Disclaimer: Do Not Own. Do Not Want.

AN: Here’s the second half, my pretties. Enjoy the craziness.

Field Trip

Part II: I Think I Like You

The next morning Naruto awoke to see Sasuke standing over him, fully dressed in a black sleeveless hoodie with black shorts. Instead of feeling irritated or angry at the sight, Naruto felt stranglely content to see the big jerk.

“Five more minutes,” Naruto mumbled and turned over, but then a foot shoved him in the stomach and he winced, glaring up at the black-haired teen in annoyance. “Ow, bastard! What the hell?”

Sasuke’s usual frown grew and his thin eyebrows knitted in irritation. “Mr. Umino already came by. We’re supposed to get up for breakfast downstairs.”

Naruto sat up in his bed, still feeling sleep-deprived and bleary. “What time is it?”

Sasuke glanced away from him, looking strangely uncomfortable, his usually pale cheeks slightly pink, before replying, studiously avoiding Naruto with his gaze. “It’s 9 am.”

Wondering at Sasuke’s strange behavior, Naruto moved to get up and realized that his obi was untied with his yukata half-way open, revealing more than he would have liked given that his covers were currently in a small muddled heap at the foot of his futon. Naruto could feel the blood heating his face all the way down to his chest as he pulled the yukata tightly around him and stumbled up to stand.

“Uh…I-I’ll just get ready then!” Naruto stuttered, scrounging through his luggage and pulling out the things he wanted to wear before making his way into the tiny bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him.

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror above the sink and realized that he was still flushed as he pulled his boxers and jeans on, followed by an orange tank top. He brushed his teeth quickly, and splashed cold water on his heated cheeks, before he stepped out of the bathroom and slipped his shoes on. Sasuke was already waiting for him at the door, and they left the room together, side-by-side.

When they got down to the lobby, they entered an alcove to the left where there was a traditional Japanese restaurant with low tables and cushions instead of chairs. Half the class was already there, including all of the girls, but Naruto didn’t see Kiba yet. Without really thinking about it, Naruto followed Sasuke and sat beside him.

Sasuke didn’t seem to be bothered by it, as if it was a normal occurance and they both sat in comfortable silence, Sasuke sipping at some tea, but otherwise looking bored as usual.

Naruto noticed belatedly that Ino and Sakura had sat down across from him and Sasuke, and both of the girls were staring at them as if he and Sasuke had both grown an extra head.

As always, Sakura looked simply stunning in a designer, turquoise spaghetti strap top with matching necklace, but for some reason, Naruto didn’t feel as entranced by the sight as he usually did.

Either way, Naruto smiled and waved at Sakura with a cheery, “Good morning, Sakura!”

“Good morning, Naruto,” she acknowledged, but she looked a little taken aback as she stared between him and Sasuke with a slightly suspicious look.

Naruto frowned a bit, but he didn’t dwell on it too hard. Was it really that strange for him to be sitting next to Sasuke? Sure, they’d hated each other – well, at least Naruto had hated Sasuke, now he wasn’t so sure how mutual the feeling was – since they were in preschool, but that didn’t mean things couldn’t change…eventually.

After all, it had only been fourteen years, at most!

Sakura eventually looked at Sasuke and smiled brightly, her voice sweet as she greeted him. “Good morning, Sasuke.”

Sasuke only nodded his head slightly, not saying anything, and Naruto could tell the near lack of greeting hurt Sakura by the way her smile suddenly became strained. Although that only lasted for a second, before she looked down at her menu with forced interest.

A little frustrated with Sasuke for making Sakura sad, Naruto glanced over at the teen only to see him staring blankly out the window across from them, sipping from a cup of hot tea.

A group of people entered the eating area and Naruto recognized Kiba at the front of the pack. Kiba, as usual, was joking about something or other as Shikamaru walked beside him looking tired. Chouji, Sai, and Lee were behind them, the first two looking positively bedridden, but Lee, with his wide, saucer-like eyes, looked a little too awake.

Suddenly, Naruto didn’t know if he wanted to make up with Kiba yet, given the fact that the boy seemed to be unaffected by their fight the night before. Admittedly, it was childish, but Naruto’s pride still felt heavily bruised.

Finally, Kiba seemed to notice Naruto was already there at one of the tables and he had the grace to look guilty. Naruto frowned at him, but didn’t say anything, even though he knew they were going to make up anyway. It didn’t hurt to make the teen squirm a little.

Kiba said something to Shikamaru, before the group sat down at the other end of the table. Kiba kept on walking, pushing passed Neji and Gaara who were already seated at the middle of the table across from Hinata, Ten-Ten, and Temari, as he made his way to Naruto.

“Hey, Naruto…” Kiba began, looking sheepish as he moved to the opposite side of the table, between Ino and Sakura, to look at Naruto properly, face to face. “I’m sorry abou – ”

Kiba’s voice trailed off and his gaze slid between Naruto and Sasuke much the way Sakura’s had. “Dude, do you know who you’re sitting next to?”

Naruto frowned and shared a look with Sasuke, which was strange in and of itself – after all, since when had he and Sasuke ever shared anything? – but then he shook his head. For whatever reason, it didn’t feel weird, even though he knew it should have. In fact, it felt strangely natural, like they’d been doing it for years. “Yeah, Kiba.”

Kiba stared at him, looking completely befuddled, which was actually pretty amusing. “And…you’re okay with this?”

