Sex: M/F/Other?

Sex: M/F/Other?

By: ladygizarme

Beta: sasukeskyuubi

A/N: Aiyaa! Sorry for the long wait! Unexpected things in real life, plus my old comp’s video card going kaput (meaning a completely black screen on my monitor) kept me from this for ages. For more detail, check my lj (link on my author’s page).

Japanese this chapter:

Tadaima: I’m home. (in this context, at least)
Okaeri nasai: Welcome home.

Now on with the show, dattebayo!

Chapter Six: Quest for a Guest

“Graduation is coming up soon, Sasuke. Do you have anyone you’d like to bring to your party?”

These words rang through Sasuke’s head all through school on Wednesday.

He hadn’t known how to answer his mother. The obvious answer was, no, he did not have anyone he would like to bring. Even the idea of bringing a friend rather than a date was pointless to Sasuke; he had no friends. Well, not really.

He didn’t spend any time outside of school functions with his fellow classmates; or, at least, he hadn’t since grade school. Kimimaro and the Oto kids were the only people Sasuke spent a significant amount of after school time with lately—apart from Itachi and his friends. He didn’t count the Oto kids as his friends, though. They were his boyfriend’s friends; he just happened to hang around with Kimimaro at the same time as them occasionally.

Sasuke wondered if he could count Kimimaro as his friend. It was hard to decide as, despite their spending a lot of time together lately, they really had nothing in common other than their being boyfriends in a pseudo-sexual relationship. The thought that he didn’t even count his boyfriend as a friend made a weird, bad feeling burn in the pit of his stomach, but Sasuke ignored it for the time being; even if Kimimaro was his friend, he wouldn’t be an appropriate guest for his parents’ party.

Besides, even though she hadn’t said it outright, Sasuke knew the true intentions of his mother’s question. She wanted him to bring a girl; a date; or better, a girlfriend. This much was obvious, even without the conversation that had ensued afterwards.

Sasuke blinked silently at his mother, unsure how to answer.

“Hmm, haven’t invited anyone yet?” his mother prompted further. “You need to soon, dear. It’s only a couple weeks away! Surely there’s someone you’d like to bring?” Her tone was at once hopeful and surprised, as if she couldn’t believe her son wouldn’t have invited someone already.

“Sasuke is very popular, mother,” Itachi piped in, seemingly to soothe her worry. “I’m sure he’ll have no problem finding someone to accompany him.” The older boy turned to his younger brother, a smirk hiding just under the surface of his usual family-dinner-mask, “Why don’t you invite Ki—”

“Out of the question,” Sasuke answered immediately, cutting Itachi off.

“What? Why? Invite who?” his mother questioned.

“No one, mother,” Sasuke answered before Itachi could, glaring at his older brother who had also opened his mouth to answer. “Who are you bringing, aniki?” Sasuke asked his brother, blatantly changing the subject to get the heat off himself.

“Sasori, of course,” was Itachi’s answer.

“Out of the question.” This time it was the boys’ father to say it.

Itachi’s eyes narrowed angrily at the declaration, his jaw clenching as if resisting the urge to lash out. “I told you already, father. Sasori is coming to the celebration. It is my graduation, and I will commemorate it with whomever I wish.”

“Have you forgotten your place, boy?” Fugaku asked, his tone angry. “I am still your father and, whether you like it or not, you will follow the laws of this house. I told you already, you will stop this foolishness immediately. I will not have that boy in my house anymore, for any reason, and that includes your commencement.”

At this, Itachi stood, placing the cloth napkin from his lap beside his plate. “In that case, I won’t be attending, either.” With that, he left the table.

“I know you can’t believe for a second you have the authority to make that decision,” Fugaku said to his son, suddenly barring the doorway to the dining room with crossed arms and a formidable aura.

Itachi didn’t even look at him, but stared straight past the side of his father’s head, into the foyer. “It’s my life,” he said simply.

“Correction: your life is mine until you no longer live under my roof. No; for as long as you are my son. And as long as you are an Uchiha, I will not have you disgracing our family with anymore deviant behavior. This ends now, or you will face the consequences. You understand me?”

From the table behind them, Sasuke could see the veins on the side of Itachi’s neck as he clenched his jaw again in anger.

“Perfectly,” was Itachi’s soft but cold response. Then he brushed past his father, hitting their shoulders together as he passed.

“If you can’t find a girl on your own, your mother and I will find one for you,” Fugaku called out to his son without turning. There was no reply.

Silence reigned as the three remaining in the dining room listened to Itachi’s soft footsteps through the foyer and up the stairs. A door closed, seeming to echo through the quiet house with finality, though it had not been closed with particular force.

Sasuke looked to his mother, seated on the opposite end of the table from where his father had been. She had the familiar look of worry on her face, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, her cloth napkin clutched tightly in one hand as the other tensely twisted it. Her eyes shifted to Sasuke minutely, then back, staring straight ahead, her mouth now a grim but sad line.

Sasuke heard the squeak-scrape of a chair moving on the hardwood floor, and turned his head back to see his father again taking his seat at the table. His mouth was also a grim line, but his had more anger to it. His eyes were closed, and the lines on his forehead seemed deeper than usual.

“Darling…” Mikoto began apprehensively. Fugaku opened and raised his eyes to regard his wife as she continued. “They’ve been friends since Shisui moved to Iwa. It’s only natural for him to want his closest friend at his graduation party.”

“Those boys are more than ‘close friends’, Mikoto, and I will not tolerate it any longer.”

After that, Sasuke could not leave the table, despite already having finished his meal, frozen to his seat as he was in fear of invoking his father’s already sparked temper. Thankfully, Fugaku decided he was done five minutes later, and bid his wife and youngest son goodnight as he headed back to the station.

“Would you like some more tea, dear?” Sasuke’s mother asked, pulling him from the daze he’d been in, absentmindedly listening to his father’s movements in the foyer before he walked out the door.

“No, thank you,” he answered with a small shake of his head, frowning slightly as he was still a bit distracted by the night’s turn of events.

His mother smiled as she stood and walked over to him. “Don’t you worry about those two,” she said, patting his shoulder before taking his empty plate. “They are both stubborn and strong-willed, but things will work out between them in the end.”

Her reassuring words were contradicted by the slight waver in her voice, though, and Sasuke wondered if she was saying it for her own benefit as much as his. Even the hand she’d placed on his shoulder had seemed to have a tighter grip, as if she were taking comfort as well as giving it. He’d frowned deeper at this thought, but said nothing of it and instead went to the kitchen to feed his cats.

With this memory so fresh in his mind, Sasuke’s determination to find a suitable guest renewed itself tenfold. But who could he take?

Of course, any one of his self-proclaimed fangirls would undoubtedly accept his invitation; it wasn’t a matter of not having anyone to invite. The problem lay in finding someone suitable. He didn’t want to just invite any random girl. For one thing, he didn’t want the girl getting the idea that it was a real date or, Kami forbid, relationship. He had already given up on the idea of trying to be straight for real long ago. Pretending for his parents’ sake was another matter entirely, though.

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

Naruto’s period was long over by Wednesday; a fact which he couldn’t possibly be happier about if he tried. Or maybe he could, as he suddenly decided to break into a run, jumping onto Haku’s back as he had been walking unsuspectingly ahead of the blonde as they walked from the bus stop to school.

“Oof, Naruto!” Haku cried. “Warn a person, would you?”

“Heehee,” Naruto chuckled, hugging Haku extra tight so he involuntarily choked for a split-second before letting go. He dropped back to his feet, one arm still slung over the taller boy’s shoulders as they neared the entrance to school. “Sorry, Haku, I just had to.”

Haku tilted his head sideways, resting it against Naruto’s to show he wasn’t mad. “It’s alright. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

Naruto grinned at him, then let his arm drop back down to the orange strap of his backpack as they passed the school gate and headed to their respective buildings.

