Making "The Lucky"

Making “The Lucky”


Author: ladygizarme
Beta: Houseki
Character/Pairing: NaruSasuNaru + Team 7.1 (gen)
Rating: NC-17
Word Count : 23,000+
Warnings: AU, boys doing naughty things together, embarrassing situations, language, WTFLOL movie names, total BS’ing of the movie-making process, “technical” terms, and all that jazz
Summary: Next summer’s blockbuster movie will be out of this world! …if the stars can make it through the filming without killing each other.
Author's Note: Much, much love to my beta, without whom this story would have died in the water due to my indecision. You’re my lifesaver, tomotan!

This was written for the 2009 Naruto Santa Exchange on lj (http://community.livejournal.com/naruto_santa/) My recipient dropped out, unfortunately, so this was gifted to the community. It took me a stupid amount of time to decide exactly what to write, and then to get time to work on it, but once I did I had too many ideas. So now, this thing is a monster. Also, I wrote it all weird and out of order, and then pieced it together, plus there were scenes I wanted to write, but had to cut out simply because it was already taking too long. (some ideas were altered to fit into other scenes, some were scrapped altogether) My apologies if this makes continuity kind of jumpy. Oh, and… there’s an omake, too. ^^;

Comments are highly appreciated. ^^


Making “The Lucky”


The blond man held his raven haired captive’s wrists above his head, a leg pressing against the small gap between his captive’s legs, chest to chest, holding him bodily against the thick, metal pole in the middle of the small room. Swinging the metal brace across the other man’s wrists, the blond immediately began screwing the locking pins into place.

The captive snorted and smirked.

“Something funny, bastard?” the blond asked irritably, pausing in his task to glare into dark eyes.

The other man’s smirk grew wider, cocking open on one side.

“Yeah, actually. The fact you think this…” he flexed his wrists, fists clenching as the old, rusty metal creaked. “…is gonna hold me.”

The blond scowled, tightening the handcuff pins with renewed ferocity. The dark haired man gave a light grunt of discomfort as the band dug into his skin, making a grin break out across the blond’s face.

“Hope it’s not too tight for ya,” he said with sadistic amusement.

Despite his discomfort, the prisoner sent a heated smirk to the blond. “Just how I like it.”

The blond’s grin dropped, replaced again by irritation, and his hackles visibly rose for an offensive attack, but he was interrupted by the crackle of a female voice over the nearby intercom.

“Guys, what’s taking you so long?! I need you back up here, pronto!”

Thin, pale fingers of a formerly-silent observer reached for the button on the wall and pressed hard. “We’ll be right up, Val. I believe Jack’s almost done flirting with the fugitive.”

“Cut!” the female voice suddenly called, this time from the other side of the wall rather than through the intercom.

A groan went up from the small crowd assembled off-stage.

“Sakura, how many times do I have to tell you: I’m the one that says ‘cut’,” a bored-looking man asked, his face hidden by a folded script (that, incidentally, was not the script they were currently shooting).

Ignoring the grey-haired director, the woman climbed down from her side of the stage set and stomped over to where her three co-stars were. Hands on her hips, her posture vehement and expression exasperated, she continued, “Sai! Stop ad-libbing! Your character doesn’t vomit innuendo left and right the way you do!”

Sai gave Sakura a smile that never failed to grate on her nerves, and replied, “But I’m following the script.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her co-star, but before she could do more than growl in irritation, someone else spoke up behind her.

“Actually, Miss Haruno, he’s right.”

Sakura whipped around so fast she almost lost her balance on the three-inch stacked knee-high boots she was wearing. “What?! I have read the script, you know, Iruka,” she informed the director’s assistant, her feelings of insult obvious.

The ponytailed man gave her an apologetic, yet uncomfortable smile as he asked, “Did you get this morning’s rewrite?”

Sakura deflated a little. “What rewrite?”

“Somebody get Miss Haruno the new script,” the grey-haired director called out boredly from where he sat, his thumb turning another page of the mysterious script he was reading.

As several people scrambled about to find the leading woman a copy of the latest rewrite, she sent a suspicious glare over to the smiling, black haired man still standing in the same position on-set.

“Mr. Sannin thought my interpretation of Jean-Pierre’s character would do well with current trends,” Sai informed her helpfully.

Sakura grit her teeth, but made no comment.

The new script was found, and a break was called so that Sakura could read over the changes.

Naruto watched her walk off, apparently unaware of the dark eyes boring into the side of his head.

“Hey, Uzumaki, you can get off me, now,” the smooth, deep voice of his co-star informed him, a small undulation of his hips calling attention to the way Naruto was still pressed fully against the trapped man.

Naruto stepped back, a little startled by how perfectly comfortable he had been leaning against Sasuke. Not that Naruto didn’t already know he liked guys or that Sasuke wasn’t hot and alluring enough, but just the fact that it was Sasuke Uchiha. Usually he hated that guy—his aloof, standoffish attitude, heartless playboy reputation, and the way he always seemed to find some way to get more publicity than Naruto whenever they were working on separate but simultaneous projects—and always did his best to avoid him.

Needless to say, the fact that they would both be working on this movie together hadn’t exactly thrilled Naruto, but somehow they’d managed to make it all the way into filming without getting at each other’s throats. Stepping on each other’s toes a couple times, sure, but Naruto was actually kind of surprised at how smoothly things had gone so far. Sometimes, he found himself almost forgetting how much he disliked the man he considered his professional rival.

Now, though, as an irritating smirk was being thrown his way, Naruto was quickly remembering. It immediately killed the apology that had almost blurted automatically from his mouth, but didn’t stop him from giving Sasuke a once (okay, maybe twice)-over, appreciating the picture he made with his wrists and ankles in cuffs strapped to the pole, arms stretched above his head high enough that his shirt rode up his stomach a bit, and the long column of pale neck that was revealed as Sasuke had to crane a bit to look up at him thanks to the tall, “space-age” boots Naruto was wearing.

Unfortunately, Sasuke seemed to notice his appraisal, commenting, “See something you like?”

Naruto almost scowled, but raised an incredulous eyebrow instead. “Wow. That was really cliché, Uchiha.”

Sasuke attempted a shrug, though it looked kind of weird with the way he was currently bound. “So is the way you’re drooling like an idiot.”

Naruto’s hand flew to his mouth to wipe at the nonexistent drool, and then he did scowl when Sasuke’s smirk grew wider at the action, his dark eyes shining with triumph.

“Asshole,” was all Naruto allowed himself to say before turning to leave, ignoring the chuckle that followed his departure.

“Wow, he really doesn’t like you,” Sai remarked conversationally, coming to stand beside Sasuke, both of them watching Naruto stalk away towards the hallway that led to the dressing rooms.

“You’re even more of an idiot than Uzumaki,” Sasuke replied, his tone surprisingly light compared to his usual sarcasm, as if in wonder.

Sai turned an enigmatic smile to him, his eyes turned into crescents, and patted Sasuke on the head.

“You look comfortable,” he said, and started walking away, leaving Sasuke bound to the pole.

Sasuke shook his head and craned his neck more to roll his eyes at the ceiling. “My co-stars are idiots,” he lamented quietly to himself, before calling out to the only assistant whose name he could ever remember. “Juugo!”


xXx


“We’ll be right up, Val. I believe Jack’s almost done flirting with the fugitive.”

Suddenly, the room shook, throwing Jean-Pierre to the floor and the blond, Jack, against his prisoner. Pushing against the pole to regain his balance, Jack stumbled over to the intercom as the room shook again.

“Val, what’s going on up there?!”

Just as he asked that, a red light fixed near the ceiling began blinking in warning, and everything tilted, causing Jack to again brace himself—this time against Jean-Pierre’s head as the other man tried to get up.

“We’re under attack, if you couldn’t tell,” came Val’s frantic but irritated answer, and the room tilted the other way as she took obvious evasive action. “Just get your asses up here! I need you guys on weapons!”

“Go,” Jack ordered Jean-Pierre, helping him up. The blond glanced back at the prisoner. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Don’t take too long, lover-boy,” Jean-Pierre quipped in a vaguely-French accent.

Naruto slapped the back of Sai’s head out of reflex, not even flinching at falling so immediately out of character, and continued the scene, relieved when no ‘cut’ was called.

Naruto-as-Jack grasped the pole his prisoner was locked to, double-checking all the locks. Satisfied, he wordlessly turned to leave, but the sound of the other man’s voice made him stop in his tracks.

“You really didn’t know what you were getting into when you took my bounty, did you?”

Turning around, he glared at the prisoner, “What’re you talking about, asshole?”

The captive’s answer was a derisive snort. He leaned his head back, cradling it against one of his arms and closing his eyes as if explaining was too exhausting. “You’d better get up there before this whole ship is blown apart.”

With one last, threatening glare at the black haired man, Jack turned and headed up to the helm.


xXx


“What the hell are you doing, Pierre?! Shoot them!!” Val demanded, eyes straight ahead as she tried to maneuver the ship out of the enemy’s line of fire.

“It’s no use, I’m empty!”

“Then go reload!” Jack shouted over his shoulder, using large joysticks to aim his own weapons. An indicator on his screen flashed a red X. “Ah, shit! I’m out, too. Come on, let’s go!” he ordered, standing up, only to be shoved back into his seat by hands that did not belong to his crewmates.

“Don’t bother,” the prisoner said.

Jack leapt to his feet again, slamming the prisoner to the nearest wall. The captive grunted lightly as the thick cables bolted there dug into his back.

“How the fuck did you get up here, asshole? Those cuffs were perfect, I checked.”

The prisoner exerted himself to push Jack off him and immediately switched their positions, sneering in delight when the bounty hunter groaned slightly, his head hitting a bulky metal strap that held the cables neatly to the wall.

“I told you that wouldn’t hold me.”

A click and ascending whirring sound made him freeze, eyes glancing to the side to see the man they called Pierre holding a gun to his neck. In his moment of distraction, Jack loosened the prisoner’s hold on him and pulled his weapon, as well. With a sigh, the prisoner raised his hands.

“Back to the cell with you,” Jack told him.

“I don’t think you really wanna do that.”

Jack leaned into the prisoner’s face threateningly, “And why’s that?”

Not intimidated, the prisoner returned the piercing glare evenly. “Because, you’re never going to beat The Council in this heap. Your ship and your weapons are outdated, and they have monopoly of the best technology this side of the galaxy. I’m the only one that can get this ship out of here in relatively one piece.”

“The Council? What’re you talking about?!” Jack demanded, but Val’s angry voice drowned his out.

“Excuse me, are you saying I don’t know how to fly my own ship?!” Val demanded as she made another maneuver that forced the three men to grab onto the nearby cables to keep their balance.

A stream of bright blue passed underneath the ship’s hull, just missing it but sending a violent tremor through the small vessel nonetheless.

“Shit,” Val cursed as rapidly beeping and blinking lights on one of her screens indicated that there were two more missiles locked on to their position, and another ship approaching.

The prisoner gave Jack a meaningful look, and Jack chewed on his cheek a moment as he considered. The beeping from the screen grew to a frantic pace and he complied in defeat.

“Fine. Do it.”

“Jack!” Val tried to protest, but before she could even make her case, the prisoner was pulling her out of the way and taking her place at the helm.

“And what would you like us to do?” Val asked bitterly.

“Just stay out of my way,” the prisoner answered, his hands on the joystick-like wheel and eyes narrowed at the screens.

“Cut!” the cry came, and a collective exhalation seemed to come from the four actors.

“We’ll run through the flight sequence later,” Kakashi informed them. “Sasuke, have you had time to practice in the simulator?”

“A little bit this morning.”

“Okay. Then let’s finish up this scene and get you over to the simulator after lunch.”

While the stage and screens were reset for the end of the scene, the actors were whisked away to makeup so they could be made appropriately sweaty and disheveled. When everything was ready, they pulled themselves up onto the set, which was elevated due to the hydraulic mechanisms underneath used to shift it as needed. Having gone over the last bit of filming with Kakashi and discussing it, Iruka helped them get into their proper positions, and finally ‘action’ was called.

A light that had been flashing red suddenly stopped and the prisoner sat perfectly still for a moment. It seemed that everyone was holding their breath as he sat there tensely, and three heavy sighs were audible as his shoulders finally relaxed and he pushed a short series of buttons. The screen indicated a course had been set and autopilot had been initiated, and he nodded at it before turning around to the other three occupants, a superior smirk on his face.

A camera zoomed in to capture Val’s soft look of respect before she scoffed and her expression became begrudging. “Beginner’s luck.”

The prisoner stood and crossed his arms, his stance cocky. “I assure you, I’m no beginner. If I were, I wouldn’t have dodged The Council’s clutches for as long as I have.”

“Yeah? But I found you,” Jack reminded him.

The prisoner raised a brow. “But you’re Tracker Jack, aren’t you? You can find anything and anyone,” he said, parroting words the bounty hunter had said to him before.

The expression on Jack’s face after that was caught somewhere between pride, surprise, and irritation at having his own words quoted back to him. “That’s true,” he agreed slowly.

“But you’re also stupid, apparently,” the prisoner added, causing Jack’s face to finally make a decision about its expression and twist into a scowl. The prisoner tilted his head forward, his gaze set on the burning blue eyes before him. “You’ve gotten yourself mixed up with The Council now. You’re pretty much fucked.”

Jack stepped closer and crossed his arms, mimicking the prisoner’s cocky stance. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

“Did you happen to see what they were shooting at you? Those weren’t regular star-missiles, Jack. They were from Gravity-0 plasma cannons. Ever heard of them?”

“G-zero cannons? Bullshit, those things haven’t even been approved for government testing yet.”

“Exactly.”

Jack sighed heavily and dragged a hand through his sweaty hair. “Fine. So it was The Council.”

“Why are they after you, anyway?” Val asked, stepping closer to join their conversation. The prisoner gave her and Jack a reluctant look, but opened his mouth to answer.

Leaning against the wall behind them, Jean-Pierre cut off the prisoner’s reply, “I know why. You know something you’re not supposed to, so they want you dead. So I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to tell them, do you?”

The prisoner gave him a distrustful look. “How do you know?”

Jean-Pierre smiled mysteriously. “I have my ways.”

Jack and Val both glanced between the two men, following their exchange, perturbed at being left out of the loop.

“You can trust him,” Pierre told them without being asked. “More than The Council, at least.”

“So, if he’s a good guy, why didn’t you tell us before?!” Jack asked exasperatedly. “We could’ve avoided a lot of trouble if we’d never gone after this guy in the first place!”

Sai shrugged. “I don’t really think in terms of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. We’re bounty hunters—all that should matter to us is catching our bounty.”

Jack shook his head. “I’m not like that, you should know that by now.”

“But you had to know this would be a dangerous job, with how high the reward on him is,” Pierre countered.

