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The air was disgustingly warm—and somehow—sticky. Plastic cups sloshed, filling the room with the scent of alcohol.
Sasuke stood leaning against the wall, a spot he’d hardly moved from all night. The music was so loud he could feel it. Impressively, the groups of people scattered around were even louder.
Of course, this was exactly the kind of place Naruto enjoyed spending his weekends.
Though, Sasuke didn’t really hate it.
He could thank his drink for that. He absolutely could not thank Naruto.
Naruto had effectively manipulated him into coming. Sasuke had seen through his tactics—obviously—and given in regardless.
He stared down into his cup, nearing empty again already. He almost had the nerve to consider tomorrow’s consequences.
“Need another?” Naruto leaned close to Sasuke’s ear as he spoke, barely audible over the sounds of music and people. His breath tickled Sasuke’s neck.
“Are you?” Sasuke glanced at him sideways.
Naruto smirked, just before leaning his head against Sasuke’s shoulder. “Yeah, duh.”
Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Then, no.”
Naruto let out an exaggerated groan, pressing his body further against Sasuke’s side.
“Sasuke,” he drew out the name for far too long, a slight whine in his voice.
As if on cue, Sasuke looked the other direction. That rasp always had a way of distracting him, quickly dissolving into a warmth in his gut. Or it was the alcohol. Of course. Not Naruto, and especially not his voice. Sasuke exhaled in defeat before turning back to him.
“Are we getting another drink or not?” Sasuke watched Naruto’s eyes light up as he linked arms almost instantly, pulling him toward the kitchen.
The lack of overhead light and the sheer number of people made simply walking to the kitchen, well, not so simple.
Naruto kept Sasuke close, arm locked tightly around his elbow. The delay in Sasuke’s vision made him motion sick, so he chose to focus on the idiot in front of him.
Naruto pushed through a group gathered around the counter before claiming a small section of it as his own.
“Sit down.”
Sasuke looked around. “There is nowhere to sit.”
Naruto shook his head. “Not literally. Sit back and watch.” He spread his arms dramatically. “I’m a bartender.”
“What are you talking about?” Sasuke deadpanned as he leaned against the counter.
“Have some imagination, okay?” Naruto grabbed a plastic cup. “I’m a bartender.”
“You look unemployed.”
“Hey!” Naruto pointed at him. “That’s rude. I’m in charge of your drink, y’know.”
He was already moving on, reaching for various bottles scattered across the counter. “Anyway,” he continued, “what can I get you?”
Sasuke touched his finger to his chin. “Hm.”
Naruto waited expectantly.
“Surprise me, bartender.”
Naruto’s laugh filled the kitchen, which was honestly quite the feat. He doubled over, and a few people turned their heads to look at him.
“Is it that funny?” Sasuke normally wouldn’t have been thrilled at the extra attention, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. Hell, he was watching Naruto too.
Naruto rolled his eyes, still grinning. “You’re actually having a good time!”
Sasuke just smiled and looked away. “It’s definitely not the worst time I’ve had.”
Naruto grabbed a bottle of vodka and pointed it at Sasuke. “You’re a good customer. I don’t usually do this for people, but you get a treat.”
He poured.
And poured.
And kept pouring.
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed.
“Naruto.”
Naruto added what looked to be a splash of juice, effectively making vodka the mixer. Something so stupid only he could do it.
“There.”
“No fucking way I’m drinking that.”
Naruto kept holding it out to Sasuke as if he actually expected him to drink it.
“I’m the bartender—this is once in a lifetime.”
“Yeah, it would have to be. Are you trying to kill me?”
“This won’t kill you, don’t be such a drama queen.” Naruto wiggled the drink and smirked.
“Isn’t the customer always right?”
Naruto groaned, and for a moment he looked ready to argue. Instead, he sighed dramatically.
“Fine.”
He grabbed another cup, split the drink between them, and added enough mixer that it no longer looked capable of stripping paint.
