Dealing with Love (Complete)

WAI!! Naruto: Shipuuden is OUT!! I can’t believe it….call me crazy but I was happy, proud and kind of sentimental all at once!! Gah!! The anime of course is pretty different from the manga, but am I glad I spent four hours downloading it, because it was a bittorrent file and my bitlord was like that? Yeah not having a direct real media file download was a bitch, but I am so HAPPY and GLAD!!!!! Ooooh Sasuke is HOT and so SEME…. All the more reason for him to be uke here if that makes any sense. I hope Kishimoto ends this as a yaoi SasuNaru thing….yeah I guess I’ll keep believing until it comes true…ok…it’s officially I am NARUKO!

I love you all and please review for this chapter if you’re not too busy, because my motivation has reached rock bottom for some reason, although Shipuuden helped bring it back. I love this story I truly do, but I cannot fathom what’s taking me so long to write this, when I have the plot planned out….other than loads of work. So please review!!

Ja, on with the chapter!

Chapter 6:

They were in a dojo type place. The room was huge, its floor made of wood and its walls painted a peaceful cream. On the far side of the room were punching bags, weights, machines and the normal gym stuff. But this half was made only for sparring large tatami mats placed wall to wall. After their little fight, Naruto had decided that he’d better train Sasuke in the fighting arts…It was easier than coming up with lessons on how-to-pretend-you’re-in-love and it could bring them closer, since Naruto would be spending time with the dark haired man. Maybe the pretending to love thing would fall into place by itself.

“Okay, to put it simply, you have a lot of strength but you have no idea about how to use it. Your punches and kicks are solid, but if you don’t know where to punch of kick, then you won’t win. You’re a slave…these lessons should be fairly easy, since you know people’s weak spots. I’m only adding to that knowledge. I’m going to show you the proper stance and start you off with punches and kicks. If you can get these down pat and practice like crazy by day after I’ll show some other moves and stuff.” Naruto showed him how to curl his hand into the correct type of fist and then showed him how to punch in slow motion, correcting minor mistakes and such like.

Sasuke practiced all day and night. He was a fast learner and usually he picked things up on the first try. Plus he was flexible and he all ready know things like standing on his hands or bending in impossible ways, he’d been taught that as well. There was a time when Orochimaru had gotten him a tutor…a college student named Kabuto. Kabuto had taught him for about five years and they’d finished the courses worth ten years of studying in that time. Then Sasuke had convinced Kabuto to sneak him out, so he’d be able to write the Konoha National Exams, he’d gotten into the top hundred.

Unfortunately Orochimaru had found out and all his privileges had been taken away; his TV, his tutor, his walks outside…just everything. He’d been left to lead a life full of aphrodisiacs and being exhibited for the next five years, until Naruto had come along and saved him.

So Sasuke practiced hard, glad to be able to finally learn something new. He spent the whole week practicing everything the blond had taught him, wanting to prove that he could improve greatly within the week. Sometimes he only came down for his meals or some rest. But he would wake up early in the morning and practice late into the night.

It was mid-morning and Sasuke had skipped breakfast once more in favour of ‘training’ as he called it, when Naruto sauntered into the ‘dojo’ clad in nothing but white drawstring pants. Sasuke had to admit that his master looked hot in those, he was unable to stop himself from running his eyes up and down that tanned, toned chest with it’s clearly defined muscles. Sasuke liked Naruto’s muscles…he’d never wanted a master who looked like those wrestlers he used to watch on TV, all bulging and big. He watched as Naruto worked out, eyes lingering on the tight looking ass, when the blond bent down. Sasuke wished Naruto would trust him enough for him to bury himself in there…not that he would be seme, no matter how much he wanted to be, seme or uke it didn’t matter as long as he could sleep with Naruto.

The blond looked up and caught his eye. Then he smiled, choosing to ignore the way the Uchiha was checking him out. “Teme, if you’re done practicing, would you like to spar?”

“To spar?”

“Yeah. It’s a good way for me to see how you’ve improved…unless you’re scared?” Naruto raised his eyebrow, throwing Sasuke a challenging look.

Sasuke smirked. “Me? Scared of you, dobe? Unlike you, I have been practicing the whole week, instead of sitting on my ass, doing nothing. Maybe you should be scared.”

