Title: Incognito (1/?)
Rated: this chapter PG-15
Pairing: NaruSasuNaru
Word Count: 5,700+
Comments: For silverwyrm's birthday. I swore I would never write AU fic, but for HER, I set aside my reservations and wrote...utter crack XD This counts as my first AU (that I've written by myself, not a collab) so... I apologize if it's odd. I'm too in love with canonverse to be sure if I did this right lol.

Summary: Naruto likes that Shin isn’t the typical University student. The truth, however, is a bit more than Naruto might be prepared to handle. (Yes, Shin is Sasuke... it’ll be explained, promise XD)

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Chapter 1

They were at it again.

Naruto nodded along with whatever Shikamaru and Chouji were saying about the latest cataclysm to strike the student body in the form of their psychology homework. His eyes, however, continued to dart away from his friends toward the couple across the path. The pair practically emanated malevolence, every student within a five-foot radius scuttling away to avoid their aura of doom. They stood with barely a foot of space between them, glaring at each other with their usual mountainous levels of disdain and arguing in lowered voices.

A moment later, the one on the left—Hyuuga Neji—stopped speaking and his lips thinned before he turned on his heel and stalked away. The student left behind stared at his retreating back with narrowed eyes, nostrils flaring briefly. Then he closed his eyes, breathed steadily for several seconds (Naruto assumed he was communing with his mental Zen garden), and opened them again, considerably calmer.

Naruto was not ashamed to admit he stared.

There was a heavy sigh, and then, “Naruto, just go talk to him already.”

Naruto’s gaze snapped back to his friends. Kiba was smirking at him in that slightly feral way, the one that made Naruto want to give him a puppy snack to make him go away, and Shikamaru was looking exasperated. “What?” Naruto said.

“Shin,” Shikamaru said, making vague hand gestures at the student Naruto had just been ogling. Shin had moved to sit in the grass beside a nearby tree and was propping his book open in his lap. “Go talk to him.”

Sarutobi Shin was a fellow freshman and, despite sharing several of their classes, Naruto had yet to find the right opportunity to talk to him. Not because Naruto was intimidated or diffident, but because Shin seemed to treat everyone around him, professors and students alike, with what barely qualified as cool indifference. He spoke in class when necessary, but otherwise remained removed from everyone else and, from what Naruto could tell, seemed to prefer it that way.

The obvious exception was Neji. The two had a volatile relationship—they always looked pissed together, as if simply speaking to one another was a suffered torment. Except Naruto had overheard them arrange meetings and Neji remained the only person to date who Shin spoke with on a regular basis.

Naturally, Naruto assumed they were sleeping together. It was glaringly obvious to Naruto that Shin and Neji were trapped in an unhealthy relationship based on angry but mind-blowing sex.

Naruto chose to keep this theory to himself, due to the negative reactions he’d probably incur from his friends.

The fact remained, however, that Shin was a jerk. A very pretty jerk who Naruto had developed something of a fixation for, but a jerk nonetheless. Naruto watched as a line formed between Shin’s brows and he glanced in the direction Neji had gone with a sour twist of his lips. Shin was also a jerk in dire need of an intervention.

Naruto nodded decisively. “I’m going to talk to him.”

Shikamaru gave him a flat look before apparently deciding against voicing whatever he’d been thinking. Kiba made a shooing gesture at him and muttered something to Chouji about getting popcorn.

Naruto ignored them and crossed the path with purposeful strides toward Shin.

“Hi,” he said. He conceded his execution could probably use some work.

Shin didn’t acknowledge the greeting.

Naruto cleared his throat, undeterred. “Your friend looked pissed.”

Shin’s gaze lifted, passing dismissively over Naruto’s smiling face before returning to his book.

“Uh... your boyfriend?” Naruto said, hedging for a response.

Without lowering his book, Shin turned his head and looked up at Naruto with ill-concealed impatience. “Did you want something?”

Naruto considered this. “...Should I answer that honestly?” Because there were a great many things that Naruto wanted, including but not limited to Shin spread out on his bed in nothing but a silk tie and a ribbon... Perhaps it was best not to be quite so forthcoming just yet.

Shin responded with a slight narrowing of his eyes. Then he looked away and returned to his book. Naruto, not to be discouraged, took this as an invitation to sit down.

