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As Sasuke made his way over to his regular group of friends for lunch, a head of blonde hair stood out to him. It was a stark contrast to his friends' dyed hair colors. The blonde seemed to have glowing hair that flowed softly in the breeze.
The sight caused Sasuke to halt in his tracks, assessing the situation before him. Who the hell is this guy? It wasn’t anyone he had seen around campus before–though he wasn't often looking at the people around him, they all were irrelevant in his eyes. It definitely wasn’t one of Sakura’s friends, that was for sure. There was no way she would be friends with a dude-bro like that. Sasuke thought, watching the blonde's muscles flex as he scratched his head, letting out a hearty laugh.
For some strange reason, the sound brought a weird sense of joy to Sasuke. It was the kind of laugh that made you want to join in on the laughter–which, to be clear, was never something Sasuke wanted to do.
Walking over to the group, Sasuke sat down in his usual spot next to Karin. This happened to place him directly next to the ray of fucking sunshine. Just great.
“Sasuke!” Karin squealed, leaning into his space. “I want you to meet my cousin, Naruto! He just transferred here.”
Sasuke looked up at the blonde, now known as Naruto, and gave him a simple hum of acknowledgement before turning back to his untouched lunch.
A tan hand outstretched into his vision, separating him from the slice of salad that was waiting for him. Frowning, Sasuke looked up at Naruto once again. A glistening smile was plastered onto the blonde’s face; he shook his hand a bit, waiting for Sasuke to take it.
Reluctantly, Sasuke placed his hand into the slightly larger one, feeling Naruto’s firm grasp enclose him. The warmth of Naruto’s hand sent tingles through Sasuke’s arm, making him feel all fuzzy inside.
Naruto gave him a firm handshake, still smiling the whole time before dropping Sasuke’s hand, leaving it feeling colder than before.
“Naruto Uzumaki,” Naruto exclaimed, shoving his thumb into his own chest. “I’m a Politics major, and a junior.”
Sasuke’s eyebrows shot up at that. Naruto was older than them by a bit then; all of him and all his friends were freshmen this year.
“Sasuke Uchiha, business,” Sasuke replied monotone.
The group settled into their routine after that, the usual mix of Karin and Suigetsu arguing, while Sakura silently studied for her anatomy class. Occasionally she would give her opinion, then quickly get back to looking at her flash cards. Sasuke would sit there quietly until Karin or Suigetsu would ask Sasuke a question–normally trying to get him to tell them which one was right in an argument. However, now they had Naruto there. He seemed to be the happiest man alive. He could jump from laughing along with Karin to helping Suigetsu’s case, while also offering to help Sakura with her studying.
It pissed Sasuke off to see someone who seemed so genuinely happy in life. It was like joy was dripping off of him like thick honey–sticky and way too sweet on its own.
Bringing his attention back to his long-forgotten salad, Sasuke let what was the closest thing to a smile he could muster up slip onto his face.
Every Wednesday he would place an order with a salad restaurant down the street from campus. It was his midweek treat to himself, to mark the halfway point.
Pulling the container out of the bag, he popped off the lid, eager to start eating. Sasuke felt his face morph from its “smile” to a look of pure disgust. Sitting right on top of his salad were black olives, his absolute least favorite.
Feeling annoyed, he made a mental note to mark his order with an olive allergy next time so they don’t mess it up again.
“Don’t like olives?” A raspy voice called from over his shoulder.
Sasuke scrunched his eyes shut, trying his best to not crash out on the blonde who was far too close to him. He could feel his breath as Naruto practically panted down his neck.
“Hate ’em.” Sasuke gritted out, eyes still closed.
He heard a rustling, then felt movement on his salad bowl. His eyes shot open upon hearing the noise.
Sasuke’s jaw dropped as he watched Naruto use his fork to pick off each olive one by one, popping them into his mouth before grabbing another. Sasuke sat there dumbfounded as he let Naruto pick at his salad.
Once he was finished, Naruto gave Sasuke another grin before jumping back into Karin and Suigestu’s conversation, as if nothing had happened.
Sasuke couldn’t help but sit there staring at the now olive-free salad in front of him, completely confused as to why Naruto would do that, and how on earth he even noticed that Sasuke was upset with his food.
