The Fox's Brush.

Umino Iruka was sitting in his classroom after the students had gone home and re-organising his files when he heard a knock on the door. He crossed the room and slid back the panel to reveal a familiar smiling face.

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruto cried before pushing past him into the classroom and sitting on the edge of his desk.

“Naruto, you don’t need to refer to me as ‘sensei’ anymore.” Iruka said with a weary smile, even though he already knew that Naruto wouldn’t listen. “What brings you here anyway? Feeling nostalgic for your academy days?”

“Heh, not really…” Naruto scratched at his cheek absentmindedly as his expression turned evasive “There was just something that I wanted to ask you about.”

“Oh?” Iruka’s interest was piqued.

Naruto suddenly seemed very interested in one particular spot on the floor. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something and then closed it again, sighing heavily and trying again with no success. Iruka would have laughed if Naruto hadn’t looked so serious.

“Naruto? What’s wrong?” he asked, trying to sound reassuring and not at all like the worried mother hen that he felt like.

“You see, Sakura-chan convinced me that it would be a great idea to help Sai learn about dating.” Iruka nodded for him to continue. “So, I agreed to teach him about what to say when you’re on a date and stuff like that, we just ended up hanging out a lot and he bought me plenty of ramen…” Naruto paused and Iruka watched him pull at the hem of his shirt with shaky hands. “After a while I kind of began to suspect that Sai might be… uh… you know”

“He might be what?”

“You know… into dudes”

Iruka frowned and crossed his arms “Naruto, I really thought that I had taught you better than this.” Naruto looked like he’d been punched in the gut. “Something like that shouldn’t stop you from being friends with him, he’s still the same person-“

“No!” Naruto cried out and immediately looked sheepish for being so loud. “That’s not what I’m trying to say... Just let me finish, okay?”

Iruka made a gesture for him to continue.

“I don’t have a problem with Sai being gay... or whatever he is, I was even ready to help him find a guy to hook up with but then we were at his place and I got drunk and… things got kind of… weird.”

“Weird how?” This could not be going where he thought it was going.

“Like, maybe, we kind of did something…”

It was going exactly where he thought it was going. “What, did you two kiss?”

“M-more than that…” Naruto’s face was bright red by now and he had twisted the end of his shirt so tightly that his knuckles were white. “A lot more than that”

Oh my. Iruka felt his own face heating up now. “So, you and Sai did something sexual together” he stated, trying to sound like the calm and rational adult. “Do you have feelings for him?”

“Sai is my friend and that bond is important to me. But now, it feels a little bit different… I know that he likes me and I…” Naruto groaned and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “I guess that I like him too. I just don’t know if I’m ready for this kind of thing… or if I’m ready to deal with other people’s reactions to it…”

Iruka supposed that it made sense, Naruto had been vilified by the village for years and now that he had their admiration and respect he was loath to risk losing it again. “Naruto, I can’t tell you what you should do” the way that Naruto looked at him with pleading eyes made him feel terrible but he continued on. “This is something that you have to figure out for yourself.”

“…what would you do in my situation?” Iruka was about to repeat himself but Naruto cut him off “Please, Iruka-sensei. I need help.”

Oh, what the hell…“The life of a shinobi is often lonely and, even more often, short. Sometimes you need to take happiness where you find it.”

Naruto seemed to mull over his words for a few seconds before speaking again “Are you saying that I should be with him just because I could die on my next mission? Or the one after that?”

Iruka reached out and placed his hand on Naruto’s shoulder “No, Naruto. I’m saying that you shouldn’t worry so much about what other people think when it comes to you being happy. Our lives are short and brutal, and sometimes you need something to take you away from that… something worth fighting for. No matter what anybody else has to say about it.”

Naruto’s sunny smile resurfaced and he pulled Iruka into a hug. Iruka couldn’t help but laugh and he ruffled Naruto’s hair affectionately before ushering him to the door.

“Well, Naruto, if that’s everything… I have paperwork that needs doing”

“Thank you, Iruka-sensei! You really helped me out.” Naruto shot him a final grin before heading down the corridor.

