The bridge I crossed
The Twenty-first, final
Rumors traveled fast, and when I walked outside on Wednesday morning to check my mail in jeans and a Kyoto University shirt, coffee mug in hand, and blinking against the sunlight, I looked up towards the other side of the street and saw a flash. A picture. I stepped back a moment, confused, and then when I saw a group of people, cameras ready. Pursing my lips, I walked back inside as slowly as I could and then shut the door of my building behind me, leaning against it. The press.
I was about to go up the stairs when the landlady padded out of her room, waving a paper in her hand. "Mr. Uzumaki, I'm so glad you're awake. I had to call the police to evict those vultures from my land, and still they're perched on the other side of the road. I've called the landowner for that building, but the cops are taking their time coming here."
She thrust the paper in my face and I saw, to my horror, a picture of me kissing Sasuke on the front page. It showed the length of our entire bodies at a perfect profile angle. I groaned and leaned my head against the door. "Please, tell me, that this is the only paper with this picture on it."
The landlady shook her head sadly. "It's everywhere, even the morning news," she said. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Uzumaki. I'll try to keep things as under control as I can. I can't guarantee you much, though."
I smiled at her. So she yelled at me for making too much noise, but at least she was gracious about this. "Thank you."
She smiled once, nodded firmly, and taking the paper back from my hand, made her way back into her first floor apartment. I walked slowly up the stairs and locked myself in my apartment, wondering if it would be wise to go to work in such situations. As if on cue, my phone rang and when I picked up, I heard Tsunade's voice. "Don't bother," she said without a greeting. "Just stay home. We can manage things fine."
"Thanks," I said. She grunted into the phone, adding that she needed to see which one of those celebrity-obsessed beasts she could stomp out. I thanked her again, knowing that with a force like Tsunade and her anger, there might be a little progress.
She hung up a minute later, and then, no sooner had I hung up that I got another call. "Naruto?"
"Kakashi." I sat down in my couch. "Please, tell me this is a nightmare."
"Can't, sorry," he said. "Listen, unplug your phone, turn off your cell phone. You'll start getting a lot of calls now. If anyone wants to talk to you, they'll email you at your personal address. Close all your blinds, windows, anything that would give away a sound or sight outside. I don't think they have names of close friends yet, so don't worry about that. Don't go out unless absolutely necessary. If it gets really bad, call me. We'll relocate you somewhere private."
He gave me a number and I jotted it down, thankful for his presence. He wished me good luck and then hung up, saying that he'd get as much done as possible.
I flipped on the TV, but when I saw that the picture was being discussed with smiles, nods of approval, looks of shock, and some of artfully concealed discomfort, I turned it off and sat in silence. As if on cue, there was a knock on my door and when I opened it, I saw Shikamaru and Kiba, waiting for me. "Well? Why aren't you dressed yet?" Shikamaru asked.
"Don't we have work today?" Kiba looked hopeful and perked up. I shook my head, and ushered them in without saying anything. Sighing, I flipped on the TV and watched their faces go from relaxed to disbelief to outrage. "They have no decency, do they?" Kiba said, shaking his head. "They give a bad name to the press."
Shikamaru sighed, getting up. "I'm assuming that you're not going to work today?" When I nodded, he glanced at Kiba.
"All right, I'll see you later tonight, then," Kiba said, still looking a little surprised. "Good luck."
"Yeah, thanks."
Once they left, I went into my room and buried myself under the covers until lunch came, mulling over the fact that at this point, all of Japan knew about this entire thing. Months, I thought, turning over in my bed. Months of worry, agony, happiness, sadness, anger, and everything else that I had ever felt in my entire life. Just one kiss in public, and the next morning, everyone already knew.
I took a quick shower before heading to the kitchen to find something to eat. Grumbling under my breath, I made myself coffee and drank it in the kitchen. I moved about my house in my bathrobe, lights on even in the middle of the day, until I felt bored enough to kill myself. Finally, resigning myself to hours of internet browsing, I turned on my laptop and settled in. My email, unsurprisingly enough, was suddenly packed with emails from people I'd lost touch with several years ago. Strangely enough, no one important--Iruka, for one--emailed.