Eventually snapping out of his daze, Sasuke poured the dressing on and took a bite. It was delicious as always, and for some reason seemed to taste maybe even a bit better than usual.
The rest of lunch he sat there, eating his salad while blocking out the sounds of his friends. Occasionally he would look up when Naruto gave an extra loud laugh, making the corners of Sasuke’s mouth twitch.
Sasuke left lunch feeling full, happy, and excited for tomorrow. It was an odd sensation for him, but for some reason he couldn’t help but look forward to lunch tomorrow and seeing Naruto once again.
——
As Naruto began to sit with them, he and Sasuke had begun to establish a routine. Every so often Sasuke would make a face at his food, and without a word Naruto would appear at his side, happily removing whatever was disturbing Sasuke.
It brought the raven a strange satisfaction to see Naruto not only willingly take the food and eat it, but also seem to always know what Sasuke didn’t like.
They all were sitting outside in their usual spot, Sasuke having bought a bento box from the school's cafeteria. He opened it up to see four compartments, and immediately the strawberries caught his eye. Out of everything, it was the strangest food that he couldn’t stand. He hated the seeds, the texture, and in general they were just way too sweet.
His usual scowl appeared on his face as he looked down at the food. Within a second, Naruto was behind him, breath tickling his neck while his fork was armed and ready. Instead of his usual quick grab, Naruto’s fork stayed hovering there above the box.
“What are you waiting for, dobe?” Sasuke questioned, ready to eat his food.
“Well, you like everything on your sandwich.” Naruto pointed at it with his fork, then moved it to the other box of the bento. “You love tomato and cucumber salad.” His fork dragged across, finally landing on the strawberries. “Which means these are the culprits.” He speared a rather large berry while saying it, proceeding to pop it into his mouth with a satisfied hum.
“If you knew that, why did you hesitate?” Sasuke turned, now facing Naruto as he began to happily munch on the berries.
“Because–” Naruto took another bite. “That’s crazy, someone doesn’t like strawberries.”
Sasuke’s eyes couldn’t help but track a bit of juice that ran down his chin. Without thinking, Sasuke raised his hand, wiping off the juice.
Naruto’s jaw went slack, and a dusting of pink graced his cheeks.
“You're making a mess.” Smirking, Sasuke turned back to his food, picking up his sandwich.
For the rest of lunch, the two of them sat in silence. Naruto was red in the face as he tried to recover from the strange interaction. Sasuke stared at his hand, which had now turned sticky; maybe he did like strawberries.
—
“I got us pizza for lunch!” Suigetsu yelled, running over from across the courtyard. In his hand was a large box, which Sasuke could only assume was said pizza.
Karin and Sakura immediately perked up from their rather detailed discussion on Karin and Suigetsu’s night activities, which was a total TMI for Sasuke to be subjected to.
Behind Suigetsu was the always smiling blonde, who had a liter of Coke in one hand and a bag of doughnuts in the other.
The two guys hunkered down in the circle, laying out all of the food.
Naruto leaned over to Sasuke, whispering under his breath, “Got ya the chocolate doughnuts. Sui really wanted the strawberry, but I talked him out of it.” He gave Sasuke a wink before returning to passing out plates for everyone.
Sasuke felt a knot tightening in his stomach at the words. Has Naruto really done that just for him? Just because he remembered one time that Sasuke didn’t like a specific food?
Now that he looked back at it, Naruto had kept track of the things Sasuke liked and disliked pretty closely, making it easy for him to pick off whatever it was that was distasteful to Sasuke’s palate without a single word.
The thought of Naruto being so considerate just for the sake of it brought a warmth to Sasuke that was rare. Although the more the blonde hung around them, the more common this feeling was coming about.
It was new for Sasuke to have someone doing something like this out of the pure kindness of their heart. His family was wealthy and influential, and everyone knew it. One whisper of the Uchiha name and suddenly people were offering to hold his books, do his homework, or even buy him things. It was stupid; he had tutors, he had brains, and he certainly had money. There was no need for all of these gold-digging idiots to get in his way.
Girls were even worse. He constantly had women approaching him, hearts appearing in their eyes the second they realised who he was. Not only was it tacky and just a turn-off for these women, but he was fucking gay, so it was pointless.
