Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Skin Deep ❯ Liar Liar ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: The Slashy Monster 
Naruto reminisces and Sasuke doesn't hold hands.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.07.2005 | Updated On: 05.26.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 706 | Status: Completed
Naruto reminisces and Sasuke doesn't hold hands.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.07.2005 | Updated On: 05.26.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 706 | Status: Completed
Author's Notes: Sorry for the “obvious” plot holes in the last chapter. This chapter was specifically designed to answer any of your questions left by the last chapter, as well as throwing in some fluff. Dedicated to Nudd for cracking me up. Yes, he did fake it to violate Sasuke. (snickers)
PS- Every single time I read this chapter I have the unpleasant vision of Rock Lee pole dancing and simultaneously stripping while balancing a bowl of peanut shells on his head and singing horribly off key to the song I'm Too Sexy. No amount of therapy will ever, ever, ever mend the terrible scar that this image has put upon my being.
Skin Deep
Alternate Universe
Chapter Four
Liar, Liar
[Edited May 7, 2005]
PS- Every single time I read this chapter I have the unpleasant vision of Rock Lee pole dancing and simultaneously stripping while balancing a bowl of peanut shells on his head and singing horribly off key to the song I'm Too Sexy. No amount of therapy will ever, ever, ever mend the terrible scar that this image has put upon my being.
Skin Deep
Alternate Universe
Chapter Four
Liar, Liar
[Edited May 7, 2005]
Naruto was beginning to wonder if someone up there hated him. It wasn't that he was regretting helping Sasuke, but he sure as hell was wondering what had possessed him to say `yes'. Putting aside the fact that the Uchiha had unabashedly bribed him within miso Ramen, the blonde really couldn't see why he had agreed in the first place; pinning it on the temporary lapse of his fleeting sanity wasn't the best of ideas, especially considering what had happened the last time his stupidity and Sasuke had clashed.
If he wanted to, Naruto could blame the happenings of that night two years ago on a certain Inuzuka Kiba. The loud, brash, and arrogant shinobi had dragged him and Sasuke away from the Ichiraku and to a bar that smelled of throw-up, alcohol, and men who hadn't bathed in months. Rock Lee had drowned his woe of Sakura not passing the chuunin exams in drink, and was so smashed that he mistook Neji for the medical nin. The poor Hyuuga had been on the receiving end of a strip tease that Lee gave him while balancing a bowl of peanut shells on his head. Naruto wasn't sure if Neji throwing up in the corner later that night was because of his low tolerance for alcohol or because he had been given a lap dance courtesy of Fuzzy Brows.
The party at the bar was the first, and the last, time Naruto had consumed liquor. It shouldn't of surprised him that he had an unbeatable metabolism -the kyuubi within him enabled him to drink Kiba and two older chuunin into the dirt. There were no side effects for him, save the sensation of strong saké burning down his throat. He was grateful that he wouldn't be experiencing the hangover everyone else in the room would undoubtedly be suffering by the morning.
Besides, watching a plastered Sasuke trying not to giggle as Kiba belted out drunken ballads was definitely amusing. (Though Naruto had been “friends” with the Uchiha since their days at the Academy, the blonde had never, ever seen him giggle. Hell, Naruto could count all the times he had seen Sasuke really laugh on two hands -sudden, convenient coughing fits and superior chuckles didn't count.)
It was around two in the morning when they were kicked out. Sasuke had been lining up about a dozen shots of pure alcohol when a pyromaniac gleam came to his eyes. Naruto had seen the look countless times before and tried to stop the brunette, but failed miserably. The Kaiton jutsu blew the glasses up violently, leaving half the drunks in the bar to run in circles and panic while the other half looked at the flaming bar and laughed their inebriated asses off.
Needless to say, an extremely pissed-off bartender kicked them out immediately and left them to stumble home.