I opened only one email out of all them, Konohamaru's and laughed at his email: "Naruto, my man, Score." I didn't bother replying and folded my laptop's screen, sitting still before deciding that I might as well cook something to spend the time. I was about half-way done with cutting the vegetables for a simple dish of fried rice when there was a knock on my door. I approached it nervously, and opened it only a crack, my eyes widening when I saw who it was. "How did you get here?"
"Through the back door," Sasuke said. I opened the door fully to let him in. "The janitor's room." He stepped in and took of his shoes. He had a bag with him, his laptop. He carried the bag inside and placed it at the foot of the couch. Still at the entrance, I watched him sit down, set up his laptop, and begin working.
"What?" I muttered, a little dumbly.
"I have work to do," he explained, glancing quickly at me. "Kakashi decided that since I was taking the day off he could make me catch up with work."
"I meant how. How did you get here?" I walked towards him and sat in the armchair.
"I called your landlady and she suggested herself."
"Oh." I blinked at him. "Do you want something to eat?"
"That would..." Sasuke trailed off, his eyes flickering over the screen. He didn't finish his sentence so I stood up and went inside to finish cooking. An hour later when I walked outside to call him in for lunch, I saw that he had shifted positions and stretched out his legs on the sofa, suit off, sleeves rolled up, tie loose around his neck. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone.
"Lunch," I said, trying not to stare too much. Sure he'd let me kiss him once, but that didn't mean he was entirely comfortable with this yet. He made a noise at the back of his throat. I tried again. "Sasuke." No response. "Sasuke." He looked up this time, blinking. "Lunch."
"Oh."
He put aside his laptop and got up, blinking still as if waking from a deep slumber, and followed me into the kitchen where he sat down. I served him a bowl, put a glass of water in front of him, and made myself another cup of coffee. "Why are you here?" I asked, moving my food around in my bowl. I had no appetite, oddly enough, so I drank my coffee instead.
Sasuke shrugged and continued eating. He finished his food quickly enough so I pushed my bowl across the table. He took it, tilting his head at a strange angle before digging in again. It was only after his third serving that Sasuke stopped eating and drained his glass of water. He watched me put away the dishes before getting up and going back into the living room. I followed him a minute later, and found him, legs stretched out the length of the sofa, computer on his lap, and a few papers in his hand.
"Sasuke." He looked up immediately this time. "What's happening?"
"People saw us," he said. "They're talking about it now."
"When will everything go back to normal?"
"A few days. A week, maybe. Depends on how well we can buy off the tabloids."
"Buy them off?" I sat down in the armchair again and heaved a sigh. This was ridiculous. Why couldn't he be just another normal person? "You're going to buy off newspapers."
Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly and went back to his work. "We might need to give one of them an exclusive," he muttered. "So far, Kakashi says the highest bid on us is 11 million."
I stared at him for a second before getting up and sitting next to him on the edge of the couch. "Sasuke." He considered me, face blank. "Isn't it worse that you're spending the day here?"
He shifted to give me more place and I scooted further onto the couch, careful still not to touch him anywhere. "They don't know I'm here."
"Won't they find out?"
"No." He sounded sure of himself.
"What--" I took off my glasses and massaged the bridge of my nose. "What are we going to do?"
"Wait till it dies down," Sasuke explained. "And make a public statement at the right moment." He moved to put the laptop on the table and dropped the papers on the keyboard. I put on my glasses again, turning to him to say something when I saw that he had leaned forward, pulling at his tie to loosen it even more.
"What is it--" He pressed his lips against mine, chaste, and pulled back to look at me, asking me for permission. "This isn't the time to--"
He lowered his head into the crook of my neck, kissing lightly. I tugged at his hair, but he didn't budge, only pushed the bathrobe off my shoulder. I felt him sigh against my skin, and then he was kissing his way down the slope of my neck, down my shoulder. "Sasuke, I mean it..."
"We have time," Sasuke said, pulling at me so that I was leaning against him. I pushed myself off him by pressing against his chest. He caught my hand when I was about to get up and pulled me back down again. "No one's here," he continued, gathering me up close to him. I felt his hand slide down my back, slow and steady. "And, I'm tired of work."
