Higher

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On a normal day, Sasuke would have been able to get up, have some coffee, shower and be ready for work at seven thirty, but he woke up extra early because…



He wanted to run.



He wanted to let out all of his frustration and anguish and every other emotion he thought he never had – because he felt weak. Compared to everyone else, he felt like the underdog. And so, he ran.



On the way, Sasuke past early risers walking their dogs and other people out to watch the sunrise. He ran about three miles, with a few short breaks, all the way to a nearby park and sat on a bench a few yards away from the large pond that swayed gently with the breeze. The reflection of the sun in the clear blue water began to brighten as time passed slowly by the panting brunette.



Why did he feel so weak? It was so unlike Sasuke. He wasn’t angry at anyone, was he? Why was he frustrated? Was it because his house had no electricity? Maybe. Probably not, but still, maybe.



Sweat dripped down the sides of his round, slightly pointed chin and onto his soaked tee shirt, cooling him off in the slightest. Sasuke had a problem with too much heat. If it was too hot it was possible that Sasuke would pass out for a long period of time and/or have trouble breathing. Being stuffy was very uncomfortable.



Luckily for him, though, the cold breeze was beginning to pick up and it blew right into Sasuke’s face as he walked back to his new home. He made it back just in time to get a shower and have some coffee before he headed off to work.



That’s it! It was work – the place he had just tried to run away from a half an hour ago. There, he thought. Half of my problem is solved. Now I just need to quit.



“Good morning, Sasuke-kun!” One of his co-workers chimed as he walked into the office building. He nodded his greeting and kept walking toward the elevator. Someone was in there as the doors were sliding closed; he put his hand out as if to ask the man to hold it for him, and he did. He smiled curtly at Sasuke and asked what floor he was headed to since he was closer to the buttons. Sasuke quietly said that he was headed to the ninth. The man, who wore a painting suit that read Kaka-sensei’s Designer Co. was headed there as well.



He couldn’t help but smile. This Kaka-sensei man must be really popular if he was seeing them everywhere – which reminded him that Naruto would be back later on to start painting his bedroom and plan their ‘date’ like thing, which also reminded him that he was going to have to tell Ino sooner or later, because if he didn’t, he’d be finding himself at Sakura and Lee’s wedding sitting next to Temari and Shikamaru, knowing that they’d be macking on each other with a random person who would either be his blind date or a painter. The only for sure thought in Sasuke’s racing mind was that he was not about to sit next to Temari and Shikamaru.



He arrived at his small station, right next to Shikamaru Nara’s. Their ‘offices’ were divided by a divider that was basically a half-wall. It hid his station unless one stood on a chair and literally looked over. Shikamaru thought the process was not worth the trouble, so whenever he wanted to talk, he either called or instant messaged the person. He mostly messaged Ino and Temari, the other stations that the men were connected to, since he wasn’t Sasuke’s biggest fan. Usually he only spoke to him when it had to do with work, but this was a… different occasion.



Shikamaru threw a crumpled piece of paper over the ‘wall’ and it landed conveniently on Sasuke’s keyboard. The note read:



Ino told me you were going to Sakura’s wedding with someone who Temari and I know. Who is it? If you don’t mind my curiosity, that is.



Sasuke’s face flushed a bit; Ino had already set him up, the damn bitch. He should never have agreed to let her handle things. She was a horrible person.



He wrote back that he had no idea who she had set him up with and that he had no intention of getting serious with anyone he met, but he didn’t say why. So Shikamaru asked a simple why. When the note flew back over the wall, it landed on the floor and Sasuke put it in the trash bin. He then stood up on his rolling chair and looked over the wall to see the man who looked annoyed. On his computer screen was a full screen IM session with SabakuNoTemari80 and it had a long list of messages from her about her complaints about him. He barely answered her.