“Anyway,” Val interrupted, “what are we going to do now? Good or bad, The Council is after him, and now they know we have him. Even if we desert him somewhere, they won’t just leave us alone after what happened back there.”

“We’re pretty much all Wanted men, now,” Jean-Pierre informed his crewmates happily.

“Thanks, Pierre,” Jack said sarcastically. He contemplated the prisoner a moment, and seemed to come to a decision. “I guess there’s nothing else we can do right now. That was some pretty ace flying you did back there, getting us all out of that jam,” his statement was accompanied by an offended scoff from Val. He flinched slightly, knowing she would be angry with him, but continued anyway, “I have a feeling your skills will come in handy until we get ourselves out of this mess completely, and my hunches are pretty much always right. So… welcome to the crew of The Lucky, Hiro.”

Jean-Pierre stepped forward to put an arm around the now-named, former-prisoner. “Our ‘hero’,” he said with a mocking smile.

No sooner had the words left his lips than Sasuke shrugged Sai’s arm off and smacked the back of his head.

“Ah!” Sai exclaimed, covering the injury with his hand. “It’s in the script, I swear.”


xXx


Naruto walked into the conference room where the filming schedule for that day was to be discussed, dropped into the first empty chair he saw, and slumped over the table. “Uhhh…” he moaned, muffled by the long sleeve of his shirt pressing against his face.

“Something wrong, Naruto?” Sai asked from beside him.

Naruto’s head jerked up to look at him, not having realized Sai was in the seat next to his, and immediately winced at the action, his eyes squinting to slits. He buried his head in his arms again and mumbled, “Tequila. Tequila is the devil.”

Suddenly an arm was around his shoulder, a hand squeezing his arm slowly—massagingly. “Wild night?”

Naruto wanted to shrug Sai’s arm away and ask what the fuck he was doing, but all he managed was another moan as the other man’s actions threatened to give him motion sickness. “Saiii, get offa me…”

The arm lifted, but hovered just above him, so that Naruto could still feel Sai’s body heat and the sick feeling that came with it wouldn’t quite go away.

Oblivious, Sai asked, “Would you like a painkiller?”

“Took some. Hasn’t kicked in yet.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes. Get away from me before you make me puke.”

“Naruto!” Sakura exclaimed, having just walked into the room. “What a thing to say! Sai’s not that bad.”

“He’s touching me, Sakura! Make him stoooop,” Naruto complained, feeling too much like crap to care how whiny he sounded.

“I’m not,” Sai said in confusion, finally pulling his hands out of the hover-zone to hold them up in surrender.

Sakura took a seat right across the table from him and Naruto could feel her scrutinizing gaze without even looking.

“You’re hung over,” she accused.

Naruto’s reply was a mournful grunt.

The door behind Naruto snapped sharply closed, and he flinched at the sudden noise just before Sasuke’s irritable voice joined the conversation. “You’re hung over? You’re really that much of a moron, to go drinking the night before a filming day?”

Naruto rolled his head to scowl at the other man, “Hey, it wasn’t just me! Sakura was there, too, taking body shots right along with me!”

“And Sakura’s not hung over. That doesn’t exactly speak highly of your tolerance level,” Sasuke replied, coming to stand beside the closest end of the table, and Naruto was almost sure he heard amusement lurking in Sasuke’s snide voice.

“Hey, I’m no lightweight!” Naruto insisted with a growl, almost forgetting the pain in his head and the queasiness roiling through his stomach as he sat up to defend himself. “Sakura’s just had years of training, being mentored by a lush—ughh…” he moaned, the nausea again catching up to him.

“Better not let Tsunade hear you say that, brat. You didn’t drink a glass of water before bed like I told you to, did you?” Sakura asked perturbedly, flicking the top of his head.

“Sakuraaa…” he complained pathetically, covering his head with both hands and pressing his forehead to the slightly-cool table.

“Good morning! How are all my cute kids, today?” a cheerful voice, muffled behind an ever-present script and the neck of a turtleneck, greeted suddenly.

“Ughh…”

“Alright, alright, how are my beautiful, handsome, and mature stars,” Kakashi corrected before Naruto could call him “gross” or “creepy” again.

“Uzumaki’s hung over,” Sasuke informed him distastefully.

“Oh?” the director wondered, unconcernedly flipping the page of his script.

“Naruto and I went to a club last night,” Sakura felt the need to explain.

“I didn’t know you two were seeing each other,” the director commented, mismatched eyes flicking up to regard them momentarily.

“We’re just friends,” Naruto and Sakura answered together.

“Ah, friends go out to clubs together?” Sai wondered, as if he’d just learned something completely new.

Naruto looked at him as if he’d grown another head. “Yeah…”

“Why didn’t you ask me to go, then? We’ve never been to a club together.”

Naruto rolled his eyes and then squinted them tightly shut, as if the simple action had caused the most excruciating pain—or maybe Sai’s statement had. “We’re not friends, Sai. We work together. That’s it.”

He kept his eyes closed, so he didn’t see Sai’s frown of confusion, though he felt a slight pang of guilt just knowing that it was probably there. He concentrated on how shitty he felt in order to ignore the guilt, and then Kakashi’s voice interrupted his personal agony.

“Actually, I think that’s a good idea. You should all hang out together to develop a more believable relationship as crewmates. In fact, I’m assigning you this task—it’s mandatory.”

Naruto’s eyes opened to gape at the grey haired director. “You can’t do that! There’s nothing in my contract about—”

Kakashi actually put his script down to give Naruto an interested look, “Are you saying you refuse to work on your camaraderie with your co-stars?”

Naruto pursed his lips into a pout that didn’t quite manage a scowl. “No.”

Kakashi’s eyes curved into familiar crescents, telling Naruto that he was smiling somewhere underneath that ridiculous turtleneck. “Good. Think of it as an exercise in method-acting. Now that that’s settled… I think you should all get together as soon as possible and do something fun. Try not to come in trashed the next morning, though.” Naruto was almost positive Kakashi’s smile grew wider, though the only indication was the way his cheeks twitched up slightly and his eyes creased even tighter.

“Am I to be included in this so-called exercise in camaraderie?” Sasuke asked dubiously.

Kakashi looked considering for a moment. “Hmm… no. It’s okay if your character isn’t as closely-knit with the crew of The Lucky. He’s an outsider, after all.”

Naruto was too relieved he wasn’t being forced to spend time with not one but two men he preferred not to, so he didn’t notice the way Sasuke’s mask of haughty indifference dissolved ever-so-slightly into a frown. When the conference room door opened again a moment later, Sasuke had successfully re-schooled his features.

“Did we miss anything?” Iruka asked, closing the door behind himself with his back, his hands full with the two coffees he was carrying. Two of the cameramen and three assistants, also carrying coffee, had also come into the room ahead of him.

“Nope, you’re just in time,” Kakashi told him, accepting his coffee from Iruka with an apparent grin.

Before everyone had finished settling around the table, Sasuke announced, “I’m not filming this scene with him today.” As if his tone hadn’t indicated who he meant all on its own, Sasuke thrust his chin in Naruto’s direction, eyes set in a glare.

Iruka looked shocked. “What? Why’s that?”

“He’s hung over. I’m not doing it.”

“What?! Look, asshole—”

Kakashi cut in, “Is there a possibility you’re going to be ill, Naruto?”

“No!” Naruto insisted, grumbling lowly afterward, “I already did that earlier.”

Sasuke scoffed audibly.

Naruto growled, “Look, Uchiha, I don’t get why you’re so offended by it! It’s me that has to work while feeling shitty, not you! But I’m still willing! I don’t see how it makes a difference to you, anyway. If anything, you should be happy—if I’m feeling crappy, you’ll get to look even prettier in comparison!” Naruto’s words came out in such a rush he didn’t have the opportunity to censor himself, but once he realized what he said, he flushed a faint pink. He moaned in pain, hoping to cover it up by playing up his nausea, and buried his head in his arms again.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, though Naruto couldn’t see it. “Why does it make a difference to me? Do you even know what scene we’re filming today?”

Naruto glanced up sheepishly and Sasuke didn’t look surprised, rolling his eyes slightly as he turned to the correct page in his script and slammed it onto the table right next to Naruto’s head.

Standing and walking over to the door, Sasuke said, “I suggest you take the day to sober up. Kakashi, if there are any significant changes you need to notify me of, you have my number.” Saying this, Sasuke stalked from the room, the sound of the door slamming after him reverberating painfully through Naruto’s skull.

“Ugh, what is that guy’s problem?” Naruto wondered aloud, sitting up slightly to push the palms of his hands into his eyes, his fingers tugging at strands of blond as they dug into his hair. “Primadonna.”

“Naruto,” Sakura asked gently. “You really don’t remember what we were supposed to film today?”

“No…” he admitted, pulling his hands down his face as if to wipe the weariness away. He picked up the script Sasuke had left, and scanned over it in search of the answer. Slowly but surely, his eyes began to widen, and he turned a caught-in-headlights expression to the director at the other end of the table. “I’m supposed to have mouth-to-mouth with him?!”


xXx


The next day, Sasuke was waved through the security gate at the studios as usual. Normally he would have passed the guard’s shack with little more than a nod—if that—but today something made him pause. As the guard turned back to the little TV he had in there with him, he turned the sound up slightly, and Sasuke just caught the last of what was being said on the morning entertainment news show.

“—rumors of a romantic connection between the two actors seem to have been confirmed yesterday, when they were spotted having coffee together in—”

The rest of what the woman on the screen was saying was tuned out as Sasuke’s focus suddenly centered entirely on the photos being shown on the screen.

Sai with his arm around Naruto as he hunched over the table. Sai holding a napkin to Naruto’s face, apparently dabbing a spot of whipped cream off his lip. Naruto’s hand pressed intimately to Sai’s chest.

Suddenly, Sasuke’s vision was tunneling, and everything seemed to be in hues of red. And he really felt like hitting something. Somehow, though, he managed to make it all the way into the building and to an empty private office before slamming the door and punching it. The pain that lanced through his hand afterward brought him back to some semblance of his senses, and Sasuke hissed through his teeth, shaking his hand out while flexing his fingers and hoping he hadn’t done any real damage. Then he leaned against the door, his forehead hitting the hard wood with a ‘thunk’.

“Stupid,” he muttered to himself. “Why should you be angry?”

Despite saying this, he knew why. He’d known before ever agreeing to do this movie. And it wasn’t as if Naruto was his—or even knew how Sasuke felt, oblivious as he was in his apparent hatred of Sasuke. But, still, he hadn’t thought Sai would ever be any competition. Naruto was even more open with his dislike of Sai than of Sasuke! And Sasuke was positive Naruto was at least attracted to him—he’d caught Naruto eyeing him up more than a few times.

Then again, Sai was usually nice to Naruto, despite the way Naruto always complained about him. And the way Sai was always making dirty comments regarding Naruto’s body (a certain intimate part, in particular), Sasuke should have known Sai’s intentions. He’d just been so secure in the fact that Naruto always pushed Sai’s advances away that he hadn’t even thought of him as a threat. Now, though, it seemed he’d actually managed to finally charm Naruto.

Sasuke screwed his eyes shut and grit his teeth. Screw that. It didn’t mean anything. He was Sasuke Uchiha; he didn’t lose to anyone (well, except his brother, but he didn’t ever count that).

He stood straight again, rubbing his forehead slightly and looking at it in the reflective screen of his phone to make sure there was no mark. Satisfied with what he saw, he opened the door and headed to the usual conference room, his body thrumming with a determination he couldn’t remember feeling since the first time he refused his family’s help in getting a role.

When he got to the conference room, the only other person there was Sakura. She sat at the table reading through her script, and looked up when Sasuke came in.

“Good morning, Sasuke,” she greeted with a smile. “Did you have a nice day off yesterday?”

Sasuke sat down across the table from her, suddenly wary. He’d learned from past experiences to keep his guard up around women—especially when he was alone with them—and lately Sakura had been putting out the vibes he was so familiar with from women who wanted him. If she were anyone else, he would have either told her in no uncertain terms that she had no chance, and left the room immediately, or he would have played up the charm until he got her into his bed and then dumped her, hoping never to have to deal with her affections again (though that didn’t always work).

But she wasn’t just anyone else. She was Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki’s best friend, and Sasuke couldn’t afford to alienate her.

Considering how to answer her, memories of the day before immediately surfaced in Sasuke’s mind, bringing with them the emotions he’d also experienced. The concern at Naruto feeling unwell immediately overrun with irritation at the blond’s lack of concern for how his being hung over would affect what was essentially a kissing scene between them. Then there was anger and frustration, which Sasuke had taken out on his home gym equipment—mostly the punching bag. Finally, he remembered the long, hot shower he’d taken afterwards, and the pleasure tainted with something akin to shame as he’d stroked himself ferociously to completion, Naruto’s name stuck in his throat.

Feeling his face heating up, Sasuke blinked away the memories and tried to concentrate on something completely unappealing—like that photoshoot ages ago where he’d been hit on by the creepy, slimeball cameraman, Orochimaru. Just the thought of it sent a chill through him, immediately killing the encroaching blush and leaving him feeling faintly sick instead.

“It was fine,” he finally answered Sakura, hoping he’d managed to mask his discomfort. “Yours?”

Sakura looked pleasantly surprised at his apparent interest, and opened her mouth to answer, only to be cut off when the door opened.

“—don’t care that me being gay is common knowledge! It’s still… defamation of character, or something! Sai, get off my ass, this is all your fault in the first place, for being so…you!” Naruto practically burst into the room, mobile phone held to his ear and Sai closely following at his heels.

“I still don’t see what the problem is—” Sai was saying, but Naruto ignored him, making a point of pulling out a chair and pointing at it dramatically, indicating Sai to sit, and then finding a seat for himself all the way at the other end of the table.

“I mean, they’re saying I’m with Sai.”

Sai huffed from his seat, looking put-out and slightly-distraught for the first time since Sasuke had met him. Suddenly Sasuke’s attention was engrossed with Naruto’s one-sided conversation.

“I was not! I was pushing him away! They cropped the picture so you don’t see my annoyed face! …it was not a date! Sakura was there too… because Kakashi told us to! …but there’s gotta be something you can do! I mean, you’re Itachi Uchiha! You and Akatsuki can make anything happen!”

At the mention of his brother’s name, Sasuke couldn’t help but scowl, now really hating the pleading in Naruto’s voice and the way his eyes seemed to get so much bigger and bluer as he tried to flatter Itachi.

Finally, Naruto sighed in relief. “’kay, thanks, Itachi!”

When he hung up, he did a double-take, apparently surprised that everyone’s eyes were on him. “What?”

“You called Itachi,” Sasuke spoke first, not even bothering to hide the accusation in his tone.

Naruto looked at him warily, unsure of why Sasuke was so hostile. “No, actually, I called my agent. She called Itachi. He is the publicist for this movie, after all.”

