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

Summary: A second series of ficlet requests - details are on my tumblr. All SNS, only modern AU so far. I'll give a summary and any warnings in the first note above each ficlet!

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm doing that ficlet thing again this month - this time, the details are on my tumblr, and linked on ao3. If you have a fic request, please read through the post and then message me on tumblr or twitter! This will take the place of this month's fic, so if you'd like more writing this month, please send me a request! It's a little close to the end of the month, so I'll keep taking requests for a while. I'll update if I have to close them for any reason!

This particular fic was requested by someone who prefers to remain anonymous, who just wanted "something soft and warm that makes me smile". I hope this does the trick!

Ficlet summary: Modern AU, friends with benefits to lovers, warnings for references to explicit content (sex).

Ficlet Series 2

1 - Something Soft and Warm

Naruto awoke...slowly. Hazily. The sun was high in the sky and it streamed right into his room—making it just the warmest, coziest bed...and impossible to fall asleep again. He breathed out, rolling over to reach out towards—

Oh.

Naruto's eyes opened.

He was alone in this bed. And that—that—should have been what he expected. Right? He—damn it.

Naruto sat up, rubbing at his face as he grabbed his phone. It was already past noon—of course Sasuke hadn't waited around for Naruto to wake up. They'd been up so late last night that he wasn't that surprised he'd slept in, but he was…

Disappointed.

Ah, shit.

Shit. He'd known this was gonna happen. He knew this was dangerous. Sasuke had been blatant and honest and told him straight up that he didn't do relationships. Didn't do love. He knew enough about love to know what it felt like when he lost, and Naruto knew enough about loss to respect the hell out of that. He didn't agree, but he understood. And he hadn't gotten laid in ages, and Sasuke was fucking gorgeous, and the sex had been mind-blowing, and, and, and—

And now he was here.

Uuuugh.

Naruto pulled his hands down his face.

It'd been too easy. Too easy to turn from sex to conversation—all it took was Sasuke rolling over, making some smug comment about the noises Naruto had made that time around for the insults and laughter to simmer into quiet, intimate conversation that lasted through the night.

And Naruto had been honest with him then, too—he'd told Sasuke did do relationships and he did tend to get attached and yeah, this was all probably a bad idea. But! He could Handle it! And if he felt anything starting to get a little too much, he'd tell Sasuke right away and they'd cut it all off. No problem at all.

Yeah.

There was a problem now, wasn't there?

He sighed and kicked his feet over the bed. It was too late now anyway. It had probably been too late that one time he'd gotten a bit too honest about the way he felt sorta abandoned and broken down and stuff about the foster homes and the schools and the parents and the promises that had passed him around and forgotten him. Probably a bit too late when Sasuke had listened to it all, resting closer and closer until he'd kissed him from fingertips to lips, with something intimate, something comforting, something—

Yeah. Safe and wanted and ugh. Naruto had always been slow to recognizing his stupid feelings.

He pushed the door open and—

Stopped…?

"Morning, moron," Sasuke greeted him, moving to his kitchen. "Or should I say afternoon?"

"Fuck you," Naruto laughed out in a surprised, happy breath. "We were up 'till five! What are you—how are you even awake?"

"I'm a programmed early riser. Coffee's in the pot."

"You're a god," Naruto said, slipping past him before he— "Wait. Are you making breakfast?"

"Re-heating the rest of what I made for myself," Sasuke said, shooting him a look. "Don't get too excited."

"Too late," Naruto said, and Sasuke raised a foot to kick at Naruto's shin on the way by. Naruto laughed and swatted his waist, catching him by the too-loose shirt that...hey. That wasn't what Sasuke had been wearing last night...was it? Had Sasuke brought a change of clothes? No. What? No. There was no way.

...Right?

"Something on my face, moron?" Sasuke muttered, stirring the pot.

"Yeah," Naruto said, leaning against his cabinets,"ugly."

Sasuke switched the stove off. Naruto giggled into his coffee.

"Say that again," he said, turning around.

"You've got ugly aaaall over your face."

"Oh, I do, do I?" Sasuke said, stepping forwards.

"Yep," he said, as Sasuke moved even closer. "All over it."

"Mhm?" Sasuke hummed, and Naruto could...feel his warmth…

His eyes fluttered closed. The kiss was soft and slow and Naruto felt himself sink, felt himself settle, felt the tension melt from him as he—

Sasuke pulled back.

"No," he said, and Naruto stumbled back into reality, "now I have ugly all over my face."

"Wh—hey!"

Sasuke laughed and flicked the tip of his nose, turning back to the stove.

"This is warm, by the way," he said, shifting some hair out of his eyes.

"You—okay. Thank you, but also fuck you—"

Sasuke snorted and shifted past him, stealing Naruto's coffee cup on the way.

"Ugh," he said, as Naruto gaped at him, "this is just sugar."

"Yeah, it's mine!" Naruto said. "Gimmie it ba—"

"You can get another one," Sasuke said, already leaving. Naruto laughed out his hopeless protest as Sasuke left, going out on the balcony and shutting the sliding door behind him. He stood out in the sun, wind gently blowing at his hair, resting his elbows over the railing…

Naruto breathed out, and let himself stare.