Over the years he had made some good friends, people he could actually trust. Even then, they had all started the same way. Both Sakura and Karin were all over him, insisting that they could be his dream woman and fulfill his every desire. When he promptly responded that his every desire was to have a cock in his mouth, most girls turned away disgusted. Karin and Sakura however, weren’t like that. They backed off instantly, yet still would chat and joke with him.
He found that both of their personalities became a million times more likeable when they weren’t trying to drip sex appeal to him.
Suigetsu was a slightly different case. They had grown up together, and he was also loaded. So no, he never really tried to get Sasuke’s money, but their friendship had been expected to go smoothly. Their fathers were business partners, and the two boys didn’t have much of a choice about whether they got to be friends or not.
Luckily, Sasuke actually enjoyed his time with Suigetsu. He was someone who genuinely understood what the family pressures of his life felt like. Although the two of them were as different as two people could be.
Naruto, however, didn’t bat an eye when Sasuke said his name. He simply treated him like anyone else, doing the nice things purely because that's just who he was.
“Shit, Sui! I thought I told you to order it with no olives.” Naruto yelled, snapping Sasuke out of his reminiscing.
Looking down, Sasuke noticed what Naruto was yelling about. Sitting on the pizza were far too many black olives. Sasuke wanted to puke; it just looked so disgusting. His face must have shown that because Suigetsu was now frantically apologizing.
“Pickiest eater in the world.” Sakura groaned, shaking her head. Karin let out a little snort at that, grabbing a slice of pizza.
“I’ll fix it.” Naruto sounded determined as he said it. With laser focus, he began to dissect a slice of pizza, piling up all of the olives onto his own plate.
Sasuke sat there watching in amazement as Naruto meticulously picked apart the slice. Making sure not a single olive was left, he then returned the plate to Sasuke.
As he bit into it, the taste of cooked olives still lingered a bit, but it wasn’t bad enough to make Sasuke not eat the food. Naruto’s hopeful eyes were on him, tracking for any sign of disdain.
After swallowing, Sasuke turned to the blonde, giving him a reserved smile before muttering out a thank you. Naruto’s face was flooded red in an instant, leaving him stuttering out a “It’s not a problem.” While waving his hands frantically in front of him.
It was cute to see him like this. The only time Sasuke ever saw Naruto in this sort of flustered state was when he would compliment him or thank him. Sasuke couldn’t help but do it if it pulled out this sort of reaction from Naruto.
Naruto’s antics pulled a small chuckle from Sasuke, making him reach up and cover his mouth as he broke out into a full laugh.
The group all stared as Sasuke sat there holding his stomach as he laughed at the red-faced man before him. Naruto had a look that screamed pure joy mixed with pure shock, and that only made Sasuke laugh harder.
Eventually the whole group of them were laughing about– well, at this point Sasuke wasn’t sure what they were laughing about. All he knew was that he hadn’t laughed like this since he was a kid living at home with his brother.
—
The last Friday of every month was the absolute worst.
Karin always insisted that the whole group should go out and do something together. She would say it was “A great way to celebrate getting through another month,” which was bullshit in Sasuke’s book. He didn’t give a damn about celebrating the end of September, nor any other month, as a matter of fact.
When he heard that Naruto was coming along, it had lessened the blow slightly, but had made dressing for the night a lot more stressful.
Sasuke eventually decided on his usual, all black and way too formal for the club they were going to. Honestly, he couldn’t care less about the dress code; the motto of ‘dress like you're the most important in the room’ had been drilled into his head since he was five, and a nightclub was certainly no exception.
When he got there, everyone else was already waiting in line, except Naruto, who had texted the group chat that he would be late due to a group project.
The girls were buzzing with excitement as he walked over. They were in matching clubbing dresses they had gotten together last weekend. Sakura and Karin both loved to go out and socialize, and the two of them definitely loved to dance. Occasionally they could convince Sasuke to join them, but that was rare and only if they had drunk beforehand.
Suigetsu also had an exciting energy radiating off of him, but Sasuke was pretty sure that was less to do with the club and more to do with the looks he and Karin kept exchanging. God, this was going to be a long fucking night.