“Because it’s way too much of a drag.” Sasuke said. Shikamaru couldn’t help but to smirk. He hadn’t known what kind of relationship he and Sasuke had, but that one line defined that they were friends, at least. Something along those lines. How deep that friendship was, however, was still hidden beneath the deep depths of the Atlantic.



“Did she say if it was a woman or a man?”



“No.”



“Any preferences then?”



“It’s irrelevant. I’m not dating anyone. I’m twenty four. I’m in no rush to commit myself to someone when I’m so busy, you know?”



“I hear you. Honestly, I’ve tried leaving Temari, but the last time I left she came rapping on my mother’s door and dragged me home. I think it’s more one-sided now.”



“I give you my condolences, Nara. And send my apologies to your family. I feel so sorry for them.” Shikamaru chuckled half seriously, hoping that Temari didn’t hear them.



She did.



Sasuke instantly sat back down, nearly falling out of his chair because he was laughing to himself at the same time. He heard Temari yelling at him in Japanese and him sighing loudly to himself, begging for some sympathy, although no one on that floor could do so. Temari was one of a kind.



Sasuke barely answered his phone to take calls because hardly anyone called him. Honestly, he hated his job. He was good at it, it paid well, but it just was so… boring. He didn’t want to be like his father. He didn’t want to be stuck in an office six days a week and become a shriveled old man with a hunchback and die with pride that he lost when the business went out. (Luckily, a guy named Madara took over.) He didn’t want to work as a detective, like Itachi. He certainly did not want to become the top worker of the slacker cluster, either.



When he was younger, he had planned to become a policeman, like everyone but his immediate family (not counting Itachi,) was known for. That dream left him when he got into high school and he was offered a chance to write in the school paper. He secretly loved writing. He put every fiber of his being to making something good, making it sell and making it worthy to be read by the principal, but when he realized that being a writer wasn’t much of a career (and after the journalism teacher didn’t even put his article in the paper,) he decided to move to the States with his family and major in mathematics and studied to be an accountant.



He was good with numbers. Ino and Sakura used to tease him and say that he’d be like Chuck Norris, who found the last digit of pi and could divide by zero. Sasuke never thought it was funny. It was just his Uchiha blood. He had to be good with academics. He studied harder than anyone in his class just to pass with straight A’s. He was no natural genius like Itachi and Fugaku. He ended up as the valedictorian of his graduating year, but it was all from hard work.



From the moment he got his job, he knew, somehow, that his life was going to be boring. He was a boring person. And that is why he agreed to paint his house. Things wouldn’t be boring when he got home. It would be welcoming and enjoyable to him. Maybe he’d even get a Koi to keep him company.



If he didn’t even have a fish, there was definitely no chance of a lover to come home too.



Boring as he was, a relationship was the last he thought would bring him out of a boring life. Sure, kissing was fun, sex could be okay with the right person, but really, there was nothing special about dating or going steady. He didn’t owe anyone his time, except for Sakura because she was getting married. But that was it. After that, no one deserved his time. Unless his mother called or Itachi called.



He didn’t know why he even dealt with Ino anymore. He should just kick her out next time she walks in his front door without knocking.



His computer beeped annoyingly at him three times, just in case he didn’t realize that there was a message waiting for him to open. Luckily he had the option to reply so he didn’t feel obligated to do so.



SasukeUchiha123, you have 1 new message from InoYamanaka01:



So, you’re coming tonight, right? Well, I’ve got your date, I’ve got your cover, and you just need to wear something that would be appropriate for our double. Wear those indigo skinny jeans you got for Christmas two years ago and one of those button ups, no polo’s. Look nice, smell good, but don’t overdo it. We go to impress!



He would have killed himself if he had the choice, but that wasn’t his style. He was a life-lover and this may be the only life he got. Might as well live it, right? Even if he was growing soft and not saying no to every date or other opportunity offered to him.



But he’d probably end up canceling his date with Mystery Man and Naruto Uzumaki, the half Japanese blonde guy who asked him on that stupid date. Coffee dates were fun, but he didn’t want to give Naruto the impression that interested. That’s why he said no.