I thought again, This is a bad time, because the paparazzi was practically camped out front, but Sasuke didn't seem to be paying heed to what I was thinking at the moment. Was more intent, I thought hazily, on making me unable to think. So I buried my face in the crook of his neck, breathing a little heavily, making embarrassing little gasps every time his hand kneaded the muscle of my thigh, tugging my legs apart, pulling me so that I was straddling him. And then, his hands were untying my bathrobe, slipping in and reaching for skin.
He mouthed my name against my skin, turning the two of us sideways and pushing me into the back of the couch, rolling his hips against me, insistent, inexperienced. He'd never been with a man, I realized, didn't know how to take what he wanted from me.
"The bed," I whispered, "Might be better for this." He pushed aside the bathrobe completely, and leaned back a little to look, eyes heated. I blushed under the gaze. "Sasuke..."
Without saying anything, he twisted a little until I was on my back now. I opened my mouth again to say something when he kissed the words right out of my mouth, fumbling at his belt. When he still hadn't managed to undo his pants, I pushed an arm between us and helped unzipper him. He watched me, eyes electric now. Slowly, together, we pushed his pants out of the way. He stared down at me for a few seconds.
"Is this--"
"Fine," I whispered, putting my legs up around him and forcing his body down to mine. He buried his face into my shoulder, groaning, rocking his hips down so hard, I wondered if I'd bruise from it all.
When, fifteen minutes later, I was clawing at Sasuke's back, arching my back off the couch to meet his hips half way, I saw an explosion on the back of my eyelids and went rigid. There was warmth that spread between us, and I held onto Sasuke. He pushed me down into the couch and kept moving, jerking his hips erratically and breathing through parted lips. The couch cushions sunk with each of his movement and when he pulled me up towards him a little more with a groan, I saw a thin line of sweat on his forehead.
He went still a split-second later, groaned my name, and fell heavily onto me, breathing harshly. I waited for a second before shifting a little. "So that wasn't too bad," I said, tracing his tattoo with my nails. He chuckled lightly, and settled his weight more comfortably against me.
"I think," he mumbled in my ear, lifting his hips to zip his pants up again, "I could get used to that."
My arms came up around his back, under his shirt, where his skin was damp with sweat. I kissed his shoulder lightly, open-mouthed, breathing in his smell. "Don't you want to get cleaned up?"
"Not particularly," he said, leaning down for another kiss. I let him, humming against his lips. Playfully, he tugged at my wrist, pinning my arm over my head against the arm of the couch.
"Done now?" He shook his head, smirking a little, leering almost. I pushed him away, high enough so that I could wipe us dry using the hem of my bathrobe. He landed back on me, heavy, lucid still, and murmuring things in my ear that were so low that I could barely hear what he was saying. "Does this mean I'm your boyfriend?" he muttered in my ear.
I smiled against his skin. "You didn't bring me flowers today, so no. Tough luck, UB."
He was silent for a moment, and then, "In Jixi, when we had that fight--I wanted to compliment you that day. Not--"
He was apologizing, in his own strange, indirect way. "What did you want to say?"
He pressed his nose against the side of my face, breathing deeply. I pulled him by the hair so that I could look at him and demand an answer. "Stop fishing for compliments, Naruto."
"Yeah?" I ran a finger down the line of his jaw, rubbing my thumb over a small scar he had--I hadn't noticed that before. And where did he get all these scars from, anyways? "Well, next to all those women--"
"That's an unfair comparison," he said and ran a hand down my chest with a smirk. "They have these perfect breasts, like peaches,and legs up to their--"
"UB."
"But," he went on, looking thoughtful, "Your ass makes up for it. It's absolutely--" He gave it an experimental squeeze, grinning when I gasped. "Perfect, perky little ass. And every time you bent over--"
"UB." I slapped at his hand, blushing now.
"Hey," he teased, slipping his hand back into the folds of the bathrobe. "If I'm your boyfriend, I get to do these things--"
"Don't push it, mister," I muttered.
