Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I make no profit from this story.
To savannah19742001, Moon Whistler, and Icz: Thank you for your reviews. To FromAfar: Thank you for your review. I hope this chapter clears up some of those questions you have. To G: Thank you for your review. The only thing I can say is, yes, if this had been SasuHina instead, Hinata would still be in the same kind of trouble as Naruto. I want to thank MisatosPenPen who helped me a lot with this story and helped me with my grammar. This story is beta'd by the amazing MisatosPenPen. Thank you ^_^
Frost clung to the frozen windows, early morning light pooling on the occupants of the spacious bedroom. An onyx eye snapped open, suddenly awake, when Naruto shifted next to him. The blonde snuggled further into Sasuke’s side, sighing softly, his breath tickling Sasuke’s neck.
A pale hand came to rest on his forehead before turning towards the clock on his bedside table; 8:06am. Sasuke groaned softly and sat up, his eyes resting blearily on Naruto, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Naruto was resting peacefully, his chest rising slowly with every breath he took. Sasuke sat there mesmerized, wondering how he could be so blessed to have an angel like Naruto. His hand rose to run pale fingers through blonde locks. He hated to wake him, but they needed to bathe. He never should have fallen asleep before seeing to their cleanliness.
With a sigh, he placed his hand on Naruto’s cheek and whispered, “Wake up, dobe.”
Naruto grunted and buried his face in the pillow, shying away from Sasuke’s frigid hand. “Wake up,” Sasuke urged, wrapping Naruto’s hair around his finger and tugging gently.
“Stop,” Naruto whined and batted at the offending hand.
“I’ll stop only when you get up.” He tugged Naruto’s hair again, earning a beady blue eye glaring at him.
“I love it when you look at me like that,” Sasuke smirked.
“Whatever.” Naruto yawned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“We need to bathe.”
“Of course we do,” he sighed. Naruto shifted out of bed, hissing when his feet hit the cold hardwood.
“I like to be clean, dobe,” Sasuke said, and frowned.
“Of course you do.”
Sasuke watched Naruto stumble across the room and towards his dresser, pulling open the third drawer from the top, the one Sasuke designated was supposed to be his drawer, and pulled out clean clothing. His onyx eyes alighted on Naruto’s tanned skin, seeing the small goosebumps rise over his naked flesh, flesh that tempted Sasuke daily.
“You can stop staring, Sasuke.”
“I love to stare,” Sasuke smirked.
Naruto turned and stared him down. “It’s creepy, you know,” he finally answered.
Sasuke frowned again. “You don’t like it?”
“I didn’t say that,” Naruto responded, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to Sasuke. “I just said it’s creepy.”
Biting his lip in a perfect imitation of Naruto, Sasuke cupped Naruto’s cheek, rubbing his thumb over the tanned flesh. “Do I go too far?” he asked seriously.
Naruto tilted into Sasuke’s hand, “Hmm?”
“Do you let me take it too far?”
“No,” Naruto replied, shaking his head.
“You don’t like me staring, what else don’t you like?”
Naruto sighed and pulled away. “Let’s bathe already.”
“Naruto,” Sasuke demanded, forcing the blonde to turn and look, biting his lip nervously. “What else do I do that you don’t like. You need to tell me…”
“I like everything you do,” Naruto admitted.
“Tell me what the safe word is.”
Naruto rolled his eyes and stood up, stalled only when Sasuke gripped his hand tightly. “Tell me,” Sasuke urged.
“I don’t need to say it,” Naruto replied, tugging on his hand. Sasuke held fast.
“Naruto…”
“You’ve done nothing that would make me use that
word Sasuke. I told you I would only ever say it when I truly didn’t want you to do something to me.”
“And last night…” Sasuke asked nervously, his gaze drifting off to the side.
“You weren’t wrong, I love the vibrator.”
“But I didn’t satisfy you, I only took my pleasure.”
