Work Text:
”So,” Naruto says as soon as Sasuke picks up the call, “remember that promise we made as kids?”
He can practically hear Sasuke rolling his eyes on the other end of the line, and briefly considers if he should have done this over video instead. Or face to face, but then he might not really have the guts to go through with it.
“While I do appreciate that you’re not starting out with mocking me for being old, I fail to see the relevance.”
“Yes, well. You are old, and that’s why it is relevant.”
There is, of course, the possibility that Sasuke forgot. Old age can do that to a person, and he’s planning to milk the few months where Sasuke has reached age 30 while Naruto stays a glorious 29 for what they’re worth. He has to bring this up before he loses his nerve completely, though.
“Just spit it out, I’ve got to head out for work in like, five minutes.”
It’s Naruto’s turn to roll his eyes, because of course Sasuke would work on his birthday, even though it’s reaching the end of July, and the summer is sweltering hot and any reasonable person would take the excuse to get a day off.
“Workaholic. You’ll have to change that if this marriage is going to work.”
There’s a telling silence from Sasuke’s end. Maybe he should have said it in a slightly better way. He’s been over this a few (many) times, debating with himself late at night when he should be sleeping. He should have known it would be useless to attempt to prepare.
“What marriage,” comes Sasuke’s flat reply, and Naruto clears his throat awkwardly.
“You know,” he says. “Our marriage. The one we were gonna have at age 30 if we’re both still single by then.”
There’s more silence, and he’s starting to regret things. He should make a joke of it – it’s not too late, is it? His heart is beating a mile a minute, a heavy thump-thump-thump echoing in his ears as he waits for Sasuke’s inevitable refusal. Sasuke is not one for relationships, or romance, never even considers flirting or one-night-stands. In fact, one could say he actively dislikes that sort of thing, and Naruto isn’t sure what he’s trying to accomplish, holding him to a stupid childhood promise.
Except for the part where he believes they’d actually be extremely happy together.
“Oh, of course.” Sasuke’s voice is dripping with sarcasm. “That marriage. How could I forget.”
“I’ve got two and a half months to convince you,” Naruto barrels on, twirling both strings on his sleeveless hoodie around a finger. “Don’t think I won’t.”
“Well, good luck with that. I’m off to work. And stop texting me memes, some of us actually try to maintain a semblance of work ethics.”
“Liar,” he snorts, tugging at the strings. “You’re the only workaholic in existence with worse work ethics than Kakashi.”
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Sasuke sighs, resigned. “I’ll see you after work, try to behave until then.”
“I always behave!” he splutters, but Sasuke has already hung up on him.
Jerk. He sticks his tongue out at his phone, his own face smushed against Sasuke’s grinning back at him. Is it pathetically obvious that he’s in love with him? Probably.
He sighs, dropping the phone next to him on the couch pillows, sinking back into plush fabric. The world is cruel and he’s suffering, et cetera. He’d thought that by this age he’d be over his best friend, definitely dating someone else, possibly married with kids. Honestly, he’d take just being over him, really.
If Sasuke turns down his marriage proposal, he’ll have to get over him. Which he most likely will. Turn it down, that is; it’s unlikely Naruto will ever get over him. Not that it would be any kind of news to Sasuke that Naruto doesn’t have strictly platonic feelings for him, but they’d never really talked about it.
Well, hope springs eternal, as Lee would say. (Unlike youth, which is tragically leaving them all.)
“Am I pathetic?” he asks Kurama, whose fluffy tail swishes irritably as he peers at Naruto from his position on the floor, where he’s waiting for any signs that Naruto will get his shit together and feed him breakfast. “You’re right, don’t know why I asked.”
He drags himself to his feet, almost tripping over Kurama on his way to the kitchen. He sends Sasuke a picture of Kurama’s grumpy, orange face, and gives the cat a treat in apology.
Sasuke
I hope he scratches you
Me
Why is old age making you mean(er)
Sasuke
I’m evolving into my ultimate form
Deal with it
Me
:/
No treats for Sasuke.
(He still smiles like an idiot. He’s beyond hope at this point.)
∞∞∞
Sasuke breathes out a sigh of relief a he enters the family dojo’s lobby, relishing in the cool air. Whoever invented air-condition deserves some kind of prize, he thinks as he wipes at his forehead, hair sticking uncomfortably to his skin.
“Happy birthday,” Itachi calls from the direction of the staff room, beyond the reception desk.
What started out as a small side project for his parents has grown into quite the business, and Sasuke is looking forward (somewhat reluctantly) to an entire day teaching toddlers the basics of karate. First, he must survive his brother’s company.