"What're you going to do about it?" He gave my neck a bite before lowering his head onto my shoulder again. I threaded my fingers through his hair and worked through the tangles until I heard his breath even out, blushing lightly at the thought he found me attractive.
"Don't talk about other women around me again," I mumbled into his hair. "You're my boyfriend now."
"You're such--" A yawn interrupted him mid-sentence. "You're such a woman, dead last." A second later, his breath evened out. I closed my eyes as well and drifted, thinking a few seconds before I fell asleep, maybe this was just a dream.
*
When I woke up, I squinted at the clock on the wall until I made out the time. Four thirty. Sasuke was still draped over me, his hand hanging off the edge of the couch, touching the floor almost. He was snoring softly, and feeling a little guilty, I decided to wake him from his slumber.
"Sasuke." There was no response, no hitch in his breathing, not even a twitch. I bent my mouth to his ear and said again, "Sasuke." Nothing. "Sasuke." I tried to move him but he was so firmly planted on me and the couch was so narrow that I gave up, worried that I might push him onto the floor by accident. "Sasuke," I tried again. I prodded him, shifted my weight, raised my voice, and then, finally, decided on a much more drastic measure. I bit him.
Even then, Sasuke woke slowly, blinking his eyes at the light and lifting his head from the crook of my neck like a cat. "Nhmn." He wet his lips a little and then his eyes landed on me.
"I bit you," I said, pointing at his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes, lifting a hand to where I bit him, and then, "Oh."
"You wouldn't wake up, so I had to bite you," I said again. He still looked half-asleep, hair sticking up in odd directions. "I need you to get off me."
That got his attention. "Why?"
"It's four thirty," I explained. "I should check my articles for tomorrow's issue."
"Oh." He blinked down at me for a minute before rising to a sitting position between my legs. I got up and tied the bathrobe around me again and looked down at him. He was fumbling with his shirt buttons, ones that I had managed to undo at least, frowning a little. Chuckling, I leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He swatted at me, annoyed still. I wanted to watch him rejoin the world of the living, but deciding against it, went into the bathroom to take a quick shower before I began work.
When I logged onto the server, I saw that Shizune had taken over my section for the day. I sent her a quick email asking if everything was all right. A few minutes later, while I browsed the articles she'd chosen to feature for the next issue, I got an email back. "Everything's fine. Go back to your boyfriend. And stop interrupting me."
I grinned, replied with a, "Will do" and logged off. Boyfriend wasn't a word I would associate with Sasuke, but he was in my home, sitting on my couch, angry that I'd woken him up so early. So boyfriend it was. It wasn't as if I minded too much.
I walked over to the closet and began to pull out clothes. The bathrobe was much too big, and besides, I thought, adjusting the sleeve again when it slipped past my shoulder, it was evening already. No time to be walking around the house with--I stopped mid-thought when I felt a hand pulling the bathrobe down to expose my shoulder. "Sasuke, we just--"
"So?" He began to kiss my shoulder, open-mouthed with none of the initial shyness of earlier.
"I thought you were slee--nghm." I threw my head back onto his shoulder and arched out into his hand that, sometime in the past few seconds, found its way into my bathrobe. Distantly, I heard hot little gasps--was that me?--and Sasuke muttering, "come on" into my shoulder. I let him turn me around and kiss me on the lips, long, hard, and deep, moving together towards the bed. We undressed each other slowly, touching skin as it was revealed.
I almost lost this--almost lost him--and the thought made me frame Sasuke's face with my hands, tilt it down so I could look at him. "What?" He said, turning to kiss the inside of my palm. "Naruto."
I brought our faces close enough that we were breathing the same air, our noses touching. Still not looking away from his eyes, I traced the contours of his muscles, the small scars of his body, the calluses on his fingers, the both of us silent and only the rustling of sheets for noise.
He watched me the entire time, a look of concentration on his face as he kissed his way down my stomach. When he lingered at the tattoo and traced it with his tongue, moving lower and lower, I pulled him back up so I could see him. Unhurried, as if we had all the time in the world, we kissed, slowly, deeply, getting to know each other, finding the right angle, what we both liked.
