{sasuke}

Sasuke spent five minutes trying to figure out how to possibly manipulate Shisui into being cooperative. But failing that task - by Sasuke being not sober enough for it and Shisui being too sober for it - Sasuke decided to use what generally worked best with Naruto thus far.

A straightforward addressal.

"Shisui, do not tell Itachi."

That seemed to snap Naruto from whatever rabbit-hole he'd fallen into. "Yes, please don't!"

"Why not?" Shisui was smiling pretty wide, eyes crinkled in a friendly manner. "I'm sure he'd be happy for you two."

"Nu-uh, he'll be insufferable about it for sure!" Naruto declared while pointing accusingly at Shisui. The fact that he knew that, or at least could tell that by hypothesis, proved to Sasuke that the blond man was smarter than he was letting on most of the time. Or at least that he was an idiot savant, at best.

Sasuke turned around with a small smirk feeling a well of affection. He spied the litter of scattered love bites, all of them in relatively not-visible locations. Not-visible, that is, if Naruto's shirt were on. But of course, his shirt was hanging around his neck, pushed over the shoulder at some point to hang at his back like a hood without the cape.

Is that why Shisui's grinning all about the place? Sasuke couldn't remember when he'd done that. Fuck. This got way out of hand. He reached for the shirt, pulling it in front and down over Naruto's torso, trapping his arms in by his side. He'd wanted to talk, to get to know him. He hadn't expected the kiss to turn into an explosion.

Shisui made a clicking noise of disapproval - though the gaze in his eyes had been full of approval.

"That's not how bondage works, Sasuke." The grin he grinned was so charming and playful Sasuke almost didn't connect it to his next words. "I'd be happy to show you both the ropes sometime."

"Whoa, hey! Back the fuck up, new guy." Naruto snapped from his spot as he struggled quite entertainingly to pull his shirt on right. "We haven't even met yet."

Sasuke relaxed when Naruto's shirt began to do it's job just fine.

"Hey," Naruto snapped his fingers in front of Sasuke, "Mister Seventeen-Minutes-in-Heaven, introduce me to your...visitor?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to snicker at the newly assigned nickname and then threw a glare at his thoroughly-entertained cousin who was snickering shamelessly. "Shisui, this is Naruto - Itachi's new star as I'm sure you've heard from him. Naruto, this is Shisui - Itachi's old star and muse. Oh, and our cousin. He decided acting was getting boring and now he farms or something."

Naruto cackled in reply. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Shisui grinned in amusement when he saw Naruto's hands wander down over Sasuke's shoulders and down his chest. "Congratulations on hooking the first season. I heard that the test audience loved you. In fact, I came down to see you in action...however, this wasn't what I had in mind when I thought that."

Naruto laughed so hard he had to lean forward, his chest draping over Sasuke's upper back and shoulders. Sasuke immediately felt better about the rather risqué situation they'd been caught in, pleasantly surprised and reassured by the fact that Naruto hadn't reacted to Shisui's presence by pulling away and pretending nothing was happening.

He smiled at the familiarity the blond was showing him. He didn't know what changed but there had just been a massive shift between them - in the last few minutes, in fact, and it seemed it would be a shift he liked.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy any performance he puts up," Sasuke admitted. Throwing a questioning look at Naruto. How do you affect me the way you do?

Naruto threw a questioning look back this time. It said, can I help you?

"Who knew younger men were your thing, Sasuke?" Shisui fiddled with his jacket pockets.

"He did, how long now, Sas? Fourteen years?" Naruto teased, fingers running sloppily down the side of his face.

Sasuke scowled at him. If the blond was going to start teasing him maybe he should rethink this new shift. Mainly to find something to at least tease back about. However, unable to honestly deny the question he settled for simplicity. "Shut up."

"Very mature." Naruto nodded his approval as he played with Sasuke's hair.

Shisui cackled. "You two are drunk as skunks."

"Yes, but with good reasons!" Naruto said.

"What are these reasons?" Shisui asked.

"I just heard that Rasengan is green-lit for season one!" Naruto kicked his legs and arms out in a celebratory whoop.

