Another chapter focusing on the sasnar. Next chapter we'll get some more plot, promise. These two just won't let me speed things up, sigh. But I like this chapter. I hope you do too. Sorry it took me a while to finish it, but I couldn't write during my trip to Tokyo:p I should probably get off my couch now because my legs keep falling asleep.

Chapter 21: …no one else matters as much

xxx

Naruto had appeared inside the house, grabbed a hold of Sasuke's arm, and shouted that he was taking him for ramen and then he'd be staying over and that they shouldn't worry about him.

And then he had promptly teleported them into the middle of the city, a small back alley revealing itself to Sasuke once he'd torn his glare off Naruto's excited face.

"Come on, I'm starving!" Naruto urged him, tugging at his arm and pulling him out onto the bustling street.

"You put your mark on Ichiraku's."

The words left Sasuke as a mixture of a statement and an exasperated sigh, but Naruto grinned at him as if it was perfectly normal.

"Of course! It took me half an hour to find the damn place, I wasn't gonna go through that again!"

When Sasuke gave him a raised eyebrow, he sighed and stopped tugging at him at least.

"I was gonna get you first but then I walked by where it is at home and it wasn't there so I had to find it. And here it is!"

He swept his hand out in a half circle, as if the restaurant –looking exactly like the one at home– was something extraordinary that Sasuke had never seen before.

"Incredible," he muttered, but obediently followed and took a seat next to Naruto.

He couldn't say he was upset over Naruto dragging him there, since Mikoto had been in the middle of a tirade on how he should know better than to over exert himself right after his hospital visit. At least he'd been left alone until then, though he had expected Charasuke to show up at some point. It was still a little strange to call him that, but at least it was better than feeling like he was talking about himself in third person.

During his little moment of thought, Naruto had already managed to order for them and now sat happily dangling his legs and looking at the menu above them.

"It looks exactly the same," he mused, leaning his chin in one hand and closing his eyes to inhale deeply through his nose. "Aah, I missed ramen so much!"

"You look ridiculous," Sasuke snorted, which of course made Naruto release an angry noise before kicking his shin.

"No I don't!"

Sasuke didn't bother replying, not that the moron seemed to care. He had quickly gone back to scan the menu, probably debating on what his second bowl would contain.

"Do you even have any money?" he asked, realizing that he himself definitely didn't.

"Yup! I got some pay in advance from Iruka! He's super nice."

Naruto was beaming again, digging out a small non-descript purse and waving it in his face.

"Stop that." He pushed Naruto's hand down, pressing it against the counter for a couple of seconds while Naruto's grin turned obnoxious.

"Jealous 'cause you're broke?" he snickered, as if he hadn't been too until today.

"I bet I'll earn more than you anyway."

"No fair!"

Not that Naruto was actually upset though, judging by the mirth in his eyes. Sasuke had to avert his, thankfully saved by their bowls arriving. Sometimes, Naruto just looked so happy for no other reason than them being together. He brought a hand up to absentmindedly rub at his chest as he waited for the ramen to cool down, not bothering to send Naruto a look of disbelief as he practically inhaled the scalding hot noodles. The past year had been… different, to say the least. There were days when he could simply forget about everything and immerse himself in Naruto's company, and then there were days when simply thinking about him made his chest hurt painfully with all the regret for the actions he never apologized for.

He wondered if Naruto had forgiven him, truly forgiven him. Or if he'd simply brushed it aside as an unpleasant memory to focus on the future instead.

"Mmmmmm."

Naruto smacked his lips in content, nudging Sasuke in the ribs when he noticed he hadn't even started yet.

"Teme, you're so slow," he complained, and with a sigh Sasuke gave in and lifted his chopsticks, muttering a quick Itadakimasu before eating.

Naruto started chattering about his day at the orphanage, pointing out his new work clothes and all the rules Iruka had tried to stuff his brain full with.

"I'm not allowed to curse! Like, at all! How am I supposed to remember that!"

"By having the kids all around you?" Sasuke suggested in a bored tone, Naruto puffing out his cheeks in annoyance.

"You try it then, you wouldn't last a day!"

"Speak for yourself, dumbass."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, then his eyes lit up as he quickly changed the subject.

"But you know, the kids are really smart! Probably smarter than you were back then!"

"Mhm."

"Asuna had an assignment on politics! Did we ever talk about that stuff? I can't remember."

Sasuke generally didn't enjoy thinking back to his academy days, but figured he could make the effort just this once.

"If you're talking about the power structures, then yes, we talked about it."

Chin in hand again, Naruto tilted his head with narrowed eyes.

"Huh. Well this was like, who does what and also what it's like in Suna. Did you know that if people aren't happy with the Kage, they can just demand a revote and kick you out?"

"As opposed to what, killing you?" Sasuke's lips twitched sarcastically, and Naruto at first made an indignant noise before sighing.

