Watching

A/N: Thanks so much for all the great reviews! There were over fifty for the last chapter, and I just don’t know what to say. Thanks a lot!

Got ANOTHER review complaining about my review responses, which nearly made me decide to just discontinue the story. Really, I’m writing this for fun, and I expected comments and criticism, but on my STORY. Not on my choice to correspond with my readers. I had decided to stop writing this, but I got a really great review the next morning, which inspired me to continue. So, I’ve decided to say this: If you don’t like a lot of review responses, then LEAVE. Right now. Because I’m not going to stop responding to reviews, sorry. Actually, I’m not sorry, but you know what I mean. If you review my story complaining about said review responses, I will delete the review, simple as that. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto, and am making no profit from this story.

***

Okay, I’ll admit it. The thing in the car… that was nice. Alright, better than nice, it was pretty damn good. I guess maybe I’m warming up to Sasuke a little. I mean, he’s a complete and utter bastard, no question, but… well, he can do really nice things with his tongue. I mean, I can’t overlook that, right? It’s not every day you meet somebody with a talent like that.

So, really, it would be stupid to tell him to back off. I mean… such an interesting talent should be enjoyed.

Shut up. I’m not gay.

***

One would think that a good make-out session would not only be the perfect way to end a day, but would inspire a night of excellent dreams. Naruto would be forced to disagree. The night after the incident in Sasuke’s car had been a sleepless night for the blonde, spent pondering his sexuality, the possible consequences of said sexuality, and all of the very interesting ingredients of ramen.

Alright, so that last one wasn’t really relevant to his predicament, but a ramen lover can only go so long without contemplating his favorite food, and it had been a long night.

The moment his alarm went off, not an hour after he’d finally managed to fall into a light doze, Naruto knew it was going to be a long day. Cursing Sasuke-- lips, tongue, wandering hands, and all-- he groaned and rolled over, turning off the blaring alarm clock. A quick shower confirmed that the hot water heater in his building was broken again, but a cold shower couldn’t do him any harm when he still had Sasuke on his mind.

Fatigue had him moving more slowly than usual, and he was forced to skip breakfast to make it to school on time. He thought a brisk run over the few blocks to the school building might wake him up a bit, but was sorely disappointed. He arrived at the front steps of Konoha High panting and more exhausted than he’d been when leaving his apartment.

Shikamaru was waiting for him right inside the front doors, sitting on the bench outside of the front office, head back and eyes closed. Naruto tapped him tiredly on the shoulder when he spotted him and the lazy boy cracked open one eye before standing and stretching.

“You weren’t outside your apartment at the usual time, so I left without you.”

Naruto wouldn’t expect any different. Shikamaru was a good friend, but he wasn’t one to wait around any longer than he had to.

“I figured.” Naruto ran a hand through messy blonde locks as he and Shikamaru made their way down the hallway to their lockers, other students milling around them. The ponytailed boy eyed his friend casually, taking in his tired appearance.

“How did things go with Uchiha?” The question itself sounded innocent enough, but not even Shikamaru could keep the suggestive tone completely from his voice.

Naruto found himself once again pondering the possibility of Shikamaru having strange psychic abilities. He loved the lazy ass, but sometimes he was just creepy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The other boy snorted, but didn’t reply, stopping at his locker and spinning the combination lock. Naruto turned to do the same but saw a flash of black out of the corner of his eye, and looked up to find Sasuke making his way down the hall towards him. Beginning to feel uncharacteristically nervous, Naruto opened his locker and began tugging books out, pretending that he hadn’t yet spotted Sasuke.

A tap on his shoulder alerted him to the fact that Sasuke had reached him, and he shut his locker before turning to face him.

“I spoke with Sakura. We’re going to my house again today after school, if you can.” Sasuke settled one hand on Naruto’s shoulder, and the blonde found himself looking around self consciously to see who might be watching. Shikamaru was making no effort to hide the fact that he was, but no one else seemed to be paying much attention.

“…Alright,” Naruto responded. “I’ll be there. Are you giving us a ride again?” Why was he so nervous? He couldn’t figure out what to do with his hands. They felt weird hanging by his sides. Should he cross his arms? No, he’d heard that was a defensive position, something about it subconsciously turned people away. Stupid hands…

If Sasuke noticed his discomfort, he didn’t comment on it. “If you want one. Sakura already asked.”

Naruto nervously scanned the thinning crowd in the hallway again. Sasuke’s hand was still on his shoulder. “…Yeah, sure.”

Finally noticing or acknowledging Naruto’s embarrassment, the darker boy pulled his hand away, stepping back. “See you, then.” He didn’t wait for a response before walking off down the hall.

“You’re such a spaz.”

Naruto gave Shikamaru a dark glare.

***

Lunch was always hell for Naruto. On a good day, he ate alone at a table by himself. On a bad day, he ended up with food getting thrown at him.