At this point, even Naruto was a tad bit disoriented, but compared to the shape everyone else was in, he certainly hadn't been left on the short end of the stick. Though with Sasuke hanging around his neck and giggling about how nice Naruto's hair smelled, the blonde couldn't be quite so sure about that. He might have even started to consider missing the sober Sasuke before the said chuunin slammed him against his apartment door and began to awkwardly kiss his neck.
The kyuubi holder knew he should have been disgusted in the very least. Sasuke was slobbering all over his neck after all, and his tongue and mouth were clumsy upon his skin. Before he knew what was happening, Naruto was tilting his head back and groaning, searching with his free hand for the doorknob. (He always kept his door unlocked.) The pair stumbled into the dark, fresh smelling room and attacked each other, their tongues tied around each other as they fought for dominance.
Naruto really didn't know how far he would go. He was sure that if Sasuke had been able to stay awake that he would have gone as far as the other chuunin wanted him to; judging by how Naruto had literally torn off Sasuke's dark shirt and how the taller shinobi's large hands lingered on the waistband of his trademark orange pants, the blonde was sure that it would have gone farther than what either of them was ready for.
It wasn't as though the pair wasn't ready for lovers -shinobi often took lovers at a very early age, considering their profession and the danger and stress it produced. Those “lovers” were more often than not of the same sex, and of the same profession. Very few ninja took civilians, especially not if a child could be produced of that union. Sakura had once told Naruto that bloodline clans, such as the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, bred their children to be warriors; after reaching the jounin level and maintaining that status for a decade, the shinobi were required to retire and raise another generation.
No, it wasn't as if they weren't ready, but Naruto really didn't think they were ready for each other, no matter how much he wanted it as Sasuke passed out in the middle of their kiss. That didn't stop him from planting a few more soft kisses on his jaw however, and it took the better part of an hour for him to pull his hands away from the Uchiha's warm body. After that that, ten seconds was all he need to go shut the door that they had left upon entering and return to the bed where he snuggled up to Sasuke's side.
He didn't fall asleep till dawn, thinking of nothing but soft raven hair and dark, jet eyes.
When he finally woke up, it was to an empty, lonely bed. Naruto found himself surprised at the disappointment he felt wrap quickly around his heart. Was he really expecting to wake up and find that Sasuke was still there, smiling gently in his sleep? Maybe he was disgusted with Naruto's behavior; they were rivals after all, not fuck buddies. And Uchiha would never lower himself, especially not when he could have anyone in the village.
Wallowing in self-pity was not Naruto's forte, and he was only able to grumble about his situation for a few hours. He grudgingly got out of bed, took a shower, cleaned up the spot where Sasuke had thrown up -what a lovely good-bye present- and gone off to the Uchiha Estates to see how the bastard was doing. He had been shooed away by a brown-haired woman with green eyes, though he had to admit he rather liked her, especially since he had interrupted her while she was mercilessly teasing one of Sasuke's younger cousins. She had been nice about it too, telling him that her “beloved” nephew was suffering a hangover she apparently thought he very much deserved.
The next morning was at best hellish. Sasuke kept on asking him questions about if he remembered what had happened that night; Naruto, feeling a rage he hadn't felt since Sasuke had tried leaving to go seek Orochimaru when they were twelve, had snapped that he remembered something blowing up and had staggered home. The rest of it was completely beyond him, and the “headache” he had suffered was enough for him to never do it again.
In truth, the headache seemed to be more of a heart ache.
Of course Sasuke hadn't batted an eye, though the blonde was grimly satisfied to see that he had been reduced to wearing a turtleneck in May. Once the dark-haired chuunin tilted his head far enough to crack it, exposing a dark, livid mark on his pale skin. Anyone else would have mistaken it for a bruise, but Naruto could see the delicate outline of his teeth marks. He had almost cackled happily at that, but managed to restrain himself. That would teach the bastard to mess with him.
It had been hard, at first, to pretend that nothing had happened between them, especially with the both of them feigning ignorance about what Naruto had dubbed, “The Accident”. They sparred at least four or five times a week, and the Godaime seemed to enjoy pairing them up on both long-term and short-term missions. They hardly ever were not with each other, which made it very hard indeed for Naruto to fool himself into believing that what he felt for Sasuke was merely platonic, and the tightening in his gut was nothing more than teenage hormones.