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto,” he said when he’d situated himself. He dropped his backpack beside him and waited for Shin to reciprocate the greeting.

After a full minute had passed in silence, Naruto decided it wasn’t an intervention Shin needed so much as a punch in the face. But that probably wouldn’t earn him any brownie points.

“Your name is Shin, right?” he said instead.

Shin didn’t reply. He gave Naruto an irritated look before turning back again to his damned reading. Naruto tilted his head to see the cover.

“Oh hey, that’s the book we’re supposed to read for English. Want the cliff notes?”

“No.”

The response had been immediate. Naruto snorted. The guy apparently took his reading seriously. “The professor already said we’d be writing essays on the book—that’s like, free reign to be obscure and convoluted. Trust me, you only need the cliff notes.”

The line between Shin’s brows had grown steadily more pronounced as Naruto continued speaking. “I’ve already read this book anyway.”

What? “Uh... what? If you’ve already read it, why are you doing it again?”

Shin looked at him as if he couldn’t believe Naruto was still talking to him. “Never mind,” he said, and then made a point of readjusting his book in his lap.

Never let it be said that Naruto couldn’t take a hint. Luckily, he was very good at feigning otherwise. “So... want to get lunch?”

Shin stopped reading. Naruto could tell because his eyes had stopped moving across the page and a muscle had begun to tick in his jaw.

“What part of our interaction up to now would lead you to believe I’d agree to your offer?” Shin said. With his dark eyes and all that focused attention finally trained on Naruto, Naruto couldn’t help but take Shin’s sarcasm in stride.

“The part where you didn’t tell me to get lost?” Naruto said, accompanying his assertion with a broad grin.

Shin had no reaction. Naruto felt his smile sag.

Shin slid his finger along the edge of his page and marked his spot by folding down the corner before he closed his book. “I’m not hungry,” he said as he rose to his feet. Then he slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked away.

Naruto stood and awkwardly shoved his hands into his back pockets. “Um... maybe next time then!” he called, which Shin predictably ignored.

“I think that was a ‘no chance in hell’.”

Naruto started, whipping around to find Kiba had come up behind him. Kiba was his roommate, and although Naruto had never actually told him in words that he was gay, Kiba—and subsequently, his other friends—had figured it out fairly quickly. How they’d known, Naruto couldn’t even begin to guess, because he was a paragon of manliness—a paragon, damn it!

“Actually, I think it went well.”

Kiba gave him a look that said ‘your delusions; they are troubling.’ But Naruto shrugged off his skepticism. Naruto was tenacious, if nothing else, and Shin hadn’t actually told him to take his advances and shove them in a ditch, which Naruto took as a positive sign.

oOo

The next step in procuring Shin’s attention was to find a common point of interest between them. Unfortunately, this proved more difficult than Naruto anticipated.

He’d seen Shin performing katas in the dojo across from where his judo club met on Fridays, and he’d watched with increasing awe at Shin’s proficiency with a sword. He’d itched to jump across the mats and challenge him, but Naruto doubted it would have left a very favorable impression for him to say ‘Hi, remember me? Can I kick your ass?’

He had even tried to read the assigned book from their English class, so he’d have a springboard for conversation. But he could never read more than half a page before he started spontaneously developing narcolepsy. It also didn’t help that every time he even opened a book, Kiba checked the sky for raining flames.

The sky was darkening when Naruto left the library after a cram study session with a few classmates. They had a joint report due in the morning and, while Naruto was certain he could use his creative talents to pull a passing grade on the presentation portion, his classmates had threatened him with butter knives in unmentionable places if their grades suffered because of him so he’d gone along and spared himself the mutilation.

This, Naruto assumed, had to have been providence; first, because he was still in one piece; and second, because he left the library just in time to see Shin making his way up the path toward the bus stop. Naruto dashed into the shadow of Student Hall and followed along, hoping the grass would muffle his footsteps.

After approximately ten seconds, Shin came to a stop and Naruto stilled, breath held.

“Why are you following me?”

Naruto winced and debated curling up in the grass and hoping the darkness would make Shin think he was a bush.

No such luck. Shin turned around and arched an eyebrow.

