Naruto was the first to finish his meal, which did not surprise his companion. The reason for his haste was out of the discomfort he felt in the Uchiha's presence. He gingerly took his wallet from the shorts he was wearing and eyed the pouch carefully, hoping, nay praying he had enough to cover his meal. Much to Naruto's surprise, his wallet had the necessary funds to pay for his meal. Naruto happily slapped down his portion of the bill.
"Teme, sorry about having to leave but my landlord has been on my ass about fixing the door to my apartment," Naruto snickered inwardly at how clever his lie was, and apparently he had fooled the Uchiha. Sasuke looked up at Naruto and knew the boy was hiding something, but regardless of the fact he was relieved to have the ball of energy depart from his presence. "Sounds like fun, be careful, you know how clumsy you can be." Naruto scowled, but expected nothing less from the cold bastard. "Well see you later then Sasuke" Naruto exclaimed as he walked out of the restaurant.
Sasuke lazily stirred what was left of his lukewarm ramen. He sat contemplating the day's events and mentally taking note that he needed to stop walking around town at night, it caused too many problems. He stood, doing as the blond had done and pulled his wallet from his shorts, he placed a few bills on the table, but before he walked away, he looked to the seat Naruto had occupied and noticed the idiot had left his wallet sitting there. "What a fool, what would he do if I wasn't around?" Sasuke sneered and decided he would have to return the property, lest he be blamed for its vanishing.
Naruto unlocked the door to his apartment and thrust it open. It had started to rain when he left the restaurant and he wanted to get inside as quickly as possible. For some reason he was agitated, but he couldn't really place why. He slid in the kitchen to close the window above the sink, and then walked slowly into the den to switch on the TV. As Naruto walked form the kitchen to the den, he stripped himself of the clothing which clung to his body with dampness; he let the articles trail off as he sat down roughly on the shabby couch. He flipped through the channels not really expecting to see anything of interest. He stopped when on the TV he saw a black and white movie which looked to be American, he couldn't understand a word of what the characters were saying, but there were Japanese subtitles, so he decided to watch for a few minutes to see what the movie was about.
At that moment Sasuke stepped out of Ichiraku after settling the bill. Rain was coming down hard and the roads were deserted. He started running towards the idiot's apartment wanting to get in and out as quickly as possible so he could be finished with this task. As he walked up the stairs to the dobe's place, the wind which had grown ever more violent since he left the restaurant nearly pushed him over the railing. With a heavy knock he waited, only growing in agitation as the blond seemed to take his sweet time. Sasuke was surprised when the blond opened the door, again in nothing but some colorful boxers. "What do you want teme?" Naruto flicked at the raven haired boy. "Forget something idiot?" with that statement Sasuke held up Naruto's lost property and smirked at the blonds dumbfounded expression. "Where'd you get that teme?" Sasuke gave the blond no time to hear his response, as he shoved his way into the apartment to get away from the storm which had seemingly appeared from no where.
"You left it at the restaurant when you left dobe; I was just kind enough to bring it back to you, so at least show some appreciation for me." Sasuke almost hissed at Naruto. Naruto placed his hands behind his head as he stared at the Uchiha, with his left leg Naruto closed the door behind him and sighed, "Will this day never end?" Naruto walked closer to Sasuke and cocked his head to get a better perspective of the situation; he grudgingly mumbled thanks to the raven, and then sheepishly twirled his toe on the carpet in the apartment. Knowing that was the most he was going to get, Sasuke simply nodded and threw the wallet on the coffee table in front of his feet.
Thunder cracked and the tiny apartment trembled in the after effects of the loud blast. "Guess I'm not going anywhere for a while huh?" Sasuke mumbled, Naruto looked confused for a moment, and then the thought dawned on him…"WHAT? What do you mean a while, this is a baby storm, a sprinkle, and it's nothing for the great Uchiha, you telling me you afraid to get your hair wet?" Sasuke smirked again, "It's not like this is making me jump for joy either Uzumaki, but as long as the Thunder is louder than you, I'm going stay put right here, got a problem with that?" Naruto looked defeated, but decided he didn't have the energy to throw the bastard out.
The two sat on the couch for a while, not a word passing between them. Naruto eventually un-muted the TV so he could at least have something to fill the void. The same movie Naruto had been watching before Sasuke had arrived was playing, a man and a woman were hugging on screen, the woman was crying and the man was cradling her. Naruto turned the sound up a little bit more trying to hear the nonsense coming form the TV.