"What are we?" I murmured against his lips after some time had passed, after I felt my lips get sensitive and swollen with the attention he was paying me--what were doing, making out?--"Teenagers?"
He smiled, whispered, "Why not?" before coming back in for another kiss. Slowly, playfully, he threaded our fingers together and pressed my hand into headboard, kissing still. He pulled back, running a finger on my bottom lip. "Let me?"
"What, Sasuke?"
"Let me," he repeated, and then moved his hand down the curve of my back, all the way down, until his hand cupped my thigh and pulled my leg up a little. Hesitant a little, his finger moved up, found the dip between my legs, and pushed in a little--oh. "Let me."
I sighed, arching up into his touch, throwing a leg over his hip. "Yes," I breathed, and then, he was moving hurriedly, pulling my legs up even more, settling himself against me--When my free hand reached out to grip the edge of the bed, he covered it with his hand, pressing down and gripping hard, and then--he pushed in. For all his frustration, I'd expected it to be hard and quick. But he took his time, watching me while he held himself up and held my hands down against the mattress, thrusting so slow and deep that it had me arching up into him to match his rhythm. "All right?" He asked, voice breathy.
"Yes," I moaned into his shoulder, throwing my head onto the pillow, slipping a hand between us, my toes curling to dig into the sheets. "Sasuke--please, yes." And he lowered himself, settled his weight on me, angled his body, thrust a little deeper, a little harder, a little faster, and oh--
"Who said we couldn't be teenagers?" He murmured into my cheek a few minutes later, breathing a little hard still. I smiled against his skin when I realized that he still had our fingers tangled, pressing my hand into the mattress.
"Don't fall asleep on me again," I warned when he settled on me. "You're not exactly petite, you know."
"No, I'm not. You are," he said, lowering his face into my neck. "And besides, I'm not sleepy."
"Don't you have work to do?"
"Yeah." He didn't move, just shifted so that he was more comfortable, a loose, sweaty heap on mel.
"How long are you planning on staying?"
"A few days," he mumbled against my neck, fingers flexing against my waist. "You smell good."
"I took a shower before you assaulted me." He scoffed, but didn't say anything, just went back to breathing in slow and deep. I spread my palm against the planes of his back and felt the muscles underneath my fingers move every time he shifted. "Has your mother called yet?"
He went still. "No." A pause, and then, "I don't want to talk about my mother after sex."
I was silent for a long, long time. True, Wazuka liked me, But that gnawing fear was still there because no matter how much Sasuke liked me, his family--his mother--meant more to him. "If she says no?"
"Hm," He wasn't being cryptic. Just lazy. For added effect, he sunk his teeth into my skin, licking a little. "You taste good, too."
"Sasuke, answer my question. If she says no?"
He pushed himself up on one arm and stared down at me, silent for a long, long time. Finally, "You said in Jixi that you loved me."
Did he doubt it? Was that what this was all about--"I do."
"You said that there wasn't anything to ask in that."
"There isn't," I insisited. "There isn't anything--"
"There is," he snapped, interrupting.
"What could I possibly ask from you--"
"Ask me to stay, and I will," he said, searching my face. I stared at him. What was he talking about--"If a day comes when I have to choose between you and something else," he went on, blushing now, "Just ask me. I'll choose you." And just a split-second later, something shuttered close in his eyes and his face was a neutral stare again. This, I realized, was Sasuke's backhanded way of saying I want you.
Some day, I'd teach him how to say that, how to say, I love you--and he didn't have to use that word if he didn't want to. Because all I had to do was ask. But he needed to know, before getting into this, what kind of a man I was. Needed to know where I came from, what my life had been like before we met. It wouldn't be fair any other way. I traced the line of his jaw with my finger and watched him consider me without flinching. This was it. I would tell him now, get it over with, rather than worry about untold secrets lingering between us. I wanted a future with this man, and I wasn't about to make a mistake.
"When I was younger, my guardian was a yakuza chief," I said, slowly. He didn't move. "I was involved in huge drug heists. Worth millions. I worked in his bar during high school."