"I think Orochimaru and Madara are the only ones who've ever wanted to kill the Kages…" he trailed off, stiffening as if realizing what he'd said but knowing it was too late to take it back.

"Oh really?" Sasuke commented, face blank, pushing away the guilt he felt because damn, at the time he'd really thought they deserved it.

Naruto glanced at him, nervously licking his lips. This was a topic they hadn't really discussed, but suddenly Sasuke felt as if it wasn't so bad to talk about it. It was tiresome to keep everything to himself, worrying what Naruto would think, knowing all too well that there were things he would never understand about him.

"You can ask," he added, casually lifting the bowl to down some of the broth now that it was at a reasonable temperature.

"Only if you want to talk about it."

He placed the bowl back down, grabbing a napkin to dry his mouth, buying himself some time. Did he want to talk about it? He had already told Naruto once that he'd been fully serious with his intentions, which had made the meetings during the chuunin exam slightly awkward because Naruto kept acting as if someone would attack Sasuke all the time to get back at him.

"I did what I thought I had to do," he settled for admitting, meeting Naruto's serious gaze and holding it.

Something passed between them in the silence that followed, not that the vague tingling sensation was entirely new. He had often found that just by looking into Naruto's eyes he could explain the things he never knew how to put into words, and when Naruto lifted his bandaged hand to place it hesitantly on his thigh, the feeling only increased.

"I'm not angry at you," Naruto murmured, squeezing briefly with his hand when Sasuke nodded once. "But you did try to kill an important friend of mine."

Sasuke couldn't bear to maintain eye contact then, breaking it to poke into his bowl instead. There were many things he had tried to do, and Naruto didn't even know of all of them. He felt guilty, yes, but part of him also wondered what would have happened if he'd succeeded. Would Naruto have hated him? Would they have fought, eventually, and would Sasuke have lost?

"Him being your friend wasn't exactly a factor," he whispered, feeling Naruto's hand leave his thigh to brush away a few of the bangs hiding his face from view.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."

He couldn't help but blow some air out his nose at that, because Naruto was the last person who should need to apologize. Still, the thumb grazing his cheek wasn't something he honestly could say felt bad.

Opening his mouth to tell Naruto he really didn't need to feel bad about it, he was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Sasuke! How lucky that I'd run into you, dear." The voice belonged to an elderly woman, her grey hair pulled up into a neat bun and her clothes definitely a telltale sign she was an Uchiha. "I need to give these to your mother, but I'm in a hurry. Do you mind?"

He blinked at her for a couple seconds, only remembering Naruto's fingers on his cheek when he snatched his hand away as if burned.

"I don't mind, but I won't be coming back until tomorrow. Can it wait?" he asked her apologetically, the stray thought of how exactly they were supposedly related running through his mind.

"Oh yes, that's fine. Thank you, dear!" She handed him a bag made of dark green fabric, which was definitely heavier than it looked, and patted his shoulder before winking at him. "Sorry to interrupt you on your date!"

Naruto sputtered, having distracted himself by drinking the last remains of broth in his bowl.

"What the hell," he coughed after she'd left, fist covering his mouth. "I can't believe she thought we were Menma and that perv!"

Sasuke wasn't entirely sure that it would have mattered, but decided not to comment on it. He'd long since learnt to ignore other people's assumptions.

"Maybe it's because you're not wearing orange," he suggested instead, putting the bag on the ground and returning to his food.

"Haha, sure," Naruto muttered. "Hey, Sasuke?"

As if the interruption had been forgotten already, Naruto gnawed on his lower lip while seeming to struggle with something.

"What."

"You can ask me something too, if you want."

The words came tumbling over each other, and Naruto looked very interested in the bottom of his empty bowl all of a sudden.

"…why should I?"

"Bastard! Because you answered one of mine of course! That's only fair, right?"

It wasn't the first time Naruto had tried this tactic on him in order to make him open up and actually talk about stuff. Though, he knew there were things even Naruto didn't feel comfortable with, and rarely asked anything serious unless forced to.

"Aren't you going to order another bowl?"

Naruto slapped his arm, glaring at him, but did wave at Teuchi to get started on his second round. Feeling things slowly return to a sense of normalcy, Sasuke enjoyed the peace and quiet while concentrating on eating. It wasn't until he'd almost finished that he realized what it was that had been poking at his subconscious during their dinner.

No one was paying attention to him.

It might seem like a rather insignificant thing, but to Sasuke it made all the difference in the world. Even the times they'd walked through the village here, there would be girls whispering about him or other people simply recognizing him with a nod or a greeting. But right now, half hidden by the white curtains hanging from the restaurant's overhanging roof, there was only Naruto's presence to take note of. It was definitely a relaxing feeling, and he rolled a shoulder to get rid of some slight tension.

It was just automatic for him to tense up in public, too used to being wary of strangers, and too used to being stared at. He appreciated that about this dimension, that the most his counterpart was guilty of was some flirting…

"Fine, I have a question."

Naruto immediately focused his attention on him, pausing his noodle fest.