Naruto surprised Sasuke by bursting with laughter. “Oh, Sasuke,” he replied, wiping tears from his eyes. “I love you, and if you hadn’t noticed, I get off on that kind of thing.”
Sasuke smiled slightly before frowning again. That was a habit he was trying to break. He didn’t want to be so sour when he was alone with Naruto. “Tell me, just this once, what that word is?”
Naruto swallowed and sat back on the bed, his gaze locked on their clasped hands. “Hawk,” Naruto whispered.
Just saying the word put Sasuke at ease. Knowing that Naruto would say it if he didn’t like something was a relief. He sometimes worried that Naruto would submit to anything. His shoulders sagged considerably, a small smile on his lips. “Thank you, dobe.”
“I love you Sasuke, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.”
“Isn’t that my job?” Sasuke teased.
“I thought we had shared custody or something.”
Sasuke finally laughed, his voice ringing through his room. “Only you, dobe…”
“Yeah, well don’t forget it.” Naruto laughed, mixing his laughter with Sasuke’s.
~SEASONS GREETINGS~
Sakura woke to the sound of her shrill alarm blaring next to her head. She jerked upward, her cell already in her hand, turning it on. She muttered impatient words, waiting on her phone to load.
“Ino,” she asked, throwing the covers off her and slipping her feet into her favorite pair of slippers. Pink and fuzzy with a slight heel, they were the most worn, but the least comfortable. “I need to meet with you. Bring Hinata and Tenten; I’m sure they could help too.”
She closed her phone and tossed it on her bed, making her way towards her bathroom. After a steaming shower and a fair hour doing her hair and makeup, she was ready to put her plan in motion. She giggled to herself, grabbed an apple from the kitchen table, and stepped out into the biting cold. It was going to be a good day for her, she just knew it.
~LET IT SNOW~
Ino tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Sakura to arrive. Hinata and Tenten sat opposite her at the food court table, sipping at their orange juice, and looking far less impatient.
“I wonder what Sakura wants?” Tenten questioned, replacing the cap to her bottle.
“I don’t know, but she better hurry, I don’t have all day to wait around for her! I have my party to get ready for and the last thing I want to hear is her crying because Sasuke turned her down again.”
“Neji said it wasn’t a pleasant experience,” Hinata piped up.
“It serves her right. She even dragged Naruto into it, and then she wouldn’t listen to a word he said,” Tenten remarked. “By the way, how did Sasuke take your gift, Hinata?”
Hinata flushed from head to toe, her stuttering coming back full-force, “H-he ac-accepted it.”
Tenten laid her hand on Hinata’s shoulder and squeezed. “At least it went better than Sakura.” They didn’t envy Hinata one bit, for she was the one to pick Sasuke’s name at the Secret Santa. No one wanted to pick his name besides Sakura. It would have worked out better if Naruto had drawn his name, too, but he got Lee instead. “What did you get him?”
“N-Naruto helped m-me pick it out. He said that S-Sasuke wanted this book t-that just c-came out.”
“Finally,” Ino demanded, gaining the two girls attention. “What takes you so long?”
Sakura shrugged off Ino’s demand and sat down opposite Tenten. Her smile was wide, throwing the others girls off. She didn’t look like a girl just crushed by her crush.
“What’s going on?” Ino demanded, cocking an eyebrow at Sakura. “We thought…”
“That I would be devastated by Sasuke’s rejection,” Sakura supplied. “No, I’m fine with that. In fact, it was a real eye-opener. I don’t know what I was thinking all this time, chasing after someone like Sasuke.”
“Are you ok?” Ino questioned, her hand coming up to Sakura’s forehead and testing for a fever.
“I’m fine,” she laughed, brushing Ino’s hand away. “Look, I just realized that I wasn’t very kind to Naruto the other day, even after he tried to help me. That’s why I’m here. I want to make it up to him, but I realize that I don’t know that much about him. I want to get him a gift to apologize for my actions, but I don’t want to make the same mistake. Will you guys help me?” Sakura pleaded, bringing her hands up and clasping them under her chin.