“Sure, why not?” Naruto shrugged, gulping down some water and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Use a washcloth, moron,” Sasuke interrupted, pointing at a rolled up, heated towel next to Naruto’s chopsticks, left there for just that purpose.

“Why, asshole?” Naruto retorted, frowning a bit, but not really feeling as irritated as he usually would have. “It’s just water.”

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted, before taking another sip of his tea, and Naruto smiled, chuckling a bit to himself.

He hadn’t expected Sasuke to relent so easily. He didn’t know the king of all jerks was actually such a push-over.

“Okay, seriously.” Kiba started backing away from the table and pointing at Naruto incredulously. “Who are you, and what have you done with my pal, Naruto?”

“Knock it off, Kiba,” Naruto retorted as he rolled his eyes, but a smile was tugging at his lips. “It’s still me. Aliens haven’t managed to abduct your best friend.”

“So…you’re still my best friend, then?” Kiba’s expression turned hopeful, and Naruto snorted.

“You may have tried to sabotage it with your stupidity last night, but we both know it’ll take more than you being a dick to end this friendship of ours,” Naruto replied, grinning.

Kiba laughed, looking truly relieved. “Great!”

But then he leant over the table, making an irritated Sakura and Ino have to scooch out of the way, and his voice lowered conspiratorally. “But if you’re not trying to punish me, what are you doing shmoozing with the enemy?”

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, who was watching their exchange with mild interest. The thing was, Naruto didn’t really know why it had suddenly become no big deal. For some reason, he had gained a whole new perspective on his rival from the night before, and now hanging out with Sasuke just seemed normal.

Almost abnormally so.

“I don’t know…” Naruto still felt a little weird about talking about his change of heart with Sasuke listening in. So he just hedged the question. “What does it matter anyway?”

Kiba looked confused, glancing between Naruto and Sasuke.

“And you,” Kiba continued, pointing at Sasuke now. “You’re okay with this?”

Sasuke only looked over at him blandly, as if to say, does it look like I care? “Hn.”

“Fine,” Kiba stated while waving his hands in front of him, as if he was concluding some sort of debate. “Do whatever you guys want, but I still think your both crazy.”

That end of the table delved into a slightly awkward silence after that. Sasuke went back to sipping his tea and Sakura and Ino sent each other puzzled glances. Obviously, like Kiba, they still couldn’t believe that Sasuke and Naruto’s eternal rivalry had seemingly vanished over night. Naruto supposed he couldn’t blame them. After all, it was kind of sudden and without warning, but in his head it still made a lot of sense.

He never realized how much energy he’d spent on hating the bastard. Now that he didn’t, he felt strangely rejuvenated and care-free. Life suddenly looked like it was taking a turn for the better.

But, of course, that didn’t mean he was giving up on Sakura.

“Anyway,” Kiba finally broke in, scratching the outside of his nose in habit. “Me and the guys found out there’s a sake bar in the village that doesn’t card. So we’re all going there tonight after we finish touring the temple. You know, after Mr. Umino and Mr. Hatake have gone to bed. You wanna come?”

“Sure!” Naruto replied enthusiastically. He and Kiba had been trying to drink some real Japanese sake ever since they’d gotten into Japan, but they’d always been kicked out of bars before they could even take a sip.

“What about your new friend?” Kiba smirked, looking over at Sasuke and crossing his arms over his chest confrontationally.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke enquiringly, and the boy stared at them both for a moment before shrugging.

“He’s in!” Naruto translated.

Kiba sent Naruto a strange look.

“What?” Naruto bristled. Why was everyone giving him those weird looks now?

“Well,” Kiba shrugged it off, but he looked a little miffed about something. “Since you two can apparently read each other’s minds now. I’m sure we can all have a wonderful time together getting plastered tonight.”

Naruto frowned at Kiba’s sarcastic tone, but decided not to get too ruffled about it. “You watch, Kiba. I’m gonna drink you under the table!”

“Bring it on, fox-face,” Kiba challenged, now holding a smirk of his own. “But you should know that I’m part Irish!”

“No, you’re not!” Naruto retorted, laughing now at Kiba’s fake scandalized expression.

“Hey, Kiba, what about us?” Ino interrupted, glancing over at Sasuke before placing her hard gaze squarely back at Kiba. “Aren’t the girls invited?”

“Sure.” Kiba waggled his eyebrows suggestively and did a mock bow. “After all, it’s not a party without girls.”

“Right.” Ino looked unimpressed, and her tone became serious after she shared a look with Sakura, who glanced at Sasuke before whispering and giggling into Ino’s ear. “We’re coming, but don’t for a second think you can take advantage of us, dog-boy.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, ladies!” Kiba smirked, before waving at Naruto and walking away to join Shikamaru at the other end of the table where there were a couple of open seat-cushions. “See y’all tonight then, and remember, you all have to wear your yukata. It’s tradition!”

Naruto looked over at Sakura after Kiba sat down at the other end of the table and gave him a thumbs up. He felt a rush of excitement about the night ahead. He was sure to have more of a chance with her if she had had a few drinks in her. Not that he was going to take advantage of her. He could never be that type of guy, of course, but he couldn’t see how having a party with plenty of drinks couldn’t work in his favor. Maybe if they were both having fun, Sakura would let him buy her some refreshments and accompany her on a walk. Naruto smiled at the prospect. Maybe tonight was his chance to really turn things around.

