The Top Floor

Disclaimer: This story is being co-authored by KandKL of fanfiction.net. We do not own Naruto, nor do we intend to profit financially from this story.

AN: Yes, I know it’s been a long time. But before you start throwing all types of foods and sharp, pointy objects, let me tell you that this is the longest chapter this story has seen to date by about 3000 words. Hopefully that will be enough to appease you all...

...that and the lemon we’ve spent nine long chapters building up to...

Onward.

The zebra wouldn’t blink.

He had been staring at it for, like, two minutes, but the zebra wouldn’t blink. His eyes twitched and watered, but he refused to back down.

Stare. Glare.

Come on! Blink!

“Kiba.”

Not now!

“Kiba,” the voice called again.

Buuuuuusy….

It was taking an incredible amount of concentration to stay focused on one thing at one time and he had to keep checking himself to keep his eyes trained on the striped animal before him.

The attending nurse watched in almost a concerned matter at the boy who was having a staring contest with the life-size zebra that was part of the jungle wallpaper that decorated the room. She looked back at the dark window on the far wall, giving it an apologetic smile before turning back to the boy.

“Kiba, your time is up. You need to go back to your room.” She tapped his shoulder this time, causing his head to snap up.

He let out an irritated squeal, displaying his displeasure at her forcing him to blink and therefore, lose the contest. “You ruined it!”

“Kiba, that’s enough,” a voice from the doorway reprimanded. It was Ten Ten. “Let’s go.” She motioned for him to leave with her and he grabbed her hand as they walked out of the room, leaving a thoroughly confused nurse in their wake.

“You are too much sometimes…” Ten Ten muttered under her breath with a shake of her head.

“Too much of what?”

“Never mind, Kiba. Never mind.”

~

Shikamaru wondered when the weather had begun to affect Lee’s mood. The rain pattered gently against the windows and Lee sat in a curled up ball on the couch, humming a melancholy tune. Shikamaru sighed and turned back to the battered book in his lap that Shizune had passed on to him. “German 4 Dummies” was admittedly not on the top of his Must Read list, but it was better than boredom.

I played basketball yesterday. Ich habe Basketball gestern gespielt. Basketball is my favorite sport. Basketball ist mein Leiblingssport.

German was turning out to be surprisingly easy. He flipped a few pages in the book and found a chart.

Dative prepositions...aus, auβer, bei, mit...he stopped with a frown. Lee’s alternating sniffling and wails were ruining his concentration.

“Lee...”

“Yeah?” came the whimpering reply.

Shikamaru let out another sigh. “Would...would you like to learn some German with me?” He saw Lee’s form perk up.

“German?”

“Yes, German. Come over here, I’ll teach you.”

Lee’s head appeared over the top of the couch. “Really?”

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“...Okay!”

Shikamaru steeled himself as Lee hurdled the couch and bounded to his side, where he promptly dropped into a cross-legged sit. He stared at Shikamaru with intent, bright eyes.

“I am Shikamaru,” Shikamaru said, placing his hand on his chest, motioning for Lee to copy him.

“I am Lee...” he repeated. “That’s not German.”

Shikamaru forced a smile. “Ich heiβe Shikamaru.”

Lee’s face lit up. “Ish heiβe Lee!”

“No, no...Ich—like you have popcorn stuck in your throat.”

“ICCCCCH!”

“....Better,” Shikamaru said, grinning a little in spite of himself.

“Ich heiβe Lee.”

“Very good, Lee.”

Lee’s cry of victory and vivacious fist pump would have scared any other person into hysterics. Shikamaru settled for a slight eye roll before continuing.

“Now, the word for ‘you’ is--”

“OWW!” Naruto’s voice howled, followed by a loud SMACK!

“HEY!”

Their heads snapped up to look at the room from where the scream had come. Naruto came hobbling lop-sidedly out of the room as fast as he could with one crutch, the dressings around his leg trailing on the floor behind him. Sasuke stalked out of the room after him, holding up a bottle.

“Naruto, there’s no alcohol in this, it shouldn’t hurt,” he explained with a glare, rubbing a reddening spot on his cheek.

“Well, it DOES, bastard! You’re not coming near me with that stuff!” Naruto shouted, his eyes wide and his free arm pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

“Look, Naruto,” Sasuke explained through gritted teeth, “Ten Ten gave me this so that she wouldn’t have to come in and administer it twice a day. She’s going to be pissed if she has to come in and hold you down for me.”

Naruto crossed his arms, but almost fell as his balance on the crutch was compromised. He righted himself and stared at Sasuke. “I refuse.”

Sasuke watched him for a few seconds before his gaze softened. He slowly approached Naruto, holding his arms in a non-threatening posture when Naruto took an apprehensive step back. When he was toe to toe with Naruto he looked down and smiled softly.

“You have really blue eyes,” he said quietly.

“No shit...” Naruto murmured, suddenly entranced by Sasuke’s proximity.

Sasuke leaned down and gently brushed his lips against Naruto’s as Naruto’s eyes drifted shut. Sasuke then leaned forward a bit more and began to stealthily tip the bottle down, releasing a steady stream of anti-bacterial onto Naruto’s open wound.

“OOOOOWWW! You BASTARD!” Naruto screamed, hopping backwards so fast that he fell onto his butt with a loud grunt.

“Pin him!” Sasuke shouted, grabbing one of Naruto’s flailing legs. Lee sprung into action, grabbing Naruto’s arms.

“It’s for your own good, Naruto!” Lee shouted.

“Okay, hold him,” Sasuke instructed as he tipped the bottle up again. Nothing came out and he shook the bottle.

“You used the whole damn bottle, ya fucker!” Naruto cursed, struggling to get out of their grip.

“Oh...” Sasuke said, reading the label. “Whoops.”

“Whoops, my fucking ass...” Naruto growled as he struggled to his feet and then angrily crutched off to his room.

“Narutoooo....I’m sorry...” Sasuke said, getting up and following him, the door slamming behind him.

Lee blinked. Shikamaru snorted and turned a page in his book. Lee sat for a few moments before scooting himself back over to Shikamaru’s side. Shikamaru turned another page.

“What’s that word?” Lee asked, pointing to the page.

“Reiseauβkunft. It means information counter...or something.”

“Reiseauβkunft,” Lee tried.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru muttered distractedly as he continued to read.

“Reiseauβkunft...” Lee whispered.

The door leading to the hall clicked open and life was no longer peaceful. Kiba sprinted into the room, his arms held out like an airplane as he flew around the room, his lips buzzing to create the sound of a motor.

He was hyper.

Oh God, he’s hyper...Shikamaru grimaced.

Kiba saw Lee and shouted a jovial “Lee!”

“REISEAUβKUNFT!” Lee responded with equal gusto.

This stopped Kiba in his tracks. “Huh?”

“It’s German! Shikamaru was teaching me...” his voice trailed off when he saw that Shikamaru had retreated to his room, leaving the book behind on the floor. “Huh...Wanna learn some?”

“Yeah!” Kiba agreed, finding a spot next to Lee. Lee opened the book and began to page through.

“Where were you, anyway?” he asked.

“Playing.”

“Playing? Can I come next time?” Lee asked excitedly.

“Nope. I get to go to my own room and get my own toys...It’s really fun! But only for me,” he explained.

“Aww, bummer...”

Kiba patted his shoulder comfortingly and they sat in silence for a few moments. “What’s that word?” Kiba asked.

“Hmm...” Lee pondered. “Scheiβe...”

“What’s it mean?”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Shikamaru appeared suddenly and grabbed the book from Lee’s fingers. He then turned and shuffled back to his room.

Kiba leaned over to Lee. “What’s it mean?”

Lee whispered into Kiba’s ears, and Kiba’s eyes widened comically.

“Ooooh!”

~

“Shikamaru.”

Shikamaru looked up from his book, giving Sasuke a wary, tired glance. “What?”

Sasuke stood in his doorway, shifting his weight to his other foot. Sasuke was uneasy? This immediately peaked Shikamaru’s interest.

“Uhh…okay. Okay, I have some questions.”

“About…?” Shikamaru asked, trying to hide his smirk. He already knew about what. There was only one thing the Uchiha boy could want to know about from him…

Sasuke quickly looked behind him, then stepped into the room and shut the door. “I need to talk about sex.”

Bingo.

Shikamaru feigned boredom. “What about it?” he asked in a low drawl.

Sasuke’s face was like an open book as he visibly forced himself to get past his embarrassment. Shikamaru was beginning to enjoy it.

“How do I do it?”

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but Sasuke’s face remained firm, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. “With a guy, you mean.”

“Yes.”

“You really need me to explain the mechanics to you?”

“No, well…I know how to do it, but not how to do it well,” Sasuke said, fighting valiantly to keep his uneasiness under control.

Shikamaru sat fully upright, folding his legs under himself. “Okay, what do you want to know?”

Sasuke let out a sigh since the hard part was over before continuing, “Will it hurt Naruto?”

“He’s a virgin?” Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke blinked. “I…would think so.”

“Then yeah,” Shikamaru said with a shrug. “It’ll hurt quite a bit. But, there are things you can do to make it, you know, smoother.”

“Okay, like what?” Shikamaru half expected him to take out a pen and paper for notes.

“Lots of lube, stretching…”

“…stretching?”

Shikamaru let out a sigh at the look of the confusion on Sasuke’s face. “Use your fingers. Stretch him so it’s not such a big shock when you ram your cock into him.”

Sasuke’s face colored darkly and he glared at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru smiled in mock sweetness before continuing. “Foreplay is really important, especially for the boy that’s going to be topped. If he’s not in the mood and he’s resistant, it’ll hurt him a lot. Just make sure to warm him up for a while before you go for the big homerun. He needs to be very relaxed.”

Despite the fact that his face was the color of a plum, Sasuke was listening intently and he nodded, encouraging Shikamaru to continue.