“Shouldn’t you be asking Sasuke to help you?” Tenten asked. “I mean, he knows Naruto the best. They’ve been best friends since, like, kindergarten.”
“Pre-school.” Hinata corrected, blushing when Tenten turned to look at her. She mumbled a hasty apology and sunk lower in her seat.
“Pre-school then.” Tenten laughed, squeezing Hinata’s shoulder in reassurance.
“Yes, well,” Sakura frowned. Her tone was harder, with an edge they’d never heard from her before when it came to Sasuke. “After last night and all, I don’t think approaching him at the moment is appropriate. I can’t go to the other guys like I can Naruto, so that leaves you. Will you help me?”
“Sure,” Ino sighed. “We have to do a bit of shopping ourselves, and you’re in luck; we just so happen to be shopping for Naruto too.”
~WINTER WONDERLAND~
Tenten directed Sakura to the first store, forcibly dragging her inside by the shoulder when she froze on the threshold with a horrified look on her face. “Come on, it’s not that bad,” she muttered, shaking her head.
The store in question wasn’t her normal Apple Nation stores; it was foreign to her and, therefore, unacceptable. As soon as she stepped inside her ears where assaulted by soft oriental music, the lack of popular pop music off-putting. Even the store smelled weird, smoke billowing from a long stick on the clerks counter.
“Long time no see, Tenten,” Matsuri smiled, cashing out her sale and handing the customer his bag. “Can I help you with anything today?”
“Yes,” Tenten replied enthusiastically. “I was wondering if you were able to acquire that shirt I asked about.”
“Oh, the one for Naruto,” Matsuri grinned and disappeared below her counter. She pulled out a small bag with an offending orange shirt nestled neatly inside. “Kankuro was able to get it for me, and by me, I mean you.” Matsuri smiled. “He even got them all to sign it.”
“Really,” Tenten stood in awe, flipping the bag over to see the different signatures. “This is going to blow Naruto’s mind. This band is like ancient and yet Kankuro was able to get their signatures?”
“Kankuro does have his connections.” Matsuri beamed with pride, her thumb rubbing over the engagement ring on her finger.
“You will have to thank him for us.”
“Of course, he was happy to help. You know he would do anything for Naruto.”
“Wouldn’t we all,” Tenten crowed. She pulled out her wallet, but Matsuri stopped her, shaking her head. “I won’t accept money for this; not a gift for Naruto.”
“Thanks.” Tenten smiled.
“Anytime,” Matsuri replied, waving them off.
Sakura turned around quickly when Tenten handed her the bag holding Naruto’s gift. “It’s from all of us, so we’ll have to find something else from you.”
Sakura took the bag without a word, following closely behind the group of girls to another store she’d never stepped foot in before.
“Why are we here?” Sakura asked.
“Silly, this is one of Naruto’s favorite stores.” Ino laughed, delighted with Sakura’s apprehension.
“I didn’t know he could cook,” she whispered, but stepped inside anyway.
“Of course he can cook!” Tenten remarked. “Haven’t you tried his food before? I know he’s always offering it to everyone.”
“I…” Sakura paused, remembering all the times Naruto offered her his second lunch, and all the times she turned him down because it wasn’t from Sasuke. “No,” she admitted.
“Well, he’s amazing. You should have seen him in Home-Ec. He had, like, the perfect grade,” Tenten complained good-naturedly.
“N-Neji said N-Naruto scored higher than S-Sasuke,” Hinata stuttered. Being around Sakura always made her feel more nervous than she normally was.
“Really,” Sakura whispered, amazed that the top two students in the school was outdone by a boy who wouldn’t even make honors.
“Yep, his food is to die for, especially his peanut butter meltaway cake,” Tenten replied wistfully, smacking her lips and trying to conjure the taste of it. Coming to her senses with a shake of her head, Tenten laughed and walked into the store.
