II. Threshold Potential
By the devil's luck, Sasuke's old neighborhood had avoided Pain's Shinra Tensei by a hairline of exactly two blocks. It was admittedly a cruel toss of chance that he, the defector and Ex-Five-Shinobi-Nations'-Most-Wanted, would still have a home to return to while most of the villagers had lost everything to Pain's attack. Sasuke wasn't really one to look a gift horse in the mouth, although it was a bit much that the Uchiha Compounds had managed to avoid the disaster as well. If anything, Sasuke would have been happy to return and find the situs of all his nightmares finally leveled off and buried beneath rubble. However, it had held out, those empty homes and storefronts still standing, still waiting with dark windows. The devil's luck.
He reached into the letterbox attached to the front of his apartment unit, pleased to find that house keys he had dropped in there all those years ago were still there. After jiggling the handle a few times, he managed to get the door open, stepping in slowly as he let the door click shut behind him on its own. Even as a boy he had lived a spartan life, and aside from a few calligraphy paintings or two on his wall, his home was devoid of any personal affects; nothing told of the told thirteen-year-old boy that had once lived here. Though, to be honest, there hadn't been much to Sasuke back then aside from his single-minded obsession with avenging his clan, or at least, that's what he used to tell himself. Now, he just looked at the empty surfaces and bare walls and felt like a stranger in his own home.
It was also surprisingly...clean? As soon as he and Naruto had defeated Kaguya and finished slugging the shit out of each other, Sasuke had been held under lock and key for weeks under what Ibuki had termed his "Tender Loving Care." Of course, Ibuki's idea of TLC was made up of Chakra-suppression seals, sensory deprivation, and binding jutsu with the occasional kick to the ribs, but considering Sasuke's track record and Ibuki's own reputation for utterly fucking people up, Sasuke knew he got off easy with just a few bruises and maybe another notch in his PTSD count. Even after the council decided to set him free and absolve him of most of his charges, his memories had refused to do the same. Understandably, he was keen on leaving the village as soon as he could and stopping by to check up on his apartment hadn't made it onto his list of priorities.
After six years of neglect he had expected a pelt of dust to have laid claim to everything in his apartment, but there wasn't even a sprinkle of gray on any of the surfaces. Sasuke frowned. In fact, it almost looked as if his furniture was actually shining in the sunlight, and he began to pick up on a soapy, lemon scent in the air. His keen eyes spotted the small note lying atop the kitchen countertop, and even before he picked it up, he had a sneaking suspicion of who it was from.
Sasuke-kun—
Sorry for all the notes. Since you've been gone for so long, we decided to tidy up your apartment for you while you were at the hospital. Naruto said your water heater was broken. He told the landlady, and she said she'd have it fixed by the time you get back. Hope you don't mind the intrusion!
-Sakura and Naruto
Naruto's name had been crossed out and beneath it was scrawled "A Being Far Superior to You in Every Possible Way." Sasuke was impressed; even on paper Naruto managed to sound like an idiot. He wondered how they had gotten in since he didn't recall ever giving either of them a spare key (considering everything back in the day, it would have been weird if he had). He glanced at his window; they had probably broke in.
For the past three-and-a-half years he had been roaming alone around the continent, going wherever his feet would take him. He had told his old teammates he had been looking for "Redemption" because that was the only excuse that sounded legitimate enough to cover for the restlessness that had been rutting against his chest every waking minute he spent behind the village walls. He knew had been officially forgiven by the government, and most importantly, his loved ones, but the idea of slipping back into the stream of Konoha's daily life, of inserting himself back into the citizenry's rank and file as if he was some long-lost puzzle piece that still fit, had rubbed him in all the wrong ways. So, he had told everyone "Redemption," but really, he just needed a break from people.
Sasuke had purposefully taken his wanderings far from most large civilizations, sometimes chasing rumors and myths, but usually spent his time lounging by a riverside and feeling the sun against his skin or hiking up a mountain because it looked interesting. At night, if he was camping outside, which was often, he'd lay out on his back and stare at the stars, letting the view of the universe wash his mind blank. All in the name of Redemption, of course.
It wasn't unusual for him to go for weeks without seeing another human being, and he quite liked it that way, but within one morning his teammates had managed to barge into his life and shatter his wonderful little glass spun illusion of being alone, Master of the Universe. He wasn't overjoyed, but he couldn't say he hated it either.
Yet.
He checked the clock on his wall. The hands on the face read 10:31, leaving him plenty of time to shower, stretch, and relax before the grand reunion at Ichiraku. Maybe he'd even take a short nap.
