Role Play

A/N: Love meh, for it is another fast post and another chapter! Why am I so industrious? Because I have more pressing matters to attend to and I’m trying desperately to ignore them! Anywho, chapter seven is up, and let’s see what happens!

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“And that means that I, Uchiha Sasuke, am in love with a saint.”

Naruto face expressed varying emotions from amusement to exasperation as Sasuke spoke. But his friend’s last statement had him doing a double take. He was confused…it sounded as if Sasuke was saying something unbelievable. Maybe he had missed part of the tirade.

“What? Who…what did you…what are you saying?” Sasuke rolled his eyes, and sighed at his unfortunate lot in life.

“I’m saying I’m in love with you, you moron.” Sasuke stared up into the bluest, brightest eyes he’d ever known and softened. But just so there was no mistake…

“Uzumaki Naruto, I love you.”

Naruto stared at Sasuke as if he’d grown a second head. Another moment of stunned silence passed, before Naruto snorted and got off him. The man extended a hand to Sasuke and dragged him up.

“Teme, you say the dumbest shit to avoid a beating…” Naruto squinted and locked his arms behind his head, regarding Sasuke with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “One of these days, you are going to say something that gets you in real trouble.”

Sasuke saw the statement for what it was…he was being offered a way out of his confession. He was being offered a chance to escape, before things were forced to change for ever. Well, Naruto could take that offer and shove it.

“Naruto…” The serious tone of Sasuke’s voice had Naruto panicking. He butted in quickly before Sasuke had a chance to continue.

“I mean…you’re joking right? You’re kidding! You weren’t serious…”

“As if I’m someone who could joke about something like that.” Sasuke spoke softly, watching the blond flail and sputter before him.

“I know I’m your best friend… but you don’t love me! Not like that anyway. I mean…heh, you barely LIKE me!”

“Yeah?” Sasuke inquired with a lift of his brow.

“Well, yeah! I mean you…”

The rest of Naruto’s statement was cut off by lips covering his, and effectively silencing him. Sasuke cradled Naruto’s head, brushing his lips back and forth across Naruto’s. A minute or so elapsed, and while Naruto hadn’t pushed him away, he certainly hadn’t him granted further access either. Sasuke smirked against his friend’s pursed lips.

“Those fangirls of yours were lying, Naruto. You can’t kiss worth shit!” Naruto’s livid response to his greatness, in any field, being challenged was a reflex. Before he had thought it out, he opened his mouth to let Sasuke have it. It didn’t go quite as planned.

The moment his lips parted, Sasuke took advantage, plunging his tongue in and taking what had been inadvertently offered. Naruto’s back went ramrod straight as Sasuke’s tongue touched his; but Sasuke was undeterred. He continued to brush his tongue against Naruto’s, hoping to Kami-sama the other man didn’t decide to bite down. It would be a hell of an ironic way to die.

Sasuke felt Naruto’s previously immobile arms move, and braced himself to be shoved roughly away. Instead, he felt them pressing into his back, pulling him closer. His heart started to pound louder as one of them moved up slowly, stopping to rest at the nape of his neck. The kiss deepened as Naruto’s participation becoming less timid and more commanding.

Sasuke felt himself being slowly moved, until his back connected with the nearest wall. The voraciousness of the kiss increased, a latent hunger being awakened and explored. Naruto gripped Sasuke’s hair to keep his head steady as he alternated between sucking on the other man’s tongue to gnawing on his lips. Sasuke panted and shifted his hands to grip the front of Naruto’s shirt as the dimensions of his world disappeared. He couldn’t feel the floor, he had no idea were the ceiling or the walls were. If he let go of Naruto, he had no idea whether he’d end up sinking or flying. The last coherent thought he had was how funny it was that the person he was depending on for balance, was the very one who was destroying it.

Sasuke couldn’t remember the fantasies he had been having until now, but he knew they couldn’t hold a candle to this. Naruto pressed his body’s impossibly closer to his, and molten lava erupted and coursed through his veins. They were both panting with the exertion of it all as Naruto tightened his grip on Sasuke’s hair, plunging his tongue into Sasuke’s mouth repeatedly in promise of a more intimate, fulfilling act.