Shisui drew closer to the two men and to Naruto's amusement, and Sasuke's great embarrassment, he lifted his phone higher into view.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Sasuke protested. "Put that phone away."

"Smile Sasuke!" Naruto instructed, mushing his cheeks in again but this time using one hand on each cheek. Then he pulled at the cheeks outwards to make a weird stretched out line with Sasuke's mouth. Naruto tilted the dark-haired head up and looked down into the distorted face. "Aw, look at that! You look like a Halloween pumpkin gone wrong."

Shisui almost dropped the phone he was holding up because he was giggling too hard. "This is gold."

Sasuke was too busy watching Naruto's face with awe, it had turned red with laughter. He was also too drunk to care that there was going to be video evidence of him. The blue eyes shimmering with obvious humour in front of him was all that mattered.

"Good god, you're beautiful." Sasuke breathed out slowly. He realised he was leaning back into Naruto's lap to keep the captivating face in his sight.

Naruto flushed a deeper red at the sudden compliment. His gold hair, blue eyes and red face made him look unbelievably attractive.

"Holy shit." Shisui's comment stayed in the background where it belonged when Sasuke - instead of giving a damn that he was being caught on tape - reached up with his left hand and pulled Naruto down in a very loose imitation of the Spiderman kiss. He lifted his right hand to flip Shisui off.

It was brilliant, he got to kiss the blond and shamelessly establish that kissing the blond was a thing he did now, proudly.

~

{Naruto}

Naruto wasn't sure where he was, but where he was lying was so comfortable he hated that he was slowly growing too uncomfortable in his own body to stay unconscious.

A kick in his throat had him shooting out of bed, looking around blearily and running into a bathroom - disturbing the man already standing at the sink with a toothbrush - so he could regurgitate something vile into the toilet bowl. Probably alcohol.

Fuck, how had he gotten himself in this situation? He couldn't even remember.

His vision blurred with tears when the confusion gave way to an onslaught of pain. Kneeling heavily with his hands braced on the toilet seat he heaved, swaying between wanting to curl into a ball in a physically attempt to stave off the pain and throw up a bunch more.

"Wow, you really didn't want to lose," Sasuke observed as he extended a hand towel dipped in cold water. Wiping at Naruto's face with a hint of amusement on his clearly sober face. "I'm not half as hungover as you are."

"I think I'm still a bit drunk actually." Naruto groaned. "Why'd you let me pass out?"

"You were difficult to dissuade," Sasuke replied with a small uptilt to his lips but his eyes were focused on Naruto's chest as he squatted beside him.

"Difficult to dissuade. Thanks, Velma." Naruto huffed, pouting as he submitted to the care being afforded to him, turning to make things easier.

Sasuke's lips quirked. "You are very welcome, Shaggy."

"You could have woken me up," Naruto whined, as the cooling care of the towel ventured to the back of his neck.

"You draped yourself on my upper back and transformed into dead weight. I could do nothing but carry you to the closest bed." Sasuke insisted, fighting amusement.

Naruto's eyes observed all the subtle and unsubtle movement of Sasuke's lips even as he spoke. His memory provided him with a sudden flurry of feelings; those lips on his lips, his neck, his chest - on his stomach!

"What happened?" The words left him involuntarily. A wistful whisper as he wondered aloud.

Sasuke's lips downturned but ye kept up the low-key sponge bath. "A few things," he said in a cautious voice.

Naruto's hand dropped to the hem of his shirt and lifted it to look at the bruises littering his side and chest. "Looks like a lot of things."

Sasuke's hand stilled, eyes dropping to the arrangement - a design created by his alcohol addled mind.

"I've always woken up from a blackout with bruises. Never love bites." Naruto smiled, small and honest. "I like the change. Will I find myself limping?"

Sasuke's eyes shot up to look at big blue eyes. A tightness to his mouth and a clenching of his jaw. "No."

"Shh, calm down, Sasuke. I remember what happened."

Sasuke's shoulders slumped in relief then he immediately shoved at Naruto who collapsed backwards against the side of the shower stall as he burst out laughing. "Idiot!"

