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Space.
The three of them had long ago learned how to slot themselves together in a way that was still comfortable while not taking up much space, although right now they seem to have forgotten. At home they don’t really need to, not with how large their bed is, most of the time they have enough room to sprawl out, but there isn't always half of a bed for Naruto to sprawl across, or the way Sakura stretches her arms out.
"Naruto quit!"
"I am trying to get comfortable but you keep digging your arm into my side!"
"Then shove over!"
"Shove over? Sakura I am against a wall here, make Teme shove over!"
"I'm hurt, you are supposed to make me feel better not slam your knee into my wound!"
He sighs as he listens to their bickering, yes he can agree that this is not an ideal spot but he would like to get some sleep before Yamato and Sai get back and he and Naruto need to take over watch. He rolls onto his side and wraps an arm around Sakura's waist and pulls her back into him, careful not to irritate the healing hole in her upper thigh. She goes still once he buries his nose in the hair at the base of her neck. He then reaches over for Naruto's hand and makes him shuffle slightly so he too can rest his arms across both of their waists while hopefully giving the blond room to stretch out his legs a bit. After a moment Sakura opens her mouth. He reaches to gently rest a hand over her lips. "Shhh, sleep."
There is a few more moments of shifting and squirming before everything stops. Just like that they seem to find the position everyone finds acceptable. He lets out a sigh, it's not as good as it would be if they had as much space as they usually do, but it's something.
Middle.
They argue over the middle a lot. Sakura often brings up how it makes her feel safe, how content she feels with them bracketing her on either side. Naruto on the other hand likes the middle because he feels wanted, he feels loved. He likes when they wrap around him, he loves being held. He has mentioned once or twice how it is so different when compared to his childhood which was cold and lonely.
In the beginning it sparks actual arguments between them. Over time and with enough reassurances they start to figure it out but it still causes some minor squabbles even two years into their relationship. Finally Sasuke kicks them both to the couch with a harsh, "don't come back until you have figured it out," he regrets it not twenty minutes later when he struggles to fall asleep without them. Even so they do come to an agreement.
So they begin trading off the coveted warm middle spot. They end up switching back and forth simply because Sasuke is not going to let them bicker over it every night, he would actually like to sleep sometime.
Honestly Sasuke doesn't really care who is in the middle, he quite likes the edge of the bed if only because he can turn off Sakura's alarm clock as soon as it goes off, before he rolls over and falls back asleep.
Now that's not to say he doesn't like sleeping in the middle, or that he never gets the chance. In the beginning he didn't understand why it was such a big deal, yet here and now he totally gets it.
The center of their bed is definitely the softest spot, it has the most give and seems to mold itself to your body. But that isn't what makes it his favorite spot, no, the best thing about being placed between Sakura and Naruto is the physical contact. The way that Naruto's chest is plastered to his back, the blondes nose pressed gently into Sasuke's neck, strong arms wound around his waist. The way that Sakura traces soft patterns across Sasuke's chest as she falls asleep, how her legs tangle with his beneath the covers, when she nuzzles into his shoulder while muttering softly, how her hair tickles his nose and he can faintly smell the floral shampoo that is just so Sakura. How he can feel Naruto's heart beating against his back, how he becomes aware of every breath Sakura takes as she exhales into his skin.
Laying here with his teammates wrapped around him makes him understand why they both love this spot so much.
Warmth.
Both boys are like space heaters. Sakura loves it. No matter what time of year their bed is always warm.
Her favorite thing about winter is being able to slide under the thick duvet between Naruto and Sasuke and melt into the heat. During the summer it can be a bit more frustrating so she lets Naruto sleep in the middle more often than not but she doesn't mind, not even when they toss their blankets to the floor, open the window and turn on a fan. In the fall and in the spring she finds the bed the perfect temperature even if they leave a window open. The warmth is comforting.
She lets out a sigh as she hunts through the room for another blanket. Ino looks at her like she is crazy and honestly she kind of feels like she is; after all, what normal person needs five extra blankets? She doesn't know how to explain without sounding ridiculous, so she just shakes her head at Ino's raised eyebrow. After spreading the blanket across her bed she climbs in, even with the extra layers she shivers slightly, it still isn't warm enough. She suspects that no amount of blankets will be as warm as an Uchiha and an Uzumaki. She huffs as she shifts in an attempt to find a more comfortable spot. The chill of the room seems to settle into her bones.
All the more reason to finish this mission quickly.
First.
It's awkward. There is no other way to say it.
Sakura is almost on top of him, and Sasuke is tense beside him, no one wants to say anything about how uncomfortable their current position is. Naruto likes to think its because they all want this to work.
Still Sakura's elbow is digging into his ribs and he can practically hear Sasuke grinding his teeth. So he waits for a moment more before giving in.