This was it. Naruto smiled goofily to himself, missing the way Sakura’s expression looked disturbed as she glanced at him.

Yes, tonight was the night!

“See? I did it!” Naruto exclaimed, looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and admiring the striped yukata he had managed to put on correctly.

“Congratulations, you can dress yourself,” was the sarcastic reply from the bedroom.

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed, stomping out of the bathroom and sticking his tongue out at Sasuke childishly.

“You just wait, bastard,” Naruto boasted, his voice becoming louder. “Because tonight, I’m gonna get Sakura, the most beautiful girl in school, and you’re gonna be all alone!”

Sasuke just shook his head and frowned, stepping into his sandals. “You can have her, moron.”

Naruto frowned. “What? She not good enough for you?”

Sasuke’s frown grew, pausing and actually looking contemplative, before finally replying. “She’s not my type.”

Naruto pouted, his tone turning a little bitter. “I don’t get it. She’s beautiful and she practically throws herself all over you! How can you not want her?”

Sasuke actually sighed, looking a little irrited. “Idiot, do you want me to ask her out?”

“No!” Naruto retorted almost instantly. “It just doesn’t make any sense! You don’t make any sense! I mean, if you don’t like Sakura, who do you like?” Naruto’s voice became bitter again as he muttered. “It’s not like you couldn’t have any girl you wanted.”

It felt weird to admit that to the boy he had been rivals with since preschool. After all, it was difficult to acknowledge that the other teen was more popular than Naruto could ever be, after years of trying to convince himself that Sasuke just got all the girls because they couldn’t see how darn cool Naruto was. But Naruto had become a lot more open with Sasuke since the night before and they’d even spent the day walking around the temple together with the rest of the guys as if that had been what they’d always done. They’d talked about a surprising variety of things and even though Sasuke wasn’t much of a conversationalist, Naruto didn’t mind. He talked enough for the both of them.

It had all been oddly comfortable. Like Naruto could tell him anything.

Sasuke stared at him with an odd expression, before switching his gaze passed Naruto’s left shoulder to look out the window to the night sky beyond. “Why do you care who I like?”

“I don’t know!” Naruto swung his hands into the air exasperatedly at Sasuke’s avoidance of the issue. “You’re a guy, a senior in high school with girls throwing themselves at your feet! It just doesn’t make sense that you’ve never gone out with any of them, ever! It’s just not normal!”

Sasuke just frowned, before looking back at Naruto again. “I don’t like any of those girls.”

“Then, do you like anyone?” Naruto asked, feeling like the conversation was going around in circles and getting frustrated by it.

Sasuke’s brows knit together, still looking irritated as he pushed a hand through his bangs in order to get them out of his eyes, but he answered. “Yes.”

“Who?” Naruto pressed, feeling strangely excited about this revelation. After all, this was information at least half of the school population would crave to know about. Naruto ignored the disturbing fact that he found himself wanting to know too – just because.

“Hn.” Sasuke sent him a look that clearly told Naruto he thought he was stupid, before turning away and putting his hand on the door. “Whatever. It’s time to go. Everyone’s probably already there.”

Naruto deflated. “Fine. Be a bastard,” he said as he passed Sasuke out the open door. “But I’m not gonna give up until I find out who it is. You can count on that!”

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted, as they made their way to the elevator. “Don’t be an idiot.”

Naruto entered the elevator first, waiting for Sasuke to get in, before retorting cheekily. “Well, according to you, it’s too late for that.”

Sasuke frowned and Naruto smiled.

The sake bar was a relatively small, dimly lit establishment and full of people when Naruto and Sasuke entered. Mostly older Japanese men were seated at wooden bar, while the younger people sat at tables and booths.

Naruto squinted for a bit before spotting Kiba at a table in the far end of the room. Naruto waved when Kiba caught his eye and made his way through the bar, Sasuke following him at his own pace.

“You finally made it, eh?” Kiba’s voice rose over the general noise of the bar. “I was beginning to think we’d have to send the dogs after you!”

Kiba pulled out a wooden chair for Naruto and he sat down across from Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee, and Sai, but not before scooching a chair from another table in for Sasuke. He missed the odd look Kiba sent him as Sasuke sat down.

Naruto nodded to the others, who were all drinking what looked to be sake in small cups, except for Rock Lee who understandably stayed alcohol free, a small tell-tale white sake bottle at each of their places.

“I’ll get you a drink!” Kiba patted him on the back and Naruto smiled after nearly getting sent into wooden table in front of him.

Kiba called out to a young Japanese woman, wearing a yellow kimono, as she passed, speaking to her in broken Japanese before she nodded and walked away to the bar.

“Do you want anything?” Naruto looked over at Sasuke and asked, but the teen was already getting something from a particularly voluptuous woman in another yellow kimono, much like what the other woman wore. She was batting her eyelashes at Sasuke as she poored his sake delicately with a slip of her bare wrist. Sasuke seemed to be bored with the attention, simply nodding when the waitress was done.

Naruto frowned and looked away just in time to see another glass get slapped down a little haphazardly in front of him, another waitress pooring his sake quickly before leaving the table. Feeling slightly morose, Naruto wrecklessly brought the cup to his lips and drank the all the contents in one hasty gulp.

Naruto coughed a bit as the warm liquid slid down his throat and vaporized in his airways, before slamming the cup back onto the table, making it jiggle a little so that Sai had to stop pooring his own sake for fear of splashing it all over the table top, until the table stilled once again.

