A/N: Hey everyone! For those of you reading my fic Instability, I am putting it on hold for a little while. I'm really sorry to do it, but I seem to have lost my plot a little bit. I'm hoping to get back into it soon!
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Sasuke lay on his neatly made bed, head resting on his pillow. He held a book above him, reading quietly while enjoying the relative comfort of the day. A soft knock on his door drew his attention from his book, causing him to glance over at the door.
"What?" he called, watching his door swing open. A lazy, half-lidded gaze met his, looking relatively bored.
"Yo, Sasuke. Looks like we got a new neighbor." He said calmly, getting Sasuke to sit up. Sasuke hated new neighbors. You could never tell if they were going to be loud, constantly come over and ask for things, or just be annoying in general. The black-haired boy swung his legs over his bed, setting his book down with the pages down, as to not lose his page.
"Does Neji know?" Sasuke asked, hearing footsteps approaching from down the hall.
"Yeah, Shikamaru told me a minute ago. Shall we go introduce ourselves?" the long-haired boy replied. The three twenty-two year old's shared a sigh, none particularly enjoying the social custom of "welcoming someone to the neighborhood." The three filed out of Sasuke's room, heading down a flight of stairs before stopping in front of their sliding glass door. From there, they could all see their new neighbor moving boxes one by one into his new home. He appeared to be by himself, which seemed strange.
"Maybe we should offer to help?" Neji suggested, watching the blonde come back out of his front door and lift another of the possibly twelve boxes that still sat in his driveway. Sasuke observed him for a minute longer; taking note of his appearance. The blonde was fairly tan, Sasuke assuming he spent much time outside. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with stripes on the chest and elbows of the sleeves, with a pair of Addidas sweatpants. He seemed to be fit, Sasuke able to see his muscles work beneath his shirt.
"I suppose that would be the polite thing to do." Sasuke sighed, trying to hide a slight tinge of excitement at meeting this new neighbor. Shikamaru pulled the slider opened, allowing Sasuke to walk out first followed by Neji and finally Shikamaru himself. The blonde was exiting his front door again but paused when he spotted the three boys walking up his driveway.
"Oh, hi, can I help you guys?" he asked, ocean eyes meeting Sasuke's immediately.
"Hey, we saw you start moving in and just wanted to introduce ourselves. I'm Shikamaru," the tired looking boy introduced himself first, earning a kind smile from the blonde.
"I'm Neji, pleasure to meet you." Neji spoked next, nodding to the other with a smile. The blonde looked back at Sasuke, eyes waiting with that smile still on his face. Sasuke noticed that he had six scars on his face, three on each side like whiskers.
"Sasuke," he said simply. The blonde gave the three a toothy smile.
"My name is Naruto! It's nice to meet you guys, do you all live together?" he asked.
"Actually yes, we are roommates." Neji replied, nodding toward their home to the left of Naruto's. The blonde's eyes sparkled with elation.
"That's awesome! Oh, I've gotta finish moving my boxes! It's supposed to rain," Naruto suddenly seemed to realize, looking up at a slowly darkening sky.
"Would you like any help? Four is better than one," the long-haired boy offered.
"You'd do that? That would be great!" he replied, leading the other three over to the rest of the boxes. He pointed out that some were labeled "heavy" while others had a list of their contents written on the cardboard. They each carried boxes inside, following Naruto up his stairs and setting most of the boxes down in one room, which appeared to be his bedroom.
"Where's your bed, dude?" Shikamaru asked, noting the lack of a bedframe and mattress. Naruto's cheeks turned pink, seeming embarrassed even though he smiled. Sasuke's watched Naruto's eyes, seeing a slight discomfort and sadness there.
"Don't have one!" he forced a light laugh. Shikamaru, Neji and Sasuke exchanged a look before heading back outside to grab the remaining four boxes. The sky was nearing black now, as the three roommates said fair-well to their new neighbor. They quickly headed to their own home, getting inside just as rain started to fall. Sasuke headed straight to the kitchen as the other two went to the living room, separated only by an open dining room.
"Why doesn't he have a bed?" Shikamaru wondered out loud, genuinely confused over this. Neji shrugged, watching Sasuke from over the back of the couch as the latter began to cook dinner (it was his night).
"Maybe he prefers a futon?" Neji proposed, earning a thoughtful nod from Sasuke.
"It's possible, depends on if his family is traditional like that." He replied, glancing up from his boiling pot of rice to look out the slider. He was taken a bit aback when he noticed a mop of blonde hair running through thick rain, heading down his driveway and the opposite way down the street.
"That dobe is running around outside in the rain. Where the hell is he going?" Sasuke asked in surprise, earning Neji and Shikamaru's shared confused gazes. They all thought quietly about their new neighbor, not quite grasping his living situation.
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Naruto breathed hard as he ran into his house, slamming the door behind him. His thin sweater and sweatpants clung to his body as he was completely soaked from going out in the rain. Holding a plastic bag against his chest, Naruto shook out his hair and shivered. He headed to his kitchen, taking a quiet look around his dining room and living room. He liked that he could see everything, it was comfortable. Setting the bag down on the counter, the twenty-two-year-old pulled out a few cups of instant ramen noodles, boiling water while he peeled off his sweater and sweatpants.
He looked down at his body for a minute, honestly able to appreciate his well-toned figure. His eyes, however, lingered on those aspects of him that he did not appreciate; his scarred stomach and arms. Sad eyes looked over himself, noting every raised scar and old burn, among other marks that plagued his skin. Tossing his wet clothes in the sink, Naruto walked over to a box on his dining room table labeled "towels and pj's". Reaching in, he dried himself off and pulled off his boxers. Pulling on just a loose pair of grey sweatpants, the blonde walked over and finished making his instant noodles. Sitting on his couch with the cup and a pair of chopsticks, Naruto watched out the sliding glass door that led to his backyard, watching the rain.
Naruto liked the rain, he gave his home noise that he could relax while listening to, while also distracting him from his thoughts. He sighed before shoving noodles into his mouth and eating. He hoped that his neighbors would end up becoming his friends. Being on his own was getting hard, too hard on his mind. He hated the silence that followed him, only typically replaced by harsh words and insults from strangers. He was so tired of having to move somewhere new because the people around him would not accept him. He never quite understood why, but he hoped it would not happen here.
Especially after meeting that dark-haired boy, Sasuke. Something in Naruto's chest fluttered, causing his cheeks to heat up. There was something intriguing and unique about that boy, something Naruto hoped he could get to know.
