Sasuke could feel his skin crawling, along with the deep disgust he felt for himself. Looking back, he couldn't see how it had taken him until that moment to realize that Orochimaru was a sick, demented freak. Hadn't it been obvious before that? He shivered and suppressed a wave of nausea as the memory flashed into his head again. He remembered all to clearly how he had run off and thrown himself in the first stream he had come to, how he had puked his guts out until he was puking up blood, how he had contemplated ending his life at that moment. How Orochimaru had found him soaking wet and puking, and had just smirked.
A violent shudder wracked his body and he sat up, flinging the blankets off him. He had absolutely no desire to sleep anymore.
Intent on making himself some tea, Sasuke quietly slipped down the hall. He paused for a second outside of Naruto's door.
"I'm not asleep." He nearly jumped out of his skin when Naruto's voice called through the door. He hesitated a minute, then went in.
Naruto was standing beside the window, staring out into the dark street. His blanket was wrapped around his shoulders.
"You can't sleep either?" Naruto asked quietly, not taking his eyes off of whatever he was staring at. Sasuke didn't reply and walked across the room to join him at the window. It didn't take more than a second to find what the blonde was looking at.
Someone had built a crude, wooden fox and a group of ninja were gathered around and using it for target practice. Judging by the way they were stumbling around and missing their target, Sasuke was guessing they were drunk.
"You know, I can't even bring myself to hate them." Naruto said dully as someone decided to light the wooden fox on fire. He glanced sideways at Sasuke, who had his arms crossed tightly in front of his chest, trying to fight off the cold. Naruto saw him hide a shiver.
Sasuke didn't push away when Naruto wrapped an arm around his shoulders, draping half of the blanket over him and pulling him closer so their hips were pressed together. He simply leaned into the heat, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes against the burning fox in the street. A couple ninja on patrol had showed up on the scene and chased the drunken idiots off, and were now attempting to put out the fire before it spread to a house it was too close to.
"People really are stupid idiots." Sasuke said simply.
Naruto nodded. They continued to watch the fire until it was finally out and only a charred wooden skeleton remained.
"So, do you think we're going to become those dark, insomniac crazy people you only ever hear rumor's of?" Naruto asked jokingly, watching as the last of the wooden fox collapsed.
Sasuke shook his head, letting a small smile slip to his lips. "Maybe. Or we could just become nocturnal. Like bats."
He could barely see Naruto's smile. "I think that would be great. Then, we could sleep when everyone else is awake. And we wouldn't have to deal with people like that." Naruto inclined his head, and they saw what appeared to be the same group of ninja sneaking back to the destroyed wooden fox. A couple of them looked around before unzipping their pants and pissing on the ashes. A few of them spit.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He couldn't help but wonder if Kiba was responsible for this.
Naruto yawned. He was actually very tired, but he didn't want to sleep. And even when he tried, he couldn't. The Fox wouldn't let him. He would start mentally screaming at him, and already he was sporting a huge headache.
"Maybe we should try getting some sleep." Sasuke suggested, also yawning. He took Naruto's shrug to be a yes and he directed them both to the bed. Naruto laid down on his side, one disappearing under a pillow, the other draped over the pillow, his cheek resting against it. Sasuke slid up against his back, his slightly taller form curving around Naruto. One arm wrapped around the blonde's waist and he buried his head into the back of the blonde's neck. Naruto was a source of comfort, and he wanted to be as close to that comfort as possible.
Naruto savored Sasuke's closeness, and listened to his steady breathing as he quickly fell asleep.
Naruto closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep and ignore the wordless shrieks he heard from the Fox every time he tried. He gave up and settled on staring out the window from his spot on the bed. Another fire sprang up somewhere in the village, and he mentally sighed. It was going to be a very long night.