“Obviously, there are certain courtesies you should follow. Like I said, you can’t just force yourself into an unprepared, unwilling person. Wait until he’s ready; even if that means you don’t go all the way the first time.”

Sasuke leaned in as Shikamaru’s voice lowered slightly. “There are two things you need to do to make sure he gets off. Number one—and probably the more important—every guy has a prostate located in his ass. If you manage to find that spot in him, it’ll make him scream.”

Sasuke’s eyes widened.

“In a good way, Sasuke. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. Try to find it initially when you’re first stretching him, and then try to find it again when you’re in him. And number two. Make sure you don’t just leave him hanging while you’re doing it. Make sure to play with his cock too. This’ll help get his mind off the initial pain. Oh, and always use lots of lube.”

“I don’t have any lube…”

“You’ll just have to find something, shouldn’t be too hard.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, Sasuke trying to remember everything Shikamaru has advised and Shikamaru smirking inwardly at Sasuke. Sasuke stood suddenly and met Shikamaru’s gaze.

“Thank you, Shikamaru. This will help very much.”

Shikamaru waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. Have fun, and make sure to take care of him.”

Sasuke nodded. “Of course.”

“Off with you, then,” Shikamaru said as he went back to his book.

Sasuke turned away and quickly walked out of the room. He had survived and also gotten some very important information.

Now he just needed to find some lube…


~


BOOM!

A looming thundercloud clapped as Lee simultaneously slammed his door shut behind him, eyes wider than any human eyes ought to be able to be stretched. Lee scurried down the length of the common room, past three doors to the very last one. Quickly he threw the door open and winced as it banged against the wall behind it.

Shikamaru shot upright in his bed and glared bleary-eyed at the looming shadow in his doorway.

Too tall to be Kiba, his sleep-hazed mind deduced. Too non-slouchy to be Sasuke. No crutches...

A high-pitched yelp from the silhouette confirmed his conclusion as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky outside and illuminated the room brightly.

Shika slumped back down and closed his eyes. “No.”

Another flash of lightning.

“Shika...”

Shikamaru hastily drew the pillow out from under his head and smashed it down over his face forcefully, effectively silencing any of Lee’s whines. Lee sighed dramatically and left the room, closing the door behind him. He yelped again at another loud boom and looked back pathetically at the door.

“Meanie,” he said, lower lip protruding. The only response he got was a muffled thump from the other side of the door. Of course, curiosity got the better of him. He opened the door a few inches and poked his head in. On the floor was a pillow. Lee opened the door the rest of the way and picked up the pillow.

“Do you want your pillow back?” he asked innocently.

“GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”

~

Sasuke snapped awake at Shikamaru’s angry yell and looked out into the common room as much as he could through the slightly open doorway. Naruto, curled up at his side, stirred.

“What’s going on?” he asked groggily. Sasuke shook his head and was about to respond when he heard a low questioning murmur coming from outside the room.

“BECAUSE I’M SLEEPING, LEE!” came the loud reply, accompanied by a soft thud.

“Shika’s throwing things again,” said Naruto. Both boys looked at the doorway when they heard a door shutting and footsteps moving closer to them.

Sasuke reacted first. “Quick! Act like you’re asleep.”

“Wouldn’t it be more fun to scare him? Or yell at him?”

Sasuke heard the door to Naruto’s room next door opening. “Snore! Quick, go!”

The door closed.

“But I wanna throw something!”

“SNORE!” hissed Sasuke as Lee’s footsteps drew near.

The door creaked open. Lee peeked in and saw Sasuke laying on his side facing the door, eyes closed. He could only assume the large lump next to him under the blankets to be Naruto, since Naruto’s room was empty.

A sudden snore from Sasuke was so startling that Lee practically ran out of the room. Sasuke waited, holding his breath and listening intently. Finally he heard Kiba’s door open, and then shut quietly. Sasuke exhaled in relief.

Naruto threw the blanket off of his head. “I was just kidding, you know,” he huffed indignantly as he ran a hand through his static-y hair. “You didn’t have to try to suffocate me!”

“Shhh!” whispered Sasuke.

Naruto rolled his eyes. “He’s not coming back. He’s going to act all brave in front of Kiba and then go back to his--”

Naruto stopped short upon hearing a shriek through the thin wall.

“Which one was that?”

“Too shrill. Had to have been Kiba,” replied Sasuke.

“I don’t know,” said Naruto. “Lee can get pretty shrill.” A few more muffled sounds came from the room next door, and then, silence. Sasuke sighed in relief and settled back more fully against the bed, ready to go back to sleep. Naruto curled up beside him again, placing an arm around Sasuke’s middle. Sasuke smiled and let his conscious mind drift...

“Sasuke,” Naruto whispered an indeterminable amount of time later.

“Mhmm.”

“Could you go check on them?”

Sasuke opened one eye warily. “Are you serious?”

“Please?”

“No!”

Naruto stared at the wall he and Kiba shared. “They’ve been awfully quiet for awhile now.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Just go check on them.”

“You go check on them. You’re the one who’s worried,” said Sasuke.

“But I can’t walk!” whined Naruto. Sasuke glared mildly at him. Naruto looked back, widening his eyes slightly and looking up through his lashes.

Sasuke growled and sat up. Yanking the covers back, he got out of bed. “I’m not doing this because of those goddamn eyes,” he muttered as he stalked towards the door. Naruto just smiled smugly in the dark.

“Thank you, Sasuke.”

Sasuke grunted in annoyance as he left the room and headed over to Kiba’s door. The lack of noise from the two boys was actually a bit disturbing to him, and as he drew nearer to the bedroom and heard nothing but the rain outside his consternation began to grow. If the past held as any kind of record, no noise now usually would result in far too much noise for comfort within the next ten minutes.

Sasuke poked his head inside the doorway and paused for a moment, listening for any kind of noise to indicate life in the room but hearing nothing.

“Kiba?” he whispered, but got no response. He padded over to the bed and felt around gingerly, trying to find Kiba’s body. A hand shot out from under the frame and grabbed his ankle. Sasuke let out a scream bearing a startling resemblance to that of an eight-year-old girl’s.

Kiba and Lee both giggled loudly. Sasuke bent down and peered under the bed.

“What the hell was that for?” he hissed vehemently.

“For fun,” replied Kiba, grinning impishly.

“Sasuke?” came Naruto’s voice drifting through the wall.

“It was Kiba!” Sasuke quickly responded.

“No it wasn--”

Sasuke quickly slapped a hand over Kiba’s wide-open mouth, muffling the rest of his words. But before he could deliver any kind of caustic scolding a loud clap of thunder interrupted him. Kiba and Lee instantaneously shrieked and grabbed each other in a tight hug. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“Sasuke!” yelped Lee as another streak of lightning lit up the room.

“What?”

“We’re scared!”

“Yeah, I noticed,” replied Sasuke sarcastically. “What do you want me to do? You want me to stop the storm?”

“Yeah!” yelled Kiba.

Sasuke sighed and sat down fully on the floor. “Kiba, I can’t stop the storm. I don’t control the heavens,” he said in a condescending tone.

“Who controls the heavens?”

“God, I suppose.” This met a chorus of “ooh”s from the boys.

“Wait,” said Kiba suddenly. “I thought God was nice.” Sasuke grimaced internally, knowing this couldn’t lead anywhere not complicated. “Why is he making so much noise? Doesn’t he know it’s rude to wake everyone up?”

“Yeah, it is,” Sasuke said, looking pointedly at Lee, who ducked his head sheepishly. Sasuke sighed guiltily then. “No, it’s okay, Lee. Kiba,” he continued, “well, I guess that since God is the boss of the world, he gets to make the rules. And if he wants to make noise, he can.”

“But what is he doing?”

Sasuke scratched his head while cursing himself for starting this whole God business. But then a memory flooded his awareness; his mother’s arms around him as she held him from behind, the two of them sitting on the floor of his bedroom and watching the raging storm through his window.

“He’s bowling,” he said softly. A half-smile crossed his face as he heard his mother’s voice echo those words to him comfortingly within the confines of his mind.

“What’s bowling?” asked Kiba innocently, effectively ruining Sasuke’s moment. Sasuke looked over at the boys and found them childishly laying on their stomachs with their elbows bent and their chins resting on the heels of their hands. A particularly loud boom of thunder sounded but neither flinched, too caught up in this foreign idea of “bowling” to pay any mind. Sasuke smirked, internally lauding himself for his mad babysitting skills.

“Bowling is when you take a very heavy ball, and you roll it down a wooden floor at a group of pins--”

“What are pins?” interrupted Lee.

“They’re...like...big round sticks that stand up about this high,” said Sasuke, gesturing with his hands the height of a bowling pin. Then he made a triangle with his fingers and held his hands up to show Kiba and Lee. “The pins are arranged at the end of the floor in this shape. There are ten pins--”

“Why ten?” asked Kiba, wrinkling his nose.

Sasuke sighed. “There just is.”

“But why?” Kiba continued. “Why not twenty?”

“Or one hundred?” Lee put in.

“Or a THOUSAND!” added Kiba loudly, causing both boys to laugh uproariously. Sasuke withdrew his still triangle-shaping fingers from the air and folded them in his lap. Closing his eyes, he sighed once again, doing his best to block out noisy plans of inventing a game that involved one thousand pins and throwing the ball at them to see how many could be broken with one throw.

Naruto’s voice from the doorway broke his concentration. “What’s going on?”

“They’re scared of the storm,” replied Sasuke.

“No, I know that,” said Naruto as he maneuvered into the room. “I mean, what did you do? I’ve never heard them laugh so hard around you unless they’re actually laughing at you.”

Sasuke glared. “I thought you couldn’t walk.” Naruto shrugged.

“Sasuke?” asked Lee. “Can we play the bowling tomorrow?”

“Not your way we can’t,” replied Sasuke quickly.

