Chapter 2

Naruto groaned, moving to put his arms over his head to block out the light. He felt something in his hand. Cracking one of his eyes open, he saw a hand in his, their fingers intertwined. Sitting up a little, he looked around, seeing someone sitting against his bed. He froze. He was holding hands with a guy. With Sasuke? How drunk did I get last night? He gingerly took Sasuke's wrist, releasing his hand and lowering his hand to the floor.

Why is he here? Naruto was obviously in his own room, the last thing he remembered was being at Jiraiya's apartment at the club. Sasuke must have somehow gotten him home. He looked around the room, seeing a bottle of water and headache medicine on the side table. Naruto sat up, reaching for the water and pills, realizing that he was only in his boxers.

Sasuke must have undressed him. Placing his head in his hands, he sighed before finally taking the medicine, rolling over, he threw the blanket over his shoulder, promptly falling back to sleep.

When he woke up again, he was a little more with it, rolling over, he didn't see Sasuke there anymore. Maybe it was a dream? He rolled to a sitting position, his head in his hands. He froze, hearing the door to his bedroom open. Nope. Didn't dream it. He slowly looked up, seeing Sasuke stopped in the doorway, he was staring at Naruto, his mouth slightly open.

"What are you doing here, Uchiha?" Sasuke regained his composure, looking away from Naruto as he got up, searching for a pair of sweats.

"Well, you were pretty trashed. You collapsed, said you wanted to go home, so I got you home."

"No, that much makes sense. I'm asking what you're still doing here. Why didn't you leave after getting me here?" Naruto glanced at Sasuke, pulling his sweatpants up, adjusting the band, snapping it as he finished.

Sasuke looked at him, his face blank, shrugging. "You asked me to stay. So, I did. I made breakfast whenever you're ready. I made a lot, it should be enough to fill you. I'll head out." Sasuke turned to leave.

"Why are you constantly trying to run away all of a sudden?" Naruto said, walking up to Sasuke. He seemed to squirm under Naruto's gaze. He chuckled. "Come on. Might as well eat this breakfast you said you made. Stay, as a thanks for getting me home." Sasuke nodded hesitantly. Brushing Sasuke's shoulder, he exited the room, making his way to the kitchen.

He gestured for Sasuke to take a seat, grabbing a plate, he uncovered the pan. He paused before placing the lid on the counter. He made me omelets? He couldn't remember the last time someone had made him a home cooked meal. He glanced up at Sasuke, finding his eyes, watching him. Naruto gave him an uncertain smile. "Looks good." He noticed that a pink tint popped up on Sasuke's cheeks as he looked down.

Naruto tore his eyes away from Sasuke, grabbing the spatula and serving up the omelet, setting the plate in front of Sasuke. He turned to the fridge. "You want some OJ or something? I have coffee too." He asked over his shoulder as he grabbed the juice, moving to the cabinet for cups.

"Sure, OJ, thanks." Grabbing two glasses, he sat, grabbing a fork and knife on his way by, handing them and a glass to Sasuke. He poured the juice, setting the container to the side. He uncovered his plate. Naruto paused before picking the plate up, bringing it up to his nose, breathing deep.

"Mmmmmm. That smells good!" Naruto said loudly, putting his plate back down on the counter, grabbing his fork he put his hands together, fork resting on his thumbs. He closed his eyes. "Thank you for the food!" He heard Sasuke say the same, both of them digging in.

As soon as Naruto took a bite, his eyes widened. Swallowing the bite, he turned to Sasuke. "Where did you learn to cook like this? It's amazing! Much better than you used to make!" Naruto asked excitedly, not waiting for an answer before scarfing down the rest of the Omelet.

"I uh - have taken some cooking lessons." Sasuke said. Naruto could feel his gaze on him as he finished the omelet, sitting back in his chair, patting his stomach.

"Well, I can see that they were well worth it." Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who was gaping at him, quickly snapping it shut and turning to his plate, his face a little red.

"Thanks." Sasuke mumbled into his plate. Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes, he got up, cleaning up his plate. He poured himself a cup of coffee, waiting for Sasuke to finish his so he could wash it too. He leaned with his butt against the counter, drinking his coffee, watching Sasuke over the cup.

