CHAPTER 31: An Imperfect Reunion

A/N: Hello!I know I'm late, and I'm sorry, but I'm back with a hopefully good chapter! Enjoy!

It had almost been an hour since Naruto had come to his legendary conclusion of getting Sasuke back. The blond was happily celebrating his feat of having the courage to accept what his heart was longing for: Uchiha Sasuke.

"I can't believe it *hicc*... I was supposed to be his sensei... and here I am, thinking of ways to *hicc* propose to him. Life really is weird, dattebayo."

Naruto's face was flushed with red as he rambled to Shikamaru in his drunk state since he was now on the verge of finishing the third mug of beer.

"You're weirder, man."

Shikamaru shook his head at Naruto's current state. He could've easily stopped his blond friend from having another portion of beer, but he knew that Naruto deserved it today. It could very well be considered a congratulatory drink that Shikamaru let him have.

"Naruto, I'll take you home after this. Ok?"

Shikamaru said as he shook the blond, who was very continuous with his gibberish talks, Sasuke being the main topic around which they revolved.

"Okayyy~ *hicc*"

Naruto's speech was slurry as he took another sip from his mug and went back to speaking things about Sasuke.

"You know~ *hicc* Sasukeeee~ is sooooo pretty! But *hicc* don't tell him I called him prettyyyy~ or he'll chew me alive, dattebayo *hicc*"

This was how his talks were at the moment, and Shikamaru was already bored of them. By now, Naruto had already described Sasuke's beauty to Shikamaru in so many ways that he could have composed poetry on Sasuke if he wasn't so lazy.

"Yeah, yeah, I know... Tsk, what a drag."

Shikamaru lit the last cigarette of his packet and let out a puff of smoke. Yes, it was a drag for him to listen to Naruto's babbling, but Shikamaru couldn't help but smile at this.

Naruto was a man with a difficult past. His psychological health was so unfit that Shikamaru had never heard him talk about anything happy even when he was drunk.

However, today was different. It was the first time Naruto had a huge grin plastered on his whiskered face, even in his highly intoxicated state. He wasn't crying or having depressing thoughts. Instead, the blond was laughing and talking about loving again.

Naruto was readily speaking about love, the very thing he had denied accepting from the world after Sai's death.

'It's about time you listened to your heart...'

Shikamaru thought as he glanced at his tipsy friend. Only he knew how priceless this moment was.

The brunette was happy for his dumb blond friend. However, the happiness soon faded as his eyes landed upon a tuft of black hair across the lively crowd on the dance floor, in the opposite corner of the place. The hair was spiked upwards in a duckbutt style, and he knew that this hairstyle was oddly familiar.

'Is that... Is that Sasuke?'

As soon as Shikamaru questioned in his mind, the owner of those black hair turned around, only to reveal that it was Sasuke indeed, beside whom was sitting his silver-haired friend, Suigetsu.

'This can't be good...'

However, Shikamaru's actual mood shift was not because Sasuke was present here at the bar, but because of a red-haired girl sitting right next to him on the other side.

He could see that the girl was continuously making a move on the raven, her flirts being extremely physical as she was continuously touching the Uchiha, sometimes his back, his thigh, and even his neck. Despite Sasuke's reactions to her screaming 'uninterested', that lady just wasn't backing down.

'Tsk... this is going to be a drag.'

Shikamaru's eyes were glued to Sasuke and that woman when he called out to Naruto. He had to alert him of this situation.

"Naruto... you should see this."

"..."

There was no answer from Naruto's side, so Shikamaru called out again, his eyes still fixed on the raven.

"Naruto?"

"..."

The pineapple-headed man finally turned around after another round of silence, only to see that Naruto had fallen asleep. He was completely wasted.

Shikamaru wanted to slap himself for letting the blond drink so much. He shook Naruto violently, and even screamed in his ears in hopes that the blond would regain his consciousness, but Naruto didn't budge.

Shikamaru wracked his brain when he thought of the only way that was left to try. Shikamaru bent to the level of Naruto's ear and slowly spoke,

"Sasuke is dating someone else. He has moved on-"

Even before the brunette could finish his sentence, Naruto's eyes had shot open, and he was now sitting as straight as he could possibly manage to be in his current state while looking at his friend in the eye.

"What do you mean~?"

Naruto's speech was still slurry, but the man himself was very much awake. Not sober, only awake.

Shikamaru sighed and pointed out the raven to Naruto, who was still sitting in the opposite corner of the bar. Naruto squinted his eyes to try and focus better on the spot Shikamaru was pointing at, and through the dancing bodies of various people on the floor, he saw him.

