SasukexNaruto (NarutoxSasuke) rec list

So we (Questofdreams and Adi) got incredibly bored one day and one of us thought 'HEY LET'S MAKE OUR OWN REC LIST' and the other agreed and thought it was an excellent way to procrastinate.

It's new and shiny and we really hope you enjoy these fics as much as we did :3 At the end, we included additional recs for other Naruto fics that are not of the SasukexNaruto persuasion.

Legend:
♣ - adi's personal favorites
♠ - questy's personal favorites

*Recs we either didn't agree on or one of us has read and the other hasn't:
♦ - adi only rec
♥ - questy only rec

| canonverse multi-chapters | AU multi-chapters | canonverse one shots | AU one shots | other |

. canonverse multi-chapter .

ANBU by maldoror-gw (wip) ♠

Maybe there was something more he could have said, something more he could have done to persuade them...Not joining up with Orochimaru would have been a good start to that last list. That had come up during his interview. Repeatedly. 'Interview'...more of an interrogation, and Sasuke had been at Ibiki's less than tender mercies when he'd returned to Konoha last year, he knew what he was talking about.

Sasuke had stopped second-guessing himself hours ago. The chances had been slim from the start. At this point, he expected nothing. He waited.

The minutes ticked by, timed to his pulse, the only watch he needed. He'd been sitting on that small bed, back to the wall, arms on his knees, while the last six hours dragged by like the ant crawling across the kitchen floor, overwhelmed by the size of its environment and its task.

And Ashes by saro (wip)

Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he was so self-conscious with a sword; he'd trained for years with them. The weapon should have been part of him, something essential as a hand or a foot or an eye. Now the accustomed grip felt clumsy in his hand. He caught himself holding it too tightly, and consciously eased up. Even when his mind told him his grip was flawless, looking at Naruto bowed before him and waiting for the blow, it felt foreign. Unbalanced.

"It has to be an immediate kill," Naruto said.

He was kneeling, knees pressed into cold, bare dirt of the Hyuga training field. A seal marked the ground around him in an elaborate ring intended to control the Kyuubi if it lashed out. Naruto didn't think that it would be able to attack with any strength immediately after losing its vessel. But he didn't know. None of them knew. Everything was guess work at this point.

At The End of All Things by silvaren♣ ♠
-we are working on trying to get this fic archived again! ;_;

Avenger's Choice by shakster (wip) ♦

Sasuke shot him a cold look. Then he turned his head. “You really never quit do you? Being an idiot is a fulltime fucking job for you huh?”

“Sasuke…” Sasuke never cursed at him… and he certainly never gave him that kind of look…he couldn’t ever remember a time he had looked at him quite like that before.

“The sprained wrist, the fractured leg, the broken arm… the dislocated shoulder…cracked ribs…and that’s all stuff you already know about. It’s saying nothing about the internal bleeding and practically destroying my chakra channels from forcing the chidori to form.”

“I…I know it’s bad…Sasuke…but…Tsunade is the best…I…” Naruto couldn’t even choke out words. He just kept remembering Hinata and Neji’s fight during the chuunin exam, how she had coughed up blood… how she was still collapsing, at the stadium even after a month. If Sasuke’s chakra channels were messed up… “There isn’t anything she…”

“There’s some procedure…experimental.” Sasuke had found some distant spot to stare at and wasn’t looking at him. “She’s never tried it…but it has something to do with hado, spiritual vibrations, taping into the hado for the chakra channels and rebuilding the damaged sections. It’s pretty theoretical, and there’s no guarantee it would work, or that I wouldn’t die on the operating table if she didn’t know what she was doing.”

“Well what happens if she doesn’t try it?”

Conviction by questofdreams ♦ ♣

"You've gotten faster," Sasuke said blandly, as if Naruto hadn't just almost killed him. He forced his knee between Naruto's clenched thighs. His hand tightened on Naruto's wrist and he ground his hips against Naruto's.

"Sasuke," Naruto gasped. His fingers dug into the layers of wet cloak draping Sasuke's shoulders. Water welled up beneath his hand, soaking into the thin cloth of his gloves. The sound of their feet shuffling over the damp concrete echoed off the narrow walls. "What do you think you're doing?"

Naruto’s eyes darted toward the end of the alley, where the light from a flickering lamppost pulsed faintly. He thought briefly—and humorlessly—about the possibility of his mission being compromised. Tsunade would flay him.

"Frightening, isn't it?" Sasuke asked, voice soft, at odds with the sharp angles of his body pinning Naruto.

Hot breath seared Naruto’s neck as Sasuke's knee rubbed roughly against him through the layers of cloth. For a moment, he thought insanely that Sasuke had read his mind. But then reason kicked in and he shoved at Sasuke’s shoulder. The other man wouldn’t budge. He stifled a groan and muttered, "What is?"

"How efficient we've become at killing," Sasuke mumbled into his neck. "We don't even think about it anymore."

Naruto stilled at the unexpected response. He groaned aloud this time as a wet tongue lapped at his neck. Sasuke's hand fumbled into the folds of material that separated them, seeking closer contact. Naruto’s gaze darted toward the alley end again. Summoning his control, he shoved Sasuke off him, pushing away the temptation.

Sasuke responded by grabbing Naruto's throat and slamming him again into the hard stone.

Damaetas by pellaz ♣ ♠

The Yondaime Hokage had a small shrine in the woods north of Konoha. Jiraiya took Naruto there and sat with him for a long time, both of them silent as they stared up at his picture overlaid on a hanging tapestry woven into the Konoha leaf symbol. The shrine was in a natural grove, with a burbling stream running nearby; it smelled of sweet spring water and the sandalwood incense that visitors lit and left behind.

Engraved on a small rock, in front of the tapestry, were the hand seals that had quieted the kyuubi and killed the Yondaime.

"Orochimaru and I used to come here," Jiraiya said suddenly, "before this was ever a shrine."

It's Tradition by justice-hime

When their mission was explained Naruto had immediately started to edge away in the opposite direction from Sasuke, only to be trapped by the third member of the team: Sakura. She had started prattling on about one thing or another, Naruto hadn't been sure what, when she was rudely interrupted by Sasuke.

"What's with you?" He had said, directing the question at Naruto, who had then jumped in surprise and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Stay away from me!"

My, How Convenient by spare

Sasuke felt a slight smirk play about his lips. Green boxers with orange swirls. Too easy. Not that Sasuke had ever made it a habit guessing what was under the dobe's standard blue-and-orange getup.

Of course.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, Sasuke wasn't gay.

But, anyway... There was the toilet bowl, and wasn't he here to pee? Yes, he was. So what if it was right across the shower stall the dobe occupied at the moment? It wasn't like he was going to peek, or do anything perverted. He moved forward. It would be the dobe's fault, anyway, if Sasuke saw anything he wasn't meant to see.

And provided he did see anything, he would definitely not be affected in the least, because Sasuke wasn't gay.

Night Thief by ceresi

"How could you –"

"I didn't have a choice!" Distressed, Sakura turned her back and wrapped her arms around her waist. "He's innocent, we both know that. It'll –"

Naruto drove his fist into her desk, denting it. "Look at me," he ordered, and she did. His face was pale, jaw twitching. "There," he said, voice trembling. "That wasn't hard, was it?"

She sat carefully in her chair, eyes wide. Her office wasn't as cluttered as it had been – in her anxiety, she'd had managed to file every last folder, in such a thouroughly organized way that she disgusted even herself – and yet, the walls kept closing in, tighter and tighter. It was hard to breathe, and it was easy to let tears well up. The expression of betrayal on Sasuke's faces as she arrested him was burned into her memory. He hadn't said a word, but his eyes had been enough. And Naruto . . .

Ripple Effect by rayemars ♣

He had cut it dangerously close. Two years and eight months wasn't enough time for him to learn everything that Orochimaru had been willing to teach him, but Sasuke knew if he had waited any longer to leave, the security would have been almost impossible to break through, even for him.

I learned enough, he told himself, he's no more use to me. I can get even stronger somewhere else.

Except it wasn't enough, and he knew it--sometimes he thought that, for fighting Itachi, nothing he learned would ever be enough--but he'd gained all the power he could while still being him.

Sasuke was more focused on getting away from the Hidden Sound village than he was on going anywhere. He didn't notice he was in the forest surrounding Konoha until he was only a few dozen meters from the walls.

Risque by moerae (wip)

While Naruto dressed, Sasuke's heart rate increased. Jiraiya-sama was just standing below, right next to the tree he and Kakashi was in. If they were seen now, Sasuke knew he was doomed. There was no doubt Jiraiya-sama was going to say something to Naruto. What would Sasuke do then?

Too occupied with his inner turmoil, Sasuke missed the amused expression on his teacher's face. His gaze wandered away from the half-clothed blonde as he tried to formulate a plan that could get him out of this situation. Anything to get him away. The predictions of him picking up several not-so-wholesome traits from Kakashi was slowly coming true. He was already down the irreversible path to pervert-hood without knowing it, and he suspected Kakashi and Jiraiya-sama were going to welcome him into the fold with open arms. Where was that kunai, he wondered briefly.

As his thoughts strayed, Sasuke's eyes lowered to peer down at Jiraiya and to make sure the senin wasn't aware of his presence at all. But unfortunately for Sasuke, Jiraiya knew of Sasuke's whereabouts even before he had left Naruto alone to clean. It was at that very moment Jiraiya looked up and caught Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke's breath hitched. A slow uplift of lips was enough to tell him his little secret had been discovered.

"Shit."

Self-Reliance by imbrium iridum (wip) ♦

“Shatori-chan! Yer booootiful!” said Naruto gleefully, clinging to his side. “Purtier than Sakura-chan, even! Are you from the Hidden Village of Sand? Sand chicks are hot.”

“Dobe,” Sasuke muttered. Naruto stumbled again (quite the feat since they weren’t moving at the time), burying his face in the shorter boy’s dark hair. He sniffled happily, thoroughly enjoying “Satori-chan”’s scent.

After I succeed in The Plan, Sasuke decided, rolling his eyes. I’m never letting him drink again. It’d almost be easier if he was a rowdy drunk, but no, being Naruto, he gets all clingy and shit. Ugh.

“Yer cute when yer all pishy,” Naruto slurred, his lips whispering against the curve of Sasuke’s neck, muffled by the turtleneck he was wearing. “I like…yer hair…shmells real good.”

“Naruto, don’t hit on me,” Sasuke said grumpily. “You’re completely smashed.”

“But yer a purty girl, an’…you shmell so good…”

“Oh, so I’m a pretty girl now, am I?” Sasuke asked, darkly amused. Putting him against his shoulder to free up his hands, he formed a quick seal, muttering “Sexy-no-jutsu”, his carefully-practiced lightened form of the jutsu formulated especially for The Plan coming with a smoky chakra pop. It didn’t change much---it didn’t give him the huge breasts and bimbotastic body of Naruto’s version; the most it did was give him A-cups and more pronounced hips---but it was enough. Just enough. “Now I am a pretty girl…what are you going to do about it?”

When the House Falls Down by sowell; sequel: The Relic ♠ ♣

It’s not his attacker who does him in. The ninja he’s fighting is nothing special. Sasuke had sensed them tailing Hawk nearly an hour before their team attacked. Most likely bounty hunters, smart enough to recognize the dark Akatsuki robes, but not smart enough to run.

No. He’d been able to fight the ninja without even using his Sharingan, half his mind focused on watching his team. The attack that does him in comes from somewhere else. He hears the whistling of the kunai before he sees it, hurtling toward him from the upper right. Only it doesn’t hit him. It hits his opponent directly between the eyes, spraying blood over both of them. Sasuke whips around, Sharingan instantly at the ready, but it’s too late. A flash of orange and a sharp prick to the back of his neck coincide with the ground exploding under him. He springs away, eyes probing for his teammates, but thick clouds of dust are rising from the broken ground, curling around the toppled trees and the boulders rolling like marbles. He can’t see two feet in front of him.

And whatever drug they shot him with is beginning to take effect. Everything darkens as the corners of his vision go blurry. He stumbles, but he doesn’t fall. The collar of his robe twists against the back of his neck, and he’s hauled up like a rag doll. Far away, he can hear Karin calling his name.

“I got him,” a familiar voice shouts, triumphant.

Damn it, Naruto... he thinks weakly, and then everything goes black.

Stolen by ceresi

"We don't have a lot of time!" Naruto's voice was unusually urgent as he kicked open the door, a kunai in each hand. "Ten minutes, maybe. Hello? Is anyone here?"

