Work Text:
He laid on his back, right hand digging red crescents into the tender flesh of his left shoulder. He gritted his teeth, eyes screwed tight as liquid lava poured over the phantom limb of his left arm. He drew his legs up as if the position would give him a sort of relief. His toes curled before he kicked at his comforter wordlessly. His head arched back in a wordless scream, his voice held captive under torrents of fire-hot agony.
Stars exploded across the blackness of his eyelids and the familiar metallic tang of blood filled his mouth as he bit into his bottom lip. He flopped back down limply onto his bed, body trembling as his chest heaved. Gasps tore through him, the air too thin and too thick at the same time that it left him struggling to inhale full lungfuls.
His bottle of pain pills was empty, tossed across the room when the first wave of agony hit him. Sakura was supposed to stop by with his refilled prescription but she’d gotten called away for a hospital emergency. Maybe. Time escaped him when his episodes hit. She could have been done with the emergency already. It could have even happened the previous week beforehand and his fever-riddled mind was just confusing the events.
Uhg. Fuck this.
He rolled onto his right side, curling tightly into a ball as he smothered his face into his pillows. He bit down onto his pillow, whimpers escaping as another wave of white-fire pain wracked through him. His entire body was trembling, drenched in sweat and making his loose fitting clothes cling to his skin. He choked down a sob as the red, blistered flesh of his forearm flared up. It felt like the veins were inflamed, his blood replaced with boiling water instead.
This was punishment, he thought deliriously into the darkness of his bedroom. He deserved this.
He deserved to silently suffer this burden of agony. After everything he’d done, all the pain and suffering he’d caused. He deserved this.
His apartment was silent, nothing but his heavy breathing sounding. It still felt weird, living in an apartment. It was a block away from Naruto’s, decidedly better than the blonde’s but still dingy compared to the Uchiha Estate.
But Sasuke didn't want to go to that ghost-town. He couldn’t breath in their air and not think to go mad.
He heard shuffling from outside his window and it took everything in him not to spring up, ready to attack. It was probably his ANBU guards changing shifts. Tsunade was paranoid (rightfully so) about Sasuke going Rogue again. The only reason he wasn’t currently locked up in some dark cell to rot away was because of Sakura and Naruto. They’d fought tooth and nail the entirety of the time he was on bed rest, trying to persuade the Hokage to be a bit lenient on him.
He had lent a hand (and an arm) to the survival of the entire world, after all.
So, he was on house arrest. Which was fine by him. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Not that he even had anyone to talk to.
He didn't know anyone.
He’d left these streets and these people when he was thirteen and was only now just returning nearly eighteen. He’d missed the genin teams growing up. He’d missed the new lives and deaths of this village. He’d cut himself out of any possible relationship with anyone in this village had to offer and had made sure he couldn’t fit back into the jagged edges.
Except for two stubborn pieces that tried to force him to fit their puzzle pieces, not getting the hint that he didn't belong .
Even with five years sacrificed between them, two stubborn idiots couldn’t leave him alone.
The knock came on his door at roughly six in the morning. Sasuke squinted, his vision blurry and spotting as he tried to make sense of the darkened bedroom. It was early. Too early to be having guests at his apartment.
He huffed, lifting himself up onto his elbow as he waited to see if another knock would come. Sunlight peeked through his blinds, leaving ribbons of yellow against the pale blue of his room.
Another kock sounded.
He groaned, nearly face planting back into his pillows. Who the fuck could be-
He paused mid thought, his face falling. Oh, never mind. He knew exactly who was disturbing him so goddamn early in the morning. Releasing another groan, he used his only arm to shove himself into a sitting position. Maybe if he stayed still, that dumbass would get the hint-
A large bang rang out throughout his apartment and a sheep sounding, “Oops~” echoed. Sasuke stared blankly into thin air, blinking rapidly. Oh god, there were two of them. Hadn’t she left for a mission? Mind somewhat sharper than during the episode, he recalled that her emergency had transpired days beforehand. She’d been free for the last two days. Uhg.
Footsteps vibrated throughout the floorboards and he barely had time to brace himself before his bedroom door was being thrown open.
“Sasuke~!” Sakura greeted, her smile rivaling the morning sun. “Good morning!” She stepped over his discarded gear, arms moving with dramatic luster to pull open his curtains and open his blinds. He tried hard to resist hissing. If he was up before 8 on a good day, he needed coffee or a bloodbath to wake him up first.
