Two weeks after the funeral and Sasuke still hadn't said anything. Not to Naruto, not to any of the other orphans and definitely not to the matron. He hadn't showed up to the academy once and when going to meals he used what skills he had learned from the academy to retrieve what he needed quickly and silently. While Naruto was used to having silence in his room due to the general lack of roommates this silence wore on him. It was overbearing, like a heavy weight placed on his chest and every time he wanted to say or ask something wild eyes would flick to his own, forcing him to close his mouth.
Finally becoming sick of the silence, Naruto tried something else besides for keeping quiet.
"Shikamaru told me that he'd had to work really hard to keep his marks in third place since you've been at the academy," Naruto said suddenly, putting aside his books to look at Sasuke's prone form. He knew Sasuke was awake because he actually made some noise when he slept. "I didn't understand what he meant until he told me that he was trying not to get higher. He said that he had to get lower than Ino which is slightly troublesome. He likes that word a lot. Troublesome that is. I think it's his favorite word. But now that Ino and Sakura are the two highest marks in the class Iruka Sensei has been pushing all the boys to try harder because they're all getting beaten by two girls. I don't think I've ever seen Kiba being so active and Kiba is very active. I mean Choji and Shikamaru didn't mind at first but then Ino and Sakura joined together to try and make them train so that their grades would improve. And would you believe that Hinata fainted this week when Kiba spoke to her. It was so scary, we all thought she died but then we saw that she was breathing so it was ok. But she must have gotten a fright when she woke up in the hospital. Oh and my sealing teacher gave me new instructions but most of it is still just trigonometry. Why do I even need to understand triangles anyway, its not like I want the storage space to specifically be triangular, that would be ridiculous. Besides for which it doesn't really matter in the grand-,"
"Stop," Sasuke said sharply, turning to Naruto and cutting him off. Uttering the first word he had spoken since coming to the orphanage, his voice sounded croaky from the lack of use. "What are you doing?" he asked, sounding annoyed.
Naruto frowned. "Talking. I thought it was obvious."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed to slits. "I realized. But why are you talking to me?"
Naruto met his eyes as a silent challenge before looking down.. "I thought you might need a distraction," he said with his eyes to the floor.
"I don't," Sasuke responded, before turning away from Naruto and pulling his blanket up to his neck.
Naruto stared after him and sighed, picking up his book while the silence once again pressed down on him. Five minutes into his reading a grunt came from Sasuke's direction. Upon raising his eyes Naruto saw that Sasuke had turned to face him, an inquisitive expression on his face.
"Did Hinata really faint?" he asked, keeping his face straight.
Naruto grinned. "Yeah. On her face."
Sasuke nodded and turned away again, only this time Naruto thought he saw the ghost of a smile on his face.
Encouraged by his success of the first day Naruto tried the same thing the next day, spewing details about every single aspect of his day, including what was said in the lessons, what he was struggling with in sealing, how everyone was acting and unlike the first day Sasuke didn't protest.
It became somewhat of a ritual and each time he would get more of a reaction from Sasuke. First it may have just been a grunt but soon he was acting attentive, turning to face Naruto even before he came in with something on his face that may have signaled relief. After a week or so he started to ask questions about what Naruto was saying, confirming things and occasionally asking for summaries of the lessons. He even started helping Naruto out with the lessons that he was failing to understand, correcting him where it was needed.
"You should come back to the academy," Naruto said one evening sitting across from Sasuke before getting into what happened that day. "We miss you. Even the teachers. I. . .you don't have to come back and I can understand if you don't. But you should think about it. After all," Naruto looked away. "Who's going to make sure that your clan continues if not you?"
Sasuke looked like he wanted to attack Naruto at the mention of his clan, his eyes having narrowed and his fists clenched by his side. But he relaxed a moment later with a small grunt and closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall.
Naruto was worried that he might have made things worse but the next morning Sasuke rose with him and walked with him to the academy. All of his classmates came over to give their condolences and he was taken aside after classes by Mizuki and Iruka. Naruto waited though, he waited for a good long hour by himself until Sasuke left. Upon leaving the academy Sasuke's eyes widened on seeing Naruto. Moving over to him he frowned. "You waited for me?"
Naruto nodded. "I was worried you might get lost."
Sasuke stared at him strangely and grunted, beginning his walk slowly enough for Naruto to fall into step.