"My caretaker," I continued, wondering when I'd hit a wall and he'd leave me. "He killed for a living. Did jobs for big businessmen." Still no response, just a narrowing of his eyes. I took another shuddering breath. "My parents left me in a dump in Nagoya when I was young. I don't even remember when. I was homeless till I was four. Then I was in an orphanage. Which burned down, and I ran away. This man--his name." I stopped, wet my lips, and said, "Zabuza. He took me in with this other orphan called Haku."
"Haku your boyfriend," he muttered, voice pitched low. "And the bridge-burner?"
"Me," I said. He moved this time, and I prepared myself for his departure. It didn't come. "Figuratively," I said, chuckling dryly. "Not literally."
"What does it mean?"
"A bridge-burner," I explained, looking straight up at him. "Is someone who builds a relationship, a bridge, and crosses it. But on the other side, the person turns around and burns it all down."
He was silent. "I hurt Haku very much when I was fourteen. Zabuza, he got arrested for murdering someone, and I testified against him in court. Haku, he loved Zabuza very much. The worst part," I said, "Was that I testified because I wanted to hurt Haku. Not. Not be righteous or anything."
"And then?" He looked interested, his eyes a solid, dark color.
"Zabuza went to jail. Remember how Kakashi's from Nagoya too? He was the one who locked Zabuza up. I--I insulted Haku because he said something and I was too stupid to understand it then. So, I stayed with Haku until Zabuza got bailed out by one of his clients. And then, I left."
"Your tattoo," Sasuke said. "You said--"
"I got it because I always got complimented for my skin in the bar. My eyes, my hair. I was foreign, and it appealed to some of the customers. Zabuza had me around to attract business."
"Were you a--" Sasuke stopped, sounding a little angry, and then, "Did he force you to--"
"No! Zabuza was never that bad. I just left one day, moved to Kyoto. Iruka raised me since then. I want you to know, you have to know, and if you want to leave--" I felt my throat close on the words, but I pushed them out anyways. "If you want to leave, I won't ask you to say."
He didn't move, and when he finally did, it was to lower himself back down. "That's good to know," he said, and went still. I felt something in my chest tighten. On the floor by the bed, Sasuke's undone tie was still tucked around the neck of his shirt, and I followed its length with my eyes. I'd closed my eyes, taken a deep breath, let go of all my fears, and revealed everything to him. And he hadn't said anything, hadn't even flinched, just went right back to sleep. Would he leave after he woke up? Didn't he have anything to say? What would he--
I was surprised when I felt Sasuke's breath on my cheek. He stayed still for a long, long time, the ticking of the room's clock loud in the silence. I counted with the clock, one, two, three, four, five...At a hundred and twenty three, he spoke. "I killed my brother."
I turned my head to stare at him, wondering if it was a joke--some sick, perverted joke he decided to try on me--and saw that he was deadly serious. "He disappeared, though," I muttered.
Sasuke shook his head. He traced one of his scars that twisted around his torso. "I killed him. Kakashi covered for me." Fratricide, I thought, and then said it again to myself. Fratricide. "Itachi killed my father. So I killed him."
I pushed back a strand of his hair out of his eyes, forcing him to look at me. "Were you there when it happened?"
He shook his head 'no,' moving only a fraction of a centimeter. "I found the body. Three people know now. You, me, and Kakashi." He was holding his entire weight on his hands, not letting any part of our bodies touch. "I want--I need you to know, Naruto," he began, slowly, looking pained. "I'm not a good man. If you want me to leave, I will."
I swallowed--this man had killed his own brother, and it was strange that I couldn't find anything to worry about that. Because I knew Sasuke and he'd held me, gentle, only a few hours ago. And who was I, anyways, to be critical of a past, any past?
I tugged him down by cupping his cheek. "That's good to know," I whispered against his forehead before kissing it. And then, suddenly, his muscles collapsed onto themselves and his full weight pressed down on me again.
When an hour later, he said, "The self-help book says that weather talk can work sometimes, you know," I laughed, loud and clear and he gathered me up to him, closing what little space was left between us. I put my arms around his shoulder and hugged him back. We're in love, I told myself, disbelieving. This was it.