The burning in Sasuke’s body reached a fever pitch, and fire pooled in his gut and then rose to his chest. The burning expanded and his lungs felt as if they would burst. It dawned on Sasuke that it was probably a vital need for oxygen that was causing the latter sensation. He wasn’t about to stop for oxygen, or anything like oxygen. He didn’t need air- air, he declared, was for pussies. What he needed was this- the feel of Naruto hardening and pulsing against him. Naruto moaned and thrust against him and Sasuke’s head almost imploded. He wasn’t going to stop even if he passed out. Oxygen be damned.

Fortunately for Sasuke and his air deprivation issues, Naruto broke the kiss to lick the area beneath his ear. Sasuke moaned and shuddered, sweat breaking out all over his body. Every time he tried to gulp in some air, Naruto’s teeth would graze a sensitive spot and he’d end up panting even harder. His entire body was on high alert and every nerve tingled. Every sense was being mercilessly assaulted: his vision was filled with bright yellow hair that felt like silk; there was the smell of citrus and sweat that only made him harder. He could hear Naruto’s harsh breathing as the man bit and sucked on his ear and neck. But what he wanted now more that ever, was to taste Naruto again. He wanted to slide his tongue down, licking at the man’s throat, run it down his chest and then fill his mouth as Naruto moaned and twisted under him.

He wanted to mark Naruto in the same way the man was marking him now. Sucking and bruising, biting and licking, effectively ruining him for anyone and anything else. There were the sounds of guttural moaning, gasping and sighing; and it took Sasuke another moment to realize he was the one making the most of them- Naruto intent on shattering Sasuke’s mind. The blond shifted slightly and placed a hand over Sasuke’s clothed erection. He pressed and rubbed, varying the speed and amount of pressure. Sasuke yelled and thrust into Naruto’s palm, trying to say his name, but only managing a few disjointed syllables.

Sasuke felt Naruto’s hot breath blowing over his neck and along his lips. He found himself clawing desperately at Naruto’s shirt, slipping under the material to run his hands up the blond’s taut stomach to feel the small hardened nipples.

Naruto moaned and supplied more speed and pressure during the erotic massage. Sasuke could feel the tension in his body stretch to almost breaking point.

“Na-Naruto…Fuck me”

Any other words were cut off by Naruto’s mouth descending on his for an eating frantic kiss. Naruto trailed his hands down Sasuke’s thighs and abruptly hoisted the man up a little, allowing the man to lock his legs around his waist. They both grunted as Naruto ground hard against Sasuke and the blond started thrusting. The jerky movements drew a shout from Sasuke who started bucking in response to this new stimulus.

It was too much for Sasuke and yet it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be enough until they were naked and sliding against each other with nothing but heat and sweat between them and the whole thing was consummate. But there wasn’t time, because Naruto was thrusting and moaning his name and he simply had to explode. Tremors racked Sasuke’s body as he screamed Naruto’s name. Naruto body’s crushed into his as Naruto found his release. They stayed for a moment, panting hard, Sasuke’s sliding slowly down Naruto’s body, to rest on shaky legs; thankfully supported by the wall. Slowly, sanity returned.

“Naruto…”

Naruto stiffened at the sound of his name. Kami-sama, what did he just do! Naruto clumsily backed away, and Sasuke’s heart sank at Naruto’s expression. His friend had the perfectly panicked look of a deer caught in some headlights.

“Naruto, I…”

“I have to go…I mean… I…” Naruto ended his sputtering by simply turning and leaving- almost breaking into a flat run.

Sasuke, for his part, gave into the weakness in his legs and sank to the floor.


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Naruto wasn’t answering any of his phone calls, and Sasuke fought the urge to go over to the blond’s house and make a scene at his front door. To do that would be simply counterproductive. It had been four hours since Sasuke’s confession and their little rendezvous and the moron was hiding from him.

Sasuke, getting anxious and desperate, picked up the phone to dial again.

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Sakura was showing off her skills as a tightrope walker as she traversed the expanse of Lee’s back. He moaned and sighed as she paced, giggling a little as she tried not to slip off. It was the most effective massage for Lee, whenever he came home tired and sore from the Mighty Rock. She looked down to see him nodding off.

“Oi, what kind of a client are you? After a massage like this, you’re supposed to ask for a happy ending!” She punctuated her argument, by sticking a toe between Lee’s shoulder blades. He only shuddered a little, muttered something that’s sounded like ‘I’ll take two please…’ and fell asleep.

