Forbidden Fruit - Kakashi/Sasuke

This is not connected to the previous one. Warnings for this part: fluff, self-love


20. Afar


Sasuke -

Negotiations are stalled indefinitely. I'm not sure when I'll be home.

I'm certain you're terribly bored without my company. I've enclosed my gloves - they should prove useful.

In return, to alleviate my own boredom, I require an article of your clothing. Preferably underwear, preferably unwashed.

Yours,

K

------

Is this a joke? Sasuke thought, annoyance wrinkling his nose. If so, it was in very poor taste, but not entirely surprising for all that.

Sasuke tilted the wrapper so that the gloves fell onto his kitchen table with a muted clink. He picked one up. It certainly looked like Kakashi's glove - worn and battered, the leaf-branded metal pitted and scratched. His frown deepened. Sure it was only a diplomatic mission, but Kakashi was never without his gloves. They were as much a part of his uniform as his hitai-ate or flak vest. What was Kakashi thinking?

He dropped the glove beside its partner on the table, took another look at the note, then got up and left.

------

Three hours later he was back, eyeing the distasteful objects as he ate a bland dinner. Where did Kakashi get off, being so familiar with him? They weren't involved, not in the smallest way. The closest they got to anything like that were Kakashi's occasional suggestive comments. Okay, so maybe Sasuke had thought Kakashi was attractive, once or twice at the most. And perhaps he had wondered if Kakashi had learned anything from his numerous dirty books. And maybe - it was improbable, but just maybe - Sasuke had leaned too close the one time Kakashi walked him home drunk from the bar.

It's not like he invited Kakashi in, or anything. Not in so many words. If he had, Kakashi would have come in, right?

Right.

Sasuke rinsed his bowl in the sink.

------

Kakashi.

Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine. I've enclosed your gloves. I'd appreciate it if you

------

Sasuke crumpled the note up and threw it in the trashcan, then stuffed the gloves back in their envelope.

------

The next day, Sasuke ate in the living room.

Afterwards, he trained. Then he washed his laundry. Then he trained again. Then he showered.

Then he admitted to himself that he actually was a little bored, without Kakashi around. That he wished he could just go to Kakashi's apartment, knock on the door, and spend a few minutes with him, even if they didn't say anything.

In the kitchen, the gloves were still in their package. He dumped them out on the table again.

He ran his fingertip over the scarred metal, over the symbol of their village. He hoped Kakashi wouldn't need these... some time between yesterday and now he had changed his mind about sending them back. Okay, fine, he missed Kakashi. A little. And he hated to say it, but this helped.

------

Kakashi -

I'm keeping the gloves. I'm sure you have another pair.

You're crazy if you think I'm sending you

------

Sasuke grimaced and tore the note in half, then crumpled up the ripped paper. He got dressed and left the apartment.

------

Midnight, and Sasuke was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the gloves. He tangled a hand in his hair, and thought about Kakashi, stuck in some manor without any real duties other than being there and looking - looking famous, or whatever he was supposed to do. He imagined Kakashi pacing, standing, sitting, trying to sleep, his hands white and naked.

He imagined Kakashi missing him.

He fell asleep with his head pillowed on his arms.

------

It was morning, and Sasuke's back creaked when he sat up from his slouch. The chairs he had were serviceable, but not padded, and his tailbone felt bruised. He stood and stretched.

He picked up the gloves.

The leather was soft and faded, worn supple from years of use. He rubbed his thumb over the palm of one and he remembered the way it felt when Kakashi gripped his arm to right him, that night when Sasuke drank so much he couldn't walk straight.

Sasuke hesitated, feeling like what he was about to do was wrong, though he wasn't sure why. They were Kakashi's gloves - they didn't belong on Sasuke's hands any more than Kakashi's mask belonged on Sasuke's face.

But Kakashi had sent them to him.

He slipped his right hand inside the glove.

The leather was even softer inside when his fingers brushed over it on the way through. The glove was loose on his hand, and it felt heavier, now.

He just looked at his hand for almost a minute, all swallowed up in Kakashi's glove, and this felt so inexplicably intimate... Kakashi was countries away, yet right now, he felt closer to the man than perhaps he ever had.

He wondered if this was what Kakashi had intended.

Now he placed his gloved hand on his left arm and rubbed lightly down his forearm. He swallowed hard, and then, blushing in the privacy of his kitchen, he closed his eyes and brought the hand to his face. He pressed it against his cheek, leather and fingers that he could easily imagine a little longer and rougher, and he dragged it slowly down his throat.

Breathing a little harder now, he opened his eyes, and he peeled the glove off. He shoved it and its twin back into the envelope. Feeling vaguely guilty, he turned his back on the whole package.

He had laundry to do.