Naruto stilled, and his body tensed as he saw the person he couldn't wait to claim being touched by another hand that wasn't his. He could feel his heart sink to his stomach as he observed how her hands were freely caressing Sasuke's body and how he was doing absolutely nothing to stop her.

'What the hell, Sasuke...?'

Naruto's hands clenched into a fist as his jaws tightened. This wasn't exactly a pleasant sight for Naruto, and he could feel his blood boil more and more the longer he saw the scene unfold before him. That sobered him up to some extent.

"Why is she touching him...?"

Naruto growled unknowingly, causing Shikamaru's eyes to widen slightly. Never in his life had the brunette seen Naruto act so possessive of anyone, not even of Sai.

Naruto suddenly stood up from his chair but stumbled soon after. However, Shikamaru was quick to help him regain his balance.

"Where are you going?"

Shikamaru asked as he tried to give as much support as he could to help Naruto stand.

"I am going to get him back."

Naruto's eyes were red and drooping because of alcohol; he was unable to stand properly, and his vision was occasionally going blurry, yet those words came out of his mouth as clear as day.

Shikamaru could only sigh and go along with what Naruto wanted. He began guiding Naruto through the middle of the crowd to where Sasuke was without even trying to stop the blond from wreaking havoc, which Shikamaru knew he would do.

He knew that if Sasuke and the red-haired weren't separated now, all hell would break loose.

-×-×-×-

Sasuke was only on his first shot of tequila when a girl with red hair wearing specs approached him; her name was Karin. Several minutes had passed since then, and Karin was still adamantly flirting and getting handsy with him. Sasuke was tired of telling her that he wasn't interested.

"Hn. Now, go away."

Sasuke said for the nth time now. However, Karin stood her ground, unfazed as usual by the cold tone and harsh gaze the Uchiha was using.

"Oh, come on~ I know you're only playing hard to get~."

Her antics were boring Sasuke to death. The more Karin talked, the more irritable he became. He wanted to blame Suigetsu for whatever was happening to him at the moment, but he knew that his friend only wanted to do something good for him.

The young Uchiha managed to roll his eyes at the words of the red-headed lady and went back to gulping his second shot. He couldn't care less about Karin's advances because all he had in his mind was Naruto.

'Stop thinking about him for fuck's sake!'

Sasuke yelled at himself in his mind, but to no avail. He was just not able to get those heavenly blue eyes and deep, raspy voice out of his brain. Instead, the more intoxicated he was, the more he found himself thinking about his favorite blond.

"Ugh... why isn't this helping...?"

He mumbled under his breath. These few days were replaying in his head on a repeat, making Sasuke feel nauseous. All the guilt, sadness, regrets, and memories that he wished to forget were the only ones he was able to remember at the moment.

"What are you thinking about, Sasuke?"

Karin asked, snapping Sasuke out of his thoughts. Thankfully, that was one good thing Karin was doing; distracting Sasuke from thoughts of Naruto.

"About how gay I am."

Sasuke said dismissively, causing Karin's eyes to widen and her jaw to drop to the floor.

"You're GAY?!"

She screamed due to the shock she was in, her voice clearly annoying both Sasuke and Suigetsu.

"Why? Did you hear 'lesbian'?"

Sasuke deadpanned at Karin with his empty shot glass in his hand, to which the red-head blinked several times in confusion before looking towards Suigetsu for an explanation.

"Yeah, girl. If he's a dude, he's gay, if he's a chic, he's straight. You don't have a chance."

Suigetsu said matter-of-factly while sipping on his own cocktail, leaving Karin in despair and somewhat anger. They had been trying to get the girl to leave them alone, but Karin was too infatuated with Sasuke to back off without a fight. She was taking it as an unspoken challenge by the two men.

After letting this new discovery sink in, she finally decided to take a step, which could prove to be either very bold or very stupid.

While Sasuke was ordering his third shot, Karin grabbed his shoulder and turned him around with force. Before Sasuke knew it, he was kissing Karin  who had smashed her lips onto his, catching the raven completely off guard.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide in disbelief and shock. He stilled and couldn't even move a muscle due to the suddenness of the event. He couldn't process what was happening to him for a few seconds and only regained his composure when he felt her lips press more onto his.

"Ugh!"

Sasuke grunted, and his face immediately contorted into a frown as soon as he came to terms with reality. He was enraged at her immature behavior and was about to push her away with all the aggression building inside him.

However, before he could even lay a hand on Karin, a tan hand came into view and separated her from him, shoving her away with more force than necessary, causing her to land on her butt on the floor.

"Stay away f- *hicc* from him! He's mine, dattebayo!"