In the bathroom, he shucked off his poncho and peeled off his shirt, revealing the mass of bandage spooled around his chest. Pulling up on the taped end, he began unwinding the cloth in front of the mirror. After a few passes, the rest of the wrapping loosened on its own and fell away, exposing a thick, raised scar. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow.
For all the blood it had gushed out, he had expected the aftermath to be more horrific—ugly stitches, dried crusts of blood, even a bit of bruising. The injury had put him through two weeks of hell, and all he had to show for it was a weak-ass line across his chest. It all seemed a little anticlimactic, and Sakura was maybe a little too good at her job.
Sasuke poked it and winced. At least it still hurt.
He was vaguely aware that he probably shouldn't get it wet, but he hopped into the shower anyways. Most of his baths the past few months had taken place in rivers fed by snowmelt, and not even the great Uchiha bloodline could keep his teeth from chattering in forty degree water. It came down to a choice between a hot shower and a risk of infection, and he chose the hot water valve. Besides, who knew? Maybe a bacterial infection would bring the wound back up to an appropriate level of pus and gore.
After he finished, Sasuke toweled off and pulled on a pair of old sweats and a t-shirt. Taking his pile of traveling clothes, he dumped them unceremoniously into the trash. The torn poncho was unsalvageable and his shirt and pants were caked in so much filth that they were also a lost cause.
As he rubbed a towel through his hair, he considered doing a few stretches, but took one look at his bed and decided to flop onto instead, still feeling lightheaded from his hot shower. As soon as his head hit the pillow, exhaustion smothered his thoughts, and he was out.
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When Sasuke opened his eyes again, the room was dark. For a disorienting second he was confused as to where he was. Home. He sat up in bed stiffly, rubbing his eyes as he slowly clawed his way back up to the world of the waking.
Moonlight flooded in from the glass doors to the balcony, spilling across the floor towards his bed. Outside, beyond the balustrade, he could see lights from the other buildings, brighter and more numerous than he remembered. He stared out slack-jawed, his expression blank. Then his eyes grew wide as realization burst to the surface like a sudden geyser: The dinner. He glanced at the digital clock.
"Shit." He threw off the covers and rolled out of bed, almost tripping in his mad scramble. It was already 11:08 PM and he was running late by two hours.
Sasuke rooted through his drawers, looking for something to wear, but everything was either too small or full of holes or too small. After some intensive excavation, he managed to dig up some clothes that used to be a little looser on him...six years years ago. He gave it a go anyways.
"Damn it," he muttered as the final product. The pants were too short and the shirt fell two inches above his belly-button. He made a split-second decision and changed back into his sweats and old shirt, figuring it was better to risk looking like a bum than give Naruto more ammunition for his "You Look Like A Girl" jokes.
His hair was still damp from the shower earlier, so he grabbed the towel off the bed and rubbed it furiously against his head, hoping the friction would have at least some drying effect. The days may have been getting warmer, but it was still March and nighttime temperatures often dipped below freezing.
Sasuke opened his the bedroom door, wondering if any of his sweatshirts would still fit. If he remembered correctly, he kept them all in the closet by—
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Hey asshole."
Sasuke paused at the door's threshold, the towel still at his head while he stared dumbly at the two intruders who were currently sitting at his kitchen table.
He blinked. Sakura waved, Naruto grinned, and Sasuke found his voice. "What're you both doing here?"
Naruto pointed to the crowd of plastic bags on the table between him and Sakura. "Dinner. Hope you're hungry."
"We figured you'd fallen asleep and thought we could bring you something to eat," Sakura explained.
Letting his towel fall around his neck, Sasuke joined them, sliding into the seat across from Sakura. She beamed at him as she always had since their academy days, and he thought there were at least some things in this world that never changed. He reached over to peek into one of the bags. "Chinese?"
"Sorry, it was the only thing open this late," she apologized.
"Hey, don't go on spoiling him, beggars can't be choosers," Naruto said. "If you're going to be a weenie about it, Sasuke, you should've just shown up tonight. Do you know how long we waited for you at Ichiraku? Man, and I was banking on you treating me to some ramen too!"
Sasuke pulled out a white Styrofoam box and popped it open, revealing a mountain of deep fried chicken glimmering beneath a lacquer of soy sauce and cornstarch.
