When Sasuke had woken from his nightmare, when he'd wandered out onto the streets in search of a deep breath, this is the last place he would have expected to end up.
But here he sits, leaning against the worn bed in Naruto's tiny apartment, staring pointedly at the far wall as he grudgingly allows Naruto to apply bandages and simple salve to the cuts on his arms. Naruto has been pretty quiet so far, which is strange; he hasn't asked after Sasuke's reason for chasing him down, something Sasuke is incredibly grateful for given that he still has no idea what the hell was going through his head, what stray synapse had misfired and sent him careening into motion.
In return, Sasuke hasn't asked after the cause of the strange grief and potent fury he had been witness to. The result is an odd kind of hush made all the more glaring coming from Naruto, who, in Sasuke's experience, never shuts up. But for all its strangeness the quiet is an easy one; he finds he has no desire to disrupt it.
Sasuke watches out of the corner of his eyes as Naruto works, trying to keep his mind off the other question he hasn't asked. Here he is being bandaged for slashes and scrapes, and yet the only evidence of their battle on Naruto's body is a scattering of already fading bruises, wisped away by unseen energy like so much smoke.
Is it some kind of Kekkei Genkai?
He wonders to himself. It's none of Sasuke's business if it is– outside of battle Bloodline Limits are private things, and Sasuke doesn't know the blonde nearly well enough to ask about it. The only thing he does know, without question, is that Naruto is an orphan.
Sasuke casts his gaze around Naruto's little apartment as a form of distraction, taking in the details. He notes that it's surprisingly clean, if rather cluttered, mostly, oddly enough, with scrolls. Small and large, sealing and scribing, they're tucked into every corner, piled up on the tables and stacked in neat pyramids along the floor.
"Didn't realize you were this into reading, Dobe." he remarks, plucking a scroll off a stack near him with his free hand while Naruto finishes tying off the bandage on the other.
"Ya ya, yuck it up." Naruto grumbles, "I don't get things well when people just talk at me, so I started looking things up myself. It works better."
"Clearly." Sasuke drawls, rolling open the scroll to find instructions for a C-rank wind jutsu, Great Breakthrough. "Are these from the archives?" he asks. Academy students aren't allowed in the jutsu libraries, and definitely not allowed to check out C-rank scrolls.
Naruto winces faintly. "Technically no. They're copies though." He tilts his head and narrows his eyes like a suspicious animal, and for the first time Sasuke notices just how deep the dark bruises around his eyes are– the Uzumaki looks like he hasn't slept in days.
If he was this exhausted when we fought, how strong would he have been fully rested?
Sasuke finds he doesn't like his own answer–because it means that without the subtle tip in his favor, it is very possible Sasuke would have lost that strange battle entirely. Unacceptable.
"You gonna tell on me, Teme?" Naruto asks lowly.
Sasuke snorts and hands the scroll to Naruto. "Not if you share." The information stored in these scrolls is not a resource Sasuke is willing to pass up lightly, not if they can make him stronger.
Apparently Sasuke's stomach has decided it's quite done being nauseous, because it reminds him loudly of its presence right then, and of the fact that he hasn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. "You got anything to eat in this dump?" he asks without thinking.
"Hey." Naruto snaps on reflex, but he looks more thoughtful than offended. "I might have some stuff for curry though." He says as he stands.
Sasuke ticks and eyebrow to his hairline. "You cook?"
Naruto scowls at him. "I do live by myself, you know."
"And eat food outside of Ichiraku takeout?"
"Oh, shut up. Are you hungry or not?"
"Depends, are you actually going to make something edible?"
Naruto snorts, offended. "If you're so worried about it, why don't you make it?"
Which is how he and Naruto end up squabbling for twenty minutes over the curry pot, about whether curry is supposed to be savory-sweet or vinegary-sour. The answer is sour, obviously, but both of them are too tired to put any real effort into arguing, so they end up making far too much of something in the middle. It's not terrible, and at this point Sasuke is too tired to care, still bone deep exhausted from their fight earlier, if what they'd done in that clearing could be summed up in a word that simple.
He doubts it.
The next morning is chaos incarnate, and sets the stage for much of Sasuke interactions with Naruto from that point forward. Before Sasuke is even fully conscious Naruto is a blur of noise and motion out of absolutely nowhere, darting this way and that in a panic while Sasuke rubs a rather horrible kink out of the back of his neck.
"The hell is the matter with you, Dead Last?" He growls, pressing his fingers into the muscle where his neck meets his shoulder to try and smooth out the knots that have formed there. He'd passed out against the base of Naruto's bed, by the looks of it.