Naruto's voice boomed even above the music, causing many heads to turn. His eyes were glowing red with anger under the dim light as he glared at Karin, who had lost her mobility. She was shivering in fear as Naruto's gaze never left her.

"Naruto?!"

Sasuke sprang up from his seat and turned the drunk blond around roughly so that the two stood face to face. And then it happened.

The ocean blue orbs met with ebony ones. No matter how drunk they were earlier, nothing could beat the intoxication that followed after their eyes dived into each other's.

It had only been days since the two had last interacted with each other, and yet it felt as if they were seeing each other after the birth of a thousand stars. Their desire for each other was shining in their eyes with the fire of passion, which was causing their hearts to beat uncontrollably.

It was like a phenomenal fusion of the heavenly sun-kissed day with the ethereal moonlit night sky into an enchanting evening.

The two would've stayed like this for hours, but Sasuke snapped out of his dreamy state first. He looked away and closed his eyes to calm his stupid heart a little, which was beating out of control.

His action caused Naruto to come back to his drunken reality as he began stumbling to the floor. Yet again, Shikamaru caught him just in time and hooked Naruto's arm around his neck to support him.

Naruto grinned at his best friend and turned to look at Sasuke, who was now staring back at him with his usual Uchiha glare.

"What are you doing here?"

Naruto frowned at the question.

"Whad'ya mean? *hicc* I came because~ I saw herrrr kissing *hicc* you!"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I l- *hicc* like you, dattebayo!"

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing as his eyes widened at Naruto's sudden confession.

In fact, not only he, but Suigetsu and Karin, who were now standing and watching, also had their eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Sasuke wanted to dismiss Naruto's confession as gibberish, but he was too much in love with the blond to not take his words seriously. Sasuke could feel the heat rising in him as his cheeks grew warmer, both in sensation and color.

'Does he actually... like me?'

Sasuke couldn't help but wonder as his eyes never left Naruto's. He was about to dive into the bliss of this new reality when a sudden thought struck him like the thunderbolt of Raijin.

'Does he... like 'me'?'

That's when Sasuke decided to ask a question, the answer to which might break Sasuke more than he would like at the moment.

"Who am I?"

Sasuke spoke coldly as his gaze pierced into Naruto. Shikamaru grew visibly nervous since he knew what Sasuke was doing. He could only pray for Naruto to give the right answer.

"Huh? Whad'ya mean? You d- *hicc* on't know who're you~?"

Naruto chuckled, apparently finding the question extremely silly.

"Answer me, Naruto. Who am I?"

"*scoffs* Easy~ you- *hicc* you're Saaa~"

And right before he could complete the name, Naruto went limp, hanging on Shikamaru's shoulder. Shikamaru quickly balanced himself and placed the unconscious blond on a chair.

"Naruto! Dude!"

Shikamaru tried to wake him up by gently slapping him on the cheek and calling out to him, but Naruto had already descended into his peaceful slumber.

While Shikamaru handled Naruto, Sasuke was left speechless. He didn't know what to think. He was sure that Naruto was about to take Sai's name yet again. He knew he should let go of the blond at this point.

However, he was an Uchiha. Being stubborn was in their blood. And so, Sasuke couldn't afford to accept his notions. He wanted to give Naruto the benefit of the doubt.

'He hasn't taken a name yet.'

He thought as he looked at Naruto's sleeping figure on the chair. He didn't know if he was making the right choice by giving hope a second chance, but he wasn't exactly the king of right choices anyway. What could another wrong choice do to him when he was already this damaged?

He watched Naruto intensely for a while, thinking of what to do now. Naruto was asleep, and there was a fifty-fifty chance of him remembering all that happened right now.

"Tsk."

Sasuke sighed and walked up to them.

"I'll take him home. You can go."

Sasuke said, causing Shikamaru's head to snap in his direction.

"You'd do that? It's going to be a drag for you, though..."

"It's okay."

Sasuke said firmly and reached for Naruto's limp body as Shikamaru stepped aside. He lifted the blond over his shoulders for a piggyback ride out of the bar, without caring about the other three who were staring at him in complete silence.

As soon as the two were out of sight, curiosity got the better of Karin as she asked,

"What was all that just now?"

Suigetsu, who was still sipping on his cocktail, gave the answer, to which Shikamaru could only smirk.

"Nothing, just an angsty gay couple."

A/N: And so, the two have met yet again. I hope this improper reunion made a proper chapter for you all. (^-^;I'm just playing with words at this point, but anyway, I really hope you liked this chapter.By the way, for those of you who didn't know, Raijin is the Japanese God of Lightning.Anyway, see you all in the next chapter!Author sound out ~ ✌🏻