“Oi, Hinata! Ino! Good morning!” he called out, waving an arm at the girls he’d spotted sitting on the front entrance steps to the Junior High.

The two girls lifted their heads at his greeting, the small brunette smiling and lifting a hand in return as he approached with lively steps.

“G-good morning… Naruto-kun,” Hinata said once he was close enough to hear her soft voice.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Ino said, raising a blonde brow at his exuberance.

Nodding emphatically, Naruto said, “Yep, all back to normal.” Then he grinned widely, the whisker-like scars on his cheeks spreading as he did so.

The three friends walked into their building together, parting ways with Ino as they came upon their class and she continued down the hall to her own. Naruto and Hinata entered their classroom together, not surprised to find Shikamaru already there, asleep at his desk, and Chouji having a last minute snack in the desk beside him. Hinata and Naruto took their seats, on opposite sides of the room due to the teacher’s seating arrangement, and waited for class to start.

Once he was in his seat, Naruto grinned at the familiar sight of spiky black hair on the head of the person in front of him.

“Not dead yet, eh, Uchiha?”

He was happy to see Sasuke was back to his usual attendance—two days in a row, he must be fine.

The black haired boy cocked his head back only slightly, his eyes slid as far to the side as they would go as he replied, “Not yet, but I can help you out in that area, if you’d like.”

Sasuke would have smirked at his own snarky reply, if not for the violent sneeze that suddenly overtook him.

Naruto grimaced, “That's alright, I’ve got my own snot, thanks.”

Apparently, the sneezing he’d noticed from Sasuke the day before hadn’t been a fluke.

Sasuke had plenty of ammo to give a scathing retort, however another sneeze and the entrance of the teacher preempted any attempt, and class started immediately after the teacher politely asked him if he would like a tissue—or, perhaps, the box.

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

As the school day continued, Naruto noticed something odd about Sasuke’s behavior. Not that the boy seemed to have some kind of cold that made him sneeze all the time, though that was a bit strange since, as mentioned previously, Sasuke never got sick. No, the odd thing was that he seemed to be looking around the classroom a lot more often than usual—which may not seem like much for any other student, but Sasuke was not just any other student. He was Uchiha Sasuke, the Ice Prince, the Third Year Junior High Student Too Good For His Fellow Classmates. The Uchiha never bothered to acknowledge his fellow classmates’ existence like he seemed to be today, and that wasn’t the only thing that troubled Naruto about Sasuke’s sudden change in behavior. What really made him curious was which classmates were drawing the most attention from the Uchiha.

It was the girls. And he wasn’t the only one that noticed the Uchiha’s apparent interest; all the girls in his class, save Hinata, were in various states of trying-to-be-subtle-flirting-frenzy. From shy blushing, to dark, batting lashes, to excusing themselves to the restroom only to come back with decidedly shorter skirts, fluffier hair, and glossier lips, they were all determined to catch the Uchiha’s newfound attention. A couple girls even had the guts to make physical contact with the usually inattentive boy, brushing against him with their hips or chest whenever they had the chance. It made Naruto want to gag.

Despite these actions, Naruto noted that Sasuke still seemed unaffected, though his studious gazing at the female portion of their class didn’t waiver until lunch, when Sasuke left the classroom for the school’s common grounds. Naruto also left, after witnessing the Uchiha’s somewhat distracted appearance as he made his usual abrupt exit. Naruto, despite his curiosity at the Uchiha’s strange behavior, took his usual route with Shikamaru, Chouji, and Hinata up to the roof to eat with his friends—after stopping by the teacher’s lounge to fill a thermos with hot water for his ramen, of course. However, their usual eating spot was right up against the fence on the side of the roof that overlooked the main courtyard, where Naruto just happened to peer over and pause, mid-bite, as he spotted Sasuke in the midst of the most crowded area, once again embarking on his intense contemplation of the female students.

Frowning, Naruto dropped his noodle-wrapped chopsticks back into his ramen cup and grabbed the chain link fence with his free hand, pressing his nose up against it as he squinted to get a better look. What the hell was Sasuke doing? He seriously looked like he was checking the girls out; taking mental notes of their physical and personal characteristics and flaws and comparing them to each other to find the best candidate, if the look on his face was anything to go by. (Naruto, after all, had taken it upon himself long ago to learn the nuances of the subtle changes of Sasuke’s facial features that denoted actual expression—a boy had to know how to get into his rival’s head, after all, if he were to be any real competition.)

After just finding out about Sasuke’s homosexual persuasion from Haku the week before, and coming to terms with it over the weekend since it actually made sense once the blond thought about Sasuke’s tendency to ignore girls’ attention even though it was obvious enough in gym that the other boy was a stuck-up show-off that demanded everyone’s attention by smirk or sneer alone, now Sasuke’s actions really baffled Naruto. Was Sasuke actually interested in girls, too? Naruto bit his lip as he contemplated this thought. If Sasuke was actually bisexual, and not just homosexual as Haku (and therefore Naruto) first assumed, then maybe Naruto’s chances with the boy were actually as good as Haku kept insisting. After all, Naruto fit into both categories, technically speaking. Naruto shook his head at this thought, though. No, even if Sasuke were bi, it didn’t change Naruto’s circumstances. He hated to think about it, but in most people’s eyes, people like him didn’t really belong to either sex. He was an IT, and Uchihas did not date ITs. That much he knew.

Naruto shook his head at himself again. Right now, Sasuke knew him as a boy, and that’s all that mattered. Naruto didn’t want anyone here thinking of him as a girl under any circumstances; after all, that had been a big selling point with him in moving to Konoha with Tsunade and Shizune. Thinking about what Sasuke would think of him if he ever found out the nature of Naruto’s gender was a pointless exercise in self-deprecation (a phrase he’d picked up usage of from a fellow “patient” at Mist County). Wondering whether or not Sasuke would ever choose him over any of the girls he was currently checking out in the courtyard was also pointless because, according to Haku, Sasuke was already involved with Kaguya-senpai.

Speaking of which, why was Sasuke checking anybody out if he were already involved with the Senior High boy? Naruto had seen the older boy around campus, not to mention seen him play in a few of the basketball team’s home games, and, his feelings for Sasuke aside, he had to say that the bleached haired Forward was damn hot. Plus, he was older than Sasuke, which seemed to hold the raven haired boy’s attention better in general.

Getting a headache from all the confusing contemplation, Naruto turned away from the sight of Sasuke making his way over to the Senior girls’ preferred hangout, a scowl on his faintly-whisker-marked face as he dug determinedly back into his rapidly cooling ramen.

His actions did not go unnoticed by his friends, of course, and they all moved closer to the fence to determine what had caused Naruto’s distraction from his favorite food in the world. All except, of course, Shikamaru, who couldn’t be bothered to move from his place on his back, his face just inside the shade of a large air vent so that he could watch the clouds without the sun getting in his eyes. Besides, he already had a pretty good idea of what it could be, if the subject of Naruto’s distraction during morning classes was anything to go by—and he was positive that it was. What exactly the Uchiha was doing to cause the current distraction didn’t interest the lazy genius in the least, though his observations of the haughty boy’s mannerisms after he’d woken during their second class and noticed Naruto staring at the Uchiha gave him enough of a clue.

Uchiha Sasuke was on the prowl, and Naruto was disturbed by this. Interesting. But not interesting enough for him to move from his perfect spot on the roof, nor to involve himself whatsoever in the situation. So maybe Naruto had some strange crush on the boy he claimed to be his rival, what did he care? He already knew the blond liked both girls and boys, and had no problem with it.