“Why not?” whined Kiba. “Our way’s more fun!”

“Not really.”

“Wait,” said Naruto, interrupting the conversation. “What’s their way?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “They want to change the game of bowling forever by replacing the ten pins with one thousand and then throwing the ball at--”

“Wait, wait,” interrupted Naruto again, looking confused. “What’s bowling?”

“Why does no one know this game?!” asked Sasuke loudly of no one in particular.

“SHIKA!” yelled Lee suddenly. Sasuke and Naruto swung their heads toward the doorway to find Shikamaru leaning against the frame, rubbing his face tiredly.

“Is there a reason that NO ONE can be quiet in this stupid place?” he asked irately.

“No,” Kiba said mischievously. Shikamaru quickly stood upright and began to make his way towards the bed.

“We better go,” Sasuke whispered discretely to Naruto. He stood up from the floor and began hauling Naruto up on his feet.

“Why?” asked Naruto.

“Because he must be pissed if he looks like that,” whispered Sasuke. He retrieved Naruto’s crutches from the ground and handed them to Naruto. “Normally he wouldn’t even waste energy on facial expressions.”

Shikamaru stopped in front of the bed and bent down to look at the boys, who, still giggling, seemed to have no idea what kind of imminent danger they were in.

“I swear to GOD,” Shikamaru began harshly, “if I don’t get some god damn sleep anytime soon, there will be HELL to--”

Suddenly a hand reached out from under the bed and grasped Shikamaru’s wrist. Seconds later, too quickly for Naruto or Sasuke to figure out exactly how, Shikamaru was underneath the bed, laying on his back between the two wildly laughing boys. Naruto quickly brought a hand up to his mouth to stifle his laughter as Shikamaru glared heatedly at him and Sasuke.

“Well,” said Sasuke quickly, “I think I’m going to go to bed.”

“Yeahmetoo,” added Naruto as he and Sasuke began to rush away from the bed with barely contained laughter.

“No!” Shikamaru yelled, hastily struggling to get out from under the bed, but the boys had a surprisingly strong grip on his limbs. He watched desperately as the upside-down forms of Sasuke and Naruto made a beeline for the door.

“Sasuke!” Shikamaru called, mind scrambling for something that he could use to make him stay.

“No,” came the reply from the doorway. Shikamaru watched Sasuke’s back vanish from sight through the doorway. Come on! he urged his brain.

And then he had it.

“I’ll help you,” he called out. A second passed, then two. By the third, Sasuke had reappeared in the doorway, a skeptical but hopeful look on his face.

“You’ll help me?”

“Help with what?” asked Naruto as he reappeared behind Sasuke, looking thoroughly confused.

“You’ll get me what I need?” Sasuke asked.

“Get you what you need for what?”

“I’ll get you what you need,” Shikamaru confirmed.

“Get him what? What do you need, Sas—ooooh,” Naruto stopped his whines short and looked at Sasuke demurely. “Is it a present? For me?”

Sasuke looked bewilderedly at Shikamaru, who snorted gracelessly. “In a manner of speaking,” Shikamaru answered Naruto, who squealed in delight and missed Sasuke dropping his jaw in horrified disgust. “What?” whispered Shikamaru loudly under the cover of Naruto’s squeals. “It is!”

Sasuke shook his head and decided to pretend that the innuendo had never happened, since that was much easier for his still-virgin mind to handle. “What are your terms?” he asked Shikamaru.

“You stay in here as long as I have to,” replied Shikamaru. “Which I get the feeling will be all night,” he added with a glare in Lee’s direction.

“Deal,” said Sasuke in a tone of finality. “Naruto, go get our blankets and pillows, and Shika’s, too.”

“But I can’t walk!”

“Bullshit you can’t,” replied Sasuke, ignoring the two gasps that came from under the bed at Sasuke’s choice in words. Naruto started to pout, but then perked up. “When do I get my present?” he asked excitedly. Sasuke looked bewilderedly at Shikamaru.

“Two days,” Shikamaru answered.

“Yay!” exclaimed Naruto as he left the room. Sasuke wandered back over to the bed and sat down on the floor in front of it. “Thank you,” he said quietly to Shikamaru with a slight blush.

“Oh, no, thank you,” came the dry response.

“Are you and Naruto staying here tonight, too?” Kiba asked Sasuke suddenly. Sasuke nodded.

“Hooray! We can have a sleepover at long last!” Lee proclaimed excitedly. Sasuke shuddered, remembering how excited Lee had been on his first day in the wing about having sleepovers.

“Do we have to stay under the bed?” Shikamaru whined. Lee nodded his head solemnly.

“Well, I’m sleeping out here with Naruto,” Sasuke declared. Shikamaru made a disbelieving noise. Sasuke glared mildly at him. “Naruto can’t be crawling under that bed because of his leg, and besides, your deal never said anything about me sleeping under any bed.”

“Back!” Naruto called before Shikamaru could argue. He dropped his and Sasuke’s pillows and blanket by Sasuke and handed Shikamaru his before grabbing Kiba’s off of the bed.

“Lee, you’re going to have to share with Kiba,” Naruto informed him as he handed them the blanket and pillow.

“Yes,” breathed Shikamaru as he quickly wriggled out from between the boys and laid down on the other side of Lee. He made himself as comfortable as he could as Kiba and Lee talked animatedly, thunderstorm all but forgotten. Sasuke lay down on his back and extended his left arm invitingly as Naruto scooted into the makeshift bed and snuggled up against him, curling his arm around Sasuke’s torso. Shikamaru smiled softly at the sight, but then frowned.

What the hell was he going to get for Sasuke, and in two days no less?

~

Sunlight spilled in to the building through the open doorway as Kiba and Lee rushed through it and out into the courtyard with Sasuke following slowly. Kiba quickly grabbed a tennis ball off of the grass.

“Sasuke! Catch!”

“No.”

Kiba threw it anyway. Sasuke glared at him, gaze unwavering even as the ball bounced off of his shoulder. Lee took one look at Sasuke’s face and decided to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. Picking up the ball where it had fallen, he backed slowly away from Sasuke.

“Kiba, why don’t we just play?” he said with one last wary look in Sasuke’s direction as he led Kiba out of striking distance. Sasuke sighed heavily as he plopped down in his usual spot beneath the tree. He wasn’t sure why he was so irritable today. Maybe it was because he had been forced to sleep on the floor the night before. Or maybe it was because he hadn’t gotten his customary morning-display-of-affection because two certain boys had been watching him and Naruto not so discretely. Regardless, he was irritable, and the fact that Naruto’s session with Shizune was taking longer than normal wasn’t helping.

“Lee, where’s Shika?” Sasuke called out, suddenly realizing he had no idea what was keeping the older boy.

“He said he had to talk to Ten Ten about something,” answered Lee between hearty jumping jacks.

“Oh,” said Sasuke. Oh...maybe Shikamaru was working on getting the answer to Sasuke’s problem...

“Sasuke!” Naruto’s voice came drifting outside. Sasuke looked up from the grass his fingers had been idly playing with and watched Naruto hobbling towards him, a bright grin splashing across the blonde’s face.

“Guess what?” asked Naruto excitedly as he came to a stop in front of Sasuke.

“What?” said Sasuke warily. He cringed as Naruto struck a pose far too similar to one of Lee’s.

“Shizune says that I’m getting better,” Naruto announced proudly, jerking two thumbs towards his chest in emphasis.

Sasuke blinked. “You’re getting better?” he asked, surprised.

“Well, I believe the exact words were ‘your condition is improving’,” said Naruto, making air quotes with his fingers. Sasuke took in the wide grin, the elated blue eyes, the innocent look of hope staining Naruto’s cheeks...

...and as much as he wanted to caution the blonde to not get his hopes up too high too quickly, he knew that Naruto needed him to be happy for him right now. So he stood stiffly from the ground and gave Naruto a genuine smile. Naruto brightened at that and swiftly embraced Sasuke.

“Looks like I might get out of here after all,” Naruto said quietly. Sasuke nodded against Naruto’s cheek. He could feel his breath against his hair and the side of his neck, slightly faster than normal in his excitement.

“I told you,” he chided with a smile.

Naruto laughed. “Well, forgive me for being skeptical.”

That makes two, Sasuke thought, then immediately hated himself for it. He wanted to be as purely happy for Naruto as Naruto was for himself, but his default cynicism was getting in the way. Yes, he regularly reassured Naruto that he would get out of the hospital eventually, that the doctors were getting closer to figuring out how to help him, that he was improving. But despite the confidence that was implied in his words and voice, Sasuke felt no reassurance. Every time he whispered such encouragements to Naruto while he held him at night, the usual doubts screamed for notice inside his mind. The very things with which Naruto had confronted him wouldn’t leave him alone, impartial to his efforts to ignore them.

The truth was that while Naruto had shown progress in his last “incident”, as the doctors politely called each of his attempts, the progress had been unexpected. Not one of the doctors had thought that Naruto would come this far. And while The Incident had proved to everyone that Naruto’s condition was not set in stone, it by no means guaranteed eventual absolution for the blonde. All it guaranteed was that the condition could no longer be underestimated, that it was capable of change at any time with no warning. For all anyone knew, if Naruto could improve, then he could worsen as well. So as much as Sasuke wanted to wholeheartedly join Naruto in whatever celebration was sure to ensue, he couldn’t completely ignore his inner reservations.

But now was not the time to lend them voice. Right now, Naruto needed Sasuke to allow him to hope. So, Sasuke simply hugged Naruto and prayed to god that at least his face looked sincere.

This was the scene that greeted Shikamaru as he entered the courtyard: Kiba idly throwing a tennis ball against the brick wall and catching it on the return; Lee power-walking in counterclockwise laps; and Naruto, with his back to Shikamaru, embracing a Sasuke who was apparently out of his emotional element. He felt Sasuke’s eyes on him as he shut the door behind him and walked in an exactly parallel line with the adjacent wall to the nearest corner, then, leaning back against the rough brick, looked back at him. Sasuke’s eyebrow arched in question, to which Shikamaru responded with a subtle nod.