"Sorry, but I kind of died a few days ago, remember?" Sasuke said, not actually apologetic. A rush of saliva flooded his mouth at the prospect of some seriously heavy calories. He wasn't a huge fan of Chinese, but he also hadn't eaten in the past four days. Two weeks if they were counting actual meals. Naruto was right; beggars shouldn't be choosers.
"As long as you take it easy, Sasuke-kun, you should be fine," Sakura said. She broke apart a pair of chopsticks and offered them to him.
"Thanks," Sasuke said, taking them from her.
"Oh right, how's that gaping hole in your chest?" Naruto asked. "You should've seen yourself doped up on morphine. It was great. I wish I had a camera with me."
"M'fine," Sasuke managed to grunt, too busy eating to rejoin Naruto's jab at full capacity. He shoveled pieces of chicken into his mouth as fast as the chopsticks would allow. Living on the edge of society for the past few years had condensed his diet to be made of mostly powdered supplements and whatever bushmeat he managed to catch. Compared to Rabbit on a Stick, General Tso's Chicken was a Technicolor explosion of flavors. It almost brought tears to is eyes.
"Do you want a fork…er…or a spoon instead…?" Sakura asked as she opened a box of rice and slid it over by Sasuke's elbow. "Might help you eat faster..."
He shook his head no, his mouth too crammed with masticated chicken to be able to give a coherent reply. To be honest, if Sakura and Naruto hadn't been at the table with him, he probably would've just used his hands to smash everything into his mouth.
Naruto and Sakura meandered back to the earlier conversation they had been having before Sasuke had staggered out of his room, leaving their third teammate alone to eat in peace. They didn't have to wait long, however. Less than two minutes had passed before Sasuke had decimated the food.
"Holy shit," Naruto muttered when he noticed.
Sasuke wiped his mouth with a napkin in an attempt to keep up appearances. Being on the road for three and half years hadn't turned him into a complete animal. Now that there was enough fuel in his tank to power his brain, he managed to ask, "How long have you two been here for?"
Sakura got up, and went over to the sink to get some water.
Naruto leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. "Eh, we got here, what, like an hour ago? Right Sakura-chan?"
She turned around and passed the glass of water to Sasuke, who took it from her gratefully. Sakura sat back down next to Naruto. "Yeah, maybe around 10?"
Sasuke frowned. He hadn't been the slightest bit aware that they had come in and privately chided himself for letting his guard down.
Naruto propped his face on his hand and narrowed his eyes. "Not that I care, but how exactly did you get your ass kicked? You're like, the strongest ninja in the whole country, right after me."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Please, Naruto, you were the one who was running around like a headless chicken when you first saw him."
"W-what—I—no I wasn't!"
"'Sakura-chan! You gotta do something! Sasuke's not gonna die is he? He can't die! You can't let him die, Sakura-chan!'" Sakura mocked, gesturing wildly with her hands in imitation of their blonde teammate.
"Lies!" Naruto objected, his face turning bright red.
Sakura laughed. "Basically, this guy here," she pinched Naruto's cheeks, "was worried sick about you."
Sasuke deadpanned. "Gross."
"Hey!" Naruto snapped while shaking a fist at him. "If you'd just been more careful, none of this would've happened, asshole!"
Sasuke took a sip of water and ignored him.
"That wound was pretty bad," Sakura said. "You gave us a couple scares in the operating room," she said lightly, but her smile was a little forced. Sasuke remembered Kakashi mentioning how she had stayed up in the emergency room to keep him alive, and noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes and gray pallor of her face. He wondered how much sleep she was getting, but instead of asking, he said, ""You both know that, historically, the Uchiha's relationship with Konoha had always been...strained."
Sakura and Naruto nodded slowly.
"Well, it seems my clan had sealed something away, a long time ago."
"What was it?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know, but it was something big—something bad."
"Wait," Sakura cut in. "If you don't even know what is, how do you know it's bad?"
"There's a secret Uchiha outpost in the Wind Country. I found some old scrolls there mentioning a seal."
"Complicated and high level?" Naruto guessed.
"And dangerous. It requires human sacrifices."
"Shit. How many? Like 20 people?"
"A whole village worth of lives just to unseal it."
"Ah man, and I thought we were finally done with the whole End of the World stuff. This is bogus." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "How do you know that this thing was even supposed to be used against Konoha?"
"The part in the scroll that said 'in order to destroy the Village Hidden in the Leaves' was a pretty good hint."
"Okay, point. And lemme guess, and you have no idea where exactly this thing is."
"That's why I'm back. I'm hoping the clan archives might have more information."