“Let’s see you say hat when I whip your ass bastard.” Naruto called out, taking his position. Their eyes locked gauging each other. Then Naruto suddenly clicked his tongue and walked towards the other man, correcting his stance slightly. Then he moved back to his position facing the slave. “You’ve been practicing all week and you can’t even get your stance right! Let’s see how much you’ve improved bastard.”

Sasuke tried not to let that bother him. He had to win or at least put up a good fight. He suddenly lunged for the blond, who dodged countering with a quick blow to his back using his elbow. Sasuke dropped before the blow could connect and rolled, getting to his feet in time to block Naruto’s punch. This time he was able to stop the right foot that came at him and jump out of range. They circled each other warily before charging at each other…each catching the other’s punch. Sasuke suddenly kicked out causing the blond to fly backwards, before catching hold of his ankle and trying to spin him around. But Naruto stopped the spin, placing both his hands on the floor and using it as leverage to kick the raven in the stomach. Sasuke tumbled backwards, but managed to roll back onto his feet.

Naruto flew at Sasuke, but the raven did a split and then heaved himself onto his hand and kicked upwards. Naruto shot through the air as Sasuke’s kick connected with his abdomen, but he somersaulted in mid air, using the energy to land on his feet onto for a split second, moving to strike at Sasuke. Sasuke moved to block the punch when Naruto suddenly spun on one foot and the heel of the other foot caught Sasuke hard in the arm. The raven stumbled, trying to regain his balance, when Naruto came at him again. This time their fingers laced together and they grappled, until Naruto shifted slightly, his change in position making it easier for him to slowly force Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke found himself lying on the ground, the blond straddling him…the light of victory in his blue eyes.

The slave suddenly felt breathless, suddenly aware of the close proximity between them…of Naruto’s hands pinning his own to the ground. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on keeping completely still, when he felt the blond was moving forward slowly. He felt his heart stop when the blond’s slightly chapped lips bushed against his. His eyes shot open to stare incredulously at the billionaire.

Naruto intently studied the face of the Uchiha below him. Sasuke’s eyes were wide with shock, a very pale flush painted his cheeks and his lips were parted slightly. It drew Naruto in once more; he placed his lips upon the Uchiha’s and just kept them there just touching…feeling the raven warm breath. He heard and felt Sasuke’s short gasp, which spurred him onto to slowly move his lips against the Uchiha’s just caressing them in a short dry kiss. His tongue was just about to join in to make things wetter, when he heard a throat being cleared. He jumped off to see his dad watching, an unreadable expression on his face and frowned.

“Aren’t you supposed to be away?” anger laced his voice, though his face was quite pale. He’d forgotten all about the dark haired man getting to his feet behind him.

Arashi let a smile creep onto his face. “I came back early. I’m sorry to disturb you boys, Shikamaru called. I’ve put him on hold…I didn’t think it necessary to bring the phone all the way down here. So you’d better hurry.” He forgot to add that he’d wanted to talk with Naruto’s boyfriend alone.

Naruto grimaced. “Sasuke…if I’m not back in five minutes then go up to the room. I’ll have something sent up. You must be hungry.” Then out of sheer defiance, he pecked the Uchiha on the lips and then left the room with a few long strides.

Sasuke turned to see Arashi smiling at him, though the smile didn’t quite reach the blue eyes which resembled chips of ice. Then Arashi moved to sit down on the floor, patting it to indicate hat Sasuke do the same. “Mind if we have a little chat, Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke sat down as well, keeping his mask of blankness firmly fixed onto his face. He felt very uneasy about this chat. “No, I don’t. so, what do you want to ‘chat’ about?”

“Do you love my son, Sasuke?”

The question surprised Sasuke…but his own answer which left his mouth before he could think about it, surprised him even more. “I believe I do, Uzumaki-san. A lot, but I guess it could increase given more time…I have only known him for a while now.”

“Yes, it seems possible to love someone in a month, doesn’t it? My son has that effect on people… even with the weird attitude, he seems to have adopted now.” Arashi smirked at the way Sasuke’s eyes widened imperceptibly. “Ah, yes I do know you’re a slave, Sasuke-kun. My son hired you out of pity, didn’t he? And then you started dating…how romantic.”