“Whoa, fox-face,” Kiba remarked, grinning over at him, but looking a little surprised. “No need to drink so violently!”

Naruto ignored the comment and finally took a look around, noticing that he couldn’t see Sakura anywhere.

“The girls aren’t here yet,” Shikamaru commented, clearly reading his disappointed expression correctly.

“Yeah, I bet their doing their hair or nails…or whatever chicks do when they’re getting ready to go out,” Kiba observed crudely, before swinging his attention to Naruto. “They should be here soon though, given that you took nearly as long. Weren’t doing your nails, were ya?”

Naruto punched him in the arm in retort, just in time to look passed Kiba’s shoulder to see Ino and Sakura, followed by Temari, Ten-Ten, and Hinata, walk into in the bar.

Naruto’s eyes followed Sakura as the girls spotten them and made their way through the bar toward them. Since their table was packed, the girls had to sit at a table nearby.

Naruto waved to Sakura enthusiastically to which she only nodded, turning her emerald gaze to Sasuke and smiling sweetly as she came up to the side of their table, before she sat down herself.

She stood between Narutoand Sasuke, but she placed a pale hand boldly on Sasuke’s shoulder, greeting him. “Hello, Sasuke.”

Sasuke looked a little uncomfortable as her hand stayed perched on his shoulder, but he nodded anyway, before turning back toward his drink.

“Hey, Sakura!” Naruto interrupted, seeing this as his chance. She turned her gaze toward him, looking decidedly less cheerful. “Do you want me to get you a drink? Some…sake?”

At first it seemed as though she would refuse his offer but then it seemed as though she’d thought better of it, glancing down at Sasuke before accepting Naruto’s offer, “sure.”

Naruto smiled widely, almost not believing his ears, before turning around and calling for a waitress. A few moments later, a woman in a kimono bustled over to take his order. Sakura went back to sit at a chair next to the other girls, looking a little sullen as Ino whispered in her ear. Eventually, the waitress brought Sakura the sake Naruto had ordered and Naruto smiled at her, she smiled back, but it looked forced.

He only half listened to Kiba as the boy talked to the group at length about something funny that had happened to him back in middle school, watching Sakura out of the corner of his eye as she sipped her sake and chatted with the girls around her. He took gulps of his own sake, trying to get over his sudden nervousness.

This was it. After she finished her sake, he’d go over there and ask her out on a walk. He knew she’d wanted Sasuke to do the same, but he also knew Sasuke wouldn’t, and so Naruto would be there in Sasuke’s place. He would be the rebound guy. It wasn’t the best position to have, but it was better than nothing in his opinion.

Five minutes later, she finished her sake, and Naruto stood up from the table abruptly. Kiba stopped talking and stared between Naruto and Sakura, grinning when he understood what was going on and clapping Naruto on the arm. “Go get her, foxy.”

Naruto grinned a little tremulously, and glanced back at Sasuke for a moment, before walking over to Sakura who was now sitting amongst the group of girls who had stopped talking altogether and were now staring at him.

He stood beside her, his voice a little shakier than he would have liked as he asked, “Will you go on a walk with me, Sakura?”

She looked a little taken aback, again glancing over at Sasuke and her friends. Ino was actually shaking her head at Sakura, but the other girls didn’t give their opinion one way or another. Temari, in particular, looked like she didn’t care as she took a long gulp of sake.

Finally, Sakura decided, and looked up at Naruto to nod her assent.

Naruto grinned brilliantly, wondering if he was dreaming as he put out his hand for her to take. She took it hesitantly and he helped her stand up. As he led her toward the door, he grinned as he passed the boy’s table where Kiba was giving him a thumbs up and Sai was smiling at him vacantly, but when his gaze slid to Sasuke he noticed the teen was frowning slightly, looking morose. It made Naruto feel a little strange, almost guilty as he and Sakura walked out the door of the bar.

Once they got outside into the pleasant night air, Naruto turned to Sakura, as she pulled back her hand. “So…Sakura…which way do you wanna…?”

“Look, Naruto,” Sakura interrupted him, looking pained as she glanced everywhere but at his face. “I’m not doing this because I like you.”

Naruto frowned as she finally looked up into his eyes, and his heart sank. “Okay…”

“You know I like Sasuke, don’t you?” She continued, wringing her hands together as if she was cold or anxious.

“Yeah,” Naruto’s voice became a little hoarse, and he cleared it in embarrassment, placing his empty hands by his side. “But, that doesn’t mean you can’t like me too, right? You know, after you get to know me.”

“It doesn’t work like that, Naruto,” and for the first time, she looked genuinely sorry.

“But, he treats you so badly,” Naruto murmured, looking down at her hands which were now fiddling with the obi on her yukata.

Sakura sighed then. “He’s not so bad. I can take it, because I…I love him.”

Naruto’s eyes widened as he looked up at her face, seeing the determined expression crossing her pretty features and knowing at once that she truly must have felt strongly for Sasuke. “Oh.”

A pall of silence fell over them after that, Sakura looking down at her feet as Naruto looked passed her toward another crop of lit, wooden buildings down the path.

Sakura finally shifted, looking up at him again, as she turned her body back toward the bar. “I think I’m gonna go back in.” She waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. “Okay?”

Naruto finally nodded. “Yeah.”

