“Bravo, my boy. Bravo!” He puts the magazine down on his desk and Sasuke stares at the cover for the second time that morning. He wonders how they managed to get a picture of him pulling Sakura into his apartment and he’s a bit embarrassed at how desperate his eyes look on paper.

Damn, was he really that horny last night?

He hates how the word horny sounds, like he’s back in high school and the girls are calling the boys horny bastards because they keep trying to look into the girl’s locker room.

It’s a little sickening to see his father smile that much, like one of those freakishly proud parents who have bumper stickers that let everyone know that their kid just made the honor roll. “I had no idea you were seeing someone,” he says, then he smirks, “Is that why your reports were late last night? You were busy-” and Sasuke decides to tune him out - this is a test of the emergency broadcast center, this is only a test, BEEP! - not wanting to hear his father’s interpretation of sex.

He picks up the magazine and flips through it. Page 48. “Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Young and in love,” he reads, then, “How… did they get her name?”

“Oh you know, they have ways of finding things out.” His father brushes it off and stands up, actually patting Sasuke on the back, “She‘s going for her PhD. Her PhD!”

“Yeah… I know…” It’s come up in their conversations once or twice, maybe, sometime before he unhooked her bra. Now he has guilty images of Sakura being followed around by some news tabloid freak whose trying to find out more information about her just because he called her over in the middle of the night.

“What a fine choice in a partner,” his father says, “She would make a wonderful wife.”

Wife? “Um…”

“I know I know, that’s moving a bit fast isn’t it? We should at least arrange a meeting.”

Shit. Sasuke tries to come up with an excuse but everything’s moving on speed dial. How is he supposed to arrange a meeting when Sakura isn’t even his girlfriend? He wants to tell him the truth but it sounds horrible when he rehearses it in his head I called her over because I was thinking about some guy on the morning train how’s he supposed to explain that to his father - who still has that huge, cartoonish grin on his face? The gray cat who chases the brown mouse has finally come up with a plan that will work, insert ridiculous grin here.

“I… will try, she’s pretty busy these days-”

“Oh nonsense, she should at least meet her potential father-in-law.”

No. No no no, “Father, I-”

“We’ll talk about this later. We both have work to do.”

But… b-but… “Father…” but its already too late and his father is on the phone preparing for a conference call, his tone harsh and demanding and its hard to believe that he had been grinning like a maniac a couple of seconds ago. Sasuke watches him for a moment longer then he leaves his office.

He chooses to ignore Itachi, whose standing at the door and watching him as he leaves.

**

“I’m sorry,” is the only thing he can come up with.

Thankfully its enough and Sakura responds with, “It’s not your fault.”

Sasuke sits down in one of the few empty seats left on the train, trying not to make eye contact with anyone whose standing around him. He assumes that they’ve all read that damn magazine and instead of seeing his party-going, oversexed older brother they’ve seen him: “young and in love” with “Haruno Sakura.”

“My father wants to meet you now.”

“Meet me? Why?”

“Because he absolutely loves the idea of us being together.”

There’s a pause, then, “We’re not together.”

“I know that.”

“… you didn’t tell him the truth, did you?”

Another pause, then, “No…”

Sakura sighs, “Don’t you think you should tell him the truth?”

“Yes, but…” but he’s never seen his father so happy. And isn’t his purpose in life to please the Great Uchiha Father - praise him, ect. ect., so on and so forth. This would be perfect, wouldn’t it? Having a fiancée whose got great goals in life, who can stand next to an Uchiha man and be just as successful. Not to mention that Sakura is rather attractive and she would most likely look beautiful on the cover of a magazine, wearing a tasteful white dress with her arm hooked around Sasuke’s. It would please Father greatly, it would-

Shit, the train just stopped and the college boy has walked onto it. Sasuke watches as he barely manages to get a seat, sitting down before one of the other passengers can and giving the man a sweet smile when he swears at him.

“Sasuke? Sasuke, are you still there?”

