Only You
By: Wildwolfr13
Ch.4
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sorry for not updating early! I'll update once a week.
Sasuke groaned for the tenth time that day. This was definitely not going well. At the ramen booth, he had decided to ask the Magpie's if they knew anything about a restaurant called Onigiri. Sakura was the only one who knew something, but her mother had called her at that exact second, screaming at Sakura to get home, now. Sakura had apologized and had sprinted out of the booth to see what was bothering her mother. Sasuke and the rest of the Magpie's had waited, questioning why this was so important. Finally, after two hours, Sakura called Ino's cell phone, saying that something urgent had come up.
Sasuke, furious that he had wasted two hours, snarled at Naruto, saying he wanted to go back to the apartment and take a warm shower because he felt dirty. The group went their separate ways, and now here he was, in the shower, thinking of another way to find his mother. He doubted Sakura had a lot of information anyways. He stepped out, dried himself with a rough towel, and glared at the bathroom in distaste. Why was it so…dirty! He stomped out of the bathroom, ready to insult Naruto until he felt better. What he saw was…surprising.
Naruto sat on the floor, knitting away at what looked like a scarf.
"You knit?" asked Sasuke in disbelief. Naruto looked at Sasuke, and blushed.
"It's just because it's cold!" retorted Naruto defensively. Sasuke plopped down and stared at the half made scarf.
"Not bad," he admitted grudgingly. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"How would you know?" he said, skeptical.
"My…mother used to knit all the time…" said Sasuke softly, a far-away look, sad look in his eyes. "Even though she never had to, she said the winter was always warmer if you wore things that loved ones made for you…"
Sasuke blushed. He must have sounded disgustingly mushy. Plus, why'd he tell Naruto that anyways? Confused, Sasuke quickly changed the subject.
"Did you learn how to knit from your mother?"
Naruto looked at the floor, a look of pain on his face.
"No. I'm an orphan." said Naruto stiffly. He didn't want to look into Sasuke's eyes and see the pity. The disgusting pity.
Sasuke was silent, processing the information he just heard.
"They died when I was born," Naruto said quickly, trying to break the awkward silence. "What about you? How did you become a hobo?"
Sasuke felt an indignant spark at being called a hobo. But now that the time had come, he felt he needed to spill it out to someone. Anyone. Keeping everything inside, feeling that he was alone in the world. No one cared. It was scary. Not having a real home, in an unknown city, with no money or clothes, without the ones he was wearing. He was only sixteen, for chrissakes! He couldn't easily get a job, and he still hadn't finished school. He needed his birth certificate, school ID card, and a guardian to get enrolled into school, but what was the use? He would have to pay for books, equipment, etc.
But Naruto was as bad off as he. He didn't have parents either. But at least Naruto had friends. Feeling the full burden of his troubles, he almost broke down. That aching, suffocating feeling almost made him break down. In front of Naruto. He shook his head wryly. Now who was being the idiot?
Meanwhile, Naruto looked at Sasuke with concern. Maybe this was a tender subject for him? When he saw Sasuke in almost obvious pain, he almost panicked. Where did that cool bastard with a superiority-complex go to? Sure, it had been really quick, that anguished look, but it had been there... so he did the thing that would have comforted him if he was feeling lonely. He hugged him.
Sasuke froze, shocked. Was the dobe hugging him? He hadn't been held for ten years. It felt…nice, like he was loved. Naruto's arms held him tightly, shielding him. The warmth was incredible. But, he couldn't let the dobe get out of a situation like this without embarrassing him. He pulled away, then smirked.
"Have you fallen for my irresistible charm, dobe? I knew you were as straight as a circle from the beginning."
Naruto flushed. "You jackass! I was trying to comfort you because you looked like you were about to start bawling!"
"So you admit that you're gay?"
"Nani! Teme!"
The two young boys exhaled bated breath's and nervously laughed, relieved that they didn't hurt each others feelings, and that the awkward moment was over.
Sasuke looked at the half knit scarf.
"This is really good yarn." Sasuke stated. "Where do you get it?"
"It's free!"declared Naruto. "The old lady next door gives me a lot of yarn because I help her a lot. Want me to make you one?"
Sasuke looked down at his clothes. A winter jacket, a long sleeve shirt, another long sleeve shirt, jeans, underwear, and socks. His socks were wet and soggy, so they had been discarded. He only wore one of his long sleeve shirts right now.
"I'm glad I came here dressed for winter" he said aloud.
"But aren't those your only clothes?"
"Hn."
"You're going to wear that for a whole month?"
"Hn."
Naruto laughed. "You're going to stink!"
Sasuke hit him roughly with a pillow. 'I need my money back,' he thought.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Naruto!" a voice called. "Open the door!"
Naruto's face lit up. "Iruka-sensei!" he yelled, running for the door. A person with light brown hair tied up in a ponytail came into the room, a happy Naruto glomping him around the middle. A spark of dislike went through Sasuke's chest, although there was no reason to dislike him. 'Why is Naruto... hugging him like that? It's…annoying.'
The brown-haired man with gentle, warm brown eyes, and a misplaced scar across his nose took one look at Sasuke and almost jumped up in alarm. Why was this…young, gorgeous, teenager glaring at him with intense hatred? He didn't even know him! More importantly, why was he in Naruto's apartment?
"Naruto, who's this?" Iruka inquired cautiously.
Naruto looked at Sasuke, and beamed. "This is my new roommate!" he announced.
"Hi, I'm Iruka," Iruka introduced himself, still alarmed of that murderous glare.
"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said coldly.
Naruto hit Sasuke on the head, breaking the awkward silence. "Be nice, Sasuke-teme! Iruka's practically a parent to me." Iruka blushed, and Sasuke looked at Iruka a little guiltily.
"Sorry," he mumbled, regretful that he had treated Naruto's foster parent so badly.
Iruka brightened immeadiately. " No problem!" he said, and laughed it off. "Here, I'll make you guys some lunch," he said, and with Sasuke's help moved all the groceries to the kitchen, then cooked them lunch.
During the next five hours, Sasuke was surprisingly happy. He immediately warmed up to Iruka, watching him scold Naruto for the bad shape of the house. "I told you not to only eat ramen, and to stock up on regular food!" Iruka scolded. "Why is this house so messy! I always tell you to pick up after yourself!" and, "Naruto! There is MOLD growing in the bathroom!" Everyone was busy cleaning, and the house came into shape as Iruka directed Naruto and Sasuke on what to do. When Iruka got into a 'must-clean!' frenzy, it was unwise not to obey him. Once the house was spick and span, Iruka sent Naruto and Sasuke to the store to buy shampoo, soap, more cleaning supplies, dishwasher soap, paper towels, and all of the house necessities.
Iruka meanwhile cooked them dinner, and after the necessities had been bought and neatly put away, he served them a delicious, hot dinner that included juicy steak, creamy mashed potatoes, sweet corn on the cob, steamed vegetables, fried rice, and a lot of stuff that Sasuke liked, but had never seen put together in one meal. They all devoured it, and Iruka and Naruto chatted as they stuffed their hungry stomachs.
When they finished, they all helped doing the dishes, with Naruto scrubbing, Sasuke washing, and Iruka drying and putting dishes away. Sasuke had a very small, almost invisible, content smile on his face as he thought, 'I could get used to this.'
Hi again! I'll try updating once a week! Please be patient. Advice, tips, and feedback are always welcome.