They drove in relative silence for a chunk of the way. Sauske's head slowly descended onto his shoulder, eyes small slits as he viewed the world outside in a half-dreamlike state. Naruto's voice was still ringing in his ears. The short and nondescript story he gave to wrap up his life prior to Jiraiya flipping it around sounded like a nightmare. Gaara, in retrospect, sounded like a nightmare himself. Sasuke could imagine a furious child with killer instincts wholly obsessed over a young Naruto, who somehow looked like himself still. Sasuke could not picture him looking any younger than he was now.

"I can't imagine what you looked like when you were young." He murmured, shifting the weight of his head form his sore neck to his hand, which he rested on the window.

Naruto looked to him from somewhere in his mind. The sunglasses hiding his eyes didn't help Sasuke gauge out his reaction. "Why would you want to?" He shrugged. "Like a shittier, shorter and considerably thinner version of myself."

"You're all about loving yourself aren't you?" Sasuke sneered, pushing the sunglasses further up his nose, they had began to slip.

"I am." Naruto nodded in mock seriousness.

Sasuke wanted to ask more questions. Itched to know everything about Naruto's life. At the same time, he knew how much like a dick he would sound without giving something of his past in return. He wasn't giving much at all, and he had this uncomfortable feeling of debt that while he couldn't pay back currently, he suspected Naruto would want in his talking about himself. Now that the realization hit, it hit hard. Perhaps that's why he was being dragged off camping – to get some information out of him? With Sasuke's guard down, Naruto might have figured it would be easier. Then he just felt guilty that he even began to suspect Naruto of thinking like that. The blonde never pushed him to talking.

They rode past a sidestop and Naruto groaned as he obviously snapped out of his thoughts. "Shiiiit." He wheezed as he did a full circle, cutting through the adjoining lane and riding up the gravel pathway.

"You need to concentrate more on the road." Sasuke smiled as Naruto huffed behind the wheel. "Yeah, I know.' He smiled apologetically and peeked form behind his shades. That crooked smile and smiling eyes had Sasuke glued to the chair as a cold snap ran along his spine. Naruto didn't notice, thank God, because he pointed to the little café up ahead and pulled the keys from the ignition. "You get us something to bite and I'll fill her up ok?'

All the raven could do was nod as Naruto bounced out of the car with a smile brighter than the goddamned sun. Sasuke slinked out behind him and quietly closed the door behind him. He sauntered over to the open window that was the ordering bar. There was no one around he could see as he peeked inside and he turned behind him to check if there were any people sitting on the many round picnic tables. Not one soul.

He turned around and jumped. She had appeared so suddenly that his blood began to pump in his veins. "S…sorry, I didn't think you were in there." He smiled and she grinned back. "I was in the back washing up. Not a lot of people come by here so I don't usually have anyone waiting." Her smile cut through half her face as she eyed him appreciatively. "And what could I get for you hunny?"

Sasuke didn't like the way she said "hunneyh" it sounded like she wanted to catch him up in a glue trap and devour him. He looked up quickly to the menu which hung above her head, grateful for the shades, he reminded himself to thank Naruto again.

"Well, what would you advise we take?" Naruto's voice reverberated through him and he flicked in surprise again, both at the proximity of the voice, which was coming from right beside his ear, but at the deepness of the sound itself. Low and sultry with hints of the bright sparkle that was inevitably Naruto. He sounded like he wanted to fuck her, and she was pleased to respond in kind as her voice dropped an octave and she bent forward to personally acquaint the blonde with the menu, not forgetting to raise her hand to point in a way that would expose her ample breasts at their best.

Sasuke shuddered in moral disgust and the proximity of the blonde. He chuckled in his ear as he let the girl chirp on more to herself than anyone else. "For a hotdog and a two dollar tip, I think we're getting an allright show, ne?"

The temperatures were soaring in Sasuke's immediate bubble. He felt that this was too personal a boundary the blonde had crossed. He was almost on his back and breathing down his neck. It would have felt so right if it wasn't so wrong… Sasuke could almost feel Naruto's hands on his hips, drawing him closer, which of course he wasn't doing at all. "Suit yourself" he quipped at him

"Suit yourself" he quipped at him and stepped to the side, not wanting to, but seeing absolutely no other way out of what would turn into a very awkward situation if he didn't. His crotch was feeling tighter by the second and he was flushed. If the girl looked down now, it would be mortifyingly obvious that just feeling the breath of the blonde on his skin had him almost coming.

"Im going to use the bathroom." He ground out hoarsely, whispering more than speaking out loud and looking around him to find the spot of peace he needed to cool his blood down.

The bathrooms turned out to be no more than ramshackle stand alones. A breathtaking odour held strong within a ten meter radius of each and Sasuke grimaced as he stood before one of the hated three. The one that looked like it wouldn't keel over if he went in.

He found out that the outside didn't look better than the inside. Besides the stench, the open hole gaped at him with god knew what inside. He stood right in the middle of the thing wondering if it was safe to sit on yet standing felt too stupid even to himself.

Sitting wasn't much more comfort but at least it grounded him enough to think. What was Naruto playing at? That was too close for him to pretend it wasn't deliberate, yet he knew Naruto wouldn't put on a display like that. The blonde was highly restrained in their proximity of living together. Never had Sasuke had anything like that happen before. Naruto thought of him as a Kit, a young kid he had picked off the street and was trying to help. As good as Naruto was to him, and as grateful as Sasuke was in return, he knew very well that overstepping that boundary was not in the blonde's agenda, though he wished to god it was. His hard, pulsing dick agreed. Sasuke would have liked very much for the blonde to show an interest that went beyond friendship, no matter how wrong that was. Yet he knew equally well that it was almost impossible. Naruto had a job and reputation and Sasuke didn't think that sleeping with a considerably younger assault victim-turned housemate would be accepted with smiles.