Sakura’s voice sounds too far away and Sasuke can’t seem to respond. He can’t stop watching the boy who listens to his music, the train coming to motion once again. On the ground near the boy’s feet is a copy of one of those magazines and Sasuke’s eyes widen. Shit, holy shit what if the boy sees it? What if he reads it?

“Sasuke?”

The boy swings his feet and kicks the magazine, blinking and leaning forward to pick it up. No. No no no. He picks it up, dusts it off with his hand and looks at the cover. No no no no no, “No!”

And the world seems to stop. Everyone on the train stares at him and Sasuke hangs up the phone, stands up, walks up to the boy and snatches the magazine away from him before he can look at the cover. The boy gives him a strange look and shrugs, “Um… you can have it if you want,” he says, “Not like I believe any of the crap they write about anyway.”

“I…” It occurs to Sasuke that he’s probably managed to shove his entire foot in his mouth at this point. It also occurs to him that he’s within speaking distance of the boy of his fantasies and the only thing he’s said for himself is the letter “I.”

“Hey, we’ve met before,” the boy says, “You held the train door open for me the other day.”

“I…” Try and say something else, idiot! “Y-yeah, I did.” That’s a start, at least. The boy smiles and Sasuke feels himself melting a little. His smile literally lights up the room, as corny as that sounds, but that combined with the bluest eyes that Sasuke has ever seen makes his cheeks a feel a bit too warm. “And… you said something about your professor keeping you after class.”

“Oh yeah! Stupid old hag, she tried to do it again today!”

He isn’t quite sure how it happens, but soon him and the boy are talking - actually talking! He’s going on and on about his evil witch of a professor, how she’s got it out for him just because he’s late to class sometimes, or because he doodles pictures of her with watermelon shaped breasts in his notebook while she’s lecturing - “not my fault her lectures are boring,” he says to that, “and not my fault that her boobs are too big for her body.” Sasuke listens, occasionally bringing up some of the professors he had in college - “this one guy was a real freak,” he says, “sounded like a snake and got way too close to his students.” The boy makes a face and gives the mature response of, “that’s fucking gross.”

The two of them talk for the entire train ride until the train stops at the boy’s stop, “Well that’s me,” he says and stands up, “It was nice talking to you.”

“Yeah, you too.”

The boy smiles again and heads for the door, Sasuke sitting down in his seat and watching him leave. Then, “W-wait!” He stands up and walks over to the door, looking outside, “Hey!” The boy stops and looks back at him, giving him a questioning look and Sasuke yells to him, “W-what’s your name?!”

“It’s Naruto!” The boy shouts back to him, “I’ll see you on the train tomorrow, mister!”

“Sasuke,” he says back, “My name’s Sasuke.”

Naruto smiles and nods his head, “Sasuke. I’ll see you tomorrow, o.k.?” He waves to him as the doors to the train close, the train leaving to go to its next stop. Sasuke leans back against the doors and tries not to smile but fails miserably.

Naruto. The boy’s name is Naruto.


TBC

Naruto doesn’t mean to stare.

She knows that staring is rude, especially when someone is having sex. There’s a term for that and she can’t remember what it is because she’s too busy staring at her new next door neighbor as she unhooks the pink haired girl’s bra.

Voyeur… something?

It’s the neighbor’s fault, really, for not closing her blinds. She’s the one who decided to take off the pink haired girl’s bra without shutting the blinds, and its not like it takes a whole lot of effort to close blinds. And sure, Naruto could close her own blinds, but she’s too busy staring at the girl next door - whose name she doesn’t even know - as she squeezes the pink haired girl’s breasts with her hands and watches her struggle to stay on her feet. The pink haired girl calls the other girl a bitch and the other girl simply chuckles, seeming turned on by the word as she starts to lick at the girl’s chest, nipping at one of her nipples with her teeth.

Voyeurism. Naruto remembers the word now.

It’s not like she wants to watch, not at all. She wouldn’t want anyone to watch her in the middle of an intimate moment - not that she’s had one in quite sometime - so of course she’d give anyone else the same respect… except the blinds aren’t closed, so its not her fault. The pink haired girl is shaking because the other girl is moving her fingers against her panties. She calls her a bitch again and the girl just laughs, moaning, and definitely getting off on the name calling. She slides off the other girl’s panties and presses her fully clothed body against her naked one, making the poor girl scream her name Sai! when she slides her fingers inside of her.