But even this irrefutable logic couldn't explain why no one else could make him feel so powerfully.
Naruto looked up from where he stood in front of the mirror, stepping away from Sasuke while pretending to scratch his neck. The brunette's breath clung stubbornly to his reddening neck. “Yosh…” Naruto mumbled underneath his breath as he conveniently turned away. “So, what do we do now?”
The taller man raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off as his hands quickly moved into a familiar set of hand seals. “After I'm done, we go out. Get your dress and contacts.” He finished the set quickly, and looked into Naruto's now honey brown eyes. “Treat the next few hours as you would espionage.”
Naruto shuddered as he remembered the last time he and Sasuke had been sent on an espionage mission. An old man who reeked of tobacco and gutted fish had hit him on; Sasuke had saved him by discreetly slipping his fingers to the pressure point on the man's neck. The blonde hadn't been able to wash the smell out of his flak jacket for a week.
“So. The basics.” He continued as though he hadn't seen Naruto's shudder, though the amused smile playing at the corners of his eyes indicated that he too remembered. “You're Midaki Suna, and you're from Hidden Wave. You have a good shoot at becoming jounin at the trials this fall, even though you're only sixteen.”
Naruto raised an eyebrow as Sasuke checked one of his front pockets for something. “Otherwise free reign?” The brunette mumbled the affirmative as Naruto blew his long, irritating bangs out of his newly colored eyes. “This is going to be so much fun…”
Sasuke grunted at the sarcasm in his best friend's voice. “You're not Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's Number #1 Loudmouth anymore.” He muttered as he checked another pocket for the little black box he was looking for. The shinobi relaxed slightly when he found it. “You're Midaki Suna, prodigy of Hidden Wave. My fiancée.”
Naruto almost snapped -he knew that- but stopped as a velvet box was waved in front of his face. A very suspicious little black box it was, and Naruto knew what was happening. The room seemed to stand still very suddenly and despite his mind's enraged shouts that this was just the cherry on top, the blonde couldn't help but let his heart beat skip.
“Well?” Sasuke said gruffly, keeping his face as impassive as possible. The look on his partner's face was priceless and very Naruto. He shoved it away for future reference, one of those hundreds of thousands of just-in-case mental images that he had been collecting almost obsessively over the years. “Put it on.”
The imposter instantly came back to his senses, catching his breath and forcing it down to his lungs. Snatching the box from Sasuke's open hand, Naruto clicked the box open to find a simple band of braided gold lying there. Despite the fact that there were no jewels or precious gems, Naruto could still tell that it had probably taken a sizeable chunk out Sasuke's mission reward funds.
Brows furrowed, Naruto pulled the ring out quickly and nearly shoved it onto his left ring finger. It was the right size of course -Sasuke never did anything wrong- and it felt warm and comforting against his tan skin. Almost distantly he heard Sasuke's voice.
“There's supposed to be a protective jutsu on the ring. It supposed to keep the wearer safe from things as minor as a wayward shuriken or a misplaced kunai.” The chuunin gently took the box from Naruto, who was holding up his hand and scrutinizing the band on his finger. “It won't bite. Let's go.”
Naruto swallowed as Sasuke turned around, slipping the velvet ring box back into one of his many hidden pockets. Never before in the past two years had he wanted to kiss that bastard more. He bit down on the inside of his cheek and smothered and growing urge to throw Sasuke to the ground and have his way with him. Somehow, the blonde didn't think the warrior would appreciate being treated like that by his best friend.
Once outside of the apartment door, Naruto watched Sasuke reach up to grab the key that was “hidden” on the top of the doorjamb, slipped into a crack in the old wood. Sasuke knew that Naruto never locked his door, protesting that there was nothing to steal and that no one would even bother, but he still felt as though it were an obligation. Protecting Naruto, even in the smallest of ways, had always been a natural reaction of his that he sometimes wasn't all that found of.
