Taking Time

Asshole

Sasuke sat in his rental car outside of the apartment complex Seigetsu lived in. From what Sasuke knew, Seigetsu lived in a place with Karin and Juugo—a spacious three bedroom only about ten minutes away from the company's high-rise. The complex didn't look super modern, by any means. Truthfully, it reminded him of the house Naruto recently acquired. It was close to other neighbors and just felt... warmer.

Sasuke looked around at the quiet, residential street. He was a bit late, as the party had technically started two hours prior, but that was good for him. Sakura had informed Sasuke that she was arriving late, so he took that as a sign to not be overly prompt himself. He managed to work the room better when people already had a few drinks in them anyway.

It was now 10:15 at night.

Sasuke looked down at his phone. He'd texted Naruto a bit that day, reminding him of the party, giving him the address, double-checking that he would actually show up, and so on. Sasuke had offered him a ride initially, but Naruto turned him down, politely. Sasuke didn't pry as to why, but it punched his gut a little. Naruto had been in Tokyo for a few days and wasn't very active on his phone, from how little he was responded to Sasuke. He was busy, for sure. Sasuke knew why he was in town. It was a big moment for Naruto... Sasuke was fortunate that Naruto had managed to fit him in his schedule at all—or even wanted to.

As he looked down at the messages, Sasuke had been the last to text Naruto. And that was over four hours ago. He didn't want to text the man again, but he felt this lump in the back of his throat telling him to remind him to show up. It had been two weeks since they'd seen each other and he couldn't deny that he was anticipating their reunion.

He tapped on his phone. He could at least tell Naruto that he was at the party now. It could be a subtle way of nudging Naruto to arrive sooner rather than later. Sasuke sighed.

He shamelessly texted him.

(Sasuke) Got to Seigetsu's a little late. See you soon?

Sasuke leaned his head against the headrest behind him. He let out a heavy sigh again, closing his eyes and letting his thoughts drown out the silence. It's not like this party would be the life or death of him, but his conflicting feelings made his heart race at just the thought of what tonight could potentially mean. For both of them...

He'd visited the gentlemen's club only one time in the past two weeks. He'd stayed for an hour, like before, and he'd been able to talk through some more feelings with his usual woman of the night—or therapist in Naruto's mind. She didn't give any heavy words of advice this time, just a listening ear and a comforting smile. He wasn't looking for advice this time around either, so it was nice. He didn't have many women in his life. He assumed that if he'd ever had an issue around love, he'd have gone to his mother and she'd have comforted him in the same as the woman, sometimes advice, sometimes a listening ear. And while Itachi tried multiple times to be that figure for him, it was Sasuke that couldn't accept it for some reason. He needed to work on it... However, Itachi could wait... Sasuke's mind was preoccupied with more important relationship troubles.

Sasuke felt his hand buzz and he looked down at the text he'd received back from Naruto. He was able to let out a small breath of relief as his eyes skimmed the words.

(Naruto) Looking forward to it.

A shiver ran down his spine, causing goosebumps to rise along the back of his neck into his hairline. He smiled too. He actually smiled. Naruto was looking forward to it...

He closed his eyes, letting the darkness calm his heart once again. He reminded himself that this wasn't a life or death meet-up with Naruto. It was casual—just casual. And in a group setting. With fellow professionals, who were all drunk and going to make a fool out of themselves, but still... While it was a chance for him and Naruto to try again or... get some more clarity, it was all still casual.