“Oi, Lee! Let’s play frisbee,” Naruto called out, breaking the embrace. Sasuke watched him exuberantly crutch himself away with an energy level coming dangerously close to matching that of Kiba. Lee seemed to heartily agree with the idea and sprinted to where the frisbee lay on the ground, picked it up, and promptly chucked it at Naruto’s head. In a matter of seconds the two were throwing the disc to each other with a slightly dangerous level of zeal, Lee running after any throws Naruto couldn’t quite catch.

Sasuke waited until Naruto was fully absorbed in his game of Kamikaze!Frisbee to make his way over to Shikamaru’s assumed corner, where he remained leaning against the wall, staring aimlessly at the sky above him.

“Were you talking to Ten Ten about--”

“Yes.”

Pause. “And did you--”

“Yes. I put it under your bed.”

Sasuke looked at him, a bit disbelievingly. “I thought you said you wouldn’t have it for two days.”

Shikamaru shrugged. “I said that in front of Naruto. As long as he still thinks he’s not getting a “gift” until tomorrow, you still have the element of surprise.”

“Oh,” was the only answer Sasuke could come up with, brilliant genius that he was. The two boys stood in amiable silence for a few minutes, Sasuke watching the frisbee flying back and forth at unnatural speeds.

Shikamaru cleared his throat after a while. “What was that all about?”

Sasuke turned away from the game to look at him, eyes narrowing slightly. “What was what all about?”

“That long-ass hug,” Shikamaru returned without missing a beat. A moody Uchiha was nothing new.

“Oh,” said Sasuke, his face falling a bit. “Shizune told Naruto that she thinks his condition is ‘improving’,” repeating Naruto’s finger quotation marks with a slight grimace.

“Really?” asked Shikamaru apprehensively.

Sasuke sighed. “Yeah...”

“Why would she do that? That’s just giving the kid false hope,” Shikamaru muttered. Sasuke shot him a quick look.

“You think so, too?”

“Well, yeah,” Shikamaru responded evenly. “Just because he could see what was happening this last time doesn’t mean he will tomorrow.”

“Yes, thank you,” Sasuke said with more force than he intended, happy that someone agreed with him. “My thoughts exa--”

Then something in Shikamaru’s words hit Sasuke. He remembered his first group session, when Neji had still been a resident. Something that Shikamaru had said back then...

“Shika,” said Sasuke in a tone belying trepidation, severity, and hope all at once. “Were you serious when you said you could predict when Naruto would next attempt?”

“I didn’t say I could. I said I thought I could,” said Shikamaru. “Big difference.”

“Small enough for me,” responded Sasuke quickly.

“It shouldn’t be,” Shikamaru hastened to correct. “I was off by two days last time. For all I know, it can’t be mathematically determined.” He sighed then. “I was just bored one day, and Neji gave me the idea to shut me up.”

Sasuke laughed at that. “Shut you up?” he asked skeptically.

“Yes, believe it or not, I’m the talkative one between the two of us,” he responded dryly with a smirk. “Neji’s more of the glare-until-I-get-what-I-want kind of person. More so than you.” Sasuke’s answer to the jab was the all-too-predictable glower.

“Still, though, I can’t say that I blame Shizune for wanting to give him good news,” Shikamaru said. It took Sasuke a few seconds to realize that they had returned to the topic of Naruto. “He hasn’t heard any since he came here.”

Sasuke nodded silently, not having quite thought of it in that way. “How long ago was that?”

“He’s been here longer than me and Kiba,” answered Shikamaru vaguely.

“How long have you been here?”

“Long enough.”

Sasuke made a small, frustrated noise at Shikamaru’s assumed discretion. “Shika--”

Shikamaru turned then and looked squarely at Sasuke. “I shouldn’t be the one to tell you Naruto’s past. If he hasn’t told you, he has a reason.” He returned his gaze to the sky. “He will when the time is right.”

Sasuke hadn’t really entertained the idea that Naruto had a past, although he was now kicking himself for not paying more attention to Naruto’s file while he had had the chance.

“He probably assumes I already know,” he said with sudden realization. “He knows I saw his file.”

“Then ask him.”

Sasuke nodded again, though he wasn’t sure if he would be able to just bluntly ask Naruto to air his dirty laundry. For now he was content to believe that it would come up eventually.

Shikamaru was content to stare at thin air. Everyone always thought that he was watching the clouds, but the truth was that he was too inherently lazy to watch much of anything. He just pointed his head at the most convenient large object—in this case, the sky--and people assumed he was contemplating whatever it was that geniuses contemplated. Not Shikamaru. He wasn’t picky; staring at nothing was good enough for him.

So he stared at nothing, at least until something caught his attention from the corner of his gaze. He shifted his eyes to the left and looked into the windows overlooking the courtyard until he found what he was looking for: A man and woman stood watching them with Shizune and another man in an expensive-looking suit. Probably a board member, Shikamaru mused. All four were staring across the courtyard, and Shikamaru followed their gaze.

Kiba was still throwing his ball against the brick wall and catching it as it bounced back towards him, throwing it at a different spot every time so that it bounced in another direction. Shikamaru watched as he threw it particularly hard at a slight downward angle. The ball came off the wall hard and landed in a muddy puddle still lingering from the thunderstorm the previous night. Kiba yelped, covering his face with his arm as the water splashed up at him. Shikamaru looked back at the window. The man and the woman were smiling and seemed to be laughing. The woman pointed out of the window with an even bigger smile. Shikamaru quickly glanced back at Kiba to find him shaking his head like a wet dog.

“What?” Sasuke asked, reminding Shikamaru of his presence.

Shikamaru shifted his gaze back to the window, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Something’s going on.” Sasuke looked away from Kiba and stared into the window.

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know,” said Shikamaru, but he had an idea. After all, Kiba had been taken from the group on several occasions and brought back a significant amount of time later, and according to Kiba, he hadn’t been talking to Shizune or any other doctors, just playing alone in a room with “a funny mirror”. Shikamaru hoped he was wrong, but there were only so many reasons that Kiba would be being observed...

Both boys watched the man and woman shake hands with Shizune and Suit Man. The woman turned as they made their way out of the room, taking one last look into the courtyard.

Sasuke gasped then. “You don’t think--”

“Sasuke!” Naruto’s voice interrupted. Sasuke and Shikamaru turned away from the window to see Naruto coming towards them, frisbee in hand and Lee following closely behind.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru answered in a low voice as Naruto drew closer. Sasuke looked back at him, eyes wide. “Don’t say anything.”

Sasuke nodded as he swallowed hard. Before he knew it, Naruto was in front of him, waving a frisbee in his face and demanding that he play with him. As he was pulled forcefully towards the center of the courtyard by Lee, Sasuke looked back at Shikamaru, who had gone back to staring up at the sky. To any casual observer, he would have looked completely calm, void of expression. But Sasuke saw it, the slight crease between his eyebrows that boded anything but well.

~

Naruto’s steadily climbing level of euphoria was starting to scare Sasuke. Not scare, as in please-don’t-get-your-hopes-up-too-high scare, but as in please-stop-pinching-my-butt-so-hard-you-uncommonly-forward-bastard scare. How the blonde was able to manage so many successive ass-grabs while hobbling behind him on crutches he would never understand.

“Shika!” he heard Kiba say loudly behind him. “We should play bowling!”

“What?” Shikamaru asked warily.

“Just say no, Shika,” Sasuke threw back over his shoulder.

“No.”

“Aw, Shika! It’ll be fun!” Kiba whined. “We just need, like, a thousand pins, and a really huge heavy ball--”

Shikamaru looked at Kiba apprehensively. “That’s not bowling.”

“Yes, it is,” Lee piped up. “Sasuke told us.”

“No I didn’t!” exclaimed Sasuke defensively, whirling around and effectively stopping the group’s trek down the hallway. “That’s just their crack-infused version of it!”

Kiba wrinkled his nose. “What’s ‘crack’?”

Naruto glared at Sasuke. “Nothing, Kiba.” Kiba pouted, prepared to argue that he never got to know anything, but Shikamaru wisely distracted him with an “I can’t play, Kiba.”

Distraction Successful. Kiba swung his head to stare at Shikamaru in surprise, because who in their right mind would give up bowling with a thousand pins?

“I have to write a letter to Neji,” Shikamaru stated, answering the unasked question.

Kiba frowned. “Lame.”

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, wondering where the hell Kiba had picked up surfer slang. “Yeah, it’s really too bad,” he said in a slightly condescending tone. “And I don’t think Sasuke or Naruto can play, either.”

“What?!” Kiba yelled disbelievingly, turning his stare on the pair.

“We can’t?” asked Naruto, bewilderedly. “Why not?”

Shikamaru smirked and looked at Sasuke. “I think they’ll be playing their own game.” Sasuke could feel his face getting hotter by the nanosecond.

Lee started bouncing up and down, adding to the loveliness that was the situation. “Oooh, which game? Can we play?”

Shikamaru’s smirk just grew wider. “Um, post office, I think. Right?”

Sasuke’s eyes went as wide as his mortification could stretch them, while, to his relief, Naruto just kept staring confusedly at Shikamaru.

The ensuing span of silence felt to Sasuke to be about as long as that eight-second period feels to a struggling bull rider. After a few moments of enjoying Sasuke’s discomfort, Shikamaru had at least a small amount of courtesy left in him, enough to turn to Lee and calmly inform him that “post office” was, in fact, more appropriately played by just two people.

“Whatever,” Kiba blurted out. “It sounds totally boring anyway.”

“You’re a weird guy,” Naruto informed Shikamaru, still looking puzzled but opting to continue down the hallway. Shikamaru just smiled.