He figured the chances of them actually getting together were pretty slim, considering how many degrees apart the groups they socialized in were. Of course, there was the factor of the Hyuuga cousins, but the Uchiha and Hyuuga Neji shared a tense animosity toward each other that would prevent any happenchance in that area. The Uchiha wouldn’t be found socializing with the Hyuuga outside of Student Council meetings any time soon, and the Hyuuga cousins had no contact with each other during school, therefore still keeping Naruto and the Uchiha’s social circles quite clearly separate. So Shikamaru had no worries about the possibility of the stuck up raven ever joining their comfortable little group.

Haku, also, had a good idea who Naruto had been glaring at once he himself went over to the fence and saw the easily-recognized-even-from-several-meters-away duckbutt back of Sasuke’s head as the boy walked through the commons. Though Haku had no idea what Naruto was so upset about, since he obviously hadn’t seen the happenings during their morning class. He knew he’d never get a truthful answer out of Naruto if he asked him in front of their friends, seeing as Naruto was embarrassed about his feelings for the Uchiha, so for the time being he just kept quiet and continued eating his lunch.

Hinata also kept quiet, as that was her nature, however Naruto was not the only loudmouth to be found in their group, and…

“Oh, Uchiha,” Chouji remarked before turning his attention back to his lunch.

“Sasuke-kun?” Ino said, now searching the ground eagerly with her eyes, clutching the chain link fence with both hands and causing her already-shorter-than-normal shirt to raise just a hair’s breadth above her belly button. “What about him?” she asked curiously, though her scan of the ground below never wavered.

“Naruto’s been scowling at him all morning,” Chouji informed her through a mouthful of food.

Scrunching up her nose, Ino turned back to the group behind her. “Chouji, for heaven’s sake, swallow your food before you talk to me!”

Unperturbed, Chouji merely shrugged and swallowed. “Sorry, Ino,” he said, sounding more practiced than apologetic.

Ino rolled her eyes and got back to the original topic, turning her attention once more to the courtyard as she asked, “So what’s the deal between you and Sasuke-kun today, Naruto?”

Naruto merely growled and hunched over his ramen, refusing to answer.

Ino was having none of that, however, and promptly rapped on the blond boy’s head, demanding an answer.

“Ow! Ino!” Naruto exclaimed, glaring at the girl as he rubbed his head.

“Come on, blondie, what’s up? ”

“Why does somethin’ hafta be up? I scowl at Uchiha all the time. He’s my rival, after all,” Naruto replied, rubbing his head a moment longer, hoping she’d drop the subject.

“Yeah, but your “rivalry” isn’t usually enough for you to ignore your ramen,” Ino continued insistently.

“Uchiha’s been making everyone act weird today,” Chouji said, crunching on chips from his freshly opened bag.

“What do you mean?” Ino questioned.

Chouji shrugged again. “All the girls have been acting loony. Worse than usual,” he added.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ino demanded with a hand on her hip, taking offense.

Shikamaru sighed. It seemed, once again, it was up to him to explain. Not feeling particularly inclined to do so, he was relieved when, at that moment, the door to the roof swung open and a girl rushed up to them.

“Kurosaki-senpai!” Ino exclaimed at the girl that suddenly grabbed her hand and started dragging her back to the door.

“Emergency meeting, Yamanaka,” was all the other girl had to say for Ino to rush off willingly, leaving the remainder of the group staring after them.

Naruto was just as happy as Shikamaru for the interruption, if not more so, and quickly dug back into his lunch before anyone else brought the subject back up. Luckily for him, the only person left interested in pursuing the topic was Haku, and he was waiting for a more opportune time, so the long haired boy took it upon himself to change the subject.

Lunch continued with a cheerful conversation about a new outdoor skate park the city was building. It was supposed to be done by summer, and would be free admittance with a passed personal safety inspection. The boys were all excited about this, since the only other official skate park in Konoha was an indoor one by the mall, and the admittance fee was quite pricey, meaning they didn’t skate there often because their pocket money was limited and better spent on snacks and replacement parts for their boards. Hinata could pay it no problem, though she preferred skating free areas since her family didn’t know about her recreational activity and she knew they wouldn’t approve. Besides, she’d rather skate with her friends than by herself; it was more fun that way; and she knew they would never allow her to pay for everyone.

There was, of course, Fourth Street Park, which had a large concrete area with smoothly sloping hills and a couple grinding bars, boxed in by curbs with a picnic table right in the center—it was the city’s pathetic first attempt at catering to its growing number of skaters and BMXers a few years back, before a big corporation moved in and built a bigger, better, costlier one of their own. Fourth Street wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing in a city where the best places to trick skate for free were the places that called the cops on you and had you fined if they caught you there. So everyone was excited about the prospect of a real skate park that would cater to their ever-growing needs.

Lunch ended with the friends making plans to pick up their gear after school and meet at Fourth Street. It had been awhile since they’d gone, since it had been snowy all of January and February, so they were looking forward to it despite how lame they always complained that it was.

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

The day was almost over and Sasuke was extremely annoyed and frustrated. Not because, once again, he’d had sneezing fits all day—as mentioned previously he was, sadly enough, becoming used to that. No, he was an irritable Sasuke for reasons entirely different.

All day he’d been trying to figure out who would be the best girl to invite to his graduation party. He couldn’t just pick anyone, although he knew he would get a positive answer no matter who he asked—that wasn’t the problem. The problem was finding a girl that wouldn’t expect more of him beyond what was expected of him at the party. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, or even someone to casually date; he had no interest in leading someone on when he knew he had no interest in them whatsoever. And he knew, whoever he chose, he would have no interest in them.

He was gay, not bi. He’d suspected this of himself ever since he was twelve and walked in on his brother with another boy. Not that seeing his brother making out with another boy (with shirts missing and hands down each other’s pants) turned him on, but it had made him think and examine his own feelings and impulses in order to determine just how much like his brother he really was. After all, he had no interest in girls, despite other boys his age often talking about how lucky he was to have all the girls’ attention. He had had some strong feelings for other boys, but had originally thought it was simply admiration. However, when his brother’s homosexuality was brought to his attention, Sasuke gave his own feelings a second look. Finally, this past summer, he’d confirmed it for himself, and thus started his secret relationship with Kimimaro a couple months later.

So now here he was, in the predicament of maintaining his secret personal life while also doing his best to keep his parents in the dark about it by making an appearance with a date for his graduation party.

Coming back to the topic at hand, who could he take? He’d first started with the most convenient place, his own class. He’d barely been able to make it through the morning classes without gagging from all the girls’ borderline indecent behavior once they caught on to his attention. Once he made it out to the freedom of the courtyard for lunch, he continued his crusade, examining the girls of other classes and even grades. The results were much the same, however, and he didn’t know how he’d be able to cope with one of these irritatingly flirty, superficial, high-voiced and giggly creatures for an entire night.

After lunch, he continued his efforts, though he tried to be more discreet about it in order to not provoke the girls’ flirting. Despite this, however, they continued and he came to the conclusion that no one from his class would be suitable as a date. Besides the fact that he found them quite annoying, none of these girls seemed classy enough to introduce to his parents as his date.

There was one exception, though: Hyuuga Hinata. The girl was quiet, proper, and seemed to have no interest in him, meaning she was safe because he wouldn’t really be leading her on. Plus she was smart—second in their class usually (after Sasuke in first place, of course), and she was always ranked first of all the girls. The factor of her not having a crush on him didn’t worry Sasuke about the chances of her saying no. Hinata was polite and would accept his official invitation. She was automatically crossed off the list from the beginning, however, simply because Sasuke couldn’t stand her cousin. Indeed, if it weren’t for Hyuuga Neji, Sasuke could see himself being friends with Hinata if he were at all inclined to befriend anyone.

By the end of the day, Sasuke was back to his usual scowl, having been unable to find a suitable girl. He’d even had to return to his (hiding) inspection of the boys’ bathroom in the library during after school clubs to avoid a swarm of his fanclub that had been making copies in the library. As he walked to his brother’s Escalade on autopilot afterwards, Sasuke resigned himself to doubling his search the next day.