He felt his gaze harden as scenes from the past flashed like lightening through his mind. The bridge incident with Haku and Zabuza had been the first time they had been in any real danger, the first time Sasuke had taken a blow for the blonde haired idiot. It had confused the Uchiha; Naruto and he had been friends since the Academy, but they weren't that close enough to necessarily die for one another. Their rivalry had taken care of that.
Sasuke supposed that year had been the year that changed everything. Lots of things had happened. He had saved Naruto's life, and Naruto had saved his. There had been the ordeal with Orochimaru -that was not something Sasuke wanted to think about- and their first try at becoming chuunin. That's when they had met Gaara of the Sand and Kabuto, the traitor who gave Sasuke to the snake.
Out of habit, Sasuke rubbed the suppressed curse seal on his neck. The now deceased Sandaime had managed to place a counter seal over it and cancel out the effects, but he hadn't been able to remove it completely. It still ached every now and then, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
“Stop standing there.” Naruto quipped suddenly, jumping in front of the Uchiha and gently slapping the hand that scratched distractedly at the juncture of his neck away. His smile was brilliant and it stretched from ear to ear. Despite the fact that Naruto looked like a ditz, Sasuke couldn't help but feel his shoulders relax a little and his eyes soften just enough to not worry the blonde. “We have places to go, people to see!”
Naruto raced down the old, creaky stairs that led to the street. It was just past lunchtime and he still hadn't eaten; Sasuke had intercepted him before he had gotten to the Academy where he often helped Iruka with menial chores on weekends. But he wasn't hungry -yet- so he didn't complain.
Without warning, one of Sasuke's hands brushed against his own. They were standing closer together, giving off the appearance of a real engaged couple; the blonde frowned lightly as an idea suddenly hit him. He nervously glanced beside him to the dark-haired man, biting his lip in a nervous gesture that he had developed over the years. “The hell with it…” He muttered, deciding to quickly slip his small hand into Sasuke's, interweaving their fingers.
Sasuke jumped at the contact. Naruto would have laughed if it weren't for the nervousness that fluttered in his stomach, squeezing Sasuke's large hand as though for conformation. Despite his anxious gesture however, he held on firmly when Sasuke tried to pull away with the excuse that he didn't hold hands.
“Bull.” Naruto snorted through his nose in a very unfeminine way, his voice shaking lightly, but not enough for the taller man to really notice. Sasuke stopped trying to pull away, aware of Naruto's stubborn nature, but didn't necessarily hold back, keeping his grip relaxed. The fake grinned insanely up at him. “Besides, we're engaged. Don't you think it would look strange if we weren't?”
Sasuke didn't answer, shifting his gaze from the small female at his side to the civilians running to and fro on the street. It was only a back road so there wasn't as much activity, but as they walked onto some of the more main roads, the hustle and bustle increased. He took a step closer to Naruto almost instinctively when the blonde was jostled, pulling him closer to him. It came as a relief when the smaller chuunin didn't look up at him questioningly. It (stupidly) made him feel as though he could deal with anything that Neji's idiotic Fate had ready to throw his way.
Well, almost everything.
“Hey Sasuke! I think I see Sakura!”
>>>>>>>>>>
Huggles to everyone who reviewed: strawberries and napkins, Half-Devil, DarkSeductress, ureihitmoi, esther, potpourri_grl, Dark Mimiru-Chan, Smoking Panda (I still love your name), Kyuubi-kun, Puchu-chan, Vicadin-Tea, bhodi li, magical-flyingdragon, Red Rose, Sugahlei, and Nudd (He did violate Sasuke! MUHAHA!).
Of course Sasuke hadn't batted an eye, though the blonde was grimly satisfied to see that he had been reduced to wearing a turtleneck in May. Once the dark-haired chuunin tilted his head far enough to crack it, exposing a dark, livid mark on his pale skin. Anyone else would have mistaken it for a bruise, but Naruto could see the delicate outline of his teeth marks. He had almost cackled happily at that, but managed to restrain himself. That would teach the bastard to mess with him.
