Author's note: Was hoping to finally have an update ready, but I'm not feeling well at the moment. I crammed this out, so have this; I hope to have the update for The Willing ready this weekend finally. Sorry again for the long delays! My mind is just shit this year it seems.

Warnings: Naruto's pov; canon verse; established slash; hurt/comfort; references to Naruto's shitty childhood; drabble; time skips

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope this drabble isn't too awful!

When He Turns around

The earliest memory Naruto could recall, was one where as a young boy – he couldn't have been older than four, maybe five years at best – a nightmare had scared him awake. He couldn't remember the content of it anymore, probably had already forgotten it by the time he had woken up back then, but the sense of terror had lingered long after he'd opened his eyes. He had flopped around in his bed, his arms reaching out in a futile search for comfort. Futile, because there hadn't been anyone there when he had woken up.

Nobody had ever been there. Obviously people had taken care of him before when he had still been a fully helpless baby, because how else could he have survived past early childhood? But they had never stayed longer than they had to and he couldn't even remember a blurry outline of their faces, let alone actually recall who had taken care of him. There had never been anyone there to soothe him during those lonely, scary nights; never anyone there to calm him down after yet another nightmare. No warm arms curling around him whenever the storm outside got too rowdy and little Naruto became too scared by the loud noises.

Nobody there to tell him everything was all right when he would wake up randomly in the night, not even knowing why he was awake, simply that he was and had trouble falling asleep again.

When other children reached out during the night, they knew without a doubt that their pleas would be answered, that lovingly arms would open up and hold them close. When Naruto reached out, he knew deep down there would be nobody there to hold him, yet the bone deep disappointment was hard to ignore every time. Sometimes, when the nights would be especially bad, he would wrap his arms around himself or roll himself tightly up in his blanket. He would close his arms and curl up on his bed, imagining that somebody was holding him tightly. Sometimes his imagination was strong enough and he would fall back asleep with a sense of comfort, small and insignificant as it might be. Sometimes – a lot of times, though he didn't want to admit that – his imagination fell flat just like his arms did or his blanket and he would lie there, trying to convince himself that he didn't need anyone.

Becoming a part of Team Seven marked the first time that somebody was actually there when he woke up in the middle of the night. When their missions would have them staying the night somewhere it was inevitable – to Sakura's great disappointment – that Naruto would end up sharing a tent with Sasuke.

"Easier to keep track of you three," Kakashi had lazily explained when Naruto had demanded to know why he couldn't simply have a tent of his own.

As if they were little unruly kids he had to herd around, the absolute nerve of him!

Yet, Naruto's ire was partly just an act, because even though Sasuke could be an absolute bastard with how perfect he was at everything, his presence at night was annoyingly soothing at the same time as well. Whenever they shared a tent, Naruto could wake up in the middle of the night, turn around and see his rival sleeping just a mere foot away from him. The sight of the other boy was oddly comforting and somewhat mesmerising, a part of Naruto settling at the thought that he wasn't alone. Sometimes his hand would reach out without his consent and would hover close towards Sasuke's shoulder – because the dark haired boy liked to sleep on his side, Naruto had found out early on – before he would realise what he was doing and he would snatch his hand back, horrified. He would quickly go back to sleep then before he would actually be stupid enough to touch Sasuke in his sleep.

Having the other boy sleep so close to him wasn't exactly the same as being able to reach out and feel arms returning the touch, but it was more than enough for Naruto who had grown up alone.

He hadn't even realised just how used he had become to sharing a tent with Sasuke, to sleeping with him in such close quarters even when they would never touch, until the bastard went to Orochimaru and Naruto was left to sleep alone in a tent in his subsequent travels with Jiraiya. When he turned around in the middle of the night this time, he was alone with only Jiraiya's faint snoring accompanying him; the sound travelling easily through the two tents. There wasn't a dark haired boy sleeping on his side anymore; there wouldn't be a soft kick aimed at his legs in the morning if he dared to sleep in longer than he should.

It wasn't as if they had shared a tent every damn night, so why was Naruto so affected by it?! What did it matter that Sasuke wasn't there anymore, Naruto didn't need him in order to sleep. He'd been doing fine all these years before, hadn't he?

Still, this was just another reason for him to grow stronger and kick Sasuke's arse before dragging him back.

A sudden burst of fierce wind rattling the roof panes right above him startled Naruto out of his sleep. Blue eyes shot open and he laid there for a moment, his breathing shallow as he listened to the wind howling and crying as it raced around the cottage; leaving creaking branches in its wake. Shadows danced across the wall in front of him; the thin branches of the old tree right behind the bedroom eerily moving back and forth in the wind, looking like abnormally long spidery fingers scratching across the wall.

A bolt of lightning cleaved through the air next, briefly lightening up the room. One, two, three, four, five, si-

A crack of thunder followed loudly; the rumbling almost threatening as it rolled across the sky. The storm had arrived after all. It stirred up old memories, of his six year old self curling up underneath the blankets, shivering and trembling; his heartbeat wild as he tried to convince himself he wasn't scared at all of some stupid noise.

Quietly, painstakingly slow, he turned around, doing his best not to disturb the mattress too much. His arm reached out, echoes of his old self stirring up old fears, and touched warm cloth. There was a quiet intake of breath, a pause, and then the one next to him turned around, blinking sleepily at him.

"Naruto?" Sasuke muttered; his voice rough with sleep.

When Naruto shuffled closer, Sasuke automatically opened his arms; closing his fully functioning one around Naruto's waist, pressing him firmly against his body. "You okay?" Sasuke asked, twisting onto his side so they could lie more comfortably against each other.

Naruto hummed and couldn't resist stealing a quick peck before he buried his face into Sasuke's neck, inhaling his familiar scent. He tightened his own arms around Sasuke's waist, not even caring that his one arm might end up asleep and stinging with needles pinned as it was underneath Sasuke's side. He smiled.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry I woke you up."

"Hm, it's fine," was the quiet murmur; Sasuke falling back asleep.

It didn't take long for Naruto to follow him, no longer even hearing the storm brewing above them.

When he turned around now, there was always someone to hold him.

The End

AN2: Don't know what I was thinking with this, sorry. I'll do my best to have an update ready this weekend!

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.