He’d gotten to the car ten minutes before his brother would. Luckily, he had a spare keyless entry remote and he let himself in, climbing into his seat and locking the doors again. Once inside, he opened a small pocket on his bag and pulled out his iPod, glad he’d remembered to bring it with him today. Once the earbuds were in place, he turned the volume up to a comfortable level and closed his eyes, trying to let his stress go before his brother got there. He didn’t want to give Itachi any reason to interrogate him, because he was not in the mood to hear his brother’s lectures about ‘being true to yourself’.

He may be similar to Itachi, but he was also himself, and he could make his own decisions. Just because his preferences were the same didn’t mean he had to go about it the same way. Sasuke was determined to keep his parents in the dark about his sexual persuasion for the rest of their lives, if possible. He was already enough of an inferior son without adding his brother’s only fault in their parents’ eyes to his own list of many.

Sighing heavily, Sasuke took a deep breath and let it out slowly, focusing on the music rather than the thoughts in his head. To help the process, he allowed his lips to mouth the words, though he kept the sound only in his head. By the time Itachi got to the car—tailed by Sasori, Deidara, Kisame, and Tobi, of course—Sasuke was as relaxed as Sasuke-ly possible. He was even so caught up in the current song that he didn’t realize more than half an hour had passed, and was startled when the doors unlocked to let his brother in.

From outside the car, Deidara giggled and Kisame snickered as they saw “Sasuke-chan” flinch. Scowling, Sasuke subtly turned his volume up and pretended to ignore them. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the two of them plus Tobi climbed into Sasori’s van, which was parked next to Itachi’s Escalade. Then Sasori pressed Itachi up against the back driver’s side door and Sasuke saw the hand with black painted nails comb through his brother’s freshly-freed hair before he turned his attention away, giving his brother and Sasori privacy while they kissed.

Inexplicably, Sasuke suddenly felt the burn of acid in his stomach as he realized Itachi and Sasori were having a rare moment of PDA, right in the middle of the school parking lot. That was something he would never—could never—do. Brutally stamping down the sudden spark of jealousy—a feeling both familiar when it came to his brother, yet foreign when it came to issues concerning his own homosexuality and the restrictions he’d chosen to set for himself—Sasuke turned his gaze straight ahead, scowling at the students filtering through the parking lot, some of which sent curious gazes toward his brother and Sasori. Most of the looks were indifferent, despite the curiosity, because his brother had been out of the closet with Sasori for so long that everyone was used to it. Some boys and even a few girls looked put off by the display, and some looked different shades of jealous or voyeuristic. This made Sasuke sneer, his determination suddenly refueling as he vowed to never make such a spectacle of himself and his personal life.

Finally, Itachi and Sasori were finished and Itachi got into the driver’s seat and closed his door, promptly fastening his seatbelt before starting the engine. Apparently Itachi’s friends weren’t coming with them today. Sasuke didn’t mind; it meant a peaceful ride home was more likely.

“Buckle up,” Itachi ordered kindly after pulling an earbud from Sasuke’s nearest ear, waiting to put the car in gear.

Sasuke turned his usual scowl on his brother. “I’m not a child, you know,” he intoned irritably, pausing his iPod and buckling his belt nonetheless.

“I know,” Itachi said in a tone that told Sasuke he was merely humoring him.

With a derogative sniff, Sasuke replaced his earbud in his ear and resumed his music, ignoring his older brother for the rest of the drive home.

Once they got there, Sasuke grabbed his stuff and went into the house without looking back. Itachi did not follow him, but instead drove off again—most likely to meet up somewhere with his friends. That was fine with Sasuke, as it meant he could brood over his dilemma more without his brother bothering him. He did have a brief flash of worry, however, remembering the events of the weekend, and even the night before, and how angry his father had been with Itachi. He hoped their father would not be coming home that evening, both for Itachi’s case and his own—after all, he still had no answer to his mother’s question, and his father would not be happy about that.

After removing his shoes, Sasuke went to the kitchen to get a drink and see if his mother was home. She wasn’t, so he went upstairs and deposited his things in his room before changing. He hadn’t been able to work on his homework at all yet, due to the fangirls lurking in the library after school, so he sat at his desk to do that. Nearly an hour later, in the middle of his math homework, Sasuke’s mobile started ringing from inside his backpack. He quickly opened the pocket he always kept it in and answered the phone by the end of the second ring.

“Hello?” Sasuke answered, having answered before he looked at the ID.

“Hey, Sasuke,” a familiar voice replied. “You didn’t forget about me, did you?”

Sasuke frowned. “No, why would I?”

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that I’ve barely seen you since Friday, and I didn’t see you at all today? After all, we barely had any time together yesterday since Itachi called, I worked all weekend and you were sick Monday, so I was looking forward to seeing you today. I even made myself late to practice today because I stopped by your gym lockers after school, hoping I could get a couple minutes with you, but you weren’t even there. Then I waited awhile after club time was over, thinking you’d show up to say ‘bye, or maybe come out with me for awhile, but you obviously never did.”

Sasuke’s frown deepened. Kimimaro actually sounded pretty ticked, and to make matters worse, Sasuke actually had sort of forgotten about him, at least as far as their usual plans after school went. He’d hurried from the gym to the library as soon as he’d redressed, since he hadn’t needed to shower because the clouds that had moved in during lunch turned into a two-hour hard rain that kept the P.E. class inside doing practice pitches and swings rather than going outside to play ball, so he hadn’t really sweated. Then, of course, he’d spent most of his library time taking refuge in the boys’ room, and had been so preoccupied once he finally left school that he just went to his brother’s car without thinking. Despite all his goading of Sasuke to make him spill the beans about having a boyfriend, Itachi actually didn’t approve of Kimimaro for some reason, so he hadn’t felt inclined to remind Sasuke that he usually didn’t ride home with him on Wednesdays.

Sasuke wanted to hit himself, suddenly remembering something else he’d forgotten about that day. Mondays and Wednesdays he was supposed to meet with his Student Council after school clubs. He’d already missed Monday’s meeting and now he’d missed today’s as well. He shook his head before voicing the realization, though. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that; he could take care of it during the morning meeting tomorrow.

Coming back to the topic at hand, Sasuke spoke into his phone. “Sorry, Kimimaro. I’ve been preoccupied all day and forgot what day it was.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of which,” the older boy said from the other side of the phone. “I heard you were cruisin’ for chicks today.”

“What?” Sasuke deadpanned, none too pleased to hear he was the subject of gossip that made it all the way to his boyfriend’s ears.

“Yeah,” Kimimaro answered lightly. “Apparently Tayuya saw you checking out some girls next to where she was eating lunch with her friends and made a point of telling me all about it on the ride home.”

Sasuke growled, “That girl needs to mind her own business.”

“That’s true,” Kimimaro agreed. “But it did make me curious. What’s up, Sasuke? Thinking of testing your preferences?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “No, I’m definitely gay,” he smirked, feeling a strange sort of weight lift as he said it aloud. Then his heart sped up and plummeted to his stomach as he made a dash for the window, checking the driveway for any sign of his parents’ cars. He hadn’t heard the garage door open, but sometimes they parked out on the driveway instead. They still hadn’t come home, and Sasuke had to consciously keep himself from sighing in relief.

“So was Tayuya lying? She may be a bitch, but I’ve never known her to lie—”

“But she does have it out for me, for whatever reason,” Sasuke interjected.

“But you haven’t denied it yet, either,” Kimimaro reminded him.

“Hn, true.”

“So…”

“So, I guess she wasn’t technically lying. I was looking for girls today,” Sasuke admitted. “I need to invite one to the graduation party my parents are having for Itachi and me.”

“Oh?”