Well. Now Naruto knows her name, at least. Welcome to the neighborhood, Sai.

**

“I saw our new neighbor having sex yesterday.”

Sasuke almost chokes on her coffee but manages to swallow it at the last second, wincing from how hot it is. She looks up at Naruto and frowns when she sees the big grin on her face, “This is not something to discuss during breakfast.” Sometimes Sasuke curses herself for putting that ad for a roommate in the paper.

“But I did! She was having sex with this girl in her bedroom!”

“Naruto,” her voice is stern and she hates the fact that she has to increase her age by almost twenty years when she’s talking to Naruto, “Why were you watching her have sex?”

“I-I didn’t mean to! Her blinds weren’t closed!”

“And that makes it o.k.?”

“No, but…” she’s quiet for a moment then she smirks, “If you saw me having sex in my room and the door was open, wouldn’t you watch?”

It’s a purposely loaded question. Sasuke isn’t blind to Naruto’s sexual jabs, her short skirts and constant bending over to grab any object that lands on the ground: fork, pencil, remote - whatever it takes to try and get Sasuke’s attention. She’s most definitely noticed her waking up in the morning and coming downstairs in a T-shirt and panties, or how she makes sure her shirt isn’t buttoned up until Sasuke sees her bright orange (why orange?) bra. She’s fallen into a couple of her traps, when Naruto walks around pouting and saying how she hates how she looks because I’m too short or I hate my hair because it’s short and always looks like I just rolled out of bed. And Sasuke would say you look fine, Naruto and then the questions would launch do you think I’m cute? Hot? Sexy? And Sasuke would stand there and feel like an idiot, falling into Naruto’s little game.

Granted, Naruto is very sexy, especially now in her tank top and orange (again, why orange?) panties. One of the straps to the tank top is sliding down her shoulder, the shirt dipping dangerously low and creating cleavage despite the small size of her breasts -something else she's complained about and Sasuke foolishly commented on. Her hair is a bit more organized today, swept in small blond waves to the side with barrettes. Yeah, Naruto is hot, and Sasuke - admittedly - has pictured her on top of the kitchen table in the middle of breakfast. And of course if Naruto were having sex Sasuke would at least listen. Naruto’s voice is exquisitely sweet and turns into a soft whisper when someone touches her - Sasuke has heard her touch herself once… maybe twice, three times, but it’s not her fault that their bedrooms are right next to each other and Naruto can’t do a damn thing quietly.

But Uchiha Sasuke isn’t the type to admit to anything so she says, “No. I’d tell you to close the door because other people live in this house.”

Naruto pouts a bit and goes back to eating her cereal.

**

The next time she sees the new neighbor - Sai, that’s right she knows her name - she’s escorting the pink haired girl out of her house and walking her to her car. Naruto watches them quietly and pretends to be going through the mail - Resident, Occupant, Bill Bill -she glances over just in time to see Sai leaning into the girl’s car through the open window and kissing her.

“I’ll see you tonight?”

“Maybe,” the pink haired girl says, “I have a lot of work to finish.”

“You’re so mean, Sakura-chan,” and Sai reaches over and gropes at her chest, “I know you want to see me again.”

Sakura-chan - now Naruto knows the other girl’s name - slaps her hand and calls her a bitch and Sai just laughs, giving her chest one more good squeeze before she steps back and lets Sakura-chan drive off.

Naruto quickly looks away before Sai can catch her not spying - she’s getting the mail that’s all! Bill, Bill, Coupons, Bill-shit! She drops the mail! Naruto quickly bends over to grab each envelope and stops when she hears a low whistle. Crap, she forgot she was wearing the shortest skirt she could find - one last attempt to try and catch Sasuke’s attention before she went off to work. She turns and looks over at Sai, blushing and trying to tug her skirt down, “Pervert!” She screams at her.