Naruto scratched his neck. "I still don't get what any of this has to do with that hole in your chest."
Sasuke rubbed his thumb up and down his glass of water. "There was a trap."
Naruto gaped. "Wait a sec, are you serious? You almost died because of a trap? A goddamn booby trap?" Naruto slammed a hand on the table. "What happen to your freaky ghost armor guy? Last I checked, that thing could take a punch from a motherfucking goddess!"
"It was one hell of a trap. Made by Uchiha, for Uchiha," Sasuke replied dryly.
"I don't get it."
"It means," Sakura said slowly, her green eyes looking off to the far wall as she connected the dots in her head. "The trap was specifically made to take down an Uchiha, which also means that since the clan was apparently trying to keep some clan members out, there was probably an opposing faction—Uchiha who were against this 'thing' being used. And where there's an opposing faction, there might be more information on how to stop it, or at least on what this thing exactly is, right?"
Sasuke nodded, unable to hide the small smile on his lips. Okay, so he was a little impressed. He had almost forgotten that Sakura was smarter than the average person— way smarter. Then again, standing next to Naruto could make anyone look like a genius.
"So I'm assuming you won't be staying in the village long?" Naruto asked.
"I'll be here for a few weeks maybe, depending on how the research goes. But I'll have to leave again eventually to find this thing," Sasuke replied, not sure why he couldn't look at Sakura in that moment.
"You're always coming and going as you please like a stray cat" Naruto muttered. "Anyways, enough chit-chat," he said and pointed at Sasuke. "The real question is, how long are you gonna go around with just one arm? It won't be a fair fight if I beat you like that."
"One hand is more than enough to take you down, dumbass," Sasuke replied.
"Goddammit—okay, fine, so I walked into that one, but seriously, we need to spar. And by spar, I mean I need to give you a beat down," Naruto said, cracking his knuckles with a devilish grin.
"Come to the hospital tomorrow Sasuke-kun. Afternoons are less busy for me." Sakura then pointed at Naruto. "But no sparring for a week."
Naruto sat up. "What?"
Even Sasuke frowned a little.
"Doctor's orders." Sakura glared at her two teammates. "You two have to promise or I'm not giving Sasuke-kun his second arm."
"Are you holding my arm hostage?"
"Isn't there some doctor code that goes against that?" Naruto asked.
"Promise!" Sakura demanded, and even Sasuke felt himself squirming a little under her fierce gaze. "Do even realize how messed up your body was? That poison eviscerated your organs and charka system, eviscerated." She jabbed an accusatory finger at Sasuke, who had to fight down the urge to shrink away from it. What the hell, it's not like he had asked to be eviscerated. His lips twisted petulantly as he shot her a sullen glare, the unavoidable byproduct of being the youngest.
"Promise," Sakura pressed, this time a little less forcefully, but there was a lilt to her voice that caused the two young men to glance at each other. More than any titanic roar Sakura could have unleashed, it was this tone that shook them both to their cores, dredging up bad memories of all the times that she had begged them to stop, and all the times they had ignored her, too busy trying to bust open each other's faces to listen. Ultimately, however, it had been Sakura, through her mess of ugly tears and anger, who had eventually pieced them together, who then hugged them afterwards like they were the absolute centers of her universe, when, in reality, they were just two knuckleheads that had by a strange tilt of fate been endowed with earth-shaking powers. Still, she had forgiven and loved them despite their idiocy, which had likely left the most scars on her heart. So now, whenever their pink-haired teammate asked them for something, like really asked, Naruto and Sasuke did it.
Naruto was the first to helplessly relent. "Ugh…promise."
"…promise," Sasuke muttered.
They could have mustered more enthusiasm for a root canal, but Sakura was satisfied, and rewarded them with a tired smile. "Good."
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The next time Sasuke checked the clock it was past one. Team 7 had whittled away the hours with talk, which really just meant Sasuke and Naruto bickering with Sakura stepping in every so often to referee. At some point they had all migrated into the living room.
Sakura yawned, stretched her arms above her, and forced herself off the couch.
"Well," she said, rubbing her eyes. "I better get going—long day tomorrow—today. Shoot. Let's go Naruto."
Naruto, who was lying face down on the floor, muttered something intelligible.
Sakura stood over him with crossed arms.
"Naruto," she warned.
"Sakura-chan," he whinged. "It's too cold outside."
Sasuke appeared at Sakura's side and nudged Naruto's head distastefully with his foot. "Hey, get up already."