Sasuke’s reply stalled at the sound of Kimimaro’s tone. The other boy sounded disappointed, but that was ridiculous. Kimimaro knew Sasuke couldn’t invite him to the party. Besides the fact Sasuke never intended to tell his parents he was gay, merely associating with the lower class boy from Oto would meet with complete disapproval from his father, Sasuke was sure.

Knowing the reason for Sasuke’s extended pause, and knowing it was stupid of him to even consider the thought that Sasuke would find a way to invite him, Kimimaro let him off the hook and continued their conversation.

“So, who’s the lucky girl going to be?” he asked in a flirty tone.

Repressing the inexplicable blush he felt creeping into his cheeks, Sasuke answered, “I haven’t decided yet. The selection is really mediocre at school.”

“Maybe you’re just too picky. What is it? Can’t find one tall enough, with strong thighs, that looks as good in loose-fitting basketball clothes as I do?” Kimimaro teased huskily.

The previously repressed blush finally made its way into Sasuke’s cheeks and he huffed to cover his embarrassment, “You know that’s not the criteria at all.”

“Of course not. It’s for your parents, after all.”

Sasuke sighed. Kimimaro understood, and he was glad, but he couldn’t easily forget that tense moment just a minute ago. Sometimes he wished things were simpler; that he could tell his parents he was gay; that he could bring his boyfriend to his graduation party. But things just weren’t that way for him, so this is the way it had to be.

“Yeah,” Sasuke agreed forlornly.

“Tell you what, you do your family thing and invite whoever fits your parents’ expectations to keep the peace. Then, when you’re done with all that, we’ll have the real party in Oto,” Kimimaro suggested.

“…You’re going to throw me a party?” Sasuke asked skeptically, not sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, it was nice to think his boyfriend would do that for him. On the other hand, it made him nervous. What would everyone think if Kimimaro threw a party for him? Wouldn’t it make them suspicious? And what about the implications it had for the level of commitment in their relationship? Would Kimimaro expect something in return? Sasuke liked fooling around with him, but he wasn’t sure he was quite ready for actual sex yet.

He needn’t have worried, though, as Kimimaro answered, “Not really. It’s just a thing we do every year when school ends—more of a spring break party than a graduation party. Or a ‘we made it through another school year’ party, though there will be other Oto kids there than what go to Konoha.”

“Like who?”

“I don’t know… whoever shows up. It’s sort of an open door policy. But don’t worry, it’ll be cool. And Tayuya’s friends will most likely be there to keep her preoccupied and off your back,” Kimimaro assured.

“Oh. Alright. I guess that sounds…”

“Fun?” Kimimaro suggested.

“Yeah. Sure. Fun,” Sasuke agreed, not quite sure.

He wasn’t used to ‘hanging out’ with large crowds of people. Sure he managed fine at school, and he knew he would handle his parents’ party no problem once his escort situation was resolved, but those were structured environments he felt safe and natural in. A house party in Oto was sure to be something else entirely. But Kimimaro sounded like he really wanted him to go, so he’d give it a shot. Who knows, it might not be as bad as the stories he’d heard.

“Good,” Kimimaro said, ignoring the hesitation in Sasuke’s voice.

The younger boy was often reluctant to try new things, but he usually ended up enjoying them and excelling at them once he gave in. That thought reminded him of Sasuke’s original hesitation in giving him head. Of course, once Kimimaro had convinced him by making it a challenge, Sasuke had really gotten into it and turned out to be amazing, too.

Thinking about it now made Kimimaro really wish he had been able to catch Sasuke after school.

“Hey, Sasuke,” he said then, his smooth, deep voice slightly husky. “I’m going to think about you tonight while I jack off.”

He smirked as he heard Sasuke’s soft gasp in surprise at the sudden change of topic.

“You think of me, too, okay?” he continued, his tone getting softer even as it got huskier. Kimimaro heard Sasuke take a shaky breath, and added, “Think about what you’re going to do to make up to me for today. Later, Sasuke.”

And with that, he hung up, more than eager to do just what he’d told Sasuke he would.

It took a moment longer for Sasuke to actually hang up his phone, images of his boyfriend masturbating suddenly running through his mind. Finally, the sound of the garage door opening below brought him back to his senses and he pushed the ‘End’ button, despite the call having finished over thirty seconds before. Sasuke hurriedly scooted his chair back up to his desk, putting his phone back into his bag and zipping it before getting back to his abandoned math homework. A scant few minutes later, there was a light rap on his closed door and his mother came in before he could answer her knock.

“Tadaima, Sasuke,” she said with a gentle smile that he couldn’t help but return, though his was a muted version.

“Okaeri nasai,” he answered softly, glad it was his mother that had come home first.

“Your father will be home late tonight, and Itachi called to say he’s eating with Sasori-kun and his obaa-san, so it’s just you and me for dinner. Would you like anything special?” his mother asked him, still with her smile as she came into her youngest son’s room and walked to his desk to get a look at what he was working on.

Glad at the news, Sasuke thought seriously about his mother’s question. “Tomatoes?” he suggested.

His mother cocked her head at him, “Is that all you want?”

Sasuke shrugged. “As long as there are tomatoes, I’m happy,” he said honestly.

She laughed softly, “Of course. Well, I’ll see what I can do, dear.”

With that, she left her son to his homework.

Another hour later, Sasuke had finished his homework and dug a couple cat toys out of his drawer to play with Hina and Denka, who had come to visit his room. After a bit, though, they started fussing at him to feed them, and he followed them to the kitchen to fill their dishes and refill their water. When he got there, he was informed that dinner was done and told to go wash his hands before eating.

Sasuke and his mother sat down together to a meal of beef and tomato stir fry. His mother had turned music on in the background, so they could eat peacefully with more than just the sound of their own cutlery and chewing. It was a relaxing dinner for Sasuke, not only because it was peaceful and he appreciated not having to listen to the two of them chew in the quiet of the large, nearly-empty house, but because it was an evening alone with his mother.

She finished before him, as he was a growing boy and ate more than a mature, petite woman. When she had cleared her own things from the table and returned with a fresh cup of tea, she finally began conversation.

“So how was your day at school, Sasuke? Any more sneezing?”

“Only a little,” Sasuke admitted, assuring his conscience that it wasn’t as bad as it had been before, so he wasn’t really lying to her.

“Hmm,” his mother replied. “And what about the issue we discussed yesterday? Decided yet who you would like to invite to your party?” she asked hopefully.

“Hnn,” he stalled thoughtfully. “I still don’t know yet. May I have a couple more days?”

She smiled at him, “Of course, Sasuke. After all, the party is still a couple weeks away. I’ll just give a ballpark figure to the caterers and it will be fine no matter who you invite. Remember, you can invite your friends, too, it doesn’t just have to be the girl you admire. Just try not to invite more than ten people.”

Sasuke refrained from biting his lip at her suggestion, clutching his hand on the leg of his pants instead. “Ah, don’t worry about that, mother. I think most everyone will be busy with their own graduations, anyway. You can invite Gaara, though, if he’s not busy, I suppose.”

He had to force himself to speak those words, having hoped to avoid the redhead if possible, but knowing he needed to bulk up his guest list somehow.

“Oh, I already did. He said he would love to attend,” his mother informed him cheerfully.

It took all his self-control not to scowl at this.

“You don’t think any of your friends from school would be able to come?” she asked hopefully.

“No, mother, they all are very busy with their own graduation parties and other things,” he answered, wishing she would drop it. If his mother knew he didn’t have any real friends to speak of at school, even if that was of his own choosing, she would become overly concerned.

“Hmm, well that’s too bad,” she replied regretfully. “Oh well, I’m sure Gaara-kun and your date will keep you busy enough. Besides, there will be your father’s and my associates, and your brother’s, of course. Then there are the officials from the University, and the Police Commissioner may even make an appearance!” Mikoto informed her son excitedly.

