"But like, in a couple years I'll be at the Academy, and then-" Naruto pauses to shove ramen into his mouth, his little cheeks bulging and rivulets of broth running down his chin. His eyes are wide and expressive-Naruto had never been able to hide his emotions-and Sasuke's breathless just from looking into them.
"Thank you thank you-thank-you!" Naruto exclaims, his words tumbling over one another as he pulls the bowl of ramen towards him. "You're the best sensei ever!"
"Three bowls, maximum," Kakashi says firmly, his voice soft with amusement. "I'm not made of money."
Sasuke doubts that Naruto's even heard their teacher, because the blond's stuffing his face with indecent enthusiasm. He can't help staring in horrified fascination, and Naruto notices.
"S'ke," he mumbles, his cheeks bulging out and his voice muffled as he talks around the food in his mouth. "R'nt you gonna eat?"
"Quit talking with your mouth full, idiot," Sasuke mutters back, hating the way the tips of his ears turn pink as Naruto giggles beside him.
"Juugo?"
"Huh?" Sasuke says, startled out of his musings. Naruto's holding the now-empty bowl, glancing up at him with a hopeful expression plastered over his tiny face.
"Can I have more?" Naruto repeats, a little frown of hesitation tugging at his brow. Sasuke almost misses what he says again, because he's so hypnotized by the familiar mannerisms. Every time this boy smiles, Sasuke's mind goes blank. Every time he scratches the back of his head with one hand, Sasuke's hand clenches tighter around the glass of water. Every frown, the way Naruto holds his head, the lilt of his voice, it's—
It's so—
It's so fucking painful.
He's fucked. He's completely, utterly, irreversibly fucked. Sasuke's having trouble finding his voice, having trouble responding, because he's still trying to wrap his head around just how fucked he is.
"You can have however many bowls you want," Sasuke manages to force out eventually, his voice barely more than a croak. The boy pumps a fist into the air with a delighted cry, and the ramen vendor-Sasuke forgets his name-sets another bowl down.
Now it's been ten minutes, and Naruto's on his third bowl, and there's a healthy glow suffusing the boy's cheeks as he chatters incessantly. And Sasuke can't stop smiling like an idiot, can't help being mesmerized—
"-won't let me yet. But I don't care. I'm going to be Hokage one day," the boy says, slurping down another mouthful. "They'll all respect me one day, just you wait!"
Sasuke remembers hundreds of Leaf ninja marching towards the final battle against Madara, remembers the universal looks of admiration and adulation directed at Naruto.
"I don't doubt it," is all he says.
"Say, you're a ninja, right?" Naruto chirps, examining the silvery scars on the underside of Sasuke's exposed wrist. Sasuke tugs his sleeve down as he slides his arm into his lap, looking over warily.
"I was," he says slowly. "But that was a long time ago."
The stool next to him almost falls over as Naruto springs to his feet, yanking on Sasuke's arm. Sasuke stares at the ecstatic boy with wide eyes, startled.
"You could teach me!" he exclaims, beaming.
"What?" Sasuke says, bewildered. "Teach you?"
"I'm not old enough to enroll at the Academy yet, 'nd I'm not from a clan, so I don't have anyone to teach me how to use chatora-"
"Chakra," Sasuke corrects him, rubbing his forehead. He can't-he can't just say no, not when there's a radiant ball of sunshine grinning at him like a madman. But training Naruto in the middle of the Leaf village isn't exactly keeping with the low-profile he'd planned.
"Please?" Naruto says. It's the slight quiver of the boy's lower lip that finally breaks Sasuke, and he sighs.
"Alright," he says, trying not to chuckle as small arms wrap themselves around his ribs. "Finish your dinner, and we can start tomorrow."
"Okay!" Naruto giggles, scrambling back onto the stool that's a little too tall for him and pulling his ramen closer to the edge of the counter. "Aren't you gonna eat too?"
Considering that his stomach's doing somersaults and his heart's fluttering like crazy, Sasuke is perfectly content to avoid eating anything. He leans forward, tapping Naruto's forehead with his index finger.
"Quit talking with your mouth full," he says, not even trying to hide the fondness softening his voice.
Shisui's fine.
He just wants to go home, blast himself with hot water and get rid of the smell of disinfectant that clings to his skin, and sleep in his own damn bed. The medic-nin, however, had given him a thoroughly unimpressed look as she'd pushed him back into the hospital bed. She'd informed him, rather brusquely, that all the members of Team Ro were to stay in the hospital overnight, for observation. Shisui had sputtered at her rude tone, asking where her bedside manner had gone.
She'd rolled her eyes at him and left.