"Thank you. For getting me home. Also, for jumping in on the fight." Naruto said, looking right at Sasuke. Sasuke glanced up, meeting his eyes. Suddenly Naruto was stuck for a second, his breathing stopped. Tearing his eyes away, he took a deep breath, moving to grab the now empty plate, turning to wash it.

"You're welcome." Sasuke said.

Naruto cleared his throat. "So, do you have anything going on today?" Why. Why did he ask that? Truth was, it was kind of nice not to be alone on a Saturday. Plus, Sasuke's company wasn't bad, when he wasn't hitting on girls that Naruto wanted. But there was no way Naruto would admit that to anyone.

"Um, not really." Sasuke said hesitantly. Naruto grunted in response, finishing with the dishes and wiping down the counters. "Well, I should get out of your hair." Sasuke said, getting up from the chair. "Thanks." He said to Naruto, not meeting his eyes

Naruto sighed. "I have some video games. And movies. If you don't have anything better to do. I think I still have some of your favorites." Naruto said, walking into the living room, not looking at Sasuke on his way by.

Sasuke hesitated before he followed him into the living room, sitting on the couch gingerly, like he wasn't sure he should be there. "Would you lighten up? It's not like you've never been here before." Naruto rolled his eyes, tossing Sasuke a controller before sitting on the floor in front of the couch.

Sasuke caught the controller, still looking on edge. "Yeah, it's been like 3 years though." He said quietly, sounding a little sad about it.

Naruto tensed up a little. Has it really been that long? Shaking his head, he pressed start on the game. "I'm sure you still remember how to lose though, right?" Naruto said as he selected the character he knew Sasuke always liked playing.

"Hey, no fair! That's my character!" Sasuke exclaimed, settling back into the couch a little.

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, well deal with it pretty boy, I'm using them now!"

— — — — — — —

They played a variety of games for a few hours, laughing and shoving each other. Their old competitiveness returned easily, making it feel like no time had passed. Naruto was able to forget for a minute that Sasuke was constantly ruining his love life and actually enjoyed a Saturday for the first time in a long time.

Naruto's stomach growled after a particularly brutal round of the game. Sighing he got up, digging through the cupboards. "You hungry? I might be able to scrape something up for lunch. Or we can get takeout and watch a movie?" Naruto turned to Sasuke only to find him staring at Naruto. Looking away, Naruto looked through the fridge.

"Um. Whatever you want to do. I don't want to be a pest.." Sasuke said, seeming a little unsure.

"Then stop acting like a pest." Naruto said exasperated. "I could have let you leave how many times at this point?" He turned to Sasuke. "So, sandwiches or are we ordering take out?"

"I could go for some ramen. If you want."

Naruto started, last he knew, Sasuke didn't much like ramen, he turned to look at him, trying to read his expression. But Sasuke wasn't looking at him, he was looking down at his hands. "Um. Okay. Want to make some here or go out?"

"Either way." Naruto sighed.

"Alright. Let's go then." He moved to the door, switching his shoes and opening it to let Sasuke exit first.

— — — — — — —

Naruto and Sasuke had spent most of the day together, slipping back into some of their old habits. It had been nice, Naruto admitted to himself as he lay in bed in the now empty house. Thinking back, Naruto tried to determine exactly what had triggered the fighting between Sasuke and himself. He couldn't remember exactly what it was. Sasuke seemed to just randomly decide to start going after the girls that Naruto was into, even though he had shown no interest in anyone prior to that.

Sighing, Naruto turned onto his side. His phone vibrated, lighting up the dark room. Grabbing it, he saw Sasuke's name on the caller ID. He had sent a text.

Thank you for today. I am sorry for how I have acted for the last few years. I should have known that was the wrong approach.

Naruto's breath hitched, he stared at the message, seeing the three dots saying Sasuke was typing. About a minute later there was a second one.

I've missed you..

Naruto turned his phone over, screen down, rolling to his back and staring at the ceiling. His hand resting on his chest. He could feel his heart beating fast. Taking a few deep breaths, he turned back to his phone.

Yeah. No problem.

He sent that, his fingers hovering over the keys.

Me too..

Naruto set his phone down, a small smile on his face. He rolled over and fell asleep

— — — — — — —

Naruto spent most of the next day cleaning up the house, checking his phone every so often. He wasn't sure why, but ever since Sasuke had messaged him, he kept expecting more. Normally he never got texts, even from his friends, they were more of in person people, but he kept expecting a message for some reason.

