Chapter Sixteen: Because the Night Belongs to Lovers

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The TV was on, though neither of them was watching it. The volume was low as they talked.

It was the day after Saburo's attack. Everyone had been released from the hospital, fully recovered. Now they had a day off to rest. A happy ending, for now.

Naruto was much calmer today, Sasuke was glad to note as they sat together on the plush couch in the Uchiha's apartment.

It was so peaceful. Sasuke smiled as Naruto put his arm around him. He leaned against Naruto's shoulder, sighing deeply.

It seems like we've come so far and it's only been a couple of weeks since we first had sex… Now I don't want to do without this closeness ever.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Say you were able to go back in time three years and you met me when I was twelve. Would you have sex with me?"

Sasuke frowned at the odd question. "… Probably not. You'd be too annoying and I'd probably try to kill you again."

Naruto laughed slightly.

"I'd… be too messed up to see how sweet you are," Sasuke added lowly, hesitantly. "That's why it's best I'm the way I am now, you know?"

Naruto blinked. "You think I'm sweet? Er, that's not what I meant... Like, you now, not your past self. And you went into the past... Only you're your present self, not... Wait, I just forgot what I was thinking about..." He frowned, his face scrunching up as he tried to recollect his thoughts and make them make sense.

Sasuke found himself smiling at the expression. "Well, I guess I would be tempted to then… Though you'd be kind of hard to have sex with. You didn't seem to think about that back then. You were too busy trying to beat me at everything," Sasuke pointed out, laughing softly.

Naruto blushed. Little does he know… The first jutsu Naruto had created on his own was the sexy no jutsu after all. He'd been a little pervert as a kid. "Yeah, but… I'm sure you could, um, convince me otherwise…"

Sasuke sat back to stare at him, shocked. "Naruto, did you think about me like that back then?" he asked incredulously.

The blond blushed more deeply. "Erm, well… I was really confused about stuff back then…" He didn't mention that he'd had stronger feelings for Sakura back then either. Before Sasuke had left with Orochimaru, that is. From that day onward, all he had ever been able to think about was getting Sasuke back. "And, well… You looked really good in those shorts…"

Sasuke blushed and continued to stare. "I'm… surprised you thought that way… You really are perverted…"

Naruto laughed sheepishly at that and didn't meet his eye. He couldn't argue, it was true. "And… I always thought you were so good looking… I was jealous…"

Touched, the Uchiha hugged him loosely. "Naruto… You didn't have to feel that way. You look good too."

Naruto blinked wide eyes. "Really?" He didn't think of himself in those kinds of terms. No one had ever told him he was attracted before.

Sasuke nodded. "I… like your whiskers," he admitted uncomfortably. "They're cute."

Naruto flushed and beamed shyly.

"I didn't like you tying me up and impersonating me though, but you did look adorable when you did it," Sasuke added, partially returning to the previous topic of how they used to be.

Naruto laughed at the memory, and didn't mention that he'd done it to get close to Sakura. "Heh heh, well…"

"Although I wouldn't mind the 'tying up' much now…" Sasuke added with a smirk.

Naruto giggled. "I wouldn't mind either!" Then he frowned. "Back then… I was always trying to be better than you, because I wanted to be like you… But I could never seem to measure up. So sometimes I did stupid things. I wish… I'd been able to figure out what I was really feeling for you back then."

"I think… things have turned out the way they were supposed to," Sasuke pointed out slowly. "I mean, we're together now, right?"

Naruto nodded and smiled, squeezing Sasuke in a tight hold. "Yeah."

"I'm… I'm glad we can understand each other so well." Sasuke didn't think a lot of couples could. But he and Naruto… Even though they had misunderstandings, they always gravitated back to each other and figured things out, like an instinct.

"Me too."

Sasuke laid his head down in Naruto's lap and closed his eyes. The blond did this to him occasionally and it looked comfortable. He wasn't surprised to find that it really was.

Naruto smiled and ran his fingers through Sasuke's spiky, ink black locks. "... So you didn't think about me like that at all back then?"

"Well...I knew you were important to me back then but... I didn't know how. I was kind of… distracted and I didn't even understand it myself."

Naruto frowned, remembering why Sasuke had been distracted. "Yeah... I didn't know how either really... I just didn't want to lose you."

Sasuke nodded. "Naruto… You have no idea how glad I am you didn't give up on me. How much I… love you for that or… how hard it was for me to act like I didn't care about seeing you again, that day, after two and a half years… I said some cruel things to you, and I never apologized for it… I just didn't want Orochimaru to figure out the truth. I thought he would use it against both of us. But… It wasn't a whim, Naruto." Far from it. He'd feared he hadn't been very convincing in his show—he'd even gone so far as to hug Naruto.

