Rating: K.
Warning: Implied NaruSasu, but it can also be taken as friendship.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and am not making any profit from this.
It should have been a normal rainy day for a certain Sasuke Uchiha. Usually, he would wriggle into his turtle neck and mosey around in his pajama bottoms. He would curl up in his favorite chair by the window with the soft glow of the yellow light beside him and read the day away. He would munch on chips and drink soda, because he deserved it and didn't feel like making a proper dinner anyway.
Alas! When Sasuke curled up in his favorite chair by the window on this very different rainy day, he saw his teammate sitting on the bench just across the street from the Uchiha Manor gates.
Sasuke stared out at the blonde ninja. From this distance, all he could really see was the boy's bright hair, and that he wasn't in his usual dorky jumpsuit. He was in a black t-shirt and dorky orange shorts instead. He doesn't really even look like himself, Sasuke thought. He was sure it wasn't the outfit that made the blonde look odd to the Uchiha.
Pondering for a moment, Sasuke realized Naruto looked strange because he was sitting still. Sasuke was used to seeing Naruto constantly jumpy and too excited to sit still. He'd rather stand than sit, walk than stand, and run than walk. But seeing him sitting on the bench—literally, just sitting and staring up at the cloudy sky—Sasuke groaned aloud.
The only reason Naruto ever sat still was when he was sad. And if Naruto was sad, Sasuke had to go cheer him up.
Don't ask why, he just had to. Gosh.
So Sasuke put on his rain boots (tucking his pajama pants in because he was not changing them, and he was also not getting them wet), dug an umbrella out of the closet, and exited the house through the Uchiha Manor gates, crossing the street to the bench Naruto was occupying. Up close, the Uchiha knew he was right in his assumption that Naruto was sad; his eyes were beautifully dark, yet sad and haunting. They were a complete contrast to the normal light, happy-go-lucky, blue.
Sasuke stood in front of the bench and waited for Naruto to look at him. When he did, his head moving slowly from pointing upwards at the sky to Sasuke, the raven said "Naruto, what are you doing?"
Naruto, his arms resting lazily along the top half of the bench, shrugged. "I wanted to see you."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Well there's this thing called a doorbell, I don't know if you know how to use it. I mean, it's pretty difficult to work, so I understand your predicament..." He smirked.
Naruto mimcked Sasuke, the corner of his mouth turning upwards a bit. "Well I was gonna try that romantic thing—where you throw a rock at your lover's window—and get you to come downstairs all late and stuff and then show you something spectacular... But then I realized I don't have anything to show, really." The way he said it was like a joke, but Sasuke could tell, from his tone or the look on his face or in his eyes that Naruto was actually quite disappointed in himself. "And then," Naruto continued, "I was actually gonna try and take you out like a righteous gentleman, and even ring the bell at the gate or whatever... But I didn't see a bell and couldn't open the gate... So..."
"Don't be an idiot," Sasuke said, his face slightly red. He sat beside the blonde, who placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder gently. "Why didn't you climb the gate and come to the door?"
Naruto shrugged again. "Didn't think of that." He was quiet for a moment, and Sasuke took that silence to ponder on why Naruto was sad. He didn't have time to come up with an answer before Naruto suddenly laid his head on Sasuke's shoulder and asked "Sasuke, am I spectacular?"
"What?" Sasuke questioned, turning his head to look at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.
The blonde sighed and closed his eyes, slowly wrapping his arms completely around Sasuke. "Spectacular," Naruto repeated, (as if Sasuke was the idiot here!). "Am. I. Spectacular?" He ennunciated.
"I don't know... But you know what I do know?" Sasuke asked. "Wanna know what I think would be… spectacular?"
"What?"
"If you got off of me and stopped ruining my sweater, because you are drenched." Sasuke shook the blonde off of him and scooted over on the bench.
Naruto rolled his eyes, sighing (must've gotten that from Sasuke...). "You're such a..." He never got to finish; the rain picked up from its previous drizzle and began to pour. It was loud as it hit the concrete, the grass and the dirt, Sasuke's umbrella, the bench—everything. The sound pounded in the two boys' ears as they waited it out.
When the pouring stopped, Sasuke was holding the bridge of his nose. "This stupid rain's giving me a headache. Can't we go inside and talk?"
"I dunno," Naruto said, fussing around until he was upside down on the bench. Moron. "I kind of like the rain. Wait, no. Understatement."
"Do you even know what that means, dobe?"
Naruto glared. "Shut up, teme. I'm tryin' to be deep here."
Sasuke smiled at that little piece of his happy Naruto shining through his sadness.
"I just like that... The rain washes all my imperfections away... No one's ever outside, and if they are, they just want to get home… so I guess it's not that great, being so lonely and all... But I guess... Well, I've got you, don't I, Sasuke?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke sitting on the bench, with his sadly haunting, pretty, dark blue eyes.
And Sasuke realized, then and there, that yes. Naruto had Sasuke in his unrelenting, unforgiving grip. This was a bond he could not shake, no matter where he went or what he did. Naruto's memory—his laugh, his eyes, his unwavering determination—had Sasuke in its clutches, and forever he would stay.
"Yeah," Sasuke said, looking down at the blonde. "Now let's go inside."
Thank you for reading!