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“But you said you’d think about it!”



“I said no such thing, usuratonkachi.”



“There’s no need for name calling,” Naruto stopped rolling the paint on the wall to look at Sasuke, who was ignoring him. He was sitting on his bed reading a magazine. The blonde eyed Sasuke with his lower lip pouted. “I’m not an idiot, Sasuke. I know what you said. Word for word.”



Sasuke peered from his magazine, smirking slightly at Naruto from behind the magazine. “Keep painting. You aren’t getting paid to sit around.” Naruto scoffed, mumbling about how Sasuke was just being an ass hole and avoiding the fact that he did say it. Sasuke chuckled at the artist’s childishness and good memory.



Naruto had made much progress, having started painting around three thirty and them having this conversation around six. Sasuke spent an hour after Naruto arrived making spaghetti and garlic bread. He poured two glasses of milk and they ate in the bedroom, just like the night before. Naruto commented on how Sasuke at least remembered to make him dinner, which earned him a slap on the back of the head and a threat to shove the noodles in his face and fire him. Naruto smiled at him slyly.



Two and one half of the four walls were completed, given that they stopped frequently to talk or eat or rest their eyes. The purple was drying quickly and it looked wonderful. Naruto was really a pro! Sasuke said that everything seemed to be going fine, but Naruto disagreed, saying that he could get some rooms done within a span of four hours, with one or two bathroom breaks in between. He was moving extremely slow.



“Why do you say that? Honestly I thought with all your talking you wouldn’t get past the first wall.”



“Don’t insult me, you ass hole.” Naruto said softly, letting his head fall to the side and landing on Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke smirked.



“I’m not sure, to answer your question. I just didn’t get much done today.”



“There’s plenty of time, but it’s getting late. You should either finish or come back tomorrow.” Sasuke murmured, noticing how Naruto had nearly fallen asleep on Sasuke’s shoulder. The time on his cell phone read 8:37 p.m., which meant that Sasuke had two more hours to shower, get dressed to go out with Ino, her friend Choji and Mystery Man, and call Itachi to see how Mother was doing. He had to get rid of the blonde.



“I don’t want to go,” Naruto barely spoke clearly; voice slurred from the drool in his mouth. Sasuke shrugged, forcing Naruto’s head up with no sympathy. He reminded Sasuke of Shikamaru with his laziness. “What’s the rush?”



“I have plans tonight,” Sasuke said as he picked up the dishes off the floor. “With some man or woman I’ve never met.”



“A blind date?”



“Sightless on my side, but yes.”



Naruto sighed. He looked a little distraught and a little more hurt. He closed the paint bucket and laid the roller on top, covered with a thin towel. “Have fun,” Naruto said, trying his best to sound happy for him. Sasuke saw through his deception, but did nothing about it. What was he supposed to do? Lead him on and then crush him? No, Sasuke had more integrity than that. He was more mature.



…He also understood Naruto’s feelings. He knew that Naruto had a thing for Sasuke. It was so obvious that it would have hit Sasuke in the head like a hammer tonight if he hadn’t realized it from yesterday. He wouldn’t want a guy he liked to lead him on and then change his mind. That was, to Sasuke, immoral and a horrible way of toying with emotions.



One of the other reasons that Sasuke hated dating.



“So, how about that date?” Naruto said as he walked out to the kitchen, stripped of his painting jacket. He wore black jeans and a skin tight red shirt with an orange strip across the chest that read Quicksilver. The shirt complimented his tan skin and his toned abs that proved that he was more than just a painter. Was he going out tonight, too?



Sasuke tore his eyes away when he said, “I already told you ‘no’, Naruto. Please don’t ask me again.”



“Sorry,” Naruto said somberly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.” He waited a few moments for Sasuke to turn around and say goodbye, but he only nodded and washed their dirty dishes. He sighed and walked out the door, making little to no noise.