Naruto smiled down at him. "Bastard, you don't have to apologize for that… I mean, yeah, at the time… After you left, I was really depressed… I cried and I felt hopeless… It took me a long time, but I figured it out eventually." He shrugged. "So, don't worry about it, okay?"

"Naruto…" It seems all I do is hurt him. Sasuke felt he was the lowest life form on the planet for making the one he loved cry, more than once.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Really, it's okay. After that meeting, I worked even harder to get stronger! I perfected the Rasengan because of you, you know. Not just so I could fight you… So I could get you back. I wanted you back so much…"

Overwhelmed, Sasuke sat up, pushed Naruto back into the couch and kissed him deeply. They clung to each other for a long moment, thinking the same thing: they had come so close to killing each other. If they had succeeded, they never would have had this. That was something terrible beyond description.

"… Would you have sex with my younger self?" Sasuke eventually asked.

Naruto laughed. "In a heartbeat."

"Pervert."

-

Sai finished with his book, sat it down, and picked up the next one to begin reading.

'The terms romance and romantic are derived from the Latin romanice, meaning, "in the Roman manner." Romance is prevalent throughout society in fiction, poetry, music, and the cinema. Romantic love commonly involves a combination of love and sexual desire, but with more emphasis on the emotional aspects of the relationship as opposed to lust. Love, as portrayed in the media, is often considered idealistic in real life…'

He could vaguely hear Sakura, Sekai, and Yume talking a few feet away. The girls were keeping his blond friend distracted while he read.

After Sekai had mentioned that he wanted his first time "not impromptu" Sai felt it was time to visit the library again. Sekai had told him not to feel pressured, but he was a little. He wanted to make Sekai feel special. He wanted things to be special for him.

So into his reading, he did not hear Rock Lee approach until he was leaning over him, looking at the title of his book. "What Is Romance, huh?"

Sai looked up. "Lee-san."

The leotard-wearing boy broke into a large smile. "Oh, Sai-kun, does this mean you're in love?" he asked happily.

Sai blinked at the enthusiasm. He remembered that Yume had once remarked that Sekai loved Rock Lee and Maito Gai; that they made him laugh. "Well… Yes, I suppose I am." He had not been sure, but after reading all these novels on the subject, he was pretty sure that's what he was feeling.

Lee positively beamed. "Is it Naruto-kun's brother?"

Sai was surprised by this as well. "How did you know?"

"Most often you two are seen together. I just guessed."

"I see…" He supposed he did spend a lot of time with Sekai.

"Ohhh, and you're reading up on being romantic, is that right?"

Sai nodded. "Yes… I want to do something special for Sekai. The books have been helpful, but I'm still not certain on what I should do."

"I see! If you like, I can offer a few suggestions."

"You're in love too, Lee-san?" Sai asked, curious.

Lee's smile turned decidedly bashful. "Ah, yes! Even though it happened very recently, my feelings for him are strong!" A lot seemed to have happened on his mission to the Sand Village. It was as if Lee was a new person. He wished he was back with Gaara even now, his mind periodically wandering to what the young Kazekage was up to now and then. It definitely was love.

Sai smiled. "Then perhaps you can help me."

"I would be glad to, Sai-kun!"

Lee's first suggestion was flowers, which was what led them to the Yamanaka flower shop.

"Buy all of them," Lee instructed.

"All of them?" Sai and Ino echoed.

"Yes! One or a dozen flowers are not nearly enough to prove your love for him! You should get as many that translates the volume of your love!"

"And… this worked for you, Lee-san?" Sai asked.

"Oh, yes!" Gaara had been more than surprised at first at Lee's declarations of love, but easily became acclimated to his over the top energy. Lee could see that Gaara had been touched, and Gaara truly appreciated the loving gesture.

Sai nodded slowly. "Well, I suppose I'll go with that then."

Ino shook her head as she rang up Sai's purchase at the register, murmuring to herself about hopeless romantics.

Then Lee suggested Sai should get Sekai something that he would look good in and would suit him.

Sai picked out a pair of blue shoes. They were shiny and had a medium size heel. Sai did not want to get high heels because he didn't know if Sekai could walk in heels.

Then he realized that Sekai probably could. Still, he liked these shoes.

Lee looked perplexed. "Why are you picking girl's shoes? Aren't those hard to train in?" he asked innocently.

"Because he won't wear men's," Sai answered simply.

"Ohhh I understand!! Simply amazing! Uzumaki Sekai must purposefully wear those shoes to increase the difficulty of training and thus increase his payoff. So the genius of Naruto is in the genes as well... Amazing! I should try that one day!"

"Actually, Sekai has a more aesthetic view on the subject," Sai tried to explain, but Lee didn't seem to be listening.

-

The first sight that greeted Sekai when he walked into the apartment was the flowers.

They were rather hard to miss since they covered almost every square inch of Sai's apartment.