"This isn't working," he whispers, as if the softest sound will strip his partners away from him. Sakura shifts and he gasps, she is a lot heavier than she looks.
"The bed is too small," she agrees.
There is a sharp in-take of breath from Sasuke's general direction. For a moment Naruto is terrified that the Uchiha is going to run, dart out of the room and decide that this is too much for him - that they are too much for him. Naruto wouldn't blame him if he did, although he is a little shocked when Sasuke turns his head to look away from the two of them and mumbles something.
He stares for a second hoping that he heard the raven haired boy correctly. Sakura is the one that is brave enough to ask, "Sasuke could you repeat that?" There is no edge to her voice just a softness.
"My room." He pauses to clear his throat, "it has a bigger bed."
Naruto sits up so quickly that it startles the others and throws Sakura on top of Sasuke. "Let's go then Teme."
As it turns out Sasuke's bed isn't much bigger than Naruto's, it forces them close together, Sakura caught between them laying on her side. She is facing away from him and towards Sasuke and Naruto hesitates unsure of what to do with the arm not trapped under his body. She seems to understand because after a few moments she grabs his hand and guides his arm around her middle before lacing their fingers together. "Geez Naruto get a grip, I am not made of glass." Their hands rest against her stomach.
He nods knowing she will feel the motion against the back of her neck. He still isn't really comfortable but he doesn't mind. They can make this work.
It is the first of many nights these three spend tangled together.
Pillows.
Their bed is always covered in pillows. Naruto insists on having them, Sakura couldn't care either way, and Sasuke doesn't really like it. He won't argue about it, he learned forever ago when to pick his battles with Naruto. So he merely huffs and shoves the extra pillows to the far side of the bed when they migrate over towards his edge.
"Sasuke! Teme get up we have to be ready to leave in a few minutes." Sasuke shifts further away from the bubbly idiot and into his girlfriend's side. He wraps around her and can almost feel her rolling her eyes through the way her body shifts to both accommodate him and keep him from wrapping completely around her.
"Sasuke. You need to get up," she warns. He hums and nuzzles into her collarbone. "Sasuke come on, Sai and Yamato-taicho are probably waiting already." Despite her firm words she has yet to actually do anything. She isn't going with them, she doesn't need to be up, Sasuke envies her.
He listens to Naruto moving towards them and feels the blankets shift, he is willing to bet that the man will rip them from the bed soon even if he knows what it will do to Sasuke's mood.
He blindly reaches for a pillow and rolls to hit Naruto with it. The sound of a yelp and a thump is rather satisfying. He snuggles back into the warmth of the bed with a grin.
"Let them wait."
Upgrade.
They should have known that they wouldn't be able to keep it a secret forever. Keeping anything a secret from Kakashi-sensei is difficult to start with, but this, Sakura is impressed they lasted a week.
There is a moment of silence as she sits there staring at Kakashi, then Sasuke shifts beside her to look up at the light streaming into his bedroom from the hallway. Naruto is still dead to the world on her other side and she tenses up at the pure look of shock on Kakashi-sensei's face. Sasuke sits up and tosses a glare in the man's direction. He slips an arm around Sakura and gently pulls her back down into bed. "Sleep now, talk later," he mumbles. Sakura is about to protest when the light fades as Kakashi slowly closes the door.
Surprisingly he doesn't bring it up, not really. There is a faint acknowledgement, checking Sasuke's room first when he can't find one of them, extremely awkward 'safe sex' talks slipped into conversations, putting Naruto's favorite blanket in the same basket as Sasuke's bedding on laundry day. But in the end nothing really changes in the team seven house.
Then comes the bed shopping. It happens after a few weeks, he doesn't say anything just drags them out of the house on a Saturday morning. They all end the day with new beds at least twice the size of their old ones. When Sakura asks about it Kakashi-sensei ruffles her hair. "It will be more comfortable."
She spends a few moments staring at him. She had expected this conversation to end poorly, god knows her parents would lose it if they found out their fourteen year old daughter was sleeping in the same bed as not one but two boys; even if they aren't doing anything except literally sleeping. Then she looks back up at her sensei and considers that he has never been like her parents, even so there should be something, some sort of confusion or disappointment.
"Are you sure you are alright with this Kakashi-sensei?" She asks.
He looks down at her. "Do they make you happy Sakura?" She gives a gentle nod. "Then that is what matters. So long as you are safe and happy." She relaxes a bit and decides to take Kakashi-sensei's actions as quiet support of their relationship (whatever it happens to be).
Missions.