“Happy?”
“No.”
“Close enough.”
Naruto shoved one of the cups into Sasuke’s hand.
Sasuke took a cautious sip, which he’d come to regret. “Jesus.”
He scrunched his nose and glanced back at Naruto, who wore a proud expression.
“It’s strong.”
“You’re welcome. Customers usually like that.”
Sasuke stared at the drink, then at Naruto.
He reluctantly accepted that this was the best he was going to get. “What do I owe you?”
Naruto waved him off. “It’s on the house.”
“Can I leave a tip?”
Naruto’s grin widened, and he leaned into Sasuke’s shoulder.
“Hell yeah.”
Sasuke took another sip.
“Get a different job.”
Naruto quickly smacked his arm, and the impact caused some of the liquid to slosh out of the cup.
“Hey!” Sasuke had half a mind to hit him back with much more force, but he knew better than to think he had the balance for a fight right now.
“You deserved that.”
“For what?”
“Being an asshole.”
“It was a good tip. You’ll never make it in this industry.”
Naruto laughed despite himself, before immediately perking up. He pointed up at the ceiling, but his eyes drifted toward the music. “I know what you could do.”
Sasuke groaned. “Oh, Jesus. Here we go.”
“No, it’ll be fun.” Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, grip firm with excitement.
Sasuke was willing to place bets that the idea was something he was absolutely not going to do.
Naruto motioned toward him with the drink still in his hand.
“Dance with me.”
Sasuke stared. Honestly, he didn’t expect something so tame. Still wasn’t going to happen, though.
He took another sip, pretending to gauge the taste again. “The drink isn’t that good.”
Naruto gasped. “You didn’t even pay.”
“I thought it was on the house.”
“Shut up.”
“It was your offer.” Sasuke shrugged.
“You still have to pay.”
Sasuke pointed at the cup. “You’re lucky I’m even drinking it.”
“You owe me one dance.”
“I’m not dancing.”
Naruto squinted at him. “Is it the people?”
“No.”
Naruto raised an eyebrow. “It’s absolutely the people.”
Sasuke sighed. “I don’t want to dance. That’s my answer, Naruto.”
“Because of the people.”
Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. He once again had to resist the urge to say it with his fist.
But he knew Naruto would never listen. The dumbass was dead set on this. “Fine.”
Naruto’s grin grew instantly.
“I knew it.”
“But I’m not dancing here.”
“Great.”
Sasuke frowned. “Great?”
Naruto grabbed his wrist. “Let’s go.”
Before Sasuke could protest, Naruto was already dragging him back into the hallway. The two of them stumbled, and Sasuke clutched his drink as if half of it wasn’t already on his shoes.
“Naruto, slow down!”
“If you walked faster, this would be easier.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
Naruto laughed. If only he’d known Sasuke had meant it.
“Not before we dance.” Naruto stopped and looked around, eyes squinted.
“Where are we even going?”
Naruto considered the question for exactly one second, then pointed toward a nearby door.
“Somewhere quieter.” He tugged Sasuke’s wrist once more and shut the door behind him. Only then did he flick the light on.
“The bathroom?” Sasuke reoriented himself to his surroundings. It was much quieter, which was nice. “You can barely hear the music in here. This is where you wanna dance?”
“It wasn’t my first choice.” Naruto crossed his arms.
“I’m wondering if there were ‘choices’ at all.” He set his cup on the counter and accepted his fate.
“It’s okay. Lucky for you, I can sing.” Naruto put an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders.
“Idiot, we’re not slow dancing. And please don’t sing.” Sasuke shrugged the hand off his shoulder, but Naruto put it right back.
“Why not? How else are we gonna dance?” Naruto’s head dropped dramatically.
“It was your idea. Come up with something.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, mostly so he didn’t have to look at Naruto’s sad puppy expression. He couldn’t let himself give in.
“I’ll spin you!” Naruto grabbed his hand and raised it above his head.
