"Can I take a picture of you?" I ask as Sasuke lowers himself onto my lap. It's Friday. The week went by slowly, but without a hitch. It's 6PM and we're fucking for the second time since getting home from school. We haven't yet put a label on our relationship, but I don't mind.

He initiated this. I couldn't push him away again – especially not after everything he told me. I don't know if this is the right or wrong thing to do but, at a risk of sounding whiny, it's all I feel I really can do.

"A picture?" Sasuke looks at me and raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I like seeing you," I say simply.

"Well... all right," he shrugs.

I reach towards the nightstand to grab my phone.

"Thanks for asking, by the way," he adds.

"Have some people not asked?" I wonder.

He nods. "People are shitty... That's why I always offered to keep photos on my phone. It's better that way..."

"I'll say," I mutter agreement. I click the camera app and point it at him. Click. He looks into the camera, but he doesn't smile. I didn't expect him to. Nonetheless, he looks nice. "You're really fuckin' photogenic," I comment. "I'm jealous."

"Hn," he snorts. "I've never seen you try to take a decent picture before. You always make ridiculous faces when someone points a camera at you."

"I take bad pictures," I admit. "Plus, I always blink, so I don't really bother trying."

"Oh, yeah?" he challenges. "Pass me my phone."

"Er, okay..." I say. I place mine back on the nightstand before grabbing his and handing it to him.

He presses his lips together and a second later, he points the phone at me. Click. I let out a groan. He smiles lightly and shows me the photo. "See? You look fine."

I stare at the image of myself. I look pretty stupid. My mouth is half open and my eyes are closed. "I blinked again," I point out. "I look gay."

"Half right, huh?" he laughs.

"I look stupid," I correct my slip.

"True," he admits, "but I told you once already, I like stupid guys."

"Gee, thanks," I snort.

He smiles with self-satisfaction. "It's a keeper," he insists. "It's the only picture on my phone now."

"Good," I say. He hands his phone back to me and I place it on the nightstand again. "So," I hint, slapping his bare thigh.

"Sooo," he repeats in a teasing tone, grinding his hips slowly.

"We're good, huh?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says.

We fall into a silence. I just stare at him, watching him move on my lap. A few minutes later, I sit up and lock an arm around him before lying him down so we're in missionary. I push his legs back so his knees touch his shoulders. "I like this angle," I tell him.

"Perv," he murmurs, shoving his foot in my face. "Hurry up."

I wiggle my eyebrows at him and he grimaces at me. "Heh," I snicker, positioning myself. "Vroom," I say, making a truck noise before plowing back in.

Sasuke looks at me in disbelief. "Wow, this is so romantic," he says flatly between laughs. "Dipshit."

I chuckle, bending down and pecking him on the lips. "Sorry."

"Don't be," he insists. "It's refreshing."

I only smile in response, not bothering to ask what he means by that. I pull out half way before pushing in again, moving rhythmically. It's good to be able to laugh, I think. People need to lighten up. Everything is taken so damn seriously. All this if you're a bird I'm a bird stuff is overrated.

||XxXx||

Kiba invites himself over later, without warning. He strolls right inside and me and Sasuke are still naked. "Hey!" he greets loudly, swinging the door open.

I groan at him and this is when he notices we're not wearing anything. "HA!" he points at us, cackling loudly. "Ah, fucking hell...! HAHAHA!"

Sasuke's eyes narrow at him. Nonetheless, he unceremoniously stands up and puts his clothes back on. It's nothin' we all haven't seen in the gym locker rooms, I guess. "Dog," he mutters.

"Princess, don't be like that," Kiba coos at him, pinching his sides.

"Ugh," Sasuke scoffs, lightly shoving him. He pulls his boxer briefs and jeans back on, buttoning them up. "Knock much?"

"Nah," Kiba says. "We're all friends here. Plus, I'm the only one who knows what's up, ain't I?"

"No, Sakura also knows now," Sasuke tartly informs, picking up his long-sleeved shirt. He's gotten into the habit of wearing long sleeves ever since his accidental suicide attempt. The scars are pretty bad and he doesn't want people to know about them. You can't blame him. The kids like to talk – especially about Sasuke.

Once Sasuke is dressed, he picks my clothes up and tosses them at me. I carelessly shrug into them and Kiba stands cross-armed, smirking at us.