Again, Sasuke found himself scrubbing Naruto’s plate longer than it needed scrubbing. He put the dishes away after their washing and drying and hopped in his boring atmosphere of a bathroom for a warm and long needed shower, and then he changed into the outfit Ino had told him to wear: the indigo skinnies, a wife beater and a dark coloured button up.



He thought that they were double dating at a dinner/movie that night, but the chosen fashions screamed otherwise. He could only imagine what might be in store for him. It was frightening.



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Sasuke drove for about thirty minutes to Maverick Street where Ino’s apartment building was. He parked underneath in the parking garage and headed up to the fourth floor, number fifteen. She opened the door after two knocks, one hand on the door, the other holding the doorframe with a sexy look on her face.



“Hey,” she said slyly.



Sasuke smirked in disgust. “Ino,” was his greeting.



“Oh don’t give me that. I look hot!”



“Whatever. Where are we going? Dinner? Movies?”



“Hah!” she spat at him. She adjusted her over sized, grey, cheetah print top so that the right part of the neck hung over her shoulder. The rest of the shirt underneath her breasts clung skin-tight to her curvy figure. She wore flared, faded, torn jeans and odd looking open-toed heals. “Try the gay bar!”



Sasuke turned around and glared at his best friend as she closed the door and walked towards were couch. She ignored his stares and pulled out a makeup bag from her Coach purse. She opened two sticks of lipstick. “Pink or purple?”



“I quit.”



“Quit what?”



“You. I hate you.”



“Shut up and pick a colour.”



“Kill me.”



“Pink,”



“Please, God, I want to die. Right now.”



“Or purple?”



“Oh my God.”



“Sasuke!”



“What?” Ino looked him in the eye with an eye brow cocked. “…Pink.” sighed the brunette.



“Let’s get outta here, baby!” Ino’s raised her fist in the air in victory, knowing perfectly well that Sasuke really did hate her; she didn’t give two shits’.



Although this was true, and although Sasuke refused to look, speak and think about his best friend, he was pretty damn glad that she brought him to the gay strip club in the middle of nowhere.



Now, he can kill himself and no one would notice.



Ino pulled sharply into the closest parking spot her eye caught. She was out and waiting on the passenger’s side in a matter of what seemed like milliseconds. Sasuke slowly opened his door with a deep breath. He rolled his shoulders back and forth; stalling.



“Come on.” Ino urged him by the arm, pulling him along as best she could. She wasn’t as strong as Sakura, though. She started karate one year after Sakura and she hardly ever showed up or did anything because of her manicures. Although, the little effort paid off… somewhat. Sasuke’s arm started to pulse.



They got in, free of cover. The bouncer and Ino had a thing back in the day (last month, though they went way back,) and she always got away with no paying for charges wherever that guy was stationed. Once, she and Sasuke and Sakura and Lee went to a bar in Jersey for Ino’s twenty-first birthday and he gave her one-too-many free bottles of draft beer. Never again did Sasuke go out to birthday parties. He knew what it all led to.



This bar, however, was not drunk. At all.



Almost every man and woman in the club was dancing and those who weren’t were cheering them on. It was sexy, it was hot, and it definitely erotic. Kind of.



Over the music, which blared in Sasuke’s ear drums, he heard faint cheering and the sound of Ino’s screeching on his right. “Your date is waiting at the bar in the gray shirt!” she walked away after that, leaving him flabbergasted. Not for her yelling, but because at least three people walked behind him and slapped his ass. He understood why he was told to wear those pants – because his butt stuck out more than his hair did.



He walked to the bar, slowly. His heart pounded out of his chest and back in again, over and over again. How the hell was he supposed to do this? Hi, my name is Sasuke. I don’t really know what to say here. Wanna have sex? No. Highly inappropriate and un-Sasuke like. But seriously, he didn’t know Mystery Man and he sure as fuck didn’t plan on dancing, drinking or sexing anyone that night.



