OMG i totally forgot i was simultaneously posting this on here in addition to ao3 hahaha oops, but anyway here is chapter two, its just as terrible as the first chapter...i have up to ch 8 written but i'll update gradually. enjoy (maybe)~

Sasuke woke up early the next morning, a few hours after dawn broke. His favorite part of the day was the early morning, and he relished working on his pieces in the quiet solitude of a still sleeping village.

As he fashioned himself a pot of coffee, he stilled. Was that rustling he heard? He slowly crept towards the noise, finding himself in his own bedroom. What in the-

"Naruto what the fuck?!" Naruto whirled around in shock, halfway through Sasuke's bedroom window.

"Nehehehe, sorry Sasuke, old habits die hard I guess?" he scratched the side of his cheek in embarrassment. As if he hadn't just broke and entered into someone's bedroom just now. As if this was normal. Sasuke was livid.

"Well I'd appreciate if you didn't just come waltzing in through my window…what if I had been asleep?"

"I'd just slip in quietly and then stare at you til you woke up?"

"You're horrible. And a pervert." Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked back to the kitchen, hoping his coffee was still warm enough to enjoy. "Why are you here so early anyway?"

"Uhhh, I was just so excited. I couldn't sleep at all last night and actually spent the whole night imagining what today was going to be like. Also I noticed you put some boards over the hole I created. You didn't already fix it did you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He was doing that a lot more than usual lately. "Dobe, that was just to keep my possessions inside from being exposed to the hoodlums that sometimes plague these parts of Konoha. I wasn't about to leave a gaping hole in my storefront. It still needs to be properly renovated…don't think you're getting off that easy. Also I'm kind of offended that you would think that patch job was the end game. I have standards. High standards."

Naruto punched the air in glee. "Yatta! I was hoping! I can't wait! I'll get to see Uchiha Sasuke in action. I've asked around since yesterday and apparently you're pretty well known in the woodworking world. Didn't even know it existed. Maaahhh, you seem to succeed in everything you do. So jealous."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows and took a sip of coffee. "Usuratonkachi."

However, inside his mind, Sasuke was positively glowing from the compliments. Of course he was the #1 woodworker in not only Fire Country but just about every other country you could think of! He didn't half-ass anything, even if it was a means to escape responsibilities. If he was going to metaphorically run away from his problems he was going to run away with dignity and excellence.

"Hey, mind if I grab a cup? I like the idea of chatting over a cup of coffee in the morning," Naruto made his way over to Sasuke's kitchen and found, amazingly, an orange mug. "I mean, it sounds like something close friends would do," he added (kind of) passive aggressively, sitting himself down at the dining table.

Sasuke, joining him at the table, stared blankly at Naruto's sad attempt to…make him feel bad? "Is that some sad attempt to make me feel bad?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly, "Ahh, yeah, you caught me. So, what's on the agenda today, friend? Besides getting supplies?" He took a sip of coffee, frowning down at the bitter liquid. He didn't drink coffee at all and wasn't sure why he felt compelled to grab a cup of the stuff, besides maybe trying to look as cool as Sasuke did peering out over the steam curling out from the beverage.

Man, Sasuke was so awesome and he didn't even try.

"I hope you don't think I'm going with you to get supplies? That wasn't part of our agreement."

Naruto frowned. "I don't remember signing any contracts. You're coming with me! I already let everyone know that I found you! I promised them I'd bring you out! They'll be so shocked at how you've changed! I mean, look at your coloring! And your hair!"

"Hn."

"You'd give Madara a run for his money with those locks," Naruto leaned on his palm, having officially abandoned his coffee. He fought down the temptation to twirl Sasuke's hair between his fingers.

"My hair is not that crazy…" he peered up at his bangs, as if he could see his entire head of hair by looking upwards. "Is it?"

"It's pretty wild, man."

"You've changed too you know."

