{naruto}

Leaving Ichi Raku was an embarrassingly amusing affair. Though neither of them was remotely drunk, they were both high-strung enough that it turned into a game of knocking over empty glasses and dropping napkins, picking them up only to drop them again.

The tension was palpable.

It made Naruto's hands shake as they made their way out into the cool night air. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, offering up a slight curl of his lips because Sasuke always did this annoyed disbelieving nose twitch whenever Naruto did the full blown grin mask.

Kurama roamed ahead of them sans leash and Sasuke seemed to be worried he'd wander off by the way he insisted on facing whichever direction the dog bounded off into.

Sasuke was quite the observer, Naruto had noted. A silent watcher. Sasuke had stared at him throughout the two hours they'd spent in the restaurant. Just like the first day he'd seen him at the cast and crew mixer. Like the day he'd stared into his soul at the little drinking party he'd hosted with his friends.

Every look from those dark eyes wraps around him and seeps into his bones. The edge in that gaze peels at his skin, seeking to go deeper. Seeking to uncover.

Every frown and crevice; an ask, a demand. The silent speech makes roots and burrows deep into him. Threatening to take up a permanent residence.

That look calls to him like a bat signal, like a sign of need. And he wants to respond. He wants to take that jump off the ledge. But however, can he trust Sasuke to stand await and catch him when he does finally drop?

Naruto looks away when Sasuke, satisfied that Kurama isn't about to race away forever, turns back. He checks his phone, hoping to delay meeting eyes with Sasuke fucking Uchiha as he used to be dubbed in his memory with a scathing, venomous connotation.

When Naruto had proposed the 'winner gets to choose to take the other on a date' thing he'd never expected to sit in a restaurant talking to himself the whole time. The more he spoke the stupider he felt.

What am I doing? This isn't part of the plan. It was supposed to be a don't mess with me Uchiha showdown at dinner. He wanted to drag out every skeleton they had and lay them out and make it hella clear what Sasuke was getting into by flirting with him.

Because, that's what it was, right? Those delving, searching looks? Because if it ain't flirting, Naruto needs to get a bodyguard. Maybe he should get one anyway. Last night he'd been accosted at his residence by fans for the first time. He could still hear the noises fresh in his mind.

Anyway, he'd wanted to give Sasuke exactly what he was looking for, all the answers, all the honesty. Maybe even a threat about the risks of heart-breaking, because Naruto could see things were escalating between them rapidly and on their own.

But then he'd come over looking like - for all intents and purposes - a kicked pup. It was all Naruto could do not to smother him at simply the look. The part about the nightmare shook more than he'd like to admit.

Was that supposed to some kind of ominous premonition? Was Sasuke doomed to hurt him? Was Naruto doomed to change with the oncoming fame too much for this relationship? Or was he going to have a misunderstanding and force Sasuke to sever ties? What was that damn dream about?

"Hey," Sasuke called out to him and Naruto stopped walking. He realized Sasuke was several steps behind. "What are you thinking so hard about?"

Naruto turned to look at him, a slight furrow was clear between his brows. He sighed. Maybe it'd have been a much better idea to do the dinner at home, at least Sasuke wouldn't have disappeared into his shell on the very first date.

Naruto completely blamed himself for the lack of foresight. He'd always been one to be blinded by the excitement of an idea, letting it overshadow any flaws. He sighed, couldn't be helped now.

An idea to salvage the date and dialogue struck Naruto as he watched Sasuke purposefully bridge the gap between them, Kurama right by his side.

A smile from him interrupted whatever Sasuke was going to say next. "Dessert?"

"Uh, I'm not much of a chocolate person," Sasuke warned with a nod of acceptance, at least he wasn't hoping for the date to end early.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised. But I was thinking more like, banana pancakes, mostly because it's basically the only thing I know how to make." Naruto hooked his elbow around Sasuke's arm and dropped his hand back into his jacket pocket. "Oh wait, and cup ramen."

A chuckle burst out from Sasuke at the admission, a nervous edge too, maybe at the proximity? "How am I not surprised?" he asked, dark eyes clearly burning with mirth.

"Hey!" Naruto protested with an exaggerated pout that made Sasuke's lips quirk up.

"I like the idea of banana pancakes." The dark-haired date replied as they continued down the street.

"Good." Naruto agreed. "Because I like the idea of you and me."

"Good." Sasuke reiterated in the same tone Naruto had used.

"I like it when you talk..." Naruto slanted him a look.

Sasuke correctly picked up on the silent question. "Sometimes I have nothing to say."

"Yes, well, I haven't had twenty-five years with your voice in my head so I'm very keen on hearing a lot of it for--" Naruto cleared his throat and smiled dubiously, not giving away his internal break slam. "From now on."

