Lost on the Road of LIfe

Even If You Beg

The morning light streamed in through the window and Naruto lay slumped on his bed, in a dark mood.

"Sasuke..." he'd breathed. "Tell me what you think about when I'm touching you..."

"Naruto-" Sasuke had hissed at him, but Naruto had insisted-

"-talk to me!"

"Nothing," Sasuke had spat out. "I'm thinking about nothing, okay?"

All these months. All those times. He was thinking about nothing? Not even him? Did it even matter that it was Naruto there with him?

Surely it mattered. Surely no-one else would ever bother with the bastard long enough to break down all those walls of resistance and get close enough. But Naruto remembered, vividly, the surprise that had been on Sasuke's face those first few times, the shock at just how good it felt, like he hadn't believed such things were possible.

Well, Naruto thought, with a slightly gleeful feeling. I'm 100% certain he hadn't been with anyone else, probably not even himself, before me.

That was something, at least, and Naruto knew better than to expect Sasuke to have the same normal, human emotions that someone else might have, but still, he wanted- more. He couldn't help it.

Naruto pushed himself up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. Time to stop moping. Time to stop thinking about it. Forget he said anything, he told himself, and yet-

"You're an idiot," Sasuke had muttered. "Don't you think nothing is a hell of a lot better than what I've usually got running through my head?!"

That hurt. It hurt, because Naruto knew Sasuke was in pain. What kind of friend had Naruto been to him, since he got back to Konoha? Not a very good one. That had to change.

***

Naruto paced back and forth in front of the closed door, hoping no-one would walk past and catch him here; luckily, it seemed that hardly anyone bothered to come to this part of the tower, and all was quiet. He sighed, and leant hard against the wall, trying to relax. He was tired.

He'd been given a 'day off' after his weekend with the daimyo's family, but he was so behind on his mission reports and a dozen random-yet-necessary errands that he'd been rushing around all day. His ability to slack off had weakened in the past few months. He suspected some kind of underhanded trick on Shikamaru's part. Probably on old forbidden ninja technique.

He'd handed in a pile of badly-written mission reports to that slave-driver Shikamaru just before he left the tower for the day, and Naruto had intended to leave the tower as well, and yet somehow-

-somehow, he'd just wandered down here instead, to where his Sasuke-radar assured him that Sasuke was hiding. This must be the place he kept disappearing to all the time; where he spent all his time with them.

The door open and he froze; what was he going to say?? What if it was one of those Taka guys? But it was just Yamato, in his Anbu gear. He breathed out and relaxed.

"Naruto-kun," Yamato said to him. "Should I tell Sasuke you're here?"

"No!" Naruto replied, panicked, waving his arms. "No, I'm just- waiting. I don't want to bother him!"

Yamato stared at him. "Ah," he said eventually. "That's right. You haven't made up yet."

Damn Anbu. Walking around feeling like they know everything.

He scowled, and Yamato just smiled placidly.

"How was the mission?" he inquired.

"Just fine," Naruto replied, off-handily. He wondered why Yamato had been in that room. This was Sasuke's office, right? Where he worked on whatever project he and those damn Taka guys were working on.