Naruto reluctantly stepped out onto the path, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “I wasn’t...” Shin’s eyes narrowed and Naruto decided lying would probably only earn him that death by butter knife he’d been hoping to avoid. “Okay, fine, I was following you. But I was just... just curious. About where you were going.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Are you going to see Neji?” When Shin stiffened, Naruto knew he’d guessed right. “Look, I know you don’t know me, but... well, personally, I really don’t think he’s a good choice for you. I mean, I tried talking to him once and he brushed me off at least ten seconds faster than you did.”

Shin’s other eyebrow rose to the join the first and he gave Naruto a wary look.

“I mean, sure, the guy’s pretty,” Naruto continued. “Like... stupidly, absurdly pretty; girly could-be-a-model pretty, and the hair pretty much helps that along. But... still.”

Shin’s lips quirked, understanding dawning in his eyes. Naruto felt a distinct sense of foreboding creep down his neck. “You think Neji and I...?”

“No need to hide it, Shin. I’m—” He made nebulous hand gestures, trusting Shin to interpret. “—too, so I won’t out you, although the way you two carry on, you’re pretty obvious all on your own.”

Shin drew his shoulders back, looking vaguely indignant. “I am not—” He pressed his lips together, apparently changing his mind, and shook his head before saying, “Good night, Uzumaki.”

“Hey! You remembered my name!” Naruto jogged up the path to where Shin had resumed walking and completely disregarded what ‘good night’ was meant to imply. “And you can call me Naruto. So, if you’re not going to meet Neji for—”

“It would be in your best interests if you left it alone.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Wow, you’re twitchy. Look, I don’t fault you for keeping Neji around. But you obviously can’t stand each other outside of—”

“You’re mistaken.”

“... What’s that supposed to mean? You like the fighting?” Naruto gave him a sidelong glance. “I supposed that could be considered a turn on.”

“No, I meant...” Shin made an aggravated sound. “Why are you talking about this?”

“I just wanted to tell you what I thought of Neji. He’s not your type. I can tell.”

Shin said nothing to that, and Naruto let it go for the time being, seeing as Shin was looking progressively more hunted.

“Want to grab dinner?”

Shin abruptly stopped. Naruto hopped back a few steps to fall in line with him again, grinning.

“Let me make this plain, idiot.”

Naruto stiffened at the insult and opened his mouth to refute it, but was immediately cut off.

“I’m not interested.”

Naruto considered this and, after a few seconds of watching the way the light from the windows of Student Hall cast Shin’s head in a slight glow, decided it was a hurdle he could overcome. “Yes, you are.”

Shin’s eyes narrowed, a look of incredulity softening the lines of his mouth. “No. I’m not.”

Naruto nodded. “Give it time. It’ll dawn on you.”

Shin closed his eyes and took a slow breath. Then he turned away back down the path. “I don’t have time for your juvenile arguments.”

Naruto followed with light steps. “Why do you talk like that?”

“Like what?” he snapped.

“I don’t know, like you’re forty?”

Shin’s shoulders tensed and the sound of him gnashing his teeth was loud in the quiet night. Naruto resisted the urge to snicker on account of the fact he wanted Shin to like him, not strangle him with his book bag.

“So, really, do you want to grab dinner? There’s this restaurant at the shopping mall just ten minutes out from campus. They’ve got the best noodles in the entire prefecture.”

“How many different ways—?” Shin stopped again and Naruto watched in fascination as his shoulders slowly relaxed and he turned away from Naruto.

“Sarutobi.”

Naruto jerked around. Neji had appeared from seemingly nowhere (his ninjas skills were obviously at a higher level than Naruto’s). “Oh hey, didn’t see you there.”

Neji didn’t acknowledge the greeting. “I need to speak with you,” Neji said to Shin, which Naruto interpreted as Neji asking for a booty call.

This was obviously an unacceptable state of affairs. “Actually, Shin and I—”

“Fine,” Shin said, speaking over Naruto. “We’ll go back to my place.” To Naruto, he said, “Good night, Uzumaki.”

Naruto pursed his lips and blew air into his cheeks. “I said call me Naruto.”

Shin waved his hand absently and didn’t look back.

oOo

Naruto felt Shin could have at least feigned pleasure to see him drop down beside him in class the following day. Naruto had made his intentions clear the night before and that meant he was now a man on a mission. Screw the intervention, Naruto wasn’t going to lie—he wanted Shin away from Neji and coming to him instead for his... late night necessities. Or late morning necessities. Midday. Early evening. Naruto wasn’t picky.