It had been hard, at first, to pretend that nothing had happened between them, especially with the both of them feigning ignorance about what Naruto had dubbed, “The Accident”. They sparred at least four or five times a week, and the Godaime seemed to enjoy pairing them up on both long-term and short-term missions. They hardly ever were not with each other, which made it very hard indeed for Naruto to fool himself into believing that what he felt for Sasuke was merely platonic, and the tightening in his gut was nothing more than teenage hormones.
But even this irrefutable logic couldn't explain why no one else could make him feel so powerfully.
Naruto looked up from where he stood in front of the mirror, stepping away from Sasuke while pretending to scratch his neck. The brunette's breath clung stubbornly to his reddening neck. “Yosh…” Naruto mumbled underneath his breath as he conveniently turned away. “So, what do we do now?”
The taller man raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off as his hands quickly moved into a familiar set of hand seals. “After I'm done, we go out. Get your dress and contacts.” He finished the set quickly, and looked into Naruto's now honey brown eyes. “Treat the next few hours as you would espionage.”
Naruto shuddered as he remembered the last time he and Sasuke had been sent on an espionage mission. An old man who reeked of tobacco and gutted fish had hit him on; Sasuke had saved him by discreetly slipping his fingers to the pressure point on the man's neck. The blonde hadn't been able to wash the smell out of his flak jacket for a week.
“So. The basics.” He continued as though he hadn't seen Naruto's shudder, though the amused smile playing at the corners of his eyes indicated that he too remembered. “You're Midaki Suna, and you're from Hidden Wave. You have a good shoot at becoming jounin at the trials this fall, even though you're only sixteen.”
Naruto raised an eyebrow as Sasuke checked one of his front pockets for something. “Otherwise free reign?” The brunette mumbled the affirmative as Naruto blew his long, irritating bangs out of his newly colored eyes. “This is going to be so much fun…”
Sasuke grunted at the sarcasm in his best friend's voice. “You're not Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's Number #1 Loudmouth anymore.” He muttered as he checked another pocket for the little black box he was looking for. The shinobi relaxed slightly when he found it. “You're Midaki Suna, prodigy of Hidden Wave. My fiancée.”
Naruto almost snapped -he knew that- but stopped as a velvet box was waved in front of his face. A very suspicious little black box it was, and Naruto knew what was happening. The room seemed to stand still very suddenly and despite his mind's enraged shouts that this was just the cherry on top, the blonde couldn't help but let his heart beat skip.
“Well?” Sasuke said gruffly, keeping his face as impassive as possible. The look on his partner's face was priceless and very Naruto. He shoved it away for future reference, one of those hundreds of thousands of just-in-case mental images that he had been collecting almost obsessively over the years. “Put it on.”
The imposter instantly came back to his senses, catching his breath and forcing it down to his lungs. Snatching the box from Sasuke's open hand, Naruto clicked the box open to find a simple band of braided gold lying there. Despite the fact that there were no jewels or precious gems, Naruto could still tell that it had probably taken a sizeable chunk out Sasuke's mission reward funds.
Brows furrowed, Naruto pulled the ring out quickly and nearly shoved it onto his left ring finger. It was the right size of course -Sasuke never did anything wrong- and it felt warm and comforting against his tan skin. Almost distantly he heard Sasuke's voice.
“There's supposed to be a protective jutsu on the ring. It supposed to keep the wearer safe from things as minor as a wayward shuriken or a misplaced kunai.” The chuunin gently took the box from Naruto, who was holding up his hand and scrutinizing the band on his finger. “It won't bite. Let's go.”
Naruto swallowed as Sasuke turned around, slipping the velvet ring box back into one of his many hidden pockets. Never before in the past two years had he wanted to kiss that bastard more. He bit down on the inside of his cheek and smothered and growing urge to throw Sasuke to the ground and have his way with him. Somehow, the blonde didn't think the warrior would appreciate being treated like that by his best friend.
