Title: "Do Or Don't"
Author: Shaitanah
Rating: mild R, I guess.
Summary[Suigetsu/Sasuke Sasuke tries reverse psychology on Suigetsu. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and whoever else that is not me… Sasuke's obsession with wild apples courtesy of AeternaNox. ;)
Dedication: For NosKing, a wonderful person and a beautiful artist. May your water-moon Muse never abandon you! Happy Birthday!
DO OR DON'T
With Suigetsu it's all teeth, and nails, and cool rippling water. It's the tongue lapping skillfully at the hollows on Sasuke's skin, his fingers sliding softly up and down the line of his body, his lips nipping at the most sensitive spots. It's his fangs plunging into Sasuke's flesh just as Sasuke forces out a weak remark, "No biting!" It's his hands leaving Sasuke cold and unsatisfied just as "More!" escapes his lips in a gasp. It's his laughter ringing in the air exactly when Sasuke tells him to keep quiet. Suigetsu is all in a habit of countering orders and mocking authority.
Sasuke doesn't like fighting him. He doesn't want to fight anyone but Itachi, and with Suigetsu it's even harder. He seems defenseless the way he compresses his lips, having been told off, but a sharp, poisonous answer is usually formed within an instant, and it's almost as if he knows something about Sasuke that Sasuke himself has not yet come to realize. In the end, Sasuke prefers not to talk to him at all.
Sometimes they are alone, and Suigetsu talks. It seems that he almost doesn't care about the topic. He needs a listener, not an interlocutor. And despite himself, Sasuke listens. Not to words so much, but to the rhythm and the melodic of his voice which flows like liquid and envelops Sasuke in soft, soothing sweetness.
He likes to watch Suigetsu fishing. The Mist ninja strips and walks into the river. He swims a few metres, comes to a halt and liquefies, blending into the water.
"Come, come, silly fish, I'm hungry!" he gurgles with laughter. Sasuke keeps an eye on him from the bank and utters a non-committal "Hmm…" as the fish really gets into the trap. They don't feel him; to them, he's just water.
Suigetsu crawls out on the shore, smiling gleefully, and tosses fresh, struggling fish at Sasuke's feet. Water ripples all over him, and it's hard to say whether it's a sliding film over his skin or a layer of muscle beneath his skin.
He leans into Sasuke, and before the young Uchiha mutters his customary, "Don't," his lips go down on Sasuke's lips to claim them in a teasing, yet persistent kiss. Sasuke doesn't want it, and yet he does. He arches his back and feels the coolness of Suigetsu's skin against his own. He tangles his fingers in Suigetsu's bluish hair, and it feels like he's drowning. The touch. The scent. The taste. Everything about Suigetsu is maddeningly intoxicating, and Sasuke hates to admit how dependable he has become on those sensations.
He begins to ponder things about Suigetsu. He really doesn't know that much about him. He comes from the same Hidden Village as Itachi's partner and the shinobi from Team Seven's first high-rank mission. He performs the same water jutsu and has the same pointed teeth. He likes water and he consists of water – probably more than seventy per cent. He has a foul tongue and loves talking back.
That's probably it. Come to think of it, Suigetsu knows more – or at least that's how he plays it out.
"Why do you always eat those?" Suigetsu points at the pile of wild apples lying next to Sasuke.
"Why do you always have to drink?" the young Uchiha retorts.
Suigetsu scowls and stretches out on the grass. Touché. Sasuke lies down next to him, acutely aware of his presence. He loathes it, and does nothing about it.
"If you eat only apples, you'll degrade to a grass-eater eventually," Suigetsu remarks.
Sasuke gets off with a lazy "Heh!" and droops his eyelids shut. A moment of peace before the storm erupts again.
Suigetsu rolls over, placing his head on Sasuke's shoulder. It's not the time to say anything just yet. The time comes when Suigetsu presses his lips to his neck and guides them up tormentingly slowly. He pauses briefly to have a quick glance at Sasuke's face, and that's when Sasuke whispers almost inaudibly:
"Kiss me."
Suigetsu freezes, pulls back abruptly and, swallowing past the lump in his throat, murmurs:
"Wh-what?"
"Come on."
Watching him as he squints indecisively and tries to see the catch is fun. Sasuke has to clench his teeth to contain a smirk. In the end, Suigetsu shifts into a sitting position, gives Sasuke one glare that speaks plainly of how weird he thinks the young Uchiha is and goes back to drinking. Water spills down his chin. He's nervous, and puzzled, and suddenly oh so tense. Sasuke smiles. If this works, who knows what else will?
The next day Suigetsu acts like he always does: joking, bickering with Karin, picking on Juugo occasionally when he feels it's safe, bugging the whole team to rest every hour or so. That is, until Sasuke wanders up to him and says:
"Tell me something."
"Like what?"
"Whatever you like. Talk to me."
Suigetsu trips. It seems for a moment he would get buried underneath his own zanbatō.
"I'm… not in the mood," Suigetsu says through clenched teeth. Giving Sasuke the full view of his back (if a back can be angry, Suigetsu's one sure is), he wanders off.
"What's your problem?" Karin snaps when he brushes past her, radiating annoyance.
Sasuke smirks. Now that is very interesting.
At night he joins Suigetsu as the Mist ninja drinks thoughtfully beneath a thick tree. Sasuke sits silently beside him, munching down the fourth apple.
"Okay, what's all this about?" Suigetsu demands all of a sudden. "Why are you being so damn friendly?"
Sasuke shrugs and wets his lips. The irritation in Suigetsu's eyes slowly melts in the haze of excitement. Suigetsu clutches at the front of Sasuke's shirt, pulls him into a heated embrace and seeks his lips feverishly.