“Is he still in bed?” Naruto’s voice drifted into the room as the blond stepped into the doorway, leaning against it with a smile. Sasuke glared daggers at him. “Jeez Sasuke, are you eighteen or eighty? You gonna sleep the day away?”
“I’d sleep the rest of my life away if you two would let me,” Sasuke grunted out as Sakura helped him up to his feet. He leaned heavily against her, feeling his knees knock together. His body was still healing, his life one major adjustment after the next.
He went to physical therapy with Naruto every other day, having gotten in with Sakura and Tsunade’s help. The therapy helped for the two to learn to live without a limb. It was a bit challenging and the attacks of phantom pains were never fun, but he dealt with it.
He could sense the ANBU on the rooftops across from his apartment building, no doubt trying to hide from Sakura’s keen eyes. She grumbled something under her breath as she helped him walk to his closet.
If she felt the residual dampness on his clothes or smelt the heavy blanket of sweat that hung in the air, she made no comment. Instead, her emerald eyes flashed to his discarded pill bottle before she released a neutral hum.
“Naruto, come help,” Sakura ordered with a jerk of her head. Naruto scrambled to comply, her slender arms leaving Sasuke’s body only to have their place taken by Naruto’s strong left arm. Naruto beamed, squeezing Sasuke close as Sakura rummaged through his closet.
“Don’t smile like that,” Sasuke muttered as he closed his eyes, trying to pretend he wasn’t resting fuller into Naruto’s side. Damn him and his super healing. If he didn't have a Tailed Beast in him, he’d no doubt be suffering just as much as Sasuke was.
“Like what?” Naruto asked in a whisper, his lips right by Sasuke’s ear. Like Sasuke was someone worth smiling at. The raven haired young adult ducked his head, trying to hide his face from the blonde. Sakura sent a look over her shoulder, a loose long-sleeve in her grip.
Sasuke balked.
“What the hell is that?” Sasuke couldn’t help how his tone came out in a whine. Seriously, when did he ever procure that monstrosity of a shirt? It looked like something from Naruto’s-
He squinted. Wait, was that Naruto’s?
“Oh hey!” Naruto jostled them as he leaned forward, looking closely at the shirt. “My shirt!” He laughed at the bright lime-green long sleeve, a weird white frog-graphic on the front. Sakura gagged and dropped the shirt with a shudder.
Sasuke wished he could shudder too. It was hideous. How could Naruto wear it with pride?
“Is this mine?” Sakura pulled a black mesh crop top off a hanger, holding it out to look at. “Oh my god, I’ve been looking for this! Why do you have it?”
“You’re the one who does the laundry here,” Sasuke shot back without any heat because, honestly, he didn't know. Naruto he understood. The teen could barely fit a queen size bed in his room, much less a washer or dryer. Sasuke’s apartment had a double-stack unit so the blonde abused his friendship to use his laundry machines.
Sakura though…
Her parents had an actual house with actual units so why she did do her laundry here and leave her toothbrush here and slowly stored her makeup under his bathroom sink? He had no clue. It wasn’t like Naruto, who left a spare toothbrush by his sink after the two would stay up on nights their arms gave them issues. Or how Naruto bought food and stored it in his pantries because his childhood habits of hoarding food hadn’t been erased and he’d expanded his territory to Sasuke’s apartment.
He didn't get it and he was a little bit scared to ask, if he was being honest, so he kept quiet. He watched Sakura hang the shirt back up before pulling out a simple grey baggy sweater from his row of hanging shirts. She turned to Sasuke with an expectant smile and he bit back a groan.
Naruto and Sakura worked together to manhandle Sasuke back onto his bed, Naruto sitting up beside him as Sakura eased the shirt off him. Sasuke dug his right hand into Naruto’s leg, nails breaking skin as Sakura peeled back the fabric over his aggravated flesh.
The rounded end of his left forearm was swollen and scabbed over, the flesh almost purple from poor circulation, bruises, and infections fading away. Even with chakra healing and modern medicine, the process of healing from a sudden loss of limb was long and grueling. Sakura slid off the bed, kneeling down to get a better view of Sasuke’s arm.
Her hands slowly began to faintly glow in a green outline, her healing Chakra warm as she prodded at his arm. Or what was left of it. He stubbornly looked away, Naruto’s own thumb soothing back and forth over his knuckles.