Shikamaru had a different lunch period, and so Naruto was left to fend for himself. Not that his only friend’s presence would have deterred the other students, but it at least would have meant he’d have someone to sit with. Kiba and Chouji weren’t willing to risk getting caught in the crossfire of wayward food missiles, and usually avoided Naruto during lunch.

Not in the mood for a table alone or for being pelted with food, Naruto made his way outside. The juniors and seniors were allowed to eat out in the courtyard, as long as things were kept clean. It was a hot day, so there weren’t many people out, and Naruto sat down on the sidewalk, leaning against the brick wall of the gym. He set his tray on the concrete in front of him and sighed. There was a soft breeze going, so the heat wasn’t unbearable. All in all, this looked to be the high point of his day.

…That was really, really pathetic.

He blew blonde bangs out of his eyes and opened his small carton of milk. Today, the cafeteria had been serving pizza, and the lunch lady had made sure to give him the most charred piece they’d had. He’d anticipated this, though. Ripping open the plastic wrapping around his utensils, he began methodically scraping burnt cheese off of his pizza.

Naruto didn’t notice anyone approaching until a warm body settled next to his, just a little too close to be anyone but Sasuke. The smaller boy looked up in surprise, and pale hands lifted a normal pizza slice and dropped it onto Naruto’s tray.

“Have one of mine. I got two, anyway.”

The blonde stared down at the most perfect piece of cafeteria pizza he’d ever had. This was a really, really stupid thing to get choked up about, but he couldn’t get rid of the pleasant tightness that was forming in his chest. He slowly pushed the remains of his charred pizza to the corner of his tray with his plastic fork, then dropped the utensil and picked up his new slice.

“Thank you.” He grinned, blue eyes narrowing to slits as he took a huge bite out of the pizza. The words themselves hadn’t been all that special, but Naruto knew that the other boy would sense his gratitude.

“Chew with your mouth closed,” was Sasuke’s only response as he began eating, much more slowly and delicately that his companion.

Naruto made a point of opening his mouth wide enough to give Sasuke a good view of its contents before swallowing. “So how did you ditch your fangirls? They didn’t follow you out here.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “That’s not even worthy of a response.”

“You’re right.” Naruto took a few gulps of his milk. “You’re far too stealthy for them. You should be a ninja!”

Scowling at the sarcasm heavy in the blonde’s voice, Sasuke shifted a little closer, laying his free hand carefully on the blonde’s thigh. He felt the muscles there tense for a moment, a sign of Naruto’s surprise, before relaxing again. “We should talk.”

Naruto set down his milk carton and nodded. “Yeah. Alright.”

Thumb stroking the denim clad thigh absently, Sasuke took a moment to decide how to phrase his thoughts before speaking. “You don’t want anyone to know.”

“I’m not sure what it is I don’t want them to know about,” the other boy complained, his expression troubled. “I don’t even know what we’re doing.”

“Dating?”

Naruto felt his face turn six shades of red. “We haven’t been on a date!”

“We could.”

“We’re both guys.” Naruto picked up what was left of his pizza and took a bite out of the crust, needing something to do to hide his embarassment. “Where would we be able to go on a date?”

“No one would kick us out just for being two males out together,” Sasuke insisted calmly.

Naruto glared down at his food. Sasuke just didn’t get it. People hated him enough as it was. If they thought he was gay… which he was not… then they’d only hate him more. Of course, on the other hand, what could it hurt? They already hated him. How much worse could it really get?

“Do we have to go out somewhere?” he finally asked. “Couldn’t we just hang out at your place, or my apartment?”

Sasuke wasn’t looking at him. “Are you ashamed?”

“That’s not it! Just… come on, only for a while. Let me get used to this.”

The other boy sighed, wiping his hands on a napkin before crumpling it up and dropping it on his now empty tray. “Fine.” He smirked at the temporary relief on Naruto’s face. “…If you kiss me. Right now.”

Naruto froze, then turned a scowl on Sasuke. “We’re in the middle of the courtyard. Someone could see.”

“So?”

Compelling argument, that. Naruto tried to decide what to do. He could either give Sasuke a quick kiss right then, hoping that no one would see, or he could go on a date with him. There was a good chance no one would see the kiss, since the courtyard was empty, but there were windows that overlooked the courtyard in the cafeteria, not to mention any other window of the building which someone could happen to peek out of at just the wrong moment, getting the surprise of their life.

A date could be confused for something else by anyone who saw them. After all, two guys out together didn’t automatically equal a relationship. Still, people would definitely see them on a date, though not necessarily people that they knew.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, then grinned when the bell rang. “Well, gotta go! Thanks for the pizza!” He grabbed his tray and jumped to his feet, running his fingers very briefly through Sasuke’s hair before running across the courtyard to the cafeteria, leaving a fuming (and sexually frustrated) Uchiha alone on the sidewalk.

