Disclamer: As much as we would like to own Naruto we cant.it don't belong
to us!
Pairings: (Sasuke + Naruto + Sakura) (Shikamaru + Ino)
Warnings: Shonen-ai! (Muku:.W00t!!!11) blood, angest, happy fluffy bunnies (it would be better if you didn't ask).
Take back
Over the years, the Hidden Leaf Village had quieted down.well, just a little. There would always be the troublemaker Naruto, and he made sure to liven things up. If someone were to look outside and see a monument defaced, or paintings in strange places, Naruto was always, at the very least, indirectly involved.
The years had been moderately kind to the blond ninja; He had grown a little, and he looked more mature (of course, you would never say that if you knew or met him). His build was slim, with long teenage limbs always getting in the way. For example, the way that they cramped up due to the odd positions he had to take when he was trying to sleep. Although, the fact that it was eleven in the morning and there were big, bright, happy sunrays burning his retinas through his eyelids didn't really help, either.
'I think I am beginning to hate the sun,' Naruto thought as he rolled over in bed. Or rather, off of the bed. With a numbing THUNK, Naruto awoke completely as he met the unforgiving surface of the hardwood floor. Groaning and picking himself up, he tugged at his shirt and yawned, walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth, and then snagging and chugging a half full milk carton before heading towards his dresser.
Naruto dressed himself in casual clothing, as today was a day off.a 'rest day' as Kakashi liked to put it. Pulling on blue jeans and a black shirt, Naruto slung his shinobi headband around his neck and walked out to see what carnage he could cause for the day.
Sakura and Sasuke were not home; they were finishing up a mission. 'They will be back by midnight' was the message he got when he asked Kakashi where they were. Fuming that he had no one he to tease or spar with, he stood on his front doorstep in a less than fantastic mood, shoving his hands into his pockets and muttering to himself.
Once outside, he decided to go for a walk; perhaps he could also throw some rocks at squirrels that where stupid enough to stay within throwing range. Picking a path at random, he ambled forward, his eyes on the dirt ahead of him.
In actuality, the battles and broken friendships had taken a heavy toll on Naruto. He bared internal and external scars, from both friends and foes, but he made a point to keep the bad memories shoved away. He didn't like to think of the betrayals that had happened over the years. However, some of his old bitter rivals were now good friends. He kept in contact with Neji, even if they did grate on each other's nerves from time to time. Kiba and Akamaru, who was now too large to rest inside his companions' jacket, dropped in now and then to say Hi. Surprisingly enough, out of the people who lived outside of the Leaf Village who had visited for the Chuunin Exam, he kept in touch with Gaara the most. Of course, Sasuke always managed to have a fit when the redhead came to the village, even if he was just passing though.
While considering sending a message to one of his friends, Naruto's face came in contact with metal. Startled, he looked up to see the Forest of Death; the very forest where he had taken the Chuunin Exam. The chain- linked fence encircling it made it look even more imposing than it really was. After so many years, he was used to the trouble waiting inside. Over the years, whenever he had gotten really bored, he would sneak out and climb the fence, and "have fun" in the forest. By now he had explored the entire area. Looking around, Naruto hopped the fence and started to walk among the twisted branches.
The task became boring after a while. it seemed that everything was in.hibernation? 'In this weather?' So Naruto picked the best alternative; climbing up a particularly tall tree, he leaned back against it and drifted off to sleep.
. THWACK!
Naruto awoke with a start as something smashed into the tree bark near his face. Barely maintaining his balance and pulling out a kunai, he looked down and..
.Saw Shikamaru pick up another stone.
"O-oi! What're you doing?"
"Damn, I missed." he muttered, hurling the second stone and hitting a still groggy Naruto in the forehead. One thing led to another, and Naruto lost the rest of his balance and fell off the tree branch to greet the ground with a THUNK of body hitting ground and the crackling and crunching of twigs and dried leaves.
Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets and just stared at the crumpled form of the blond. "Hmph. You better not be hurt." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Man, this-"
"ARGH! Geeez, what did you do that for? Owww, man, that hurt!" Naruto whined hauling himself off of the ground and frowning at Shikamaru, who in typical Shikamaru fashion just shrugged.
"It's late." the pony tailed boy responded succinctly. "So you need to get home. And knowing how you are, I thought you'd be here, and this place is off limits." he continued, but he still didn't sound like he cared. 'He probably doesn't,' thought Naruto, 'so why did he have to wake me up?!'
"So?"