But now Shisui's fine, more than fine, because he's sneaking out of his room to visit Itachi, and this is exciting. It's night time now, and the hospital's quiet except for the night staff and the scattered handful of guards patrolling the hallways. Shisui pushes open the door of his room, drifting soundlessly down the hall. He winces as he moves, his body still a little sore from whatever had happened out there in the woods.
He can feel Itachi's chakra, subdued and hazy, behind one of the doors lining the hall, and he slips in. Itachi's room faces a different direction than his, and the light of the full moon pours into the room. Shisui blinks a couple times, letting his eyes adjust.
"Hey 'Tachi," he says. Itachi's facing away from him, his back to the door, and he doesn't move. Shisui grabs him by the shoulder, a playful smile on his face, and tugs. "C'mon, wake up, I'm bored-"
"Not now, Shisui," Itachi says, his voice muffled by the pillow. "Go away."
"Itachi…" Shisui whines, plopping down on the edge of the bed and ruffling through Itachi's hair. Blunt fingernails drag along Itachi's scalp, and he turns and grabs Shisui's wrist with one hand.
"Shisui," he says, his voice soft and tired. "Enough."
Now that Itachi's flipped onto his back, Shisui can see the other boy's red-rimmed eyes and downturned mouth. His own smile fades as withdraws his hand, eyes widening in concern.
"What's wrong? What happened?" he asks, searching Itachi's puffy face. All he receives in response is a silent stare, brimming with thinly-veiled misery, and he sighs.
"Itachi," Shisui murmurs, pulling one leg up onto the bed and slouching closer to his best friend. "Tell me what happened."
The other boy lets out a shuddering breath, looking up at the ceiling. Itachi's never been expressive or outgoing, but Shisui knows his friend, knows every mannerism. Itachi looks resigned, crushed, some unknown burden furrowing his brow and sending a pang through Shisui's chest.
His arm is pressed against the warmth of Itachi's side, and Itachi's still holding him by the wrist, and the two of them are just looking into each other's eyes until the other boy swallows eventually.
"Father called off the coup today," he says slowly, letting Shisui's hand slip out from between his fingers. Shisui takes a sharp breath, sitting up abruptly.
"What? Itachi, that's-that's amazing-"
"He knows." Itachi cuts him off, his voice flat as he closes his eyes. "He knows what we did, Shisui. He knows everything-"
Itachi's voice cracks at the end, and he's scrunching his nose and screwing his eyes shut, trying and failing to stay calm, and Shisui instinctively presses his palm against the other boy's chest.
"Hey," he says, smothering his own anxiety and pushing against Itachi. "Breathe."
"I-he…" Itachi stammers, breathless and ragged. "I hurt him, I did that…"
"Breathe, Itachi. What did he say?"
"He said the Hokage chose me as his successor," Itachi mumbles. His eyes are open again, unfocused and haunting. Shisui has questions, so many questions, but he lets the other boy speak.
"He told me that he knows about the spying, and he-he asked-"
Itachi takes another deep breath, steadying himself, his fingers curling against the hand Shisui's holding against his chest.
"Father asked me if I would have taken up arms against the clan. If the village had ordered it." Itachi's voice is a tortured whisper now, his body stiffening again. "And…"
"And?"
"I would have done it, Shisui. If it meant stopping a war-if it meant saving Sasuke, I would have done it," Itachi says gently, growing eerily still. "What kind of person does that make me?"
It's that question, hanging in the heavy air, that rings through Shisui's ears. He doesn't have an answer to it. And Itachi's always so strong, so composed, so confident, but now—
Now he just sounds broken, and Shisui can't stand it.
Itachi lets out a startled grunt as Shisui's arms wind around him, pulling him deep into a crushing embrace. For a long moment, Shisui holds his best friend in his arms, and the only sound he can hear is Itachi's slowing breaths and racing heartbeat.
"How can I face him? How can I go back to that? He's never going to look at me the same way, Shisui-"
"Itachi. You're a good person. I trust you with my life," Shisui says into Itachi's chest, the fabric of the boy's hospital gown tickling his nose. "And I don't know what's gonna happen, and I don't know how to fix it, but if you want, you can come stay with me and my mom once we get out of here. As long as you want."
Then Shisui feels Itachi's arms around him, hugging him back tightly, and he feels Itachi let out a strained breath against the top of his head.
"I didn't want any of this," he says sadly, stroking Shisui's hair. "All I ever wanted was to protect the people I love."
Shisui lifts his head, raising an eyebrow.
"You did. We did, 'Tachi. No matter what happens now, it'll be okay. Trust me."
"Can-" Itachi starts, sounding hesitant and nervous. "Can you stay here? Just for tonight?"
Shisui grins, rolling off Itachi and giving him a weak shove.
" 'Course. But you gotta move over, or I'll fall out of bed," he says. Itachi gives him an innocent glance.
"That might cheer me up…"
"Shut up and move over!"