Sasuke focused on his breathing as he stomped toward Naruto's house. He didn't often take the advice of his therapist seriously, but this coping technique actually worked and he seriously needed something to help with his stress. It was 5:00 and nearly time for their test. Their new sensei had most likely already arrived at the training ground since he left and his new teammate was making him late.
He had known teammates would only slow him down. He had arrived at Training Ground 3 two hours early to make a good impression- his sensei, Kakashi Hatake hadn't seemed fond of him before, and he couldn't risk the man being petty enough to focus on the others to make a point- only to find that one of the many annoying girls with a crush on him was there. It wasn't until an hour later that some of her chatter registered and he realized that she was one of his teammates. Eventually she realized that Naruto wasn't there, and, desperate to leave, he left to find the idiot.
He knew where he lived, of course. Everybody in the Academy had been sent to bring him into the Academy, whether he was willing or not, on the days that he decided to skip. Sasuke wasn't sure why the moron was even allowed to stay enrolled. It was obvious he didn't take his education seriosuly, let alone his future as a ninja. Anybody else would have been kicked out long ago.
Stepping up to Naruto's door, Sasuke banged three times before breathing in slowly through his nose. Holding his breath and counting to five, he pooled chakra in his lungs. Focusing on his frustration with Uzumaki, the pink haired girl, and Hatake, he quickly converted a small portion of it to fire chakra. Once he reached five, he breathed out through his mouth, allowing a small tendril of flame to lick the air. As he watched it dissipate, he felt a bit calmer. Realizing that he'd actually been waiting on the the idiot for nearly thirty seconds, whatever serenity he'd gained was gone. He picked some tools out of one of his pockets and quickly picked the lock.
Slipping inside, Sasuke nearly gagged. The place obviously hadn't been cleaned in some time, and the stench certainly showed it. The place smelled of rotten milk and ramen. Looking at the table, he saw that was exactly what he smelled. Storming down a hallway, the young Uchiha planned on showing the blonde idiot exactly how displeased he was with his current situation only to stop dead. Standing under a shower head with very low water pressure in a bathroom with no door was a young blonde girl. For a moment Sasuke thought that this may be a sister but a quick look at her cheeks proved that this was Naruto under a Transformation.
He wouldn't have believed it otherwise. The blonde certainly screamed like a girl when he noticed that he wasn't alone.
'What the hell are you doing here, bastard?!" The blonde was trying desperately to cover himself up but the lack of a curtain made it a little difficult.
Covering his eyes, Sasuke forced his mind's eye to focus on the whisker marks on the showering boy's-girl's- face. "You're late," he growled. At least he attempted to. His vocal cords weren't developed enough and he was currently too small to intimidate anyone no matter how he carried himself. He'd have to wait until he got his Sharingan. "I came to get you so we won't be penalized for your tardiness. I'm just hoping sensei is late like yesterday."
"Right, sorry 'bout that. You can uncover your eyes now." Sasuke did. Apparently the blonde had turned the shower off already and had some pants on. He'd already undone the Transformation, so Sasuke was given another eyeful as he slipped his shirt on. Naruto blinked at him. "Aren't ya gonna ask me why I was a girl?"
"Weren't you always?"
The idiot scowled. "Oh, shaddup ya bastard."
...
Sasuke liked walking in the streets at night. The outdoors was usually too open for him to feel comfortable, even with all of the people Crowding the streets, but the massive trees surrounding the village and dotting the village itself made sure that the moon gave the streets little light. If he closed his eyes and allowed his memory to guide him he could convince himself that he was walking down a narrow corridor.
Sasuke allowed himself to think that the test went well. He wasn't pleased with the lesson he was supposed to have learned, but he was still a Genin. He supposed he could deal with the childish sensei and obnoxious teammates for a while.
"Hey, bastard, wait up!" Sasuke cringed. Not only was the idiot disturbing his thoughts, but he decided to deafen him? He stopped in place and allowed the blonde catch up to him. No point in losing him when he'd only bitch about it tomorrow.
"What do you want, Naruto?"
"Geez I just wanna-"
Sasuke put two finger over the moron's lips, clenching them shut. "Naruto. We are in the middle of a street at 11:30 at night. There are people sleeping here. Tell me, what is the proper protocol in this situation"
The idiot blinked. Pulling back from Sasuke's fingers, he muttered, "quiet?"
Sasuke nodded. He didn't really care about the personal feelings of others, but he certainly didn't want to hear the blonde's screeching. Maybe if he got the blonde to think about his actions around him, he would actually be somewhat bearable to be around. "Good. Now what is it that you want?"
The blonde perked up before settling down just as quickly. He blinked. Sasuke wondered if smacking him would help him remember what he wanted to talk about but decided he didn't want to add to his brain damage. "Oh yeah!" Sasuke glared. "I mean, 'oh yeah...' Eh, could ya come back to my place? I don't really wanna talk out here."
Sasuke tapped his fingers at his side. "I'm not planning on participating in any team bonding exercises with the two of you if that's what this is about." Pinky-he still couldn't remember her name- had asked him to take part in one, but he could tell it was a thin excuse to get him alone.
"It's not..." The blonde began to turn red as he quieted down. Sasuke was pleased. At least he was intimidating enough to scare the idiot into learning. That would have to do for now. "Can we just... talk somewhere? It's about what ya saw earlier."
Sasuke frowned. "Why would you want to talk about that? Weren't you embarrassed enough?"
The other boy boy began to tremble and Sasuke was thought he saw tears forming in his eyes. "'Cause I need ta talk to somebody, and you're the best I got."
Sasuke grit his teeth. "Fine. Follow me." Yes, this one would definitely be slowing him down. Anything he could o to make him less likely to break down in tears during a mission would be worth it. Even allowing him into his apartment.
