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Again, Sasuke’s knuckles found his eyes; the hard edge of them digging in roughly, as if the abuse would help any.
God, they stung.
He might as well not bother blinking at all for the good it was doing him, his eyelids like sandpaper scraping over them uselessly.
He was almost tempted to hold them open—just long enough for them to water a little—just to alleviate some of this dryness.
Although he doubted that would help much, either.
His lips form around a long sigh, his head rolling around on the pillow as he scanned the room, again.
Of course, he could barely make out anything he was looking at. It was three in the morning, after all.
He could, however, clearly see the rise and fall of Naruto’s chest. Even in the darkness the movements were anything but subtle. He supposed the blond must need a great deal of air in order to make such loud snores.
The thought got a smirk out of him, his good hand reaching out to lay right above Naruto’s heart; relaxing into the motion of each breath, feeling the calm pulses under his palm.
He doesn't pull away, just rolls onto his side so that his arm was at a less awkward angle. For a moment his mind was blank, his eyes trained on the side of Naruto’s sleeping face...yeah, he could totally fall asleep like this…
And then the moment passed.
His knuckles found his eyes and he contemplated—and not for the first time—getting up out of bed.
The pros: he'd have something to look at besides his boyfriend and their bedroom (not that he doesn't like looking at Naruto, but he'd already been at it for hours).
The cons: the bed was warm. The house was cold.
But, who knows. Maybe his brain might even be willing to shut off for the night if he gave it something to do for a bit.
He squints, imagining himself walking to the kitchen—maybe making himself a cup of tea, sitting down to read for a bit—
Hmm…
Yeah, alright.
He doesn't bother being slow nor careful when he finally clambers out from under the comforter. (If all it took was a little bit of movement to wake Naruto they wouldn't need three separate alarms.)
Although he does take care not to let the cat in the room when he opens the door—grabbing what feels like a sweater off the floor on the way out.
Shivering already from the cool air of the hallway, he makes quick work of shoving the orange hoodie—Naruto’s, obviously—over his head. It's baggy, the sleeves coming down past his wrists, but it'll do.
The cat circles his feet as he stumbles forward, apparently doing its best to disorient him further.
He shoves her to the side with his bare foot, hoping she'll take the hint to leave him alone.
She doesn't, instead following him into the kitchen. Typical.
Sasuke flicks on the overhead light, blinking owlishly at the attack on his retinas.
He soldiers on towards the stove, grabbing the kettle sitting on one of the burners—filling it with tap water before putting it back on to boil.
Leaning back against the counter with nothing else to do while he waits, his attention turns to the tabby sitting on the floor in front of him.
Her wide green eyes stare back, apparently taking the look as her cue to pad closer, rubbing her body against Sasuke's ankles.
With a click of his tongue Sasuke squats down to stroke her back, raising an eyebrow when she meows in response.
“What?” He asks, ignoring how stupid he feels. It's not like there's anyone here to witness it. Besides, he's caught Naruto talking to her on more than one occasion—though the blond usually doesn't even attempt to hide it...
She meows again, deeper this time.
“Don't act offended. You would have scratched at the door to be let out immediately after, had I let you in the room.”
All he gets for that is a purr and a nuzzle into his open hand.
“Hn,” he grunts, massaging one of her ears nonetheless.
The kettle starts to steam noisily, so he stands with a pop in his knees to take it off the heat.
Ignoring the cat’s annoyed swiping, he reaches for the bag of green tea stored in a nearby cupboard, pouring a bit of it into a tea strainer and setting it within a ridiculous frog-shaped but spacious mug. Lastly, he pours the hot water over it, watching the green tinted leaves slowly bleed color into the clear liquid.
Forgoing any type of sweetener—ew—he picks the cup up by its handle, taking it with him into the living room.
He stops for a moment to stand in the doorway—his eyes scanning the area, pausing on the book he left sitting on the coffee table—he continues past it, looking towards the door leading out to the patio—
He knows it'll be even colder than it already is inside.
He also knows that tonight’s a full moon, which he typically tries to avoid for several reasons.
He hovers, there, in the doorway. Deciding. Hesitating.
It would be much simpler, much easier, to just relax with his book. But, of course, nothing ever is—with him.
He breathes out, taking a step forward. Fuck it—if it's this distracting right from the get go, if the pull is this strong already, then he'll just go out.
He’ll face it. Him and his cup of tea, and maybe even the cat, too.
It's easy then—once he's made the decision—to walk the rest of the way over, to flick the little lock and slowly pull open the door.
Within seconds, he's completely bathed in moonlight.
It's different from the overhead light in the kitchen. It doesn't make him blink, but rather makes him stare—right up at the source.
A light breeze drifts past, breaking the spell, causing him to huddle into himself and pull the hood up over his head.
Sniffing, he waits for the cat to squeeze past his legs before softly shutting the door behind them; plopping down on the porch swing and stilling his feet on the ground before it can rock him too much.
The cat hops up onto it as well, curling up on Sasuke’s lap without invitation. He doesn't complain, just reclines back while taking tiny sips out of his cup.
A breath in, a breath out. Hold for five.
His hands shake, just slightly. He presses them harder against the ceramic.
There's something ethereal about being up this late at night.
He supposes it's the silence. Or the stillness.
Either way it's...peaceful, in a sense.
But it's also kind of disturbing.
When he was a child he'd been used to it—the quiet calmness of the house, with only him and his mother to disturb it.
He'd been used to it as a teenager, too. The eerie hush of Orochimaru’s hideouts, hidden under layers of earth.