"And.Iruka wants you to go to the ramen sta-"
Shikamaru blinked once to find himself talking to empty air. Sighing, he rubbed the back of his head and wondered why he cared.
"Man, I hate playing errand boy."
Once the word "Ramen" had registered, Naruto made a beeline for the village. There was no way in hell that he was going to let a good ramen bowl go to waste. specially if someone else was paying.
When arriving at the ramen stand, he ducked under the flaps and sat down next to Iruka, who pushed a bowl full of steaming ramen toward him, but before Naruto started gulping down his food he stopped and asked, "What's the occasion?" it was true that Iruka did buy him ramen often, but usually not out of the blue like this.
Iruka didn't say anything at first, hesitation in his eyes. He fought an internal war for a few more seconds before he sighed and laid his chopsticks down. "It appears that Sakura was hurt badly in her mission." Naruto sat there for a moment, stunned. Sakura? No. she had grown dramatically in skill over the years. She rarely got so hurt that Iruka would have to tell him like this.
His eyes glazed over as he recalled a similar incidence a couple years ago. They were on a mission to take care of a group of ninjas that where harassing a town a few miles away from the Leaf Village. It was supposed to be an easy in and out mission, but like their first so-called "C-rank" mission, the enemies were more skilled than they thought.
He could hear their voices, and his own voice, although a little blurred at first.
"SA.KU.R."
"SAKURA!"
The earth began to rumble and split as lightning tore across the battlefield .
"To your right!" Sasuke yelled and rammed into Sakura, to move her out of the lightning's path. Naruto was running towards the person who was rapidly performing the hand seals to manipulate the powerful lightning jutsu. He slammed into him, successfully making him lose concentration, but it was too late. The lightning had already changed course. Naruto yelled but it was lost in the rumble of shifting earth. In a fit of desperation, he slashed the man's throat, but while the man died instantly, it had no effect on the jutsu. The lightning struck, hitting both Sakura and Sasuke.
When he had finally made his way across the terrain, he saw Sakura, barely alive, and Sasuke, who was conscious but in no condition to be walking on his own. In the end, Naruto had carried them both home.
Due to his special training with Kakashi, Sasuke had a moderate affinity with lightning and therefore was not injured too badly. But Sakura was not so lucky, and spent nearly half a year recovering.
Those six months had nearly driven Naruto insane.
"Naruto."
Naruto snapped back, gazing at his hands and then looking up. His knuckles were lily white; he had been clenching his fists so hard that nails pierced skin and his palms were now bleeding.
"Don't worry.Sasuke is taking her to the medics even as we speak." Iruka's voice was soothing, but it wasn't enough. Naruto stood up, no longer in the mood to eat.
"Thank you for the meal." he murmured as he raised the flap and left.
Iruka looked down at the untouched bowl of ramen, and swallowed hard. He wished that he could do more to help Naruto, but Kakashi had said that it was better not to baby Naruto and shield him from pain. But it didn't cancel out the helplessness. he just wished he could have done something.
Iruka brought his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. And Naruto is probably feeling even worse...
Naruto ran away from the ramen shop, worry and frustration twisting his stomach. 'This can't be happening,' he thought, 'Not again.'
Naruto blinked, although his legs kept with the steady movement of running on the stone streets. 'Where am I going? To Sakura?' he admitted that the notion sounded tempting, but if things were as bad as Iruka had indicated in his voice, then maybe he should let the medics do what they could. Then he could waylay the hospital rooms in a systematic and violent fashion.
Finally coming to a stop outside of his home, he released the rest of his pent-up anger by slamming his fist into the wall before walking inside and up to his room. Flopping down on his bed, he covered his head with his hands, forbidding himself from crying. 'Remember Inari? Nothing is accomplished if you cry all day. Grow up!' Yet the tears flowed even as he tried to stop them. 'But then, I told Inari once that it's okay to cry sometimes, right?.'
A knock on the front door brought Naruto back into the real world. Wiping his remaining tears away, he walked over and opened the front door slowly, only to reveal Sasuke looking every battered and tired. It was obvious that he had headed straight to Naruto's house after dropping Sakura off. "You. have been crying." was all that he said before he collapsed.
"W-whoa!" Catching him before he fell, Naruto muttered "Why." as he dragged the other boy to his room and hauled him onto the bed, ".can't you be lighter?" sighing, he slumped down into the chair that sat conveniently next to the bed.. Could the night get any worse?
BOOM!
Apparently. it just did.
Jumping up, he ran to the window and looked out. The horizon glowed red.