“Thanks,” he mutters as he rounds the desk and peeks into the room, leaning a shoulder against the doorway, gym bag dropping to the floor. “Not sure about the happy part yet, but it sure is a birthday.”
Itachi smiles, pushing his computer away as he leans back in his chair. Sasuke braces himself for the inevitable question.
“And when shall I expect Naruto to come kidnap you?”
“Hopefully not at all. I told him to wait until after work.”
“Hmm.” Amusement glitters in Itachi’s eyes, like he knows it’s wishful thinking. “I suppose he called you already?”
Sasuke hesitates.
“He did.”
There’s that raised eyebrow he can never seem to mimic with as much elegance. Naruto says he looks like a jerk when he does it, but he says that about everything Sasuke does, so.
“He said he wants to get married.”
Itachi’s expression doesn’t change.
“In general, or-“
“That stupid childhood promise we made.”
“Ah.”
Sasuke bites his lip, crossing his arms uncomfortably. He’s not sure what reaction he expected his brother to have, but shouldn’t he at least have more of a reaction? Then again, Itachi is always looking like he reached zen mode as a baby and stayed there.
“I doubt he was serious,” Sasuke adds, just to get rid of the weird silence.
“If you say so.”
Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke pushes off the doorway and heads over to the lockers by the back, throwing his phone and keys in and taking out the water bottle he forgot yesterday. He doesn’t like the way Itachi acts like he knows something he doesn’t, but he knows better than to ask. And there’s no way Naruto was serious. He thinks. He hopes.
“I’ll go change,” he says, turning around to find Itachi giving him an unreadable look. “What?”
“Are you considering it?”
He snorts.
“It was just a childish promise.”
“I didn’t mean you should accept just to keep a promise,” Itachi clarifies, and Sasuke rolls his eyes at him.
“Sure. I’ll just randomly get married to Naruto. What an idea.”
“There are worse ideas.”
Sasuke walks past him, shaking his head. He’s turning thirty, doesn’t mean he needs to get married. Just because other people had age crises and hurried to get married and have kids (he shudders at the thought) it doesn’t mean he has to do the same. Naruto may be his best friend, but this is a little too much even for a supposed age crisis.
“At least think about it!” Itachi calls after him, which makes Sasuke pause.
He’s tempted to ask why. He’s not sure he’ll get a useful answer.
“Whatever,” he mutters, determined not to think about it, and heads for the changing rooms.
∞∞∞
For once, Naruto does wait until he’s done with work before showing up. Well, almost done, at least. He sneaks through the doors as Sasuke runs his final class for the day through a few basic exercises, and he only notices because of the murmurs breaking out among the audience. It’s not surprising that Naruto garners attention, he does have a fairly striking appearance. Sasuke gets his own share of appreciative looks, but Naruto actually enjoys the attention.
He leans against the wall and waves cheerfully at Sasuke when he glances at him, holding a bag of what is most likely this year’s terrible gift. You’d think after a lifetime of friendship he’d buy Sasuke something actually useful.
It’s useless to try and prevent the thought from crossing his mind – for a second he considers what it would be like if they were married. If Naruto came here as his husband, to pick him up, take him to their shared home. Objectively, he thinks Naruto would make a good husband. Realistically, there’s no point even considering it.
He turns his attention back to the children, grateful that he’ll soon be able to send them home. While he’s learnt how to handle them, his conviction to never have any of his own keeps increasing for each year that passes. Naruto, on the other hand…
But he was not supposed to think about that. It’s bad enough he’s tossed and turned the idea over in his mind during the day, trying to figure out what to do about it. If Naruto is serious, which is an option, he can’t just dismiss it like a joke. He’ll have to actually have an adult conversation about it, and the thought makes something churn unpleasantly in his gut.
The thought of disappointing Naruto is unpleasant. He knew they’d have to talk about it at some point, but he’d hoped Naruto would simply move on. It would be better that way, for both of them.
Class ends, and Naruto waits by the door as Sasuke speaks to a few parents. He seems relaxed, scrolling on his phone, looking up when Sasuke reaches him.
“Hey,” he says, smiling softly. “Happy birthday.”
Sasuke does love him, that’s the problem.
“Thanks,” he replies, holding his hand out. “I’m assuming that’s for me.”
Naruto rolls his eyes, but he can’t hold back a grin as he hands over the paper bag. It’s heavy. He hopes it’s not another ceramic toad.
“Come on, I booked us a table and we don’t want to be late.”
Wrinkling his nose, Sasuke resigns himself to a quick shower and no chance to change into appropriate clothes.
“You do realize I came here in sweats?”
“Obviously I’m not taking you anywhere fancy.”
