Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

He woke up with a heavy feeling in his chest.

It was like the air was avoiding him, making him regret breathing in the first place. His movements are sluggish and it’s only when he realizes he hasn’t opened his eyes that he proceeds to do so.

He’s met with nothing.

Naruto, as usual, had woken before him, and his side of the sheets were rumpled and pulled to the side. Sasuke draws in a deep breath, holding it before releasing it in a long sigh, successfully dissipating the heavy feeling, though remnants of… something still ate away at his conscience. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and pulled the sheets off his body, going through his normal routine.

Naruto is sitting in Itachi’s lap while the Uchiha scrolls through his Netflix account for something to watch when Sasuke spots them. He huffs, because only his brother would want to watch something in the wee hours of the morning. They both spot him and give their usual ‘good morning’s, and Sasuke feels that weight come back full force.

The blonde doesn’t look saddened by the fact that this was his last day staying with him. He looked as optimistic as he had from night one, and Sasuke had the inkling that Naruto liked to cover his thoughts with smiles. He shook his head, because it wasn’t really his business and therefore had no business investigating.

Breakfast was eaten on the floor (Itachi wanted to eat his leftovers, so Naruto obviously agreed with him, being the sucker he was, and Sasuke didn’t feel like cooking) while Itachi picked a documentary and Sasuke shuffled through his homework. He didn’t actually have a lot to do, seeing as he finishes most of his work on time, but homework was homework and no matter how fast you were at finishing it, some was always assigned for after-school hours.

He tuned out Naruto’s squeals and comments about the nature documentary, and focused on finishing his work (and ignoring the weight in his chest). For once, it finished too fast for Sasuke, and he was left with nothing but a boring documentary to watch.

It was about the world’s different biomes and whatnot, going on and on about the variety of animals and then adding a guilt-trip to the viewers by solemnly adding in how those species were endangered. Sasuke has actually watched this documentary before, faded memories from back in high school, and how he got too emotionally attached to some crab only to find out it was borderline extinct. He never felt more guilty to eat breaded crab than he had in those following weeks, and he didn’t even know what type of crab it was.

A snow fox appeared on the screen, and Naruto practically screamed, pointing to it with eager fingers.

“’Tachi, ‘Tachi, look! It’s white. White! I didn’ know foxes could be white. An’ it lives in the snow!”

“Mhm, it lives with polar bears.”

“Woah.” He breathed, too excited from some documentary, but Sasuke couldn’t really do anything about it. If he had become emotionally attached to some crab, he couldn’t really judge Naruto for getting hyped about some white fox (apparently his favourite animal).

He really didn’t have a solid plan on what to do for today, and video games were not an option because he could only spend so much time being ganged up on before it physically hurt (Naruto had jumped on him at some point as a distraction, the jerk). The wind outside wasn’t as bad as yesterday, with even less snow, but it was still cold and Sasuke had no intention of indulging in the outdoors. He was actually puzzled about why Itachi was still here too. Normally he would leave Sunday night, having spent his weekend with him, and go back to his dorm room located across the city in his University.

So it was still confusing him on why he was still here. Did his University cancel his classes? Highly doubtful, unless he had an extended break for some reason. In any case, Itachi was here in his apartment rather than hitching a ride back to his own dorm room with Deidara (Sasuke had no idea how Itachi could stand the guy; he was the single most annoying person Sasuke knew, and the blonde held a weird grudge on him too, because Itachi had beat him in every Ultimate match they’ve had and he took it out with anger towards Sasuke).

Well, whatever it was, Itachi hadn’t displayed any sort of plan on getting out any time soon (he had even brought his own alarm clock, which was now plugged in and sitting on his table). In the end, the only thing that it would do would be making Naruto’s departure that much more painful.

Sasuke shook his head lightly and gently closed his book. If Itachi and Naruto were unfazed by the upcoming heartbreak, then who was he to dwell on something like that? He would play along for today, and then when the time came to separate, he would steel his nerves and hand the boy back. He might as well enjoy the next few hours, and not waste away Itachi’s smile.

But the question still hung around in the air; what would they do for the day? Sasuke didn’t have many friends who he hung out with outside of school hours, and those he did hang out with were weird. Suigetsu lived with Kisame, and he was pretty sure Naruto loved him and his sharp teeth. He wouldn’t shut up about how ‘cool Kisame-san was’ and how ‘Suigetsu-kun’s looks like a cool shark too!’. He had about enough of the guy’s smug looks after hearing these comments.

Karin was always manageable in small, bite-sized doses. If Sakura had been over-bearing, Karin was just plain over. She was smart and funny and knew how to rile up Suigetsu, but she was beyond the average schoolgirl with a crush. Where normal girls would giggle, she would knock the wind out of him by bodily throwing herself. Again, manageable in small doses.

Juugo… he was actually okay, but he never talked unless spoken to and had this weird obsession with nature. He would be drooling right now if he found out there was a nature documentary playing in his living room, except with Juugo, instead of drooling he’d just get doe-eyed.

And to top it off, he didn’t want to go outside.

Bored out of his mind, Sasuke pulled out his phone and decided it was about time he left all his unread messages on read.