***

End Chapter Six
Page 5
oOKeairaOo

Alright, there you go. Sorry my chapters aren’t longer, folks, but I end them where it feels right. Next chapter should involve a little more work on the project, Sasuke and Naruto alone in Sasuke’s room, and an appearance by Itachi.

By the way, a few things before I start on review responses. Um… first, this story is going to contain a little one-sided ItaSasu, with Itachi being the one attracted to Sasuke. I’ve already pretty much decided that. Nothing is going to happen between them, it’s just going to add a little to the plot. However, I’d like to get your opinions on this, so please let me know how you feel about that.

Also, I’ve always been a little confused by the way yaoi fans tend to like one character in a couple to be the seme all the time, and the other to be the uke all the time. That’s not usually how real homosexual relationships work, and so that’s not how Sasuke and Naruto are going to be portrayed in my story. At the moment, I guess you could say that Naruto is acting more “uke-ish”, but that’s only because he’s just discovering his sexuality, while Sasuke accepted his own long ago. That will change. I plan for Sasuke and Naruto’s relationship to be an equal partnership, so I just thought I’d warn you about that now.

..::OKAY, REVIEW RESPONSES ARE OFFICIALLY STARTING. DON’T LIKE THEM? WELL, GUESS WHAT. THE CHAPTER’S OVER. YOU CAN, THEREFORE, *GASP* LEAVE.::..

Amanda I’m glad you decided to drop me a review, even though you usually wouldn’t! Well, I still don’t quite have my inspiration back, but I’m going to keep going, despite that. I know how annoying it can be to get into a story, then have the author drop it. Thanks for the review!

insert_fetchy_name_here: Sakura will eventually find out about them, as will everyone else, and I was planning something similar to what you said for that. Thanks a lot!

Shiin: Really? I didn’t know that. It must not be true about all cars, though, because my cousin has locked me INSIDE mine once, at a gas station. I was driving him to school, and I told him to pump the gas when we stopped at a gas station. Well, he took the keys and used the little remote thing to lock the doors, and every time I’d push the unlock button, he’d just lock them again. And if I tried to open the doors… yep, locked. ^^; It was really quite annoying.

As for Itachi’s phone call, I know that five minutes isn’t that late, especially considering traffic. Itachi’s concern with Sasuke being five minutes late was MEANT to be overly dramatic, that’s why Sasuke reacted the way he did. The situation was meant to show that Itachi is overly protective of his brother, for reasons that will be shown later.

Thanks for the review!

Seto’s Darkness: I’m glad you liked the car scene! I was nervous about posting it, since I don’t actually do make-out scenes and the like very often. I’ve actually NEVER written a lemon, though I’m going to do my best at some point during this fic.

Plot ideas would be excellent! E-mail me any time, I’d love to hear from you. I’m sort of making this up as I go, so any ideas you have would be much appreciated.

*munches on cookies*

Nekogirl: Thanks, I’m glad you feel the same way that I do about the review responses thing. I’m sorry, but if people don’t like them, they can go read on FF.Net. I’m pretty sure that they don’t allow review responses there anymore. Thanks a lot for your review!

Tatemshope: No way, the make-out scene was SO hard to write! I had to listen to TATU to get me in the right mood (^^; that’s not as bad as it sounds). I actually think your scenes between Sasuke and Naruto are WAY better than mine. I just love your story.

Houseki: Sasuke isn’t going to be seme throughout the entire story, I promise. See the author’s note above ^^

Horizont: Ahh, thank you for your review! It let me know that at least for some readers, the feelings and such that I was trying to have Naruto and Sasuke express ARE getting across. That’s good.

Kashshaptu: *laughs* Your review was hilarious! I’m glad you liked the make-out scene!

loser81: Bite me.

Heather: You’re from the South, too? Which part? Your review is actually the one that made me change my mind about discontinuing this fic, so I have to thank you for it. And I’m glad you like my portrayal of Naruto. Yes, he can do stupid things, but that doesn’t make him stupid. It’s often the most intelligent people who have absolutely no common sense, and Naruto strikes me as that type. Yeah, I tend to have his thoughts become a bit disjointed, and I do that in a lot of stories. I think it’s because I tend to move in a more first person direction, and that’s how my thoughts go. ^^; I probably shouldn’t admit that, huh?

Awww! That’s the same reason I didn’t notice my tattoo was upside down!

Dhampir: It was nice to get a review from you, I’ve actually been reading one of your stories on FFN. I think it’s called, “Through Fox’s Eyes.” I’m glad you like the story, and yeah, I’m more of one for the whole getting to know each other romance than the pouncing and fucking.

***

Alright, that’s it. I really wanted to do more review responses, but I’m exhausted, so that’ll have to do. I’m going to post this, then head off to take a nap. Maybe have some good reviews to wake up to? ^~