"I know we don't!" Sakura snapped. She leaned against the doorframe as Naruto inspected the small cottage, Sasuke a dead weight over her shoulder. "I think this place is abandoned."

Naruto glanced at her, then Sasuke. "Put him on the table," he said, gesturing. "I'll check the bedrooms."

Sakura kicked the door shut and staggered to the table as Naruto vanished down the short hall. He returned a moment later, hands empty. "No one."

"All right." Sakura hauled off the medpack she wore and dropped it beside Sasuke. "Check his pulse and get his shirt off."

Tangled Up In Lace by toffee ♣ ♠

Sasuke said it, in a voice that barely disguised a pout, with a blush so furious it might have been funny; he said --- he said:

"... This is just a disguise. It's not real. Your... Your girlfriend is not real."

Naruto understood. He filed away the obvious statement and took what he could, because Naruto was all for compromise. He'd learned long ago that he might never have what he wanted, so he might as well take what he was freely given.

It was ridiculous to fall in love with something that wasn't real, but Naruto was not as foolish as he might have wanted to be right there and then; he knew it wasn't exactly Saki he was in love with. So, it was okay for Sasuke to be there, and tell him Saki wasn't real.

The problem was... that there were many more things about Sasuke that weren't real as well.

Vice by saro (wip)

Sasuke woke up sore, his mouth dry, his head pounding. Every breath was a spike of pain driven into his temples. Opening his eyes, he found himself faced with the depressingly familiar sight of a hospital room. Thin grey light filtered in through the blinds, sketching the room in raspy, imperfect detail.

Sasuke sighed, blinked, and sat up, only to clutch his aching head.

He felt like shit. And he had the vague impression there was a very good reason for that. Blinking again, he assessed the damage.

No bandages, which was always a good sign. No casts or splints either, also good. His joints complained as he tried to move them, but he could move them. A little stretching would probably work out the kinks. He cracked his knuckles thoughtfully, then rubbed his forehead.

. AU multi-chapter .

Acousticophobia by Appledagger (wip)

In a world surrounded by noises of every variety, it would not be very convenient to be terrified of any type of sound. When the rich tones of a person's laughter give you the shivers, or the screech of tires makes you scream, (which in turn makes you even more terrified,) you can assume that you're not going to be as successful as someone with a normal fear, like spiders or something like that. I guess , if you were in this situation I mean, you would probably stay away from the world, home school, have one of those caretakers that smell like piss, asking you in sign language if you'd rather peas or corn for dinner. It's taking the easy way around and sliding through life without having to face your fear. But unlike you, I'm a risk taker, and I'm not about to give up my dreams of being famous because of some stupid shivers.

Admit Defeat by kisu (wip) ♦

They appeared in the emergency ward where the ambulance had just brought in their latest load and Hinata walked over, pulling back the curtain. An unconscious man was lying on the bed and Naruto took in his appearance. He had various bruises and cuts, maybe a few scrapes.

"What happened?" he asked, still examining the man.

Somehow he looked familiar but he couldn't place it...

"He was involved in a gang-related racing." Hinata said. "His name is Uchiha Sasuke."

A Treatise on Fairytails, Reworked by dual (wip) ♣ ♠

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT, WOULD YOU STOP SENDING WOMEN ALREADY??

For what must have been a good hour, everyone in the village stared at this sign, dazed, confused, and the beginnings of a foolproof plan forming in their collective brain. And then, as one, all eyes turned to stare at a single figure, sitting on a bench and sharpening a pack of kunai.

Sasuke looked up and blinked at the sudden attention.

"What?"

Bless Me, Father by antilogicgirl

There were times...when his faith was tested. Those times included when he saw death and injustice, or when he himself turned away from those in need or danger because of potential risk to himself. But right now, it was because of another person.

Long legs, tanned skin, dancing eyes, and a ready smile. These were the times that he wished he could just toss faith out of the window. He was Catholic. And as such, he knew that what he felt was completely wrong. It was obvious that pre-marital sex was wrong. The thoughts he had were most definitely impure in nature. So why did he keep having them? Well, that was pretty simple. He was a sinner.

And the fact that he was a sinner was comforting to him. It was because he was a sinner that he knew it was all right. He could just confess his sins like a good little boy, and be done with it. And then...he could sin all over again. Vicious cycle, right?

Conquest by adi ♥ ♠

Naruto approached the new TA’s desk. He needed to put this very carefully, just so that his message came across in a subtle yet straight forward manner. They were alone in the lecture hall and another class wasn’t due for a whole hour. Plenty of time.

“Wanna fuck?” were the first words to be blurted from Naruto’s mouth.

Sasuke for his part took Naruto’s ‘subtle’ message calmly. He raised an elegant (obviously waxed) eyebrow.

“Uzumaki, if you think sexual favours are going to raise your abysmally low grade in this course, you’re wrong.”

Naruto spluttered. Outrage welled inside of him. How dare he imply that Naruto was stupid and a whore.

Cracks in the Sidewalk by 1957 (wip) ♠

He was a strange-looking boy, though, not in the ugly way. He was simply otherworldly in his beauty--a kind of Martian belligerence running beneath peaceful white skin. Coal eyes peered down at him from a straight nose. Hair, lustrous and raven-black, framed his face, throwing everything into high contrast, from the delicate hollows of his eyes to the dip below his full lower lip. He was tall, though slender, and had an air of false delicacy about him. His gaze could have sliced steel. Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his spot.

"Here," said the boy, handing the cassette over. Naruto took it and thanked him.

"Forget about what that idiot said," said the boy. "John Lennon will never go out of style."

Crossed Wires by askerian (wip) ♠

The man who trudges out of the hut manages to inspire more distrust than his whole property does. He's dressed in baggy, glaring orange pants and a tight net shirt that wouldn't look out of place on a Silversnow druggie, and he's not even equipped with a basic datajack -- his muscled neck is only marred by a smudge of dirt, no cybernetic port anywhere in sight. And on top of that, he's a goddamn furry.

Sasuke, though, doesn't have a choice -- because the smiling, clean attendants only have the latest models, and don't have a clue how to help him.

"Yeah?" the furry drawls out, coming to a stop a few feet away. He stands with his fingertips hooked in his back pockets, spine and shoulders loose; his thick tail floats behind him, his golden, triangular ears lazily tracking the sounds a stray cat is making as it hunts a rat through a crumbling hovercar. If that's how he greets clients, Sasuke understands why his yard looks like a field of garbage.

His blue eyes have cat-slit pupils. Sasuke wonders where he got the money to pay for that kind of alteration -- eye surgery is a lot more expensive than sticking ears on, unless one doesn't mind ending up blind for the sake of coolness.

"Oi, I'm waiting."

Sasuke scowls. The guy's rude, too. "I was told you might have Uchiha parts."

Fox Magic by akaitsume (wip) ♦

To the bearer of this scroll,

Beware the power of your ambitions, for if your actions are not committed carefully, they will prove your last. Within this scroll lies the key to the Uchiha clan’s greatest asset; nay, the Fire Country’s greatest source of power. Only those with the strongest of wills can obtain this power.

If you doubt yourself for a moment, you will die.

Within this chamber, you will find a sealed container. When removing the seal, you must chant, “I am your master. You will submit to me.” If your will is not strong, you will die. If you succeed, the greatest power the world has ever known will belong to you.

You have been cautioned. Proceed by your own courage.

I Fell In Love With A Boy by OO83 (wip) ♣ ♠

I kind of just sat in the empty class listening to my heartbeat for a long while before I got enough strength in my legs to stand. Then I had to sit down again because my brain finally caught up to my dancing hormones and told me some things I had missed. Like, apparently, according to my brain which I'm not sure is entirely sane, I found the damned asshole unbelievably attractive. You know, hot and bothered kind of attractive, the kind that led me to think that I wanted to do.. uh.. stuff to him. Really exciting, forbidden by the Catholics, Muslims and most other religions, stuff to him.

If that wasn't enough, my brain also told me that not only did I want Sasuke's body in an unholy way, but I wanted to be with him in other ways. Like, how I've always wondered what it would be like to just talk to him, about anything and everything. Oh, and the fact that ever since I laid my eyes on him a half a year ago when he transferred in, I had always wanted to know him. Like a friend, I had thought, but apparently, as I sat in that unnamed class with my jaw dropped to the ground, I saw that I loved him.

So yeah, I fell in love with a boy. His name is Uchiha Sasuke.

Incognito by questofdreams ♦ ♣

“Did you want something?”

Naruto considered this. “...Should I answer that honestly?” Because there were a great many things that Naruto wanted, including but not limited to Shin spread out on his bed in nothing but a silk tie and a ribbon... Perhaps it was best not to be quite so forthcoming just yet.

Shin responded with a slight narrowing of his eyes. Then he looked away and returned to his book. Naruto, not to be discouraged, took this as an invitation to sit down.

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto,” he said when he’d situated himself. He dropped his backpack beside him and waited for Shin to reciprocate the greeting.

After a full minute had passed in silence, Naruto decided it wasn’t an intervention Shin needed so much as a punch in the face.

It's a Hard Knock Life by tatemshop (wip) ♥ ♠

"Hey sailor. Here he is." The older woman catcalled and stepped back to reveal a blond haired teenager.

The man in the group shoved the boy about his own age out to greet him. The boy looked horrified. He had terrible bruises all over his face and even what looked like a cigarette burn under his eye. He took a tiny step back, easing himself out of the harsh light of the street lamp.

"Please... my side hurts...one night off." The boy was looking up at the man in desperation and he spoke so quietly Sasuke had a feeling he wasn't meant to hear.

"Excuse us for a moment." The oily man said as he grabbed the boy and dragged him a little way down the street. This was possibly the most uncomfortable situation Sasuke had ever been in, and that included the time he was "outed" by Hinata's cousin Neji in front of the entire auditorium. He would gladly trade places with the younger version of himself right now because this was worse. Where was that damn bus?

Kiss Me Deadly by Aweshum (wip)

"I said, moron," he continued, "That I might give it back to you."

It took a few more moments for Naruto to fully understand what had come out of Sasuke's mouth. Usually, the blond's personality didn't see the point of being suspicious of anyone's actions, thinking that taking things directly was the best way to deal with a situation. However, it was not usual for his rival to offer something...like this. Naruto was sure there was some sort of trickery involved so he chose to approach with the utmost caution. Even so, a little piece of him hoped Sasuke was serious. Maybe the Uchiha, possibly the most cold-hearted person in the entire school, was not the-

"Provided you do me a service, of course."

-biggest asshole in the history of the universe!

Konoha Studios by fyredevyl (wip)

Shikamaru glanced up and saw him. "Here he is. He should be able to answer your questions Mr. Uchiha," he said, motioning behind the man to where Naruto was standing.

The first thought that ran through Naruto's head when the man turned around was that he was glad he'd set the drinks down first. Otherwise, he would have dropped them, or even worse, thrown them at that pale face as he turned around and pinned Naruto with his depthless black eyes. Naruto felt his heart stop in his chest as their eyes connected and a slow smirk stretched across those sensuous lips.

"Hello, Naruto. It's a pleasure to see you again," Sasuke Uchiha said in his perfect salesman voice, holding out his right hand to shake Naruto's.

Naruto just stood there, his expression blank. His right hand twitched as though it was trying to shake Sasuke's hand, but didn't have enough power to wake Naruto from his stupor. All he could do was stare at Sasuke's hand, as image after image of memories he'd long thought he'd forgotten came to the forefront and assaulted his senses.

Sasuke withdrew his hand, not looking awkward at all. He smiled gamely at the blond. "I figured this was one of your projects. It fits your style."

London Calling by ronsard (wip) ♠
-we have permission and the files to archive this fic again :3 it will hopefully be up soon!

Love, Shakespeare by fishforstars (wip)

As for other friends, I have plenty. Plenty who would give me the shirt off their backs, and plenty who I would do the same for without question. I used to be so alone in the world, and now I'm not.

And as for love, Sakura and I hadn't found the right kind with each other, but we're okay with that, really. She's been dating around lately, and I really hope she finds The One. Capital 'T' and 'O' and everything.

And me, well, this was my life, and I didn't think it would change. I was happy.

My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I thought I was happy. Until Sasuke Uchiha came along and blew 'happy' out of the water.

Metamerism | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | by fireun (wip)

It was with a considerable bit of surprise that Naruto noticed himself staring out of a darkened window. Well, to be fair, he had never owned pants that ratty and he definitely did a better job of cleaning dirt from underneath his nails (he glanced down quickly, just to be sure), but the face...

