Bruises & Bitemarks (SasuNaru)

17.

After dinner, Naruto and I head back to our dorm to get ready before going to the Stoneheads.

"You're not gonna be a stoic bastard as usual, are you?" he says as he makes his way to his closet. "I mean, you'll dance and stuff?"

"What do you mean, as usual?" I retort. "Of course I'll dance."

He doesn't look convinced.

"Let me correct myself." I sneak up behind him and slide my arms around his waist. "I'll dance if it's with you."

"You're either a creeper or extremely sentimental," he says, though his tone is amused and his fingers trail over my arms. "Or both. 'Kay, get off. I need to change."

I comply, heading over to my own closet. I pick out a comfortable navy blue T-shirt and a pair of fairly low-rise jeans, dark and worn. Then I proceed to change.

"It's cold today, but it'll be hot in the club," Naruto observes. "Maybe I should just ditch the sweater... what do you think, Sasuke?"

"Take a sweater, unless you're planning on running all the way there." I pull on my own jacket, leaving it unzipped.

"Okay, fine." He puts on the same clothes he wore on our first date: the orange shirt with the swirl and spokes at his stomach and the black pants with the chain across one side. He grabs a hoodie and his phone. I lock the door behind us, then slip the keys in my pocket.

We make our way to the common room of our dorm building. Each building has a common room, a gathering place for students. Students of opposite genders are not allowed into each other's common rooms. I don't usually come here; I was never the social type and I never did like the attention I garner from the student population. It's a shame, really, because the common room is quite nice – cozy, with a fireplace, and comfortable chairs and coffee tables everywhere.

We spot Kiba and Sai in a little group of chairs in a corner. As soon as we enter, Kiba jumps up and waves at us to come over. Naruto looks critically at the sofa Kiba's on – meant for two people, the only one in the circle that isn't a single seat; nevertheless, it's quite large.

"Hey, Kiba, wanna budge over a bit?" he asks.

"Why? There are other chairs to sit in," says Kiba, waving lazily at an armchair.

Naruto seems slightly annoyed by this. "Come on, don't be like that. Just squish over a little."

Kiba does nothing for a moment, then finally concedes and makes room. Naruto sits in the middle; I take the space to his left, quite aware of how his arm is pressed up against mine, although there's a couple of inches between Naruto and Kiba. Naruto doesn't seem to mind, though, so I say nothing. Kiba looks disgruntled at this seating arrangement, but he doesn't show it as he says, "It's been a while since we've gone, hasn't it?"

"Yeah. Wanna have a contest again?"

"Hell no," he says immediately. "Last time we did that I threw up on some random chick and she freakin' slapped me to death. Not to mention the splitting headache..."

"You're just a sissy at drinking," Naruto taunts. "I drank way more than you and I didn't feel a thing."

"Hey, that's not my fault!" Kiba says. "Anyway, how would you remember that you drank more? You were too drunk to even take the money. I woulda kept it if Sai hadn't stuffed it into your pocket."

I distinctly remember that night. (As if I could forget it.) So it was a bet? It explains quite a bit. What better way to get Naruto to drink enough to forget the face of the person he hated the most?

"Is that where it came from?" Naruto says as though he just had an epiphany. I roll my eyes.

"Yes, dolt! See what I mean?" says Kiba.