2 Skewed lines

This time they're sitting in a field of golden flowers. The sky above them was dotted with constellations while the heavens ripped apart to show off their ethereal splendor. He sat in the other's embrace, arms wrapped around his shoulders and kisses pressed against his neck.

He smelled like war and there's blood coating his shirt—but he assured him that it wasn't his. As if that alone would be enough to put the blond's heart at ease.

"I worry for you," the blond whispered. He sucked a sharp breath as teeth teased the skin at the juncture where neck met collarbone. It was his weak spot—one of many—and his lover had no qualms abusing it.

The arms around his shoulders tightened, the voice by his ear chuckling softly. "You're constantly worrying but I always return, don't I?"

"What if you don't?" He's seen the scars that adorn his lover's porcelain skin. Seen the lost look that overcomes his lover's gaze whenever the two sit down for dinner. His eyes become haunted, a ghost returning to the battlefield where friends were slain and enemies were conquered.

He's trying, he truly is, to be strong and to keep hope. But it's hard because one day it might be his lover added to the memorial of fallen warriors who gave their lives to fight for the gods.

He doesn't realize it, but there are tears streaming down his face—silently, releasing all his fears and worries in every drop.

His lover turned him around, their foreheads touching. Their lips touched and at first it was a slow, comforting process. Then it became desperate. Fingers tugged and ran themselves through locks of hair, and the blond found himself on the ground with his lover above him, ravaging his mouth, reminding him that he was here. That he was alive, and that nothing would ever change that.

They broke apart, a thin trail of saliva connecting their lips. The blond's cheeks were flushed and his lips were red and raw from their kissing. His lover smiled, a tiny one that was only reserved for him, and brushed back a few locks of blond hair from his eyes.

"Believe in me when I say this: I will always return to you. No matter how much the odds are stacked against me, against us, I will always come back to your side."

Words escaped him. Left him alone to suffer the breathless assault his lover's words brought on. The blond broke out into a huge, silly grin, and he pulled the raven down for another kiss as hands slid up his shirt to tease and play with skin.

"I love you." The blond whispered into the raven's ear. "I love you so much—"

Blue eyes snapped open to darkness and the sound of an infomercial selling a new state of the art waffle maker in the background. Naruto felt wetness on his cheek and he was surprised that when he touched it he felt actual tears. Real, damn, tears.

"What the fuck is happening to me?" He threw an arm over his face, trying to concentrate on his breathing as he picked apart the latest shit show his mind wanted to throw at him.

Since the encounter with Sasuke Uchiha, the dreams had started to become more frequent—more intense. Granted, Naruto still couldn't get a good glimpse of the person who kept touching him and kissing him and… you know… fucking him. Sometimes he caught a glimmer of a scar that ran up his left side. Or eyes that could never decided whether they wanted to be fucking red or onyx.

At least the places where they were together were a lot clearer. Sometimes they were in a cottage house or on the beach and one time they were on top of the Eiffel tower but that dream barely lasted a few minutes.

This was the first time he woke up crying from a dream, though. Normally there was a deep ache in his chest that didn't go away no matter how many times Naruto rubbed at it. It was maddening how real they were starting to feel. Almost as if Naruto, given the option, chose to never wake up he would simply slip into the world his subconscious was torturing him with and stay there for all eternity.

Naruto turned onto his side, the TV still running. His blanket had fallen to the floor so he reached down and brought it back over his body. He felt cold, and lonely, which was why he had resorted to sleeping on the couch for the past couple of days. His bed was too big, and he reasoned that sleeping on something with much less space to move around would get rid of the loneliness welling up in his chest.

But it wasn't doing a damn thing.

He was still getting those dreams and they were still bugging the hell out of him. "This is insane. This is fucking insane," he muttered, rubbing at his eyes. "Why does this keep happening to me? And why the hell am I always the bottom?!"

Considering Naruto had spent the past 18 years assuming he was straight, having dreams where someone's fucking you until you're screaming was really disconcerting. Maybe Ino was right. Maybe it was the late night ramen breaks he took to quench his hunger. Or maybe Gaara had a point. The stress over Sakura more or less banning him in the friend zone for eternity was getting to him.

