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It’s cold.
His hands ache, and he tries to rub them together, but they shake, wrinkled and weak in a way he doesn’t remember, and he blinks, dazed.
“Sasuke?”
He looks up. There’s a man there, eyes bright and blue, and – “Naruto,” he says. He’s an old man, and Sasuke wonders when that happened.
Naruto smiles, relieved. “Good to see you, asshole. Something wrong?”
Sasuke frowns. “Wrong?”
Naruto nods at his hands. “You were fidgeting pretty bad a minute ago.”
“I was?” He looks down, confused. “I – I don’t…”
“It’s fine, Sasuke,” the man says softly. “As long as you’re okay. I know it’s cold out, so –”
“Cold.” He nods. “My – hands are cold.”
“I can fix that!” The man leans forward, and he pulls back instinctively – he doesn’t like when strangers touch him, and this man is in his face –
He blinks. “Naruto?”
“Hey, Sasuke.” Naruto strokes the side of his face, gentle and kind. “Can I put some mittens on you, man? Your hands are cold.”
Oh. “They are,” he muses. “It’s…cold out.”
“Yeah, it’s been snowing today,” Naruto says, and he carefully slides soft woolen mittens onto Sasuke’s hands. “Think you’re feeling up to a walk with me today? Sakura says it’s good for you.”
“She’s bossy,” Sasuke mutters.
The man laughs. “Yeah, she sure is, huh? But she loves us, so I think we’d better do what she says. Come on, dude, my legs are sore too.”
He blinks. “Sore?”
“Yeah, come on.” The man offers his hands, and Sasuke’s surprised by the blue of Naruto’s eyes as he takes hold and stands slowly. His joints hurt, and he wonders when and how he got so old. He doesn’t remember it. He remembers being a young man, but as he opens his mouth to tell Naruto that, the words slide away, caught in the current of his mind, too slippery to grasp, and he frowns.
“You okay?” Naruto brushes his thumb over Sasuke’s cheek.
“Fine. I can’t…” He frowns.
The man smiles kindly. “Yeah, I know. That’s okay. Mostly I know what you’re thinking anyways. Getting old sucks, huh?”
He nods. When the man reaches for him, he lets him, and their arms link as he’s guided gently along the path.
His hands are cold. “My hands,” he says, but the rest of the sentence fades.
“What? Still? Here.” The man steps in front of him, and Naruto looks at him with bright blue eyes. “Lemme try tucking the mittens into your sleeves. I wonder if it’s more your wrists that are cold? But we don’t have to go much longer, okay?”
Sasuke frowns. “I want to go home.”
“Sasuke,” Naruto says softly, “this is home.”
He takes a step back. “No. Home is –” He fumbles for the words, frustrated, and smacks Naruto’s arm angrily when he reaches for him. “Our bed,” he finally says. “Home has our bed.”
Naruto smiles. “Sure does, handsome,” he agrees. “And that’s here now, okay? But we can go back to it now if you want.”
He frowns. “Go back?”
“Yeah, go back inside. Go home.” Naruto jerks his thumb behind him at a building that looms.
“Naruto, do we live here?” Sasuke looks at him and panics – Naruto’s blue eyes are wide and tearful, mouth hanging open – “What’s wrong?” he asks, frantic.
“I – nothing, nothing!” Naruto says, wiping wildly at his eyes. “Yeah, we – we live here, asshole. Wouldn’t have told you otherwise.”
“Oh.” Sasuke frowns. “Why are you crying?”
Naruto smiles, leaning over to kiss his temple. “Happy tears. I like it when you say my name.” He starts walking towards the building.
“What name?” Sasuke asks. A flurry of snow rushes around them, chilling Sasuke through the thick layers of clothing he doesn’t quite recognize but feels soft against his skin, and he watches as some of it settles on his jacket.
The man only half turns to him. “Mine. Naruto.”
“Naruto?” Sasuke grabs his shoulder, pulling him close. “Naruto!”
“Yeah, it’s me.” Naruto kisses his cheek. “Man, you are cold, huh? You’re all skin and bones now. I keep telling you to eat, but you’re a stubborn bastard, you know that? You won’t eat for Sakura, you’ll barely eat for me – what’s a guy gotta do to keep you healthy, man?”
“Feed me better food,” Sasuke mutters. “I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Huh, must’ve imagined you eating that whole breakfast this morning,” the man says lightly. “I guess it is probably time for lunch, though. Come on, let’s go in.”
He scowls. “I don’t want to.”
“I thought you were hungry?”
“I am.”
“And you’re cold?”
He nods, and when the wind blows, he scoots a little closer to the man at his side.
“Then inside it is, Sasuke. Come on, you got this, let’s get some food.”
He looks up to see Naruto staring at him, coaxing him forward with a gentle smile. “I love you,” he says.
Naruto blinks rapidly, and he pulls Sasuke the final few feet into the building on stiff legs. “Love you too,” he whispers, leaning forward to embrace him with a gentleness that doesn’t make Sasuke’s bones ache like everything else seems to. “So, so much.”
“Okay.”
Naruto pulls away, nodding. “Okay. Lunch, then? And I think – let’s get you sitting by the fire, huh? I don’t want you cold.”
“You’re cold too,” Sasuke complains.
Naruto laughs. “Yeah, well, I’ll warm up soon enough.”
Sasuke points at him. “Fire.”
“Oh yeah?”
He nods. “You’re cold, too.”
“Yeah, okay, man.” The man walks them both over to the fire, and they sit. He doesn’t know why he’s so cold.
“You still hungry?” the man asks.
“Hungry?”
“Yeah, you said earlier… Anyways. You want something to eat? It’s kinda lunch time.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” The man nods, and then he turns, and Sasuke stares at Naruto’s blue eyes. “You okay here for a few minutes while I get it?”
Sasuke frowns. “Get it?”
“Just lunch. I’ll be right back.”
“You better be,” Sasuke says, and Naruto laughs, and Sasuke loves him, loves him, loves him.
“I’ll be right back,” he promises, and he leans down to kiss Sasuke’s forehead before walking away.
He drifts.
It’s cold.