Once again they strode up to the counter, smiling at one of Choji’s uncles. “Did it come in?” Tenten asked with giddiness.
“It sure did.” He bent behind his counter and pulled out a box. He laid it on the counter and slit the brown packaging tape. He removed the bubble wrap and pulled out a large antiqued looking silver teapot. Sakura noticed the engraving detail, impressed by the intricate interweaving pattern.
“Oh, he’s going to love it!” Ino replied breathlessly.
“Oh, he better. It’s a pretty penny worth…”
“We all chipped in to buy it for him, so it really didn’t cost us that much.”
“Well, he’s one lucky guy to have such friends as you.” Choji’s uncle laughed, repackaging the teapot and slipping it into a bag.
Sakura was once again handed the bag, this one weighing more than she thought it would. ‘Damn, that is one heavy teapot,’ she thought.
She was next led to a small store, one she recognized. Naruto had tried to get her to enter it before.
Inside, her eyes scanned over the crammed bookshelves full of every kind of book you could imagine. It looked cluttered to her and she immediately began to feel claustrophobic. Hinata walked over to Neji, her eyes straying to the plastic nametag pinned to his work shirt, and stuttered a quick greeting. She still had trouble looking him in the eye.
Neji looked beyond Hinata, scrutinizing the group of girls closely. Sakura had the distinct impression that he was really scrutinizing her. “This is the book he started reading the other day. Sasuke made a point of mentioning it so I didn’t restock it. He was planning to buy it himself to give to Naruto.”
“T-thank you, N-Neji,” Hinata stuttered, pulling out her small purse. Neji grabbed the purse from her quickly and put the book in her hand instead.
“It’s already paid for,” he replied.
Hinata smiled and reclaimed her purse from Neji’s outstretched hand. “Thank you.”
“It’s for Naruto.”
Hinata blushed and smiled again, looking Neji in the eye before she turned to leave. She carried the book close to her chest for safe keeping. Sakura took her leave from the claustrophobic store, taking a deep breath as soon as she cleared the doorway.
“It looks like we still didn’t find a gift from you,” Tenten said. She laid a hand on Sakura’s back, rubbing soothing circles.
“So what does Naruto like,” Sakura asked a bit breathlessly. She shifted the heavy teapot to her other hand, flexing her newly vacant hand repeatedly. Naruto made carrying heavy bags look so easy.
“He likes…” Ino started.
“Everything,” Tenten interrupted, her voice carrying in the wide corridor of the mall. Shoppers turned to stare at her, whispering hurriedly to their companions about nut jobs.
“Yes,” Ino frowned. “Like Tenten said, Naruto likes everything.”
“I can’t buy him everything, but what I can needs to be special.”
“He likes sports,” Tenten stated. “And his favorite is swimming. I heard he tried out for the swim team, but coach Gai had to cut him.”
“Why?”
Tenten shrugged. “I don’t really know. I never asked, really.”
“Naruto likes up-beat music, something he can dance to,” Ino stated, changing the subject before Sakura could inquire further. “But he also likes slow, romantic music. It’s a soft spot of his and he takes joy in dancing to the slow rhythm.”
“How do you know that?” Sakura questioned, slightly taken aback by that bit of personal information.
“Naruto is a great dancer,” Tenten answered, grinning at a memory from the last school dance. Naruto took it upon himself to cheer her up when she got dumped right outside the gymnasium before the dance even started. “I hear he takes after his mother.”
“Oh,” she mumbled, shifting the bags in her hands again for a more comfortable position. She couldn’t imagine Naruto dancing, let alone being great at it.
“His favorite color is orange,” Ino laughed.
“I know that!” Sakura exclaimed, feeling slightly better that she knew one thing about Naruto. Of course, it was the most obvious thing, but she wasn’t going to think about that and instead bask in her small victory.
“He loves camping just as much as he loves swimming. He goes with his parents and Sasuke’s family all the time,” Tenten said.