Thoughts raced through his head like wild fire as he stepped closer and closer. He saw Mystery Man in a gray polo and black leather jacket. He was a good looking, tall, muscular brunette, but there was only one thing wrong: minus the scars and blonde hair, this guy reminded him entirely of Naruto, the painter who had it convinced that he and Sasuke had a date.



Ino was so bad at this kind of thing. Maybe good for herself, but not for others. For crissakes, the guy was sitting uncomfortably on one of the stools at the bar, searching for something, or someone. He looked like a lost puppy, and Sasuke found that kind of amusing.



He sighed heavily, wondering why he was even bothering to talk to him, but he was not always rude to people he never met. He was respectful in his ‘I’m not interested’ speeches.



“Hi,”



“Well hello,” The brunette eyed him slyly, tilting his glasses down to look at Sasuke clearly like a total jackass who thought he’d be taking Sasuke home tonight. As if, Sasuke thought. The scenario reminded him of a high school hook-up, and the only thing that this man’s body language showed was immaturity. He’d have better luck with Naruto… if he ever chose to go on that date.



Oh, yes. He knew he said it was a possibility, though he’d never admit it to Naruto. Sasuke had way too much pride than that.



Sasuke sat on the barstool next to the brown haired man, edging closer to the opposite side of him so he didn’t feel uncomfortable. He also didn’t want this guy so close to him, because if he was, he may try to reach over to Sasuke. Sitting on the edge made for a quick getaway.



“So, I know your name already, hot stuff. Don’t you wanna know mine?” Slick. Sasuke thought. “C’mon, you can guess. I’ll give ya a hint, if ya like…” he smiled, clearly itching for Sasuke to return one, but Sasuke kept his annoyed stare. It seemed to hit the guy in the face when Sasuke answered, “Egotistical,”



He didn’t even mean it as a guess at his name, but rather, an insult.



He laughed obnoxiously and stood up from his seat with a blunt and stupid looking smile on his face. Sasuke was clearly wrong about his guy. “Eeeeh!” he made a beeping sound, like the kind of buzz you get on a game show when you’re answer is wrong. “I’ll give you a hint; it starts with an S,”



That drew the line. How many Japanese and American names started with an S? There’s no limit! Was this guy for real?



They stared at each other for what felt like ten minutes in awkward silence with different faces, their gazes met: one confused and annoyed and the other uncomfortable. Sasuke had just enough patience to stand there for another second, and then he slid off the side of the barstool (conveniently) and began to walk away, but a warm hand grabbed his arm gently and spun him back around.



“My name’s Shino, alright? Geez, I was just trying to –”



“Trying to what? Flirt?”



“Trying to impress you, I guess. You’re Sasuke Uchiha, right?”



“That’s a possibility,”



“Don’t be so sarcastic. You’re blonde friend told me you liked a good jokester and a tease. Forgive me for trying,” he added with his own sarcasm. So this is all Ino’s fault? Go figure… Sasuke looked over his shoulder, searching for her, but she had already intermingled with the large crowd. He’d kill her later.



“Sorry, I’m not really good at ‘flirting’. It’s not my forte…”



Sasuke turned his attention to Shino, and after seeing a sincere, apologetic look on his face, he somehow decided that it would be a better idea to give him another chance, rather than be an ass hole and leave him hanging, though he did it all out of pity. He wasn’t a crybaby lover, after all.



“Yeah, I’m Sasuke.”



“Nice to meet you,” Shino held out his hand and Sasuke shook it once and they sat at the bar. He listened for a while about how Ino found him and what she said, and Sasuke smirked the entire time. He really likes a tease, huh? Like hell he did! What else has she been spreading about him? And with the amount of guy staring at him, she probably told everyone here something extremely exaggerated or false.



“Do you want a drink? It’s on me tonight.”



“Sure.” But this is the only one.