The familiarity broke when he became an adult. There was really only one, loud-mouthed person responsible for it.
It'd been a while since the last time he’d been unable to sleep. A month, at least.
It used to be worse, with the nightmares. They went away with the medication—mostly. Though sleeping next to Naruto every night played an undeniable part in it as well. Still does.
There had been times when the only way he could get some rest was when he was enveloped in Naruto’s chakra, warm and comforting as it is.
He wonders what’s keeping him awake this time.
The door creaks open, Sasuke's head immediately snapping towards the sound.
A crown of blond hair peeks out, followed by Naruto’s face, blinking sleepily at him.
“Sas? What’re you doin out here?”
Sasuke relaxes back into the swing, sighing softly. “Recovering from the heart attack you just gave me. What woke you?”
Naruto gives a light laugh, stepping closer to sit down next to him—his side pressing right up against Sasuke's.
“Bed was cold,” he says, head falling to rest on Sasuke's shoulder.
Sasuke wraps an arm around him, feeling the blond's shivers. He tsks inwardly at the realization that Naruto had come out here in only a t-shirt and sweats.
“Dobe,” he can't help but mutter, sliding his nose along Naruto’s temple. “You should go back, tomorrow's an early day.”
“Only if you come with me.”
“Hn…”
Naruto looks at him, eyebrows furrowed. ”You're having sleeping troubles again, aren't you?”
Sasuke makes a face at the accusatory tone. It wasn't his fault that his brain didn't want to cooperate—
“Why didn't you wake me?” Naruto asks with a frown.
Oh. “Why would I?”
Naruto’s lower lip juts out in response, his eyes narrowing into a squint. Sasuke will never admit how cute that look is on him.
“I could have done something!”
He raises an eyebrow. ”Like what?”
“Gee, I don't know, use my chakra. Keep you company—at the very least,” he says, exasperated.
Sasuke shakes his head. “No, you need your sleep. Besides, I don't want my body growing dependent on it again.”
Naruto let's out a frustrated breath, running his fingers through his already messy hair.
Sasuke doesn't fight the urge to reach out and smooth the strands down a bit, taking the extra time to sort out the blond’s bangs so they're not so much in the way of his eyes.
Naruto winces when Sasuke’s finger catches on a knot, though he smiles softly at him all the same—apparently placated by the gesture, for now.
Sasuke pulls back with a kiss to Naruto’s cheek, glad that the argument had been dropped. They’d have to come up with an actual solution if the insomnia continued over the next couple days, but for now...
Unconsciously, his eyes drifted back up to the sky.
Naruto follows his gaze, and Sasuke could see—out of the corner of his eye—the surprise that takes over his boyfriend's face, as if he was just now realizing the state of the moon.
“Sas—”
“It's okay,” he interrupts, ”it's not bothering me.”
Naruto looks at him skeptically, most likely remembering the handful of panic attacks he'd had in response to it—to the memories elicited by the full moon, large and imposing above him.
It was just a rock, he knew—a very big rock, respectively, but a rock nonetheless. Still, he couldn't help but view it as a sort of threat, as well. It sat there looking down at him—waiting to take him back to that night, hoping to do away with his composure.
“It’s just a rock,” he says anyway.
Naruto bites his lip, moving closer to wrap an arm around Sasuke's neck. With his other hand he runs a finger down Sasuke's cold cheek, not saying anything—though he probably wants to.
Sasuke knows he doesn't need to say anything either; Naruto has this freaky way of reading his thoughts just by looking into his eyes—an ability he'd perfected throughout the years.
If he were honest, Sasuke highly doubted that he was over it completely—who would be?—but he was tired of letting his own thoughts drown him. Tired of feeling like shit because of things out of his control.
The cat lets out a long meow, startling both of them.
“Oh shit!” Naruto jerks back, eyes on the tabby still lounging on Sasuke's thighs, “I didn't even notice you.”
Sasuke makes an amused sound, earning a short-lived glare from his boyfriend. In seconds the look shifts back into a smile—the one that means Naruto’s feeling particularly fond—before Naruto tiredly rests his forehead against Sasuke's.
Sasuke's eyes fall shut as he relishes in the other's body heat so close. He presses a kiss to Naruto's lips, hand coming up to cradle the back of his head.
Naruto hums against him, and then they cuddle into each other, the cat sandwiched between them.
Fingers brush the bandaged remains of Sasuke's arm, applying light pressure before moving away. Sasuke can feel himself relaxing, breath slowing, finally.
His consciousness starts to drift, right there on the bench, despite the bite of the night air nipping at his cheeks and ears.
Naruto must sense it—it's not surprising, with the way the blond has his ear pressed to his chest, right above his languidly beating heart—though he remains quiet.
Ironically enough, it's the silence that ends up rocking him off completely. Well, it might not actually count, mixed as it is with Naruto’s breathing, with the cat’s gentle purring.
Sasuke wouldn't ask for any different.
-
He awakes under their navy blue comforter, all of Naruto's limbs wrapped tightly around him—though the hold doesn't feel restricting in the slightest.
Sasuke shifts a little, his back bumping into Naruto's chest. His sleepy train of thought blearily registers that he'd been moved.
He wonders if Naruto had used chakra in order not to wake him, or if he'd just been that out of it.
Dim light filters through the curtain, informing him that it was probably around sunrise. Definitely not time to be getting up.
Breathing out, he shifts a little more so that he's facing the other, burying his face in Naruto’s shoulder.
The familiar scent of pine slowly fills him, promising to send him back under. He nuzzles closer into its source.
He hopes they can sleep in until noon.