Sasuke sighed inwardly. So Arashi didn’t know that Sasuke and Naruto had only met two weeks ago. He thought it was a month and that Sasuke really worked in Naruto’s office. Well, that was fine. Now where was this conversation heading? “What are you trying to say Uzumaki-san? If you’re going to give me a talk on the difference in our status then I’m really not interested. I’d like to be with your son…I’m his boyfriend and that’s it.”

Something glinted in those blue eyes, unnerving Sasuke as the blond man began speaking. “No Sasuke, I am not here to ask you to end your relationship with my son, because of your status. I have had slaves before and I can completely understand my son wanting one as beautiful as you.” he reached out and let a finger slide against Sasuke’s cheek, before going back to its position on the floor. “I am here to ask you to break up with Naruto because of other reasons of a more personal nature. I am here to order you to leave in the next two weeks. If you do not, I will kill you.”

Sasuke said nothing staring at the floor. Arashi decided to use another track. “Sasuke, I am willing to pay you any amount you want. Take the money and get the hell out of my son’s life.”

At that the slave’s head shot up, rage burning within those obsidian eyes. “I don’t want your cash! I might have been a slave but now I’m his employee.” That was true to some extent. “You take your money and shove it up your ass!” he stood up and stalked to the door, suddenly stopping as a question occurred to him. “Why? What are your personal reasons?”

“My reasons…fine. I don’t see why I shouldn’t tell you. You don’t seem to be someone who will judge me. They are very simple. Firstly anyone he loves will betray or hurt him in some way. But me, I am his parent…he’s my son and I love him. I cannot betray him nor can I hurt him…I can give him all the love he needs. I’m the only one he can depend on. I know him inside out. I am the perfect lover for him.” Arashi sounded amused…he enjoyed the way the Uchiha’s fist clenched and unclenched around the door frame.

Sasuke forced his voice out…it came out in a gravely whisper. “You need to get your head examined.” And then he walked out oblivious to the death glare Naruto’s father sent his way.

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Naruto finished his conversation and entered the room an hour later. He found Sasuke asleep on his secret pull-out sailor bed, curled into a tight ball as usual. The Uchiha’s sleeping really fascinated Naruto…it was such a defensive position…it made the blond wonder what the man could have been through. Come to think of it, the only hardship Naruto had been through had been Kyuubi’s death. Even the divorce of his parent’s hadn’t hurt him, since he’d always had his father, though he was now beginning to doubt if he could depend on the man…he hated him, didn’t he? He shook his head as if to get the thoughts out, before pain began to claw at his heart again.

Sasuke stirred a bit, then, effectively stopping the train of thoughts as he murmured in his sleep. Naruto checked his watch and decided that he might as well wake the raven up, since it was almost time for lunch. He caught hold of the sleeping man’s shoulder and shook him. “Oi, Sasuke, wake up.” But the raven frowned and merely snuggled further into his pillows murmuring about Orochimaru and how he didn’t want any more aphrodisiac. Naruto stiffened when he heard that and suddenly felt like a jerk. He squelched the feeling and tried harder to wake the teme up.

The bastard woke up only after several tries on Naruto’s part. Naruto wondered that he hadn’t died on the spot all ready as an icy gaze was levelled at him. He just grinned a bit. “You skipped breakfast and baa-chan will get mad if you skipped lunch as well. So why don’t you wake yourself up some more and then come down?”

The Uchiha got to his feet, the grumpy expression on his face not receding. “Fine. You go down; I’ll be with you in a minute. Give me some time to wash up.” He turned and went into the bathroom wanting to have some alone time to himself, so he could return to brooding about what he had been brooding about before he fell asleep.

He thought about whether the blond knew what his father felt for him. But…no, Naruto didn’t seem like the type to take that lying down…it must be because of something else. Sasuke figured it was something to do with Kyuubi.

He splashed the cool water on his face, turning his thoughts to whether he loved the blond…true it had only been two weeks, but then Naruto was the only one in his whole life, who’d treated him sort of like an equal, once he got over his anal-ness about being touched. He felt like he was a friend…Sasuke decided that he did love the blond, but he wasn’t in love with the blond. That was okay then…loving was alright, as long as he took precautions not to fall in love. And as long as they didn’t do anything, he could keep that barrier between them. But then he decided to do a little research to see if his theory was right that Naruto didn’t know about Arashi’s feelings towards him.