Sasuke watched the flickering box with very mild interest, he wasn't surprised that Naruto own a television so much as he was perplexed at why the blond was watching an American romance. Sasuke inwardly snorted "I bet he doesn't have any clue of what's going on, idiot, leave it to him to accidentally happen upon a classic." Sasuke sat for a few moments, remembering back to his childhood. The movie had been one of his mother's favorites, every so often when it rained, Sasuke's mother would play the movie in the Uchiha parlor. She and Sasuke would get underneath a blanket and watch the movie till the end, as the credits rolled Sasuke's mother would gently carry him back to his room and tuck him in for the night. She would kiss him softly and mutter words he couldn't quite understand. Sasuke though almost fondly of this particular memory of his mother, almost.
Unconsciously, sometime while he was reminiscing Sasuke began to recite the lines of the characters, he knew them word for word. When Sasuke finally slipped from his day dreaming he caught the blond staring intently, almost quizzically. "What is it Uzumaki?" the raven hair boy almost sighed. "What do you mean what? You were just saying all the words from the movie. Have you seen it before? I didn't know you were into that kind of thing Uchiha, no wonder all the ladies want you!" Naruto squealed with laughter, holding his sides as though if he let go he would bust apart. Sasuke simply remained calm and waited for the ball of laughter on the floor to lose steam, and then he simply leaned over to the blond, and very quietly uttered "Just because I am cultured does not mean this movie is a favorite of mine. You would do well to keep this quiet, I would hate to see what would happen if word of this got around the village. Do I make myself clear
Na-ru-to Kun?" Naruto nodded lightly then hastily retreated to the other end of the room. "Naruto Kun! Who the hell doe she think he is?" Naruto proceeded to rub his neck out of nervousness.
Naruto, in trying to clear the sudden tension decided it was late and he needed to sleep, he had training tomorrow and he needed to be well rested. "But what to do with Uchiha bastard? " Naruto tapped on his temple trying to find a solution. "Well I guess he could sleep in my bed, it's pretty big. WAIT! What the hell am I saying? He'll sleep on the couch like the free loader he is." Naruto walked over to a closet near the kitchen and pulled an extra blanket and pillow from its depths, it wasn't a lot but Sasuke would have to deal with it.
"So teme, you'll be staying on the couch tonight, it's the best I could do since I don't have another room for you to stay in. I got you a blanket and a pillow; they're the only clean ones so they'll have to do." Naruto stated flatly and without room for contention. Sasuke smirked, the blond actually thought that he, Sasuke Uchiha, was going to sleep on a ratty old couch like this, Uzumaki was poorly mistaken. "Listen dobe, I don't know what world you live in, but I will not sleep on this God-forsaken couch, it's stained with who knows what! Huge chunks of the pillows are missing, and the springs have actually started to climb through the fabric, I don't know that you can even call it a couch, it's more like a death trap!" Sasuke was slightly winded after his tirade. He looked at the blond through dark bangs, it seemed Sasuke had gotten his point across; the blond started to put away the blankets and extra pillow. Sasuke would be getting the bed, and who cared where Naruto slept. Sasuke thought "Uchiha one! Uzumaki ZERO!" Sasuke turned suddenly when he felt pressure on his back, someone was pushing him.
"Dobe, what do you thinking your doing? Your pushing me towards the door you idiot, not towards the bed!" Naruto frowned as he laid into the raven "Can't get nothing past you teme, your right, I am pushing you to the door because I want you to get the hell out, trying to take my bed, bastard." Sasuke dug his heels into the floor, and easily removed Naruto's hands from his back; it seemed this was going to be harder than he previously thought… "Listen, I know this isn't a very good situation for either of us, so let's just come to a compromise shall we?" Sasuke hated the word compromise, but being as stubborn as the blond was Sasuke knew it was useless to argue.
"Compromise?" Naruto asked coyly, "what do you have in mind?" Sasuke simply hung his head low, he knew what was about to come next. "I don't know" Sasuke stated rather plainly. He could see the smile slowly encompass Naruto's face. "You mean the great Uchiha is out of ideas? Whatever will we do?" again Naruto was thrown into fits of laughter. After a few minutes of biting his tongue to keep from laughing Naruto calmed himself. "Fine, if you're not going to sleep on the couch, then you can crash in my bed."