Sakura frowned at the mention of Sasuke, her stomach burning anew with his rejection. “They must spend a lot of time together,” she murmured spitefully.
Ino heard her muttering and replied, “Of course they do. Their parents are great friends, so it’s only natural Naruto and Sasuke were friends too. They’ve been inseparable since pre-school; at least, that’s what Shikamaru said.”
“Oh, Naruto loves oranges!” Tenten blurted out, earning even more stares from shoppers.
“He loves ramen more,” Ino replied in a sing-song voice, teasing.
“He plays in the rain…”
“He’s into action movies.”
“He loves to go to amusement parks.”
“He snowboards!”
“He works out at the gym three times a week!”
“He babysits every other Friday and Saturday!”
“He coaches little league!”
“ENOUGH!” Sakura cried out, ignoring the startled looks she now received from those around her. She couldn’t take the overload of information, or the constant back and forth between Ino and Tenten. “I get it,” Sakura whispered. “Naruto’s a great guy and I haven’t been the best of friends to him. But I want to make up for that…”
“Naruto loves foxes,” Hinata added. Sakura turned to look at her, seeming to just realize the quiet girl was with them.
“Foxes?” she questioned.
“He loves them. Naruto had Neji take him to a wildlife rescue just so he could see them. Naruto said he got to pet one and actually feed a kit.” Hinata smiled, blushing madly when Sakura smiled at her.
“I know the perfect gift to get him,” Sakura smiled.
“Good, do you still need us?” Ino asked, reaching for her bag.
“No, I can manage on my own.”
Tenten grabbed her bags as well and followed after Ino, dragging Hinata behind her. Sakura watched them leave, her hands now free. With a smirk, she turned around and headed for the escalator to the third floor.
The shop was the last store at the end of the hallway, tucked comfortably in the corner, its doorway shrouded in semi-darkness. It was an exotic place, filled with trinkets from other countries, trinkets that people didn’t want anymore.
It happened to be Sakura’s favorite store.
She stepped inside and was instantly greeted by a red-head behind the counter. She plastered a wide grin on her face and walked forward, gritting her teeth when she said, “Hello.”
“Back again?” Karin laughed.
“Of course,” Sakura replied, her jaw beginning to ache from the forced position.
“What are you looking for this time? Diamond encrusted elephants, topaz monkeys; maybe garnet encrusted puppy dogs?”
“No,” she forced out, pointing instead to something hidden on the third shelf behind two ruby encrusted nesting dolls.
“That old thing? It’s ugly!” Karin wrinkled her nose in disgust. “It’s been sitting there for ages.”
“That’s what I want,” Sakura replied, pulling out her favorite credit card. Just because Karin thought it was ugly didn’t mean everyone would.
Karin pulled the small piece of jewelry from the glass case and wrapped it in a small, cotton-filled box, before placing it in a small navy blue bag. She typed a number into her register and slid Sakura’s card with a flourish.
Sakura rolled her eyes, waiting to sign the receipt paper.
“You must really hate whoever you’re buying this for,” Karin whispered.
“Oh, I don’t think hate is the appropriate word to describe what I feel for this person.” With that, Sakura slid the receipt across the counter and grabbed her bag.
All she had to do now was prepare for Ino’s party tonight. Sasuke and Naruto wouldn’t know what hit them.
~SILVER BELLS~
The party was in full swing when Naruto and Sasuke arrived at Ino’s house that night. They were an hour late because Sasuke dragged his feet about even going. Naruto knew it was all because of one girl who just happened to be the host’s best friend.
“I don’t see the problem, Sasuke,” Naruto repeated for the tenth time.
“Of course you wouldn’t see a problem, but I can. Stay away from her tonight.”
Naruto sighed and knocked on Ino’s door, plastering a huge smile on his face when the door opened and a flood of light hit the front steps. His smile wavered momentarily when Sakura answered the door. Before she could even say a word, Sasuke brushed passed her, dragging Naruto by his elbow and steering him towards Gaara with purpose.