Naruto freezes with a longsleeve halfway over his head to glare at him. "Class, asshole."
Sasuke rips his eyes open all the way and tears his gaze around the room in search of a clock. "What time is it?"
Naruto finishes shoving his shirt over his head all the way. His hair is wet, now that Sasuke bothers to look, like he showered but didn't bother drying off at all. "Eight forty-five."
A drop of ice cold panic slides down his spine. He's never been late for school. Never.
Sasuke forces himself upright, clipping his shoulder on the doorframe because his legs feel like they're made of poorly layered rice paper. "I'm using your shower." He declares venomously. He feels disgusting, with sweat dried in all the wrong places, his hair stuck to the side of his face with it. There's no way in hell he's going to class like this.
"The pressure is shit!" Naruto warns as he ducks into the kitchen, a roll of limb wrap between his teeth.
Somewhere in the back of his mind Sasuke knows this should feel much weirder than it does. Outside school he and Naruto were practically strangers, right up until last night, when nearly every assumption he'd ever had about the idiot had been turned on it head.
All but one, really. Sasuke had been right about one thing. They both know pain beyond their years, he was sure of that now.
~That was way too close for comfort.~
"You're telling me."
He'd made it to class with maybe twelve seconds to spare, right on Sasuke's heels, and the sneaky bastard had managed to avoid Iruka-sensei entirely, slipping by while Naruto got the lecture of a lifetime for not telling Iruka about his little 'trip' in person. Thankfully, Iruka-sensei seems to be under the impression that he took off after the storm hit, not before.
Shikamaru seems to know better though.
While Iruka sensei is busy detailing the stages of a genjutsu up on the board, Shika shuffles a little further forward on his desk behind Naruto's seat. "Hey, you okay?" He mumbles, his tone as disinterested as always, but underneath the lazy demeanor Naruto can sense genuine concern, and feels guilt wash through him. He hadn't told Shikamaru or Kiba where he was going, hadn't even thought to.
He looks back at the Nara out of the corner of his eye. It's kind of pointless to lie to Shikamaru– so Naruto doesn't usually bother. "Better now." He says truthfully.
The shadow nin watches him through lazily hooded eyes for another long moment, but then accepts his response with a barely-there nod and pillows his cheek against his arm again.
As he turns back to the front of the room, Naruto's eyes land unerringly on the back of Sasuke's head. He's currently being fawned over by Ino and another Kunoichi-in-training that Naruto doesn't know, who have him sandwiched on either side. Usually even Sasuke's fangirls aren't quite that annoying, since Sasuke has a tendency to get pissed when someone even thinks of invading his personal space, but the fact that he came to class sans navy overshirt seems to have garnered more attention than usual.
Their fight from last night has been dogging his thoughts, along with the shift in their relationship from mostly strangers too… something else. Naruto wouldn't call them friends exactly, not yet, but he's starting to think that there might be more to the Uchiha than his broody exterior lets on.
~He's a good match for you, physically.~ Kurama grumbles.
"You don't sound very happy about it."
~I'm not. Historically, Uchiha are mentally unstable at best.~ The Kyuubi growls between his teeth. ~But you need a sparring partner that can keep up with you, and I must admit you have an interesting… dynamic.~
That's one way to put it. Naruto thinks. The way they'd clicked together as they fought, brought out the best and worst in each other all at once. Naruto had been so angry, with himself, with the world, but Sasuke had taken that anger in stride and come back at him with a good deal of his own, a cocktail of emotions that in that state of fury, Naruto could practically smell on the air. Hurt, frustration, rage. But of all the things Naruto had sensed that night, none surprised him quite like the loneliness, potent and aching and terribly familiar. He'd never thought about it before then– surrounded by people like he is, you'd think there wouldn't be room for Sasuke to feel alone. But Naruto knows what it's like to feel stranded in a crowd, and in the end, Sasuke goes back to an empty house in an empty compound and is very much alone.
Naruto is startled out of his thoughts when he realizes that Sakura is looking at him, her eyes boring a hole in his skull from two seats to Ino's left.
Unsure what she wants or what he's done wrong, he tries for a smile that probably ends up looking nervous. To his surprise her expression actually softens, which is freaky, and she turns back to Iruka.
Naruto's life definitely starts to get more interesting after that. For a couple of weeks Sasuke attempts to maintain the pretense that he only comes to Naruto's tiny ass apartment for access to his scrolls, but after a while he starts turning up at Naruto's glade at strange hours of the night when he seems to know Naruto will be there, and they fight.
