"Your apartment looks just as bad as you do, dobe."
"Yeah, well, I don't have a lot of time to spend on it and – did you just say that I look bad?!"
"Yes."
"Asshole! Insulting my apartment, insulting me – why did I even agree to let you come up here?"
"Because you look like you're getting scurvy, and your clothes stink," Sakura pointed out helpfully, lifting a suspicious shirt off the couch with two cautious fingers, and then immediately setting it down as a bug scurried out of the sleeve. Naruto frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at a fleck of dust on the ceiling to avoid their gazes. Oh. Wait. That was a spider.
So maybe there was a point here.
"I can't just skip training to clean! And besides, I'm only here to sleep and stuff. It's not that big of a deal," Naruto groused, following the spider's slow movements with lazy blue eyes. Sakura let out a sigh of exasperation and Sasuke made a noise similar to a growl.
"It matters, dobe, when your stench is distracting me from training. Anyhow, how are we supposed to defeat potential enemies if your teeth are falling out from poor diet?" Sasuke frowned at both his outburst and Naruto's complete lack of attention, and then also folded his arms across his chest, intent on tracing the patterns of dust on the floor with his eyes. Sakura looked from one boy to the other, and then placed her hands on her hips, blowing air from her mouth in exasperation.
"Naruto, you idiot, we came over here to help you out! Do you want us to or not? We have good food, some cleaning supplies, and limited patience. You have to help, of course." She finished by whipping out a broom, a dustpan, and several large garbage bags. "Naruto, you handle your room. Pick up your dirty clothes and put them in one bag and then –"
"Sakura-chan, you're not going to make me throw away my clothes, are you?" Naruto looked at the plastic bag apprehensively, completely unconcerned about his interruption. Sakura clenched the plastic tighter in her hands, Breathe, just breathe. Apparently, her self-control was rather lacking today. She threw the bag at Naruto, who easily caught it even as he shrank away.
"No, you don't have to throw away your clothes, idiot! You're going to wash them." Sakura mumbled something like 'if you know what washing is' under her breath, but Naruto either didn't hear or ignored her. He looked at the plastic bag one more time, holding it away from his body like it was a snake. "As I was saying, pick up your clothes, and generally clean your room. There should be another broom in the bag, so you can use that. Any trash goes in the other garbage bag," She threw him another one, but this time he wasn't as quick. "Make sure you don't mix them up." She gave Naruto a light shove towards his bedroom and then turned back around, still holding her broom. Sasuke was looking at the wall as if he was contemplating leaning on it, but wasn't fully sure that he wouldn't contract a disease on contact.
Sakura smiled sweetly.
"Sasuke-kun, you can do the kitchen. Make sure to throw out anything expired, molded, or without a name. Then do the dishes, and if you are finished in time you can wash the windows." Sakura was unsure of what his reaction would be – even though it had been his idea to come and check Naruto's living conditions –and she didn't know if he would actually demean himself enough to do something about them. To her relief, and surprise, Sasuke simply sighed and slouched over to the kitchen, mumbling something under his breath. As she turned away, she saw him open the fridge door and visibly flinch away in horror.
For Sakura would be reserved the job of general main room cleaning. Scrolls lay everywhere, shoved in between the poorly stuffed couch cushions, while some lay open across a small coffee table. She gathered the scrolls, found a container and set them aside. The next task was disposing of trash, and that was a job for the century. She filled two, almost three, garbage bags before she had finally gotten the last of it. Sweeping came next, which filled up the living room with thick dust, even choking Sasuke from where he was in the kitchen.
Then, miraculously, it was done. The main room was as clean as it was ever going to be, and there was even some organization for Naruto's meager selection of belongings. Sakura leaned her broom up against the wall and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. What a workout! They wouldn't have missed training today at all – cleaning Naruto's house was training in and of itself. Right as she was about to sit down and take a much-deserved rest, Sakura caught sight of a small door to her right. She frowned. A closet, from the looks of it. A tattered coat hung up on a hook on the outside of the door, almost making her miss sight of it in the first place. With a sigh she got to her feet, grabbing another garbage bag and heading towards the door. At least her job was almost over. She reached for the handle just as Sasuke came into the room, arms soaked to the elbow and eyebrows drawn together.
"I am never eating cheese again –" He was cut off by Sakura's scream. As soon as she opened the door, a precariously put together tower of empty ramen cups came tumbling down, throwing her to the floor in her shocked unpreparedness. "Oh," Sasuke commented, pushing sweaty soaked hair from his eyes in exasperation. Ramen cups flew in all directions as Sakura shot out of the pile, eyes flashing.
"The idiot! The complete idiot! What was he thinking, letting his garbage pile up like that?" She turned and started marching towards Naruto's bedroom door, Sasuke following leisurely, wondering if he should tell her about the half-dried noodles in her hair. He decided against it as she nearly kicked Naruto's door in, stomping into the center of the room and pointing her finger at the true cause of the noodle cup mess. Sasuke walked into the room to see her frozen in that position, mouth halfway open, and eyes confused.
Naruto was sprawled across his freshly made bed, mouth open wide, drool dribbling onto his pillow.
It was the most endearing site either of them had ever seen.
And of course, neither of them would ever admit it.
Sakura, her rage muted, looked around Naruto's room with surprise. It was clean. Amazingly so, seeing who had been doing the cleaning. A full garbage bag stood in one corner, and one that was only half full stood in another, 'Clothes' hastily scrawled across it in white-out. The windows were open, letting fresh air into the room for the first time in what could have been months. What little decorations he had were dusted, the floor was swept, and the bed – which he was currently laying and drooling on – was made.
Sakura couldn't bring herself to wake him.
"Come on," she grouched with a sigh, turning away from the vision of the sleeping boy and back towards the Sasuke. "Let's go make dinner and then get out of here." Sasuke followed, leaving one last lingering look behind him as he shut the door.
Perhaps the day hadn't been such a waste after all.
::End::
And thus, this little fic was born from a strange day on LJ. Which reminds me. You should totally come visit my on Livejournal. Because I'm friendly. And I don't bite. And I occasionally write Naruto/Inuyasha/Ouran High School Host Club fics there that I don't upload here.
:D
Look in my profile for a link.
-Oo