get you to stop finding girls attractive, Naruto. You should only be getting boners for me, got it?”

He smirked at the blush this elicited and felt his heartbeat quickening as he leaned closer to brush his lips gently against Naruto’s parted ones.

“That the best you can do?” came the whispered tease, as Naruto dared Sasuke to do more in their public setting. He was rewarded with a low moan and a much harder press of the other boy’s lips against his, lashes fluttering closed as he responded with a passion that was only matched by his companion’s. He gasped and turned a bright red as he felt the sudden squeeze of the growing bulge in his pants and pulled back quickly, panting and trying to catch his breath, while pushing Sasuke’s hand away.

“Geez, Sasuke!” he whispered harshly, just as a family strolled past with their two little children. “Let’s corrupt them, why don’t you?”

“You dared me,” Sasuke replied, a hand now sliding beneath Naruto’s shirt to find and pinch his nipples gently. “Besides, it’s getting dark and no one can really see us.” He buried his face against Naruto’s neck, trailing hard and soft kisses on the arching flesh and relishing in the soft gasps of delight his actions were causing.

“Yeah…but…but….aaah…” Naruto whimpered and tried to pull away as very loud laughter from behind them…which eventually drifted off as the couple walked past, had him trying to push his wicked partner away again. “Sasuke! Seriously! Let’s wait till we get back to the house and then…ah fuck!” He nearly fell off the bench as Sasuke had squeezed his straining cock again through his pants, hardly letting up as he stroked continuously.

“Sto…stop,” Naruto whined, hands clenching Sasuke’s shoulders as he squeezed his eyes shut. “Please don’t…don’t make me cum in my pants,” he pleaded weakly.

“You want me to stop?” came the husky whisper against his ear.

“Yes…no…just not here,” Naruto hissed and then promptly regretted his decision as Sasuke pulled back, leaving him in state of near painful arousal. His entire body was aching for completion, and with one shared look between them, they knew their time in the park was over.

Sasuke stood up first and held out a hand to Naruto, who stared at it for a long moment as if seeing it for the first time. Taking that hand would mean so much more than just going to his house to consummate their relationship…again. Taking that hand would mean a future with Sasuke…good or bad, neither knowing how long it would last or what it held for them. Taking that hand would mean opening his heart and mind even more than ever before, and perhaps finally letting go of those demons that had plagued him for most of his life.

It wasn’t going to be all roses and sunshine, but accepting that hand would mean giving them a chance from something potentially…

“Why are you smiling like that?” Sasuke asked in bemusement. “What are you…?”

His words were silenced as Naruto had risen to his feet, his hand now entwined with Sasuke’s as he placed a slow, lingering kiss on the other boy’s lips. People passed and stared/gawked, but neither boy cared, especially not Naruto who remembered the words Sasuke had told him that morning in their hotel room.

He pulled back a little to rest his forehead against Sasuke’s, staring into those dark eyes that were so goddamn beautiful to him, while trying to catch his breath.

And in a quiet voice, he made his decision. “I’ll study hard, Sasuke. I’ll work until my brain explodes if it means I get to be in a school next to you. Besides…we bonded couples can’t afford to be apart, right?”

He placed his hand against Sasuke’s chest…in the general area of where Jiraiya and Kaname’s seal was and smiled warmly at the blushing boy before him.

Naruto…

“You…you listen to too much romantic crap,” Sasuke finally said, his voice trembling with the depth of his feelings for this boy he had chased for so long.

Finally…

“Heh…I learned from the best,” Naruto teased, and with a final hard kiss, he pulled away to reach for his school bag. Smirking, he began to walk backwards, keeping his eyes trained on Sasuke as he made a purposeful seductive gesture with his fingers and tongue. “Hurry up, Uchiha Sasuke. I’m getting all hot and bothered and need your long, hard dick...”

“Goddamn you, Uzumaki Naruto,” Sasuke growled as he reached for his bag, having to now chase after the laughing blond leading the way home.

For he knew that this time around, this chase had an even better reward – one that could last for the rest of their lives.

I will always love you, Naruto.

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