“I hate you,” Sasuke hissed with such vehemence that if Shikamaru had been less of a man—er, mature boy—he would have flinched. As it was, Naruto’s voice saved him the trouble of coming up with a reaction.

“Come on, Sasuke!”

Sasuke glared for another second or two before swiftly turning and following the group towards their wing. Shikamaru sighed happily.

Oh, how he loved being older than everyone. It lent him such a...a conveniently more experienced hand at life with his fellow crazies.

~

Sasuke obediently followed Naruto through the common room. Naruto was moving really fast...

“Hurry up!” Naruto whispered urgently as he opened the door to Sasuke’s bedroom. Sasuke shot him an odd look but followed anyways.

“Have fun with your lame game,” Kiba said snottily.

“Yeah!” said Lee, never one to be left out of a conversation.

Sasuke shot them a look as well. “Alright...”

Suddenly a hand reached through the door, grabbed a fistful of Sasuke’s shirt, and yanked him through the doorway. Sasuke hurtled into the room, stopping himself by the bed and righting himself. “Good Lord, Naruto--”

Naruto answered by reaching the foot of a crutch behind him and slamming the door shut, then swinging it up to Sasuke’s chest and forcefully pushed him down on the bed.

“Ow!” said Sasuke, rubbing his chest where the crutch had bruised it for emphasis.

Naruto grinned maniacally. Sasuke was worried that he was going to start getting stretch marks around his eyes with how much they had been held wide today.

Naruto dropped his crutches haphazardly on the ground and hopped over to the bed on one foot, ignoring Sasuke’s chastising glare as he sat down and began the process of worming himself over to lay beside Sasuke without putting pressure on his leg. Sasuke, still staring guardedly, retreated an inch for each one Naruto managed to advance.

Naruto pouted, holding his torso off the bed with his arms.

“You’re being weird,” Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow.

“Come on, Sasuke!” Naruto half whined, half groaned and started to wriggle again towards Sasuke, who was laying still now, what with nowhere else to squirm. “I’m happy,” he said with a huff as he reached Sasuke’s side, “and I’m horny. And, for once,” he grinned then, awkwardly flopping his injured leg over both of Sasuke’s and maneuvering his upper half to hover over Sasuke’s chest, “I’m initiating something.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but before he could form any kind of response Naruto was craning his head down and kissing him hard. Sasuke kissed him back more out of habit than anything, opening his mouth mechanically when a tongue rubbed insistently against his lips. With Naruto so bold, Sasuke was finding himself less and less nervous. If he could get Naruto to come up with the idea of sex on his own, Sasuke’s job would be a whole lot easier, and with Naruto acting like this, the thought was certainly plausible.

Still, though, Sasuke found himself wanting to retain some measure of control over the situation...

Sasuke swung his weight sideways with his torso, flipping them so that he hovered over Naruto. The blonde grinned up at him before attacking his neck with erratic nips and licks. Sasuke closed his eyes with a happy sigh. But then he felt the hands around his shoulder and the back of his neck tighten and Naruto let out a soft grunt. Sasuke opened his eyes in alarm as he felt his body suddenly careening sideways.

“Ah!” he yelled as he fell over the side of the bed less than gracefully, landing with a thud. Naruto toppled over the edge with him, sprawling haphazardly on top of him and wincing as his leg hit the ground hard.

“Are you okay?” asked Sasuke. Naruto managed to slap a grin on his scrunched-up face, looking slightly crazy.

“Then what the hell was that?!”

“I was trying to turn you over!” Naruto exclaimed, his voice growing louder with exasperation.

“Why?!”

“Because I wanted you under me!” Naruto spluttered, then turned red when he heard his words. Sasuke looked at him warily.

Those words eerily echoed his own thoughts...

“Naruto,” he started hesitantly, but stopped when Naruto abruptly turned away and started peering under the bed purposefully. Sasuke blanched then.

Why was Naruto looking down there?

Why did Naruto look like he knew what he was doing?

...Why was Naruto reaching his hand under the bed??

Naruto withdrew his arms with a grin, bringing out a small rectangular container as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Sasuke stared at him.

What the hell was going on?

“You know,” Naruto murmured, leaning down to kiss Sasuke, “I had an idea--”

“Why do you have that?” Sasuke interrupted, looking wildly back and forth between Naruto and the container in his hand, his mind frantically grasping at any hope that what he thought was going on wasn’t.

Naruto grinned cockily at him. “That’s part of my idea--”

Sasuke eyes widened with horror. He sat up suddenly, ignoring Naruto’s complaints as he was forced up as well. “That was part of my idea!” he said insistently.

Naruto looked at him, his confusion apparent. “It was?”

“How did you know that that,” Sasuke eyed the container, “was under there?”

“Shika told me in the courtyard. How did you kno--”

“SHIKAMARU!” Sasuke bellowed angrily, and much to Naruto’s surprise and Sasuke’s horror they heard laughter from outside the bedroom door. Sasuke quickly rose and would have stomped to the door and flung it open if it hadn’t been for Naruto’s hand on his ankle.

“No—Sasuke...”

Sasuke stopped and glared down at Naruto, who fortunately was quickly growing immune to those looks and held his grip. Sasuke was fuming, his chest rising and falling rapidly with his quick breaths. Finally he crossed his arms and settled for glowering at the closed door.

“I don’t get it. I was with him the whole time in the courtyard.”

“No you weren’t,” Naruto said, earning a sharp look. “Right before we went in, you walked in ahead of everyone, and he whispered it to me.”

Sasuke frowned, his dislike for the dilemma in which they found themselves growing by the minute, and his dislike for Shikamaru by the nanosecond.

“When did you talk to him about this?” he asked, turning to regard Naruto curiously. Naruto shrugged.

“This morning. You?”

“Yesterday morning.”

Naruto nodded and looked at the container in his hand as silence descended upon the room, his previous sense of euphoria nearly gone now. “Sasuke,” he asked quietly, looking up at Sasuke’s tense form. Sasuke glanced back at him, the intensity of the glare he’d been busy giving the door lessening slightly.

“Well,” said Sasuke in an irritated tone, scratching the side of his head with one hand, “what are we going to do?” Naruto just blinked at him. “I mean, I was planning on--”

“Me too,” interrupted Naruto, raising a thumb to nibble nervously on the nail.

Sasuke’s apprehension was growing by the second. “But I don’t want to--”

“Me either.”

Crap.

Sasuke sat down on the edge of the bed, not quite sure what to do but not willing to resign himself to...that without at least trying to change Naruto’s mind first. He took Naruto’s hand away from his mouth and drew it into his lap, holding it there.

“Naruto,” he started slowly, “I promise I’ll make it as pain-free for you as possible--”

“Hell no!” yelled Naruto, yanking his hand away from Sasuke as though it had been scalded.

“Naruto...” said Sasuke in the closest thing to whine he would allow himself to use.

“No! No way!” Naruto protested, his voice getting higher pitched. “It’ll hurt like hell!”

“You’re doing an excellent job of convincing me to do it,” said Sasuke dryly. Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, pouting. “Look, Naruto...”

“No,” said Naruto resolutely. “Besides, it’s my big day, and I should get to do what I want, and I don’t want to do that.”

Sasuke closed his eyes in frustration. “So,” he ground out, “you’re saying there’s no chance of sex unless I do it.”

“Yes.”

Sasuke sighed. Oh god, he didn’t want to do this...

The room was blanketed in a subtly awkward silence before Sasuke managed to get the word out from behind the lump in his throat.

“Fine.”

Naruto’s head jerked up in surprise. “Really?”

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling with a grimace. Really?

“Yeah...”

Naruto squealed, his blue eyes lighting up. Sasuke was torn between being happy that Naruto was happy and being pissed that this was not going as planned, but he found himself leaning down and kissing Naruto chastely. Besides, Shikamaru had said that being on the bottom could be nice, too.

Of course, Sasuke had accepted Shikamaru’s advice wholeheartedly but had never planned on it being used on him. That changed things a bit.

“Sasuke.” Sasuke looked down at Naruto grinning up at him. “Thank you.” Sasuke nodded and smiled despite his growing qualms.

“Haha!” exclaimed Naruto excitedly, clapping his hands in glee. Sasuke rolled his eyes and flopped backwards onto the bed. He felt Naruto grab his knees tightly and start to get up off of the floor, but then there was a sharp gasp and the sensation of hands suddenly left his skin. Sasuke lifted his head a few inches and glanced down the length of his body, expecting to see a mop of blonde hair, but the lack of it made him sit up. Naruto was leaning back on his elbows and panting slightly, his face contorted in a sharp wince.

“What?” asked Sasuke.

Naruto looked at his leg. “I think I tore a stitch,” he said worriedly. Sasuke frowned.

“Inside or out?”

“Outside,” Naruto responded, and Sasuke allowed himself a miniature breath of relief. Outside was fine. Outside was easily fixed. If Naruto tore a stitch on the artery, though...that would be bad. And the worst part of it would be having to explain what they were doing when it happened.

Sasuke got up on his feet before reaching down and hooking his hands underneath Naruto’s shoulders. He lifted the boy up, Naruto pushing off the ground with his legs and wincing.

“Don’t put any weight on it,” Sasuke managed to grunt.

“I’m trying,” came the irritated reply. Sasuke ignored it and navigated the few feet to the edge of the bed, setting Naruto down on its edge gently. He kneeled down and pushed the bottom of Naruto’s loose sweatpants’ leg up his thigh to expose the wound, which was now an angry red. Sasuke dragged a finger softly along the length of the incision, ignoring Naruto’s flinch as he made sure as gently and as quickly as possible that each of the stitches held.

“It’s not bleeding,” he looked up and informed Naruto, “and all of the stitches are okay.”

Naruto nodded and gave a half-hearted smile that didn’t engage his eyes. Sasuke frowned, knowing they were both probably thinking the same thing.

“Are you going to be able to do this?”

