Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!

Summary: Sasuke has spent three years trying to figure out how to live on his own. Maybe it's time to try something different. WIP. Future SNS, updates once a month. Canonverse. Rating may change!

A/N: okay folks! this is the last chapter of this main story. I might still do some excerpts from their lives throughout the month, but I'm definitely taking a little bit off. thank you for following along, and I hope you like this last official chapter!

Day 14 prompt - don't leave!


sunflowers for the skeptical

Chapter 14: sunflower seeds

Naruto comes back in the middle of the night. Sasuke wakes with ten minutes to spare—just enough time to make sure everything's hidden, just enough time to put everything back in place. Not that Naruto would notice his shirts had been moved—he likely wouldn't even question it being in the bed—but that isn't a chance Sasuke particularly wanted to take.

His pride is still alive, somehow. This is the first Sasuke has heard from it in…quite some time.

The door's already open when he makes it there. Naruto's already in his arms.

"Fuck doing that again," Naruto breathes and Sasuke laughs into his clothes.

"But your responsibilities," Sasuke answers. Naruto punches a gentle fist to his shoulder, and they finally, finally get the door closed. Naruto's breathing heavy. He's run all the way here. He tells Sasuke he meant to come sooner—meant to leave sooner, but he—

Sasuke doesn't care.

Sasuke doesn't let him finish. Sasuke barely even lets him get started. Naruto's bags collapse onto the floor and Sasuke kicks them aside as he pushes Naruto back to the bedroom. Into the shower. Naruto's come hot and sweating and sore, sore all over, like he needs to be healed. Like he needs to press himself to Sasuke, and be healed.

Naruto's breath steams against the blue of the tile, and Sasuke does all he can.

The sun starts to threaten its ascent by the time they make it out. The light teases itself against Naruto's body—taunts Sasuke with echo of where he'd been. Where he still could be. Naruto turns back to him with a smile and then a laugh—he catches Sasuke by the wrist and bumps his head to Sasuke's shoulder. His hair is wet, and it's cool against Sasuke's skin.

But Naruto's hands are warm. So, so warm.

Sasuke breathes in and out again, and wonders how he hadn't noticed how cold the house had been when he was on his own.

They make it to the kitchen…eventually. Naruto's returned with more bags than he left with, and Sasuke eyes them before turning back to him. Naruto bites his lip and gives Sasuke the worst apology he's ever seen.

"Listen," he says, holding his hands up, "I know you're sick of ramen, but I was just thinking if we did something like last time—at the market, I'd still get to make it, and you wouldn't have to eat it or anything—"

Sasuke presses him against the counter and kisses him until he shuts the hell up.

He won't tell Naruto why he keeps laughing.

And since they can't get back to sleep, Sasuke starts a fire. Naruto grabs a blanket and tries to wipe steam off a window—it's dew, and it's on the other side. Sasuke says absolutely nothing. Absolutely…

"Shut up, asshole!"

He laughs. He laughs again. He doesn't know if he laughed in five days, but it's incessant, now. He can't seem to hold it back.

He feels so light.

"When do you think you'll go back?" Sasuke asks, because it's in his nature to search for ways to ruin things. Search for disaster, with the pretense of preparing for it. How he was planning on doing that, Sasuke didn't know, but…

"I dunno," Naruto says, kicking the blanket closer to the fire. It doesn't work. Sasuke's sitting on it. "Not…I don't—I don't even think they need me."

He laughs, and Sasuke distinctly doesn't move when Naruto misjudges the space he has to sit in. Naruto falls back against him, and his shampoo smells different when it's on him, somehow.

"I'm going to quote you on that," Sasuke warns, "the next time you get this stupid idea into your head."

Naruto's laugh gently shakes against him.

"Yeah. Um."

They don't speak for a while, after that. The fire cracks and pops in front of them, and Sasuke…breathes. Sits. Lets himself grow tired and hungry.

Naruto falls asleep on his shoulder, but slowly falls down to his lap. Sasuke watches the day rise in front of them, and makes no move to greet it.