"They're usually freak accidents, though," I said into his hair. "Like us."
*
I woke up sore the next morning--the moron had no patience--and pushed Sasuke off me before walking slowly into the bathroom, not bothering to be quiet about anything. He was asleep like a log on his stomach, leg sticking out of the sheets, an arm thrown across the bed, another folded over his head.
When I walked back out of the shower--this time, making sure that I was fully clothed, Sasuke cracked open an eye. He lifted his head from the pillow, smirking. Ignoring him, I grabbed my glasses and walked out to the kitchen where I made a cup of coffee and toast. I slit open the blinds to my balcony to see if there were people still outside, and there were. It made my heart sink when I realized that it was a bigger crowd than yesterday.
Sighing, I sat down in front of the TV and flipped immediately to the international sports channel, settling for football when it finally started playing. It was a graduate college match between two universities, one of which was Kyoto University. I perked up and sat forward, recognizing some of the names that I saw on the player roster.
I grinned when I saw Morino Idate in center field, stretching his legs before the ball was kicked off. There was a flurry of activity and then the game started. I sat back and enjoyed it until half-time, feeling a pang when the first half ended with Kyoto University lagging. I got up and went to put away my empty mug and plate when I heard the commentators mention my name.
"--Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Star student," the other voice said. "Undergrad., and that too starting when he was sixteen."
I felt a blush coming to my face, and hurried through rinsing the dishes so I could go turn off the TV. "He play any sports?"
"Captain of track and field, got to nationals one season," the other said. "He's actually a friend of Idate. Trained with him a lot when he was here."
"He run as fast as Idate?"
"Not as fast, but he can keep up, which is pretty good if you think about it," said the other chuckling. I cursed under my breath, and began to dry my hands roughly on a nearby towel. "He was more in the journalism, though."
"I was reading about him yesterday," said one. "Apparently now he's Uchiha Sasuke's new love interest."
The other was silent. "I thought he was straight. Uchiha."
"With all those women..." They both shared a laugh. "Although, it's not like he traded down or anything. That Uzumaki's a good-looking kid."
Kid? I bristled, ready to throw something at the TV screen. "The University's getting a lot of attention for that," the other commented. I walked back into living room and picked up the remote control with a huff. I moved to turn it off when I heard the same commentator go, "Well, they seem to be a good couple."
"They do indeed. Let's hope that the media doesn't rip it apart before it gets anywhere."
"Amen to that," the other said. I turned the TV off before I could hear anymore, and was about to get some work done in my room when I saw Sasuke, leaning against the hallway entrance, hands crossed over his chest. He hadn't put on his shirt, only on his pants--but the way they rode low, I could tell that he wasn't wearing any underwear. He stared at me for a moment before walking over to sit down on the couch.
I sat down next to him, settling against his side to get comfortable. He didn't move for a long time, and when he did, it was to put his arm over the back of the sofa, and to kick up his legs on the coffee table. Smiling, I tucked my head against his chin. "I don't like all this attention we're getting."
"You're mine now," he muttered. "It comes with the territory."
I ran a hand over the muscles of his stomach, up his chest, turning towards his body, nearly climbing onto him to get closer. "I'm not just yours, Sasuke. You're mine too."
He looked at me, eyes blank. "You want to--" He glanced towards the bedroom door, intent clear.
I chuckled, nuzzling his cheek, now brittle with the beginnings of a beard. "Well, someone's horny."
"Like it's my fault." He scowled at me when I pulled back to the other end of the sofa and turned on the TV. The sports channel came on again, accompanied by the voice of the two commentators. They'd stopped talking about me now and were running through stats on the university's key players. I propped my feet up on the table, pressing into the cushions to get a little more comfortable. Half-time ended, and then fifteen minutes into the second-half, I felt Sasuke's head against my shoulder.
"Sasuke?" He snapped awake, sitting up straight, stretching. He caught me looking at him and returned the stare, expression blank. "It's rude to stare," I said after a while.