"Shit!"
"Yeah, you can say that again"
"You're up." Naruto declared, blinking, as Sasuke pulled himself up into a sitting position on the bed.
"How observant." Sasuke muttered dryly, cringing as he moved his right arm to look at a particularly bad bruise.
Naruto didn't reply, and instead busied himself with shrugging on his standard orange jacket (altered to accompany the longer length of his limbs). "Stay here." he commanded before walking out the door. Sasuke didn't listen to him, just like he never did, and immediately got up to observe his teammate's living quarters.
Surprisingly, it was clean and organized. Getting up and favoring his left leg, Sasuke walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. He hadn't eaten in a while, and was in desperate need of food.until he saw the contents Naruto's refrigerator. The whole two first shelves where packed with milk cartons. The third and fourth had leftover ramen and stir fry packages. Muttering about Naruto and his obsession with ramen, he tried the cupboards with pretty much the same success, although he did manage to find something other than instant ramen. There were some canned foods, a filled rice jar, some dry seaweed, and two cupboards dedicated to hundreds of spices Sasuke couldn't even name. In short, Sasuke was surprised. Where had Naruto acquired a taste for so many different spices? More importantly, where had he found so many different spices?
Naruto ran toward the fire that claimed the southern part of the village. When he got there, he ran into Kakashi, and asked what was going on. He prayed that they weren't under attack, as most of the Hidden Leaf Ninjas were away on missions, and at the moment both Sakura and Sasuke were out of commission. Speaking of Sasuke. he hoped that the other boy would stay in bed like he was told to. But Naruto did not doubt that the jerk was most likely to be shifting through his stuff. and he grimaced at the thought.
As it turned out, it was only a normal fire to attend to. No ninja jutsu, no assassins leaping out of the shadows.it just some kegs of flour blowing up because some one left a lamp too close to the barrels. Knowing that he would not be needed or wanted to clean up the mess, Naruto started to head back home. While passing by Sakura's house he reminded himself to see her tomorrow, unless he found himself as part of the clean up crew, or if Kakashi suddenly give him a mission.
When arriving home he saw the light on. At first he scowled, but then smirked at the thought of surprising Sasuke. Instead of entering through the door like a normal human being, he leaped up to the rooftop and swung in though the open window.
"HEY!" he yelled as he walked downstairs to see Sasuke going though his cupboards. Sasuke just looked at him and raised an eyebrow at the blond entering through the supposedly wrong door. Then he casually went back to looking for ingredients.
"Oi, get out of there! Who said you could go though my stuff?" Naruto yelled, pushing Sasuke gently away from the cupboard "Besides, you should be in bed!", Sasuke just snorted. "If you don't get your butt back in bed and I will kick you. in the leg." Sasuke looked up abruptly, 'How did he know? I wasn't showing anything. was I? ".Yes, I know you have a limp! Now get to bed!" pointing upstairs, Naruto watched Sasuke walk back to his bedroom.
'Now with that taken care of.' Naruto began to make dinner. 'I can't believe I slept the day away. and that ramen! I know that I was too worried about Sakura to eat, but how could I pass up lunch?'
Sasuke was positive that for dinner he was going to get a bowl of instant ramen, but to his surprise the smells that drifted from the kitchen were scents that he did not recognize.. When Naruto walked in, he carried a steaming bowl on a tray, all set with chopsticks and a spoon, and sat it down in front of Sasuke who just gaped at the exquisite ramen bowl. 'Naruto can cook?' He thought, incredulously.
"Well go on, eat it! It's not going to kill you!" Naruto scolded, and walked out again. Sasuke just stared at it. Naruto. had changed. The neatness of his home, his slightly more mature way of handling serious situations.the fact that what he cooked smelled really damn good, and not just because he was hungry. How come he had never noticed? Was it because he still did some of the stupid stuff when he was little? That had to be it. He was still a troublemaker, so he just assumed that the prankster would never grow up. "I don't hear you eating! I told you it's not going to kill you! Now eat!" Naruto shouted from the other room.
Sasuke sighed. They had both had a bad day, obviously, so it was better if he ate and solved at least one problem. Hesitantly he lifted some of the noodles from the bowl to his mouth, and found that it tasted even more delicious than it smelled, and was done in a matter of minutes. Setting the bowl aside, he wondered how Naruto had made it with the limited supplies that he had. Perhaps Naruto had some extra pantries that Sasuke had not seen.