Sasuke frowned, knowing that was true and that his anger seemed entirely unfounded, but he couldn’t help it after what he’d just witnessed. “Hn,” he hummed in grudging acceptance of Naruto’s answer.

No more was said on the topic, because a moment later the room started filling up with people.


xXx


It was soon learned that a cease and desist order had been put out by Akatsuki Publicity concerning all footage of the incident with Sai and Naruto in the coffeehouse. It involved several complicated gag-contracts and thousands of dollars, but Itachi seemed entirely unconcerned with the amounts—even though, by the time it was all taken care of the next day, the damage had already been done. Though no tabloids were able to print any pictures, and the television media was forced to stop using the footage, anybody who didn’t live under a rock had most likely seen it already, and nothing in any of the agreements kept them from printing gossip or speculation.

Naruto thought it was totally understandable that he should be annoyed, but he didn’t get why Sasuke seemed so aggravated every time it was mentioned (or joked about by the crew). Then again, Sasuke probably took it as a personal affront that Naruto was being talked about more than him lately.

‘Conceited bastard,’ Naruto always thought every time Sasuke’s face twisted sourly afterwards.


xXx


“Nnnh,” Naruto groaned, limping slightly and holding his side as he slumped into his dressing room.

Making this movie was definitely putting Naruto’s skills to the test. Not so much his acting—he knew he was awesome in that area—but in the physical aspects. Particularly the stunts and fight choreography. In the past, he’d done a few fights in movies and even the soap opera he used to work on, but nothing too involved. Compared to those, the fight scenes in The Lucky were epic, and there were a lot of them. But Naruto had always been the hands-on, do-it-yourself type of actor, and refused to use stunt doubles unless it was absolutely necessary (and, so far, he’d always managed to talk the directors out of the idea that it was necessary).

Today’s filming just happened to involve one of the biggest fight sequences yet, and because of how many people were involved, and the fact they’d only practiced all together one time beforehand, something had gone slightly off in the timing. The end result was that Naruto was now a lot more banged up than he should have been.

He grabbed the edge of his shirt, intending to take it off and look at the damage in his mirror, but his sore shoulders and ribs protested the action. “Shit,” he muttered to himself.

“Need some help?”

Naruto turned quickly, groaning both in pain at the movement and annoyance at seeing Sai’s smiling face poking through his slightly-open door.

“Nah, I got it,” Naruto insisted.

Sai’s smile merely grew as he took the liberty of inviting himself into Naruto’s room. “It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Sai told him, drawing ever closer. “Friends are supposed to help each other when they’re in pain. Sakura helped you after your fight scene with Sasuke, after all.”

That was true, and Naruto couldn’t help but feel guilty when Sai reminded him. Even if he found Sai annoying and his methods of friendliness weird and claustrophia-inducing, Sai hadn’t really ever done anything to warrant Naruto’s refusal to be friends, had he? After all, his friend Kiba was always making inappropriate jokes and comments, and Naruto just dished it back as good as he got and was usually laughing the whole time he hung out with Kiba. Why should it be so different with Sai?

Then again, Kiba had never been linked to him romantically like Sai had (twice, now, in their careers) and he never creeped up on Naruto and tried to pull off his clothes, the way Sai was doing now.

“Sai, back off!” Naruto winced as he moved out of Sai’s reach, yanking his shirt from Sai’s fingers in the process.

Sai blinked at him in confusion. “But I can’t help much if I can’t see your injuries.”

Naruto knew that, but he didn’t need Sai undressing him, of all things! Again, Naruto tried pulling his shirt off himself, but hissed in pain again before the shirt even got past his navel.

“Just… let me…” Sai insisted again, giving Naruto a piteous look as he watched his pathetic attempt, hands up in a position reminiscent of someone trying to approach a wounded wild animal.

Naruto sighed resignedly, dropping his arms to his side and letting Sai get closer.

It was as Sai changed positions for the third time, now attempting to ease Naruto’s shirt off from behind while Naruto tried and failed not to squirm and moan in discomfort, that another person peeked into his halfway-open door.

“Am I interrupting?” Sasuke’s voice asked tetchily, making the two other men freeze in their actions—Naruto’s hands braced against the vanity table, Sai rubbing his shoulder in a soothing manner as his other hand pushed up the back of his shirt.

Naruto’s face immediately grew red in embarrassment and anger. Of course, if someone had to find him in this position with Sai, it had to be Sasuke. And, judging from the nauseous look on his face, Naruto was starting to wonder if Sasuke’s irritation lately didn’t have less to do with Naruto himself and more to do with Sasuke’s homophobia. Why else would Sasuke look like he was trying not to lose his lunch while his eyes were glued to the spot where Sai was pressed against his ass, having ended up that way after all Naruto’s squirming.

Naruto glared at the thought, “What do you want?”

Sasuke’s eyes flew to Naruto’s, his jaw set and the nausea almost entirely wiped away. To Naruto, it almost seemed like Sasuke’s dark eyes were trying to burn into his. “I was coming to bring you this to help with your bruises,” he held up a little pot of something that Naruto thought he recognized from the makeup girl, Hinata’s, desk, “but I see that you’re otherwise occupied.”

Sasuke immediately turned to leave, and Naruto felt an inexplicable wave of guilt despite his new suspicions about Sasuke’s attitude.

“Sasuke, wait!” Naruto’s eyes widened impossibly as he heard the words escape his mouth.

Sasuke turned around, and the hopeful look Naruto thought he saw then surprised him just as much as the words he himself had spoken.

Naruto glanced at the man still pressed against him, and gave an impatient sound, trying to inch away from him without exacerbating his already-sore muscles. “Sai, no offense, dude, but you’re not really helping. And I think Sasuke brings magic potions.”

He gave a cheeky grin as both raven haired men raised their eyebrows in surprise, and finally Sai let off, backing away and turning slightly to look at Sasuke, who had come fully into the room.

“Well, I guess I’ll check on you later, then, Naruto…” Sai said, slowly walking towards the door, turning his head to look back at Sasuke as he passed him. He smiled that way that made Naruto think he was hiding something and, just before he closed the door, said, “Play nice, now.”

Silence hung awkwardly in the air for several moments, neither Sasuke nor Naruto making a move or saying a word.

“So…” Naruto finally decided to try breaking the ice.

“So,” Sasuke replied unhelpfully.

“What is that you brought, anyway? Something from Hinata?”

Sasuke shrugged, not about to tell Naruto Miss Hyuuga had used it on him after their last fight scene, and he’d seen fit to swipe it ten minutes ago in the hopes of tending to Naruto. He briefly considered saying Hinata herself had sent him with it, but didn’t want to give someone else the credit, either. Perhaps a small admittance wouldn’t hurt…

“Thought it might help. She gave me some after the last time, and I was good as new the next day.”

“Oh?” Naruto replied, and grinned. “Is the great Sasuke Uchiha sharing his stash with me?”

Sasuke wanted to curse how pale he was, because he knew it meant Naruto would clearly see the pink creeping into his cheeks. Nevertheless, he did his best to will the blush away, and snorted in response, “Well, we don’t want you laid up with injury, do we? We’ve already had a lot of filming days canceled lately.”

Naruto scowled in that oh-so-familiar way that looked more like a pout to Sasuke than anything actually threatening, and Sasuke realized—to his horror—that he barely managed to refrain from commenting or, worse, grinning in amusement. No matter how much or how long he may have liked Naruto, such uncharacteristic behavior was simply unacceptable in his personal view of himself.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I did this to myself,” Naruto reminded him peevishly, shaking his head afterwards as if wondering why he was even bothering. “Whatever. It’s probably pointless, anyway. I can’t get my shirt off without feeling like every muscle in my upper body is on fire.”

“There are other ways to get a shirt off than pulling it over your head, you know,” Sasuke told him, coming to stand beside him at the vanity Naruto was still partly leaning against.

Naruto frowned, but after thinking a moment longer, and watching Sasuke slowly reach his fingers to trail over a pair of scissors on the table, the frown slowly turned aghast. “You’re not cutting off my shirt! This is my favorite shirt in Jack’s wardrobe! Oww…” Naruto really needed to remember it hurt to breathe too deeply, and stop shouting so he wouldn’t need to.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “It’s not like Wardrobe can’t get another one made.”

“Yeah, but—!” Naruto protested desperately, wheezing a little when his injuries again protested, and continued as calmly as he could, “Kakashi said I could have anything from Jack’s wardrobe that I didn’t manage to ruin. And I have a sneaking feeling he’ll count cutting off the original as ‘ruining it’, even if they replicate it!” Naruto groaned loudly and flinched when his arms attempted to gesture wildly to make up for his soft voice.

Sasuke sighed audibly, pulling his hand away from the scissors. Yes, Naruto was being exasperatingly difficult, but also… Sasuke happened to really like how that shirt looked on Naruto, too. It was a thin, soft, tightly-fitting, grey knit shirt. It might have almost been considered a sweater, with the slight cable-knit detailing on the long cuffs, but was so thin everywhere else it was almost sheer. (Sometimes, when it was cold in the studio, Sasuke really had to concentrate so he wouldn’t stare at Naruto’s nipples through it the entire time they were supposed to be filming.) All the edges were purposely-frayed and there were some discolorations on the cuffs and random, small holes here and there, as Jack’s clothes all had to look as raggedy as the ship of which he was Captain.

It looked really good on Naruto, though, even when topped with the hideous, faux-suede vest he had been wearing during filming earlier. That thing was something Sasuke would normally label ‘ghastly’, with its plethora of pointless, black straps and buckles that contrasted with the burgundy of the main part of the vest. Somehow, Naruto managed to make even that look incredibly hot.

As for the shirt Naruto was currently wearing, Sasuke thought it would definitely be a shame if he didn’t ever get to wear it again outside of this movie.

“Okay… fine. We’ll figure something else out…” He eyed Naruto. “Where exactly is the worst of it? Your ribs?”

Naruto blinked at him in surprise. “Yeah.”

“How far up?” Sasuke asked, stepping closer and staring at the hem of Naruto’s shirt as if contemplating how to approach it.

“Um…” Naruto had to think about the question for a moment, because for some reason the closer Sasuke got to him and the longer he stared at Naruto’s clothes, the more flustered Naruto became.

It was really getting annoying, actually, and Naruto frowned and concentrated on the irritation he was always able to summon when things concerned Sasuke. It hadn’t been working quite so well lately, but Naruto was clutching at any straw he could reach to avoid the creeping feeling that he was actually attracted to Sasuke. Especially now that he suspected Sasuke of homophobia—and, thinking that, his aggravation was back and he almost snapped at Sasuke rather than answering his question, but remembered his current situation at the last minute.

Naruto huffed a little, scowling again, and finally answered, “Feels like it’s all the way up to my armpit.”

Apparently taking Naruto’s perturbed expression as one of pain, Sasuke simply nodded, his eyebrows furrowing the tiniest bit. He grasped the hem of Naruto’s shirt, which was rather loose and stretchy at the bottom despite how tightly it seemed to fit across his arms and chest. Sasuke cautiously lifted it until he could just see the edge of a broad, purplish-red mark starting right below Naruto’s ribs. Then Naruto hissed in a breath and Sasuke stopped, though he didn’t drop the shirt.

“What?” he asked, and when he looked up, his eyes held more concern than Naruto expected.

Naruto felt a little lame as he took stock of his pain and admitted, “Um..nothing. It just hurts every time I try to pull it higher than that. Guess it’s an automatic response, now.”

“Tch,” Sasuke sighed, but Naruto got the impression it was more in relief than annoyance.

Naruto frowned anyway, unsure of any other appropriate response.

Sasuke looked around the room, quickly spotting the sofa sitting over in a corner. “Here, come sit down, first,” he suggested, letting go of Naruto’s shirt and going to stand by the sofa, waiting for Naruto to follow suit.

Even sitting seemed to jar his injuries a bit, but once Naruto was seated he felt a great sense of relief. Then Sasuke was pulling up his shirt again, and his fingertips were ghosting over Naruto’s abs and side, and Naruto forgot the pain for an endless moment, too busy fighting the urges such a simple touch was sending through him.

It really didn’t help that Sasuke had opted to kneel on the floor beside Naruto’s legs while doing this, either.

Sasuke pressed his hand above Naruto’s chest and grimaced slightly at the mark he’d found beneath the shirt. That must have been a pretty hard kick. He couldn’t quite see it all, either, but he was pretty sure Naruto was correct in assuming it went all the way up to his armpit.

With one hand holding up Naruto’s shirt, Sasuke deftly unscrewed the jar he’d brought with him with his other hand, and set it on the floor beside his knee before scooping out a small amount.

Naruto hissed in surprise when the gentle touch of Sasuke’s fingertips changed to cold, goopy stuff, and immediately all the painful sensations resurfaced, clearing his mind of all other thoughts.

“S-sorry…” Sasuke said softly, stuttering a little on a word he didn’t really say that often.

The slide of his fingers across Naruto’s slickening skin became impossibly—almost irritatingly—gentle, and after several moments where Naruto kept wondering to himself what twilight zone he’d fallen into, he finally decided to just relax and let Sasuke nurse his injuries.

He didn’t even realize he’d closed his eyes (and quickly fallen into a light doze) until he was opening them again, blinking away the bleariness. When his vision cleared, he had to blink his eyes a few more times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. Sasuke was still kneeling on the floor, still holding Naruto’s shirt up, but rather than still applying the special balm to Naruto’s bruise, Sasuke was just… sitting there. Just sitting there… and staring. And biting his lip. And… Naruto was pretty sure Sasuke didn’t realize he was looking right now, because Naruto had never known Sasuke to let anyone see him looking so peaceful and…happy. He almost looked vulnerable—in a sweet way, though.

“S…Sasuke?” Naruto hadn’t even intended to speak, but his mouth apparently had other ideas than his brain.

Just like that, Sasuke’s tender look was gone, as if wiped clean from a whiteboard, and he looked at Naruto with mild interest. “What is it?”

“That, um… really did the trick. I can actually breathe without feeling like I’m stuck in a vise-grip,” Naruto smiled. “Would you mind putting some on my shoulders, too? Then maybe I could actually manage to undress myself.” Naruto chuckled at the idea of something so simple becoming such a great accomplishment.

Sasuke’s eyes widened and then glazed over slightly as his lip unconsciously went between his teeth again. Then, Naruto could almost swear he saw Sasuke shake himself to his senses and consciously school his features. “Actually, I have to go now,” Sasuke told him, suddenly standing in a hurry and wiping his greasy hand on the sofa cushion before closing the little pot of balm—but leaving it there. “I can send Sai for you,” he added.

The door had already shut before Naruto could protest.


xXx


“It’s probably a good idea,” Sakura said as Sasuke was walking away from Naruto’s dressing room.

He gasped softly, his heart leaping in a little bit of fright. He hadn’t noticed her there.

“What is?”