He could have been looking into a mirror, and not the closed gallery settled between a restaurant and office building. He didn't remember fending off any artistic enthusiast, couldn't recall any time he had had his picture taken. The idea of a secret admirer gave him a dashing moment of ego inflation before the skin between his shoulder blades took to itching. No, he definitely didn't like the idea that someone was following and staring, memorizing all the little details. The bastard even caught that slouch he had been trying to get rid of for years.

He was either at the end of a wonderfully executed joke, and his friends would be laughing hysterically when he met them at the café, or there was something a bit more sinister afoot.

Naruto grinned, flashing his teeth his at his image. He loved a good challenge.

Numerical Analysis by Yamazakura (wip) ♦

“They’re speaking about a Naha legend, Kiba.” Shika explained. “Naruto, you’re from Okinawa, right? You can tell us your version of the story.”

Eyes of their company adverted to him, making Naruto feel uneasy. He didn’t feel all that happy about coming to this place and instantly decided to never do it again. ‘This stuff’ extended.

“Yes, why…” he began, feeling black holes of Uchiha’s eyes setting is skin on fire. No, it wasn’t disgust of any sort, it must have been fear. But why? He had never met him until now. “Fox was a girl from France – and they say it’s her true name – who came to Naha three years ago to visit her grandfather, old man Sarutobi, who used to govern the streets long ago. She was only fifteen, they say, but she tricked everyone and entered Naha’s annual government-powered street-race and won it. Then, they say, she joined a band and refused to go back to Paris.”

“Blah-blah-blah… What’s the point, Naruto?” Kiba heaved a sigh.

“Shut up, Dog-gace!” Temari spat. Naruto felt Uchiha’s eyes flicker from his face somewhere else, but then the stare was back and this time supported by Gaara’s interested gaze.

“And so, this band of her soon started ruling over the city.” Naruto stopped. “That’s all.”

Of Guns and Glory by sowell ♠

Under any other circumstances, Naruto figured Tsunade would be gloating right about now. As it was, she was leaning against the wall with crossed arms, eyes dry and flinty. He didn’t blame her.

They’d all crowded into Tsunade's master suite, but Naruto could see the murder scene through the open doorway. The undertaker pulled the sheet up over Hinata Hyuuga’s face, draping her body in white before he and his assistant took her away. The ugly ring of purple around her neck disappeared along with her pale, bulging eyes. She’d been a pretty girl, shy and sweet, and Naruto felt his fists clench involuntarily as they covered up the gruesome evidence of how she’d died.

The two men lifted up the swathed figure, leaving only a chalk outline behind.

Role Play by KageKitsune ♣

Naruto fell out of the bed with a thud at the sound of the doorbell. Staggering to his feet groggily, he peered at the clock. 2:49, great...

Yanking on a T-shirt, he headed downstairs and stumbled to the door. Not even bothering to ask who it was, he had a fair idea; he unbolted it and wrenched it open.

"WHAT!!"

Sasuke barely lifted an eyebrow. What kind of idiot just flings his door open at three in the morning? Naruto glared at the bastard with red-rimmed eyes. That someone could pull of looking cool and aloof at this ungodly hour was beyond aggravating. He glared harder, waiting for some type of response. Sasuke shrugged slightly, not meeting his eyes.

"I need some help."

Naruto snorted, stifling a yawn. "What? What could you possibly need at this time of night? You need help hiding a body?"

--A few minutes later--

"I can't believe you need help hiding a body."

Skeletons in the Closet by lazzchan

He had just finished putting the last box away when he saw the blond figure again, and was starting to get annoyed. He knew there had to be some type of kids around—playing stupid tricks or games in the abandoned apartment complex, but he never knew that kids could vanish without warning. This time the person stayed, the colors sharpening until he could actually see the person.

It was a guy his age—spiky blond hair restrained by a bandanna thing and dressed in some type of uniform. Blue eyes focused on him, and it took Sasuke a moment to register the scars lining the strange boy's cheeks. It took him another moment to realize that the boy was transparent, that the early morning sunlight that streamed through the windows went through him just as easily. And he was floating. He knew living here was a mistake.

A rude voice snapped him out of his musings of just moving back home, so he didn't have to deal with the weirdness involved in this place. "What're you doing here?" The boy demanded, eyes narrowed at Sasuke. "You're not supposed to be here."

Spiral Falling by beccaamon ♠

Naruto walked down the still-empty hallway, a strap of his backpack hung loosely on one shoulder and his hands tucked in his pockets. He hunched as he walked, acting casual. He had decided to come in early today since he'd fallen asleep in the middle of studying for a test last night. He needed to look things over before the first period began.

Unexpectedly, a pair of pale hands appeared as if from nowhere and clutched the front of his navy uniform blazer. His back was slammed against the wall, a gasp involuntarily escaping his surprised body.

"Oof!" His eyes closed in a grimace.

"Morning, dobe." Naruto felt warm breath whisper against his cheeks. He groaned inwardly. This was not what he needed this morning. Parting his lids, his clear blue eyes met a pair of amused, almost black ones.

Before he could speak, a hard, muscular body had pressed against his as a knee parted his legs boldly.

"Uchiha," he growled, "don't you have some unsuspecting animal to run over or a bird to shoot or something?"

The Emerald Isle by fyredevyl (wip)

Naruto turned towards the back of the bus to grab his suitcase and saw Sasuke staring at him strangely, and almost horrified look on his perfectly arrogant face.

"What?" Naruto demanded harshly.

"Did you say I 4?"

"I 4.2 actually. What of it?"

He sighed, "It means block I, flat 4, room 2," then he paused before continuing in a pained voice, "and I happen to be in I 4.3."

"What do I care where you're staying?" It took a minute, but when things clicked, his eyes widened comically, "...wait, you mean we're roommates?"

Sasuke nodded, looking as put out as Naruto.

"Shit." Naruto cursed. He thought about what it would mean to be around this guy everyday, then shook his head mentally and decided to make the best of it. "Well, could you at least show me where block I is?" He hoped it was still possible to salvage their acquaintance. Yeah, right.

Watching by KeairaxSeiaa (wip) ♥

It all started with a kiss.

...Wait. That sounds corny. There’s got to be a better way to put that. No? …Damn.

Well, it’s true. And none of it was my fault! I want everyone to know, up front, that this is all Sasuke’s fault. Honestly. Everything I will tell you, both good and bad, I blame on him.

The first thing you should know is that Uchiha Sasuke is gay. Not flamingly, limp-wristed, I-should-have-been-a-woman gay, but quiet, in the closet, I’m-so-sexy-I-could-turn-straight-guys gay.

Really. I’m the straight guy he turned.

Won't Let You Go by reyn (wip)

"Naruto q-quit."

The next few seconds were filled only with the humming of the machines in the background.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

At Hinata's refusal to meet his eyes, a feeling of dread washed over Sasuke. "You're lying," he whispered as he turned and stormed over to his partner's side office, kicking aside packages as he went.

"I-I'm not!" Hinata insisted, chasing after him. "He was s-sitting on my desk when I arrived this morning and-"

"That's a lie," Sasuke insisted, rattling the locked doorknob, fully ready to just kick the door down. Hinata was quick to present him with a set of keys. "That dobe never comes to work early."

. canonverse one shots .

8:33 PM by appuru

Naruto arrives at the bridge at twelve forty-eight, since he predicts Kakashi won't be there anyway, and runs up to greet his teammates with "Good mooorning, Sakura-chaaaan!" and a somewhat less enthusiastic "'Morning, Sasuke", where Sasuke quirks an eye at the lack of an added 'bastard' to his name, and Naruto does not say anything and instead grins indolently. Sakura smiles, says hello, and returns to ogling Sasuke, who finally grunts something that could barely pass for human speech.

Two eighteen and Kakashi makes his grand appearance, explaining that his lateness was all due to the fact he was nearly run over by a eighteen-wheeler this morning, despite the lack of motorized vehicles in Konoha. Naruto and Sakura dutifully shout "LIAR!", and Sasuke once again fails at communication. Kakashi presents them with his bemused, all-knowing look, and deems that today is a fine day for training and not-missions. Naruto complains loudly.

Aftermathematics by ronsard ♠

"Sasuke," Naruto said slowly. "Your wife left you yesterday."

Sasuke scowled at him, mentally counted to ten, and then scowled some more. "I know that."

If it were at all possible, Naruto's bottom jaw fell a little lower. The action gave him a cross-eyed appearance. "You know—oh fuck, of course you know! I meant, hell, you asshole, isn't there something else you're supposed to be doing instead of going to your goddamn headquarters?"

"Like what?"

"Like—I don't know—crying, or getting drunk? Or, better yet, admitting that you were wrong and begging her to come back on your hands and knees?"

For some absurd reason, Sasuke found that couldn't meet Naruto's eyes. Instead, he forced a derisive snort and, gaze carefully averted, said, "My marriage is none of your concern and that includes what I should or should not be doing with my time."

"In any case," he continued breezily, "it's unreasonable to expect me to spontaneously put my work on hold merely for the sake of sorting out domestic issues. If Sakura had announced her intention to depart a few days ahead, then I might have been able to accommodate you."

"Sasuke," Naruto said evenly. "I'm going to punch you now."

A Ghost without Regret by unfortunately freckled

Konoha had always been haunted, or so the legends relayed. Being a ninja village, people often died and with their passing their dreams and lives faded into that indefinite realm of memory. Villagers would gaze wistfully at pictures of stricken comrades with the silent question stinging their tongue: "Did they have any regrets?" And those whom seemed to shoulder those eternal burdens were said to become ghosts—ethereal presences desperate for the warm flesh and blood that had slipped between their fingers.

For the most part however, the accounts of these ghostly encounters were scarce and highly unreliable. Various villagers reported a disembodied scream to the Hokage once and a while and of course the dreaded and deadly shadow-in-the-corner-of-the-eye, but there had never been an actual sighting or occurrence that had been factual enough to investigate. (Omitting the one time, of course, Iruka had reported flying silverware in his house only to find the culprit not an irate ghoul but Naruto and some fishing wire. The boy's ears still rang sometimes from the deafening chewing out he had received from Tsunade and Iruka both.)

The screams began appearing in the summer at various times in the day. Loud, choked howls resonated from alley-ways and the forest and other such places that made many people pale with the idea of traveling into to discover the spine-chilling origin. What appeared to be the most unusual thing, however, was the fact that these pained shrieks could sometimes be heard echoing from the dark Uchiha clan complex. Clouded with a bloody past, the vacant houses, neighbors decided, were a perfect breeding ground for ghosts.

A Matter of Head by askerian

"Okay, he's. Well. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm the first he ever let... You know. And yeah, I kinda... notice that he's not -- we're not... doing it often. But anything else -- bleh."

Inner Sakura supplied the missing words. And an image of Sasuke's narrow hips and tight, muscled buttocks. And another image of Naruto, that time he had fallen over the wall separating the men's pool from the women's at the onsen.

...Maybe that was why Sasuke didn't want to bottom too often. Because, well, um.

Inner Sakura also wondered if she could tell apart the soreness and stiffness of a good sparring session, and the soreness and stiffness of another kind of sport that was more often played in bedrooms.

But then this was Sasuke; maybe he enjoyed both -- OH, DUH. Why hadn't she thought about it before? Scratch that, why hadn't NARUTO thought about it before?

Anchored In Dust by fahye ♠

He looked up again when he became aware of the silence around him, the silence that began with Uzumaki Naruto and then rolled away, gathering a terse momentum as it spread over the crowd of people that were trickling into their vicinity now that the fight was, to all intents and purposes, over.

There was a terrible gash on Naruto's forehead, snaking into his hairline and bleeding all over his face. Sasuke's own face tingled in an itchy sympathy: he wished the idiot would wipe the damn blood away.

"So that's that," Naruto said.

Sasuke straightened his back, stood with his feet flat on the ground of the only place he had ever called home, and held out his hand.

And Death by wolfpilot06 ♥

"Why is it, Sasuke," he drawled, his words slurred together in exhaustion but none the less amused for it, "That you don't seem to be able to keep your shirt on through a fight?"

Sasuke automatically glanced down at his bare torso before scowling at Naruto, though the expression was more an automatic response than made out of any true irritation. When Naruto did nothing more than smile cheekily up at him, he raked his dark eyes up and down his rival's body, taking in the deep tears in Naruto's beloved flame-edged coat – consciously styled after his late father's famous wardrobe – and the dried trickle of blood tracing from Naruto's temple around the curve of his cheek.