"Oh." He yawned, covering his mouth with a fisted palm, as if he was about to cough. He was still again, as if he were thinking about what to do. I took a deep breath, swallowing on the fear that was choking my thoughts--he would leave now--but then, Sasuke turned a little, and fell onto his back so that his head was in my lap. A split-second later, he moved onto his side so that his face was facing my stomach, and his back the TV screen.
I threaded my fingers into his hair and played with it absently, smiling when, at the end of the game, Kyoto University was triumphant. On screen, Idate jumped high, pumping his fist into the air before being engulfed by his team members.
*
He woke up at four, muttering under his breath about buying a bigger, better couch for my apartment. I handed him a mug of coffee, and he took a sip. Hips pants were riding low--so obscenely low--and there was a small, dark bruise on his shoulder where I'd bitten him earlier. A hickey. "Please tell me you have a change of clothes."
"No."
I sighed. "You said that you were staying for a few d--"
"I decided last night," he said, looking up. I sat next to him, our shoulders touching and elbows knocking whenever we brought up our mugs to take a sip.
"Coffee's good," he mumbled into his mug.
I smiled and turned to face him. "Where did you learn to make conversation like that?"
His lips twitched, and he bought his mug up again for another sip. "You told me that people compliment others when they make food for them..." He trailed off, and I saw a tinge of pink on his cheeks.
"Are you always this mindful of what I say?" In the background, the TV went back to commercials, so I turned it off. I'd watched sports all day, unable to watch any other channel without being bombarded by pictures of myself kissing Sasuke, of Sasuke holding onto my hand and pressing his lips against my knuckles, of Sasuke's face buried in my neck, of Sasuke running a finger over my cheek. They'd gotten the entire thing on camera.
"I'll try," he said.
"You need clothes," I said, making up my mind.
"Not necessarily."
"Yes, necessarily. I won't have you walking around my house in the same clothes for a few days--" He turned to look at me, a smirk on his face, nearly leering at me. Why didn't I realize earlier that he was such a pervert? "And no, naked is not an option."
I saw a smile tug up a corner of Sasuke's lips. "Oh?"
"I love you and all," I began, and smiled at the sound of saying something like that, because now I could say it because he was mine to love, mine to have. "But I insist on enforcing a few house rules."
"No nakedness," Sasuke repeated dutifully. "Anything else?"
"No sex in the living room," I said. "Kiba and Shikamaru like to barge in sometimes."
He considered it for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Well, as long as there's sex somewhere...I can live with that."
I felt a soaring, leaping joy that had my stomach feel like warm liquid. "And stop being so perverted. That's it for now."
"That's it?"
"Well, more will come up," I said, slowly. "Just give it time."
He put the mug on the table and rolled his shoulders. "All the time in the world," he mumbled, moving to sleep in my lap again. I stared down at him.
"Do you always sleep this much?"
He shifted until he was comfortable enough, and I felt his nose press lightly into my stomach. "Yeah. Got a problem?"
I brushed his cheek with the tip of my finger. Domestic life, I thought. It wouldn't be too bad. I pictured a future with him--the two of us, growing old together, maybe children, me editor-in-chief, him a business tycoon--and smiled, bending over to brush my lips against his cheek. "No problem. Go to sleep."
He had settled quickly into my life, not asking questions but finding his place without erring once in his path. Not flinching, I thought, even when I laid my secrets bare. And he said to me, quietly, steadily, I killed my brother. Just ask, and I didn't understand what he meant till now. Because it was one thing to love Sasuke, another thing entirely to have him.
He breathed in and out, in and out, in and out, until my breathing matched his. I saw in my mind the shell that Sasuke had given me. I'd stashed in the back of my drawer, out of sight, after I convinced myself that he was no longer interested. And there was no guarantee that this would last, but I'd be damned if I didn't try to keep it this way.
But he was here, I was with him, and I hadn't done anything to ruin what was between us. Not yet, at least--"Bridge-burner." The word settled heavily into the room, cold and metallic, but not as biting as it used to be. I rested my hand where the tattoo was, rubbing absent-mindedly.
Sasuke was silent, and then, lazily pushing aside my hand away from my stomach with his nose, he mumbled, "You crossed me fine." Breathing in deep, he murmured again, "Just fine," before his eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep.
End