'Or maybe I'm more hurt than I thought.' Sasuke mused, but he was confident enough in his strength that he seriously doubted that. 'So what is going on? How could Naruto grow up in such a short amount of time. okay, it has been five years, and the last time I saw Naruto's living space was so far back that I can't remember if the place was clean or not.' bewildered, he shook his head. 'What am I doing?' He thought, frustrated. 'Now is not the time to be wondering if Naruto has or ever had hygiene problems!
Standing up, he carefully picked up the tray and dishes and tried to walk to the kitchen and make it back in one piece. Although walking was not the challenging part, balancing both the tray and himself was a bit more difficult, with one hand and an injured leg.'This doesn't look good.'l he thought as he stumbled and started falling. 'Why the hell do I keep pushing myself?'
"You know, man, it would be a lot more helpful if you just asked me to take the dishes for you."
Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto supporting him with one hand and the tray with the other. 'Hmph.' Sasuke found himself slowly sinking into oblivion.
Naruto blinked a few times before realizing that by just standing there he wasn't going to get anything done. He set the tray down on the kitchen table and carried Sasuke over to his bed ('There's no way in hell I'm carrying his wide load all the way back to his place!') where he tucked him in before heading back to the table to take the tray to the sink.
At the sink, he turned on the faucet and let the warm water run over his hands before he took the bowl and began washing, using liberal amounts of soap.
'He really hasn't changed much,' he thought, 'he's pretty much the same selfless arrogant bastard. The only part of him that has grown is his hair. and it makes him look like a girl.' Naruto snorted. In truth Sasuke had grown taller just like Naruto, but he also grew his raven colored hair out to the point that it was even longer than how Sakura's had been years ago (nowadays, she kept it short). Turning the water off and drying his hands on a washcloth by the sink, he plopped into a chair at the kitchen table and looked up at the ceiling. 'I wonder what happened.'
The next day Naruto awoke with his face squished into the kitchen table. With a groan he stretched and wandered into his bedroom to see if Sasuke was awake.which he wasn't. Walking back into the kitchen, Naruto wondered if he should make some breakfast..'Pffft.' Instead he pulled out a milk carton from the refrigerator and drained it.
"I will now take this moment to remind myself to never drink anything from an opened milk carton in your house." declared a dry sardonic voice that Naruto was used to. He turned to look at Sasuke leaning against the doorway.
He shrugged. "My milk, not yours." now that he knew Sasuke was awake, he started to make breakfast.
Sasuke was a bit surprised to see ''dead last" Naruto up so early. While Naruto made breakfast, Sasuke watched with fascination. Who knew you could do so much with packaged ramen noodles?
When breakfast was ready, Sasuke tossed composure and patience out the window and inhaled his share. So did Naruto, since he really didn't know (or believe in) any other style for eating ramen.
Sasuke leaned back to accommodate for his swelled stomach, and couldn't help but still wonder where Naruto learned how to cook. "How.?" Sasuke caught himself putting his thoughts into speech, and shut his mouth.
".Can I cook?" Naruto finished for him. Sasuke only blinked a nodded dumbly, so Naruto sighed and leaned back, clasping his hands to the back of his head. "I learned by myself .through experimentation. You see, when you live by yourself you can't always eat out, and you can't live completely on instant either." he paused, or then his eyes looked at the floor. ".No one would bother teaching me. so I just went out on a limb and tried, and I found out that I was just naturally good at cooking. pretty stupid, huh?" and with that he got up, grabbed both of the dishes, and walked over to the sink to clean them.
Sasuke didn't know what to think. He had heard the loneliness in Naruto's voice, and part of him could relate to that. After all, they both lost their parents at a young age. However, another part of him believed that Naruto's life was none of his concern. And yet another part of him felt no form of identification or aloofness, but just pity. He shoved the notion away. He would not pity Naruto; he didn't deserve that kind of insult.
Sasuke stood up to help Naruto put the dishes away. Naruto protested, but he stopped when he saw a particular look in his teammate's dark eyes.
'And I don't either.'
As the next few days dragged on, Sasuke made up excuses to stay at Naruto's house. He didn't really know why. He was positive that he could take care of his injuries, and he had never desired or needed company before. Maybe it was because of the food.or maybe it was because this new Naruto intrigued him.
*=Authers's note/rambling=*
Dark: Muahaha thse supsence! *cough*
Muku: muuuukuuu wants PIE!!!!!!!!!111 Apple pie!
Dark:...ANYway
Muku: XDDD
Dark: there WILL be plot..I think.