“Yes,” Naruto said defensively, blue eyes darting up quickly.

“I don’t know,” said Sasuke. “You can’t even lean on that leg.” He looked at it warily, then back up at Naruto. “Are you really going to be able to do this?” he repeated.

Naruto opened his mouth to spit out a default defiant response but then frowned, thinking hard and conjuring up every sexual position he could find in his mind. It wasn’t for lack of trying that he found himself snapping his mouth shut once more somewhat angrily, unable to think of any possible way to make this work.

Sasuke watched the blonde valiantly struggling to come up with a creative solution for the problem at hand, busily trying to sort out his own raging thoughts. The thing was that Sasuke knew how they could pull it off; the only problem being that his selfishness was getting in the way of his integrity. He had a clean pass at getting out of doing this, and he knew it. All he had to do was not say anything and the blonde would be none the wiser...

Sasuke sighed in frustration, mentally smacking himself repeatedly in the head for apparently having grown a conscience. Having a hard time believing he was actually about to willingly perpetuate the situation, he muttered,

“...there is one way...”

Naruto’s eyes brightened perceptibly at Sasuke’s quiet announcement.

“Really? How?”

Sasuke began to fidget, suddenly growing uncomfortable. “Well, you would...you would lie down on your back, and...I would sort of...” His face grew the slightest shade of pink as he struggled with his words, desperately wishing that Naruto would get the idea, but one look at the blonde proved his hopes to be horribly ill-founded. Exasperated, Sasuke watched Naruto’s face for any sign of recognition as he made a fist with his left hand and lifted his thumb, then with his right formed a lightly closed fist and jerked it down over the upraised thumb.

Naruto’s expression didn’t change except for the one eyebrow shooting up, which was enough to get Sasuke hoping again that he wouldn’t need to verbally spell it out for him.

“Oh.”

Then the other eyebrow joined the first almost comically. “Oh.”

Sasuke got up off of his knees then, rubbing his face tiredly and sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Naruto.

Beside him, Naruto’s face had taken on a look of concentration. “I couldn’t really do anything that way, though.”

“It’s the only option, Naruto. You can’t do much of anything anyways with that leg,” Sasuke stated, and somewhere in the back of his mind he registered the thought that at least this way he could keep some say in how things would go down.

Naruto pouted in as mature a way as possible.

“Look, it’s either this way or nothing,” Sasuke casually threw out, the hopeful thought quickly emerging in his mind that maybe Naruto didn’t want to—

“Yeah, no I wanna do it,” Naruto hastily said.

Damnit.

Well, that was it. All of Sasuke’s wistful thoughts and ideas for avoiding this were done, gone, used up...it was happening, for real, and Sasuke was going to (wince) bottom. Sasuke looked down at his lap. “Well, let’s get started then,” he said less than enthusiastically, turning in his seat and leaning over quickly to begin the necessary foreplay.

Naruto’s hands shot up to Sasuke’s shoulders, stopping him from initiating that first kiss. Sasuke didn’t need to ask the question that was painted clearly across his face.

Naruto sighed exasperatedly. “It won’t be any fun if you’re going to be like this,” he explained in what he hoped was a patient tone. Sasuke looked down at his own fidgeting hands, his face mostly blank but pitiful in a way that only Naruto would have been able to see and understand. Naruto could plainly see that there was no way that Sasuke thought the he could possibly enjoy this...

...and suddenly Naruto loved Sasuke for what he was doing for him, what he was willing to go through for him.

Sasuke glanced sideways at Naruto and nearly jumped when he saw the soft, adoring look he was receiving. “What?” he asked skeptically.

Naruto just shrugged, same dopey expression firmly in place as he leaned over and kissed Sasuke gently, watching with absent amusement as Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly. His mouth hovered over Sasuke’s until he felt Sasuke answer the kiss almost imperceptibly, then with a satisfied smile he leaned back out of Sasuke’s personal space.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” he said reassuringly, placing a hand over Sasuke’s still fidgeting ones. The corner of his mouth quirked up when he felt Sasuke’s hands still under his.

“Hn,” was all Sasuke said in a vain attempt to mask his insecurity with indifference, even though he knew Naruto wouldn’t buy it. Naruto smiled and kissed him again.

“It must be fine if Shika’s willing to do it,” he mumbled against Sasuke’s lips, then laughed. “We both know Neji’s probably not that gentle, either.”

This at least got Sasuke to laugh a little bit. Naruto felt Sasuke’s body relax minutely, a small sigh issuing from Sasuke’s lips and drifting across Naruto’s face. Naruto covered Sasuke’s lips once more with his own, this time a little more insistently, and was relieved when Sasuke leaned into him, placing a hand softly on his thigh as he kissed back with equal fervor. Naruto quickly slipped his tongue inside Sasuke’s lax mouth, gliding over the roof of Sasuke’s mouth before rubbing across his tongue. Sasuke squeezed Naruto’s thigh slightly as he pushed back against Naruto’s tongue with his own, matching thrust for thrust, intensity for intensity. Neither boy struggled to establish his dominance; this kiss had a strange sense of equality, held in place only by Naruto knowing that he couldn’t take complete control if he wanted Sasuke to remain a willing partner, and Sasuke knowing that the control was not his to take, not this time.

Naruto fought the urge to pull Sasuke into his lap to straddle him. Force of habit had him wanting Sasuke above him, pressing his body into the mattress deliciously, but somehow he sensed that perching Sasuke atop his rapidly hardening length would only undo his attempts to relax him.

Sasuke opened his eyes as he felt Naruto pull away, mild confusion flickering across his face until he felt Naruto tugging upwards at the hem of Sasuke’s shirt, exposing his stomach to the slightly chilled air. He raised his arms obediently, letting Naruto roughly pull the shirt up over his head. Naruto tossed the shirt aside and leaned in, drifting over Sasuke’s jaw and nose with feathery kisses pressed to the red spots the rough cotton collar had left in its wake. Sasuke sighed softly, lips slightly parted as he tipped his chin to offer Naruto’s mouth more accessibility. Naruto hovered at the juncture between jaw and cheek, nipping, and Sasuke shivered when his nose gently nudged the sensitive skin behind his ear. Sasuke decided that he had had enough of the gentle foreplay when Naruto suddenly closed his teeth around his ear lobe. While Naruto continued playing with the sensitive skin behind his ear, Sasuke’s hands moved, from his lap to Naruto’s.

Naruto stopped suddenly when a finger hooked itself under the waistband of his sweatpants, looking down at the bold digit. Sasuke jerked it once, hard, though tugging at the elastic really didn’t have as dramatic an effect on Naruto’s hips as he would have liked. Still, though, Naruto got the idea, rising from his seat and hobbling to stand in front of Sasuke as gracefully as he could, grasping Sasuke’s shoulders for support. Sasuke tucked another two fingers from his other hand under the waistband and started tugging them down, stretching the elastic outwards at Naruto’s groin to get it comfortably over the noticeable bulge there. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked up at Naruto when he found no boxers underneath. Naruto averted his eyes, his cheeks tinged a light red. Sasuke just smirked and gave the pants one last jerk, letting them pool at Naruto’s feet.

Naruto idly brushed his fingers through Sasuke’s dark hair, twirling errant strands as Sasuke edged closer to his body. The blonde sighed happily, closing his eyes when Sasuke nuzzled lightly against his stomach while dragging his fingers softly over his thighs. Blue eyes flew open, however, when he felt Sasuke’s hand closing around the base of his member. Naruto looked down in time to watch as Sasuke tentatively licked at the head before taking it into his mouth. His fingers continued to stroke Sasuke’s head as he continued to take more of the hard length in past moist lips, Sasuke stroking the underside with his tongue.

Naruto let his head drop back a little, his mouth opened slightly and eyes half shut. Sasuke continued to caress the now fully hard cock with his tongue, sliding it in and out of his mouth slowly. Suddenly he gave a harsh suck, snapping Naruto back to his senses, back to awareness that Sasuke was sucking him off...Sasuke, who was supposed to be the one relaxing...

“Nnng...no,” Naruto said somewhat hoarsely, trying to ignore the lust fogging his brain. Sasuke looked up as he gave him another suck, less severe this time. Naruto pushed against Sasuke’s head with his hands. “No, Sasuke!”

Sasuke let Naruto’s length slide out of his mouth at Naruto’s stern tone, a hint of confusion and frustration showing on his face. Naruto’s member throbbed out in the open air, but Naruto closed his eyes, doing his best to ignore it. When he opened them again, he found black ones staring back at him, as if waiting for some direction, or at least an explanation. Naruto just shook his head slightly at the unasked question.

“Lie down,” he told Sasuke, loosely waving his hand at the bed. Sasuke looked at him warily but twisted around anyways and reclined so that he was angled properly to fit his whole body on the small mattress. Naruto hopped his way out of the pants around his ankles, oblivious to Sasuke’s glare at his antics as he made his way to the foot of the bed, one hand on the mattress for support.

“Unbutton your shorts.”

Sasuke shot him an apprehensive look. “Naruto--”

Naruto reached over Sasuke’s feet and calves and tugged at the bottom of his shorts.

“But I thought--”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Just do it, would ya?”

Sasuke stared at him a moment before murmuring a “hn” in acknowledgement, undoing the button and sliding down the zipper, then lifting his hips as Naruto pulled his shorts down his legs and dropped them on the floor next to his own feet. Naruto suddenly realized he was still wearing his shirt and, with a self-conscious smile, quickly took it off and tossed it on top of the discarded shorts.

“Naruto,” Sasuke said again hesitantly. Naruto did an excellent job of ignoring him as he bent over the bed, locking his arms to hold up his torso as he crawled onto the mattress awkwardly, swinging his injured leg onto the mattress. He winced as he brought up the other leg, putting a little too much pressure than was best on the injury, but he continued his slow crawl up over Sasuke’s legs.