Naruto brought some laundry back to his room to put the clothes away. When he was halfway done, he finally gave up pretending he didn't want to check his phone. Again.

1 new notification.

Naruto froze. Slowly, he opened the message from Sasuke.

What's up.

It looks like it had been sent about 5 minutes ago. Naruto hesitated before his fingers flew over the keys.

Not much. You?

Naruto went to put the phone down, noticing three dots pop up, telling Naruto that Sasuke had read his message and was already responding. Naruto sat down on the edge of the bed.

Hungry?

Naruto looked at the time, seeing that he probably should have already been figuring out what to do for dinner.

Starving.

Naruto watched the screen, waiting for the 3 dots.

Be there in 10.

Naruto smiled a little before freezing. His house was a disaster. He spent the next ten minutes picking up the apartment, putting the last dish away as there was a knock on the door. Naruto answered the door, revealing Sasuke holding bags in his hands, giving Naruto a small smile.

"I saw you didn't have much here that was good for you, so I stopped by the store." Sasuke said as Naruto moved aside to let him in. Naruto rolled his eyes, shutting the door.

"Ramen is perfectly good!"

Sasuke laughed. "I said good FOR you, not just good."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said, helping Sasuke unload the bags. He had gotten way too much food, there was no way all of this was for just dinner.

"You sit. I will cook. If I remember correctly, you like to burn things." Naruto grumbled as he sat down.

"How do you know I didn't take cooking classes in the last three years?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at Naruto. "And did you?" He asked.

Naruto crossed his arms, looking away. "No." He said almost inaudibly.

Sasuke smirked, getting back to work on dinner. Naruto watched as he worked, Sasuke moved with ease in the kitchen. He always had. With most things, actually, he was one of those people that were good at everything they tried. It was the source of most of Naruto's jealousy of the guy.

"Do you want me to do anything?" Naruto asked finally. Sasuke raised his eyebrow at Naruto. "What? I have gotten a little better with cooking. I don't TOTALLY burn everything. Most of the time."

Sasuke laughed, beckoning Naruto over. He explained what he wanted Naruto to do very patiently, and thoroughly, not making Naruto feel stupid if he didn't get it the first time around. Naruto found himself smiling as he caught on.

Finally, they sat down to eat, deciding to set up in the living room, turning on a movie to watch while they ate. They had turned on one of the silly horror films where the characters do all the wrong things, basically killing themselves. They took turns yelling at the characters, groaning when they went the wrong direction.

When that movie was done, Naruto threw on another one. After that one, Sasuke finally sighed, pulling his phone out to look at the time. "It's getting late. I should probably head home."

Naruto glanced at the time, then at Sasuke. It had gotten pretty late. He got up from the couch with Sasuke, walking towards the door. His hand was on the back of his neck.

"I mean. It's. It's pretty late." Naruto looked at his feet. "I have a floor mattress you could use for the night." He glanced up at Sasuke, who seemed to be frozen in place, his mouth open just a little, eyes wide. "Oorrrr not. Yeah, that would be weird. Never mind." Naruto chuckled nervously.

Sasuke snapped out of it. "Um. No, that would be nice, actually." He gave Naruto a small smile. "An empty house isn't the best to go home to." Naruto smiled back, knowing exactly what he meant and turned towards the bedroom.

"Alright, well then you pick the next movie while I get the bed set up!" Naruto walked back to his bedroom, dragging out the extra bedding he had, setting it up about a foot away from his own bed. Getting done with that, he changed into sweats, grabbing a set for Sasuke, as well as a shirt in case he was more comfortable sleeping in a shirt.

Walking out, Naruto found Sasuke looking at a picture on the wall by the DVD's. It was a picture of them from elementary school. Naruto had his arm wrapped around Sasuke's neck, putting him in a gentle choke hold. Naruto was grinning his crooked smile and Sasuke was smirking, a glint in both their eyes.

Clearing his throat, Naruto held out the clothes. "I grabbed these for you in case you wanted to change." Sasuke jumped a little, turning and grabbing the clothes from Naruto.

"Thanks, I'll go change. You can start the movie if you want." Sasuke moved past him, heading to the bathroom.