His apartment had been his destination earlier, so he was close by. As he opened the door he noticed the cushion on the seat of his chair was slightly out of place. He only had one in the entire place, situated in the corner of the first of the three rooms. His living room was also his kitchen and dining room, and his bathroom was a small thing connected to his small bedroom. The hokage had been surprised when he'd chosen this place to live, considering his trust fund allowed for something for much larger, but Sasuke liked it. The only time he liked open spaces was outside, and even then he was always slightly uncomfortable. What made him more uncomfortable, though, was the cushion being out of place. He knew why it was like that, but he also knew that he couldn't do anything about it.
Sasuke began to breathe in slowly with his nose before remembering that Naruto was there. He had no intention of doing that in front of him.
Sasuke sat down with his back straight in his only chair, pushing the cushion back into place as he did so. "Sit."
Naruto stood in front of him, looking around the unfurnished room. The only other place other than the floor that he could sit was the kitchen counter, but he apparently knew that he shouldn't sit there. "Where?"
Sasuke frowned. He had intended for him to sit on the floor in order to establish his position in the household. Sure, it was petty of him, but he didn't want the class clown to think their position as teammates meant they were friends, let alone equals. Unfortunately, he had reason to believe that their new sensei would learn of the power play by tomorrow. He hated it when he had to make a good impression on someone. Pretending to care about people you care about was so exhausting.
"I don't get visitors very often," Sasuke started. "so I only have the one chair. You can stand if you would like, or sit on the floor." There. He gave him the option to choose how he spent the visit instead of forcing him sit on the floor. Standing would even allow him to feel as if he was in a higher position than Sasuke. That is, if he even put that much thought into it. Sasuke didn't care about height, though. The comfort of his chair established his place firmly in his mind.
He chose to stand, moving his sock covered feet back and forth across the wooden floor. "So... eh, what'ya wanna know?"
Sasuke sighed internally. He didn't care to know anything, but if it was necessary, he would go along with it. The person listening in may already know this already so there was no need to ensure that Naruto was quiet. "Why are you telling me? You seem to have grown close to Iruka overnight. Even Kakashi-sensei may be a better confidant."
Naruto frowned. "Iruka-SENSEI might not like me if I told him. And I don't want Kakashi-sensei to think I'm weird already."
"He already does."
"And that's why you're better! You won't think bad of me 'cause of it. You already do. And you won't tell anybody else like Kiba or Ino would 'cause ya don't have any friends ta tell it to. Um... I mean-"
"Just get on with it."
"Right." The blonde shifted on his feet before sitting down on his rear. "Eh, well I figured I should tell you so you don't get any weird ideas. I know it looked weird, me being in the girl form just for showering. But... I kinda..."
Sasuke clenched a fist to his side. "Get on with it."
"Right. Well, I kinda stay like that whenever I'm... alone."
Sasuke inhaled roughly through his nose and exhaled roughly through his mouth. "I don't care to learn how you get yourself off, Naruto. If this is the only thing you came to say..."
"No! It's.. well I just feel better that way. Don't really know why."
Blinking, Sasuke looked at Naruto. He was a deep shade of red, obviously incredibly embarrassed. And confused. He didn't realize what that meant, did he? Or what kind of power he'd given Sasuke over him. Sasuke almost wished he hadn't told him. He hadn't been expecting their conversation to go anything like this.
He licked his lips. "Could you... explain?"
"Well, I just feel... right? I don't really know how to explain it. I've always felt kinda wrong when I'm like this," he waved an arm in front of his body to show him what he meant. "But when we learned the Transformation, and I made the Sexy Jutsu, it felt... right?"
Sasuke closed his eyes. Definitely didn't expect this. "So what is it that you expect from me? An explanation as to why you feel that way? Comfort?"
"Can ya do that?"
Sasuke opened his eyes to glare at him.
"Explain! I mean, can ya tell me why? I didn't think you'd have any idea."
"...No. I've read about it once in the library, once, but it was only a small passage." He'd been looking for anything other than the children's books that librarians were trying to get him to read at the time. He'd read a few chapters of a book on various mental disorders before realizing that he hardly understood anything he'd read. He was eight years old, and his entire family had been wiped out five months before, so his pride hadn't been too damaged by his inability to read the thick book.
The librarians still never managed to drag him into the children's section.
"The library?"
"Yes. A large building with books. The academy had a small one, you may recall."
The blonde bristled. "I know what a library is, bastard! I just... never was allowed in." He seemed to shrink in on himself.
Sasuke scoffed. "Of course you weren't."
Naruto looked up at him, startled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, look at you. You've worn the same exact tracksuit for the past year and a half, and I doubt you wash it regularly. We both have dirt on our faces from our training, but you hardly have any more on you than usual. I'm pretty sure this morning's shower wasn't a daily thing, and I'm also sure that you didn't simply not have time to use shampoo. You look like you're homeless, Naruto, but you don't even have that as an excuse."
Naruto blinked at him. The weirdo even seemed to be happy about what he'd said. "You're right... That is a reason not to like me, isn't it? Not just..."
"Not just what?
"Eh, nothing." He jumped up, pacing back and forth. "Could ya get me a copy of that book?" He began to walk toward the door, happy to leave. Sasuke was surprised, but pleased. It had seemed like he'd still wanted to talk.
"I'll consider it the next time I go to pick one up. But don't get your hopes up." By the time he finished, the idiot had already slammed the front door shut. And in that same second Sasuke's window opened and closed. He sighed in defeat as he smelled the tobacco. Looking up at the invader, he nodded sharply. "Hokage."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokake of Konoha, nodded back at Sasuke, his face hard as stone. "Sasuke. I hope you don't mind, but I took it upon myself to dismiss your visitor. I'd like to speak with you."