Muku: *snorts*
Dark: XD Reviews are most welcome!
Pairings: (Sasuke + Naruto + Sakura) (Shikamaru + Ino)
Warnings: Shonen-ai! (Muku:.W00t!!!11) blood, angest, happy fluffy bunnies (it would be better if you didn't ask).
Take back
Over the years, the Hidden Leaf Village had quieted down.well, just a little. There would always be the troublemaker Naruto, and he made sure to liven things up. If someone were to look outside and see a monument defaced, or paintings in strange places, Naruto was always, at the very least, indirectly involved.
The years had been moderately kind to the blond ninja; He had grown a little, and he looked more mature (of course, you would never say that if you knew or met him). His build was slim, with long teenage limbs always getting in the way. For example, the way that they cramped up due to the odd positions he had to take when he was trying to sleep. Although, the fact that it was eleven in the morning and there were big, bright, happy sunrays burning his retinas through his eyelids didn't really help, either.
'I think I am beginning to hate the sun,' Naruto thought as he rolled over in bed. Or rather, off of the bed. With a numbing THUNK, Naruto awoke completely as he met the unforgiving surface of the hardwood floor. Groaning and picking himself up, he tugged at his shirt and yawned, walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth, and then snagging and chugging a half full milk carton before heading towards his dresser.
Naruto dressed himself in casual clothing, as today was a day off.a 'rest day' as Kakashi liked to put it. Pulling on blue jeans and a black shirt, Naruto slung his shinobi headband around his neck and walked out to see what carnage he could cause for the day.
Sakura and Sasuke were not home; they were finishing up a mission. 'They will be back by midnight' was the message he got when he asked Kakashi where they were. Fuming that he had no one he to tease or spar with, he stood on his front doorstep in a less than fantastic mood, shoving his hands into his pockets and muttering to himself.
Once outside, he decided to go for a walk; perhaps he could also throw some rocks at squirrels that where stupid enough to stay within throwing range. Picking a path at random, he ambled forward, his eyes on the dirt ahead of him.
In actuality, the battles and broken friendships had taken a heavy toll on Naruto. He bared internal and external scars, from both friends and foes, but he made a point to keep the bad memories shoved away. He didn't like to think of the betrayals that had happened over the years. However, some of his old bitter rivals were now good friends. He kept in contact with Neji, even if they did grate on each other's nerves from time to time. Kiba and Akamaru, who was now too large to rest inside his companions' jacket, dropped in now and then to say Hi. Surprisingly enough, out of the people who lived outside of the Leaf Village who had visited for the Chuunin Exam, he kept in touch with Gaara the most. Of course, Sasuke always managed to have a fit when the redhead came to the village, even if he was just passing though.
While considering sending a message to one of his friends, Naruto's face came in contact with metal. Startled, he looked up to see the Forest of Death; the very forest where he had taken the Chuunin Exam. The chain- linked fence encircling it made it look even more imposing than it really was. After so many years, he was used to the trouble waiting inside. Over the years, whenever he had gotten really bored, he would sneak out and climb the fence, and "have fun" in the forest. By now he had explored the entire area. Looking around, Naruto hopped the fence and started to walk among the twisted branches.
The task became boring after a while. it seemed that everything was in.hibernation? 'In this weather?' So Naruto picked the best alternative; climbing up a particularly tall tree, he leaned back against it and drifted off to sleep.
. THWACK!
Naruto awoke with a start as something smashed into the tree bark near his face. Barely maintaining his balance and pulling out a kunai, he looked down and..
.Saw Shikamaru pick up another stone.
"O-oi! What're you doing?"
"Damn, I missed." he muttered, hurling the second stone and hitting a still groggy Naruto in the forehead. One thing led to another, and Naruto lost the rest of his balance and fell off the tree branch to greet the ground with a THUNK of body hitting ground and the crackling and crunching of twigs and dried leaves.
Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets and just stared at the crumpled form of the blond. "Hmph. You better not be hurt." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Man, this-"
"ARGH! Geeez, what did you do that for? Owww, man, that hurt!" Naruto whined hauling himself off of the ground and frowning at Shikamaru, who in typical Shikamaru fashion just shrugged.
"It's late." the pony tailed boy responded succinctly. "So you need to get home. And knowing how you are, I thought you'd be here, and this place is off limits." he continued, but he still didn't sound like he cared. 'He probably doesn't,' thought Naruto, 'so why did he have to wake me up?!'
"So?"
