Nothing Wrong with Us
Disclaimer: If I owned anything, I would not be sitting on a creaky rolly chair, drinking cheap iced tea and playing with a highlighter. The song is Those Nights by FM Static. The song that Naruto sings is Story of a Girl by Ninedays.
Author's Note: I have recently fallen in love with this song. I'm also slowly teaching myself it on the guitar! Woot! And yes, I'm hyper. Not going to karate makes me hyper.
-?-?-?-?
"Listen to Mustn't, child, listen to the Don'ts, the shouldn'ts. Listen to the Impossibles, the Won'ts. Listen to the Never Haves, then listen closely to me. Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."-Shel Silverstein
-!-!-!-!
I remember when we used to laugh about nothing at all
It was better than going mad
Sasuke sat on their futon that doubled as a couch, back on the armrest and book on his knees. This was one of his favorite places to read, other than in their bed. It wasn't quiet here, not with Naruto living here, but they were all homey sounds; the pots clattering in the kitchen, the hum of the heater, the steady dripping of the coffee machine and there was always some kind of music playing softly in the background because neither could stand total silence.
An outburst of laughter made Sasuke look up from his book and try to see around the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. "What happened?"
A grinning Naruto motioned him over and pointed into the pot of ramen. The spare noodles at the bottom made a strange shape, almost like a cat.
From trying to solve all the problems we're going through
Forget 'em all
Cause on those nights we would stand and never fall
Together we faced it all
"'Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.' Who said it?" Sasuke recited one of the quotes on their English exam.
"Umm…Albert something or other. Am I right?"
Sasuke's lips twitched upwards slightly The guy's name was hard to say. "Albert Sv-"Sasuke frowned and a grin was slowly growing on Naruto's lips.
"See? You can't say it either!"
"I said it better than you did!"
Naruto groaned and fell back on the bed. "I'm gonna fail this class. Why'd I sign up for literature again?"
Sasuke smiled ever so slightly. "Because despite anything you say, you love to read. And you're not going to fail."
Naruto gave him a skeptical look.
"You've got me on your side." Sasuke reminded him.
Remember when we'd Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In the dark room lit by the TV light
Through all the hard times in my life, those nights kept me alive
Naruto curled up against Sasuke's side, a carton of raspberry chocolate chip ice cream in his hands. Sasuke could feel his side vibrate slightly with Naruto humming along with the 'Friends' theme. Sasuke reached around Naruto during a commercial, trying to steal the spoon.
"C'mon Sasuke! This is my dinner!"
"You never eat dessert before dinner. Everyone knows that."
Naruto grinned up at him. "Good thing I'm a dobe, then, huh?"
Sasuke kissed him, tasting the fruity sweet taste mixed with Naruto's own exotic flavor.
"We need to get more of that ice cream." Sasuke murmured against the cool lips.
We'd listen to the radio play all night
Didn't want to go home to another fight
Through all the hard times in my life Those night kept me alive
Sasuke didn't even ring the doorbell or knock when he got to Naruto's apartment. He might as well live there, considering how much time he spent there. It was better than his own family at any rate, his father constantly arguing with either of his sons or completely ignoring Sasuke. The apartment was as familiar as ever, the sounds of soft rock playing quietly through the rooms.
Naruto looked up from his cooking at the sound of the door opening and closing and called, "Ne, Sasuke, want some stuffed tomatoes for dinner?"
I remember when we used to drive anywhere but here
As long as we'd forget our lives
"You are not driving on the way back, dobe. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack."
Naruto smiled and placed his ear over Sasuke's chest. "Mm. Doesn't sound like you did though, so I guess I'm off the hook."
"You'd get stuck on the proverbial hook, knowing your clumsiness."
"Lucky thing it's a metaphorical hook. That sounds painful."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "God forbid you get yourself into any situation that involves pain." A pale finger lightly tapped just above the bandage on Naruto's forehead.
"Hey, our stairs move, okay?!"
"They're not escalators, dobe."
Naruto huffed and pouted a little, burying his face, being carefully of his forehead, in Sasuke's shoulder. "I don't need you and your logic, teme."
We were so young and confused that we didn't know to laugh or cry
Those nights were ours
Naruto refused to look up from the pillow and hadn't moved much more than the shaking of his shoulders since they'd gotten home. Sasuke sat beside him, trying to coax him up.
"It's not that bad, Naruto."
Sasuke felt the strong shoulders beneath his hand tense a half-second before Naruto whipped his head around to face him. "Not that bad? Dammit, Sasuke, you don't deserve to be treated like that."
Sasuke caught the wording. "I don't deserve it? So you do?"
Naruto turned away on his side, back to Sasuke. "Mmhmm."