Sakura stood in the doorway, gripping the side of the door frame as her stomach bubbled with anger. Taking a deep breath, she closed the door and turned to spot Naruto next to Gaara. Her lip curled momentarily with distaste. She wasn’t a fan of the redhead; something about the deep bags under his eyes seemed to unsettle her. ‘Touché, Sasuke,’ she thought and turned to find Ino.
“So, when are you going to give him his gift?” Ino inquired.
“When he isn’t around Gaara,” she replied, dipping the ladle in the punch bowl and pouring herself a cup.
“What do you have against him?”
“Nothing, I just don’t like the way he looks at me.”
“He’s kinda cute, maybe he secretly admires you?” Ino teased, digging her elbow into Sakura’s side.
Sakura frowned and moved just out of Ino’s reach. “I don’t think that’s the case, Ino. Anyways, he isn’t my type.”
“You mean he isn’t Uchiha.”
Sakura felt her blood boil, feeling her humiliation all over again. But she was calm on the outside, cool and collected. She turned to Ino and offered her a small smile. “I’m over him.”
Ino laughed and shook her head, tapping Sakura’s shoulder as she left, “Good luck with that.”
“I don’t need luck, Ino…” Sakura whispered to herself, eyeing Naruto closely.
~O TENNANBAUM~
It took a full hour to finally corner Naruto by himself. Sasuke had tried his hardest to keep them apart, something Sakura hadn’t missed. Sasuke knew she knew about them and he was determined to keep Naruto as far away from her as possible. He even stood guard over Naruto as he opened his gifts from everyone…except hers. She couldn’t get near enough to hand him his present, and besides, she wanted to do it privately.
But Sasuke couldn’t be by Naruto’s side all night, eventually nature would call. It was just her luck that Gaara slipped away somewhere and hadn’t been seen for ten minutes when Sasuke finally left Naruto’s side for the bathroom.
Sakura pulled the small box from her purse and tapped Naruto on the shoulder. Naruto turned with a smile. “Sakura,” he nodded.
“I’ve been trying to get your attention all night,” she smiled, grabbing his elbow and dragging him away from everyone else.
“Oh, I hadn’t noticed,” Naruto replied sheepishly.
“It’s fine,” she laughed. “I just wanted to apologize for the other day. You warned me and I didn’t listen. I didn’t even thank you properly.”
“You don’t have to apologize…”
“But I do. So I got this for you.” She held the small box out to Naruto.
“That wasn’t necessary,” he muttered, blushing.
“I know, but I thought it might make up for my behavior.”
Naruto grinned and pulled the box open, revealing a sleek silver bracelet with a fox curled around the band. His face paled slightly as he pulled it from the box and held it between his fingers. “Do you like it?” Sakura asked, biting her lower lip.
“Yes, thank you,” he replied, placing the bracelet back in the box.
“Don’t you want to wear it?” Sakura asked, feigning offence.
“I don’t want to take the chance of losing it before I can show my Mom, so I’ll keep it safe right here.” Naruto placed the box in his jacket pocket, patting it gently.
Sakura beamed. From the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke seething from across the room and she almost burst with laughter when Lee shouted, “Kiss!”
Naruto turned quickly at Lee’s outburst, but caught a quick glimpse of Sasuke instead. Sasuke’s anger pooled off him in waves, causing Naruto to shiver. He took a step towards his fuming boyfriend when Sakura grabbed him again. “Are you just going to leave me standing here? Didn’t you say you never back down from a challenge?”
Naruto turned to look at Sakura, confused. “What…?”
Sakura pointed a perfectly manicured finger towards the ceiling. Naruto noticed the small green bush, hanging innocently from the open-ceiling rafters. He felt his stomach drop.
Mistletoe.
“Lee challenged you didn’t he?” Sakura questioned.