‘Great,’ Sasuke thought, thinking it was anything but. Celebrating his graduation with a bunch of adults he didn’t know at all wasn’t exactly his idea of excitement. It was, however, what he’d been expecting from a party his parents planned for himself and Itachi, so he wasn’t surprised in the least. So it would be fine, because he was used to this sort of thing.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him,” he said, hoping he sounded as sincere as he’d intended.

Mikoto could read between her son’s lines, however, and assured him, “Don’t worry, Sasuke. I’m sure most of these people will only be here for a short time, and if they do stay longer, they will surely flock around your father and brother more than you.”

Sasuke nodded, only partially convinced.

The topic of the guest list was ended then, though, much to his relief despite the fact that the party was still his mother’s main choice in topic of discussion. Sasuke much preferred the idle chatter about her decorating ideas and what type of menu items she planned to ask the caterers for, though, so he was content to listen and contribute when prompted. By the time he left the dinner table that night, Sasuke had more miscellaneous information in his head than he normally preferred, but it had pushed his worries to the back of his mind which kept him content and more at ease as he calmly combed Denka’s coat and watched a movie with his mother before bed.

Itachi came in towards the end of the movie and joined them in watching it. Then, as the credits were rolling, he kissed his mother goodnight on her temple and waved goodnight to Sasuke before retreating to his room minutes before Fugaku came home from the station. Sasuke’s father’s timing was perfect for Sasuke to excuse himself to bed, and he promptly hurried up the stairs to his room after bidding the proper goodnight to his father as he came into the family room he and his mother had been occupying.

As Sasuke went to bed that night, his head was once more on the task he’d set before himself for tomorrow. He would ask a girl to his party by the end of the day, no matter what! Failure to do so would be inexcusable.

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

Naruto was really annoyed with Sasuke Thursday. Instead of checking all the girls out like the day before, today the Uchiha seemed to be off in his own little dream world, so distracted in his own thoughts that his face had taken on a dreamy look Naruto usually only saw on the girls that gazed at Sasuke all day. Though, if Naruto did say so himself, the look was much more preferable on Sasuke’s face than on his fangirls’. That didn’t detract from Naruto’s irritation, however, as he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was putting that look on the Uchiha’s face in the first place. He didn’t have much time to contemplate the possibilities, however, because they were in the midst of a pop quiz marathon in order to prepare them for the end of the year exams that were due to start in just another week.

By the time lunch rolled around, Naruto was too busy cursing Shikamaru’s lazy genius (he hadn’t even woken for the quizzes! And the teacher hadn’t even tried to make him!) to notice where Sasuke headed off to for the lunch period. In fact, he didn’t even think about it until he made it to the rooftop with Shika, Chouji and Hinata, and found neither Ino nor Haku. Figuring Ino was having another emergency Sasuke Fanclub meeting, they weren’t too concerned about her absence, but Haku hardly ever missed lunch with them, save for the time Naruto had spent in the clinic and a couple times when the Drama Club he was crew on had lunchtime meetings.

“Maybe they’re planning for the end-of-school festival?” Hinata suggested, but Naruto shook his head. They had already planned throughout after school club activities for the past month, and Haku would have told him if he was going to be in the Drama Room for lunch.

“I’m gonna go find him,” Naruto announced, and left the roof without waiting for a reply from his friends.

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

Sasuke had contemplated enough, and it was time to make his move. He’d finally come to the conclusion that there was only one obvious answer to his predicament: invite the one and only girl who not only had no apparent interest in him, but also knew about his sexual preference. That one and only girl was none other than Yukimura-senpai. So, as soon as lunch period began, Sasuke set out to find her and invite her.

It was just his luck that, as he was about to enter the Senior building’s side entrance, the very girl he was looking for came out and started on a path heading back toward the Junior High. Sasuke easily headed her off and got her attention.

“Yukimura-senpai,” he addressed the girl, stepping into her path.

Surprised, chocolate eyes looked him over before answering with a smile, “Sasuke-chan, what can I do for you?”

He scowled, “I told you before not to call me that.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. So what did you want?” the girl answered.

“Well, actually, I wanted to ask you something,” he began, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive. What if he was wrong about this girl? What if she really did have feelings for him, and decided to use this opportunity to expose his secret to the entire student body out of spite for his sexual preference?

“What is it?” her calm voice asked curiously, putting him a little more at ease.

“Would you accompany me to the graduation party my parents are giving my brother and I?”

Sasuke was too concerned with her answer to take notice of the numerous gasps and sudden start of whispering that occurred around them as the Yukimura girl blinked at him, apparently absorbing his question.

After only seconds of thought, the Yukimura girl shook her head, her long, long locks swaying around her as she smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I cannot accept your invitation.”

Finding this answer unacceptable, he pulled her to a more private area to discuss the matter further. Once he’d found a spot behind the gym that he deemed acceptable, Sasuke demanded a more explicit answer.

“You’re not asking me because you have feelings for me, are you, Uchiha-kun?” Yukimura asked with a sage-like smile.

“Of course not! You already know I don’t like girls.”

Inexplicably, the girl looked like she wanted to either laugh or frown, Sasuke couldn’t determine which. Neither seemed a good prospect in his opinion, though, and he scowled.

“Don’t tell me you actually do have feelings for me like everyone else,” he demanded. “Are you saying no because you would want a relationship and are mad that’s not possible?”

The long haired girl shook her head, “No, no, that’s not it at all. I actually don’t have any feelings for you, other than a senpai-to-kouhai relationship.”

“Then why do you refuse my invitation? I’m sure you can understand the reason behind it,” he said truthfully, trying not to sound pleading.

She smiled at him, putting her hand to her chin in apparent contemplation as she cocked her head at him, “It’s because you are not ready to tell your parents you’re gay, and you need a date to this party they’re giving you?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it,” Sasuke answered, nodding his head.

“I don’t believe I’m exactly right for your criteria, though,” the girl insisted.

“Of course you are,” Sasuke insisted right back. “You’re polite, seem to dress properly, and carry yourself well. You already know about my preferences and have no romantic feelings for me to speak of, therefore I wouldn’t be leading you on and we could part ways amicably afterward. You’re also decent looking so I wouldn’t have to suffer an unsightly appearance all night,” he added rather untactfully, but didn’t care at this point as he figured she would appreciate his bald truthfulness.

“I do feel for your plight, believe me,” the girl replied, ignoring the uncouth remark and giving Sasuke hope as she bit her lip, seemingly contemplating changing her mind for the positive. Then, again, she shook her head as she spoke under her breath. Sasuke was just barely able to make out the words, “Naruto would be pissed if I said yes, though.” Then the girl shook her head again. “I’m sorry, Uchiha-kun, but I must decline. You’ll have to ask someone else. “

He spared a second longer to give her a scornful glare before turning and stalking off to continue his search.

It proved highly unfruitful, as she really had been his one and only choice, and Sasuke soon found himself, once again, at the end of the school day without a proper date to speak of. Not only was he upset about the fact he still had no one to take, but he couldn’t believe he’d actually been turned down! He was so caught up in being dumbstruck at the rejection that he didn’t hear Kakashi-sensei when he was announcing their usual team captains for baseball.

“Okay, it seems it’s time for a changeup,” Kakashi-sensei announced after being ignored by the Uchiha. “Nara, you’re Red Team’s captain this time!”

“Mendokuse,” the lazy boy replied automatically, sighing as he pulled his perpetually tired body up from its lounging position on the ground to go stand beside Naruto.

Sasuke ended up on Naruto’s team after the picking was done, and berated himself silently for his lack of concentration causing him to be stuck on the same team as the dobe. He didn’t really understand why the dobe had picked him for his team anyway; weren’t they supposed to be “rivals”? However, to his surprise, they actually played pretty well together. They both were very competitive and athletic, and with the rivalry Naruto always felt the need to announce existed between them, they were always working to one-up each other. In this way, they earned most of the homeruns for their team, not to mention catching tons of outs against Red Team. Amazingly, though, the Red Team was also doing pretty well under Shikamaru’s captainship.