---------

Sasuke's house had rarely been as clean as it was, now. He was currently on his knees in the tub, scrubbing at the grout with a toothbrush, and still unable to stop thinking about the envelope on his table.

Goddammit, Kakashi, now I really do miss you, he thought, and he frowned. And maybe this was what Kakashi intended, too.

Sasuke's toothbrush slowed almost to a stop as the full meanings of all of Kakashi's intentions occurred to him. So far, Sasuke had been too indignant, and then flustered and confused, to be able to really get his head around what Kakashi was thinking.

As far as he knew, it wasn't like Kakashi to send letters.

The content of Kakashi's letter, though, was right up the man's alley - it was perverted and overly-familiar, assumptive and slightly condescending.

But the fact that he had sent a letter at all, had sent his gloves, even... Sasuke realized that he hadn't given enough thought to that part of the equation. It wasn't like Kakashi to go out of his way like that... or, as Sasuke had already begun to realize the evening before, to admit that he missed someone, no matter how roundabout his method.

Sasuke's toothbrush clattered to the bottom of the tub as his brain made a few quick leaps.

From the little Sasuke knew about the man, he could guess that Kakashi rarely, if ever, made romantic overtures. And what safer way to do it than to send it in a letter, couched in deceptive double-talk, and in a way that the recipient could easily ignore the meaning behind the words? And... if there was never an actual no, there was never a rejection, and Kakashi could come back and act like nothing had ever happened.

And... Sasuke thought that he wouldn't have even seen the underlying message unless...

...unless he himself didn't also want something more to be there. And the truth of that was already undeniable to Sasuke. He did want something more to be there, and had for some time. Though he may not have admitted it to himself, had he not touched his face with Kakashi's glove on his hand the night before and known deep inside himself that he wished it was Kakashi's hand touching him.

He walked into the kitchen, feeling dizzy and shaky now, and he pulled the gloves out of the envelope one more time. Now he tugged them onto both hands, and placed his palms flat on the table. The sight of his slender fingers extending out of the loose finger-holes made him feel a little... sad. Lonely. I wish you were here, you asshole. I wish you were here right now, to take these back, and put them on your own hands, where they belong.

He placed his palms flat over his cheeks, and he closed his eyes and inhaled. Leather and sweat and the faint cool, earthy scent that he knew was Kakashi's own smell, and suddenly he understood one reason Kakashi wanted something from him. With his eyes closed like this, and Kakashi's scent in his nose, Sasuke could imagine that Kakashi was standing right beside him, just about to say something.

Or... just about to touch him. He slid his hands down his throat, slowly, letting the leather drag over his skin. He paused there. Was Kakashi... a hugger? Was he affectionate and gentle in his touches, or was he rough? Sasuke didn't know. As far as that went, he didn't know which he'd prefer - probably somewhere in between. He thought he'd like... a hand sliding up into his hair, and another one moving slowly down his chest. The leather tugged a little at his hair, and actually pulled a surprised gasp out of him. And that little bit of realism in the midst of his half-formed fantasy got his heart beating even harder, blood pumping out to his extremities and tingling in his fingertips.

A deep breath made him even more lightheaded, and he pulled gently on his hair again before he slid both of his hands down to his stomach. He cracked his eyes open, just barely, and looked down.

His vision blurred by the fringe of his eyelashes like this, he could easily imagine that those weren't his arms, but Kakashi's, wrapped around his waist. And he had a good imagination... he could also pretend that he could feel warmth at his back, and breath on his shoulder. Kakashi would want to watch this part, he was sure.

He licked dry lips and watched as gloved hands slowly unfastened and spread open his fly. One hand slid his shirt up out of the way, and the other slipped inside the open flaps of his pants, fingertips creeping under the edge of his boxers. The glove's metal plate caught on fabric just as his fingers touched the base of his swelling dick, and he wriggled impatiently, and lifted the fabric away.

Feeling so deliciously dirty that he blushed furiously, even though there was no one to see him, he kept going. His body went hot all over.

His sensei's glove, wrapped around his cock.

Yes.

------

Half an hour later, Sasuke sat down at the kitchen table, sweaty and relaxed, and trying not to grin. He folded up his discarded boxers and tucked them into an envelope, feeling a little embarrassed about it...but also a little amused. He wished he could see the expression on Kakashi's face when Kakashi opened the package.

He wished he could see Kakashi.

He started a letter.

------


Kakashi -

Thank you for your thoughtful gift. I've made good use of it.

I've also enclosed a gift, which I hope will be similarly useful.

If your gift was not actually a gift, but instead a loan, maybe I can be convinced to return it, once your mission is over.

Which will, hopefully, be soon.

Yours,

Sasuke



---end

_________________

Feedback always appreciated! ^__^