Sai shrugs, “What? I can’t appreciate the view?”

Naruto blushes more, “N-no, you cannot!” Then she turns and walks back into the house, slamming the door shut and leaving the dropped mail on the porch.

**

“She was checking me out!”

“Naruto… I’m at work right now.”

“But… but she was checking me out! Aren’t you a little bit concerned?!”

Sasuke sighs and rubs her forehead. She really needs to teach the secretary how to lie to Naruto and tell her that she’s at a meeting, or lunch, or sky-diving… “Naruto, why do I need to be concerned?”

“Because… b-because! This woman was… she was-”

“Maybe you shouldn’t wear skirts that short outside.”

“I was just getting the mail!” And not spying on the new neighbor.

“I still don’t understand why you’re calling me about this.”

“Because you’re my… m-my…”

“Roommate?”

“You’re my Sasuke! You should be upset if someone is looking at your Naruto!”

“Naruto.” Of course she’s jealous. She hates when other people look at Naruto and feels an unreasonable amount of rage because they are, indeed, just roommates. She isn’t quite sure why she won’t admit to Naruto that yes, she wants her, and yes she notices her and wants to use her lunch breaks to call Naruto to her office and slam her on top of her desk.

There has to be a reason why she won‘t admit it.

Maybe its because Naruto leaves her cereal bowls on the table with cereal loops or flakes still floating in the milk, or because she insists on making ramen every time its her turn to cook. Maybe its because she can’t seem to put away her laundry, or she leaves her bath towel in the middle of the floor, or because she - “I have a meeting, don’t call me at work anymore,” then she hangs up.

Maybe its because she’s Naruto and eventually she’ll probably kill her for being the hottest annoyance that’s ever been created.

**

Bitch.

“Mmmm, you know you like it.”

Naruto blinks and quickly stumbles away from her window, taking a deep breath before she sits on her bed. Does this woman, this Sai, never close her blinds? She tries to avoid looking but for some reason she can’t control her feet and soon she is right back in front of the window. Sakura-chan is laying across the bed, completely naked with Sai kneeling on the floor in-between her legs.

Shit.

Naruto stands at her window, watching like one of those old perverts on TV who watch girls with binoculars as he hides in the bushes of a hot springs. She watches Sai spread Sakura-chan’s legs apart in a fascinating sort of slow motion and before Naruto can stop herself her own hand starts to creep under her skirt.

No. She is not doing this, she is not-

Sakura-chan throws her head back and screams, her hands grabbing onto Sai’s hair as she moves against her tongue. Naruto whimpers as her fingers brush against her panties and suddenly her body feels very warm and uncomfortable.

“Naruto! Why is your laundry still in the dryer?!”

Damnit, this is not the time!

“Naruto!! Other people have to do laundry, get your crap out of here!”

She takes a deep breath and forces her hand away from her skirt. “I’m coming, jeez, wait a minute!” And she runs downstairs, shoving her hormones away as she steps into the laundry room, “I was going to get them!”

“When?” Sasuke asks, her arms crossed like a disapproving parent, “I bet they’ve been in here all day.”

“They have not!”

“You never do anything on your days off, you just sit around and watch TV and play video games like some kid.”

“They call it a day off for a reason,” Naruto mutters, pulling her clothes out the dryer, “There, your highness, it’s all yours.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Naruto doesn’t mean to snap, really, but sexual frustration combined with this Sai woman and her need to do things with the window open has pushed her to the edge, “It means that you act so high and mighty and talk down to me like I’m some kid and I’m tired of it!”

Sasuke frowns, “Maybe I wouldn’t have to treat you like a kid if you didn’t act like one.”

“I don’t act like a kid!”

“Oh? Children don‘t know how to put things away. They leave their food sitting out and they lay around the house all day.”

“I was going to clean it up!”

“When?!”