It's too intense to be considered sparring, but a lot of the animosity that was present in their first fight is gone now. On nights like these, it's Naruto's apartment that they go back to in order to lick their wounds, Naruto's kitchen they make midnight dinners in, Naruto's floor they sleep on.
Sasuke spends less time in an empty house and more time studying katas with Naruto on the unmade bed and arguing with him over a the stovetop and testing new jutsu with him in the clearing. They still fight, a lot, but it's different now, more camaraderie and less rivalry. Spars at school become little more than a game, play wrestling compared to what they do outside of class, and with this sparring on top of Kurama's regular training, Naruto's never felt more confident.
After a month of training with Naruto, it's strange that it's the little things that make him seize up the way he does. Naruto is a tactile person, and with how much time he's been spending with the idiot lately, shoulder bumps and playful jabs against his side are things Sasuke is used to now. The problem comes with another kind of touch entirely. They're rarer things, thank god, and usually only happen early in the morning or late at night, but still, they happen. The worst part is that Naruto doesn't even seem to realize what he's doing, warm careless touches like a hand on his shoulder or arm early in the morning when they need to get up for school, shoulders and necks stiff from sleeping on the floor with blankets and old cushions.
The worst one happens when Sasuke shoots awake in a cold sweat, but instead of the ceiling of his room he sees the cracked plaster of Naruto's, because they'd fought and trained last night and he'd slept here like he usually did. He rolls over, trying to pull breath quietly back into his lungs as not to wake the Uzumaki sleeping next to him.
He should have known better really, because despite the fact that Naruto can sleep through a fire drill and not crack an eyelid, Sasuke breathing wrong is apparently enough to wake him up. Naruto mumbles sleepily and rolls over, still mostly out of it, and pushes a hand across Sasuke's back like it's the most normal thing in the Elemental Countries.
It's not like Sasuke's never felt warmth from touch before, he has, in glancing brushes and the remembrance of his mother's hands on his shoulders and his brother's fingers against his forehead.
But this is different.
Somehow the warmth of this sinks deeper, rooting in his bones and warming his marrow. It was just a simple touch, careless in its affection. Stupidly open.
But it shakes something in him, jostles his foundations hard enough to loose debris. Dust and cobwebs of accumulated hate and grief shake free from this life he's built on revenge, not enough to threaten collapse, but enough to rattle timbers.
And Naruto, the oblivious idiot that he is, just rolls over again and goes right the fuck back to sleep, uncaring of the turmoil he's just stirred up in Sasuke's soul, unaware of how Sasuke's arms are still shaking, but it's with a very different kind of fear.
The next event happens on an inconspicuous fucking Sunday.
Sasuke's day has been shitty from the start– he'd woken up sweaty and disgusting and more exhausted than when he'd gone to sleep in the first place. The air was hellish and humid, the worst Fire Country has to offer.
By the middle of the day he's cranky and exhausted, he'd been up training with Naruto until almost three in the morning, so he makes the decision without even really thinking about it, turning the corner around Ichiraku ramen with a bag full of curry-making supplies looped around his arm in case he needs an excuse to barge into Naruto's apartment. He doesn't bother using the door, doors are for civilians anyway, and they way things are going Sasuke and Naruto are practically ninja already.
It's not the first time he's come through Naruto's bedroom window uninvited, not by far, but it is the first time Sasuke shows up and Naruto doesn't immediately shout at him to get the hell off the already cracked sill. Sasuke doesn't care; he likes the window open anyway.
But there's no shouting, no noise whatsoever, but Sasuke can feel the steady pulse of Naruto's chakra inside, so he lets himself in.
Apparently he's not the only one who thought a nap might be a good idea– Naruto is passed out on the still unmade bed, fully dressed, limbs akimbo. This alone isn't what startles Sasuke, it's what's lying next to the bed that does.
A brand new futon, glaringly white against the warm colors of Naruto's apartment, is spread out next to the bed.
Sasuke freezes in place.
Until now, Sasuke's been entertaining the idea that this whole arrangement is temporary. Once he gets stronger than Naruto, once he learns all he can learn here, he'll leave, search out other avenues of gaining strength, move along on his path.
But this rattles him again. It jolts him harder this time, and for longer, leaving him shaking at the window frame like he's standing in a blizzard. The feeling shudders the framework on his house of pain and hate, building like a seismic wave that cracks walls and loses plaster. Something is stirring, deep beneath concrete foundation. Something powerful.
And that doesn't make any sense. Whatever this is, this feeling of camaraderie and safety that he finds here, it's supposed to be a weakness. Attachment, warmth, friendship even, it's supposed to be an obstacle, a hazard, an anchor that will only drag him down, make him weak.