"Just what did Charasuke do to you if you insist on calling him a pervert?"

Unexpectedly, Naruto blushed a bright red and ducked his head down so Sasuke couldn't see his face.

"Obviously he was being a pervert!" Naruto told him hotly, his grip on his chopsticks tightening.

"You've never seemed bothered by perverts before, though."

If Naruto was going to be so embarrassed about it, Sasuke might as well take the opportunity to tease him a little. There was a flash of blue as Naruto sent him a scathing look before defiantly crossing his arms and letting out a grunt.

"Yeah but they were just perving over my sexy jutsu, which is like, totally the point of using it! That guy is totally dangerous!"

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke did his best to appear bored. It was difficult, considering Charasuke barely seemed to have enough presence to even seem threatening, which meant Naruto was either overreacting or the other ninja really had tried doing something weird to him.

"Dangerous how?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, gnawing on his lips again.

"Nope, you only had one question."

"You didn't answer it."

Their gazes locked, Naruto becoming increasingly frustrated when Sasuke refused to back down.

"Well he said he wanted to have sex with me!"

Sasuke blinked in surprise, and Naruto's face turned another interesting shade of dark red.

"Or, more specifically, he asked me to join him and Menma," he muttered, fiddling with his chopsticks and ducking his head down in embarrassment again. "Isn't that the most perverted thing you've ever heard!"

"I have a vague memory of someone asking me to join in on their reverse harem jutsu but…"

Naruto's hand instantly tried to slap his arm, but Sasuke interrupted it easily. Clearly this was a touchy subject for him, not that Sasuke could understand why. Considering the amount of times Naruto had tried to peek on girls in the bath, and the years travelling with Jiraiya, not to mention his and Kiba's conversations sometimes that Sasuke always tried his hardest to tune out but never successfully succeeded with.

"There's no way that was the first time someone suggested that to you," he finally said, Naruto's body seeming to droop as he let his head fall onto the countertop.

"Oh sure, like you'd be perfectly fine with Menma making dirty suggestions to you while drooling all over your body with his eyes and in the middle of getting it on with Charasuke!"

There was just something about the utter mortification on Naruto's face that made Sasuke unable to help himself. He felt his lips twitch, laughter bubbling up his chest and throat. He tried to push it down, resulting in a choked snort, which caused him to smack a hand over his mouth. Naruto gaped at him, torn between shock and disbelief, which then morphed into insulted anger.

"Are you laughing at me?!"

Sasuke shook his head, but his shoulders shook just as much with badly suppressed amusement. It's not like he wanted to laugh, Naruto's face just did that to him. Though he'd probably send a Rasengan Sasuke's way if he ever admitted that.

"You are such a jerk," Naruto whined, his closed fist hitting Sasuke's upper arm repeatedly, though there was no force behind it. "What about my innocence!"

Sasuke forced himself to take deep breaths, slowly calming down. He felt lightheaded, and even though the shaking and bubbling stopped, his lips refused to cooperate. In the end he had to bite them to use the pain as distraction.

Must be residual hormones, he thought. He'd have to talk to Orochimaru about that during the check-up.

Naruto had stopped hitting him, instead staring at him with a strange expression on his face, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Not that Sasuke could blame him, the amount of times he'd laughed the past year were… limited, to say the least.

"You should laugh more," Naruto told him, as if the thought had just struck him. "You look good."

Then he caught himself, snapping his head in the opposite direction and placing his hands on the counter. His fingers were doing a little tap dance, stopping when Sasuke reached out and flicked his cheek.

"Oww, what was that for?!"

"Are you sure you really have any innocence left?" he asked, voice sarcastic as he ignored Naruto's previous comment. "No one forced you to sleep in the same bed as him last night."

"You weren't supposed to leave me alone with him, either."

Naruto was pouting now, leaning slightly against the counter's edge. There were still the remnants of his heavy blushing lingering on his cheeks, and in the bright lamplight his whisker marks stood out more than usual.

"Well," Sasuke concluded, straightening up in his seat. "It's only a week and then Itachi and Shisui will move out, so I can have Itachi's room."

"Oh."

Was it just his imagination, or did Naruto look slightly disappointed? It didn't take long for him to recover, however, sending Sasuke a bright smile that just might have been a little forced.

"Hey, let's go to the night market after eating!"

"Fine," he agreed, letting out a small sigh. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, anyway.

xxx

Sasuke had transformed his slippers into shoes, even though Naruto had offered to teleport back and get his shoes for him. He could teleport just fine himself if he wanted to. The market wasn't particularly special, just some food stands and little booths selling trinkets. For something so small, Naruto was much too excited, in Sasuke's opinion. Still, it was rather nice to simply walk around in no hurry as the sun slowly set, the market lit up by lanterns hanging above the road. There weren't a lot of people since it wasn't the weekend, which suited Sasuke just fine.

Naruto had counted his money, and unhappily concluded that he needed to save it.