He was, for some reason he could not fathom, on a group chat called Konoha, which was stupid because who named their chat ‘leaf’? Inside were a dozen or so people who all came from the local neighbourhood or knew each other since middle school, most going way back to their elementary days. He hated to admit it, but he was part of that tight-knit circle, and had their names taking up brain storage. He wouldn’t open the chat for weeks at a time, and then when he did it was to get rid of the hundreds of notifications he had. They would call him out for it, but he would be gone by the time their complaining started. Right now, Sakura was reminding everyone of their plans for tonight, and retyping the address when Kiba told her he forgot.

He also opened up his Taka chat, also with a few hundred notifications, mostly just Karin and Suigetsu bashing at each other. He scanned through his private messages, brow furrowing when he found that Neji texted him.

(He only had his number because they had had a group project together and needed to work over the break. That had been such a pain, and Sasuke had lost several years of his life to the jerk’s constant ass-of-an-attitude.)

He opened it up, eyes narrowing when he saw the short paragraph he sent him. Neji never texts him; he’s surprised he still has his contact saved. In any case, there was a new message there, and Sasuke found himself reading it against his will.

I wouldn’t have texted you over my dead body.

What a prick.

But Hinata convinced me to forward Sakura’s message.

Everyone knew that after their fallout, the two Hyuuga became like siblings (topped off with Hinata’s father adopting Neji after his father died when he was young), so it wasn’t surprising how easily Hinata would be able to persuade her cousin. But he was still suspicious. If Sakura was getting desperate enough to convince Hinata to convince Neji to text him, then her message must be important.

But Sasuke couldn’t care less about how important it was.

He continued reading.

Sakura is requesting your presence to Yamanaka’s gathering, though I don’t understand why she would want someone like you to come, -

What a prick.

-in any case, she’s given you the address and time. Please do not show up.

Sasuke didn’t bother replying and angrily shut off his phone. Leave it to Hyuuga to mess up his mood.

So Haruno was still trying to get him to come? She had been going on and on about it, and he’d even heard it from some other guys in his basketball and ultimate teams too. Apparently it was a get-together for the Konoha kids (he cringed) and Yamanaka was hosting it. She lived in a small home with a few other roommates, and from the given address, it was by Akimichi’s Barbeque place.

He thought over the invitation. It was going to start in a few hours, but tomorrow was a school day, so he didn’t really understand why they were going to fill their cups with alcohol and wake up with killer hangovers. Unless it was one of those potlucks that Akimichi liked setting up. If it was one of those it would mean no alcohol, or very little. He frowned when he realized he’d have to leave Itachi in his apartment alone, because he sure wasn’t leaving him with Naruto, and that fate had laid out two parties for his weekend to occupy the little blonde.

He was going to have to leave early if he wanted to reach the orphanage before closing hours, which made his frown deepen. He could do that. It was one last fun trip before Naruto would leave and Sasuke would go back to his normal life.

He would even avoid having Itachi there with him when he dropped Naruto off. It was a low ploy, but he could see how fond his brother was of the boy, and if he knew any better, he could assume Itachi would try to smuggle Naruto into his dorm.

Making up his mind, he opened up his phone’s contacts and scrolled through until he found Sakura’s name.

I’ll be there. He wrote, and a few seconds later Sakura’s reply came.

That’s good to hear! See you then. And then she was gone. He huffed, pocketing the device and crossing his arms, eyes drifting to the blonde bundle in his aniki’s lap. What a bothersome brat he turned out to be.

(Itachi wasn’t the only one that was fond of him.)

.             .             .

“So you’ll be heading out soon?” Itachi asked, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and a book in his hand. He found out it was actually a literature assignment he got over his break (because after Sasuke eventually came around to asking him about it, he explained his current freedom), not something he was reading for fun, but knowing him he was enjoying it anyways.

“Yeah, so don’t destroy my apartment.” Sasuke chided, placing the plates in the drying rack.

“You have such low expectations for me, little brother, it hurts.” Itachi feigned, placing a hand on his chest before flipping the page.

“What will you do while I’m gone?”

“Are you taking your car?”

“… no.”

“I might go to the library. I need some material from there.” That meant using Sasuke’s card, and then piling fines on him like always.

“I’ll need you to drive us first,” Sasuke informed, stepping out of the kitchen and plopping down on his sofa. Naruto was in the bathroom, and the sound of the tap running dully streamed into the living room.

“Why don’t you drive yourself?” Itachi asked curiously, and Sasuke refrained from punching him because he was a jerk and knew the reason his license was suspended and liked to rub it in anyways.

“Shut up.” He muttered instead, and then internally groaned when he realized that if Itachi had the car, he would be picking them up, and therefore would be present for Naruto’s departure.

Just great.

He pushed those thoughts away and raised his eyes to the ceiling, taking a deep breath to clear his head. No time like the present; it would be a waste if he let his thoughts interfere with the few hours he had left with the blonde brat.

Naruto came out, hair bouncing in wild, short tuffs and dripping slightly from the front from where he washed his face. He bounded to Sasuke, settling beside him and grinning like a fool. All Sasuke had told him was that they’d be going to a gathering with a bunch of his ‘school acquaintances’ (Naruto didn’t know what that meant, so he mustered up enough self-will to say ‘friends’) and that Naruto was going to come with him. He pointedly left out the detail of dropping him off later, but Sasuke had the feeling that Itachi knew his plan, if the side-eyed glances he gave him were anything to go by.