So then why the hell does it feel so strong? Strong enough to upheave everything he's ever known if he lets it.
He should go.
The should push away this subtle welcome made with his pride in mind, should throw it back in Naruto's face and forge his path alone.
But he's so tired of frigid rooms and empty houses with too many hallways, he's so tired of nights filled with old pain and older ghosts.
He's so tired of being cold.
Naruto radiates warmth like he's made of it. Surely he can spare a little for Sasuke, just for a while. Just for a moment to catch his breath.
He'll hate him for it later.
Naruto's been spending a lot of time with Sasuke lately, so he really shouldn't be surprised when he get's shanghaied by Sakura before class one morning, her unnaturally strong fingers fisted firmly in the back of his shirt as she drags him off to stand behind the training dummies.
"Okay, whatever I did I'm sorry please don't kill me–" he babbles, right up until Sakura slams a hand over his mouth.
"Shut up." She growls, looking around like Ino might be standing over he shoulder. "You and Sasuke came to class together this morning."
Naruto blinks and pries her hand off his mouth. "So?" He asks, genuinely nonplussed.
"This is the fourth time this week." She says accusingly.
"He doesn't like his house, okay? Would you want to live in a place where your entire family was murdered?" He defends without thinking. "Why else would someone willingly stay in my shitty apartment?"
"That doesn't explain why he's staying with you specifically." She presses.
Naruto grimaces. "We, uh, had a fight I guess."
Now it's Sakura's turn to blink at him. "A fight?"
Naruto shrugs. "Ya, a fight. And now we're sort of friends and stuff… Why are you looking at me like that?"
She's staring at him like he has brain damage, which, if he does, is her fault, anyway. She doesn't pull her punches. Ever.
"You guys have never gotten along. Ever." She accuses.
Naruto shrugs again, slipping his hands into his pockets. "We still kinda don't, to be honest. Not all the time anyway."
Sakura just stares at him, and keeps staring at him, long enough that he starts to get uncomfortable and begins to edge around her slowly like one might skirt the presence of a feral bear. "Well anyway, we should probably get to class–"
Sakura grabs him by the arm and hauls him back around. "Will he be with you after school today?" She asks.
This time it's Naruto who narrow his eyes. "Ya, its Friday. We have curry on Fridays. Why?"
Sakura folds her hands primly behind her back and pulls up the sweetest, fakest smile Naruto knows her to be capable of.
"No." He says firmly.
"Oh come on! Just once? Plus its curry, Naruto, and I know you learned how to make it from Iruka-sensei. I heard Daikoku-sensei saying that his curry is the best."
"Ya, but you don't want food, you want to rub time with Sasuke in Ino's face." Naruto counters.
"So? Look, I'll even buy all the stuff to make it. And I'll get chicken to put in it too. Please?"
Naruto taps his foot, debating. His food budget has been running low lately, and it is his turn to buy ingredients…
"Fine." He declares. "But no fawning, and you have to tell Sasuke you're coming. No surprise attacks."
Which is how Sakura ends up at Naruto's apartment after class, perusing some of the scrolls Naruto had left on the kitchen table while he and Sasuke have their customary sweet/sour debate over the curry. She's kept her promise to keep the fawning to a minimum; apparently the draw of lording the whole experience over Ino's head is enough for her to keep the fangirl in check.
"Energy Stitch? What's this?" she asks, peering over one of the scrolls. She hasn't asked where they came from, to Naruto's relief, and doesn't seem to care overly.
"Medical ninjutsu." Naruto answers. "Iruka-sensei says it's for field medics. I've watched him do it, it's pretty cool."
She looks up at him, obviously surprised. "Really? Can you do it? Did he teach you?"
"No, his chakra control still sucks too much." Sasuke cuts in, earning him a hard elbow in the ribs.
"You can't do it either asshole. And that's too much vinegar." Naruto snaps.
"Not enough vinegar, if you ask me."
"Well I didn't ask you, did I?"
They promptly dissolve back into their argument, unaware that Sakura is watching them now with disbelief and rising ire, right up until she stands up, shoves them both apart and shouts; "You idiots, it's supposed to be spicy!"
Naruto and Sasuke both leap back as she snatches a spoon from Naruto's hand and a kitchen knife from Sasuke's, then promptly commandeers the stovetop.
Sasuke is still gaping as Naruto bursts into laughter, shaking with mirth as the Uchiha just stares on, dumbstruck. Eventually he turns his eyes to Naruto.
"Does she get like this a lot?"
Naruto swipes a tear from the corner of his eye. "If you piss her off enough, ya."