"That's like, the thing that sucks the most here," he complained as they walked past a stand from where a delicious smell wafted out. "No money. Do you know how much I've been saving up back home? I'm super rich compared to now."

"We should be happy we even get paid, considering we're freeloaders."

Naruto grunted, but soon cheered up again. He put his arm on Sasuke's shoulder, patting his chest at an awkward angle.

"Well, that's pretty great though! Everyone is so helpful here! Unlike a certain someone who never pays for my ramen!"

"I thought we weren't on a date," Sasuke couldn't help but point out, raising an eyebrow when Naruto stumbled and made choking noises again.

"I didn't mean it like that," the moron hissed, face scrunched up in a grimace."I just meant that sometimes you should totally pay for my ramen!"

"…right."

"What?" Naruto demanded, eyeing him with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing. Are we done here yet?"

Pursing his lips in thought, Naruto looked around them before shrugging.

"Yeah, I guess. It would be more fun in the weekend, probably."

"Good, because I need a shower."

He was forced to stop mid-step, Naruto grabbing his arm and spinning him around so they faced each other. Then blue eyes searched first his face, before critically taking in his clothes and body.

"Have you been training?" Naruto asked in an accusing tone, looking at Sasuke like he'd done something horrible.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! You were supposed to rest!"

"I can evaluate my condition myself," Sasuke replied stiffly.

"Like hell you can! You never listen to what the medics tell you!"

"And you do?"

Naruto glared at him, and Sasuke just knew he'd soon get to hear the usual arguments on how Naruto had Kurama and it was different and blah blah Sasuke was always too reckless. However, instead of saying anything, Naruto reached out and pressed his thumb against the juncture between his shoulder and neck, hard enough that Sasuke couldn't hide the slight wince it caused.

"You're all tense, dammit." Naruto pressed down mid-shoulder instead, holding Sasuke's wrist when he tried to swat his hand away. "I bet you didn't warm up properly."

"I did," Sasuke disagreed, but Naruto wasn't listening to his excuses.

"Tch, we're heading straight home and you're taking a bath, and then I'll give you a massage."

"You don't have to baby me," he sighed, expecting Naruto to loudly disagree.

Instead, Naruto flinched, suddenly looking unsure of himself.

"I'm just trying to help," he mumbled, combing a hand through his unruly hair, and something about his dejected look tugged at Sasuke's heart.

"What, what's wrong?"

When Naruto bit his lip, Sasuke wasn't sure what to think of it. Was it something he said? But they always talked like that to each other, and he hadn't even been angry about it. It was just tiresome that first Mikoto lectured him, and then Naruto, as if he hadn't taken care of himself most of his life.

"No, it's just, when you were acting weird before collapsing, you said…" Naruto glanced at him, then huffed and crossed his arms. "You said I was incredibly annoying for hanging all over you all the time. I'm just worried about you."

"I said that?" Honestly, Sasuke could only remember vague bits and pieces of what he'd done between the meeting with Tsunade and knocking out Menma.

"Yeah." Naruto met his gaze, but his face was still slightly downturned and he looked to be hugging himself more than simply crossing his arms. "But then you apologized and said we'd talk about it later."

"Talk about what."

"Well I don't know!" Naruto swept his hands out, sounding frustrated. "You were doing and saying a lot of weird things! And also, the beat got all irregular!"

Naruto looked upset, his breathing slightly shaky as he gave Sasuke a helpless look. He didn't like it, because it made him look vulnerable, and Naruto was supposed to be strong so that Sasuke never had to worry about him. Which of course he had to do all the time anyway, but that wasn't the point.

"I'm fine now, at least."

"Yeah, but for how long? We have no idea what's happening to us! I-" Naruto took a deep breath, staring intently at a small stand selling toys. "I don't want to lose you," he finished in a whisper.

Sasuke didn't know what to do. Some part of him screamed that he should comfort Naruto, tell him everything would be fine, but another part that was more cynical knew that Naruto was right to worry about it. They truly had no idea, and whatever force they were up against had proven itself easily strong enough to manipulate their sage chakra and mess with their brains. Though, Sasuke couldn't honestly say he understood why an enemy would make him feel better. And that old woman had-

He blinked in realization, having forgotten about her until now. No, that definitely didn't seem like an enemy to him. It was strange, yes, but nothing about it had felt threatening.

"I don't think what happened to me was an enemy's doing," he told Naruto, doing his best to sound calm and reasonable. "It wouldn't make sense."

"Unless they've got some freaky plan to make us feel falsely secure," Naruto muttered, and Sasuke closed his hand into a fist and bumped it lightly on top of his head.

"There's no point worrying about it. I'm fine now, so let's just forget it."

Naruto didn't look entirely convinced, but shoved his hands down his pockets and started walking again.