Sasuke had made him wear another one of his old shirts, which was too big like the other ones, and swamped his thighs and knees and made him look like a penguin all over again. His clothes were in the drying in the machine at the moment, so he would at least have a clean pair to wear before they went. The wind outside was still gusting but had dwindled since yesterday.

For a stupid little prick, Naruto was surprisingly observant. He had asked Sasuke about the Uchiha crest on the backs of all his shirts, and Sasuke had obviously answered like the full-grown man he was and replied with a ‘don’t worry about it’. Naruto had pouted, but then grinned and rubbed Sasuke’s arm, saying they looked pretty anyways. Sasuke had stood, frozen while Naruto bounded to Itachi to ask the same question.

He had also asked to brush his hair, and he grumbled out an ‘okay’.

“Where’re we goin’?” He asked as Sasuke took him down the stairs to the laundry room, bag in hand. The dryer should be done, and just in time too; they had to leave soon if they wanted to get ready and leave on time.

“The laundry rooms.”

“M’kay.”

They turned to the room at the end of the hallway, opening the door with his hip and letting Naruto in first before following in himself. He was met with an empty room, save for the dark-haired women pulling out clothes from one of the machines. Naruto stared at her back, and Sasuke had this sinking feeling in his stomach that the blonde was going to do something stupid, before his suspicions were confirmed and the boy waddled up to her and tugged on her sleeve. Hinata looked down, eyes softening when she saw Naruto. Sasuke shrugged and left them, because those clothes weren’t going to get themselves and Sasuke didn’t want to overexert the number of social interactions he needed to participate in today.

“Yer’ the pretty lady from the elevator!” Naruto blatantly started, because children were oblivious to the gift that was subtlety. Hinata giggled softly, bending down to ruffle his hair and talk to him in a much more respectable tone.

“Hey there little guy! I never caught your name?”

“I’m Naruto!”

She hummed, slowly folding the clothes in her basket, probably more slowly than needed, but Sasuke couldn’t complain about her distracting the brat.

“So, Naruto, how are you doing?”

He babbled about breakfast and watching a documentary and made Sasuke slap his forehead when he mentioned the party they were attending later.

“Oh,” Hinata breathed, surprise evident in her tone, “I didn’t know you guys were coming.”

“Sas’ke said it was where all his friends were goin’.” Naruto clarified as if that explained everything.

“Hm, well it would be a shame if he missed out on hanging out with his friends, right?” Was… was Hyuuga making fun of him? The same way Itachi would make fun of his lack of a social life? In that soft tone underlined with incredulous notions and a teasing edge that drove Sasuke nuts because he could never tell if they were serious? And here he had thought Hinata was just some shy little girl who was freakishly good at boxing. He didn’t know if he was pissed or impressed.

“Yeah! Are you goin’ too?” He asked, rocking on his heels.

“Yeah, I am, so I’ll see you there?” She asked, getting up and resting the basket on her hip. Naruto nodded enthusiastically, taking her offered hand and shaking it before watching her leave. He wandered to Sasuke’s side when she disappeared around the corner.

“Is she one of yer’ friends?” He asked, and Sasuke oh so badly wanted to say no, but then that would lead to more questions that he didn’t want to answer, so he simply nodded and ruffled Naruto’s hair with more force than necessary.

“Yer’ such a meany.” He whined, but helped Sasuke (crudely) fold his socks up and put them into his bag.

.             .             .

It was by some miracle that they ended up having only two hours to spare.

Two hours in which Sasuke trimmed his hair, and decided to trim Naruto’s shapeless mop into something nice.

But he forgot that Naruto was a prick, and therefore never made anything easier than it could have been. He ducked under Sasuke’s legs before he could react, and launched himself at Itachi, who also never made his life easy. He picked the blonde nonchalantly, resting him on his hip while Naruto wrapped his arms around his neck, a smug grin on his face that made his face squish up and make him look dumb.

“Naruto, we don’t have this kind of time.” Sasuke… well, he didn’t scold him because that’s what’s mother’s do, and he was not a mother… but he semi-scolded him, resting a hand on his hip as he dangled scissors in his hand. “If we want to get there on time I need to start now.”

Itachi at least had enough brain cells to realize that would mean having to speed on an icy road in order to not be late and gave Naruto an apologetic look before placing him down.

“But I don’ wanna’ cut my hair.” The blonde whined like the brat he was, pouting, but made no move to run away as Sasuke dragged him by the arm into the bathroom.

“I’m not cutting off that much. I’m just fixing it.”

“I don’ wanna’ duckbutt.”

Sasuke resisted the very strong urge to smack him in the head, and instead grumbled ‘I’m not going to cut it like mine’ before sitting him down on the chair, draping the towel over his small shoulders. Naruto shivered and giggled when Sasuke sprayed his head with water. The blonde strands stuck together in wet clumps, and Sasuke watched how there seemed to be no shape to his hair, and whoever cut it was merely shortening the tuffs.

He formalized a design in his head, starting at the base on Naruto’s head and snipping off the blonde locks, shortening them the most and leaving it as a more of a fuzz than the long strands from before. Inuzuka seemed to have similar hair, except curlier, so Sasuke went off with his haircut. Long at the top and shorter at the bottom to lessen the weight but not the depth.