As they got their IDs checked, the bouncer marked Xs on all of their hands, signalling all of them were under twenty-one and couldn’t drink.
Karin and Sakura had searched hard to find a club that let in nineteen-year-olds. Eventually they had come across this place, and now it was their spot. Or at least that's what the girls claimed; Sasuke would rather not have some trashing night club be their spot, but whatever.
Upon entering, Sasuke’s ears were assaulted with loud rap music blaring from the main room. The group maneuvered their way through the club, all well acquainted with the layout.
Eventually they found their way to a corner booth that had a nice look over the dance floor. The perfect spot for Sasuke to sit, nurse a water, and watch over his friends.
About thirty minutes into the night, Sakura and Karin were long gone, most likely dancing their hearts away. Suigetsu was currently yapping Sasuke’s ear off about his and Karin’s undefined relationship.
“I just don’t know, man, like is this the point where I ask her out?” He yelled over the music, leaning closer so Sasuke could hear.
“I don’t know dude, you guys have been fucking since high school,” Sasuke yelled back, tired of the same old conversation they had been having since Sui and Karin first hooked up their junior year of high school.
“Yeah, but like, she’s just so–”
The rest of his words were drowned out by a handsome blonde walking over to their table. As he got closer, Sasuke could fully take in Naruto. He was wearing a fitted button-down with the first few buttons undone, along with a pair of jeans that were simply sinful.
“Is this seat taken?” Naruto yelled out, wiggling his eyebrows at Sasuke.
Sasuke glanced at the seat beside him, then back to Naruto before shaking his head. The booth creaked as the blonde plunked down, dapping Suigetsu up as he made himself comfortable.
The two guys picked up conversation quickly, Suigetsu catching Naruto up on his current situation.
Sasuke tried not to stare as they talked, wanting to be present in the conversation, but his eyes kept drifting back to the man beside him. He watched as Naruto’s arms flexed under the shirt while he talked. His hair was tousled as if he had rushed to get here, yet it somehow still looked so good.
“Can I grab you boys something to drink?”
Sasuke looked up to see a girl standing there in what looked to be some attempt at clothes, if you could consider barely covering anything up clothes.
‘Oh sure, I’ll take a martini, hold the olive tho.” Naruto piped up, looking around the table to see if the other two wanted anything. Sasuke was on his third water and way too done, while Suigetsu had just bought another root beer.
“Okay then, I’ll bring that right over.” She left with a smile and a sway of her hips that made Sasuke feel more pissed off than he would like to admit.
“I always forget you can drink,” Sui spoke up, his attention directed at Naruto.
“Yeah, perks of being an upperclassman, I suppose.” He chuckled, sprawling back into the booth. He placed his arms along the top, his right hand only a few centimeters from Sasuke’s shoulder.
“Wait, why did you get it with no olive?” Sasuke asked, confused as to why Naruto ordered it that way when he so clearly enjoyed snatching and eating all of the olives that so often appeared on Sasuke’s food.
Naruto let out a breathy laugh, avoiding Sasuke’s eyes.
“Yeah, well about that–” He scratched the back of his neck, looking around at everything but Sasuke. “I actually don’t really like olives, like at all,” Naruto admitted, a guilty look crossing his face.
Sasuke felt like he was hit by a truck. This whole time Naruto didn’t even like olives, yet he was happily eating them off of Sasuke’s plate. Sasuke felt even worse when he remembered the few times he would purposely order his salad wrong just so that Naruto would scoot all close to him and pick away at his food.
Sasuke felt himself frowning while watching Naruto fidget with his hands.
“Why?” Sasuke asked.
“Well I–”
“Naruto!” A squeal cheered coming from Sakura and Karin, who had just returned from the dance floor. “Move over, move over!” Sakura shoved at them, letting her and Karin into the booth.
With that, the conversation was forgotten, replaced by the loud chatter of his friends.
Sasuke barely added to the conversation for the night; he was way too consumed with his own thoughts to talk with the others. He had no idea why Naruto had done what he had done, and it made him feel like such an asshole. At the same time, it also made a heat flood Sasuke’s gut, a small voice in his head telling him that Naruto did it because he cared and liked Sasuke. Those thoughts were quickly replaced by logic and reason that reminded Sasuke Naruto would have done that for anyone; that’s just who he is.