“It’s healing well,” Sakura murmured, drawing away with a sympathetic smile. She produced bandages seemingly out of nowhere and wrapped his arm up quickly. She paused at the small bloody scabs his nails had made on his shoulder the night before when the pain had gotten to be too much. Her fingers ghosted over the scabs before she wrapped the bandages over those as well. Satisfied, she helped him dress and then beamed.
“So,” she spoke as she tapped Sasuke on the nose. His face scrunched up at the gesture. He’d gotten over the fact that Sakura and Naruto were very physical with their hands and he was no exception. It was like they were trying to make up for five years of absence, each touch gentle and symbolic and warm. “Let’s go eat breakfast!”
“Yes!” Naruto pumped his fist in the air, jumping to his feet. Sasuke was hauled up not a second later, his vision swimming as Sakura got on his other side. Together the three left his bedroom and bustled down the short hall to the kitchen.
The two pointedly ignored his busted front door hanging on by a hinge. He squinted at it, lips pursed, before huffing.
“I’m not hungry,” Sasuke grumbled under his breath. And he wasn’t. He never had much of an appetite in the mornings, least of all after an all-nighter of fighting screams and curling into a small ball. Sakura gave him a pointed look before her and Naruto maneuvered the trio into Sasuke’s small kitchen.
Well, small by Sasuke’s standards. It was actually relatively decent sized. Bigger than Naruto’s, no doubt. It had cabinet space, a gas stove, and even a dish-washer. The counter space left to be desired but Sasuke barely ever used the kitchen enough to need it. His meals mostly consisted of delivered food and instant ramen.
A poor diet but given his lack of appetite and inability to leave his apartment, he had to make due.
He blinked at the sight of the plastic bags taking up the entirety of his counters, vegetables and two cartons of eggs sticking out of the carriers. Sakura eased Sasuke to lean against the counter and moved to unpack their groceries.
“We’re making omelettes,” Naruto said giddily as he helped Sakura, his body bouncing side to side. Sasuke wondered silently, watching them work, if the idea of home cooked meals was that appealing to the blonde. Cooking for yourself, and yourself only, was never as homely or warm as cooking for guests or friends. The thought twinged his chest, a sharp stab of discomfort that made him grimace. If Sakura and Naruto saw it, they didn't mention it.
They didn't mention a lot of things.
It wasn’t like they were walking on egg-shells with him either. Not like Ino, who’d grown up beautifully and had finally gotten over her crush on him. Not like how she stuttered and edged around more sensitive topics, or how the other Genin 9 tried to be civil despite the animosity still lingering in the air. They blamed him for a lot of things which he fully understood and accepted.
It wasn’t like dealing with Kakashi or Sai, two unknown variables in the equation of how he was supposed to fit back in. They were awkward and uncomfortable in their own rights - one believing he failed spectacularly in a way of history repeating itself and the other living on the belief he was just a replacement.
No, Naruto and Sakura didn't treat him like he was fragile glass one touch from shattering. It was more like they found certain things pointless to comment on. Sasuke's inability to give a damn at any given moment? No need to mention it - they knew already. Sasuke’s complete lack of personal self-care in the form of 8 hours of sleep and skipping meals? Don’t mention it - they knew.
A lot of what they never mentioned was based on the fact that despite the three having spent 5 years separated, they still seemed to understand him on a spiritual level to the point where he was pretty sure they were mind-readers.
So for them, when they didn't voice a concern or point out something bugging them about him, it wasn’t because they were trying to be considerate or were cautious. No, it was because they had no need to mention something that was obvious or trivial for them.
It was honestly a bit refreshing.
Sasuke watched Sakura stack up the cartons of eggs - two of them, he realized slowly - by the stove while Naruto went back and forth from the counter to the refrigerator to put away dairy products and produce.
He blamed his sleep-deprived mind for how long it took him to realize that there were a variety of vegetables still left on his counter, ready to be washed and cut. He blinked slowly.
“I don’t like mushrooms,” he said reluctantly. Naruto gave him a look akin to a mother ready to wave a slipper around before grabbing a styrofoam box of cherry tomatoes. Sasuke stubbornly kept his glare on the offensive fungus left on the counter.
“They aren’t for you,” Naruto said childishly as he dumped the tomatoes into the sink, turning the faucet on to rinse them. “Sakura-chan and I like them in our omelettes. You’re boring and like onions and tomatoes.”