"And.Iruka wants you to go to the ramen sta-"
Shikamaru blinked once to find himself talking to empty air. Sighing, he rubbed the back of his head and wondered why he cared.
"Man, I hate playing errand boy."
Once the word "Ramen" had registered, Naruto made a beeline for the village. There was no way in hell that he was going to let a good ramen bowl go to waste. specially if someone else was paying.
When arriving at the ramen stand, he ducked under the flaps and sat down next to Iruka, who pushed a bowl full of steaming ramen toward him, but before Naruto started gulping down his food he stopped and asked, "What's the occasion?" it was true that Iruka did buy him ramen often, but usually not out of the blue like this.
Iruka didn't say anything at first, hesitation in his eyes. He fought an internal war for a few more seconds before he sighed and laid his chopsticks down. "It appears that Sakura was hurt badly in her mission." Naruto sat there for a moment, stunned. Sakura? No. she had grown dramatically in skill over the years. She rarely got so hurt that Iruka would have to tell him like this.
His eyes glazed over as he recalled a similar incidence a couple years ago. They were on a mission to take care of a group of ninjas that where harassing a town a few miles away from the Leaf Village. It was supposed to be an easy in and out mission, but like their first so-called "C-rank" mission, the enemies were more skilled than they thought.
He could hear their voices, and his own voice, although a little blurred at first.
"SA.KU.R."
"SAKURA!"
The earth began to rumble and split as lightning tore across the battlefield .
"To your right!" Sasuke yelled and rammed into Sakura, to move her out of the lightning's path. Naruto was running towards the person who was rapidly performing the hand seals to manipulate the powerful lightning jutsu. He slammed into him, successfully making him lose concentration, but it was too late. The lightning had already changed course. Naruto yelled but it was lost in the rumble of shifting earth. In a fit of desperation, he slashed the man's throat, but while the man died instantly, it had no effect on the jutsu. The lightning struck, hitting both Sakura and Sasuke.
When he had finally made his way across the terrain, he saw Sakura, barely alive, and Sasuke, who was conscious but in no condition to be walking on his own. In the end, Naruto had carried them both home.
Due to his special training with Kakashi, Sasuke had a moderate affinity with lightning and therefore was not injured too badly. But Sakura was not so lucky, and spent nearly half a year recovering.
Those six months had nearly driven Naruto insane.
"Naruto."
Naruto snapped back, gazing at his hands and then looking up. His knuckles were lily white; he had been clenching his fists so hard that nails pierced skin and his palms were now bleeding.
"Don't worry.Sasuke is taking her to the medics even as we speak." Iruka's voice was soothing, but it wasn't enough. Naruto stood up, no longer in the mood to eat.
"Thank you for the meal." he murmured as he raised the flap and left.
Iruka looked down at the untouched bowl of ramen, and swallowed hard. He wished that he could do more to help Naruto, but Kakashi had said that it was better not to baby Naruto and shield him from pain. But it didn't cancel out the helplessness. he just wished he could have done something.
Iruka brought his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. And Naruto is probably feeling even worse...
Naruto ran away from the ramen shop, worry and frustration twisting his stomach. 'This can't be happening,' he thought, 'Not again.'
Naruto blinked, although his legs kept with the steady movement of running on the stone streets. 'Where am I going? To Sakura?' he admitted that the notion sounded tempting, but if things were as bad as Iruka had indicated in his voice, then maybe he should let the medics do what they could. Then he could waylay the hospital rooms in a systematic and violent fashion.
Finally coming to a stop outside of his home, he released the rest of his pent-up anger by slamming his fist into the wall before walking inside and up to his room. Flopping down on his bed, he covered his head with his hands, forbidding himself from crying. 'Remember Inari? Nothing is accomplished if you cry all day. Grow up!' Yet the tears flowed even as he tried to stop them. 'But then, I told Inari once that it's okay to cry sometimes, right?.'
A knock on the front door brought Naruto back into the real world. Wiping his remaining tears away, he walked over and opened the front door slowly, only to reveal Sasuke looking every battered and tired. It was obvious that he had headed straight to Naruto's house after dropping Sakura off. "You. have been crying." was all that he said before he collapsed.
"W-whoa!" Catching him before he fell, Naruto muttered "Why." as he dragged the other boy to his room and hauled him onto the bed, ".can't you be lighter?" sighing, he slumped down into the chair that sat conveniently next to the bed.. Could the night get any worse?
BOOM!
Apparently. it just did.
Jumping up, he ran to the window and looked out. The horizon glowed red.
"Shit!"