Naruto kept glancing at Sasuke throughout the night, his brow furrowed and a small frown on his face. It was the only time Sasuke had ever seen Naruto not smiling, and it was all Sasuke’s fault. It only made him feel worse about the whole situation.
They decided to head home earlier than usual that night; Suigetsu and Karin seemed eager to leave the club and go home. Disgusting.
Sakura, on the other hand, had a project due on Sunday, so she needed to get some form of sleep tonight.
That left Naruto and Sasuke standing out front of the club in a rather awkward silence.
“I’ll call an Uber,” Naruto muttered, pulling out his phone.
“You didn’t drive?” Sasuke asked, desperate to hold a conversation of some sort. Praying that this weird vibe would just dissipate already.
“Nah, I had a drink tonight.”
“Oh right.”
Silence.
“Well. I could always just drive you.” Sasuke offered, scuffing his Converse into the concrete sidewalk. He didn’t dare to look up at Naruto’s face, waiting quietly for rejection.
“That would be nice.” Naruto eventually spoke.
Sasuke looked up, seeing a thoughtful expression on the blonde’s face.
“I’m pretty hungry tho, you up for some In and Out?” He gave Sasuke a cheesy smile. “I’ll buy.”
“How can I say no?” Sasuke sighed, leading the way to his car.
—
The parking lot next to the burger place was empty as they sat in the car eating their meals. Naruto had gotten a combo while Sasuke stuck with just fries, not having much of an appetite after the day he had had.
He picked at his food, not feeling like eating all that much. On the other hand, Naruto was chowing down his burger, occasionally making a moaning noise while he took a bite. Sasuke couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the dramatics of it.
Deciding to bite the bullet, Sasuke took a deep breath.
“So why did you do it then?” Sasuke’s voice sounded too loud in the silence of the car, causing Naruto to halt his eating.
Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, his blue eyes piercing deep. Sasuke watched as Naruto took him in, making him feel like he was under a microscope. The attention made him squirm, it felt like Naruto was trying to look at all of the parts of himself that he so desperately tried to hide.
“You should try this.” Naruto broke the silence, grabbing his milkshake and shaking it in Sasuke’s face.
“What?” Sasuke got whiplash from the sudden change of conversation.
“Try my shake,” Naruto said once more.
“What? No, it's strawberry.” Sasuke pulled a face at the suggestion, looking back and forth from the drink to Naruto’s face. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Naruto took a good long sip of the drink, his eyes never leaving Sasuke’s own. The then pulled himself across the center console, his face barely an inch from Sasuke’s.
“Just try it.” He whispered, the words barely audible.
“Ok.” Sasuke breathed, his eyes glancing down at Naruto’s plump lips.
Naruto’s hand reached up, resting on Sasuke’s face as he closed the distance. Sasuke’s brain short-circuited as he felt soft lips move against his own.
He quickly caught up, moving his lips against Naruto’s. The soft slide was addicting. He felt Naruto’s tongue brush against his bottom lip, a soft request for entrance which Sasuke happily granted.
The taste of strawberry flooded his mouth as Naruto licked his tongue deep into Sasuke’s mouth, eager to explore it. Sasuke let out a soft moan as Naruto massaged his tongue against Sasuke’s.
He couldn’t even focus on the fact that he hated the taste of strawberries when Naruto so greedily drank him up.
The sound of wet smacks filled the car as Naruto ran his hands through Sasuke’s hair, raking his nails along the raven's scalp, earning a quiet cry.
Eventually Naruto pulled away with a pop, keeping his face close. Their breaths intermingled.
“That’s why.” Naruto’s voice was rough when he spoke.
“Huh?” Sasuke’s brain was running a mile a minute. His hands were digging into Naruto’s biceps as he talked.
Naruto brushed a thumb over Sasuke’s now swollen lip, his hands remaining planted on the pale face.
“I would gladly eat something I hate if I get to see your beautiful smile,” Naruto confessed to the silence of the car.
“Me too,” Sasuke whispered back, leaning in once more for another kiss.
Sasuke felt Naruto smile against his lips before using his strong hands to pull Sasuke closer.