The bartender nodded and poured to glasses of what looked and smelled like cheap tasting draft beer. He took it and sipped at it and a small ‘thank you’, even though he wasn’t a big beer person. The last time he went out with Sakura and Itachi, he had one too many drinks and things went haywire. He was horrible at holding his liquor, which was why he was still only half through his glass and Shino was on his third.



Like at Ino’s birthday party three years ago, Sasuke had one-too-many drinks and he woke up and didn’t know where he was the next morning. Then he got pulled over on his way back to his mother’s house because he was driving with a horrible hangover. Itachi and his friend Shisui had to pick both Sasuke and Sasuke’s car up in Rhode Island.



“I’m not a big dancing guy. I mean, watching is cool and all, but I don’t know. It’s not my style,” he said casually.



Just as casually, Sasuke asked, “What do you do?”



“I’m an insect researcher during the week, and on the weekends I’m an ‘exterminator’.”



“Exterminator?”



“I collect bugs, too.”Eww. “I just collect the bugs that infest people’s homes and do my research. If I don’t want them, I just take them to a field and release them or give them to my colleagues.”



Dear god, more freaks. Just like… Naruto. Naruto, Naruto, Naruto. He felt like finding him and telling the blonde to just go away because he was everywhere and so were his coworkers. He literally was everywhere.



Shino went on about his bugs while Sasuke drowned his voice out and turned to the crowd, and there he was, dancing around with a drink in the air with a guy who looked like a casual coworker named Kiba from the previous night (the one who never came back) and a girl with two buns on top of her head. They were singing and jumping and dancing and the chick was definitely drinking. It was possible that Sasuke knew her too, but he couldn’t imagine who she was from behind.



Sasuke watched Naruto the entire time Shino was talking. Luckily Naruto was too into the song that was playing, or else Sasuke would have been caught staring – which was something he rarely ever did.



And it wasn’t like he was looking at his butt because it looked nice. Well, it did look nice, but the only reason he was staring was because he had toilet paper hanging out of the back of his jeans. He was probably too drunk to notice, and so were his friends.



“So, what about you?” Sasuke’s gaze was broken by a light touch on his shoulder by the man sitting next to him. He pretended not to notice that Sasuke wasn’t paying any attention to what he just said, and Sasuke didn’t notice, but Shino sounded and looked kind of hurt…



“I’m sorry, what?”



“What do you do?”



“Oh, I’m a…” his words were jumbled in his mouth. He turned around and Naruto was grinding on the other guy he was with – and the toilet paper was gone. Sasuke was never so attracted to someone this much. He wasn’t a fan of getting ‘down and dirty’ when it came down to it. But this… this was too good to ignore. It was so hard to believe. This was Naruto. Crazy Naruto. Loud, annoying Naruto. Naruto the… “Painter…”



“You paint?”



“Huh?



“That’s cool. I had no idea you were the artsy type, too. Maybe you can help me paint my bathroom sometime?”



“Wait I –”



“Sasuke?” Oh god fucking damnit! Sasuke screamed in his head. Why did he have to turn around?



“Oh, it’s you,” he said, calm as possible, though he had to try hard not sound surprised. This was the last place he wanted to see Naruto. It was the end of his bad-ass-I-don’t-party-hardy rep. He hid them behind his back as Naruto came closer. He wobbled as if he were a child just learning how to stand up and take his first step. He nearly fell on top of Sasuke, arms slung over his shoulders. Naruto wore a big, drunken grin on his face.



“Heeeeeeeeey,” Naruto snickered. His hot, smelly breath heated Sasuke’s face, which was turning red as blood rushed to his face.



“Uh, Sasuke, who is this?”



“He’s drunk. I have to take him home.” Sasuke took this perfect opportunity to run for his life. He left Shino hanging, not that he thought he’d mind. They weren’t really clicking.



He dragged Naruto out into the parking lot with quite some struggle; Naruto wasn’t finished drinking his cup.