Sakura smirked knowingly at him. “Leaving before Naruto can take his shirt off. It would make it rather hard to think properly, after all.”

Sasuke raised an incredulous brow at her, a denial ready on his lips, but she just snickered and turned to walk towards Naruto’s room. Before she opened the door, though, she told him softly, “It might be worth it, though, to lose your mind a little bit.”

Then she left him behind, feeling utterly confused. Didn’t Sakura have a crush on him…?


xXx


“Shit. Shit,” Val exclaimed, whipping her head back and forth to the different flashing and beeping alarms that were going off across her console.

The entire ship shook as she tried to stand, and she fell against Hiro as he tried to lock his weapons sight on to one of the enemy cruisers. Val pushed herself back up, her hand inadvertently tightening on his shoulder as she did so, and he glanced at her.

“Take the wheel,” she told him. “Jack! You’re solo on weapons for a while. Pierre, come with me!”

Grabbing a heavy, leather tool belt from a hook on the wall, she left the helm to head towards the engine room, trusting Jean-Pierre to follow her.

“Anything important I should know?!” Hiro called after her as he took her seat.

Val grabbed the handrails for the ladder and turned around on the first step, barely glimpsing him along the long walkway and through the small doorway to the cockpit. “We’ve taken a hit and the engine is stuttering. The generator that makes the backup engine run is finicky, so if I don’t get down there and get the main engine working before the backup gives out, we’re fucked! Just get us out of here with as much finesse as possible, I’ll take care of it.” With that, she hurried down the ladder, Pierre following quickly.

“You sure she’s not the captain?” Hiro commented as he quickly set the controls to his preferences.

“Shut up,” Jack replied irritably.

Hiro immediately began his expert evasive maneuvers, and the camera zoomed in on his determined face, capturing the dangerously alluring light of excitement in his eyes. Then an alarm buzzed and the focus changed to Jack, whose weapons screen was flashing a red X.

“Fuck! I’m out of ammo!”

As soon as the words left his lips, however, the red X changed, becoming a green O. Jack blinked in surprise.

“Eh? It’s full!”

“Jean-Pierre,” Hiro commented in answer.

“Oh, yeah.” Jack shifted his weapons joysticks, trying to lock on to an enemy cruiser that kept maneuvering just out of his reach. “Fucker,” he growled in frustration.

Suddenly, a loud, crackling, zapping sound erupted through the console, and Jack grunted loudly in shock and pain. His body jerked and he fell sideways to the floor, motionless.

Jack’s sudden shout had startled Hiro, and he’d unconsciously released the joysticks before the electric current did more than make his fingertips tingle. The thud of Jack’s body hitting the floor made him look over, eyes widening when he saw the other man wasn’t moving—not even to curse the pain.

“Jack?” Hiro’s voice wavered with unease.

When there was no immediate response, he quickly gauged the enemies’ positions, set the autopilot for what he hoped was a safe route away from them, and slammed his hand on the emergency alarm. The blaring buzzing and flashing lights seemed not to even register as Hiro dropped to the floor, walking on hands and knees over to Jack’s still body.

“Jack!” Hiro yelled, but there was still no response. He shook him, tried to feel for a heartbeat, checked for breathing…

“Fuck,” he breathed.

Then he tilted Jack’s head back, opening his mouth.

Naruto’s heart raced as he tried to keep still—he was supposed to be unconscious, after all—but the touch of Sasuke’s fingers on his face was making his skin tingle in ways inexplicably better than they should have been. And Sasuke was so close Naruto could smell his…cologne? Aftershave? Shampoo/bodywash/deodorant/other? (Whatever it was, it smelled good.) And any second now his mouth would cover Naruto’s.

“Wait, stop,” Naruto said suddenly, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. He was sure he pulled it off—he was an actor, after all—but he was still waiting for his heart to slow down, noticing with alarm that his breathing was also a bit difficult.

Several feet away, Kakashi sighed. “Cut!” he called, and tucked his latest reading material into his back pocket as he sauntered over to stand beside the two actors. “What’s wrong, Naruto?”

Naruto leaned up on his elbows, missing Sasuke’s perturbed look of disappointment as he asked Kakashi, “Is this really necessary? I mean, you could just take a wide shot from the back, couldn’t you? You don’t really need the close-up…”

Kakashi stared down at the blond actor, eyelids dropped to an unamused half-mast.

“I mean,” Naruto continued, grasping for a good excuse, “then Sasuke wouldn’t have to worry about doing it wrong, and the movie won’t look inaccurate, and—” His eyes flitted over to Sasuke, who had given a derisive snort—as if in offense—at Naruto’s excuses. Naruto scowled. “What?”

Sasuke merely shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly.

“Naruto,” Kakashi began, sounding as close to exasperated as Naruto thought Kakashi’s bored voice could probably ever sound. “I’m sure you’re aware of Sasuke’s former starring role on ICU?”

Naruto’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, shit, that’s right…’

“He knows how to act out a CPR scene,” Kakashi concluded succinctly. “Or maybe you’re worried about your own inexperience?”

Naruto looked up at Kakashi sharply, eyebrows furrowing angrily.

Unaware of—or, more likely, ignoring—Naruto’s ire, Kakashi’s eyes curved in mirth and he advised, “Don’t worry about the technical aspects, he’s not doing real CPR on you. Just think of it as a kissing scene, but instead of kissing back, you start to breathe.”

Naruto really didn’t like the way his stomach flipped excitedly when Kakashi mentioned kissing, or that he didn’t really have any other choice in this matter. Unless, of course, he wanted to tell everyone what the real problem was. Yeah…no. That wasn’t going to happen.

Resignedly, Naruto laid himself back down. After it was made sure he was in exactly the right place and position, the scene began again.

Hiro tilted Jack’s head back and opened Jack’s mouth. After a quick check that Jack’s tongue wasn’t obstructing the airway, Hiro leaned over to breathe life back into the bounty hunter.

As his lips touched Naruto’s, Sasuke took a sharp, involuntary breath through his nose. Naruto’s lips were warm and softer than Sasuke had expected, and sent a tingling spark through Sasuke that almost made him dizzy with the suddenness of it. He mentally shook himself, trying to concentrate on acting out the scene rather than the feel of Naruto’s mouth under his, or how it was parted so invitingly and even Naruto’s breath was better than he’d expected—not spicy or tainted with ramen, but fresh and citrusy.

Naruto was becoming really self-conscious the longer Sasuke’s mouth stayed over his, and he was glad he’d thought to use his mouthwash before shooting this scene (he hadn’t wanted any possibility of complaint, considering the reason they’d had to delay filming the scene the last time). He suspected Sasuke had done the same, because the breath mixing with his was tantalizingly minty, and he kind of wanted to taste it properly to figure out the exact flavor—purely for scientific purposes, of course, and not at all because Naruto was fighting the urge to grab the front of Sasuke’s shirt, switch their positions, and explore his mouth fully. Just as he was wondering how long it had been, and hoping Sasuke would start the chest compressions before he gave in to that urge, Naruto was hit with the realization that Sasuke’s mind was no longer on the scene when he felt Sasuke’s tongue lick into his mouth.

It was a strange sensation, considering how their mouths were positioned with Sasuke’s open lips sideways across his. Naruto could feel the tip of Sasuke’s tongue inside the corner of his mouth, and then sliding up along his bottom lip, grazing the edges of his teeth. The oddness of it only made it that much more exhilarating, though—the almost-cautious, barely-there touch of Sasuke’s wet tongue tracing a trail of electricity along the perimeter of Naruto’s mouth—and for a moment Naruto forgot what they were supposed to be doing, and met Sasuke’s tongue with his own.

Sasuke’s tongue flinched back slightly when Naruto twirled the tip of his tongue against it, but quickly returned along with a soft, appreciative sound that Naruto felt more than heard.

“Aren’t you supposed to do chest compressions in CPR, or something?” Sai’s low voice from somewhere off-screen suddenly broke through the haze that had slid over Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto pulled his tongue back immediately and pushed Sasuke away before Kakashi had even finished calling ‘cut’. Sasuke’s eyes were closed and he felt rather foolish for that, since he was just supposed to be acting a scene where he saves the bounty hunter’s life. He quickly opened them and was met with Naruto’s wide eyes looking up at him, his breathing soft but rapid as it escaped his slightly-gaping mouth. Sasuke’s gaze dropped to Naruto’s lips, and he licked his own unconsciously when he saw the slight sheen of wetness there. Naruto’s mouth suddenly closed then, and Sasuke suspected the blond was biting the inside of his cheek as he continued to stare up at Sasuke.

“Okay, Sasuke,” Kakashi said, grabbing their attention from each other and causing their eyes to finally break contact, looking at the director instead. Kakashi was idly scratching a hand through his hair, the other hand pressing his knuckles to his hip as he held his script. “I know I told you to think of it as a kissing scene, but that didn’t mean you actually had to kiss Naruto…”

Sasuke felt heat seeping into his cheeks and suddenly wished he had a rock to crawl under.

“Perhaps they’d like to practice a bit first,” Sai suggested with a smile.

Naruto scowled immediately, silently but resolutely denying how much he’d enjoyed their unexpected kiss, or that he’d like to do it again. “No, let’s just get this over with.”

As he said it, though, Naruto couldn’t help but look over at Sasuke to see his reaction. For a split-second before Sasuke realized he was looking, Naruto caught an open expression of disappointment before Sasuke smirked at him.

“Too much for you to handle, Uzumaki?”

Naruto returned his smirk with a daring gleam in his eyes, “I just wouldn’t want to be the cause of another rumor about you. All those women you’ve been in the tabloids with might get jealous.” Naruto winced internally at the way his tone became bitter at the end, but he couldn’t undo it now.

Sasuke looked slightly stricken, but it soon morphed to a quiet anger, Sasuke’s jaw clenching. “You’re right. Let’s just get this done.”

Suddenly the air between them was uncomfortably tense, and Naruto knew the rest of the filming today would be completely professional if for no other reason than Sasuke not wanting to be around him any longer than necessary anymore. Naruto really didn’t like how that realization felt like a stone sinking to the bottom of his stomach.

“Perhaps I should be the one to resuscitate Jack. I am the medic, after all,” Sai said.

“Sai, you’re in the engine room with me,” Sakura reminded him, sounding peeved.

Even the irritation that erupted in Naruto as Sai defended his idea (earning laughter and covert whispers from the crew when Sai explained that Naruto should be much more comfortable with him in such an intimate position) didn’t help to soothe Naruto’s guilt-ridden unease.


xXx


“So, that looked fun,” Sakura commented with a smirk when she slipped into Naruto’s dressing room.

Naruto was lying on his sofa, an arm over his eyes. “Jealous?” Naruto asked irritably, his lips pouting into a scowl.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him, though he didn’t see it. “Naruto?”

He lifted his arm a little to glance at her in question.

“I love you, but you’re really stupid, sometimes,” she told him simply, and left him to frown at the space she had just occupied.


xXx


“I still don’t see it,” Sakura said with a shake of her head, arms crossed over each other and resting on the conference table.

“What’s not to see?” the robust, white haired man at the other end of the long table asked.

“Hiro is egotistical and rude to my character throughout the whole movie. He makes her feel inferior, and barely acknowledges her skills as a pilot or a mechanic—even when her quick thinking is getting them out of trouble! Why would Val fall for him?”

“Because he’s a hot, dangerous bad-boy that brings a new sense of adventure and purpose to her life, and makes her feel like a real woman because he takes charge so she doesn’t have to anymore,” Jiraiya explained slowly, as if Sakura were a child.

She scoffed in disgust. “You’re such a pig, Jiraiya. No wonder Naruto never did a movie of yours before now,” she muttered empathetically. “You have no idea how the female mind or heart works.” She turned her nose up at him and looked away.

The writer harrumphed at the insult, “I’ll have you know I have decades of experience researching just those very things!”

“Hmph, more like researching the female body,” Sakura corrected.

Annoyed at being chastised by a girl one-third his age, Jiraiya spoke sternly, “Look, Sakura, you’re the one that complained before about me… how did you put it? ‘Capitalizing on my godson’s sexual orientation’? You said there was too much homoeroticism, so I tweaked the script to balance it out. Besides, there has to be a romantic conclusion! Guys go to my movies for the action and explosions, but they also expect the hero to get the girl in the end—and, frankly, you’re the only girl in this story that isn’t a villain.”

“I noticed,” she replied dryly. “Jack’s character is a hero, too, you know. In fact, the whole crew are the heroes of the movie! And if there has to be a romantic conclusion, it would make more sense for Val and Jack to get together.”

“They’re childhood friends! It would be like Jack getting together with his sister!”

Sakura’s face twisted in disgust, and she couldn’t really argue. “Still…”

“I don’t really understand why you’re so against the idea of having romantic scenes with Sasuke,” Jiraiya told her honestly. “Most women would jump at the chance.”

Sakura pursed her lips. “Well… Sasuke’s not really my type,” she said slowly, glancing furtively at the silent man on the other end of the table, who narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly at her gaze. Sakura’s lips twitched a little before looking back at Jiraiya. “Besides, my main concern is the believability of the story we’re telling. And as the script is now, I just can’t believe any signs of romance between Val and Hiro—hot, dangerous bad-boy or not,” she informed him matter-of-factly.

Jiraiya sighed and pulled a hand down his face, pausing before his fingers uncovered his eyes and staying that way for several moments. “Fine. I’ll rework the script a little and see what I can do,” he acquiesced, then added, “Perhaps you could accompany me to my studio and be my advisor on the female perspective.”

Despite the leer she could just glimpse curling the edges of Jiraiya’s mouth behind his hand, she thought it was probably not a bad idea. “Fine, but we’re not working at your studio. You can come to Tsunade’s office,” she told him, standing quickly and gathering her things to leave. “Meet me there at noon.”

Before Jiraiya could do more than attempt to stutter his disagreement, Sakura had already left the room.

“But that woman is terrifying,” he lamented to the remaining occupants of the room, who had wisely stayed silent throughout the whole heated exchange.

“Oh well, ya gotta die some time,” Naruto said with little sympathy, patting his Godfather’s shoulder. “Besides, so is Sakura, so if you don’t go, you’re in for it anyway.”

“I suppose this means filming is cancelled for today?” Sasuke asked monotonously.


xXx


“You’re not serious,” Sasuke deadpanned, resisting the urge to openly glare at his brother. He was still irritated Itachi was even here, and then he went and told him this.

“Of course I am, little brother. Why wouldn’t I be?” The way Itachi looked so genuinely confused almost reminded Sasuke of Sai, and his irritation raised a fraction more.

“Why?”

“It’s good publicity,” Itachi answered in a tone that told Sasuke it should be obvious. “A home visit with the four stars of The Lucky will create much more hype than the usual run-of-the-mill, impersonal interview. Plus, with gossip that’s been floating around lately about the cast not completely getting along, this is the best way to respond without making a public statement—which would only serve to solidify the rumors no matter what we say.”

