Chapter Text
Sasuke brings them down to the dining room, at once more homey than she expects and more extravagant than she feels comfortable existing in. It’s something she felt humbled by in Ino’s house. No, she didn’t deserve to be there, but Ino hollowed out a place for her all the same. Shikamaru made fun of her for it, words she’d paid no heed to because Ino’s protection allowed her the luxury of not listening. Now, she remembers what he said, steels herself, sets her shoulders back, and tilts her head up without daring to look down.
Naruto walks into the room first, in a way that’s both undistinguished and a statement. Hands on the pockets of his sweats, relaxed but powerful just the same. Sasuke walks in line it’s his house, which points out the useless dramatics Sakura’s indulging in. Sometimes you just walk into a room.
“Sasuke, introduce your friends,” Mikoto says from her seat at the table, and miraculously Sasuke actually listens.
“Naruto, Sakura.” He points to the both of them in time with his words. “They’re my lab partners in chem, and we’re all in English together too.”
“Oh?” A man with an impressive bun and a likeness to Sasuke that can only mean they’re brothers leans forward as Mikoto gestures for them to sit down. “How are you all doing in your classes?”
Sasuke takes the seat next to his mother, putting Sakura herself next to his brother and Naruto next to Sasuke. Fugaku, who Sakura has seen countless times in the paper but never in the flesh, sits at the head of the table. His countenance is very close to being unpleasant, vaguely disappointed in his surroundings, though that might just be his face.
“Chem’s pretty lit, I’m not so strong with the other subjects though,” Naruto says, and Sasuke’s father looks even more disappointed if not at all surprised. It’s a fairly ugly look on him, though it’s probably just because he himself is fairly ugly.
“I’m top of the class as far as grades go, but Sasuke’s close,” she doesn’t hesitate to brag. “We all contribute pretty equally in lab, though.” The jury’s still out on whether Naruto knows how to write, but he does pretty much all of the practical, so Sakura and Sasuke alternate on writing the reports for him.
“That’s great, honey.” Mikoto smiles sweetly. Really, Sasuke’s mom is the ideal lady, and she’s probably the only reason that anyone who even vaguely likes men loves Sasuke. “Though, really Itachi, I thought I raised you to introduce yourself before asking any questions?”
“Pardon,” Itachi copies Mikoto’s smile, only half as sincere. “I assumed Sasuke would have told you about me enough beforehand.”
“Nope,” Naruto says with every inch of subtlety he possesses. “He did say you were a genius though, and none of the teachers can shut up about it— Hatake and Iruka are alright though.”
“Hatake?” Itachi frowns. “He’s a professor now?”
Sasuke nods. “He teaches chemistry. I thought you knew?”
Itachi gives his head a minute shake. “Kakashi is a very secretive man, I’m not surprised he’d go as far as to hide his new career path.”
“I’m more surprised anyone gave him a tracing license at all, let alone that Ibiki signed off on it.” Fugaku says. “How is he in class?”
At once, the three of them respond: “Lazy.”
The elder Uchiha all nod. “Sounds like him,” Mikoto sighs. “He’s always been an interesting kid, more so now that he’s an adult.”
“Interesting is one word for it,” Fugaku huffs, and Mikoto sends him a quick glare.
“All that besides, I didn’t make all this food for nothing,” Mikoto elbows her son lightly. “Eat your fill, I’ll pack up the leftovers so you have something to take home.”
“Sasuke,” Naruto says, hearts in his eyes. “Your mom is awesome.” Sakura strongly agrees.
Halfway through, Sasuke’s cousin shows up to harass Itachi, who flares at said cousin the same way Sakura sometimes glares at Naruto.
“Shisui,” Mikoto sounds tired. “Would you like to let us know when you’re coming, next time?”
“Sure, Auntie M!” Shisui grins. Sakura will bet real money he’s already forgotten what was asked of him.
Shisui puts a hand on the backs of both both her and Itachi’s chairs, which is just this side of uncomfortable. “So Sasuke has friends now? Since when?”
“They’re not friends,” Sasuke is quick to say. “We’re just studying.”