They're on their own time, here.

The world stays muffled, and Naruto starts to snore. Sasuke's hunger starts to berate him, and his bladder grows desperate—

Naruto wakes, when Sasuke moves, but it's only to give him a happy, half-asleep smile.

Sasuke turns away, and feels the sun on his back.

When Naruto wakes next, it's to a knock on their door. Sasuke jumps at the sound, although he'd felt the presence—he feels many a presence, and it's rare they're meant for him. He follows Naruto two steps back—

A courier ninja.

Oh.

"S'from—oh. I'll reply later, thanks, you can—" Naruto waves the man off, and it's telling that he didn't even make an attempt at polite conversation.

It's from Konoha.

Sasuke scowls.

"Don't make that face," Naruto tells him, and he hasn't even looked up, "it's just from Sakura. I bet I forgot something or…something…"

Naruto trails off, and Sasuke makes no effort to hide the way he reads over Naruto's shoulder.

"Shit," Naruto says. "They didn't realize I'd left. I was supposed to have a…"

Naruto laughs and shoves a hand through his hair and kneels halfway to the ground. It's like the weight of the world is finally getting to him.

Sasuke snatches the letter out of his hand.

"They want me to come back," Naruto says, "for my birthday. Sakura's doing a thing. Aw. That's really…"

Sasuke looks over at him, and Naruto melts onto the floor.

"I was just there!" he protests, and Sasuke's lips twitch.

"You don't want your birthday party?"

"Of course I want my birthday—ugh! I spent the whole time doing shitty work, too, and I could've—this sucks."

"You didn't tell them goodbye?" Sasuke asks, flipping the letter over.

"I'd already been gone so long!" Naruto protests, and it makes Sasuke look up.

Naruto breathes in—

Sasuke returns to the letter with a smile.

"Shut up, asshole," Naruto squeezes out, and Sasuke's smile widens. Good. He wasn't the only pathetic one in this house. He wasn't about to let Naruto onto that fact, but it was…nice to know.

"What's stopping them from coming here?" Sasuke asks, tossing the letter back to him. It flops uselessly in the air, and Naruto snatches it before it falls.

"They—huh?" he asks, and Sasuke moves around the counter.

"Here," he says again. "Why are you expected to be the one travelling for your own celebration?"

"Well, I—I didn't think," Naruto looks down at the letter and back up, "you—don't mind?"

Sasuke shrugs.

"It's your house," he points out.

"It's yours too!" Naruto protests—

"Yes," Sasuke says. "It is."

The clouds shift, and the sun streams through the window. Sasuke gives Naruto a look, and turns on his heel.

It's his. It's Naruto's. And if Sasuke doesn't want Naruto to leave, the logical next step is making this a place he can stay—

And that starts with this. It starts with ramen, too, but it also starts with this.

It's about time Sasuke returned the favour, anyway.

Naruto strains out a noise, and Sasuke makes a show of grabbing all of Naruto's seasonings again. He doesn't really have a plan. He has an idea. Some sort of loose…

"I should invite Teuchi and Ayame," Naruto says, and he's smiling down at the letter. It's that held-breath, tentative sort of smile—the one where he looks up at Sasuke, as if waiting for him to disagree.

"You ought to," Sasuke agrees instead, and Naruto tries to hide the way he beams. As if he ever could. "Would you—"

Sasuke breathes in, and Naruto's head jerks up.

"Just—here."

This is early. Earlier than expected. Earlier than he'd wanted to—do this. But Naruto ought to at least have the option, and Sasuke—Sasuke turns on his heel, and Naruto trots after him.

"What's up?" Naruto asks, and Sasuke's leaned it back here, somewhere—in Sasuke's part of the closet, Naruto never hangs up his clothes anyway—

He flips the sign over, and holds it steady. Ayaka had one that was the right size, and knew how to fasten it—Sasuke wasn't much good with painting, but he had a steady hand, and he could follow a stencil. He's left it for Naruto to dress up, anyway. Right now, it was just a simple—

'Uzumaki Ramen.'