“Tsk, meanie!” Sakura stuck out a tongue at the back of Lee’s head, and gingerly stepped of his back. Her phone rang the minute her feet hit the floor; and she rushed to pick it up before it woke her husband. “Hello?”

---

Using speed that defied all laws of traffic and physics- Sakura was standing in Sasuke’s living room before he could hang up the phone properly.

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Sakura was gaping at the dark-haired man as if he’d committed a murder.

“Why are you screaming at ME?!! HE’S the one that ran out of here! YOU were the one who kept saying ‘tell him how you feel, tell him how you feel’, so I did! So again I ask, why are you yelling at me?!”

“Yes Sasuke-kun, ‘tell him how you feel’. Not ‘metaphorically club him over the head, and then try to drag him back to your cave by his hair!!’”

“WHAT?! I kissed him! That’s all! And trust me, twisted sister, he was hardly screaming rape! I wasn’t the one trying to grind him into a wall; and he isn’t the one sporting a hickey the size of our old training ground!” Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and tossed his head, fuming loudly.

Sakura flushed at the graphic imagery, while inner Sakura had a classic yaoi fangirl moment (nosebleed, double thumbs up, ‘okay!!’). Outer Sakura schooled her tone. Sasuke had done an amazing and difficult thing. He had opened up and confessed is feelings to Naruto. If she made a big negative deal out of this, he may close himself off again. Freaking social deviant…

“You’re right…you’re right Sasuke-kun. Naruto’s just a little overwhelmed right now. I’ll go talk to him… you just relax, things will work out. You’ll see!”

Naruto stared with deep suspicion at his door as the bell rang continuously. He was stirred into movement at the familiar voice that rang out.

“Naruto, I know you are in there! It’s Sakura… and I’m alone.”

Naruto opened the door slowly and cautiously peeped out. Sakura grinned and raised two packages- one of which looked extremely heavy.

“I have chocolate ice-cream and I have booze. Lots of each… let me in?”

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It wasn’t long before Naruto and Sakura had a really decent buzz going; the endorphins released because of the chocolate effectively combating the depressive effects of the alcohol. That’s a nice way of saying that they were pleasantly drunk off their asses. After another beer, Sakura felt safe enough to open dialogue, for want of a better word.

“You know, you should, uh, you should really talk to Sas’ke…this-this could be, this could totally be, ah, the start of a bEe-yOo-teh-ful friendship! Think of da bebbies…kawaii, kawaii bishounen!!”

Naruto lifted an amused eyebrow, babies? Either Sakura was completely shit-faced or she’d missed some vital biology classes. On the bright side, he was glad it was Sakura he was drinking with and not Lee. The man would have demolished half of Japan by now.

“Stupid teme…saying he’s in love with me… when did this even happen?”

“You want to know the moment Sas’ke fell in lurve witcha? I’ll tell you! Picture it: Kindergarten; 21 years ago!”

“I thought you said you were going to stop watching ‘the Golden Girls’…”

“Shaddap! As I was saying…”


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It had been one of the few things Uchiha Mikoto was willing to take a stand on in opposition to her husband. She believed that Sasuke could only benefit from socializing with normal children his age, instead of home-schooling or going to some stuck-up prep school like the one Itachi was had been enrolled in. Besides, it was kindergarten, and he was five. It wasn’t as if Sasuke was going to fall in love with someone who was going to dictate the course of the rest of his life! At least not on the first day.

Mikoto had dug her heels in and Fugaku had ungraciously capitulated. In turn, he made her agree that if Sasuke came home miserable the first few days, then it would be off to prep school. Seeing that Sasuke was a true Uchiha, and was born with more than his fair share of inherent misery, it had seemed like a sucker’s bet to Fugaku. However, Sasuke’s mother had had no problems agreeing.

Because of the ongoing debate, Sasuke ended up attending school a week late. He clung to his mother’s skirt as she attempted to leave. Mikoto stayed, hushing Sasuke as his teacher encouraged her to go; ensuring her that it was for the best and a necessary adjustment. She reluctantly left, and Sasuke was then on his own.

He sat in one corner, steadfastly ignoring the little girls who cooed at him, and wished he could go home. He didn’t see how his life could get any worse. Sasuke was an angst-filled little five year old, way ahead of his time. His rapid descent into all things emo was hastened by the arrival of Raijin, one half of the legendary stupid brothers. Fujin was currently serving time in the juvenile detention centre.