“So, what’d you do last night?”

Shin gave him a look of deep loathing, which Naruto decided not to take exception to if he wanted to stay on track with his mission. “Nothing. Just homework.”

“So you and Neji went back to your place and... did homework?”

Shin’s lips, which Naruto found exceptionally fascinating, tightened at the corners. “Yes.”

Naruto flailed his arms in an indulgent manner that might have also been him imitating an octopus. “Fine, fine, homework; that’s what we’ll call it.”

In a move that caught Naruto entirely off guard, Shin leaned across the distance between their desks and hissed, “What is your problem? What do you want from me?”

Naruto blinked and told himself ‘no, it would be a very bad idea to take this as a come on.’ Instead, he contemplated the fallacies of that question. Why did Shin keep asking him what he wanted? You’d think a guy having violent sex every other day could take a hint.

As it was, Naruto went with the safest answer (coincidentally, also the second thought to cross his mind, shortly after his hormones went back into passive mode). “I just... thought we could maybe be friends...?” It wasn’t a blatant lie. Not technically. It just wasn’t the whole truth. From the first time Naruto had walked into class and seen Shin sitting alone in the back of the classroom, dark hair falling in messy locks across his pale, pale cheekbones, Naruto had wanted to bend him over the nearest horizontal surface.

But friends would be an acceptable alternative for now.

Shin, for his part, looked genuinely surprised by Naruto’s answer. “...Oh.” He leaned back in his seat, bemused and wary.

Naruto beamed. “So, about that lunch?”

Shin shook his head. “I don’t have time for—”

“Food? You don’t have time for food?”

“I have things to—”

“Things that come before eating? Come on, I can tell you take your studies seriously and eating is pretty much a necessity if you want to keep going at the rate you are.” Naruto’s logic, it was flawless.

Shin must not have agreed. “Shut up, class is starting.”

The professor had started speaking and Shin had the amazing (and slightly terrifying) ability to tune out everything but the professor. Even Naruto’s attempts to recapture his attention went unacknowledged and, eventually, he stopped trying to pluck Shin’s hair out, one strand at a time. Shin did, at one point, give Naruto a quick look that promised swift and painful retribution if he didn’t stop it immediately, so Naruto accepted that as a small triumph.

Towards the end of class, after the professor had finally stopped speaking, Shin rubbed at his head where Naruto had been merrily yanking at his hair and said, in all seriousness, “Do you have ADD?”

Two seats down, Kiba burst into laughter before burying his face in his arm and doing a poor job of muffling his humor. Naruto tried very hard not to be offended.

“No, I don’t.”

Shin regarded him for a moment before looking away and sliding his things back into his backpack.

“So, lunch?”

“Why are you so persistent?”

“Why are you so obstinate?”

“Why do you care?”

“Why—?”

“Why are you both acting like little girls?” Kiba interrupted, slamming his book bag down on Naruto’s desk. “It’s lunch—either you want to eat or you don’t.”

Shin glared at Kiba before drawing in a long-suffering sigh and said, very precisely, “Fine.”

VICTORY! Naruto threw an arm around Shin’s shoulders and laughed uproariously when Shin recoiled and immediately threw him off. Kiba, the asshole, stepped aside instead of catching him. He lay sprawled in the aisle, grinning like a deranged inmate up at Shin, who looked very much like he wanted to take back his agreement.

oOo

As it was, lunch went off without anything worse happening than Naruto accidentally spearing Shin’s hand with a chopstick when he dove for the last spring roll. Aside from a vein throbbing with ominous portent in his temple, Shin hadn’t retaliated. In fact, with Naruto’s prodding, lunch after class became a daily trend. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chouji joined them a few days a week when their classes allowed. Shin had been typically aloof in his regard of them, until Shikamaru had started talking Global Business studies and Shin had voluntarily pulled him into a debate about something Naruto wasn’t even going to try to remember. Mainly because he’d been far too busy making cow eyes at Shin’s neck and jaw line and ignoring the way Kiba had repeatedly kicked him beneath the table so that he now had a giant purple bruise the size of the Akita prefecture on his right calf.