She nodded and he watched her walk back into the bar, the door closing behind her. He stood outside for a bit, feeling more hurt than he was willing to admit, because at that moment, he knew it was really over. He really didn’t have a chance. He’d spent so much of his life chasing after her, and now he knew that it had all been the biggest waste of time. He wiped at his stinging eyes with the back of his hand.

He couldn’t even believe he was crying, and he scowled at himself.

Thankfully, the tears were short lived, and once his face was completely dry, Naruto decided to go back into the bar. He wanted to take Kiba up on his earlier offer, and get totally plastered.

“Hit me,” Naruto muttered and Kiba poured him another cup of sake.

“Are you sure you can take it?” Kiba crowed, already a little drunk himself as he spilled some of the precious sake onto the table top.

Naruto just pulled his head back and swallowed the cup-full of sake like a shot – the fourth cup of the night. His vision was already beginning to blur as he slammed the cup back down, wiping at his mouth where some sake had dribbled out one side. “Again.”

“You asked for it!” Kiba grinned, ever the enabler has he poured more sake into Naruto’s waiting cup. “I’m still gonna beat you. You’re gonna be out like a light.”

Naruto only pulled back another shot, ignoring how the room was already spinning a little. He didn’t really have a high tolerance for alcohol given that he was underage and had never been much of a drinker to begin with. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kiba drown his own shot.

Kiba frowned as he upended his bottle of sake. “We need more.” He turned around and practically hollered at a passing waitress. “More sake, onegai shimasu!”

The bottle was replenished and Naruto’s cup was refilled, it’s contents falling almost instantly down Naruto’s tingling throat. Ten minutes later, Naruto could barely make out the features of Shikamaru, Chouji, Sai, or Lee as he squinted across at them. His tongue felt a little numb as he attempted to ask for more sake, and he ignored the gaze practically burning into his side as he downed the next shot. Sasuke could disapprove of him all he wanted, Naruto thought within his alcohol-muddled mind. It was all the bastard’s fault anyway.

Before he could take another shot, a pale hand clasped onto his wrist, pulling his hand away from his cup. Naruto glared at the instigator, but Sasuke wouldn’t back down, a frown pulling his lips and his eyebrows knitted as if he was concerned or something. “That’s enough, dead-last.”

“I gotta beat Kiba…bashturd,” Naruto retorted clumsily, attempting to pull his wrist out of Sasuke’s tightening grip and failing.

“No,” Sasuke replied slowly, as if speaking to a child. “You don’t.”

“Yeah!” Naruto replied, getting a little angry now as he struggled to free his wrist. “I do!”

Naruto gave up with his right hand and clasped his cup of sake with his left. He wasn’t ambidextrous and he was drunk, so the task was admittedly difficult and clumsy, but he managed to pour most of the sake down his throat, ignoring how some of it splashed around his mouth and trickled down his chin.

Suddenly, his shoulders were grabbed and he was scrunched against a hard chest. Arms slid around his torso and locked around his own arms, so that he couldn’t move them or sit back up. Naruto dazzedly frowned up at his captor, noting the incredibly smooth, pale skin and the usual irritated expression of Sasuke as the teen looked down at him.

Naruto’s world began to spin a bit faster as he contemplated the visage in front of him, thoughts completely muddled as his heart sped up and his mouth became dry from lack of sake.

“No more,” Sasuke muttered, and his breath washed over Naruto’s face. It smelled like sake too.

“You know why those girls love youu sho much Shashuke?” Naruto asked, tripping over his heavy tongue. “Coz yer shoooo perty.”

Suddenly Naruto felt the urge to giggle at his words, and he did so.

Sasuke looked slightly confused and then exasperated, but Naruto ignored it, feeling like he was onto something as the room spinned around them. “Thas why I never had a chance…yer like…the pertiest guy ever. Thas why girls jusht want ta fall at yer ankles…and kish them!”

“What?” Kiba exclaimed, and he started laughing from behind Naruto’s back, his words a little slurred as well. “Man, the kid is totally wasted! Oh my god.”

“Idiot,” Sasuke muttered, before he released Naruto and let him fall back into his chair. Then he got up and pulled Naruto out of his seat. “I’m taking you back to the inn.”

Naruto could barely protest as his legs flopped out from under him. Sasuke pulled one of Naruto’s arms around his shoulders, and supported him as they made their way out of the bar. Once outside again, Naruto nearly tripped but he swung an arm around Sasuke’s neck to stop the fall, setting his cheek against Sasuke’s warm collar bone beneath the thin cloth of his yukata.

Naruto giggled a bit as he continued to stumble, nearly making Sasuke fall at one point, and Sasuke actually scowled, but he was able to right them and keep on walking.

“Shashuke…Shaucekay…Shaucegay…” Naruto giggled again at his rendition. “Hey! Did joo know yer name sounds like Sauce Gay?”

Sasuke didn’t answer him, but Naruto didn’t care. He was entirely too amused with his important discovery. “Yer like a gay sauce! Sho…that means yer happy!” Suddenly Naruto’s expression scrunched at his thought-process. “But yer never happy…and yer not sauce…”

Sasuke only grunted, and Naruto could feel it rumble in Sasuke’s chest and against his cheek. “I think yer parents mis…mislabeled you, Shashuke.”

Naruto giggled again at his own joke. Everything was suddenly so funny. He should have gotten drunk more often!

