Chapter Text
Naruto was standing at his door. Confused in what had just happened. It was almost 3am, he needed to get back home. Then why was his heart telling him to stay right there?
Should he knock? How stupid! They're all asleep by now, can't risk waking them up.
Naruto started to get frustrated with himself. He had solved this issue years ago. He hadn't felt the need to do these kind of things since they had settled down. Was Kakashi words and memories a trigger for him? Why couldn't he go back to the comfort of his home and to the loving arms of his wife?
He pondered for a few minutes, almost going in circles just outside of the door of the Uchiha household. Knock or don't knock? Wait... Do I seem creepy?
Naruto didn't get the time to answer his thoughts. He felt goosebumps prickling his skin and then he knew, just right before they revealed their presence, that Sasuke was there with him.
"Naruto..." - Sasuke Uchiha himself stood just a few meters in front of him. Under the moonlight, his features seemed paler than usual. His eyes darker than he remembered.
The black fringe stubbornly covered one of his eyes, but even then, Naruto could tell that he wore a surprised expression on his face. Sasuke too had no idea why he was there.
Naruto stared for too long that the silence got almost uncomfortable. They didn't do this. They didn't do this anymore.
"Sasuke." - his voice came out trembling more than he would like to. He swallowed, and he was sure the entire village heard it. His heart started beating faster.
How long has it been since they were with each other alone? Was it months? No... It was... years, wasn’t it? Nowadays, they only would meet up when necessary and it always ended up being around other people.
This right now was... unique. Naruto felt young again. Under the white light, his eyes shined a deep blue. Kakashi words came to his mind again, and for a moment he let himself be reminisced how it was before.
"Naruto." - Sasuke spoke out again, waking the blonde out of his thoughts.
"Why are you here?" - he answered almost automatically, still shocked that Sasuke had appeared right in front of him in the middle of the night.
"You're the one standing in front of my house. You tell me."
"Oh, right..." - Naruto forced a chuckle that came out a bit too loud for the silence of the night. - "I was just... you know..."
Sasuke's eye was piercing him. Could he see right through him? After all these years... would that still be possible?
"It's 3:30am now and I won't believe you were night patrolling..." - Sasuke tried to soften his gaze. - "Is something... wrong?"
The fact was that Sasuke was almost immediately waken up when he felt Naruto's chakra right outside his house. For the first couple of minutes he tried to brush it off. He could just be passing by. But has the minutes prolonged he couldn't take it anymore.
It was almost suffocating... his presence. Although he was holding Sakura in his arms, his body and mind were responding to Naruto's.
Being intrigued rapidly became to being worried, and without thinking much, there he was right in front of him. Alone.
"I guess... I just wanted to see you." - Naruto admitted almost defeated.
He looked down. He couldn't bare Sasuke's gaze anymore. Not when it weighted so much to him still.
Sasuke, on the other side, tensed up. A shiver run through his spine. He didn't expect Naruto to say such words, even though he probably should have. Naruto was always bolder than him when it came to expressing himself.
"Well... hmm... I am here." - Sasuke wanted to slap himself.
He had come off weak, embarrassed... unready. Could Naruto see right through him? Could he see how his words still affected him today? Even after all those years?
An awkward silence fell between them. Naruto was now looking straight at him, shamelessly so. He felt hot even when the wind breathed his hair cold. He hadn't felt so vulnerable for a long time. That's why he stayed away from him.
"Ok, so..."
He tried, but quickly was cut off. Naruto stepped closer to him. An arm long distance separating them.
"I said I wanted to see you."
Naruto said firmly. He wasn't looking down anymore. Instead he was looking right at him. He wanted to read him fully. He wanted to see what he had missed. Maybe it was the almost cold manner that Sasuke tried to cut it off, one that was so known to Naruto, that ended up setting off so instinctively his recklessness.
"I've... I have been thinking about you."
He continued on. Sasuke was silent. Naruto wanted to shake him off, to see if he could spill the thoughts out of his head. Sasuke tried to give him no reaction, but he knew Naruto could feel it. Something was still there.
"Ok..."
Sasuke answered carefully. He seemed stiffed, almost petrified to say more, to give away more than he intended for Naruto to know.
His house was right behind him. There it slept his wife and his daughter. It felt like it was burning his back. And then, right in front of him, stood Naruto. When he looked at his eyes he felt impossibly drowned by the weight of his life. It was killing him, he didn't want to look at him. He didn't want to turn his back at his house. He didn't want to be in the middle of this impossible choice. He wanted out. Now.
He felt a hand at his wrist. Strong, warm. He knew who it belonged to better and faster than he should.
"Stop this." - he said barely audible. He was ready to take off, to leave him again. He should never had gotten off his bed.
"I just wanna talk, Sasuke."
"And then what?" - he said loudly. The street echoed his voice. Did Sakura and Sarada heard it? Could they have felt his weakness and guilt?
Naruto widened his eyes. Still holding onto his wrist. He didn't let go. He never did. That was his primal problem.
"And then we come back to the choices we both made." - Naruto answered calmly. A voice so strong and full that could only fit an Hokage. And most importantly, that could only fit him.
They stared at each other, vulnerable eyes that spoke more than their lips could ever do. Hearts beating in sync. Sasuke felt himself drown in the deep blue of his eyes, but Naruto hold onto him. He had to. He always did. He wouldn't let him sink.