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Kakashi is finished healing the worst of Sasuke’s wounds when he moves to grab a tub of ointment for the less deep scratches when Naruto finally stops wringing his hands. He holds one out instead, palm up, towards his sensei. He’s determined not to let it shake. Kakashi is kind enough not to point out that it is anyway.
“I’ll do it.”
The man pauses, looking at him, then back at Sasuke. The dark haired boy is awake, eyes dull with fatigue but they widen slightly at this offer. Eventually, he nods once and Kakashi hands Naruto the small tub.
“You don’t need too much of it. Bandage the worst ones after, not too tight. To bed right after, you both need to rest.”
Naruto stares down at the little tub in his hands until the door is shut and Kakashi’s footsteps disappear down the hallway of Inari’s home.
“Are you going to actually help?”
Naruto scowls slightly but it fades as soon as it has bloomed.
Things are different now.
Because Sasuke may have said he hated him, but he doesn’t. Naruto knows hate, knows indifference, knows the sting of pain that others inflict on you purposefully and with malice. Sasuke, he slowly realizes, hasn’t ever hurt him like that.
And no one who hates him, of which there are plenty, has ever thrown themselves in front of danger for him.
He’s sure he’s never hated Sasuke, either.
He shuffles over to the futon where Sasuke is, shivering in his shorts and wincing occasionally at the pain he’s surely feeling. Naruto doesn’t know why he’s not as hurt himself, he should be, but even the deeper cuts on him are already closed-over wounds and from experience he knows they will be gone by the next day. It makes him feel even guiltier.
He sets about dabbing the ointment on Sasuke’s wounds, gently maneuvering him this way and that, determinedly ignoring the other boy’s curious stare. He’s probably wondering why Naruto is so quiet but Naruto is used to being quiet more often than he’s not. He spends more time alone than he does chattering to anyone who will listen, after all. Naruto’s home is the most silent on his block.
He’s clumsy at the best of times, but he does this so, so carefully. Sasuke is a precious person. Sasuke lets him close and never sends him away or ignores him outright, Sasuke knows what it is to be alone. Sasuke trains with him and protects him. Sasuke might not be soft with him the way he’d often thought about as a young boy but he does consider Naruto someone worth something, worth his life even, and that’s more than enough for him.
He places bandages on the deeper cuts after cleaning them, the ones still bleeding slightly. Then, he helps Sasuke into a button-up Tsunami had lent him. His hands do shake when he does up the buttons but Sasuke doesn’t comment on it either.
This is odd, for them. Tenderness has never been their language.
But Sasuke had almost died. He was almost gone forever, like his own family and Nauto’s parents before them. He can’t remember most lectures from the academy but he can recall with startling clarity the feeling of Sasuke growing heavy in his arms, the light seeping out of his eyes before they’d shut.
Sasuke had come back, this time. What if he hadn’t? He doesn’t want to think about it. Naruto doesn’t like feeling like he’s a burden to Sasuke, someone he will have to worry about. Naruto is just as capable of protecting Sasuke and he will- next time, next time he will be on time and he’ll be stronger and and-
“Naruto!”
Sasuke’s voice is an urgent whisper and that’s when Naruto realizes he can’t breathe. His chest hurts something fierce and he doesn’t know why. His breath is coming in short gasps and his eyes widen, his vision is spotty- is he sick? He’d never really been sick before-
“Naruto,” Sasuke’s hands are gripping his shoulders and he tries to focus on that and not the dizzy feeling in his head as his vision blurs, “Naruto, breathe slowly, follow me.”
He tries to match the deep breaths Sasuke is taking, but his breath is stuttering and a sob breaks through. He can’t see the other boy clearly but he can see enough to know he’s panicked, confused.
“I should get Kakashi-”
“No!” Naruto manages to gasp out, his arms shooting out to cling to Sasuke tightly. “Don’t- go-please.”
“Okay,” Sasuke breathes, “Okay, I won’t. It’s okay, Naruto, I’m here.”
It’s easier to avoid Sasuke’s eyes in the dark, their only light is the small lamp Kakashi had left on. Naruto pulls him closer and hides his face in Sasuke’s chest. Has it always been so delicate? His young bones are not much bigger than Naruto’s own. Sasuke had always seemed so invincible, untouchable. He isn’t, Naruto knows that now.
There is a small hand rubbing his back and another in his hair. It feels good. Naruto vaguely thinks he must be hurting Sasuke with how tightly he’s holding him in turn but he can’t bring himself to loosen his grip. To his surprise, as he calms down Sasuke doesn’t shove him away. Instead, he leans back down to the futon, taking Naruto’s smaller form with him until they are lying on their sides together. Sasuke smells like the sea air that has clung to all of them since arriving, medicinal, and the crisp fresh scent of his laundered clothes. Naruto presses his nose into a spot under Sasuke’s ear, soft and warm. He shuts his eyes to the calming metronome of Sasuke’s heart beat. Steady. There. Alive.
“You almost weren’t,” he let out, voice wet, “You almost weren’t here. You almost weren’t going to be here ever again.”
Sasuke doesn’t say anything to this and Naruto knows it must have scared him, too. He does feel Sasuke’s face tuck into his hair just a bit more. Both their heads are damp from their shower and the room is cold. Sasuke usually runs warm, a comforting heat against Naruto’s side when they sleep on missions, but his body is weakened and worn out. Naruto reaches down to pull the blanket up around them. He’s decided he’s sleeping here, he has to make sure.
Sasuke doesn’t protest, even welcoming him back into his arms when Naruto settles against him again.
“Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke whispers and it sounds nothing at all like it usually does, “It’s okay now.”
“Yeah...now. This time,” Naruto answers, terrified. His breaths puff against Sasuke’s warming skin and his hands move to curl into the elder boy’s shirt instead. Sasuke lays his head on one of his bent arms, the other curling around Naruto’s waist.
They spend a few more minutes like that in silence. Naruto hasn’t been hugged before by anyone except Iruka and this is definitely different. He thinks it might be even better and tucks in closer, feeling Sasuke’s chin settle atop his head. Their feet are close and Naruto reaches them out to entangle their legs, too. Sasuke lets him.
“Don’t go again,” he says when it feels like he won’t run out of air anymore, “I won’t forgive you if you go and leave me here all alone for real.”
“I won’t. Someone has to make sure you stay alive.”
Naruto tilts his head up, butting Sasuke’s chin away to look determinedly into his eyes, breathes picking up again.
“Hey! Next time it’ll be me making sure you stay alive! I won’t be in your debt, asshole.”
Sasuke’s smile, the real one, is something Naruto is unprepared for. He didn’t know a smile could be so pretty. He feels Sasuke’s hand go back to rubbing his back at a steady pace, soothing.
“Sure.”
“We’re teammates,” Naruto mumbles, breathing slowly, looking down again to speak into the fabric at Sasuke’s chest, “We’ll protect each other, always. Okay?”
He matches his inhales and exhales to Sasuke’s, feeling their chests press together with each. He finally feels sleep coax him in, the day’s exhaustion catching up with him all at once now that he feels safe enough to let it.
“Okay.”