For the next twenty-five? Hold those horses, cowboy! This is the first fucking date. Don't fucking propose!

Sasuke's eyes were attached to Naruto's face again, looking way too closely for comfort. Naruto was starting to squirm. And what's this under his skin? A boiling pot of spicy curry? Lava? Who knows?

Naruto felt the urge to let out a vague maniacal laughter.

Somehow a single dark look from those eyes and Naruto is ready to dive off a cliff, mostly to cool his heated...everything. But yes, cliff-diving felt like a great idea.

~

Naruto opened the door to the apartment. Kurama bounded off to the kitchen, openings three drawers and ducking between Naruto's legs with a big ass bone.

"Hey!" Naruto yelped as he almost tripped over the dog. He'd grabbed onto the counter with some foresight, dancing out of the way with an awkward hip jerk to avoid colliding with the blank blur. "Damn you."

There was a replying bark as Kurma settled on the window seat with his bone.

"Damned wild wolf!" Naruto threw back as he chucked a small yellow stress ball at the dog who jumped out of his seat, grabbed the ball and returned to his seat it with a joyful yap.

Sasuke looked on with a mild mix of fascination. "He just does whatever he wants."

"Yeah, he's a lot like Snowy, you know, from Tintin. The unruly mutt," Naruto raised his voice while referring to Kurama and the black Dane barked back with a mildly aggressive growl. "Is very smart and well trained to boot. Except they look like exact opposites."

"Where'd you get such a great dog anyway?" Sasuke asked as he took the island table stool offered to him.

Naruto's smile melted quickly. But a new smile took its black immediately. "He's a rescue. Chocolate chips in your banana pancake?"

"Just a little honey."

"Okay, honey," Naruto replied as he pulled out some utensils and ingredients. All his movements were smooth.

Sasuke chuckled. "You don't miss anything."

"Not a thing." Naruto agreed as he cracked a couple of eggs and started beating him.

Sasuke's eyes roved down. "Shouldn't you change that shirt?"

Naruto looked at his slightly ruined shirt, there was a patch of dried dull stain on the chest. "Aiming for the heart so soon is rather unhealthy for us, I think."

To Naruto's surprise, there was an edge of teeth in Sasuke's smile even as his eyes were hidden from view soon. "But not impossible."

Naruto laughed out heartily. "No, not impossible." he agreed softly.

The sound of the bowl being put down made dark eyes look up, meeting lovely rich indigo blue that probably stained everything they set eyes on. The air seemed to sizzle between them for a moment then blue was gone, leaving Sasuke's eyes to follow hands suddenly undoing the jacket that was loosely zipped up just at the bottom. Which somehow looked good on him.

"I guess you're right. I should take it off." When Sasuke's eyes flashed to the pants Naruto's smile pushed against his cheeks tight, transforming into a grin. "I'll leave the pants for you."

Naruto shrugged off his jacket letting it fall onto the stool beside him, then he was unbuttoning his soiled shirt. Sasuke's eyes clung to every inch of skin the shirt pulled away from. The shirt joined the jacket on the stool as Sasuke drooled at the unmitigated view of a defined torso.

Naruto turned to put the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

A tattoo of a wild thunderstorm over a troubled ocean was featured on the skin at Naruto's right wing bone and shoulder. The left edges of that tattoo bled into the sharp side profile of a woman with features similar to the ones on Naruto's face, laughter lines and a cheeky smirk included.

Naruto could feel Sasuke's eyes scanning the remainder of the back, there were stitches and scars in all kinds of places, one word sat over a bunch of scars at the lower back. Erised.

A bunch of cherry blossoms seemed to hang down from nowhere in particular on his left shoulder, spreading down his arm to his elbow and creating a dappling of skin peeking through. The branch of cherry blossoms seemed to create an umbrella effect over the lady's side profile.

Just under this was a blurry outline of a shadow standing in front of a light source bright enough to erase any distinguishable features, right in the middle of the back. Dark long shapes, nine of them, twisted around this individual like a frame. To the right of the frame was a calabash-shaped container tilted over so it was pouring a never ending flow of water that trickled under the central image and washed down Naruto's left lower back. The course of the stream separated and altered several times creating many little whirlpools.

To the right of the gourd, were the lettered carved into Naruto by the faction of a criminal syndicate that was presently looking for him.

"Like what you see?" Naruto asked as he went about setting a pan on the stove, the batter now mixed.

Sasuke's voice failed him when he tried to let out a yeah so he cleared a voice and instead took the question as an invitation to follow the artwork. "When did you get these?"

"Most of them when I was fifteen or sixteen, but the whirlpools are new."