“If you say Ichiraku’s…”
Naruto pushes him forwards, and Sasuke digs his heels in just because.
“Bastard. You think Ichiraku’s have tables that can be booked?”
He sighs, reluctantly allowing Naruto to push him towards the staff room.
“Are we going somewhere weird?”
Snickering, Naruto pauses to open the door for him. He doesn’t answer his question, instead immediately heading over to Itachi who is still typing away at his laptop – or perhaps again, as Sasuke knows he had a few classes of his own today.
“Itachi!” he almost shouts, hopping up to sit on the desk. “I can’t believe you made Sasuke work on his birthday! You’re a terrible boss.”
Itachi smiles at him, indulgent.
“On the contrary, I tried to talk him out of it. You know what he’s like.”
Naruto heaves a sigh and shakes his head, and Sasuke decides to take that shower rather than stand around and listen to them trash talking him.
When he returns, it’s to a decidedly different atmosphere. Naruto looks contemplative, chewing on his lower lip as Itachi watches him. His brother is leaning back in his chair, combing through his hair with his fingers, his telltale problem-solving look.
“It’s worth a try,” Itachi says, even as Naruto straightens up and turns his full attention to Sasuke.
“Ready?” he asks, and Sasuke is anything but.
He still nods, grabbing his things and the gift bag and waving at Itachi, managing a small smile at another ‘happy birthday’.
They take the subway further into town, shoulders bumping as they hold on to the overhead handles. It’s too quiet, too much thinking time. He stares at the commercial flyers stuck to the walls, thinking about their university years when they lived together. Naruto’s eating habits had been terrible, and Sasuke’s sleeping habits had been worse. Every morning without fail, Naruto had banged on the bathroom door, shouting at him to finish up. Sasuke would force-feed him vegetables and Naruto would turn off the wifi and hide his books and tuck him into bed with muttered threats.
It hadn’t been bad. He enjoyed the general tidiness and quiet of his current apartment, but Naruto was over often enough that it never felt like just his own place anyway. He knew he couldn’t handle living together if Naruto started dating someone, and so it had been with mixed feelings that they found separate apartments after graduating. There was no room for a third person in their friendship, not under those circumstances. The few times Naruto tried back then all ended up in failed relationships on his side, and a whole lot of guilt on Sasuke’s.
Maybe Sasuke should feel bad, for being too close to Naruto for him to find someone else, while not being able to give him that kind of relationship himself. What was Naruto thinking, suggesting they get married?
The restaurant… is frog themed.
He stares at the entrance, stares at Naruto, groaning at the sight of stars in his eyes.
“It just opened!” he tells Sasuke excitedly, as if that’s a good thing.
“Why are you like this,” he sighs, trying and failing not to smile at him, helplessly amused. “I should have known.”
Naruto hugs him from the side, shaking him a bit. He’s terrible, absolutely awful. Sasuke would do anything for him.
The inside of the restaurant looks like it was modeled after Naruto’s brain. Even the floor is patterned with frogs. Bright green frogs of various size, some with crowns, some with pink cheeks. Naruto lights up like the child he is for every new frog discovery. It’s unfortunate, that Sasuke enjoys the sight of him.
“You’re a giant toddler,” he says as they sit down, a third chair with a giant frog plushie accompanying them. “If there’s a frog in that gift bag I’m divorcing you.”
The joke is out of his mouth before he can think better of it, but Naruto throws his head back and laughs, radiating pure happiness.
Maybe that’s what Itachi meant. There are worse ideas. He supposes, if it was just this, it would certainly be no hardship to marry him. He glances down at the menu, a smiling frog staring back at him. As long as he doesn’t have to eat real frogs…
They’re halfway through their meal when Naruto’s foot bumps into his.
“You’re enjoying it,” Naruto declares, biting his lip against a smile when Sasuke rolls his eyes. “I knew you would.”
“The food is abysmal,” Sasuke mutters, even though it isn’t. “Your obsession with frogs knows no bounds.”
“You’re welcome!”
Naruto looks extremely pleased with himself, and only now does Sasuke notice that on his t-shirt, a small frog is printed onto it to look like it’s peeking out of the chest pocket. He’s not even going to comment on it.
If he thinks about it, if he’s truly honest with himself, his and Naruto’s relationship can’t be defined as simply friendship. It’s hard, to put it into words. They’re family, but the kind you choose yourself. And Naruto may have romantic feelings for him, but it’s not just romantic either. If it were, he wouldn’t feel as okay with it as he does. He leans his cheek on a palm, elbow bent on the table. Naruto makes him feel warm, and safe, and comfortable. He makes him happy, to put it plainly. Sasuke would be perfectly fine living the rest of his life just like this, but Naruto opened the lid on a box he hadn’t considered, a hundred what-ifs spilling out to torment him while he tried to focus on work.