"I had no idea you had such a branding kink," Naruto remarked as he lifted his shirt again looking at the marks.

Sasuke's cheeks seemed to redden slightly but he still smirked as he stood up, dusting his pants.

"What? Why are you looking so smug?" Naruto asked.

"You were getting calls from a pink-haired roommate slash best friend slash PR of yours." Sasuke offered. "She probably wants to know when we started dating."

Naruto looked at his watch, it was barely ten past midnight. "As of 3:15 PM yesterday."

Sasuke looked down at the blond on the floor, standing between his knees. A fond smile on his lips. "She has follow-up questions."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, how does she even know?"

Sasuke watched his face for a while before breaking into a vicious smile like a hunter having caught a prey. "Check your phone."

"What are you not telling me?"

"If you don't want to check your phone that's fine." Trying to hide a smile that Naruto caught in a reflection anyway, Sasuke opened a couple of cabinets, digging through it with a shrug, before handing a toothbrush over. "Brush, I'll make you some toast and coffee."

"Why are you not telling me?" Frowning deep, Naruto checked his pockets, found his phone in the left-side pocket. It was turned off. He turned it on, it took a moment for the phone to connect to the necessary networks and lines. Then the bathroom echoed with chiming and ringing of all kinds of social media making him yell, "What the ever-loving fuck?"

Naruto immediately switched his phone to silent while he groaned. "Fuck you, Uchiha, you absolute dick."

"That is not even my fault."

"What the hell." Naruto gaped at all the links and images he'd been sent. "Uzumaki Comes Out With a Bang? What? I was never in the closet to start with."

"We got news from an unnamed source that Itachi Uchiha's new production Rasengan will be releasing sometime this coming January. But that's not all!" Naruto read aloud. "Damn, that's some original article writing, yay for that shitty clickbait. Why am I here? Just take me to the good stuff. Ah, Uzumaki Naruto who will be starring in the brand new show about intrigue and mystery and ninjas is set to play Menma Kamikaze. The fresh face - what do you mean fresh face? I've been in the industry since I was fifteen! - actor was seen getting very cosy with the creators of the show."

There was an image of Naruto and Itachi, both all wrapped up in scarves and beanies, the picture was considerably old, it was taken from last winter placing it at around nine months old. Naruto distinctly remembers the day, it was the first time he'd met Itachi.

In the image, Itachi was smiling bright, making him look half a decade younger than he looked, meaning he looked the right age - thirty-two or so. Itachi was not a loud person so they were huddled close in a cafe that had the music on too loud, out of context they did look too close for acquaintances. Their cups of coffee looked photoshopped to appear like they were steaming.

"Maybe a little too close? What the fuck are you trying to say, Konan? As if you know anything. What the fuck is this video?" Naruto asked as he played it.

There was a cackled laugh. "You two are drunk as skunks."

"Yes, but with good reasons!" Naruto declared from the video.

"What are these reasons?" The unfamiliar voice asked.

"I just heard that Rasengan is green-lit for season one!" Naruto kicked his legs and arms out in a celebratory whoop.

When the phone came up higher to take in the way Naruto seemed wrapped around Sasuke's back as Sasuke protested. "Hey, that's not fair! Put that phone away."

"Smile Sasuke!" Naruto slurred in a delighted tone. Sasuke's face was then pulled back, all the better for them to see each other. "Aw, look at that! You look like a Halloween pumpkin gone wrong."

The sound of giggling from the film-taker. "This is gold."

"Good god, you're beautiful." Sasuke whispered as he peered up at Naruto.

Naruto gasped out loud. "Oh my god! Sasuke! Ohgod! That's kissing! We're kissing!" Naruto looked up, his cheeks felt sunburned at the look in the dark eyes that met him so he looked back down again. "Like making out like, like... Ohmygod, Sasuke!"

"You get rather frisky when you're drunk." Sasuke was leaning against the wall beside the sink with a sinful smile on his face as he watched Naruto closely. "Can't say I dislike it."