Naruto tries to come up with a response, really she does, but she’s angry and frustrated and damnit the neighbors are having sex again! and she wants to go back to not-watching. She wants to go back upstairs and not-watch a hot girl make out with another hot girl. That’s as close as she’ll ever be to “getting laid” anytime soon because Sasuke is dense, or Sasuke is asexual, or Sasuke is just too busy treating her like she’s 12 and not on equal ground with her. So Naruto ends the argument with, “Fuck you, Sasuke!” And she says it as hatefully as she can, she lets all of the built-up tension come out with those words and spits them in Sasuke’s face, “You’re not my mother, stop acting like you are, stop acting like you’re better than me and that I’m not worth your time!”

And before Sasuke can respond Naruto goes back up to her room and slams the door.

**

It’s the first real fight they’ve ever had.

It’s a bit weird because they’ve certainly yelled at each other over petty things before, but something about the tone of their voices has labeled the moment as a true fight.

Naruto can’t stop thinking about it when she goes to work the next day, putting away the newest stock of manga in alphabetical order. The newest volume of her favorite series doesn’t even cheer her up because all she can think about is I yelled at Sasuke. Though she’s certainly yelled at Sasuke before, but she’s never come out and screamed “fuck you” at the top of her lungs. When she takes a moment to think about it she knows that Sasuke’s right, she knows that she does leave her food out and she knows that it takes her forever to get her laundry. But she can’t stand the way Sasuke talks to her because she likes Sasuke so much! Not that Sasuke ever shows any sign of reciprocating her feelings, the other girl probably thinks that it would be a waste of time since Naruto’s just some dumb kid who can’t flush her soggy cereal down the toilet when she’s done with it.

“Naruto,” her manager says, “Naruto, stop daydreaming and get back to work.”

“Oh,” she says, “Sorry sir,” then she goes back to putting books away.

“What’s the matter, kid? Boyfriend break up with ya?”

Naruto smiles bitterly and says, “Yeah… I guess you can say that.”

**

The last person she expects to see at her door when she gets home is Sai, dressed in tight black pants and a black sports bra. Naruto hops off the bus and walks over, giving a polite smile, “Hi.”

“Oh, I guess that explains why you weren’t answering the door.”

“Yeah, I was at work.”

“Ah.” Then silence. The two of them look at each other and Naruto remembers that the last conversation they had she was calling Sai a pervert for looking under her skirt when she was bending over. She could probably tell her off some more, maybe, just to let off some steam but she’s tired after work.

But the silence is grating her nerves so she speaks again, “Was there something you needed?”

“I was actually going to ask you that.”

“Excuse me?”

Sai smirks, “I saw you watching us last night.”

… what? “W-what?” She wonders why Sai doesn’t look the least bit offended or ticked off, why she isn’t calling her a pervert! or demanding that she keep her blinds closed.

Instead she looks impressed, almost proud of herself, and she says, “You. You were watching us last night. I saw you.”

“O-oh,” Naruto blushes, “I wasn’t watching, I was… just going to close my blinds…”

“Really?” Sai steps up to Naruto and Naruto backs away, her back hitting her closed front door. “So your hand wasn’t under your skirt at all last night while you watched us?”

“H-how dare you accuse me of-”

“How long have you been watching us? Or… are you just watching me?”

“I-”

“Doesn’t that girl you’re with satisfy you enough?”

Naruto frowns, “Sasuke isn’t my girlfriend.”

“Oh?” Sai looks surprised, “I heard you two fighting last night, did you break up?”

“No, she’s never been my girlfriend. She’s just my roommate,” and Naruto feels like a complete loser when she says it out loud. Roommate, it hurts enough to hear Sasuke say it but it hurts even more when she hears it coming from her own lips.

“I see. That’s a shame, really, you’re very cute.”

“Um… t-thanks,” and even if it isn’t Sasuke saying it, it sounds good to hear someone calling her something other than a kid.

“My name’s Sai, in case you were curious.”

“Oh, I know I… um… h-heard it…”

“And you’re Naruto. I heard it last night when you two were… screaming at each other.”

Naruto looks embarrassed and nods, “Yeah… I’m sorry about that.”

Sai shrugs, “I considered it a challenge. Sakura-chan said your arguing broke the mood… I proved her wrong,” Sai grins and looks like she’s won a gold medal in a marathon.

