Afterall

Pairing: Sasuke/Sakura/Naruto (very little Sakura in this bit, though)

Afterall


Sasuke came in late.

Weighed down by a month’s worth of groceries and exhausted from his mission, he didn’t bother keeping the noise down as he stepped into the house. He didn’t even bother bending down to take off his shoes before plodding into the kitchen to dump the food there and flop into a chair. His back ached fiercely and he could feel the beginning of a headache somewhere in the back of his head. In fact, by the way his left eye kept clouding, he was in for a migraine of godly proportions.

Should’ve been more judicious with the sharingan, should’ve…

But really, he was too tired to even care about his mistakes right then, as much as he knew they’d chafe at his pride come morning.

“Sasuke?” Black eyes moved sideways to find Sakura standing in the doorway. He hadn’t even heard her.

Then again, she’s become disturbingly skilled at sneaking around and---

“Sasuke… was the mission that bad? You look pale.” There was a hint of mockery in her voice and Sasuke wondered when it had been, exactly, that Sakura traded in her meekness for this firebrand personality of hers. There were days when competing with her was just as enticing as it was to do so with Naruto.

“Hardly. The mission went fine,” the attacks that came after weren’t as agreeable, but that was an entirely different matter, Sasuke thought to himself. He’d be damned if he had to excuse himself to Sakura for messing up. He closed his eyes for a moment when his vision wavered and bit back a curse. The back of his neck burned slightly and he knew what that meant.

Six years after Orochimaru had been killed it still flared up, when he overdid things. A constant reminder of his many mistakes.

Damn, I should’ve killed him more painfully, the slimy bastar--- oh

Sakura’s hands threaded into his hair, stroking his scalp at first, then pressing down in a careful massage. Sasuke could feel her chakra healing away some of the damage he’d done to his ocular nerves, a slight, pleasant burn of power… like Sakura herself. Powerful, but gentle. Intense.

Though not like Naruto’s intensity. Not better either, just… different.

Sakura’s voice floated above him, “You really should stop abusing your sharingan, it’s a bother to have you come in with a migraine after every mission.” Oh, but her fingers were heaven as she touched his aching temples and rubbed.

“Yeah, I thought headaches were strictly a girl thing,” Naruto’s voice, smug and sleepy, coming from behind Sakura.

Sakura snorted softly and let Sasuke go. “Look who’s up.”

“Look who’s back,” was Naruto’s rejoinder. He walked over to Sasuke and smiled ferally, though much of the edge was lost in the sleepiness of his eyes. “And all banged up, to boot.”

“Fuck off,” Sasuke intoned mechanically, feeling his chest flutter at Naruto’s bark of laughter. It was a nice laugh, however harsh it may sound sometimes. Sakura’s hands squeezed his neck and Sasuke let out a soft breath.

Naruto gave them both a long stare and shrugged. “Ah… bed calls.”

Sasuke didn’t blink, though he felt something within him move uncomfortably. They’d been living together for over four years now, but it felt like less on days like this. Of course, it was dark and it would probably rain so… so Naruto’s shoulder was hurting, most likely.

It was customary for one or both to greet the third coming back from a mission. Nothing eased the pain and daily exhaustion of battles like human warmth, and – more often than not – sex. Sometimes they were too tired to last long or even do more than cuddle, but Sasuke loved nothing more than coming home to the sheer warmth and reality of his lovers’ sweaty bodies and sloppy, sleepy touches.

But then… there were things that he could not help hating.

Most of the time, it felt as if it was him and Sakura, and Naruto and Sakura, more than the three of them together. When Naruto came in from his missions, hurting in all the ways Naruto hurt after killing anyone, it was Sakura who went to him, because Naruto would never truly let go with Sasuke around. There was a wall between them that never dropped, a point past which Naruto would not tread with Sasuke.

When they trained or fought simply for pleasure, no matter what happened, Sasuke could see that Naruto was truly on guard, and truly wary of his moves. He never let himself trust Sasuke fully, not like before. Sakura ended up caught between them, a bridge of sorts. And though most of the time it was all three of them together… Sasuke knew he could make love to Sakura alone whenever he wanted, but not to Naruto. On the few times – so few and far between they could be counted with the fingers of one hand – that Naruto and Sasuke ended up in bed together alone, Sasuke had found himself forced to submit to Naruto, because Naruto would never trust him enough to… anything. And Sasuke – try though he did – could never squeeze that apology past his lips.

“And work calls me,” Sakura sighed, startling Sasuke form his thoughts. She moved past him, leaving him alone in the kitchen chair. He truly focused on her now and realised that, indeed, she was dressed in her mediconin outfit even though it was late at night. Sasuke struggled against a shiver that crept up his spine.