Naruto stares. It wasn't—particularly meant to be a birthday present. Just a normal present. A mundane present. A present for their life here, a present for what their life could be, a present for Naruto's stupid little obsession and a present for the way he lit up every time he dove into it—

Naruto stares at the sign, and then him, and Sasuke barely lets himself breathe.

"You don't need to use it," Sasuke explains. "It can just—be in the house. But if you wanted to—"

"Can I use it?!" Naruto asks, and he's reaching out. "Sasuke—is this for the market?! Does this fit one of those—"

"I have one of the stands it'll fit onto."

"What?!"

And a few other things. They could still use the table, and Sasuke had found bowls, and spoons, and a portable stove that would do enough to get them going. Until they really discovered what they needed. What they wanted. If it was something that Naruto wanted—

"Sasuke?!" Naruto yells, and the signs falls with a clap as Naruto shoves him back. "This is so cool, you asshole! When did you—what did you—fuck!"

He tears himself away, and Sasuke laughs, weakly checking over the sign to make sure Naruto hasn't already made a disaster of it. It's in one piece, at least, and Naruto bounces all around it before making it back to Sasuke.

"Well now I'm never fucking leaving," he mutters, and he's already grabbing it. He's already taking it out the door. He carries it all the way to the market that isn't even open right now—just to see how it'll look. Just to put it all together. Sasuke grabs the stove and the bowls and the spoons, and reminds Naruto that he probably has a letter to reply to. Naruto swears, and runs back to the house.

Sasuke laughs, and waits for him on their table. In their little ramen stand.

"Should they come here?!" Naruto asks, and he's yelling his way up the hill. "They should come here, right? Not the house—"

"If it works," Sasuke says, and Naruto uses their table to scribble something even messier than the letters he'd sent to Sasuke. He's beaming like a goddamn idiot, and he nearly tackles Sasuke in another hug before he takes off again.

Sasuke presses his lips together to stop the smile, and wonders if he'll be the one carrying this all back.

Naruto does come back for him. Sasuke sits on the table until he does, swinging his legs like he's a child again. Staring up at the sky. Nothing better to do. Naruto nearly collapses them both, and Sasuke warns him that he very much does not have a replacement table.

"You can change the name," he also points out, about halfway back.

"Fuck you I will!" Naruto yells, spinning around. "I'm not changing that!"

He jabs Sasuke on the chest, and Sasuke snatches his hand out of the air. Naruto grins and doesn't let go.

By the time they receive a reply, Naruto's friends are already on their way. Sasuke doesn't scan enough of the letter to know who all that entails, but he knows Naruto, and he knows that probably means they don't have enough food. And that they ought to warn the neighbours. And since Naruto is far too excited about the food, that leaves Sasuke to deal with the neighbours—but they know Naruto, too, and all Sasuke seems to achieve is creating an even bigger crowd. Some sort of grand opening. That wasn't the intention—

But.

Well.

That's where they are now, he supposes.

They go to their stand with an hour to spare. The small stove isn't enough to keep everything warm, but Sasuke can start a flame to tide that by—he ties his hair back, and does what he can to help. Take over. He's seen Naruto do this enough times. He's even used his sharingan, once or twice.

He does again, today. Just for a little while. Naruto sees it, and doesn't say anything.

He smiles wider, though.

Ayaka is the first to arrive. Mako and Kota beg to see Sasuke breathe fire—and he needs to reheat this pot anyway, so he does. Naruto says something he can't hear, and it makes Ayaka laugh. She whispers something back to him. Sasuke narrows his eyes at them both.

The chaos grows from there. Sasuke feels the crowd approaching and resigns himself to it—he tells Naruto to go, and focuses on the ramen. Naruto stays for the first three bowls before he gets distracted by something in the distance. Someone. Sasuke gets more than a million surprised looks, but the only eyes he catches are Naruto's.

He catches them an awful lot.