Once outside of the apartment door, Naruto watched Sasuke reach up to grab the key that was “hidden” on the top of the doorjamb, slipped into a crack in the old wood. Sasuke knew that Naruto never locked his door, protesting that there was nothing to steal and that no one would even bother, but he still felt as though it were an obligation. Protecting Naruto, even in the smallest of ways, had always been a natural reaction of his that he sometimes wasn't all that found of.
He felt his gaze harden as scenes from the past flashed like lightening through his mind. The bridge incident with Haku and Zabuza had been the first time they had been in any real danger, the first time Sasuke had taken a blow for the blonde haired idiot. It had confused the Uchiha; Naruto and he had been friends since the Academy, but they weren't that close enough to necessarily die for one another. Their rivalry had taken care of that.
Sasuke supposed that year had been the year that changed everything. Lots of things had happened. He had saved Naruto's life, and Naruto had saved his. There had been the ordeal with Orochimaru -that was not something Sasuke wanted to think about- and their first try at becoming chuunin. That's when they had met Gaara of the Sand and Kabuto, the traitor who gave Sasuke to the snake.
Out of habit, Sasuke rubbed the suppressed curse seal on his neck. The now deceased Sandaime had managed to place a counter seal over it and cancel out the effects, but he hadn't been able to remove it completely. It still ached every now and then, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
“Stop standing there.” Naruto quipped suddenly, jumping in front of the Uchiha and gently slapping the hand that scratched distractedly at the juncture of his neck away. His smile was brilliant and it stretched from ear to ear. Despite the fact that Naruto looked like a ditz, Sasuke couldn't help but feel his shoulders relax a little and his eyes soften just enough to not worry the blonde. “We have places to go, people to see!”
Naruto raced down the old, creaky stairs that led to the street. It was just past lunchtime and he still hadn't eaten; Sasuke had intercepted him before he had gotten to the Academy where he often helped Iruka with menial chores on weekends. But he wasn't hungry -yet- so he didn't complain.
Without warning, one of Sasuke's hands brushed against his own. They were standing closer together, giving off the appearance of a real engaged couple; the blonde frowned lightly as an idea suddenly hit him. He nervously glanced beside him to the dark-haired man, biting his lip in a nervous gesture that he had developed over the years. “The hell with it…” He muttered, deciding to quickly slip his small hand into Sasuke's, interweaving their fingers.
Sasuke jumped at the contact. Naruto would have laughed if it weren't for the nervousness that fluttered in his stomach, squeezing Sasuke's large hand as though for conformation. Despite his anxious gesture however, he held on firmly when Sasuke tried to pull away with the excuse that he didn't hold hands.
“Bull.” Naruto snorted through his nose in a very unfeminine way, his voice shaking lightly, but not enough for the taller man to really notice. Sasuke stopped trying to pull away, aware of Naruto's stubborn nature, but didn't necessarily hold back, keeping his grip relaxed. The fake grinned insanely up at him. “Besides, we're engaged. Don't you think it would look strange if we weren't?”
Sasuke didn't answer, shifting his gaze from the small female at his side to the civilians running to and fro on the street. It was only a back road so there wasn't as much activity, but as they walked onto some of the more main roads, the hustle and bustle increased. He took a step closer to Naruto almost instinctively when the blonde was jostled, pulling him closer to him. It came as a relief when the smaller chuunin didn't look up at him questioningly. It (stupidly) made him feel as though he could deal with anything that Neji's idiotic Fate had ready to throw his way.
Well, almost everything.
“Hey Sasuke! I think I see Sakura!”
>>>>>>>>>>
Huggles to everyone who reviewed: strawberries and napkins, Half-Devil, DarkSeductress, ureihitmoi, esther, potpourri_grl, Dark Mimiru-Chan, Smoking Panda (I still love your name), Kyuubi-kun, Puchu-chan, Vicadin-Tea, bhodi li, magical-flyingdragon, Red Rose, Sugahlei, and Nudd (He did violate Sasuke! MUHAHA!).