He did and it was creepy how sure Naruto sounded about his choice of omelettes. He felt personally attacked. Because - rude . He was not boring. He ate like a normal fucking person, thank you very much . Naruto couldn’t say shit - his entire diet consisted of sodium and sugar.
“I’m not eating,” he said after a few moments, the words stiff and thick on his tongue. Naruto pursed his lips at the belated reply, eyes narrowing as he surveyed Sasuke’s expression. The raven haired teen dropped his eyes from that searching blue.
“Yeah,” Sakura said as she made herself familiar with his kitchen, rummaging through his cabinets for a big bowl, “you are. After you’ve eaten, we’ll settle down for a movie!” She sounded so excited about the prospect of watching a movie that Sasuke didn't have the heart to tell her that after they ate, they were leaving.
He wanted to sleep, dammit.
“Come here,” Naruto instructed, jerking his head down to the floating tomatoes with his chin. At Sasuke’s blank stare, he huffed and furrowed his eyebrows. “I need two hands.”
Oh.
Sasuke shuffled over, hip sliding along the smooth edge of the counter until he was a fairly close distance from Naruto. Right now, layered in sweat pants and a sweater, he didn't want to be in Naruto’s personal space. The Kyuubi-holder was a human furnace, no doubt influenced by the Kyuubi’s burning Chakra.
“What do you need?” He hobbled his way a bit closer to see Naruto’s left hand in lukewarm water, the tomatoes bobbing as they floated in the filled sink. That wet hand left the water, droplets pattering against the countertop as he gently grabbed Sasuke’s shirt sleeve and messily rolled it up. Once it was out of the way, he guided Sasuke’s wrist over towards the sink and dunked their hands together.
“I need help washing them. Hold them for me while I scrub, okay?” Naruto peered at him out of the corner of his eye, hesitant to fully face him. Sasuke wavered, staring down at the tomatoes as if they held the answers to any question he could ever have. After a moment, where only the sound of Sakura cracking and beating the eggs echoed, he nodded.
Naruto didn't let go of his wrist. Instead, his fingers slid into place between Sasuke’s own and squeezed. The raven haired teen turned his head away, his long bangs curtaining the flush crawling up his neck.
He couldn’t believe how affectionate Naruto was. He couldn’t get used to it even if he figured why the blonde was like that. Years upon years of being touch-starved left him with an appetite not easily sated, the blonde trying to quell his hunger at any given time. Usually in the forms of Sasuke or Sakura, the two more attuned and used to his hands or warm body. But in moments like this, where the touch of holding hands or pressing closed hadn’t even crossed his mind, Naruto somehow found a way to turn it into an excuse to brush up against each other.
Sasuke’s fingers hesitantly squeezed back, once, before he slipped his hand down to grab at a tomato. Naruto’s calloused fingers were careful as they wiped and sprayed vegetable cleaner on the red vegetable. The two worked quickly and although they probably half-assed washing the tomatoes, at least they were done by the time Sakura had finished mixing all the eggs together.
She smiled at them, moving to Naruto’s right side to dry the washed cherry tomatoes. Without Sasuke realizing, she’d also grabbed the box of mushrooms. She winked at him behind Naruto’s back and mouthed, “They’re gross”.
Sasuke couldn’t hide his smile. Sakura looked pleased with herself, her lips curling at the edges to resemble a proud cat.
“I’ll wash these,” Sakura said to catch Naruto’s attention, “so why don’t you two figure out how to cut those tomatoes, okay?”
Naruto and Sasuke both slowly turned their gazes to the cutting board Sakura had lined up for them. She moved quick. They met eyes, silently battling for who would be in charge of holding the tomatoes and who’d cut.
Neither moved.
“What?” Sakura asked as she circled a brush over the mushroom’s top, getting the grim off. Her face blanked as if reading their thoughts. “Oh for the love of - I’ll cut the tomatoes.” She could just see one of them chopping off a finger or worse -
She shuddered at the mental image of tomato guts splattered all over the walls and them. It would be these two idiots who’d just fucking chop down on a circular vegetable, wouldn’t it?
She hip-checked Naruto, sending him tittering into Sasuke who tried his best to brace them up. “Go sit there and look pretty.”
“But that’s your job,” Naruto said. It came out as a genuine confused complement, the teen unable to weave such a statement into anything but praise for their third. Sakura gave a snort-giggles, her hair falling around her like sakura petals in the wind.
“You’re a mess,” she laughed as she finished washing the mushrooms, placing them with the tomatoes to dry. “But thank you Naruto.” Her eyes glistened as she turned to Sasuke expectantly.