“That is true,” Sakura agreed, and Sasuke sent her a glare, feeling inexplicably betrayed by her.

She withered slightly when she caught his gaze, but didn’t back down. “It is! What with the tension between you and Naruto on-set, and Sai being, well, Sai—”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sai wondered. “Just because I try to be a good friend and point out when Naruto’s having a bout of penis-envy—”

“Sai, I swear to—”

Ignoring both of them, Sakura continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted, “It’s kind of a given that people would suspect troubles on the set. It doesn’t help that you’ve never been seen going out with us, Sasuke, even though I’ve invited you several times.”

“I doubt Naruto would have wanted me there,” Sasuke muttered bitterly, too low for anyone to hear.

Itachi nodded once at Sakura’s words. “Which brings us to the reason it has to be your place,” Itachi informed him.

Sasuke was more than perturbed that Itachi knew the next question he would ask before he asked it, but made little show of it other than crossing his arms and leaning away from the conference table.

“Despite your popularity, Sasuke, your public image is that of an aloof, unapproachable primadonna without any close friends. If you’re shown being friendly with your coworkers and inviting them—and the press—into your home, it will greatly improve your image and create even more of a buzz for this movie.”

Sasuke was really tempted to put his nose up haughtily, but after what was just said, he knew it wouldn’t help his case any.

“So when is this going to be?” Naruto asked.

Itachi’s eyes turned to crescents as he smiled—a smile that always creeped Sasuke out, because it was like Itachi had somehow stolen Kakashi’s secret-yet-aggravating grin from under its cover and perfected it for public viewing. Scare tactics with a deceivingly innocent face. “Tomorrow.”


xXx


Sasuke gazed around the open area of his penthouse in mild horror. Everywhere—everywhere—there were people walking around, moving things, removing things; a chair here, a rug there, pointless lamps and art deco statues—they even had the gall to put a hole in his wall to hang up some ghastly piece of abstract art.

“This isn’t happening,” he breathed to himself, squeezing his eyes shut against the vision that was surely a nightmare and putting his fingers to his temples. “Itachi… why do you hate me so much?”

“I assure you, Sasuke, I don’t hate you. This is for your own good.”

“How is making my home look like a three-star hotel vomited into it ‘for my own good’?” he seethed lowly.

“Sasuke, the way to make this work is for your home to look inviting. Sparse utilitarian does not a warm hearth make.”

Before Sasuke could reply that his decorative preferences were just fine, thank you, and ‘by the way, Itachi, why are you speaking so weirdly?’, the sight of someone heading to have their evil way with his bedroom made him rush suddenly to the other side of the penthouse. His socked feet slid across the hardwood floor as he spun to come to a perfect-but-desperate stop right in front of his closed bedroom door, arms stretched to either side of the doorway, barricading the way with his body.

“No one touches my room,” he practically growled, glaring fiery death at the three-foot tall, multi-colored blown-glass, pitcher-looking vase-thing with reeds sticking out of it, and the man holding it.

The guy’s eyes widened drastically, tightening his arms protectively around the glass atrocity and backing away slowly. Sasuke felt a stirring of pride at the fear in the man’s eyes, until Itachi commented.

“Hiding something in there, Sasuke?”

Sasuke scowled at his brother. “No,” he denied. “I just don’t see any reason why this disaster has to involve my bedroom. No one’s going in there. Some things are still sacred.”

Itachi gave his little brother a dubious smirk, but didn’t press further, instead directing three men carrying an enormous, heavy, gilded frame to a column of wall separating Sasuke’s living room from the dining area.

Sasuke’s eyes widened drastically. “No. Itachi, no. This has to stop. What the hell are they hanging there?!”

The three men slowly shuffled until they’d turned the frame around and leaned it against the wall, and Sasuke choked on an undignified squeak. “No fucking way,” he murmured, his face now buried in his hands to cover his eyes.

Sitting in the middle of his living room was a framed photo—almost as tall as the men that had been carrying it—of Sasuke as a child. And it wasn’t just any baby photo, either. No, this picture was not some sweet, innocent recollection of a past cherished moment; it was photographic evidence of Sasuke’s first time using the toilet all by himself. Which just so happened to have occurred after Sasuke had discovered his mother’s makeup drawer (which was why Sasuke had suddenly decided to use the potty on his own—so that the makeup mess he’d made wouldn’t be discovered by the person helping him).

Even now, more than twenty years later, Sasuke couldn’t erase the memory of it. And now he was hiding from a four-by-six-foot picture of his three-year-old self sitting on the toilet, naked but for his Big Bird slippers, a wooden stepstool beneath his dangling feet, makeup all over his face, and eyes dazzled by the flash of his mother’s camera. Not only that, but Itachi hadn’t gone for the artistic, black-and-white print that was usually the medium for childhood memories. No, it was in full color, practically showcasing the brilliant red that adorned little-Sasuke’s lips, cheeks, and chin in clown-like fashion, the rose-colored, almost-perfect circles of blush, and the bright, blue eyeshadow that went all the way up to his eyebrows.

“Itachi,” Sasuke growled through gritted teeth. “What do you want?”

Because if this wasn’t a horrible nightmare, it was definitely some extravagant form of blackmail.

Itachi put his arm around him, but Sasuke barely noticed, too busy fighting a sudden bout of embarrassment-induced nausea.

“Nothing much,” Itachi assured him calmly. “Just for you to remember you do have a family, no matter how independent you want to be. And though you may not have accepted our help in your professional career, you wouldn’t be where you are today if not for them raising you the way they did.”

Sasuke couldn’t help the pang of guilt that went through him at those words, and he looked at Itachi, entirely chastised. “I know that.”

Itachi nodded and sighed softly. “In the last ten years, you’ve made your career a success without riding on the coattails of our parents’ company, and for that I respect you. But you can’t continue acting as if they don’t exist at all in your life.” Itachi gave him a sideglance. “I assume you already realize this, as you’ve finally accepted a movie role through Uchiha Productions.”

Sasuke gave a slow nod.

“So you should have no problems showing your pride and affection for your family by displaying the family portrait in your home. It’s just a small touch that will make you seem more human, Sasuke,” Itachi explained, then added, “and it would make mother happy.”

“What about father?” Sasuke found himself asking without thinking.

Itachi lips twitched as if he wanted to smile, “Of course, father is proud of you, and wants you to feel the same.”

Even though the words weren’t coming from the man himself, it was nice to hear it.

“Okay.”

Almost as quickly as the words left his lips, Itachi had given orders for the workers to put everything back the way it was. Sasuke blinked rapidly, feeling almost as if he were watching time speed up, or a tornado whirl around him while he remained unaffected. His sofa and chairs were put back in place, the horrible art and lamps were removed, and in their place were the black-and-white nature prints and large, panoramic photo of the Tokyo skyline at night that he’d photographed while visiting his great-grandparents several years ago. And on the wall against which had formerly rested his childhood photo, was an equally-large, framed portrait of his family from earlier that year.

This he could live with.

As the last worker finally cleared out of his house, Itachi made to follow him out, but paused, his hand on the handle of the open door.

“Oh, and Sasuke, let Hina and Denka out. No one’s going to think you’re a crazy cat-lady just because you live alone with your cats.” Itachi smirked and closed the door, heading down to meet the magazine interviewer that he’d been informed had just arrived in the lobby.

Though annoyed with his brother’s comment, Sasuke was also relieved. He obviously thought Hina and Denka were the reason Sasuke wouldn’t allow anyone into his room. If that’s what he wanted to think, Sasuke was fine with that.


xXx


Naruto walked around Sasuke’s living room curiously, inspecting the interior design with a bit of fascination at its simple, yet eye-catching palette of black, white, and red. After looking at all the photos, and staring out the huge picture window for a bit, he decided to test out the sofas. They weren’t as squashy as he usually liked, but they were very comfortable, and the little, soft, purple pillows almost made Naruto want to giggle. They were a nice touch.

Once he settled on the bigger couch, Naruto glanced around again idly, pausing his gaze on the enormous Uchiha family portrait hung on the nearby red wall. Somehow it seemed out of place. Not because it didn’t fit with the décor—it matched perfectly, actually. Not for a reason like, ‘It’s strange to see Sasuke smile like a normal person,’ because Sasuke had only the faintest upturn at the corners of his mouth (though it was true that that was more than either Itachi or their father, Fugaku, had). It was odd because it was the only obviously personal thing in Sasuke’s house. It was almost as if Sasuke was hiding, even in his own home.

‘Kinda sad,’ Naruto thought to himself, and frowned. ‘Or just weird. It’s Sasuke, after all.’

He turned his head away from the portrait, staring towards the picture window and the view of the city he could still glimpse from his seat and bouncing on the cushion a little. It really was a comfortable couch, even though it looked like it would be hard and uncomfortable, simply because of how sleek and stylish it was. Sasuke had pretty good taste, he had to admit.

Naruto was really starting to get bored waiting, now, though. Sipping at his fourth glass of water, he wondered how much longer it was going to take Itachi to settle what topics were appropriate for the magazine reporter to ask.

He briefly thought about going back into the kitchen where everyone else was, but quickly nixed the idea. Watching Sasuke do something so normal and domestic as prepare coffee and sandwiches (at Itachi’s behest) had done strange things to Naruto’s insides, and he really needed to relax before this interview. In such a personal setting, any unease would be easily noticeable, and after what had happened with Sai he just didn’t want to have to deal with another issue so soon.

So now, here he was, all alone on Sasuke Uchiha’s sofa, having his legs twined by an exotic-looking cat. Naruto blinked. Yeah, that was really a cat. In Sasuke’s home. He never would have expected Sasuke to like animals. Huh.

Naruto leaned over, setting his half-drunk glass on the frosted glass coffee table, and petting the cat properly.

“Hey, little guy,” he said softly, smiling as the cat moved its head around until Naruto’s fingers were scratching the underside of its chin, and began purring loudly.

Something around its neck caught the light coming in from the large window, and Naruto grasped the small, gold tag hanging from a thin, sparkly, purple collar. The tag had a crown imprinted on it, and inside the crown it said, ‘Denka’.

“Hmm, strange name,” Naruto commented, which earned him a small, yip-like meow from Denka.

Naruto was distracted before he could make an apology (for some reason, he felt he should), because just then Sakura walked through the room, heading in the apparent direction of the front door.

“Hey, where are you going?!”

“Bathroom,” Sakura answered simply, not even turning around.

As soon as she said that word, it was like a switch was flipped inside him—specifically, somewhere near his bladder. It seemed those four glasses of water he’d drank were catching up to him all at once, and he wasn’t sure if he could wait.

“Sakura, wait up! Let me go first!” he called, following after her and earning another reproving yip from the feline that had been attempting to curl around his ankle.

“No way, Naruto! Female issues have priority!”

Naruto made a face at that bit of T.M.I., though after six years of being friends with Sakura, he should probably be used to it. With a small groan of frustrated impatience, Naruto peeked into the kitchen. The sour expression on Sasuke’s face as Sai explained to him the subtle differences in penises he’d seen in his drawing nudes classes back in art school made Naruto chuckle despite himself. The sound drew their attention, and Sasuke looked quite relieved to see him.

Well, Naruto thought, when you’re stranded alone with Sai, anyone can be your hero just by showing up.

“Oh, Naruto,” Sai greeted, smiling. “I was just telling Sasuke about that time you modeled in my art class. Remember? Back before you got the contract with Calvin Klein?”

Naruto scowled, “Sai! Would you stop telling people about my dick?! Your memory of it is completely wrong, anyway!”

Sai blinked at him. “No, it isn’t. I have a photographic memory,” Sai informed him reassuringly.

Naruto growled. “Dammit, nevermind!” He turned to Sasuke, scowl slow to leave his face, especially now that he knew Sasuke had just had Naruto’s cock described to him in belittling detail. “Where’s your other bathroom?!”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto’s pissed off tone. “In that little hallway by the entranceway, but I think Sakura’s in there.”

“No,” Naruto growled again, the sound becoming whinier the longer he had to wait to relieve his bladder. He was getting very close to doing the potty dance, and that just could not happen. “Don’t you have a master bathroom, or something? This is a penthouse, after all!”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, “No. You’ll just have to wait for Sakura to be done.”

“Ugh!” Completely aggravated with both of the men in the kitchen now, Naruto turned and stomped back to the living room. “Stupid Sasuke. I’m sure he has another bathroom.”

He glanced around, eyeing a set of black, Japanese folding screens he’d only glanced at during his previous exploration. They looked like they’d been splashed with white paint on the bottom, with branchy-looking, white lines at the top. Walking closer, he realized the splashes of white gradually separated into the shape of sakura blossoms, and were actually a very faint pink color, sometimes with delicate detailing done in red. Walking around the screens to inspect the opposite side of them, it was then Naruto saw the door he hadn’t even thought to look for earlier.

He peeked his head around the edge of a screen, checking that the coast was still clear and Sasuke was still occupied with Sai in the kitchen. Seeing that the living room was still devoid of people, Naruto felt a surge of giddiness always connected with getting up to mischief, and opened the door.

This had to be Sasuke’s room, definitely. It looked too lived in to be a guest room, and it had the faint scent that Naruto instantly recognized as Sasuke’s lingering in the air. His heart was racing even more now, and though he still wasn’t quite ready to consciously admit it, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew it wasn’t just because he was sneaking into a place he wasn’t meant to be. It was because this was Sasuke’s room.

The décor in here was very similar to that of the rest of the house, though there wasn’t as much red in here. Instead, there was lots of blue—of several shades, in fact. There were also pictures on the wall in here, but they weren’t only the impersonal (however artistic) nature prints that were in the living room. There were pictures of people—mostly people Naruto now recognized as Sasuke’s family, now that he’d been around a few of them during production of The Lucky. There was also a large bulletin board covered with newspaper clippings, and Naruto was curious to look closer at them, but his bladder chose that moment to remind him of his imminent need of the facilities.

After opening the closest door only to find a ginormous closet rather than the bathroom, Naruto went to the next door and sighed happily as he found the room he was looking for. He barely even noticed what the design of the bathroom looked like as he scurried to the toilet and relieved himself. But after he was finished and washed his hands (Sakura always seemed to know when he didn’t, so he always tried to remember when she was around), he glanced up in the huge mirror and felt his heart skip a painful beat as his blue eyes met a pair of identical blue in the mirror.

He blinked, dried his hands hurriedly, and rubbed at his eyes. Then he looked again. Nope, still there. Slowly, he turned around, bracing his hands on the sink counter behind him, and staring—gaping—at the huge, framed poster of himself hanging on the wall. It was black and white, save for his blue eyes and the red band on the Calvin Klein boxer-briefs he was wearing—which, by the way, was the only thing he was wearing.