Naruto frowned. "How so? I still look the same…"

Sasuke made a face. "Well first of all, you're hair is way short. It's a little weird. And you look…like an adult now. Which is even stranger than the hair. Although it's nice to know you're still the same dumb Naruto that I've grown to loathe...and I mean that in the nicest way of course." It was unlike himself to hand out compliments like that and the moment definitely made him uncomfortable. But it was the truth. Naruto grew up to be very well-kept and mature. He was sure many girls were chasing after him now with his important role in the village and his past heroics. From what he surmised though, Naruto was still single. It's not like he'd been sniffing around for gossip. Even though he lived in pleasant solitude amongst the uncaring Nomads, he still thumbed through Konoha's daily tabloid rag, The Konoha Post.

"Hey! I'm not dumb! I make important decisions! Just ask Kakashi-sensei! I'm important! To the village! And also-"

While Naruto very loudly listed off his credentials, Sasuke finished the last dregs of his coffee and got up, grabbing Naruto's still full mug, and placed them in the sink. He stared out the window. He had lived five years in solitude, save for the civilians he got to know around his shop and apartment. He was living an incredibly peaceful life doing something he really enjoyed and got such gratification from. But he was hesitant to admit he felt completely fulfilled. There was something, perhaps someone, missing in his lukewarm, shriveled heart. And he was sure there was some meaningful reason he kept tabs with Naruto's love life, even if it was through questionable unnamed sources and blurry photographs. He had convinced himself it was just out of pure curiosity and a reminder to himself that this could've been his live. Had he stayed amongst his shinobi peers, surely people would've gossiped about who he was going to marry and start rumours. He told himself it was merely a physical reminder that ditching that life had been the right choice. But seeing Naruto again and watching him leave after so many years left him gasping for air in the dead of night, wondering if yesterday had all been a dream, and kinda hoping it wasn't, and how much alcohol was going to be required to get rid of any memories of the day, but also wondering if he should write it all down in detail so that he'd never forget. Stupid, stupid, he was so stu—

A loud crash and a throbbing pain interrupted his thoughts…. He lurched forward, clutching the back of his head as he looked at a piece of wood fall heavily into the sink. He whirled around and faced a very irritated looking Naruto, and stared at him in anger and disbelief.

"Naruto what the fuck was that for?!" He brought his hand in front of his face, checking for blood. Good. None.

"You were literally staring out the window for ages. Like, just staring. Is this going to be a thing now? Cause if it is, I totally accept. After all, it gives me an excuse to throw things at you. And its good to know you have flaws."

"Ugh, so what, I've become a little introspective. Sue me. And that doesn't give you permission to throw things at me."

"A little introspective? Sasuke, you were on another plane of existence for fifteen minutes. No wonder you have such a slow turnaround for your commissions."

He could tell Naruto was patting himself on the back after that comment, and ignoring the light shade thrown at his work ethic (which, if he had anything to say about it, his turnaround was pretty damn fast considering how much quality he put out within any given time frame) Sasuke grabbed the piece of wood from the sink and toweled off any and all stray drops of moisture on it.

"I'd also appreciate it if you didn't throw my practice blocks. I've been working on this new design for ages and it would probably upset Kakashi if anything fatal were to happen to you."

"I'm not sure I like what that's implying."

"Moron."

After a couple beats of silence, Naruto clapped his hands together. "So! Sasuke! When should we get started? I think the shops should be open by now, and if not, we could always wander Konoha until they do open!"

"It sounds like you really thought this through."

"I know you're just joking, but I really actually couldn't sleep last night. I was just so excited that I finally found you and you're one of my important peo—"

Uggghh, Sasuke hated when Naruto started to wax poetic. In fact, it was one of the worst traits about the guy. He could talk a statue into the ground. He could talk the sun into an eternal eclipse. He could probably talk a star into a premature supernova. Hell, who was Sasuke kidding? He's talked the baddest of the bad into reforming so hard that they actually probably join Naruto in afternoon teatime now, or if not that, performing seppuku to get out of the hell that is Naruto's proclamation of eternal friendship. He stared blankly at Naruto, whose mouth was still moving, words tumbling out in inspiring and sentimental phrases. He vaguely heard the distant melodic hum of the man's deep voice. He blinked and furrowed his eyebrows. When had his voice gotten so deep and husky? Also, why was it getting louder and why was his face was morphing into an angry expression? Wasn't he still on about how he missed Sasuke? Was Sasuke even listening?