When he got downstairs he found everyone all ready seated. Arashi was nowhere to be seen and Sasuke mentally sighed in relief. He didn’t want to face the man right now for fear of trying to punch his face in. He murmured a short apology and sat down. Tsunade looked him over in concern and asked if he was alright. He said something about not getting enough sleep and left it at that. Jiraiya snickered and Sasuke could read the perverted comment in his eyes, even if the man didn’t say anything aloud. Sasuke sighed, smiling to himself about how Jiraiya would react if he knew Naruto wasn’t giving him any.

Soon Jiraiya and Tsunade got into an argument as usual and so the ‘couple’ were left to entertain themselves. Naruto seemed to be in a highly talkative mood and went on and on about how he’d invited Shikamaru to come over for the rest of the week and how Kiba designed an amazing game for them to work on. Somewhere along the line, Sasuke switched off, wanting to concentrate on his food.

The food here was wonderful and nothing like the muck Orochimaru used to feed him, though it was healthy muck. He almost moaned as another explosion of flavours occurred in his mouth, not wanting to swallow. He suddenly realised Naruto was looking at him oddly. He raised an eyebrow, but Naruto turned away muttering something about ‘his expressions’ and blushing lightly. Then he bounced right back up and loudly demanded to know why Sasuke hadn’t been listening to him.

Sasuke shrugged he could hardly say that he had been close to reaching orgasmic bliss because of the food. He brushed off the accusing finger the blond had pointed at is face and continued to eat. It was only when the finger refused to move, that he deigned to reply. “I was listening until you started rambling about the ramen joint opening in the city, today. You get excellent ramen right here, so I didn’t see the need to waste my time, dobe.”

“Stop calling me dobe!” Naruto frowned and began to pay more attention to his food, his smiley attitude suddenly disappearing. Sometimes Sasuke wished he could wring the dobe’s neck for pretending to happy all the time, though those genuine smiles were pretty frequent nowadays.

Tsunade giggled and reached forward to clasp Sasuke’s hand in hers. The two men hadn’t even realised she’d been listening. She smiled at Sasuke. “Sasuke, you are being a bastard. I won’t let anyone be a bastard to my nephew, so I propose you make up for it by taking Naruto to the ramen joint today. And you will take him to the festival being held in the city too. It’ll be fun.”

Sasuke hesitated but Naruto’s usually-kinda-dead eyes seemed to have a glimmer of real hope in them, so he consented. Seeing Naruto’s smile, he felt a nice pleasant sensation; he really loved pleasing his mast…no Naruto.

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Naruto had decided to let Sasuke drive…if only to check out the older man’s driving skills. Sasuke drove pretty well actually, not bad at all. Naruto sighed with relief. Thankfully he didn’t have to teach Sasuke the rules of driving as well. He wondered what was on the raven’s mind; Sasuke’s soft lips were set in a somewhat stern line, his eyes were a tad far away and his grip on the steering wheel was a bit tighter than necessary. Naruto put it down to the traffic; of course Suna traffic would ruffle anyone.

They got to the ramen joint and Naruto suddenly felt a bit low. A hand came up to rest on his shoulder rather cautiously. He turned to see Sasuke just looking at him…he was surprised that he found that blank expression comforting. But then again, just being around the teme made him feel alive again. It was so much easier to forget what had happened and squabble for a while. Feeling he owed an explanation for his sadness, he gave one. “Kyuubi loved ramen…I could never stand it in large quantities, but she used to down about five bowls in a sitting. Whenever a new joint opened up, we used to go and I would run out of money.” He smiled a nostalgic little smile. “I thought…I thought it would be difficult going in here…that it would hurt a lot more to eat ramen with someone else…but I think I thought wrong. It isn’t so bad.”

Sasuke merely nodded. “Are we going in, dobe? Or are we going to stand here reminiscing?”

Naruto glared at him, but somehow the bastard-ness just helped in a way. Sometimes people didn’t get that he didn’t want sympathy…he just wanted to be able to talk about it without having people go all I’m-sorry-for-your-loss on him. They bagged a nice corner booth by the large windows…it was nice and private.

Sasuke watched as Naruto ordered five bowls of ramen. They were basically miso, pork, beef, chicken and vegetable ramen. Sasuke ordered a miso for himself. They chatted about simple things like their likes and dislikes as they waited for their food. Inside though, Sasuke was debating about when he could bring up the question about Naruto and his dad. He didn’t feel up to destroying the mood right now.

