Parthenogenesis

A/N: Well, to tell you the truth, I almost forgot to update again today. I've been so excited about the last HP book. BUT, luckily I checked my e-mail, and LUCKILY, Naruchan left such a wonderful review that I just had to log on an update this, even though I'm dragging myself away from HPDH. As such, there are probably more spelling and grammer mistakes in this chapter than are per norm, but I don't have the motivation to read it through to check for them.

Chapter 9: Jealousy and a Sober Kiss

If anything good could be said about Naruto’s “blond moment,” it would be that he recovered quickly from it and with much more grace than he normally would show. With a rising blush and a nervous back-of-the-head scratch, the demon container played off his mistake well.

He then went off to greet all of his friends and adopted family members. Many of them gave him gifts or cards. Naruto neatly stacked everything on a corner table to open later. Now was the time to talk and be cheerful. Tsunade sort of put a damper on the cheerfulness, however, as she had decided that there was to be no alcohol present at the party. Being a heavy drinker herself, she had probably only made the rule so that she didn’t have to clean up after a bunch of drunk shinobi. Nevertheless, Sasuke could’ve sworn he caught the hokage taking sips out of a mysterious flask from her cloak when she thought no one was looking, but when the Uchiha tried to make a closer inspection, there was never any flask to be found.

After 30 minutes of quietly standing by the wall, patiently enduring the shallow conversations of several fan girls, Sasuke Uchiha ascertained that he had been there long enough. He was about to sneak out the exit door when he caught sight of a certain dobe whom the raven-haired teme had believed lost in the crowd of well-wishers. He was there, speaking with Iruka and Anko (whom seemed to have a new relationship together). Naruto’s blue eyes were hidden behind upturned “u’s” of merriment and Sasuke couldn’t help but take in his appearance. Sasuke quite suddenly realized how long Naruto’s hair had gotten. The demon container had slowly let his hair grow out over the years, finally pulling the back into a low pony-tail when it began getting in his way. He let the front roam free, cutting it just enough to stay out of his eyes. He looked oddly like the Fourth, especially since he had moved his forehead protector (which was on black band of cloth) to his right arm and let his bangs fall onto his forehead where the yellow strands contrasted wonderfully with his tanned skin and the bright locks seemed to make those blue eyes brighter still. Sasuke’s obsidian eyes then roamed to the blond’s toned ninja-body. A black fish-net, short-sleeved shirt clung to the tight muscles that bunched and quivered sensually with every movement of the blond, no matter how slight. An orange jounin vest (from heaven knows where) with front pockets full of scrolls and other ninja objects and a red Uzumaki swirl on the middle of the back practically screamed “Naruto!” The vest rose up just enough when Naruto stretched or bent down to reveal a short sliver of blue boxers with ramen cups on them, but the boxers were all-too-quickly covered by Naruto’s shorts. He had on loose black shorts that ended mid-knee. On the left, a kunai pouch was strapped with orange medical tape beneath it. On the right, he had the kanji for “ramen” written down the side in orange that matched his vest. The clench of jealousy invaded Sasuke’s chest as he realized the blonde had probably gotten the idea to put the words of what he wanted on his attire from Gaara, who had the “Ai” kanji, “love,” tattooed upon his forehead. So, Gaara wanted love and Naruto wanted Ramen, but what did Sasuke want? The raven-haired avenger briefly played with the idea of tattooing the kanji for “Naruto” in a hard-to-see area and asking Naruto to search for it. The Uchiha pushed that out of his head as soon as it entered- no use in getting all worked “up” in this company. It was the last thing he needed, especially if one of his fan girls caught a glimpse of something like that and got the foolish idea that they were the reason behind it. The unwanted groping would probably increase ten-fold.

Watching the blatantly happy blond, Sasuke fell into quiet-thinking-mode (others call it brooding). Was reviving the clan THAT important that Sasuke would waste this chance with Naruto? ‘What chance with Naruto? You haven’t made any move to get a chance with him and for what reason? There’s already the high probability that he’s gay. And if not, Naruto’s not one to think less of a person for their sexual preference. It can’t be the fear of rejection,’ inner-argued the Uchiha. It was about this time that Naruto was now among the sand trio- Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. That was right. Gaara also wanted his dobe. ‘Now you’re possessive over the idiot,’ Sasuke told himself, ‘This doesn’t look like it’s going to fare very well for your future children, or should we say, the lack thereof.’

The brooding nature of the Uchiha was reaching an all-time high when it was brought to a screeching halt.

“I take it you haven’t told him yet,” came a stoic voice to his left.

Black eyes took in the appearance of the white orbs of the Hyuuga prodigy. “There is nothing to tell. I am an Avenger, and once I have enough power to destroy my brother, I will do so. After that, I will become the reviver of my clan. Naruto cannot fit into my future.”