“That isn’t a real challenge,” Naruto whispered, desperate for an excuse to leave. He could feel Sasuke boring holes into the back of his head. He gulped. “Look, I’m sor-”
Sakura cut him off, leaning up and brushing her lips against his, her hand snaking into his blonde hair and tugging. Naruto just stood there, stock-still, wondering when it was going to stop. He didn’t want to encourage, but he couldn’t just push her away…
Finally, Sakura pulled back, releasing her iron-grip on is hair. Naruto took a step back, flushed from head to toe, and rushed from the room. He brushed by Sasuke hurriedly, but the Uchiha still saw the tears in his eyes.
“Wow, Sakura!” Tenten whistled. “You go girl!”
Sakura blushed, her hand coming up to her lips. They were still tingling. Instantly, she felt a murderous glare boring a hole in her head. She didn’t have to look up to know that Sasuke wanted to kill her. A smile tugged at her lips; round one went to her.
~O HOLY NIGHT~
Sasuke quickly found an excuse to leave the party, citing he needed to find Naruto before he froze to death in the blizzard due later that night. Ino wished him goodnight and closed the door behind him. Sasuke hopped in his car, driving as fast as he could legally go in search of his AWOL boyfriend.
He found Naruto not too far from his house and pulled alongside the curb. Naruto refused to get in the car, continuing to walk in the snow. Sasuke cursed and pulled away from the curb, rolling alongside Naruto’s slower walking pace.
“Dobe, get in the car!”
Naruto shook his head. Sasuke could see the tears falling heavily and had to wonder how Naruto could see through their salty haze.
“Get in now,” he ordered, throwing a glance over the steering wheel quickly for oncoming traffic. There usually weren’t many cars on his street, one of the luxuries his families’ money afforded him.
“Come on, Naruto! It’s freezing out there.”
Naruto ignored him all the way up the sloping drive of the Uchiha mansion, up the front steps and into the house, up the grand staircase and into Sasuke’s bedroom.
Sasuke followed along with his arms crossed, watching Naruto crawl onto the bed and grip the headboard, his head bowed. Sasuke felt heat rise in his stomach, but not from lust. He was angry, so angry that he wanted to flip Naruto around to face him and shake the hell out of him.
Instead, he crawled up behind Naruto and hugged him to his chest, whispering in his ear as the blonde cried. “It’s ok, Naruto. It’s ok.”
Naruto heaved as the tears wracked his body, he heaved for nearly half an hour, until his body loosened up and he was able to rest in Sasuke’s lap. Sasuke’s pale finger’s roamed his hair, combing out the knots just like his mother used to do for him.
“I’m sorry,” Naruto gulped. His voice was thick from crying.
“Don’t be,” Sasuke soothed. “I know you didn’t want it and hell, you didn’t kiss her back.”
“I could have pushed her away.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re too much a gentlemen. Your parents raised you right.”
Naruto grudgingly nodded in Sasuke’s lap.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated.
“Don’t be…”
“You warned me to stay away from her and I didn’t listen. You were right.”
“No, dobe, I was wrong,” Sasuke sighed. “She only did that to get back at me.”
“Isn’t that why you wanted me to stay away?” Naruto gulped again, “because she would retaliate against me?”
“I was the one that brought you into this, this is my fault. She wouldn’t have known we were dating if I hadn’t told her I had a boyfriend. She’s not stupid. She was bound to find out it was you.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again, snuggling against Sasuke’s thigh.
Sasuke sighed and resumed raking his hair. “Do you want me to call your mom and let her know you’ll be staying over?”
Naruto turned to stare out the window, watching the snow fall quick and heavy. “Please,” he whispered and laid his head back down. Sasuke grabbed his phone and called Naruto’s mom.
"Hello, Mrs. Uzumaki…yes, Naruto is staying the night…no, that’s not necessary. He has some here…No, he’s resting at the moment…Yes, I promise…he’ll call you later…bye Mrs...Of course, goodbye, Kushina.”
“You promise what?” Naruto sniffled.