After watching the blond inhale his ramen, Sasuke decided they’d better get going to the festival. Naruto seemed extremely energized and dragged Sasuke to the place.

Tons of people milled around, there were many stalls selling snacks and a few game stalls where they gave away free plushies. Sasuke was intrigued, he had no idea people had festivals like this. Naruto was more than willing to be his guide, but on the condition that he participated in all the games too. Sasuke sighed regretting the fact that he and the blond were so competitive. They went to each stall…the stall where you had to throw tennis balls at ducks was where Naruto wouldn’t stop teasing Sasuke about the way his hair looked like a duck’s ass.

Sasuke had gotten so pissed off; he’d hit all the ducks, winning a gold fish. Then Naruto had gotten all riled up and dragged Sasuke to an archery stand. Sasuke had watched a bit awe-struck as Naruto hit the target on all tries. He picked a huge wolf plushie after whish he had proceeded to blush and offer it to Sasuke.

“Ano…you take it. Here, I um…want you to have it.”

Sasuke had stared at it, before handing the gold fish to Naruto and accepting his first plushie. He’d never had a plushie before and if he had, he didn’t remember. He held it close, shoving his face into its neck when no one was watching, so his pride wouldn’t be hurt. It was so soft, furry and…cuddly. When he thought things couldn’t get any better, he heard an excited shout and was dragged to a fence like thing erected at the far end of the street. It looked like a boxing ring and two people were sparring there all ready.

Naruto left the stuff with Sasuke and signed up for it. It reminded Sasuke of what had happened earlier that day, forcing him to fight down a blush. He was actually too tired to spar today…especially since that talk with Arashi had left him mentally drained…he’d thought that much about it. He watched as Naruto got into the ring, he wore short gloves and a head band with a squiggly sign on it, resembling a leaf. Sasuke supposed it had something to do with Konoha.

His opponent was a girly looking man called Haku. Sasuke watched the fight that ensued worriedly. Haku was really good; he hoped Naruto would win this. Just when he thought Naruto was going to lose, the blond surprised him by using some weird technique that got him out of Haku’s grip and punched the man in the face, sending him flying backwards. Haku stood up, his nose bleeding. Naruto had drawn first blood…he’d won. Sasuke watched him help the Haku guy up. They talked outside the ring for a while and then Naruto bid them fair well and walked up to Sasuke.

“Did you see how I won? Now that is sparring, but the way you did today, I’m sure you’ll be that good in a month or so!” Naruto slung an arm around Sasuke’s neck. Sasuke was surprised that the blond was actually touching him…wasn’t he supposed to be weird about touching? They decided to take a longer route back to the parking lot, where they’d parked. Sasuke decided he wanted to ask now, when they both were happy and sated.

They stepped into the car park when Sasuke asked. “Naruto?”

The blond stopped and looked at him. “What?”

“Why do you hate your father?”

Naruto’s eyes widened and he turned away. He had no idea how to answer…a part of him just told him to get on with it and open up while another muttered that it was none of Sasuke’s business. He opened his mouth to reply when he heard Sasuke’s yell of pain and a bullet whizzed past his ear.

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A/N: Mwuhahaha. Ok that’s my evil laugh…I actually don’t know why I laughed. sweat drop I guess I’m a little high…

Itachi: a little? Yeah right. I knew you shouldn’t have had that second glass of Coca Cola. Funny how you’re sober with alcohol but high with soda!

Taka: giggles That’s just my charm, Itachi-kun. And you know you only did it because you could take advantage of tipsy little me…

Naruto: points an accusing finger YOU! You’re the one that didn’t listen when I told you not give her that bottle of cola! Why won’t you listen to me Itachi?”

Taka drapes herself over Itachi and is led away. Naruto is left to talk to you guys.

Ok guys, since Taka is currently socking to Itachi about how much she loves…Heh I don’t think he’ll get any tonight anyway…I’ll be asking you to review. If you don’t review my night with sexy slave Sasuke, is going to take a long while in coming. But then this is not a demand! So as Taka says…Ja ne!

Naruto

Taka

P.S: cola really does this to me. O.o….so I need some alcohol to sober up….I am soooo weird. Any of you have this problem?