"I find it more comfortable," he retorted. It was strange, this easy camaraderie with Naruto, somehow unchanged despite all they'd been through together and apart. Tentatively, he felt his way towards familiar ground word-by-word, treading carefully around the jagged holes in their odd relationship and striving towards that familiar place where he could push at Naruto and expect nothing more than fond frustration in return. "It's more practical when they come out."

And oh! it's raining today by fish-for-ashes

It's wet and it's cold and it's tenth of October. It's a terrible day to be on the roof, with the skies stretched out all gray and stormy above them, but Naruto insisted and Sasuke let himself be pulled up stairs and through doors.

Naruto carefully chooses a dry spot of roof, and promptly sits himself down. And Naruto doesn't reach up to tug Sasuke's hand, but the way Naruto looks up at the other boy is enough, just enough, to make Sasuke wordlessly sit down as well. And the brilliance of the resulting grin causes that funny feeling in Sasuke's heart-- again.

"Why are you so fucking happy today?" Sasuke tries to make the question callous.

But fails miserably.

Ashes, Ashes by ronsard ♠

He finds the scroll by complete accident while rifling through the burnt rubbles that were once the village of Otogakure. When first he sees the charred goatskin among the broken tiles and ashes, he doesn't quite recognize it for what it is, only noticing that the item has somehow managed to escape the flame relatively unharmed.

Later, he will wonder what strange impulse has seized him then, guiding his hand inexorably towards the blackened roll of bamboo and skin.

A sudden movement from behind startles him, and he tightens his grip around the scroll as if by some inborn instinct.

"Any more bodies under there?" Just a random ANBU, faceless behind the painted mask. "That area used to be Orochimaru's personal chamber."

Avoiding the Issue by sadieko

The shirt sat untouched on his floor for nearly three weeks.

More specifically, it sat in the center of his room; a wadded up double handful of black mesh and lightweight cotton that he had to step over every time he went to the bathroom. He didn't understand how the hell both of them missed it. No matter how madly they'd rushed to get dressed before Kakashi came home and found them naked and tangled up together, they should have spotted it. The shirt was perfectly visible, lying right where even a half-blind idiot could see it.

Especially that half-blind idiot. The one who owned the stupid thing. Of course Naruto hadn't come back to get it. Sasuke wouldn't have let him in or talked to him even if he had shown up, but that wasn't the point. Naruto wasn't going to come over because he just wasn't that considerate. He probably expected Sasuke to return it to him.

Ha. Like that was going to happen.

Be Mine by biztheinsane

Sasuke doesn't like chocolate. It's too rich, too hard, and, most importantly, too sweet. Sasuke just doesn't do sweet. It gives him a headache and makes him feel nauseous, so he prefers to just coolly avoid it like he does most everything else.

This is why Sasuke hates Valentine's Day: You can't just coolly avoid a scheduled day of the year. It cannot be done. It's there, silently lurking, lying in wait ahead of you on the calendar. And Sasuke knows, really knows, that no matter how far he runs, or how cleverly he hides, or how staunchly he ignores, there is still going to be a wealth of disgusting chocolate outside his door this coming holiday. Regardless of how he feels about it, Valentine's Day is determined to nip at his heels, mewling for attention, for the rest of his life.

Luckily, he has Naruto.

Best Laid Plans by askerian

Naruto found him on the bridge where Team Seven used to meet every morning, back when they'd been Genins. Except that it wasn't morning at all, and Sasuke wasn't standing, his back to one of the pillars and his arms crossed in a "I'm cooler than you" pose. He was sitting at the edge, his forehead pressed to the wooden guardrail, his legs swinging slowly over the water. There were a few bottles around him.

Sake bottles. Naruto wondered if Sasuke had hit his head and had become amnesiac and then totally changed his personality, or maybe if someone of Ino's family had stolen his body for some nefarious purpose -- or maybe if it was an illusion.

Yeah, the illusion thing was more probable, what with being a ninja and all that.

So he kicked it. It seemed like a good idea at the time, really.

Catch by joosetta ♠

The first time she saw them they were in the deserted classroom, pressed against the wall beside the window. Later on she realised that this was the first for them as well- something unheralded, frantic and new.

She could only see Sasuke at first, and the burn of jealousy was sick and bitter in her throat. He looked so absorbed, shoulders hunched, head tilted. She didn't even notice /who/ he was absorbed in at first- only the way his clenched fist was twitching against the wall, and the way his jaw was moving lazily.

And then she saw Naruto, fingers holding a white knuckled grip on Sasuke's shirt, feet spread in an almost fighting stance. His head was pushed back against the wall, eyes squeezed shut in tense concentration.

She ran as silently as she could.

Choices by ninjacat ♠

It wasn't something they talked about.

It just wasn't. It was a fucking lot easier to pretend it had never happened, to pretend that the way things were...that it had always been. That the only things that had changed were the years and the days, the length of their hair and size of their shoes. And maybe, in Sasuke's case, the color of one's fingernails.

Which Naruto never failed to prod at. Especially at times like this. When the unspoken rule of silence got bent but never quite broken.

Getting drunk usually helped that along. A lot.

Choosing Who by gelfling8604

It was raining. Gray sunlight turned the poisoned trees and canyons dark charcoal, so smudgy it may've been night. Naruto ran.

He'd sent Sakura ahead of him with Kakashi-sensei while he protected the rear; the older man needed medical attention badly, and Sakura would be able to help him better than Naruto would if they weren't able to reach help in time. He wasn't sure how far ahead Sakura was—the rain made it hard to tell, but if he had this much trouble following Sakura with her low chakra and high speed that meant that their pursuers were having a worse time.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end while he ran—he could feel he was being followed, watched, tried branching off the path and double-backing to throw them off Sakura's trail, because in his condition he wasn't really up for fighting. Sections of his body—his left shoulder, lower right abdomen—had been badly wounded and burned painfully as the sinew knitted itself back together.

Empires for Whores by sintari ♠

"Well, that could have gone better."

Naruto tried to keep his tone light, but his flexing fingers and stiff gait as they left the Hokage Tower behind told Sasuke all he needed to know about Naruto's latest meeting with the Council.

Technically, Sasuke hadn't waited for Naruto to emerge. The Council had summoned him to take new identification photos. The official notice had left off the phrase, "...in case we need to list you in the Bingo Book again," but Sasuke read between the fine brush strokes. Ever since he'd won probation and free rein of Konoha, the powers-that-be had annoyed him with petty harassments. It was psychological warfare, designed so that he wouldn't become too complacent and confuse nominal toleration with whole-hearted acceptance back into the fold.

Epilogue by fireun ♣

It started where it had ended, two predators circling each other warily looking for an opportunity if not an opening. They took in each other's differences with narrowed eyes, more than half distracted by what they remembered. They looked for patterns to fall into and onto, settling on an aggression that was as much self defense as offense. Naruto didn't notice his upper lip had curled up just so. Sasuke didn't realize he hadn't dared blink. But each noticed the others reflexive defense and interpreted it as offense. Old habits died hard, and reared again in the face of familiar stimuli.

Too long apart, neither of them wanted to make the first move, to be the one to try and test the other. There was enough difference in Naruto's bearing, in Sasuke's movements, that neither was sure of the other.

Impulsive, compulsive, Naruto made the first move. He straightened, and if he didn't exactly smile some of the snarl left his face. "I'm hungry. Let's get lunch."

Exchange by desolate_butterfly

This isn't the way things were supposed to turn out; Sasuke's sure of it.

He doesn't know what Naruto gave up to get him back; only that there was some kind of exchange that he was left out of, some decision made out of his control again and Sasuke sometimes thinks that being Orochimaru's tool would be better than being Naruto's.

At least there were no conflicting emotions in Sound. There was power and there was hatred and there was convenience and Sasuke knew exactly where he stood. Now he lies in Naruto's bed, curled in the sheets that reek of too many sweaty nights and unwashed bodies—the slightly darker scent of the forest—and tries not to think too hard about the removal of Orochimaru's seal from his body.

Naruto appears in the doorway, soaking wet. Sasuke raises his head slightly from the pillow but can't hear the rain. The bedsprings creak as Naruto sits down, a cautious distance from Sasuke's legs, and peels off his jacket

Fifteen Ways to Dissolve a Memory by 1957 ♠

There are a number of things Naruto thinks about when Sasuke gets like this--throwing dishes and scrolls and ramen everywhere in celebration of a destruction that only will only lead to a five hour clean-up of shattered china.

Sasuke will bulldoze everything. Then he will kneel next to the overturned coffee table and breathe a deep sigh--a relieved sigh. A quiet will settle over the broken furniture and Naruto will walk to Sasuke who will run his hands over Naruto's hips and force him to sit. They will kiss. Fabric will tear; seams will fray. Then they will know the war is over.

But Sasuke is only on the first cupboard right now, and there is only a moderate pile of rubble on the kitchen floor. He has not typhooned through the rest of the house yet. It will take a long time for Sasuke to do that.

Gloss by fahye ♠

It begins with the way Sasuke reaches out and picks up Naruto's hand, with the way his lips are dry and smooth and he never even blinks as he pulls Naruto's fingers into his mouth.

Actually it begins a long time before that, but this is where it begins to make sense. They've already discovered that sex is weird and sticky and refuses to fit into the time that you allocate it; they've gotten it out of the way in ten minutes and had to learn to laugh about it afterwards, and they've shown up to meetings even later than Kakashi, breathless with wet hair and bruises under their clothes. They've discovered that having sex after spending the afternoon fighting in the dust is brutal and exhilerating, but you're going to end up with a lot of that dust in your mouth.

Especially if you're Sasuke.

Healing Scars by zuzeca

The first time Naruto and Sasuke had sex, it was in the rain. Not a warm, romantic summer rain that makes clothing cling provocatively to one's skin, but a freezing deluge that plastered Naruto's blond spikes to his skull and turned Sasuke's lips an unhealthy blue. Naruto had never imagined that during his first time he'd be on his hands and knees in a sea of mud, Sasuke's long legs wrapped around his waist, Itachi's cooling body not even ten feet away. As Naruto stared down at the boy who'd been his best friend, he watched the rivulets of water run down Sasuke's cheeks and couldn't tell if they were rain or tears.

The second time Naruto and Sasuke had sex, it was two weeks later. Sasuke was ensconced in one of the smaller houses of the Uchiha district, an ANBU guard all around it. They hadn't spoken of the incident; in fact Sasuke hadn't spoken at all during the return to Konoha, despite Sakura's encouragement. The only time he'd opened his mouth was to give the dull admission of guilt at his trial before the council. Naruto had been on eggshells awaiting the verdict and was overjoyed at the relatively lenient sentence. He expressed his joy by showing up on Sasuke's doorstep, a take-out bag from an impromptu trip to the Ichiraku clutched in his fist like a peace offering.

Hot Sex And Pest Control by sintari ♠

Falling in love is the easiest thing in the world. Staying in love is another thing altogether.

"There's no food in this house at all," Sasuke closed the refrigerator door, his forehead furrowing in disbelief. He saw a towel go flying across the bedroom to the dirty clothes pile before Naruto appeared in the doorway.

"I've been eating out."

Sasuke pursed his lips. "Yes, I see." Empty food cartons littered the kitchen's flat surfaces. A line of ants followed an obstacle course between them.

Juxtaposition by datenshiblue

Sakura couldn't sleep. She was tired, the day had been long, and Tsunade as always had been as good as her word to go hard on her apprentice. She shouldn't have any trouble sleeping. The one thing that could have kept her up was no longer an issue. It was almost a week since Sasuke-kun had been back. It was time for her fears and anguish to quiet, for her heart to be peaceful. After the first few days, her excitement should be subsiding. This was what she had wanted - her lifetime heart wish: to have him back. She'd spent it on that, and not on hoping for him to finally see her as a woman. She'd never expected to be discontent with it. She thought she was grown up enough to know the difference between what was really important, and a child's foolish and selfish fantasies.

She should be able to rest. But she wasn't, she couldn't, and after tossing and turning and checking the clock for the tenth time in five minutes, she dragged herself up, put on clothes and went for a walk.

Keys to Leadership by Letta

Everyone knew that the Hokage was strong. Most knew he was unconventionally brilliant. There wasn't anyone, however, that didn't know that he had one very evil and prominent sadistic streak. Especially when it came to one Uchiha Sasuke, ANBU captain and sharingan-wielding prodigy.