Shin remained stiff around Naruto’s friends, as if so much friendly company was a new experience and, truthfully, Naruto was beginning to suspect that was the case. This didn’t seem to bother Shin, however. The guy was so focused on his studies that it would probably take a zombie uprising for him to abandon his coursework. Shin was a quirky person—not the same kind of quirky that Naruto was because Naruto had it on good authority that he was a fun, borderline manic kind of quirky. Shin, meanwhile, was the kind of quirky that made a person physically lean away and maybe duck for cover when he passed by.

Another oddity Naruto noticed about Shin was that he received a phone call, every day, at exactly 3:00 p.m., at the end of their last class together. Naruto had asked whom it was from and Shin had put his phone away with a curt ‘No one important.’

Except the way Shin looked when he was on the phone, the way his brows drew together and his eyes grew hard and flinty... Naruto had wanted to take a picture of it just to shove it back in Shin’s face and ask ‘How is this ‘no one important’?’ But Shin was, against all odds, enjoyable company (and Naruto liked to watch his mouth move when he talked and the way his lashes fluttered when he closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh and the way the vein in his temple throbbed when Naruto was making sport of testing his patience). Naruto didn’t want to push him away by asking questions Shin obviously didn’t want to answer. At least, not yet.

Despite their newfound friendship, Neji remained a constant. Shin still spoke to him at least once daily and disappeared with him every other day. He was never gone long, which was somewhat reassuring, but it was still vexing to watch Shin drop everything to go off and do whatever it was they did whenever Neji appeared.

Several weeks later, the students of Akita International University were lamenting the coming of the rainy season and the inevitable humidity that would rise with it. Already, the days were overcast, the sun playing an infuriating game of hide-and-go-seek with the bruised clouds that hung perpetually in the sky, occasionally rumbling as if generating hype for the onslaught of rain it would soon unleash on their heads. Naruto, on the other hand, liked to turn his face up and smile into the darkening sky, wanting to feel the first raindrop on his skin.

The lounge in Komachi Hall, Naruto’s dormitory, had become rather vacant in recent days as students spent as much time as possible outdoors before the rain set in.

“Let’s take lunch outside today,” Naruto called, carrying his tray towards the table where Shin and the others had taken their lunch. The cafeteria was equally bare, while the lawn outside was dotted with students sprawled beneath the brief bit of sunshine.

“Sarutobi,” a familiar voice called. Naruto’s hands tightened on his tray.

Shin was already sliding out of his seat when Naruto reached their table. He set his tray down and placed a hand on Shin’s forearm to stay him, and was surprised but pleased when it actually worked. Shin paused and gave him a questioning look.

“Neji,” Naruto said, addressing the intruder who Naruto wished wasn’t quite so pretty so he could dislike him properly. “Why don’t you join us?”

Neji gave him a dismissive look reminiscent of Shin’s first reaction to Naruto’s approach (this did not endear the man to Naruto) and said, “No. Sarutobi, let’s go.”

And, infuriatingly, Shin obeyed. Although he did give Neji a withering look for ordering him about and that mollified Naruto a little. But only a very, very little. In fact, he was already looking down the length of his chopstick and aiming for the back of Neji’s head.

Before the projectile could take flight, it was unceremoniously appropriated by Kiba, who tossed it over to Shikamaru and out of Naruto’s immediate range. “Calm down, Naruto. Shin’s a big boy; he can make his own choices.”

“I don’t understand what Neji’s got on Shin...” Naruto scrubbed his face vigorously. A month ago, the idea of Shin tumbling around a bed (a desk, the floor, a mud pit) with Neji hadn’t bothered him in the slightest. Now he was entertaining taking a scissor to Neji’s immaculate hair while laughing maniacally and... he was just going to not continue that line of thought. “I want to know why they keep disappearing off together.”

Shikamaru and Chouji suddenly found their food immensely interesting and Kiba gave Naruto a pitying look. “Why do you think, Naruto? Even you’re not that stupid.”

Naruto mustered his resolve. “I have to know for sure. I’ll be right back.” He ignored whatever Kiba was shouting at him and hurried from the cafeteria, hoping to catch the direction Neji and Shin had gone.

He scanned the paths and released his breath when he spotted them. Shin with his unmistakable head of gravity-defying hair was heading off of campus, toward Akita Central Park, Neji still at his side.

