Inconvenient truth

Okay, this chapter contains allusions to a sexual situation. Not that you should be reading this if you're underage ANYWAY! But you've been warned.

Thanks again to all my wonderful reviewers! I'm glad you're all enjoying this so much!


Chapter Four


Sasuke lay on his bed after a rigorous training session on the Uchiha grounds, by himself, of course. Kakashi was still on his ‘teamwork’ parade and wouldn’t give them proper missions until Naruto was better.

Sasuke snorted angrily and flopped over onto his stomach. How was he supposed to get stronger if all they did was pull weeds and paint things for old people? When the hell was the dobe coming back so they could get on with it?

His thoughts briefly flicked over what Naruto might be doing before he berated himself. After leaving so abruptly last time, he’d told himself that he wouldn’t be concerned, the dobe could quite easily get better all by himself.

However, it had been almost a week and Sasuke was beginning to get worried. As much as he pushed it down and ignored it, the anxiety wore at him. Was the dobe well enough to feed himself yet? Surely lying in all that mess with the windows closed wouldn’t be making him better. Could he even shower?

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the thought, the scrunched it again when he sniffed himself. Speaking of showers…

//////

He patted down his wet hair with a towel, not bothering to look in the mirror. No matter what he tried to do with it, it always fell back into the same style when it dried. He was vaguely aware that more than a few woman would have killed for his just-rolled-out-of-bed haircut but didn’t care. He cut his hair himself, with a kunai. Most times, without a mirror.

He dressed quickly, trying not to think about why he was rushing, as if he had somewhere to be. He sat on the end of his bed for a moment, before wandering downstairs and putting on his sandals. He locked the front door and glanced up at the sun shining in the sky. It was too nice a day to be inside, he told himself as he strolled out the Uchiha gates with his hands in his pockets.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew where he was going but he’d be damned if he acknowledged it before it was glaringly obvious. After an hour of pointless wandering, he sighed angrily as his foot scuffed at a rock at the doorway to Naruto’s apartment building, still reluctant to give in to his worry.

‘I’ll just check on him…real quick. Then go train.’

That decided, he bounded up the stairs like he’d been released from a spring. Now that his mind had given the rest of him permission to see his teammate, the anxiety propelled his body forward as fast as it could. The feeling crested when he reached Naruto’s floor and he could barely stop himself from tearing the door down. He knocked once, quickly and when there was no immediate answer, tried the handle. It was locked but that didn’t stop him. With a quick precise blow to the door just below the handle, the lock popped and he pushed the door open.

A cloud of stale air hit him in the face and he gagged, a hand over his nose and mouth. Nothing in the apartment had changed. Filthy clothes still littered the floor in piles which he dodged as he ran to the window, opening it as far as it would go. He leaned out and took gulping breaths of fresh air before turning towards the kitchen, sure that was the cause of the stifling smell.

With his cheeks puffed out from holding his breath, he took a few steps forward. He eyed the piles of plastic ramen cups, some with mold, some with wriggling creatures in them that Sasuke didn’t want to examine too closely. He shuddered in revulsion and, after a quick hunt through the drawers, found a rubbish bag and proceeded to sweep the cups into the bag with a fork and a look of distaste. Once they were cleared from the benches and table, the kitchen looked slightly better and smelled substantially less heinous.

After the rush to get into the apartment, Sasuke seemed to be avoiding doing the thing that actually bought him here. He approached Naruto’s door with some trepidation, reluctant to see the dobe’s condition. If nothing had changed out here then it was doubtful that his bedroom would be all sunshine and sparkles. He pushed at the door slowly, pressing harder when it seemed to stop against something. He pushed harder and heard a groan from inside. He wedged it open enough to poke his head in, holding his breath.

He glanced down first to see what was blocking the door, eyes widening at the sight of the blonde on the floor, arms and legs akimbo, shivering in his boxers.

“Naruto!” Sasuke whispered harshly, pushing the door open enough to squeeze his slight frame through. He quickly knelt next to the unconscious boy, biting his lip at the sight of Naruto’s ribs under his sickly pale skin, sticking out like he’d starved himself. Which, Sasuke thought guiltily, had probably happened.

He levered his arms underneath Naruto’s armpits and hoisted him on the bed. Naruto seemed lighter, bonier and Sasuke’s guilt flared. He tried not to breathe in but the small exertion of lifting the dobe defeated his breath-holding skills. He took a big whiff of Naruto and swallowed heavily. It seemed that the dobe had avoided showers along with eating.

First things first though, he shook Naruto lightly, concerned that he hadn’t woken up while he was being lifted. He shook him harder, finally rewarded with a small grumble, accompanied by a sweet sickly smell.

“God, dobe, did you not even brush your teeth after being sick?” Sasuke grimaced, still shaking the boy to wake him fully. Naruto blinked sleep-crusted eyes and blearily tried to focus on the face in front of him.

‘S’s’ke?’ He breathed, as the Uchiha rapidly fanned a hand in front of his own face, an ill look on his features. His eyes closed again and Sasuke shook him.