He stared at her. “What? He wasn’t lying.” Sakura beamed at his words, her cheeks almost matching her hair as she moved to get the onions. The two watched her work quickly, her movements precise and fluid.
Sasuke was a bit jealous. He knew, before everything came to a halt, that he’d been that fluid with a knife. Now he could barely fumble through making eggs without having to pick egg-shells out each time. He peeked at Naruto and saw the teen also watching Sakura with some unreadable expression on his face.
“Don’t look like that,” Sakura piped up, catching sight of the two, “you’re going to be making the omelettes. I’m just in charge of the knife for now so I don’t have to mend any bloody fingers.”
“I won’t chop off his fingers!” Naruto whined loudly, eyes squinting up akin to a fox’s as he pouted at the woman. She gave him a flat look.
“Who said anything about you holding the knife?” Sasuke asked before he could stop himself, inwardly paling at the mere thought. Naruto plus a knife plus incoordination? Horrible horrible end. “I’d obviously be the one cutting, dumbass.”
“Neither of you are touching the knives,” Sakura butt in before a fight could break out. “Now shush.”
The two glared at each other, the tension breaking when Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out. Sasuke’s chest warmed at the gesture, his eyes softening as his blonde laughed to himself.
It was moments like these that he ached for the what could have beens . During the times when the three were so domestic . He watched how the sunlight streamed in from his drawn balcony curtains, bathing Naruto in a golden filter that made his Sun glow almost ethereally. With his hair of spun gold, he looked like some sort of summer deity blessing Sasuke’s miserable little abode.
He watched how Sakura’s entire body seemed to drink in the sunlight and the morning glow and emit some sort of soothing air from it. How her gaze was tender but calculating as she finished preparing their vegetables for the omelettes. How her hair, brushing against her chin, shimmered and glistened in the yellow ribbons. Like a Flower drinking up the sunlight, she absorbed all the warmth and released it back out into the world in bursts of kindness and beauty.
His chest clenched, a weight thickening along his sternum and stretching up his throat as Naruto left his side to help her. The two danced around each other, Naruto looked as fluid as can be despite losing a limb not weeks before. It made him jealous in a way he couldn’t properly articulate, watching the two mesh so well together.
Naruto had skipped out on two years with her as well but even his absence did nothing to deter him on where he fit into place in their puzzle. Sasuke, on the other hand, still felt like he was missing a corner or wasn’t shaped properly to connect to their jagged edges.
“Sasuke,” Naruto called, snapping him from his musing, “come help us! Sakura thinks I can’t flip the omelettes!”
“You can’t,” Sasuke said as he forced himself over, body slowly draining of its exhaustion as he found himself pressed between two warm bodies. Sakura on his left side, Naruto on his right, he felt overwhelmed but at home all at once.
“He’ll just scramble them,” Sakura teased as she handed the metal spatula to Sasuke. “And I’ve done most of the work so it’s your turn!”
“I’m not eating though,” he argued weakly as Naruto poured some of the mixed eggs together, Sakura sprinkling in their desired ingredients in after. He stiffened a bit as Naruto’s arm snaked around his waist, left hand pressing warmth into his hip as the blonde boredly rested his chin against Sasuke’s shoulder.
“What are you doing?” It came out in a hushed wheeze, his eyes trained on the heating eggs in the pain. Naruto gave an absent hum and his thumb rubbed patterns against the fabric of his hip. His cheeks heated. “Hey, Dumbass, stop.”
“Do you dislike it?” Naruto asked, giving him a single glance before turning his attention to the stove. Beside them, Sakura just rested her hip against the counter and observed them with a lazy little smile.
Sasuke mulled over the question. He - he didn't but he also did. It was too tender. The touch was grounding but soft in a way that could only be described by Naruto. Because it wasn’t fragile to the point they thought they’d bruise him - but more like they were going to great lengths to make sure the touches they left on him didn't scar and didn't panic.
He found himself pressing against Naruto’s side, craving that touch.
Because for all the years Naruto was starved, Sasuke’s appetite hadn't dwindled down either.
“Flip it,” Sakura urged softly as she smiled at them. Sasuke jolted and quickly used the spatula to fold the cooking egg, the fluffy omelette forming before their eyes. Sakura held a plate out, Naruto loudly claiming it in the background.