Naruto glanced up as the sun was again shrouded. An accumulation of clouds had rolled in and he cast hopeful eyes at the formation. It had already grown dark with alarming speed, a brisk wind tugging at his clothes and snapping the hem of his pants around his ankles. Neji and Shin were too far ahead for Naruto to even hope to hear what they were saying but he kept pace with them as they entered the park.

They apparently had a destination in mind because they both seemed to walk with a sense of direction, neither even bothering to look around to admire the park. They’d fallen silent and Naruto grew increasingly more perplexed as they headed deeper into the park where the students milling about in the gloomy weather had dwindled down to only the two of them. And Naruto, of course.

Finally, they stopped before a bench perched at the edge of a lake and sat down in silent accord. Naruto whirled around for a hiding place before ducking behind a row of bushes. He was still too far away to hear them, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. The two men had made an art of speaking in low tones—they might as well have been communicating in whale calls for all the good eavesdropping did.

Naruto watched, legs curled up beneath him, as they simply sat, unmoving, for long minutes. The surface of the lake was murky, reflecting the stormy conditions overhead, the waves sloshing from one shore to the other in mesmerizing tandem. Naruto bit his lip and wondered if this was all there was to their secretive escapades... he was disappointed for the span of five seconds before he recalled he really didn’t want Shin to be sleeping with Neji. Maybe Neji was simply Shin’s Zen partner.

Finally, Shin moved. He slipped his hand into his jacket and withdrew something small from some inner pocket, which he then passed to Neji. Neji tucked the object into his own pocket without glancing at it.

Naruto’s brows rose, curiosity renewed. Then they began speaking and Naruto, too far away to hear, screwed up his nose in frustration. They carried on for another ten minutes, both of them growing angry at different points in their conversation although neither seemed to ever raise their voice. After another few minutes, Neji finally stood and walked away, taking a different path back to campus. Shin continued to sit in silent contemplation, before he tilted his head back and lifted his hand, palm side up.

Naruto felt something wet strike his cheek and glanced up, grinning at the rainfall despite the way his legs burned from crouching low for so long. He bit his lip to keep from groaning at the cramp in his thighs as he shifted to sit up. Unfortunately, Naruto’s luck had apparently run its course because his foot slipped in the newly damp grass and he let out a yelp as he slid sideways and landed on his elbow.

“Shit,” he muttered. From the direction of the lake, Shin made a noise that sounded suspiciously like he was walking over. Shit, shit. Naruto closed his eyes and prayed for thunder, lightning, a flash flood, anything that might distract Shin long enough for Naruto to make a run for it.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Naruto cursed. He cracked open an eye to find Shin standing over him, arms crossed. There was no point in lying so Naruto took the next easiest route—which was to go on the offensive. He jumped to his feet, his shoes sliding only a little in the grass although it mattered little considering his dignity had already taken a nosedive.

“Shin, if you’re doing something illegal with Neji, then—” He didn’t finish on account of nearly swallowing his tongue.

Shin had stepped close, so close Naruto could count the raindrops in his lashes, and said with steel in his voice, “What did you hear?”

Naruto blinked and had to mentally rewind the moment to comprehend what Shin had just asked him. Then he gaped. “Oh my god, you are, aren’t you?! OH MY GOD, SHIN, ARE YOU DEALING DRUGS?!”

Shin reared back, startled. Then he glanced about a bit wildly before lurching forward again and clamping a wet palm over Naruto’s mouth. “Shut up, shut up, you complete imbecile!” When Naruto had stopped trying to shout past Shin’s fingers, Shin finally eased his grip, his expression thunderous. “Let me give you some advice, Naruto. Stay out of it. For your own good, as well as mine.”

Naruto shook free and whispered loudly, without any of the skill Shin and Neji seemed to have for it. “Geez, you are dealing drugs, aren’t you? And you got Neji addicted!” Then he abandoned whispering altogether. “Oh god, do you two get high together?! NOT COOL, SHIN, NOT COOL!”

Shin looked ready to commit homicide. Naruto’s mouth snapped shut as Shin grabbed him by his collar and dragged him forward to continue shouting (in that eerily low voice) in his face. “Would you shut up?! I’m not a drug dealer and Neji is not addicted! Argh!”

Naruto immediately calmed down. It didn’t occur to him to doubt Shin’s word. “So... you’re not a drug dealer?”