“What?” Naruto asks, making a face at him. “Is there something on my face?”
Sasuke hums, considering him.
“Alright,” he says, pushing his plate away to be dealt with later. “Give me your best pitch. Why should we get married?”
Naruto sucks in a breath, and then coughs as it gets stuck in his throat. His face turns an interesting shade of red, and he rubs at his neck once the coughing is under control.
“Oh man,” he mutters, fake scowling at Sasuke. “I was going to wait until dessert at least.”
Raising his eyebrows expectantly, Sasuke waves at him with his free hand to get him started. Picking at the straw (frog-patterned, matching his bright green drink) in his glass, Naruto spends a few moments mulling it over.
“I don’t think it’s a question of should, you know,” is what he starts with, turning serious. “I’d like to marry you.”
It’s strange, that the words would have such an effect on him, even when he expected them. He swallows, forcing himself to meet Naruto’s eyes.
“Why?”
Naruto shrugs, a little helplessly.
“Because I love you? Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you, you know, in sickness and health, and all that stuff?”
As proposals go, it’s unnervingly effective in its simplicity. Still, the squeeze in his chest is not entirely of the good sort.
“I…” Sasuke starts, unsure of how to continue.
“Look,” Naruto pushes on, leaning over the table. “I’m not expecting anything to change, alright? I know you’re not into the whole idea of relationships and romance. That wasn’t the point, really.”
Sasuke’s heart is pounding in his chest, but he can’t look away. Even if Naruto says nothing has to change, how could he possibly believe that?
“Some things would have to change,” he points out, curling his fingers against his cheek. There’s a lump in his throat that keeps growing. “Otherwise we wouldn’t need to get married in the first place.”
When Naruto reaches for him, he lets him take hold of his left hand, lets him lace their fingers together. He breaks eye contact to stare at their hands instead, Naruto’s warmth seeping into his skin. He’s the one who brought it up, and yet he didn’t consider the fact that talking about it involved actually talking about it.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Naruto hesitates for a second, then goes on, seemingly fearless. “I mean, it would be nice to live together. To wake up next to you every day. To be part of each other’s lives even more than we are now.”
“And if I never want to have sex with you?”
Naruto doesn’t even look surprised. Sasuke, however, can barely breathe.
“I already knew that,” he says.
“What if I don’t even want to kiss you?”
Fingers tightening around his, Naruto narrows his eyes at him.
“Are you asking because you don’t know if you want that, or because you think it’s a deal breaker for me?”
“Both,” he admits with a defeated sigh, and when Naruto’s shoe bumps into his leg, he pushes back. It’s as frightening as it is relieving, to bring it all out into the open. “I don’t know how I feel. The thought of having you for myself is… not bad, though.”
It makes Naruto blush, even though he can tell he’s trying hard not to get his hopes up. He knows that Naruto would never expect anything of him that he isn’t willing to give. There’s just a nagging voice in the back of his head, telling him that there’s no way that could be enough. That he’s not enough for Naruto.
“Won’t you miss it?” he asks, before he can rethink it. When Naruto gives him a questioning look, he clarifies. “The sex, I mean.”
“What sex,” Naruto snorts, taking a sip from his drink. “You think I have time to sleep around?”
Sasuke did think so, yes. He never asked, and Naruto never talked about it. But he’d assumed.
“I don’t think I could have an open relationship,” he says quietly, because he had enough trouble the few times Naruto introduced him to a date. He can’t give Naruto a relationship like that, at least he doesn’t think he can, but he has to be honest that he can’t imagine Naruto being with someone else if they do enter into a relationship. “Whether you have the time or not right now, you at least have the option.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want an open relationship,” Naruto assures him heatedly. “If I only wanted you because I think you’re sexy I would have given up a long time ago.”
It would be so easy to say yes. To think about the consequences later. To spend life by his side, knowing Naruto had chosen him, not in spite of who he was, but because of who he was.
“You can think about it, obviously,” Naruto says, smile a little nervous. “It’s not like there’s a deadline.”
Sasuke reaches for him, then, brushes the back of his knuckles along Naruto’s cheekbone.
“I do love you, you know,” he says, watching Naruto’s smile turn slowly radiant.
“Yeah,” Naruto answers, voice a little rough, that soft look in his eyes that Sasuke has gotten used to over the years, would maybe do whatever it takes to keep. “Yeah, I know.”
He’ll think about it.
And maybe, just maybe, he already knows what the answer will be.