He still couldn't believe he lost to Sasuke Uchiha. Wait no, Sasuke Uchiha—always stressed to show Naruto's utter hatred for the new kid that just popped out of nowhere and stole all of Sakura's attention. Naruto's mind played out the scene that happened a few days ago, the laughter, the smiles, the blushes, the tiny touches Sakura passed off to Sasuke who took it all with a smile that looked so fake. Naruto wanted to stomp right up to him and punch off that stupid face.

And then kiss it—

"No!" Naruto yelled, smacking himself on the forehead several times. "I do not want to kiss him. Why the hell would I want to kiss him? Unless it's with my fist to his face!"

He rolled onto his stomach, face buried into his pillow as he kicked the couch in frustration. This was happening a lot too. Sometimes he would think of Sasuke and wonder what his lips would taste like or how his hands would feel and it was fucking weird because he met this kid a few days ago. And he fucking hated his guts. So he shouldn't be fantasizing about him.

Because it's weird as fuck.

And he's still in love with Sakura. His heart still hurts thinking about her. Wondering what he could have done better to keep her around. Hell, what did that Sasuke punk have that Naruto didn't? Tight pants—that's it.

Finally Naruto reached for his phone that was sitting on the coffee table. The time read 6:00 am. He had a class in two hours.

"I could just skip," he mumbled, but then what? He'd be stuck in this apartment looking around at the empty space where his mind would fill in the spaces with Sakura's image. Naruto could only handle so much of it.

Going back to sleep would be pointless too, since he'd have those dreams again. Muttering under his breath, Naruto slowly sat up and pressed Gaara's number on speed dial. His friend answered on the second ring.

"Yeah?" Gaara answered.

"How fast can you come over? I need some coffee and you make it the best."

There was a short pause, followed by some rustling in the background. A few seconds later Gaara said, "Give me ten minutes."

"I might fall back asleep by then."

"Doubt it," Gaara snorted before the line went dead.

Naruto scowled at the phone, hating how well Gaara knew him. "Guess I should get changed then." He pulled at his shirt and gave it a sniff. His face scrunched up in disgust. "And a shower. Definitely need a shower."

A nice, quick shower was definitely what Naruto needed to get his head back into the game. As everyone and their mother knew the shower was the best place to get out all one's innermost frustrations and problems.

/

Holy shit, who was the genius who made these tables so cozy? Okay yeah, they were cold against Naruto's cheek and he had pillows back home that were ten times better, but right now he was running on four hours of sleep—barely. The coffee Gaara had made for him, filled with a shit ton of sugar, milk, vanilla, and hazelnut, had worked for his first class.

Now he was crashing so hard during Kakashi's lesson on Greek myths. He was talking about how it was a common joke that 99.9% of the problems that occurred in Greek mythology could have been avoided if Zeus had just kept his dick in his pants. Naruto wasn't really paying all that much attention. Oh no, he was too busy glaring at the back of Sasuke Uchiha's stupid, duck fluffed head.

'Who the hell takes that much time to style their hair like that? It's fucking stupid, that's what it is. I wanna run my fingers through it—to fuck it up! Right, yeah, to mess it up…'

Ugh, he was too tired for this whole 'doesn't know what the fuck he's saying'. And, as mentioned, the table was really nice… maybe if he closed his eyes for a few seconds…

Naruto's eyes slid shut and the next time he opened them class was out. Almost everyone had left for either their next classes or to chill out back in their respective dorms. Naruto swore under his breath as he quickly gathered up his stuff. Well shit, if there was a quiz on Greek myths he'd probably be screwed—royally.

He was just about to pack up his notebook when he saw a red tab sticking out from the top. Confused, Naruto slowly opened the notebook to find all the notes for today's class scrawled on the inside in neat, flowing penmanship.

"What the fuck…?" Did he write this in his sleep? Yeah, that had to be it. No one else was sitting next to him, and surely there was no one in this class who gave a damn to do him a solid. "Naruto Uzumaki you're a genius! Writing in your sleep—oh man, they should give me my diploma today."

He was going to brush it off as pure luck. Maybe someone wore their nice underwear today and decided to spread the joy of kickass undergarments by writing down Naruto's notes. He surely wasn't going to complain.