He didn’t’ want to go back to their bed without her. He desperately needed something and he was too tired – the target had been so young - too feel up to curling on his side of the bed while Naruto slept.

“Sakura…” he whispered hoarsely and she turned, mildly alarmed by his tone. Grabbing her hand he pulled her towards him and forced her to bend. He kissed her hungrily, smiling into her groan. He pulled harder until she sat straddling his legs and he could feel her warmth against his groin. His fingers scrabbled for the openings of her dress and suddenly--- she was moving off him, kissing him deeply but gently.

“I’m sorry Sasuke, I really have to go now.”

Sasuke growled under his breath and pulled on her arm again. “Be late,” he murmured, feverishly. Sakura shook her head and kissed his forehead.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. Not tonight.”

He ached for her and his eyes still throbbed and he was so tired it was hard to breathe. It wasn’t much he asked for, it really wasn’t. He stroked her thighs and gave her a dark glare. Her huff of a laugh startled him.

“Good grief, if someone had told me when I was twelve I’d be turning down sex with you for work, I’d have laughed my ass off at them.” She kissed his brow and Sasuke felt his belly clench. “Go lie down, Sasuke. I really have to go this time.”

If someone had told Sasuke he’d burn for Sakura as he did now, he’d have snorted. If someone had told me he’d be as afraid of Naruto’s silences as he was, well… then he would have laughed his ass off.


* * *


Naruto lay on his belly, breathing slowly.

Sasuke stripped numbly and dropped his clothes on the floor by the bed. His side was cold, which meant that Naruto and Sakura had been snuggling on Naruto’s side. Sakura’s spot – the middle – was cool as well. Sasuke suppressed a shiver and curled up on the bed with his back to the other man.

He almost jumped out of his skin when a warm calloused hand stroked up his back and rubbed his shoulder. The mattress shifted and there was warmth behind him and a warm mouth on the nape of his neck. Sasuke wondered if Sakura’s absence had stirred some guilt in Naruto, or if this was something else… some form of forgiveness that he’d been craving for far too long, and had given up on getting. Even with this incredible healing powers, rainy days made Naruto’s bigger wounds ache, and the biggest of all…

… was a scar that not even Kyuubi had managed to erase.

I’m sorry, Naruto.

But he couldn’t get it past his lips. In four years, he’d never been able to.

“Naruto…” Sasuke murmured lowly. A part of him wanted to push the other man off and tell him to fuck off, if this was indeed just pity from Sakura’s absence and…

“Shut up, bastard,” Naruto growled and went back to sucking on the skin of his neck, moving up until Sasuke felt the rasp of a tongue at the back of his ear and it made him wonder, how much of Naruto’s instinctive behaviour came from ‘outside sources’, as Sakura was wont to define it.

It truly would be better to submit and let it go, Sasuke knew. Having Naruto to himself like this was too rare to waste; to have the other man trust him enough to have sex without Sakura between them was a rarity, a craved, sought after, mourned for rarity.

And still…

Sasuke elbowed him away, not too strongly. “For fuck’s sake, we both need to sleep.” He felt too frayed to be able to tolerate any more of this, at least for the night.

There was silence and then, “Don’t be a prick tonight of all nights, Sasuke.”

“I don’t need your pity,” Sasuke hissed.

“Good, I’ll remember that next time I clobber you into the ground.” The arms around him tightened again and Sasuke could feel the heat of Naruto’s groin against the back of his legs.

“I mean it, dead-last.”

Naruto sighed and got up on his elbows. Sasuke half turned to return the stare he knew was waiting for him. Instead, he found himself glaring into a pair of very quiet, very careful blue eyes. “What do you want then?” The questions, harshly asked, was not devoid of an underlying care that made Sasuke swallow thickly.

“Nothing you can give me.”

Sasuke wondered briefly where it was that all this poison came from. He never hurt Sakura, but somehow, he always ended up lashing back at Naruto. Even though he knew Naruto didn’t deserve it. Even though he knew Naruto had all the right in the world to be wary of him.

I wonder… if I had never come back, would you and Sakura have…

Naruto frowned and leaned back slightly, as if assessing him. There was something definitively vulpine in his eyes, a strange cunning air that he’d never possessed as a child. But the grownup Naruto was a rival worth having, a lover worth cherishing. He was everything.

Sasuke knew Sakura agreed with him on that point, though she was loathe to say it.

“You really can’t help putting your foot in your mouth, can you?” Naruto replied archly. Sasuke glared at him as darkly as he could, with his body feeling as if it were made of lead. Gods, he was tired. After a long silence, Naruto let out a huff and moved forwards to lean on Sasuke. “Bastard.”