When they finally hobbled into their room, Sasuke having to do some complicated acrobatics in order to slide the key card through the door and also hold Naruto up at the same time, Sasuke dropped Naruto unceremoniously onto his futon.

Naruto fell with another giggle, but suddenly felt a little cold, like there was a draft from somewhere. He shivered involuntarily, before giggling again.

The room wasn’t spinning so much as Sasuke stared down at him, frowning and going pink in the face, before he got down on his knees beside Naruto’s futon and pulled at Naruto’s yukata. Naruto giggled, but then looked down to see that it had opened again and Sasuke was trying to close it. No wonder it had been cold.

Suddenly, Sasuke’s hand brushed against Naruto’s bare stomach and Naruto gasped, involuntarily arching into the touch as it spread a warm tingling sensation down his abdomen. He looked up and realized Sasuke had stilled completely, watching him with slightly parted lips, as if he was out of breath.

The look on Sasuke’s face was beginning to unnerve Naruto as the room stopped spinning as rapidly.

“Sasuke…?” Naruto murmured in question, but he was cut off abruptly as warm lips covered his own.

Suddenly, a warm weight was covering him from head to toe, and teeth were nipping at his lower lip as hands ran up and down his bare sides, trailing heat along his cooler skin. Naruto couldn’t help gasping from the touch, opening his mouth to a hot tongue that slipped passed his lips and rubbed against his own fervently.

Naruto’s mind a blur of sensation due to the alcohol and the heady rush he felt everytime Sasuke swiped his tongue against his or kneaded warm hands into his sides or trailed them across his chest, he could do nothing but moan and writhe involuntarily beneath the teen on top of him.

The pace became frenzied, and suddenly feeling like he needed more contact, more heat, Naruto laced his arms around Sasuke’s back and pulled the other closer, feeling the cloth of Sasuke’s yukata as it created a surprisingly delicious friction against his bare skin.

Sasuke responded by breaking contact with Naruto lips and trailing his mouth along Naruto’s jawline and lower, nibbling and sucking on the muscles of his throat before working his way downward to his heaving chest.

Naruto panted profusely, barely able to catch his breath as Sasuke continued his trail downward, and Naruto couldn’t help but arch his back forward yet again as that warm mouth clamped down over his left nipple.

Naruto’s hands found their way into Sasuke’s thick hair and clamped into his scalp as Sasuke’s tongue continued to massage and flick the sensitive nub.

When Sasuke finally pulled away, Naruto actually whimpered at the loss of sensation, trying to pull Sasuke’s head back down with his hands that were still entwined in Sasuke’s hair, but Sasuke managed to pull away, untangling their hold on his scalp.

Naruto watched on with a pout tugging at his lips as Sasuke sat back on his haunches, hands already moving to untie his own obi. Sasuke made quick work of pulling off his yukata and threw it to the side, leaving him only in his boxers, just like Naruto, before sliding back down, chest to chest with the boy below him.

He recaptured Naruto’s lips and Naruto once again intertwined his arms around Sasuke’s back and pulled him closer. Sasuke did something different and began to roll his hips forward against Naruto’s, making Naruto suddenly gasp yet again, almost overwhelmed by the sense of friction and heat created by the motion.

Sasuke rolled his hips forward again and Naruto could feel his own boxers become uncomfortably tight as Sasuke repeated the motion. Naruto groaned and writhed, bending his legs around Sasuke’s hips as the other continued to grind down against him.

Suddenly Sasuke pulled away again, much to Naruto’s consternation, but it was only long enough to remove his own boxers, before moving to pull Naruto’s boxers down his trembling legs.

Dazedly, Naruto watched as Sasuke lowered himself back down, but this time a little lower – and his eyes widened in shock when Sasuke’s tongue slid out between his lips to lick at the tip of Naruto’s hard-on. Naruto arched halfway off the futon, moaning as the motion spread a jolt of pleasure up his spine.

Sasuke’s arms came out to push his stomach back down, and he could just barely see the other smirking, before that mouth moved down and completely engulfed him. Naruto barely had time to register the move before he was almost paralized with the sensation of Sasuke’s tongue working up and down his shaft, lips tight around it as Sasuke’s head bobbed up and down.

Naruto began to shudder at the sensation as it built up in his lower abdomen, coiling like molten fire that spread through his core and outward to his limbs. He moaned and his voice quaked as he cried out warningly, “Sa-Sasuke…!”

Then the mouth was gone completely and Naruto frowned at the loss of building pleasure. He frowned up at Sasuke with a look of confusion and irritation, but the other looked unaffected as he got up and went to the opposite wall of the room and scrounged through his bag.

Naruto groaned at his neglect, but Sasuke was back quickly, sitting over Naruto and unwrapping something small, flat, and square. Sasuke leaned down and kissed Naruto once again on his pouting lips before resuming his task, pulling something out of the wrapping and pushing it down over his own hard-on.

Naruto’s mind still felt fuzzy as he tried to remember what it was, but he still felt less than sober as Sasuke once again leant down over him for another searing kiss. That kept Naruto’s whirling mind preoccupied enough for him to almost miss the way Sasuke had started to pull Naruto’s legs up, and then Sasuke pulled away again, pushing Naruto’s legs over his shoulders, bending them at the knees.

Naruto felt incredibly confused until something hard pushed into his anus, and he stiffened. “Bashturd! What are you…?”