The onyx eyes narrowed and he roughly grabbed the blonde's shoulder to turn him over, forcing Naruto to face him. "Listen to me, Naruto. I don't care how I'm treated for this. Neither of us deserves it. Don't treat me like I'm any better than you are."
Naruto didn't pull away when Sasuke lift his head into his lap. "Yeah you are, teme. You saved me."
They will live and never die
Together we'd stand forever
Naruto looked at Iruka confusedly on his twenty-first birthday. Iruka's present was inside a box, not too much larger than his hands.
"Just open it, Naruto."
Naruto obliged and opened the box. Inside there was a scrapbook, the first page being one of him and Sasuke on the floor, textbooks being employed as pillows and Sasuke's arms around Naruto.
Remember when we'd Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In the dark room lit by the TV light
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive
"Remind me never to be a doctor, Sasuke."
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "So, you're willing to watch Angel and Buffy, stuff like that, but you get creeped out by House?"
"Not creeped out." Naruto corrected, "I'm fine with it. I just wouldn't be able to cut into somebody like that."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whenever anyone trusts you as a doctor, that will be the Apocalypse."
We'd listen to the radio play all night
Didn't want to go home to another fight
Through all the hard times in my life
Those night kept me alive
Naruto cut his own voice off as he entered the apartment. He'd been about to announce that he was home when he spotted Sasuke sitting on the kitchen counter, eyes closed in concentration with a guitar in his hands, playing whatever songs he remembered. It had been years since Sasuke had picked up his guitar, not since high school. Naruto simply leaned against the doorframe and listened.
Those nights belong to us
There's nothing wrong with us
Those nights belong to us
When people learned of their relationship, some scowled, some cursed and a handful of them smiled and hugged them in congratulations. Well, they hugged Naruto. Sasuke refused to be hugged. Most had never seen it coming, not with all the fights and arguments and insults, but now that they thought about it, they realized that yes; it had all fit together rather perfectly. It had all been an ac during the day, with secret smiles and glances.
At night however, they were free to be them. Away from society. Naruto was a little quieter and while their names for each other never went away-why would they?-It meant nothing to the world, but everything to them. Because if they didn't call each other one of their affectionate insults, then there was something wrong. It was their own secret system and they wouldn't have it any other way.
I remember when we used to laugh
And now I wish those nights would last
They'd never broken up, not really. They'd decided to go around the world, to travel and they'd ended up going in different directions. Sasuke had ended up in America from the last email, and Naruto was in Greece, seeing the enormous columns everywhere ad pretending not to notice how it all reminds him of Sasuke.
They'd find each other randomly over the globe. The last time had been in Germany in a little café. Naruto had been sitting there in a booth, knees up to his chest and sipping at some of the best hot chocolate he'd ever tasted (except for Sasuke's of course. Despite the fact that he didn't really like sweets, he could still make them the best) when a familiar person sat beside him with their own mug of tea and asked him how he was.
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In the dark room lit by the TV light
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive
By some trick of Fate, or perhaps the best damn luck in the world, they'd both ended up in the same hotel in Brazil, and there'd only been one room open. They'd looked at each other, communicating with their secret, silent language, and agreed simultaneously to share the room.
Naruto had watched him with interest as Sasuke told him about his own travels as they traded strange stories. Naruto had laughed at Sasuke's confusion as to why the Americans needed two pharmacies, the exact same ones, on the same street. Sasuke had raised his eyebrows at Naruto's stories of Greek food. The blonde vowed never to eat it again.
We'd listen to the radio play all night
Didn't want to go home to another fight
Through all the hard times in my life
Those night kept me alive
Sasuke had come out of the shower in a towel to find Naruto quietly singing to a a song that Sasuke hadn't heard in forever.
"This is the story of a girl
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world.
She looked so sad in photographs
But I absolutely lover her when she smiles…"
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In the dark room lit by the TV light
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive
It was good to be back in Japan. Sasuke had missed the atmosphere. It was entirely different from America. Automatically, he twisted the doorknob and was pleasantly surprised when he saw the familiar blonde laying down on the couch, with his head buried in Sasuke's pillow.
We'd listen to the radio play all night
Didn't want to go home to another fight
Through all the hard times in my life
Those night kept me alive
Sasuke considered waking him up, considered just going to their bed, but decided curl up beside his dobe on the futon, leaning his head against the broad shoulder and breathing in the familiar scent of pork ramen, grass, and rain. He wrapped an arm around his waist and fell asleep almost instantly, not bothering to notice how Naruto let the pillow go and buried his face in Sasuke's collarbone instead.
Those nights belong to us
There's nothing wrong…
-/-/-/-/
Greek food is actually really good, it just has a lot of vegetables, so I figured Naruto wouldn't like that too much.