“You and your girlfriend are… really hot.”

“Oh, she’s not my girlfriend.”

“What?”

“Yeah… more like friend’s with benefits or whatever its called.”

“Oh,” and Naruto looks even more embarrassed, her face turning a small shade of red. She’s never really met anyone who has that type of relationship, “So… you sleep with different women?”

“I sleep with whoever I want to sleep with,” and she steps closer to Naruto as she says that, leaning forward, “So if I wanted to sleep with you, I would.”

Naruto swallows. She can read between the lines of Sai’s words and its making her a little excited. She can just hear Sasuke lecturing her, calling her all sorts of things for sleeping with this woman who she’s only seen through her window a couple of times. But she likes the attention -- which makes her feel pathetically desperate -- but she likes having someone who finds her attractive, who doesn’t yell at her and treat her like she’s in the 5th grade.

And it doesn’t help that Sai is sexy as hell. Pale skin and dark hair that makes her an almost inhuman sort of beautiful, the type of delicious you find at one of those gothic night clubs where everyone wears black lipstick and fishnet.

So Naruto poses the question, “Do you want to sleep with me?” And Sai just smirks.

**

Sasuke isn’t surprised to see the kitchen clean, no dishes on the table and no signs of cereal or ramen. The milk has been put away and even the sink is clear, almost looking brand new except for a few stains leftover from cups of juice. It’s not really an apology. It’s Naruto sticking her tongue out at her, showing that she can be responsible and ha! don’t you feel stupid now for yelling at me, nan-na-nan-na-boo-boo.

Truth be told she’s never seen Naruto so upset, and she feels a little guilty -- just a little --but she’s still sore over the confrontation. Naruto does act like a child, she doesn’t clean up after herself until she’s told to do it or until she drinks old milk that she’s forgotten is spoiled since she didn’t throw it out. It’s annoying, and its even more annoying because Sasuke wants Naruto so effing much! But damnit, she could just kill the girl sometimes, plan an elaborate murder that wouldn’t be traced back to her and then maybe, just maybe, she could keep her house clean on a daily bases.

But then, deep down, she knows she’d miss Naruto and walking into a clean house would disturb her greatly. Damnit, she’s gotten use to Naruto’s mess and she almost wants to put something out of place. She sighs and heads upstairs, “Naruto,” she goes to her room and knocks on the door, “Naruto we need to talk.” Maybe she should just apologize for being so angry then ask Naruto to try and do a better job in picking up after herself, keep it down to one bowl of cereal left on the table instead of several bowls stacked inside the sink. “Naruto?” She frowns and opens her door, stepping inside, “Naruto…” please stop ignoring me.

Naruto’s anger towards Sasuke hasn’t reached the bedroom, thankfully, and the bed is still unmade with the laundry basket still full of clothes that haven’t been put away yet. Sasuke sighs -- maybe Naruto had to work late -- and turns to leave when-

“S-Sai…”

Sasuke looks over at the wide open window and stares. She can see Naruto standing in the neighbor’s bedroom, shaking as the woman stands behind her and moves her hands all over her chest. Naruto’s clothes surround the floor around them and she’s trying to stay standing, her legs shaking as Sai continues to grope her chest.

“You’re shaking, Naruto, do you need to sit down?”

“S-shut up!”

“Mmmm,” Sai kisses at the back of her neck and slides a hand down Naruto’s stomach. Sasuke wants to stop watching, wants to walk away but she can’t stop looking at the way Sai’s fingers move over Naruto’s skin, moving lower and brushing in-between her legs. Now Naruto does need to sit down and Sai helps her over to the bed, helping her lay down and looking pretty proud of herself for creating such a lovely image on her bed sheets. Naruto. Naked and having trouble breathing. Sai brushes a finger against one of her nipples and Naruto jumps, moaning loudly, and Sai smirks, satisfied with her handiwork. She glances out the window, licking her lips when she sees Sasuke watching them.

If you saw me having sex in my room and the door was open, wouldn’t you watch?

TBC