"Yeah, you can say that again"
"You're up." Naruto declared, blinking, as Sasuke pulled himself up into a sitting position on the bed.
"How observant." Sasuke muttered dryly, cringing as he moved his right arm to look at a particularly bad bruise.
Naruto didn't reply, and instead busied himself with shrugging on his standard orange jacket (altered to accompany the longer length of his limbs). "Stay here." he commanded before walking out the door. Sasuke didn't listen to him, just like he never did, and immediately got up to observe his teammate's living quarters.
Surprisingly, it was clean and organized. Getting up and favoring his left leg, Sasuke walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. He hadn't eaten in a while, and was in desperate need of food.until he saw the contents Naruto's refrigerator. The whole two first shelves where packed with milk cartons. The third and fourth had leftover ramen and stir fry packages. Muttering about Naruto and his obsession with ramen, he tried the cupboards with pretty much the same success, although he did manage to find something other than instant ramen. There were some canned foods, a filled rice jar, some dry seaweed, and two cupboards dedicated to hundreds of spices Sasuke couldn't even name. In short, Sasuke was surprised. Where had Naruto acquired a taste for so many different spices? More importantly, where had he found so many different spices?
Naruto ran toward the fire that claimed the southern part of the village. When he got there, he ran into Kakashi, and asked what was going on. He prayed that they weren't under attack, as most of the Hidden Leaf Ninjas were away on missions, and at the moment both Sakura and Sasuke were out of commission. Speaking of Sasuke. he hoped that the other boy would stay in bed like he was told to. But Naruto did not doubt that the jerk was most likely to be shifting through his stuff. and he grimaced at the thought.
As it turned out, it was only a normal fire to attend to. No ninja jutsu, no assassins leaping out of the shadows.it just some kegs of flour blowing up because some one left a lamp too close to the barrels. Knowing that he would not be needed or wanted to clean up the mess, Naruto started to head back home. While passing by Sakura's house he reminded himself to see her tomorrow, unless he found himself as part of the clean up crew, or if Kakashi suddenly give him a mission.
When arriving home he saw the light on. At first he scowled, but then smirked at the thought of surprising Sasuke. Instead of entering through the door like a normal human being, he leaped up to the rooftop and swung in though the open window.
"HEY!" he yelled as he walked downstairs to see Sasuke going though his cupboards. Sasuke just looked at him and raised an eyebrow at the blond entering through the supposedly wrong door. Then he casually went back to looking for ingredients.
"Oi, get out of there! Who said you could go though my stuff?" Naruto yelled, pushing Sasuke gently away from the cupboard "Besides, you should be in bed!", Sasuke just snorted. "If you don't get your butt back in bed and I will kick you. in the leg." Sasuke looked up abruptly, 'How did he know? I wasn't showing anything. was I? ".Yes, I know you have a limp! Now get to bed!" pointing upstairs, Naruto watched Sasuke walk back to his bedroom.
'Now with that taken care of.' Naruto began to make dinner. 'I can't believe I slept the day away. and that ramen! I know that I was too worried about Sakura to eat, but how could I pass up lunch?'
Sasuke was positive that for dinner he was going to get a bowl of instant ramen, but to his surprise the smells that drifted from the kitchen were scents that he did not recognize.. When Naruto walked in, he carried a steaming bowl on a tray, all set with chopsticks and a spoon, and sat it down in front of Sasuke who just gaped at the exquisite ramen bowl. 'Naruto can cook?' He thought, incredulously.
"Well go on, eat it! It's not going to kill you!" Naruto scolded, and walked out again. Sasuke just stared at it. Naruto. had changed. The neatness of his home, his slightly more mature way of handling serious situations.the fact that what he cooked smelled really damn good, and not just because he was hungry. How come he had never noticed? Was it because he still did some of the stupid stuff when he was little? That had to be it. He was still a troublemaker, so he just assumed that the prankster would never grow up. "I don't hear you eating! I told you it's not going to kill you! Now eat!" Naruto shouted from the other room.
Sasuke sighed. They had both had a bad day, obviously, so it was better if he ate and solved at least one problem. Hesitantly he lifted some of the noodles from the bowl to his mouth, and found that it tasted even more delicious than it smelled, and was done in a matter of minutes. Setting the bowl aside, he wondered how Naruto had made it with the limited supplies that he had. Perhaps Naruto had some extra pantries that Sasuke had not seen.