He wasn’t as buff in the photo as he was now, but, then again, that was almost ten years ago, when he was still a teenager. His arms were slightly less muscular, and his chest and shoulders weren’t as broad, but his abs were chiseled and he’d already lost most of the baby fat in his face. He was smiling the mischievous grin that always came naturally to him, daring the onlooker to do something naughty with him. His thumb was hooked into the waistband of his underwear, adding to the image.

So surprised by the random appearance of one of his old modeling ads, it took a little while for Naruto to actually wonder why it was in Sasuke’s house—in his bathroom, of all places. When he began thinking about the possible reasons, however, he couldn’t help but notice that the poster was hung in the perfect position to see it from inside the glass shower.

Something strange squirmed and rolled about in Naruto’s stomach, and he realized with quite a bit of dread that he was in danger of getting an erection. For, as soon as the idea of Sasuke looking at his poster while showering popped into his head, so did a multitude of other images—most of them involving Sasuke naked, wet, surrounded by hot steam, and moaning Naruto’s name while he pleasured himself.

‘Ridiculous,’ Naruto thought, squeezing his eyes shut in the hope of willing away the hardness of his cock and the heat in his face. Closing his eyes only helped in making his imaginings more vivid, however, and he quickly opened them again, chastising himself, ‘Sasuke’s straight. And a homophobe… But if he is, what the hell was with that kiss during the CPR? …simple, Sasuke’s insane and gets a kick out of confusing the hell outta me.’

But the fact still remained: Sasuke had an almost life-sized picture of half-naked Naruto hanging in his personal, private bathroom—a bathroom which he, apparently, didn’t want anyone else to even know about, let alone use.

Naruto’s eyes widened, and he suddenly remembered he was trespassing in Sasuke’s private space, and didn’t want to be found out. So, with one more glance at his younger self, he hurried from the room and back out to the living room. Just as he closed the door, he heard Sakura’s footsteps coming from the entranceway. Scurrying quickly around the other side of the screens, he did his best to appear innocent, searching for that cat from before to help his plight.

Denka was nowhere to be seen, but a different, fatter cat came padding towards him from where it had been basking in the sun by the window. As soon as Naruto stooped to pick this new cat up, checking its collar to find out its name was Hina, Sasuke and Sai came out to the living room carrying platters full of food.

“Need any help?” Sakura asked as she came into the living room.

“Can you get the coffee?” Sasuke asked her, though his gaze seemed to be on Naruto alone.

“Sure.”

“I should help with the cups, shouldn’t I?” Sai wondered aloud—apparently to himself, as he didn’t wait for a reply.

Naruto couldn’t help the paranoia that crept up at Sasuke’s perusal of him, wondering if somehow Sasuke knew what Naruto had seen. Then he noticed Sasuke’s eyes flick to the cat in Naruto’s arms, and the way Naruto was unconsciously petting the now-purring creature, and felt his heart skip again at the affection he glimpsed in Sasuke’s eyes, the corners of his mouth tilting up just slightly in what might have been the beginnings of a smile before Sasuke was distracted by the doorbell chiming.


xXx


The interview had started several minutes ago, after a brief tour of the open areas of the penthouse, and already a handful of questions had been asked and answered. There were short anecdotes, and Naruto knew he had even participated in some way or another, but he honestly couldn’t say what he might have said or done. He was too distracted to remember, or even pay attention.

He was squeezed onto a couch—albeit a rather large and comfortable one—with his three co-stars, stuck between Sai and Sasuke. Normally, it would be enough to aggravate him—being made to sit bitch between two men he didn’t particularly like. But Sai was starting to grow on him as a friend (a particularly weird friend, but then, most of Naruto’s friends were weird in one way or another), and Sasuke also had somehow begun stealthily creeping into Naruto’s ‘friendship’ category—at least enough that he couldn’t truthfully say he hated him anymore. Still, Naruto couldn’t seem to concentrate.

Maybe it was the oddness of seeing Sasuke relaxed in his home environment. Maybe it was the cat, Hina, that seemed to have become attached to Naruto, and kept leaping down to make a trip to the kitchen, only to return moments later, pawing at Naruto’s lap until he picked Hina up and started petting him. Maybe it was the way Sai kept having to be steered away from topics his co-stars knew he would elaborate on in weird, inappropriate ways without thinking anything of it. Maybe it was Sakura, being an oblivious traitor by sitting all the way on the other end of the couch, leaving Naruto stranded between the two black haired men.

Or, just perhaps, it was the way Sasuke grew more and more comfortable as the interview continued—shifting into a position that angled him closer to Naruto, crossing his ankle over his knee, and throwing his arm over the back of the couch right behind Naruto. Perhaps it was the warmth of Sasuke’s body that was becoming increasingly hard to resist snuggling into, or the scent of him, or the way he kept invading Naruto’s personal space in order to pet the cat still on Naruto’s lap (and the damn cameraman snapped a picture of it almost every time it happened, too).

Whatever it was, it was making Naruto incredibly paranoid that he was going to make some stupid slip up, and as a result he felt wired with nervous energy, fighting the urge to squirm and fidget.

“So, Naruto and Sakura, in the movie, you two are childhood friends?”

Naruto blinked, again trying to focus on the task at hand as Sakura answered, “Yes. Val and Jack grew up together on a scrapper planet, where there wasn’t much else to do besides play in the junkyards and dream of someday leaving for bigger and better things.”

“And, obviously, Val and Jack fulfilled those dreams,” the interviewer commented.

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed, attempting to participate again. “Jack always had a knack for finding the coolest things in the junkyards, and he would fill an old hover-wagon with everything he found during the day, and drag it to Val.”

Sakura added, “Val is the daughter of a mechanic, and she pretty much can fix anything.”

“So one day, Jack finds a ship in the scrapyard, and drags Val out to it… and that ship is The Lucky.”

“And now I understand the title a little better,” the interviewer said with a smile. “Though it seems it could also apply to the crew of The Lucky, as well. Naruto, your character, the bounty hunter Tracker Jack, is known for being able to find anyone, anywhere. It seems that skill was born during his junkyard escapades, too.”

Naruto had already spaced out again, though, his entire focus narrowed to the place where Sasuke’s thigh was now pressed against his after Sasuke had shifted.

“Huh?” Naruto asked distractedly, but Sai (of all people) salvaged the question before Naruto’s inattention became obvious.

“Yes! And, in fact, Naruto himself also has this skill of luck. While we were bonding as crewmates, we went to a casino once, and Naruto won every game he played!”

“’Bonding as crewmates’,” the interviewer repeated. “So have you all become friends through this movie, then?”

“Well, Sakura and I have been friends for six years, already,” Naruto was able to rouse himself enough to remind her of this well-known fact.

“Of course, how could I forget? You two worked on the daytime drama, Another World, didn’t you? You and Sai also worked together previously, as models. Have you two been friends since then?”

“Uh…” Naruto stalled.

Sai smiled, “Naruto and I only worked together briefly then. It’s nice that making this movie has brought us together again.”

As much as Naruto was glad Sai had picked up the question again, he couldn’t help but think that last part could be taken the wrong way.

“Sai,” Sasuke’s smooth, deep, slightly-annoyed voice suddenly sent goosebumps all down Naruto’s side. “Don’t you mean to say, ‘Making this movie together has helped us become friends’?”

Naruto knew his eyebrow was raised dubiously, but he couldn’t help it. The interviewer also looked mildly surprised, and took the opportunity to ask, “Is it the same for you, as well, Sasuke?”

It was well known that Sasuke Uchiha did not idly make friends of his co-stars, after all. While the number of women he’d been linked with romantically in the past ten years was almost unfathomable (and often over as soon as it had begun), the number of people he was known to entrust with friendship was next to nil.

Sasuke hesitated at answering the question, and Naruto wanted to snort derisively. Of course, the Uchiha was most likely thinking, ‘No way!’, but he couldn’t really say that in an interview—especially not one meant to boost both his image and that of the movie. Despite thinking this, though, Sasuke’s next words still managed to surprise Naruto.

“It..is, actually. I’d like to think… that Naruto and I could remain friends after the movie has premiered. And even longer than that.”

Sasuke sounded so sincere when he said it that the goosebumps that had previously raised on the side of Naruto’s body nearest Sasuke now spread as a shiver that wasn’t exactly bad rushed through Naruto.

“Wow, I must say, this will be a big development for your fans, won’t it? You two have been professional rivals for years now, after all.”

“Rivals?” Sasuke questioned, as if this was the first he’d learned of it.

Suddenly, the feelings of potential friendship and attraction that had been building in Naruto towards Sasuke were completely forgotten as supreme irritation rose in him.

“Yes, Uchiha,” he almost growled, turning on his seat to face Sasuke so he could scowl at him. “We’re rivals. Don’t act like this is news to you.”

Sasuke blinked and raised a sardonic brow, “You’re really worked up about this. Is our supposed rivalry that important to you?”

“Yes!” Naruto explained, raising his arms up a little to either side.

“Okay, fine, we’re rivals,” Sasuke replied with a shrug of a shoulder.

“Don’t say it so nonchalantly!” Naruto exclaimed, causing Hina to suddenly jump from his lap again, not to return.

“Well, what makes us rivals, then?” Sasuke’s tone was more dare than question.

Naruto groaned in frustration, a hand digging into his hair and tugging a bit. “Everything! We’ve been in the business almost the same amount of time, doing similar jobs and playing similar roles. Every time I got a gig and started getting press about it, you found a way to upstage me with your latest thing. You’re in the tabloids more than me—”

“You want to be in the tabloids?!”

“And every time a magazine has a reader poll for popularity or looks,” Naruto continued, pointedly interrupting Sasuke’s interruption and poking him in the chest with his finger, “you always beat me!”

Sasuke’s eyes widened at the end of Naruto’s tirade, watching the blond heave a little in his anger. Then his eyelids lowered again and his eyes looked somewhere off to the side. “Not always.”

Naruto frowned at him, wondering what he was talking about, but not wanting to give Sasuke the satisfaction of asking. Awkward silence reigned for several moments before the interviewer finally cleared her throat.

“Um… perhaps I’ll get back to the original topic… uh… Sai! Your character’s name is Jean-Pierre. Is he French?”

“Actually, he has a complicated background,” Sai said, smiling mysteriously. “His mother was French, but his father was from a pan-Asian settlement, and he grew up in an orphanage from the time he was six.”

“It’s true that Jean-Pierre was raised by his mother before that, though, isn’t it?” Sai nodded, and she continued, “So did you have to learn any French for this role?”

Sai eagerly opened his mouth to answer, but Sakura’s hand immediately covered it, smiling too cheerfully as she answered, “Sai had some coaching to work on his accent, though it’s not very thick, and he doesn’t speak any actual French.”

The interviewer didn’t need to know that Sai’s ‘coaching’ had been in the form of listening to French porn, or that the only actual French words he’d managed to pick up were the dirty ones.

The interview continued in the proper vein, and Naruto managed to mostly pay attention after that, because the woman interviewing them kept the pace too fast for his mind to even attempt to wander. At last, she seemed to come to her last question.

“Finally, as this is one of Jiraiya Sannin’s scripts, there is, no doubt, romance involved. I’ve also heard a rumor that one of the kissing scenes got out of hand,” she informed them with a teasing smile. “Is there, perhaps, a real life romance brewing between you and Sasuke, Sakura?”

Naruto almost guffawed out loud at that, but managed to repress it in time, though Sakura’s squeak of, ‘What?!’ while Sasuke deadpanned the same reaction did make him snicker. The interviewer looked disappointed.

“I take it that’s a ‘no’?”

Sai smiled widely, “Oh, the rumor about the kiss is true, but your sources apparently haven’t given you all the details. What really happened was—oof!”

As Sakura and Naruto both elbowed Sai in the gut, Sasuke cut in seamlessly, “No kissing scenes between myself and Miss Haruno ever went beyond what was called for in the script. Our friendship is purely platonic.”

Naruto looked curiously at Sasuke then. Since when were Sasuke and Sakura friends? Had he missed something, or was this another branch on today’s ‘WTF’ tree, on which Sasuke also thought of himself as Naruto’s friend? Somehow, Naruto felt like this interview was giving him whiplash. He couldn’t wait for it to end.

“Aww, that’s too bad,” commented the interviewer, though she didn’t actually look too disappointed. If anything, she suddenly looked ridiculously hopeful and, for the first time since the interview started, Naruto found himself disliking her intensely. “You two would have made a cute couple.”

That last part had definitely sounded fake.

It seemed that the woman had run out of questions, but still wanted to linger, asking for more coffee and a few more shots of them by the photographer. Finally, though, Itachi stepped in and ushered her and her cameraman out.

“Well,” Sakura said, standing and smoothing down her shirt as she looked at the men on the couch. “This was great, but Sai and I have someplace to be.”

“We do?” Sai asked in surprise as Sakura pulled him up from the couch by his wrist.

“Yes! We do!” Sakura told him exasperatedly.

“I—but—isn’t it customary to help clean up when you’ve been in someone’s home?” Sai sounded slightly distressed in his confusion.

Sakura groaned and stopped walking, causing Sai to almost bump into her. “Naruto, you’d better help Sasuke clean up since you were a total slacker earlier!” Despite her threatening tone, she ended the command with an affectionate smile and a little wave before continuing to drag Sai away.

“Goodbye, I guess!” Sai called to Sasuke and Naruto before the door shut after him and Sakura.

Naruto blinked stupidly at the closed door for several moments. He couldn’t believe Sakura had just stranded him here! She knew how much he hated Sasuke! He complained about Sasuke all the time! And the fact that Naruto, possibly, had developed some strange attraction to Sasuke didn’t count, because he hadn’t even fully admitted it to himself until today, let alone Sakura!

Then again, Sakura did tend to have some crazy sixth sense about these things when it came to him, and she had been giving him those annoying, knowing looks for awhile now… and maybe she’d made a couple suspicious comments…

Fuck.

Well, there was no use denying it in his head now, if Sakura knew. Now all he could do was… avoid Sasuke. It shouldn’t be too hard since filming was complete now. Sure there were some post-production things they might need to go in for, and they had to promote the movie, but… other than that, it should be easy. Things would just go back to the way they were before making this movie, and Naruto would start getting pissed off every time Sasuke was in the news more than him, and… and…

But first, he had to help clean up. Yeah. Because Sakura had made a point of saying it in front of Sasuke, so Naruto couldn’t just bail out now—then he’d look like a jerk! Naruto might be loud, mischievous, and obnoxious, but he wasn’t a jerk. He left that to other actors—like the one standing in front of him, watching Naruto have his internal dialogue with an eyebrow raised.

“What?” Naruto asked irritably.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting strange all day.”