Sasuke absolutely could not spin. The two could hardly walk, let alone twirl.
This thought process didn’t reach Naruto’s dense skull, apparently, because he stepped forward. “You’re supposed to spin now.”
Naruto was way too close for Sasuke to spin even if he had wanted to. Sasuke couldn’t even look at him; the room was too small, and he was too warm.
“Naruto, I can’t—” Before Sasuke could even finish, Naruto was attempting to pull him around in a circle himself. Obviously he hadn’t expected this, and an uncoordinated step back tangled with Naruto’s ankles, sending them both stumbling backward.
Naruto’s eyes widened, and he tried to use Sasuke’s own shoulders to steady himself. Unsurprisingly, this sent the two of them falling back, directly into the shower curtain.
The sound was loud.
The curtain came crashing down. It draped over the top of them, and the bar hit the floor outside the tub. Their legs were left tangled and dangling out of the tub.
Their faces had smacked right into each other, hard.
“Fuck…” Naruto muttered as he picked his head up from Sasuke’s, rubbing his nose.
Sasuke was left with his head completely spinning, eyes squeezed shut. He couldn’t say he was shocked, but he was, indeed, very pissed. His nose was throbbing violently.
Naruto was on top of him, chest pressed flush against Sasuke’s. He’d fallen at an awkward angle, and slowly adjusted. Still disoriented.
Naruto pushed himself up, propping himself on his elbows with one knee between Sasuke’s legs.
Sasuke finally opened his eyes, hoping to shove him off with as much force as possible, but he stopped. Naruto was looking right at him, eyes still wide, face way too close to his.
Naruto’s face was flushed lightly, mouth parted.
“What?” Sasuke said quietly, as if speaking any louder would disrupt something. There was a moment of silence before Naruto actually said anything.
“Your nose.” Naruto swallowed. “It’s bleeding.”
Sasuke reached to touch under his nostrils, confirming that, indeed, he was bleeding.
This should have made him more pissed, but he just looked back at Naruto.
It was awkward; he couldn’t lie about that. They were just sitting in the bathtub under a shower curtain, staring at each other. But still, neither of them attempted to move.
Sasuke was more than warm now; he was completely hot. His adrenaline was still going—from the fall, he told himself, and not from the look on Naruto’s face. Either way, he couldn’t look away.
Then, briefly, Naruto’s eyes flicked down. Presumably at the blood that Sasuke could feel trickling farther down his face. He reached out a hand and wiped it, so gently that Sasuke wondered if he’d touched him at all.
Then, before Sasuke could process it, Naruto leaned down.
Sasuke inhaled sharply, feeling Naruto press a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. Just as gently as he had touched the blood a moment earlier.
Holy. Fuck.
Naruto pulled away and smacked a hand over his mouth, as if he hadn’t meant to do that at all. Which would make a lot of sense. Because why had he done it at all?
If Sasuke was hot before, he must have been on fire now. His entire face was burning up. He looked between Naruto’s eyes and lips in quick succession, searching for something to say.
Literally anything.
But what do you say when your best friend kisses you? It would have been so much easier if he was upset about it, yet he couldn’t say he was.
“Sorry, I just—” Naruto finally spoke. “It just felt like the right thing to do.”
“Kissing me?” Sasuke’s voice cracked slightly.
“I don’t know!” Naruto looked down, face bright red. “You look pretty, okay?”
Sasuke’s breath caught. What the actual hell was going on? Were they really this drunk?
The answer was yes.
He said nothing for a few seconds, his mouth partially open to say something, but he closed it.
Then he pulled Naruto’s head back to his. They crashed into another kiss, drawing a shocked noise from Naruto’s throat. Sasuke kept his eyes squeezed shut tight.
He definitely understood what Naruto meant. It just felt like the right thing to do.
He moved his lips against Naruto’s, hands trembling even though he was the one who had initiated this one. Because he was the one who had initiated this one.
Naruto’s hand made its way to Sasuke’s cheek, pressing tight into his skin.