“Stop!” Sasuke said loudly as he watched Naruto repeatedly flinch at the self-inflicted pain, his wound turning an even blotchier red. Naruto ignored him, much to Sasuke’s annoyance. “Naruto, stop, we said you couldn’t do it this way!”

Naruto inched closer to Sasuke, lining up their bodies with a small grin. “I know.”

Sasuke glared at him. “Then why the hell are you--”

Naruto decided to stop the tirade before it began, leaning in and kissing Sasuke forcefully mid-sentence. Sasuke made a surprised noise as Naruto quickly slipped his tongue inside his mouth and caressed his own rather roughly for a few moments before pulling back and smirking at him, Sasuke noting idly in the back of his mind that he must be wearing off on the blonde for him to be able to pull that expression off that convincingly.

“I’m not,” Naruto said simply. Sasuke’s eyebrows arched up violently as he suddenly felt a fist encircle his length and then tighten, slowly stroking up and down, teasing it to hardness. Naruto held the head between his thumb and his forefinger and massaged it while the remaining three fingers continued to rub Sasuke’s erection, eliciting a low groan from Sasuke’s throat.

Sasuke threw his head back as Naruto’s pace increased slightly, his body beginning to react to the firm strokes. Naruto watched Sasuke’s eyes fall shut and his mouth open as a pant escaped past his lips and grinned, taking Sasuke’s distraction as his opportunity to reach over the side of the bed and grab the lube where he had left it lying on the ground earlier.

“Ah,” Sasuke moaned, thrusting his hips shallowly into Naruto’s hand. Naruto held the small container tightly in his free hand as he leaned down, kissing Sasuke’s forehead, then his cheek and the corner of his mouth before crawling back down Sasuke’s body. Still fisting Sasuke’s length tightly, Naruto popped the cap off and stuck his finger inside. He lifted the finger out, examining it carefully. Lots of lube, Shika had said...

Naruto pushed the finger back inside and bent it, gathering up as much of the lube as he could on the one digit. He pulled it out again and looked at it, still not happy with the amount. He didn’t want to hurt Sasuke...

Then he remembered Shikamaru’s physical illustration of three bunched-up fingers, and with a smile he dipped three fingers in the lube, relieved that he had remembered that particularly important detail. This time he was able to scoop up more of the lube and spread it evenly over all three digits. Satisfied that there was enough, he looked next to where the fingers were going to go...

...and found that Sasuke’s ass was definitely not accessible in this position. Naruto kept his fist moving quickly up and down Sasuke’s erection, unaware of the dark eyes watching him as he tried to figure out the best way to go about reaching...there. Sasuke waited a full minute for Naruto to figure it out; when he didn’t, Sasuke rolled his eyes and bent his knees, spreading his legs a little wider. Naruto nearly jumped at the sudden movement. He looked up, expecting to see Sasuke still laying back with his eyes closed but instead finding him staring at him, smirking. Naruto gave an embarrassed half-smile before looking back down at his goal, now clearly visible.

This is weird...

He reached forward with his forefinger and pushed lightly against the small hole, looking up quickly to see Sasuke’s reaction. Sasuke scowled at him.

“I’m not made of glass,” he grumbled amidst now-heavy pants. Naruto nodded and swallowed nervously, then pushed the finger in slowly up to it’s first knuckle, then second, carefully watching Sasuke’s body for signs of pain.

“How does it feel?” he asked, anxious but curious at the same time.

Sasuke frowned slightly. “Just...weird. Not that bad, but odd...Naruto stop slowing down!”

“Oh!” said Naruto, picking back up the pace he’d dropped since he’d started messing with the lube. He pulled his finger out and pushed it back in slowly, inserting it nearly to the third knuckle before withdrawing it again.

Okay, next one...

Naruto winced as he watched his middle finger start to work its way in, stretching the hole in a way that certainly didn’t look comfortable.

“The faces really aren’t helping, Uzumaki,” Sasuke grunted from above him, causing Naruto to mumble a quick “sorry” and wipe his face blank. He watched Sasuke’s face as he began to push the two fingers in together, noticing to his chagrin the crease on Sasuke’s forehead growing larger.

“You have to relax, Sasuke,” he said gently.

Sasuke panted hard, closing his eyes tightly. “Kind of hard,” he mumbled. Naruto bit his lip as he watched Sasuke’s face contort a little more while the finger continued to push slowly inside his entrance. He hated hurting Sasuke, but he couldn’t think of anything he could do to help...

...until Sasuke’s erection, bobbing in time with Naruto’s strokes, caught his eye, and he grinned. Quickly he shifted his fist to the base of Sasuke’s cock before closing his lips over the head. He looked up when he heard Sasuke’s short gasp; Sasuke’s face wasn’t twisted up nearly as bad as it had been before, something which greatly relieved Naruto. He began to suck on the head, licking it heavily while he pushed the fingers the rest of the way into Sasuke, then slowly started to pull them in and out like he had done with the first one and scissoring them slightly. Sasuke’s face showed only traces of pain now, mixing freely with pleasure as Naruto started sliding more of Sasuke’s length into his mouth.

“Nng,” Sasuke moaned, his body tensing as he approached his orgasm. Naruto sped up his licks and bobbed his head quickly, pushing Sasuke along while preparing the third finger at Sasuke’s entrance. It wasn’t long before Sasuke’s back was lifting off of the bed, Sasuke making incoherent noises and gripping the blankets below him tightly. As soon as Naruto felt Sasuke’s cum against his tongue he began to push the fingers in. He could feel Sasuke’s body tightening and relaxing alternately, confused as to which to react to first, the pain of penetration or the bliss of orgasm.

Naruto steadily pushed into Sasuke until his fingers were completely buried as he let Sasuke’s erection slip from his mouth, Sasuke still breathing hard. Naruto began the process of withdrawing his fingers and pushing them back in, stretching Sasuke as much as he could without being too rough. He spread his fingers and wiggled them, hoping Sasuke would loosen up some more.

Suddenly Sasuke’s entire body tensed as he gasped loudly, his eyes shooting open to stare at Naruto. Naruto frowned in confusion for a second before he remembered Shikamaru’s words: If you can hit that spot, he’ll see stars. Naruto repeated his motions.

“Oh my god!” Sasuke rasped with a look of wonder.

Naruto grinned. “That good?”

Sasuke nodded, still wide eyed. “Yes, that goo—AH!” he shrieked as Naruto brushed his prostate again, then quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. Naruto laughed a little but continued his stretching, widening the range of his fingers slightly while bumping against that spot a few times, taking pleasure in hearing Sasuke’s muffled cries.

“Naruto,” Sasuke’s now quiet voice said, interrupting Naruto’s concentration. Naruto looked up at Sasuke.

“Right then. You ready?” Naruto asked breathily, removing his fingers with a wiggle.

Sasuke nodded, sitting up and scooting as far as he could to the side of the bed so Naruto could lie down. Naruto felt his stomach lurch with nerves as well as excitement as Sasuke moved to straddle Naruto’s waist. “More lube,” he requested quietly.

“Right!” Naruto had almost forgotten. He grabbed the bottle that lay next to his leg and squeezed an ample glob onto his hand. He hissed lightly as he applied it to his length, the coolness of the jelly making him shiver. “Okay,” he said when he was finished. “Go ahead.”

Sasuke nodded, and his eyes squeezed shut as he reached down and positioned Naruto’s cock at his entrance. They sat there for a moment, Naruto waiting and Sasuke psyching himself up. “O-okay,” Sasuke breathed. He bit his lip as he slowly lowered himself down. The pressure built as the head of his cock strained against Sasuke’s tight ring of muscle.

“Wiggle a little,” Sasuke said, his bottom lip still caught between his teeth and his eyes still squeezed shut.

Naruto complied and he gave a small, shallow thrust upwards. The head of his cock popped into Sasuke’s ass and he let out a quiet moan.

“Ahhh—nnnnng…” Sasuke’s face was contorted in pain. His legs quivered as they held him in the awkward position he was in.

“Sasuke?” Naruto asked, reaching up to brush some sweaty bangs out of his eyes, causing his cock to slip another inch into Sasuke.

“AHH—Naruto don’t move!” The pure pain and panic in Sasuke’s voice frightened Naruto. He lay back quickly, but his eyes were wide.

“Sasuke, we can stop, please, I don’t want you to get hurt--” He started to pull out.

“…stop it…” Sasuke growled around clenched teeth. “Give me a minute.” Sasuke painstakingly cracked one eye open. “I’m fine.”

“Sasuke…if you’re sure.” Naruto’s blue eyes were focused sharply on Sasuke’s face.

They sat for what seemed like hours, but probably lasted no longer than a minute, Naruto’s eyes trained on Sasuke’s and Sasuke forcing himself to inhale and exhale loudly. He then began to slowly, slowly, lower himself down. He made it another inch before he stopped, a slight whimper escaping his lips.

“Sasuke…please.”

Sasuke shook his head, insisting that he was fine. Naruto’s mind was reeling as he tried to remember his exact conversation with Shikamaru.

He has to be relaxed—VERY relaxed. Shikamaru’s voice played in his head. Naruto was suddenly stuck with an idea.

“Sasuke, I want you to breathe, okay?”

A clipped nod from Sasuke. Naruto carefully lifted his hand and gently grasped Sasuke’s neglected member loosely. Sasuke’s eyes flew open in a gasp, and his legs gave way the slightest bit, impaling him further onto Naruto.

“You need to relax, Sasuke,” Naruto instructed. He began to languidly pump Sasuke’s erection in his hand. Sasuke moaned quietly, and Naruto couldn’t help but grin as a small degree of tension in Sasuke’s face dissipated. He swept his thumb over the head.

“Ahhh, Naruto!” Sasuke cried.