"You better be fine," was all he said.

xxx

But was he alright? The question kept repeating itself inside Naruto's head as they made their way back to the orphanage. Sasuke did seem calmer, that much he could tell. And he'd been able to talk about touchy subjects without closing himself off like usual. It was nice, but also served as a reminder for him that something had happened to Sasuke that left him slightly different and Naruto had only been able to helplessly watch him suffer through it. He wanted to ask what it had been like, if he could remember anything. He didn't seem to remember what happened during his fight with Menma, and Naruto wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

He waved at the younger kids when they passed them inside the house, not bothering to stop and introduce Sasuke. Not that Sasuke seemed interested in being introduced, either.

"It seems like a decent place," Sasuke commented once they were shut inside Naruto's room, but Naruto barely heard him.

It was only now that he realized just how narrow his new bad was. It was very narrow. Too narrow to comfortably fit two men without them having to squeeze a little.

"Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's nice."

Sasuke was giving him a strange look, but Naruto laughed a little and went to sit on the bed.

"So, are you gonna take a bath? Bathroom's through that door, you can use the towel hanging there."

For some reason he was feeling nervous, biting the inside of his cheek when Sasuke shrugged and stepped through the bathroom door. There was nothing weird going on, so why the hell did he feel like jumping out the window and running all the way over to Suna? It didn't make sense.

A knock on the door startled him, and he quickly went over to open it and greet Iruka.

"Hello Naruto, sorry to disturb. I figured I'd bring you an extra towel, pillow, and blanket."

"Oh, thanks!" He smiled brightly at Iruka and accepted the bundle of cloth, and received a pointed look in turn.

"Do you guys need any condoms or anything? I figured you might not have managed to buy any yet."

Naruto's body temperature went from normal to boiling lava in less than three seconds. He had no idea how to react to that question. His mouth opened and closed but his vocal cords wouldn't function, his eyes stuck to the small paper box resting innocently between Iruka's fingers.

"No need to be embarrassed," Iruka told him with a gentle smile, placing the box on top of the pillow Naruto held tight like his life depended on it. "I'm in charge of sex ed at the Academy so if there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask. I get it can be a bit embarrassing to ask your parents, right?"

Naruto had no idea what sex ed was but he supposed it had something to do with sex. Which was definitely not something he wanted to think about right now. Still, he faked a tiny smile and let out an apologetic little laugh, Iruka still smiling at him.

"I'm sure you're tired after today, so don't worry about being social, alright? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you…"

Naruto had to clear his throat twice to make the words come out properly, and it took him almost a minute once Iruka had left to gather his bearings enough to walk over to the bed again and dump the bundle in his arms on top of it. The box looked so innocent, having slid off the pillow to lie on the light blue covers instead. He heard the water running from the bathroom, which meant Sasuke wouldn't be out for a while. Most likely Naruto would have to go in there and drag him out.

Sasuke was naked in the bath. Which meant if he went to drag him out then he would see him naked, and when else were people naked? When they had sex.

He stared at the box. He needed to throw it away or at least hide it, because there was no way he'd live down the embarrassment of having to explain its existence to Sasuke. The reason he hadn't touched it already wasn't something he knew how to explain. Sure, he was used to being around perverts, but those perverts lusted over women. That's what guys did, right? They tried to peek in the women's bath, fantasized of big breasts, and wanted girlfriends. Back when he'd been travelling with Jiraiya, these things had never honestly appealed to him. Sure, he wanted to peek in the bath because clearly it had to be amazing, since everyone wanted to do it. And he'd wanted Sakura as his girlfriend because, well, he was supposed to want one and it would probably feel great, right? But it wasn't something he had actively wanted. It was more of a second thought, something he remembered he was supposed to want.

When things had calmed down after the war, Naruto had gotten offers. Sometimes Sakura had to pretty much clog him over the head to make him realize some girl was hinting things or flirting with him, because he was always too busy with other things to properly notice. And then there was the whole crap with Hinata… no, he'd rather not think about that.

But he did find women attractive. That he knew for sure. So why was he staring at this package of condoms and freaking out over Iruka suggesting he use them with Sasuke rather than a girl?! He should just laugh at it or make a disgusted face and throw them away. That was the normal reaction, right? Right.

You're focusing too much on what's considered normal. Since when was anything ever normal about you?

Gritting his teeth at Kurama's words, Naruto snatched up the small package to stare at it a little closer. Kiba had told him everything about how to put one on and stuff, because well, Kiba for one had used his newfound popularity to get lucky. Naruto always avoided talking about his own non-existent experience, because he couldn't explain why he found no appeal in sleeping with girls just because he could. Besides, he was way too busy with Sasuke and training to be Hokage. If people assumed he had experience because of his travels with Jiraiya, well he wouldn't bother correcting them since it really was none of their business.

Sasuke's still the only person you ever kissed.

Letting out a frustrated noise, Naruto crushed the box in his hand, watching as it wrinkled and broke.

"What the hell is your point?!" he snapped at the fox, because he was starting to get tired of all his hinting and suggesting and never saying what he meant.