It's Teuchi who's the first to come to speak with him. Sasuke doesn't know how much he knows—but maybe it's everything. From the way Naruto relied on his food—from the way he went there at every given opportunity, and spoke at a far louder than polite volume—

Sasuke gets the sense that he knows an awful lot. He comes to Sasuke when he's frowning at the pot, waiting for it to overcook.

"Leave it simmering," he tells Sasuke. "It lets the flavours come together."

"Oi!" Naruto calls, and Sasuke looks up. "Is Sasuke getting secret lessons?! He can't get better than me—!"

Naruto leaps over to them, and Sasuke laughs as he snatches the ladle. Fine, fine, fine. He'll chop more vegetables. They're nearly out of food.

"You're not angry at him for kidnapping your recipe?" Sasuke asks, and Naruto opens his mouth at Sasuke's betrayal—

"I ought to be, no?" Teuchi asks, and he's smiling.

"We're a branch of Ichiraku's!" Naruto insists. "We can be—"

Teuchi laughs.

"It can be yours. Mine, as well, but no recipe is worth anything if it can't be passed down," he says. "Send travellers to Ayame, though, will you?"

"Of course I will!" Naruto insists, and then he's distracted again. They run out of ramen and they run out of bowls, and Sasuke does what he can not to leave the place a mess. He thinks he needs another stove. He thinks he needs better bowls. He thinks he needs—

"Yours," Naruto says, and Sasuke blinks.

"I thought we ran out," he says, taking the bowl.

"We did," Naruto tells him, "I saved you that first thing today. You have to warm it up, though. Okay?"

Naruto presses a quick kiss to his lips, and then he's off. Sasuke…breathes out. There are several more lingering stares, at that, and Sasuke can distinctly hear Kakashi's laugh. He's beside Sakura, who—ah. She knew.

That's someone, at least.

Sasuke finds a rock to sit on while he warms his bowl. The salt isn't so bad every once in a while. The heat is nice. Especially now, with the cool air coming back to him…

"I didn't realize you two had settled in so nicely," a familiar voice says, and Sasuke gives Kakashi a brief glance. "Running a ramen stand and all."

Sasuke inclines his head. He'd had a…moment with everyone before he'd left. When he was still in the hospital. Apologies and guilt and…all sorts of discomfort. He doesn't quite feel it now. He doesn't quite know if he should.

"Seems nice," Sakura offers, and Sasuke breathes out.

"It is," he tells them. "You'll have to visit us more frequently."

Sakura blinks. Even Kakashi looks surprised. Maybe he's simply being polite. Maybe it's meaningless nothings, and Sasuke will only ignore them when they're here—if they even come. But Naruto's looking over at him again, and something in Sasuke thinks that it's different, here.

Sasuke feels different, here.

It's late into the night by the time they're freed. Sasuke is tired several days over, and the sun hasn't left Naruto's face all day—even now that it's down. Sasuke has to squint to look at him.

"That was fun," Naruto says, and Sasuke lets out a breath through his nose. "Thanks."

Naruto looks over at him. Something in his eyes catch Sasuke by the throat. By the voice. By the breath.

They always had, Sasuke thinks. Something about that blue.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says, and Naruto laughs and bumps into him. Knocks into him. Stumbles into him, with all the excuses of someone looking for a touch. Sasuke obliges him, and thinks of the days when he couldn't.

"Oh," Naruto says, and he's squeezing Sasuke's hand. "Y'know what Ino told me? Did you know you can grow sunflowers indoors?"

Sasuke lets out a laugh.

"Your next project, is it?" he asks. "I'll find some books."

"And some seeds!" Naruto says, and he's planning. He has five million contrasting thoughts all at once, but that's the way Naruto tends to have his ideas. Sasuke smiles and listens and tries to find his own. Plan out his own. He'll figure it all out tomorrow, but for now—

Their biggest worry is simply this.

Finding a way to grow some sunflowers.


A/N: A good story knows when it's time to end, and I hope this story's been good to you. I definitely didn't intend for it to be this big (or consistent) haha!

I still plan on hopping back into sns month when I can, I just need a little rest. it's 4 am now, and i think that's me done for the night. good night friends!

- Kinomi