When confronted, the Hokage would just smile deviously like a kid with a water balloon and say that it was just payback. Most would agree that whatever the Uchiha heir had done, he didn't deserve all that he got, but then, most hadn't grown up with him, either.

Though even those that had grown up with them would agree that sometimes the leader of Konoha did tend to go overboard.

Luckily for the Hokage, he had a very dedicated ANBU guard by the name of Neji, who was very good at knowing just when to step in. After all, it was tough to defend oneself when laughing too hard to breathe.

Life by dual

01 - Motion

It's the first thing he sees when he drops from the tree canopy to the training arena below: arms uncoiling, snapping through the still morning air; a dozen kunai finding their mark in a quivering practice dummy; and a grin so bright it hurts his heart to look at splitting a round, scarred face.

02 - Cool

"But he's not!" Naruto wailed.

Love Songs and Ladies by maldoror_gw ♠

Her ninja guards came to fetch her at her uncle's house. There were only four of them; not as many as Minako expected to protect the daughter of a very rich and powerful family from the Evil Men who might want her beauty and her fortune. And one of her guards was a girl, who appeared to be her own age at that. Minako wasn't sure what to make of that, though at the back of her mind she hoped this meant there would be somebody to talk hairdo and boys with on the two-week journey back to her hometown and her father's house.

Her eyes had fixed themselves on the young dark-haired ninja first, because, well, who wouldn't? He was her age, yet coolly world-weary; dark, broody and oh definitely handsome. But-

At this point, it might be worth explaining something about Minako. Her mother was a sheltered aristocrat from a minor noble family who read a lot of romances and was the sort of person to call her daughter Beautiful Child. Her father, on the other hand, was a powerful merchant who'd built up his fortune from scratch through many a shrewd deal. Though Minako mostly took after her mother, she had also inherited from her father an edge of practicality which she wasn't quite aware of, but which acted a bit as a guardrail.

Lucky Bachelorette Number Two by ronsard ♣

"But," he tried again, desperately coordinating his thoughts, "I was—I was locked up."

The muscle at the corner of Sakura's mouth twitched—guiltily. "Yeah," she said in her dispute management voice. "I'm sorry about the quarantine, but we had to be sure. The norovirus had been developed to be... extra persistent, and we didn't want to take any chances."

They hadn't wanted to take any chances. He had been locked up for something like an eternity, slavering at the sight of sunshine, feeling as though time and his very sense of self had been slipping away from him, all because they hadn't wanted to take any chances.

"You were only quarantined for, like, three days," Naruto piped up from the background. In a significantly lower tone, he muttered, "Geez, drama queen much?"

Mission Troublesome by Penelope-z

It had been a complex and catastrophic sequence of events that placed Shikamaru in charge of the diplomatic mission to Suna. First, a butterfly flapped its wings, somewhere west of Wave country, thus creating the expected storm over Konoha. It rained for seven days straight, and Kakashi, the initial leader of the mission, got caught in the downpour and ended up bedridden with the flu and Iruka feeding him chicken soup. The aforementioned storm also rained over Neji, the second choice for leader, causing his hair to frizz and thus increasing his brooding to levels that were practically radioactive. Every attempt to drag him out of the rain was met with mumblings of 'oh, father' 'oh, fates' 'oh, my hair' 'it's my destiny to be wet' 'soggy caged birds don't sing' etcetera...

Desperate situations called for desperate measures, and so Shikamaru found himself summoned to the Hokage's office at some ungodly hour in the morning. A rather bedraggled Sakura was standing guard by the door, with a long-suffering gaze, her forehead protector askew, and looking more or less like she had been caught under the wheels of a particularly determined steamroller.

Natural Talent by toffee

It wasn't that they had never considered it up until then. Naruto, at least, had been plagued by the idea for quite a while. But Sasuke's return from Sound had been both untimely and complicated; there was no time to linger on something as banal as...that.

To Naruto, however, there was nothing banal concerning this matter; he merely pushed it to the back of his mind to avoid the problems it would bring. After all, how was one supposed to approach something like this?

Sasuke-bastard... I... want to fuck you.

Or something that came close to it... very, very close.

Placebo by desolate_butterfly

Sasuke doesn't ask for things, and so Naruto has to watch, and wait, and sometimes guess.

The guessing part is scary, because Naruto is never certain if he's guessing right. He's never been the smartest of the group, after all, that's Sakura's job. And he's not the one with the Sharingan, stolen or inherited, to help him see underneath the underneath.

But then, Sakura isn't able to push like Naruto can, isn't willing to take the chance of earning Sasuke's hatred in order to break his walls down just enough to shout through. And Kakashi isn't able to fully give what Sasuke needs—not with his own mask still securely fastened around his face. There is too much guilt between the two of them to make that kind of relationship possible.

[Scenes From A Story] by questofdreams (questy says: adi is a bint btw >_> ) ♦

There was an air of gravity to sustain while sitting bent over a hospital bench with the disorienting flicker of the overhead light a sardonic companion. So when Naruto felt laughter bubble up in his throat, he disguised it with a loud cough (and if the dry, reedy sound was edged in madness then Naruto pretended otherwise).

As did his companion, who sat opposite him in much the same position, glaring down with hollow eyes that reflected the dull gleam of the linoleum. Every few minutes, a sound would issue from the door down the hall and the young man’s eyebrows would twitch, drawn together like shifting plates along a convergent boundary. Naruto watched the resultant grief ripple through his features before the emotion retreated again.

Second Course by sintari

"What the hell is that?" Naruto stage-whispered across the heavily-laden table to Sakura. "Looks like dog shit."

Sakura rubbed the bridge of her nose while a couple of the surrounding guests suppressed giggles and shot them dirty looks.

"Naruto. It's pate. You will eat it and you will like it." She punctuated the admonition with a kick under the table.

"Ouch!" Sakura covered her face, mortified, as Naruto lifted the pristine white tablecloth and peered below. "High heels aren't fair!"

Seven Days by ronsard

[day 0]

"It must be done," is his final answer. The words coalesce in his mouth even as his mind is rushing through the process of formulating the thoughts that would give them meaning, and he feels them rise to his lips cold and heavy as chunks of water crystal.

Strangely enough, they are already ash when they leave his mouth.

Tsunade's face is pale, two identical furious red blotches on her cheeks, but her voice sounds as if it were encased in a soapy bubble.

"--if you are sure, dammit, I don't have to tell you again how risky it is to attempt an experimental procedure. There is no need--"

"There is a need," he counters. His mouth feels numb but his heart is, for once, quiet. Calm, he thinks, and smiles tiredly. "Information confidentiality, calculated liability, unacceptable risk... Conflicting interests. And those are just the terminologies I can pronounce. I'll leave the down and dirty up to your imagination."

Shoot Your Mouth Off by Hades' Phoenix

Sex wasn't really a foreign concept to Sasuke. It couldn't be, especially after having lived with Orochimaru and his less-than-subtle innuendo for almost three years, and especially for living in a world essentially ruled by blood and death. When betrayal and distrust become the order of the day, shinobi tend to grab at the remainders of their humanity without much more than a passing thought for taboo.

"Do you even have a dick?" Naruto demanded one day, when the newly reunited Team Seven had decided to have their 'we-finished-a-mission-and-no-one-died-that-wasn't-supposed-to' celebration at Ichiraku. Or rather, the blond had decided, and dragged his two teammates to the ramen stall with Kakashi trailing along as a porn-bearing shadow of amusement.

Sasuke gave Naruto a long look that questioned his intelligence, his ancestry, and the blond's own manhood, all without words. A lesser man—or one with more common sense—might have shit himself, but Naruto just waved his chopsticks around haphazardly and nearly smacked the other boy in the face.

Smoke In Spring by Saro ♠

"You can come out," Naruto said, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply; the air smelled like spring and wood smoke. "I know you're there."

In the years since Orochimaru's death, Naruto had gotten used to that presence at the edge of his awareness. He hadn't been able to get Sasuke to come back, but he'd been followed anyway. He wondered sometimes if it was because of Itachi, or if his one-time friend had some other reason to haunt him. He wondered, too, if maybe it would be easier to have Sasuke gone completely.

The air was cool in that damp, fresh way that promised daffodils in the morning. It clung to his skin and his hair, cold but comfortable. Naruto licked his lips and pushed the thought of tomorrow out of his head.

Solitude by octavius_x ♠

2. When they'd been younger, stupider, they'd played at being adults. Ninja teenagers always wanted to try new unexpected things: using chakra infused feet to play tag on temples roofs or making footprints that started halfway up the second story, and always always they revolved around sex. They tested: just how far the sexy-no-jutsu transformation went, making-out standing on the hotsprings, or jerking-off upsidedown and backwards in trees to test their chakra control.

Don't fall, Sasuke'd whispered. They weren't girls; they didn't look. It was easier not to, just to fumble about heart --oh godohgodohgod-- in your throat, and hand down in someone else's pants. Wrist cramped and totally awkward, but it's wetandgood and hot and the trees smelled clean like pine, which he liked, and the dark enclosed them, took them in completely.

Stealth by sowell ♠

Sasuke turns into a different person when he sleeps. Naruto knows he shouldn't be so infatuated after all these years, but he can't help it. His eyes trace the pale, scarred skin of Sasuke's chest as it rises and falls with each breath. The sun creeping in past the window shade turns every ridge into hills of light and shadow. There are years of battle marked into his body, making it all the more beautiful. Sasuke is never not beautiful – a bitter fact which Naruto accepted years ago – but there is something special about him when he's sleeping. Maybe, Naruto muses, it's because he so seldom allows himself to sleep in the presence of others. There are precious few people alive who've seen Sasuke Uchiha so vulnerable, and it makes warmth spread in Naruto's chest when he thinks that he's one of them.

Summer by pellaz ♠

Naruto's mornings, he had come to find out, were not exactly normal. First of all, a few of his classmates had expressed horror that he made breakfast himself (Chouji informed him that his mother and sister and sometimes his older brother all started cooking the night before), and his cooking skills were also subject to scorn: Shikamaru made a disparaging comment about how of course all he could make was ramen, which prompted Naruto to try and make something else even though all he wanted was ramen. Who knew it was that hard to fry an egg? Damn chicken didn't want to be eaten, he guessed.

After that brouhaha died down, Sakura-chan came over one day and went through his bathroom and explained to him why, exactly, shampoo was much better for your hair than soap and merciful HEAVEN, didn't he ever clean around the drain?

Suspicious Behavior by kaeda

It's a bit like ownership, if ownership is a warm, dull feeling in the pit of the stomach that won't go away no matter how many times they fight, no matter how many times he finds himself with his nose bloody and his hands raw. But he's felt like this for years, since before Sasuke returned from Sound, when they fought for their lives and yet the other boy still couldn't kill him, couldn't kill him. Orochimaru's eyes still laugh distantly in Naruto's mind, but Sasuke is back, Sasuke is back and that's all that matters anymore.

He still doesn't understand his bizarre friendship with Sasuke, the way he alternately wants to spend every waking moment with him and yet pound his face into the dirt, and the way Sasuke provokes him constantly and yet smiles while doing so, as if he'd missed all of this. But he smiles and nods and goes along with it, and so when he trips over Sasuke's sleeping body on his way to the bathroom one morning, he doesn't even blink.

The Golden Rule by Moonsheen

Uzumaki Naruto, you've never been a guy big on rules, but you know there's stuff you can't ignore. Mostly the stuff that no one tells you, the stuff you just know--those are the important rules.

Take, for example, the rules of teamwork. You're part of a team, you work with that team. You sacrifice for that team, and you are that team. You stick together, you help each other--You weren't told that one so much as showed it. And even if you privately admit it scared the hell out of you at the time, it was still pretty damn cool. Kakashi-sensei's good at making sure you remember lessons like that.

And take, for another example, the rules of rivalry. You have a rival. You want to show him up, and you really, really wouldn't mind kicking his ass in the process. Often times there's a girl involved. Often times you hate this guy. That's the way things work. No one taught you that, but you understand it just fine. Bring it on, bastard.

The Inevitable by rayemars

Some things can't be ignored.

Long after Naruto falls asleep--sprawled out over more than half the bed and kicking him in the leg, the idiot--Sasuke keeps a hand over the place on Naruto's stomach where the seal is.