He suited the view so well. He suited Naruto so well. Sasuke understood him on every level as if it was effortless, and Naruto had never met a single other person that made him feel so…

Comfortable.

He swallowed, and looked down at the food Sasuke had made.

His breakfast. Apparently. But there was...too much. Wasn't there? Even for Naruto, there was still too much left. There was no way Sasuke had made this much with only himself in mind. And he knew that Naruto loved leftovers, he'd told him like fifty times that one of the best feelings was opening the fridge and having something already ready and awesome waiting for him…

But then, maybe it was just food, and maybe Sasuke was just being kind.

He did tend to do that. Quietly. Secretly. Sasuke was kind in small little ways, so quickly hidden that Naruto wouldn't realize it until they were already done. Or, well—distracted. He was easily distracted.

Especially when it came to Sasuke.

With a sigh, he grabbed himself a bowl and poured in some of the soup Sasuke had made. With a miso base, maybe? It smelled like it…

He slid the door open, and Sasuke didn't turn around.

"It's warmer than I thought," Naruto said, sliding the door shut. "My plants are gonna be happy."

"Your plants are incapable of being anything else," Sasuke answered, "with you around."

Naruto laughed.

"That's the nicest thing you've said all day," he said, hopping up to sit on the railing. It made Sasuke jump and grab him, hissing a breath through his mouth—

"I hate that you sit like this," he said, squeezing Naruto's thigh. "You know that's dangerous."

"It's a thick fence," Naruto said, swinging his legs back and forth. "I sit here all the time."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Naruto raised the bowl to his lips without ever breaking eye contact. (Yep, miso. And yep—just as good as every other time Sasuke had made anything.)

"You're an idiot," he said, but he didn't move his hand. His lips were thin and pressed together tight, and Naruto scanned him for a...nother few seconds before he hopped back down.

"Sorry," he said, as Sasuke snatched his hand back to himself, "I'll stop."

Sasuke didn't look at him.

Naruto slipped right up to his side.

"It's a dumb habit anyway," he said, sipping the soup again. Sasuke very slowly relaxed, the tension leaving his shoulders at the same time he breathed out. He hadn't realized that would make Sasuke so nervous, but then…

Naruto looked over at him.

Sasuke didn't look back.

"Am I ever getting my coffee back?" he tried, nudging Sasuke's side again. Naruto could just as easily go make himself some more, but Sasuke hated the taste of super sugary stuff…

That cup was nearly half-empty, now.

Sasuke breathed in.

"You can...have it back, if you'd like."

Naruto leaned a little further forwards.

"What's going on with you? I didn't freak you out that bad, did I?"

"No, I—" Sasuke said, tapping his nails onto the cup. "I just—"

He breathed out.

Naruto straightened up.

"I need...to talk to you."

Oh.

He knew.

He had to know. Of course he knew. Naruto was the worst liar in the universe, and Sasuke could read him like a book, and...alright.

Alright.

"Alright," Naruto replied, letting out all of the air he had left, "go for it."

There was a pause.

Naruto twisted his lips to the side, and waited.

"You…" Sasuke started, after what felt like half an hour, "you—you're okay with relationships."

Naruto laughed a little, and slid his bowl onto the little side table he had out here.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'd say that."

"But you…you're okay with how things are," Sasuke said, soft and quiet, "between us?"

…

…

Damn it.

Naruto still couldn't lie.

"No," he sighed, ducking down. "I'm sorry. I've—yeah, listen, I only just clued in, no, I can't. I mean—I'm not—I'm not, like, in love with you or anything—yet. Or, um—I mean, things are—aren't—I just know how it's gonna go, in my head, and...yeah. No."

"What?"

"I—sorry," Naruto let out a soft laugh, "I'm bad at all this stuff. I'm past the point where things are, um, casual. On my end. Um. So if that—y'know, I know you're not comfortable with this stuff and I promised I'd tell you, so—"

"Naruto," Sasuke said, "slow down, I wasn't—that wasn't—I'm past that point."

Naruto's head jerked up.

"What?"

"I was past that point three months ago," Sasuke said, staring at him, "but you never—I was waiting for you to—"

"I—you—I'm an idiot, Sasuke! You can't rely on me!"

Naruto nearly tackled him to the ground. And Sasuke grabbed him, nearly spilling coffee all over the both of them, but Naruto didn't care, Naruto wasn't letting go, Naruto would never stop smiling for the rest of his life—

"I had no idea," he laughed, "I had no clue."

Sasuke breathed out.

"You had no clue," he said softly, "you had me terrified."

"Sorry!" Naruto said, pulling back— "Sorry, I—I only just realized that I—shit. I should've sooner, I know, but you—you—three months? Really?"

"Shut up."

"No, c'mon, three—"

Sasuke turned around.

Naruto chased him back into the house.

"Wait, Sasuke, you gotta tell me—!"

A/N: That's just the one for now, but I hope to write some more. I hope you're all doing well! I'm still working away on Bite Me for those of you that want a bit of an update - a little stuck, but we're close. Thank you all for waiting! I know I'm super behind on replies atm, but I do read all of them and I'm so thankful to all of you.

Remember if you'd like to request a ficlet, the details about it all are on my tumblr - the specific post is linked on ao3!

Talk soon,
- Kinomi