“But Sasukeee, I wasn’t dooooone!” he complained. The dark haired man paid no attention to his persistent requests to take him back inside and do ‘stuff’.



“Idiot, where is your car?”



Naruto scoffed and shoved his pointer finger out towards the left of the lot. “That blue one, I think.” He pouted. Someone was ready for a nap. A very, very long nap.



Naruto conjured enough energy to get his keys out of his jean pocket; Sasuke was not about to go fishing in his pants. That was definitely not happening. Sasuke would rather walk home. Naruto fell asleep the second he sat in the passenger seat, not to be disturbed until the car stopped and he was in bed.



Problem was: Sasuke had no idea where Naruto lived.



He sighed heavily, as he usually did when he came to situations like these. The ones where you have to make a choice on what to do. And in this case, there was only one place to go, and Sasuke was not happy about it.



Nonetheless, he drove home. Things got really weird from that point on.



----------------------



"Hahaha, that's funny."



"No, it's not. It's terrifying."



"Look on the bright side, little brother. At least you have someone to cuddle with,"



"Yeah, especially when he's sprawled out on the entire bed and is smothering my favourite pillow. I don't appreciate your laughter, either." Sasuke spat. Why was it that when he called his brother at ten o'clock for some sympathy and advice, he just laughed and made fun of him? And why did Sasuke let him do it all these years? It was getting ridiculous. Was this karma, or something? What the hell did he do?



"If you're going to feed me a sob story, leave a message or something. I think it's time for you to grow up, Sasuke. You're infatuated with this guy, if you notice him that much, you know so much about him and you scrub everything he touches so you can touch it."



"I've known him for --" he stopped midsentance when Naruto stirred in his sleep and fidgeted in Sasuke's bed. He lowered his voice when he finished. "I've known him for two days, brother. I'm not infatuated."



"I said the same thing when I started dating Shisui."



"You don't like guys, and you were ten."



"Touche, Sasuke. Shisui and I are best friends, still, come to think of it. Isn't that funny?" Itachi joked nostalgically.



"Yeah, good for you, but we're talking about me right now."



"Don't be so self-centered, Sasuke. You're no spoiled brat."



Sasuke sighed heavily. Itachi was right, as usual. It was probably that natural genius gene that he and every other person in his family inherited but him. He was stuck with all the selfishness that the Uchiha clan gave up. "I don't want to sleep with him."



"You have a couch?" Itachi insisted. He was so full of ideas.



"I'll call you tomorrow then, after work or after Naruto paints."



"Try me around eight. I have to babysit Mom. She's having one of those breakdowns. I think I'm going to shoot myself."



"Please don't,"



"I'll do my best. Night, brother."



"Good night,"



Sasuke shut his phone and plugged it into the charger and left it in the kitchen. He walked back into his bedroom to see Naruto, who seemed to be awake.



He locked eyes with onyx ones, sleepily. "I'm sorry," he murmured. His voice was soft and tired, and Sasuke unwillingly fell into it. His feet moved one their own to the bed and sat on the side and he lifted the covers over Naruto's body.



"It's okay. You can sleep here and I'll take you home tomorrow morning."



"Kay," Naruto whispered. After he closed his eyes he instantly fell asleep. For a few moments Sasuke thought it was cute, what with him softly snoring and the way he looked in general with his eyes closed. Even when Sasuke ran his fingers lightly through his hair, he looked... beautiful.



But then he started snoring obnoxiously and Sasuke was forced into the living room to sleep on the couch.



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TBC!



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Well, this chapter took so long and so much editing and so much procrastination that I have a new idea, but I won't start on it until I either finish this one or give up completely.



I love the OCness I gave to Shino. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but I couldn't resist. Luckily he and Sasu-chan have no chemistry.



Also, I only meant for this story to be three or four chapters, but what with the wedding scene, Ino's new ideas and Sasuke's denial and one other secret scene in mind, it'll probably last longer than that!



Please review!