But Sasuke pushed forward a few more centimeters, making a jolt of pain ride up Naruto’s spine. His voice sounded oddly strained as he spoke. “Just relax.”

Naruto only tensed up further as Sasuke continued to move forward, the pressure feeling odd and uncomfortable. He moaned slightly in pain when Sasuke stopped.

“Sasuke…”

“Relax…Naruto,” Sasuke almost cooed, his deep voice still gruff around the edges. “It will feel good.”

When Sasuke said his name, the first time he’d ever really heard his name from those lips, Naruto calmed down slightly, relaxing almost involuntarily. Sasuke seemed to notice this because then he moved, pulling back out swiftly before pushing back in slowly but at a different angle.

Suddenly, on the third try, Sasuke managed to hit something in Naruto that made the heat coil in his abdomen once again, and he gasped at the sudden unexpected sensation as Sasuke replicated it the next time and the next.

Naruto found himself moaning and writhing, gripping the sheets below him as Sasuke managed to plunge deeper and at that same spot each time. Sasuke was panting now, his arms shaking as they held Naruto’s legs in place and it was nearly enough to send Naruto over the edge.

With each thrust, the white hot pleasure coiled tighter and tighter until he thought he couldn’t possibly hold it in any longer. Suddenly, finally, it reached its peak and Naruto closed his eyes as violent shudders, more intense than the ones before, wracked his body and he cried out, feeling glorious release.

Only a few moments later, Sasuke’s body shuddered above him and he collapsed on top of him. Eventually, Naruto’s legs slid down Sasuke’s side until his feet were once again planted on the futon on either side of Sasuke’s body.

Sasuke, who had collapsed onto Naruto’s chest, slid up a bit and lay his head beside Naruto’s, panting breathlessly in Naruto’s left ear. Naruto, for his part, began to feel incredibly tired as he listened to Sasuke’s breathing and his own slowly even out. He felt drugged and not in the drunken way, but in a way that was similar and slightly more content as his eyes closed heavily and he drifted off.

He vaguely felt fingertips brush away his sweaty bangs and heard his own name whispered against his ear, before he fell into the welcoming darkness of sleep.

When Naruto woke up, he was on his side, bundled against something warm and hard, something that moved rhythmically up and down. He frowned at the strange sensation as the dregs of sleep began to recede from his fuzzy feeling mind. He moved the arm that was currenly wrapped around the strange object beside him, pushing fingertips along smooth slopes, dips, and peaks. His confusion mounted, until the thing next to him moved and groaned.

Naruto’s eyes snapped open, instantly regretting it when the sunlight practically burned his retinas, but once the damage was done, he couldn’t close them again. He stared and stared until he was sure what he was seeing was not a figment of his imagination. The object he was next to, the object he was currently wrapped around, was not, in fact, an object at all, but a person. And not just any person, a Sasuke.

As if aware of his thoughts, Sasuke opened his eyes and stared down at Naruto, who was still nestled – that’s right, nestled – near the crook of his arm, and smirked.

That was when Naruto screamed, and it wasn’t a manly scream, but a girly one. The type of scream one could only make under extreme duress. And while he screamed, he scrambled to his feet and stumbled back against the wall near the bathroom, pointing at Sasuke – who was still lying, quite naked, on the futon and staring up at Naruto in all-encompassing irritation – as if the teenager was some sort of ginormous spider Naruto had had the displeasure of sleeping next to.

“You!” Naruto bellowed, once he was done screaming. “You!”

Sasuke didn’t say anything, but propped himself up on his elbows as if he planned on waiting for Naruto to run out of steam before trying anything.

“You’re naked!” Naruto shouted out, as if this was one of the most horrific observations he had ever made.

“And you’re naked,” Sasuke observed, making his point by trailing his dark gaze up and down the length of Naruto’s body.

Naruto looked down and ‘eeped’ before scrambling for the heap of covers at the end of the futon and covering himself.

Suddenly, Naruto felt really woozy and nauseous. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

And then, feeling his stomach heave in all the wrong ways, Naruto made a beeline for the bathroom and proceeded to lose his dinner, lunch, and breakfast into the toilet. He shuddered a bit when a warm hand came to rest on his back, but he couldn’t do anything about it as he heaved once again.

The hand moved around his back in soothing circles and Naruto actually felt calmer because of it. Eventually, after two more dry heaves, Naruto’s stomach settled enough so that he felt it safe to stop hunching over the toilet bowl and he let himself fall back against the opposite wall. And at that moment he felt a sharp pain run from his buttocks and up his spine.

“Nnnngh,” Naruto groaned, tasting the bile in his mouth and feeling sickened by it all over again, but not enough to lose it. He blearily looked up at Sasuke, who was now crouched next to him, a sheet wrapped haphazardly around his waist. “What the hell happened last night?”

“You got drunk,” Sasuke replied succinctly. “And now you have a hangover.”

“Boo,” Naruto complained, still feeling dizzy and lightheaded. He tried to wrack his brains for memories of the night before, but he came up blank. “I can’t remember anything.”

“Probably because you were drunk,” Sasuke observed helpfully.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, noticing that the teen may have seemed like his usual bastardly self, but he was watching Naruto with an oddly concerned expression.

“Did we…?” Naruto’s voice trailed off as he pointed between the two of them.

“If you mean, did we have sex,” Sasuke began, rubbing a hand through his unruly morning hair and looking down at Naruto steadily. “Then yes, we did.”