'Or maybe I'm more hurt than I thought.' Sasuke mused, but he was confident enough in his strength that he seriously doubted that. 'So what is going on? How could Naruto grow up in such a short amount of time. okay, it has been five years, and the last time I saw Naruto's living space was so far back that I can't remember if the place was clean or not.' bewildered, he shook his head. 'What am I doing?' He thought, frustrated. 'Now is not the time to be wondering if Naruto has or ever had hygiene problems!
Standing up, he carefully picked up the tray and dishes and tried to walk to the kitchen and make it back in one piece. Although walking was not the challenging part, balancing both the tray and himself was a bit more difficult, with one hand and an injured leg.'This doesn't look good.'l he thought as he stumbled and started falling. 'Why the hell do I keep pushing myself?'
"You know, man, it would be a lot more helpful if you just asked me to take the dishes for you."
Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto supporting him with one hand and the tray with the other. 'Hmph.' Sasuke found himself slowly sinking into oblivion.
Naruto blinked a few times before realizing that by just standing there he wasn't going to get anything done. He set the tray down on the kitchen table and carried Sasuke over to his bed ('There's no way in hell I'm carrying his wide load all the way back to his place!') where he tucked him in before heading back to the table to take the tray to the sink.
At the sink, he turned on the faucet and let the warm water run over his hands before he took the bowl and began washing, using liberal amounts of soap.
'He really hasn't changed much,' he thought, 'he's pretty much the same selfless arrogant bastard. The only part of him that has grown is his hair. and it makes him look like a girl.' Naruto snorted. In truth Sasuke had grown taller just like Naruto, but he also grew his raven colored hair out to the point that it was even longer than how Sakura's had been years ago (nowadays, she kept it short). Turning the water off and drying his hands on a washcloth by the sink, he plopped into a chair at the kitchen table and looked up at the ceiling. 'I wonder what happened.'
The next day Naruto awoke with his face squished into the kitchen table. With a groan he stretched and wandered into his bedroom to see if Sasuke was awake.which he wasn't. Walking back into the kitchen, Naruto wondered if he should make some breakfast..'Pffft.' Instead he pulled out a milk carton from the refrigerator and drained it.
"I will now take this moment to remind myself to never drink anything from an opened milk carton in your house." declared a dry sardonic voice that Naruto was used to. He turned to look at Sasuke leaning against the doorway.
He shrugged. "My milk, not yours." now that he knew Sasuke was awake, he started to make breakfast.
Sasuke was a bit surprised to see ''dead last" Naruto up so early. While Naruto made breakfast, Sasuke watched with fascination. Who knew you could do so much with packaged ramen noodles?
When breakfast was ready, Sasuke tossed composure and patience out the window and inhaled his share. So did Naruto, since he really didn't know (or believe in) any other style for eating ramen.
Sasuke leaned back to accommodate for his swelled stomach, and couldn't help but still wonder where Naruto learned how to cook. "How.?" Sasuke caught himself putting his thoughts into speech, and shut his mouth.
".Can I cook?" Naruto finished for him. Sasuke only blinked a nodded dumbly, so Naruto sighed and leaned back, clasping his hands to the back of his head. "I learned by myself .through experimentation. You see, when you live by yourself you can't always eat out, and you can't live completely on instant either." he paused, or then his eyes looked at the floor. ".No one would bother teaching me. so I just went out on a limb and tried, and I found out that I was just naturally good at cooking. pretty stupid, huh?" and with that he got up, grabbed both of the dishes, and walked over to the sink to clean them.
Sasuke didn't know what to think. He had heard the loneliness in Naruto's voice, and part of him could relate to that. After all, they both lost their parents at a young age. However, another part of him believed that Naruto's life was none of his concern. And yet another part of him felt no form of identification or aloofness, but just pity. He shoved the notion away. He would not pity Naruto; he didn't deserve that kind of insult.
Sasuke stood up to help Naruto put the dishes away. Naruto protested, but he stopped when he saw a particular look in his teammate's dark eyes.
'And I don't either.'
As the next few days dragged on, Sasuke made up excuses to stay at Naruto's house. He didn't really know why. He was positive that he could take care of his injuries, and he had never desired or needed company before. Maybe it was because of the food.or maybe it was because this new Naruto intrigued him.
*=Authers's note/rambling=*
Dark: Muahaha thse supsence! *cough*
Muku: muuuukuuu wants PIE!!!!!!!!!111 Apple pie!
Dark:...ANYway
Muku: XDDD
Dark: there WILL be plot..I think.
Muku: *snorts*
Dark: XD Reviews are most welcome!