Societal Gap

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto and I guess it’s a good thing because it would be so smutty if I did!

Warning: Language

Societal Gap

Getting to know one another

Sasuke followed the blonde out of the house and took in his surroundings. The cottage was situated on the edge of a forest and opened out onto a wide plane. He could see smoke rising from a village off in the distance. A large paddock contained three horses that were grazing lazily. Two perked up and trotted over to the fence to greet the blonde. He smiled and stroked their noses gently.

“Hey girls. How’s Kato and Rika today.” Sasuke watched as the two mares nuzzled the blonde’s hand and hair. He felt his face flush. Was he feeling envious of the two horses? He approached the fence and gave a low whistle calling Kasai over. He stroked the white neck roughly noticing that he had been groomed. Naruto was still cooing to the brown horses, a gentle, contented look on his face. Sasuke watched in awe as Naruto began asking the horses questions and received responses.

“So whose turn is it to be ridden? Kato, I think it’s yours.” The tan horse snorted and shook its head in protest. “Oh no. You’re right it’s your turn Rika.” The brown horse pawed the ground in complaint.

“Well I’m sorry but it is her turn.” The brown horse whinnied, very disgruntled.

“Okay, tell you what we’ll take you along just promise to behave.” Kato nuzzled the blonde’s head in appreciation.

“We shouldn’t leave her here anyway. Horses are a precious commodity. It’s amazing we have three. Kato’s our oldest but she’s still worth a ton. Rei would kill me if anything happened to her.” Sasuke felt a pang of guilt when he thought about the stables full of amazing horses at the Uchiha estate that rarely got use. They would be bred and only rode when visitors came to the castle.

“You’re very good with horses.” Sasuke added off hand, wishing that the blonde would look at him with the same gentle, dreamy look. His comment seemed to snap Naruto back to reality. The younger boy flushed slightly and stammered,

“Oh, uh yeah thanks. I’m not as good as Rei yet but she says I will be. She’s been training me in everything. How to train horses; how to make medicine; how to shoot a bow; she’s even teaching me how to cook. She says in couple of years I’ll be a real catch! Uh, whatever that means…” Sasuke smirked and followed Naruto as he moved toward the gate. The horses followed Naruto but he hesitated when he reached for the latch.

“Oh man. You’re horse won’t bolt will he? I almost opened the gate without checking. Wouldn’t that have been classic.” Naruto rubbed the back of his head and a goofy smirk spread across his face.

“No he’ll be fine. Where’s the tack?” Naruto gestured to a small shed a few meters away tucked behind a bush. Sasuke walked around to the door and noticed his shirt, vest and cloak hanging on a line nearby. They all seemed to not be stained and he removed his black cloak and fastened the elegant, silver clasp around his neck. He loved this cloak. It was light enough to wear in summer and he knew he looked good in it. He smirked and checked that his shirt remained unlace at the top and hung open seductively. He quickly gathered his saddle and bridle noticing that they too had been cleaned and oiled. Sasuke moved back to Naruto and laid the saddle on Kasai’s back.

“How long was I unconscious for?” Naruto ceased brushing Rika and turned to face the raven teen.

“Umm about ten hours I guess. Why?” Sasuke’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“My clothes were washed; my saddle polished; my horse groomed; my wounds cleaned. How did you do all this? Didn’t you two sleep last night?”

“I polished your tack. Rei did everything else. I think she was worried the bandits followed us back here. She stayed up until just before sunrise keeping watch. Then I got up and took over. It can be dangerous living out of town. The road into the village is just over there so we often get hit by the raiders. We lost a horse last year and they always loot the garden and such. We like it though. No one comes out this far to borrow anything and Rei doesn’t have to put up with men hitting on her and women looking down at her. I think the real reason she lives out here though is me. She’s very protective. She says some of the strangers that pass through the village have hungry eyes. I don’t really know what she meant by that but she said it’s safer for me out here.” Sasuke had to smirk at his innocence. Naruto caught it, put his hands on his hips and huffed,

“What are you laughing at Teme?”

Sasuke tried to think about the last time a commoner had called a noble a bastard. His smirk wavered when he remembered what happened to that commoner. The man had been cheated by one of his cousins and had yelled and screamed at him in the square. The poor man had been quartered for his insolence. Sasuke couldn’t help but think that his family was monsters.

“Nothing, I was just wondering if you let your sister do all your thinking for you Dobe.” Naruto went red with embarrassment and anger.