Naruto let his head fall back against the wall behind him and stared in front of him at the toilet. “Wow, that’s…weird.”

He knew it sounded lame the moment he said it, but it was exactly how he felt about the situation. He actually felt less disturbed than he thought he would or should feel. He didn’t really feel bad about it at all, in fact. He just felt incredibly odd.

Sasuke remained silent.

“Why?” Naruto finally asked, feeling incredibly confused. Really, he wasn’t just asking Sasuke, but himself. And Naruto sure as hell wasn’t able to give himself any answers on the subject.

Sasuke turned and lay his back against the wall beside Naruto, looking in front of him toward the sink. For a long time they just sat like that, and Naruto almost began to think that Sasuke would never answer him until Sasuke’s low voice echoed through the small room. “You asked me yesterday if I liked anyone.”

Naruto nodded, already starting to understand, but still not knowing if he really wanted to.

“I said yes.” Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto. “And last night, you succeeded in getting the answer.”

Naruto just stared at him, feeling neutral about the entire situation except for the racing of his heart. He almost couldn’t believe what the other teen was telling him. It felt surreal, but not – oddly enough – in a bad way. “For how long?”

Sasuke smirked, before turning his head and looking away as if he was actually a little embarrassed. “Since middle school.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. “That long?”

Sasuke nodded in the affirmative, but he no longer made eye contact.

“But,” Naruto continued, his thoughts whirling at the news. “But I thought you hated me.”

“At first, I did,” Sasuke confirmed. “But that was only until seventh grade.”

“What made you…” Naruto began, and then paused, feeling embarrassed about the question. “You know…”

“I started realizing that even though I hated you,” Sasuke replied slowly and contemplatively. “Even though our fights irritated me. I enjoyed them. I enjoyed you.”

“So, you waited for me to get drunk and then took advantage of me,” Naruto summarized.

Sasuke glared at him, actually looking affronted by the accusation. “It wasn’t like that.”

Somehow, Naruto recognized that Sasuke was probably right. After all, Naruto was beginning to suspect that his feelings for the bastard were similar. Only, it had taken a lot longer for him to figure them out. But he thought he understood them now; the rush of adrenaline he’d always felt around Sasuke which he had equated to his burning hatred, didn’t actually have anything to do with hatred at all. It explained why it had been so easy for him to accept Sasuke as a friend after the ruse was broken, and why he’d felt so comfortable with him the day before. There was something else there, below the surface, and he was beginning to realize that there had always been. The entire revelation was invigorating and unnerving all at once. After all, it was a lot to take in so suddenly.

“So…” Naruto broke in to the long silence. “Where do we go from here?”

“That doesn’t seem to be my decision to make,” Sasuke replied truthfully. “I think you know what I want – unless you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

Naruto glared at him, but it was half-hearted at best. He thought about it carefully, thinking about all that had happened (that he could remember) in the last few days, before making up his mind.

“Well, there’s definitely one thing we’ll have to do,” Naruto began seriously, trying to contain the goofy grin trying to break out on his face. “We’re gonna have to do what we supposedly did last night again sometime, because I can’t remember any of it. Until I know what that’s like, I can’t know for sure.”

Sasuke stared at him a little wide-eyed, before his mouth tugged up into a smirk. “Idiot.”

“Bastard,” Naruto grinned cheekily, sticking out his tongue.

That seemed to be an invitation, because just then Sasuke swooped in to catch him in a kiss. Naruto’s heart beat quickened as Sasuke nibbled on his lower lip and swept his tongue between his slightly parted lips. Naruto found himself falling into it, and kissing Sasuke back a little clumsily, but with a decent amount of fervor. It was a few minutes later, before they finally broke apart, both of them panting noticeably.

“You taste like vomit,” Sasuke finally stated, frowning a bit.

Naruto huffed, all his good feelings brought on by the kiss getting chucked out the window. “Well, that makes sense, since I just barfed into the toilet!”

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted, as per usual.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door to their room, and Sasuke pulled away and got up, wrapping the sheet around his waist more securely as he opened the door.

Naruto could hear Mr. Umino’s voice from the other side.

“Get your luggage ready, boys. We’re all going to leave in half an hour.”

Sasuke nodded and then the door closed.

Sasuke padded back over to the sink and took some toilet paper to put under the water from the sink. He then used it, along with some soap, to rub at his chest and stomach where Naruto could now see a distinct crusty-like substance. Naruto realized what it was and blushed profusely, before realizing that he too had some of it stuck to his stomach.

“Gross,” he whined as he got up and did the same thing as Sasuke. He looked at Sasuke in the mirror. “Next time, we should definitely not fall asleep before we clean ourselves.”

Sasuke only nodded, before throwing his tissue in the toilet and padding back out of the bathroom to change and get his luggage in order. Naruto finished his clean-up and then brushed his teeth, smiling into the mirror.

Yes, things were looking up.

Somehow, he had always known things would work out.

End of Part II.

I seriously didn’t know when to end this chapter, so I decided for the slightly abrupt approach. I hope that’s cools with y’alls.

There may be a sort of epilogue to this story, if I feel up to it…you know, just dealing with all the other people’s reactions to Naruto and Sasuke new relationship and whatnot. Could be cool.

Well, thanks for everyone who reviewed the first part! You guys really made me feel better about what I had thought was a really lame, craptastic writing extravaganza. So thanks!