It's not something they really think about anymore, if they end up working together they usually crawl into the same bedroll if they don't have to stay up to keep watch. It's easy to forget that not everyone understands or approves of their relationship, either way Sasuke doesn't give a damn. No one and he really does mean no one is going to stop him from curling up to sleep next to his partners if he gets the chance. Besides it's not like it breaks any rules or puts them off focus, if anything they sleep better when sharing the same space, assured by every breath that their precious people are alive and well, he figures that it would be seen as a good thing.
But here they are with some stuck up jonin and a prissy chunin glaring daggers at him and Naruto and whispering crude comments back and forth thinking that they won't hear them, thinking they won't notice. Sasuke notices, of course he notices, especially when Naruto deflates just a little, when his smile falters very briefly, when he pauses before sliding under the thin blanket next to Sasuke. It makes the Uchiha's blood boil. Still he contains himself, because killing these idiots is rather counterproductive. So instead he vows to have a very long discussion with the Godaime Hokage about team assignments as soon as they finish debrief.
"The mission will be over soon Teme. You need to chill, we only have to deal with these assholes for another week." The deep rumble in his ear startles him as Naruto presses up against his back.
Sasuke relaxes slightly, he focuses on the tension draining away from his body. He hums softly in acknowledgement and watches the chunin shift to take up the place at the edge of their camp that Naruto had just abandoned. Missions are always fifty-fifty, some shinobi encourage them, see their relationship as something cute, a bright spot in a rather dark world, but others see something unnatural, something wrong. He lets out a sigh, he can't expect everyone to understand, he just wishes that the people who didn't could just let them be fucking happy without the looks or comments.
Kisses.
Naruto starts it. Soft kisses to each of his partners foreheads or noses before laying down for the night. He likes doing it because he wants to end every day by telling his precious people how much he loves them, wants them to know.
Sasuke shys away from them at first, and Sakura accepts them with soft giggles or a gentle roll of her eyes. Neither one of them really minds they just take a while to come around.
After a few months Sakura starts to drop goodnight kisses to her partners as well, although Sasuke still rolls his eyes or huffs (even if he doesn't try to stop them).
Then Naruto gets hurt on a mission.
It's a three man mission, Sakura is training with Tsunade so it is just the boys and Kakashi-sensei. And Naruto being Naruto had done something kind of dumb.
He hadn't meant to get hit, hadn't meant to take a kunai to the chest but the missing nin had been just a bit faster than he thought, so here they are. Here being a cave in the middle of nowhere Snow country. Currently Kakashi has the ninken on watch while the three of them rest, or more accurately he rests while his team does what they can to patch him up. Even with his quick recovery rate they are going to be stuck here for a while.
Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei have already done a fair amount of scolding, yelling and worrying in equal parts. Now they have pulled his and Sasuke's bedrolls together and he has been thoroughly cocooned in blankets and his head is resting on Sasuke's thighs; it's not as comfy as Sakura's but he isn't going to complain.
He is teetering on the edge of sleep when he thinks he feels the soft press of lips to the top of his head. He is wide awake after that although he does his best to hide it, if Sasuke notices he doesn't say anything.
After they get home it happens again. Long after their nightly routine, long after Sakura's breathing has evened out, and he has relaxed enough to almost fall asleep, the bed shifts as Sasuke leans over to press gentle kisses to Sakura's nose and then Naruto's forehead with a soft whisper of, "good night." Naruto has to fight to keep the grin off his face, but it's worth it when he gets another 'good night' kiss the following night.
Ninken.
They give up trying to fight it. There is no use, no matter what they do they always seem to end up with at least one of the ninken in bed with them. Usually it's Bisuke pressed up into Sasuke's side at the edge of the bed or Akino and Uhei sprawled across their feet (bull has taken to sleeping on the floor at the foot of the bed). It's not uncommon to wake up covered in dogs and spend roughly ten minutes trying to extract oneself.
Sakura doesn't mind; after all, it's rather cute to watch the dogs take up the warm spots on the bed as they are vacated, which tends to result in Sasuke laying in the middle of the bed surrounded by the dogs seeing as he is normally the last one out of bed. It isn't often that Sakura can call Sasuke adorable, but this is one of those times. Idly she wonders what it will be like when they get their own place and the ninken inevitably remain in the Hatake house with Kakashi-sensei although she shoves that thought away, they're barely fifteen they won't have to worry about it for a while. Even so, she doesn't think Kakashi will actually kick them out, he will just grumble about it like the old man he is.
For now she just pats her hand on the bed and gives Bull a smile. He hops on the bed giving her a grateful look. Sasuke rolls to look at her. "Leaving already?" She hums and gives Bisuke some scritches as she walks around the bed only realizing her mistake when all the dogs start wiggling toward the end of the bed for pets. After some pats and giggles she is on her way toward the door.
She catches something that might be 'have a good day' from Naruto, although his voice is muffled by the fact his face is pressed into Uhei's side. She grins, yeah today will be a good day.