Finally it came down to the ninth inning. The score was 14-12, in Red Team’s favor. The bases were loaded, and Naruto was up to bat for Blue with Shikamaru pitching for Red. Sasuke was on first, and watching the play with rapt attention to determine the best time to run. He watched the catcher give several signals to Nara, all of which were refused with a shake of his head. At last, the sign came for a slow ball, and Nara agreed. Sasuke snorted at his luck. No way would they lose now.

The pitch was thrown, Naruto swung, and the ball was caught neatly in Chouji’s glove. Sasuke’s eyes nearly popped out of his head in disbelief. How could the dobe have missed that pitch?!

Yet again, Nara waited for the signal of his preferred pitch, which came much more quickly this time. He wound up and pitched. Naruto swung and cursed as, once again, his swing was early and the ball went into Chouji’s glove.

“What the fuck, Shikamaru!” Naruto suddenly exclaimed before the negotiations for the final pitch began. “That’s totally cheating! You know I don’t have the patience to wait for a slow ball!”

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Sasuke thought as he rolled his eyes and gave in to the urge to facepalm. The Nara had actually been right before when he told him to use the slow pitch?

“Language, Uzumaki,” Kakashi-sensei reprimanded, though it was muffled by both his germ mask (which he always wore, whether he actually had a cold or not) and the well-used orange paperback he had his nose perpetually stuck in.

Naruto pouted petulantly. “C’mon, Shika, give me a real pitch!” the blond demanded.

“Tch, mendokuse,” Sasuke heard Shikamaru complain as he wound up again.

This time the pitch was just a normal speed, high and inside. Naruto concentrated on it, his pinkish-red tongue peeking out of the side of his mouth slightly as he readied the bat and made contact. The sound resounded around them for a few seconds before the runners on base finally caught on and made a break for it, Sasuke included. By the time the ball was caught, Naruto had already left his sandy footprint on homebase, seconds after Sasuke’s, and the blue team had won.

“Okay, good game! Everyone hit the showers,” Kakashi-sensei announced, his nose still in his book.

The boys didn’t need told twice, and everyone headed back inside. As usual, Sasuke took his time in the shower so that the others were done and dressed long before he even turned his water off. By the time he got to his locker, the room was empty and he was free to follow his usual hair care regimen as he pleased.

Or so he thought, until he noticed spiky blond hair just within his peripheral vision from around the edge of the corner. He turned to see Uzumaki sitting on a bench, his back to Sasuke as he hunched over his backpack, apparently looking for something. Or perhaps simply finishing up repacking it, because a moment later he zipped up the loud orange bag and straightened up. He didn’t leave, though, continuing to sit there, idly tapping out some sort of rhythm with his shoe.

Just before Sasuke could get the other boy’s attention and ask why he was still hanging around, one of the doors opened and a familiar face entered. Sasuke ducked back around the corner, no longer thinking of making his presence known now that the Yukimura girl was in the locker room.

What the hell was she doing here? Was she looking for him? He was having déjà vu, remembering how she’d caught him and Kimimaro in the showers of this very locker room just one week prior. Thinking of which, why had she been in here that day, anyway? He had a feeling he should know, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Sasuke tried to calm his racing thoughts and instead listened to Uzumaki and Yukimura greet each other.

“Hey, Haku,” Uzumaki’s cheerful voice greeted the girl, and Sasuke found himself mentally filing the name away.

Now he knew the girl’s full name, though whatever use it may have he didn’t know. He did find it curious that a girl would be named Haku—though it sometimes was used for girls, it was more commonly a boy name— but didn’t really question it. Parents were weird sometimes when it came to naming kids. After all, his own parents had named their first son after a weasel, and Uzumaki’s given name meant fishcake. Strange.

Shaking his head at his runaway thoughts, Sasuke kept listening.

“Hey, Naruto. Got my clothes in your bag?” Yukimura—Haku asked.

‘Uzumaki has her clothes?’ Sasuke wondered to himself.

“Yeah, I just moved them to the top for you,” Uzumaki answered, and Sasuke heard some shuffling that was probably Uzumaki picking up his bag. “Hey, Haku, where were you at lunch? You never showed up.”

Sasuke took note of this also. So Yukimura and Uzumaki ate lunch together? Curious.

“Oh, sorry about that, Naru-chan,” Haku apologized. “I had something last minute come up and couldn’t make it.”

At her words, Sasuke felt relieved she hadn’t revealed anything about him.

Oblivious to Sasuke’s silent relief behind the nearby lockers, Yukimura continued, “Did you wait for me long?”

“I went looking for you but gave up when I didn’t find you in the courtyard or the drama room,” Uzumaki answered.

“Sorry again. So you did eat lunch, then?”

“Yes, I ate lunch,” Uzumaki answered in an annoyed tone.

“Okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure,” Haku said placatingly.

Getting more curious by the moment as he listened, Sasuke peeked around the corner to watch their interaction. What he saw surprised him more than the conversation. Uzumaki and Haku were standing side by side, and Haku had her arm wrapped around the boy that was several inches shorter than her, with her head leaning onto the top of his. Then she pulled away, only to grab his hand and squeeze. Uzumaki apparently squeezed back, because she smiled happily after a moment.

“Come on, let’s get going now! We don’t want to miss our bus again!” she exclaimed then, pulling an obviously reluctant Uzumaki towards the doors by the hand she still held.

“Aw, Haku, do we really hafta go? Even after what happened last week?” Uzumaki’s tone changed dramatically from whiny to forlorn, all within a span of a few words, making Sasuke wonder where they were going and what had happened to make Uzumaki sound like that.

Yukimura gave the blond a look of sympathy before pulling the blond’s body to hers and hugging him again.

“Don’t worry, Naru-chan, it’ll be okay. I have faith in your strength. And if things go bad again, you know I’ll be there for you afterwards. Always. Okay?” She pulled out of the hug to look at him, but when Uzumaki didn’t answer right away, she continued, “Plus, I’ll treat you to ramen afterwards.”

Yukimura waggled her eyebrows in an almost suggestive manner, making Sasuke quirk one of his own. Was ramen really such a treat?

Apparently it was, because at this vow, Uzumaki dropped his bag and jumped bodily onto the girl, his legs and arms wrapping around her as he declared, “Ramen, dattebayo! Okay, Haku, for you and ramen I’ll put up with the megabitch for another week!”

“Oof, okay, Naruto, I’m glad. Now please get off me.”

Uzumaki promptly let go and retrieved his bag as Yukimura straightened her clothes.

“I don’t know why you bother fixing your clothes when they’re just going to be coming off in a little bit anyway,” the blond said, watching her amusedly.

The girl stuck her tongue out at him. “I like to look nice. Anyway, didn’t I tell you this morning to warn me before you jump on me? I swear, sometimes I wonder how I put up with you,” she complained teasingly.

“Because you love me,” Uzumaki replied, smiling a dazzling smile that made Sasuke blink as something strange squirmed in his stomach.

“Yes, I do,” Yukimura agreed simply. “Now move your ass before we’re late, oh love of mine!”

“Alright, alright.”

And with that, they dashed out the doors. Just before the doors closed, Sasuke heard Uzumaki start to say, “Oh yeah, Haku, when I was looking for you during lunch, I heard a strange rumor—”

Then the doors closed and Sasuke was finally left alone to go about his usual routine. His hair was barely damp anymore, so he hurried to comb it and style it before it dried messily. As he did so, he thought about what he’d seen and heard. Now that he thought about it and had seen them together, Sasuke remembered why the Yukimura girl—Haku—had been in the locker room the week before: she’d been looking for Uzumaki. It seemed that Uzumaki and Yukimura were in a relationship—a sexual relationship, judging from the implications in their conversation. Well, at least that explained why she’d turned down Sasuke’s invitation during lunch, and why she’d said saying yes would piss Uzumaki off. Sasuke was still ticked at being rejected, but at least now he knew there was a legitimate reason behind her refusal.