Raijin was eight, having failed Kindergarten two years running. He towered over the other children, and was as mean as he was stupid, well… educationally-challenged. Spotting a new kid looking as miserable as could be, Raijin went into bully-mode the moment the teacher was out of sight.

“Oi, shrimp…where’s your lunch?” Raijin emphasized each word by poking Sasuke painfully in the forehead. Sasuke remained silent and only glared as angry tears welled up.

Raijin continued to taunt and bully Sasuke, as one or two of the girls, staying far away as possible, decried his actions. Nobody, though, dared to mess with Raijin.

“What’s the matter, stupid…you miss your mommy?!” Raijin laughed as he continued to rap on Sasuke’s head, occasionally tugging at the smaller boy’s bangs.

Naruto had been finger-painting when the small commotion caught his attention. He watched for a moment before he got up and walked over behind Raijin. He contemplated the situation for a moment more before drawing back a leg and releasing a powerful (for a 5 yr. old) kick, right into Raijin’s family jewels (raisins…whatever).

The boy grabbed his crotch and flopped soundlessly to the floor, in too much agony to even cry. Naruto deftly stepped over him and stopped to squat in front of a gaping Sasuke.

“Sas’ke right? Hi! I’m UZUMAKI NARUTO!’ The small blond boy waved one colourful fist in the air and used the other to thump his chest- trying vainly to properly encapsulate the greatness that was he.

Sasuke stared up in awe. The being before him had the brightest yellow hair and bluest eyes he’d ever seen. He wanted to reach out and touch them, just to see if they were real. Before he could, Naruto opened his fists to display a multicoloured array of splotches on his fingers and palms.

“Hey, wanna finger-paint?”


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“And that was the moment Sasuke fell in love with you!” Sakura sounded a lot less drunk than she did before she started that tale.

“At the ‘wanna finger-paint’ part, or the Raijin castration part?’

“Right after the castration…”

“Ahh…”

“Naruto, why are you fighting this so hard? Why don’t you just give Sasuke a chance? This could be…”

“What Sasuke and I have now is fine! Everything was fine! Why does he need to change things? Why isn’t this enough? All that would do is complicate things and we’d both screw everything up and we would never be able to go back to the way things were and…”

Realization hit Sakura like a blast of cold water to the face. “This isn’t about the confession is it? This isn’t about you being freaked out about Sasuke kissing you either. Oh my god…you knew! You knew how he felt before this, didn’t you?”

Naruto paused and looked at her, gnawing at his lower lip as he tried to think of an appropriate response. He took a swig of beer and muttered.

“Don’t say stupid things…”

“Don’t lie to me! How long have you known?” Naruto sighed and gave Sakura a half-hearted glare, and then he shrugged.

“I figured it out the day at the airport…when the bastard came back. It was right there, stamped all over his stupid face, and then suddenly everything just made sense. All the shit we’d gone through…him running away. It just all fit. I thought, if I left it alone- just keep things the same, pretended I didn’t know- he’d eventually stop… and whatever feelings he thought he had, would go away…”

“Go away? GO AWAY?! This is love Naruto, not the flu! What kind of stupid reasoning is that? I can’t believe you just sat here all this time, knowing that…”

“...BECAUSE WE CAN’T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP! …Not like that, not in that way… it would never work. That kind of love is not for everybody Sakura. It can destroy people. Sasuke and I, we’re not the most stable people… if we screwed it up…”

Sakura usually prided herself on her astuteness and intuitiveness; so she couldn’t understand how she could have been this dense.

“Naruto…” She spoke hesitantly, suddenly finding herself careening unto dangerously thin ice. “It isn’t always like that…”


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It was usually Naruto’s mother who picked him up from school, his father usually being at work around that time. Sasuke liked her enough; though she didn’t appear to have her son’s boundless energy and enthusiasm. She was sweet and calm and reminded Sasuke of his own mother. Sasuke had officially met Naruto’s dad at their kindergarten’s career day, when parents came by and explained what they did for a living. Both Sasuke and Naruto’s mothers were stay-at-home moms, so their fathers were the ones who came. It had taken some doing to get Fugaku to show up.

