Chapter Text
Time itself could not stretch far enough to summarise just how long Sasuke has known Naruto.
It felt as if their friendship was something predestined by a higher power but Sasuke would never tell Naruto that he believed in things like fate or destiny. It seemed stupid to give into those melodramatic fantasies, and Sasuke was the furthest thing from the protagonist of a soap opera.
But... he would be lying if he said that he didn't think about the chances of his parents deciding to move to a small neighbourhood in the East of Konoha City. A small neighbourhood that had one vacant house that just so happened to be right next to the Uzumaki residence.
Sasuke thought about coincidences a lot and his favourite will always be living beside Naruto. Every one of his memories, even the most earliest ones, all had Naruto in them and he couldn't imagine a life without the blond.
They had celebrated every birthday together, learned how to ride bikes together, lost their baby teeth together and failed their exams together too.
It's like his mother always said, "What would you two be without each other?".
Sasuke knew the answer, and it wasn't pleasant. The bleak nothingness that would've been his life without the blond was something he didn't want to focus on. That kind of a reality didn't exist anyways because how can existence begin without those blue eyes looking at him first?
But he'll save the existentialism for another day. Today was Tuesday, and the 2nd day of classes. It was also Sasuke's 9th day of living together with Naruto as roommates in their apartment.
Dreams really do come true, another thought he keeps to himself, as he pulls the blanket off a sleeping blond.
"Wake up dipshit, we're going to be late to our lecture!" Sasuke groaned, although internally he celebrated that he was the first and last face Naruto saw each day.
"Mm, Sas, please... five more minutes," Naruto mumbled, speaking into his pillow as he turned away from his roommate.
There was something domestic and sweet about waking each other up, it was a fantasy Sasuke had played in his mind from time to time.
Middle school was the first time the two of them had ever slept away from home. It was a short three-day trip at a camp for their junior football team.
It was also Sasuke's first time spending more than 24 hours with the blond. Sure, they had sleepovers and sometimes Naruto overstayed his welcome until lunch the next day. But that was it.
They'd go back to their respective homes and would hangout whenever. But, more than 24 hours with the blond in a cramped log cabin sharing one twin-sized mattress because there were too many boys, had caused a new realisation for Sasuke.
He was in love.
Madly at that too.
And the subject of his affection, of his adoration and all his attention, slept only a few centimeters away from him on the same mattress.
The last thing a middle school boy going through the turbulent throes of adolescence and puberty needed was a crush. But, a crush on your male best friend whom you've known since childhood felt like the end of the world.
Being gay, or even the term homosexuality, wasn't anything new to the boys. Rather, Sasuke's cousin was gay and they had learned extensively of sexual orientations during health class. But, Sasuke being gay seemed so out-of-left-field that he avoided Naruto for a week to "snap out of it".
It didn't work, and they soon fell back into the comfortable routine of their regular friendship. Except, every touch burned his pale skin and those blue eyes of Naruto's looked extra pretty each time Sasuke saw him.
The raven made a vow to himself in his last year of middle school that he'll get through these feelings because there was no way that Naruto was gay.
When porn magazines and ecchi sites were trending amongst their friend group, the blond had been the first to circulate the material. He was also friends with two sleazy teachers in their high school as well.
Every single aspect of Naruto's social life pointed towards him liking girls and that was enough for Sasuke. Anymore digging into his best friend's private activities and the raven was afraid he'd come out of it with a hole in his heart.
"Ugh, get up damn it! I don't have time for this!" He kicks the sleeping lump of tan skin and blond hair.
For a moment, the body stirs but lies limply on the mattress again. It didn't matter how often he did this, but there was not a single alarm in the world that was strong enough to wake up the blond.
Having given up for the 2nd day in a row, Sasuke leaves for morning lectures alone but fulfilled. He got his share of Naruto in the morning before the chaos of fangirls and their friends break up what little time he has with the blond.
Sasuke felt bad for thinking this way but he hadn't underestimated Naruto's popularity in college. For a guy that most girls avoided in high school, he had gone through a glow-up over the summer before college and had become a heartthrob.
Yeah, he made Sasuke's heart throb too. The feeling was sickening and the raven decided that there was no better time than college to get over this lifelong crush.
Naruto had his own little circle of fans, people that ate up his time and constantly badgered him for attention. Sasuke could have that too, except it would less obnoxious and would probably be one person who kind of liked him.
But that would be fine. If Sasuke could manage to make one friend, and hopefully a lover, that would help him expand his social group beyond just Naruto.
That was his only goal for his first year of college, but he hardly knew just how hard it would be to achieve it.