Sekai's jaw dropped and he looked at Sai in wonder. "Sai, what's going on?"

Sai began to grow worried. "You don't like them?"

"It's not—wait, you got them for me?" The idea seemed even more odd than the flowers themselves.

Sai nodded. "Yes. Are they not romantic?"

Then Sekai remembered what they had discussed the night before and looked around the room again. Vases full of all assortments of flowers covered every inch of the floor and shelf surface, apart from the kitchen table, where there was a lit candle and two empty plates awaiting food to be served.

"You… did all this for me?" he asked unnecessarily, still wrapping his mind around the idea.

Sai nodded again. "Yes, I did. Have I done something wrong?"

"No! I just… I didn't expect you to go to so much trouble." Sekai smiled nervously. "I made you feel pressured last night, didn't I?"

"No, not at all. I just wanted to do something special for you."

"I see…" Sekai's eyes widened as he remembered something. "Ack! I'll be right back! I need to shave my legs!" The blond maneuvered as well as he could through the flowers on his way to the bathroom.

Sai chased after him through the flowers. "Oh, I don't mind! Come back!"

Sekai paused. "But they're all scratchy, with the little hairs growing back… Trust me, after I shave, they'll be much softer." He blushed deeply, knowing that this suggested that Sai would be touching his legs soon.

Sai managed to reach him. He took Sekai's hand in his. "You really don't have to." He glanced down at Sekai's bare legs appraisingly. Today the blond was back in his normal short blue dress. "They don't look stubbly at all. Don't worry."

Sekai bit his lip apprehensively. "I haven't shaved them in a couple of days…"

"Really, I don't mind." He tugged Sekai's hand, leading him toward the kitchen.

Wincing as he nearly knocked over more than one vase, Sekai allowed himself to be led to the table. Sai ushered him into a chair and pulled out a box he'd hidden earlier in the cupboard. Sekai recognized that particular shape of rectangle as a shoebox.

"You bought me something else?" he asked, surprised again. This whole evening was beginning to leave him more than a little shell-shocked.

Sai smiled. "Yes. You seem surprised. Does all this bother you?" he asked as he sat the box down in Sekai's lap.

"No… I'm just really surprised." He smiled at Sai. "I'm sorry if I seem, well, unenthusiastic. Really, I love you for doing all this."

Sai beamed happily at those words. "It's alright. Please, open it."

Sekai lifted up the lid and peered inside, gasping softly at what was revealed. "Sai…"

"Do you like them?"

Sekai nodded dumbly, eyes on the shoes. They had to be the prettiest pair of shoes he'd ever laid eyes on. His throat constricted, welled up with feeling.

"Can I put them on you?"

More nodding.

Smiling, Sai slipped off Sekai's sandals and put the heels on in their place. He looked up when, as his hands brushed Sekai's feet, the talisman user whimpered softly.

"Are you alright?" Sai asked, concerned.

Sekai's flush renewed. "Yeah… Just a little overwhelmed that you're touching them, I guess…" He smiled at him shyly. "I do like the shoes."

Sai smiled in pleasure. "I'm glad. Would you like me to touch your feet some more?"

"A whole room full of flowers and new shoes… I think you can do whatever you want to me now," Sekai joked lightly.

"You might be surprised by how many things I want to do to you," Sai confessed as he slipped the new shoes back off, one after the other. Sekai's feet were slightly paler than his legs, arched lightly, and reasonably soft. He began to rub one of them gently.

Sekai moaned lightly, biting his lip against the sound. "Have you been fantasizing about me, Sai?" he asked as coyly as he could manage.

The ANBU rubbed the tender skin between Sekai's toes, blushing lightly at the question. "Perhaps…"

"Like what?" Sekai asked eagerly, leaning forward.

"Like… what you look like without your clothes," Sai confessed. "I imagine taking them off." Quite frequently actually.

Sekai smiled, his head tilting to the side. "Well, I wouldn't mind if you did…"

Sai smiled back and began stroking along Sekai's heel. "I imagine you wouldn't."

Giggling, the blond ran the toes of his other foot along Sai's bare waist. "This always drives me crazy. So much visible, yet it doesn't seem like enough. It's always too tempting to just unzip you…"

As he spoke, his foot traveled lower.

"And not just your shirt either," Sekai added with a wink. It seemed he was getting over his shock from earlier.

Sai gasped as the toes caressed his crotch through his pants. He met Sekai's bright, mischievous blue eyes and unzipped his shirt, sliding the black cloth off his shoulders and onto the floor.

Sekai beamed, eyes roaming avidly over the revealed skin. He thought Sai was utterly beautiful and very sexy sitting there at his feet. It was treatment he was definitely not used to.

Then Sai began rubbing his feet in earnest.

(This chapter has been edited due to the rules and regulations of this site. Though honestly, you can see where the scene goes from here.)