“Dobe! DOBE! Wake up! You need to eat something!” He dropped the boy and ran to the kitchen, remembering that he’d seen a rice cooker in his search for rubbish bags. He quickly filled it with the tiny bag of rice he’d found, sifting out the weevils and setting it to cook. He glanced at the timer and ran back to Naruto.

The blonde had fallen back asleep so Sasuke pulled him up into a sitting position and hoisted him over his shoulder. He stumbled to the bathroom, ignoring the grimy nature of it and sat Naruto on the edge of the bath.

He glanced around for the showerhead and tuned the dial on, letting his hand rest under the spray till it was warm enough. He tried not to think about what he was doing as he slid his own clothes off and neatly folded them in the cleanest corner. He pulled Naruto to his feet, who woke up just enough to partially stand by himself and hooked his thumbs into Naruto’s boxers. He closed his eyes and slid them to his feet, ignoring the puzzled, sleepily mumbled “’Suke?” from above him.

Eyes resolutely to the side, he stood quickly and stepped into the shower, pulling Naruto with him. He leaned the dobe up against a wall, in case he couldn’t stand by himself for very long.

He held out a bar of soap, mouth twisting in irritation when Naruto’s eyes rolled closed and he slumped further against the wall.

Sasuke grumbled under his breath and turned the soap over and over in his hand. He grabbed one of Naruto’s hands and proceeded to scrub with his soapy fingers, working his way up the arm. When he reached the shoulder, he continued across his chest to the other arm. He tired to wash him as clinically as possible, tried not to think about the smooth, flawless skin under his fingers and the small happy noises Naruto occasionally made as he slipped in and out of consciousness.

He soaped his hands again after doing Naruto’s legs and glanced at the blonde’s face. Naruto’s eyes were closed and his breathing even. Sasuke bit his lip, wanting to wake the dobe so he could do it himself. He raised his hand to Naruto’s shoulder, but the soft shake he gave him made the boy slip a dangerous amount to the side on the slippery shower wall. After righting him and making sure he wouldn’t slip again, Sasuke glanced at his face, pressing his lips together thinly in indecision.

He looked to the side again and took a deep breath. It had to be done. He slowly slid a hand down Naruto’s chest, paused at his stomach, soaping his navel, which he’d already done. His eyes darted back to Naruto’s face as his hands slid lower.

‘Just...get it over with quickly.’ He thought resolutely.

He tried to think of something else as his fingers gripped, slid slickly, palms cupped and rolled. Naruto let out a small groan at his touch and Sasuke jumped, his hands pausing. He jumped again when he felt Naruto begin to harden in his hand, too shocked to move and draw his hand away. So, with fingers wrapped snugly around him, Sasuke watched as Naruto seemed to grow and grow, the balls in his other hand tightening.

Sasuke’s mouth dropped open as his own body reacted, staring, disbelieving as his own erection made itself known. He would have taken his hands away if Naruto’s had not chosen that very moment to slide down and cover his, causing them to grip his flesh more firmly.

Apparently he was back to the land of the conscious.

“Naru…to..” Sasuke breathed, hesitant as the blonde slowly began to shift Sasuke’s hands back and forth.

“Ahnn…Sas’ke…” Naruto whispered back, his head thunking back against the wall as his eyes closed in pleasure. Sasuke tightened his grip when one of Naruto’s hands left his to rest on his hip, pace quickening, the soap making the slide so much sweeter.

Sasuke realized what was actually happening when Naruto’s hips began to lift up off the shower wall, thrusting towards his grip.

“Wait! What are you doing?! Ahhgh!” Sasuke wrested his hand from Naruto’s grip and quickly rinsed it off under the showerhead, ignoring the disappointed groan behind him and the sudden embarrassed flare on his own face.

“Oh my God! Do it yourself! I’m…cooking some rice!” He half-shouted, lost for words, fleeing the bathroom with as much dignity as he could muster, clothes clutched in hand.

‘What the hell?! Am I losing my fucking mind?!’

He checked the rice, then absently stripped the sheets on Naruto’s bed, trying not to breathe much. The tiny bedroom window was open as much as possible as Sasuke fussed around, pilling blankets and clothes in a corner to clear some space and trying not to think about what had just happened and his own reaction to it. His mind wasn’t cooperating with him and kept recalling in vast detail the feel of Naruto’s skin and the little hitches of breath he’d made when Sasuke had first touched him.

It wasn’t till ten agonizing minutes later that Sasuke remembered that Naruto probably couldn’t get put of the shower by himself. So it was with much trepidation that he slunk back into the bathroom to see the state of the situation.

Naruto was still under the spray, thankfully sans erection, free of soap and blissfully asleep, leaning precariously against the wall. Sasuke reached up and switched off the shower. He wrestled the wet, unconscious Naruto back into his room, belatedly realizing that he hadn’t put clean sheets on the bed. He dumped him there anyway and went in search of some.

*********

Haha I know it was terribly out of character, and just terrible all round really, but please review :)