His legs were shaking so hard now that Naruto could see the muscles spasming beneath the pale skin. Sasuke let out a cry as his legs gave out and he fell down, Naruto’s cock disappearing into his ass. Naruto moaned loudly as Sasuke’s heat enveloped him fully. His hand continued to stroke Sasuke with firm, quick flicks.

“Gggnn…Sasuke, can I…?”

Sasuke nodded quickly, his breathe coming out in a feathery sigh as Naruto’s thumb delved into the slit in his cock. Naruto bucked his hips up into Sasuke’s heat and they both let out thick moans. Sasuke’s tongue flicked out and wet his lips. His eyes were open now and his cheeks were flushed. He ground down experimentally onto Naruto’s hips.

“Ohhhh God, Sasuke…” Naruto groaned, his hips beginning to steadily jerk up of their own accord. Sasuke’s cock was oozing precum in his hand and he slowed his rhythm, hoping to draw out Sasuke’s pleasure.

“D-don’t slow down, damn it,” Sasuke ground out. He rose on trembling thighs and let himself sink back down onto Naruto, letting out a breathy moan. “Naruto—try going with me—“

He raised himself again to the point where the tip of Naruto’s cock was just inside his puckered entrance. As he slammed himself down, Naruto thrust upwards jerkily. Sasuke let out a chocked cry as Naruto’s member slammed against his prostate.

He fell forward, his hands on Naruto’s shoulders propping him up as he impaled himself again and again, letting our harsh whimpers as Naruto’s hand continued to bring him indescribable pleasure. He felt the familiar tightening of heat in his stomach, and he locked his eyes with Naruto’s.

“Faster—please…”

Naruto’s head fell back onto the pillow as Sasuke began to slam himself down with increasing tempo. He tasted blood in his mouth and realized that he his tongue was unconsciously clamped down between his teeth to quiet his moans.

“’m close—“ Sasuke mumbled hurriedly. His entire weight was resting in Naruto’s shoulders for support and he bent down and bit at Naruto’s lip aggressively. Naruto’s hand found the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss so hard that their foreheads knocked together. But their lips were soon biting and licking on each other’s necks, jaws and lips that neither noticed.

Sasuke saw black spots in the corner of his vision as the tension in his stomach became unbearable. He forced himself down one last time and, with the help of Naruto’s hand which still jerked on his cock, came hard with a silent cry.

Naruto groaned as Sasuke’s walls clenched around him and he thrust up one, two, three more times. He let out a guttural moan as he found release, his back arching off the bed, his body rigid.

They both collapsed then, Naruto’s arms and legs falling to the bed and Sasuke dropping to lie beside him like a rag doll. The air was filled with nothing but the sounds of their erratic breathing. Sasuke’s hand was resting on Naruto’s rising and falling chest, and Naruto took it in his, gently pulling on each finger. After a few minutes, their breathing had returned to normal. Sasuke let out a long sigh and rolled over, burying his face into the pillow. Naruto chuckled lightly and his hand dropped to Sasuke’s hair.

He sat up slightly and winced—he had forgotten about his leg. He looked down to examine the wound. It was barely bleeding, but it hurt like a bitch. He flopped back onto the bed.

“My leg hurts…” he murmured, his fingers looping through Sasuke’s hair.

Sasuke let out a dissatisfied grunt. “My ass hurts.”

Naruto found himself giggling at this and he let out a small sigh. “You enjoyed it.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Sasuke’s voice trailed off into the pillow.

Naruto carefully rolled himself onto his side and nudged Sasuke’s shoulder with his nose. Sasuke looked up with a raised eyebrow before he rolled over and gently pulled Naruto into his arms, his chest pressing lightly into Naruto’s back.

“Wait,” Naruto said suddenly. “Does this mean I’m not getting a gift?” He waited for a verbal answer but wasn’t quite expecting the smack to the back of his head.

“Ow!”

“...idiot.”

Naruto giggled again, leaning back into Sasuke’s embrace.

“You’re sticky.”

“Yeah, who gives a fuck…” Sasuke sounded exhausted as his nose pressed into Naruto’s neck.

Naruto smiled at this and he inhaled deeply. He could hear Sasuke’s steady breathing against his neck and it slowly lulled him to sleep.

~~

Shikamaru looked up from his German book when he heard the door to Sasuke’s room opening, smiling openly when he saw Naruto emerging with a sleepy Sasuke in tow. Naruto crutched his way over to the couch and poked Lee in the shoulder to get his attention.

“Why’s the TV so loud?” he said as well as he could over the volume of the movie that Lee was watching. Lee didn’t look at Naruto as he answered, completely absorbed in Aladdin’s conversation with his genie.

“Shika said to turn it up.”

Naruto looked at Shikamaru with a grin, which was returned before Shikamaru yelled, “Lee, you can turn it down now.” Lee promptly pointed the remote control at the screen and turned down the volume.

Naruto made his way around to the front of the couch and plopped down gracelessly next to Lee. “What’s it about?”

“Only the wonder that is magic!” replied Lee enthusiastically. Sasuke grimaced at Lee’s grating tone of voice, quickly turning away from the couch where he’d fully intended on sitting as closely as possible with Naruto and instead settling for a chair at the table.

“So,” said Shikamaru over his book. Sasuke glared at him, getting a smug grin in response. “How’d it go?”

“Shut up,” Sasuke spat, narrowing his eyes with the intent of intimidation but finding to his alarm that Shikamaru was seemingly immune to him by now.

“Aww, why?” Shikamaru asked, sounding sickeningly innocent.

“Let’s just say I’m not one of your bigger fans at the moment,” Sasuke answered dryly.

Shikamaru laughed. “Come on, Sasuke, loosen up a little. Big picture, you got some, right?” Sasuke glared at him some more, refusing to agree with Shikamaru on principle alone. Shikamaru leaned forward, looking dangerously curious.

“So, who...got to go at it?”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed into even tinier slits, and Shikamaru laughed harder, considering that action answer enough. “Wow,” he said in between chuckles, “I had my money on you.”

“Sorry to have let you down,” Sasuke growled.

“So, how’d you do it then? Since his leg--”

“I’m not talking to you about this!”

“Fine, fine,” Shikamaru said, leaning back in his seat almost regretfully. “Well, it sounded like you were having a good time.”

“I hate you.”

Shikamaru just laughed and stood up. “Whatever. I’m glad it turned out well,” he said as he left common room in favor of his bed. Honestly, what did Sasuke expect him to do? Bored out of his mind, and all he got to occupy his genius self with was a first-year German textbook.

Sasuke sighed once Shikamaru’s door was shut and stood up from the table, walking lazily into the bathroom and shutting the door with a loud “click”. Naruto watched him, then started to heave himself up off the couch, a task that was harder than it would seem with only one leg.

“I’m not digging this movie, Lee,” he said, picking up his crutches.

“Why not?” asked Lee, bewildered. “It’s totally awesome.” Naruto’s eye twitched at the new vernacular Lee seemed to have picked up somewhere, though where was anyone’s guess, and he was about to respond when a buzzer was heard and the door to the hallway opened.

“Kiba!” Naruto greeted as the boy walked in.

“Hey,” Kiba said half-heartedly and sat down in Shikamaru’s vacated chair, where he proceeded to sit still in a very un-Kiba-like manner while staring at the table. Naruto’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. He circled around the table, pulling up a chair. It wasn’t like Kiba to be, well, so still.

“Kiba?” Naruto asked as he made his way over to the table, confusion lacing his voice.

Sasuke walked out of the bathroom, pushing disheveled bangs out of his eyes as he watched the scene before him, puzzled at Naruto’s worried expression and Kiba’s calmness.

Naruto squeezed Kiba’s shoulder. “What is it, Kiba?”

Kiba lifted his head and met Naruto’s concerned gaze. “There’s these people...”

Sasuke’s mouth dropped open. Was Shikamaru right?

“Yeah?” Naruto prodded gently.

“They want me to live with them.” Dark, confused eyes looked up at Naruto.

“Naruto, they want me to leave.”

~~~~~

...

This chapter took a lot out of both of us, but not just because of the lemon. Chapter ten happens to be a really important part of this story, and we needed to make sure we did it right. We have four more chapters after this...four, long, long chapters that are full of the angst, drama, laughter and Lee’s tears that have become characteristic of The Top Floor. I think it would be fair to say that while we hopefully won’t take this long to update again, you shouldn’t expect new chapters to appear as quickly as they did at the beginning of this story.

That being said (and hopefully not pissing of the majority of you...), this lemon was incredibly difficult to write. Sasuke and Naruto’s relationship through the entire story has been leading up to this one moment, which kind of psyched me out, not going to lie. KandKL and I both wanted it to be hot as hell, but real and awkward like first-time sex usually is, and it turns out that it’s really hard to blend the two. Hopefully it came out okay. If not...we’ll just have to redeem ourselves. :)

But the rest of it? Hopefully you liked it. Be sure to drop a review here or at ff.net and let us know what you think about everything that’s developed. Like last chapter, if you want a response, be sure to leave your email address and I’ll get back to you. :)

Peace and love ya’ll!

p.s. Meanings of German words:
Scheiβe = shit

AN (1/18/07): Just wanted to clear some things up. First of all, we're taking a lot of heat for Sasuke being uke, not so much at this site as at FF. This is a SasuNaru fic, but due to Naruto's injury, the horny boys could only do it one way, and that was with Sasuke...well, you've read it.

Second of all, I'd like to put this disclaimer out there, in as polite a way as possible:
We do not intend to insult or offend any person with any variation of the conditions these boys have. We do realize that not everyone is as crazy hyper as Kiba, as extreme in mood swings as Lee, as schizophrenic-ly paranoid as Shika can be, and we do realize that Naruto's condition doesn't really have a name and probably isn't real. However, this is a work of fiction, which not only entitles us as authors to do whatever the hell we want to these characters but also means that none of this is real.

Sorry if any of that sounded harsh. I'm really not trying to be rude. I'm just tired of getting angry emails.