“That I’ll take care of you,” Sasuke whispered, bending down to brush Naruto’s forehead with a powder-light kiss. “I’ll always take care of you. Now, go to sleep, dobe.”
Naruto shifted to his side of the bed, hugging his pillows tightly. Sasuke smiled and slid from the bed, pulling Naruto’s shoes from his feet, followed by his pants. Naruto didn’t put up a struggle when Sasuke pulled off his coat and jacket, leaving him in nothing but a t-shirt and boxers. He grabbed a comforter from his chest and draped it over Naruto, tucking him in.
When he had Naruto settled, he finally leaned in and placed a kiss to Naruto’s lips. “I love you, dobe,” he sighed.
“I love you too, teme.”
~TOY LAND~
“What the hell were you thinking?” Ino hissed, cornering Sakura as soon as Neji and Hinata left. They were the only two left at Ino’s house, Sakura staying the night.
“What do you mean?” Sakura laughed, pulling away from the wall.
“What are you playing at?”
“Nothing,” Sakura laughed again.
“Sakura,” Ino started, placing her hands on her best friend’s shoulders. “This is a dangerous game you’re playing. You know what Sasuke’s anger is like and toying with Naruto will bring his anger down on you.”
“Why do you think I’m toying with him?” Sakura snapped, throwing Ino’s hands off her.
“You can’t honestly stand here and tell me that you have feelings for Naruto a day after being reject-”
“This has nothing to do with that, so don’t bring it up!”
“I knew you were upset about it! Sakura, look…”
“I’m going to bed.” Sakura replied and stormed from the room, leaving Ino to clean by herself.
Ino shook her head and pulled her phone from her pocket, texting quickly. Her reply was quick in coming, quicker than she had been anticipating.
~SILENT NIGHT~
Sasuke stepped out of his bathroom, being extra quiet so he didn’t disturb Naruto. He quickly dried off and dressed for bed, bending down to pick up Naruto’s discarded clothing. He placed Naruto’s shoes next to his, picked up his jeans and tossed them in his hamper, grabbed his coat and hung it in his closet. He just barely noticed the black jacket on the floor. He bent down and picked it up, a white box falling to the floor.
Sasuke bent down and picked it up, pulling the lid off. He saw a silver bracelet, with a tightly woven fox around the band. To most people the piece would be ugly, but he knew to Naruto it was beautiful. It also matched the bracelet Sasuke had bought him on his birthday to match the bracelet Naruto bought him for his birthday. But instead of a fox, his had a hawk, its talons gripping the center and its wings spanning the length of the bracelet. He only wore it on special occasions, mostly when he was away from Naruto during the summer and wanted a quick reminder. The only other reason he would wear it was during sex, letting Naruto know he wanted to try something new. He hadn’t worn it in over a month.
“Do you want me to return it?” Naruto whispered; his eyes steady on Sasuke’s silhouette.
“No, you don’t have to.”
“She couldn’t know…”
“I don’t think she does,” Sasuke whispered, replacing the lid and tossing the box on his desk. He climbed into bed next to Naruto and pulled him against his chest tightly.
“What do you want me to do with it?”
“Never wear it,” Sasuke whispered, kissing Naruto’s neck softly. “Let me throw it in my closet never to be seen again, and when you no longer remember it, I will take care of it then.”
“And if she asks why I don’t wear it?”
“Tell her you lost it. You can even allude to the fact that I was the one that lost it for you.”
“Ok,” Naruto sighed, turning to snuggle into Sasuke’s chest.
~WHAT CHILD IS THIS~
Ino sighed and sat down on her couch, the cleaning going faster than she thought it would. It must have been her preoccupation with Shikamaru’s text. She picked her phone up and reexamined the texts:
+We have a problem with Sakura.
Her eyes scrolled to Shikamaru’s reply:
+We’ll need reinforcements…I’ll text him. Ino quickly deleted the texts from her phone and made the trek to her bedroom. Sakura was sleeping soundly. Ino shook her head, ‘what are you planning with Naruto?’ she thought.