Think about it, brat. Wouldn't you rather go join Sasuke in the bath than peek at some girl? I'm sure he'd make room for you.

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled, because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Kurama telling him to join Sasuke in the bath?! Was he going insane?! "What the hell are you talking about?! Have you been drinking something weird?! Is this because we haven't trained in a couple weeks?!"

"What's all the yelling about, dobe?"

Naruto swiveled around, finding a boxer-clad Sasuke in the doorway to the bathroom. He quickly hid his hands behind his back, swallowing hard. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh nothing important, just Kurama suggesting we take a bath together…' Yeah, that didn't sound weird at all. In fact, it sounded extremely weird, and yet his heart was beating a staccato in his chest and there was a teeny tiny part of him going 'but what if Sasuke doesn't mind?' and he had no idea how to deal with that.

"Nothing," he croaked out, probably not sounding very convincing because Sasuke frowned and crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe.

"Did Iruka say something?"

"Umm, no."

Sasuke was still not convinced and Naruto was panicking, not that he had any idea of why he was panicking so much. He should just show Sasuke the damn condoms and they could laugh about it and that would be it.

Except you don't want Sasuke to laugh about it.

Ignoring Kurama was becoming increasingly more difficult. Why did everything he said have to be so uncomfortable, and yet so… unsurprising?

"I was just arguing with Kurama, it's nothing, really."

Sasuke huffed, seemingly dropping the issue.

"You could argue more quietly," he suggested before turning on his heels and closing the door behind him, allowing Naruto to let out a relieved breath.

Feeling the half crushed package digging into his hand, he searched the room for a trash can before realizing that Iruka might get offended if he walked in and saw it thrown away. Hiding it was probably better. Deciding that the closet was better than nothing, he placed the box on the top shelf and pushed it as far inside as he could. After closing it again he brushed off his hands, congratulating himself on handling the situation. People here were way too interested in pushing him and Sasuke together as a couple, and Naruto couldn't understand why they were so insistent. No one at home ever commented on it.

Well sure, sometimes Kiba cracked a joke that Naruto and Sasuke were secretly married but no one ever took that sort of thing seriously. Yet, here, everyone seemed to think it was a fact. They never even asked, just assumed. Was it something he'd said or done? Was it because they didn't have a problem sleeping in the same bed?

Oh, shit. Did everyone think they were sleeping in the same bed because they were having sex? If so, then he supposed it wasn't so weird. He sighed, feeling a little better. If it was just that, then it would be easy to correct people. He'd just have to mention Sasuke's nightmares and stuff, and how their respective couches weren't exactly that great to sleep in so it just became a habit.

Realizing he'd been standing still in front of the closet the whole time he straightened up and went to prepare the bed instead. If they slept on their sides there wouldn't be a problem, he thought.

xxx

Sasuke had almost fallen asleep when Naruto started banging on the door.

"Dammit you've been in there for over an hour! I need to pee!"

Huffing, he sank lower in the water so that it just barely left his nose above the surface, wondering absentmindedly why Naruto didn't just come inside instead of shout at him. He was so comfortable here, even if the water was starting to get lukewarm. Maybe he should just sleep in the tub. Now that his muscles were starting to relax, he'd realized just how tense he'd been the past days. Probably he did need a massage, too, even if he'd worked on some of the knots in his neck while soaking in the bath.

"Sasuke!"

"No one's stopping you," he called back, knowing the words would rile the other ninja up but thinking he deserved it for disrupting his peace and quiet.

When nothing happened, he glanced at the door in slight confusion. After a few seconds of more nothing, he heaved a sigh and pulled out the plug, letting the water disappear down the drain and reaching for a towel. He dried himself quickly, starting to wonder why the idiot was so silent.

The answer came when he opened the door, finding Naruto pacing back and forth while mumbling to himself. Sure nothing had happened. Deciding to wait until the idiot noticed him, he leaned in the doorway with crossed arms, observing him quietly. He looked slightly upset, and kept denying that there was something he wanted to do. Probably he was arguing with Kurama again, though Sasuke couldn't understand what the beast could possibly want Naruto to do that caused such a reaction.

"Not doing what?" he asked when Naruto's mumbling had grown louder, raising an eyebrow when the supposed Hokage-in-line stumbled and caught himself on the closet, only to remove his hands from the wood as if it burnt him.

"Nothing!" Naruto exclaimed, glancing at him before looking anywhere else he could think of. "And you should get dressed."

Wondering what was so wrong about the towel wrapped around his hips, Sasuke moved out of the way when Naruto practically rushed past him into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Strange. Very strange. On the other hand, Naruto had a tendency to act strange now and then. Most likely Iruka had said something to him that he thought was too embarrassing to share with Sasuke, even though eventually he wouldn't be able to keep it to himself and start ranting about it instead.