Shin tightened his grip on Naruto’s collar and gave him a small, furious shake. “No, you moron, stop saying that.”

Naruto considered what Shin was saying. “And... you’re not fucking Neji?”

Shin blinked rapidly in succession, taken aback. “What? Of course not! I already told you weeks ago that I have no interest in Neji.”

“Actually, I think you started to say that, but then stopped. So I never actually got that particular message.”

Shin glowered. “In any case, I’m not... sleeping with Neji.”

“Did you want to?”

The little vein in Shin’s temple was ticking again. “No. God, Naruto, why are you always asking such stupid—”

Naruto kissed him. “Just wanted to make sure,” he whispered against Shin’s mouth.

Shin made a sound, something between a groan and a grunt, and it compelled Naruto to kiss him harder. Naruto reached up, hands grabbing at wet shoulders and pressed himself against Shin’s stiff body, coaxing Shin’s mouth to move and to convince him that yes, this was in fact a very good idea and he should start participating now, preferably with gusto.

In minute degrees, Shin released his grip on Naruto’s collar and dragged blunt fingernails up Naruto’s neck before sinking his hands into Naruto’s hair and finally, finally kissing back. Naruto moaned into Shin’s parted lips, tongue slipping forward to take eagerly what Shin had finally chosen to give him. It was heady and consuming—Shin’s taste was subtle; sweet and clear like spring rain.

Rain, which had grown around them into a virtual torrent. The storm beat down against their heads, hair and clothes swollen with water dragging at their limbs. Getting out of the downpour was the logical move, but Naruto couldn’t pull away. Rainwater streamed between them, seeping into the seam of their lips and sliding onto their tongues, a startlingly cold counterpoint to the heat suffusing Naruto’s body where Shin was pressed against him.

“Naruto,” Shin whispered, and Naruto could feel the disappointment sear his chest before Shin actually began to push away. “I can’t do this.”

Naruto gulped in air and shook his head lightly to clear it. His hands tightened around Shin, fingers clenching around wads of wet cloth. “Why not?”

“I can’t... God, you’re just so damned persistent and...” His brows knit and he turned his face away in frustration. “I should have just turned you away from the start; this is exactly what I wanted to avoid.”

Naruto let that sink in before he perked up, unperturbed. He blinked water from his eyes and said, “Wait, you... Does that mean you like me?!”

Shin reached up to swipe his bangs back and gave Naruto a decidedly resentful glare. “Don’t look so happy about it; it doesn’t mean anything.”

“Like hell it doesn’t.” Naruto punctuated this by launching forward and attacking Shin’s mouth again.

Shin groaned against him, kissing back for all of a second before shoving Naruto off him completely. “Stop that!”

Naruto stumbled back, slid once, and regained his footing with a triumphant smile. Shin was already jogging back the way he’d come and Naruto ran to catch up. He grinned the entire way back to campus, unable and unwilling to shake the feeling of euphoria still singing through his veins. It wasn’t until they stumbled into Komachi Hall, thoroughly drenched and earning the raised eyebrows of every student in the immediate vicinity that Naruto recalled the reason they’d been out there in the first place.

He led Shin up to the dorm room he shared with Kiba (Kiba gave them a comical look of incredulity) and shut them both in the bathroom to dry off and change.

“So,” Naruto said. “What was that you gave Neji if it wasn’t—”

“Naruto,” Shin said. The warning in his voice was far from subtle. “I said leave it alone.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Well, if you’re not a drug dealer and you’re not doing anything illegal, then I don’t see what could be so serious.”

“No, you don’t see,” Shin said. “And if you have any instincts for self preservation, you’ll keep it that way.”

Naruto smirked. “That sounded like a death threat. It was kind of hot.”

Shin’s eye twitched, but he refrained from saying anything else, having probably realized the futility of his protests. He turned away to tug off his underpants and throw on the dry clothes Naruto had lent him.

Naruto’s thoughts immediately derailed. He swallowed, hard, and had to physically restrain himself from reaching out and filling his palms with the firm, pale buttocks that Shin so cruelly (and briefly) flashed him. “Nnfggg.”

Shin glanced over and his eyes narrowed when he caught Naruto staring shamelessly at his backside. “Stop that,” he said. Then he threw open the bathroom door and stalked out.

---

TBC!