By the time he was finished, wet clumps of golden hair littered his floor, and Naruto was bouncing in excitement to see what he looked like (Sasuke had faced him away from the mirror so he would stop making faces at himself and moving around). Naruto first glanced at all the hair on the floor, then went up to pat his head (probably surprised that it wasn’t getting in his damn eyes.) When Sasuke took his shoulder and turned him toward the mirror, his mouth formed a little ‘o’.

Sasuke maneuvered around and cleaned the blonde up, dusting the towel before grabbing the broom and sweeping the mix of dark and light hair. All the while Naruto played with his trimmed locks, seeing all the changes Sasuke made.

Finally, a huge grin broke out on his face and he whipped around to encase Sasuke in a hug. Or, well, he tried to. His arms didn’t fit all the way around his waist and his head knocked into his stomach, but he hugged him tight anyways, and Sasuke patted his head.

“I look sho pretty!” he squealed; voice muffled by being squished into Sasuke’s abdomen. “Thanshk-you!”

“I told you it would be good.”

Naruto just nodded, letting him go and bounding out into the living room, no doubt to show off his new looks to Itachi. Sasuke huffed and breath and rested his hand on the warm spot on his stomach, eyes blinking when he realized the warmth didn’t waver or leave.

.             .             .

“’Tachi! ‘Tachi look!” He waved at the man, pointing to his hair. Sasuke had actually cut it nicely. And it didn’t even hurt. When his hair was cut in the orphanage, they always pulled too hard and never made it look nice. He always thought that they were just trying to make him bald, so Naruto made it as hard as possible for them to cut it.

But Sasuke had been gentle, and he grinned to himself when he felt the damp tuffs on his head, liking how it wasn’t in his eyes and felt lighter than before.

“Sasuke did a good job.” Itachi mused, lightly running his fingers through Naruto’s hair and nodding, giving Sasuke a lazy thumbs-up. “He should cut my hair too.”

“Cut your own hair.”

“You hurt me.”

Sasuke was weird like that. He would act really nice and soft for one second and then Itachi would say something and then he acts like a big meany all over again. Actually, Sasuke was only ever a meany to Itachi, but Itachi was always so nice; it didn’t make any sense. A lot about Sasuke didn’t make sense. It hurt Naruto’s head having to try and figure him out, but it would totally be worth it (he hoped).        

“Naruto, go wear your jacket.” It made him feel warm and giddy when Sasuke said his jacket was Naruto’s jacket; as if it belonged to him.

“M’kay.” He chirped in response, reaching for the clothing on the barstool at the kitchen. Sasuke had done this really cool thing where he put the sweater inside the jacket by pulling the sleeves through, so it actually looked like just one extra warm jacket, and Naruto didn’t need help pulling his arms through the sleeves. He slipped on the worn but soft material, feeling the heat already prickling against his back. If they didn’t leave soon, he’d get too hot and then would need to take it off. He patiently waits at the door, digging his socked toe into the floor (because Sasuke had actually washed his socks for him) and trying to ignore the weight of the heat pressing against his skin.

“Okay, we’re good. Itachi?” Sasuke came out with his own jacket, pocketing his phone and turning to his older brother, who nodded and led the way to the car.

The drive, like the other ones, was uneventful, and Naruto swung his legs to the beat of the song that lightly thrummed in the car’s speakers. Sasuke pointed directions, but Naruto had no idea where they were going. The snow was blocking his window’s view, and the streets all looked the same, but he trusted Sasuke’s judgement.

They reached their destination, but Itachi made no move to get out of the car, which made Naruto confused.

“Why aren’t you comin’?” Naruto asked, tugging on Itachi’s sleeve from the back.

“I’m not invited, Naruto; I don’t know anyone here.”

“Where’re you goin’?”

“The library.”

Naruto scrunched his nose, because who would go to the library for fun. But Itachi seemed smart enough to make his own decisions, so Naruto refrained from warning him about how boring libraries were. He nodded, leaned against the seat to give the man a hug around the neck, and smiled when he ruffled his hair as a departing gift. He hopped out of the car and watched Itachi drive away, disappearing into the thick flurry of snow.

Something heavy settled in his chest, watching the black vehicle leave his sight; something he didn’t like. Like he was missing something, or losing something precious, but that was silly because he’d see Itachi when he came to pick them up. He shook his head, smiled against the twinge in his mind, and forced those dark thoughts away. He couldn’t act like a spoiled brat; Sasuke had already done so much for him, he had saved his life. He couldn’t go and have the luxury to miss them because that would be selfish.

He walked beside Sasuke to the door of a small house, watching him ring the doorbell. He wasn’t going to let his nervousness get to him this time. Sasuke had assured him the last time they went out that no one would dislike or kick him out, and he had been right. Plus, he had met some of Sasuke’s pretty friends, and they were really nice. So, he took a deep and shoved the worry down deep, locking it up as best as he could, but when Sasuke silently offered his hand, Naruto couldn’t help but think that maybe Sasuke was a bit nervous too. Without saying anything, he took the offered hand and squeezed it.

The door opened, and a tall boy with dark hair peeked through with squinted eyes. They widened by a fraction when they saw Sasuke, before he opened the door fully and let them come in with a small gust of wind.

“Hey Sasuke, I didn’t think you’d show up.” Then after a pause, “Not that I’m not glad you made it.” Naruto didn’t think he looked very glad. He looked really bored, almost like he wanted to fall asleep.