"They blend so seamlessly I wouldn't think they were newly added."

"Yeah, well, Sai does a good job."

Sasuke paused. "Sai? Itachi's creepy set director guy? That Sai?"

"Yeah, we're friends." Naruto supplied but left it there.

"Friends." Sasuke repeated in surprise. "Okay... The cherry blossoms?"

"Sakura."

"Were you two, um, uh, ever together?"

"We did kiss once..." Naruto's voice sounded lost in the memory. "It ended in three seconds, it was super awkward. It felt like kissing Kurama but without the slobber. I think it's fair to say she's way more sister than I'd thought she'd be to me. Sister and manager all in one."

"They're called momagers in the business."

"Shut up! She's not my mom!"

"No, I suppose not." Sasuke's hand traced the woman's well-sketched facial features, using Naruto's skin colour as hers, the eyes were filled in a deep violet. There was a lull, then Sasuke posed the question. "Nothing for your dad?"

"I want to, but... I can't think of anything... I have all this space in the bottom left and I was thinking of this upside down spinning tornado that looks like it originated from the spot the lightning touched down... And maybe opening into clouds... But, yeah... I'm not sure..."

"What's the significance of the water?"

"The... water seems to start from the sand gourd but there's really more water inside. A lot. Enough to overflow. It's kinda like... Just because the story is now all waterfalls and whirlpools, doesn't mean, you forget it used to be stagnation and still waters." Naruto's skin felt ablaze in the wake of Sasuke's exploring hands as they slid lower and created tiny swirls, following the swill of the spinning pools.

"And the gourd?"

"Gaara."

"Sabaku? The 'demon king' of special effects makeup?"

"Ah, yes. Have you seen his YouTube channel? He does all his best work during Halloween seasons."

"How do you know him?"

"Very well, actually."

"No, as in he's a fucking recluse. How did you get to know him?" Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto from behind, peeking as Naruto skillfully wraps the thing pancake around banana slices.

"You get pretty chummy when you go through shit together."

Sasuke pressed his cheek to the shoulder he was looking over, letting his lips pressed to the cut of thunder strike.

Naruto's shoulders tensed for a moment before relaxing. "That one is yours."

"What?"

"The lightning tattoo? That one's yours."

Sasuke pulled back immediately, hands still gripping Naruto's sides. "Mine?"

"The lightning strike that started it all. The whirlpools, the sand storm...the very beginning."

Sasuke swayed in his decision for a bit. "I'm so sorry," he scratched out. Selfishly hoping for restitution.

"Thanks. But don't be. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here... I used to think of it as a reminder to trust carefully. They say lightning strikes a place only once, like a cruel joke, that because lightning never has to strike more than once, it burns everything it touches. And I had promised myself I wouldn't set myself up for a burn like that ever again."

Naruto plated the last pancake and turned in Sasuke's arms. Finally glimpsing the torn up expression on the fair face.

"But now."

Dark eyes looked up in surprise at the change in Naruto's tone from somber to rough. Liquid regret streamed down from the left eye. "I suppose they say lightning never strikes twice because the second time is more of a pleasant electrification to those that can survive the first hit. What's that saying, 'you don't deserve me at my best if you can handle me at my worst' is it?"

"It wasn't a test, Naruto." Sasuke drifted away from Naruto, but the blond pulled him back by the belt loops.

"It was. Maybe not a test engineered by you, but it was a test for us anyway." Naruto reached up, pushing away the bangs falling in Sasuke's eyesight before cupping Sasuke's face, making him look back up, rubbing the guilty tears away. "Don't be upset. I'm glad about who I am today and you're the one who put that into motion."

When Naruto tugged at Sasuke again the older man threw his arms around Naruto, holding onto him. "I'm still sorry. I'll fix it the best I can. I'll help you find your parents, I promise."

Naruto stared in disbelief at the back he was holding onto. "You will?"

"Of fucking course. It's the least I can do." Sasuke's nails scraped lightly at Naruto's back as his hands curled from open palm to fists while they remained in the embrace with Naruto leaning against the stove.

"Um, okay. Now, which pancake do you want? The triangles ones or the squares?"

Sasuke was silent for a bit after the question, until the sniffling finally broke into soft giggles. Naruto was delighted to hear the sounds coming from the face buried in the crook of his neck. "Only you could seamlessly pull off an awkward segway."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I asked you which pancakes you wanted not stage directions for a romcom, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked sideways at Naruto, then, quick as you like, took a nibble at Naruto's earlobe. "You're evil, teasing me like this by cooking pancakes while shirtless."

"Oh? I thought I was being considerate and putting on a show for you."

"I'll take the squares."