Both boys shuddered for a moment at what this last sentence meant. The blond and the raven mulled things over in their heads, but whether they were trying to think of an alternate plan, or dreading the only plan, no one will ever know. Each boy looked at their feet, thinking of something… anything to say, but nothing came. Naruto was the first to break the silence, as usual "Ne Sasuke, it'll be fine, I have a big bed, and we'll both fit, just keep to your side bastard!" Naruto huffed out the last few syllables. "Like I want to be close to you, I'd be worried that your stupid might rub off. Come on I'm tired, let's get this over with and get to sleep." Sasuke muttered more to himself then Naruto.
Naruto led Sasuke down the hall, and gave him the 'Grand Tour' of his happy home. Sasuke walked into Naruto's room and stopped at the doorway, never in all his life had he seen so much damage. Scrolls, pens, clothes, ropes, food and God know what the dark object under his bed was. The room was filthy, and Sasuke visibly shivered at the sight before him. "What do ya think?" Naruto asked playfully elbowing Sasuke in the ribs. Sasuke stopped himself before he said "You live in this?" but it was close. To Sasuke's surprise though, the bed was neatly made, folded and padded like it had never been slept in. Naruto moved to the left side of the bed, Sasuke moved to the right and in unison tugged the sheets back onto the bed.
Naruto after moving the covers aside made towards the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready to sleep. He left Sasuke alone in his room while he gargled with water and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, not to mention his night cap.
Sasuke watched Naruto walk into the bathroom. Left to himself Sasuke walked around Naruto's room, picking random objects up and placing them back where they belonged. He walked around until he reached a dresser, on the top of which was a single picture frame. It was team 7, the whole gang, taken before Sasuke had left to sound; Sasuke felt a twinge of pain looking at the photo, before things went wrong, back when things were simpler. Sasuke unconsciously rubbed his thumb over the faces in the photo, but stopped when he got to Naruto. Sasuke looked the golden haired boy over in the picture. He had changed so much, but he stayed so much the same. Sasuke was amazed to think how much different everyone, excluding Kakashi was.
Naruto stepped out of the bathroom to witness Sasuke lost in thought. It seemed like the Uchiha was staring at that old picture of team seven. Naruto inwardly wondered what the bastard was thinking. Naruto noticed that Sasuke's breathes were short and shallow, his eyes never wavering. Naruto slowly walked up behind the Uchiha and peered over his left shoulder and shouted "What ya lookin at Sasuke?" Naruto was caught off guard when Sasuke jumped backwards and landed on Naruto's bed, with the blond lying underneath him. Sasuke bolted upright, and stared at the smiling idiot. "What the hell were you doing? Sneaking up on me like that. Idiot." Naruto smirked. "Did I scare you Sasuke-kun? I'm sorry, but it is my house and I forgot you were here."
Sasuke, having been jolted from his gazing, placing the picture back where he found it. He turned around slowly; not wanting to meet the blond's gaze, the sight he saw made him laugh with amusement but back away in awkwardness. Naruto stood before him in what look to be a child's sleeping attire, the patterns on the sweatpants where large swirls which dotted the legs. They were tight at the hips but loose as they neared the bottom, the blond also wore a tight fitting white t-shirt which accentuated his muscle and form. Sasuke could see small rays of gold protruding from the idiot's cap; they curled and dangled against his face only bringing out the blue in the boy's eyes.
"The dobe looks kinda cute like that, like a little kid before bed." Sasuke commented to himself. "What? What did I just say? Did I say the idiot looked cute? I must be coming down with something. What the hell was that…" Naruto noticed the conflict going on in Sasuke's head, it was written all over the raven's face. "Hey, I have some extra clothes if you wanna get something to sleep in. Try the second and third drawer." Naruto smiled at himself, thinking he alleviated the raven's problems. Sasuke did as he was told; still reeling from the previous thought he entertained. He pulled out some rather loose black baggy shorts from the third drawer. He stripped down to his boxers and socks, and put on the clothing the blond had provided. Naruto watched the raven, step out of his shorts and rip his t-shirt from his body. He ran his eyes down the lean figure which stood before him. Pale as the moon, Sasuke moved gracefully even in the most mundane of tasks. Naruto was amazed to see the scars from previous battles on Sasuke's chest, back and thighs. It seemed as though Sasuke's body flexed every muscle it had. Naruto caught himself lingering too long at Sasuke's abs and well lower regions; he quickly averted his eyes and walked toward the side of the bed he was going to sleep on. Naruto wondering why he found the raven so attractive, he failed to notice that Sasuke had seen the blond staring.
