It's the third night in a row and Sasuke still can't sleep. Of course he knows the answer, he just doesn't want to admit it. Admit that he can no longer fall asleep without the people he's been away from for the last four years. He rolls onto his back and stares at the ceiling, debating if attempting sleep is even worth it.
After a few more moments, he makes his decision.
They've set up camp for the night in a small clearing. Konoha isn't that far, and they probably could've make it back by morning but traveling after almost two days without rest was out of the question. Tsunade had sent Team Kakashi, along with Yamato, out on an escort mission for a carpenter traveling back to his village. Much like Team 7's first C-rank-turned-A-rank mission.
It was nostalgic for Kakashi, but almost painful for Sakura and Naruto. Yamato and Sai didn't understand; they just saw Sasuke as another S-ranked missing nin who needed to be taken in and punished for his crimes. The Copycat Ninja couldn't really explain it, but those three kids were different after that, they were closer and didn't argue as much, even if no one really saw it.
The five of them sat around the fire, too busy eating after being on the road for so long. There was a rustling in front of them and they all tensed, kunai at the ready. When their supposed attacker revealed themselves, three of them almost let their guard down. Naruto and Sakura's eyes were wid with disbelief.
Sasuke stood in front of them, appearing more vulnerable than they've ever seen him, and looked between them before he let his gaze fall on his former teammates.
The two in question dropped their kunai and set their food aside. Yamato and Sai were still on guard while Kakashi sat back and observed. Sakura was the first to pull the Uchiha into an embrace, followd by Naruto, and Sasuke visibly relaxd and leaned into them. He closed his eyes and let his head fall forward onto their shoulders.
"I can't sleep," he murmured for only them to hear, hands twitching with the urge to return the hug like he'd done so easily before. The other two shared a glance with each other, their eyes softening considerably and silently making an agreement.
Yamato moved to stop the three of them when they started towards Naruto and Sakura's tent, but Kakashi put his hand up and shook his head. "He'll be gone by morning," he told him, making eye contact with Sasuke as they walked past and catching the boy's slight nod.
Naruto pulled the tent flaps closed enough so light from the fire and the others' quiet conversation wouldn't filter through, and Sasuke immediately curled into Sakura's side under the thin blanket. He felt Naruto plaster himself to his back and he allowed himself to fully relax and let his walls fall.
He feels like he's home.
"Miss this," he says without thinking, and buries his face in the crook of Sakura's neck.
"You could stay until we head out," Naruto replies, lips pressing to his shoulder as Sakura's fingers thread through his hair, making Sasuke sigh contently.
He takes Naruto's hand that's on his stomach and brings it up to tuck it under his chin. "You know I can't," he says, not hiding the disappointment in his tone.
"You heard Kakashi-sensei, Naruto," Sakura says softly. She uses the arm Sasuke's laying on to hold him tighter and reaches out with her other to put her hand on top of theirs. "As much as we want him to stay, he has to be gone by morning."
Sasuke feels his chest tighten and he clenches his eyes shut, trying to press closer to them. It results in the three of them completely pressed together to where Naruto and Sakura can wrap their arms completely around him and themselves. Sasuke doesn't mind it at all. It makes him feel safe, being cocooned between them.
"Sleep." Sakura kisses the top of his head and stars petting his hair as Naruto noses at his hairline at the nape of his neck. "You look exhausted. How long have you been like this?"
Sasuke hesitates. "Three days. I've been catching a few hours during the day but it isn't helping anymore."
"Sleep is important," Naruto mumbles from behind him, completely content with staying silent and cuddling his boyfriend, making up for lost time.
Sasuke lets out a breathy snort. "If you do more sleeping than training, you'll never catch up to me, dobe."
The blonde gently knees him in the back of his thigh with a nip to his ear. "Teme."
"Boys," Sakura admonishes quietly. "It's late and we've been traveling nonstop for two days. I'm tired, and so are you. Sleep."
Naruto and Sasuke sigh, but give each other gentle smiles. "Yes, ma'am."
The hair petting resumes, this time from both of them, and Sasuke finds himself finally drifting off to sleep. His last thought before losing consciousness is that he desperately wishes he could stay.
Yamato chose to be on guard that night, so before retreating to his tent, Kakashi decides to check on the three that had disappeared. He smiles fondly at what he finds.
They're laying horizontally so their feet don't stick out of the tent. Sasuke's sandwiched between Naruto and Sakura, facing Naruto now, and wrapped around the blonde like a child clinging to his parents' leg. They're fast asleep and it's bringing back memories of their first few missions out of the village. He'd probably never say it out loud, but he does miss Sasuke. He misses his team. No matter how many times he tries to accept Sai as one of their own, he will never fill that gap that Sasuke made when he left.
Before he gets too deep in his memories, he quietly lets the flaps fall shut and goes to his own tent.
When the sun rises the next morning, Sai is the first one awake, like always, and he stops in his tracks at the sight in front of him.
Next is Yamato, and he's just as apprehensive as Sai, but everyone else seems to be ignoring it.
When Kakashi awoke this morning, he expected to step out of his tent and see sullen faces, ready for more silence on the way home. What he didn't expect was this.
Sitting on the logs around what used to be the fire, were Team 7, bickering and being loud like they've only been apart for days instead of years. Sakura and Naruto were trying to get Sasuke to eat ("That snake bastard was obviously feeding you dog shit, you're all skin and bones." "Dobe, do you honestly think he would willingly let his next "host" starve?"), literally shoving food in his face despite his protests.
The jounin stepped forward in front of them, hands in his pockets and just looked down at Sasuke, face expressionless.
He held out his fist and Sasuke swallowed thickly, glancing at Naruto and Sakura and briefly at Sai and Yamato, and pushed his own fist against it. Kakashi smiles under his mask and ruffles Sasuke's hair, chuckling at his annoyed expression. Adorable.
They finally head out, Sasuke in the middle of all of them (Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura didn't believe he would try something but it made the other two feel at ease). The curse mark will have to be resealed once they get to the village, and Sasuke will have to be interrogated and have a meeting with Tsunade, but it'll be smooth sailing after that. Because Sasuke is finally coming home.
me: writes 625 words of sasunaru
also me: writes 1k words of narusasusaku
here's how narusasusaku works for me, since i'm anti-sasusaku: naruto is dating sakura and sasuke, sakura and sasuke are dating naruto and are in a qpr with each other. to me, narusasusaku revolves around physical/emotional comfort and love, so there's zero sex involved.
i changed the ending multiple times and eventually just went "fuck it, sasuke's coming home"
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