Naruto pushed deeper into the kiss, his mouth parted, and Sasuke felt his breath against his lips. A warm tongue brushed against Sasuke’s mouth.
His hands tensed in Naruto’s hair, gripping it between his fingers. With a sigh, Sasuke allowed it past. Their teeth clacked lightly. He had hated the taste of that drink before, but now he couldn’t get enough.
Sasuke honestly tried to move on from the fact that his best friend’s tongue was exploring his mouth right now, but how could he? It was completely absurd.
Then someone pounded hard against the bathroom door.
Sasuke and Naruto paused.
“What the hell was that sound?” Muffled shouting came from behind the door.
Right, of course people heard that. It’s not like they fell very respectfully. On top of that, they had definitely damaged someone’s property.
Naruto scrambled to get up, albeit not very gracefully. The two were completely tangled in the curtain, muttered insults hissed between them as they fumbled over each other.
The door swung open.
“Who the fuck is in here anyway?” Ino’s voice was clear now. They froze, still completely tangled under the fabric.
“Look, Ino, we’re really sorry. We didn’t mean to ruin your curtain,” Naruto immediately attempted damage control.
“Naruto? What the hell are you doing?”
“Dancing?”
Sasuke would have facepalmed if he could. Definitely not much dancing. It was much more…
Oh.
Sasuke shoved Naruto off of him with immense force, pulling himself out of the curtain.
“Oh. It was Sasuke,” Ino put her hands on her hips.
Naruto rustled in the fabric behind him, whispering insults at Sasuke for ‘not helping him out’.
“Sasuke?” Sakura responded from behind her. “You’re supposed to stop Naruto from breaking things, not help him.”
“Hey!” Naruto yelled, finally peeking out of the curtain.
Sasuke used the back of his hand to cover his nose. He hadn’t actually done anything about the nosebleed yet. He could feel partially dried blood half-smeared across his face and lips.
“Jesus. You’re bleeding everywhere. Seriously, what the hell happened?” Ino questioned again, louder.
Naruto finally stood up, and held his head as if stabilizing.
His face, too, had traces of blood dried on his cheeks, and a little bit even on his lips. Sasuke’s eyes widened, and he immediately smacked a hand over Naruto’s mouth. Not to keep him quiet.
He looked back at the two girls, who looked like they were going to burst out laughing any second.
Naruto grabbed at Sasuke’s arm, completely oblivious. Ignorance was bliss, he supposed.
“Dancing. Right,” Sakura smirked, and Ino shook her head.
“You’re paying to fix that,” Ino pointed at them before turning around to head back out of the bathroom. “Glad you two got it figured out, though.”
Sakura almost doubled over laughing, following Ino.
Sasuke’s mouth hung open. Completely dumbfounded.
Naruto finally pulled Sasuke’s hand away from his face and shouted. “What does that even mean?”
“Idiot. Look at yourself,” Sasuke wanted to pound his head against a wall. They really got it all wrong. It wasn’t like that at all, it was just— What was it like?
“Holy shit. You got blood all over me!” Naruto immediately splashed water on his face, rubbing aggressively.
“Why did we kiss just now?” Sasuke questioned, ignoring Naruto’s complaint.
“I already told you, I don’t know?” Naruto’s voice went shrill. He stopped the water and turned around. “This doesn’t mean anything weird, right?”
Sasuke thought for a moment. Maybe it didn’t have to. “Do you think it was weird?”
“No?” Naruto just looked at him.
“Then it doesn’t have to mean anything,” Sasuke had to look away when he said that.
“What did Ino mean?” Naruto grabbed a hand towel, and wet it slightly.
“Who knows,” Sasuke sighed.
Naruto brought the towel to Sasuke’s face and began wiping his skin. Sasuke stood still, eyes closed. He needed to do anything but look at Naruto directly right now. Maybe not ever.
He’d said it didn’t have to mean anything. He almost believed it.