Sasuke seemed so genuinely concerned, and suddenly Naruto wanted to ask him a million things. ‘Why are you so confusing?’, ‘Did you really not know we were rivals?’, ‘Since when are we friends? For that matter, since when are you and Sakura friends? You’d better not be trying to get in my best friend’s pants! I know your reputation, Uchiha!’, and, most prominently, ‘Why the hell do you have a half-naked picture of me in your bathroom, Sasuke?’

But, instead, what came out was, “What did Sai tell you about my dick?”

His eyes widened in horror at the words that left his mouth, but as he watched a brilliant red color Sasuke’s cheeks—no, more like his whole face—he couldn’t help the curiosity thrumming through him now.

“Um, what? Why?”

Naruto raised his eyebrows at Sasuke’s cornered expression, and wondered what Sasuke would look like if he actually asked about the poster.

“Because it’s about my dick, Uchiha. I have a right to know what he’s telling people.”

Sasuke picked up his cup of coffee from the table and took a drink, obviously stalling. “Nothing much,” he finally said, taking another sip and looking towards the window.

“Bullshit, Uchiha. Tell me what he said,” Naruto demanded, scooting to the edge of his cushion.

Sasuke set his cup back down and looked at him again. “He said it was nothing much.”

Sasuke smirked at him and Naruto growled, standing up to defend his manhood properly.

“Asshole!” he exclaimed, pushing hard against Sasuke’s shoulder.

Sasuke stumbled back a step but kept his balance otherwise. “Hey, don’t blame me for what Sai said,” he told Naruto chastisingly, but that annoying smirk was still on his lips.

Naruto glared. “Don’t believe anything that Sai said. He just has an unrealistic view of it because of his—ugh…” Naruto didn’t even want to finish that sentence, or remember the incident in which he’d seen Sai’s—he wouldn’t even let himself finish the thought.

Sasuke’s eyebrows raised, and then he frowned at the implication. “Okay, then,” he said seriously. “Prove it.”

Now the smirk was back, and Naruto couldn’t tell if Sasuke was joking—not that he’d ever known the other man to joke, but… Naruto’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I bet you’d love that. Then you’d have the rest of the image to go with the one hanging in your bathroom,” he said accusingly.

The smirk left Sasuke’s mouth immediately. “What?” He sounded wary.

Naruto stepped closer, crossing his arms. “You know what I’m talking about. That poster of me you have in your bathroom. What’s up with that, anyway, Sasuke?”

Sasuke looked away, unable to keep eye contact. Finally, his eyes settled on the ceiling, as if asking for help from above, and he closed them. “What… were you doing in my bathroom?”

“Duh, Sasuke, using it.”

Suddenly Sasuke’s eyes were locked with his, and Naruto blinked in surprise at the angry hurt that burned in them.

“I told you not to go in there.”

“No, you didn’t,” Naruto argued. “You told me you didn’t have another bathroom. But that was obviously a lie and I really had to go! It’s not like I expected to go in there and find you secretly hoarding away my modeling paraphernalia!”

“Shut up, shut up!” Sasuke said, sounding almost desperate, eyes wild as he gripped the front of Naruto’s shirt angrily. “Of course I had to hoard it away! It’s not like I can openly stare at you in public! And you’re so dense, a guy could go crazy trying to get through to you!”

Naruto stared in shock, mouth going dry and stomach suddenly deciding to perform acrobatics that skimmed his heart, making it beat strangely. “What?” he asked, barely audible.

Sasuke snorted humorlessly, shaking his head and moving his face close enough that their noses were almost touching. Sasuke’s eyes were so dark and fathomless and Naruto couldn’t look away.

“You really are an idiot,” Sasuke said lowly, a strange hint of affection in his exasperated voice. “What more do I have to do, Naruto?”

It wasn’t so much that Naruto had no clue, anymore. It was just that the idea was… so surreal. He couldn’t believe it.

Sasuke could see that Naruto wouldn’t—or couldn’t—give a reply. So he didn’t wait for one.

Instead, he grasped Naruto’s face in his hands, and pulled him into an almost bruising kiss. Naruto’s lips weren’t quite as soft as before, but they felt good and they tasted of coffee flavored with too much creamer. Naruto made a surprised noise, and Sasuke managed to slip his tongue between Naruto’s lips. For a moment, he thought Naruto wouldn’t respond, and decided with a sinking heart that he should pull away. But as soon as he moved his tongue in retreat, Naruto stopped him with a hand to the back of his neck and an insistent tongue following Sasuke’s into his mouth. Then it was Sasuke’s turn to make the sound of surprise, a thrill going through him as their tongues touched and slid against each other.

Sasuke stepped even closer, pressing their bodies together, already well on his way to being fully aroused. A bit of trepidation still lingered in the back of Sasuke’s consciousness, though, wondering if he was really ready for this. But then Naruto grabbed his ass and ground into him, his cock just as hard as Sasuke’s, and Sasuke couldn’t remember what he was worrying about. He pushed forward, forcing Naruto to back up until he lost his balance, falling back onto the couch with a short grunt of surprise.

Their kiss was abruptly broken when Naruto landed on the couch, but Sasuke didn’t lose a beat in following him down, straddling Naruto’s legs and leaning back in towards his lips. Just before they reconnected, though, Naruto put a hand to his chest to stop him.

“Wait,” Naruto breathed against Sasuke’s moist lips. “What the hell is this?”

At that question, Sasuke drew back, annoyance clear on his face.

“That’s not what I mean,” Naruto defended irritably. “I get that you’ve got the hots for me, or something, okay? That’s a bit obvious.” His eyes couldn’t help but dart down to where he could clearly see Sasuke’s erection straining against the crotch of his black jeans. “But I still don’t get it, I mean… why now? Why me? Is this just some random bit of delayed curiosity, or something?” he asked suspiciously.

“What? No!” Sasuke denied, offended at the suggestion.

“It’s not like it’s a ridiculous question! You’ve been in the tabloids with hundreds of girls, but never once with any guys!”

“Of course not, because I know how to be discreet! Unlike you, who never pays any attention to his surroundings and gets caught on holiday, skinny dipping with his boyfriend!”

Naruto looked flabbergasted. “How do you even remember that? That was like… five years ago! And weren’t you too busy on your honeymoon then?!”

Naruto remembered specifically because the news of Sasuke’s spontaneous, Vegas marriage to his latest starlet love interest had practically eclipsed the gossip about Naruto’s scandalous vacation photos. Even though he hadn’t exactly wanted those pictures in the tabloids, it had still annoyed him that Sasuke had again taken attention away from him.

Sasuke glared at him, his jaw tight. “I remember everything I’ve ever seen about you,” he seethed. “And I didn’t get married until the night after those pictures were printed.”

Sasuke’s words just then sounded to Naruto like a guilty confession, and something finally dawned on Naruto. “Oh, my God. You’re… obsessed with me!”

Sasuke glared at him, “Don’t make me sound like some crazy stalker.”

“But you’ve been keeping track of me for that long! Why didn’t you ever say anything? It’s not like you never had the opportunity.”

Sasuke scoffed, shifting off of Naruto’s lap to sit some distance away from him on the couch. “Right, because you always made yourself so readily available whenever I was around. Why would I confess anything to someone who so obviously hated me?”

“I only hated you because you were always upstaging me!”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose,” Sasuke told him, but then he looked thoughtful for a moment, and guilt spread itself across his face, pinking his cheeks. “Well, I didn’t think I did.”

It was true that every time Naruto advanced in his career, Sasuke felt an urgency to do the same—like he was being left behind by the boy he’d admired for so long. The boy whose very existence had made him realize something about himself that, for a long time, was positively devastating.

Because it had been one thing to admire a boy who had made himself a success all on his own—never resting on the laurels of his famous godfather—and Sasuke thereby gaining the courage to do the same. But when the rumors about Naruto’s sexuality had started spreading after he got the job with Calvin Klein, Sasuke began to feel guilty every time he would take out the old ad he had torn from a magazine and stare at Naruto’s contagious grin—a ritual that had previously given Sasuke’s morale a boost whenever he’d needed it, but now only seemed to cause him more confusion. Was he only admiring Naruto’s determination, or was there more to it?

It hadn’t taken long to answer his own question, especially when the image of Naruto’s flirty, new underwear ads became permanent fixtures in Sasuke’s masturbation fantasies.

That was when Sasuke had started voraciously dating starlets and models, trying to deny the truth to himself, or at least hide it from his family. He wanted to become a success on his own, yes, but not so he could isolate himself from his parents—so that they could be proud of him, like they were of Itachi. He didn’t think they’d be proud of their youngest son being gay.

And when those pictures of Naruto on a private beach with some guy came out, Itachi had actually commented on how miserable Sasuke seemed that day. It had really scared Sasuke, thinking that his secret might be found out, and he’d suddenly dragged his “girlfriend” to Vegas to get married. The only reason the marriage managed to last a whole month was because both of them had been too busy after their week in Cancun to bother with the process of divorcing.

And that week had been a disaster. Sasuke had felt even more hopeless, and the rainy weather had matched his mood. His new wife became more and more irritating once she realized being stuck inside due to the weather didn’t mean more sex with her new husband, or even more attention from him—especially after the third day, when Sasuke mysteriously disappeared for an entire day, in the ridiculous hope that being with a man—any man—would help him get rid of the uncomfortable, twisting feeling in his chest. She never knew about that part, of course, but Sasuke’s complete lack of interest was enough for her to realize being married to him wouldn’t be the fairy tale she’d imagined when he’d sprung the demand for marriage on her.

Naruto watched silently as Sasuke stared at the cushion between them, lost in thought. Even without Sasuke explaining anything, though, Naruto was starting to wonder if he didn’t actually understand Sasuke, after all. He knew it wasn’t easy to come out, especially when you were already in the public eye simply because of who you were. It had been difficult for him at first, too, even though Jiraiya was less well-known since not many screenwriters are actually seen. Luckily, Naruto didn’t know how to give up, so when things got tough, he just worked harder—until people no longer saw the screenwriter’s godson, or the gay model, but Naruto Uzumaki: charismatic, talented, young actor.

Why did Sasuke have to be such a playboy, though? If anything, it should’ve made him seem more suspicious. Rather than suspecting Sasuke was gay (or bi?), though, Naruto had simply thought he was an egotistical jerk. That’s probably what the rest of the world saw, too.

Naruto sighed loudly, and Sasuke glanced up at him. “I think we’ve both been pretty stupid,” Naruto told him.

One corner of Sasuke’s mouth quirked wryly at that.

“Wanna start over?”

Sasuke snorted, “I don’t know. I don’t think I can handle how dense you are if we go back to the beginning. How about we just forget everything up until a few minutes ago?”

Naruto smirked mischievously. “When we were kissing?”

Sasuke got up on his knees, moving to straddle Naruto again. “Yes,” he told him, leaning in until his mouth was tantalizingly close to Naruto’s, his breath hot on Naruto’s lips.

“But that’s still kinda like starting over, so I don’t know,” Naruto teased. “I’m not easy, Uchiha.”

“Oh, believe me, I know,” Sasuke replied meaningfully. “Then let’s say this: the last several years were an extremely long and stupid courtship. We’ve taken long enough, so let’s move to the next level, already.”

It was pretty sound reasoning to Naruto. So, unable to resist any longer, Naruto closed the small distance still separating them, and within seconds their tongues were exploring again, their bodies slowly beginning to grind together. Sasuke’s hands dug into Naruto’s hair while Naruto’s hands slipped up the back of Sasuke’s shirt, moaning as Sasuke shifted forward even more, kissing him harder. Naruto felt like he was going to go crazy if this continued much longer, though. Sasuke grinding against him through their clothes had him insanely hard, craving so much more, and never getting enough to be more than a frustrating tease.

“Sasuke,” Naruto groaned when their mouths broke apart for a moment.

Sasuke kissed him again, humming into his mouth in question.

As his mouth was otherwise occupied, Naruto decided to just show Sasuke what he wanted. His hands moved to the front of Sasuke’s jeans, rubbing at him and earning a more-than-appreciative groan before unsnapping Sasuke’s jeans and tugging at the zipper. Sasuke obviously liked this idea, if the sound he made then was anything to go by, and he dragged his hands down Naruto’s body to find the hem of his shirt and pull it up. Their mouths broke apart again to allow Naruto’s shirt to be cast aside, and Sasuke moved his mouth down Naruto’s neck, licking a trail down his chest until he got to a nipple and traced around it with the tip of his tongue. His fingers moved to tease Naruto’s other nipple while he took the first between his lips to suck on it, moaning softly against it. Naruto moaned, too—louder—and Sasuke took great satisfaction in it. Naruto’s nipples had been driving him crazy for months, now Sasuke was going to return the favor.

His mouth moved to the other side, fingers coming up to circle the first one teasingly—the moisture from his mouth letting his fingers slide across the pert bud. He mouthed at the other one, grazing his teeth over it teasingly before flicking his tongue against it quickly to pull more sounds from Naruto. That was when Naruto decided to try fitting his hand inside the open fly of Sasuke’s pants, and both of them groaned when it didn’t quite work—Sasuke’s jeans were too tight. Suddenly, Sasuke gave up his torture of Naruto’s nipples so he could stand and tug his jeans off.

Then he was standing in front of Naruto in nothing but red Calvin Kleins, watching a knowing smirk spread over kiss-moistened lips, Naruto’s hand moving to idly rub at himself through his own baggy jeans before flicking open the fly. Sasuke felt like he could hardly breathe, and suddenly moved to his knees in front of Naruto, taking the zipper from Naruto’s grasp and pulling it down the rest of the way. Tugging aside the material, he rubbed his fingers over the tent Naruto was making in his blue boxers, growing even more excited when Naruto grunted softly and bucked towards his hand, a small, wet spot forming on the material covering the head of his cock.

Sasuke’s hands drifted up, to the waistbands of Naruto’s jeans and boxers, grasping them both together and tugging. Naruto shifted his hips up to assist Sasuke in taking them off, and then Sasuke was staring hungrily at Naruto’s cock. He didn’t know what Sai thought he was talking about when he’d described Naruto’s dick as nothing much to look at, because to Sasuke it looked perfect—definitely not small, but not too huge, either. In fact, it was almost exactly what Sasuke had imagined from years of staring at the bulge in Naruto’s tight Calvin Kleins in his poster. It stood proud from a neat bed of blond curls, a drop of precum pearling at the tip and sliding down. Without making a conscious decision, Sasuke leaned forward and licked it, and that small taste was enough to make him want more.

Naruto shuddered, struggling to control himself and hold his hips still as Sasuke’s lips slid down his length, engulfing him in the delicious, wet heat of his mouth. Sasuke dragged the flat of his tongue against Naruto’s cock as he bobbed his head in long, slow strokes. Pulling back, Sasuke swirled his tongue around Naruto’s tip, sucking just on the head until he could practically feel Naruto’s impatience surging into him. Then he swallowed Naruto down completely, relaxing his throat and then swallowing around him.