His hair finally styled, Sasuke took off his towel and put boxers on before putting his shower and styling products away in his locker. Just as he closed the door and turned back around, he was surprised by the sight of a stealthy Kimimaro, who had snuck through the locker room door while his back was turned. Kimimaro suddenly accosted Sasuke, pushing the raven up against his locker to ravage his mouth.

Sasuke gasped at the cold of the metal against his bare back, and clutched Kimimaro’s arms tightly, torn between losing himself in the kisses or pushing the older boy off him so he could be comfortable again. The kissing won out for the moment, though he did press himself closer to Kimimaro’s body to let the other boy know he wanted off the cold, hard, metal surface. When he did this, though, he felt the older boy’s erection pressing against him and immediately felt a pleasant shiver run up his cold spine. The shiver intensified in the next instant as he felt Kimimaro’s hot breath against his ear.

“Did you think of me last night?”

Sasuke nodded furiously, wanting to please his boyfriend. He had thought of him, at least at that moment when Kimimaro had suggested it on the phone. The fact that he’d completely forgotten about it later wasn’t important at this point in time.

Kimimaro chuckled sexily. “Did it feel good?”

“Nngh,” was all Sasuke could articulate, as the very edge of his ear was teased with hot lips and he felt his erection growing inside his boxers. He took a couple heavy breaths, trying to regain his capability of speech even as his body let itself succumb to the temptation presented it. “I know something that will feel better, though,” Sasuke was finally able to say, and he pressed his palm against the firm package in Kimimaro’s pants, not shy at all.

The white haired boy smirked and pressed against Sasuke’s palm, once again claiming Sasuke’s mouth and thrusting his tongue through the boy’s parted lips as his own hand slipped down the front of Sasuke’s tented boxers. Sasuke gasped as the rigid flesh of his cock was grabbed and firmly stroked with a precision he never failed to wonder at. How was it, exactly, that after only a few months of going out and a couple months of actual sexual exploration beyond kissing, Kimimaro already knew how to press Sasuke’s buttons just right to get him off as quickly as he pleased.

Not wanting to be outdone, Sasuke put both his hands to work opening Kimimaro’s pants and stroking him in like fashion. The two grinded against each other’s hands, pulling and thrusting in tandem until soon they were both coming, splashing their hot release against the other’s hand and the inside of their boxers.

Panting harshly, Sasuke rested against Kimimaro’s chest, the hot skin of his forehead making contact with the skin visible above the two top collar buttons Kimimaro usually left undone on his uniform shirt. He felt Kimimaro’s chin resting on the top of his head, but was too sated at the moment to care that the hair he’d just finished meticulously grooming would be disheveled now. Once they both caught their breath, however, the realization that he would need a new pair of boxers now made him groan and wrinkle his nose at the wet, sticky feeling against his skin.

Kimimaro chuckled, knowing why Sasuke was most likely groaning. “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.”

Sasuke stood back up on his own, ignoring the discomfort as his back made contact with the cold metal again, in order to give his boyfriend an annoyed look. “You need to practice better self-control.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining a minute ago,” Kimimaro pointed out, smirking.

“Temporary insanity,” Sasuke sighed. Then, remembering something, he added, “Or amnesia… didn’t I say before we wouldn’t do this in school again?”

Kimimaro shrugged, still smirking. Sasuke scowled at him, a scowl that deepened as his boyfriend merely grinned at him and ruffled his already-mussed hair.

“Don’t worry. No one came in, did they?”

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted, crossing his arms across his chest in irritation.

Kimimaro rolled his eyes at his occasionally-prissy boyfriend. “Well, babe, I gotta get going to practice. See you after?” he asked, doing up his pants. He would clean up and change in the club locker room.

“Yeah, whatever,” Sasuke answered. “Don’t call me ‘babe’,” he added irritably.

Kimimaro merely blew him a kiss teasingly before exiting the Junior locker room.

Sasuke bit his lip after his boyfriend left. Damn, that was a rush. But he couldn’t keep letting this happen! They’d already been caught once, and were lucky it was someone that wouldn’t report them last time. If they were caught again they probably wouldn’t be so lucky; it might even be a teacher next time! As it was, Kimimaro had just barely missed Uzumaki and Yukimura leaving the locker room! Sasuke sighed at himself, his common sense conflicting with his hormones and giving him a headache. Right now, all he needed to worry about was finding a clean pair of boxers. Luckily, he always brought a spare change of clothes.

After he was dressed and had repaired the damage to his hair, Sasuke decided to go wait in Kimimaro’s Jeep rather than the library. He was tired of having to avoid overactive fangirls around school lately, and just wanted to relax and listen to his iPod uninterrupted. Before he made it to the parking lot, however, he came face to face with none other than Hyuuga Neji, who was heading in the opposite direction.

“Uchiha,” the Hyuuga said with a thrust of his chin.

“Hyuuga,” Sasuke said in like manner, and continued walking until the Hyuuga’s next words made him pause.

“I heard an interesting rumor today.”

“How lucky for you,” Sasuke said, uninterested.

“They’re saying you asked Yukimura out,” the Hyuuga informed him with a wry smirk.

Sasuke turned around and shrugged, “So?”

The Hyuuga chuckled smugly. “Hmph, I had a feeling you shared your brother’s traits in more than just appearance and academics. Figures I was right. I just never thought you’d actually make such a spectacle of yourself.” The smug look transformed to a sneer at the end of his words.

Sasuke frowned. “What are you talking about, Hyuuga?”

“You. Asking Yukimura out,” the Hyuuga answered as if it were obvious and Sasuke were stupid.

“I fail to see the connection between that and me supposedly being like my brother.”

Hyuuga gave him an incredulous look, “I fail to see how you could miss it.”

Sasuke huffed in disgust, having no patience for this conversation or the person prolonging it. To him it seemed that the Hyuuga was just trying to get under his skin as usual. “Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to get at, but I don’t see how me asking a girl out is any of your business in the first place.”

That earned a cocked eyebrow from the Hyuuga. “What girl?”

Sasuke looked at him funny, suspicious he was trying to pull something. “Yu-ki-mu-ra-sen-pa-i,” he enunciated slowly.

“Wait, Yukimura is the girl you asked out?”

This time it was Sasuke’s turn to look at the other boy as if he were stupid. “Yeee~sss,” he drew out slowly for the apparent idiot.

This earned another chuckle from the Hyuuga. “Well, congratulations on finally coming out of your shell and asking a girl out,” he said then. “Do let me know how the date goes,” he added with another chuckle as he walked off shaking his head.

Sasuke scowled at the other boy’s back, refusing to reveal he’d actually been turned down by the girl, and wondering what had finally sent Hyuuga off the deep end. Shaking his head, as he probably didn’t want to know, Sasuke turned back around and continued his trek to the parking lot.

TBC

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A/N2: So ends chapter six. Chapter seven coming in the not too distant future. I didn’t get any reviewers other than sk last chapter…but that’s okay, I guess. I still really want to write this story. It’s important to me. Still, it would be nice to get some feedback, especially when the hit counter keeps going up… So come on, people, don’t be shy!

I considered putting this in the Naruto/Sasuke category in order to get more exposure for the story, despite it not technically being yaoi, but I’m still not sure if I should. Aside from the fact Naruto has female parts (I’m sure there’s other stories where one of them are actually a girl in that category) there are other pairings in this as well. Though NaruSasuNaru is the main pairing and focus of the plot… ack, I can’t decide. So I’d like to read some opinions on this, too…

I’m tired now, and a lil doped on cold meds, so I can’t remember what else, if anything, I was gonna say here. So I guess, bye for now!

♥
~ lg