I just noticed that I have a couple of the next chapters for this story written out and I have no clue how I've actually forgotten to post them up to this point so here they are. Sorry about the delay.
It took me forever to fall asleep last night. Not because I was sleeping with Naruto, no I think that I actually slept sounder than I have in years, but because I was afraid that something would happen to him if I fell asleep. He always seems to be getting hurt, whether emotionally or physically, every time that I look away from him, and I don't want that to keep happening. I want to be able to watch him all the time. I want to be able to protect him all the time. I don't want him to get hurt anymore. So I watched him last night until my eyes would no longer stay open and my mind finally shut down and I fell asleep.
I woke up hours later and found that Naruto was still sleeping in my arms with a smile on his face. Now it's almost afternoon and he still hasn't woken. My arms have fallen asleep around him and my stomach is growling at me to get some food to keep up my strength, but I refuse to move. I promised Naruto that I would be here when he wakes up and I intend to do just that. I could always wake him up, but he looks so peaceful right now and I know that he needs his sleep since he hasn't been sleeping well lately.
"Sasuke?" Naruto mumbles as he shifts his position in my arms to face me. He's still waking up. His eyes are half lidded and cloudy and he has a cute little tired pout on his face. I smile as I watch him yawn. He's so cute in the mornings and I can't believe that I've missed this up until this point. I'm never going to miss this ever again. Even when we go on missions, I will make sure that Naruto always wakes up next to me. "Your so warm."
"Hey sleepy head," I say as he snuggles closer to my chest. "Did you sleep well?"
"It was so warm," he mumbles. "It was dark, but I didn't feel cold."
I frown and the mention of the darkness that Naruto had feared so much last night. I was hoping that he would be able to have a good dream while he slept next to me. I guess that was too much to hope for. I guess that the warmth that he felt is a good enough sign that he is on his road to recovery. It'll take some time, probably much more than I want it to take, but he will heal and I will be with him the entire way.
"What time is it?" he asks.
"It's almost noon," I answer.
"Really?" Naruto asks with wide eyes. I'm not surprised. He has never actually slept past sunrise even on the days that he's injured or exhausted.
"Really," I nod. "Are you hungry?" He doesn't even need to answer because his stomach growls at the thought of food. "What would you like to eat?"
"I don't know," Naruto pouted tiredly trying to wake himself up. He rubbed his hands against his eyes before placing both his hands and his head back on my chest to get comfortable once more. I never knew that he liked to snuggle. In fact, I never knew that I liked to snuggle. But this feels so good. Just the two of us lying in bed holding each other. There will definitely be more of this in the future too.
"How about we go out to eat?" I ask.
Naruto contemplates it for a moment. We used to go out to eat a lot and I considered them to be dates, but I don't think Naruto did. Of course, I consider every moment spent with Naruto as something akin to dating. Every moment that I spend with him I am learning more about him and how to make him happy. I wasn't looking for the right things before, I wasn't focusing on his happiness as much as I should have been, but I will now.
I wonder if he knows that I'm asking him on a lunch date now. I don't think he does. "As a date," I clarify.
His eyes widen and I have to hold back the frown that wants to press its way onto my face when I realize that he's surprised that I'm asking him on a date.
"It won't be a very fancy date," I continue instead. "Just a lunch date."
"Can we go?" Naruto asks as though I'm going to take back my offer as soon as he says yes.
"Of course," I answer. "Whenever you want."
"Can we go now?" Naruto asks.
"We just have to get dressed and then we can go," I smile. I don't want to disentangle us just yet, but Naruto seems really excited about this date so I let go of him and he scrambles up to find clothes to wear. I'm definitely going to have to take him on more dates from now on. Especially if he gets this excited about every one that we go on.