Title: Domesticity
Rating: K+
Pairing: Sasuke/Naruto
Warnings: None.
Summary: Being alone was only a state of mind and when two lonely people were together, they were no longer lonely, that's how they saw their secret.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.
Domesticity
They had a secret. A secret that was devastating but not in the way most people would think.
Being alone was only a state of mind and when two lonely people were together, they were no longer lonely, that's how they saw their secret. It was nothing scandalous, but the girls would gossip if they found out.
The truth was, they hated each other but they were best friends. They were lonely but when they were together they were happy.
Their secret was simply that when they left training they returned home together, to a small one room apartment.
Sasuke had supplied a bed, slightly larger than Naruto's old one and big enough for the two of them. It sat in the corner with blue sheets that were always pressed and the bed made if Sasuke had his way. The window beside it was covered with makeshift curtains Naruto made himself with old blankets. They lived on the second floor, but they took no chances that someone could see in.
The opposite corner was the stove and a fridge and a pile of ramen boxes that Sasuke refused to let be stored with the other food.
There was a closest that they split in half, Naruto to the right and Sasuke to the left but often times Sasuke complained that Naruto had to much stuff which Naruto would compromise with Sasuke needing to buy more.
The only other location was the restroom which was tiny with one toilet, a shower stall and one sink, so teeth brushing was always an ordeal.
They were sure if word got out there'd be all kinds of rumors flying about them. Some of the top they had devised one night was a secret marriage, a training club, or they were plotting the destruction of the world; the latter of the three being Naruto's idea.
No. Their daily routine was basically unchanging and boring. Sasuke was up first, always at 6:00 am, never a minute later. Of course, the time he woke up wasn't always relative to the time he was out of bed. Usually detangling himself from Naruto took a good 10 to 15 minutes. And he knew, if he were ever to say that out loud the rumours would be unending. Though, the truth was the situation was completely innocent. Naruto tended to sleep spread eagle or kicked when he had night terrors. To solve this problem Sasuke let the younger male use him like a body pillow, and just like that Naruto was still and silent through the entire night. It was convenience really.
But once he had manage to stumble out of bed he'd go straight to the fridge and begin preparing eggs for breakfast while Naruto mumbled something about ramen. It was rare mornings when Sasuke would allow the blonde to have ramen for breakfast. Those occasions were reserved for when Naruto needed the carbs and hadn't pigged out at Ichiraku the night before, naturally these instances were rare.
Breakfast took just shy of 20 minutes to make and by then Naruto would be sitting up, rubbing his head, straightening out his orange sleeping tee-shirt. Sasuke would plate the eggs, sprinkle them with seasoning and walk back over handing one to Naruto before sitting crossed leg on the bed. Naruto would smile his thanks, and start eating while recapping his dreams for the night. More often than not Naruto talked about the Fourth Hokage, asking Sasuke if he thought it meant anything. Sasuke would make the same suggestion every time, 'maybe he was your father and you're experience a remaining chakra signature or memories.' Naruto would always laugh and finish his eggs before dropping the plate and jumping off the bed.
'Imagine me as the Hokage's son.' The same thing, like clockwork, followed by the same dopey grin. He'd call the bathroom first and shed his orange sleep shirt before he even made it there, tossing it absentmindedly on the floor. Sasuke would pick it up and toss it in the hamper after finishing his own breakfast.
Naruto would spend 10 minutes using the restroom and dressing, emerging in his regular orange pants and white shirt, he'd spend Sasuke's bathroom time looking around for his coat that was always hanging in the same spot.
Sasuke would enter the restroom and start a shower, shedding his black nightshirt before stepping in. He liked to use the hot spray of water to pretend that wasn't his brother's old shirt. He liked to convince himself that Itachi hadn't killed their entire clan. Sometimes he would stand in the shower and cry, wishing he could wake up and his family still be alive, these were the time that Naruto would burst in and say he forgot to brush his teeth. A part of him thought Naruto heard him and would always come back just to talk to him, to take his mind off things. He would never hear the sink run during these times.
By 7:15 Sasuke was dressed and out the door. By 7:30 Naruto was fumbling out, down the stairs trying to make it on time.
Come lunch time at 12:30, Sakura would present Sasuke with a homemade bento but would always conveniently forget about Naruto. Sasuke would promptly opt to have lunch with Naruto and share it with him, promising he'd make theirs next time they got paid. Naruto promised to make ramen.
By 16:25 they would be walking home together with Sakura, the three splitting paths, Sasuke stopping by a vegetable stand and Naruto stopping to get rice under threats. They would return home by no later than 17:00-17:05 in Naruto's case-and make dinner together. Most of the time it was a curry dish, unless they could afford meat, then they would make whatever they could come up with. They'd prepare a simple dessert and Naruto would try to sneak a bit before his actual dinner, Sasuke would smack his hand with a wooden spoon.
At 17:55 they'd sit cross legged on the tatami floors and Naruto would give his latest thoughts on what his parents had look like. One night he had a theory that his mother looked like his 'sexy jutsu' but with clothes on, but at the end of the night Naruto would sit on their tiny balcony reached by the window and stare at the faces of the Hokage monument. 'Why would he choose me? There's got to be a reason, right?' he asked the same question every night, and Sasuke had the theory that Naruto forgot this theory every day. To be honest, when Sasuke thought about it, Naruto being the Yondaime's son was not the craziest thing the boy had come up with.
Come 19:00 they'd dress for bed, Naruto ripping his clothes to his boxers, plopping down on their bed. Sasuke would berate him and throw a t-shirt at him. Naruto would sit up and Sasuke would be faced with the seal staring him in the face that reminded him what Naruto was. It reminded him there might be people who had it worse off than he did.
Their nights were different every night, they'd both admit that. At 20:00 exactly they'd turn the light off and Naruto would take the spot closest to the wall. They'd pull the blanket to their shoulders and lay there in silence. It was almost like a silent contest. Who would cry first? Who would succumb to the loneliness of the dark first?
No matter who broke first the other would pull the blanket over their heads and turn to the other, an arm going around in comfort, sharing their this was their secret. Their darkest secret. The blanket was their shield from the world, from their problems.
Perhaps when their lips touched, wet and trembling at night, they broke a bit more inside but this was their domesticity. This was their coping, this was their secret. It was theirs.
-end-