"Sasuke are YOU EVEN LISTENING?" Naruto covered his face with both hands in exasperation. He was supposed to be the deadlast. He was! And Sasuke still managed to look cool and collected in all his absentminded glory. So unfair. Also: super rude. All of his words come straight from the heart!

"Yeah, not really."

He could practically feel the scream of frustration that Naruto so maturely swallowed down. Had this happened during their early Team 7 days, he was sure Naruto would've come at him with shadow clones from all sides. Those were the days.

Sasuke shook his head and chuckled quietly to himself. "Sorry Naruto, I don't mean to provoke you. I just don't like to listen to things I've heard a million times already. And don't try to deny it. You basically rehashed the same speech you've given me everytime we happened to come across each other during my avenger days. It's old news and frankly, I don't give a shit. Anyway, let me change. We can head out then."

Naruto crossed his arms and pinned Sasuke with a murderous glare. "I swear you are the most insufferable little—"

But Sasuke didn't get to hear the rest of Naruto's rant because he slammed his bedroom door shut as soon as he walked through the doorway. Determined to not get lost in his thoughts, Sasuke effectively blanked out his mind and grabbed the nearest clean clothes he could find. So jeans and a shirt. Pretty much his basic 'running errands' uniform. His outfits became a lot more creative when he was traveling, depending on where he was going. He found he really loved dressing up just for the sake of dressing up and lamented the fact that he wasted so much of his youth wearing such an ugly outfit during his Taka days. He could never forgive himsel—

"Dammit," he cursed to himself as he realized he had been staring at the pair of pants in his hands for the past five minutes. "Maybe I should see a professional about this…"

Nahh…

Pulling on the pants, and grabbing the nearest clean shirt, he walked out into his living room to find Naruto thumbing through his notebooks.

"Naruto! You could've asked?!"

The blond looked up at him. "Yeah, but I didn't want to risk interrupting you in what was probably another weird episode of 'Sasuke stares blankly at an inanimate object for a long time.'"

"I wasn't—"

"Save it. We both know you were."

He stomped over (with the utmost of dignity) to where Naruto was sitting and snatched the notebook from his friend. " ANYWAY, this! Is mine. Now get up. We're leaving to get supplies. It's a good thing I'm going with you anyway, now that I think about it. You wouldn't know right from left when it comes to carpentry."

Naruto scowled. "I could do it if I put my mind to it! I can do anything! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I practically saved the world!"

"Yeah, with whose help though? Mine. Thank you, you're welcome."

"It was mostly me though…well, and Kakashi….and Sakura…and Obito….and the re-animated Hokages…Ugh. Whatever."

The two friends continued bickering all the way down the stairs about who did what during the final battle of the war and through the front door, stopping on the street.

"So, which way?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke pointed towards the town center. "That way, dobe. All you have to do is follow the Hokage monument. It's not like we're in the middle of nowhere. How do you not know you're way from here?"

"Well, rooftop navigation is slightly different from street if you ask me. Everything's really cramped around here. I can't tell a street from an alleyway to be honest. And it's so far just walking. Can't you just…"

"No. My chakra control is probably not that great seeing as my coils have lain dormant for the past five years."

"I can carry you."

"Hell no. You can go, I'll meet you there in an hour."

"Oh come on!"

"N O"

Naruto peered at Sasuke through narrowed eyes. He shrugged. "Fine then, have it your way," he swooped down and picked up Sasuke bridal style, who gave off a most undignified shriek because of all the ways this conversation could've ended, he did not expect this to be a viable trajectory.

"PUT ME DOWN. PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW. PUT. ME. DOWN. NOW. NARUTO. NARUTO I DEMAND YOU RELEASE ME-"

Naruto's gleeful laughter all but drowned out Sasuke's alarmingly violent and graphic threats. Within 15 minutes they were in the town center and Naruto set Sasuke down onto the ground. His knees were slightly shaky from the adrenaline rush and the speed, but really he was more angry than anything.

Naruto's laughter boomed throughout the square. He reached over and rustled something out of Sasuke's hair. He looked at Sasuke in mirth and held up a struggling bird in front of his face. "Sasuke looks like you caught a little stowaway on our trip over here."