As he waved goodbye to his favourite student, Iruka felt his smile falter a little. He knew that Naruto wasn’t a little boy anymore but he still couldn’t help but hope that he wasn’t going to end up getting hurt.

oOo

Naruto was strolling down a relatively deserted street on the way back to his apartment when he caught sight of three familiar figures coming around the corner. Kiba and Hinata were walking together, their fingers entwined, with Akamaru trotting beside them.

Naruto had avoided Hinata like the plague after her confession during Pain’s invasion of Konoha; he just hadn’t known how to deal with her or her feelings without doing something totally stupid. His total denial of the situation had been enough to send Hinata into the arms of her teammate (or at least that was how Sakura told the story) and they had been together ever since. He had become quite close with both of them after that, often bumping into them at the training grounds and engaging in a friendly spar or two. Hinata also seemed a lot less nervous around him and her stutter was almost non-existent now which made talking to her a lot easier. The lack of hostility on Kiba’s part had always seemed a little strange to Naruto given the fact that Hinata had confessed to him, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse (or dog) in the mouth.

Naruto jogged towards them, raising a hand in greeting “Kiba! Hinata!” Hinata returned his wave with a shy smile. Kiba grinned and opened his mouth to say something before his expression froze in abject horror, his nose scrunched up in extreme distaste.

“What?” Naruto asked, confused “What’s wrong?”

“You fucking stink of Sai!” Kiba spat, his tone suggested that this was probably one of the worst things that anyone could smell like, ever.

“Kiba-kun!” Hinata cried out in shock.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. He really should have seen this coming.

Naruto weighed his options, he could try to run or he could try and lie his way through this. Running would only really solve the problem for the short term and would be as good as an admission of guilt anyway, not to mention the inherent problem with the idea of trying to outrun other shinobi (especially ones who specialise in tracking), there was no guarantee of success… while lying would buy him the most time and might even actually work, as long as Hinata didn’t whip out the Byakugan of course.

He tried his best to recover his composure and with what he hoped was a calm and believable tone of voice he responded “I stayed over at Sai’s last night and used his shower this morning. You probably just smell his shampoo and stuff on me.”

Kiba rolled his eyes and grimaced in disgust “It’s not just his shampoo that I can smell on you, Naruto”

Naruto didn’t think he’d ever been so embarrassed in his life, he opened his mouth to say something (anything) but nothing came out other than a weird strangled noise. He hated himself for the fact that this was making him feel ashamed about what had happened with Sai.

“I-I’m sure that there’s a perfectly good explanation for that. Right, Naruto-kun?” Hinata offered, her face was just as red as his felt, she was obviously trying to help him come up with a more convincing excuse but he knew that he only had one option left. He needed to suck it up and face this head on.

Naruto felt his resolve strengthen despite the unpleasant, wobbly feeling in the pit of his stomach. Iruka’s words still fresh in his mind. “This isn’t how I would have wanted you guys to find out… but Kiba’s right. Last night Sai and I did some… things… and now I guess we might be sort of… um… dating…”

Naruto’s voice trailed off at the end and he scratched at the back of his head nervously, looking at them expectantly.

Hinata’s eyes were focused on where her fingers were laced together with Kiba’s and when she spoke her voice was quiet but firm “Naruto-kun, if this is what makes you happy” her gaze rose to meet his “then it makes me happy too.”

Naruto smiled in relief, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, he could have kissed her if he wasn’t so sure that that would just make things with Kiba even worse. He saw her elbow her teammate discretely and Kiba made a small resigned noise through his teeth.

“Look, Naruto. I don’t like Sai, there’s just something about him that bothers me-” Naruto opened his mouth to protest but Kiba continued without giving him the chance. “-I’m not saying that I think he’s untrustworthy or anything, I’ve been on the battlefield with him and he pulled his weight just as much as everyone else. I can’t really put it into words… just that the way he acts doesn’t sit right with me, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end… but that’s my problem, not yours.”