"What?" I snort.

"You guys," he shrugs. "So, tell me, how does our dear pink-haired friend know you two are a thing?"

Sasuke sits on the bottom of my bed, rubbing his temples. He probably doesn't want to recall the night it all went down. It wasn't his most shining moment. It wasn't mine, either.

"Well," Sasuke starts slowly, "I got really high and she found me."

"High?" Kiba questions.

I add, "Sasuke decided to do a little cocaine and go for a walk downtown. Sakura saw him and pulled over, offering him a ride home, but he wanted to come here. So the two of them showed up at my door and a very dramatic night ensued."

"Oh, yeah?" Kiba asks. He sits in between Sasuke and me, looking like he might start drooling. Sasuke-stories are his favorite.

"Mhm," I say. "Sasuke was high as a kite. I was stressed out. The room was tense. So I went to get a drink. Sasuke followed me and initiated a make out session. Sakura came to see what was taking us so long and she saw us with our mouths fastened together. She wasn't too happy."

"Damn!" Kiba laughs boisterously, slapping his knee.

"She cried and me and Sasuke started to fight and she cried harder," I murmur, recalling how fucking angry I got.

"You almost choked me," Sasuke adds.

Kiba raises an eyebrow at that. "Seriously?"

"I riled him up," Sasuke admits.

"Still," I reason, "I should've controlled myself. That was a pretty fucked up thing I did." I know I wouldn't have gone through with it, but the action itself... It meant something bad. I was showing Sasuke what I could do so easily. I was putting him in his place... I don't want to be that kind of guy.

"Don't," Sasuke snorts. "I literally fucking asked you to. If anyone's fucked up, it's me. You even said it."

"I didn't mean it," I say. "I didn't mean any of it."

Kiba is listening to the back and forth conversation with a look of intense interest – like he's watching a fucking real life soap opera. "So, then what happened?" he asks.

"Sakura told me off so hard," Sasuke says shamefully.

I nod sympathetically. "It was pretty bad."

"What did she say?" Kiba pries.

"Basically, she told me I'm an awful person and she doesn't like me at all and she also added that she thinks Naruto deserves better than me," Sasuke murmurs with distaste.

"Hell," Kiba mutters. "It's hard to imagine her saying that to you. She's wanted your dick for as long as I can remember."

"Not anymore," Sasuke snorts.

"I think she's trying to convince herself that," I add. "She still feels things for you. It's not going to go away overnight, even if she said it did."

Sasuke wrinkles his nose. "Oh, well. She's mean."

"You're mean," Kiba retorts.

'You are, too," Sasuke mutters.

"We're all mean." Kiba waves his hand dismissively. "What happened after?"

"I intervened 'cause Sasuke was getting mad," I say. "He went upstairs and I went outside to talk to Sakura. She basically told me all the shit she told Sasuke and then went home. That's all."

"Wow," Kiba muses. "That's pretty weird. I really can't see her bitching at Sasuke."

"Well, she fuckin' did," he says with a sigh. "Anyway, I'm going home. I'll let you guys... bond, or whatever it is you do." He stands up and starts to leave the room, but I stop him. "Hm?" he asks.

"Come here," I wave him back over.

He comes back and stands in front of me where I'm seated. I reach up and grab his face, pulling him down and planting one on him.

"Eww," Kiba gags at us.

"Dick," I nudge him once we part.

Kiba just chuckles. "Nah, I'm just playin'. I'm glad you guys are happy and whatever. So, is this exclusive yet?"

I just shrug. I don't want to push Sasuke. We're doing this all on his terms.

"Boyfriends?" Kiba asks.

I glance at Sasuke, wanting to know what he thinks. Like I said, we haven't really spoken about it. Nonetheless, Sasuke shrugs and says, "Yes?"

"Yes," I repeat.

"Did you guys just decide that now?" Kiba snorts.

"Erm, yeah," I chuckle.

"Gonna let everyone at school know?"

Sasuke cringes at the possibility. "We're not going to fucking announce it because that's hardly necessary... but if people happen to see us together then we won't deny it. Right?"

"Right," I nod.

"Anyway," Sasuke says, turning around. "Bye."

"Bye," I say.

"See yah, princess," Kiba calls.