Neji watched Naruto as he laughed and joked with Gaara. Gaara- another person that Naruto had forced into seeing the light. Did Naruto’s unknown power of granting other’s the gift of recognizing the truth not work on the Uchiha? Or was the Uchiha so stupid that he would deny the truth until the day he die? Perhaps he was just stubborn, or perhaps more likely still, the Uchiha was a masochist, and would endure the pain of yearning for Naruto while with someone else for his ‘ambition’ he had come up with when he was a foolish 12-year-old? Why could he not see that everything he ever wanted was standing just across the room?

“Naruto seems close to the Kazekage,” Neji observed.

“Hn.” The Uchiha’s conversation skills hadn’t improved it seemed.

“Naruto’s not exactly the most hated villager any more. He’s grown handsome. Even the girls of the village have begun to notice him as something more than a troublemaker, some of the guys too,” continued the Hyuuga.

The Uchiha’s eyes stayed focused on Naruto, not even sparing Neji a glance. “What are you getting at, Hyuuga?”

“Naruto is being offered more and more chances to settle down and have a family everyday. He has a number of people that could make him content enough. Being an orphan, it’s rather surprising that Naruto hasn’t already started a family of his own so that he can give his children the love he never received.”

Sasuke finally turned to glare at the Hyuuga. That black gaze seemed to shout, “Get to the point, NOW!”

“Either something is holding Naruto back, or he is holding himself back. Perhaps he is waiting for a certain someone. He could make you happy. Wait much longer, and he may give up on you, and then your chance at happiness would be gone forever. Could you be happy for him if he found someone else?”

“I could cope,” answered the Uchiha stiffly.

“Could you?” mocked Neji with a quizzical brow. Sensing the elevated killer-intent focused on him from the Uchiha, Neji decided to bring the conversation to an end. “I’ve spoken with both you and Naruto, and I can tell you that Naruto feels as strongly for you as you do for him. That is all I will say. Farewell, Uchiha.”

Sasuke began to brood again, this time thinking about his conversation with Neji. When he came back to reality, the guest were leaving and Naruto was addressing him, “Teme, don’t tell me you stood in the corner and brooded the whole time.”

“Hn,” said Sasuke, watching the parting guests.

“Well, you can at least keep me company while I pack up everything. I noticed not once today when you were lying to me about a Jounin meeting did you ever even wish me happy birthday.”

“Fine,” agreed the Uchiha, now watching Naruto seal all his unwrapped presents into a scroll and stick the scroll in his front pocket. Well, all the presents except for two- two identical pairs of green spandex.

Naruto laughed nervously as he picked the horrific suits up. “I just didn’t have the heart to tell Gai and Lee that I didn’t need another set of green spandex. I already have a pair from last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and well…more sets of green spandex than I will ever have need to wear,” said Naruto in way of explanation.

“I have an idea, dobe. Set them on the floor.”

Curious, Naruto did as he was told. He had hardly taken two steps back for the terrible fashion pieces before he heard, “Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.” A small ball of fire erupted from Sasuke’s mouth and set the spandex ablaze.

After waiting for the last thread to burn, Sasuke was surprisingly the first to speak: “That was surprisingly fulfilling.”

“Yeah,” chimed Naruto, fully intent on bugging Sasuke later for that technique so that he could burn the rest of the spandex suits he may ever be given.

“Well, goodnight teme. Thanks for coming, even if you did lie to me about the whole Jounin meeting and everything. I’m kind of surprised you stayed for the whole thing. I figured you would sneak out 30 minutes into the thing.”

Sasuke very nearly sweat-dropped, since he’d had every intention of doing just that. “Hn,” he said before walking off to recover from his…whatever you would call that. He made a small waving gesture over his shoulder to Naruto without looking back.

After leaving the building, Sasuke noticed Gaara was still hanging around outside. Sasuke debated with himself as he walked out of sight. Curiosity caused him to double back and eavesdrop on the redhead.

The blond dobe of an individual exited the building a few seconds later, a large smile plastered on his face.

“Uzumaki Naruto, might I speak with you a moment?” asked the kazekage.

With a quizzical look, Naruto granted the sand-man his request with a nod.

Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand, only to reappear in front of Naruto and take the blond’s hands into his own.

“Ga-Gaara,” stuttered Naruto uncertainly, trying to pull back.

Gaara leaned forward and whispered into Naruto’s ear. “Act natural, Naruto. You’re lover boy is watching.”

“I sure hope you’re not talking about yourself,” retorted the kitsune with a snort, though he stopped struggling.

“I am not. The Uchiha watches in jealousy,” said the redhead cryptically.

“That’s nice and all, but why are you doing this? I was pretty sure you were seeing a girl in Suna last time I visited- you’re as straight as a flag pole, or so I thought.”

“I am, but you know I hate the Uchiha. Watching us like this must be torture.” The pair was still close together, taking turns whispering into each other’s ears. It seemed rather romantic, and that disgusted the watching pair of jealous obsidian orbs.

Naruto chuckled. “So, what’s the real reason?”

“He hesitates. I know he wants you. I will make him act on it. It’s for your own good.”

“I’m glad you think so highly of my happiness, but please stay out of this. Sasuke has his own dreams and I will not interfere with them.”