Kiba paused for a second, a ghost of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “As for you messing around with another guy, it doesn’t bother me. Hell, I can’t even say that I’m surprised. We all know that you’ve had a hard-on for Sasuke for years-”

“Kiba-kun!” “Hey!” Naruto and Hinata cried out at the same time. The reason that Kiba had never seen him as a threat was all too clear now.
“I’m not gay!” Naruto spluttered “I like girls!”

Kiba raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture “Whatever, that’s your business. I shouldn’t have said anything before… I was just surprised and I opened my mouth without thinking.” Kiba grinned at him then and it was honest if just a little uncertain “So… we cool?”

Despite his wounded pride when Naruto smiled back it came easily “We’re cool”.

“Just don’t expect me to speak at the wedding” Kiba said, laughing.

“Kiba” Naruto warned, punching him in the shoulder lightly and laughing a little himself. And just like that it really did feel like things were back to normal. Sure, he’d given Kiba one more thing to rag on him about but he could live with that.

If telling his friends about Sai was going to be this easy then he wasn’t quite sure what he had been so afraid of. As if she had read his mind Hinata spoke up “When are you going to tell everyone else? … Were you planning on telling people about it in the first place?”

Naruto sighed “I was going to tell everyone… eventually. I’m not even completely sure what’s happening myself, never mind how to explain it to other people…”

“Well, don’t worry, Naruto-kun. Our lips are sealed until you’re ready” she said with a reassuring smile.

oOo

Konoha’s hospital was unusually quiet, Sakura thought to herself as she did her rounds. It was so quiet that she was beginning to wonder why she had even bothered coming in today at all, she had spent the guts of five hours doing essentially nothing. Five hours that she could have spent training or cleaning her apartment, anything would have been a better use of her time than this.

She checked her watch and saw that it was just about time for her to take her lunch break. With a sigh she headed down to reception to report in. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs a nurse, whose name she couldn’t quite place, called her aside.

“One of your teammates is here to have lunch with you” the girl said with what sounded like envy.

Sakura said her thanks and continued her journey to reception fully expecting to see Naruto’s smiling face when she got there. Instead she was greeted by Sai who gave her a polite wave; she didn’t even try to conceal her surprise.

“This is unusual” she started. “You’ve never come to have lunch with me before”

“I just wanted to talk” he offered mildly “I made you some food”

She considered questioning him more but her eyes drifted to the neatly wrapped bento boxes on his lap and her stomach growled loudly. She clutched at her midsection in embarrassment “Okay, fine. We’ll head up to the roof so we can talk in private.”

The walk to the roof was silent but not awkward, she had long given up on trying to make small talk with Sai. She squinted against the sun when she opened the door to the outside, a cursory glance confirming that they were alone. They took a seat on the edge of the roof, feet casually dangling over the edge, before Sakura opened her lunch and tucked into the food eagerly.

“This is delicious!” she exclaimed and her appreciation was genuine. The lunch that she had prepared for herself this morning paled in comparison.

“Thank you for the compliment.” He said with his usual small smile “I had never prepared food for another person until last night so I was a little worried that it would not be to your satisfaction”

Oh, that was right! She had forgotten all about Sai and Naruto’s ‘date’ last night. “What did Naruto think of your cooking?”

“He complimented it as well” Sai said, and Sakura could have almost sworn that she heard some pride there.

“So, what else did you guys do?” she asked absentmindedly as she picked up a slice of pickled ginger with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.

“I gave Naruto oral sex” he stated simply.

Sakura’s eyes went wide and she partially inhaled the food in her mouth. She started coughing so violently that she nearly lost her bento box over the edge; she felt one of Sai’s hands grasp the back of her shirt to steady her. She accepted the bottle of water that he offered gratefully and gulped it down between coughs and gasps.

When she finally got herself back under control she turned to Sai and asked “Could you repeat that?” her voice was barely a croak.

“I said” he started, still looking a little concerned “that not long after dinner I gave Naruto oral sex”

She just stared at him for a moment, the information not really sinking in. Naruto and Sai…? This could not actually be happening. “…What?”