Her eyes were knowing as she helped him plate the omelette. Sakura, while a bit more reserved in her touches because she understood the word trauma , still wanted to reach out to him sometimes. But she also understood that Naruto and Sasuke had a codependency formed from similar fears and emotions. She knew not to disturb them when Naruto tried to pry Sasuke out of his shell, just like Naruto knew never to disturb them when Sakura demanded time alone with him.
Sasuke was immensely jealous of how the two could hold conversations without him. How the two understood each other on such a deep level that words weren’t needed. He sometimes felt like an outsider, like he was intruding on a connection he had no right to be witnessessing.
As if reading his thoughts, Sakura leaned close to press a quick kiss to his cheek. He jerked back, eyes wide and cheeks burning. She winked before she rolled her eyes. “Stop screaming Naruto!”
“I’m hungry!” Naruto whined even louder as he grabbed the plate and rushed to the table. He set it down and took his place back at Sasuke’s side. “Sakura’s next!”
“Go eat then,” Sasuke snapped out as the routine repeated - Naruto poured the eggs and Sakura put in the ingredients. Naruto’s arm went around him again and his eyes went to the ceiling. Oh, God, they wasn’t going to stop bothering him until they all had a plate, weren’t they?
“We’ve got to eat together,” Naruto said seriously as he nuzzled against Sasuke’s shoulder. “Families eat together!”
The breath left Sasuke and his knees nearly buckled. Family. Naruto called him and Sakura family . Were they family? His vision glazed over as he thought of that single word.
Family were corpses on the compound streets, bloody stains and rotting stench. Family was nothing but an ache in his chest, burned with his parents and cousins and nieces and nephews during their funerals. Family was pain and suffering and a cavity in his chest with no hope of being filled. Family was-
Family was Sakura constantly leaving her bra out in the bathroom or one of her cute panties finding its way into his laundry basket. Family was her pink hair clogging up the bathroom drain and not doing a damned thing about it. Family was Sasuke waking up in the middle of the night to Naruto hunched in the light of his open fridge, devouring anything and everything in sight from too many childhood nights of starvation. Family was Sasuke waking up to frogs, fucking frogs , littering his hallways and stinking up his bed as Naruto talked to them, filling a silence that Sasuke's snores could not. Family was Sasuke waking up to hands in his hair, rubbing warm fingers down his cheeks and through his black strands as he was spooned from both sides.
Family were the two idiots who wouldn’t take no for an answer when it came to him demanding isolation.
“It’s burning.” Naruto nudged Sasuke and he quickly rolled the omelette up. Sakura plated it and he moved to leave the stove.
He groaned as Naruto poured in the last of the eggs and Sakura dumped in the cherry tomatoes and diced onions into the pan. The two smiled wickedly at them. He absently wondered if they knew how much Kakashi had rubbed off on them.
“Juice or milk?” Sakura asked with a smile as she detached herself from them, finding the cups easily. She’d memorized his cabinet layout within the first day but still liked to pretend it took a moment.
“Coffee,” Sasuke grunted as Naruto’s hand moved to rub up and down his side. “And this Dumbass is gonna have milk. He doesn’t need any sugar.”
“I’m not a kid,” Naruto snapped back but he smiled against Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips, unable to not when in the presence of the embodiment of the sun. “I’ll take coffee too!”
“The choices were juice or milk,” Sakura corrected with a sharpness in her tone that spoke levels on just how lucky the two were too get two choices. Naruto winced against Sasuke before grumbling out, “Milk.”
Sasuke nodded in agreement. Sakura huffed proudly and grabbed the glass pitcher from the fridge.
Naruto nudged him again and Sasuke rolled up his omelette, the two awkwardly maneuvering the fluffy egg onto the plate. It was a bit of a waste. Sasuke wasn’t going to be eating the food anyways. He just made it to appease the two nagging leeches.
In a blink, Sasuke found himself at his small kitchen table, Sakura and Naruto on either side in their own chairs. Each had a cup of milk in front of them as well as their omelettes.
It was sickeningly domestic but Sasuke wouldn’t change it for the world.
Two pairs of eyes found his and he hunched up under the weight of their stares.
“What?” He coughed to clear his throat, the two gremlins in front of him wearing matching smirks.
“Take the first bite, Sasuke,” Sakura said sweetly while Naruto eagerly pushed a fork towards Sasuke. “Do it or I’m shoving the entire thing down your throat.”