Sasuke finished dressing and wondered whether or not he really saw the blond staring, or whether it was just in his head. Sasuke chalked it up to being tired and decided not to pursue the subject. Seeing that Naruto had already laid his head down and had his back turned to Sasuke, the raven decided it was time to get some sleep. He laid down a good two feet away from Naruto. Sasuke laid on his back, with his head cocked to the left, half watching the blond, half watching the stars outside. His head was aching trying to figure out why he had said the blond was cute. Whatever, Sasuke had better things to do with his time, but he couldn't help but be aware of that sinking feeling in his gut. He just ran the sentence through his head over and over "looks kinda cute, looks kinda cute, looks kinda cute" why had he said that? Oh well it was just a one time thing, nothing to be worried about he supposed.
It was at that moment something stirred him from his thinking, he could hear crying, it was light, soft and almost pathetic. Sasuke froze; he listened intently, trying to locate the sound. Had they left the TV on, no Sasuke was sure Naruto had turned to off, plus there was no light coming from the den. Then what? "Of course, it's Naruto, but what is he crying for?" Sasuke listened for a few moments, trying to discern whether or not the blond was awake or he was dreaming.
"It's okay, just don't looo-ook. I'm fi-ne. Pleeeaasee don't watch. Run stupid! What are you waiting for? Run! I'll be f--ine. We came here for you, get out… GET OUT!!!"
Sasuke's eyes shot open; Naruto was reliving that night. "That's exactly what he said… he said all those things. The pain, my God. Sasuke's hand unconsciously stretched out to stop the blond from shaking. Before he made contact with the blond skin, he stopped himself. The blond was saying something else, something Sasuke couldn't quite understand. He inched closer to the blond and placed his ears near the boy's mouth.
"It's ok Sasuke; I'm doing this for you… for us. It will be fine, just leave, and leave while you still have a chance. Why won't you leave? I …I… Love…" Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing, was Naruto actually saying what Sasuke thought he was saying. Naruto had never said that before, could those have been the thoughts he was having as it happened? Is that what he was thinking as he did that to him? Oh God, what have I done?" A single tear escaped form the raven's eye. He screamed inwardly, it was a violent and hateful scream. How could he have done this, it was his fault the blond was having these nightmares; it was his fault the blond wasn't happy anymore. All thanks to him. He was the avenger, but not the protector. After everything the blond had done to help him, how did he repay Naruto? By ruining what happiness the boy had.
As Sasuke was tearing his mind to pieces, Naruto turned over quickly facing Sasuke. The blonds' breathing was sharp, but was declining. As soon as Naruto's breath was steady again, he reached his arms out, the blonds left arm extended and he draped it over Sasuke. "The idiot doesn't even realize that I'm here does he?" Sasuke thought to himself. The boys stayed like that for a few minutes, Sasuke was concentrating on the boy in front of him who was still fidgeting, obviously lost in his own dreams. The dreams Sasuke had made for him. Sasuke watched Naruto's chest rise and fall, rise and fall. He listened as Naruto snored lightly. Then a second wave hit, this time more violent. Naruto's entire body was rattling; he was shaking uncontrollably, his body thrashed about in spasms of pain. Sasuke panicked and not knowing what to do took the blond into his arms, with his right hand he stroked the blonds back hoping to calm him, and with his left hand he gently ran his fingers through Naruto's hair, all the while cooing into Naruto's ears to help him relax.
The trauma began to subside within the blond, his breathing was returning to normal and the shaking had stopped. By this point Naruto was almost nuzzling into Sasuke's chest. "Your warm" Naruto said in a whisper "and you smell nice" and with that Naruto completely passed out, his snoring louder but calmer. Sasuke's eyes were wide open, not understanding what had just taken place. For some odd reason, Sasuke felt better… He wasn't out singing Joy to the World, but he felt calm, at peace, at home. It was a new sensation to Sasuke. Naruto brought his body closer to Sasuke, entangling their legs. Sasuke, afraid of waking the blond, but feeling overwhelmed himself, started to give into sleep; he gently draped his head atop Naruto's. He noticed that the blond smelled of an odd combination of spices, but a good smell, it was strong and overpowering, anything but bland. Sasuke caught himself inhaling softly, but didn't mind. He hugged Naruto a little tighter, letting the blond know he was there. He closed his eyes and hoped that morning would take it's time.