Satisfied with that explanation, Sasuke eyed the bed and wondered just what he was going to wear when sleeping.

xxx

Naruto stared at himself in the mirror, gripping the sink tightly. Alright, so he had already admitted that he thought Sasuke was good-looking, but that was just a fact. Anyone could see it. But, shouldn't he be used to it? He'd seen Sasuke every day for the past year. There was nothing new about it. Sasuke was good-looking and he also smelled good and when he'd laughed today, Naruto had felt like, like something because seeing Sasuke laugh was incredible. Sasuke was his best friend and he'd been way too gloomy most of his life and he'd finally laughed and it was just…

He was getting off track. The point was, Sasuke was good-looking and Naruto liked looking at him.

There, he'd said it. He liked looking at Sasuke. Not just his face, but his chest and arms and stomach and legs and… He really shouldn't have felt a small pang of disappointment at the fact that Sasuke had been wearing a towel.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he groaned.

There were much more important issues to deal with at the moment, like how to go home and what had happened to Sasuke's brain. Even if the brain part at least seemed to lead towards nice things so far.

I'm sure if you look at him long enough you'll figure it out.

"Stop making fun of me," he whined, letting his forehead connect with the cool glass of the mirror.

This wasn't a joke. Naruto was apparently starting to have trouble focusing around Sasuke, and he doubted his best friend would appreciate that. Sasuke already had enough people wanting him for his body, and he shouldn't be one of them!

…okay, that sounded bad. Of course he didn't want Sasuke for his body. He just, appreciated that he took good care of it and was born with a pretty face. Maybe it was just all the stress getting to him now that Sasuke was okay again. Yeah, that had to be it. He'd been focusing so intensely on Sasuke the past week, well the past years in fact, so maybe his brain was just frustrated that he wasn't looking at any of the girls interested in him and retaliated with this.

Sure, you tell yourself that, Kurama snorted. Well, what did he know? He was just a fox. He didn't know about the urges humans had. Wait, Kurama was a guy fox. Maybe he did know?

"Kurama, do you think I need to… get laid?"

The moment the words left his lips he could feel his body almost shake with Kurama's roaring laughter, his face turning a bright red. Angry at himself for giving the fox more stuff to tease him about, he turned on the tap and set it on freezing, splashing his face and hoping the heat in his cheeks would disappear. He was a healthy boy after all, and most of his friends were talking about girls and sex. Okay sure, Kiba was pretty much the only one who actually practiced what he preached, since everyone was still so busy with rebuilding Konoha and taking missions. But still, guys had urges, and Naruto never really… took care of those urges.

Kurama laughed louder. Naruto banged his fist against the mirror and cracked it. Well, shit.

"What the hell are you doing in there?" Sasuke called from the bedroom, and for a panicked second Naruto considered confessing everything going on inside his confused brain.

He decided against it.

"I saw a mosquito and used too much force, hehe," he called back, hoping Sasuke would buy the excuse because he really didn't know how to explain himself.

Figuring nothing would get better from fretting over it, he hurriedly used the toilet and then joined Sasuke, finding him sprawled out on the bed in only boxers. Not his own boxers, either.

"Did you take those from the closet?" Naruto asked, swallowing hard, but Sasuke only shrugged.

"I needed something to sleep in."

"Oh. Yeah. Of course."

Sasuke's dark eyes were narrowed, examining him, but Naruto avoided eye contact. Which was a bad idea because instead his gaze trailed down Sasuke's naked chest, taking in the defined muscles he'd seen so many times, and the v-lines starting by his hips and leading down to-

Wow. Not a place he wanted to think about. Clearing his throat, he stripped out of his clothes and slipped under the covers.

"The lights are still on, dobe," Sasuke told him, and Naruto remembered they weren't supposed to sleep yet.

In fact, he was supposed to give Sasuke a massage. The thought shouldn't embarrass him because it never had before, but now, apparently it did. Was it possible that their enemy was messing with his brain, too? Maybe if he closed his eyes he could fall asleep and forget the whole evening had happened at all.

Sighing, Sasuke got up and turned off the lights, amazingly enough not commenting about the lack of promised massage. Naruto wasn't sure he could deal with touching him at the moment. When Sasuke came back, Naruto scooted a little closer to the wall to make room for him. Even though he was on his side, their arms touched since Sasuke laid on his back. It felt warm, and comfortable, Sasuke's scent filling his nose with each breath. He wondered if this was how Menma felt whenever he was with Charasuke. Somehow, he didn't think so.

"So what's bothering you?" Sasuke asked, startling him.

"You've been asking that a lot lately."

"What, I can't ask?"

Naruto gnawed on his lips, trying not to think about the fact that when Sasuke turned his head towards him, their faces became close enough that he could feel his breaths wash over his mouth.

"You don't usually ask."

"And you don't usually break mirrors, dobe."

"How do you know it broke?"

Sasuke tsk'ed, as if fed up with his childish behavior.

"I'm a ninja, how do you think I know."