“Hm, I had nothing better to do.”

“Touche. I can take your jackets.”

Sasuke thanked him when he took his jacket and instructed Naruto to do the same, and the guy’s eyes snapped to him. He wasn’t that small that no one was able to notice him on the first go (it’s not like he was hiding behind Sasuke or anything like that). He didn’t say anything, but offered a nod and took his sweater-jacket too.

He tugged on Sasuke’s hand.

“Who’s that?”

“Hm? That’s Shikamaru. He’s one of the quieter ones.” Sasuke explained, leading Naruto further into the building. Sounds of low beat music thrummed in the air and vibrated in his chest, but after a few seconds, he got used to the feeling. The air smelled like yummy food, and shouts of laughter and words drifted from the main area where most of the people were seated.

Sasuke entered leisurely, ignoring the squeals of some girls and the gaping of some guys as he made his way to the group. Immediately, a girl with long blonde hair bounced up to greet him (she reminded Naruto of Deidara-kun), draping her body against his and clinging to his arm. Naruto wrinkled his nose at the heavy scent of flowers that emitted off if her. It didn’t smell bad (he really liked the smell of flowers) but it was overwhelming for him.

“Sasuke-kun!” she giggled happily, squishing Sasuke’s arm and Naruto in the process, though she didn’t seem to notice him, and calling out might be impolite so he took the body-squishing like a man. The body heat was uncomfortable though, and being pressed between two big people was really doing a number on his personal temperature level.

Finally, Sasuke pried her off with a scoff, and Naruto happily realized that he was still holding his hand. He didn’t mind the warmth he felt while he held Sasuke’s hand.

The blonde girl finally noticed him, and her blue eyes widened comically, and Naruto tried to give her his best smile but the way she was staring was making him uncomfortable, like he was doing something wrong. Which he wasn’t, because Sasuke hasn’t reprimanded him for anything yet.

But whatever was going on through her head seemed to vanish, and a smile spread on her lips as she bent down to his eye level. He resisted the temptation to shuffle and hide behind Sasuke again, because he was brave and could handle some random kindness.

“Who’s this little guy?” She asked not unkindly, grinning at Naruto. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before. I’m Ino.”

She offered him her hand, and with his unoccupied one, he shook it. Her hand was really soft and surprisingly cold, though her fingers were tough like Sasuke’s hand. Still, he grinned at her, and she squealed, removing her hand to cup his face. He didn’t know what to do, so he simply tried smiling through his squished cheeks (no one’s ever squished his cheeks before; he kind of liked it).

“This is Naruto.” Sasuke simply replied, side-eyeing the display as other people turned to look at them. The stares were making him feel over-exposed, but none of them seemed hostile or mean, so he took it as a good thing. Besides, Sasuke had promised him that no one would hurt him, so he placed his trust in the Uchiha and forced himself to be faithful towards his words. Ino lightly patted his cheeks, letting her hands drop down and beaming.

“He’s so cute. Who did you steal him from?” She asked, false accusation laced in her tone as she glanced up at him.

“He’s a distant relative.” He muttered back.

“He… he looks nothing like you. No way a cutey like him is even remotely related to you, unless you’re brother-“

“Distant. Relative.” He slotted through gritted teeth, and Ino laughed good-heartedly, her voice reminding Naruto of tinkling bells and forest flowers. He liked her laugh.

“Oh, hi Naruto!” The pretty pink-haired girl from the store called out, crouching beside Ino and offering her hand, which he also took (her hands were really rough, but the way she grasped his was just as gentle as it would have been had her hands been softer).

“Hi.” He replied simply because he didn’t actually know her name (or he forgot it, he couldn’t remember), but she didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m Sakura, do you remember me?”

“Yeah! Yer’ the pretty lady who gave me chocolate!” He exclaimed, and she giggled.

“That’s me. Are you guys hungry? We just got the food out.” She asked, standing up and addressing Sasuke, a small pink blush dusting her cheeks that matched her hair. Sasuke didn’t pay it any mind and simply turned to him with a raised eyebrow. Naruto stared back, not backing down from the challenge, but his eyes were starting to water, and Sasuke wasn’t relenting. Eventually, he blinked, and Sasuke turned away.

“Sure. But do you guys have any juice?” He asked, jutting his head to the blonde. Sakura nodded, leading them away, but not before Ino ruffled his hair and gave his cheek another pat.

Just like last time, Naruto couldn’t see anything on the table, so he let Sasuke pick him up (he made sure to point out their equivalent height) and he got whatever Sasuke got because he was smart and could cook. Though he refrained from getting the nugget things (Sasuke told him they were crab, but Naruto had no idea what a crab was, and it tasted icky), he got himself the sandwich and rice balls. Sasuke gave him a look but took out the food Naruto requested wordlessly, ignoring the off-hand comment about how Sasuke was like a mother goose. Geese were scary, and Sasuke wasn’t scary, so he couldn’t really see the comparison.

“And here’s some juice. I hope you like apple.”

Naruto nodded while Sasuke took the juice box for him, but stayed put by his side as the Uchiha asked the girl a few more questions. He wasn’t really interested in big kid talk, so he took a look around the busy house instead. There were more people here than there had been at shark man's house (he forgot his name again, shamefully), but they weren’t as weird-looking. They talked and ate and some peered over at him, but when he caught their eye they’d just smile and wave. Friendly, thankfully.