Sasuke felt now was as good a time as ever to practice some breathing exercises. But not before grabbing the bird and shoving it into Naruto's mouth, forcing the blond's mouth shut and holding his hand over his face to keep him from spitting it out.

While Naruto struggled to not choke on the small bird currently struggling in his mouth, Sasuke heard a shout: "SASUKE-KUN? NO WAY!" and "I told you. Does the Hokage ever lie?"

Great. Sakura and Kakashi.

Sasuke turned his head towards the figures making their way towards them, letting go of Naruto's face in the process, who used the opportunity to spit the bird out, along with what felt like all of its feathers. Thankfully, it survived. And it learned to avoid any and all males with long black hair for the rest of its bird life.

"Team 7 reunites once again," the Rokudaime examines the boys in front of him. He caught wind of Naruto finally discovering the whereabouts of Sasuke, and it was only a matter of time before he dragged the boy back into his tight clutches. He would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to seeing his former student again, though.

"Sasuke-kun, you're HAIR," was all Sakura could focus on. Even though she became somewhat friends with him after the war, seeing him again after such a long and thorough hiatus hit her with a wave of nostalgia. He had really grown. His hair, that is. He looked like a completely different person, to be honest.

Naruto's laughter started again. "Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, you should've seen. A poor little bird got stuck in his hair on the way here! I picked him up so we could travel by rooftops because something with his chakra coils and dormant or whatever and his hair was so all over the place that a bird flew into it and couldn't get out! I had to save it!"

"Yeah, dobe, and then what happened? What happened after that? Go on, tell her. Tell her how you almost swallowed that same bird."

"Ahh, Sakura-chan. Then Sasuke did a mean thing! He shoved the bird in my mouth and tried to choke me with it! Such a disregard for life. Typical Sasuke." Naruto glared at Sasuke, stretching his hands behind his head.

Sakura and Kakashi looked on as the two young men continued back and forth with each other. Some things never changed.

"I have regard for life, all right. Unless that particular life happens to be a loud-mouthed moronic piece of trash."

"Bastard, don't try to act all tough and mighty. We both know you couldn't kill me even if it meant all the tomatoes on the earth would disappear forever."

"What does that even mean?!"

"I don't know but I know you like me more than tomatoes and that's all that matters!"

"I HATE YOU! I ACTUALLY HATE YOU!"

"LIAR!"

"Guys, guys...settle down, neh? What kind of Hokage would I be if I couldn't alleviate a small dispute like this." Kakashi put both his hands on the heads of both boys in a sagely manner. He closed his eyes and breathed in. Naruto and Sasuke looked at their former teacher in utter confusion. "By the all knowing power vested in me granted by Uchiha Obito's will from the far-reaching corners of the afterlife, I command you two to stop fighting."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Oi, sensei, that's not how it works. You're embarrassing me and my future descendants. AND my ancestors. AND probably Obito's spirit."

Sakura smiled, watching her three most influential men in her life interact with each other like old times. She really missed the dynamic of her genin team. Having been the medic for countless missions for other teams, she really never found any group of people that could compare to the three standing before her.

"Sasuke," she smiled as he turned to her, face mid-frown as he tried to swat away Kakashi. She joined the three men and gently reached out to touch the forearms of Sasuke and Naruto. "Sasuke, we've really missed you. And we're glad to see you after all this time."

Sasuke's face softened at Sakura's words. He was quite fond of her, although he didn't really know how to respond. "Thanks." He figured that would suffice.

"Ugh, is that all you have to say? Thanks? God, Sasuke, you're the most emotionally stunted person I know. I swear, every morning I wake up thankful I didn't end up as cold and heartless as you, considering I was an ostracized orphan my whole life."

The young Uchiha's face quickly morphed into that of aggravation at Naruto's words, grabbing a fistful of Naruto's hair. "You asshole, I would've been well-adjusted had it not been for certain events in my life."

"Sa-Sakura-chan, make him stop."

Sakura smirked. "I hope you plan on sticking around, Sasuke-kun. Naruto's been out of control without you to keep him in line."

"Saaakuraaaa-chaaaan, how could you betray me like that?"