Naruto swatted Sasuke's leg away and curled tighter into himself, seemingly trying to revert to his amniotic state. "Nobody likes you, go away."
"Naruto," Sakura said again, her voice loaded with unspoken threats.
The blonde whined unintelligibly.
Sasuke sighed. "Just leave him. Trying to make him leave is probably more trouble than it's worth."
Naruto had fixed his water heater after all, and the shower this morning had been a godsend.
"If you drool on my rug I'm going shave off your hair with chidori," Sasuke threatened.
Naruto responded with a snore.
"Well…if you're sure…" Sakura said as she followed Sasuke to the door, grabbing her coat along the way.
"It's Naruto, not a convict," Sasuke pointed out and opened the door for her. Although a convict would've likely been easier to deal with.
Sakura laughed. "True," she said, slipping into her coat and taking a step outside. "Well, thanks for—"
Sasuke placed his hand on her shoulder to hold her back. "Wait," he said before letting go.
Sakura turned around to see him pulling a sweatshirt from the small closet next to the entry way and wriggle into it. He stepped into some sneakers by the door and hit the lights to his apartment before stepping out next to her. He shut the door behind them. A beat of silence hung in the air as they stood side by side in the frozen darkness, their breaths curling out of their mouths like pale smoke beneath the moonlight.
Sasuke pulled the hood over his head and shoved his hand into the sweatshirt's pocket. "Let's go. It's freezing."
"What?"
Sasuke turned around to look at his teammate. "Aren't you headed home?"
"Uhm…yeah…" Sakura was confused. "Do you need to go somewhere too?"
They stared at each other for a long moment. Sasuke was naturally poker-faced, but Sakura saw an uncharacteristic rainbow of emotions play across his features: first disbelief, then puzzlement, then disbelief again, until it finally settled on irritation.
He brushed past her, heading for the stairwell at a brisk pace.
"Wait! Sasuke-kun, where're you going? It's late —"
"I'm taking you home," he shouted, directing his answer at the night sky.
"Oh," Sakura said, letting it all sink in. She then hurried to catch up to Sasuke's longer strides, his footsteps already clanging out on the metal staircase. Thankfully he had slowed down a bit, and by the time they reached the bottom, Sakura was just a step behind him. "But I live far away! Are you sure it's okay?"
He was planning on ignoring the question when she suddenly stopped him by the arm. "Ah! Hold on, I almost forgot!" She reached into her coat and held out a crumpled paper bag. Sasuke took it from her and peeked inside, curious.
"It's your medication-antibiotics. Take one from the red lid in the morning and one from the blue lid in the evening starting tomorrow for the next thirty days," she instructed.
Sasuke looked up from the bag and at her. He couldn't even keep a houseplant plant alive for that long.
"Sasuke-kun, please."
There was that tone again, and he felt his heart slip. Still, Sasuke wanted to tell her that he was fine, and she needed to stop worrying, but beneath the streetlamp's harsh lighting the exhaustion on her face appeared more pronounced—her cheekbones gaunter, her skin more pallid — so Sasuke bit back his words and nodded instead. He stashed the paper bag away his sweatshirt pocket, knowing it would make her happy.
"Thanks," she said.
For the second time that night, Saksuke wanted to ask her how much sleep she'd been getting, but the question in his head refused to form on his tongue. Instead, he said, "I figured taking two pills a day would be easier than having my jaw punched out."
"Don't worry, I would've fixed it for you afterwards," she said, her smile was a little too sweet considering her words.
They started walking again, the soles of their shoes scraping against the dirt road as they walked from one puddle of light beneath the street lamps to the next, their breaths trailing from their mouths in a slow haze of white. It was late and the streets were empty. For a moment, Sasuke felt as if he were the Master of the Universe again.
"Hasn't anyone called you out yet for abusing your power?" Sasuke asked.
Beside him, Sakura cracked her knuckles. "Nope."
"You've grown to be quite terrifying," Sasuke observed.
"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment coming from you," Sakura said, the corners of her lips curling up into a self-satisfied grin. "Speaking of growing, you've grown quite a bit too." She placed a hand over the top of her head and brought it across to him. It hit him at the shoulder. "Huh, between you and Naruto, I wonder who's taller now."
"Me." His reply was immediate.
Sakura snorted. Men.
They rounded a corner and halted.
"Kiba," Sakura said, surprised.
"Sakura—oh, hey Sasuke!" Kiba raised a hand in friendly greeting.
Sasuke nodded in response. He wondered what the young man was doing out so late. Maybe walking Akamaru? But the giant dog was nowhere in sight.