Finally, Sasuke handed him his juice (with the straw poked in, thankfully), but led him away from the big group in the living room, and walked towards one of the separate rooms down the hall.

“Sas’ke, where’re we goin’?” He asked, sipping his juice in small amounts to savour the sweet flavour.

“There’s someone here that’s your age, so you can sit with him.”

“Really!” He didn’t meet too many kids his age. Everyone in his orphanage was either older than him or all infants. He was the youngest child in the older group, and he was only put in that group because he wasn’t in a diaper anymore. All the older kids were in their double digits or close to it, and never really included Naruto in anything because he was ‘too stupid’.

He hoped this kid wasn’t like that.

They entered a room occupied by three people; a blonde woman and a man with short brown hair were trying to coax a crying child with the most fury red hair Naruto’s ever seen. Sasuke cleared his throat after a moment when it became obvious how preoccupied the pair of adults were, and when the man turned around to greet them, his eyes widened.

“Sasuke? Never expected you to show up.” The man said, walking over to clasp the Uchiha on the shoulder. Sasuke didn’t react, but his frown showed his displeasure, to which the man just laughed at. “As anti-social as ever I see. What’re you here for? Who’s the little guy?” He nodded at Naruto.

“This is Naruto. I brought him over because I’m looking after him. I didn’t know you brought Gaara too.”

The man winced.

“Yeah, but as soon as he saw everyone he started crying, and we couldn’t very well just leave him at home alone.”

“Hm, how’s he doing now?”

“Better, though he doesn’t want to come out.”

Sasuke hummed, then nudged Naruto forward with his knee.

“I was wondering if Naruto could hang around Gaara? It’ll be better to have multiple eyes on him.” He asked, though he clearly looked like he didn’t want to. Sasuke didn’t really like asking for things. Another weird bump on the Sasuke rock.

The man’s eyes lit up, and he nodded with a grin.

“For sure man, Temari’s on driving duty today so she’ll keep a sober eye on these two.” Sasuke nodded at that, and then turned to Naruto, who was still staring at the sniffling red-head.

“You better not cause any trouble, you brat.” He simply instructed, and Naruto stuck his tongue out at him in response. The brunette laughed at the exchange, calling over to the blonde women before leading Sasuke out. Naruto awkwardly stood by the door, not really knowing what to do.

“Naruto, was it?” He nodded at the woman. “You can come sit here. This is Gaara. Gaara, say hi.”

The red-head, Gaara, glanced at Naruto with bright teal eyes, furrowing his brow and pursing his lips. Temari sighed, ruffling his hair and then turning to Naruto.

“I’m going outside you two, but if you need anything don’t be afraid to come to me, okay?” Dual nods. “And no funny business. Gaara, be nice, okay?” The boy in question just pouted, obviously putout at being scolded. Temari gave them both a big smile, one that Naruto couldn’t help but return because her smile was really nice and pretty, and she pet both their heads before getting up from her crouch and leaving the room, door slightly ajar. She sort of reminded Naruto of what it would feel like to have a mom.

Naruto turned to Gaara, having his hands freed by putting his plate on the floor. He noted how he didn’t have any food with him, and that he must have missed it. This obviously meant that he had to share, because Gaara was his friend now and wasn’t that was friends did? Sharing in the orphanage was quite rare, and food was given in rations to children in specific slotted times, but once Naruto was given a cookie by the lady at the coffee shop, and he considered her a distant friend. And since Gaara was his age, the friendship would just be strengthened!

“I’m Naruto, and yer’ Gaara, right?” he started, leaning forward to peer at the other boy’s face. Gaara nodded mutely, leaning back and narrowing his eyes.

“You don’ have any food. Are you not hungry?”

A shake of the head.

“Well, I’m hungry, but I dun’ wanna’ eat by myself, ya’ know? So, you wanna’ share?”

A blink.

“Because sharing is caring, and it tastes better when you share.” He explained wisely.

A widening of the eyes and another blink.

“Here, you c’n have half of my san’which.” He started, trying his best to evenly tear the bread. It ended up going a little curved and sideways, and his end had a little bit more bread from the top, but it got the job done, and he happily thrust the other half to Gaara. “Here!”

The other boy took it with slight hesitance, and then quietly thanked him before munching on it, small nibbles in the bread to show he was eating. Naruto grinned, because offering food was one way of making someone happy, and he was a sucker for making people happy.

(He believed that if he made enough people smile, his own smile would never leave him.)

Gaara wasn’t much of a talker, but Naruto thought that was okay. He could talk enough for the both of them, and Gaara was actually really nice. He showed off his small plushie; some sand cat… thing that he named Shukaku or something. It was a little worn and had threads coming loose from the eyes and tail, but Naruto found it was warm and comforting all the same.

He asked Naruto if he owned a plush. Naruto shook his head no.

.             .             .

There were drinks, because of course there were drinks. But no one seemed to have the intention of getting drunk on a school night, so worst-case scenario would be someone spiking the soda because there wasn’t enough alcohol to indulge in, which in itself was highly unlikely because Sakura seemed to be keeping an eye out for any unwanted beverages. And she had quite the right hook when it came to people pissing her off.