/

"So you wrote down your notes… in your sleep…"

"Yup. I didn't believe it at first either, but I'm running on four hours of sleep so it makes total sense!"

"Oh. I get it. You're losing your mind. Knew it was gonna happen eventually."

Naruto scowled at Kiba's poor attempt at a joke. The two of them were on the college's soccer team. Naruto hadn't played since his junior year of high school but Kiba, who he had met this year at college, had convinced him to try out since the team was short on members.

Though Naruto would have substituted 'convinced' with 'harassed until he finally gave in' since the two were pretty synonymous.

Now they were stretching before practice today. Coach had warned the team that they'd be focusing on conditioning so they all better be limber—he wasn't about to take any pity on people with pulled hamstrings since those could easily be avoided.

"Dude, I'm telling ya," Kiba continued, bending down to touch his toes. "Someone had to have done it for ya. Maybe a girl who has the hots for ya!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, stretching his quads. "Doubt it. All the girls in my class can't stop drooling over Sasuke Uchiha. Literally, every five minutes I hear one of them go 'Sasuke do you wanna study later after class?', 'Sasuke, wanna get some coffee with me?', 'Sasuke will you be my baby's daddy?'."

Kiba snorted, "Did they really say the last one?"

"They did! It's fucking weird, man!"

"Fucking weird indeed. Man," Kiba shook his head, picking up a soccer ball and dropping it onto his knees. He started to juggle as he said, "I don't see what the girls are getting all worked up about? People are even saying that Sakura left you for him."

"What?!" Naruto nearly fell over from the shock. "People—I mean, wait, Sakura didn't leave me."

Kiba rolled his eyes and dropped the ball to his feet so he could pass it to Naruto. "That's not what I've been hearing. Rumor has it, Sakura saw him at a party a few weeks ago and bam. The deal was sealed."

A new wave of anger washed through him, enough that when Naruto went to give Kiba a pass, it was more like a shot. Fucking hell, what had he done wrong? He did his best to give her the world. Took her shopping whenever he had the time and money saved, memorized all her favorite movies, her coffee orders, her favorite clothing brands, even the fucking perfume she wore all the time that made her smell like Japanese cherry blossoms.

Wasn't that enough? Knowing her in a way only someone intimate could do? Why wasn't it enough to keep her around?

Before Naruto could go any deeper on his thoughts, a soccer ball slammed into the back of his head.

"What the hell was that for?" Naruto whirled around, ready to chew out the ass who kicked at him, when he found their captain glaring holes at the both of them.

"Didn't you hear the whistle? Practice is starting—hurry up and start running!" Their captain jogged off to join the rest of the team. Naruto and Kiba exchanged looks that clearly said conditioning was the last thing they wanted to do.

Kiba sighed, "Let's get this over with." He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "And if it's any consolation, I'm sorry about what happened. Shit's shit, though, right?" He ran off to join the other players, leaving Naruto there by himself.

"Yeah… right," he muttered before he kicked into a jog. Maybe conditioning was what he needed after all. A physical burning that could erase the emotional burning going on in his heart right now.

/

Naruto got out of the shower, ruffling his hair with the towel. He washed off today's disappointment and soccer practice off his skin. Naruto walked around his coffee table and plopped down onto the couch. He looked at his phone, staring at it for what seemed to be an eternity.

He did that a lot now. Just… stared at his phone and wandered and hoped when Sakura would text him first. His mind flashed back to all the times he would throw the first bite. His text messages were full of excitement, emojis, the sorts. While Sakura's responses were always short and to the point. It was like she was sending him knives that embedded themselves into his hands.

After a while he didn't try at all. He wanted to see if she would make the first step, you know? Then it would give him hope that things weren't really over again. Yet as he looked at the 'No Notifications' message on his phone… it finally hit him.

"I'm so…" He dropped his face into his hands, a shudder running through his body. He refused to cry over this. It still hurt.

When Naruto looked back up again, the background blurred. His living room transformed into an old attic. Cobwebs and dust hung off the rafters like Christmas stockings on a fireplace. The room was sparse, only a desk by the window, an easel by the desk, a locked chest by the door, and an oil lamp casting a warm glow across the room.

Naruto's no longer sitting on the couch, but on a stool. He's squirming and his ass hurts for an appropriate reason—for once.