Though he saw it coming, he was still unprepared for the kiss. Sasuke lay cold for a moment before responding, feeling one of Naruto’s hands move downwards, stroking his ribs and hips and then his thigh, snaking inwards. He bit back a moan as he skilfully stroked, pulled into a level of tension and desire he hadn’t expected. Naruto’s breath was a purr against his neck, against his chest… his navel.

Sasuke’s eyes fluttered shut and he let out an edgy hiss when he felt Naruto’s tongue draw a lazy circle on the skin above his pubic hair. He put his hands on Naruto’s head and shakily stroked his long blonde bangs. A hot mouth moved over him and it seemed, for a moment, that the wet sounds could rival with the actual sensation of what Naruto was doing to him. Sasuke wondered briefly if this was him submitting to Naruto again, or if Naruto going so far as to… suck him off, was… well, something. Naruto angled his head and fingers came in to play as well, cupping his testes and, suddenly, it was too hard to think of anything except…

“Naruto…” Sasuke’s voice broke on a thick groan and his body seized up in an orgasm that was almost brutally intense. Sasuke’s chest heaved and he swore he could hear Naruto chuckling.

“Bastard, you’re impossible.”

I’m sorry.

Blue eyes look up at him, smiling. Naruto’s lip glistened and he licked the corner of his mouth like a pleased cat, fingers rubbing Sasuke’s thighs distractingly.

“You’re impossible too,” Sasuke whispered hoarsely. His chest felt light enough to be filled with nothing. Naruto shook his head and sat up, stretching his arms with a wince. Sasuke watched the scar above his chest pale and ripple as the muscles moved. He wanted to kiss that scar, but he’d never dared. In fact, he pointedly never mentioned it. Besides, he’d never do something as stupidly romantic and weak as pretend he could kiss Naruto’s wounds away.

He’d put it there anyway, there was no erasing that.

But Naruto’s eyes were full of laughter… and when Sasuke took a chance and pushed him back gently, it was Naruto who relented, uncharacteristically. Naruto lay back with a wobbly smile and arched his back deliciously when Sasuke returned the favour. Naruto’s hands were soft in his hair, stroking like Sakura had done a bit earlier. Sasuke’s heart was beating so fast he feared it would spasm, but it was worth it. Naruto closed his eyes and gripped the sheets with a throaty moan caught at the back of his throat. Sasuke’s jaw ached, lacking practice and skill, but the pain was meaningless and Naruto didn’t seem to care about his awkwardness. Naruto’s body was shaking under his, which only drove him on harder.

Hearing Naruto’s little moan upon completion put an entirely new kind of warmth in his limbs. Sasuke leaned his head against Naruto’s belly and smirked when he heard it gurgle. “I can’t believe you’re hungry.”

“I’m not,” Naruto defended himself, licking his lips languorously. “Really.”

Sasuke snorted and nuzzled his belly. “Sure you aren’t, I can hear your stomach grumbling.” Which wasn’t precisely romantic, but then… Sasuke wasn’t one of romance, and the reality of Naruto was far better than any flimsy fantasy.

Naruto had let go with him, if only for a bit. Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Naruto muttered something, but Sasuke was too tired to listen. Fingers were stroking his scalp again and sleep, suddenly, seemed perfect.


* * *


Sakura was back in the bed when he woke up. Sasuke rubbed his eyes and found Naruto by their desk, drinking coffee from a hot mug as he read the newspaper. His blonde hair was tousled from sleep and he wore only a pair of boxers. Sakura shifted against him and Sasuke stroked her back sleepily, hearing her murmur.

The bed smelled of sex and antiseptic, the latter being Sakura’s trademark ‘work-scent’. Sasuke moved his tongue within his mouth, looking for something to say. Naruto looked up from the paper, eyes narrowing in mirth above the rim of the cup.

“Awake already?” He whispered, so as to not wake Sakura.

Sasuke nodded, feeling rather naked under Naruto’s calm stare.

When did Sakura become so strong and Naruto so… deep?

Of course, he knew.

While I was gone.

“Want some coffee?”

“Naruto...”

Naruto blinked, lips wet with the coffee. “What?”

It was a warm morning and that idiot was drinking a steaming hot cup. He’d probably picked up the newspaper in his boxers and frightened the landlady again. His hair was so mussed up it would take forever to untangle it and he had spilled coffee on the desk.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something scathing, but Naruto’s eyes were the bluest thing Sasuke had ever seen.

“I’m sorry,” was what came out instead.

The End