Neji, the stuck-up asshole, was sitting next to him, having equal displeasure in alcohol, and was idly chatting with him and Shikamaru about the upcoming Ultimate game. Sasuke already knew about it, but Neji was the team’s unofficial captain (unofficial because Ultimate didn’t really have captains to begin with), so he seemed to take it in his hands to make sure everyone was aware of the event.

Sasuke was actually dreading the upcoming game, because it was their fall season's last game and therefore meant a lot going into the Spring Competition. If they lost, their ranking would be lower in the starting games, and it would take longer to climb up. Something Sasuke was not looking forward to having to do.

And to top it off, it was going to be raining. No lightning, because they would have cancelled otherwise, but it was still an outdoor game, and he would come home soaking wet and cold, which was undesirable at best. Oh, and Itachi was coming, the jerk, to watch him miserably play within the comfortable dry confines provided by his umbrella and jacket. As it was, it was going to be a long game.

“We’ve already beaten them before; I don’t get what’s the big issue.”

“Apparently they got a new assistant coach, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Sasuke shrugged and sipped his soda again, the fizz tingling on his tongue and bubbling all the way down his throat. Kankurou had assured him that Temari was going to be looking out for the two children, but he couldn’t help but worry about Naruto and his… idiotic tendencies. He was over-energetic; sitting around and chatting wasn’t something he seemed to be capable of doing. Even playing games required a whole lot of jumping and screaming. And Gaara was…a special case. He wasn’t sure how those two would fare.

But he couldn’t really do much about it now. Itachi would come to pick them up in another few hours, and Inuzuka had suggested starting up a game of truth or dare. With nothing better to do (Neji had accused him of being a coward, so just for that he got up and sat down in the circle, because Sasuke Uchiha was anything but a coward and no Hyuuga was going to one-up him), Sasuke joined in.

Kiba started, and spun the half-full bottle around the circle, the nozzle landing on Tenten, and thus began the wretched game played by people of all ages, regardless of maturity level.

Kiba challenged Tenten to do a handstand with soda in her mouth. Tenten asked Ino if it was true that she wasn’t a natural blonde. Ino made Shino take off his sunglasses (low and behold, he had a second pair beneath the first one), and Shino told Shikamaru to dump a bottle of freezing water down his back.

It was quite uneventful.

The nozzle pointed to him, and Shikamaru gave him a lazy blink.

“Truth or Dare.”

No way was he humiliating himself in front of all these moronic idiots doing some dumb stunt.

“Truth.”

Shikamaru’s gaze was calculating, and Sasuke was once again reminded of why he was the undefeated champion of the Chess Club. He was always three moves ahead and had three ideas for each move he had planned, all on top of the backup plans he had for every instance. He was a genius, and could pick apart anyone.

Anyone but Sasuke.

The Uchiha kept his face blank and emotionless, his own stare unwavering and borderline impatient. When the black-haired male didn’t find anything interesting, he sighed and leaned his chin on his open palm, crossing his legs.

“What’s your real relationship with that blonde kid?”

The fucker. Leave it to Shikamaru to name the one thing he didn’t want to talk about. Nothing about potential love-lives or gossip-worthy material; the real-life stuff that made Sasuke itch all over.

“I already told you.” He merely stated.

“Yeah yeah, distant relative. But how. How are you two related; what branch do both of you fall under?”

Good question, a question he couldn’t answer because all his relatives were six-feet-under and have been enjoying the taste of cold soil for twelve years. Of course, no one here knew anything except that his parents died when he was seven, but even the thought of pretending someone somewhere out there had the Uchiha name and bore a blonde child now entrusted to him set something wrong in his stomach. Everyone was waiting expectantly for a response, and he already knew that outwardly he looked like he was just impassively building up suspense with his uncaring expression in place on his cold features, but inside he was crippling. Desperately trying to cling onto any sort of excuse he could come up with.

Damn Shikamaru and his ability to become a complete pain in every body part he had.

Said male had one eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer. If Sasuke knew any better, he’d go so far as to say that the ignorant prick actually looked smug.

So he bottled up that wrong in his stomach, threw it into the depths of his mind, and cleared his eyes of any distress they may give out. If Shikamaru wanted to play this game, then Sasuke would play it, and he would win like he always did.

He shrugged indifferently.

“Some uncle married a blonde and had him. She died and left the two, and now he’s sick, so Naruto is in my care.” An easy lie, one that set a grim atmosphere in the room and left guilt in place of more questions. No one asked questions on sensitive topics, and it seemed to satisfy Nara, because he cast his eyes away and mumbled an apology. Everyone followed in suit, and Sasuke bit back the urge to glare. They didn’t know anything. They didn’t know that all his uncles were dead, and that there hasn’t been a blonde in the family since as far as he could remember researching into it.

Sasuke lazily dared Sakura to get lost, to which earned him several glares and chuckled, but overall, they found his dry comment quite hilarious, and continued playing as if the heavy questioning earlier had never been answered. How sweetly naïve.

When he realized there were only a few lingering drops stubbornly clinging to the idents in his red plastic beer cup, he excused himself to refill his beverage. Climbing the stairs to leave the basement, Sasuke couldn’t help but walk in the small corridor connecting to all the rooms. Naruto and Gaara’s hushed voices could be heard from inside, and when he peeked through the small crack between the doorframe and the door, he couldn’t help but smirk.