"Keep still, you'll mess up my work."

Naruto puffed out his cheeks, "But I've been sitting here for hours!"

Naruto couldn't see it very well but he was certain his lover was smirking behind the easel. "I'm almost done. Be patient and I'll reward you."

"That makes me sound like a dog."

"That's an insult to dogs everywhere."

The blond scowled, moving his head to the side in an obvious show of displeasure. Just to be an ass, Naruto started to wriggle around in his seat. What should have taken another fifteen minutes turned into thirty minutes of arguing, bargains, and finally agreements.

"There. Finally done, though it would have been sooner if—"

Naruto was quick to tackle Sasuke when it was all said and done. His lover flailed, his stool toppling over as his back hit the hardwood floor with a 'thud'. He scowled, reaching up to slap Naruto upside the head.

"Idiot! I made that painting for you! What if it gets messed up?"

"You had it coming!" Naruto smiled, straddling his lover. He smiled down at onyx eyes that could barely hold onto their irritation for more than a few seconds. Soon, his lover was smiling up at him, hands coming to rest on his hips. "I'd never be so careless with a gift that comes from you. I'll treasure it always…" He whispered and pressed his lips to his lovers.

His lover's lips pulled into a smirk, his tongue flicking out to lick Naruto's lower lip. "You wanted to know why I wanted to paint you naked. Well," his hands slid down between their bodies, gripping Naruto's cock in his hand. He gave the flesh a few strokes, watching Naruto's eyes dilate in lust. "It makes the second part of tonight's festivities happen a lot faster."

Naruto smirked, thrusting into his lover's hand. "Oh… I see. You should have explained that earlier. Speaking of dog though… I do want to know what you'd look like on all fours, would you like to show me?"

Before his lover could respond, Naruto's eyes caught the painting. His eyes widened slightly because it was him but… not him. The painting was soft, serene, with warm earthy tones. It was, to say the least, beautiful. Naruto felt a lump gather up in his throat, and he paused in his thrusting to look down.

"Is that how you really see me…?" His voice was trembling.

There was a tiny smile, followed by the gentle brushing of lips. "Of course," the raven whispered back, running a thumb along Naruto's cheek. "You are the most beautiful thing in this world to me."

They're about to kiss again, this time deeper, but when Naruto opens his eyes again he's back in his room, lying flat on his stomach on the floor. He releases a groan, pounding his fists against the floor. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

He blindly stuck out his arm for his phone on the coffee table, pulling it down. He got up from the floor and started to put on some clothes. He needed to get out of the apartment. Needed to just… go. Somewhere. Anywhere.

His fingers were trembling as he scrolled through his contacts and hit the 'Call' button.

"Naruto? Hey, what's up?"

"Ino. Is Sakura home?"

There's a pause and then, "Are you about to head over now? "

Naruto's heart was pounding loudly against his ribcage, each beat producing a piercing blow as nerves jumped across his skin. Naruto was already halfway down the block, with a movie in hand, turning the memorized corners until he was standing at Sakura's door. Her apartment was only a few minutes walk from his home.

"Naruto," Ino warned, "don't do it. It's not a good time. I swear—"

Naruto ended the call, his finger pressing the doorbell. He waited with baited breath as the door slowly opened to reveal Sakura—and then his breath stopped completely.

There she was, her blouse unbuttoned so your imagination could run wild and free. Naruto had to swallow back the scream that wanted to rip itself out of his throat as he saw the blush that still conquered her skin.

Sakura's eyes widened with surprise, and a slight twinge of fear, as she spoke. "N-Naruto? What are you doing here?" She hissed as she threw glances behind her shoulder.

'Don't cry. Smile. Put on a damn smile, Uzumaki.' Naruto held up the movie in his hands, Bridesmaids, and shook it a bit. "I was in the neighborhood and thought, you know, we could watch a movie?" Was his voice trembling or did an earthquake just randomly decide to go off?

Sakura nervously put a piece of hair behind her ear. "I don't think now is the right—"

The door opened more and Naruto froze. Behind Sakura was Sasuke Uchiha, who looked fully clothed considering Sakura's state of dress. The world went black around Naruto an all he saw was Sasuke. Something danced up his spine, flooded his systems, and he mistook that feeling for uncontrollably, undeniable rage.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, giving the finger an impassive look. "I was about to leave, actually."