He knows that the seal is still firmly in place. Everyone knows the seal is still firmly in place; Tsunade made sure of that when the whole mess began. And it's not like it's even visible unless Naruto is using the fox demon's chakra. It's a stupid gesture, and Sasuke doesn't like doing stupid things.

He does it anyway.

The Listening Sky by fahye ♠

When Naruto closes his eyes he can just about imagine two moves into any hypothetical situation -- perhaps this and then perhaps that and then his attention unravels like a loose thread, because in a fight he thinks with his muscles and with the hot bright rush of chakra but never with anything so difficult as words.

"And then?" Kakashi says, testing him.

"And then I'd think of something else."

Kakashi sighs; Naruto grins, unconcerned, because perhaps he doesn't treat his battles as though he's playing a game of shogi, but it's very seldom that he meets a present moment he can't fight his way out of.

The Space by hina88

"Hmm, they're considering their choices for Hokage." The old man blew out a weary breath and shifted on his stool. "It's not looking good for Fire Country."

His companion grunted shovelled another spoon of soup in his mouth. "Let the shinobi deal with it. It's not our opinion that will make a difference. Their choice won't affect our small corner."

"It will if the Hokage is a liability. We don't want anymore attacks on our country and they say the one the woman is favouring is definitely someone who would attract trouble."

"Hmm, never did agree that a woman should take that position."

The Walking Wounded by tsubaki-hana

The sky is raw with thunder and lightning, and his nose is filled with the metallic tang of it, even if it does taste like blood in the back of his throat. But the storm is beautiful, despite its drab coloring and monotonous hushing rain sounds. He is alive enough to feel the chill of the water, but numb enough to think and not hurt.

He didn't always think that he would wander the roads the way that he did, crossing the mountains and forests like some poor wraith, some lonely child that can't seem to find his mother's hand (And you never will, because you have no mother and you don't know why).

Three Weeks, She Sleeps by jc-eastling

"Chakra burnout," Shizune said.

"The hell is that and what does it have to do with Sakura-chan?" Naruto demanded. He was healing as swiftly as always, but there was something broken in his eyes when he looked at Sakura's still form on the hospital bed in front of him.

Sasuke gave him a rough shove in irritation, and there was the usual sulky anger in his stance, but there was need on his face, too. Need for what, it was hard to tell. Sakura, Naruto, simple human contact, or maybe all three.

To Lead a Horse to Water by juuchan

In the East-Wind district of Konoha village, two ordinary men live in the top floor of a sand-yellow building near the ramen shop. She always passes one of them on her way to and from the ninja academy. Her classmates say he's one of the best genin team trainers, but she notices him because when he smiles she feels at ease, and he always asks her how class was.

The other young man she hasn't seen much at all. Once, when she returned early from school, she saw him standing on the balcony railing. She remembers his moon-pale skin and eerie stillness, but mostly, she remembers what she thought were tears—twin spiraling seals over his closed eyes, trailing down his cheeks. She asked her parents what they were, and they looked at each other before saying, "Nothing important."

One mid-summer day during Godaime's last year, she sees the two of them leaping over the rooftops in the direction of the hokage's tower, hands linked in the way her parents expressly forbid her from doing with a boy. She doesn't really understand, though, because she sees her parents do the same when they're happy. After all, she thinks, happiness is an ordinary thing.

Touch the Parade by ceresi ♣

I don't know what I'm doing, his mind screamed, but his body remembered.

Once, he thought, there were heights higher than this and perils far more perilous; once, he thought, there might have been enemies before and behind him while he walked this thin tightrope. Once, he thought, but he couldn't have said where those thoughts came from, except perhaps before.

Before, the nebulous blankness that he'd stepped out of, finding himself crumpled and bleeding in a dark world that never seemed to end. Someone had taken him in, hidden him from the roving bands of gangs and soldiers, and had healed him. He remembered a low voice, female, and another, loud and brash.

Twas the Night by erisabesu

Winter in Konoha was usually a wet and soggy affair, but this year's dry wind blew shards of ice over the surface of every living thing. Sasuke hunched his shoulders against the cold, feeling its bite even through several layers of clothing. The white sun burning in its ascent did nothing to help.

Sasuke followed the streaming crowds into the largest department store, glad to pass into a heated building at last. It wasn't the only part of town that was crowded; every year was like this, once most of the village's shinobi made it home for the only two days Tsunade didn't assign missions. The vacation would be brief—so most people would try to make it the best they could, considering.

Twenty Four Confrontations by jasmine-signet

He watches as Naruto gulps, watches as he shifts nervously from foot to foot with none of his typically brash impatience and finally, he can't be bothered watching anymore, and so he turns back around and slams the door in Naruto's face.

But the door doesn't quite close and suddenly Naruto is standing there again, red-faced, and irritated and homicidal Sasuke watches as Naruto blurts out all in one breath, so fast that Sasuke can barely understand it –

"I think we should try to rid our relationship of negativity."

Twenty-thirds by erisabesu ♣ ♠

Finding the house hadn't been the hard part. No one would ever want to live in the old Uchiha district again, so there were no gatekeepers to object to Naruto's presence or impede his sweeping search of the streets. He remembered just enough to find the right place, breaking in and moving in silence to the back of the house. He slid Sasuke's bedroom door closed behind him.

The room might have belonged to anyone; Naruto found very little anywhere in the house to show what sort of people had lived there, aside from the premiere location and subtle grandeur that set the home of the clan head apart. Naruto pushed his hair off his forehead, wiped away a trickle of sweat with his wrist and then crossed the room. The dresser was covered in a layer of thick, mottled dust. Naruto opened a drawer, and looked down into empty space; he wondered what Sasuke might have kept there, once upon a time.

Two If By Sea by sowell ♠

When Sasuke was 18 months old, he nearly drowned in the river running through the Uchiha compound. He was too young to really remember, but he's heard the story enough times that his brain has fabricated its own half-tangible recollections of the event. He can almost feel the current rushing over his chubby little baby chest, can almost sense the weight of it pressing down on him when he closes his eyes. He thinks he remembers seeing his hands claw sluggishly through the thick translucence in front of him, tasting the cool, brackish water filling his cheeks and searing his nose before everything went black.

Itachi pulled him out and resuscitated him, after hearing the screams of the aunt who was supposed to be watching him. They tell him it took nearly a minute for him to begin breathing again, but eventually Itachi managed to force some life back into his baby brother. Sasuke would have been unconscious for this part, but he can almost see his six-year-old aniki calmly pressing water out of his chest and breathing air back into his lungs in the practiced motions he would have recently learned from the academy. Sasuke does not imagine Itachi would have been frantic, or even particularly bothered. What he does imagine is the disappointed look in his father's eyes when his mother reported the incident that evening. It's ridiculous, to think his father would have expected an 18-month-old child to swim to safety all on its own, but Sasuke sees the disappointment all the same.

War of Affections by biztheinsane

Love is just another battlefield for those who don't know when to put their weapons down. Domestically speaking, war had never started so easily.

On the first night, Naruto had the audacity to want to cuddle afterward. What he got was a fist in the eye for his trouble and the quick, angry departure of his bedmate. Sasuke had seemed to have taken great personal offense at Naruto's sickening affection and opted to stalk off to the stiff couch just down the hall, lest his dignity be again assaulted by something so obviously beneath him.

Naruto wiggled under the covers, slightly distressed - but mostly annoyed and indignant - and strained his mind to come up with a solution for Sasuke's snuggling phobia. Around midnight he had it, so he grinned like a fox - quite as mad as one, too, Sasuke says in a bitterly affectionate tone sometimes - and rolled over to go to sleep, content in his brilliance.

Why We're Not Allowed in Sakura's House Anymore by chiyu

When Sasuke and I finally came out and admitted to all of our comrades that we were together, I don't think anyone took it well at first. Sakura and Ino just downright fainted, and the guys that weren't trying to revive them looked at us like we were disgusting bugs that needed to be killed. It took a lot of convincing to get most of them to accept the fact that I love Sasuke and that Sasuke loves me. Sakura's even started talking to me again. I'm letting myself hope that she's finally come to accept us also. I know it's been a long, difficult struggle for her, but I want to believe that she's not plotting to kill me anymore.

Wisdom to Relent by questofdreams ♦

Konoha’s defenses have improved.

That was Sasuke’s first thought when ANBU scouts intercepted them, barely fifty yards from the front gate. In retrospect, it is laughable—and typical—how furious Naruto had been, despite that he should have seen it coming.

Overhead, the fluorescent lights of his cell flicker once, drawing his attention to the present. He lies with fingers laced across his stomach and lets his gaze grow unfocused across the fixtures, two matted blocks breaking up the dull plane of the ceiling. His cell is white, blindingly so, as if by bathing him in perpetual light, his captors believe he might absorb some of it—some semblance of who he’d been; honor and duty and friendship, and all those pretentious ideals Konoha boasts in their ninjas.

. AU one shots .

Boning by hanakage

“Remind me again of why the hell I’m going along with this,” Sasuke hisses into Naruto’s ear, doing his best to ignore the mounting pulse of adrenaline skittering throughout his nervous system.

Even in the darkness, Naruto’s scowl is markedly petulant. “You didn't have to come with me!” he whispers back furiously. "Even though this is partially your fault," he adds in a mumble, which Sasuke mercifully lets slide.

It is moments like this when Naruto half expects to see Sasuke’s eyebrow raise a tiny little eyebrow of its own in silent derision. "And let you end up doing something even more idiotic? Right, I don’t feel like having to bail you out of jail, dumbass.”

"Aww, I love you too, Sasuke," Naruto coos. "And besides," he continues, before Sasuke can hit him, “they should really make those walls a little higher and those windows more reinforced. They’re bringing this upon themselves, really.”

Sasuke grits his teeth. “You’re just incredibly lucky that we somehow avoided setting off an alarm.”

“Sasuke, we’ve been over this. You don’t need luck when you’ve got mad ninja skills,” Naruto rolls his eyes up to the heavens (or, technically, the random skeleton of what appeared to be a giant blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling overhead) in exasperation, “Duh.”

Evolution by beccaamon

He gave me an exhausted expression, like he was too lazy to repeat what he said and I was being troublesome for making him do so. Usually he wouldn't give anyone the time of day to repeat something for them. For him to do so now told me it was important, and to pay at least a little attention. I indicated for him to tell me. He took a swig of beer instead. It was probably some sort of retaliation. He knew I was paying attention now so he made me wait.

Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, he gestured behind him with his beer and said, "Your best friend is looking a little green around the gills, Naruto."

I raised an eyebrow at that and took another sip from my bottle.

"So what? Who am I - his babysitter?"

Locker Room Therapy by askerian ♠

Naruto doesn't know what the hell is going on with Uchiha Sasuke.

Strike that : he doesn't know what's going on between him and Uchiha Sasuke. As for Sasuke himself, everyone knows what's up. It was a bit hard to avoid the storm of shocked gossip his "I wouldn't date you even if you sprouted a ten-inch dick" comeback had on the school.

Yeah, so it turns out the little darling of the school is a fag. Naruto was surprised it was so surprising, actually. Guy's always been kinda prissy.

Pivot (Part II of the Concurrence Arc) by erisabesu

"I'll need to see your license and registration," the officer said, and Sasuke started to hand both items over before he realized exactly what he'd heard.

He froze, and the light moved to the side enough for his pupils to focus on lean hips and a trim waist, both clad in the navy and blue of the police department, the uniform fitting like a second skin. Sasuke moved his eyes upward to the strong jaw, sensuous lips, mischievous blue eyes—

"Oh fuck you," Sasuke knocked the flashlight away, "This isn't even your jurisdiction, you moron."

Press "1" by brichibi (prequels: 1-900-Lonelyand Neighbor) ♣

Then Sasuke suddenly remembers what Naruto had been doing before he came knocking on his door, and like an old pervert checking out a girl in a short skirt Sasuke's eyes wander down in between Naruto's legs. He shivers, and some sort of sound leaves his lips that can't decide if it's a moan or a growl but it has a rather enticing effect on Naruto, whose legs are shaking and who looks like he's going to start rubbing his body against the wall just to feel something, anything! And goddamnit, Naruto wants Sasuke to push him into the apartment and pin him to something, a wall or the fridge that makes random noises in the middle of the night, anything that he can be fucked against. But can that really happen? Just like that? Just like some bad porn-o movie with cable guys and pool cleaners who come over when I just got out of the shower or I'm sorry, I'm only wearing a black lace teddy. Can that really happen in reality?