Naruto groaned, loud and long, and Sasuke almost thought he could come just from that sound. Bobbing his head again, faster now, Sasuke wrapped a hand around himself through his boxers and squeezed, feeling way too close to coming for having not even really been touched yet. He swallowed Naruto down again, and this time Naruto’s fingers dug desperately into his hair as he moaned.

“S-Sasuke…”

Sasuke couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a moan or a warning—maybe a bit of both, judging by how tightly Naruto’s fingers were clutched in his hair, tugging Sasuke’s head with obvious restrained encouragement.

Sasuke deepthroated him again, this time humming as he did it, and suddenly Naruto lost it, groaning as he came. Sasuke pulled back a little so he wouldn’t choke, and kept sucking as Naruto spasmed into his mouth, filling it with cum. Sasuke swallowed and lapped at Naruto’s cock, catching the last few stray spurts before Naruto finished with a soft grunt that turned to a content hum when Sasuke gently sucked him one more time before releasing him.

Naruto stared blearily at the ceiling for endless seconds before finally looking down at Sasuke again. “Sasuke… just… wow.”

Sasuke licked his lips deliberately, relishing the taste of Naruto on them, and smirked. “You expected any less?”

Naruto grabbed the front of Sasuke’s shirt, dragging Sasuke up to kiss him. “Egotistical asshole,” Naruto commented with a snicker as he whipped Sasuke’s shirt over his head, dragging his hands down Sasuke’s exposed chest. Sasuke hissed in pleasure as Naruto’s fingernails grazed over his nipples—which were already pebbled from how turned on his was—and his stomach muscles twitched the lower Naruto’s fingertips went. Naruto smirked, eyes alight with excitement and lust, and pushed Sasuke to lie on the couch, wasting no time in ridding him of his underwear.

Naruto’s hand was hot as it wrapped around Sasuke’s erection, holding him as if testing the weight and feel of him, and Sasuke couldn’t stop the moan that escaped his throat immediately. Naruto grinned down at him, running his thumb up the underside. Sasuke almost couldn’t believe he could get any harder than he already was, but suddenly more blood was rushing south, his cock practically pulsing with it.

Naruto’s thumb swiped across the precum making Sasuke’s tip wet, and brought his thumb to his mouth to suck it. Sasuke’s cock twitched at the action, a new drop of precum landing on his stomach in the process.

“Eager, Sasuke?”

Sasuke swallowed—a little too hard. Naruto licked his lips and leaned down, hovering over him, and Sasuke twitched again when Naruto’s hot breath blew over him, another moan escaping him in anticipation. Just as Sasuke was worrying that Naruto would make him beg, Naruto’s lips wrapped around him, and Sasuke’s mind slipped away.

Naruto sucked and licked and bobbed and teased. One hand still wrapped around the base of Sasuke’s cock stroked in tandem with the bobbing of his head, while Naruto’s other hand fondled Sasuke’s balls, stroking the skin and rolling them with gentle squeezes. Sasuke was panting heavily, eyes squinting as he tried to keep them in focus, watching his cock disappear over and over into Naruto’s mouth, blue eyes staring up at him heatedly.

Sasuke moaned particularly loudly after Naruto gave a long, hard suck, and then Naruto’s mouth left him completely, instead sucking one of his own fingers into his mouth as his other hand continued stroking Sasuke slowly. Sasuke unconsciously bit his lip, having more than a pretty good idea where that finger was going. His heart beat faster at the thought, his body tingling in anticipation. When Naruto’s mouth returned to his cock a moment later, and his wet finger trailed down to circle his little hole, Sasuke automatically tensed—simply because he was so excited. He quickly tried to relax, and Naruto’s distracting mouth and the gentle way he circled and prodded his finger made it even easier.

Before long, Naruto’s finger was pressed into him, stroking searchingly inside Sasuke. His mouth bobbed faster on Sasuke’s cock, and when Sasuke moaned and tightened around his finger for a moment, Naruto figured he’d found what he’d been looking for, and stroked his finger against it purposely. He sucked harder and faster, stroking that spot inside almost mercilessly, and if Sasuke had had his wits about him, he might have been embarrassed at how quickly he came after that. As it was, though, he was too busy moaning mindlessly, muscles shaking with the effort not to just buck wildly towards both Naruto’s mouth and finger.

His fingernails dug into the couch cushion and his eyes closed involuntarily, mouth dropping open to let every sound of pleasure escape as he came and came into Naruto’s eagerly waiting mouth. When he’d finally quieted and calmed, Naruto released him, slowly pulling his finger out, also. Naruto moved up, intending to lie atop Sasuke now that they’d both been spent, but a grunt of mild annoyance from Sasuke made him stop.

“Go wash your hand, first,” Sasuke ordered when Naruto looked at him questioningly.

Naruto snorted, “Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know it’s gross, otherwise?” Sasuke replied with slightly raised brows, watching Naruto get up and walk, naked, towards Sasuke’s bedroom—and not wasting the opportunity to openly stare at Naruto’s bare backside before he disappeared behind the folding screens.

“Hmm,” was Naruto’s noncommittal reply before opening the door—with the hand that hadn’t just had a finger up Sasuke’s ass.

Sasuke lay on the couch a moment longer, staring up at the ceiling and almost feeling as if he were floating. It was almost too surreal that that had just happened. But it did, it really did.

Sasuke grinned at the ceiling stupidly. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like lying there anymore. He got up—slowly, at first, so he wouldn’t get a headrush—and followed the path Naruto had taken to his room.

As soon as he opened the door, Naruto turned around quickly, a sheepish look on his face. For a moment, Sasuke wondered what was wrong with him, until he realized that Naruto was standing in front of his bulletin board—the one mostly filled with pictures of Naruto he’d clipped from magazines and tabloids.

Sasuke just shrugged at him, hoping he was still flushed enough from their recent activities that Naruto wouldn’t be able to tell he was blushing. Naruto cocked a grin at him, and came over to crawl on the bed, where Sasuke had decided to lay. Naruto plopped down beside Sasuke, turning towards him while Sasuke stayed on his back.

“You really are a stalker,” Naruto said teasingly.

“Hn,” Sasuke intoned, turning his face to smirk at Naruto. “Well, now I won’t have to be, will I?”

Naruto looked surprised for a moment, but his expression soon relaxed into one of contemplation, and then he grinned mischievously. “So if that was a long, fucked up courtship, does this mean we’re engaged now?”

Sasuke couldn’t help but smile in amusement.


xXx


A month later, when the magazine article finally came out, there were little hints concerning an on-screen turned off-screen romance. Despite what had been said during the interview, a person didn’t have to read too far between the lines to guess that the writer meant Sasuke and Sakura.

However, regardless of not only his and Naruto’s annoyance, but Sakura’s, as well, Sasuke realized he wasn’t really too concerned about it. Let them say what they wanted; it didn’t make it true. Most of the people that mattered knew the truth, and that was good enough for now.

Naruto assured him it was good enough for him, too, but, sometimes, Sasuke wondered how long Naruto would put up with Sasuke’s need for secrecy. Naruto had never been the kind of person to hide who he was, after all. If he had been, Sasuke probably never would have gotten up the nerve to even try for him, and that thought alone made him grateful for Naruto’s outgoing personality.

Sasuke really wished he could show his true self to the world, also, but his insecurities still held him back.

For now, he found contentment in clipping out a new picture to hang on his bulletin board. One from the magazine interview, where he’d leaned over to pet Hina, who’d been sitting on Naruto’s lap, and the photographer had managed to capture both Sasuke and Naruto looking relaxed and comfortable. Sasuke wasn’t even sure how it had happened, since Naruto had seemed so tense through the entire thing. He was glad for it, though.

Contemplating the picture a little more, he decided he just might frame this one.


xXx


“Sai!” a reporter called out from the side of the red carpet where the four stars of The Lucky were posing for photos at the movie’s premiere.

Sai looked over to where he heard his name called, curious.

“Sai, are you excited to be attending your first movie premiere?”

“Oh, no,” Sai said with a smile, tilting his head a little, “I’ve been to them before.”

Sakura elbowed him lightly in the side, smiling for another picture. “You dope, she means the first premiere for a movie you’re starring in.”

“Ohh,” Sai said in realization. “Then, I mean, yes, it’s exciting!” He smiled widely.

The woman looked a little confused by him, but decided to continue her impromptu interview, seeing as most everyone else around her seemed distracted with the other three stars. “There have been rumors of romantic involvements between cast members. Particularly involving you and your co-star. Can you confirm any of this?”

The reporter couldn’t help but smile at Sai’s confused, off-guard expression. She would definitely get a truthful answer.

“What, me and hag-face?” Sai muttered wonderingly to himself. “But she’s as flat as a pancake and doesn’t wear nearly enough makeup—”

Sai’s answer was immediately cut off by a sharp elbow in his side. Glancing over, he saw Sakura still smiling and posing for the cameras, though her jaw was straining with the force she was using to grit her teeth. “Sai, I told you to quit that! That’s not how a guy talks about his female friend, no matter what that book you read last week said.”

Sai immediately filed the information away for more contemplation later, and gave the reporter a mysterious smile. “Miss Haruno and I have nothing but the utmost respect for each other. There’s absolutely nothing unprofessional between us,” Sai answered, sounding extremely practiced for someone who had previously never used this statement.

“Um…” the reporter continued, “actually, the rumors involve you and your male co-star, Naruto Uzumaki.”

A chuckle escaped Sai as he answered automatically, “Why would I date Naruto? He has one of the smallest dicks I’ve ever—”

This time, Sai was cut off by a hard smack to the back of his head and a simultaneous punch to his kidney. Sai grunted in pain, but kept on smiling, even as he wondered how Naruto and Sasuke managed that synchronization—especially when Sasuke was on the other side of Naruto, who was beside Sai. “The only thing between Naruto and I is friendship.”

“But you have been linked to him before,” the reporter reminded him, “back when you both modeled for Calvin Klein.”

“Of course there were rumors,” Sasuke spoke irritably, intervening because he still didn’t trust Sai’s spontaneous mouth. “They were modeling underwear and it had just been in the tabloids that Naruto was gay. That doesn’t mean there was ever anything between them, though.”

“Yeah, there definitely isn’t!” Naruto agreed.

“So all of you deny any romantic involvements on set?”

Sasuke felt torn by the question, and he could tell Naruto was holding his breath beside him, waiting for his answer. He wanted to answer truthfully, but he also wasn’t sure he was ready to. Before anyone could answer, though, Itachi was standing beside the reporter.

“I’ll need to see your press pass… Miss Thomas, you are aware of the gag order on such questions, are you not?”

They didn’t hear anymore as Itachi led the now-quaking reporter away, and the other journalists, photographers, and paparazzi swarmed in to fill her spot.

“Mr. Uchiha! Mr. Uchiha! Before we go inside to see your movie, perhaps you can give us a taste of what’s to come? A kiss with the leading lady, perhaps?”

Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly at that. Sure, he’d had to do it for the movie, but he wasn’t acting right now. And the only person he cared to kiss in his real life was… standing right next to him, smiling and looking hot in his tux (with dark orange, brocaded cummerbund). Suddenly, it didn’t seem like such a hard decision to make, after all.

“Sure,” Sasuke said, giving a suave smirk to the cameras.

He turned slightly, slid a hand over the back of Naruto’s neck, digging fingers into his hair. Sasuke’s other arm wound around Naruto’s waist, and his lips immediately captured Naruto’s. It didn’t take long for Naruto to get over his shock and pull Sasuke closer to kiss him back, something like a chuckle reverberating into Sasuke’s mouth as Naruto opened his at the same time Sasuke did, their tongues meeting in the middle.

Scandalized ‘ooh’s, cheers of ‘aww’ and ‘ahh’ and ‘woo!”, and tons of flashbulbs filled the crowd around them, but they hardly even noticed as their tongues met for the first time in public.

Sasuke was almost surprised to realize it was pretty painless coming out this way—in fact, it felt pretty damn good. He’d worry about actual consequences later.


xXx


“Want me to put a stop to it?” asked a gruff voice as the cameras continued to flash at Naruto and Sasuke.

Itachi glanced over at the speaker—a bodyguard from the security branch of Akatsuki. The muscular, tattoo-faced, blue haired man cracked his knuckles, a menacingly-excited grin on his sharp-toothed mouth, looking for all the world like he should be dressed as a thug and carrying some gigantic weapon rather than wearing a tux and standing almost-innocently on the sidelines.

Itachi considered a moment before allowing a small smirk to grace his lips. “No. Leave them be.”

Sasuke had asked for this with that stunt he just pulled.

Besides, Itachi thought to himself as he glanced over the papers at the newsstand the next day, he’d never seen Sasuke look so happy in tabloids before.


xXx
End
xXx

Omake

Sasuke groaned as Naruto’s lips left a burning trail from his jaw, all the way down his neck, and to his collarbone where Naruto began nipping and licking. Sasuke’s hand dug into Naruto’s hair encouragingly, arching into his mouth while trying to simultaneously pull Naruto’s hips closer to his, bucking towards him. Naruto had just begun sucking on his favorite spot near the base of Sasuke’s throat when he chuckled, the throaty sound reverberating into Sasuke’s body through his skin.

Sasuke moaned again, his breath labored as he asked, “What is it?”

Naruto let go of the skin held gently between his teeth, running the tip of his tongue over the light red mark he’d made briefly before bracing himself above Sasuke. His blue eyes glowed with mirth in the semi-darkness of the bedroom—the glow soon accompanied by that of Naruto’s teeth as he grinned.

“You,” Naruto told him simply.

Sasuke’s brow furrowed. “What?”

Rather than answer right away, Naruto leaned down to capture his lips, his tongue immediately sweeping into Sasuke’s open mouth and finding its partner. When he pulled away, Naruto was still grinning like an idiot, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, not wanting to repeat the question again.

“You finally admitted to being my leading lady,” Naruto finally teased with a snicker.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke leaned up to bite one of Naruto’s nipples, earning a cry of surprise that turned to a moan as he laved his tongue over the hurt a few times and pulled away. “Hardly. I’m obviously the lead male,” Sasuke told him.

“Oh, really?” Naruto asked, shifting his weight to one arm as he slid his other hand down Sasuke’s body, avoiding Sasuke’s hard and aching cock and instead squeezing the outside of his thigh briefly while shifting Sasuke’s leg up a little more. “But right now, it seems I’m in the lead position.”

Sasuke moved his leg to hook his ankle around the back of Naruto’s leg and looped his arms around Naruto’s neck, pulling him close enough to kiss his mouth searingly. Then he moved his mouth against Naruto’s ear, sending a shudder through the blond’s body as Sasuke whispered hotly.

“Not for long, if you don’t do something soon.”

He thrust himself up against Naruto to further prove his point. Naruto snickered again lightly, but was only too happy to oblige.
xXx