“I’m sorry if I was unclear.” He looked genuinely apologetic “I stimulated Naruto to orgasm using my mouth”

“I know what oral sex is, you moron!” she shouted and immediately regretted it when she saw how perplexed Sai was by her outburst. “How did this even happen?” she asked, trying to keep her voice at a more acceptable level.

“We had been drinking and the conversation turned to what I think about when I masturbate” his tone was completely calm and matter of fact. Sakura thought that her face might spontaneously combust any second now, was that the kind of thing that guys spoke about when they were together? “I admitted that I often think of Naruto, more specifically about-”

“I don’t think that I need the specifics there, Sai!” Sakura hastily cut in. “Just give me a basic idea of what happened next”

“Naruto said that he didn’t mind and that he wanted me to act out my fantasy” he was blushing now, Sakura noticed with a little bit of vindictive glee. She didn’t want to be the only one uncomfortable here.

“So, you did?” she was experiencing a most unpleasant combination of embarrassment, jealousy and (she was reluctant to admit it, even to herself) excitement.

“Yes, and afterwards we went to bed”

“You went to bed together?!” her voice had risen an octave again and she tried to reign it in. She was so glad that they had come up here and away from all of the potential eavesdroppers.

“Yes, I went to brush my teeth but Naruto was already asleep when I got back” he looked oddly satisfied with himself and Sakura’s heart dropped. She knew that Sai was socially inept but he couldn’t have done what it sounded like he had done… could he?

“Sai, you didn’t do anything to him when he was asleep did you?” she asked, proud of how calm she sounded. “This is very important so make sure that you answer me truthfully, okay?”

“Please don’t tell him” He looked so guilty. Oh god, she was going to kick the living shit out of him. “…I painted a picture of him” he let out a small sigh at his confession. Now Sakura was even more confused.

“You painted him? While he was asleep?” Sai nodded. “You didn’t do anything else to him? Anything sexual?”

“No… I didn’t think that would be appropriate…” he looked thoughtful for a second “should I have?”

“No!” she exclaimed “It would have been more than inappropriate, Sai! It would have been a complete betrayal of his trust! You always need someone’s consent before you do anything sexual with them, okay? No exceptions.”

He looked a little taken aback but he nodded seriously “I will remember that in future. Thank you, Sakura”

She sighed explosively, glad to have at least gotten that out of the way. “So, you painted him but you don’t want him to know? I don’t get it, Sai. You paint and draw us all of the time without asking, even when we’re asleep.” She said with mild annoyance.

“This was different”

“How so?”

“Naruto was naked at the time.” Sai started “Would you like to see it?” he asked, already reaching for his bag.

Say no, say no, say no! She thought frantically to herself but she found herself frozen, her tongue laying uselessly in her mouth, as he retrieved the scroll from his bag, unfurling it and activating the storage seal to summon up a large sketchbook. He opened it to the latest page with the kind of reverence that she had never seen him use for anything other than the picture book that he had painted for his brother.

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the picture, it was beautiful. All warm yellows and golds against a black and white background, she didn’t know much about art but even she could see the amount of effort and care put into every little detail. She did feel a little second hand embarrassment on Naruto’s behalf since it was his naked body that she was staring at (and wow, Naruto had really… matured from the dorky little kid that she had met all those years ago) but it wasn’t as bad as she had feared, the fact that he was laying on his stomach rather than face up certainly helped but it wasn’t just that. The way that Sai had spoken about it she had been expecting some dirty sketch that would make her blush and look away but this picture commanded her attention in the way a classical nude painted by one of the old masters might. There wasn’t anything perverse about the picture, instead it just seemed natural.

There was just so much feeling in it that Sakura had a hard time believing that Sai had painted it at all. She had seen him paint the most breathtaking landscapes without batting an eyelid, as if he couldn’t actually understand the emotional value of what he was looking at. But this was different, she thought as she saw his thumb caress the corner of the page in a simple but telling motion. She looked up at him then and saw on his face all of the blatant emotion that had been poured into the piece.