Sasuke was in awe of Arashi-san. It was as if Kami-sama had graciously taken Naruto and super-sized him. The same wild blond hair and blue eyes; the exact goofy, tooth-filled grin- the only things missing were the whisker marks. He had the same energy and physical nature as his son, laughing while Naruto used him as a make-shift jungle gym. Naruto adored his dad, and Arashi adored him right back. Sasuke wondered what it would be like to have a relationship like that with his dad. Fugaku had spent the time frowning at the unruly nature of the children, and the possibly even more unruly nature of the parents.

Sasuke learnt that Arashi-san was a fire-fighter. This appeared to annoy Fugaku who, like many of his relatives, was a closet pyromaniac. What was wrong with fire? Konoha was a part of the Fire country, fire was their symbol and their way of life. It seemed blasphemous to run around putting it out!

“I’m the fire chief at the Konoha Fire Department. When there’s a dangerous fire, we go and put it out. And we make sure that buildings are safe…”

“Do you rescue kitties from trees too?” Ino asked, waving her hand about.

“Yup, we sure do!”

“Daddy is called the Hokage (fire shadow) where he works. One day, I’m going to be the Hokage too!” Naruto declared as his father’s large helmet fell forward into his face.

“Why do they call you that?” A little girl shyly asked.

“I don’t know really. All the fire chiefs have been called that. I think it’s because we live in the Fire country, are fire-fighters and it just sounds really cool.” Arashi gave the patented Uzumaki grin, and Sasuke declared him the coolest adult on the planet.

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It had only been a few months after that, when Naruto missed school for the first time ever. There had been a huge fire the day before- the old wiring in a nine-story apartment block being the cause of the blaze.

There had been so many people trapped inside, it had seemed impossible to get them all out. Somehow, in spite of everything, Arashi and the other fire-fighters managed to rescue everyone. Then there had been one mother, frantic and insistent that her eight year old son was still inside. Arashi had gone in, and was not able to make it back out. The little boy had been outside the building before the fire started, having snuck out to play with his friends. His mother hadn’t known.

When Naruto finally came back to school… he told Sasuke what had happened. “Mommy said daddy did a stupid thing…and now he isn’t coming back again.”

Since Arashi was simply a large Naruto to him, he imagined what it would be like if Naruto never came back to school, and he never saw him again. Tears immediately welled up.

“I’m sad for you…” Sasuke offered sincerely as Naruto blinked at him and nodded.

Uzumaki-san hadn’t taken the news of her husband’s death well. She sunk into a deep depression that everyone hoped she would snap out of soon, for Naruto’s sake, if nothing else. But Naruto only seemed to deepen it for her. Every time she looked at her son, she only saw the image of her husband and only made her sink even lower.

It was Naruto who had found her that morning. He had gotten up by himself. He had gotten used to doing it in the past weeks as his mother lay in bed more and more; unable to even get up at all some days. He had gone to shake her awake, wanting breakfast and to get ready for school. She was taking forever to wake up, and Naruto continued shaking her and calling, the empty pill bottle beside the lamp meaning nothing to him. A while later, he became frightened and ran for the neighbours.

Years later, when Naruto learnt about depression and the dangerous impact it had on the lives of sufferers and their loved ones, he had understood a little more. But back then, all he had understood was that he had been abandoned-his mother choosing to escape from him instead trying. That’s how dangerous romantic love could be.


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Sasuke had been staring at his phone, willing it to ring ever since Sakura had gone off to see Naruto. He had been so focused on it, that when his doorbell rang he had pounced on the phone instead. The buzzing dial tone confused him, until he heard the doorbell go off again. He opened the door to reveal a jumpy nervous-looking Naruto.

They stared at each other a little before Naruto grinned broadly and nervously scratched the back of his head.

“Hey teme…can we talk?”


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A/N: I’m guessing it’s not too much to assume that I should get my ass working on chapter 8, since I left it at such a god-awful place. Gomen ne! This was so angst-heavy, I know! I am hoping that kiss/grope session made it a little worth while. This was the worst of the angst, I promise. I crammed it all into one chapter, just to get it out of the way! I turned the Kyuubi into a nine-story building fire, instead of the nine-tailed fox. So I guess that would make Gamabunta, the bid red fire truck!
This was another mega-fast post, since you may or may not see chapter 8 for another few weeks. All comments and critiques are welcome. See you at chapter eight!