Sasuke chuckled quietly to himself. While the morning definitely started off pretty bumpy, seeing his old teammates and sensei lightened his mood considerably. This was fine. He could see them all this once and that would be enough. And then he'd go back to being away from everyone. And maybe Naruto or Sakura or Kakashi would bother him occasionally, but not too often because he knew how busy they were and that worked out perfectly for him anyway. Yeah, he could handle tha—

"Sasuke. Earth to Sasuke."

Someone was snapping their fingers in his face. It was Naruto.

"Is Sasuke-kun all right? His eyes are glazed over?" he saw Sakura lean over to peer at his eyes.

"Are his pupils dilated? Sasuke, you don't do drugs, do you?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"No, guys, its ok. He's like this now. Super absent-minded. He calls it introspective or whatever, but seriously, sometimes he'll just zone out for 10-15 minutes. It's annoying but funny to see someone like Uchiha Sasuke just kinda stand their with drool hanging down their mouth."

Sasuke did not appreciate that. "I do not drool, usuratonkachi."

"You might as well."

"So anyway, what brings you into this part of town, Sasuke? I can't imagine you'd be here just to hang out." As much as the Rokudaime was glad to see his student alive and well, he was hard-pressed to find a veritable reason for the man to come out of his hiding place. But then again, anyone involving Naruto usually meant doing things very out of character.

Naruto smiled brightly, loping his arm around Sasuke's tense shoulders. "I Rasengan'd a hole into Sasuke's storefront and now I just have to help him fix it. It's only fair. We made a gentleman's agreement. Of course, we gotta get supplies though, but not before making our rounds in Konoha!"

Sasuke didn't hide his grimace.

"By the way, did you guys know he's like a super famous carpenter or whatever? Apparently he's made stuff for, neh, what's it you said? Kings? Yeah! He has a little store where he works on his stuff over in the Nomad's Section of Konoha. Lives above the place too. Super lowkey. "

Sasuke wanted to throw up.

Kakashi and Sakura looked on in amazement. The last thing they expected Sasuke to make of himself was a carpenter. The Uchiha crossed his arms as a means to shield himself from their questioning expressions. He should've known Naruto would tell everyone and their moms the details of his new life. Why couldn't Sasuke ever have anything to himself?

"Sasuke-kun, that's great!" He looked up in surprised at Sakura's tone. She sounded oddly sincere and in no way demeaning…huh...weird. "I'm so glad you've found something that fulfills you. I mean, I didn't really understand completely why you wanted to leave the shinobi life, but I knew you were tired. I'm happy you're doing well."

Sakura was such a doll sometimes. Unlike some people…Sasuke gave a quick side glare to Naruto.

Kakashi clasped his hands together, the sudden noise gathering the attention of the youngsters surrounding him. Well, they were youngsters in his eyes. "Well, you two seem to be busy. Actually, not really. But Sakura-chan and I were actually on our way to an important meeting." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, catching a glint in Kakashi's eyes that he wasn't sure he liked all too much. "Neh, let's be off, former pupil of mine!" He saluted Naruto and Sasuke and turned dramatically, causing the en of his Hokage rob to swirl dramatically in his wake.

Sakura smiled and waved goodbye to her old teammates, jogging after the Rokudaime in his wake, who was walking purposefully in the opposite direction of the Hokage tower.

"Sasuke, I'm not the type of scum to read the gossip rags around here, but I really feel like there's some weird truth to the rumors about Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei…"

Working hard to keep his face as straight as possible, Sasuke pursed his lips. "I thought I was just imagining things. I don't doubt they have an 'important meeting.' I'd rather not know either way." Not to mention, Sasuke had already been suspecting this before he even encountered the two in person. He wasn't about to admit to Naruto that he perhaps had a stack of four years worth of back issues of the Konoha Post. He would have to hide those before they started on renovating his wall. Regardless, the questionable closeness of Sakura and Kakashi were daily fodder in the local tabloids, and it was one of those rumors that Sasuke had been following since its conception, in addition to Naruto's love life (or lack of, much to Sasuke's mild relief.)

"So they're definitely fucking."

"Try to be less delicate next time."

Sasuke watched as Naruto's neutral facial expression slowly morphed into one that could rival that of the most constipated baby.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI YOU PERVERT!"