“Is that what they call it these days?” Shisui says, eyebrow raised. “I don’t know, these two a pretty cute.”
Now it’s very uncomfortable. “We’re friends, we were studying. Sasuke is just emotionally constipated. That’s it.”
“Ouch,” Shisui pulls away from Sakura’s chair like it burned him. “That’s rough. I guess there really is no help for little Sassy, is there?”
“Shisui, you have ten seconds,” Itachi warns, polite and tense as a knifepoint.
“That’s my cue! Bye, Auntie M! Sasuke’s friends!” Shisui waves as he exits through the sliding glass doors of the kitchen, Itachi following quick behind him.
Later, it’s all Sakura and Naruto can do just to grab their leftovers, thank Mikoto, and be forcibly thrown out of the house by Sasuke.
“He really was being a bit too nice lately,” Naruto opines, Tupperware clutched close to his chest from where he landed on his ass, two feet from the stairs leading up to the door. “He probably had an allergic reaction or something.”
“Do you think he’s got an epipen for that?” Sakura muses, getting up from her similar position on the perfectly-cut grass to the right of him. “Like, do you think his doctor had to break the news to Mikoto that her son is allergic to friends?”
Naruto snorts, adopting a stuffy rich-person voice Sakura recognizes from their classmates, namely Sasuke and Neji. “We’re sorry Mrs. Uchiha, but your son has chronic stick-up-his-ass disorder. There is no cure.”
“Nah.” Sakura shakes her head. “Miss Uchiha.”
“Miss?”
“Sasuke’s mom is too hot for Fugaku.”
“Yeah, but the joke is getting weird at this point.”
“Fuck, you’re right,” she agrees, which is rare enough that Naruto laughs harder than he probably should.
“Anyway, you’ll talk to me about the mob stuff tomorrow?” Sakura asks, and Naruto groans.
“Saku, you’re my best friend, but this is still the chief of police’s house we’re talking in front of.”
Sakura tries to process that. Saku, you’re my best friend. She’s known him for maybe a week or so, but Naruto’s already given her that privilege. It reminds her of when Ino decided she was worth something, when Sakura decided to put Ino on a pedestal fit for a queen, except the tables are turned this time around. Naruto already loves Sakura like a friend, and knowing Naruto for this long is enough to know that if she wanted to she could manipulate him to the ends of the earth.
Ino would’ve done it. Sakura will make sure Naruto gets friend in return and not just someone to follow.
Someone opens up a front window. “Leave, you fucking idiots.” The window closes. Guess who.
“I’ll get back to you tomorrow in detention,” Naruto says once they both finish laughing, finally rising to stand and revealing the grass-stains on his ass.
“I thought you didn’t want Sasuke to hear?” He certainly shut up fast when Sasuke was drawing near to the room.
“That’s only because we were still in his father’s house. Fugaku’s a mob cop, but he’s still a cop. I don’t know if Sasuke even knows what weed looks like, let alone the gritty shit people who aren’t Family backed have to do. At least Asuma’s the one supervising detention this week. He doesn’t really do anything to stop anyone from fucking around.”
Sakura didn’t know what weed looked like until the eighth grade when she took health class. The odds aren’t so great for Sasuke. “Well, see you tomorrow then.”
“Yeah,” Naruto agrees, grinning wildly as he always does. He ignores the open gateway on his way out, jumping the fence instead.
Sakura’s used to the type of mob kids that live like royalty. They’re born for a purpose which they’re raised to fulfill, and have all the money to help them even if they’re jack shit at it.
Naruto is not this type of mafia. Naruto the type of mafia that builds their own families from scratch and tastes blood in their mouths more often than food. He’s famous for being a thief, famous for robbing people for food and money and precious items, even getting paid to do so. He’s made from stronger stuff than Sakura, a lower-middle class scholarship student, can ever be.
If Sakura wants to defy those odds, she’ll have to become mafia like him instead of any of the people she’s grown up with. She’ll have to kill with her hands instead of hired ones, bleed on her own instead of sending men out to die for her. She’s looking forward to it.