Qwiky Lube by zrina

He had just started pulling down the first of the three bay doors in front of the shop when a familiar looking Chevy Camaro pulled into the furthest bay. Gritting his teeth, he continued to pull down the remaining doors, including the one behind the sleek silver car. He would just open up the one in front of the car and the driver could pull on through and be on his way.

The last thing he wanted to do was to put up with that bastard right now.

"We're closed," he announced loudly as he latched the last door into place.

The car door opened and Sasuke Uchiha slid out of his seat, leaving the door open behind him. "It's not five yet, slacker," he said as he leaned with a graceful negligence against the side of his car and crossed his arms in front of him.

Sasuke, the merry sparkly vampire by nonpareil

"Ow. What the fuck, man. That's not cool." Naruto whipped around and glared at his attacker, rubbing his neck angrily.

"I'm sorry, I was simply trying to drink your blood."

"... Sasuke? You alright?"

"Splendid, actually. But I'll be even better once I, y'know, drink your blood."

"... I see."

"Good. Now if you'll just move your head a little—"

To Fangirls, Without Love by nonpareil ♠

Sasuke, the class president, waltzed down the hallways of the uncreatively-named Konoha High, searching for his little blonde Naru-chan. As he did so, Shikamaru and Neji debated wide-eyed as to just why Sasuke was the class president. After all, as a ninja, Sasuke had virtually no outgoing tendencies and was about as much a people person as Charles Manson, but, whateverrr. Class presidents are hot, yo. Forget Nara and Hyuuga; they know not of what they speak. Sasuke was an outgoing high school kid, on a quest, no less, a quest!

Sasuke finally finished traipsing down the hall once yours truly regained her satirical composure and he spotted the object of all his fantasies. Naruto. No wait. Naru-chan. Because Sasuke was so totally affectionate enough to refer to his precious (rival) little mancrush like that, and just because the rabid and semi-sane SasuNaru fangirls throw rotten cabbage at any sort of affectionate!Sasuke when he is in the general vicinity of Sakura does not mean that he cannot be equally affectionate for Naruto. Dur.

The Best Man (Part I of the Concurrence Arc) by erisabesu

"I thought your boyfriend was driving you?"

Naruto paid the driver and shut the taxicab door, shoving his wallet back into his jeans pocket and greeting Neji's question with his most cheerful smile. Neji must have arrived at the church only a few minutes sooner; he was standing in the parking lot beside a large sedan, waiting for Hinata to hand him the tuxedos from the backseat. Hinata's flower-petal pink bridesmaid's dress looked terribly fragile under its plastic cover next to the stark, black lines of the men's suits.

"Slight change of plans," Naruto said casually, crossing the church parking lot to join his friends with an orange satchel slung over his shoulder, heavy with dress shoes.

The Final Hit by 1957 ♣

The yellow fog was caressing prostitutes the night I met you; the night I think now must have been fate. London dust was obscuring the streets, spinning and doubling over the women like Salome's veils, until the men couldn't help but take them inside and strip them of their cumbersome clothing. Rooms didn't help much though; the winter damp crowded beneath their skin, the reek of the city burrowed between their bones.

You were piss drunk.

You were staggering down King's Cross with two horrific whores under your arms and singing songs about atheism or anarchy or some other dead thing. You were laughing, smiling that dangerous smile that has grown so familiar, with the ladies until they started pulling you toward the apartment where they kept their mattresses.

Wrong Number by zrina

Naruto's face darkened as he thought about his rival for her affections. He had just started making some headway with her when they had entered their first year of college. She had been so pleased to see him since they were in a new school and she didn't have many of her old friends around any more. Of course he wasn't going to tell her that he had applied at this school because he had found out she had been accepted. He hadn't really been interested in drama at first, but he found he had a talent for it and it was something he began to enjoy.

Then he showed up. Uchiha Sasuke. The fucking jerk. The fucking perfect-in-everything-he-does jerk. Mr. 4.0. Mr. I-have-a-rich-daddy-that-buys-me-everything-I-want. Mr. I'm-too-stuck-up-to-be-friends-with-you-or-anyone-else-in-the-universe. Mr. So-drop-dead-gorgeous-that-I-even-make-guys-want-me.

. other naruto recs .

Anniversaries by Phoenix of Eternity (gen)

It has been one year. Uchiha Sasuke is eight years old.

He tells the woman who comes to make his meals that he is all right. He's going to go to bed early and go to school in the morning. She protests that, perhaps, she ought to stay with him.

Sasuke puts on the smile he uses to fool her. She's the only one who sees Sasuke smile, and she doesn't know that it's fake. He'll be fine, he repeats, and she leaves, secretly relieved that she won't have to spend the night in the Uchiha compound.

Antagonize by admiral_yen (narusai)

Naruto had never been one to dwell, but as time went by over and through the years, it became a privilege he felt he had every right to enjoy.

He was human after all, just like everyone else. He had feelings dammit, he had needs too! And maybe it was time he actually let himself be weak. Just this once... no one needed to know.

And he hadn't meant to be caught in the act or let someone purposely see him in such a vulnerable state... but Sai was the exception.

Bite the Hand That Feeds by erisabesu (sasuke/sai)

Complete the mission... or retrieve a fallen comrade.

Eliminate all witnesses... or let the enemy orphans go on the chance they won't live long enough to challenge Leaf in future.

Say goodbye one last time... or don the mask and slip off into the night on the hopes that there will be one more hello.

Every moment in life presents a choice. And with every choice come the consequences.

Bullet to the Brain by erisabesu (naruko/sasuko) (wip) ♠

It has been more than fifty years since the first zombie sighting within Fire Country's borders, thirty since the end of the great wars, and twenty-three since the legendary Fourth Hokage ensnared the only Level-9 Demon ever known to exist.

Throughout these times, all five great nations suffered staggering losses before legally condoning secret Military Compounds, some operated more covertly than others. Inside these remote facilities, the best of the best have been schooled from a young age to protect and serve the citizens of their nation against any and all supernatural forces of the undead. Specialized units were formed within these ranks known as ANBU, each member possessing skills beyond that of a normal soldier in order to handle Class 2 outbreaks and above. These ANBU have been revered above all as their forces have successfully quashed uprising after uprising of the enemy—

Until now.

Desert Storm by pellaz (narugaara) ♠

The desert was hot.

When he said 'hot,' of course, he didn't mean hot like 'oh, these noodles sure are hot.' Or even 'damn, it sure is hot today.' No, he meant hot like 'wishing the right amount of chakra could destroy the sun because it's melting off my face and I think I'm going to die a very dry and lonely death.'

Naruto paused for a moment, going down on one knee, bending his head to get the sun out of his eyes and hefting up his canteen. It was a lot less heavy than it had been this morning - dammit, he'd drunk too much. Tsunade'd warned him about that. She'd also warned him to travel at night, but he'd wanted to get to Suna quickly and that had seemed like too much work. Strike *that* idea. Best not to let the Hag know this had happened.

Diplomatic Relations by maldoror (LeeGaara) ♠

"Who did you say you were?" the Sunagakure guard asked a bit weakly.

Lee straightened up, shifted his bag on his shoulder and saluted (again).

"Rock Lee, the Splendid Blue Beast of Konoha! Reporting to Hidden Sand as Leaf's official military liaison!"

The guard stared at him for a few seconds, the light of his torch chasing away the night around Lee to reveal him, all tired and sweaty that he was. Then the Chuunin guard's gaze dropped to Lee's legwarmers once more; they seemed to intrigue him in particular.

"Seriously?" he asked. Behind him, the other Chuunin guarding the Kazekage's HQ shuffled and muttered amongst themselves, hands on their weapons, though they didn't seem to really think Lee could be the spearhead of an invading force.

Everything We Hoped Would Last by sintari (Iruka/Hayate)

Iruka watches Hayate. He watches him so much that he misses things; things he only sees when he stops watching and starts again. It's entirely unfair that somewhere in the years since they made Chuunin together he never quite noticed how a cough that was once intermittent gradually became persistent. Or how a slow smile that was once lazy was suddenly one day exhausted.

Or how on one afternoon a friendship with a purple-haired classmate became an engagement.

Expired Milk and Other Unpleasantness by odyssion (gen) ♣

He never drinks his milk in time but since it's more economically friendly to buy in bulk, Naruto always buys more than he needs and has to sniff experimentally at the open carton a few weeks after the expiry date to ascertain the level of danger in consuming the substance inside. Most times his nose was right; he had developed a knack for knowing the degree of damage that would be inflicted on his digestive system (although Kakashi-sensei made him promise not to drink any milk before they set off on any missions). Today, however, seemed to be particularly unlucky. He had determined that this milk was around level 7 toxicity (he had a scale of 1-10), which was usually a little high but nothing his stomach couldn't handle. Alas, said organ did not agree. He had just drained the last drop from the carton when disaster struck, and his mad dash to the toilet was almost too late. It was in this state of affairs, after he had emptied his bowels for the fourth time that day, that realization dawned on him.

Life, Naruto thought, is a lot like a toilet.

Favorite Sin by saro (narusasuneji) ♠

It smelled like sex. Like sweat and alcohol, and smoke from the bar still clinging to their clothes. Like cologne--Sasuke's own warm and spicy, Neji's cool and faintly resinous. Naruto didn't wear any. He smelled of cheap aftershave, but mostly like salt. He tasted like skin and brine, his mouth faintly metallic, the flavor of Neji's mouth still on his lips. Neji tasted like the red wine they'd been drinking, sharp with tannins.

Fifth Man Down by lisse (gen)

Sai tries, without much success, to teach his teammates to draw.

He sits back on his heels and tells them it's an essential skill for espionage missions, and surely even someone as slow as Naruto and as ugly as Sakura can learn to draw a straight line. Then he smiles - he's getting much better at teasing - and goes about dodging the inevitable punches until someone intervenes or property damage happens. Sometimes both.

Not that he doesn't have plenty of bruises for his troubles. He's discovered it's very hard to duck and laugh at the same time.

Five people Sakura punches in the face by fahye (gen)

On the first day of Sakura's training, she finds the Fifth Hokage asleep at her desk, surrounded by sake bottles and drooling into a pile of mission reports.

"Excuse me." Sakura puts a hand at her shoulder and shakes. "Hello?"

No response at all.

"EXCUSE ME," Sakura shouts, but the woman just snores lightly. She also gives a little face-twitch that reminds Sakura of Naruto at his most obtusely comatose morning-self, which is probably why Sakura narrows her eyes, lifts her hand, and delivers what she will later describe as a purely automatic slap across the face. "Wake up," she snaps. "You're wasting daylight."

Foxhunt by saro (gen) ♠

The morning had promised to be quiet, but somewhere along the line, it got off track. In fact, Shikamaru observed through his headache, it had turned into something entirely too chaotic for his taste.

Naruto clutched an Anbu mask so hard the silk-mache bowed under the tension in his grip. It was a fox face, long-eared and grinning, with whiskers painted on its cheeks to match the young man who held it. It wasn't really a pleasant mask. It looked aggressive, with its toothy smile tilting the eye holes to a malicious angle. It was hostile and angry, and more expressive than most of the animal masks ninjas wore. It also wasn't the mask Naruto had picked when they were sworn into the Anbu the day before. That had been a frog, and much friendlier than this one. Shikamaru had no idea how the mask had ruined his morning.

Haven by toffee (narugaara) ♠

Sand crusted over his sandals and the cuffs of his pants. He dusted some of it off, but sweat made it stick to his body, and he was tired of brushing it off. The sun beat down upon his head with midday ferocity and it made the landscape in front of him dip and swoon like images in a pool.

Naruto pushed his goggles down to shield his eyes from a gust of sandy wind. There was a salty tang at the back of his throat. The sand here was rich in salt and other minerals – Naruto wondered if he was close to the sea. He couldn't hear the water or smell the humidity, but the flavor of the sand that crept into his mouth had changed.

No clouds in the sky, though.

How much farther...?

In Shadow by kimi no vanilla (gen)

When Ino turned fifteen, they sent her on her first special mission as a kunoichi.

The target was a rich old blob of a man who was reportedly fond of barely-legal blondes, so Ino was right up his alley. She "happened" to meet him one evening as he was coming out of his favorite bar, and they flirted a little, she playing the part of the young ingenue just barely discovering sex. It wasn't too hard, since it was pretty close to reality - the hardest part, actually, was being able to maintain her composure throughout the exchange, because he was really fucking ugly. Even nastier than he had looked in his photo on the mission summary.