“No! It’s just that… well she’s pretty smart. She sees people. She can read and write and… well she’s all I really have. The people of the village don’t like us very much.” Naruto’s voice had lost its fire and his eyes were fixed on the bridle he was securing to the tan horse. Sasuke felt a new pang of guilt and thought that he truly was an Uchiha. He grunted as some form of apology, and finished tightening his saddle. He gracefully swung himself onto the white gelding. Naruto settled on his horse and took in the young man in front of him. Sasuke look elegant, like a ying yang symbol. His black boots and pants on a white horse; black cloak over a white shirt; devastatingly beautiful black hair and eyes on pale, seductive skin. Sasuke stared at Naruto on his toffee horse. His faded orange shirt hung open at the top exposing his tanned chest. Sasuke evaluated the boy’s face which was adorned with whisker like scars and his eyes, oh Kami his eyes, were deep pools of innocence assessing him in much the same way as the young noble was evaluating his young companion. He gave the blonde a small, genuine smile and gestured for him to lead on.

The two rode hard to the edge of the village and then up to the lake so they could bathe. Sasuke could feel his walls falling when he was around the striking teen. Naruto was so full of life. He had pointed out many herbs used for medicine, deer trails and places where berries grew wild in an attempt to show off his knowledge and always had a wide grin on his face. The pale teen had been raised to keep people at a distance but he couldn’t help but think that he didn’t want to in this case. The blonde made him laugh. No one made him laugh. No one made him feel alive and wanted. No one made him feel like… like he wasn’t an Uchiha.

Sasuke took the horses and removed the bridles so they could graze. He looked up and smothered a gasp as he saw his companion revealing his tanned muscular body. His lithe form was intoxicating in the afternoon sun and his golden locks seemed to glow. He knew he should look away but was unable to avert his eyes. Naruto was quickly undressed and splashed into the water. He stood waist deep in the water, his lean muscular chest glistening. He shot Sasuke a brilliant smile.

“Are you coming? The water’s great!” Sasuke quickly shed his clothes and walked quickly into the lake giving the blonde ample time to examine his body on the way. He couldn’t explain why he did this he just knew he wanted the boy to think of him the same way he thought of the blonde. Naruto dove under the water coming up right beside the young Uchiha and shook the water out of his spiky hair, spraying water on his pale cohort. Sasuke normally would have been annoyed but the grin on Naruto’s face was contagious. He smirked in reply.

“Dobe”

“Gee we should wash that out.” Naruto was gesturing to Sasuke’s raven hair. The fair teen had completely forgotten about his injury and made a mental not to thank Rei for her educated care. Before he realized what was happening Naruto had wrapped one of his bronzed legs around both his, causing him to fall backwards. Strong, sun kissed hands caught him before he submerged. One arm wrapped around his back holding him at the surface of the water. The other began gently washing the paste from his midnight locks. Sasuke quickly dropped his hips below the water to hide his growing erection. He was shocked at how his body responded to Naruto’s arm around him; the gentle hand caressing the side of his head and… oh god…that look. It was so similar to the look the blonde had on his face when addressing the horses earlier; tranquil and tender.

“It’s healing well. Let me know if I hurt you.” Sasuke couldn’t speak. He simply nodded in response.

Naruto could clearly see that the ointment was gone but continued to wash the other teens hair not wanting to let go. His torso was leaning over Sasuke’s body, his arm bracing the teen’s upper back and neck. His hips however were as far away as possible. He couldn’t help it. He found his new friend enthralling. He was…beautiful. The word hardly seemed to do him justice but that seemed to be the one that fit best. His eyes darted to Sasuke’s face when he heard him emit a small sigh. They’re eyes locked and the simply stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a minute in reality. Naruto slowly lowered his hands and let Sasuke stand up.

“How does it feel?”

“Better, thanks.” They were standing waist deep in the water now standing very close, unable to break the passionate staring contest that they were engaged in. Sasuke’s eyes darted to Naruto’s full pink lips. He wanted to kiss them. He wanted to taste them. He wanted to make the boy mew his name in pleasure. A giggle broke the spell just as Sasuke was about to reach out to the blonde. Both heads turned to see three young girls standing on the beach. One with pink hair waved and yelled to them.

“Hey Naruto! Oh wow! Who’s that with you?” More giggles ensued. Naruto wanted to drown himself…or maybe just her. He waved back half heartedly.

“Hey Sakura. Would you mind? We’re bathing here.” More giggles.

“Okay well bring him into town soon!”

“Yeah okay…fuck you bitch.” His voice trailed off so that only he and Sasuke and heard the last of the line. The raven teen had scooped some sand from the bottom of the lake and was rubbing it on his arm like an exfoliant. He smirked at Naruto’s comment and dove under the water surfacing a few feet away. The boys swam until their skin was wrinkly and finally got out and dried off with their shirts. The rounded up the horses and rode until the sun was almost dipping behind the trees.

Rei gazed out the window that overlooked the paddock and watched the teens walk toward the cabin. She smiled knowingly as Sasuke put his arm around her brother’s thin, tanned and for some reason naked shoulders. She caught the flush that reached the blonde’s cheeks and the sparkle in his eye as he quickly glanced sideways at his friend.

‘Oh boy!’ she thought. ‘This is going to be trouble!’