Naruto dropped the phone and buried his face in his hands. "Ohmygod."

"And that's only the part that Shisui caught."

"There's more?" Naruto was starting to feel and look more distressed. What if this ruined his career? What if Itachi hated this? What if Shisui wanted his spot on Rasengan? What if he didn't want the spot but got it anyway because Naruto had been a reckless idiot?

"Why, do you want there to be more?" Sasuke asked, effectively cutting off Naruto's mini-breakdown by suggesting things entirely too tempting.

"I want to at least remember it!" Naruto pouted a bit.

"Fair point." Sasuke agreed, he took a hold of Naruto's hands and pulled him up. "So about that dinner you're taking me too."

But Naruto refused to meet his eyes, still marinating in the embarrassing video that was still playing on his phone. Shisui had turned on selfie mode and was standing in front of the boys - who were making out - with a peace sign, seeming excited.

"Ah, young love!" Was the closing commented.

Naruto squawked in indignation.

Sasuke sighed, clearly a bit bothered. "What's got you so flustered? You're an actor. You'll kiss a bunch of people on screen."

Naruto shook his head, stepping up to the sink to brush his teeth so he had something to do with his hands. "That's acting Sasuke, using my mouth for professional purposes like doing a presentation or singing or eating for people who do those all-you-can-eat competitions. This...this is my personal life. Memories of mine - that I barely remember the feeling off - and the whole world can see it, know it, somehow be involved in it, even just as spectators."

Sasuke sighed. "You're the leading role in a show that is going to run for six seasons - if not more - according to my brother's impeccable calculations." He stepped up behind Naruto, wrapping arms around him, trying to provide physical comfort while he spoke. "Your life will be heavily spectated at every step, from here on out. Whether it's you acting or not."

Naruto spat out some toothpaste and sighed. "I know. You're right. I'm not really complaining. Attention is the one thing I've always wanted. But... I still feel kind of violated. Like the only reason I matter is because I had coffee with Itachi a year ago, because I play Menma and because I kissed you."

Sasuke paused for a long moment watching the morning ritual. "What?"

He studied Naruto's tensed shoulders in front of him then the lines on Naruto's face, through the mirror. "You can't be serious," he muttered. There was the sound of him running a hand through his black bangs, pushing them back only for them to fall ahead again.

Naruto didn't meet his eyes as he rinsed his mouth out, he couldn't. He couldn't get himself to reply at all. A weight pulled at every limb. He felt an anvil settle on his chest and slowly but surely sink into him, pulling his lungs downwards, shoving them against his stomach taking away his breath in the worst way.

"What on earth are you on about? You're so... You are... It's absolutely impossible to hate you, or look at you objectively in anyway."

Naruto felt his jaw drop a bit in utter surprise, eyes snapping up to meet the frown reflected at him in the mirror.

"I have never met anyone who can make Itachi laugh like that - like he isn't five minutes from dropping with exhaustion! I haven't met anyone so absolutely infectious that you've seeped into every little synapse of my brain and fire at will. You make me - everyone, anyone - want to be around you every hour of every day. Your personality makes people gravitate to you like you're some sort of compact, portable, huggable sun."

Naruto struggled with the emotions Sasuke was forcing on him. What was he supposed to do when attacked by a wave of compliments like that? Unexpectedly so. Maybe Sasuke was still drunk.

"Naruto, I have never met anyone even remotely capable of turning a room full of tense prudes murmuring into their wine and bitching about each other into a party of people rooting for you to do well and by default, the show too."

Sasuke turned Naruto around, forcing him when the blond resisted. Naruto looked everywhere but at Sasuke.

But Sasuke waited and watched while Naruto struggled with his thoughts until he gave in, his shoulders dropping, eyes slowly wandering everywhere until the only place left to look was at Sasuke. Gaze hesitantly climbing up his chest, then into his eyes. "I think I - me, the man with standards higher than Mt. Everest - might be uncontrollably falling for you and you have the audacity to feel any kind of insecure."

Naruto stared at the man in front of him. "You can't be serious."

