Naruto sat hunched over at the airport waiting for Sasuke's plane to land. He didn't understand why he was so nervous. He had known Sasuke for almost his whole life and knew so much about him, so why couldn't he sit still? They had spent time on Skype together so he knew that it wasn't going to be some creepy 40 year old get off the plan or anything weird. He figured it was just going to be so strange to finally get to meet someone he had always thought of as a best friend.

Taking a deep breath he looked up to the on screen announcements and saw that the plane had landed and was unloading. Naruto stood up and walked closer to the gate so Sasuke wouldn't have to look for him. Through the crowd he could see a familiar raven haired boy coming towards him. They were almost the same height and build; it took Naruto back for a moment, not knowing what he should have expected.

"Hey."

A smile lit up his face to be able to actually talk face-to-face to his best friend.

"Hey."

Naruto didn't know what to do but let his body just do what felt right, he pulled Sasuke into a tight hug but blushed slightly when he pulled back.

"So you really are here."

"As promised."

"Well let's go get your bags and grab some food, I'm sure you're starving."

Naruto helped him carry his things into his car and headed back into town. Every now and then he flicked his eyes over to look at Sasuke, there was a sense of strangeness floating between the two that almost made Naruto uncomfortable but he didn't want to bring it up in case he was the only one making a big deal out of it.

Naruto's apartment was just a studio room that was good enough for a kid still in high school and was already close to the university he would be attending next year. He placed Sasuke's things down and went to his small kitchen space to rummage around in the meager food stuffs, trying to see what he could make.

"Can I ask you something, without being weird?"

"Not like we keep things from each other, why start now?"

Naruto stood up and leaned back against the wall, taking a deep breath before he started to speak.

"Well, why now? You never really said why you wanted to leave so badly."

Naruto was able to look any where but at Sasuke, knowing it was an invasive question. Sasuke was right about them not keeping things from each other but at the same time he had never been to comfortable talking about his family. It never bothered Naruto before until now, it normally kept Naruto's lack of a family out of the conversation and he preferred it that way.

"I just felt like no one really knew me there, but you did. I thought I could be more comfortable around someone I could actually call a friend."

Naruto let a smile crawl across his face.

"I can live with that answer. I just don't want to be some escape from your problems."

Naruto went back to digging through his pantry and made a small attempt into make something besides instant ramen for Sasuke