He could enjoy the stolen moments when the blonde's guard was down, he could use the innocent touches to make himself feel better about it all, in his mind, he could make Naruto his lover. And he could just predict what a lover he would be. It was in the easy grace he maneuvered that big body, in the stance, the look. And Sasuke had a firsthand peek into the man behind the smile. The dark, brooding past that wasn't as well buried and everyone thought it was. That streak of dark was what made Naruto so fucking irresistible. He looked like a wounded tiger at times, bleeding and ready to kill, and a purring feline the next, seductive and impish.

Naruto was everything Sasuke wanted, sort-of-had, and could never get. Well fuck.

He waited a bit, drawing deep breaths of gaseus shit and waiting for his raging hard-on to die down, which it did, but only to a heated ember, burning low in the pit of his stomach. He suspected that it was the unbearable stench that helped him out with this one- even his dick had chosen to give up if it would mean getting out of the hell pit.

When he returned to the café, Naruto was already eating, though he had chosen to sit on the hood of the car instead on the picnic tables. Sasuke appreciated his form as he took his time walking up. Naruto really did look hot - there was no other word for it. The white shirt he had on before was completely open now and pulled out of his leg-gripping jeans. The entire muscular torso rippled as he bent over his fries, picking at them and disdainfully glaring them down. The dark tan was a stark contrast to the white. He had his feet on the bumper and the light wind that wafted through the open stretch of land tugged at the material. He looked up exasperated, as Sasuke got closer. The girl had followed him outside and stood in front of the blonde, babbling away and giggling at precise intervals. Sasuke threw her a once over and had to admit she was attractive. Any other guy would willingly let himself be bamboozled into just getting a chance to feel her up, which she was obviously very willing for Naruto to do. He couldn't help the wicked smile that stretched his lips as he perched on the side of the front, to the left of the blonde. His grin grew as Naruto looked over to him.

"And how are you guys doing? He asked sweetly.

It was almost comical how she looked at Sasuke and without skipping a beat, threw herself with renewed vigor into another story, which Sasuke did not catch even a word of. He glanced over at the blonde and smirked at the horrified expression Naruto gave him.

"What?" He asked innocently as he picked up a carton that sat between them, identical to the one Naruto was holding and opening it sniffed. The savory smell of gravy and cheese hit his nose and improved his mood. He could tease him still, the bastard deserved what he got for playing with the both of them. "I though you might want your money's worth. She's attractive."

"kit, if I'm not going to fuck her, I don't want to hear her talk." Naruto glared at him, daring Sasuke to rise to the challenge.

Sasuke's stomach churned. That was blatantly direct, the blonde wanted a reaction, he supposed. But he was damned if he gave one. Without so much as a blush or batting an eyelash, he looked into the intense, azure gaze. "Then do it." He went back to his food, looking out across the expanse of flat land. "She's willing enough, shouldn't be a problem."

"It was Naruto's turn to be startled. "Where's the fun in that? Not even a hint of a challenge."

"Hmmmm." Sasuke nodded, not daring himself to look over. "I suppose that's it."

"Are you two paying any attention?" her voice dripped sweetly yet uncertainly. "Don't you think that would be a good idea? I know a town not too far away, they have a wic-"

Naruto got up and made his way to the door of the car, closely followed by a silent Sasuke. The raven threw the remains of the fries into the garbage bin and sliding in, slammed the door, blissfully shutting out her screeching voice. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "Muuuuch better." He sighed, settling himself in comfortably and looking over at the blonde. Naruto was already backing up, twisting over to see behind him and Sasuke took another peek at the muscles that bunched and jumped across his powerful torso.

"I thought you liked men." Sasuke couldn't help himself. "At least, that's what I figured when I had the pleasure of meeting Sai…"

Naruto looked hard at him. At his face, as if he was battling inside as to whether he should say something. "That was a joke Sasuke. It's called a joke. Its this thing where you say something ridiculous and people laugh… you should try it."

"I'm not much for jokes, especially when they aren't funny." Sasuke retorted. He wasn't sure whether Naruto had been joking, he was hard to read like that, he could be smiling but be serious. That mask he had worked well as did Sasuke's thankfully. "Not that I needed that information, mind you. I was just trying to get back at you for before."

Naruto looked at him blankly. "What before?"

Incredulously, Sasuke stared at the blonde. "Are you for real?" he moaned out. "You seriously didn't….never mind." He laughed to himself. Of course, trust himself to blow everything out of proportion and freak out about it.

"Was there something she put in your fries kit, cuz youre acting wacked out." Naruto said, placing his palm on Sasuke's forehead. "you don't have a temperature, but Im worried."

"Naruto." Sasuke glared at him. "shut up."

The blonde shrugged, grinning. "Well, hold your humor until we get to our spot. The last thing I need is a grumpy companion, you better be as talkative as you are now."

AN: Im trying Im trying.. give me some credit, I have 12 books to read in 6 weeks for one class and shitloads to do for a Poli Sci course… it's a wonder if I get more than 3 hours of sleep a night so consider this a treat from an author that loves you guys ! :*