He’s in love with him, it occurred to her with absolute clarity. He’s in love with Naruto and he probably doesn’t even know it.

Right on top of that realisation came a sense of dread. What if Naruto had just been using Sai as a way to get off? Thinking that Sai of all people would never get emotionally attached?

She had been ready to beat the crap out of Sai a moment ago when she thought that he’d taken advantage of Naruto but now it was the other way around. She was going to have to have a nice long talk with Naruto about this, whether he wanted to or not.

“I won’t tell Naruto about your picture, Sai” his head jerked up at the sound of her voice, he had obviously been lost in thought. “But I do think that you should tell him about it yourself. It’s beautiful and he deserves to see it.”

Sai thanked her and set about putting the sketchpad away (not before casting one last fond look at his picture Sakura noticed). They started eating again and Sakura realised that they hadn’t addressed one important piece of the puzzle.

“Sai?” she asked and he looked up at her questioningly “What happened this morning when you both woke up?”

“He asked me the same question you did. About what happened after he fell asleep, I told him that nothing happened and he seemed satisfied. We were both aroused so…” he paused and looked at her closely “Did you want the specifics this time or just a basic outline?” At least he was learning, she thought to herself. She felt her cheeks and ears burning again.

“The basic idea would be fine, Sai”

“I suppose that it would be best summed up as mutual manual stimulation.” Sakura resisted the urge to go back on what she had just said and insist on specifics after all “Afterwards Naruto said that he needed time to think about everything that happened and asked if he could use my shower, while he was in the bathroom I made breakfast. We ate together and Naruto complimented my cooking again, although I think he may have just been being polite…”

“I’m sure he was being honest.” She said softly “what happened next?”

“Towards the end of the meal I asked him if we were still going to have our date on Saturday and he said that he would ‘let me know’ where he wanted to go. He became agitated after that, eating the rest of his food quickly before trying to leave as fast as he could.”

What the hell, Naruto? Sakura’ fist clenched angrily around her chopsticks “He tried to leave? Just like that?”

Sai nodded solemnly “He had just gone through the door when I called after him and he stopped and turned back around…” Sai paused and Sakura couldn’t help but notice the little sincere smile that was on his face. “He embraced me, and I kissed him, and then he left.”

Sakura did a little internal fist pump of approval, Naruto was going up and down in her books like a yoyo today. They started packing everything up, Sakura re-wrapped the bento box and stood up before stepping back onto the main part of the roof.

“So, is this why you came to have lunch with me today?” she asked and Sai nodded “Why ask me, though?”

Sai looked confused at her question “Other than Naruto, you are my closest friend-”

Not that that was really saying much, Sakura thought to herself sadly. She appreciated the sentiment but despite how far Sai had come in recent years he still hadn’t really endeared himself to anyone outside of Team Kakashi and Ino… and Ino’s motivations when it came to Sai were less than pure. She smirked at the idea of telling Ino about Sai’s current unavailability.

“-I read that friends are supposed to discuss their interpersonal relationships with each other and that they will give support and advice where appropriate.” He paused for a second and tapped his chin with his finger thoughtfully “Although I wasn’t sure if it would be worth it… considering your lack of romantic and sexual experience-”

She felt her eyebrow twitch and the bento box she was holding creaked alarmingly as her grip on it tightened

“-I’m surprised that your hymen hasn’t grown back.”

“Shannaro!” she growled as she sent the black lacquered box careening through the air and towards Sai’s smiling face.
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That's the third chapter done now, anyway! Hopefully you guys liked it, even if there wasn't any smut to be had this time around.
Thanks to paxtdd, Valmasy03, Hikari Kaiya, Cinder1013, cocopower1 and Assassins Kiss for their lovely reviews. They were what motivated me to get this chapter ready to post despite working six days this week and feeling unwell. Seriously, I have so much love for you guys!
As for the next chapter, things at work are only going to get crazier as we get closer to Xmas but I'm going to try to have the fourth installment up before the 25th.