"No!" Sakura put a hand on Sasuke's chest as she gave him her best, flirtatious smile. The one Naruto slowly realized she never used on him—ever. "You just got here. Hold on a minute, okay?" She turned around, fixing Naruto a glare. "You should have called first."

"I did! Well, I called Ino…"

"But you didn't listen. You never listen, do you?" Sakura let loose a sharp laugh. "I didn't want to hurt you, Naruto. I thought… that night in your apartment we settled things but I guess not." She sighed, her shoulders dropping as she locked eyes with Naruto. "I can't—the thing we had… I can't do it anymore because you're mistaking what we had for something… something real and Naruto…" She paused, "I don't… I don't love you that way."

Naruto was the glass that shattered into a million pieces. His grip on the DVD is unbearably tight, and every time he breathes he feels like his heart is slowly giving up on him. He bowed his head, a shadow crossing over his eyes.

"Okay," he muttered, completely broken.

"Naruto—"

"—No, Sakura. It's okay. I'm the one who fucked up, who caught the feels. Y-You were right we were just…" his throat closed up on him, and he sucked in a sharp breath. He couldn't say it. He couldn't say those damn words because they hurt too fucking much. Naruto glanced up, catching Sasuke's gaze. It looked oddly… pitiful, and Naruto mistook that emotion again for fake empathy over having won the battle. He bit his lower lip and turned on his heel, taking the stairs two at a time.

He called Gaara immediately after.

"Ino told me you went and did something stupid." Gaara said as soon as he picked up.

"Don't be an asshole, please."

"I'm a firm believer in tough love, you know that."

"Fuck you, I've already had enough toughness for a lifetime. Just… can I stay over tonight?" Naruto's hand was shaking as he held onto the phone. His voice cracked. "I can't—I don't want to go back to my apartment."

Gaara opened the door, finding Naruto already at the doorstep—just as he expected. He hung up the phone and pulled Naruto into his arms. Muffled sobs were caught in his chest.

"You're an idiot."

"I know," Naruto choked.

"Wasn't the first time enough?"

"Shut up."

"You never learn."

"Shut up!"

Gaara sighed. Although Naruto was being reluctant, he knew his words were getting through to him. It gave him no pleasure to play the bad guy but Naruto would only learn if he didn't bullshit.

"Come inside. I can't have the neighbors seeing us—they'll ask too many questions and then invite you to potluck night and you wouldn't survive that one bit."

/

A few days later and it's Kiba, Gaara, and Naruto at lunch. Naruto's plate is completely full, which was abnormal considering he could finish five plates in less than a minute.

"Dude, this is pathetic," Kiba shook his head, watching Naruto build forts out of his French fries.

"He's been like this for days," Gaara said, turning the page in his book. "This is the longest funk he's ever been in."

"Fuck the funk!" Kiba slammed his hands on the table. "Dude, Naruto. Naruto look at me."

Naruto looked up slowly and shot Kiba a glare. "What do you want?"

"To get you out of this damn funk! Look, tomorrow night our boys from the soccer team are throwing a huge party with the lacrosse girls—everyone's gonna be there and you need this. Trust me, I know you do." He threw his arm around Naruto's shoulders and beamed. "Get wasted, find a new girl, bang, forget, repeat."

Kiba had a point… Naruto had been sulking for far too long and the constant sight of Sakura flirting with Sasuke was really wearing him out. He had already dried out all his emotions over being dumped and honestly, he wasn't all that bent out of shape over it anymore. Which was bothering the hell out of Naruto because he was supposed to love Sakura and the next day he was… okay.

The dreams were still occurring, and those were fucking him up more than being dumped.

He needed the break, just like Naruto said. Who knows, maybe he'd find someone else at the party to get his mind off everything—especially the dreams.

Gaara and Kiba were both giving him expectant looks. Finally, he flashed Kiba a smile and went for the fist pound. "Alright, alright. You got me. I'll go the party."

Getting wasted was the best way to avoid your problems, right? Right. So that's was what Naruto was going to do whether it ended up getting him killed or not.