Wishing he could scoot even closer to the wall but already pressed against it, Naruto wondered why Sasuke always had to prefer sleeping on the side that wasn't by the wall. Sure, he said it was because if Naruto was going to kick him he'd rather get kicked onto the floor than squashed against the wall, but still. In situations like this it was very annoying.

"Did you really mean what you said in the morning?" he asked instead, after a moment of silence.

"About what?"

"About Menma and Charasuke. That if they're happy together, it's better than…"

"Than what happened to us?"

Naruto nodded, his chin bumping into Sasuke's shoulder. He decided to keep it there.

"A lot of things are better than what happened to us."

As true as it was, that wasn't exactly how Naruto meant it. Things were good now, weren't they? So was it really better that those two were together compared to their friendship? That wasn't something Naruto had ever considered before. Sure, he'd heard about love stories, had seen the happiness in his mom's eyes when she talked about how she and his dad met. But Naruto was happy too, and he didn't know any girl that he thought would make him want to be with her instead of Sasuke. That's how Hinata had phrased it, anyway. That she could be there for him instead of Sasuke.

But Naruto didn't need anyone instead of Sasuke. He hadn't thought too much about it, but he knew the normal thing was to find a wife later in life, maybe. Not everyone married. Jiraiya hadn't. He probably had if Tsunade agreed to it, though. To Naruto, the thought of having a family seemed pretty surreal and very, very far away. So he hadn't seriously thought about what a relationship was really like. If it was something that would come between him and Sasuke, then he didn't want one anyway.

"It doesn't really matter what you and I think about it," Sasuke continued. "People like to meddle in other people's business when they've got nothing there to do. I think it's silly what Obito said, that it's frowned upon because two men can't reproduce with each other. Not everything is about having kids. Ninjas aren't cattle, though some seem to think so."

Sasuke's voice had darkened by the end, and Naruto held his breath waiting if there would be more. Sasuke never really talked about these things, but it sounded like he'd given it some thought.

"What do you mean?" he whispered, hesitantly tilting his head so that his cheek fit more comfortably against Sasuke's shoulder.

The contact felt reassuring, the heat making him drowsy as if just now noticing how tired he felt.

"The kages. The council. The daimyo. They think they own us, that they can send us towards our deaths when it's convenient to them, tell us we're not allowed to have feelings and abandon us and still expect us to feel grateful for our existence."

Sasuke paused, turning his head towards the ceiling instead, inhaling deeply when Naruto placed a palm on his heaving chest.

"And then they act surprised when people like Madara turn against them. People like me. Did you know there's an orphanage in the Fire country?"

"There is?" This was the first Naruto had heard of it.

"Kabuto grew up there. Juugo told me he went back after the war. But they never sent us there."

He could feel Sasuke lift a hand and rub the center of his chest, and slowly he moved his palm to settle underneath Sasuke's.

"Because we're ninjas?"

"And dangerous. You'd think they'd treat the kyuubi jinchuuriki better, if they didn't want you turning against them."

"But I didn't."

"No." Sasuke's fingers slid between his, intertwining their hands, and Naruto's chest felt as if a hundred explosions went off inside it. Painfully. "Because you're better than them."

Better than me, he could hear in the silence that stretched out inside the room, enveloping them in a cocoon where Naruto couldn't pretend that everything really was fine now. He shifted, pressing closer to Sasuke's body heat, burying his face in his neck and wondering how they ended up talking about this. Maybe it was the fact that they were currently in a seemingly well-functioning orphanage, a place where Naruto could have enjoyed growing up. Maybe it was because Menma and Charasuke had such different lives compared to them, that they had been given a chance to actually be happy.

Not that Naruto considered himself an unhappy person. But things weren't… ideal. Not for him, not for the village, and especially not for Sasuke. There was a reason Naruto sometimes woke up in the middle of the night with the fear that Sasuke had left again clutching at his heart. And Sasuke had told him once that it was better if the Uchiha clan died with him. He hadn't known what to reply to that, just like he had no idea what to say right now.

"If I don't forgive them, I wouldn't know what to do with my life. What else is there?"

"The world," was Sasuke's simple answer. "But I can't say it's a much better place."

Letting out a shaky breath, Naruto clenched his eyes shut. His head felt like it was overflowing with so many different emotions and thoughts. Too much had happened in such a short time, but no matter what, he was immensely glad that Sasuke was the one there with him, and not anyone else.

"Well who knows, maybe we're stuck here forever," he said in a feeble attempt at a joke.

At first Sasuke was quiet, and Naruto could feel sleep tug at him, the steady beat connecting them like a sweet lullaby inside his chest. When Sasuke did speak it was in a barely there whisper, his lips brushing the top of Naruto's head.

"I wouldn't count myself so lucky."

Soo. Naruto might be onto something. Next chapter we'll be getting the check-up with Orochimaru, and more talk with Tsunade. Possibly a cameo by Charasuke, too. Though his and Menma's resolution is further into the story, for now, Naruto and Sasuke are the main focus:3 As if they haven't been during the whole story lol.