"No…" Sasuke protests and runs out of breath as Suigetsu's tongue slides between his lips.
"I don't fucking understand you at all," Suigetsu pants, and that's the last coherent thing he says before Sasuke wraps his legs around him suggestively. If there's one thing Suigetsu's really good at, it's taking hints.
Sasuke wants to know why it's Suigetsu of all people that affects him so much. His musings take him all the way back to his Konoha years, and he begins to compare Team Hebi with Team Seven. Karin would fit in Sakura's description pretty close. Only Karin doesn't care so much about him; she just… likes him? wants him? And he doesn't give a damn again.
Juugo wouldn't fit anywhere, but if Sasuke squeezes his eyes shut and focus, he can possible peg him for a silent copy of Kakashi reading his book.
Suigetsu would make a fine Naruto. Number one loudest nosey prat, to full of himself to be acknowledged for real. Sasuke smiles sadly. Substitutes for the real thing are never as good as the original.
"Say, Juugo," Sasuke asks once during the halt for the night. "What do you think about Suigetsu?"
"I don't."
"Hmm?"
Juugo straightens his bedroll and elaborates thoughtfully: "I don't think about him. I don't really know him. We fought once; now we're on the same team. That's pretty much it. I suggest you go ask Karin. She seems to have given it some thought."
It takes Sasuke a full minute to realize Juugo has probably just made a joke. Juugo's face remains unchanged but something sparkles deep in his eyes, some oddly warm shade of humour.
"Why do you always have to screw things up?" Karin screeches. Sasuke turns to see what's happened. Chopping the fish's head off with his zanbatō (another way to show off), Suigetsu has bloodied her bedroll. "Get lost already, you sick, whiny, ludicrous parody of a shinobi!"
"Is it PMS or something?" Suigetsu remarks wryly before he wanders off. Karin shrieks and hurls the headless fish at him. He dodges it, laughing, and disappears around the bend of the river.
Sasuke snickers. What is it about that jerk that actually makes Uchiha Sasuke snicker? He doesn't know. Sometimes he's not even sure he wants to know.
"Do you have to do that?" Sasuke wonders, catching up with Suigetsu. The Mist ninja gives him the look of sheer innocence.
"Do what?"
"Piss her off. Weren't you the one who told me she's not a nice person? Why make your own life harder by picking fights with her?"
"Whoa, that's the longest passage I've ever heard from you, Leader-sama!" Suigetsu taunts. Sasuke ignores the mockery and continues staring at his unruly subordinate. "Because otherwise it's no fun!"
"You have a strange idea of fun. Do you like to be yelled at?"
Suigetsu seems puzzled by this sudden question as if it's a revelation to him. Sasuke wonders what will happen if he tells Suigetsu to keep bugging Karin. He'll probably stop.
Suigetsu has a weak spot. He's subjected to reverse psychology.
Later at night when Karin is asleep and Juugo is busy conversing with his birds Sasuke puts his head on Suigetsu's lap. There's no particular reason for it; he just needs to feel something soft and real. He closes his eyes and tries not to think. Suigetsu's fingertips graze his cheek gently. The muscles in Sasuke's face tense awkwardly. He turns on a whim and brushes his lips against Suigetsu's fingers. A quick flick of the tongue, and Suigetsu is smiling. It's so damn easy to make him smile. Sasuke wonders if Suigetsu ever cries. If he does, does it feel like losing parts of yourself? Is Suigetsu fresh water, or seawater, or the mixture of both? The thoughts are so ridiculous that Sasuke doesn't even bother to fight them off.
Suigetsu doesn't make his heart beat faster. Suigetsu would never get sweet looks from him. He doesn't make him stutter or choose words carefully. The only thing Suigetsu causes is a throbbing ache in his crotch, the need to be touched and forget everything if only for the night.
Still, Sasuke can't say Suigetsu means nothing to him. There is some special sense in the way his eyes twinkle when he eggs Karin on another argument; and the way his overlong fang curves over the left corner of his mouth; and the way his fringe falls over his eyes; and the way drops of water trickle down his chin when he drinks too greedily.
Suddenly Sasuke notices too many things about the Mist ninja. All that doesn't make Suigetsu a precious person, though it certainly makes him more than an underling.
Sasuke snorts quietly.
"Why won't you tell me what you want?" Suigetsu inquires.
Sasuke wants nothing and everything at once. He wants to kill Itachi – and to get his life back; to see Naruto – and run as far from him as he can; to stick the sword of Kusanagi into the insolent Mist ninja – and to let his guard down if only once.
"Suigetsu," he mouths, "don't touch me."
And that's how it works with Suigetsu. The youth's huge lilac eyes blink in surprise. Suddenly they grow larger than the starry sky above Sasuke. Suigetsu leans into him and catches his lips in a rough, passionate kiss. He strokes Sasuke's tongue with his own, he whips his tongue inside Sasuke's mouth, groaning quietly. Sasuke's lungs burn for oxygen, but he doesn't pull away. Suigetsu is raw in it; clear fresh water with so many tastes that you can drink it for ages and still not know the real flavour.
Suigetsu's lips still hover over Sasuke's lips. He touches the corner of Sasuke's mouth playfully, licks the outline of his mouth and then the half-parted lips themselves. He bites at Sasuke's lower lip teasingly. It seems everything can be over just from that single touch. Sasuke can't hold back a moan.
A lazy smile flickers upon Suigetsu's face as he deepens the kiss once more. Things are far from settled between them.
September 4–8, 2007