"I don't kiss just about anyone, Naruto. I had hoped to take my time with this but... Every time I think or speak or breathe or do anything at all I realise how helpless I am to you. I dread the day you realise your full capabilities as a persona because you could enslave a nation of the most hateful people simply by smiling." Sasuke's hand shook as he lifted it to tug slightly at a stray lock hanging at Naruto's forehead.

Naruto felt the dryness in his mouth. He opened his mouth and simply closed it again, at a loss. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the back room where things that don't make sense do not enter, he realised how incredibly attractive he was finding Sasuke with every word he was saying. But in the front he couldn't comprehend a thing.

"When I realised the strength of my feelings for you I felt helpless. Of course, someone as reckless and undeserving as me would find an angel to want."

"Sasuke--" Naruto's protest was silenced when Sasuke took him by the chin, his hold rather tight.

"An angel so pure, he walked out of hell and didn't let the sins of the place that dragged him down taint him in the least bit."

"You don't know that." Naruto shook his head and the grip tightened.

"Have you ever killed anyone, Naruto?"

Sasuke's question forced turmoil through his stomach. "I... it's... possible."

"Have you shot someone? Or strangled them with a shoelace? Knocked them out and sunk them in wet concrete?" he asked.

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. "I-- No! Fuck. Have you?"

Sasuke ignored the question and barged on with his rather aggressive method of whatever he was doing. Attacking Naruto with some messed up version hero-worship. "You say you didn't make it out before me. But you made it out better than me, of that I am sure." Sasuke's voice was low. The conversation was whispered at that point. "Of course the only person to pique my interest is the realest and nicest and kindest celebrity ever. In the face of everything I've ever seen and done, you're the purest person I've ever set my sight on."

"If you can call me a whole person," Naruto muttered, hands gripping at the sink. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I'll never understand how you look at broken pieces and appreciate them in any way."

"Fine. Then you're the fragments and shards of the purest person I know. And if you'll let me I'll help you gather the pieces and assemble them."

And shards he was, Naruto agreed silently.

Yet Sasuke looked at his twisted, mangled, pretzeled soul and found it in him to look like that. Dark eyes full of appreciation and want and worship. "Some pieces are lost--"

"Then I'll find them," Sasuke interjected, "Or give you mine."

"You're crazy!" Naruto's hands had found their way to grip at the shirt in front of him.

"For you, I am," Sasuke admitted with such seriousness Naruto felt on the verge of a cardiac arrest himself. "Me and everyone else you've ever met."

"Why--" He stopped when the words broke then tried again. "Why are you so nice to me?"

Sasuke's face twisted in what looked like a face ready to weep. "You deserve it. If you ask me, you deserve the world."

"No, I don't." Naruto squeaked.

"You'll have it, anyway." Sasuke stepped closer, trying not to lose those blue eyes.

"Why are you saying these things?" Naruto shook his head, reeling in shock.

"One day you'll get there. One day you'll see why." Sasuke smiled, probably because Naruto didn't feel like running anymore. He felt like falling, throwing himself face first into whatever Sasuke was hinting at.

After a few minutes Sasuke decided to ask because it was killing him. "Can I call you my boyfriend?"

"You can say and do whatever you fucking want Sasuke. Might as well. It's not like I can stop you." Naruto's voice was scratchy but there was a pained humour to his tone. "Whatever you damn well please."

"Will you do something for me?"

Naruto stilled, cautious. Was the other shoe about to drop? "What?"

"Give me... answers." Sasuke leant forward and Naruto took a sharp breath. But the dark-haired man simply pressed their foreheads together. "Tell me who you are. What do you like to do? Why? What makes your hours tick? And your blood rush? How can I be the one that makes your hours tock and your life slow long enough to make you smile?"

Naruto wrestled with his emotions again. His walls shaking and peeling and knocking against each other precariously. "The way you're speaking... I'd think you're asking for my heart."

"No, simply the map to it," Sasuke whispered the words against his lips before kissing them.

As he kissed back Naruto had no doubt that Sasuke would find his way there even if he tried it blind with arms tied behind his back.