Naruto grunted in response, moving towards the picture Sasuke had been looking at. They had been undoubtedly happy in this picture, no masks. Not a care in the world.

Naruto sighed, heading to the kitchen to grab snacks, once he had those set up, he flipped off the lights, bringing everything to the living room along with some drinks. Sitting down, he kicked up his feet, slouching down into the couch, grabbing the remote. Sasuke had picked Avatar, one of the only movies that they could agree was a truly good film. Anytime they didn't feel like arguing about what they were going to watch, this had been their go to.

Naruto was smiling as Sasuke walked out of the bathroom, Naruto's eyes were drawn to Sasuke's naked chest, down to Naruto's pants, hugging Sasuke's waist. Swallowing, Naruto tore his eyes away, turning to the TV.

"I made some popcorn and the like." Naruto gestured at the table.

"Good idea!" Sasuke said as he grabbed a bowl, sitting next to Naruto, crossed legged on the couch, his knee almost touching Naruto's arm. Naruto pressed play on the movie.

Sasuke started raving about the movie almost immediately, talking about how they might be releasing a 2nd one finally. Naruto looked over at him, it had been a long time since he had seen Sasuke this animated about anything. Granted, their relationship hadn't allowed for it up till this point. He was kind of glad about how easily they were slipping back into their old friendship. It had been a very comfortable relationship and Naruto had missed it more than he had thought. Smiling a little, he turned his attention to the movie.

As they watched, both of them got more comfortable. Naruto was barely awake by the end of the movie. He always loved how far Jake had been willing to go for his love. Not that he would admit it. As the credits started rolling, Naruto sat up, stretching and rubbing his eyes.

Looking over at Sasuke, he saw that he was passed out, his hand in a bowl of popcorn. Naruto chuckled quietly. Sasuke being passed out was one of the funniest things. It was also one of the sweetest. When he was asleep, all his masks dropped. You could see who Sasuke really was, without all the hurt, pain and insecurities.

Naruto sighed, moving to clean up the living room at least a bit. He had classes all day the next day, so he wouldn't want to be cleaning on top of it all. Trying to be quiet, he put some snacks away, rinsing off some dishes. He turned to grab another round from the living room but ended up almost running into Sasuke who had an arm full of stuff. Naruto took a step back, surprised. He blamed the slight adrenaline rush for his heart suddenly picking up its pace after meeting Sasuke eye to eye.

His hair was tousled, he yawned as his empty hand scratched around his chest. Naruto broke his gaze away from Sasuke, taking the offered items.

"T - Thanks. Um. I am just going to clean up a bit, but you can head to bed." Naruto turned to the sink, rinsing the new dishes. He was trying to figure out why he felt embarrassed by noticing what Sasuke looked like.

"It's okay, I'll help. I've got the living room. It'll go faster this way." Naruto glanced at Sasuke who was smiling sleepily. Gods. Naruto's eyes widened as he turned back to the dishes. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.

They finished up about the same time, heading off to bed. As they settled in, Naruto pulled the blanket up, looking at the ceiling. They laid in the dark, silent for a long time.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly. There was a pause.

"Yeah?" Sasuke asked just as quietly.

"What happened? Why did you start going after the girls I liked?" Naruto laid there in silence for a long while. He was about to roll over, thinking that Sasuke had fallen asleep.

"Because. They aren't right for you, Naruto. They are. Superficial." Naruto took a deep breath before responding.

"And what makes you so sure they aren't right for me? Or how you like to put it, not what I'm looking for?" Naruto asked sternly, hopefully getting the message across that he wanted a straight answer.

He heard Sasuke sighed. "I - I just. I know you, Naruto. I really want you to figure it out for yourself, or you'll always wonder if it's because I put it into your head."

Naruto thought about what he said, mulling it over. He had sounded desperate for Naruto to believe him.

He heard Sasuke shift around on the floor. "I can - I can leave if you want." Sasuke said.

"No." Naruto said. "I don't want you to leave. I just want to understand." Naruto said, frustrated.

Sasuke grunted. "Trust me. I want the same, Naruto." Naruto sighed. "I promise, I won't fuck with you anymore. Just please don't-"

"I won't." Naruto whispered. "I've missed this. More than I care to admit." Naruto sighed, turning so he was facing the edge of the bed.

"Me too." Sasuke whispered back.

Naruto fell asleep with a smile on his face.