Someone (presumably Temari) had leant the small duo their phone, and the two were hunched together, playing… something he couldn’t identify. Naruto giggled in his palms and Gaara tapped away at the screen, a small smile playing on his lips. He’d seen Gaara before, and knew how much of a pain that kid was (his package came with a lot of trauma and aggression) and barely even saw him smile at his siblings. Naruto was a magic worker, but even he had to admit his stupid grin was contagious.

Deeming them safe, he turned and made to leave the corridor, but was met with Temari. He gave her a nod, to which she gave him a knowing smile and stood beside him as she too peered into the room.

“I don’t know who your little blonde is, but he sure is special.” She whispered under her breath, turning to meet Sasuke’s eye. It was disconcerting how tall she was compared to him. He probably only had three centimetres on her.

“He’s a brat, trust me.”

“I guess he’s melted your heart too then?” She playfully chided, walking with Sasuke to the table holding all the drinks. He avoided her stare as he poured soda in his cup.

“More like barged in there with no permission.”

She laughed lightly, accepting Sasuke’s offer of pouring her drink as well, and he filled her cup with soda too.

“You probably know how Gaara is like with other people, but I’ve never seen him this friendly with someone, especially a kid his age.”

He hummed in his drink, leaning on the counter and acknowledging that he was listening.

“Who knows. He might want to invite Naruto over later? If that’s okay with you. It’s nice to see him acting like a normal kid for once.” She smiled into her cup, then gave him a pat on the shoulder before moving to go back downstairs, and leaving Sasuke with an even heavier pit than before.

Naruto will probably never see Gaara again, and the small sliver of Gaara’s normalcy will go out the window. It wasn’t technically Gaara’s fault that he held so much baggage (from what Sasuke gathered, he watched his father get murdered and then was kidnapped and labelled as ‘missing’ for a whole week. No one has been able to find out what happened to him during that, but he was messed up in the head afterwards). It was kind of funny, when you looked at it through Sasuke’s (equally messed up) view. Trauma invites suffering, and suffering is never done alone. Those two kids have enough on their plates to keep them going for a lifetime, and through suffering came shared pain and understanding. They say pain is man’s greatest companion, and who better to share it with than with someone who knows exactly what you’re talking about?

(Maybe that’s why Naruto so easily wormed his way into Sasuke’s chest.)

(His greatest companion had always been pain.)

He huffed a breath. He couldn’t be thinking like this now. It was too late. A couple of hours from now the blonde nuisance would be out of his apartment and back into the orphanage, and he would continue his life like he normally did. This was just one unexpected circumstance thrown at him because he let his emotions get in the way of his decision making. Naruto would’ve been dead right now and he wouldn’t have ever known had he not stopped by the front doors those few days ago. And the consequence of this was having to unpack Naruto’s baggage while trying to keep his overflowing suitcase closed.

Oh yeah, he was a trouble-maker all right. Completely messed up Sasuke’s head and was leaving it like a mess. What a child.

(He was a child.)

Sasuke shook his head and walked back down the stairs, sitting next to Neji and sipping his drink.

.             .             .

The doorbell rang crisp and clear, cutting through the chatter and side conversations effectively. Shikamaru (the only responsible roommate of the house, as he found out that Ino did not, in fact, live here and she had only planned the party) got up like the good host he was and answered the door, peering over the edge of the shelf a few seconds later.

“It’s your brother, Sasuke. He’s here to pick you up.”

Sasuke nodded, discarding his cup and going over to call Naruto from the room he’d been occupying for the last few hours.

“Our rides here.” He simply stated after getting his attention, and the blonde nodded, going over to hug Gaara (it was so sloppy; his arms wrapped around the boy’s head because he was still sitting, but when Gaara got up to even the distance, the hug fixed itself and their little arms wound around each other’s chest. He decided to take an interest in the door’s hinges).

He waved, and Gaara wobbled out of the room to Temari’s side, clinging to her hand and waving back almost shyly. No one would be able to tell that he was the same kid who almost took a bite out of his teacher’s ear.

“I’ll let you know if Gaara’s interested.” Temari smiled, and Sasuke throat felt dry and grainy when he replied with a quiet ‘yeah, sure’. He half-heartedly waved over his shoulder at everyone’s goodbye’s, and slipped his jacket on before zipping Naruto’s up; the wind outside was much more violent than it had been when they arrived.

“Thanks for coming, I guess.” Shikamaru yawned, leaning against the wall beside the bench.

“Thanks for having us.” He replied on auto.

The Nara offered Naruto a fist bump, to which the blonde happily connected with his own, and the two were out the door and met with the chilly pre-winter breeze. He hoped that all the slush would drain away before their game.

“How was it? Did you have fun?” Itachi asked when he finally shut the door and started the car in reverse.

“It was fine.”

“I made a friend ‘Tachi!” Naruto excitedly started, practically jumping in his seat. Itachi smiled, turning into the direction Sasuke pointed to.

“That’s great. I’m sure he’s happy to have a friend like you.”

“You think so?” He asked, eyes shining. Sasuke turned to look out his window as Itachi figured out the rest of the route. Something glinted in his eye as he smiled in the mirror at the blonde.

“Definitely.”