Keys to Diplomacy by Letta (narugaara)

Ever since becoming Hokage, he had been having lunch with some of the most interesting people. This list included the current Kazekage. It wasn't actually the first time they had met or eaten together since the blonde had followed the redhead's lead and got appointed to office.

The reason for the Kazekage's visit was twofold. Part of it was exchanging and adapting training regimens to hopefully gain stronger shinobis for the future of their villages and to strengthen alliances. Not that the alliance between the two villages was in danger given who the kages were. The second part was to settle some obscure trading issues of some merchants between their villages that neither of them cared about. They felt the same way about it, but Naruto had been the one to so eloquently put it, "The bastards are just bitching for the sake of bitching."

Let Nothing You Dismay by ronsard (naruneji) ♠

"What's the sky like where you're from?" Nikano goes on, eyes bright and already turned from him, observing the milky, seamless face of her adversary.

"Different," Neji says, and doesn't tell her about the kites that come out in the summertime, cutting through the shocking, endless blue with their white edges. The golden shimmer of sun fracturing on an upturned wing, fleetingly, before the flick of a wrist somewhere on the ground tugs at the near-invisible glass string and makes the angle change, sending the kite dipping forward into a gutsy dive, paper tails rippling in pursuit.

He doesn't tell her about the rivers of air that rush through the wind chambers of its bamboo flutes, filling the sky with kite music, a longing call of childhood and summer.

In Iwagakure, the sky is the color of steel and bruises, a year-round menace. The air always smells like iron and the sea, snapping, gritty with salt, the wind howling pitilessly, and no one flies kites.

Misdemeanor by toffee (leegaara) ♠

The thing about Gaara was that one tended to generalize when trying to understand his feelings, and it always ended badly. Lee couldn't quite put himself in his head, so he approximated as best he could, but those approaches weren't always the most accurate. Lee had erroneously assumed that Gaara, love starved, desperate for acceptance as he was, would react to physical shows of affection much like Naruto did- ecstatically, with a sensuality that bordered on hedonism.

Of course, Lee hadn't expected Gaara to go to the extremes Naruto had exhibited, not quite that far, no; but he had thought, given the similarities, that there might be a basis for a hypothesis there. He had thought it would be something Gaara would look forward to, something Gaara might learn to enjoy. Lee found himself haunted by the mental image of Gaara, head thrown back, slowly licking his lips, and a few grains of sand stuck to the salty sweat on his lower belly. In his mind's eye, Lee would put his mouth there, and his tongue would buzz with the deadly flavor of that chakra-rich sand that had once almost robbed him of his very sense of self. The stuff of his nightmares now curled around his mind at night, tendrils of thought, and Lee imagined himself a prisoner of those green eyes, and they of him.

Missing by maldoror (leegaara) ♠

Gaara picked up the next letter, resisting the urge to transform the pile of documents in his inbox into confetti with a small but well placed Sand Coffin. This was a necessary part of the Kazekage's job; he couldn't be killing enemies of Suna all the time.

"...Gaara?"

The unusual note of hesitation in Temari's voice made him glance up. He thought she was just dropping off yet more of the bloody paperwork, but it looked like something serious was going on. Gaara wondered, a bit morosely, if this would result in another deluge of forms, or if fighting might be involved this time.

His sister's face was carefully controlled, but she looked oddly pale beneath her tan. A grim Kankuro trailed her into Gaara's office, followed, surprisingly, by Naruto, who should have been in Konoha last they'd heard from him. In his fist, Naruto gripped a Leaf headband sewn onto a red belt.

Mistake - Sycogerl64 (gen) ♠

Name. Rank. Registration Number.

You don't give them anything else, when you're captured. Every question you answer with those three options and nothing else, anything else would break the cycle, the delicate pinwheel you've got desperately spinning the thread of your fraying life-line. One wobble, one pause and the thread will snap and the person, the child, will come undone, unglued and everything in him will come pouring out one way or another.

They picked him out of the three-man squad because he was youngest. The other Chuunin were twenty and twenty three, hardened, seasoned, men. It was easy to pick him out because they knew instinctively every decent human being doesn't want to see a kid get hurt and they could tell these men were decent human beings.

Motions in Stilted Time by ronsard (prequel to Aftermathematics; Sasuke/Sakura, Ino/Sakura, Neji/Naruto) ♠

"Ah, there's the lucky husband-to-be," Naruto's eyes lit up in the way they only did for Sasuke, and it made Sakura smile. They were still such little boys sometimes.

Sasuke had been the handsomest boy in the village at the age of twelve, and his looks seasoned well with age. Unlike Naruto, his perfectly tailored suit gave him a regal and somber appearance, like a man who had been born and bred for raucous gatherings and stately banquets. His scowl, however, as she noticed with a silent grin, hadn't changed one bit since their Genin days.

"Are you ready?" he asked when Naruto had handed her over and wandered off to join the rest of the groom's party to partake in the task of getting thoroughly inebriated.

"As ever," she beamed up at him, eager to show him how happy she was. He didn't smile back, but she could swear his eyes got a little lighter, just before he turned away from her to face the front altar. She followed suit, leaning gently on his arm, and together, they made their way towards the future she'd dreamed about since she was old enough to scribble her first love note addressed to 'Sasuke-kun'.

It should have been the happiest day of her life.

Odd Ones Out by lisse (gen)

i.

Karin and Juugo have never seen Sasuke smile. Suigetsu has, but only for a moment and he's not the sort to care anyway. If Sasuke wants to be nostalgic at a bridge, that's his own damn business.

Prerequisite by sadie dragonfire (gen)

Kakashi sat down in the rickety little classroom chair that was sized for someone at least two feet shorter than him and opened the book in his hands. It was large and thin and floppy, more like a coloring book than his normal reading material

"Okay, then," he said, "I think we're supposed to start with..."

He paused and turned back to the beginning of the book to double-check its miniscule table of contents. He flipped a few pages forward again and nodded in satisfaction.

"Ah, here," he said and turned it around to show the illustration on the inside, "This is the female genitals, otherwise called the –"

Sasuke stood up so fast his chair knocked over and stormed to the door, refusing to even look his teacher in the face.

Rites of Passage by toffee (wip); Naruto; Sasuke

The scent of perfumes and powders was making him dizzy. Naruto had stumbled as he took off his sandals at the entrance, and now he walked slowly, following Jiraiya. His mouth felt very dry and there seemed to be cotton stuffed between his ears. It took more concentration than it should have to walk straight.

They were guided through the halls by a woman who reeked of sweet oils and whose kimono kept slipping off her shoulders. Naruto had to look away, unsettled by the way he could see her nipples each time the silk moved. He had at first craned his neck to get a better look, until Jiraiya leered at him and put his hand on the back of her neck. Naruto had never realised how big Jiraiya's hands were, nor had he seen how pale and thin the woman's neck was. The way Jiraiya's fingers dug into her skin made him self-conscious, somehow.

Rosemary for Remembrance by sintari (nejihina; naruhina, sasunaru) ♠

One of Hinata's very earliest memories was the feel of the earth beneath her bare knees and the overpowering scent of a hundred different herbs as she helped her mother work in the private garden. It was one of the few memories she had where her mother was not conspicuously pregnant with Hanabi. During that time, when Hinata was five, Hyuga Himiko always had to work around her unwieldy stomach and to stop often to rest. In this memory though, her mother was slender. Her hands – still wearing the Hyuga heirloom ring before it had to be cut off her swollen finger just before Hanabi was born – glided deftly over the plants, bending a stem here, plucking a leaf there. Sometimes she would snap a bud off of its stem and place it in her mouth. Hinata would mimic her, and she would learn when a plant was ready for use, not just by sight, but by taste and touch and smell. Later in this memory, she would follow her mother to the shed where she kept her drying racks. Some herbs, like dioscorea and ginseng root, would go into the oven to dry out, while others were merely hung upside down from the rafters. Fresh mint would go into Okaasan's apron pockets because Otousan liked it in the tea.

Sex with a Taijutsu Specialist A+++ by toffee (sasulee)

"So... you and Lee."

"Hn."

"Rock Lee."

"Yes."

"In bed. Having sex. Gay sex."

"Yes."

"You and Lee."

"Naruto, are you going anywhere with this, or are you just going to continue repeating yourself like the moron you are?"

Silence Before Dawn by toffee (sasunarusaku) ♠

"I didn't think you'd come," Sasuke murmured, breaking the silence at last. Naruto frowned, but said nothing.

They sat around a small round table, sipping tea, playing at being civilians who hid from the gathering storm at a run-down Inn. Sharing the round table and staring into each other's faces, Sakura felt as if the world had come to a stop.

The Innkeeper brought them a dishful of bean pastries and clucked her tongue at the darkening skies. "Storm's ahead."

Sasuke gave the woman a bland stare and then looked out the window. His eyes slowly scanned the skies, and then settled back on Naruto and Sakura. "Yes." He replied, at last.

Ten Extremely Unimportant Facts About The Yondaime Hokage by lisse (gen)

i.

When he's five years old, he marches up to his parents at their fruit stand, balls his little hands into fists, and tells them exactly what he wants to be when he grows up.

He still doesn't understand why a grocer-nin is so funny.

Ten Facts About Team Yamato by lisse (gen) ♠

1.

Yamato has never been offered a genin team. Aside from the interrogation squads and the obligatory basket cases, he is the only jounin in the Leaf who can say anything of the kind.

No one actually tells him it's because of who he is - or, more accurately, what he is. They don't have to.

Yamato is many things, but he's not stupid.

The Anatomy of Need by fahye (kabuto)

To Sakura's credit, his hands are covered in blood. But it seems irritating and appropriate in equal measures that she doesn't give him a chance to explain what he's doing – making a last-ditch effort at saving someone's life, actually – before she slams her fist into his chest. He doesn't have time to dodge; he manages to diffuse the chakra force behind her punch by feeding it swiftly along his epidermis, but the fact remains that she delivered a physical blow. On his back in the dust, staring up at the bursting sky of a giddy summer morning, Kabuto thinks: yet another typical Konoha welcome.

The Window by silvershine (kakasaku)

Kakashi's apartment was in one the oldest districts of Konoha, where the houses were aged and cheap and patched up with all sorts of odd materials that everything looked like patchwork. New collided with old in an stranger conglomeration of spare parts, but the effect was quaint. It looked nice and cozy. Everything was built close together and on top of one another, with tiny little gardens fenced off with bamboo – and if there was no room for a garden, there were simply potted plants lining the doorways. Everyone seemed to have a cat on this side of Konoha, as they could be seen either roaming around constantly or draped over someone's porch or window sill, sunning themselves in the shafts of light that broke between the narrow gaps at the top of the buildings.

Kakashi didn't have a cat, to the best of her knowledge, and despite his natural affinity to canines, Sakura thought he would get along fine with a feline. They would be very alike; lazy, independent, clean, and liable to sleep all day if given the opportunity.

Undercover by tonko-ni (naruneji – friends-locked post)

To Naruto's credit, Neji didn't recognize him until Naruto had spotted him across the busy restaurant and grinned. Even under a henge, that grin was unmistakable to anyone who knew Naruto.

"Jun, I presume?" and Naruto bobbed a deep bow, his pretend obsequiousness highly amusing.

"Thassit boss, yep, my uncle said you'd have some work fer me, so here I am!" Naruto's eyes twinkled under his rustic-sounding deference.

Water Displacement by two-if-by-sea (narugaara)

Gaara comes to Konoha during the monsoon season. He expects it to be something like the monsoon season in the Hidden Sand village, but it's nothing like it at all. For one, in the Hidden Sand village, monsoon season means chilly winds and lower temperatures, but in Konoha, the monsoon season is hot and moist, almost tropical. There's nothing solid about it, just hazy and a lot of colored umbrellas on the street that almost blind Gaara when he first sets eyes on the whole sea of them.

In Sand Country, no one uses an umbrella. Rain on the body is something to be cherished.

Untitled Kakashi + Jiraiya by octavius-x

Kakashi is one of the few people that know Jiraiya's first book was not Come Come Paradise, but a book of love poetry. He had found it one day in a used book shop and did as much of a double-take as he ever did. What surprised him was not the shoddiness of the printing --newsprint-- or the cheap plastic dustcover it was the fact that Jiraiya had never mentioned it to his, admittedly, most ardent fan.

It's all very fine and good as Kakashi pays for it, takes it home, and places it among the rest of the novels a little relieved at finally having the whole collection, but it's only after he starts reading it that he feels the shelves might need rearranging.

. . .

Thank you for looking! ♥