“I’m not-”
“Hungry, yeah, but you have to eat if you want to take your medicine,” Sakura cut in, jerking her thumb to the end of the table. A simple pill bottle sat there. How had he missed that? “So eat four bites - just four - and Naruto will clean the rest up.”
“Uh-huh!” Naruto gave a fox’s smile, all teeth, and waited patiently. “Go on.”
“You sound like it’s poisoned,” he grumbled and took the smallest bite imaginable. Sakura and Naruto rolled their eyes as they began to dig into their own meals. Sasuke chewed, hating how with each passing moment his stomach twinged for more. Dammit. Maybe he was hungry, after all.
His second bite was a bit bigger, holding chunks of tomatoes and onions in the yellow confines. Sakura and Naruto were nearly done with their omelettes by the time he got to his third bite. He just had one more, right?
His eyes fell to his pill-bottle and his arm burned with want . Swallowing, he shoveled another forkful of the omelette into his mouth. Then another. And another.
Sakura collected her’s and Naruto’s plates as Sasuke was finishing his omelette, his glass of milk halfway drained and his expression calming.
“Good, right?” Sakura asked with a cheeky grin, her expression unknowingly mimicking how Naruto’s always looked. They really spent too much time together if her adoption of his facial expressions were anything to go by.
Sasuke paused, fork between his teeth, as he considered it. Food was food. It used to taste delicious before darkness and blood made it ash in his mouth. But now - now-
“Yeah,” he said softly and Naruto laughed proudly to himself. As if he did any of the work. Sasuke kicked him from under the table. Naruto jumped before retaliating. Sakura sighed, shaking her head as she put the dishes in the sink.
“HEY!” She roared when a rather vicious kick from Naruto nearly sent the table toppling over. The two straightened and shrunk down to make themselves smaller targets. “Stop horsing around!” She walked around the table, poking both of them in the head as she did so. She grabbed Sasuke’s pill bottle, still talking to them as she dumped out two blue pills, “Now we’re going to watch a movie.”
“I don’t wanna!” Naruto complained as he held his hand out, dutifully taking the offered pill. He chased the bitter little pill down with the rest of his milk, gagging and shuddering at the taste. Sasuke gratefully took his own pill, his behavior more dignified as he swallowed his own pill. Ew.
“Well too bad!” Sakura hefted the two up from their chairs like they weighed nothing and all but marched them over to his L-shaped couch.
It was Kakashi’s house-warming gift to him. He’d been confused by the large size back at the time of receiving it. Now he was blessed to have it since Naruto liked to stretch out wide against his side and Sakura looked to cuddle right into his lap.
Naruto wanted a comedy or thriller movie. Sakura wanted a rom-com. Sasuke? After listening to the two bicker and debate with each other over each pro and con of their choices, he offered up quietly, “How about Kazahana Koyuki-san’s movie? The one with Princess Gale?”
The two paused before their expressions brightened. It was an unspoken favorite between the three - the movie touching deep in their hearts from the memories of the mission that came from having to protect the actress in the Land of Snow.
“Perfect!” Sakura quickly put the DVD in and was in Sasuke’s lap in a flash, snuggling down as the movie automatically began. She gave a giggle. “Do you remember how she signed that god-awful picture for Naruto? He was snoring and everything.”
Naruto groaned as he tossed his arm around Sasuke’s shoulder, resting his head against him. “Don’t remind me. I’ll never be able to live that down.”
Sakura laughed louder at that and Sasuke moved his head to her shoulder to muffle his own snickers. It was a funny memory, Kakashi reassuring the nurses who took the photo that Naruto would rather it be like that than him looking dignified.
“You guys suck!” Naruto said as he wiggled to get more comfortable. Sakura and Sasuke continued to laugh. “At least I got an autograph!”
“Not this argument again!” Sakura rolled her eyes. “We got autographs from her too! You aren’t special!”
Naruto stuck his tongue out at her and she raised a fist threateningly. Sasuke sighed and the two quickly turned their attention to him.
“You wanna nap?” Naruto whispered, the opening credits not even rolling yet. Sasuke’s eyes fought to stay open. He hummed and felt Sakura’s hand in his hair, brushing through his long locks. “We’ll wake you up when your favorite part comes on.”
Naruto’s hand played with his baby hairs along the nape of his neck.
He drifted off to the feeling of the two whispering and bickering at each other. A smile escaped from his weak emotional bindings, making his two partners stare lovingly at him.
After five years, they finally had him where he belonged. With his family.