Sasuke raises his middle finger on his way out. I snicker at that. "You're a dildo," I tell Kiba once Sasuke's gone.

"I know," he chuckles. "I swear, I can't help it."

||XxXx||

On Saturday, Sasuke mentions his appointments. "I told my doctor about you a little," he mentions.

"Really?" I ask, somewhat surprised. I didn't think he spoke to his doctor about anything going on in his life. I can't really picture him spilling his guts to someone who isn't me.

Sasuke nods. "She wants to meet you."

"Really?" I ask again.

"Yeah," Sasuke says, "so, I was thinking... one of these days... maybe you could come with me."

I feel my lips part. "Well, shit, sure. I'd like that."

He smiles a small smile. "All right."

I'd definitely like that.

||XxXx||

On Sunday, we take a walk. "What were you doing at Kiba's party?" I decide to ask. It's been on my mind for a while, I just didn't know how to bring it up. I guess there isn't really a sensitive way to do it.

"Juugo and Suigetsu dragged me there," Sasuke says. "I got pretty smashed."

"I remember," I murmur.

"Yeah," he sighs. "I saw you in the room when I went to find them... I remember thinking I should've been embarrassed but I was too drunk to actually be embarrassed."

"Your jeans were undone," I mention slowly. "Suigetsu had to, like, make you decent again."

"Hn," Sasuke mumbles. "How classy of me."

"So, what happened?" I pry.

"I forget," he admits. "I think I slept with someone, but I don't remember who. I just remember being manhandled."

"Are you fucking serious?" I ask. "You know, that's like..."

"Don't say it!" he snaps.

"Fine," I mutter.

"Like I said, I don't really remember," he shrugs. His tone reverts back to being completely careless. "So, maybe I didn't sleep with anyone. Maybe I ditched whoever I was with before anything actually happened."

That sounds pretty... non-consensual... but I'll keep my mouth shut about it. "Did you tell your doctor what you-know-who did to you?"

Sasuke snorts. "You can say his fucking name. I'm not going to go catatonic... but yes, I did. I told you, I'm trying harder. With everything."

"That's good," I murmur.

"I spoke to my mom when I got home last night," he continues. "Told her about how I was feeling. I sat with her for a bit. I think she was relieved to hear me talk. I've been too quiet around her lately."

"That's good," I say again.

"Mm," he agrees.

As we near the park, we spot Ino and Sai at a picnic table. "Hey!" I call, holding my hand up.

"Naruto!" Ino exclaims, waving us over.

I drag Sasuke as I approach them. They smile and greet us and Ino immediately asks, "What are you guys doing out?"

"We're on a walk," I say.

"How romantic," Sai jokes.

I only wink in response, throwing an arm around Sasuke.

"I think it's sweet you guys are friends," Ino says happily. "I think everyone is glad you've put your differences aside... It was high time it happened."

"Well..." I say, beating around the bush. I want to tell them we're more than friends, but I feel a bit awkward about getting the words out.

"We're more than friends," Sasuke finishes flatly, as if reading my mind.

Sai and Ino share a look with one another – a look of pure confusion. "What?" Sai asks, as if he misheard the words.

"We're dating," Sasuke reiterates monotonously. "Me and Naruto are together."

A brief moment later, Ino snickers. "Hell, I'm not even surprised."

"I am," Sai admits, looking stunned.

"Hinata will be proud of you," Ino adds. "She'll be relieved to know your blatantly intolerant behaviour wasn't sincere. Also, Karin is going to be so jealous..."

"Fuck," I groan. I don't want to have to deal with that.

"Lots of girls are going to be jealous," she continues, laughing. "But whatever. I think it's great. Good for you guys."

"Thanks," I laugh. "Anyway, nice seein' y'all."

"You too," Ino grins, while Sai simply waves.

I glance up at the sky as we walk away. It's pretty sunny out, which is typical for Konoha. It'll be getting dark soon, though.

"You know," Sasuke murmurs, "Now that Ino knows, soon enough everyone will know."

"I'm okay with that," I say. "Are you?"

"It will be strange," he admits. "Won't it?"

"Yeah," I agree. "But now people will leave you alone."

"True," he considers.

"We should tell our parents," I suggest.

"Soon," he says.

I simply nod. I won't push it. I'm okay with us waiting until he's ready.