“You are too kind Uzumaki,” said Gaara, stepping back and releasing Naruto’s hands. Sasuke could finally see their lips and could read them.

“Maybe, but this is not what I want. I will woo my own lover. Goodnight, Gaara-san. Thank you for everything.”

‘He turned him down!’ Thought the Uchiha with excitement. ‘I may not have lost him yet! If I make a move, I must make it tonight. Neji is right. Future dreams be damned!’

The Uchiha quickly made his way around the corner to wait on the dobe.

He didn’t have to wait long. Naruto rounded the corner and paused at the sight of the Uchiha. The whole thing could’ve been rather awkward, but Naruto found a way around that.

“Aw, Sasuke-teme, waiting around to irritate me some more tonight?”

“Hn…” answered the Uchiha falling into step beside the blond as they made their way down the deserted road. With the Uchiha’s thoughts centered on how to ‘make his move,’ it turned into a rather quiet walk back.

“What’s wrong teme? You seem… I don’t know…distracted or something,” asked Naruto as they neared his small apartment.

Sasuke was torn. Did he want to take the chance to make Naruto his? Did he was to give up his dream of the revival of his clan? It was all so difficult to decide, and he hadn’t even had his proper “brooding” time to come up with a course of action yet. His thoughts strayed to a night much like tonight when he had had a drunken dream of kissing Naruto. It had seemed so real, even the taste of Miso on his lips. Could it have been more than just a dream? And if it was, and the two had actually kissed, and judging by the fact that Naruto was still hanging out with him, could that mean Naruto reciprocated those feelings. Sasuke looked up at the dobe to see that he was waiting for an answer.

“I was just thinking…about that night…when you brought me home when I was drunk…what did I do?”

Naruto began chuckling, “You made a fool of yourself, that’s what.” Naruto leaned in conspiratorially and whispered in Sasuke’s ear, “But if it makes you feel any better, you made a fool of yourself in true Uchiha fashion.”

Sasuke quirked a brow at this. “How so,” he asked.

“Yep,” Naruto said rather loudly, a fox-like gleam in his eye, “Uchiha fashion: thoroughly, primly, and perfectly.”

“Tch, dobe,” said the Uchiha, walking away and obviously upset at that.

“Hey, teme! Running away to brood?” yelled Naruto after the Uchiha’s back.

That made Sasuke pause. “I don’t run away from the likes of you. And I certainly don’t brood!” He added, after remembering what the dobe had said completely.

“Your in denial, Sasuke, admit it.”

“Dobe, if I admitted it, I would not be in denial. Which I’m not,” snapped the raven-haired boy.

“Teme, what’s got you wound up tighter than TenTen’s pigtails? You normally aren’t so snappish, but recently, it seems as though all we do is argue.”

Whoa! Stop there! Shouted Sasuke’s inner voice. Now we’re even arguing like a couple!

“Dobe, I’m not wound up. I just wanted to know what happened that night I was drunk, and you’re here laughing at my expense,” said Sasuke, fully ready to walk away.

He only got half-a-step in the other direction when Naruto appeared in front of him, an odd look on his face. “I didn’t mean to laugh at you Sasuke, it’s just…you really want to know?” The Uchiha nodded. The darkness of night didn’t seem to do anything to hide Naruto’s blush. “I helped you get home, and then I broughtyoutoyourroomand-youwouldn’tletgothenyoukissedmeandsaidyouwishedIwasabletohavekids. There, you happy?” asked Naruto, it all rolling off his tongue in quick sucession. He determinedly looked away from the Uchiha, and Sasuke could practically feel the heat of blush rolling off of the blond.

“I kissed you…why didn’t you say something sooner?” asked the Uchiha, looking deep into those azure-blue eyes that were even now evading his own black orbs.

“You were drunk…soooo…it didn’t really mean anything…right?” asked Naruto, only to be met with silence. After a few moments of the continued absence of sound, Naruto finally ventured to look up.

When he did, it was to see those clear obsidian orbs mere few inches from his own. ‘When did he move? When did he get so close? He didn’t even make a sound!’ thought Naruto.

Naruto’s breath caught in his throat as those black eyes tried to discern the look in his blue eyes, and then they ventured to look at Naruto’s pink lips.

Time seemed to stand still as Sasuke connected their lips to together for a second time, third if you count the accident at the academy. It was seconds of pure bliss as one set of lips felt the slick warmth of the other. And all too soon did time begin ticking again, second by second, and the Uchiha pulled away.

He began walking towards his own home again, only pausing as he drew even with Naruto to say, “This time, I was not drunk.”

It was all he said, but those few words filled Naruto’s head with thousands-upon-thousands of thoughts. ‘What does that mean? What about his dream of reviving his clan? Did he give that up?’

Meanwhile, the Uchiha had his own thoughts: ‘I can’t believe I just did that! So sudden! He’s going to be so freaked out. He’s going to hate me and think I’m disgusting!’

That marked a turn in their relationship. But what direction would it take? It was all up to them now…

O0o.end chapter.o0O