"What're you doing here?" Sakura asked.
Hearing the tone of her voice, Sasuke's gaze slipped down towards her. He couldn't get a clear view of her face, but her body seemed tense, one hand clasped over her chest—her nervous tick. His attention flicked up to study the Inzuka boy, who frowned, looking puzzled as well. "I'm here to walk you home. You said you'd be done around one right?"
"Right…right, I just didn't expect…" She broke off her words. No, her reaction was all wrong. Sakura's lips pressed together into a hard line as she bit her lower lips.
"…Sakura, you okay?" He glanced at Sasuke again and something seemed to click behind his gaze. "Uh…do you want me to just go home? If Sasuke's taking you back that's fine too…"
"No, no, no—that's not it—I Just—" Sakura pressed the palm of her hands against her eyes, trying to force out all the ridicous thoughts that had been reeling in her head. When she lowered them, her skittishness was gone, and she offered Kiba an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Kiba, I'm just little worn down. It's been a long few days at the hospital. Thanks for coming, I was just a little surprised that's all."
She turned and circled her arms around Sasuke's waist, giving him a quick squeeze. "It was good seeing you, Sasuke-kun. Thanks for having us over and coming out all this way," Sakura said and let go just before he had the chance to pat her awkwardly on the back.
"Remember, tomorrow afternoon at the hospital. I'll let the front desk know, just tell them you're looking for me."
Sasuke dipped his head once, but Sakura didn't catch it in her hurry. Kiba caught her shoulders beneath his arm and spun them around to leave. He looked behind him and raised his free arm. "'Night Sasuke, it's good to have you back, buddy. We should go for some beers sometime with Naruto and the boys."
Sasuke gave no indication he had heard him. Kiba's gaze lingered on the Uchiha, who stood rooted to the spot, watching them leave with a face like granite. Finally, Kiba pulled his gaze away to look ahead.
"Hey," he said, giving Sakura a quick squeeze on the shoulder to get her attention once they were far enough away.
"Hmmm?"
"Is Sasuke all right?"
"Well, entire his chakra system did get trashed. That poison really put his body through the ringer. And he's still missing an arm, too, I guess."
"I mean, he's…uh…better now, right?"
"If he takes the medication I gave him and doesn't exert himself for a few weeks like I told him to, he should be fine."
Kiba sighed against her. "Never mind."
"Wait, that wasn't your question?"
He chuckled. "Sort of, no. Actually, more importantly, are you okay?"
Sakura paused. The sudden gentleness of Kiba's voice had inundated the question with a host of different meanings and she was unsure of how to respond. Sensing her hesitation, Kiba's arm politely slipped off of her shoulder. A wave of self-loathing suddenly swept through her.
"Yeah," she murmured. "I'm fine."
"Good." Kiba mussed her hair playfully, but let his arm fall to his side. Sakura bit her lower lip when she realized she couldn't bring herself to reach for it.
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Sasuke stepped into his apartment shivering. He shut the door behind him and leaned heavily against it. From somewhere in the darkness, Naruto snores rumbled out like a seismic activity. Kicking off his shoes, Sasuke grabbed the spare blanket out of the closet and navigated the dim apartment towards the living room where he found Naruto passed out on the rug, a stream of drool trickling out the corner of his mouth.
"Damn it, Naruto," he muttered as he held up one corner of the blanket and let it unfurl towards the floor. For a second he considered smothering Naruto alive with it. His days as the antagonist were supposed to be long behind him, but would people really blame him for ridding the world of just one village idiot?
Probably.
Sasuke threw the blanket over his sleeping friend, deciding he'd get even another day, already formulating a strategy for accidentally grazing Naruto's hairline with Chidori the next time they sparred.
Sasuke paused at the threshold of his bedroom, sensing a shift in the air. It had grown quiet.
"You're back early," Naruto's voice came groggily from the floor. "What happened to walking Sakura-chan home?"
"We ran into Kiba. He took her back."
Sasuke heard joints snap and pop as Naruto slowly stood up, and then a muffled thump as he threw himself onto the couch.
"Y'know," Naruto said around a massive yawn. "They're only dating. It's not official or anything."
"And why should I care?" Sasuke's voice had dropped a few degrees in temperature.
"Just thought you'd wanna kn—"
Sasuke shut the door to his room before Naruto could finish. The blonde sighed and folded his arms behind head, staring up at the ceiling. "Sheesh, it's not like it's my fault you're so slow," he grumbled.
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